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Saturday Parade
Excludes Some Veterans
November
10, 2002
I am writing to express the dismay of the
Hartford-Laurel Post No.45 of the Jewish War Veterans of the
United States at being excluded from Saturday's Connecticut
Veterans Day Parade and attendant celebration.
The
Jewish War Veterans of the United States is the oldest
veterans' organization in the nation, having been founded in
1898, and predates the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the
American Legion.
More than 3 million Jews served
willingly and with great sacrifice and distinction in World
War II in the defense of this great nation. Tens of thousands
more followed in the many military actions since
then.
The parade planning committee has been well aware
for years that we of the JWV are not permitted, either by
conscience or by our national JWV policy, to participate in
this kind of activity because it is being held on our Sabbath,
thereby denying us the public recognition to which we feel we
are entitled.
Because Veterans Day is officially
observed on Monday, why would it not have been possible to
hold the festivities on that day, which could have made it
possible for us to participate with all of our
comrades?
Elliott Donn, Windsor
The writer is
a past post commander of the Hartford-Laurel Post No.45 of the
Jewish War Veterans of the United States.
• • •
Photo Seemed
Disrespectful
The story of high maternal and
infant mortality in Afghanistan could have been told without a
photograph that included the exposed breast of an Afghan woman
[Page A3, Nov. 8, "Against The Odds, Six Hours And
Hoping"].
I hope the photographer had the woman's
permission to publish such a photo. It seemed inappropriate
and disrespectful to me, given the extreme modesty practiced
by Afghan women and the lack of respect for women in the
Afghan culture.
Kerry Eaton, Southington
• • •
No Political Statement In
Obituary
I would like to clarify something in
"Death Notices, Politics Mixed" [Connecticut, Nov. 7]. I never
said that I submitted the obituary for Shaden Abu Hijleh "as a
political statement."
I looked up the word "political"
in the dictionary and found:
1. of, pertaining to, or
concerned with politics.
2. exercising or seeking power
in the government or public affairs of a state, municipality,
etc.: a political party.
3. of, pertaining to, or
involving the state or its government.
4. having a
definite policy or system of government
5. of or
pertaining to citizens: political rights.
Although I
guess it's a question of interpretation, I don't think any of
those definitions fit my intention in placing the
obituary.
I did it because I was so profoundly moved by
the story of Shaden Abu Hijleh's life and the tragedy of her
death in what should have been the comfort and safety of her
own home. I also want people to know that this kind of killing
is happening under Israel's illegal military occupation of
Palestine, which is now in its 34th year. It's illegal
according to more than 60 U.N. resolutions and international
law.
Thanks to the response of the local Zionist
community, many people all over the world have now heard
Shaden Abu Hijleh's story instead of only Courant readers.
I've received dozens of e-mails of support from all over our
country, from a number of countries in the Middle East,
including Israel, from Europe, North Africa and
Australia.
Gale Courey Toensing, Canaan
• • •
Why Allow Premium
Increase?
What's going on in the Connecticut
Insurance Department?
On Nov. 5, I read that Anthem
Blue Cross won approval to raise premiums 4 percent to 7
percent for Medicare HMO clients [Connecticut, "Costs To Rise
For `Medigap' And Medicare HMO"]. In the Business section of
the same day's newspaper, I saw a bold headline that read:
"Profits Up 54 Percent At Anthem For Quarter."
If
Anthem Inc. is that prosperous, is a raise in premiums
warranted?
Joseph J. Soltys, Storrs
• • •
Don't Fault Mentally Ill For
All Problems
We agree with Dr. Joel B. Levine
[Other Opinion, Nov. 1, "Why Don't We Act Before The Shooting
Starts?"] that resources to adequately treat the mentally ill
are not sufficient, but we are concerned that readers are left
with the idea that mental illness and violence are inevitably
linked.
It is important to remember that the vast
majority of people with mental illness are not violent - the
proportion of violence caused by those with mental illness is
very small.
We support increased funding for the
diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, but we take issue
with Levine's broad generalization that such resources are all
that is necessary to cure society's ills.
People with
mental illness are not the reason we live in an increasingly
violent world.
Michael A. Norko, M.D., President
Connecticut Psychiatric Society, Bloomfield
• • •
Church Should Focus On
Bigger Issues
"Catholics Asked To Oppose Same-Sex
Unions" [news story, Nov. 2] reported that Catholic churches
in Connecticut were circulating a petition to oppose any
change in the state's marriage laws.
With all the
problems in our state, it is unfathomable that Connecticut's
Catholic leadership believes that extending the rights and
protections of civil marriage to gay couples is the most
pressing issue facing our General Assembly.
Here, in
the wealthiest state in the nation, too many people are
homeless or lack access to quality health care. The child
poverty rate is a disgrace, as is the lack of mental health
services for children and adults.
Same-sex couples that
have made lifetime commitments are being denied access to
state-sanctioned, state-financed rights of civil marriage. We
are trying not to change the definition of what marriage means
but to eliminate discriminatory access.
The Catholic
Church has every right to refuse to marry a couple who do not
meet its requirements for religious marriage. Expanding
Connecticut's marriage laws to include same-sex couples would
not change that. The church does not marry people who have
been divorced, even though divorced people can be legally
married under Connecticut law. The same will also be true of
same-sex couples once we are able to legally marry.
If
marriage is a good thing for heterosexual couples, why is it
not equally good for same-sex couples?
Anne E.
Stanback, President
Love Makes A Family,
Avon
Love Makes A Family is an advocacy group
working to expand Connecticut's marriage laws to include
same-sex couples.
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