Letters to the Editor

D.C. Museum Shooting

Jewish Long Beach is heartbroken and outraged by the tragic shooting that took place this evening outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., in which two staff members of the Israeli Embassy were murdered.

We extend our deepest condolences to the families of Yaron Lischinsky and his partner and colleague, Sarah Milgrim, to the Israeli Embassy and Diplomatic Corps, and to the broader Jewish community of Washington, D.C. We stand in full solidarity with our colleagues and friends in the nation’s capital during this moment of profound grief.

This appalling act of violence – reportedly motivated by antisemitic hatred  –  underscores the urgent need to confront rising antisemitism in all its forms.

We are working with the Jewish Federations of North America, Secure Community Network and Long Beach Police Department to monitor the situation and ensure our own community’s safety and security. While there is no known local threat, we remain vigilant and committed to working with all other Jewish agencies and synagogues in Greater Long Beach and West Orange County. Together we will safeguard all Jewish institutions and gatherings in our community.

At times like these, our strength comes from our unity. We encourage our community to come together in support, compassion and resilience.

May the memories of the victims be a blessing.

Richard R. Marcus, Mark Rothman, Elisha Breton

L.A. Homeless

A few months ago, Elex Michaelson, an anchor/reporter working for FOX 11 news, interviewed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. The topic was the homeless problem. She said with a big smile, plans are under way to solve the problem, which involves giving the homeless in LA a free place to live, free food, free medical and $500 a month to spend on incidentals.

That’s very generous of her to spend the taxpayer’s money on all the above. There’s a lot of working people paying taxes in LA that don’t have $500 left over after paying their living expenses for the month.

Now that Los Angeles has a billion-dollar budget deficit, I wonder if she’s still smiling.

Leo Mitchell

Memorial Day?

Is this what they died for?

On this Memorial Day, amidst all the flags and “Star-Spangled Banner” renditions, I ask the question: Did they give their lives defending us so that billionaires can pay millions to attend a buffet dinner hosted by a President lining his pockets by selling his own cryptocurrency?

This embarrassingly insecure bully, a cartoon caricature of a dictator with a comic strip hairdo masquerading as the president of the United States, is taking another swim in his money pit of taxpayer dollars while cutting the services and healthcare, which taxpayers spend their lives paying into.

And now we taxpayers will pay up to a billion dollars more to refurbish his new toy, a $400 million flying brothel in the guise of Air Force One, that he gets to take home with him after leaving office!

And then we have the tariffs, which are nothing more than contrived artificial inflation, a man-made unnatural disaster to rival the economic impact of any natural one we’ve ever seen.

And what about the long-standing, foundational American institution of immigration upon which our country is built? This administration’s cruel and inhumane treatment of people from other countries is unprecedentedly disgusting.

The Statue of Liberty needs a sign that says “never mind,” or maybe a few changes to her welcoming poem. Forget the “tired” and the “poor” – “give me your conniving, your rich, your huddled asses yearning to get richer” seems timelier.

On this Memorial Day, every time I hear our national anthem and see the flag-adorned graves of the soldiers who died for our country, I pray that America will soon return to something worthy of their sacrifice.

This insanity can’t be what they died for.

Merry Colvin