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The destruction in Gaza amid hostilities between Israel and Hamas shows how Palestinians are treated as “less than human” and the Jewish State engages in “unfathomable carelessness” to achieve its goals, two Inland Empire residents from Palestine said, while a Riverside rabbi equated condemnations of Israel with “antisemitism,” and a member of a Corona synagogue viewed Hamas’ actions as forcing Israel to react. The Israeli military’s bombardment of Gaza has been continuous since the deadly Oct. 7 incursion in southern Israel by groups of armed militants identifying as Hamas “freedom fighters,” which the Israeli government said resulted in more than 1,000 fatalities on kibbutzim and at a music festival.

Figures published by multiple outlets reporting from the Middle East estimate more than 11,000 Gazans have been killed in the ensuing Israeli military missile and air strikes, including more than 4,600 children — numbers based on figures provided regularly by the Hamas-run health ministry. Israeli and U.S. officials have expressed doubts about the figures, but ministry officials insist they are based on fatalities verified by medical professionals. “They are indiscriminately bombing people’s homes,” Moamer Shurrab, a pharmaceutical company employee and member of the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, told City News Service. “It’s hard to imagine the scale of this massacre.

It’s especially horrific to see the scores of children who are killed. What did those little children do to Israel? Stop thinking of them as less than human. How can you call this self-defense?” Shurrab, who is from Gaza and immigrated to the United States to attend college in the 1990s, has immediate and extended family residing throughout the Strip. He said his brother’s apartment was adjacent to the Islamic University, which has been targeted by the Israeli military, causing his brother to flee for his life. “What people don’t realize is Gaza is a very small place, only 365 square kilometers,” he said. “With these attacks, there is no safe place in Gaza.

There are 2.3 million people living there. It’s so dense. Where are people going to flee? Are they going to jump in the sea?” Along with the Islamic University, the war has led to the damage or destruction of al-Azhar University, the Indonesian Hospital, Al Nasr Children’s Hospital, al-Ahli Arab Hospital, mosques, Gaza’s oldest Greek Orthodox church, refugee camps and at least one school operated by the United Nations Relief & Works Agency, according to published reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists said that 42 reporters — 37 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese — had been confirmed killed in the conflict. “I certainly believe Israel has the right to defend itself, and unfortunately I believe Hamas is hiding in civilian areas,” Rabbi Suzanne Singer, former head of Temple Beth El in Riverside and now a rabbinical teacher in Temecula, told CNS. “It’s very difficult to avoid these casualties. Hamas is luring Israel into Gaza so there are civilian casualties.

Can the government do something different? I don’t know.” She worried that a ceasefire might enable Hamas to “rearm and go on the attack.” Singer said she was not surprised by the massive demonstrations in Dallas, London, Jakarta, Paris, New York City and other places denouncing Israel and expressing solidarity with the Palestinians. “They ignore all the human rights violations committed around the world,” she said. “There’s only a major outcry when Israel does something. Being critical of Israel’s right to exist is antisemitism.” Cal State San Bernardino Professor Ahlam Muhtaseb, a Palestinian and Islamic Center of Temecula Valley member, said Israel’s side of the issue is over-represented in mainstream media, where Palestinians are too often portrayed as “extremists, violent terrorists.” “Israelis cite antisemitism and how they were treated by the Nazis,” Muhtaseb said. “But news reports `invisibilize’ Palestinians, dehumanize them. When there were 500 people massacred by the Israeli military in the bombing of al-Shifa Hospital, you saw 30 seconds of people shouting and screaming. We don’t know their names, ages, hobbies or dreams.

There are always details about Israeli victims and their families.” The professor said the pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been inspirational but doubted they would prompt a pullback by Israel. “Gaza is a small stretch of land. The unfathomable carelessness with which the Israelis are dropping bombs, with the United States’ support, makes this a genocide,” she said. “Israel has the fourth largest army in the world, and they have been given cart blanche to do whatever they want. We see hundreds of dead babies. Half of Gaza’s population is under 18.

We see the dead ones, but how many thousands are buried under the rubble, trying to stay alive?” Bruce Rouman, a longtime member of a Corona synagogue, said he felt “sorry for what’s happening to the people of Gaza,” but he could not denounce Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 deadly attacks “because there needs to be a Jewish homeland.” “This was totally unprovoked,” he said. “I don’t think they (Hamas) really desire the land. Their goal is to eliminate the Jewish population. You can’t just stand by and be battered. They are also launching missiles on Israel, and people are dying.” Rouman said he lacked confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Singer said his administration is “problematic,” acknowledging she has witnessed Israeli settlers illegally seizing Palestinians’ land in the West Bank. But she said Israel is routinely painted in the worst light, despite “human rights violations in Muslim countries.” The rabbi said the criticism of Israel, with some demonstrators calling for “death to all Jews,” was “terrifying.”

Shurrab said the devastation in Gaza follows decades of the Strip being under Israel’s boot, “like an open-air concentration camp.” “Israel controls everything — electricity, water, travel, even fishing,” he said. “Have you ever heard of the oppressor defending itself from the oppressed? It’s mind-boggling. The Palestinian people are occupied. I know. I was there. I lived it.”

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Lead was phased out of gasoline sold for cars and trucks decades ago. But that brain-damaging fuel additive used to prevent engine knock is still being spewed into the air across the nation — including Southern California — by small aircraft that use leaded fuel.

For two decades, community groups and environmentalists have been pushing federal regulators to ban leaded aviation fuel that is used by about 170,000 small piston-engine planes, single and twin-engine planes that typically carry between two and 10 passengers. Aviation gasoline, or avgas, is the only transportation fuel that still uses lead and is the nation’s largest single source of airborne lead emissions, responsible for about 70% of the total.

After years of inaction, federal regulators are now finally poised to start eliminating this dangerous pollutant. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week issued an important finding that aircraft that use leaded fuel “cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare.” This action now obligates the EPA to adopt emissions standards while the Federal Aviation Administration develops standards for aircraft fuel.

This is very good news, though it should have happened long ago given mounting evidence of elevated blood lead levels of people who live in communities near general aviation airports. There is no safe level of exposure for this powerful neurotoxin. Lead contamination poses the greatest risks to young children, who can suffer irreversible behavioral, cognitive and developmental problems, including loss of IQ, from even small amounts of lead, which is emitted in tiny particles in aircraft exhaust and can also be deposited in the soil.

The Federal Aviation Administration last year started working with the aviation industry toward a goal of ending the use of leaded fuel by 2030, but adopting regulations and standards will turn what’s currently an aspiration into a true obligation. Federal officials don’t yet have a timeline for how soon they expect to propose emissions rules, but it’s important that they work to phase out leaded fuel quickly.

More than 5 million Americans live within 500 meters, or about 1,600 feet, of an airport, according to a 2020 EPA analysis, and studies have found higher blood lead levels among children who live or go to school near airports.

Aircraft pollution is especially bad in California, which has some of the airports with the nation’s highest reported lead emissions. Long Beach Airport ranks No. 2 in lead pollution, and Van Nuys Airport is No. 7, according to an analysis of EPA data by the group Earthjustice. John Wayne Airport, Chino Airport, Riverside Municipal Airport and Torrance Municipal Airport-Zamperini Field are also high up on the list.

This is also a matter of environmental justice. Communities near airports tend to have higher proportions of people of color and low-income residents than areas that are more distant. Many of these communities are among those with the highest lead pollution.

Fortunately, technology is no longer much of a barrier. The FAA has already approved safer, unleaded fuels for piston-engine aircraft. And while about 35 airports nationwide already provide unleaded fuel, much more needs to happen to scale up production and distribution and make higher-octane alternatives widely available.

There are aviation industry concerns about how to safely phase out lead. The average piston-engine aircraft still flying is more than 45 years old, and federal rules should address those safety concerns in addition to protecting public health from poisonous emissions.

Fortunately, technology is no longer much of a barrier. The FAA has already approved safer, unleaded fuels for piston-engine aircraft. And while about 35 airports nationwide already provide unleaded fuel, much more needs to happen to scale up production and distribution and make higher-octane alternatives widely available.

There are aviation industry concerns about how to safely phase out lead. The average piston-engine aircraft still flying is more than 45 years old, and federal rules should address those safety concerns in addition to protecting public health from poisonous emissions.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various author’s articles on this Opinion piece or elsewhere online or in the newspaper where we have articles with the header “COLUMN/EDITORIAL & OPINION” do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints or official policies of the Publisher, Editor, Reporters or anybody else in the Staff of the Hemet and San Jacinto Chronicle Newspaper.

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Since 1978, VA has used Valentine’s Day to provide a weeklong commemoration for Veteran patients by encouraging individuals to seek opportunities to volunteer at their local VA facilities, visit with inpatients, and distribute gifts and cards to hospitalized Veterans.

“As we take a moment to salute our Veteran patients, VA recognizes the efforts of volunteers and community members who help support our mission and we encourage all Americans to reach out to VA to explore more ways to give back,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “For more than 75 years, volunteers have helped us keep America’s promise to Veterans by providing supplemental services and support when and where Veterans need them most.”

“The National Salute honors Vets and lifts our spirits. We love volunteering to give Veterans valentines and remind them that they are not forgotten,” said U.S. Army Veteran and VA volunteer, John Schuler. “As a Veteran, I love receiving cards from the kids and items from Voluntary Service [because] it makes me feel loved. The National Salute is a tradition we love at VA Central California in Fresno. Vets, if no one has told you they love you today, I do.”

In 2021, schools, community groups, and youth organizations nationwide sent more than 174,000 valentines to VA medical centers, which were distributed to Veteran patients at facilities across the country. Additionally, nearly 1,200 volunteers and more than 1,000 community organizations contributed to events and activities recognizing hospitalized Veterans.

In addition to donations VA provides volunteers with virtual and remote assignments such as the Compassionate Contact Corps which allow them to safely support Veterans during the pandemic.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities or to join the mission to honor the sacrifice and service of America’s Veterans during the National Salute or any time of year, contact your nearest VA facility.

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