Columnist Richard Fein is worried that the DSA is a threat to democracy in the USA and to Israel [“DSA: A danger to democracy throughout the world,” Sept. 28]. He is particularly alarmed by the DSA’s use of the phrase “from the river to the sea” which in 1977 was used as a campaign slogan by Israel’s far-right party Likud, and by its current leader and indicted international war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu, in 2024 and 2026. Using an internet search engine, he could have discovered this: “In 2014 [politician Uri] Ariel said, “‘Between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea there will be only one state, which is Israel.”
When Zionists use the phrase, it doesn’t seem to bother Mr. Fein. It ought to.
As a co-sponsor of H.Res.876 — Recognizing the Genocide of the Palestinian People in Gaza in 2025, our congressman Jim McGovern defined Israel’s actions in Palestine as genocidal. Democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders declared Israel is committing genocide in 2025, too.
Mr. Fein might consider how his support of Israel’s actions comports with his concern that our democracy is threatened by DSA, Congressman McGovern, and the rest of us who “recognize the genocide of the Palestinian people.” He also might write responsibly about how much of a threat to democracy DSA politicians like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are. He can compare them to Republicans Jared Kushner, Steven Miller and Pete Hegseth.
Will he?
Kurt Heidinger
Westhampton