SOUTH WHIDBEY: Sound Off: Gaza conflict shouldn’t divide Whidbey community (JOE GREENHERON/WNT)

South Whidbey School District Director Joe Greenheron wrote a Sound Off column for the South Whidbey Record hoping to bring people together over the conflict in Gaza. Greenheron’s column appeared in the paper’s Feb. 3, 2024 edition.

They Said It

What follows is my opinion alone, as a practicing Jew on South Whidbey, and of someone with the utmost love and respect for Israel and Israelis, Palestine and Palestinians. I don’t speak on behalf of any organizations.

I denounce both Hamas’ attacks on civilians and the human rights violations being committed by the Israeli army. Hamas and the Netanyahu governments are more alike than different: both are committed to theocracy; both are unpopular among their constituents; both are serving one another’s needs, not the welfare of the people in the region, whose fates are inextricably linked. Israel will not be safe until the Palestinian people have hope for a better future.

…Instead of letting conflict in the Mid-East deepen existing divisions between neighbors, let’s demonstrate that we can be a small part of the solution, using dialogue and understanding, tools that ultimately pave the way to peace.