Gaza war, schoolteacher salaries, states' rights and presidential elections

In Gaza, more war is not the answer

Shortly after the cease-fire in Gaza that saw hostages released and desperately needed humanitarian aid flow into Gaza, war and violence returned unabated. Rockets and bombs once again filled the air, humanitarian aid slowed, and hostages remained exactly where they were.

It doesn’t need to be this way [“Sharp divide on Gaza future,” Nation & World, Jan. 10]. There was positive momentum building toward a permanent cease-fire, something that everyone must agree is urgently needed.

The cease-fire negotiations, aid deliveries and release of the hostages showed the power of dialogue. Weapons did not bring them about. Far from it. If Israelis and the Palestinians want peace — real, lasting peace — they need to talk to one another. Not shoot at each other.

More war is not the answer. There is no military solution to this crisis. It’s critical that our congressional representatives publicly call for a cease-fire to finally bring an end to the violence. Only once the shooting stops for good can we address the root causes of the conflict. Without that, there is only more war in the future.

— Mounira Makar, West Babylon

It took the brutal, inhuman violence perpetrated by Hamas on innocent Israelis on Oct. 7 to turn an often-antisemitic world into a sympathetic, pro-Israel body.

It took little time after that event for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to erase all that goodwill with his thoughtless approach to defeating Hamas, taking out thousands of innocent Palestinian children and women, in addition to threatening the lives of the hostages.

How many young Palestinians have been radicalized by this response, young men who will exact punishment on Israelis down the line? Netanyahu doesn’t have clean hands in this tragedy, so a good start would be to toss him out.

There are clearer heads in Israel, people who would put the State of Israel before self-interest. I hope they prevail before it’s too late.

— Joan Nelson, Ridge

It is wrong to label all opponents of Israeli government policy as antisemites. In Israel, there are active constituencies of Jewish citizens who oppose the scope of Israel’s war in Gaza. They’re not antisemites.

The same is true here in America, where many Jews — including a proud Jew like me — are critical of Israel’s war policies. That doesn’t make me an antisemite.

— Steve Vitoff, Huntington

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has advised Israel to follow the rules of war regarding the civilian population as they always strive to do. Why doesn’t the secretary give the same advice to Hamas?

I think Hamas needs that advice more than the Israeli soldiers, who are not cutting off babies’ heads, spraying bullets into a crowd of concertgoers and taking hostages. It wasn’t the Israelis who, during the temporary cease-fire, entered Jerusalem and killed three people and wounded several others just waiting for a bus.

And did the United States follow the rules of war when it bombed Dresden in World War II and dropped two atomic bombs on Japan that killed more than 100,000 people? War is hell.

— Michael Leibowitz, Plainview

U.S. tax dollars should not be used to rebuild Gaza. Our tax dollars should not reward Hamas or Iranian aggression.

— Brian Cross, Massapequa

As a Jew, and as a human, my heart is with Israel. I hate the inhumanity they suffered on Oct. 7, and I sympathize with Israel’s decades-long search for peace and security.

I also sympathize with the people of Gaza, and I mourn the loss of life there and the misery Gazans are now experiencing. Those two beliefs are not mutually exclusive.

— Tedd Levy, Woodbury

Teaching students isn’t like a vacation

I vigorously object to salary being a repeated standard for judging the teaching profession [“Different lessons about LI teachers,” Letters, Jan. 8].

A reader objects to a teacher’s six-figure salary, complaining that they “get their summers off” and “Their commute home is not even during rush hour.”

I’m tired of people thinking that teachers have a cushy job. I personally was in school working until 5 or 6 p.m., on occasion later, sometimes earlier. That’s an 11-hour day. And I was not the only one doing that.

The time I spent after hours and at home more than covered time off during summer and holidays. I also spent plenty of time in the car, and that was draining, too. Come summer, it took a full two weeks to level out after the school year. Lesson planning began again in August.

Teachers teach and, unfortunately, must be disciplinarians, counselors and psychologists. Dealing with six classes each day makes itself felt at the end of the day, the week and the year. Teachers need time to regenerate.

The reader’s comments are superficial and insulting. If being a teacher is so cushy and well-paying, the reader could have chosen to become one. But she would have had more than just a long commute to deal with.

— Diana Ihmann, Valley Stream

The writer retired as a high school teacher after 20 years.

States always decide who’s on their ballots

A reader writes, “When states start picking and choosing who can and can’t be on the ballot, we’re on a slippery slope” [“GOP eyes democracy: Well, that’s a switch,” Letters, Jan. 10].

States, however, have always determined who can and can’t be on the ballot. The Constitution gives that responsibility to the states. The Constitution specifies the qualifications for candidates for national office, and states and municipalities determine qualifications for local office.

Candidates must meet several qualifications depending on the office they seek. The Constitution states that the president must be a natural-born U.S. citizen, at least 35 years old and a U.S. resident for 14 years. It also states that they cannot have participated in an insurrection.

So states are not determining who can or can’t run. They are making sure that candidates meet the qualifications specified by law.

— Scott Diamond, Levittown