BRATTLEBORO-The Commons' "difficult conversation" op-ed notes that "several hundred thousand" innocents were displaced. Indeed, that number was forced from their homes and into camps - back in 1948.
In the ensuing decades, by waging war Israeli land bloated in size and another few hundred thousand were uprooted. Currently, three million live under military occupation in the West Bank. In the past year well over two million Gazans were dispossessed by violence; months ago The Lancet stated roughly a tenth were killed. In the past two weeks no less than a million Lebanese have fled Israel's newly-launched ground war.
Farcical framing of the extent of ethnic cleansing displays a deep contempt for Arab suffering.
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In the Feb. 13 issue of The Commons, John Allen states that the Selectboard “shouldn't be political” and claims to represent the “working poor” while clearly not being part of that demographic. He claims that this “base” is being lost. At the same time, he brings up the talking...
RE: “Landlords need legal, cost consequences” [Letters, Sept. 5]: Agreed. And where - and when - do the aggrieved get relief? Possibly from the Vermont Department of Consumer Affairs, which has an excellent track record as far as I'm concerned, but probably has no jurisdiction. For over five years, I've read about this-and-that housing authorities, both local and state. Since (apparently) three states are concerned in the Bellows Falls matter [“Anatomy of an eviction,” Aug. 25], is this a federal...
RE: “Drain the river, close Vermont Yankee” [Letters, Aug. 1]:: Nice try, Peter Van der Does, but there's a major hitch. Vermont only owns the western banks of the Connecticut River; New Hampshire owns the river itself, as well as the eastern banks. Dramatic environmental concerns aside, shutting off the Bellows Falls dam would have New Hampshire, Connecticut, and the federal government sending a horde of lawyers to invade the Brattleboro Federal Courthouse to the point where Vermont would be...
In my five years living at the corner of Elliot Street and the Harmony Lot, I've noticed a great paucity of air traffic compared to the many other places in the U.S. and Canada where I've lived. I enjoy a fairly unobstructed view of the sky south and east of downtown Brattleboro. On the afternoon of (I believe) Tuesday, July 10, I had the displeasure of seeing my first domestic surveillance drone. Likely launched from the Westover Air Force Base...
In response to the town's advisory regarding pedestrian and automotive safety [“Brattleboro to step up enforcing pedestrian, motor vehicle laws,” June 20]: While the town might have meant well after the unfortunate spike in accidents in 2011, the anti-pedestrian tone was audible. On June 29 at 1:12 p.m., I observed a vehicle on Main Street going south, “playing chicken” with a pedestrian at the crosswalk slightly north of the post office. Despite the pedestrian's clear intention to cross and the...