Letters to the Editor | Sept. 21, 2023

Philadelphia’s next mayor, whether it be Cherelle Parker or David Oh, needs to put a stop to the gun violence and killings and lower the crime rate while also putting in a real effort to get illegal weapons off the streets. After reviewing their campaign websites, both candidates have good plans for the future of public safety and lowering crime.

Proposals that stood out on Parker’s website include investing more in community engagement to address long-term issues that lead to a rise in crime, as well as hiring 300 additional foot and bike patrol officers to walk a beat in every neighborhood of the city, getting to know the community they’re sworn to protect and serve without any tolerance for misuse or abuse of their power. Ideas that stood out on Oh’s campaign site were regular patrolling and a visible presence from courteous, well-trained, and responsive law enforcement personnel with a focus on crime hot spots, as well as a strategy of community-oriented policing based on a partnership between stakeholders and law enforcement that ensures a focused public service approach to peacekeeping. Hopefully, Parker or Oh can put a stop to this crime crisis.

Alim Howell, Upper Darby

A recent Inquirer article about the upcoming Palestine Writes literature festival at the University of Pennsylvania noted that one speaker, singer-songwriter Roger Waters, has been criticized by the U.S. State Department for having “minimized the Holocaust.” True, but it wasn’t just minimizing, and it didn’t happen just one time. Waters has repeatedly compared Israel to Nazi Germany. He has also compared defenders of Israel to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and asserted that Palestinian Arab terrorism is like resistance operations in Nazi-occupied countries in World War II. During a concert in Berlin last May, Waters paraded around the stage in a Nazi-style uniform. The imagery exploited the name of Holocaust victim Anne Frank and included a giant inflatable pig adorned with a prominent Jewish star. In short, Waters seems obsessed with distorting Holocaust history and abusing the memory of its victims.

Rafael Medoff, director, David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, Washington, D.C.

Thank you to Inquirer reporters Susan Snyder and Massarah Mikati for their objective reporting on the Palestinian Writes literature festival and issues brought up about the conflicts of perspectives within and outside of both the Jewish and Palestinian communities. I am Jewish and not Zionist, and I am offended by much of what happens in Israel. I feel marginalized by the preponderance of Jewish institutions and press that facilitate the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. The reporting on Rabbi Linda Holtzman and her work with Tikkun Olam Chavurah and Jewish Voice for Peace gives me hope that there are places in our community, both Jewish and otherwise, for voices and opinions such as mine.

Jeffrey Plaut, Elkins Park, jeffrey.plaut@icloud.com

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