Bird & Beckett, a privately owned bookshop, weighs in:

The contemporary suffering and persecution in Gaza, and in the West Bank, has been extreme and continues, though you’d hardly know it from the newspapers lately. What Hamas did on 10/7/23 is unforgivable and indefensible from where we stand. However, it is obvious to us that the actions of the right wing extremists in government in Israel over a period of two years are vastly disproportionate and overshadow the crimes Hamas committed.

We hope you’ll come out to show solidarity for the Palestinian people and that you’ll donate to support individual families in Gaza as winter approaches. Donations can be made anytime, not just at the event.

What the individuals and families that will be beneficiaries of this fundraiser think about Hamas is nothing we can know or weigh in on. We believe that their humanity is unquestionable and that their level of need is obvious. We hope you look kindly on them, and that you will help monetarily if you’re able.

Recognizing that these comments are limited in scope and only anecdotally informed, we hope that it will be recognized that the intent behind them is only to support a population that finds itself in the crosshairs of an immensely powerful government and military well supported by the richest nation on earth, that is to say, our nation. We wish that that were not so, and feel that we are not alone in that feeling. We admire and are grateful to those that are vocal and active in advocating for the Palestinian population in Gaza, the West Bank and abroad.

/s/ Eric Whittington, proprietor