Letters to the Editor | July 5, 2024

Just returned from another adventure in the mobile homeless shelter also known as the Market-Frankford El. There was the crowded platform at the 69th Street terminal, where I was greeted by the usual announcement of a delay due to equipment problems. I was lucky to find a seat since it can be painful to stand after just recovering from hip surgery. Most times, people struggling with addiction take up two, sometimes three seats (and occasionally part of the floor).

Just as the doors closed, a literal cloud of smoke filled the back, and I had to get up. At least it wasn’t tobacco smoke — that would come later. I had to stand until my stop at Eighth and Market Streets. Once there, more people are using drugs, doing their thing. There are one or two guys standing outside the turnstiles whose job appears to be ripping off SEPTA by facilitating rides at a discount. Most of the time, their services are not needed, as 30% of riders (a conservative estimate) either hop over the turnstiles, force their way through the handicapped gates, or squeeze by the gap in the turnstiles.

Those are the problems, here are some solutions: Reserve the first four cars for the smokers, those dealing with addiction, and the fare jumpers. I know those cars would be smoky and crowded, but fare-paying patrons should get some sort of reward. Another solution, somewhat more radical, would be to enforce the rules. Most problems are caused by nonpaying riders. Station police officers at fare entrances, fine the fare jumpers, fine the smokers. Not much, maybe $5 to $10, and find a way to collect on-site. If the offender can’t or won’t pay, hold them aside for a half hour or so. Obviously, the cost of police time is an issue, but the system is losing millions as-is.

Ken Andrelczyk, Drexel Hill, kenandrelczyk@yahoo.com

The Inquirer explains the new and quite intriguing school plan put forward by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. This plan for a longer school day and year has much that will be beneficial for many students. Curiously, it seems as though the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers was kept out of the planning for this program. The teachers should be allowed to be part of the planning process. The teachers do not need to be adversaries; please don’t turn them into your enemy. To do what is best for the children, we should want everyone to work together.

Sheryl Kalick, Philadelphia

In a recent op-ed, Ayaan Shah cites school districts’ calendar exclusion of days off for many non-Christian holidays, including those of Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist faiths. Area Baha’is, who’ve been recognized by the Interfaith Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia as having created a community-building Zone of Peace, readily accept the fact that the reasonably state-mandated minimum number of school days applies to all districts, and are pleased to have the opportunity to make up schoolwork for any missed holy days, given our high priority of quality education for all. As the writer notes, we are a nation of multiple religions and cultures and, as much as Baha’is value diversity, we all have to be reasonable about the number of days that can be excluded from the school year calendar.

Rebecca Alexander, Philadelphia

I found myself feeling ill while reading a recent Associated Press article in The Inquirer reporting on 60 families in which at least 25 people were killed in Israeli bombings. That while Israeli forces have blocked shipments of food to a million starving Palestinians. These mass killings and abuses are made possible because of the aid Israel receives from the United States.

Philadelphia has about 1.5 million people. Imagine a military force came into the city and demanded that half of the residents leave their homes. There would be no compensation. That military force had already murdered thousands of people, and refusing to leave would be punished with death. This is what happened to 750,000 Palestinians in 1948.

The Israeli government claims they are waging a war against Hamas. This same Israeli government has been supporting Hamas. This support was about splitting Palestinian resistance into two competing factions. The Israeli government understands that Palestinians have justifiable objections to being occupied. So, rather than using young Israelis to police the occupied territories, there was a reliance on the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas to police Palestinians. Since the Israeli government supported Hamas for decades, it needs to share responsibility for the Oct. 7 raid on Israel.

There is a question the news media in this country never asks. Why are the 4.5 million Palestinian residents of the occupied territories denied full citizenship rights in Israel? Clearly, Black people were denied basic rights when Jim Crow segregation was the law. Clearly, Black people were denied basic rights under the apartheid system of South Africa. Today, Black people in this country and South Africa are supposed to have equal rights. Rather than murdering thousands of Palestinians, the Israeli government needs to give all Palestinians equal rights.

Steven Halpern, Philadelphia

I’m sure there were probably many reasons why a couple took their infant to the Phillies-Diamondbacks game at Citizens Bank Park recently. But I can’t help wondering why in the world they did so on a day when just about everyone knew the temperature would reach 97 degrees in Philadelphia. If avoidance of the expense of babysitting was the reason for taking their infant to such a very hot game, I very sincerely volunteer to babysit for them if any similar situation or need reoccurs. This is a no-cost offer. By the way, I wonder if they enjoyed being at the game.

Edwin E. Scully, Philadelphia

I believe much of the breathless coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Trump v. United States misses one of the key problems of the ruling. While yes, the decision will benefit former President Donald Trump in his ongoing legal battles, the one person who stands to gain the most is current President Joe Biden. He now has a very broad mandate to rule above the law for his final six months in office (or an additional four years). It will be curious to see the reactions from Republicans the first time he uses the ruling as justification for ignoring a subpoena. It will be even more curious to see what happens after the general election. If Trump’s actions in 2020 are ruled official acts and thus legalized in a court of law, then everything he did and more will be fair game for the Biden administration. At that point, Republicans might be very sorry they got the ruling they wished for.

Curtis Zimmermann, Penn Valley

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