Letters to the Editor

LBPD Weapons

The average of $12 million per year Long Beach spends on police misconduct settlements is taken out of General Fund and not the Police Department budget. Before the Long Beach Police Department spends one cent on military weapons, they first need to have their police misconduct settlements charged against the Police Department budget.

That way there is at least some incentive by the Police Department to minimize their misconduct settlements in order to be able to buy more of their military death toys.

Mike Ruehle

How convenient that this item is scheduled immediately after a long holiday. This continues a long tradition of lack of transparency and accountability and of attempting to hide, misrepresent and attempts to schedule major decisions immediately before or after long holidays or at times that are inconvenient for our working residents.

Shame on you, Mayor Robert Garcia. Shame on every councilmember. Shame on the city manager.

Carlos Ovalle

Journalist’s Death

In the June 17 In My Opinion article titled, “Investigation Called for in Journalist’s Death,” Blesofsky blames Israel for the death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an IDF raid at the Jenin refugee camp in the Palestinian Territory of the West Bank. He then proceeded to use half-truths and misleading information to blame Israel for the Palestinian misery over the last 75 years.

Here are some corrections that can be fact-checked.

Referring to the “occupied West Bank”: The West Bank was occupied by Jordan in 1948 following the partition of Palestine by the UN. Most of the West Bank is currently occupied by the Palestinian Authority.

Blaming the death of Ms. Abu Akleh on Israel: her murder has never been solved.

Blaming Israel for the 700,000 refugees residing in the Middle East: When UN Resolution 181 divided Palestine into two states and Israel was proclaimed the State of Israel, the Palestinians and five Arab neighbors declared war. The UN brokered armistice created new boundaries and a refugee problem.

Claiming Israel conquered Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967: The truth is that Israel defended itself from a three-pronged attack from Egypt, Jordan and Syria. They were defeated, not conquered.

Calling Israel an “apartheid state”: There are two million Israeli Arabs living in Israel with full Israeli citizenship and representation in the Knesset.

Israel is not without some fault but many of the Palestinian wounds are self-inflicted. Corruption and the presence of Hamas are bigger problems for the Palestinians.

Blesofsky has the right to his opinion, but it’s poor journalism when facts are changed and the truth twisted to support a false narrative. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will never end if bias is more important than reality.

David “Coach” Newell