Dialogue on memorial requires context, compassion
In my understanding of Mr. Garmey’s letter, he does not suggest that a Jewish family “choose between being Jews and being Concordians.”
In Mark Dobbins’ letter in the October 10, 2025, Acton Bridge (“Israeli flags ‘an expression of love in the face of hate’”), he responds to Edward Garmey’s letter of September 5, 2025 (“Honor all victims of Mideast violence”), writing: “What does not deserve our support is the pretty suggestion that Concordians should ‘recognize no borders and remain unbound by politics and religious affiliation.’”
I think it is important to provide the full sentence which Mr. Dobbins partially quotes from Mr. Garmey’s letter: “Together, let all of us as Concordians share compassion and empathy that recognize no borders and remain unbound by political and religious affiliation.” To me, this expresses quite a different sentiment.
In my understanding of Mr. Garmey’s letter, he does not suggest that a Jewish family “choose between being Jews and being Concordians,” nor presumes “to recommend to a Jewish family how they should mourn their dead,” as is Mr. Dobbins’ interpretation.
I personally do not subscribe to either of these assertions. Furthermore, while knowing that I cannot imagine the impact of this tragedy to a Jewish family, I am nonetheless deeply sorry for the suffering this massacre has caused those who have erected the memorial on Sudbury Road, as well as Jews worldwide.
I imagine I would offer the same sympathy to Palestinians whose innocent relatives have been killed in Gaza.
Mark Weltner
Laurel Street
