Joseph Harrington recently sent in two pieces about the benefits of third party voting (“There are more than two sides,” Viewpoints, Oct. 9). He writes about the Green Party candidacy of Jill Stein, and how she is siphoning from Democrats the votes of Arab-Americans in the swing state of Michigan.
Why are they voting Green? According to Harrington, Biden and Harris won’t forcefully call for a ceasefire in Gaza. He overlooks the ceasefire existing on Oct. 7, 2023 at 6:28:59 a.m., when terrorists from Hamas crossed into Israel to pillage, maim, rape, kill and kidnap.
If he and some Michigan voters want a ceasefire, there are things to do. Pressure the Red Cross and other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to secure access to the 101 hostages currently in Gaza. Those NGOs have failed to do so for 54 weeks. The Red Cross failed to protect the hostages from harassment during the November 2023 exchange. The NGOs failed Eden Yerushalayim, a 24-year-old who was starved to 79 pounds when executed in a tunnel under Rafah, Gaza.
Pressure governments to pressure Hamas, PIJ, and others to release all the hostages. They can fight for the release of Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when kidnapped into Gaza with his family. They can fight for the release of Shlomo Mantzur, at 86 the oldest hostage. He has the distinction of surviving the Farhud pogroms in Iraq in 1941, where Jews were also raped, maimed, mutilated, and killed.
Harrington puts responsibility for a possible election loss by Harris on people who have made the Gaza War their only election issue. To me, they are “cutting off their noses to spite their faces,” as the saying goes. After all, a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump, the author of the “Muslim Ban” during his presidency and a threat to our democracy. They may face anger from Democrats, but that will dissipate. As a Jewish voter, I know that there will be those who will extend blame to Israel and the Jewish community.
I know that if former President Trump loses, the American Jewish community will be blamed. Trump has said so, loud and clear. The difference is that Trump has supporters who will take out their anger at his loss on individuals and groups he blames. I feel the heightened anxiety of safety and security concerns among Jewish religious and community organizations, and among individual community members.
Whoever wins, or loses, we are in for difficult times.
Alan Peres
Oak Park