Letters to the Editor

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

‘”Shark Tale” Hit With Bias Accusations’


Is it just me or is columnist Alicia Colon paranoid? As the mother of two young children who watch “Dora the Explorer” and “Sesame Street,” I can attest to the fact that these shows teach more than just political correctness [“‘Shark Tale’ Hit with Bias Accusations,” New York, September 27, 2004].


Dora, her trusty backpack, and “The Map” teach children how to use tools to solve problems. “Sesame Street” does in fact have white people, from permanent characters to random guests. For example, Bob, the music teacher, has been on the show forever, and Gina, a young woman, studied hard to become a veterinarian. Oh, but, I forgot. Ms. Colon might not like the character, Gina, since she works so hard to help animals.


“Babe” may have spurred Ms. Colon on to eat more pigs, but it turned the stomach of the director of the movie, George Miller. After learning how intelligent and caring these animals were, he immediately stopped eating meat. And this is the same man who directed the tough-as-nails “Mad Max”movies.


Animal cartoon characters have been teaching children to respect animals since the dawn of television – this is nothing new, certainly not created by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or the Sierra Club, but by people who want their children to grow up to be compassionate adults.To rue the day when children’s programming was only geared toward white children with meat-eating parents is ridiculous.


CHRISTINA MATTHIES
Chesapeake, Va.



Schumer Ducking Debate


Senator Schumer is not the only candidate dodging the debates [“Schumer Ducking Election Debate with Challengers,” William F. Hammond Jr., Page 1, October 5, 2004].


In my run for U.S. Congress in New York City’s 8th District, I have invited incumbent Rep. Jerrold Nadler to debate on several occasions and not once has Mr. Nadler accepted. But that is no surprise; it’s been years since he has debated a challenger.


Shouldn’t it be Mr. Nadler’s civic duty to participate in public forums that allow voters to hear the candidates express their views and discuss the issues of the day? This demonstrates Mr. Nadler’s blatant disregard for his constituents.


Democratic incumbents in New York City take voters for granted. In fact, Mr. Nadler is so certain of his re-election that he is already advertising to hire a Manhattan Community Representative for his next term in office – one month before the actual elections. The voters just might have something to say about Mr. Nadler’s plans on November 2.


PETER HORT
Candidate for U.S. Congress
8th Congressional District
Brooklyn-Manhattan



‘Veritas?’


Irwin J. Mansdorf’s analysis of a Harvard report blaming psychological damage to Palestinian Arab children entirely on Israel makes it clear that Harvard produced propaganda for terrorists, in the name of humanitarianism [“Veritas?” Opinion, September 30, 2004].


The shoe is on the other foot. Just as the Arabs created both an Arab and a Jewish refugee problem, so, too, they psychologically injure both Arab and Jewish children. It is telling that the Harvard study failed to delve into the traumatizing of Israeli children. That is a gap that Mr. Mansdorf should fill.


Israeli children never know when they will be attacked, on the road, in their homes, or at school. They don’t know whether their parents will be killed or their houses destroyed. They see the funerals and the rocket craters. Terrorism is insinuated into their daily lives.


Has academia no sympathy for the innocent Jewish children, but only for Arab children raised in unwarranted hatred and turned into killers who suppose that the Israelis, who try to minimize casualties on both sides, are the monsters?


RICHARD H. SHULMAN
Manhattan



‘Living in a Closet’


As an executive committee member of Americans for a Safe Israel, I must take issue with executive director Helen Freedman’s letter giving her personal view that President Bush is “de ceitful” and, she implies, “untruthful” in his statements on Israel as if it represented the views of the organization [“Living in a Closet,” September 30, 2004].


The “truth” is the president believes the Road Map is the only way to peace between Palestinian Arabs and Israel. To believe that he is misguided in this belief…as Americans for a Safe Israel does…is not to impugn the president’s motives or sincerity.


Unfortunately, the reality is that a new artificial, nonviable sovereign state of Palestine – there already exists an Arab Palestinian state of Jordan – can only be a base of unremitting terror and hostility toward Israel. Its leaders make no pretense that their goal is anything but elimination of a Jewish sovereign presence in the Middle East. The peaceful coexistence that the Road Map envisions is a dangerous illusion.


The president has been a strong supporter of our democratic ally Israel, and he has been a strong, decisive commander in chief in wartime.


I think it is fair to say most members of Americans for a Safe Israel oppose the Road Map without questioning the good faith and honesty of our president.


ELLEN J. SINGER
Hartsdale, N.Y.



Please address letters intended for publication to the Editor of The New York Sun. Letters may be sent by e-mail to editor@nysun.com, facsimile to 212-608-7348, or post to 105 Chambers Street, New York City 10007. Please include a return address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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