Dear Progressive Reader,

Horrific news of violence continues to come from Israel and Palestine. The death toll continues to rise, mostly among innocent civilians. Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based Arabic and English language news source is maintaining what appears to be a very accurate and timely tracker of all the deaths and casualties since the October 7 attack by Hamas. Social media, on the other hand has been filled with misinformation and disinformation, recently causing X (formerly known as Twitter) to be investigated by the European Union.

Stephen Zunes writes this week, “Hamas, once again, has failed to recognize that killing civilians is not just morally reprehensible but politically counter-productive.” Zunes goes on to explain the history of Hamas and some of the way things got to where they are today, but, he concludes, “Just as the lives of Israeli civilians were expendable in the eyes of Hamas, the Biden Administration and a large bipartisan majority of Congress, like the Israeli government, may prove to be similarly dismissive of the lives of Palestinian civilians.”

Meanwhile, Bill Blum looks at the importance of international law in controlling, and hopefully averting, such violent conflicts. “The problem,” he says, “lies not with the content of international law, but with its lack of enforcement.” A system of laws, created in the wake of World War II is more important than ever. “In times of war,” he explains, “we need its counsel and wisdom more than ever.” Even cartoonist Mark Fiore takes pause this week, noting, “Horrific violence calls for decidedly un-funny cartoons.”

Elsewhere in the globe this week, protests continue in Guatemala in what reporter Jeff Abbott refers to as “a January 6 in reverse.” As Abbott documents in words and images, “Guatemala’s massive protests have spread in defense of democracy. Protests have remained peaceful and joyous amidst moments of tension.” Photographer David Bacon also presents poweful images of Mexico’s history of social movement mobilization in the streets of Mexico City. And writer Joe Mayall shines the light of history on the current actions by the U.S. Republican Party. Plus, Ed Rampell interviews PBS documentarian Ken Burns—not only about his new series on the American buffalo that opens next week, but also about he got buffaloed by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and billionaire David Koch at an event at, of all places, Bohemian Grove.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about efforts to bring to justice the killer of Chilean folksinger and activist Victor Jara in 1973. In a new development in this story, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced in a press release that it had taken Pedro Pablo Barrientos Núñez into custody on October 5 in anticipation of his extradition to Chile to stand trial for the crime.

Finally, I am in Seattle right now following the death of my father. Some readers of this newsletter wjll remember that my father and I co-wrote a piece for The Progressive in 2012 that combined two of his interests—a modern Chinese singer who performs for migrant workers in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. Other readers may also remember that his father (my grandfather) had also written twice for the magazine in the 1950s. So I guess it runs in the family.

In his notes for a memorial service, my father specified using a quote from the Epistle of James, a rather obscure biblical text that has become better known in recent scholarship for its illumination of the connections between Judaism and the early Christian movement. The early letter focuses a great deal on poverty and inequality. “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? . . . Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead,” it reads.

I was reminded immediately of the Reverend Martin Luther King’s oft repeated statement, “What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?” As I noted in a book review in 2019, “[King’s] article “Showdown for Nonviolence,” which described the [1968 Poor People’s] campaign and called for an Economic Bill of Rights, appeared in Look magazine on April 16, twelve days after King’s death.” My father, who marched beside King in Chicago and committed his life to building a more just and peaceful world for all people, definitely believed in those third century words of James, “I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Sincerely,

Norman Stockwell
Publisher

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