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“The desperately needed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to finally be close, but we cannot lose sight of the full goal of ending this horrific war, releasing all the hostages, addressing the devastation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and working toward a lasting and just peace for all in the region.”
― Mayor Katjana Ballantyne
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While admirable sentiments, why would anyone in the world think that the opinion of the mayor of Somerville on Gaza is important enough to justify an official statement?
Legitimate question, Alan. My guess is that it is because people on all sides of this controversy have, in one way or another, urged to the mayor to take a stand on this extremely complicated issue. And this is not the first such statement she has made. The wording of this one and previous ones she’s released have been very reasonable – even if many people found fault with this or that word or phrase.
I assume the only group of people who were strongly opposed to the mayor’s statement is the pro-Hamas “Somerville for Palestine” crowd. In their view, any statement that recognizes Israel’s right to exist is totally unacceptable.