Thursday’s Letters to the Editor

No more sympathy

EDITOR: I used to have sympathy for the Palestinians, but I remember Jimmy Carter, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat signing a peace accord. Later Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak. But Arafat was incapable of keeping a promise, and the Palestinians continued to encourage suicide bombing by promising bombers’ families money. Most of the targets hit in Israel were what are called “soft targets” — not police stations or military posts but private parties, such as bar mitzvahs. Then it got even worse. Gaza voted in Hamas, probably in reaction to the corrupt Mahmoud Abbas government in the other part of the Palestinian territories.

This present war is even worse. A concert full of partygoers was shot up by a force of what can only be called terrorists, not freedom fighters or solders. Hamas is nothing but a terrorist organization that has taken over Gaza.

I may have sympathies for individual Palestinians, but any sympathy I may have ever had for their cause is now gone. The Israeli government may be corrupt also, but mass demonstrations criticizing the government (including military reservists) would have never been allowed in the Palestinian territories.

LINDA ROBINETT

Sebastopol

Hutchinson’s example

EDITOR: As the fever begins to break in our national MAGA-infection, and we come to more change points, I think about what I know as a psychotherapist: the abused child often has the strongest bond with the abuser. Donald Trump believers got swindled into investing their love of country and yearning for meaningful patriotism in a morally bankrupt man who has abused all our minds with profound gaslighting and intimidation. I suspect many people still cling to Trump orthodoxy because to do otherwise would pull the first thread in a difficult personal unraveling. I welcome the story and model Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, is offering in what I hope is a national recovery of moral sanity, lengthy and rocky though it may be.

CYNTHIA McREYNOLDS

Sebastopol

Ukraine aid at risk

EDITOR: The threat by allies of Donald Trump to cut off aid to Ukraine represents the gravest threat to peace imaginable. Vladimir Putin has made clear that he intends to invade all territories that Russia has ever held, including those under the Soviet Union. He and his cronies have mused openly about reclaiming Alaska, Sweden, Poland, Finland, East Germany, the Baltics and others. Putin hides behind a false Christian facade to fool people. He really is an old-fashioned imperialist, and he must be stopped.

ANDY FERGUSON

Petaluma

No friend of redwoods

EDITOR: When former state Sen. Barry Keene tried to discredit the accuracy of my new book, “The Ghost Forest,” I found the whine of his lament, and the specious character of his letter, true to form (“Redwoods and politics,” Letters, Oct. 1).

As I demonstrate in my book, Keene was a great friend of the redwood timber industry, a legislator who actively opposed redwood preservation. In the 1970s he stood with timber interests to prevent expansion of Redwood National Park. During U.S. Senate hearings on the proposed expansion, Keene said, “There is no overriding national interest in park expansion.”

Keene also actively opposed saving the ancient redwoods in Humboldt County owned by Pacific Lumber Co. and seized by Maxxam during the 1980s. On Sept. 5, 1986, I asked Keene if it would be possible to legislate a moratorium on logging old-growth redwood. He answered, “What for? What good are they then? The old growth has basically stopped growing, and if you don’t cut them, then they just stand there not doing anyone any good.”

I could cite a dozen additional examples of Keene backing the redwood timber industry. He was rarely a friend of the forest.

GREG KING

Arcata

Polly foundation remains

EDITOR: As executive director of the Polly Klaas Foundation, I would like to address some of the confusion caused over the past few weeks by the announced sunsetting of the KlaasKids Foundation (“Klaas to retire from advocacy sparked by tragedy,” Oct. 3).

Since that time, the Polly Klaas Foundation has received several emails, phone calls and texts from citizens worried the Polly Klaas Foundation was closing. We want to assure you the Polly Klaas Foundation remains open 24/7 to help families of missing children and to keep children safe through a multitude of programs and services.

We’ve been here for 30 years and have helped over 10,000 families of missing children to date. We plan to be here for 30 more years and appreciate all the support from our community that ensures the continuum of our mission to keep children safe. Visit PollyKlaas.org for more information, or contact me, Executive Director Raine Howe, at 707-769-1334 or Raine@PollyKlaas.org.

RAINE HOWE

Petaluma

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