Letters: Atrocities in Gaza must end; No rezone in Marion Township
Atrocities in Gaza must end
There is no war in Gaza. What is happening in Gaza is a massacre. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, nearly 60,000 Gazans have been killed in the past two years, and nearly 150,000 have been injured.
Meanwhile, at this very moment, an appalling number of Gazans are experiencing malnutrition, and nearly half a million of them face lethal famine. Israel’s Likud-led government has been imposing a devastating blockade, severely restricting the flow of vital aid. Not surprisingly, the shortage of aid distribution sites has created scenes of chaos to which the IDF responds with violence. Since this May, over 1,000 Gazans — many being women and children — have been killed by Israeli forces while attempting to get ever-scarcer food or drinkable water. Gaza’s health care infrastructure has been largely destroyed, and life-saving medicine is nearly impossible to get. IDF bombs continue to tear apart homes, hospitals, schools and children.
Chillingly, Israel’s Intelligence Ministry has proposed ethnic-cleansing of Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula as a policy option, and President Trump has talked openly about removing Gazans for commercial development — an implementation of what B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel have recently called active genocide.
Our government continues to materially support these atrocities, and indulges the worst fantasies of ethnic-cleansing. It needs to stop. To highlight this ghastly inhumanity should not be conflated with the dehumanizing and hateful poison of antisemitism. To the contrary, it is a call to end dehumanizing violence. A lasting and meaningful ceasefire now.
James P. Hynes, State College
No rezone in Marion Township
Marion Township supervisors are (quietly) trying to rezone land that is currently zoned as agricultural and rural and meant for conservation. Paraphrasing, the current zoning is meant to “preserve and protect land in the rural areas, protect the area’s rural atmosphere and lifestyle and protecting the region’s natural landscapes and habitat and discouraging the further deterioration of rural character.” In its place we have a proposal for the Highway Commercial zoning amendment, which would allow commercial development at the new Jacksonville exit of I-80. This would include but not be limited to a travel plaza, or truck stop. Many here are not in favor of this. We don’t want the added noise and light pollution, not to mention the worry of criminal activity. We would rather look at stars than neon signs. We’d rather hear birds than Jake brakes. We’ve already put up with the construction of the new exit and are currently dealing with Jacksonville road construction which limits us to one-way travel, creating a major inconvenience not to mention a safety concern. But at least these are temporary. We were hoping that once the construction was done we could go back to our quiet lives, but a truck stop and other commercial development would be a permanent change and we don’t welcome it.
Greg Parsons, Bellefonte
It’s up to the voters
Let’s face it, it’s clear that Donald Trump does not have an honest bone in his body, believes himself to be above the law, and is emotionally unstable. Congress can and should control him. For God-knows-what reasons, a small but dwindling number of Republicans in both houses of Congress actually support him. The rest are avoiding doing their job for fear of losing an election. So we as voters must work, unlike Trump, within the framework of our Constitution to support and elect people of integrity to the House and Senate who will stop this megalomaniac. In 2026, vote for the rule of law, a free and democratic society, and common decency.
Ross Adams, Boalsburg