Letters to the Editor | Nov. 27, 2023

President Joe Biden must do more than simply urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the bombing to allow time for humanitarian relief. So far, it’s had about as much effect as a man would have trying to put out a forest fire with a bucket of water. Biden must demand a cease-fire and back it up with some sanctions if the right-wing Israeli government does not comply.

More than 12,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli bombs, many women and children. Over a million and a half Palestinian civilians have been forced from their homes and now live as refugees in camps under horrific, inhumane conditions, lacking adequate food, fuel, water, and decent sanitary facilities. Hospitals have been left without power. Still, the bombing continues. Still, children are being traumatized. The situation is intolerable.

Biden must use his power to bring an end to these atrocities happening in Gaza. Israel’s leaders think they are wiping out terrorism by eliminating Hamas. But how they are attempting to do so — bombing innocent women and children, preventing vital supplies from reaching hospitals and civilians, carrying the war into hospitals — is sowing the seeds for the formation of new terrorist organizations. The insanity must stop. The killing must stop.

William Cooney, Philadelphia

I am a Jewish woman, pleading for an immediate end to the bombing of Gaza. The Israeli government uses the word antisemite against those who express horror at the extent of the destruction in Gaza. There is an old and magnificent Jewish tradition of reverence for human life. I recoil from Israel’s desecration of this great tradition, as it pours destruction on a population of 2.2 million civilians, almost half of them children.

The U.S. has paid billions of taxpayer dollars for the weapons used in Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinians. U.S. and Israeli leaders know that those dying in the rubble of the destroyed homes, hospitals, schools, and ambulances are mostly women and children. Our leaders appear to care only about quieting the world’s outcry at such barbarity. But neither world opinion nor history are likely to forget this level of savagery.

The tragic histories of both the Jewish and Palestinian peoples did not start with Hamas’ horrific murders on Oct. 7, but a long time before that. There have been so many myths about both these histories, so many incorrect “facts,” and so much horror that it will be extraordinarily difficult to find our way to sane solutions. But to continue Israel’s massacre in Gaza, which the Israeli government calls a “war against Hamas,” will destroy our souls and may eventually bury us all. “Never again” means never again, against anyone.

Diane Laison, Philadelphia

Gov. Josh Shapiro has no problem speaking out about schools, specifically his plan to fund the private ones with our tax dollars. But when it comes to the actual persecution of our LGBTQ students and teachers, Shapiro’s silence is deafening. This national attack on queer kids has spread across the commonwealth. Pennridge School District recently required student-athletes to play sports based on their “biological sex” (despite the fact that not a single transgender student has attempted to play sports in the district). The Perkiomen Valley School District passed a bill to require bathrooms use by “anatomy at birth.” Central Bucks banned the Pride flag, Central York leads the nation in total banned books, and Hempfield schools similarly restrict sports by sex at birth.

Despite campaign promises to protect LGBTQ rights, Shapiro and his crew have been silent. Not a word from Building Trades president Ryan Boyer, who chided Democrats for allowing Black kids to attend failing schools. Both men have a deep yearning to be in front of a microphone, yet neither has the courage to speak about the ongoing harassment of youth.

As a public school teacher and parent, I know that kids cannot learn if they are being bullied. Fortunately, Philadelphia schools have avoided these wretched laws (we have real problems to worry about). I cannot imagine what it would be like to try to learn in a school whose official policy is that you do not exist. Yes, right-wing school boards faltered on Election Day, but they will be back. It is not too late for Shapiro to use his platform to support communities fighting for our most vulnerable.

Andrew Saltz, Philadelphia

It seems that Donald Trump has adopted some Nazi policy planks. They include allowing only privileged blood types to be citizens, allowing only selected citizens to vote, requiring all immigrant arrivals after an arbitrary date to leave the country, enacting a denaturalization law, establishing a ruling elite who has unfettered authority to define the general good and general interest policies for the nation, reconstructing national education to ensure brainwashed youth mimic the ruling elite’s policies, ruthlessly prosecuting those whose work does not conform to the ruling elite’s policies, and creating national press and media platforms to promote said policies. These policy planks are like those enacted by dictators in Russia, Hungary, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, China, and Turkey. I suspect that he will soon start referring to himself as the new and improved führer.

Craig McBride, Coatesville

The truth has finally come out. In an amendment to House Bill 1284, the Pennsylvania legislature has laid its cards on the table: It wants speed cameras all over the state. Amendment 2956 directs the Local Government Commission to study the expansion of automated speed enforcement (speed cameras) on local highways and streets. This means tickets for almost everyone. Federal Highway Administration data say that 90% of Pennsylvania’s speed limits are posted 8 to 16 mph below the safe speeds that drivers travel every day. All the authorities have to do is put up a speed camera and bingo, the money rolls into Harrisburg. There will be speed traps everywhere.

Cameras cannot stop accidents. Cameras can only take pictures. Speed cameras exist to raise revenue for the government, not for safety. According to PennDot, our highways have never been safer, so why do we need speed cameras? Pennsylvania and its local governments just experienced the worst decline in income tax revenues ever recorded. This was the second steepest year-over-year percentage decline in history. Consequently, Harrisburg is desperate for more of our money. Highway engineering following best practices makes the roads safer — cameras do not. Tell your state representative and senator to vote no on HB 1284.

Tom McCarey, Berwyn

There has been considerable coverage over the past year of extreme weather and natural disasters, including devastating wildfires in Canada this summer that contributed to the worst air quality in Philadelphia’s history. The undeniable perils of climate change and the urgent need to shift away from fossil fuels in our region have never been more apparent. Philadelphia has set ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse emissions by 50%, energy use by 20%, and move to 100% renewable energy to become carbon-neutral by 2050. Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker and her incoming administration must prioritize key initiatives like urban decarbonization to meet these goals.

Currently, companies like Philadelphia Gas Works, a 200-year-old fossil fuel utility owned by the city, push new fossil fuel equipment on customers by touting that gas is cheaper, prices won’t increase, and it’s safe and environmentally friendly. The reality is, these claims are false, and allowing them to be made unchecked is unacceptable. Natural gas prices are consistently rising, and the destructive evidence of methane leaks to our health and the environment is staggering.

PGW continues to move the city in the wrong direction. Its service is locking businesses and homeowners into utilizing fossil fuels for the next 30-40 years, the average life span of the heating equipment. This dangerous trend is making the city’s 2050 targets impossible to achieve. Decarbonizing 75% of the city’s carbon emitters and offering clean energy solutions may be challenging, but with strong commitments to moving the city forward, and companies like Vicinity Energy electrifying their existing district energy infrastructure, we will achieve the solution needed to lower emissions, improve air quality, and limit climate change.

Joseph Otis Minott, executive director and chief counsel, Clean Air Council

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