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Film fest ignores Jewish holidays

I am writing to express my disappointment and deep concern regarding the dates chosen for this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival, set for Oct. 3 to 13. These dates fall during some of the holiest days in Judaism, which are clearly visible on any calendar the festival organizers or board could have consulted. This oversight is either a glaring mistake or, worse, a decision that simply disregarded members of the Jewish community, many of whom enjoy attending this annual film festival.  

This year, the festival’s opening night falls on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The festival ends on Oct. 13, immediately following Yom Kippur — the holiest day in the Jewish faith. To further compound the insensitivity, Oct. 7 marks the anniversary of a devastating terrorist attack on Israel, a day that will be solemnly observed both in Marin County and worldwide. Yet festival screenings are still scheduled for this significant date, none of which include Jewish subject matter.  

This lack of awareness and sensitivity is both bewildering and frustrating. My email to Mark Fishkin, the executive director, has gone unanswered, and the response I received from the box office only deepened my disappointment: “The Mill Valley Film Festival is scheduled each year starting the Thursday before the first weekend in October, through the following Sunday.”

However, a simple look at the calendar this year would have revealed the conflict with critical Jewish observances. This year, sensitivity could have easily prevailed over expediency.

As a member of the Jewish community, I believe we should no longer stay silent when public events are planned on days of deep cultural and religious significance. It is time to speak out and say that this is not acceptable. Too often we don’t. Now, we must.

Molly Dick
Mill Valley

AJC vs. anti-Zionist Jews

As a Jewish parent, I’m committed to raising my two small children in the spirit of tikkun olam, repairing the world. For me, this means in part combating hatred and bigotry in all its forms.

I was deeply concerned to hear that the American Jewish Committee was providing training for San Francisco Unified School District teachers. (“S.F. public schools reschedule antisemitism training canceled after pushback,” Sept. 17)

I am grateful that SFUSD reconsidered its relationship with this organization, especially at a time in which pro-Israel groups like the AJC are leading an attack on ethnic studies and, more broadly, freedom of speech in our schools. AJC promotes the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, often embraced by right-wing organizations to silence criticism of Israel. AJC also denies that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

AJC does not speak for the Bay Area Jewish community. In fact, it accuses anti-Zionist Jews like my family of being “used as cover by extremist groups.” The list of antisemitic tropes provided on AJC’s “Translate Hate” glossary lists concepts necessary for understanding the history of Palestine and Israel, such as “settler colonialist,” alongside truly antisemitic “Holocaust denial” and the “Great Replacement Theory.”

As a parent, I appreciate the diversity my children experience at school, including Palestinian children who are directly impacted by Israel’s year-long assault on Gaza. Confronting differing views and challenging ideas are part of our children’s education. A training that encourages staff to overlook the destruction of the Palestinian people and their culture can never keep the Jewish community safe.

Stevie Schwartz
Berkeley

A hate-spewing professor

In the Sept. 16 article “Berkeley Law prof targeted as ‘Zionist McCarthyist’ outside of his antisemitism course,” about Steven Davidoff Solomon, a reference to Ussama Makdisi’s comment on X that Solomon’s Wall Street Journal op-ed constituted “intimidation and hatred” only highlights that antisemitism at Cal is a consequence-free endeavor.

Makdisi, a Cal professor of history, chancellor’s chair and now chair of the newly created Palestinian and Arab studies, made vile comments on X on Feb. 5. Makdisi posted that he could easily have been one of the Gazans who “broke through the siege on October 7” and then perpetrated actual genocidal crimes. His statement that he could have been one of the individuals who engaged in rape, arson, kidnapping and murder is true “intimidation and hate.” Statements legitimizing Hamas terrorism are neither political opinion nor protected by the First Amendment. Rather, they are aiding and abetting Hamas, a U.S.-declared foreign terrorist organization.

When informed of Makdisi’s hate speech made while he is paid with tax dollars to serve as chancellor’s chair in the history department, then-Chancellor Carol Christ’s office acknowledged that Makdisi’s speech “is inconsistent with our Principles of Community, which provide for a ‘caring and humane’ campus environment. The administration will continue to urge members of the community who participate in social media to avoid statements that could be interpreted as endorsing violence against civilians.” Yet the chancellor’s office and the regents have not only brushed off his violations but also rewarded him with the chair of a new program. 

Ross Libenson
Kensington

Don’t fall for ‘false gods’

Longtime progressive activist Charles Rothschild is disappointed that Israel is not living up to what he describes as its highest values, including democracy, equality and peace. (“As a liberal Zionist, I don’t see Israel living up to its founding aspirations,” Sept. 13) What those highest values conspicuously do not include are the actual core values of Judaism itself, which are God, the Torah and the Covenant.

Israel cannot succeed by denying God, rebelling against His Commandments or putting its trust in false gods or non-gods. All of the calamities Jews have suffered throughout our history can be traced to such acts of rebellion.

By effectively denying God, Rothschild denies the very foundation of the Jewish claim to the Land of Israel. By insisting on “equality,” he implies that the Arab claim to the land is just as valid as the Jewish claim and that Israel must retreat from territory it now holds in order to placate the Arabs.

He talks about “peace” as something that can be achieved through diplomacy alone, refusing to acknowledge that Israel is facing enemies that remain resolutely committed to its destruction and that these enemies must be defeated decisively before peace can become a possibility.

At the core of Schindler’s ideology are his liberal and progressive values. Is it possible that liberalism and progressivism are two of the “false gods” the Torah warns us against? His ideas may seem reasonable, may enable their followers to feel good about themselves and may seem to promise a positive outcome, but they are ultimately based on false and deceptive theories that can never deliver lasting peace or security.

Martin Wasserman
Palo Alto

Gun control gets you nowhere

Responding to the “Taking Aim” calendar listing, Maxine Turret wrote a Sept. 5 letter to the editor asking: “Which Jewish value does a firearm training course promote?” 

Is it not a Jewish value to promote safety, and thereby save a life? Turret wrote, “As Jews we value other forms of problem-solving, negotiation and conflict resolution.”

Yeah, just try that on an armed attacker and see how that works! By promoting stronger gun control laws, many Jewish organizations are actually increasing the risks to public safety and undermining individual abilities for self-protection, self-defense and the protection of innocents in the face of the out-of-control, mentally-ill nut-jobs who actually use guns for offense, rather than defense. 

That is why we have background checks, to weed out the people who shouldn’t possess guns in the first place. Gun control is not the problem; instead, bad intentions, mental illness and drug issues are the problems. Solving these problems instead would lead to far better results than “gun control,” which gets you nowhere.

Promoting gun safety, situational awareness and firearm training among the public, especially for Jews these days, is a much overdue positive. Is it a Jewish value to automatically submit to the violence of others? Always remember this: If you outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have guns, and that is not a good thing. We have the Second Amendment for a reason. Use it.

Dave Harris
Richmond

Israel shouldn’t help anti-Israel journalists

Regarding Dan Perry’s Sept. 16 opinion piece (“It’s time to let the global media into Gaza”): No, it’s not time to allow distractions by anti-Israel journalists to the Israel Defense Forces’ job of eliminating Hamas in Gaza. It is actually time to allow the Red Cross into Gaza to visit the hostages. Why is Hamas given a pass on this? Why aren’t there editorials in all the newspapers that want access to Gaza?

And it’s actually time for journalists to stop misrepresenting data, such as how many Hamas terrorists (not “fighters”) were killed. Until we can trust journalists with reporting the truth, it’s not productive to let them into Gaza.

Gerry Feldman
Sacramento