Maine’s Jewish leaders need to face facts on genocide | Letter

On Aug. 3, the Portland Press Herald featured an article headlined “Maine Jewish leaders push back on Gaza genocide accusations against Israel.”

This is unfortunate and clearly wrong as all credible sources, including Omer Bartov, an Israeli-American historian who is the Dean’s Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, have concluded that Israel is attempting a genocide of the people of Gaza. Professor Bartov is considered the leading authority of the attempted genocide of the Jewish people by the Nazi regime.

Why are Maine’s Jewish leaders taking exception to the analysis and assessments of Professor Bartov, who is clearly a leading and unbiased authority? Why are Maine’s Jewish leaders pushing back on the reality we have all been witnessing? Are we not to believe the statements of Israel’s leaders and the reporting of Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now”? Are we not to believe that the unprecedented number of journalists killed by Israel is an attempt to hide the truth?

Many of the strongest critics of Netanyahu’s attempted genocide are people of the Jewish tradition, including many organizations such as Jewish Voices for Peace.

Maine people, including Maine’s Jewish leaders and their followers, would be better served by an unflinching, reality-based acknowledgement of the Israeli government’s criminal attempted genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Ed Ferreira
New Sharon

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Tagged: letter to the editor