To the Editor:
Re “It’s Time for the U.S. to Give Israel Some Tough Love,” by Thomas L. Friedman (column, Dec. 23):
For all the hand-wringing and empty rhetoric over the war in Gaza, Mr. Friedman has been one of the few voices of sanity and logic. One can only hope that the White House stops digging itself further into the quagmire created by Israel’s insane leadership and implements his appeal for a rational approach to ending the horror.
It’s such a straightforward, logical approach: total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the return of all hostages and a permanent cease-fire under international supervision. Mr. Friedman argues persuasively that Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, will have to confront the disaster in Gaza he created.
Israel has long been held to absurd standards faced by few other countries, but that’s reality — which is not to excuse the excesses that have resulted in so many needless deaths in Gaza. Israel and the U.S. simply cannot afford our growing isolation. It’s time to end the insanity, and Mr. Friedman provides a clear path … if only people would listen.
Mark Schannon
Tucson, Ariz.
To the Editor:
It is the Palestinian leadership that needs tough love, not Israel. Hamas diverted millions of dollars of aid to armed conflict, while many of its top leaders live abroad in luxury.
The corrupt and incompetent Palestinian Authority spends much of its budget on its “pay for slay” policy that rewards terror attacks. These two Palestinian factions agree on only one thing: their obsession with destroying Israel. They have rejected every peace process and indoctrinate for endless conflict.
Only Israel has made concessions. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005. It handed over governance of the West Bank to the Palestine Liberation Organization after the Oslo Accords. It was “rewarded” with more terror and rocket attacks, and more political warfare.
How long will it take to stop blaming Israel for the consequences of Palestinian rejectionism? How long will it take to hold Palestinian leaders responsible for their corruption and violence?
Doron Lubinsky
Atlanta
To the Editor:
Re “Netanyahu Vows to Keep Up Fight, Despite Criticism” (front page, Dec. 18):
To achieve its goal of destroying the military capability of Hamas, Israel cannot avoid unintentionally causing civilian casualties in Gaza because Hamas is so deeply embedded in and under all aspects of civilian infrastructure. To further obstruct the Israel Defense Forces’ efforts to protect civilians, many Hamas fighters eschew uniforms to make themselves indistinguishable from civilians.
Amid the mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, the U.S. is urging Israel to scale back its military operations. Britain and Germany are calling for a sustainable cease-fire.
Israel can inform the international community that it will accept a cease-fire in Gaza under the following two conditions:
1) All of the hostages must be released before a cease-fire can begin.
2) The purpose of the cease-fire will be to negotiate the disarmament of Hamas and its expulsion from Gaza.
After both conditions have been satisfied, the cease-fire will become sustainable. At that time, the U.S., the European Union, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Arab League and Israel can begin to negotiate the future governance and reconstruction of Gaza.
Theodore Sheskin
Queens
Protecting Immigrant Children From Dangerous Labor
To the Editor:
Re “Children Facing Peril and Death in Roofing Jobs” (front page, Dec. 17):
Roofing, and the construction business as a whole, is yet another dangerous industry that exposes children to life-threatening situations that child labor laws aim to prevent.
These harrowing accounts of vulnerable youth expose an evident failure in the enforcement of those laws, which demands urgent attention from the federal government and relevant agencies. To safeguard children’s well-being, the Labor Department must be held accountable. It must also be provided adequate resources to support its vital work.
Another powerful tool to keep immigrant children out of illegal, exploitative labor conditions is access to legal representation. Offering them legal support actively combats exploitation by helping them know their right to be shielded from danger.
Such support also helps children gain access to the U.S. protection for which they may be eligible, as well as legal and safe employment opportunities.
Helping children find lawyers and giving them a fair chance to make their case in immigration court, as provided by the recently introduced bipartisan, bicameral Immigration Court Efficiency and Children’s Court Act, can prevent more of the horrors described in this devastating article.
Wendy Young
Washington
The writer is president of the nonprofit Kids in Need of Defense (KIND).
Affordable Housing and Windowless Bedrooms
As an architect, I have been taught that access to natural light is an inalienable right. But as someone concerned about both the housing crisis in this city and the climate crisis, I have rethought my position on windowless bedrooms.
As long as each room has proper mechanical ventilation, and every apartment has natural light in the living room, kitchen and dining room, I am OK with windowless bedrooms.
We have no other realistic way to increase housing and allow more people to live affordably in the city. We have too few apartments and a glut of office space that can’t be converted based on the existing rules. Urban living is more energy efficient than single-family housing and driving.
Making life in the city more affordable is one of the best ways to fight climate change. It wouldn’t hurt New York either.
To the Editor:
Re “Knitting Helps Us Embrace Life’s Messy Imperfections” (Opinion video, nytimes.com, Dec. 26):
As a lifelong knitter who can’t imagine a day without picking up her needles, or the occasional crochet hook, I can say that Samantha Moore showed the world what knitting does for the mind and body. This is something I have tried to explain to non-knitters forever.
Knitting is my yoga, my drug, my friend. When I feel out of sorts, those two sticks and string help me get back on track. It’s the meditative motion of my hands creating something.
The fiber community is a place where we gather in groups or meet up at coffeehouses or fiber festivals, “ooh” and “aah” over each other’s projects, support each other no matter the skill level, and understand the special spoken and body language we share.
Knitting has become a major part of my life, bringing me joy, peace and community. My mother taught me how to knit when I was a little girl. Thanks, Mom.
Robin Migdol Freiman
Yorktown Heights, N.Y.