Aug 17, 2026

If Israel wants respect, then it must give others respect

To the Editor: Rep. Heath Howard’s op-ed (“Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism: Why I support a onestate solution,” July 29) rightly claims anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Sharon Sernik and Richard England rebut with arguments that simply don’t align with reality.

Prior to October 2023, I spent time in Israel and the West Bank, seeing indisputable reality. One can go to Israel, see amazing sights, experience a thriving culture/economy, and return with no clue of what life is like under occupation. Sernik and England both suggest that harmony and equity exist but “Arab-Israelis” are far from full, equal citizens and are cruelly separated from family living in Occupied territories. England invites people to go to Tel Aviv and see “Arab and Jewish families enjoying picnics, side by side, on the beach.” After the picnic, one needs to travel the dangerous roads (Arab only) to the West Bank, spend hours at a checkpoint, then arrive in Hebron and see walls, IDF on every corner and settler violence being perpetrated 24/7.

On the question of genocide — many Israeli and Jewish scholars around the world have confirmed this to be true, it defies deniability. Israel alienated much of the world with its horrifying war and contributed much to ever-rising antisemitism. To criticize Israel is the most powerful and moral thing we, as Jews, can do to fight this rise. When people criticize Israel, they are defending human rights for all people. If Israel wants respect, it needs to act respectfully and humanely.

ANNE ROMNEY

Portsmouth

April 29, 2026
Humanizing each other

At the Nashua Holocaust Memorial, there’s an unforgettable image of a mother crouched over her child waiting for a Nazi soldier to fire. He had taken bets on killing both with one shot. No words exist for such suffering except the nearby warning, “Never Again.”

Being Jewish, I understand instinctively the desire to protect one’s kin against persecution. Yet, I disagree with Gov. Ayotte’s declaration of April 29 as “End Jewish Hatred Day.”

According to Anne Romney’s recent letter, ‘Antisemitism is a constant and growing threat … singling out Jew Hate above all other forms of hate, however, plays into the trope that Jews are special.” She references Black and trans communities with whom we need to be in solidarity.

My grandfather, born in 1882, would have agreed, reminding us of antisemitism’s everlasting history. He was a secular Jew, a humanitarian and, above all, a man of action. In 1939 living in Belgium, my grandfather’s philanthropy paid for 100 Jewish families to emigrate to neighboring Luxembourg. He also financed an “old age home,” cherished by my grandmother. When Germany invaded, its residents perished to establish an army headquarters.


These stories taught us that the soldier pointing the gun at innocent victims is not the answer. Hate will consume you and hold you hostage. Romney affirms that because we share a future, we need to humanize each other. The descendants of my grandfather’s saved families survived thanks to this guiding principle.

Ann Podlipny, Chester

Originally published in the Portsmouth Herald

When remembering the Holocaust, also remember Palestinians killed by Israel

Feb. 2 − To the Editor:

A recent essay by Reps. Packard & Simpson called “Holocaust denialism has no place in the NH Legislature,” made the irrefutable statements that “erasing the past does a profound disservice to us all” and “we must confront and oppose those who wish to rewrite history.” I wholeheartedly agree. Revising this history is a grave threat to our humanity.

As a member of Not in My Name NH, a group of predominantly Jewish people deeply opposed to Israeli violence and oppression in Palestine, I noted the absence of reference to these realities in their essay.  A passionate argument about the need for honest remembrance of The Holocaust would be strengthened by mentioning the killing of 70K+ Palestinians, considered genocide by many international organizations. NH efforts in Holocaust education have lost considerable moral ground by ignoring the current atrocities in Palestine.

Unfortunately, much good will towards Jewish people as victims of The Holocaust has been replaced with animus, often due to conflating the Israel government with all Jewish people. Sadly, nothing has contributed more to the rise of antisemitism than the decades of cruelty by Israel to the Palestinians.

The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition is also problematic by identifying criticism of Israeli as antisemitic and stifling free expression from people who want to oppose the situation but fear appearing antisemitic.

“Never forget. Never repeat” would have more meaning if the argument included current events/atrocities/violence/horrors and condemned the same acts of cruelty that the history we wish to preserve highlights.

Anne Romney

Portsmouth

As a Jew who doesn’t like being hated, I would like to response to the Liz Gabert letter extolling the Governor for naming April 29 as “End Jew Hatred Day.” She ends the letter “We the Jewish people of New Hampshire thank Gov. Ayotte for standing with the Jewish community at a time when so many remain silent.”

Liz, you don’t speak for me, and you are the one who remains silent.

Antisemitism is exploding across the globe mainly because of Israel, a state that appropriated our Jewish star for its flag and has nearly obliterated Gaza. Those who have been touched by the Holocaust — my late uncle survived Auschwitz — can’t remain silent when we see it happening again, especially when it is perpetrated by a Jewish state.

However horrible Oct. 7 was, and indeed it was a war crime against 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians, it is almost completely overshadowed by Israeli destruction of Gaza with more than 72,000 dead, the ongoing Israeli-blessed West Bank settler violence and the blatant ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Lebanon. More than thrice as many people died AFTER the Gaza ceasefire than on Oct. 7.

To condemn antisemitism and ignore Islamophobia and actual genocide is to remain silent. The only reason to do so, besides racism, is the misguided belief that Jews are always victims, never perpetrators, which is itself antisemitic. Jews can be just as good, and bad, as anyone else.

Bob Sanders, Concord

Read original publication here.

Are genocides comparable?

We’re living in unprecedented times of rising authoritarianism. The Most Reverend Peter Libasci, Bishop of Manchester, laments what he calls “the cruelties, killings and merciless demonstrations of raw power that have been raging throughout the world … atrocities of war in the Holy Land and Gaza, repressive governments, starving and battered children and reliance upon unjust and arbitrary laws governing immigration.”

Being Jewish, I was raised to be wary of fascism’s early warning signs — people deemed undesirable, first scapegoated, then segregated and finally murdered in the name of a racist ideology. I thought any comparison to the ‘Shoah’ (destruction) was a dangerous form of erasure that dishonored both victims and survivors. The Holocaust Museum, the Anti Defamation League and other Jewish organizations also oppose the analogy, warning against comparisons that equate ICE agents with Nazi storm troopers or the suffering of children like Hind Rajab and Liam Ramos with that of Anne Frank.

Now, as a member of Not In My Name NH, a group of mostly Jews advocating for a permanent cease fire, increased humanitarian aid and self determination for the Palestinian people, I believe these priorities, rooted in human dignity and compassion, transcend politics. Though more than 71,000 Palestinians murdered might number less than six million, we must never forget that every life lost deserves full moral weight and that in order to truly honor the lessons of history, genocides don’t need to be numerically comparable for us to grieve them fully.

Ann Podlipny, Chester

May 1, 2026

Antithetical antisemitism

To the Editor: Liz Gabert’s letter on April 22 contends October 7th was driven by “Jew hate,” a term she prefers to antisemitism. The events that day were neither: they represent a violent rebellion in response to decades of violent occupation. “Jew hatred” is a crude term that engenders more animus. Palestinians do not hate Jewish people; they hate being prevented from living peaceful lives of self-determination on their land.

Growing up in a diverse suburban NYC town, I didn’t experience antisemitism. My largely secular upbringing included the prevailing narrative: “Israel was a land without people for a people without land.” I understood antisemitism was real—but only at the fringes of society. My father, first generation, was mentored to Americanize his name when he became a doctor. As a result, I have spent much of my life as an “incognito Jew” and have experienced micro but never macroaggressions.

Like others, I have made the painful journey of unlearning and relearning the truth about the creation of Israel, the Nakba (catastrophe), and the ongoing oppression leading to the Gaza genocide and the violent uprooting of West Bank Palestinians by settlers and the IDF.

I have always hated and feared antisemitism. The worldwide rise is deeply disturbing. However, I believe that nothing has contributed more to that rise than the unconscionable actions of the Israeli government.

ANNE ROMNEY

Portsmouth

‘End Jew Hatred Day’ is bad for Jews

Gov. Ayotte has declared April 29, 2026, “End Jew Hatred Day,” an annual observance supported by “the non-partisan, grassroots organization End Jew Hatred” whose purpose is to “foster unity and combat Jew-hatred through public awareness and solidarity.”

Awareness and solidarity are important goals, but this type of public declaration is an offensive and ineffective approach.

As a Jewish American, I believe this is performative, virtue signaling that does not combat antisemitism (or Jew-hatred) and contrarily contributes to its rise. The awareness it brings is distasteful and counterproductive.

Solidarity is diminished by focusing attention on Jews over others similarly victimized by hate.

Antisemitism is a constant and growing threat, something I fear greatly. Singling out Jew Hate above all other forms of hate, however, plays right into the trope that Jews are “special” and somehow advantaged over others. Why isn’t there Stop BIPOC Hate Day or Stop Trans Hate Day? Jews have been criticized for abandoning the BIPOC community by assimilating into whiteness/affluence and leaving others behind. Why are we again in this unique category of the oppressed?

Jewish people need to be in solidarity with all victims of hate and discrimination. We need to stand with others and have them stand with us. We do not need to be elevated above others who experience hate. “End Jew Hatred Day” is more harmful to Jews than helpful.

Anne Romney, Portsmouth

To the Editor: We’re living in unprecedented times of rising authoritarianism. The Most Reverend Peter Libasci, Bishop of Manchester, laments what he calls “the cruelties, killings and merciless demonstrations of raw power that have been raging throughout the world … atrocities of war in the Holy Land and Gaza, repressive governments, starving and battered children” and “reliance upon unjust and arbitrary laws governing immigration...”

Being Jewish, I was raised to be wary of fascism’s early warning signs — people deemed undesirable first scapegoated, then segregated, and finally murdered in the name of a racist ideology. I thought any comparison to the “Shoah” (destruction) was a dangerous form of erasure that dishonored both victims and survivors. The Holocaust Museum, the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish organizations also oppose the analogy, warning against comparisons that equate ICE agents with Nazi storm troopers or the suffering of children like Hind Rajab and Liam Ramos with that of Anne Frank.

Now, as a member of Not In My Name NH, a group of mostly Jews advocating for a permanent cease fire, increase in humanitarian aid and self determination for the Palestinian people, I believe these priorities, rooted in human dignity and compassion, transcend politics. Though more than 71,000 Palestinians murdered might number less than six million, we must never forget that in order to truly honor the lessons of history every life lost deserves full moral weight and that tragedies don’t need to be numerically comparable for us to grieve them fully.

ANN W. PODLIPNY

Chester

Gaza Ceasefire is not the End Goal

I am relieved that, for now, the violence, starvation and devastation throughout Gaza have stopped. I hope the surviving hostages will be able to heal in time. This brutality needed to stop — but that is just the beginning of what will be an immense period of grieving, PTSD and rebuilding.

Historically, people from outside Palestine only pay attention when the conflict erupts — and turn away when things quiet down. For Palestinians, things never quiet down. For decades they have lived under oppression, occupation and apartheid. That things can return to “normal” is an impossible notion. The world has watched and there has been no attempt to hide the cruelty. Israelis, too, are forever changed by these events and can hardly return to feelings of security and impunity they had prior to Oct. 7.

The new peace “deal” is not a deal for Palestinians. They are not even granted citizenship in their own land. I, as an American Jew, could go to Israel tomorrow and become a citizen. How does this not lead to more resistance, more uprisings, more violence, more loss? All people want to live with dignity, safety and self-determination. A democracy is not a democracy if it only applies to one segment of the population.

I implore Americans, Jewish and other, to stand up for Palestinian rights by telling our politicians that this war is not over — that the battle for Palestinian human rights wages on and this country has a role to play in helping that fight.

Anne G Romney, Portsmouth

November 28, 2025
Over the holidays, human suffering may be the last thing on our minds. Though inevitable, it can’t be ignored — Gaza is just hours away.
While Hallmark cards proclaim Peace, Love, Joy, symbolized by an olive branch in a dove’s beak, Palestinian-owned olive trees are being destroyed to further limit food access. No harvest means an empty stomach and the $3.8 billion spent in federal funding for Israel’s defense is financing a bloodbath.
Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl was killed fleeing Gaza City along with her family members. She pleaded on the phone with her mother while blood gushed out of her mouth staining the dress she didn’t want her mother to have to wash.
Artist Frans Al Salmi was killed by the Israeli military while painting a canvas that became stained with her own blood instead of its intended colors, her depiction of a martyr facing the same fate as her own.
Issa Amro, longtime peace activist recently nominated for a Nobel Prize praises international solidarity for helping Palestinian resistance. “You are our energy, you are our power, you are our protection — and you are giving us hope to continue and remain fighting and staying in the land.”
Though “Peace on Earth” may never be possible, “good will toward men” always is. By contributing this season to organizations like World Central Kitchen and Friends of Hebron we transform suffering into purpose and and give true meaning to the dove’s mission.
Ann Podlipny, Chester

by Bob Sanders

You can greet the news of a peace deal in Gaza with either cynicism or hope. I choose both. My brain mainly agrees with the cynics, but my heart mostly embraces the hope, though both organs are conflicted.

The cynics say that the this is just another pause in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Gaza, to make way for a land grab by Israel, a cleansing that is becoming so thorough it has crossed the line into attempted genocide: the near extermination of the Palestinian people on that land, through death and terrorism.

They point to the fact that these pauses have happened before to assuage public opinion — dating back to the Camp David accord — but the killing resumes once the pressure is lifted.

I say, yeah, but what caused pause this time?

Conventional wisdom said that Donald Trump strong-armed Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister went overboard by bombing Hamas negotiators in Qatar. To convince the prime minister, the president reportedly said that Israel couldn’t fight the whole world.

In this case, the president was right, and Netanyahu knew it.

The whole world did turn against Israel. They’ve had it with the incessant mass murder via bombings, shootings, destruction of infrastructure, starvation on such a massive scale that it practically eclipsed the horror Hamas inflicted on Oct. 7.

Public opinion was shifting rapidly. In the United States, a large majority opposed Israel’s policies. Heck, a slim majority of my fellow Jews agreed. I didn’t need a poll to tell me this. When I rode across the country with my Ride Against War on Gaza jersey this summer, I got unbelievable support and nearly no opposition. Internationally, peace demonstrations have reached a fever pitch, pressuring governments to recognize Palestine, and back ever-increasing multi-country flotillas of aid to break the inhumane blockade to a starving population.

No, Israel and Hamas didn’t agree to this just because of Trump. Trump and Netanyahu halted the bombing because of a worldwide peace movement that we haven’t seen the likes of since Vietnam.

That gives me hope. That’s what gives Palestinians hope, that brings many of them out on the streets dancing, that has them marching to what is left of their homes, only to find in many cases that they had no homes. They aren’t stupid. They know this could all fall apart. But they have just seen the “whole world” rise up to support them and that help stopped the bombs from falling.

This movement was never just about a cease fire, but a permanent sustainable cease fire, a lasting peace. And you can’t have peace when Israel continues to occupy Gaza and West bank, where they continue to control land and water in favor of one ethnic group over another. Palestinians need to be treated equally, whether it is in one state or two. That is the only way both sides can be free of the threat of violence breaking out again. Trump’s plan for Gaza does little to address that, and that’s why the cynics are probably right. Chances are this pause is going to come to end, and the hope of those Palestinians, celebrating at the mere interruption of their killing, are going to be dashed again. If we let that happen.

A lasting peace is never perfect. But it is possible. It happened in Ireland. It happened in South Africa. It can happen in Israel and Palestine. But the “whole world” has to be on it, has to be watching, has to keep up the pressure. Now is not the time to wait and see what is going to happen, to stop protesting, to reward Israel with billions more for arms. Because it is not over, until it really is over.

During this pause, we must cut off military aid to Israel, for its war crimes and to discourage continued military action against Palestinians. Israel is a powerful country that can defend itself, and they don’t need billions of dollars from us. Maybe if their citizens are taxed to pay for this permanent war and occupation (rather than ours) they won’t be so supportive of it.

We make sure the organizations giving humanitarian aid are unimpeded (and that includes the United Nation’s UNRWA).

We must push for a peace negotiation that include those who speak for Palestine, and that works toward a future where both Palestinians and Israelis manage to share that land in peace and as equals.

We can’t let this slim chance for peace slip away.

Bob Sanders, a founder of Not In My Name, Inc., a group of Jews opposed to Israeli’s policies against Palestine, biked 3,000 miles across the country over the summer in his Ride Against War on Gaza (RAW GAZA).

Read original publication here.

Elizabeth Kelly, Karishma Manzur, PhD, and Ann Podlipny are members of the NH Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East, which includes NH Veterans for Peace, VT/NH. Jewish Voice for Peace, NH Conf. of United Church of Christ, NH Peace Action, NH Program of the American Friends Service Committee, and several other organizations. They live in Gilford, Exeter, and Chester, respectively.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to address the U.S. Congress on July 24.

We are a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim. As residents of New Hampshire and members of the NH Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East (NHCJPME), we are horrified that our Congress honored Netanyahu despite credible evidence of ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ being perpetrated by his government and the Israeli military against babies, children, women, men, and the elderly in Gaza and the West Bank. The ongoing death and destruction are in clear violation of international and humanitarian laws.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu. A separate case brought forth by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) argues that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. The ICJ also declared Israel’s long-term occupation of Palestinian territory as unlawful and de facto annexation, and called for Israel to stop the occupation and provide reparations to Palestinians for 57 years of occupation that systematically discriminates against them.

Ahead of Netanyahu’s speech, seven American labor unions representing six million workers joined the worldwide condemnation by issuing a press release demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to military aid to Israel.

This included flight attendants (AFA-CWA), postal workers (APWU), painters (IUPAT), educators (NES), service employees (SEIU), auto workers (UAW), and electrical workers (UE). APWU President Mark Dimondstein said in a press release: “Our unions are hearing the cries of humanity as this vicious war continues. Working people and our unions are horrified that our tax dollars are financing this ongoing tragedy. We need a ceasefire now, and the best way to secure that is to shut off U.S. military aid to Israel.”

The NAACP, which is the largest civil rights organization, said in a press release: “Over the past months, we have been forced to bear witness to unspeakable violence, affecting innocent civilians, which is unacceptable.”

A letter written by 45 American doctors and nurses who volunteered in Gaza mentioned witnessing widespread war crimes using U.S.-supplied weapons. Dr. Mark Perlmutter said: “Gaza was the first time I held a baby’s brains in my hand. The first of many.”

Some 500 Israeli academics signed a letter stating: “Netanyahu’s only interest is preserving his own power and transforming a democratic Israel into a new dictatorship.”

On the day of Netanyahu’s speech, one of the authors of this op-ed joined thousands of proponents of peace and justice in Washington, D.C. The author met protesters of all ages and backgrounds from across the country, including university professors, older American Jews who grew up supporting Israel but who are horrified by the actions of the current Israeli government, and a social worker who traveled all the way from Alaska to protest the speech.

Unfortunately, the large gathering included several fringe groups with their own agenda that engaged in vandalism and skirmishes with police. The mainstream media focused on the actions of the few provocateurs instead of the thousands of peaceful protesters who sought to draw attention to the ongoing violence in Gaza.

October 22, 2025
Keep their story alive

The recent No Kings protest drew huge, spirited crowds rallying in both serious and carnivalesque fashion against our current administration’s fascist agenda. I’ve noticed that one rallying cry has been virtually absent from the protests I’ve attended — the plight of the Palestinian people.

Let’s not forget Trump’s complicity in the tens of billions of dollars sent to Israel in offensive military aid and high tech weaponry or the diplomatic cover he has been given in the last two years. Let’s not mistakenly think that this latest “peace agreement” has resolved the issue of the Palestinian right to self determination.

I often attend the Indigenous National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock, Mass., where there is a regular presence of Palestinian supporters in solidarity with Native Americans. Both have similarly experienced oppression through government policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, forced removal, starvation and genocide.

With profound appreciation for 50501 and many other organizations in the resistance movement, I urge them to remember that Palestinians are human beings and like every Israeli killed or held hostage they too have names. Let’s honor their story by holding signs for a free Palestine, and at future rallies continue to call for a just peace in the Middle East.

Ann Podlipny, Chester

Nakba Day, A Missed Opportunity

Regarding the article on January 6, titled “City Removes [Nakba] Day from Diversity and Inclusion Calendar,,,” I would like to share my thoughts.

Firstly, the article cites an unsigned statement by the City of Concord that asserts, “The City of Concord does not support antisemitism or racism.” This statement is an unfortunate conflation of opposition to Israeli policy with antisemitism. It fails to acknowledge that a significant portion of American Jewry opposes certain Israeli policies while continuing to embrace their Jewish faith and identity.

Secondly, Concord’s decision to remove Nakba Day from the DEI calendar rather than revising its description to present a balanced perspective is unfortunate. The result? A missed opportunity to educate our community about the complexities of interpreting history - especially when it is well understood that implicit and explicit biases influence each side’s perspective on historical events.

Nakba Day commemorates the displacement of Palestinians during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 - a profound human tragedy for those who lost their land, homes, communities, and livelihoods, irrespective of the historical causes. At the same time, after centuries of antisemitism, pogroms and persecution culminating in the Holocaust, it is impossible to uncouple Israel’s existence from the long-held yearning of the Jewish people for a safe haven. It is also worth noting that Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day is not included in the city’s DEI calendar. Hence, recognizing both events would amplify the opportunity to educate and demonstrate a commitment to acknowledging all narratives and advancing the broader goal of fostering respect and empathy in our increasingly diverse community.

by Bob Sanders

WHO WOULD have ever thought that a campaign against antisemitism would be used against Jews? Not all Jews. Just those of us who are opposed to Israeli’s war crimes against Palestinians.

Nationally, college presidents have been hauled in front of Congress because they don’t suppress demonstrations calling for divestment in companies profiteering from the Gaza war. The result is that college officials called the cops in full riot gear on their own students, including at Dartmouth and the University of New Hampshire, for the crime of setting up tents on campus. These encampments make some Jewish students uncomfortable.

Free speech often makes people uncomfortable. The apartheid divestment made some White South Africans students squirm during the sixties. Yet with hindsight, most agree that those who tried to silence them were wrong.

Yes, there are times when criticism of Israel crosses over to antisemitism. Picketing an Israeli restaurant is an example of blaming ordinary Jews for a Jewish state. But these are exceptions. Most students just want the killing to stop.

Growing up with an uncle with an arm tattoo from Auschwitz, I understand the consequences of antisemitism. As one of the few Jews in my high school, I know what it feels like.

And I know what it’s not. I’m sick and tired of it being used — especially by non-Jews — against those who are sick and tired of Israel’s right-wing — and yes — racist policies.

What is even more insidious is the movement to enshrine the weaponization of antisemitism in state and federal law. In New Hampshire, this is about to happen in the form of SB 508.

You wouldn’t know this by just reading the bill. But SB 508 as amended by the House explicitly adopts the definition of antisemitism in the state’s Human Rights Commission statute put forth by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), “including the examples of antisemitism set forth therein…..”

Many of these examples are spot on but there are number that are troubling to Jews who criticize Israel:

Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.

I single out Israel because I am a Jewish. Israeli war crimes are being conducted in my name. And as a taxpayer, I am financing the murder of tens of thousands of Palestinians. While I condemn the murder of Israelis by the Hamas thugs on Oct. 7, 2023, they didn’t do that in my name and I’m not paying for it.

Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

I hesitate to call the atrocities committed by Israel genocide. Other Jews don’t. Given the charges by South Africa it is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion. How can we discuss such questions without comparing it to the genocide perpetrated by the Nazi, the crime that gives that term its meaning to most people?

Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

Jews have debated Zionism for years. Most support a Jewish state and a two-state solution. I would prefer a secular state like the U.S., which treats everyone equally no matter what their ethnicity. In practice, Israel routinely discriminates against Palestinians. Jews — or anybody else for that matter — should be free to decry these policies as racist.

This is what is so dangerous about trying to put this definition into state or federal law.

Discrimination based on religion is already prohibited by law. I appreciate those who want to stop antisemitism, particularly given a rising tide of hate crimes. But such crimes are also aimed against Muslims, yet there is no similar movement to define Islamophobia into law. Treating antisemitism differently is not just wrong, it causes some people to resent Jewish influence, fostering more antisemitism.

That’s why Not In My Name NH, a group of New Hampshire Jews who opposed the war, wrote a letter to all state senators vote down SB 508. The senators passed it on a close voice vote on May 30. The chamber’s only Jewish senator, Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, eloquently spoke against it:

“This is not a question of whether or not Israel has a right to exist or defend itself. Obviously it does. But let’s not try to conflate the political state with the religion.…Let’s not legislate what we don’t understand.”

Gov. Chris Sununu will likely sign SB 508 because he clearly doesn’t understand. It was Sununu who called the campus protests against Israeli policies as 100 percent antisemitic. He can prove me wrong by vetoing this bill.

HR 6090, a federal bill alludes to the same definition in SB 508. It too sailed through the House of Representatives and is being held up in the Senate. I hope Sens. Shaheen and Hassan have more sense than their House colleagues and oppose it.

Bob Sanders, a former reporter and founding member of Not In My Name, NH, just returned from his Ride Against War in Gaza ride, a 700-mile bicycle ride though the major cities in Northern New England to raise awareness against Israeli policies in Gaza and the West Bank. He lives in Concord.

Read original publication here.

I’m dying inside every day,” states Ayman Nijim, a child welfare advocate from Gaza and a former project manager of a healing project titled, “Let the Children Play and Heal” In a recent discussion with New Hampshire peace advocates, Nijim spoke about collective trauma and its effect on children’s psyches. As a PhD student in transformative social change with an emphasis on liberation psychology at Saybrook University (CA) he claims that the suffering from harsh conditions resulting from years of Israeli oppression together with the ongoing massacre of over 40,000 civilians, half of whom are children, have caused universal trauma.
In what he describes as “the largest open-air prison in pulverized Gaza,” children experience flashbacks, nightmares and constant anxiety. Ayman adds a new term, “affective blunting” where people mightn’t even express their emotions because of the magnitude of the trauma. He believes that compassion fatigue has seared into many. Compassion fatigue is a soul weariness that comes with caring.
As Gaza has become “a testing ground for indiscriminate killing,” (Nijim) they are ever fearful and experience “anticipatory anxiety” knowing that death is imminent and inevitable. A desperate mother writes Nijim, “If I have to watch my baby die how can I keep from going out of my mind?” A grandmother chooses her own “slow death” by saving her food for her grandchild who “deserves a future.” Nijim has witnessed Gaza become “a graveyard for children” whose greatest fear is not if they will die but when.
In an excerpt from his poem “Palestinian” Ibrahim Nesrallah laments: “When I burned, I inhabited the letters of my free name like a butterfly / P A L E S T I N E / When my roof was suddenly blown off into the sky / and with it / a wall, a window / and the youngest of my children / I gathered myself in the G and the A and the Z and the A/ I became Gaza.”
A former mental health counselor for New Horizons, Ayman Nijim has recently created his own program for schools and community centers in Gaza’s Nusseiret Refugee Camp. He distinguishes his therapeutic approach from the Western definition of PTSD, naming children’s exposure to repeated danger over decades as genocidal trauma or ongoing complex trauma. They suffer collectively not from a single traumatic event but from a longstanding “process” of living in survival mode. Writing from personal experience about the tragic death of his childhood friend, Nijim states, “for us kids, seeing our Palestinian blood spilled on the streets of our neighborhood marked a second, a third and fourth and a millionth Nakba.”
Nijim’s program involves three stages. First, an immersion in recreational activities: Arabic dance, puppets, magic, clowning and singing. Stage two focuses on creative writing, drawing and theater to encourage children to express their innermost thoughts and feelings.
Their stories and artwork are replete with images of drones, tanks, black hawks, F16s and Apache helicopters, their endless buzzing fueling mental anguish. Finally, psycho-social support and training sessions are provided to parents teaching coping strategies so that their children feel safe and loved. Restoring feelings of childhood through laughter, positive emotions and feelings of joy are valued as signs that children are practicing their basic human rights.
Not only have Nijim’s healing experiences reached thousands of school-aged children but he had helped 38 “maya” (water) projects that provide purification units inside schools giving students access to drinkable water. He is certain that Israel is attempting “ecocide,” namely, a deliberate policy to destroy Gaza’s life-sustaining resources as it continues to control water quality (often contaminated), food distribution (severe rationing), electricity (less than two hours daily) and transportation (no access to the outside).
This part of Ann's essay was left off! So, here it is:
"As of today, countless numbers of children remain buried under rubble. In “Reflections of a Diaspora Gazan,” Nijim declares, “while the free world counts our massacred, Palestinians don’t count. Keeping track of the numbers will not give justice to those who are murdered every day without compunction or remorse.
They, too, have dreams, aspirations, families, pets, toys, neighbors, friends and everything anyone with a beating heart holds dear...each life that is cut short is a constant reminder that the loss of one life is equivalent to the loss of all humankind.”
To Ayman Nijim and others working on behalf of saving children in Gaza’s unimaginable circumstances let it be known that you are not forgotten. Members of the American Jewish community have not remained silent. If Not Now, Not in my Name and many other groups alongside the multitude of student voices protesting on college campuses will continue to support your just cause and provide hope. Jews against the war are uniquely positioned to make a difference in international opinion and to pressure our federal delegation for an immediate cease-fire so that, once again, children can play and heal. To that end, “inshallah” (God willing) and “shalom” (peace)."
Palestinians receive aid distributed by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, in Nusairat refugee camp, Gaza, Tuesday, Nov. 5. ABDEL KAREEM HANA / AP

April 13

To the Editor:

Even for secular Jewish Americans, Passover is a familiar, annual event full of family, food and messages of freedom, caring for others and survival. The Haggadah, read at the Passover meal (seder) is deep with reflection, symbolism and meaning - which we recite from and reflect upon each year. For the past couple of years, the obvious disconnect between some passages and the current reality of the Gaza war (and the Occupation/oppression of the Palestinians) has been the elephant in the room. For example, "for our redemption is bound up with the deliverance from bondage of people everywhere.”

Also poignant in the readings is the passage about the plagues which reads:

"Each drop of wine we pour is hope and prayer that people will cast out the plagues that threaten everyone everywhere they are found, beginning in our own hearts:

The making of war, teaching of hate and violence, despoilation of the earth, perversion of justice and of government, fomenting of vice and crime, neglect of human needs, oppression of nations and peoples, corruption of culture, subjugation of science, learning and human discourse, the erosions of freedoms"

These proud tenets of Judaism have never been more relevant than during the current political shake down of our democracy. Some American Jewish political leaning has been referred to of late as PEP, Progressive Except Palestine. I implore all Jewish Americans to truly embrace the progressive teachings of their faith and realize that our redemption truly is bound with the freedom of the Palestinians.

Anne Romney

Portsmouth

Jan 4 2025

Professor is wrong on the genocide in Gaza

To the Editor: In his recent op-ed “Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics,” retired UNH Professor Richard England disputes the “mortality data” that is coming out of Gaza and reported in the mainstream media.

I find the whole number game and name game (how many killed? is it genocide? etc.) to be deflection and denial. I think it is clear to anyone paying attention that the Israeli government has, for decades, occupied and oppressed the Palestinians in cruel, inhumane ways, that they have destroyed Gaza and killed thousands and thousands of people in plain sight over the past 14-plus months. This idea of Professor England calling the innocent civilians “non-combatants” suggesting that many are Hamas supporters who celebrated barbarism is ludicrous in light of what barbarism we’ve seen within the IDF as they celebrate killing Palestinians, blowing up their schools, homes, hospitals, mosques and more.

When people argue about how many have been killed or what to call the death and destruction — it is a manipulative, intellectual ploy to steer the narrative away from the truth. It is scary that we humans are capable of such delusion. People believe what they want in order to comfort and protect themselves from brutal realities.

Let’s hope for the strength of compassion and humanity it takes to see the truth in the New Year.

ANNE ROMNEY

Portsmouth

by Bob Sanders

Businesses don’t like to be told what to do. This is what I told the House Executive Departments and Administrative Committee on April 10, my first legislative testimony since I retired last year, though I reported on so many others during my 30-year tenure at NH Business Review.

I was testifying against Senate Bill 349, a bill that would pull state contacts from businesses that support the boycott of Israel because of its treatment of the Palestinians.

This was an issue that was important to me, beyond limiting the free speech of businesses, and their right to do business, and not to do business, with whomever they want.

I had just spent the morning dropping off an open letter to the local offices in Manchester and Concord of the state representatives signed by 67 fellow Jews, who — horrified about what was going on in Gaza — called for an immediate sustained ceasefire to release the surviving hostages, allowing the UN agency to distribute humanitarian aid, and to cut off conditional aid to Israel.

The letter was not about the bill or boycotts, but I waived the letter while I testified because the text of the bill implied such criticism of Israel is antisemitic. I asked, are all 67 of these Jews antisemitic or self-hating?

We had gathered these signatures by word of mouth and email in a week, indicating increasing number of Jews are getting fed up with Israel’s policies. Yes, many — and probably most Jews — support Israel no matter what and favor giving them a blank check to kill at will in the name of security and revenge.

This is because many of the hearts of Jews were hardened after Oct. 7, where Hamas terrorists savagely killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 200 others. But for the next six months, Israel overshadowed that war crime by killing 33,000 people, so many of them innocent children. That works out to 1,269 a week.

Imagine the horror of Oct. 7 every single week for six months. But we don’t have to imagine. It’s happened, and is happening, even as I write this.

The latest attack by Iran, in retaliation for an early Israeli attack, underscores this disproportionality. The world rightly condemns the attack that left one girl injured, for anyone hurt in war is a tragedy. However, Israel killed on average 181 Palestinians every day. (On an off day, only 38 Palestinians died.)

Most Jews have emotional ties to Israel, but how could we remain silent just because the victims aren’t Jewish, and especially because the perpetrators are mostly Jewish.

I don’t know about the tactic of boycotting Israel. Boycotts can cause damage to people who have nothing to do with its target.

This was a dilemma during the boycott of South Africa for instance: The oppressed Blacks of that country bared the brunt of the economic hardship it caused. Yet in hindsight, most people feel that the result — ending Apartheid — was worth it.

Few believe that a boycott against a government is caused by a prejudice against its people. Boycotts are a tactic that dates back to this country to the Boston Tea Party.

Those who advocate it are not doing it to hurt the Israeli and Palestinian people who might be affected, much less Jews in general.

No one testified for the bill, except for sponsor Sen. Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, who argued that all it was doing was to codify Gov. Chris Sununu’s executive order.

Of course, several people of Palestinian descent testified against it. It was bad enough that the state would consider punishing Palestinian-American–owned businesses who have lost family members back home and therefore refuse to do business with Israel, but it added insult to injury to schedule the hearing on Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

But they were joined by other Jews besides me, such as UNH Professor Joshua Meyrowitz, one of the signers of the letter, and Rep. Joe Shapiro, D-Keene, a strong supporter of Israel.

The hope is that the House will kill the bill. A similar bill suffered the same fate last year. It’s one thing for a business to decide not to do business with a particular country or firm. Or even for one person to boycott a business that does business with a particular county or firm. That’s free speech.

It’s another thing for the state to cut off contracts for companies that exercise that right. That’s suppression of free speech.

If the state starts down this road, who knows when it will end? Will a pro-gun Legislature no longer contract with businesses that oppose investing in the arms industry? Would Republican lawmakers pass laws boycotting businesses that donate to the Democrats, and vice versa?

The government tells business what to do all the time, of course, to protect our environment, consumers and public safety.

Businesses don’t like that necessarily, but at least they can understand. It’s another thing to cut off a business because they don’t like what they believe. That is governmental overreach.

Bob Sanders is a former staff writer for NH Business Review.

Read original publication here.

THE STEREOTYPE is that Jews are smart, but what is happening in Gaza proves that Jews can be as stupid as anyone else.

Now don’t call me anti-Semitic as I prepare latkes for Hanukkah. Don’t even call me a self-hating Jew for trying to speak out against actions that are endangering Jews.

Why are the right-wing religious zealot Jews now in charge in Israel so stupid?

Because they are doing just what Hamas wants them to do.

Hamas committed terrorist atrocities against civilians on October 7 hoping to provoke Israel into an overreaction, and Israel played right into their hands. Hamas kills 1,200, Israel kills 16,000 and counting. What have we learned from the Nazis? Not that never again should a country try to wipe out a people. No. It is collective punishment: One of us is worth tens, if not hundreds of them.

Rather than destroy Hamas, Israel has become its greatest recruiter. Do you know how much hatred they are planting among millions by killing tens of thousands? Does anyone honestly believe that Hamas, or a similar terrorist organization won’t create even more havoc in the future?

Without Israel’s retribution, Hamas would have been condemned worldwide. Now those terrorists are bloody heroes in Palestine and engender sympathy worldwide among those who should know better.

It’s just like after 9/11. Rather than targeting the terrorists that caused that horror, the U.S. killed thousands that had nothing to do with it. We turned worldwide sympathy into resentment. Israel is following in our footsteps.

True, the situation is different here. Hamas is the governing party in Gaza, not independent terrorists, but that doesn’t mean everyone there is behind them. The last time when there was an election in Gaza was 2006 and they just barely won among those who voted. The kids getting killed now weren’t even born then.

We have no idea how much support Hamas has in general and for its October attacks in particular. Indeed, independent polls and some demonstrations show that Hamas was on the decline before the attacks. And even if some Palestinians sympathize with these terrorists, does that mean they deserve the death penalty for their misguided beliefs?

Any claim Israel had to being morally superior to Hamas fails when Israel has killed 10 times the number of civilians, even if they weren’t intentionally targeting them.

The victims, 70 percent of them women and children, were simply in the way. Israel even warned them to get out of the way, but then bombed where they were fleeing. You don’t get to bomb cities, attack hospitals, destroy infrastructure necessary for survival, withhold fuel, cut off communications, kill aid workers and reporters by the dozens and say that you weren’t targeting civilians. That argument would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic.

What was needed here was not carpet bombing and a massive invasion but courts, police, and, if necessary, commandos and assassins. Use your intelligence in both senses of the word. What Hamas did was criminal, and the individuals that planned and carried out the attacks should be prosecuted. If Hamas leaders tried to escape, they should be hunted down just like Osama Bin Laden. Better to kill some leaders than thousands of innocent people who may not even be following them.

Hamas has committed mass murder, but Israel has topped that by causing a humanitarian catastrophe.

War hasn’t freed the hostages. It was only the pause in the war that freed 105 of the 240 hostages via prisoner trade.

The world was ready to condemn Hamas, but now they are increasingly condemning Israel, and worse yet, Jews in general. The right wing has done Jews no favor by conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.

Historically, Jews have been the victims of states that persecuted minorities, from the Spanish Inquisition to Nazi Germany. That’s why many of us have been so supportive of the separation of church and state, and why we are aghast at those that try to make the USA into a Christian nation and at the Muslim theocracies that rule Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. How then can we defend a Jewish state, particularly when it is now oppressing another minority?

Support for Israel is often a litmus test for our Judaism, but there are many ordinary Jews that really aren’t that crazy about Israel these days. We just want to celebrate our traditions, light our Hanukkah candles, do our mitzvahs and worship (or not) as we please. But now we have become even more of a target because of Israel. Israel — by its actions — has not made the world safer for Jews. It has made it riskier. It has not made Israel more secure. It has made things worse. So have its supporters by defending Israel’s indefensible actions.

Read original publication here.