March 1 Letters to the Editor

Israelis own the land?

Recently, a United States airman, Aaron Bushnell, poured gasoline over his head and uniform and set fire to himself outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC. He openly deplored the U.S. Air Force’s direct complicity in the destruction of Gaza and the tens of thousands of Palestinian Arab lives. Obviously, he put his money where his mouth was.

Several weeks earlier, a Christian evangelical, Bill Tozer, posted a letter in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News in which he wondered in print why so many people hate Jews. Hey, he asked, didn’t the Jews give us our Redeemer Jesus Christ? As for the Holy Land, he added, the Israelis “are not occupying Palestinian land.” No! “They (the Jews) own it.” Period; full stop.

I’m just a dumb Catholic. I need some help. We Catholics, reportedly, don’t spend much time with our Bibles. Maybe a well-known Biblical scholar like, say, Pastor Doug Wilson of Moscow’s Christ Church, can assist me in understanding this concept of Holy Land ownership as revealed in Scripture. Maybe even Tozer can jump in to instruct me on this one. …

Hebrews 11, for example, talks about a “new covenant,” plunging a former covenant into obsolescence. How can the adherents of that (Mosaic?) covenant lay claim to a land from which they were permanently ejected almost 2,000 years ago?

My church goes back a few years. Her patriarchs never taught prophetically that a mass of folks calling themselves “Zionists” might accomplish such a thing in the middle of the 20th century in fulfillment of some vague Biblical assurances.

I’ll even argue from the sixth chapter of Galatians that genuine Christians, i.e. “a new creation,” followers of a New Covenant, are now the properly identified “Israel of God,” not the Zionists. The land belongs to Christ and to his church. Incidentally, a significant number of Palestinians are Christians.

Timothy Moore

Potlatch

We should encourage solar

Some friends have voiced, arguably valid, concerns about solar and wind farms being located in Whitman County. One concern is the aesthetics. Another is that it takes good croplands out of production.

There has been tremendous building for residential, commercial, industrial and public use in the 40 years I’ve lived here. These developments take many acres of good croplands out of production. No solar or wind seems to be on them despite the fact that owners would benefit from them.

Several years ago, I asked a prominent local businessman why he didn’t put solar on his buildings and parking lots. His answer was the cost of electricity was so low that it did not make financial sense to put in solar. Yet how can a company lease land to put in infrastructure on top of solar and wind costs, and still be profitable? Perhaps the businessman might reconsider now that the cost of solar panels have dramatically decreased, whether it still does not make financial sense to put in solar?

WSU, with lots of new buildings, the new Moscow Police Station and the new SEL building south of Moscow — many are suitably located for solar — but don’t seem to have them. Large stores will benefit from solar on their buildings and parking lots. They would provide electricity and shade for parking in the summer and reducing cost for snow removal in the winter. Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport is building a new terminal. Home Depot is proposing a large retail store in Moscow. I wonder if either of them or other new builders have considered solar panels for their buildings or parking lots? If we want to keep solar/wind farms out of good crop lands, we should encourage/demand renewable energy on existing and new buildings.

Charlotte Omoto

Palouse

Diversity is not dangerous

I can’t imagine what our legislators are thinking. They are elected to support all Idahoans and protect our democracy. This includes freedom of expression, voting rights, free, well-supported public schools and libraries, separation of church and state and safe public spaces. We don’t want, need or deserve concealed weapons in schools, private armed militia, harassed librarians and teachers, public funds for private and religious schools, lack of protection against domestic terrorists, barriers to casting our votes or suppression of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. We need our legislators to stop trying to interfere in and control our lives.

Idaho Senate Bill 1357 is an example of such interference. Why pass legislation opposing diversity programs and training in higher education? Diversity is not a dirty word or a dangerous concept. Diversity is a fact of life. Humans display many differences, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical abilities, age etc. Diversity is a gift that enriches us as we listen to and learn about other lives and experiences and welcome and include all people in our community activities. It is a mistake to try to suppress this gift. Why shut down programs like the Women’s Center and Black Cultural Center? DEI programs benefit marginalized students and also help educate the entire student body who will live in a diverse society and work in a diverse workforce. SB 1357 would hurt Idaho’s abilities to get grants, attract businesses, and recruit students and quality professionals.

Please join me in contacting our legislators. Ask them to do their jobs to help foster a safe, tolerant, respectful state. Tell them not to oppose efforts to help us understand and appreciate each other. We need leaders who act to preserve basic rights and safety now and for future generations in our wonderful state of Idaho.

Joann Muneta

Moscow

Medicaid ignorance

Back when I was trying to convince Idaho that there was value in expanding healthcare coverage for the poor and uninsured, rather than continuing the catastrophic payments from counties, I had to deal with a lot of ignorance. People didn’t understand why expanding Medicaid made sense. The legislature sure didn’t. I can’t count how many times my fellow legislators confused Medicare and Medicaid. It is true, they have the same first six letters. Maybe it’s just a slip of the tongue. I came to believe it reflected their ignorance.

But then, the public got educated and we got the initiative passed. Medicaid coverage was expanded to cover all those below 168% of the federal poverty level.

Then the Moscow-Pullman Daily News showed its ignorance with the headline in Thursday’s paper on Randy Johnson’s opinion piece supporting Medicaid expansion.

Mistakes occur. Please correct yours.

Dan Schmidt

Moscow

Note: The incorrect headline in Thursday’s print edition has been corrected online to read, “Protecting Medicaid supports core Idaho value.” The mistake was that of the Opinion editor.