Readers React: The Pittsburgh synagogue victims didn’t die for refugees. They were killed because of age-old anti-Semitism

To the editor: As a Jew and the son of immigrants, I am deeply offended by Rob Eshman’s op-ed article asserting that the 11 people who were killed in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre died defending the right of refugees to find safety.

The idea that anyone would use the shooting to write an article to make a political point is in incredibly poor taste.

The Jews of Pittsburgh didn’t die for any political cause. They died because of one person’s hatred of Jews, and just about anything would have been a trigger for his evil actions.

Emanuel R. Baker, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I want to thank Eshman for his op-ed piece. In my view, he captured the whole story, the “cause they died for,” and the persistence of anti-Semitism.

I applaud his calling out White House advisor Stephen Miller, the great-grandson of refugees fleeing terrorism and seeking asylum, who is the “architect of [President] Trump’s draconian and cruel anti-refugee policy.”

Keep writing and speaking, Mr. Eshman; we need your voice and those of others who have the courage to speak truth.

Harriet Rossetto, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Eleven innocent, temple-going Jews were gunned down — “so refugees could live”?

By politicizing this horrendous act of hatred by attempting to give it a noble twist, Eshman obscures the true reason for this massacre.

These people did not die for a cause. They died because anti-Semitism, racism and hatred are alive and well in America. They died because they were Jews. It’s that simple.

Pauline Regev, Santa Monica

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