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Dear Progressive Reader,
Last week I wrote about the situation of award-winning ([link removed]) poet Mosab Abu Toha who was unable to leave Gaza with his wife and three children. I am happy to report that the entire family was finally able to exit through Rafah later that weekend. However, writing on Instagram from Egypt, he noted ([link removed]) , “My heart and mind are not yet safe because my parents and siblings and their little kids continue to be in danger.” On October 29, Abu Toha’s home had been destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. “I just don’t see my books, the ones I brought with me each time I returned from the U.S. I do not see my writing desk, not my children’s beds. Not my and my wife’s beautiful clothes and shoes. We are houseless now but not homeless,” he wrote ([link removed]) on X (formerly Twitter). In 2017, Abu Toha founded
([link removed]) the Edward Said Public Library in his home town of Beit Lahia. Abu Toha’s poetry can be read in the current issue ([link removed]) of The Progressive magazine, and on our website ([link removed]) . He was interviewed ([link removed]) from Egypt on Thursday on Democracy Now! about the current situation in Gaza. On his social media channels, in media interviews, and through his poetry, Mosab Abu Toha continues to bear witness to the world about the suffering of innocent civilians in this conflict.
Also this past week, journalist John Nichols, a frequent contributor ([link removed]) to The Progressive, found himself named in court documents ([link removed]) submitted by Donald Trump’s lawyer. The filing echoed rightwing conspiracy theories alleging ([link removed]) that Nichols had helped instigate the January 6 riot at the Capitol on behalf of the “Deep State.” Nichols, writing in The Nation yesterday, says ([link removed]) , “Unfortunately for Donald Trump, I’m not his alibi.” Nichols tells me that many friends (those who are not simply laughing about this) have called to tell him they are concerned for him. However, by being named as an “enemy” by a disgraced former President, he does join former
editor of The Progressive Erwin Knoll, who always proudly displayed a poster featuring his name among those on Richard Nixon’s enemies list.
The recognitions of Henry Kissinger’s legacy of crimes, death, and destruction continue this week with a detailed listing ([link removed]) by Peter Kornbluh of the former Secretary of State’s documented role in the 1973 coup and repression in Chile. Kornbluh directs the Chile Documentation Project at the National Security Archive, and is author of The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability ([link removed]) . Also this week, historian and whistleblower Martin Edwin Andersen takes a broad look at Kissinger’s shameful legacy and asserts ([link removed]) , “No federal property should be allowed to be named in Kissinger’s honor, including U.S. naval ships, weapons, post offices, and national parks. No federal funds should be authorized to those colleges and universities who name their school properties or
programs after him. A complete revision of public school curricula should reflect the truth of his time as a public servant, and no federal statues should be erected in the war criminal’s name.” Plus, Jeff Abbott reports ([link removed]) on the extradition by the United States of Pedro Barrientos back to Chile to be tried for the murder of singer Victor Jara fifty years ago in the days following the brutal coup.
Elsewhere on our website this week, Samer Badawi examines ([link removed]) the question of why only a few communities in the United States are voting on resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza; Joe Mayall interviews ([link removed]) Congressional candidate Pervez Agwan, who takes a publicly pro-Palestinian stance; and Kathy Kelly raises the alarm ([link removed]) from the world Health Organization of a pending epidemic of dehydration and disease in the region. Sarah Cords and Emilio Leanza look into ([link removed]) the recent issues surrounding Elon Musk; Kathy Wilkes reminds us ([link removed])
of a nighttime action by the late former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor that seriously harmed the rights of unionized workers; and Tucker Farris shines a light ([link removed]) on armed security guards being placed in Colorado’s driver licensing facilities. Also, Zach Roberts interviews comedian and abortion-access activist Lizz Winstead who appears in the new documentary No One Asked You. “For a long time,” she says ([link removed]) , “we were told ‘Ignore them and they’ll go away.’ And by ignoring them, they didn’t go away. They actually got elected in state legislatures and on school boards.”
Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.
Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher
P.S. - Don’t miss a minute of the “hidden history” of 2024 – You can still order The Progressive’s new Hidden History of the United States calendar for the coming year. Just go to indiepublishers.shop ([link removed]) , and while you are there, checkout some of our other great offerings as well. There is still time to get your items delivered for the holidays.
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