On the June issue:

The Campus Mobs

To the Editor:
The campus mobs that Abe Greenwald writes about in “The Woke Jihad” cannot be explained in terms of left vs. right, no matter how much he wants that to be the case (June). It’s a question of extremism, which isn’t purely a left-wing phenomenon. The far right has long embraced anti-Semitism. That it exists on the left is no surprise.
Bill Adkins
Williamstown, Kentucky

To the Editor:
‘The Woke Jihad” is a truly brilliant essay. My only quibble is with Abe Greenwald’s use of the term “left” to describe the protesters. While it’s true that the easily manipulated extremists he writes about do call themselves “left,” nothing about them has anything to do with actual leftism, and using the term is as unfair.
Gideon Miller
Zichron Yaakov, Israel

To the Editor:
Abe Greenwald has done an excellent job connecting the historical dots of the woke jihad. While not everyone has been caught in its vortex, demanding compliance with the prime directive to subvert Western society, enough have been influenced by these different groups to have an impact. Administrators, professors, and activists have replaced the old order with chaos, and they’ve done so with ease. I am reminded of what Truman Capote noted about the two killers on whom he based In Cold Blood. Individually, the men could not and would not be capable of committing the crime, but together, they were. Perhaps the same is taking place now among both sides of the woke jihad. And by soliciting just enough support from sympathetic parties, they are able to undermine our political order.
Brahm Canzer
Montreal, Canada

To the Editor:
Abe Greenwald’s article hits home and explains the symbiotic relationship between two seemingly opposed ideologies. I recently attended a talk by a former FBI agent who was asked how it was that so-called progressive students could protest on behalf of seventh-century barbarism, because on the surface it just seems so obviously contradictory. In response, he said, “salad-bar extremism.” The phrase means that proponents pick and choose causes, and the stated causes themselves are irrelevant. The underlying theme in all of these causes is a big middle finger to Western values and America itself, and in that, there is consistency between all of these demented actors.
Moshe K. Levy
San Antonio, Texas

To the Editor:
It shouldn’t surprise us that the radical left and the Islamists have teamed up to create a convoluted type of jihad, or war against capitalism and ordered liberty.

The secular left and the religious Islamists have forged a marriage of convenience because they both want to fundamentally transform any mode of democracy into authoritarian states. These two dystopian groups are addicted to intellectual laziness—and their mind-numbing phones—and it shows in the display of their colossal ignorance of history.

The woke jihad should be labeled the “asleep-at-the-switch jihad” because it lacks situational awareness regarding the mood of the country. The members of this narcissistic movement have a coddled and unearned sense of entitlement that turns off Americans.

Above all, the woke jihad is cowardly, as its members hide their identities while they bully individuals or groups of Jews. Moreover, these extremists trash the United States while they benefit from its blessings. And so they lack the courage to move to the autocratic regimes they obviously admire. They’d never make it as true revolutionaries.
Christian Milord
Fullerton, California

To the Editor:
I write to say how impressed I am by Abe Greenwald’s article on pro-terrorist protesters. This is especially so because the subject is producing a lot of noise but not much signal. Greenwald’s article expressed, to an extent I have not seen in other analyses of this subject, the inside-out moral universe of the mobs. This is also the case among activists in other culture-war clashes. I am encouraged that such clear and ethical thinking still exists, and that it is still published.
James Pierson
Wilmington, Delaware

To the Editor:
Abe Greenwald wrote an excellent article about the campus encampments. I am hopeful that the majority of Americans view these tentifada protesters and university radicals with disdain. If there is a societal response to the “useful idiots” of the woke jihad, I hope the backlash includes education and finance reform that will allow the U.S. to ban or restrict university donations from foreign donors who are poisoning our campuses. We need a commitment from our government officials to follow the money trail and cut off the funding that is vital to these anti-Western organizations. Our way of life and future in the West depend on how we confront these challenges.
Matt Fineman
Plainview, New York

To the Editor:
Thanks for this great article on the woke jihad. I often feel guilty and think that I should be more sympathetic toward groups that claim to stand with the “marginalized.” So it’s good to be reminded of what these groups really want. Fortunately, they aren’t trying to hide their agenda as much as they once did.
Jeff Haase
Toledo, Ohio

Abe Greenwald writes:
Bill Adkins believes that because there is anti-Semitism in segments of the right, the left-wing roots of the anti-Semitic pro-Hamas protesters is somehow nullified. It’s enough to say that two things can be true at once: The political right has Jew-haters in its ranks, and the campus mobs are undeniably animated by leftist causes and ideas. Ask them, and they will tell you so. Interestingly, Gideon Miller believes that the protesters aren’t left wing because, as he sees it, their activities don’t represent “actual leftism.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Leftism was founded in mob violence. Just start with the French Revolution and follow the trail. To say nothing of its extravagant history of anti-Semitism. While I agree with Brahm Canzer that the woke jihad is capable of undermining our political order, I don’t agree that the leftists were incapable of doing so on their own. They did a good job of it in the years leading up to the campus horrors.

I appreciate Moshe K. Levy’s reference to “salad-bar” extremism. Others have described this as “the omnicause.” If you’re a radical, anything to defy the West is worth fighting for.

Christian Milord brings up an important point. The campus mobs wear masks because they are cowards. It’s one of many ways in which the great unravelling of 2020 led to the woke jihad. Just switch out your N95 for a keffiyeh, and you’re good to go.

It is gratifying to read that James Pierson, Matt Fineman, and Jeff Haase got so much from my article. The fact that so many readers responded positively points to why the woke jihad will fail. Americans detest it. And Mr. Haase should spread the word: Never feel sorry for these monsters.

Biden’s Israel Pivot

To the Editor:
John Podhoretz has a hypothesis on why Joe Biden has turned against Israel when the electoral math revealed no benefit to his doing so (“Why Joe Biden Has Gone from Friend to Enemy,” June). The reason is that throughout his political life, Biden has conformed to positions that he believed would further his power. The situation is worse now that he is a diminished functionary surrounded by Obama disciples who are likely the real decision-makers and who view Israel as an obstacle to a new Middle East that favors the accession of Iran.
Alan Karnovitz
Falls Church, Virginia

Screens, Buttons, and Knobs

To the Editor:
I enjoyed James B. Meigs’s column “The Age of the Spurious Upgrade” (June). I have an exten-sive list of technologies that have caused me much consternation over the past years. One is the touch screen. On a phone or tablet, a touch screen is a great thing. But just because the technology exists does not mean a soda dispenser at a fast-food restaurant needs to incorporate it. I am a pilot, and trying to keep up with new avionics systems is hard enough. Many of these upgraded systems have also incorporated touch screens. When you are getting boun-ced around in turbulence, it is very easy to hit the wrong spot on the screen and mess up everything. Call me a Luddite, but nothing beats a good old-fashioned protruding button, lever, or knob that is clearly marked for a specific purpose.
John Conyers
Franktown, Colorado

James B. Meigs writes:
On the subject of knobs over touch screens, I’m with John Conyers 100 percent. Touchscreens have their place, but for crucial functions, nothing matches the direct, tactile feedback of a physical knob or button. Whenever possible, I like to have the most immediate, mechanical connection to whatever technology I’m operating. I’m even a member of the tiny, stubborn minority that insists on driving a car with a manual transmission. I’m sure these points are doubly true in the demanding environment of a cockpit. Thanks for sharing a pilot’s perspective.

The Joys of Solitude

To the Editor:
Spending time alone with art and literature is a very satisfying experience, as Joseph Epstein has written (“Alone Again, Unnaturally,” June). Like him, I enjoy solitude. In my retirement, I pass afternoons reviewing languages that I know well and studying those that I have only begun to learn, such as Modern Greek and Italian. No phone calls allowed.

Reading is one of my great pleasures, and I consider Epstein one of the great modern essayists. Reading this essay was like swimming easily in clear water.
Richard K. Munro
Bakersfield, California