Jeff Potter has edited The Commons since 2008 and has been working in and around newspapers and other publications for more than 40 years. He's still learning.
BRATTLEBORO-Every time we publish material by a writer who takes a stand either way on the war in Gaza, even in passing, we take heat from activists on the opposite side.
We have engaged, and will continue to engage, with readers who are critical of our editorial processes and decisions, and we always emerge from these conversations better equipped to our jobs more thoughtfully. Depending on your perspective, I've recently made decisions that are antisemitic or make me complicit in genocide.
I used to love editing the Voices section. Now I dread it.
I've talked with readers on both sides of this divide who are legitimately worried for their children's safety, and after glimpsing an exchange on a thread of one recent Facebook conversation, I can understand why. I'd be terrified, too.
Members of the Jewish community have legitimate fears of rising antisemitic violence. Memories linger of the attacks of Palestinian students in Burlington. We count among our readers people who are touched closely by events far away, and for them it is not an abstraction or an intellectual exercise.
A school of thought among many people in the local Jewish community is that it is inherently antisemitic to discuss the situation in Gaza as genocide. There are dictionary definitions and legal definitions of the term, but the bottom line is that multiple credible sources, including the United Nations and multiple nongovernmental humanitarian organizations, are routinely describing the policies and strategies of Israel, the state, in this way, and it is unrealistic to pretend otherwise.
In short, we maintain this space as our best attempt to have civil and thoughtful conversations about our area and our world. We recognize that many readers will find some of this discussion hurtful. We respect readers' capacity to approach reading, writing, and engaging in this space in ways that minimize that hurt in the spirit of creating a world where we can all live safely and freely.
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No brief editor's note can possibly do justice to the gravity of the history of this part of the world. We can only come closer to understanding each other and what we bring to the discussion through our own family history and values. If we can't talk with and to one another - even those with whom we disagree to our core - with frankness, candor, and respect, we will only get closer down the path of seeing our neighbors as less than human and treating them accordingly.
I am far from equipped to be the best newspaper editor to navigate the complexities of this global horror - heck, I have spent the past 17 years and counting trying to understand Bellows Falls.
But here I am, and here we are. I promise that I try to approach editing this section with an open mind and an open heart - an approach that undoubtedly will please absolutely nobody in a situation that demands moral and ethical absolutism.
I do get it.
I just don't know how to do this job any other way.
This Voices column by Jeff Potter was written for 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 on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at [email protected].