To the editor:
I often refer to Great Barrington as a version of Bedford Falls, the fictional town in “It’s A Wonderful Life.” But in 2020, an anti-lockdown think-tank used Great Barrington to identify itself, leading people to think that was the town sentiment, while the opposite was probably true.
Last year, we had another smudge on our image when an elementary school maintenance man became a self-appointed purity patrol, criticizing teachers for how they taught and calling the police about a book he felt was inappropriate, which was deemed not to be the case. Once again, our community received unwanted national attention.
We now have a socialist cell in our midst that is defending an employee who was fired for expressing his political views at Fuel Coffee, which made customers “uncomfortable.” Because Fuel is a majority-Jewish-owned business, a pro-Palestinian rally was held last Saturday, followed by aggressively picketing Fuel and badgering customers, claiming Fuel’s owners support Zionism and genocide in Gaza. This false claim for no other reason than that they are Jewish.
What these protesters failed to realize is that Jewish people will not be intimidated by antisemitism. We quickly close ranks and peacefully strike back. In this case, I went to Fuel and will continue to go there to show my support. In speaking to others there, I was pleased to hear people who weren’t Jewish feeling the same as I do. So the protesters have done a terrific service in bolstering Fuel’s business.
To the protesters: Look up what happened on October 7. Listen to what the head of Hamas said about future October 7s. Look up Jewish history where you will discover that Jews are not colonizers and have been in that part of the world since 2 B.C. Look up the meaning of genocide, something Hitler tried to do to the Jews during World War II, and if that was Israel’s intent, it would have happened long ago.
Frank Gunsberg
Great Barrington
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