On Saturday, May 16, there was a demonstration in West Hartford center in front of Town Hall commemorating the Nakba (catastrophe in Arabic), the day 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their land with the establishment of the state of Israel on May 14th, 1948.

The attendees, then around 100 strong, marched from Town hall down Memorial Road in Blue Back Square, creating quite a spectacle, chanting with calls from a bullhorn, for Palestinian freedom.

I haven’t seen a demonstration like it outside the Capitol Building in quite long time.

What was most notable was the venue-West Hartford center, a scene known for its upscale shops and restaurants, alive with patrons, shoppers and strollers on this beautiful May afternoon. West Hartford is also known as a tolerant and even progressive town-weekly vigils are held in the center protesting oligarchy, ICE raids and President Trump.

Unsurprisingly, strong negative sentiment was aroused in some. A young woman getting ice cream afterwards at Ben and Jerry’s, was insulted and berated for her hijab and what it symbolized. She bravely just faced the person and smiled.

West Hartford could have avoided the spectacle — and the blowback which will undoubtedly occur — by imposing severe restrictions or even refusing to permit it. But it didn’t, and by doing so it struck a blow for free speech.

John Cappadona, MD, of Bloomfield is a member of Indivisible, Farmington Valley.