In an Oct. 7 story published in the Gazette, “Rep. Saunders reflects on trip to Israel,” a trip initiated by and paid for by the Israeli government, state Rep. Aaron Saunders says that it was an opportunity to hear and meet with Israelis about the war, the Oct. 7 massacre, and understand the nuances and complexities. However, the Gazette failed to mention a particular “nuance” about this trip. Rep. Saunders was not given the opportunity to meet with any official opposition voices to the war. He reported he talked to average Israelis on the street, was given a tour of the Knesset, Israel’s equivalent of parliament or our Congress, and heard a speech from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There was no attempt by the sponsors (i.e. the government) to allow him to meet with Knesset members in the opposition, nor was their any mention by Rep. Saunders that he did so.
It Rep. Saunders wished to understand complexities and ”nuances,” wouldn’t listening to other perspectives on the question of Israel/Palestine and what is happening in Gaza be paramount? For example, he could have met with Combatants for Peace or Standing Together, or requested a meeting with Avrum Burg, a fierce critic of Israeli policy.

My concern is that this lack of accessibility has great significance since clearly the government of Israel wants to present only one perspective for U.S. representatives to take home to the voters. This fact of limited access was reported, not only by the Boston Globe (Sept. 26, “Amid Military Escalation in Gaza Mass. Lawmakers travel to Israel on Trip Funded by Israel Government”), but also by our neighboring town’s newspaper, the Montague Reporter on Oct 2 by Mike Jackson.

Personally, I do not think the representative should have accepted the invite with these restrictions but since he did, its important for his constituents to know the full circumstances and conditions around a trip clearly intended to influence policy here. It is a newspaper’s job to give it’s readers the whole story so they can make informed decisions about information given them by their elected officials.

Michael Hussin

Pelham