Letters to the Editor | Oct. 19, 2023

Like so many of us, I’ve spent much of the past two weeks focused almost obsessively upon the Middle East, waiting in dread to learn about Israel’s response. I believe that Israel has both the right and the duty to respond to the Hamas attack, but, as many others have already said, the all-important concern is about how it responds. Let the Israeli military move across the border into Gaza with all its might, but, as it moves forward, let it bring in its midst a host of humanitarian aid workers bearing food, water, medicine, tents, and other relief supplies to distribute to the innocent people who have been deprived of these basic necessities of life for the past several days.

The objective, then, would be twofold: 1) to destroy Hamas (which I doubt can be completely achieved), and 2) to protect the aid workers among them so that they can fulfill their mission of providing relief to the Gazan people. If the Israelis are fired upon by Hamas militants, as they undoubtedly will be, they must fire back with lethal force, and if they turn up nests of militants as they go, they must use lethal force to neutralize them, but they must also do everything possible to avoid the killing or injuring of innocent civilians. Instead of killing them, they should feed them, give them water to drink, and make every effort to relieve their suffering.

What is the alternative? What would be the result of a full-scale Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in which tens of thousands of innocent lives are lost? Undying hatred and conflict for generations to come — from the parents to the children to the children’s children and beyond — on both sides of the border. Let us try to stop that from happening if we possibly can.

Charles Goldberg, Newtown Square

How can it be that Philadelphia International Airport apparently has no surveillance cameras in the parking garages? In May of 2021, it was announced a $100 million project would begin to upgrade the airport’s video surveillance system — what happened? The tragic events of last week, which took the life of a veteran police officer and wounded another, might have been avoided had the cameras been installed. For all Philadelphians and its much-maligned airport, get it done.

Mary Beth Rodger, Warwick

Pennsylvania limits the rights and choices of people dealing with disabling illness in many ways (“When rights stop at state lines”). Not mentioned in the article is that, in Pennsylvania, Medicaid does not pay for palliative care. Therefore, those most in need of focused clinical and psychosocial support, but not yet ready for hospice, are denied the care they deserve. Another systemic bias that lubricates the slippery slope.

Carol Mackenzie Jackson, Harleysville

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