Opinion
My Turn: The Palestinian Arab encounter with Zionism
By CARL DOERNER
Over time, I have gotten to know many Palestinians. Like Jewish people I’ve known, they tend to be bright, inquisitive, and informed. Palestinians often prove generous beyond their capacity to be so. The incredibly sad, hard fact is, were it not for the emerging dominance of aggressive Zionists among Jewish leaders before World War II, their $35 million pre-war transfer agreement with the Nazis to scuttle global boycott of German goods, and their horrific aggression when they invaded Palestine after the war, they precluded any peaceful outcome — for the foreseeable future.
Rory Fern Catao: Save our oceans!
I know you probably don’t want to listen, but listen to this. Stop using cars, they created climate change, which means oceans can rise. I mean they are rising. Why do cars make pollution? They use gas, which pollutes the air. My opinion: I think if we start using electric cars and walk or bike when it’s nice out and you aren’t hurt, then we could slow down climate change, which means no ice melting!
Michael D. Joyce: Pray for grace
I read in newspaper that April 12, 1861 was the “official” start of the American Civil War. It “0fficially” ended some, what, four years later?
David Kempf: The NFL and Dems
In the NFL, teams know by Monday why they lost the game. It’s been a little over six months, and the Democrats still don’t understand why they lost.
My Turn: Good self-care a strong antidote to forces of injustice
By DR. DAVID GOTTSEGEN
I was awakened this morning at 5:30 by thoughts of this administration’s destruction of our health care system, our economy, our democracy, our environment, and our friendships with allies around the world. (Many of those whom I know share these night time/early morning preoccupations.)
Lew La Chance: The greatness of Greenfield Public Library
Benjamin Franklin started the first public library in Philadelphia in 1731. He borrowed books from the well-to-do and put them in one place. Lenders take the books for a fee. Any damage/loss would have to be paid.
Mateo Starling: Dog do do
When you don’t clean up your dog’s poop over time it will become nitrogen and if it rains the dog poop will flow into the river and if it’s in the river it will flow into the ocean and kill the animals and pollute all of the water including drinking water.
Tuli Freedman: Why keep polluting?
If we keep polluting the world will turn into trash itself. If you think that trash is great, think about 1,050,625 years into the future. The world will be trash for sure. Stop polluting, it’s not good to do. That’s not the way to safety.
Deborah Radway: Goldman for Montague Selectboard
I just learned that Marina Goldman is running a write-in campaign for the Selectboard. What a great opportunity for the Town of Montague! Marina is smart, compassionate, a committed listener and will work tirelessly to bring positive and reasoned energy to our town government. A 36- year town resident and nurse practitioner, she has raised her family here and has roots and family ties to Turners, Millers and Montague Center. She will support quality schools, work to create housing our residents can afford, and continue to diversify our tax base with cultural and economic development. Please join me in writing in Marina Goldman for Montague Selectboard on town election day, Tuesday May 20.
My Turn: Defund the Trump agenda
By AARON FALBEL
The Pioneer Valley was recently lauded in the opinion pages of The Boston Globe as a locus of progressive activism in the commonwealth.
My Turn: My why for our Y
By BOB OLDENBURG
Last year I joined Franklin County’s Y. Over the last few years, my wife Lee and I have donated to the Y, and this year I am a volunteer for the annual campaign. I want to share my why for our Y.
My Turn: A stroke of good luck
By BILL NEWMAN
I initially decided to not talk about this except with my family, closest friends and work colleagues who needed to know. But I changed my mind. If hearing about my experience might save someone’s life or future, well, that consideration should far outweigh any potential embarrassment or some random unkind comment. Let’s start at the end.
My Turn: No better time to ‘think globally, act locally’
By PEYTON FLEMING
Think globally, act locally.There’s no better time to act on these inspiring words than today. Especially when it comes to supporting local farmers who are reeling from heavy-handed budget cuts and a global trade war imposed by the Trump administration.
Columnist Daniel Cantor Yalowitz: Why we can’t give up on DEI
By DANIEL CANTOR YALOWITZ
Black Lives Matter. Yes, they do, and they should — without condition. All lives matter; there is no changing that sacrosanct truth. Despite all that this presidential administration seems to believe in and act on, the mattering of all humans is paramount in our democracy — no ifs, ands, or buts. That Donald Trump and his cronies cherry-pick who’s “in” and who’s “out” is an activated insult and outright affront to all that most of us believe and covet.
Elizabeth Lareau Whitcomb: Violence affects us all, knows no party lines
I am writing in response to the recent letter to the editor about Democrats and gang members [”Democrats and gang members,” April 24]. I agree with the writer that it is sad that no Democrats stood up to acknowledge the profound grief this woman is experiencing over the murder of her daughter. But I feel compelled to point out that the Republicans have time and again been uncaring towards victims of gun violence, in particular the mass shootings that have taken place in so many of our schools. I would also like to point out that it has not been proven that any of the men sent to the prison in El Salvador were gang members, indeed that there is no evidence that they are, regardless of what President Donald Trump and ICE officials have been saying. The fact that these men were denied due process means that no connection to gangs will ever be proven.
The World Keeps Turning: Attention — A day doesn’t count as a day anymore
By ALLEN WOODS
Nearly all social thinkers (including the artificial ones of AI) emphasize that functioning, peaceful societies must agree on a group of shared meanings for communicating. These include gestures (a handshake, hug, tip of the hat, tap on the heart, etc.), images and symbols, and spoken and written words. They are “the glue that holds society together, enabling individuals to understand each other, cooperate effectively, and build a cohesive and vibrant social life.”
My Turn: Picture This — Why the National Endowment for the Arts is essential to American life
By MADELINE MILLER
Shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday, May 2, I received an email from the National Endowment for the Arts notifying me that Artspace Greenfield’s current grant in support of our community gallery had been terminated. This grant had helped fund our gallery for roughly a year so far, offering new and emerging Franklin County artists an opportunity to exhibit in a professional setting, and increasing the amount of art on view for local people to experience.
My Turn: A dream of Donald Trump and Anne Frank
By RUSSELL PIRKOT
I had a dream the other day, and I want to tell you about it. I’d been reading The Diary of Anne Frank, which I do on occasion. I keep a copy of it on my nightstand, along with some other books that I find myself drawn back to, again and again. And lately, with everything in the news about Donald Trump and his authoritarian ways, I felt the need to revisit Anne Frank’s writing from the “Secret Annex.”
James A. Marples: New pope must continue where Pope Francis left off
Having family near Greenfield, I read the Greenfield Recorder news item: “‘A pope of hope’: Local Catholic community remembers Pope Francis,” (Recorder.com, April 21). As a Roman Catholic myself, I was saddened to hear the news of the recent passing of Pope Francis at age 88. He was indeed a kind and compassionate Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. The word ‘pontiff’ literally means “bridge builder.” He was. Pope Francis reached out with the hand of friendship to everyone. I hope the voting members of the College of Cardinals would selected a successor in the same vein or mindset. If the pendulum swings back toward a rigid, dogmatic pit-bull style of Benedict the 16th, the worldwide Catholic Church would suffer a throwback to the ugly dark ages. Pope Francis knew he had a royal mess to clean up. The clergy sex-scandals which cost the sale and foreclosure and bankruptcies of dioceses was appalling. In my view, the faithful parishioners who attend a church Mass should not have their tithes (or investments from tithes ) to pay-off wrongdoing. The guilty priest or bishop who abused or covered-up needs prison-time. The other major scandal that was on the road to being fixed was the dubious Vatican Bank, which had amateurish priest running the show with sticky-fingers and shoddy accounting procedures. Millions of euros were unaccounted for from Rome to London. Francis was a breath of fresh air. Continue that.
My Turn: Make America small again
By DAVID PARRELLA
There has always been a sentiment in our country to get small.
