I find Trump’s reckless plan to take over the Gaza strip deeply disturbing (“Trump wants the US to take over Gaza and redevelop it”, February 5). Not only would this amount to ethnic cleansing, but his rhetoric is very colonial. He speaks of turning Gaza into a “beautiful town” built on economic development, jobs and housing, which is the typical rhetoric of colonisers who take over and dispossess in the guise of benefiting the people. Why does he not suggest that he rebuild Gaza for the Palestinian people with the economic development he speaks of, development which they have never had? Assuming that the people of Gaza only want to return home because they have no alternative is simply false. They have emphasised their desire to stay in their homeland and rebuild it. The alternative Donald Trump is suggesting would be another violation of international law committed against the people of Gaza and should be called out for what it is. Saba Mustafa, Punchbowl
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu looked so smug sitting together as they posed that the US should “take over” Gaza. Their plan would rid Israel of those troublesome Palestinian neighbours and allow the US to expand its holdings in the Middle East. But it promises nothing in the short term and little in the longer term for the millions of displaced Gazans. Under the plan, Gazans would lose their sovereign homeland and eventually their national identity. The plan moves Netanyahu closer to his desire for a single state. If Trump succeeds in also buying Greenland and taking back the Panama Canal, he’ll be comparing himself to those great empire builders Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. Brian O’Donnell, Burradoo
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address the media at the White House.Credit: Getty Images
America to take over Gaza and Palestinians to be relocated. I can see the billboard now: “New waterfront subdivision. Lots available soon. Historic precinct with Mediterranean views. Finance arranged – easy terms. Contact Trump Realty Inc.” Bob Roach, Orange
Trump has designs on Gaza. He wants to remove all the Palestinians and send them to surrounding countries already caring for the burden of refugees. He says Gaza’s location “is phenomenal with the best weather”. “Beautiful things could be done over there, fantastic things.” Appallingly, I presume he means to build Mar-a-Gaza. Lester Grace, Stockton
Anthony Nassif, if standing up for the people of Gaza is activism (Letters, February 5), I must be an activist in my old age because I feel devastated even by the suggestion by Trump to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza, supported by Israel, to make way for a beach resort. Sally Shepard, Nelson Bay
Councillors’ $20,000 jaunt disrespects ratepayers
I got an email from Ku-ring-gai Council’s co-ordinator of road services yesterday saying the council did not have unlimited funds for road repairs and that a gaping trench in a main road will only be repaired by May. Yet, they can find $20,000 for a jaunt outside the council boundary (“Ku-ring-gai councillor spend $20,000 on retreat”, February 5). I am sure the Gordon library meeting rooms could be used for free. Obviously, what is good for the ratepayers is not good enough for our councillors. Lindsay Somerville, Lindfield
So Ku-ring-gai Council, like their northern beaches neighbour, will spend ridiculous amounts of ratepayers’ money to discuss rate increases when they already know the answer. Have your meeting in council chambers, stop paying senior executives excessive salaries, apply to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal for above-inflation increases, and remember that times are tough – without adding to the burden of struggling households. Denis Suttling, Newport Beach
I’m wondering whether we should ask Transport for NSW to halt night road works and 24/7 generators during the Ku-ring-gai Council retreat and workshop. Could councillors also be warned that crossing the highway is treacherous, that footpaths are uneven and covered in rubble and that they can’t turn right onto the highway when they need to travel east to their leafy north shore homes? The community of Medlow Bath has been plagued by noise, danger, mess and trucks for two years now during the wasteful and unnecessary widening of the Great Western Highway through their village. Deborah Howell, Medlow Bath
I can’t believe these getaway jaunts still exist. It’s a total waste of ratepayers’ money. There’s no need for fancy hotels to discuss council matters – just use the local council chambers, libraries or community centres. Vince Hunt, Lennox Head
During my decades in the corporate world, a retreat was obligatory for important long-term planning and decision-making. For senior management, it was imperative to get away from the everyday distractions of the office. The Blue Mountains was the perfect place for the task. Richard Stewart, Pearl Beach
Haylen was hard done by
Many letter writers feel former NSW transport minister Jo Haylen made a serious mistake and should fall on her sword (“Transport minister quits over chauffeur scandal”, February 5). While gross abuse of privilege should indeed be a firing offence, to dump an able minister for bouncing around a grey area in policy is quite absurd. A young mother, who by all accounts put in the hard yards, should be allowed the perks such as dropping kids at sport and escaping the grind and pressure. I believe the uproar was a case of petty politics. If Haylen was to claim for her overtime, I have no doubt the cost of this driver perk would be put into perspective. Bruce Hall, Avalon
Haylen has let voters down with her seemingly insincere apology. We know “people aren’t perfect” and working mums (and dads) have it tough. So, are we to excuse her on these grounds? By not owning up to other similar misuses of her ministerial car, she deliberately misled the premier and voters. Her conduct is not merely “errors of judgment”, it is calculated self-entitlement and deception. The sad irony is she exploited transport perks as the minister responsible for transport. Transport workers and unions must be even more fired up to push their cause. Jennifer Fergus, Croydon
Jo Haylen took a ministerial car to a private lunch at Brokenwood estate.Credit: SMH
This massively concocted storm in a limo is up there with pillorying Albanese for his Qantas upgrades. Haylen was a respected, hardworking, dedicated servant of the public (and mother to boot) with no record of dissembling, snow-jobs or disinformation, unlike the Liberal opposition. With so many serious problems plaguing the world, including climate change, war and the new US political order, why do we put such a heavy focus on a local politician who made an error of judgment? In the overall scheme of things, it’s a very small one. Frederick Jansohn, Rose Bay
So, a minister under great pressure, working tirelessly to keep the trains running, has used legitimate means to reduce personal pressure. I wonder what political machinations turned this into a reason for resignation. Will we have room for young politicians with families to do their jobs – while keeping their private lives intact? Clare Sydenham, North Sydney
Haylen broke no rules. I don’t believe the time she gave up doing the extraordinary hours in her role or even the fact that she had a driver made up for the countless hours she missed with her children. Yet, we say we want more women in politics. Sheryn Symons, Hunters Hill
If ex-minister Haylen had reopened the Cessnock rail line, this whole kerfuffle could have been avoided. Tap on in Summer Hill, tap off Vincent St and a short jaunt to the vineyards. Warren Clarke, Rozelle
Dutton your lip
Former attorney-general George Brandis once proclaimed that “people have the right to be bigots” (“Hate speech laws back on table after unanimous vote”, February 5). No more if this bill succeeds. Similarly, Peter Dutton will have to curb his enthusiasm for the “free speech” to which he appears partial. He’s on the record with hateful comments about Indigenous Australians, Muslims, the Chinese, African and Sudanese “gangs”, Australians with Lebanese-Muslim backgrounds, and refugees in general, particularly Palestinian and Muslim refugees, while backing white South African farmers because they’re “the sort of migrants we want to bring to our country”. Dutton needs to recognise that charges of racial vilification can’t be selectively applied. All racial vilification is deplorable, and it’s time he stopped modelling this behaviour. Alison Stewart, Riverview
It amazes me that the Coalition is pretending to be the saviours of our Jewish people. In 2017, the then-Coalition government moved amendments that would have severely weakened the protections offered under Section 18C of the Race Discrimination Act. Thank goodness our Senate didn’t pass it. If it had passed, the Jewish community would now be asking Labor to increase the protections lost through the Coalition. Has the Jewish community forgotten the Coalition’s attempts to take away such valuable protections? John Rome, Mount Lawley (WA)
Kerr slur
A London police officer felt “humiliated” because a slightly worse-for-wear Sam Kerr (we’ve all seen the footage now) calmly claimed he was “stupid … and white” (“‘Upset’ police officer challenged over his motives in Sam Kerr prosecution”, February 5). Ouch, that must’ve really hurt. I imagine a British football hooligan or worse, criminal, couldn’t have said anything so humiliating? Oh, come on! Surely it’s a joke, or worse, woke. Isn’t this the sort of “I’m so offended” confection the anti-woke crowd are always going on about? So where are they? I don’t see the Murdoch papers screaming “Toughen up, snowflake!” Where are our own Sky After Dark comedy crew and their standard “It’s political correctness gone mad” chant? Or for them does a successful female athlete not fit the profile of someone worthy of a “woke defence”? Phil Bradshaw, Naremburn
So the police officer who arrested Sam Kerr only disclosed that he “felt upset” 11 months after the arrest. I mean, I can chuck a sook with the best of them, but that takes the cake. Nick Andrews, Bellevue Hill
Sam Kerr arrives at court in Kingston upon Thames for her trial for a charge of racial harassment.Credit: Getty Images
Rose among thorns
I expect many correspondents will take issue with Rosemary O’Brien on why Trump won the election (Letters, February 5). I think she is pretty accurate on his use of the culture war to attract working-class votes. Trump’s most successful political ad in the last few weeks of the campaign was “Kamala is for they/them. I am for you”. Tony Nicod, Collaroy
Proving that all things eventually come to pass, Rosemary O’Brien has had a thought I agree with. Americans voted for Trump because they were “heartily tired”. They were heartily tired of being exploited by wealthy oligarchs, they were heartily tired of being promised things that never appeared, of being constantly lied to by their elected leaders. Seeing the liar-in-chief as an alternative only shows the desperate stage they had reached. The prime minister should take heed here. Peter Dutton is obviously a far worse alternative and a liar of the first order, but that might not be enough to stop the electorate from voting for him. William Kennedy, Jordan Springs
Do you feel lucky Rosemary O’Brien? You probably should because it sounds like you have no worries about your gender, colour or ethnicity. You live on an island with no war or famine, nice and cosy in Earth’s warming climate. But you really shouldn’t denigrate those unselfish people looking out for those named above or our fast-declining planet. If you think it’s terrifying now... Helen Lewin, Tumbi Umbi
Not sure what I found more confusing in yesterday’s letters ... the lady who is sick of pronouns or the chap who notes a shoreline in Newtown? Both seem to have drunk too much of the Dutton Kool-Aid. Victoria Watts, Mango Hill
And the winner of New Phrase of the Year comp goes to our correspondent Rosemary O’Brien, with her fabulous “climate-terrifyism”. Charmain Brinks, Newcastle
Musk moves in
Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and unelected adviser to President Donald Trump, is asserting control over much of the federal bureaucracy and sensitive government computer systems, despite lacking clear authority. The highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department was pushed out after refusing to hand Musk’s team the keys to the government’s entire payment system and the $US6 trillion in payments the system processes annually, including social security cheques, tax refunds and Medicare benefits. Musk and his team have also seized control at the Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration, key institutions that function as the central nervous system of the US government. Norman Broomhall, Port Macquarie
God’s strange ways
I applaud correspondent Brian Barrett’s desire for a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians (Letters, February 5), but to suggest that God must be wondering why it can’t be achieved doesn’t follow. What is happening is surely part of God’s plan. After all, he is the creator of everything and everyone, all-powerful and all-knowing. As I was taught in my Methodist Sunday school, “God knows every blade of grass”. Quite seriously, I’m waiting for God to step in and tell us all just what he’s up to and why because he’s seemingly the only one who can stop the centuries of inter-religious hatred (which logically, he’s also responsible for creating). Eric Hunter, Cook (ACT)
Your correspondent, Anthony Nassif, is drawing a very long bow if he claims that Hamas’s goal is the genocide of world Jewry. In fact, its objectives are ambiguous and limited. Its aim is for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders which recognises the existence of Israel but not the state of Israel. I doubt very much whether Hamas gives a fig about Jews in others parts of the world, just as long as they vacate the Palestinian lands they occupied in 1967. Rodney Crute , Hunters Hill
After reading Zionist Federation president Jeremy Leibler’s opinion piece (“Labor has failed the Jewish community”, February 4), may I suggest he consider the words of the humble cricketing great Usman Khawaja, who is quoted as saying: “Standing up for the people of Gaza is not antisemitic, nor does it have anything to do with my Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia, but everything to do with the Israeli government and its deplorable actions. It has everything to do with justice and human rights.” It’s time to stop confusing Israel as a political entity and “my Jewish brothers and sisters”. Jeremy Eccles, Clifton Gardens
Media Watch in safe hands
Ardent fans of Media Watch can rest assured that Linton Besser will be a worthy successor to Paul Barry (“Besser made of right stuff to safeguard Media Watch”, February 5). His impressive debut served as a shot across the bow of corporate media, putting them on notice that every article will be fact-checked to the nth degree. We can be sure the ABC won’t escape his scrutiny either. Media Watch remains on track to be essential viewing, as it was with Paul Barry. Graham Lum, North Rocks
Linton Besser: A bloodhound’s nose for a story.Credit: Dallas Kilponen
US empire
If the people of Greenland want to know how they would go as part of the USA, perhaps they should talk to the Puerto Ricans about how America treats its colonies (“Pyne’s history fail: It’s time for Greenland to reclaim America”, February 5) “No taxation without representation”, anyone? Ron Wessel, Mount St Thomas
Your journalist may not be aware the Danes flogged their Virgin Islands to the US in 1917. Rum punch is the preferred tipple in that particular paradise now in America’s warm embrace. Mark Latchford, Seaforth
HECS lie
Now that I have a steady job after many years of un- and underemployment, I have a debt for HECS that I have to pay. I still earn a lot less than the median income, and as a tenant my costs of living are high. HECS was sold to the public on the premise that graduates would become high-income earners when they joined the workforce and could afford to contribute towards their educations. That was a lie. Jane Scott, Marrickville
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