Urge Rep. Delgado to back Israel bill
The Village of Red Hook has lost part of its soul
Dear Editor,
George Bernard Shaw once said, “You use a glass mirror to see your face and use works of art to see your soul.”
The village of Red Hook lost a piece of its soul with the removal of a mural painted by artists Gloria De Pietro and Andres San Millan 24 years ago. This was a blunder by a group of people whose brains were in a malfunctioning mode.
Their clumsy efforts have destroyed a work of art that can never be replaced. It’s gone.
So what’s next? The burning of books? The destruction of “decadent” art? Will we hear the shattering of glass? The ghosts of Nazi Germany must be dancing on their graves: “Heil” to the new order!
I feel sorry for Red Hook.
Yes you can create another mural. You can destroy the Mona Lisa and replace it with a painting of Miss America. But in Red Hook, there will always be something missing.
To my fellow artists and friends in Red Hook, I extend my heartfelt sympathy.
C. Michael Bufi Germantown, N.Y.
Public health measures no infringement of rights
Dear Editor,
I thought at first it was a parody. It was not. A rally to protest public health guidelines to benefit us all? Occupy Peace with guest speakers from the Fox News Network? How on Earth does this pretzel logic make sense?
This is getting tiresome, but
I’ll say it again: This is a public health issue, not a political issue. If the measures we are asked to take seem “draconian,” our parents faced food rationing and scrap metal collection. Wearing a mask doesn’t quite seem so restrictive.
Do I recognize the significant negative economic impact this pandemic has caused? I do. I have friends in the local food service industry who have scrambled to find ways to pay the bills. It has not been easy.
Those who are sponsoring this and those that attend have every “right” to stand under the tallest oak during a lightning storm or not look both ways before crossing the street, but have a weak argument calling our public health measures an infringement on their rights.
Rich Van Kleeck
Kingston, N.Y.
Dear Editor,
During this time of upheaval, nationally and worldwide, there has been notable movement to address injustice systemically. One such hopeful movement was the local passage of an anti-racism resolution by the Kingston Board of Education on Juneteenth. In this resolution, the board recognizes its role in “addressing social inequities in the world, country and in our own school district” and resolved to support initiatives “that will end systemic racism and provide equal opportunity and equal justice for all.” BRAVO to KCSD!
A far less hopeful sign has been the avoidance of our local Congressional representative, Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, to sign HR 2407, No Way to Treat a Child Act.
So, with the blessing of our government, Israel continues to automatically prosecute children in military courts.
The so-called “democratic state of Israel” maintains two legal systems: civilian rule and military law. Palestinians are subjected to military law. And, currently, Israel is planning to unilaterally annex part of the West Bank. These actions are not the path toward full equality and lay the groundwork for Israel to become an apartheid state (as predicted by John Kerry in 2014.) This systemic and widespread abuse is supported with our taxpayer dollars (included in the $3.8 billion we give Israel annually).
Can you envision what we could do in this country to address equal opportunity and equal justice with those monies? Can you imagine what Kingston school district might do with additional funding to realize its commitment to antiracism?
If you can, please, call Congressman Delgado’s office to let him know you are disappointed in his inability to see the inconsistencies in his commitment to address the militarization of the U.S. police, yet refuses to acknowledge the ongoing abuse by the Israeli military against Palestinian children. Let him know that denying Palestinians full equality is what perpetuates the decadeslong conflict – injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Cheryl Qamar Saugerties, N.Y.