From Tuesday to Friday, a half-dozen protesters occupied the Northampton, Massachusetts, office of U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, calling for the Democrat to speak out more forcefully against Israel as the war in Gaza continues and the humanitarian crisis worsens.
McGovern was among the first members of Congress to call for a cease-fire, but Northampton's Nick Mottern, 85, wants him to go further.
"The congressman needs to publicly demand that there be no more U.S. military shipments of weapons to Israel — of any kind," he said. "This is something that he has so far refused to do."
The congressman, who spoke on the phone to the protesters several times, said he has called for the U.S. to stop sending military aid as long as Israel prevents some humanitarian shipments. But he said he will not make that commitment long-term.
"The question of whether or not I would make this blanket pledge that we would never ever provide any military equipment or military aid to Israel in the future — I can't make that pledge because I do favor the Iron Dome. I do believe that Israel should be secure. I do believe that there are people who are hostile to Israel," McGovern told NEPM's The Fabulous 413. "Don't forget the attack on Oct. 7 was not an attack against Israel's military. It was an attack against civilians."
'Accomplished quite a lot'
On Friday, the protesters ended their sit-in, Mottern said, after determining McGovern was "fixed in his position" and that they had "taken that as far as we could."
They felt like they could do "more creative things than just keep staying in the office," Mottern said in an interview Friday afternoon. "And we felt like we had generated a lot of public awareness of the need to stop sending any weapons to Israel from the United States."
"We feel we accomplished quite a lot," he said.
'Desperate times'
Asked Thursday how long they planned to stay, the protesters said they were taking it "day to day."
"It depends on the congressman's and his staff's tolerance," Scarlott said. "We feel that what we are asking for is sort of a 'desperate times require desperate measures.'"
Paki Wieland, 80, of Greenfield said McGovern's staff had treated them well — and left them alone in the office overnight.
"They commented on how well we had taken care of the place — including watering the plants," she said.
The protesters brought in sleeping pads, blankets and pillows, but spending the night on the floor was not comfortable.
"I might be one of the youngest ones here, but at 72 [years old], it's not easy to get up off that floor," Priscilla Lynch of Conway said. "But — as everyone [here] has said — it's a hell of a lot easier than it is for people in Gaza."
Some disagreement
The protesters themselves are not of one mind when it comes to attacks aimed at Israel, including Hamas' violence against civilians on Oct. 7 and subsequent Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
"I am totally a proponent of non-violence. It's all wrong, in my opinion and I think there are other ways to go about it," Mottern said, adding that U.S. military shipments to Israel are still at the "root" of the issue.
But Northampton's Jennifer Scarlott, 65, had a different take. She said Palestinians "were fighting back" during the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.
"[W]hich they have an international right to do," she said. "They have a right to resist, including by force of arms against their oppressor and their occupier."
