How has Ashland Plaza changed since Oct. 7? Pro-Palestinian activists gather there regularly. They come to bear witness, sometimes with “Birds of Gaza” clotheslines, each bird representing one dead child. 

Why do the activists keep coming to the Plaza?   

Ashland has a proud civil/human rights tradition. Peace House, a pro-peace civil and human rights organization, formed here in the 1980s as a group challenging U.S. involvement in Central American wars. In 2003, 500 protesters marched to the Plaza when the U.S. invaded Iraq. 

We begin each year with an official Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration and then celebrate diversity and social justice throughout the year in our parades, Plaza rallies and in Lithia Park, including with an annual remembrance of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings.

True: Hamas horrifically slaughtered and kidnapped Israelis.

Still, why does our country furnish Israel with billions of dollars in weaponry while shielding it from accountability for the 33,000 Gazans dead and the growing Gaza famine? 

Since Oct. 7 in Gaza, doctors and nurses fear to wear medical scrubs, reporters hesitate to appear in flak jackets and food workers know they are targets too. Killed are 400 medical providers, 95 journalists (plus four missing, 25 arrested), 196 humanitarian workers dead from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and food delivery teams, including seven from World Central Kitchen.

President Joe Biden must tell Benjamin Netanyahu to stop committing war crimes and to agree to a permanent ceasefire to facilitate the return of hostages and the restoration of life to the 2 million-plus Gazan civilians. Netanyahu must be pushed, because he knows a ceasefire may lead to his toppling from power, leaving him vulnerable to prison for his crimes in Israel.

Sen. Jeff Merkley continues to call for a permanent ceasefire while Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Cliff Bentz remain stonily silent. Today is the day to call and persuade them to speak up. 

Brenda B. Gould

Ashland