BRATTLEBORO-With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu currently on trial (for breach of trust, accepting bribes, and frauds), unpopular, and clinging to power: Are not the reports plausible that Hamas leadership planned the Oct. 7 atrocities intending to keep him in power and trigger massive Palestine civilian casualties in order to turn world opinion against Israel?
Eighty-five percent of Israeli citizens want a probe of Netanyahu's security failures after the war is over. Putting his own self-interest first, Netanyahu must keep this war going, no matter what.
And the slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinian people and maiming of another 100,000 serve Hamas's strategic goals.
Are there any good guys?...
BRATTLEBORO-For years, Republican politicians kept up the litany of "Hunter Biden's laptop." It was pure, opportunistic lack of empathy to endlessly attack a vulnerable person recovering from addiction as a distraction from honest policy debate. That his father chose not to collaborate with these heartless Republicans, refusing to allow...
BRATTLEBORO-I recently challenged Ture Nelson, the Republican candidate for Vermont attorney general, to explain what seemed to me like unquestioning support for all controversial police actions. Having personally experienced, as crime victims, the frustration of the local prosecutor's catch-and-release program, both my wife and I fully get it that...
BRATTLEBORO-At a Jan. 25 dialogue at Georgetown University between an Israeli woman, Robi Damelin, and a Palestinian man, Mohamed Abu Jafar, who both lost family members in the ongoing Mideast conflict, Damelin spoke of how surprised she was by her own spontaneous reaction upon hearing that her son was killed by a Palestinian sniper. "One of the first things that I said is, 'You cannot kill anybody in the name of my child,'" she said. "I've no idea where that...
BRATTLEBORO-Thomas Hill tells us that, "like Hamas, the African National Congress (ANC) and Mandela were labeled as terrorists," and assures us that Hamas will lead the Israelis and Palestinians to a peaceful transition. The absurdity of that speaks for itself. Steven K-Brooks Brattleboro This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons. This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and...
BRATTLEBORO-This afternoon at the Co-op, when I greeted a fellow with whom, for years, I have enjoyed mutually friendly encounters, I got ambushed. Without prelude or preliminaries, he accused me of hating Palestinians. Blind-sided, confused, offended, I wanted an explanation. "I read what you wrote in the paper," he said. "I suggest that you read more carefully," I replied. Writing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I knew, would be like walking across a minefield. In an opinion piece, I discussed suppression...
The news report of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks posted to the Jewish Voice for Peace website is basically regurgitated Hamas party line. There is no horror, no outrage at the Hamas atrocities of that day. Instead, an anemic recital of general concern in the style of an official position drafted by a committee, followed by a standard-issue justification for Hamas's crimes, normalizing those atrocities and blaming Israel as entirely responsible for the Hamas attack. "Right now, Palestinians, Israelis, and...
At first I thought I would refrain from debate sparked by the atrocities of Oct. 7. I felt appalled that, from the safety of Vermont, warmed-over "party-line" polemics are being thrown around, which is of no benefit to Palestinians or Israelis whose survival is at risk. But finally, driven by the increasing normalization of antisemitism and acceptance of Hamas as "freedom fighters" (even by some politically active Jews), I had to speak out. Is anti-Zionism antisemitism? Can any informed person...