Noting Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is not antisemitism | Letters

• Noting Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is not antisemitism
• Middle- and lower-income groups will pay for benefits they never receive
• Freedoms at risk from internet bills
• Let’s share truth on social media
• Climate change threatens humanity’s future
• What is Iowa doing about ultra-processed foods?
• Trump law aims to deprive people of basic needs

Noting Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is not antisemitism

Guest columnists in the Aug. 3 Register applauded Gov. Kim Reynolds for steps taken to address antisemitism in Iowa, to ensure that Iowa’s children learn about the Holocaust, and to support the state of Israel. The first two measures are laudable. However, I have an issue with the third.

Many Jewish voices, both in Israel and around the world including the US, are speaking out against Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas. As images of starving children in Gaza finally begin to penetrate Western media so that even President Donald Trump acknowledges that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s denials are lies, the reality of Israel’s intention to completely wipe out Palestinians has come into focus.

Support for Palestinian human rights is not antisemitism. The definition of that term by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, cited in the guest column, does not equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Clearly there is a problem with antisemitism in this country.

But there is a campaign to use antisemitism to attack anyone who expresses support for Palestinians. The Heritage Foundation, now well-known for its ruinous Project 2025 road map for remaking our government and institutions to reflect anti-democratic goals, also produced a document called Project Esther. It states: “America’s virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-American ‘pro-Palestinian movement’ is part of a global Hamas Support Network (HSN).”

The goal of “Project Esther” is to use the label of antisemitism to malign supporters of human rights and to silence any criticism of Israel or of U.S. support of Israel. This has worked quite well, as many universities have been cowed into submission. But Project Esther is based on falsehood, and it may be that enough reality of what Israel has done to Gaza – and to the Palestinians generally for over 75 years – has made its way into Americans’ awareness so that voices supporting Palestinian human rights will be heard.

Larry Anderson, Newton

Middle- and lower-income groups will pay for benefits they never receive

Republicans tell you that the recently passed tax cuts were necessary to avoid the biggest tax hike in history. The Tax Cut and Jobs Act passed by Republicans in 2017 included an expiration date of Dec. 31, 2025. So, they planned that it would have to be made permanent otherwise the cuts would end and the tax rates would revert to the higher rates before the cut. Remember, the cuts benefit the morbidly wealthy with little benefit for the middle and lower incomes.

Now, however, as the Trump tariffs go into effect, American consumers will be forced to pay higher prices on almost anything that is imported. Companies importing goods will pass on the tariff cost to consumers (you and me), so we will pay more when we shop. The very rich Republican donors won’t even notice the tariffs because they got the tax cut, whereas you and I hardly got anything from the tax cuts but will be hit hard by the tariffs. Top 1% get a tax cut, bottom 99% don’t get a tax cut and pay more because of the tariffs.

Tell Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, and Randy Feenstra what you think of this plan.

John Beisner, Ames

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Freedoms at risk from internet bills

As an Iowan and a strong supporter of the Constitution, I am alarmed by a growing trend in Congress that threatens free speech online. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), the SCREEN Act, and the Block BEARD Act all claim to protect children or creators, but each raises serious constitutional concerns.

KOSA would pressure platforms to remove “harmful” content based on vague moral standards. The SCREEN Act mandates age verification for lawful websites, despite the Supreme Court ruling in Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004) that such requirements burden adult speech. The Block BEARD Act would allow courts to block entire websites based on piracy claims, echoing the prior restraint the Court rejected in Near v. Minnesota (1931).

These are not partisan issues, they are constitutional ones. The First Amendment does not bend to fear, convenience, or political fashion. What begins as regulation of obscene or infringing content can quickly lead to censorship of art, news, and opinion.

I urge Iowa’s lawmakers to oppose these measures. Our rights are not negotiable, and we must defend them before they are quietly legislated away to history.

Joseph Ferrebee, Waverly

Let’s share truth on social media

Attention, all you newspaper readers. It’s time to speak to the people where they are listening.

As newspaper regulars, we are most likely regular voters, moderate voters who believe in basic human rights, right where the majority of our fellow voting citizens are found.

Then why do we lose elections?

Is it because all those nonvoters, the too indifferent or too-lazy-to-vote citizens, have lost hope that they can make a difference? Or are they too cynical to vote, thinking it’s all rigged and out of reach, so what can I do? 

According to some pundits, most of those nonvoters get their news from social media platforms and right wing talk shows, not from the newspapers. 

It’s time to take a page from the MAGA folks. Go where the people are, go to the social media platforms where nonvoters are more likely to be listening. Plant seeds of hope where you may be heard by nonvoters. Give your fellow citizens credible reasons to speak up, to make their voices heard via the voting process. 

A democracy can survive only if its citizens are informed and involved.  Let’s use our voices where they will be heard.  We need to reach the vast majority of “we the people” to set our country on a path toward the common good, where basic rights work for all.

Phyllis Morris, Clinton

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Climate change threatens humanity’s future

Now that I have nine grandchildren and my time on Earth is nearing the end, I am worried about the climate my grandchildren will face during their time on our planet.

President Donald Trump’s dismissal all of the danger caused by the methane and CO2 we are pumping into our atmosphere is a major issue for me. James Hansen from Denison, Iowa, who also graduated from the University of Iowa, has warned us about the climatic point of no return in his book “Storms of My Grandchildren.” He is now an adjunct professor at Columbia University, where two of my brothers earned their graduate degrees.

Robert F. Kennedy called Hansen a Paul Revere for the tyranny of climate chaos. Hansen is a modern-day hero who has braved criticism and censure and put his career and future at stake to issue the call against the apocalyptic forces of ignorance and greed. While Trump listens only to those who want to drill, Hansen warns us about the danger our grandchildren will face.

That is why we have installed solar panels on our farm and why I drive an all-electric Chevrolet and plant all the trees I can. While I am not a scientist, I try to listen to the scientists who have studied the issue of global warming. I pray that my friends who dismiss the science of climate change will pay attention to what is happening and begin to take the threat more seriously.

I know that Upton Sinclair was correct when he wrote in 1934, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” The lives of our grandchildren depend upon us understanding the danger we are putting them in.

Hugh Stone, Adel

What is Iowa doing about ultra-processed foods?            

California’s Assembly Bill 1264 may soon create the first legal definition of ultra-processed food (UPF) in the U.S.

Iowa may not be addressing this yet. But it should be.

The bill defines UPFs as foods with added functional ingredients like synthetic colors, sweeteners, emulsifiers, and preservatives. It authorizes regulators to identify a subcategory of UPFs deemed “particularly harmful” — those linked to cancer, metabolic or reproductive disorders, and neurological harm — and phase them out of school meals by 2035.

Here in Iowa, we take a lot of pride in our agriculture, and for good reason. But with our state ranking second in the nation for new cancer cases, it’s worth building on efforts already underway to explore how diet and food composition, including UPFs, may relate to our rising health concerns.

One aspect the bill highlights is hyper-palatable foods engineered to deliver intense flavor and texture that can overshadow simpler, wholesome options. Like overstimulating media, these foods can affect our sense of balance.

We should amplify the conversation here in Iowa, with curiosity, care, and an unfettered look at what’s going into our food, especially in schools.

Tamara Rae Belland, Fairfield

Trump law aims to deprive people of basic needs

On July 4, the president signed into law nearly a 1,000-page bill that will strip millions of our most vulnerable neighbors of health care and food to fund tax cuts for corporations and wealthy Americans. This is after thousands of people voiced their concerns to their elected officials. This is not what democracy looks like.

The law makes massive cuts to vital services including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps). It will make it harder for children, parents, pregnant people, seniors, and people with disabilities to enroll in and keep the benefits they need to survive. It is estimated to leave 11.8 million people uninsured by 2034.

A population deprived of its basic needs is less able to hold elected officials accountable and push back against a constitutional crisis.

The nonpartisan League of Women Voters is working to build a movement of people from all levels of society and political backgrounds, who are ready to take nonviolent action from home or in the streets, to protect and restore our democracy.

Please visit lwv.org/uniteandrise to learn how you can get involved.

Our neighbors and our nation cannot wait.

Holly Oppelt, Muscatine