Letter From The Editor: Regarding The Article On The Police Use Of Force Arrest On Gun Call

Ah ha. Here we go. Flipping this Letter To The Editor around to be Letter From The Editor.

Last Sunday, we published the article “Arrest Made On Main Street Evaluated For Use Of Force - Video Footage With Audio.” Some people on Facebook had some feelings about the article. Some people felt that the headline should have praised the Beacon Police Department for successfully completing a training drill in real life. Where the police were called about a man threatening people with a gun, swiftly getting to the scene, down the street a bit because the man had walked a few blocks by then, and then took him down without incident, to get him into the car to be taken to the station. Charges were pending. We never learned what the charges were, or his identity.

I emailed Lt. Figlia to ask if they were going to release the identity, and he never responded. Before that email, he did, however, call me kindly asking me for my video footage of the arrest, so that they could use it in their self-evaluation of the arrest that involved Use of Force. He also emailed me back saying he received the video. Maybe he didn’t get my email asking him if the Beacon PD were going to release the identity of the man arrested.

[UPDATE! Lt. Figlia responded yesterday afternoon at 4:45pm but the email came in at 10pm because cyberspace and Mercury in Retrograde not being over yet). He said information will be forthcoming.]

[UPDATE 4/26/2024: The Beacon Police Department has issued an update of what led to the circumstance of this arrest. Click here to read it.]

Years ago, after ALBB published an article about implied racism in the Highway Department when they hired their first HR director who resigned after a year, City Administrator Chris White instructed all department heads and employees not to answer any questions from me at A Little Beacon Blog. Yet he would talk to me as Spirit of Beacon Chair. Which I have since stepped down from. Partly for this reason. Too frustrating to change hats and be disrespected like that. They are selective about what questions from me they will answer. My faith is in you, Citizen Reporters, to get information as we all search for public documents.

Some people felt that the arrest article was bashing the police. The article was what it was. It provided video of an arrest made where Use of Force was used. How do we know that? Because one of the four officers who was involved in the physical encounter came over and told those of us who witnessed it in real life, as he wanted to interview us about what we thought about the Use of Force. Why did he want to know what we thought? Because it is standard procedure for the Beacon Police, he said, for them to evaluate themselves and hold themselves “accountable,” which was his word choice. Seemed a perfectly respectable thing to seek.

Learned something new about policing on a Sunday morning at 9:30am! But, some people on Facebook also had a problem with us describing the surroundings of a Sunday morning in Beacon. Some people made ominous threats or ill-wishes, like “I hope you never need the police to help you!” or “This is a pot you never should have stirred!” So. You shall have this explainer Letter From The Editor on why this was our angle, rather than republishing a press release and stating only a press release. For this situation, we happened to have been right there to see the arrest in real life.

I also want to state that Beacon has a community of mentally delicate people walking around on these streets each morning, for those of us who are out early, as I am. There is a community of people who live in unusual places, like the woods, or boarding houses, or a bench, or a curb. They get their coffee, or a beer, and begin their day. Some have been here for years, some drift in and and become members of the community.

But sometimes, they act out of the norm. Sometimes they yell curse words. Or claim they are billionaires. Or are rude when you don’t want to or don’t have change to give them. If one of these people threatened to shoot people, a tourist or a person not familiar with these members of the community might be frightened, and call the police. A citizen of Beacon might get really irritated, and call the police knowing what might happen to them. A person who makes threats of shooting people will get a rifle to the head, and their head pressed into the ground until handcuffs are on.

In the aftermath of the article, more than one person alluded that the man might be a certain one of these individuals, and several used the word “psycho” to describe the man. One of the arresting officers said that the person should be “going to the psych ward.” While the officer said he’d never seen the man before, a reader of A Little Beacon Blog, Jim Naruta, commented that he had, stating: “This guy threatened to stab and shoot me and others on Main last week. We dismissed it as some guy off his meds.”

In a time when Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White denied NAMI Mid Hudson the privilege of hanging their Mental Health Awareness ribbons last year and again this year because he was preserving the cleanliness of the lamp posts that he had City of Beacon employees clean in a multi-year cleaning campaign, it appears awareness of mental health issues and how to treat them will continue to be stigmatized.

Here’s what I originally published on Facebook in response to the article upset:

“One last thing about this Police article, and then we're moving on to the next articles. Reporting on small city/town news (Beacon is a city but has "small-town" feels) when you live in the place is very difficult. As is being a Police officer who has to police their neighbors sometimes. While out at events, ALBB has been approached by the public to do more stories on issues that deal with injustices to anyone. Death. Police issues. Unpleasantries. Not because they are unpleasant, but because they are real. Usually here at Facebook, people sometimes say: "Oh, that's bad for tourism!! That's why it doesn't make the news! They don't want people to know!" And that's not the case here at ALBB at least. Sometimes it's uncomfortable. Sometimes it takes days or weeks or months to get all of the information. Sometimes we just have client work we need to complete. In terms of my (Katie's) personal needs from the Police. Yes, I was there 2x this month to deal with harassment letters being sent about me and my business. Because of our coverage of other global events. The officers I spoke with were as helpful as they could be with me - within their power or jurisdiction. It is understandable you will not like a headline. Or a description of a Sunday morning. But these things are as they are. Clearly, the Police demonstrated several things:

1. They are well trained.

2. They need some new body cameras. Sometimes items in their budget are disputed by City Council. This would be an example of why new body cameras are a line item.

3. They value holding themselves accountable. That should be seen as a commendable thing. The event itself triggered its own process that they followed. Also, there is no AI at ALBB. LOL. We much prefer torturing ourselves writing. And enduring your Grammar Violation Finds, as we like to see if you're actually reading. Glad that you are. See you in the next article.”

Letter To The Editor At Highlands Current: Re Hijacking Spirit of Beacon Day to Palestine/Israel Suffering

“In the spirit of having dialogue, one could argue that a ceasefire resolution is spot on with what the Spirit of Beacon spirit would aim to accomplish: bringing together different community members in the public forum of City Hall to stand against murders of Palestinian doctors, journalists, parents, children, teachers, aid workers, donkeys, lambs, olive trees, and anything that is alive in Palestine.  ”

— Katie Hellmuth, former Chair of Spirit of Beacon Day

ALBB’s Editor’s Note: Katie Hellmuth is the publisher and writer for A Little Beacon Blog, and former Chair for the Spirit of Beacon Day. She submitted her Letter to the Editor of the Highlands Current after she learned that Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek had compared the Spirit of Beacon Day to the genocide going on in Palestine by the Israeli government.

Her Letter as Printed Reads:

As the former Chair of the Spirit of Beacon Day, I am taken aback by Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek’s letter where his proposed local Beacon solution to addressing the war on Gaza  would be to go the route of coming together to have something like a Spirit of Beacon Day Parade instead of passing a ceasefire resolution in Beacon. Rabbi Brent is responding to the request of several citizens of Beacon - Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Christian, Undeclared - to have a permeant ceasefire, return of all hostages and kidnapped and detained Palestinians, and the defunding of Israel by the Untied States (and by extension New York and Beacon tax dollars).

Rabbi Brent attempted to relate the mega homicide going on in Palestine right now to the racial riots by some of Beacon’s youth in 1977 which went on for some days. Those riots had physical clashes, but nothing close to the multination of bodies we have seen of the children of Gaza, where their parents and other community members are searching for their body parts, not knowing who they belong to. Not to mention digging Palestinians out of the rubble. Or the systematic destruction of schools, hospitals, mosques, churches that has occurred after October 7th, 2024, but also occurred before that date as well, under Israel’s occupation of Gaza, funding by the United States, and thus in part by New York and Beacon.

An important question that needs asked and answered is: If a ceasefire resolution in Beacon is so fruitless, then why the pushback against it? Rabbi Brent said it would “strain” if not “shred” the social fabric in Beacon. However, Beaconites who have family and land in Palestine are already strained as they text each morning and night to see if their family and friends are still alive. With the rejection of the consideration of a ceasefire resolution, the community who supports Palestine feels even more not seen or heard.

In the spirit of having dialogue, one could argue that a ceasefire resolution is spot on with what the Spirit of Beacon spirit would aim to accomplish: bringing together different community members in the public forum of City Hall to stand against murders of Palestinian doctors, journalists, parents, children, teachers, aid workers, donkeys, lambs, olive trees, and anything that is alive in Palestine.  

Katie Hellmuth
Former Chair of the Spirit of Beacon Day
Publisher A Little Beacon Blog

Letter To The Editor: Lila Barchetto, A Jewish Resident Supporting Beacon's Ceasefire Resolution

My name is Lila Barchetto, I am a Jewish Beacon resident of 10 years and I fully support our City of Beacon passing a ceasefire resolution.

Our tax dollars are funding the Genocide of Palestinian people, the collective punishment of innocent men, women, and children. Israel is an apartheid state, a colonial project, and a racist theocratic ethnostate that has not and will not save Jews from anti-semitism globally.

Beacon owes no allegiance to Israel. And neither do Jews for that matter. "Bibi'' Netanyahu and his fascist cabinet do not care what our little city does. Netanyahu doesn't care what President Biden says or what The International Court of Justice rules. The Israeli government has spoken clearly and plainly that they wish to annihilate Gaza and murder as many Palestinians as possible. The Israeli government has repeatedly prioritized vengeance over freeing hostages. Not even the lives of their own citizens could deter Israel's goal of total destruction, ethnocide, and genocide in Gaza. There is no complication. By calling for a ceasefire Beacon is taking a stand for its residents and is sending a message to the state and federal Government that we do not condone genocide. We do not accept that our tax dollars are funding Israel's Genocide of Palestine.

There is nothing anti-semitic in the language of this resolution. The purposeful conflation of Jewishness with Israel is at its core anti-semitic. The redundant lamentings of long standing "complications" to this issue is willfully distracting and deeply patronizing. Please, speak plainly about what this "slippery slope" is descending into. Take the time to be specific, and tell us what is so complicated. If the opposition to this resolution can not do that, then they have said nothing.

The City Council should pass this resolution to ensure that we truly are the "welcoming, safe and inclusive city" we claim to be. Israel's Genocide of the Palestinian people is costing Beacon an average $200,000 taxpayer dollars annually. The environmental cost is beyond measure. I can not overstate the cost to our collective and individual humanity if we do not act now as a community and call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Letter To The Editor: R. Qader Speaks Her Truth About Living In America As A Palestinian and Arab

Editor’s Note: R. Qader spoke at the City Council Meeting on February 20, 2024 during Public Comment (video of that is at the end of this article). In total, 51 people came out to speak about if Beacon City Council should pass a ceasefire resolution (which you can view at @alittlebeacon IG which inspired many people to come out who had never attended a City Council Meeting before), as dozens of other municipalities have done in New York and across the nation. During R. Qader’s speech then, she said her family were refugees during the first Nakba in 1948. She says she was in 8th grade during 9/11, and was harassed after that.

• She says that she used to wear the hijab 🧕🏽 headscarf, because as a Muslim, the hijab is a form of protection. However, she stopped wearing it because she was targeted and it was no longer protecting her.

• She was pushed down the stairs, and had her hijab ripped off her head.

• She was called “terrorist” every day.

• She was called “Osama mama”

• She was told by her teachers that all Palestinians were born suicide bombers.

• She had stink bombs thrown at her by her peers.

• Every time something went wrong in a classroom, multiple students would yell “the Muslim did it!,” “the Arab did it!,” “the Palestinian did it!”

• She’s had teachers maliciously butcher her name daily in passive protest to her identity.

• She said there were no consequences for the way she was treated in school. Nothing ever happened to her harassers, who were other young kids and teachers. She was not protected. She wore a tshirt that said “No blood for oil” and kids said “blood for oil” in response.

She said that nothing was done to protect her. She said that Muslims and Arabs do not submit claims of harassment and abuse and threats because they are not protected.

R. Qader covers 3 points in her Letter To The Editor below:

“People may look at this differently than local hate crimes because it is an international matter, but I would argue this is an amplification of the anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian attacks that have been taking place long before October 7th. It has been well documented that Muslims are less likely to report hate crimes because they do not feel safe with their community leaders or law enforcement. Many in the Muslim community do not feel protected by the people or the institutions in place, people and institutions like this.”

— R. Qader

Without this [ceasefire resolution from Beacon, NY]…we are not safe. Think of this statement as a blanket that puts a child to bed at night. A blanket is supposed to be comforting, safe and warm; yet, with this statement, we lay cold and exposed. Without the call for a ceasefire, it implies that our cities, the places we call home, have not only accepted, but condoned the murder of our people. Without the call for a ceasefire, Zionism retains the power, and we have seen and we have felt, for more than 70 years, what that power is capable of in their hands. Without the call for a ceasefire, I’m scared to walk down local streets because if they’re cool with harassing my people in Palestine, they’re certainly cool with harassing us here.

We’ve seen examples of this even at the most prestigious of institutions. At Columbia University, in America, IDF soldiers threw skunk liquid on students and violently attacked young men for wearing keffiyehs. One of those young men is now paralyzed. Yet still, this is not the most violent of attacks Palestinian Americans and supporters of Palestine face. In the supposed safety of his own home, a six year old child was murdered by his neighbor in Chicago. Without the call for a ceasefire, without the support of our local government to ensure our safety, what do we tell our children? You are neither safe on the streets, nor in your home. You are not safe anywhere.

“The violence we face is not hypothetical, and it is not new. I’ve dealt with this personally at a public Ulster county school following the September 11th attacks. I was pushed down the stairs; I had the hijab ripped off my head; I was called “Osama mama”; I was told “all Palestinians are raised to be suicide bombers.”

— R. Qader

The violence we face is not hypothetical, and it is not new. I’ve dealt with this personally at a public Ulster county school following the September 11th attacks. I was pushed down the stairs; I had the hijab ripped off my head; I was called “Osama mama”; I was told “all Palestinians are raised to be suicide bombers”; I was told to go back to where I came from; I had stink bombs thrown at me.

Every time something went wrong in a classroom, multiple students would yell “the Muslim did it!,” “the Arab did it!,” “the Palestinian did it!” I have had teachers maliciously butcher my name daily in passive protest to my identity.

“All this was accepted and was condoned by both teachers and staff. All this happened at a place where I should have felt safe. These events have directly influenced my decision not to send my children to public schools. These events leave me wary of activities for my children where I cannot be present to ensure their safety.”

— R. Qader

All this was accepted and was condoned by both teachers and staff. All this happened at a place where I should have felt safe. These events have directly influenced my decision not to send my children to public schools. These events leave me wary of activities for my children where I cannot be present to ensure their safety. Although my family are not residents in Beacon, we are active in Beacon. My husband works with local grocery shops and marts there, and my children and I attended classes and activities regularly in Beacon. I love Beacon as many people do. I have watched the city grow, expand and change for over three decades. However, I cannot overlook three very important issues that will affect my family and I’s decision to continue working with the community.

There is a rise in hate crimes pertaining to THIS specific issue.

People may look at this differently than local hate crimes because it is an international matter, but I would argue this is an amplification of the anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian attacks that have been taking place long before October 7th. It has been well documented that Muslims are less likely to report hate crimes because they do not feel safe with their community leaders or law enforcement.

“Many in the Muslim community do not feel protected by the people or the institutions in place, people and institutions like this. Our government, our media, and our leaders have continuously painted a picture of Palestinians as terrorists; we can see this throughout decades of film and television where Israel and Palestine is used as the butt of a joke or an allegory to an eternal struggle that will never end.”

— R. Qader

Many in the Muslim community do not feel protected by the people or the institutions in place, people and institutions like this. Our government, our media, and our leaders have continuously painted a picture of Palestinians as terrorists; we can see this throughout decades of film and television where Israel and Palestine is used as the butt of a joke or an allegory to an eternal struggle that will never end. Even with what is happening now, even with the live footage, the images, the accounts from Palestinians posted freely online for all to see and share, the LIFE within the Gaza and West Bank borders is rarely acknowledged. We do not hear about the doctors, nurses, teachers, sanitation workers, or students of Gaza; no, instead, we hear “Hamas”.

“The call for a ceasefire does not mean you now stand with Israel or you now stand with Hamas. The call for a ceasefire means the recognition of Palestinians as humans, humans worthy of safety, food, shelter, and life.”

— R. Qader

Hamas is in the hospitals,
Hamas controls the schools,
Hamas is in the tunnels;
Palestine is Hamas and Hamas is Palestine.
Let me state this clearly and loudly, I am NOT HAMAS. PALESTINIANS ARE NOT HAMAS. If my Jewish friends and colleagues in this community retain the right and the freedom to not be associated with Israel, then I and my fellow Palestinians retain that same right to declare we are not Hamas.

The call for a ceasefire does not mean you now stand with Israel or you now stand with Hamas. The call for a ceasefire means the recognition of Palestinians as humans, humans worthy of safety, food, shelter, and life. The call for a ceasefire means that Beacon stands for justice and safety of all citizens within its borders and beyond. As you talk about Cyprus, think of Palestine and her people. Our freedom will not be selfish, our freedom will not halt at the borders, our freedom can be your freedom too.

Liberation of Palestine has never and will never be exclusive. “Liberation for Palestine stands for liberation everywhere” has been heard throughout the world.

Firstly, dialogue is not going to help put pressure on our Congressman Pat Ryan, who receive funding from AIPAC to support a genocide. We have talked to him, too. We have had several meetings with him, and he sits, nods his head, sips his water when asked direct questions, and provides professional, political, placating responses. Although he listens, our words are not heard. He thanks us for sharing our stories and concerns, then accuses us of things that are simply not true, like “storming his office”. He thinks by taking meetings with us, we will simply overlook the fact that he is shaking hands with the small minority of people, who are trying to justify the killing and occupation of my people. To which I say, we will not look away, we will not stop speaking the truth, and we will not forget who you stood with when genocide was occurring.

“Do not let these people distract you from finding the truth for yourself. This is not a “conflict”; this is not “complicated”. This is an occupation, this is apartheid, and this is genocide.”

— R. Qader

Do not let these people distract you from finding the truth for yourself. This is not a “conflict”; this is not “complicated”. This is an occupation, this is apartheid, and this is genocide. The ICJ, the ICC, and Amnesty International have said this is plain language. That being said, let me be clear, no one is asking you to choose a side; that is not why we elected you to your position. We are not asking you to draw the plans for free Palestine yourself. We are not asking to be superheroes and save the world. What we are asking is for you to fulfill your role as an elected official by representing the people in your constituency and amplifying our voices. Your community is here to tell you that we demand you to call for a ceasefire and push the resolution.

“We are not asking to be superheroes and save the world. What we are asking is for you to fulfill your role as an elected official by representing the people in your constituency and amplifying our voices. ”

— R. Qader

The resolution put forth will make a difference. It will make Palestinians in our community and those who stand with Palestine feel safe and heard by our leaders. This resolution amplifies our voices to our district and state officials. This resolution will require them to hear us. We have tried talking with them directly, and despite maintaining their stance that they speak for the majority of their constituents, they have continuously voted in support of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF, same as IDF) and for the continuation of violence. We need you to help amplify our voices and make it known, these votes do not represent the people.

“The resolution put forth will make a difference. It will make Palestinians in our community and those who stand with Palestine feel safe and heard by our leaders. This resolution amplifies our voices to our district and state officials. ”

— R. Qader

Calling for a ceasefire will unite us with national cities and communities that have already made the call. Beacon would not be the first, but it will not be last. Some may argue that calling for a ceasefire or passing this resolution is a “waste of time”, but standing for humanity has never been and will never be a waste of time. Showing our children that we do not accept genocide will never be a waste of time.

Telling the nation that we do not accept the murder of over ten thousand children is not a waste of time. Standing alongside our Palestinian Christian, Muslim and Jewish community to call for unity and safety will never be a waste of time. There is time for dialogue and there is time for action. Right now, we need action. As we debate calling for a ceasefire, Palestinians continue to die, starve, and succumb to preventable illness. WE as Palestinians do not want to be refugees, again. We as Palestinians want to remain on the land of their grandparents and their grandparents before them. We as Palestinians want to be able to stay, live, raise our children and prosper on our land.

Just recently, we have watched as our U.S. government approved billions of dollars to go to Israel and stopped funding to a UN organization that works exclusively with those Palestinians refugees you spoke of today, the UNWRA. Our government has been vocal in support of the Palestinian people, but has actively working against the Palestinian people. We need you, more than ever, to represent us and amplify our voices.

And again, I’d like to highlight that this pain doesn’t come from this community directly, it comes from what this community is a part of, the bigger picture. This pain comes from the state and the nation that is steadfast in funding and supplying the weaponry that has been murdering my people and occupying my people. Blood is on the hands of our nation’s leaders. We cannot be silent.

I call on your action. Not your words. Your action. And I call on you to act towards a permanent ceasefire, now.

“And again, I’d like to highlight that this pain doesn’t come from this community directly, it comes from what this community is a part of, the bigger picture. This pain comes from the state and the nation that is steadfast in funding and supplying the weaponry that has been murdering my people and occupying my people.”

— R. Qader

I was taken aback when some council members stated they feel a call for a ceasefire would disrupt the peace in the community and that remaining silent is the better course. Certainly, I would think the opposite as true. Calling for the end of a violent, disproportionate attack would welcome conversation, peace and dialogue more than remaining silent on the issue. Silence implies acceptance, implies compliance, and implies support. For myself, I would be much more open to sit at the table with someone who is openly vocal against the murder and occupation of my people. I will certainly not shake hands with someone who has been silent about the ongoing genocide in Palestine, further with someone who does not stand for the end of occupation or genocide in any nation around the world. You cannot expect me to trust someone who lacks basic humanity, to sit with a person who cannot see the ills and crimes being committed. We, as Palestinians, have tried this in the past, and it has never ended in our favor. We have learned from experience to fear those who cannot see us as people and to fear those who remain silent.

I have to reiterate this is not a complicated decision. You do not need a degree to stand against violence. It is that simple. This is not an issue that does not affect us in the community; this is not an issue “over there”. This is a community issue. When Black Lives Matter protests were happening here, the people of Palestine stood up with us. George Floyd was painted on the walls of Gaza; they were able to recognize and connect the injustices against American people as directly connected to the injustices they face. How can we not do the same? How can we not see that the violence, hatred, and anger is directly affecting our community? That it is dividing us?

“One council member stated that she would love and welcome Palestinian refugees to Beacon, which is a beautiful sentiment in theory. However, it is simply that - a sentiment. The Palestinians do not want to be refugees, and would certainly not want to be forced to move to a city that refused to acknowledge the bloodshed of the families, friends, and community members. ”

— R. Qader

One council member stated that she would love and welcome Palestinian refugees to Beacon, which is a beautiful sentiment in theory. However, it is simply that - a sentiment. The Palestinians do not want to be refugees, and would certainly not want to be forced to move to a city that refused to acknowledge the bloodshed of the families, friends, and community members. Furthermore, if this council is not acting to protect its Palestinian-American constituents from hate crimes and bigotry now, how could we promise refugees safety?

Every moment we spend debating whether the call to end violence is “appropriate”, Palestinians are dying, Palestinians are being bombed, Palestinians are being shot, beaten, and starved. The time to act is now. The time to show the world that the people of Beacon stand for peace, humanity and liberty is now.

Letter To The Editor: Phoebe Zinman, A Jewish American In Beacon, Implores Beacon City Council To Pass Ceasefire Resolution

Editor’s Note: Phoebe Zinman also submitted this letter to Beacon’s City Council.

“My grandmother worked very hard to get Jewish families to America during WWII. Not one single member of my family would want this genocidal rampage to happen in Palestine, and certainly not in our name. ”

— Phoebe Zinman

As a 13-year resident of Beacon, a homeowner, an elected trustee of one of our community’s most valuable institutions, and a Jewish American, I am calling on you to pass the ceasefire resolution. My family escaped from the pogroms in Russia and came to this country in the early 1900’s. My grandmother worked very hard to get Jewish families to America during WWII. Not one single member of my family would want this genocidal rampage to happen in Palestine, and certainly not in our name.

This is a horrific ethnic cleansing that we are watching in real time, and also bearing witness to the power of pro-Zionist propaganda at every level of our society and culture. Furthermore, my father’s family were socialists and were blacklisted during the Cold War by the American government for speaking their truth to capitalist power and against censorship of the freedom of expression. Now in 2024, we are witnessing more blacklisting, more censorship, more limits to our freedom to criticize Israel’s actions.

“Is the City Council and the city prepared to stand on the wrong side of history, under the weak pretense that the resolution doesn’t matter?”

— Phoebe Zinman

Is the City Council and the city prepared to stand on the wrong side of history, under the weak pretense that the resolution doesn’t matter? If it doesn’t matter, why are any of us serving our city? This is a time for being clear about the value of human life, and not for favoring those with more power and resources.

You must pass this ceasefire resolution, there is no other choice you can make in good conscience,

Phoebe Zinman

Letter To The Editor: Arthur Camins And Tina Bernstein-Camins, Beacon Jews, Call On Beacon City Council To Pass Ceasefire Resolution

Editorial Note: Tina Bernstein can be heard in a podcast interview with ALBB recorded days after Israeli’s aggression on Gaza in response to the October 7th attack by Hamas.

Dear Editor:

The Beacon City Council is discussing a possible humanitarian ceasefire resolution. As Jews, we support passage.

Jews speak with many voices from varying values and politics.  Like other Jews of our age, we grew up in the dark shadow of the Holocaust. Though our parents were not survivors of the Holocaust, we had family members who survived fighting with the resistance, were hidden by a kind Polish family, and survived by playing dead in a pile in Treblinka and then lived to testify at Nuremberg.

“We know deep in our marrow that Jews cannot be safe anywhere in the world, while Palestinians who share the same piece of the Earth are not free. Not all Jews of the diaspora–now or in the past–regard a Jewish state as central to their identity or safety.”

— Arthur Camins and Tina Bernstein-Camins

We grew into adulthood amidst the conflicts of the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements.  We have direct, devastating familial experience of government-led efforts to silence dissent during the McCarthy period. As Jews, we learned vital lessons that we’ve carried through our lives into retirement and in how we raised our two children.

Lesson 1: The German and world silence as the Nazis attacked and eventually rounded-up and murdered Jews, Roma, Homosexuals, and dissidents taught us to never relinquish our power to speak up and stand against injustice, no matter how intransient the perpetrators or how dim the prospect for justice.  During the civil rights movement, the segregationists argued that "You can't legislate people to love one another."  Maybe not.  However, in the face of pitched conflict, the moral and political power of direct action and legislative demands for new laws led to an end to egregious de jure discrimination. We know that no path to mutual empathy and respect, peace, democracy, and justice for all is possible while people are killing one another. In the face of the Hamas October 7 attack and Israel’s murderous attack on innocent Gazans, we call on our City Council to not remain silent.

“In the face of pitched conflict, the moral and political power of direct action and legislative demands for new laws led to an end to egregious de jure discrimination. ”

— Arthur Camins and Tina Bernstein-Camins

Lesson 2: Never again means never again for anyone. That is why some of our grandparents organized labor unions, fought for school integration, and marched on Washington in 1963. It is why we’ve followed in their footsteps.  It is why we joined others to protest the U.S. horrific napalming of North Vietnam.  It is why we've fought racism our whole adult lives.  It is why we demand that our government cease its diplomatic and financial support for Israel's wholesale annihilation of Palestinians—entire families, children, educational institutions, mosques—anything that remains.  We know deep in our marrow that Jews cannot be safe anywhere in the world, while Palestinians who share the same piece of the Earth are not free. Not all Jews of the diaspora–now or in the past–regard a Jewish state as central to their identity or safety.

Silence is the face of injustice is acceptance. We call on the Beacon City Council to stand up and pass a resolution to demand:

1) An immediate permanent ceasefire between Hamas and Israel;
2) An end to U.S. military aid to Israel;
3) A release of all Hamas-held hostages and Israeli-held political prisoners;
4) Condemnation of any killing of innocent civilians;
5) Condemnation of hatred against Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians, Israelis, and Jews.

Arthur Camins and Tina Bernstein-Camins
Beacon, NY

Listen to ALBB’s Podcast Interview with Tina Bernstein here.

Letter To The Editor: Sarah From, A Beacon Jew, Insists That Beacon City Council Pass A Ceasefire Resolution

To the Editor:

As a Jew, a parent, and a human, I cannot turn away from what is happening in Israel and Palestine right now. Along with other Beacon Jews, in December I co-organized a pro-ceasefire menorah lighting outside Rep. Pat Ryan's office that drew fifty people, demanding him to act immediately to stop the horror.

Since Congress has failed to answer our call, we must act locally to send a clear message that we do not support our tax dollars going to fuel more death, more destruction, more despair. The Beacon City Council must pass a ceasefire resolution.

Sincerely,
Sarah From
Beacon, NY