Challenging Prager on campus anti-Semitism
- Share via
Re “When young Jews major in anti-Semitism,” Current, Oct. 9
I am a proud and practicing Jew. I am also against governments that torture, discriminate and are founded on ethnic cleansing.
My anti-Zionism is not, as Dennis Prager would have it, “a form of anti-Semitism” based on the idea “that only one country in the world is unworthy of existence.”
I believe a number of governments throughout the world are illegitimate, including Sudan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Israel. Yet I remain hopeful. I believe in the words of Psalm 27, frequently heard in synagogues: “I believe I shall enjoy the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.”
JULIE E. DINNERSTEIN
New York
*
Prager misses the obvious point about the appearance of anti-Semitism in universities. Israel is run by a right-wing government supported by religious conservatives. University faculties are overwhelmingly left-wing and secular.
It’s a simple clash of values, not racism. If Israel had a leftist government, the “anti-Semitism” Prager worries about would largely disappear.
LISA EPSTEIN
Montreal
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself.
Tom Girardi was a legal legend—until he was found guilty of stealing millions from his own clients. Host Madison McGhee and pop culture commentator Kiki Monique unpack how his downfall became a Real Housewives scandal, and what Erika Jayne may or may not have known. Plus, L.A. Times reporter Harriet Ryan joins to share how she helped bring Girardi’s crimes to light.
NPR climate editor Sadie Babits talks about why the media has long overlooked the climate crisis, and how that’s starting to change.
