Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com
Maine House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, Maine Senate Republican leader Trey Stewart and 15 other Maine Republican legislators apparently want to tell you what to think and what to say.
They have demanded the College of the Atlantic take down a website posting of photos of students peacefully calling for a ceasefire in Gaza to stop the killing, labeling the post antisemitic, with one signer even suggesting to haul the college before a legislative committee to defend its actions.
COA wisely rejected this attempt at bullying and censorship.
COA students joined thousands of Palestinians and Jewish people worldwide, including Israeli Jews, in seeking a peaceful resolution of a conflict where thousands have suffered and died. Do these Republicans expect us to believe that the hundreds of Israeli Jews and Palestinians organized as “Standing Together” ( standing-together.org) calling for a ceasefire are antisemitic?
I don’t think these Republican leaders stand for free speech or democratic values. Instead, by attempting to weaponize their legislative clout in the guise of condemning hatred, they are fomenting discord and division. It’s shameful.
George Schelling
Orland