Seacoast, NH leaders must condemn antisemitism: Letters

Leaders have a responsibility to condemn antisemitism

April 28 — To the Editor:

Those of us on the Seacoast have lived through several recent antisemitic incidents, including the April 8 vandalism of two antique sconces at Temple Israel in Portsmouth – the first permanent Jewish house of worship in New Hampshire. These attacks are taking place in a larger landscape that has grown increasingly hostile to Jewish people.

Antisemitic attacks have surged since the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis by the terrorist group Hamas, with increasingly antagonistic acts and rhetoric directed toward Jews. While feelings about the Israel-Hamas war may be complex, they should have no bearing on whether someone denounces antisemitism.

Some of our community, state, and national leaders have been silent when it comes to matters of Jew hatred. As human beings, but especially as government officials, we have a responsibility to set a model for the public. Hostile behaviors or beliefs toward Jews are unacceptable. That wasn’t so hard, was it?

Rep. Jennifer Mandelbaum

Rockingham 21 (Portsmouth/Newington)

Floating shellfish cages not a good fit at Fox Point

April 26 — To the Editor:

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has received the first of what could be many floating oyster cage applications at Fox Point. The town's selectmen have submitted a letter in opposition.

The four major points they are concerned with are:

1. Impact on navigation - residents in boats would no longer be able to run them easily around the point.

2. Recreational uses such as water skiing and tubing, kayaking, trawling for fish and paddle boarding will not be possible as we lose 2 acres of waterfront to the floating shellfish cages forcing everyone out into the dangerous currents of navigational channel.

3. Viewshed and property values will decline. As we look out from our beloved Fox Point park, instead of seeing a clear water view, it will be littered with a view of floating shellfish cages. Properties with water views will decline in value as buyers take in the scene of hundreds of unsightly floating cages.

4. Bird concentrations on such floating apparatus will pose a threat to water and oyster quality.

If you would like to object to this proposal, comments are being accepted by Fish & Game until Tuesday, May 7 at this email address: comments@wildlife.nh.org

Doug Ross

Newington

Donald Trump is destructive for America

April 27 — To the Editor:

Donald Trump's U.S. Supreme Court is falling all over themselves to immunize and re-elect their favorite potential felon.

He takes loud, proud credit for removing reproductive and health rights his mother, children and wives all enjoyed

He is laughed at and despised by all world leaders, except those dictators he worships.

He has no morals, character, intellect or empathy.

He calls soldiers “losers and suckers,” and the dummy stood over a dead soldier-filled, sunk destroyer in Hawaii asking Gen. Kelly what it was and what it meant?

He mocks those with disabilities and doesn’t want them around to make him look bad.

He helped kill Covid victims with his malignant narcissism, ignorance, and bleach-drinking remedies.

On April 27, his henchmen announced plans to make this six-time bankruptcy declarant pivotal in adjusting ups and downs of the Fed.

He was named by respected historians and scholars  the worst president in history.

He's anti-union and labor.

A second generation immigrant, he’s an avowed racist, misogynist and anti-immigrant.

This is my short version of a massive encyclopedia called “Trump Crimes, Horrors, Ignorance, World Harm, and Treason!” Would you give up your freedoms and our democracy for a dangerous, super-stupid, anti-American, heartless, racist, dictator … because eggs and gas may temporarily be high???  Surely you have family, friends over 80 who you respect and trust and, like Biden, have a heart, wisdom and integrity?

Carol Selsberg

Eliot, Maine

NH does not need legislation born of right-wing conspiracy theories and baseless claims of mass voter fraud

April 27 — To the Editor:

New Hampshire House Bill 1569 is a solution looking for a problem. Gov. Chris Sununu and our secretary of state have both said New Hampshire elections are fair and safe.

HB1569 requires proof of citizenship to vote and does away with the existing system where a person swears they are qualified to vote and must prove that within a few days or that vote is not counted. HB1569 specifically requires a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers. New Hampshire drivers’ licenses are not proof of citizenship. The bill could impact voters unknowingly removed from voter rolls, and doesn’t bring the specific documents to the polls.

A 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice reviewed votes in 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 election and revealed that only 30 votes out of 23.5 million votes were suspected to be votes by noncitizens. “The absence of fraud reinforces a wide consensus among scholars, journalists and election administrators: voter fraud of any kind, including noncitizen voting, is rare,” the report concluded. A New York Times investigation found just two possible instances of noncitizens illegally voting in the 2016 election out of more than 137 million ballots cast.

HB1569 is a voter suppression bill. If passed, New Hampshire would have the most restrictive voter registration system in the USA, not an honor in a democracy. Please contact your legislators to oppose this bill. And let’s not elect conspiracy theorists to disrupt the election process.

Claudia Damon

Concord

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast, NH leaders must condemn antisemitism: Letters