Letters to the Editor | Dec. 6, 2023

We, the copresidents of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia, are repulsed by the chanting in front of Goldie on Sunday. While we can discuss the best way to move forward after Hamas’ massacre against Israelis on Oct. 7, we stand united against antisemitism. Boycotting Jewish businesses crosses the line from peaceful debate to harmful hate. This mob in front of Goldie’s follows other calls to boycott Jewish restaurants and businesses in Philadelphia. This trend is terrifying, and we call on all Philadelphians to join us in standing against antisemitism both worldwide and in our city.

Rabbis Beth Janus and David Ackerman, Philadelphia

On Sunday, more than 1,000 people marched to bring awareness to the killing of Palestinians in Gaza and to connect with displaced residents of University City Townhomes. It was powerful. The march briefly stopped outside of Goldie, a restaurant owned by CookNSolo, to call attention to the owners’ complicity in the unfolding massacre taking place in Palestine. The Inquirer quoted Gov. Josh Shapiro tweeting that the protesters were antisemitic. The Inquirer didn’t speak to any protesters to find out why they stopped at Goldie, allowing the governor’s narrative to become the unverified “truth.”

However, protesters have a reason: CookNSolo donated a day of sales to United Hatzalah, an Israeli emergency medical service that is fundraising off of war efforts, including a campaign to “Help Support our IDF soldiers.” Considering the Israel Defense Forces have killed more than 15,000 Palestinians — and CookNSolo being a very prominent name in Philly — it makes sense to pressure CookNSolo to stop supporting the Israeli military. The Inquirer has a responsibility to give readers this context. Mislabeling voices fighting for Palestinian lives as antisemitism is a tactic used to discredit and silence. In a moment where hundreds of Palestinians are being killed every day and thousands more plunge into starvation and illness, this tactic has horrific consequences.

Aileen Haggerty, Philadelphia

Children everywhere deserve our protection. Instead, the Israeli military has resumed its bombardment of Gaza. Children and other defenseless civilians are being made to pay with their lives for the crimes of Hamas. This path will only lead to more hatred and violence in the region and the world. It is disingenuous to say that Hamas is responsible for the high civilian death toll. Israel is firing missiles into areas where they know civilians will be killed in large numbers. The U.S. is backing and financing Israel’s decimation of Gaza. Calls by the Biden administration to protect civilians are toothless and therefore meaningless. The world’s tolerance and support of Israel’s actions seem racist to me. People should ask themselves, “Would I support this if my family, community, city were the ones suffering and dying?” I wish I understood how people who purport to care about issues related to social justice can fail to condemn Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

Deborah McIlvaine, Philadelphia, deborahmcilvaine@gmail.com

Donald Trump argues that the 14th Amendment bar that disqualifies insurrectionists from holding office doesn’t affect him because his oath didn’t require that he “support” the Constitution. Trump’s presidential obligation to support the Constitution was no less than Mike Pence’s or any enlisted member of the armed forces. In 1884, the current oath for federal employees subordinate to the president took effect. Pence took that oath to “support and defend” the Constitution as vice president, while Trump swore “only” to “preserve, protect and defend” it — distinctions without difference. The presidential oath subsumes support of the Constitution.

Since 1789, enlisted military members have taken an oath to support the Constitution. It is unconscionable to argue that while buck privates are required to support the Constitution, their commander in chief isn’t. Only the credulous will believe the president doesn’t need to support the Constitution but the vice president, rank-and-file federal employees, and enlisted military members do. Trump’s argument befits a draft-dodging insurrectionist willing to invoke the Insurrection Act and pit the U.S. Department of Defense against American citizens.

Stewart Speck, Ardmore

Yet another exoneration in Philadelphia — more than 40 in six years — raises an interesting question: Does Philadelphia have a wrongful conviction crisis? As a civil rights lawyer who, over more than a decade, has advocated on behalf of victims of police abuse and the falsely accused, I believe the answer is yes. Eddie Ramirez’s exoneration on Nov. 30 is attention-grabbing, and for good reason: He’s spent most of his adult life incarcerated. That is an immeasurable loss, not only for him and his family but for what he could have contributed to his community.

A pattern of misconduct is emerging across these cases. Evidence was withheld from Ramirez’s defense attorneys; the prosecutor at the time indicated it may have been deliberate. Others have been exonerated, victims of the now-notorious homicide detective Philip Nordo. A scandal involving half a dozen narcotics officers a decade ago led to hundreds, if not thousands, of convictions overturned, preceded by a similar scandal in the mid-‘90s. The list goes on. If we value public safety, then we must value public confidence in the fairness of the judicial system. Rampant corruption and misconduct erode that confidence. And that, too, is an immeasurable loss.

Christopher Markos, Philadelphia, cmarkos@williamscedar.com

We often lament that Philadelphia is the poorest big city in the country. So, yes, as laid out in the Sunday editorial, a new mayoral administration will certainly need to pay attention to the economy. Yet, how many of us consider the connection between poverty and big banks? The Philadelphia region is the seventh richest deposit market for bankers nationwide, yet more than 90% of our deposits are held by big banks based outside of the region — and less than 1% are held by minority-owned financial institutions. Philadelphia is an outlier here.

Other major cities have a richer variety of locally based financial institutions — large banks, community banks, minority-owned banks, credit unions. Pittsburgh, for example, has half of our population but triple the local investment: 50% of its deposits are held by local banks. Big banks profit off of our deposit dollars by investing them across the globe, wherever they can get the highest return. Data clearly show that local banks recirculate dollars into the local economy at a higher rate than big, nonlocal banks. We won’t be able to decisively address poverty in Philadelphia without finding more ways to bring and keep the money we do have here at home.

Pamela Haines, Philadelphia, pamelahaines1@gmail.com

We at Citizens’ Climate Lobby of Philadelphia were delighted to read Dennis Newman’s letter to the editor that Amtrak has dropped plans to install new gas-fired boilers in Philadelphia’s historic William H. Gray III 30th Street Station. In explaining Amtrak’s change of plans, Newman cited climate concerns that we advanced, along with other environmental and climate organizations, including the Clean Air Council. Hats off to Amtrak for listening to us and taking climate and environmental concerns seriously.

It would be mistaken, however, to think that we or our broader coalition convinced Amtrak to change course. This occurred, in part, because within Amtrak there are officials who recognize the threats posed by global warming and take a long view of Amtrak’s future. In the end, these internal advocates prevailed, with support from our coalition. We do not, however, sense that there were clear “winners” and “losers” within Amtrak. All the officials with whom we have communicated express enthusiastic support for the decision — and well they should. Amtrak’s extraordinary change of plans is a credit to the institution, which now stands as a model for other federal, state, and local organizations that are seeking to mitigate the impact of global warming in charting their futures.

Elaine Fultz and Peter Handler, Philadelphia

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