To the editor: A recent GazetteLeader editorial called for Arlington County officials to not bend to “far-left activists” and “swim in [their] own lane” by staying silent on the ongoing crisis in Gaza so as to not “establish an independent foreign policy.” It also used metaphorical language implying protestors see Arlington County Board members as “easy pickings” like lame gazelles to a pack of hyenas eager to see the board issue a “tacit (or more) denunciation of Israel.”
This critique frames those calling for peace as violent and extreme, and dodges the issue of actual extreme violence being done with weapons provided by Arlington residents’ federal tax dollars.
Since the horrific events of Oct. 7, Israel’s Gaza offensive has killed, by conservative estimates, 30,000 people – most of them women and children. The International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s actions are plausibly genocidal, the International Criminal Court is reportedly preparing war crimes charges against Israel’s leaders, and protestors nationwide have begun demanding their elected officials do something to stop the Israeli government before it’s too late for the millions continuing to suffer in Gaza.
All the while, the Biden administration has provided the Israeli government diplomatic support at the UN, a naval operation to protect Israel-linked shipping vessels in the Red Sea and $26 billion in additional military aid.
But all of those issues are international and far away. What should local officials in one county in Virginia do about it? What even can they do about it?
A ceasefire resolution passing would add our county to the chorus of more than 100 other municipalities (and Hawaii state government) calling for an end to the horrific bloodshed in Gaza.
Arlington may only be one county, but together, these statements are a growing call for peace that is harder to ignore the louder it gets.
No matter who you are or what your job is, it is never swimming in the wrong lane to speak up for justice and peace.
Jacob Dickey, Arlington
