To the editor:

Like many in the community, I have been following the news and opinion coverage of the Gala Parade controversy closely. By controversy, I’m referring to the verbal and physical altercation that took place between parade coordinator Jeff Branch and Bucket Ruckus members who were promoting a ceasefire in Gaza with signs that read “Stop funding genocide,” “Ceasefire now” and “Jews for a free Palestine.” During the altercation, Branch ripped down protesters signs and verbally harassed them.

This controversy has unveiled an ugly bias that has so far been implicit in the silence of the community since the unfolding war in Gaza. The biased idea that anyone calling for a ceasefire because one finds it horrifying that nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began — two thirds of them women and children — is somehow equivalent to being antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

This willfully ignorant bias is not only insulting to the Jewish members of the community who condemn genocide, but also for anyone who has been fighting against far-right antisemitism since the 2016 Trump election. It’s disingenuous and dangerous to equate being against the killing of innocent civilians — including 11,000 children — with supporting Hamas.

In some instances, the community prejudice has been overt. Branch was quoted as saying Bucket Ruckus protesters were “supporting rapists and murders” in the piece “Gala Parade entries spark controversy.” This inflammatory, racist speech equates any Palestinian with those appalling labels. It is as bigoted as it is embarrassingly ill-informed.

Sometimes the biases are more subtle. Take the criticism of the peaceful ceasefire protesters in the “Preserving the spirit of Carnival” opinion piece. The author — who one can assume is liberal by their well-written take-down of the Confederate flag — parrots the false conservative talking point that any solidarity shown to Palestinian civilians is equal to supporting terrorists.

They write: “… even if (holding ceasefire signs) is not intended in such a way as to be offensive to Jewish people or to be in support of Hamas, will very likely be interpreted as such.” Not only are they repeating propaganda meant to silence anyone opposed to genocide, they are normalizing this dangerous false equivalency. In turn,“othering” those in the community who are brave enough to protest, when in fact 61% of Americans want a ceasefire.

The author asks “why couldn’t we have this conversation on any other day of the year?” To them, I ask them to look at our present-day society. Americans are more isolated than ever — we are not talking about the issues of the day because we cannot bear the discomfort or potential for conflict. Given that we are not in ancient Rome, the Saranac Lake Carnival is our local forum, for better or worse!

Even though I find the biases unearthed by this discussion disturbing, I am glad we are finally having these difficult conversations on a local level.

Afterall, as Ella Wheeler Wilcox said perfectly, “To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men.”

Emily Hirsch-Steinberg

Jay