“It’s time we stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?” — Buffalo Springfield
About a dozen Primadona college-age kids descended on downtown Biddeford today to exploit people who are living in one of the city’s most visible homeless encampments on Water Street.
These self-righteous “protestors” who are upset about events in Gaza mostly arrived on scene driving late-model SUVs and followed instructions issued from organizers to wear a mask.
Fortunately, there was no media attention given to these nitwits as they tried desperately to link the city’s homeless population to the atrocities now taking place in Gaza.
The pro-Hamas kiddos sent out a fancy press release about their demonstration. They wanted attention, that’s it. I didn’t see a single person in their ranks who has been involved in volunteering or actually trying to help our homeless neighbors over the past few months.
Believe it or not, I was young once. I understand their self-righteous outrage. When I was in my early 20s, I spent summers working for the Maine Peoples Alliance; I joined Monument Square protests in Portland for nightly candlelight vigils to protest the U.S. Arms race. I was a member of PAUSICA (Portlanders Against U.S. Involvement in Central America). Remember the Sandinistas and the Contras in Nicaragua?
These brave young folks who were forced to sip their lattes under a scorching sun this afternoon really believe in their cause, which is sort of interesting because they don’t rally around the genocide now taking place in Uganda. They apparently are not concerned about the plight of Ukraine.
Instead, these impressionable young people are rallying in support of an expanded Palestinian state where theocracy is in vogue and democracy is dismissed; where homosexuality is not tolerated and where women can be arrested or even killed for not dressing properly.
But my biggest beef with these clowns is the misinformation they are trying to spread about my hometown. The city has committed more than $1 million for a pilot program to actually assist our unhoused neighbors. We are expanding and coordinating more resources to actually help people.
I haven’t seen any of these punks at any of the countless meetings or participating in any discussions about how to move forward.
My community is actually doing something positive to restore dignity for those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.
These kids? They just want their 15 minutes of fame. Disgusting! Exploitation 101.
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