Coverage of pro-Palestinian protest was dangerously sanitized
May 30—I was deeply disappointed by your May 21 article, "Police arrest 20 pro-Palestinian protesters in Old Port." Public protest is a cornerstone of democracy and criticism of any government — including Israel's — is fair and necessary. But the coverage of this protest was not fair. It was selective, incomplete and dangerously sanitized.
While the article quoted signs critical of Israel and cited multiple reports portraying Israeli actions harshly, it omitted that protestors were chanting "From the river to the sea," a slogan widely recognized as a call for the elimination of Israel as a Jewish state. Including some slogans while omitting that slogan amounts to whitewashing rhetoric that crosses the line from protest into hate.
There is a staggering hypocrisy in accusing Israel of genocide while calling for the destruction of the world's only Jewish state. This wasn't just a call for humanitarian aid — it was defined by inflammatory, extremist language that contributes directly to rising antisemitic violence.
We saw that reality hours later, when Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli embassy staffers, were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., reportedly by an assailant shouting "Free Palestine."
That didn't happen in Gaza or Tel Aviv, it happened on American soil, and it was fueled by the very hate, on our streets, your paper chose to ignore.
By omitting the most provocative chant and offering no Jewish perspective, the Press Herald didn't just report incompletely — it helped normalize hate.
Justin Schair
Freeport
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