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Dear Progressive Reader,
A short humanitarian ceasefire began on Friday, creating an occasion for the release of some hostages by Hamas and of some prisoners by Israel—but also for the ceasing of the relentless bombing that has gone on for more than six weeks in the densely populated urban areas of Gaza. With an opportunity ([link removed]) for the delivery of aid and badly needed fuel for hospital generators, everyday civilians are experiencing a small respite. But it is clearly not enough, with more than ([link removed]) 14,000 people killed, and countless more injured and displaced, since the initial Hamas surprise attack on October 7.
About three thousand years ago, in Psalm 68, David calls ([link removed]) upon God to “Scatter those nations that love war.,” and some 1500 years after that, in the Qur’an comes the verse ([link removed]) , “If the enemy is inclined towards peace, make peace with them.” Yet here, in the twenty-first century, with all of our tools of communication, and all of the various international bodies that we have created to negotiate conflict, the world today is engaged in two huge armed conflicts and many others of varying scope and scale, costing billions of dollars and resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths.
A report released in June 2023 by the Institute for Economics and Peace cited ([link removed]) an increase of 96 percent in deaths related to conflict during the year 2022—and, in reporting on these figures, The Washington Post ominously concluded ([link removed]) with the words, “[in 2023,] global conflict deaths could still rise further yet.” As Pope Francis intoned ([link removed](CNS)%20%7C%20Warning,It%20increases%20hatred%2C%20multiplies%20revenge.) on October 18 in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, “War does not solve any problems, it only sows death and destruction. It increases hatred, multiplies revenge. War erases the future.” We must end the use of war and violence as a means to
resolve conflict. May this be our Thanksgiving weekend hope in 2023.
This week on our website, Ruth Conniff talks about ([link removed]) reasons that Wisconsin residents are hoping to celebrate a state supreme court case on voting maps; Bill Blum takes on ([link removed]) the new toothless ethics code at the U.S. Supreme Court; Cheyenne Garcia asks ([link removed]) , during National Homelessness Awareness Month, how should we define homelessness?; and Jacob Goodwin does the math on the costs of being a teacher. “Economic justice for educators means providing financial support to the schools that serve all students,” he writes ([link removed]) . “Raises for public school educators must reflect our professional status and our contributions to community life.”
Plus Tim Brinkhof reviews ([link removed]) the new film Napoleon and the “great man theory” of history; Eleanor J. Bader examines ([link removed]) the lessons of the “long Attica revolt’ and their legacy for prison abolition movements today; and Tiera Tanksley reports on ([link removed]) how artificial intelligence (AI) threatens educational equity. Also, Jeff Abbott brings an update ([link removed]) on the threats to democracy in Guatemala; and Kathy Kelly looks back on the use of tunnels in war, and the differences between tunnels used for defense and those for offense. “Living as we do in a world where countries like the United States maintain a
permanent warfare state,” she says ([link removed]) , “we must reckon with the horrific cost of war—and the obscene profits.”
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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