Israel-Hamas war

It is unlikely that the current Levant war will end soon or end well. Israel has been surrounded by enemies since its 1948 inception and has since known its back to be against the wall figuratively and against the Mediterranean literally.

That Israel exists at all following an 1,878-year worldwide diaspora is remarkable. On May 15, 1948, the day after David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the nation, Israel repelled a coordinated attack by the combined forces of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. Israel was again attacked in 1967 and subsequently defeated Egypt, Syria & Jordan in a 6-day war. And in October 1973 on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, Israel again repelled an attack by Egypt and Syria. In each of the three cases, Israel was restrained from a decisive victory by international pressure and threats of withheld U.S. support.

In 1991, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh outlined the history of Israel’s French-sourced, not-so-top-secret nuclear program. He described Israel’s existential resolve in The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy.  Samson was the Old Testament Israelite strongman who brought about the collapse of the Philistine temple — located in what is now Gaza — killing thousands of Philistines and sacrificing himself in the process. The allegory is timely and the potential irony rich.

One effect of Hamas’s recent invasion has been to strip the thin veneer from international antisemitism. As Israel perceives itself increasingly isolated, it will grow hardened to international pressure and opinion. Israel currently relies on America for tactical support, tenuous and conditional as that support has been; Israel is not dependent on America for its strategic deterrence and defense. The post-Holocaust promise Never Again was never to be an empty threat.

— Stephen Littfin, Capt. USN (Ret.), Kalispell

Library standards

The Montana State Library Commission has voted to remove a state requirement that directors of a library serving more than 25,000 residents must have earned a master’s degree in library science.

Library science and information technologies are not offered as undergraduate degrees. Pay scale for a master’s educated librarian exceeds that of assistant librarians. If the director position no longer requires a master’s degree, library boards will offer reduced salary for these positions. Our libraries will get what we pay for in terms of pay scale offered.

Is the librarian’s role a moral duty to protect the public from material that might be considered harmful or whether the restriction of access to information of any kind is itself unethical?

I live in Kalispell and see the actions of the library board as a McCarthy-era style of erroneous censorship designed to silence those they perceive as aberrations. Some of the most insidious censorship comes in the form of self-censorship and inappropriate cataloging. Self-censorship is governed by the prejudices and preferences of individual librarians.  

This is often an unconscious decision on which books are bought and promoted. Books of value can be overlooked in this process. Items that are labeled or cataloged inappropriately can escape the attention of a researcher investigating the area in which they truly belong. Increasing educational requirements helps to prepare library directors to recognize and combat these sources of censorship.

So just what sort of educational standards will be imposed on librarians in Montana? Will the training they receive give them the tools and insight to navigate the inevitable conflicts between board members, aggressive parents and the public at large? How will they stand up to the inevitable criticism and threatening words that will appear on social media?

Reducing educational requirements is a negative for our community.

— Todd Johnson, Kalispell

Supports Ryan Hunter

I love living in Kalispell. My husband and I moved here in 2009 with our 1-year-old daughter and have never talked about leaving. Two of our three children were born here and they all want to live here when they grow up. 

Looking back, it’s amazing how much Kalispell has changed even since we arrived. Back then, downtown Kalispell was largely a Great Recession ghost town — what is now Bias Brewing was an empty building, the shell of a stone countertop business, and The Toggery was a defunct arts and crafts shop. Now downtown Kalispell is thriving and inviting.  

Of course, we still have challenges. Instead of the economic depression and rampant unemployment we faced 15 years ago, Kalispell is now dealing with issues arising from unprecedented growth.

I support Ryan Hunter for City Council because of the clear-eyed approach he takes to solving the city’s current problems. We cannot wish away this growth, and failing to plan for it will only result in unappealing sprawl and the loss of wild and open spaces. Ryan Hunter has a degree in urban planning and works for Flathead Land Trust. I cannot imagine a better combination of skills to guide Kalispell into a beautiful future of livability and balance between infrastructure and open land.

In short, Ryan Hunter is working for smart growth, striving for a Kalispell where workers can afford housing, our wetlands and wild spaces are preserved, and our downtown core is walkable, thriving, and welcoming to visitors and residents alike. I wholeheartedly support his re-election to the Kalispell City Council.

— Katie Cantrell, Kalispell