Protest Truck Successfully Stated Case
Where, pray tell, did the Exponent witness the shrugs and hear the “ughs” (“Tame Protests Breached Roger Waters’ Concerts In and Out of Wells Fargo,” Aug. 17)?
The truck sponsored by StandWithUs began to circulate major streets in Philadelphia at 2 p.m. and arrived at the Wells Fargo Center by 6. Many people took photos and stopped to talk to us. At 6, the truck circled the perimeter of the Wells Fargo Center. Between 7 and 8, it was strategically parked at 11th Street next to the entrance, where it was clearly visible to the thousands of concertgoers. In fact, numerous attendees took pictures of the truck, its clear message and of themselves in front of it. They wanted to know more.
The truck remained at its place until 8:10, and no police officer, parking authority or Waters’ security asked us to leave. I know, because I was there.
The bottom line is that Waters got the message that his anti-Israel bigotry will not be ignored. Those of us who are proud of Israel, its human rights record, religious freedom and vibrant democracy, won’t let a person with anti-Israel hate in his heart defame the character of the Jewish homeland.
Joseph Puder | Executive Director, StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic Region
Look to Idaho
Some people seem to throw stones at everyone different from them (“This Is Our America,” Aug. 17). There is a political movement brewing, stewing in the same cauldron that boiled over with Nazis in Charlottesville. It’s a simple formula: Take poor people without hope and convince them that someone else is to blame.
In North Idaho, members of the Aryan Nations bombed three places in the same day. Their guards attacked a minority woman and son for no reason. The subsequent lawsuit drove them out of town and funded a peace center where the compound was and a Human Rights Education Institute downtown.
There were yearly permitted marches in Coeur d’Alene by a handful of this group spewing hate. No one came but the press. A rally for peace in a park far away was well attended. Bill Wassmuth, a Roman Catholic priest, whose home was bombed by the Aryan Nations, subsequently became head of the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity.
What happened in Charlottesville could happen in many other places. Why not emulate Coeur d’Alene? Don’t give them the platform they crave. Don’t get in their faces. Ignoring them is like pouring water on the Wicked Witch of the West.
Have a separate rally far away from them emphasizing what the majority of Americans believe, that love conquers hate.
Harvey Schwartz | Bellingham, Wash.
Anti-Semitism Comes From All Sides
There is extensive media coverage about the anti-Semitism coming from fringe-right hate groups and that is as it should be (“This Is Our America,” Aug. 17). However, there seems to be less coverage of anti-Semitism that comes from left-leaning colleges, their professors and student groups, and other liberal organizations.
I do not include the Exponent among the one-sided media writers, but I do include most other newspapers and TV news shows. President Trump’s feeble attempt to include the left’s anti-Semitism in his discussion of the hate groups in Charlottesville, Va., was embarrassing and further drove the public discussion to one side, while ignoring the other.
Marc J. Zuckerman | King of Prussia
