Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Everyone loses in the ‘Blame Game’

Nobody, no non-terrorist government Sunni, Shite, Muslim, Palestinian, Israeli, Egyptian, Jordanian wants the Gaza Strip, wants to govern, provide well-being (education, medical services), to enable Gaza Strip residents. 

The UN, the “humane” West, the Middle Eastern oil-rich nations have for decades witnessed, cast aspersions then seemingly ignored the distress of Gaza — a misplaced, abandoned tiny, poverty-dense place and people.

Gaza is the exact land size of Las Vegas having a population somewhat more than Phoenix and somewhat less than Houston. It is one of the most densely populated areas on earth.

Imagine Las Vegas being the focus of the world. Imagine Las Vegas unwanted by Nevada, or California just 50 miles away or by the United States its “home” base. 

Imagine Las Vegas a leper colony with diasporic peoples in 58 refugee camps dispersed about the region — one third of Palestinians have lived in refugee camps for over 50 years. Fifty-five percent of Gaza residents live in eight “refugee camps” in Gaza itself. With 48% under 18 with a mere 3% over 65, refugee camps have been the only home to generations of Gazans.

Occupied by Egypt from 1948 to 1967, Gaza was Israeli occupied from 1967 until the Oslo Accords in 1993 created the Palestinian National Authority with territories in Gaza and the West Bank. 

In 2005, the last public election in Gaza was won by Hamas — no elections have been held since. In 2008. the Palestinian Authority after an Israeli-Hamas conflict refused to accept Gaza into its constituents — this Authority left Gaza to Hamas, left them untethered to the West Bank. 

A sizable, though not majority Bibi/Sharon segment of Israelis sanctioned illegal settlements in the West Bank, proffered Hamas buy offs, and engaged in Kushner heel and spit diplomacy. No one, no nation is without blame.

Headlines, protests, outrage burns across the globe particularly in the Middle East and in intellectual bastions of words without deeds, without balance, thwarting peace. 

Ambitious, aggressive politicians everywhere seize the platform of terror and brutal militarism for their own gain — their own justifications and fear mongering. Hamas terrorized Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel has promised retaliatory devastation. The world isn’t broken so much as cowardly, fecklessly riveted on blame vs. restorative co-existence.

 

“Our task is not to fix blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.”

 —John F. Kennedy

Latest News

Millerton dressmaker forged path as early businesswoman

Millerton dressmaker forged path as early businesswoman
Mary Kisselbrack, left, and her husband, George.
Provided

If you’ve driven down Main Street in Millerton, you’ve passed the former home and shop of one of the village’s earliest female entrepreneurs. At a time when most businesses were owned by men, Mary Kisselbrack made a name for herself in the late 1800s as a well-respected milliner and dressmaker.

On April 11, 1891, train conductor George Kisselbrack purchased a 124-by-232-foot vacant lot at 54 Main St. and hired locally renowned builders Beers and Trafford to design what would become their home and Mary’s business.

Keep ReadingShow less
millerton celebrates 175 years

Wastewater project coming to fruition after decades of debate

Wastewater project coming to fruition after decades of debate

Millerton’s business community will soon see the completion of a public wastewater system, addressing what local officials and business owners have called a major constraint on commercial development in the community for decades.

The $13.8 million project, which is expected to serve the core of the Village of Millerton and a commercial stretch of the Town of North East along U.S. Route 44, represents one of the largest infrastructure investments in the community in decades, and brings an end to calls for a sewer system that stretch back to World War II. Officials say the system will safeguard local waterways while creating a foundation for long-term economic stability.

Keep ReadingShow less
millerton celebrates 175 years

Millerton Moviehouse marks 120 years with structural upgrades

Millerton Moviehouse marks 120 years with structural upgrades

Wooden beams made from tree trunks comprise the load-bearing structure under Millerton’s Moviehouse.

Graham Corrigan

There are a handful of buildings that have stood the test of time over Millerton’s 175-year history. But if there’s one that stands out as a singular representation of the town, it’s the Millerton Moviehouse and its iconic clock tower.

Built in 1903 as a grange hall, it was soon converted into a movie theater with a second-floor ballroom. It was one of a handful of buildings that came to define the town in the following decades, standing tall across the street from the Episcopal Church and Millerton Inn, next to Terni’s, and up the hill from Millerton’s train station.

Keep ReadingShow less
millerton celebrates 175 years
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Irondale Schoolhouse: a piece of living history

Irondale Schoolhouse: a piece of living history

Ralph Fedele sits at a desk in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse, which he led the effort to relocate to downtown Millerton.

Aly Morrissey
“It was in dire straits. Right on the road, but beautiful. I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be a great building to move into the village?’” —Ralph Fedele

A one-room schoolhouse sits on Main Street along the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, offering an opportunity for locals and visitors to step inside a piece of living history.

The Irondale Schoolhouse that now sits in downtown Millerton was not originally located on Main Street. The building was first constructed in 1858 along what is now Route 22 in the Irondale section of town, defined by Irondale road and the Old Mill that still sits along Webatuck Creek. At the time, the schoolhouse was one of 14 that served the Town of North East’s children.

Keep ReadingShow less
millerton celebrates 175 years

New Water Department building expected by summer’s end

New Water Department building expected by summer’s end

Millerton’s former Water Department building, ravaged by fire, as it awaited demolition in summer 2025.

Aly Morrissey

Nearly 18 months after a fire destroyed Millerton’s Public Works building, which housed the Highway Department and Water Department, construction is expected to begin within weeks on a new Water Department facility and pumphouse.

The new building would restore the village’s full water pumping capacity and allow officials to end the state of emergency declared after the fire. Village officials are also planning a separate Highway garage, with details of that project still being finalized.

Keep ReadingShow less
millerton celebrates 175 years

NorthEast-Millerton Library microfilm digitization nears completion

NorthEast-Millerton Library microfilm digitization nears completion

NorthEast-Millerton Library

Aly Morrissey

A new initiative at the NorthEast-Millerton Library aims to digitize a collection of photographs, newspapers and other historical materials documenting the community’s early history.

Once completed, the collection will be available online and will include photographs, yearbooks, newspaper microfilm and slides reflecting the area’s past. The materials come from personal collections as well as archives from the Millerton News and its predecessor, the Millerton Telegraph.

Keep ReadingShow less
millerton celebrates 175 years
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.