To the Editor:

In Newtown, we recall too well the outreach from around the world when 20 children and six educators perished at Sandy Hook School on December 14, 2012. That those lives had been erased so violently from this earth shocked people universally.

So I find it perplexing that there has been no global outcry to the deaths of more than 165 children at Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran, bombed during the joint Israeli-US strike on Saturday, February 28. Does collateral damage from war negate our ability to feel for the families and friends of those young girls and their instructors? I personally feel shame that my heart is not breaking for each victim of violence.

There is no question in my mind that because of a war of convenience there are mothers, fathers, siblings weeping and wondering why, why, why their children were sacrificed in the name of “peace.”

All around the world, violence steals young lives, old lives in fruitless acts of war. How easily we forget the prayers and presents poured upon our town at a time of agony. How does loss of life due to unrestrained gun violence differ from loss of life to unrestrained world war?

Do we not feel — really feel — for people who are caught in uninvited acts of war; feel — really feel — for families that have lost these young women, these young hopes, these innocents? Does it matter that their belief system may differ, their customs are not familiar? These are not the enemies we are told threaten us. They are children, families traumatized by a war not of their choosing.

That people of the world are numb to suffering is not new, but every act of hatred seems to numb us further. If there is a way to reach out to ease the pain, let us do so.

With many US aid organizations stripped of purpose and funds, it might take some searching to find the best means to do so. Start with UNICEF, devoted to helping children in crisis worldwide.

Various news sites note that the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched a 40 million Swiss franc (approximately $51.5 million) emergency appeal on March 10. “… the appeal will fund emergency shelter, relief supplies, health services, water and sanitation support, and psychosocial assistance.” The aid goes to other countries and provinces affected by this war, as well.

We will not forget. Will we?

Nancy K. Crevier

Newtown