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Oakland leaders must
address antisemitism
Re: “Oakland leaders are ignoring the city’s antisemitism problem” (Page A8, March 9).
Oakland’s failure to address anti-Jewish hate and discrimination negatively impacts Jews across the Bay Area who appreciate and enjoy the city but no longer feel safe and welcomed there due to relentless hate crimes.
Violent incitement against Jews, attacks on Jewish religious ritual objects like the Chabad menorah, destruction of Jewish communal buildings, racist hate speech and conspiracy theories targeting Jews, and exclusion of Jews from the promise of safety, equality, diversity and inclusion are deeply disturbing and lead to marginalization and dangerous devaluation and dehumanization.
We need Oakland civil society and city government to speak up, show up and act in solidarity and allyship affirming human rights and human dignity, respect for civil rights for Jews alongside all Oakland residents, and an Oakland and Bay Area free of hate that is welcoming to all without exception. I miss the Oakland I once knew, where I was welcomed and included.
Noam Schimmel
Berkeley
Oakland must end
its double standard
Re: “Oakland leaders are ignoring the city’s antisemitism problem” (Page A8, March 9).
There is a disturbing double standard for Jews in the Bay Area. Jews frequently stand up as allies for other minority groups. However, when Jews are singled out, as happened starting literally the day after the Oct. 7 massacres by Hamas, many politicians and, unbelievably, educators either stood by silently or participated in a gaslighting exercise. Phrases like “resistance by any means necessary” or genocide go unchallenged. Evidence, often live-streamed by murderers and rapists, is not believed if it shows Jews being targeted. Campuses become less safe for Jews, and as noted by Mark Cohen, graffiti expressing hatred and violence toward Jews has become commonplace.
When will leaders who rally for the safety of other minorities take steps to assure Jews they are still welcome in Oakland?
JB Leibovitch
Oakland
Housing is solution
to homelessness
Re: “Homeless regular drug use just 37%” (Page A1, March 8).
Your article dispels harmful myths about homelessness. It directly challenges Elon Musk’s claim that “In most cases, the word ‘homeless’ is a lie. It’s usually a propaganda word for violent drug addicts with severe mental illness.” Such misinformation fuels stigma and distracts from real solutions.
While I struggled with addiction during my time of homelessness, many unhoused individuals never used drugs. The UCSF study confirms this: 25% have never used drugs, and only 37% use illicit substances regularly. Some turn to drugs as a coping mechanism, but addiction is not the root cause of homelessness — housing insecurity is.
As someone who lived this reality — both as an individual and a single-parent father — I know that housing, not criminalization, is the solution. We need more low-income housing, expanded treatment access, and leaders who prioritize homelessness, not to scapegoat those experiencing it.
Eric Moseley
Richmond
Daylight saving time
downside is overblown
Re: “Experts warn of various downsides of daylight saving time” (Page A1, March 7).
We change our clocks twice a year, one hour forward, one hour back, and we’re putting our mortal lives at risk? What about the millions of people who fly and cruise across oceans and time zones every day? They should all be dead or full-blown zombies by now.
What about people in Nordic countries who live for six months from dawn to dusk and then for six months from dusk to dawn? I’ve been there, and it is a little odd, but the adjustment is quick and simple.
Let’s give ourselves a dose of good old common sense reality and get on with our lives. Let’s enjoy our guilt-free, sunny evenings after several months of early nightfalls. It’s almost spring, to be followed by summer.
Larry Quilici
Fremont
Democrats need a new
message for Trump
I recently tuned in to the president’s address to Congress.
I first took note of the Republicans in the audience cheering and clapping, seemingly in awe
of the president and of every “accomplishment” he espoused. In contrast, on the other side of the aisle were Democrats, sitting stone-faced. (Some had clearly chosen to opt out of this event.)
Of the Democrats who were present, some chose to hold up signs that read “LIAR!” Half the country already knows he’s a liar. That is old news that has been verified time and again through fact-checking. Rather than putting forth that truth, I wish they would have recognized their own true purpose for being there.
Here is my sign suggestion should another opportunity arise: “I’m here to bear witness” — simple, soothing and salient.
Sharon Brown
Walnut Creek
DOGE cuts may set up
midterm gains for Dems
The newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, headed by multibillionaire Elon Musk, has been moving at breakneck speed to cut jobs. Tens of thousands of federal employees have been either let go or accepted buyouts to resign rather than take a chance on being fired later on.
Many of the impacted federal workers and their families live in historically competitive congressional districts. These affected government workers could be a deciding factor in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. One example is veterans who were some of Trump’s biggest supporters and voted almost 2 to 1 for him. Some 80,000 workers are slated to be fired in the Department of Veteran Affairs alone.
Historically, the party in the White House loses an average of 26 seats in the House of Representatives in midterm elections. These layoffs could cause the Republicans to lose big in the 2026 midterm elections.
Arthur Straus
Walnut Creek