No separating UCSD protests from anti-Semitism
The pro-Palestinian protests and encampment at UC San Diego created modern-day racial segregation of public areas of the university, where no Jews were allowed. Some used extremist symbols, openly ed terrorist organizations and used harassment and intimidation against Jewish students on campus.
My husband came to this country as a Soviet Jewish refugee, and it is unbelievable that our children are now forced to come face to face with such hatred and open displays of anti-Semitism.
Many keep repeating the lie that “it’s not anti-Semitism, it is anti-Zionism.” Zionism is simply the right to self-determination of the Jewish people in their ancestral land. It is an integral part of Jewish culture. Eight in 10 U.S. Jews say caring about Israel is an essential or important part of what being Jewish means to them, according to the Pew Research Center.
As poet Herbert Pagani said in 1975, “Now that there is [a Jewish state], anti-Semitism is rising from its ashes, or rather, from our ashes, and it’s called anti-Zionism. It has applied to individuals, now it applies to a nation.”
I hope our community is stronger than the hate of the protesters.
Luba Khomskaya
Protesters made Jews feel threatened, insulted and disgusted
I was appalled to see an entire page about the crackdown on the pro-Palestinian protest [at UC San Diego] in the La Jolla Light and there wasn’t a single word about anti-Semitism and the disgusting jihadist motivations of some of the participants in the so-called protest.
Many of your readers, me included, are Jews — ardent Zionist Jews who love La Jolla, San Diego, Israel and America and feel threatened, intimidated, insulted and disgusted by the pro-Palestinian mobs. We are glad they were removed.
Jose Oldak
More needs to be done about e-bikes
I was saddened to hear a La Jolla youth was injured riding their e-bike headed for school (“Teen riding e-bike is injured in crash with car,” Sept. 7, La Jolla Light) and glad the injuries were not more serious. However, I believe this is just the beginning before someone is hurt very badly.
I’ve been running on the La Jolla Bike Path for over a decade, but since school started back in session, the path has become a highway of e-bikes, with some kids wearing full-face helmets as they fly down the path. Recently, I had to jump off the path, nearly falling down, to avoid colliding with an e-bike easily going 20 mph and seemingly not under control.
It’s a path for bikes, walking and running … not a highway for essentially motorcycles. We require teenagers to earn a permit to drive on our roads; how is there not some form of education or training to drive these high-speed bikes and regulations for how fast and where they can ride them?
Unfortunately, I have low expectations for the city to do anything until someone is seriously injured.
Linda Yort
Editor’s note: Assembly Bill 2234 by California Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner (D-Encinitas) has been making its way through the approval process since being introduced in February (“Legislation is planned to regulate e-bike use after months of La Jollans’ complaints,” Feb. 8, La Jolla Light). The bill would require anyone 12 and older without a valid driver’s license to take an online e-bike safety training course and a test on traffic safety rules, as well as have a state-issued ID to operate an e-bike. It also would prohibit children younger than 12 from operating an e-bike. Existing law prohibits anyone younger than 16 from operating a Class 3 e-bike, which can reach top speed of 28 mph. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the La Jolla Bike Path.
First seals, now ducks
Inga’s discussion of avian invasion — ducks in her pool — reminds me of La Jolla’s invasion of seals in our Children’s Pool beach (“An avian invasion that’s hard to duck,” Let Inga Tell You, May 2, La Jolla Light).
May both invasions someday just be a memory.
Mike Schaefer
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