Queens College: Is It Still a Safe Place to Send Our Children?
Dear Editor:
I have a long history with Queens College, even though I never attended as a student.
My brother transferred from Chicago to QC in his junior year to have a better Jewish social life. My best friends in seminary went to QC (and I spent some time with them touring the campus). My daughter recently graduated from QC, and my son is currently enrolled. Queens College has long been an affordable alternative for many families with students who want an active Jewish life. However, is it still a safe place to send our kids? If things don’t turn around quickly, I’m afraid the answer will be a hard no.
For over a week now, there has been anti-Israel graffiti on campus. Queens College has not bothered to clean it up. Our children must pass it daily as they go to class as a constant reminder that they are hated among many of their peers. A peaceful gathering of Jewish students this week to show their support for Israel and the kidnapped families was met with vile hatred by fellow students. I saw firsthand video of the occurrence, so this is not just rumor. Startling slurs like “baby killers” were hurled towards the Jewish students as well as “go back to Germany, go back to Poland!” Do you think this makes our Jewish children feel safe and comfortable on campus?
To make matters even worse, the Queens College Muslim Student Association reposts vile statements on Instagram like the following: “Oh Muslim be ready. Soon the trees will speak and tell us where the little piggies are hiding.” In case it needs translation, we Jews are the little piggies. This is literally a call to find us and harm us. The post disappeared after several hours, but not before screen shots were taken of their site. An additional post stating that there is literally no actual proof of the atrocities that occurred on October 7 was similarly shared then disappeared. Some pro-Palestinian students believe it was justified; others believe it was AI and never happened at all. Furthermore, according to a staff member, the QCMSA is operating without an adult. No Imam nor professor is moderating their activity. They are basically left to their own devices, donning keffiyehs and yelling anti-Semitic slurs at Jews.
I implore anyone with a connection to Queens College or to our local politicians: Please express your outrage! This is our neighborhood, our community, and our precious children who are being exposed to this barrage of hatred. If you want to send a message to President Frank Wu, who has been a vocal supporter of Jewish students, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. As of the writing of this article, I have sent two emails and left one voice message and neither have been responded to. May Hashem watch over all our precious children!
Mrs. Sarah Zeitlin
Dear Editor:
I read the articles of both Rabbis Schonfeld and Oppenheimer with a certain degree of disgust. It is always aggravating to read the opinions of Modern Orthodox scholars that explain how to “fix” the yeshivah/chasidish world. These days, they are fixated on what they call achdus and they bemoan that the chareidim are not united with them (because the chareidim don’t see how wrong they are, of course). I would point out the other achdus out there: that almost every single yeshivish/chasidish kollel, yeshivah, and Bais Yaakov all decided that the DC rally was not an appropriate venue for them. It wasn’t just a couple of roshei yeshivah on the morning of, but rather hundreds of manhigei Torah across this country who opposed this – in unity. To my knowledge, only a single mainstream yeshivah participated, and they didn’t even show up in force. You may feel entitled to disagree with them, but perhaps it was you who wasn’t b’achdus with all of them?
Sincerely,
Rabbi Oren Kagan
Chaver Kollel
Cedarhurst, New York
NYC Tolerance of Anti-Semitism
Dear Editor:
Recently, a riot ensued at Hillcrest High School, a local public school here in Queens, when the students found out that a teacher (yes, one!) supported Israel. In response to the violent student response, Mayor Adams issued yet another impotent response condemning the anti-Semitic riot, saying “We are better than this.” Given that only 27% of the student body at Hillcrest High reads at grade level, I’m not quite as confident as our Mayor in these students’ abilities to discern any nuanced Middle East policy.
The Mayor also stated, “Anti-Semitism will not be tolerated,” yet he waited almost a week to condemn the riot. His delayed response, coupled with the lack of any meaningful punishment to the rioters or any discipline for school officials who tolerated it, leads me to believe that anti-Semitism is indeed being tolerated here in Queens.
This newspaper and others have published numerous photographs of Mayor Adams with various Jewish officials and community leaders. Perhaps one of them can tell the Mayor that his cowardly response was disgraceful and only serves to encourage future riots.
Avi Goldberg
Double Standards
Dear Editor:
Fellow letter writer E. Azulai exposed Warren Hecht’s faux call for unity in detail last week. I have a different beef. Warren ended his column last week stating that he hopes Republican Representative George Santos does not resign from Congress and forces the Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote to expel him. This, he opines, will expose Republican hypocrisy, given their support for Trump. Warren states how imperative it is to have only one standard for Trump and everyone else. However, when Warren talks about uniform standards and hypocrisy, it’s truly disingenuous given his refusal to discuss the mountain of evidence uncovered on the massive corruption scheme Hunter Biden was involved in. This is likely because it would implicate “The Big Guy,” and in Warren’s world any discussion of Presidential misconduct must be limited to Trump.
As a columnist who works in the field of law, Warren is also uniquely qualified to discuss the classified documents cases that were never brought against Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. I’m sure the QJL readership would welcome Warren’s legal insights and his analysis on why the US Department of Justice punted on the Clinton and Biden classified documents cases while going full throttle on the Trump documents case. Perhaps Warren can explain why Hillary’s case was cast aside through an erroneous reading of intent into a gross negligence statute and why it will never be done in the Trump case.
In politics, there’s dirty laundry on both sides of the aisle. Please, Warren, up your own journalistic standards and start writing about both!
Jonathan Goldgrab
Dear Editor:
Last week, I noted how slow mainstream America was in catching on to the vaccine scam Big Pharma pulled off with a huge assist from Big Government. There are a few positive signs of a previously comatose public waking and catching on to this multi-billion-dollar ruse.
First, the Covid booster rates are abysmal. Per the Associated Press, only 7% of adults and 2% of kids took this year’s Covid booster shot. For those of you with short memories, in prior years, we were bombarded with nefarious government actors all the way up to the President stating “this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” In this very paper, other letter writers and columnists trashed those who refused the jab.
While there has been no reckoning for those who expressed these deplorable, wrong-headed, and frankly dictatorial points of view, I am glad that time period appears to be over.
In a second positive development, the US Army has invited back 1,900 previously fired soldiers who were willing to risk their lives for this country in battle but unwilling to risk their lives by taking a woefully under-tested vaccine that doesn’t vaccinate. Again, no letter of apology for the inexplicable firing and no back-pay, but who said this world is fair?
Lastly, I was sick with what felt like Covid last week. (I’ve had it twice already.) I did not test myself (At this point, what’s the point?) but went to the doctor about a week after the onset of symptoms. Unlike previous visits in 2021 and 2022, my doctor did not even bother asking me if I was Covid-vaccinated. And yes, I held back from making any snarky remarks regarding his previous support for the failed vaccine experiment.
To be fair, there are still remnants of 2020-21 nonsense. My son’s bus driver still wears a mask, though every time I see him, it is misaligned with his face. Also, for some reason, whenever I go to the gym, it is always the novice who is 70 lbs. overweight who is the only guy wearing a mask. One day I’m hoping I work up the courage to tell him that it’s a package deal: If you drop the weight, you can drop the mask with it, as obese people have disproportionately negative Covid outcomes in comparison with those that are in reasonable shape.
With government Covid scare tactics proving to be much less effective than in prior years, Democrats will have to ratchet up the racial divisiveness they have perfected, along with a dash of the “Democracy is at stake,” nonsense to maintain the political power that they covet more than anything. Buckle up!
Jason Stark
Dear Editor:
Thanksgiving. It’s the holiday that indigenous people loathe, but the rest of us love. Jews celebrate Thanksgiving every day of the year in their davening; gentiles celebrate it with their gratitude for turkey, parades, football, and Black Friday. I must admit that it’s my favorite secular holiday because you can have all the relatives (How exactly am I related to that person sitting across from me?) without worrying about eruvim (Do you hold by it?) or chilul Shabbos.
Of course, this national holiday raises some important questions. Why can you get a free turkey at ShopRite when you spend $400? Imagine if kosher supermarkets offered such deals on Pesach? You’d be able to get at least seven free turkeys
Speaking about food, when I was working, very often the frum teachers would sub on Thanksgiving eve for their peers who always complained about the inordinate amount of cooking they had to do. Really? Try three consecutive “Thanksgivings” followed by another pair of three-day yamim tovim: Rosh HaShanah plus Shabbos plus Sukkos plus Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. In plain English: nine meals! (Maybe my math is off because I didn’t count Erev Yom Kippur.) Another question that arises is why people spend hours making cranberry sauce from scratch? What’s wrong with Ocean Spray? I guess that’s like saying bottled gefilte fish is the equivalent of gefilte fish made from scratch: Sacrilege!
However, with all sarcasm and pies aside (Why are those huge $15 pies at Costco all milchig?), we must still recognize that we have to be grateful for living in the US. True, anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head, but where else (besides Israel) can we Jews enjoy the freedom we have here?
Debbie Horowitz
Dear Editor:
There is good and bad news with Hamas freeing 50 children and female hostages. This still leaves 190 hostages left behind. Israel should have agreed to release one captive, not three, to Hamas in exchange. A four-day cease fire will afford Hamas the ability to regroup, re-equip, and reposition its forces. Hamas controls the government. Who will ensure on-the-ground responsibility for distribution of humanitarian aid? It must all go directly to civilians and not a portion diverted to Hamas.
As time goes on, how many of the remaining 160 hostages will still be alive and healthy when it is their turn to come home? Will Hamas raise its demands for increasing both the ratio of prisoners exchanged and add more days to the next cease fire? All 240 hostages should have been released at the same time, one for one.
Any delivery of relief supplies must be distributed by the International Red Cross or some other independent body. The Red Cross should be allowed to visit all remaining hostages to confirm that they are alive, well, and not being mistreated. Any agreed-upon ceasefire should be a short as possible. Fighting with Hamas will inevitably resume. Hamas will still have to be dealt with and eliminated if Israel can live in peace.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
