BDS is righteous and peaceful

Manhattan: Re: “A load of B.S. on BDS” (editorial, Aug. 8): How the legislation currently in the U.S. Senate dealing with the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement affects corporations and states may be open for debate, but the premise of your editorial — that it is wrong and cruel to criticize Israel — is entirely incorrect. The BDS movement is a peaceful campaign to get the Israeli government to recognize that much of the world considers their treatment of the West Bank and Gaza as vicious, morally repugnant and contrary to international law. Israel has definitely not “been willing for a long time to hand over the vast majority of the territory” to Palestinians, as you state it. Instead, Israel’s policy for a long time has been to permit the building of enormous Israeli enclaves on Palestinian territory, developments that are protected by Israeli troops, and which benefit from special roads. Israel has allowed Israeli paramilitary groups and gangs of thugs to attack Palestinian homes and farms, even to dispossess them.

As for Gaza, calling what Israel has given it “sovereignty” shows how badly informed your editorial writers are. Rather than being an independent self-governing nation, Gaza is more like a concentration camp for 2 million people, with terrible facilities (electricity just a few hours a day, water barely available, almost no medical care) and virtually closed borders.

To bring this to the attention to the rest of the world, the purpose of the BDS campaign, is reasonable and humane. Ellen Ross

Expanding the law

Bronx: The Daily News claims opponents of the anti-BDS bill are lying. Either you’re lying or you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s not a mere continuation of the past anti-BDS law. It’s an amended version. This version calls from penalties outlined in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 USC 1705), which calls for civil penalties of $250,000 and criminal penalties of $1 million plus 20 years in prison. In criminalizing actions based on opinions, that clearly is a violation of the First Amendment. This is one of many times your editorials have been wildly inaccurate. So you really don’t have any more credibility than the guy whose lies you’re always exposing, President Donald Trump. Richard Warren

Fearing the law

Forest Hills: Your editorial says: “Opponents, led by the ACLU, ridiculously claim that the legislation criminalizes free speech. This is false; if it did, how would the BDS movement have thrived on college campuses and elsewhere with the 1977 law on the books?” Clearly, you have not been paying attention. BDS hasn’t thrived on campuses. Several professors have lost their positions and numerous events have been canceled across the country in response to pressure by opponents of BDS. Free speech has been totally denied to anyone courageous enough to support Palestinian rights on campuses. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is the first senator with the courage to come to her senses and do the right thing. Georgia Guida

Anti-Semitic Gillibrand

Margate, Fla.: This editorial reveals the foundational antiSemitism of Sen. Gillibrand. Her enthusiastic support for the BDS movement, which demands the elimination of every Jew in Israel, makes the anti-Semitism that pours from every pore of her body apparent for everyone to see. By supporting BDS, Gillibrand aligns herself with the charters of Hamas and Hezbollah, which call for the murder of every Jew in the world. She is exactly the anti-Semite Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned the world about when he said with great wisdom and prescience in December 1967: “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism.”

Richard Sherman

Boycotts are just

Manhattan: This editorial is not only grossly misinformed, but offensively conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. As a progressive New Yorker of Jewish heritage who cares deeply about human rights around the world, I am horrified that a decent newspaper like the Daily News would print such misleading, propagandistic nonsense that fails to convey: first, the dismal reality of Israel’s horrendous occupation of the West Bank and siege of Gaza, and its cost to human life and liberty; and second, the fact that the U.S., in its undying support for Israel, no matter what, is an outlier in the world. The UN, by supporting the boycott of Israel, is not anti-Semitic, nor is the worldwide boycott movement, just as the boycott of South African apartheid was not anti-white. Gordon Beeferman

Google got it right

Manhattan: You cannot be serious (“Google ‘big mistake’ ”, editorial, Aug. 9). I am far from someone who would be considered a feminist, but I find James Damore’s firing justified. He is certainly entitled to his opinion when he is talking to colleagues around the water cooler; but it was inappropriate to share that opinion in an internal memo. Being a giant in one’s mind doesn’t make one an expert!

Whitney Devlin

Kneeling is respectful

Union, N.J.: I was just wondering how many of the Colin Kaepernick critics/haters are big fans of “Game of Thrones”? You know, the show where the ultimate sign of homage and respect is to “bend the knee”! I guess the critics and haters are really showing us they are just hypocrites and racists.

Lou Alt

Disrespecting the flag

Rockaway Park: Voicer Hawk Newsome is way off-base saying that Colin Kaepernick is being blackballed for kneeling before the national anthem and our flag. His being blackballed had nothing to do with the issues with the treatment of blacks. Right away, it’s about race and the weak! What about those who died for our rights and freedoms? He picked the wrong place and time to disrespect the anthem and our flag. The reason we stand up during the ceremony is to honor those who have fallen fighting for freedom and free speech. It was because of his disrespect for those things we honor that he is not wanted. He is free to express whatever he wants, but not during a ceremony where we honor the sacrifices of our soldiers. Colin was a dummy for doing what he did, when he did it and how he did it. He made bad choices. End of story. Jesus Linares

Painful truth

Keyport, N.J.: Well, they finally did it (“DEA proposes cutting production of some opioid painkillers,” Aug. 4): The only medication that helps me — Opana — has been removed from the market. Why? Because people abuse it. Not that people don’t abuse alcohol and kill more people via DWI, but the moral outrage has killed — for me and I am sure others — a miracle. Those in pain understand. But I found out that the generic is still available. What the heck is that about? Though generics are supposedly the same, we all know they are not. That being said, if they are the same, why aren’t they being discontinued? It’s a knee-jerk reaction to a few abusers. Joe Napolitano

Do the crime, pay the fine

Ridgewood: To Voicer Kai Holder, who thinks it’s unfair to punish poor people if they can’t afford to pay a fare: I am poor and disabled and manage to pay my own fare. Too many people don’t pay their fare, so it keeps going up — leading to more fare-beaters! People can’t afford a ticket, so pay your fare and you won’t have to worry about it. Do you have that same theory if you go into a store? Do you think, “I can’t afford it, so I’ll take it?” Kind of sounds the same to me, but you can get arrested for shoplifting, not for fare evasion. We should suffer consequences for actions in our life. So if you’re not paying your fare, you should pay the fine you get. Amy Marino

Dangerous exit

JOHN MINCHILLO Middle Village: Thank you for your attention to this story (“Long Island man dies in Queens expressway wreck after hitting tractor-trailer,” Aug. 9). As someone who lives in the neighborhood, I have to add that tractortrailers often park on the shoulder in this very spot, creating a very dangerous exit ramp off the Long Island Expressway. Only recently was the exit lane paved as well. Beforehand, a deep lip/dent was left in the road, which easily could make your car lose control if you’re going anything over 20 mph. If you don’t regularly take this exit ramp, you wouldn’t know to slow down well below the speed limit (coming off a highway, chances are you’re not). I just wanted to point this out as it may shed some light to this story. The police are quick to point out that they will investigate possible intoxication, but they should investigate the road and truck parking instead. Lidia Kacic