Standing at the intersection of Dalton and Hubbard Avenues by the Taco Bell on a chilly March Sunday afternoon, a small group holds up signs to the river of cars funneling in and out of Pittsfield on Route 9.
“Anti-Zionism is not the same as anti-Semitism, and Zionism is not the same as Judaism, and many of us Jews are violently opposed to what's going on in Israel," said Henry Rose of Dalton, holding a sign saying "Jew for ceasefire now."
“The Israelis are bombing the Gazans," Rose continued. "They are invading the West Bank, and what they're doing is genocide, and these are war crimes, and the State of Israel is an apartheid state, it's a settler colonial state, and into land theft starting back from the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.”
Rose and his fellow demonstrators have been regularly standing out with signs since October 2023, when Israel first responded to a Hamas surprise attack with a bloody military campaign that has killed more than 50,000 in the densely populated Gaza Strip. Under both Presidents Biden and Trump, the United States has sent billions of dollars of aid to support the ongoing Israeli offensive. By October 2024, the sum was almost $18 billion. Trump has approved almost $12 billion since returning to office in January.
“Never again means never again for anyone, and that's always been a firm part of my belief," Rose told WAMC. "The Nazi Holocaust was not the only Holocaust, and people and nations are supposed to stop Holocausts as they are unfolding. And we should be taking action.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the conflict as a “close ally… fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies” in a statement about additional aid to Israel on March 1st.
Rose says the response from passers-by has been largely warm, with a few exceptions.
“It's overwhelmingly positive," he said. "We get thumbs ups and honks overwhelmingly in favor. But yes, we get the finger periodically- And I say, if you don't get the finger periodically, you're doing it wrong.”
To Rose, the demonstration is about a public conversation with the community he calls home.
“I'm hoping to have the conversation with as many people as possible," he told WAMC. "Unfortunately, I have problems having this conversation with my own friends and relatives, but we have to keep trying. So, my hope is to continue this conversation and to try to do it as calmly as possible.”
Timothy Wright stands nearby with a sign reading “Permanent Peace in Gaza Now.”
“So, you can't be neutral on a moving train," said Wright. "I forget what historian said that, and I really feel that's true.”
The phrase is attributed to the late Howard Zinn, author of the 1980 book “A People's History of the United States” and, like Rose, an American Jew who was an outspoken critic of Israel.
To Wright, not demonstrating would be an impossibility.
“My silence means agreement, and so, I can't be silent because I don't agree, and I really feel if I don't, I'll just lose my humanity," he told WAMC. "It would just be like- My morals will be dying. So, I need to be out here saying no. I mean, I would no more want to give the shooter at Uvalde elementary school more bullets to kill kids than I would [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to drop 2000-pound bombs on women and children who didn't do anything.”
Estimates put the number of Gazan children killed by the Israeli military at more than 17,000 since Hamas’ October 7th attacks that killed around 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped almost 250 more.
Dalton resident Mary Turner’s sign says “People Unite! We’re on our own.” She says the ever-escalating turmoil of 2025 has only underscored the need for community and solidarity.
“We've been here against the genocide in Gaza and the West Bank and now Syria, but with all our tariffs coming up, all the other cuts in federal workers, housing situation, homelessness- I work at the Pittsfield library, where we have quite a problem with our homeless population, they have to use the public library for safety and shelter," said Turner. "So, I'm just out here having a voice. Sometimes we’re a little nervous- Are we going to be penalized for doing this? But we just feel that we have to be out here.”
Turner says the ritual of demonstrating has been a beacon of hope in dark times.
“We feel we're getting more support, and we're just trying to remind people that we're out here, and we'd like them to connect with us, and we're all in it together,” she told WAMC.
