I’m grateful for Gazette reporter Alexander Macdougall’s front-page article focusing on community actions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza — the die-in and Thursday’s City Council meeting [“‘Desperate’ for cease-fire,” Gazette, Feb. 17]. But, why paint participants as “activists,” a word applied over and over again. It homogenizes supporters and doesn’t begin to capture the range of people who lay down or spoke out on Thursday night: a boy of 11 as well as an 85-year old Vet for Peace; a midwife, a doctor, a young elementary school teacher, a proud union member and members of ‘Democratic Socialists.

Speakers identified as Jewish, some as members of Congregation B’nai Israel, some as members of Jewish Voices for Peace; Palestinian Americans and Jews alike worried about their well-being as well as the impact of this war on their children. People who’d come to speak on another topic, including former city councilor Mike Kirby, gave some of their precious two minutes to support a cease-fire. An Asian American zoomed in with solidarity, painfully recounting incidences where they’d suffered discrimination as “the other” in Northampton. A downtown business owner, a minister, a lawyer, an environmental activist and many many others recounted the horrifying statistics that had moved them to action.

I don’t know how many in attendance at either event would label themselves “activists” yet, clearly people have been moved by the death and destruction being visited upon Gaza. Moved to take actions urging the City Council and the mayor to call for a cease-fire. It’s important for the news media to acknowledge the depth and diversity of this citizen group in their reporting.

Claudia Lefko

Northampton