Tim Wessel is a former member of the Brattleboro Selectboard and was an independent candidate for state Senate in 2023.
At a few pro-Palestinian protests that have taken place in town, two of which I've witnessed in person, I've seen several of my good friends and many other familiar Brattleboro faces - people whom I greatly respect, sincerely expressing their horror at the civilian casualties that have happened in Gaza. As a father, I connect viscerally with this horror, and I join my friends in wanting the death to stop as soon as possible.
I'm here to talk not about what I've seen, but about what was missing.
I haven't seen many signs, or heard any chants, that promote peace in the region while also recognizing the realities of the Israel/Hamas war.
Anyone who has studied the history of this conflict understands that Israel is defending itself against an enemy that continues to proclaim that they will not stop killing Jews and will not stop trying to destroy the entire state of Israel.
No nation on this Earth would not have declared war after the barbaric attack that occurred on Oct. 7. Anyone seeking to bring peace to the region should understand why Israel must defend itself against Hamas - an internationally recognized terrorist organization that is intentionally putting Gazans in the line of fire by literally hiding beneath them using a well-documented series of tunnels.
I understand that many of my friends attending these rallies are there because innocent people are dying. Babies are dying. Women and the elderly are dying. But if Hamas has caused this danger to a populace of millions, why do I not see any signs condemning Hamas or insisting on the return of hostages?
Why have I seen no signs for a true bilateral ceasefire, one in which Hamas surrenders or at least lays down arms (and stops shooting daily rockets) and agrees to recognize the nation of Israel? This would bring immediate peace.
So where are those signs and chants?
Instead, it's "Ceasefire now!" with no mention of this ceasefire being mutual, which is the definition of the term.
The signs I see are directed at Israel - not at Hamas, which started this war by murdering, raping, and kidnapping more than 1,200 Jews, Americans, Arabs, and citizens of two dozen countries who happened to be in Israel in October.
Instead of chants and signs for a practical peace, I've seen charges of "genocide" - not directed at the terrorists who promise and show willingness to deliver a Jewish genocide, but directed at the Jews of Israel, six million of whom were actually murdered in the Holocaust, for which the term was invented.
Why would you use that term to describe Israel defending its citizens but fail to use it to describe Hamas, the death-obsessed cult that began this war in the first place? Can it be "genocide" when the population of Gaza has essentially tripled in the last 25 years?
I believe that at the heart of these protests is an agenda that refuses to acknowledge that Israel, and the Jews who live there, have a right to exist. That's a problem. And Israelis see calls for ceasefire as a call to stop defending themselves against those who want them all dead. Also a problem.
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In the past few months, I've become friends with many Jews throughout Windham County who have family and friends in Israel.
They have asked me, as a non-Jew, to help them understand why so many people chant and carry signs with slogans that point fingers directly at Israel, and none at Hamas.
They have asked me why people who we all know to be good, kind, and progressive could possibly blame Israel for defending itself against terrorists.
They want to understand how people who claim to believe in women's rights, LGBTQ freedoms, and a democratic rule of law could possibly be on the side of an extremist belief system that actively works to destroy those ideals.
My answer to those questions is often that I don't believe most of the protesters fully understand the politics of the Middle East. I say that many haven't studied the history of the conflicts and that most have been taken in by an advanced Hamas propaganda machine that ridiculously claims that Jews are not indigenous to the land of Judea.
I say that I hope most of my friends in those protests are reacting to the death of innocents, even though I know that many of those same friends never expressed outrage at the horrors of Oct. 7.
This has shaken me to my core.
I don't want to believe that my friends and others that I respect could possibly be showing a bias against Jews, just for being Jewish. But as time goes by, I'm having trouble believing that theirs is only a concern for innocent lives.
Time and time again, I see only one side represented in these emotional moments at pro-Palestine events. Even when I point out that over 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs with full rights and serve at high levels in elected government, I'm told that Israel practices "apartheid."
More than half of the Jews of Israel would be considered non-white here, yet the perception of Israel being a "white oppressor" in a region of brown-skinned people continues. Is this ignorance, or is it a willingness to believe that whatever skin color a Jew possesses, they are bad?
My new Jewish friends who support Israel, neighbors you know and see daily, are exhausted and frightened at how one-sided the conversation has become.
To them, it seems that protesters speak loudly for innocent Gazan lives, but are silent for the Israeli victims. They hear the rage for the babies caught in the current crossfire, but they never heard those voices crying out for the Jewish babies killed and kidnapped.
They watch in disbelief as women's rights groups here are silent as Israeli women and girls tell their tales of horror and rape. And they are stunned to witness the credibility afforded to the terrorist lies against Israel - many easily refuted - while Jewish voices and video evidence are brushed aside.
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So why do I, as a white, non-Jew, German/Irish American, write all of this?
Because if you are on the streets demanding that Israel lay down arms and you are not asking the same of Hamas, you are siding with terrorists, and I question your moral compass.
Because you are on the wrong side of history, and the world will not look kindly upon you, just as the world has now condemned all apologists for Hitler leading up to and through World War II.
Because you're being played by groups who seek to dehumanize Jews and delegitimize Israel's right to exist. Your concern for innocent civilians is being used as a political tool to strengthen a group of radical thugs who care nothing about the loss of innocent Palestinian life -and truly despise the ideals of progressive democracy that you hold.
History also does not look kindly on those who are silent when Jews are threatened or attacked here on our soil. If you have chosen to not speak out, consider doing so.
If you do nothing else, think for a few moments about your Jewish friends. Ask them how they've been since Oct. 7, and tell them that you will stand by their side if they are attacked.
It's likely this will be met with tears and gratitude, because this moment in time is scary for Jews. Many have a visceral connection to Israel, if not a direct connection. For many, it feels like Germany in the 1930s, when hate was growing into a movement of mass murder.
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Do you feel the need to criticize Israel?
Go for it. My Jewish friends largely dislike the leadership of Israel, and many sympathize deeply with the plight of Palestinians, who are saddled with even worse leaders.
But for the sake of all that's morally decent, do not deny an entire people the right to defend themselves from murderers. Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, but denying Jews the right to defend themselves from attacks most certainly is.
If I find that over time those messages on the rally placards change from the very threatening "Globalize the Intifada" to ones like "Self-Determination for All," that they seek to promote a lasting and co-existing Arab/Israeli peace, I'll be out there marching by your side.
But you cannot advocate for a real, lasting truce by denying one side its right to exist.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.