If the massacre of Oct. 7 in Israel were to have happened at our border with Canada, would the United States be willing to urge a ceasefire without the return of the hostages?
It is disappointing and surprising to me that our Vermont leaders, Bernie Sanders, Becca Balint, and Peter Welch, are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza when over 100 hostages are still being held by terrorist organizations entrenched there.
Our concerned politicians seem to forget that there was a ceasefire before the devastating horrific invasion of vicious attacks against over 1,200 innocent civilians in Israel on Oct. 7, a holy day for the Jewish people.
This tiny country in the Middle East is 96.64% the size of Vermont. Its inhabitants are Jews who always lived there, the few Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants, the over 700,000 Jews forced to leave the homes they occupied in Arab lands, some for centuries, as well as those Arabs, Christians, and Muslims who chose to become Israeli citizens, and many more individuals of diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Perhaps I need to remind you that the Arab Muslim nations surrounding this tiny land rejected the United Nations' 1948 mandate that offered two states: one for a Jewish homeland side by side with one for the Arab/Muslim Palestinian population. Israel became the only real democratic state in the region and has had to defend its population from frequent attacks since that time.
Our legislators should acknowledge the pain and suffering of the outcome of war on the innocent victims who have been suffering under the leadership of terrorists. However, they should be demanding that those terrorists lay down their arms and release the kidnapped victims to their grieving families.
Only then ceasefire and peace negotiations should be called for with our country offering them as much support as possible.
Marlene Wein
Wilmington
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.