Jeanne Allen and Nick Mottern: A hopeful message

A standing ovation for the Valley’s branch of the Jewish Voice For Peace’s recent contribution to the Gazette [“Common cause for Palestinians and Jews,” column, Dec. 27]. Not just for their hopeful message alone, but also for their actions: their symbolic 25-mile march to Springfield; inspiring rallies drawing hundreds of supporters; and their weekly witness at the Coolidge Bridge roundabout, calling for an immediate cease-fire on both sides.

They continue to lift our spirits with the living hope that our American bombs and missiles mercifully will no longer indiscriminately rain down on refugee camps and schools turned shelters; and that a way toward meaningful reconciliation be found using encouraging examples — like South Africa’s painfully wrought Truth and Reconciliation’s efforts — to address the urgent needs on both sides.

During the bloody Irish Republican Army’s long-suffering rebellion, a church minister conducting a funeral service for an innocent, slain family, cried out that “the tears of the Protestants and the tears of the Catholics are the same!”

We pray that same voice be heard in all camps.

Jeanne Allen of
Easthampton, Nick Mottern
of Northampton

The Leahy Fast For Palestine