Letters to the Editor | March 19, 2024

Am I the only one who thinks our new Democratic mayor is acting like a dictator when she decrees that she “will fight tooth and nail to make sure that not one city dollar is invested in the distribution of clean needles”? Not only is Mayor Cherelle L. Parker being autocratic, but it also strikes me that she is sounding rather unsympathetic to the plight of those who are struggling with addiction and is unwilling to look at evidence of the benefit of the needle exchange, as well as other harm reduction programs.

For 30 years, the city has been allocating funds to reduce the risk of people sharing needles and spreading disease, and evidence shows this measure works. According to The Inquirer, advocates for harm reduction services know those programs keep people alive until they are ready to receive treatment. In campaigning, our mayor talked a good game about collaboration and bringing people together to make decisions. She would do well to follow that promise and draw on evidence from the experts, as well as from the people to whom she seems to be unsympathetic.

Jean Haskell, Philadelphia, jean.haskell205@gmail.com

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer’s call for new elections in Israel was improper, demoralizing, and insulting to the people of Israel who elected Benjamin Netanyahu as their prime minister. That he did this while Israel is engaged in a fight for its survival on multiple fronts with terrorist organizations funded and trained by Iran, including Hamas and Hezbollah, raises the question of whether he wants Israel to defeat Hamas. Israel created a war cabinet that includes members of opposition parties, who also criticized Schumer’s call for elections. Israel is dealing with more than 100,000 evacuees from their homes because of Hamas’ terrorist onslaught, mourning the loss of over 1,200 murdered Israelis, and anguish over 130 hostages. Instead of demonizing and interfering with Israeli politics, as the Senate majority leader, he should be doing all he can to help Israel defeat Hamas.

Leonard Getz, Bala Cynwyd

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are suffering from catastrophic hunger, facing imminent famine due to Israel’s ongoing war. Some have already died from malnutrition, including 23 children. The United States’ aid and U.N. vetoes embolden Israel to inflict this on the Palestinians. What would we think of anyone helping to inflict this on us? What will the surviving Palestinians think of us? To reduce human suffering and make future peace less improbable, this must end now.

Our elected officials should respect the opinions of the American people. In late February, a poll found that 74% of all likely voters (including 83% of Democrats) supported a permanent cease-fire combined with an Israeli hostage release. Our funding of UNRWA should resume. Israel must withdraw from Gaza and give up its border controls, which deprive the population of food and medicines. Redirecting our aid from Israel to reconstruction in Gaza could limit the damage to our already problematic global reputation as a defender of human rights. After this, to avoid double standards, those of us who want a United States with equal rights and obligations for all should also work for this in Israel/Palestine.

Hans Lofgren, Swarthmore

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