Letters to the Editor | Dec. 18, 2025
Inquirer readers on redistricting efforts across the nation and President Trump's recent visit to Mount Pocono.
Incomplete portrait
Rabbi Linda Holtzman’s op-ed about suspending military aid to Israel crucially omits the role of Hamas and the trauma of Oct. 7, 2023, presenting an incomplete and troubling framework. Rather than presenting a legitimate criticism of Israeli policy, Rabbi Holtzman depends on contemporary anti-Zionism that denies Jewish people the same right to safety, self-determination, and moral consideration afforded to others.
Hanukkah commemorates the Jewish people’s struggle for survival, religious freedom, and self-determination in our ancestral homeland, values many Jews hold close. This holiday should not be used to argue for policies that leave Israel vulnerable to continued terror and violence.
Both Palestinian and Jewish lives are precious, and the impact of the war is felt by all. Any path toward peace must reject extremism and uphold the right of Jews to live in safety and dignity.
Our community is strengthened not by absolutism, but by nuance, responsibility and a shared commitment to human dignity for all.
Jason Holtzman, chief of the Jewish Community Relations Council, The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
A battle for ballots
Winston Churchill called the Battle of the Bulge “the greatest American battle of the war.” It was the German offensive launched against the U.S. Army in World War II in a snowbound Belgium forest during the Christmas season of 1944. Known as America’s Greatest Generation, thousands fought in that historic military operation so that future generations could live in a society where tyranny has no place and the authority of government depends on the consent of the governed.
Eighty-one years later, America is once again engaged in a fight to preserve our representative democracy. Voting, democracy’s most fundamental right, is under siege by Republican lawmakers seeking to corrupt the electoral process through manipulative gerrymandering.
Since our nation’s founding, countless Americans have fought in defense of self-governance. Let’s not desecrate the graves of the fallen by turning a blind eye to an assault on the freedoms they died to protect.
Jim Paladino, Tampa, Fla.
Who’s the more foolish?
As the adage goes, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Sadly, judging from the description of President Donald Trump’s recent rally in Mount Pocono, there are still plenty of folks willing to believe Trump’s lies. It was well known before the election that he is a liar and a cheat, but that didn’t seem to matter to the folks who voted for him last November and still support him. I’ve been accused of being woke, but I’d much rather be woke than asleep.
Carol Sundeen, Lower Makefield
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