by Don Keelan
A change is currently taking place in Vermont, and it is not limited to the foliage extravaganza. Here is a partial list of conversions throughout Vermont.
Where houses of worship once stood, concert halls and community centers now stand. Closed public schools have been turned into housing. Vermont motels, once a major staple of the tourist industry, are now shelters for folks who would otherwise be living on the street or in their cars.
Once thriving factories, closed and abandoned for decades, are being transformed into housing as well. And it will not be long before the once-thriving factory outlet stores, now vacant for some time, will also be considered for housing or professional office space.
The sites that once were thriving college campuses, seven by last count, are now being considered for summer music retreats, five-star resorts, or, as in Poultney, an evangelical seminary.
A most noticeable change can be seen on a drive on Vt. Route 7, from Pownal to Burlington. What was once bucolic farmland, punctuated by black-and-white cows, has morphed into acres upon acres of solar arrays. Change is taking place; the operative word, often expressed, is repurposing, which in most cases accomplishes a positive transformation.
Then, a not-so-positive change is taking place in Vermont that is invisible on a daily basis: the repudiation of America’s long-reliable ally in the Middle East, Israel.
A recently formed group, the Vermont People’s Arms Embargo, wrote a letter to the Manchester Journal and called on Vermonters to boycott 35 Vermont manufacturing companies that trade with Israel. Several are long-established Vermont companies, namely, Global Foundries (formerly IBM), Pratt & Whitney, General Dynamics, GE Aerospace, Burlington Engineering, and OnLogic.
The VPAE goal is to prevent these manufacturing companies from sending equipment to Israel in order to prevent Israel from carrying out further genocide (their term) in Gaza against the Palestinian people.
Prior to and subsequent to the October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel by the terrorist group Hamas, legitimate criticisms were warranted towards Israel’s political and military leaders. Most notably, the uncontrolled settlements in the West Bank, buying political influence in the U.S., and the questionable authoritarian governance of the peaceful citizens of Gaza. One should feel free to express their feelings on such matters, including leveling criticism at the UK, France, or the U.S.
Expressing one’s feelings towards one’s own country does not make one anti-American, and likewise, when leveled towards Israel, should not be described as being antisemitic.
However, to accuse Israel of genocide is outrageous. Genocide, by definition and by UN standards, is the eradication of a population. Israel’s goal is not the extermination of the Palestinian people. It is, however, committed to eliminating the terrorist threesome, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, the militant proxies of Iran. The latter is and has since 1948 been committed to “wiping Israel off the map.”
Last month, I met Rabbi Michael Cohen. Rabbi Cohen is Rabbi Emeritus of the Israel Congregation of Manchester, Vermont. For over 30 years, he has been involved with, and more recently served as the Director of Community Relations at the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies in Israel. The Rabbi was preparing to leave for the Institute’s kibbutz for a 15-month stay.
The Arava Institute “is an environmental and academic institution in the Middle East, dedicated to preparing future leaders from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and around the world to cooperatively solve the regional and global challenges of our time.”
I have known the Rabbi for over 30 years, and he would not be involved with Israel if genocide committed by Israel towards the people of Palestine was its goal. The companies singled out by VPAE to be boycotted would, it is safe to say, not be selling their products to a country that was committed to genocide.
Instead, our state and the national elections are a well-orchestrated effort by Iran to bring down Israel—if not by barrages of missiles, then by waging a propaganda war within Israel’s long-time ally.