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Categories: Letters to the Editor, OpinionWriter needs more historical perspectiveThe recent exchanges initiated by James Van Dijk’s June 15 letter in which he called for the ending of “the Israeli experiment” were both interesting and revealing.It should be pointed out that every nation on Earth was founded as an “experiment,” including the “Dutch Experiment” performed by Mr. Van Dijk’s direct ancestors.Holland’s Director-General Willem Kieft of New Netherland (now New York state) ordered the massacres of hundreds of men, women and children of the Lenape and Manhattan tribes during “Kieft’s War” (1643-45); from 1596 to 1827, the Dutch West India Company, with full support by the Dutch government, sold at least 500,000 kidnapped Africans to the Dutch Guianas, the Dutch Caribbean Islands, Dutch Brazil, and the Dutch East Indies; Dutch authorities attacked, displaced and massacred the Khoikoi of South Africa, all to appropriate land and resources for Holland.Using Mr. Van Dijk’s historical lens, and merely substituting names, dates and locations, these events could easily be deemed “Dutch Zionism.”Holland was far from alone, however. Numberless crimes were committed by many European nations in Africa, Asia, India and the Americas during the Age of Imperialism.I can only hope that Mr. Van Dijk, who so roundly criticized his fellow Americans for their “lack of historical knowledge,” can learn to take a more global view of history before he puts pen to paper. He can then avoid projecting the darker attributes of all nations’ histories upon just one nation, in his case, the State of Israel.Neil YetwinSchenectadyProctors in over its head on ‘Hamilton’I have been a member and donor to Proctors at a fairly high level for almost 20 years. I have always been happy with Proctors’ treatment of me as a donor. However, after my experience on June 24 trying to buy tickets for “Hamilton,” I’m seriously considering not renewing my membership next year.I followed the instructions, but was kicked out of the queue at least eight times before it got to be my turn.We tried to call the box office, but got nothing but a busy signal.When I finally got on the website, most of the tickets were gone, and I wasn’t able to purchase the tickets I had selected,I was switched to alternate, inferior, seats. My wife checked other sites about 11:00 a.m. and found that tickets were already being offered by scalpers at prices of up to $1,885.I think Proctors’ intentions were good, but its execution had more holes in it than a sieve.Perhaps Proctors overreached its level of competence in booking “Hamilton,” when the producers placed complex restrictions on how it could market the show.Tom JewellGalwayMore from The Daily Gazette:Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s press conference for Sunday, Oct. 18EDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motoristsFoss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?EDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the censusEDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidation read more