Outlooks vary over protests on campus 

According to the article “Professor details his arrest at SBU” [News, May 4], Stony Brook University professor Josh Dubnau was home having dinner on May 1 when he started getting messages from pro-Palestinian student protesters around 9:30 p.m. The students had been ordered to evacuate the site and end the demonstration.

So, did the professor message back to the students and tell them to obey the lawful orders and leave? Instead, he joined them and was arrested.

His actions just add to the perception that our youth are being taught a lack of respect for law and order by the very people and institutions entrusted with educating them. Did the professor think about the police and the aggravation and threats that the officers had to deal with?

As a state university employee, did he believe he had the right to condone unrest in his students or that his unlawful actions would change the horrendous situation on the other side of the world?

I have had enough of our civil servants meddling in the politics and minds of our youth. Just do your job.

— Roy Reynolds, East Moriches

No First Amendment rights of the protesters were suppressed, but disorderly conduct is a violation. Let them encamp at Josh Dubnau’s house and in his neighborhood. Let’s see what his neighbors would say.

— Roger Rothman, Commack

What is heartbreaking about media coverage of the college students’ protests? First, they are our children, and they are being portrayed as antisemitic or terrorists [“Stony Brook faculty: Drop protest charges,” News, May 7].

In reality, they are calling for an end to the war in Gaza and are morally outraged by over 30,000 fatalities and over 70,000 wounded Palestinians, many of them children and women.

Second, most of the media attention shifted to the protests from the war in Gaza and the crucial negotiations for a cease-fire, release of the hostages and peaceful resolution of the conflict.

We should listen to our children and join them in calling for a cease-fire and for increased humanitarian aid to Palestinians who are dying and for peace negotiations.

— Margaret Melkonian, Uniondale

The writer is director of the non-profit Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives.

College students have urged divestment from Israel. Have those encamping and protesting divested themselves of products made in Israel or with major key parts made in Israel?

Have they given up their Waze app, which was developed in Israel? Or cellphones and computers, which have had some parts developed in Israel? Or USB drives, which were invented there?

Have they stopped using medications developed in Israel or the PillCam, a medical device that allows doctors to see inside bodies to determine and treat medical issues? The list goes on. Have they demanded their parents divest or sell all Israeli financial holdings?

If they are serious about divestment, it should begin with them. They should not ask others to do what they have not done or would not do.

— Fern Summer, North Bellmore

When newscasters asked demonstrators across U.S. college campuses what their specific concerns were, the answers were a litany of mixed and often wrong answers. Most rioters apparently had no idea.

It has been pointed out that a major reason for the uprisings was due to what is being taught in our colleges and viewed on social media. The key is education. All sorts of punishment have been suggested, including arrests, dismissal and expulsion from school.

I suggest including a requirement that all protesters must view a 45-minute film of the Oct. 7 massacre of innocent Israelis. Those who have seen it say it is so horrendous they had to turn their eyes away due to its gruesome scenes of mutilations and torture. Maybe after viewing the film, the rioters will understand why Israel is defending itself.

— John Appelt, Garden City

To the reader who wrote, “Many of the same people condemning the campus protesters praised the Jan. 6 rioters” [“Campus protests create a storm,” Letters, May 5], here’s another thought: Many of the same people condemning the Jan. 6 protesters are praising the campus rioters.

— Gerald Esposito, Hicksville

Hostage exchanges appear to be illogical. For every innocent Israeli senior, woman or child released, Israel releases many more Palestinian criminals. Soon after Israel releases Palestinians, they can come back to terrorize more Israelis.

Hostage exchanges will free hostage victims but could result in more murders, hostage-taking and war.

I also do not understand why Israel has not replaced the regime of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which attempted a judicial coup and left Israel exposed to the worst atrocities in Israel’s history.

— Steven Ross, Kew Gardens, Queens