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Guns are not the answer

I was disturbed to read the “Taking Aim” calendar listing for a firearms training course in the Aug. 9 issue of J. Which Jewish value does a firearms training course promote?

We are all too familiar with the loss of innocent lives and severe harm caused by the private use of firearms in our country. Problems cannot be solved by individuals wielding arms. Violence begets violence. And as Jews, we value other forms of problem solving, negotiation and conflict resolution. The many Jewish organizations promoting stronger gun control measures speak to the risks and need for tighter controls.

I have no doubt that the organizers believe they are promoting the safe use of firearms. Yet in the heat of passion or distress, such guidelines can be out of mind, and harm to innocents done. 

As a clinical social worker, I’ve seen this play out during domestic violence, when substances and emotional instability become involved, and when traumatized individuals react to perceived threats. As a citizen, I’ve seen it play out in random, indiscriminate acts of community violence that kill or injure dozens of people. 

As Jews, let’s beat our swords into plowshares — by remedying the injustices that foster violence — rather than encouraging the spread of guns, our modern-day “swords.” 

Maxine Turret
Oakland

UCSF should enforce its dress code

In response to J.’s Aug. 9 article, “At UCSF, pro-Palestinian politics trouble Jewish patients, docs” I already had my doubts for other reasons about UCSF’s “esteemed reputation.” However, it never crossed my mind that this public entity would not only allow political activism in the workplace, but that it is actually encouraged. In fact, they say that “political advocacy is a large part of a physician’s role and perhaps most important role.” Their website states, “Learner activism is a vital part of UCSF’s success.”

I felt for and empathized with the level of angst emotionally impacting Jewish patients (especially the woman in the middle of labor) and professional staff.

UCSF states, “We ask staff to avoid wearing anything that patients may find offensive.” Yet watermelon pins, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, are being worn on uniforms of thousands of doctors and nurses. Saying “we ask” is a very weak statement and response to what sounds like a rampant, blatant disregard for UCSF’s own stated dress code. But what’s even weaker and downright chutzpah by management, is their stating they are leaving it up to the patient to file a complaint — putting the onus on Jews who are already feeling compromised and who prefer to state their religion as “undisclosed” when filling out a UCSF form. 

Given its push for activism, UCSF has created its own problem and is now trying to squirm out from under it.

So much for its dress code enforcement, safety of patients who are already in a vulnerable state, and, most disturbing, any semblance of professionalism and integrity.

“Esteemed reputation?” I think not!

Sharon Brown
Walnut Creek

UCSF professionals aren’t antisemitic

As a former nurse and patient at UCSF, I thank Gabe Stutman for a professional, balanced report on the battle there over pro-Palestine sentiments among the nurses and doctors.

Some patients complained of feeling unsafe around caregivers wearing Palestinian flag buttons. Republicans in Congress called those professionals “antisemitic,” but no one reported a single case of mistreatment or even an unkind word from staff.

For Jews like some of my family, raised to believe Israel was our safe place, our greatest accomplishment and our rightful home, attacks on Israel can feel like personal attacks. But Palestinians are not anti-Jewish, and many of their supporters are Jewish ourselves. I have spent the last 10 months around Palestinians and their supporters and have yet to hear a negative word about Jews.

The people shouting “antisemitism” the loudest aren’t defending Jewish people at all. Militarists support Israel’s wars and want to continue profiting from them. Christian Zionists want to frighten all Jews to move to Israel so that Jesus will return, while right-wingers use antisemitism charges to attack higher education.

If one doesn’t personally identify with Israel, nurses wearing Palestinian flag buttons will not seem threatening.

Trying to stop mass-murder, as the UCSF professionals are doing, is not anti-Jewish. It’s what the post-Holocaust slogan “Never Again” means. We should reject false claims of antisemitism and stand up for what is right.

David Spero
San Francisco

Bay Area Jewish Action’s ‘vague’ agenda

After reading about Bay Area Jewish Action, the new political advocacy arm of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area (“JCRC Bay Area expands into political organizing with new group,” Aug. 23), I was struck by the disturbing lack of transparency in the political agenda for which BAJA will advocate. 

The vague goals mentioned — supporting politicians who take a strong line against antisemitism, supporting a democratic Israel and advocating for social justice issues — do not reveal the history of JCRC’s prior political work in which it regularly attacks Palestinian and Muslim organizations for being terrorists and antisemitic merely because they show support for Palestinian rights. The JCRC is also notorious for attacking fellow Jews when they don’t go along with the JCRC political ideology.

It is important not to conflate political ideology with a religious identity. There are plenty of Jews who support cease-fire resolutions and campus protests against genocide (referred to in your article as “conflicts in schools”).

We don’t need another organization that claims to support Jews while furthering division in our communities.

Wynd Kaufman
Berkeley

Thurmond on ethnic studies

Your Aug. 9 profile of California’s superintendent of public instruction (“Why Tony Thurmond feels so close to the Jewish community”) described his significant attachment to the Jewish community. 

I was troubled, however, by his response to the question about ethnic studies. He stated that Israel-Palestine should not be part of the ethnic studies curriculum. Nonetheless, several California school districts have adopted the Liberated Ethnic Studies Curriculum, which does include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, instructing students that Israel is an illegitimate colonizer. 

Though lawsuits have been filed to challenge this curriculum, the interview did not press Thurmond on his department’s failure to bar the Liberated Ethnic Studies Curriculum since, as he told the J.’s readers, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “is not what ethnic studies is.”

Thom Seaton
Berkeley

To have allies, you need to be one

I read David A.M. Wilensky’s opinion piece (“Jews need allies. Don’t take them for granted,” Aug. 23) because my experience with him is that he is a genuine mensch. So, read what I write, too. 

In order to have allies, you have to be an ally. It’s simple. You show up for others, and they will show up for you. You regard other people’s concerns as if they were your own and they will do the same for you. You understand deep in your heart that everybody is equal. As the beautiful Yiddish song “Vos Shloft Ir” says, “softly, softly, without a fuss, see that everyone is equal.” And then you will have allies galore. All the distinctions we make are just human constructs. We are all the same.

Lois Pearlman
Guerneville