{"id":7974,"date":"2026-08-28T23:38:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T23:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7974"},"modified":"2026-08-28T23:38:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T23:38:01","slug":"letters-reject-lawsuit-targeting-islamic-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7974","title":{"rendered":"Letters: Reject lawsuit targeting Islamic culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Reject lawsuit targeting Islamic culture<\/h4>\n

Re: \u201cPalo Alto school district sued over mosque field trip visit\u201d (Page B3, Aug. 25).<\/p>\n

Read more Letters: Supreme Court\u2019s decision on voting by mail is clearly political<\/a><\/p>\n

The headline on Stephanie Lam\u2019s article reads , \u201cWhy Palo Alto parents sued school district over mosque field trip.\u201d You might expect Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools to be concerned with religious indoctrination. But look at their complaints: girls were provided with hijabs; students met other students who studied Islam; students were \u201cexposed\u201d to the idea that Islam was aligned with social justice; students were \u201cexposed\u201d to the civil rights nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations. It\u2019s clear the complaint is not about the Islamic religion; it\u2019s about Islamic culture.<\/p>\n

The Community Members suit is not about indoctrination; it\u2019s about islamophobia, a racist ideology that has been encouraged by both Democrats and Republicans and has been used to justify and normalize U.S. policy from the invasion of Iraq to the genocide in Gaza and the war against Iran. The Community Members\u2019 toxic suit must be rejected.<\/p>\n

Michael Lyon<\/strong>
\nBerkeley<\/em><\/p>\n

State must support new shoreline park<\/h4>\n

Every generation gets only a handful of opportunities to shape what it leaves behind. For the East Bay, transforming Golden Gate Fields into public parkland is one of them.<\/p>\n

The 162-acre property is the missing link in McLaughlin Eastshore State Park and a rare chance to ensure that one of the Bay\u2019s last remaining stretches of waterfront belongs to the public, not private development.<\/p>\n

The state has proposed $125 million from Proposition 4, the Climate Bond, toward its acquisition. This is exactly the kind of investment voters approved: protecting our shoreline, restoring habitat, expanding public access and preparing communities for climate change.<\/p>\n

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Once waterfront land is lost to private development, it is almost never returned to the public. We urge the governor and Legislature to keep this funding in the budget and help complete a vision that generations of East Bay residents have fought for.<\/p>\n

Read more Benicia\u2019s One House Bakery: Croissants, soup, 7-foot bread Labubu<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Bates and Loni Hancock<\/strong>
\nBerkeley<\/em><\/p>\n

Court decision on voting by mail is clearly political<\/h4>\n

Re: \u201cCourt backs Trump order\u201d (Page A1, Aug. 25).<\/p>\n

In spite of courts throughout the United States concluding that fraud played no role whatsoever in the outcome of the 2020 election, the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court, with the lowest approval rating in history, 67% disapprove (even 42% of Republicans disapprove), is now buying into Donald Trump\u2019s entirely unfounded claims of fraud.<\/p>\n

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How else to explain the court\u2019s recent decision to allow the executive order on mail-in voting, the sole purpose of which is to prevent fraud from impacting elections, a fraud which courts have found does not exist, to move forward. Of course, the obvious real purpose of the order is to disenfranchise millions of registered, lawful voters who disapprove of the current administration, a result the court seems content to allow.<\/p>\n

Chief Justice Roberts adamantly asserts there are no Republican or Democratic judges. This decision is yet one more that proves otherwise.<\/p>\n

Kevin Cody<\/strong>
\nSan Jose<\/em><\/p>\n

Did Americans vote for $40T in debt?<\/h4>\n

Re: \u201cU.S. debt reaches $40T as borrowing binge persists\u201d (Page A1, Aug. 20).<\/p>\n

Our country is now $40 trillion in debt. That\u2019s $40,000,000,000,000. That has doubled from the $20 trillion range in the last 10 years\u00a0 (including COVID costs). Annual interest on that exceeds $1 trillion ($1,000,000,000,000). Let\u2019s all think seriously about the hows and whys of this increased debt. Who is benefiting?<\/p>\n

How is this $40T debt being repaid? By borrowing more? By printing money? By our taxpayer dollars? Not at all?<\/p>\n

In the meantime, let\u2019s not even get started on the increased cost of living that we all are facing (gas, groceries, insurance, medical, etc.).<\/p>\n

Read more Fresno teen had been trafficked to East Bay before she was killed on Oakland streets, police say<\/a><\/p>\n

Is this what we want? Where is it heading?<\/p>\n

Jim Hensler<\/strong>
\nPoint Richmond<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Also: Reject lawsuit | East Bay park | Political ruling | $40 trillion debt. East Bay Times reader letters to the editor for Aug. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nLetters: Reject lawsuit targeting Islamic culture - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7974\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letters: Reject lawsuit targeting Islamic culture - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Also: Reject lawsuit | East Bay park | Political ruling | $40 trillion debt. 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