Loren Johnston of Scarborough is a historian and developer of a course on refugees at the University of New England. All views are the writer’s own.

After the monstrous attack on Israel by the Hamas military wing in October of 2023, Sen. Susan Collins held up a photo of 3-year-old Abigail Idan, who was being held hostage after her parents had been killed by Hamas, and said, “What kind of people commit such atrocities?”

Later in the conflict, she did not hold up a picture of 5-year-old Hind Rajab, who died trapped in a car riddled with 355 bullets and tank rounds with her dead and dying family in Gaza. Apparently she did not think that the targeting of women and children, as well as the two medical personnel who responded to Hind’s pleas, as an atrocity worth mentioning.

Sen. Collins offers the tired talking points to justify continuing offensive military support: “They (Hamas) use civilians as human shields.” “Israel is our closest ally.”

These points do not justify supporting an attacking army’s decision to target densely population civilian areas with high explosive munitions when more precise munitions with smaller kill zones are available.

Both Hind and Abagail were victims of hatred and the desire for revenge. It’s time for Sen. Collins to stop supporting the continuation of violence toward children and innocent civilians.

In March of 2022, Susan Collins and the Senate unanimously approved a resolution encouraging the International Criminal Court to target Russian officials in any investigation of war crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Two years later, Sen. Collins tweeted, “The ICC must abandon its unlawful pursuit of arrest warrants against Israeli officials. If it fails to do so, the Senate should immediately consider the bipartisan legislation passed by the House to sanction the ICC.”

Last year, Sen. Collins co-authored a statement that clarified her position: “It is Israel today and the United States tomorrow. We must stand firmly against the ICC in order to protect our own forces in future conflicts.” Apparently, she had a major change of heart or only believes the ICC should issue arrest warrants for our enemies. Whether or not a country is a democracy or an ally should not be a condition for giving it a pass on war crimes.

Collins has been silent about the 14 unarmed Americans killed by the IDF and Jewish settlers and the destruction of Lebanese-American communities. She was, however, “… very worried about the hostages, which include American citizens. Already, we’ve had more than two dozen Americans killed.”

Collins has also been silent about the attacks on Christian communities in the West Bank and in Southern Lebanon. She has been silent regarding the continued illegal settlements in the West Bank, the continued attacks on Palestinian farmers and herdsman by illegal settlers.

Is there evidence of war crimes in Gaza? Yes, on both sides, however we are not funding Hamas. Opponents of the current right-wing Israeli government’s genocidal actions are not limited to “far left radicals” or supporters of “terrorists”; it also includes Omar Bartov and Amos Goldberg, two prominent professors of Holocaust studies based in the U.S. and Israel.

Other Israeli officials who oppose the current operations against Palestinians include a former Israeli prime minister and a former head of the IDF. Sen. Collins remains silent even when Israel poisons farmers’ fields in Southern Lebanon and institutes a death penalty exclusively for Palestinians. Are there no “red lines” for Sen. Collins?

My attempt to understand Sen. Collins led me to her webpage. As I scrolled through, I noticed posts celebrating Christian and Jewish holidays. I did not see posts related to Muslim holidays. The Muslim and Jewish populations in Maine are roughly equal. Nothing wrong with celebrating religious holidays as a representative of a diverse people, but to exclude one group is troubling.

The question remains: Why the unconditional support for Israel in a conflict that will only be resolved through negotiations and respect for international law?