As a Jew born and raised, I appreciate the praise offered by Michael Peters’ guest column (“Jewish people deserve to be celebrated: Judeo-Christian teachings built America,” April 24).
However, Mr. Peters seems to believe that in the 1950s and ’60s (and earlier) there was little if any antisemitism in this country. That is not true.
Growing up in the 1950s in New York City, I lived in a mostly Jewish neighborhood, but to find antisemitism I only needed to walk a couple of blocks to get insults and sometimes physical attacks.
Going back to the 1920s in Maine, one can find records of marches by the Ku Klux Klan and, given the few Black people available to campaign against, the Klan focused on Catholics, immigrants in general, and Jews (see, for example, Raney Bench’s “History of Maine — The Rising of the Klan”).
Mr. Peters is mistaken to think that things have gotten worse over generations. Things have improved, though not enough and not consistently.
It is wrong to tar all participating in the movement against Israeli attacks on Gaza as antisemitic. Are some of those participating antisemitic (ignoring the point that Arabs are semitic)? Yes, listening to some of the speeches and slogans, some are.
Is it antisemitism to oppose Israeli breaches of international law, the laws of war and laws covering responsibilities of an occupying power? No, it is not. (Israel denies being an occupying power, but it clearly is.)
Having participated in various movements (civil rights, Vietnam) I am not surprised that some participants are not remotely on the side of the angels, however noble the cause. There are always some who either do not know what to protest or how, and some who just want to look important.
Finally, as a retired college professor, I feel Mr. Peters ascribes too much power and influence to “Marxist professors.” As a professor I had at times been called a Marxist, a liberal, a Libertarian conservative and more — and been criticized on all these counts.
Few of my students turned into followers of my positions, even when they could figure out what they were.
Neil Garston, Lewiston
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