A vision for Market Square, strong opinions about war in Gaza: Letters
In reimagining Market Square, let's look to the future
May 21 — To the Editor:
In reply to both Jim Splaine's opinion piece and today's letter by Ms. Lusky (5/21), I request data from the city regarding the actual number of parking spaces that might be lost should Market Square become pedestrian-only (with cross streets High, Fleet, Church, and part of Pleasant remaining open). What, exactly, is the current amount of revenue from those spaces that would be lost?
Without hard data, no one can claim closing the central part of Market Square to traffic (again, with cross streets open for deliveries, residents, and dropping off folks who can't walk far) isn't possible. Putting in retractable posts (as seen in many European and U.S. cities such as Burlington, Vtermont, and Boulder, Colorado) for the closed-off areas of Market Square would allow for snow plows in the winter. Imagination, as Mr. Splaine stated, is what is needed.
We taxpayers (and I've lived here since 1985) paid for the Foundry Place garage. With both the High-Hanover and Foundry garages open, there should be plenty of parking and no need for the few in-town spots we would lose.
Sitting to dine outside or enjoy a coffee while breathing clean air exempt from cars idling at a light or a pedestrian crossing, listening to birds rather than loud mufflers from motorcycles and cars cruising the loop of downtown should be the future of Market Square — we can make it work with a little imagination and looking to the future rather than clinging to the past.
Kathryn Brandin
Portsmouth
Ad condemning Israel was reprehensible
May 21 — To the Editor:
To the list of people that signed onto the "Not in our Name" Ad from the Sunday 5/19 Seacoast paper.
I am a proud member of Temple Israel in Portsmouth. My children have both been bar mitzvah’d. My wife and I have been to Israel. This past Sunday’s ad condemning Israel is completely reprehensible. It suggests funneling more aid to UNRWA. Multiple news organizations have found evidence that the agency is infiltrated by Hamas and its sympathizers. The UN has been nothing but a complete antagonist and enemy of Israel since its founding 76 years ago. Anyone that is paying attention knows that the UN is a complete joke.
Did you people take an ad out after 9/11 saying the United States had no right to go after the Taliban? Do you not understand that Jews have nowhere else to go if the world turns against them again? My wife’s grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Everyone else in their family was wiped out, except for one brother, Joe. He was an early settler in Israel after the 1948 Independence. He fled there after not finding any safe havens in Europe, even after the war. Our son was named after him.
A better headline for your ad would have been: "We demand the immediate release of the Oct. 7 hostages. We condemn sexual violence and torture used against innocent civilians (Including many Americans)." That's something I'll put my name on.
Jay Lieberman
Portsmouth
To deny genocide is to accept responsibility for it
May 16 — To the Editor:
It takes real effort to deny the genocide going on in Gaza, as recent letterwriters have attempted. You have to ignore the fact that Israeli government leaders called for the elimination of the Palestinians and then set about eliminating the Palestinians. Instead of accepting the painful reality, you have to confuse people with distracting counter-claims. Here are a few:
Israel is the Middle East’s only democracy. To be sure, it’s a democracy where millions of people living there are denied the right to vote. And what about Turkey?
Palestinians have repeatedly rejected offers of statehood. If you look it up, you’ll see that this is a gross oversimplification of a vexed history. And does it follow that the Palestinians accordingly deserve to be killed?
The Palestinian death toll is exaggerated, according to the UN. The UN recently issued a revised estimate of the number of women and children killed, pending analysis of 10,000 additional deaths. However, the UN has not changed its figure for the overall death toll in Gaza, which stands at more than 35,000. There is no reason to think that the high percentage of women and children killed has changed.
The Israeli Defense Forces notify civilians prior to an attack, giving them a chance to seek safety. There are no safe places in Gaza, including schools, hospitals, and UN facilities. The Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer was notified by telephone that the IDF knew where he was; when he fled to his home, he was assassinated.
The IDF is the most moral army in the history of the world. Israeli whistleblowers confirmed to CNN that Palestinian captives have been stripped, beaten, tortured and even killed, as reported by survivors. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the IDF has established “kill zones” where anyone stirring can be shot dead. Surgeons returning to the West report seeing children, including toddlers, who have been killed with a single shot to the head or chest.
Hamas uses civilians as human shields. Dropping 2,000-pound bombs on one of the world’s most densely populated areas is bound to kill thousands of civilians, whether or not they have been designated as “human shields.” If any human shields do exist, they are remarkably ineffective. When the Israeli military suspected that a single armed terrorist might be riding in a World Central Kitchen convoy, they didn’t hesitate to kill everyone in the convoy.
Criticizing Israel is antisemitic. This fallacy would make Jews worldwide responsible for Israeli war crimes.
The case for genocidal intent is simple, given Israeli leaders’ many statements calling for the elimination of the Palestinian people. Here are a few examples:
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant : “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel… We are fighting human animals.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Gaza is the city of evil. We will turn all the places where Hamas deploys and hides into ruins. I am telling the people of Gaza – get out of there now.”
President Isaac Herzog: “There are no innocent civilians in Gaza.”
The UN Convention on Genocide lists particular acts, among them:
“Killing members of the group.” The Israeli military has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Many more lie buried under rubble. The killing has proceeded at a pace unmatched in the 21st century.
“Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.” The wounded total 78,000. Many will suffer lifelong disability. People, especially children and the elderly, have started to die from starvation.
“Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” Israel has obstructed the flow of food, water, medicine and fuel to Gaza. It has driven 1.5 million people from their homes. It has blown up hospitals, universities, and schools. Sixty percent of the housing stock has been damaged or destroyed. Sewage runs through the streets.
To deny the obvious genocide, for whatever reason, is to accept responsbility for it.
William R. Castle
Portsmouth
Protesters invoke Dr. King while speaking mistruths about Israel
May 21 — To the Editor:
Antonucci et al. (May 21) try to justify their disruption of Congressman Pappas' office by invoking the names of MLK, Desmond Tutu and Cesar Chavez. They undermine their own moral authority, however, by repeating the Hamas-inspired lie that 35,000 Gazans have died in the war so far. Two analyses of Gaza casualty numbers by academic statisticians have found that those numbers are almost certainly fabrications by Hamas. Even the United Nations, no friend of Israel, now admits that the 35,000 figure is far too high.
The claim that there is an "emerging crisis of starvation" in Gaza is also false. As the Wall Street Journal noted last Monday, "Israel facilitated the delivery of 542,570 tons of aid and 28,255 aid trucks into Gaza since the start of the war, despite knowing that the aid is directly and indirectly subsidizing Hamas’ rule." A few days ago, 11 of the 16 food aid trucks departing from the U.S.-built pier in Gaza were hijacked before reaching the hungry, presumably by Hamas for its own use.
Rev. Grishaw-Jones et al. call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. What they fail to mention is that there was a ceasefire before the brutal Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israel. Now our protesters want to stop the IDF from pursuing a campaign to eliminate Hamas as a future threat to the people of Israel.
Who, exactly, do our protesters seem to care about? They admit that they have "listened closely to the voices of Palestinians." But have they listened to the families and friends of those Israelis who were murdered on Oct. 7? Have they spoken to the families of Israelis who have been held captive in the dungeons of Gaza since Oct. 7? Have they listened to any of the 100,000 Israelis who have been displaced from their homes since Oct. 7? No, our protesters prefer to take a "brave stand ... against genocide." In other words, they prefer to repeat the antisemitic falsehood and blood libel that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Invoking the name of Martin Luther King, Jr., in an effort to gain the moral high ground is no substitute for telling the truth about the war in Gaza.
Richard England
Durham
Please join me in supporting Granite United Way
May 22 —To the Editor:
New Hampshire is a great state to live and work in, yet many of our fellow citizens sometimes struggle with complex issues. We are fortunate to have innovative solutions to many of these challenges and for Granite United Way to bring organizations and communities together to help solve these challenges.
I have had the privilege of being a Granite United Way board member had have seen firsthand the work of so many community organizations to improve lives. I value this work, but donations are needed to support and continue this important work.
I am inspired by donors who want to help make a difference. We have a wonderful opportunity to as a donor has made a $20,000 challenge match!
Join me this spring and support United Way — your donations will be matched up to $20,000 — to ensure programs that address affordable housing, early childhood initiatives, mental health and substance use disorders and those supporting individuals in recovery are available when they are needed.
Text GUWNOW to 41444 – together we are changing lives!
Nick Toumpas
Board Member
Granite United Way
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Vision for Market Square, strong opinions about war in Gaza: Letters
