LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Posted Friday, June 22, 2018 12:05 am

To the editor:

In a recent mailing, U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel states that he “opposes the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.”

BDS is not against the existence of the state of Israel. It is a movement that is strongly against many of the actions that Israel has taken, and continues to take, against the Palestinian people.

And in the same way that universities, industries and many individuals divested from South Africa when it was an Apartheid nation, so they are doing the same now.

Congressman Engel should be for BDS if he is against the killing of unarmed Palestinians, including young children, at the Gaza border.

He should be an advocate of BDS if he is against the blockade of Gaza by land, sea and air by Israel, so that adequate food, medical supplies and building materials could enter Gaza and its 2 million residents.

Indeed, he should be for BDS if he is against the theft of Palestinian land and water by Israeli settlers on the occupied West Bank — as the majority of the world has stated.

Certainly, Congressman Engel knows all this, especially as the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. So why not use this knowledge and write a more truthful piece of campaign literature?

Samuel Goldman