August 8 • 2019 5 jn views A ccording to poet Robert Frost, there are, “Miles to go before I sleep.” Those who are runners are familiar with many different mile-runs that can be found as challenges. Those of us not as athletically inclined will use the term “mile” often in our speech. There is something about that distance that makes it useful for exagger- ation or just to help someone envision a great distance. Two actual mile measures are 1) the nautical mile, which is 2,025 yards measured at sea; and 2) the Royal Mile, which is found in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the road that has Edinburgh Castle at one end and Holyrood Palace, the Queen’ s res- idence, at the other. But let’ s start talking common uses. If you are a dedicated worker, you may be described as willing to go that extra mile to accomplish something. When presenting your findings, however, do not talk a mile a minute; you’ ll lose your audience. You say the mistake was only a lit- tle one? Remember that a miss is as good as a mile. If you are way off the track, you may be said to have missed by a mile (Often it is said to be by a country mile.). You and an adversary may be miles apart in your thinking. Do you want to really understand someone? You are then advised to walk a mile in their shoes. (You lit- eralists may keep your comments to yourselves.) If you want to encourage someone to begin something, but on a small scale, remind that person that, “ A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Do not let anyone take advantage of you; be cautioned that if you give an inch, they’ ll take a mile. In traveling, have you ever felt you were miles from anywhere? Yet you may spot your destination a mile off. Get there before someone else and you have won by a mile. Here is a riddle in closing: What is the longest word in English? Answer: “smiles” because there is a mile between each “s.” ■ for openers Exaggerate Much? Sy Manello Editorial Assistant A s a liberal Manhattan writ- er and teacher, I applauded the House vote to condemn President Donald Trump’ s comments that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar should “go back” to where they came from. I was outraged by the nasty language Trump used to encour- age a mostly white Republican crowd at a North Carolina cam- paign rally to chant “Send her back!” It seemed ignorant because three of the congresswomen were born in this country; Omar was a Somali refugee who became a U.S. citi- zen in 2000. The racist words sickened me, and Omar had my solidarity and sympathy. Until she reacted to the rare show of Democratic unity in repudia- tion of Trump by ramping up her own racism. A day after supporters cheered her at her hometown airport in Minnesota, Omar told CBS’ Gayle King she had no regrets for her past anti-Semitic slurs. She’ d tweeted that Israel “has hypno- tized the world. May Allah awaken the People and help them see the evil doings of Israel, ” and that congressional support for Israel being “all about the Benjamins, baby, ” perpetuating stereo- types about Jews, money and influence. She stepped up her position, pushing a pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions bill against Israel. A left-wing Jew, I know it’ s possible to be pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, for peace and a two-state solution, as I am. You can criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’ s settlement pol- icies and not hate everything Hebrew. I’ ve denounced Trump’ s slander against black, Latino, gay and trans people, immigrants and Islamic countries, and co-authored a book on the horrific Muslim genocide in Bosnia. Yet I’ m stunned that blatant bigotry against Jewish people somehow gets a pass. “The BDS movement is, at its heart, intent on the destruction of Israel, ” said Deborah E. Lipstadt in her book, Antisemitism: Here and Now. Indeed, BDS co-founder Palestinian Omar Barghouti is opposed to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. You can’ t get more racist than saying an entire peo- ple should cease to exist. After I pub- lished an op-ed against NYU’ s involve- ment with BDS, I received a threat- ening postcard in the mail at home. Someone had cut a picture of my head and pasted it onto a pro-Palestinian protester. The Anti-Defamation League was not surprised by the intimidation tactics, common for BDS. The United States and Europe have shut down 30 BDS accounts with links to terror groups. While I understand college students taken in by the underdog myth, older leftists seem indifferent to BDS propa- ganda that pretends to be about Israeli government. BDS masks the kind of commentary Don’t Counter Racism with Racism Susan Shapiro continued on page 6