By Craig Taylor, Alexandria
(File Photo)
To the editor:
According to Alexandria Times Publisher Denise Dunbar, “[humiliation] of and economic discrimination against Jews are in full flower, 21st-century-style (“It’s time to stand against anti-Semitism” June 26).”
She cites as evidence the rise of hate speech in Europe as exemplified by the anti-Semitic rantings of French comedian Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala and polls that indicate “a whopping 37 percent of the French, or about 24 million are openly anti-Semitic.” Dunbar vastly overstates the case. Present day France is not Germany of the 1930s and M’Bala M’Bala should not be viewed as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler.
Moreover, the Presbyterian Church’s move to divest its holdings in companies doing business with the state of Israel for the latter’s treatment of Palestinians does not constitute economic discrimination against Jews akin to what happened in Germany before the outbreak of World War II.
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By Jim McDonald, Alexandria
To the editor:
The Presbyterians have limited money and they must make choices. If profit were their motive, they likely would have kept their financial holdings.
However, profit was not the motive. So they sold them.
They can now invest the receipts into corporations that are free of image problems. I applaud the Presbyterians.