It was a grievous error to publish Jonathan Tobin’s op-ed while we as a nation are still reeling from the murder of George Floyd and many other unarmed black people (Opinion, “Defund the police?” June 11). I’m addressing your decision, not so much Tobin’s words. He’s been writing the same op-ed for years, twisting words and following with variations on “Progressives are poisoning the water. They are linked to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (and now Black Lives Matter) as anti-Israel, anti-Semites.”

Tobin’s twist of facts here was to take the start of a sentence “defund police …” and ignore the rest, which is to invest in restructured police forces that protect the communities they should be serving. NJJN published a false narrative for which we, the Jewish community of New Jersey, will be held accountable. It was an unconscionable decision.

I was at the 1963 March on Washington and heard Rabbi Joachim Prinz speak. I hope his words infuse your editorship in these coming days.

“America must not become a nation of onlookers. America must not remain silent. Not merely Black Americans, but all of America. It must speak up and act, from the president down to the humblest of us, and not for the sake of the Negro, not for the sake of the Black community but for the sake of the image, the idea, and the aspiration of America itself.”

Robert Karp
Princeton