View this email in your browser ([link removed])
Dear Progressive Reader,
On Monday, the United Nations passed ([link removed]) a ceasefire resolution calling for an immediate end to military activity in Gaza. The United States abstained and did not veto the resolution, as it had done ([link removed]) three previous times. The fact that the United States did not veto this resolution has dramatically increased tensions between the Biden Administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Israel canceling ([link removed]) a high-level delegation that was meant to discuss, in Washington, U.S. concerns over a planned ground campaign in Rafah (although it is now being rescheduled ([link removed]) ).
The resolution itself seems to have little effect so far. According to The New York Times ([link removed]) , “Senior Israeli officials said that they would ignore the call for a cease-fire, arguing that it was imperative to pursue the war until it has dismantled the military wing of Hamas.” The article continues, “Since Monday, there has been no apparent shift in the military campaign. Israel’s air force continues to pound Gaza with strikes.” In the meantime, by abstaining, rather than supporting the ceasefire, the U.S. government continues to send mixed messages, as cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates ([link removed]) . This week, the Biden Administration authorized ([link removed]) the transfer of more bombs and military aircraft to Israel. The Washington Post reports the arms transfer
includes “2,000-pound bombs [that] have been linked to previous mass-casualty events ([link removed]) throughout Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, an investigation by The Progressive has uncovered tens of thousands of dollars being provided to the Israeli Defense Forces by students on college campuses across the United States. Arvid Dilawar and Nell Srinath write ([link removed]) , “Students [at one campus]. . . helped purchase drones and body armor for the IDF.” The fundraising campaigns, often organized by a series of Chabad houses on or near college campuses, raise money from students to send directly to groups supporting the IDF in various ways. As Dilawar and Srinath note, “These contributions are potentially in violation of both campus rules and the group’s nonprofit status.” When confronted with this question, one Chabad representative counters, “Encouraging people to give towards humanitarian causes—including the IDF—is absolutely part of the education and practice of Judaism.” The IDF does include on its website
([link removed].) of listing of past humanitarian missions in which their members have participated, however, the current war in Gaza has been designated in a new report by the United Nations Human Rights Council as a probable genocide. The draft summary of the report, scheduled for formal release next week, reads ([link removed]) , “[T]here are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met.” Israel, in response, said ([link removed]) the report was “an obscene inversion of reality.”
As the Biden campaign continues to suffer from the foreign policy actions of the President, many of the domestic policy achievements of this administration continue to go unheralded. In an op-ed this week on the Endangered Species Act, Abigail Dillen of Earthjustice notes ([link removed]) , “The Biden Administration is weighing regulations that could finally undo former President Donald Trump’s damage.” This is just one of many areas where the current President has undone, or is undoing, damage initiated by his predecessor. (Another example might be Friday’s anniversary of the signing of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, more than a century ([link removed]) in the making, but finally signed by Biden in 2022.) And yet, the campaign seems unable to take hold of the narrative and make these highlights resonate for voters. Meanwhile, as Miriam
Davidson points out ([link removed]) in another op-ed, Republican groups are trying to criminalize aid organizations on the border; and Mike Ervin writes ([link removed]) that rightwing groups continue to produce attack ads attempting to tar Democratic candidates with a myth about “defunding the police” when the real issue is realizing that “in many cases a situation is better handled by other trained professionals.” And mathematician Ismar Volić opines ([link removed]) that we really could manage our elections better with a system like ranked-choice voting to “increase competitiveness, gather input from an array of sources, and ultimately declare the winner that most people would agree is the right one.”
Also this week, Bill Blum looks at ([link removed]) why the Biden Administration should stop trying to extradite WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange; Sarah Cords examines ([link removed]) the issues around the death of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett; and Howard Schneider reviews ([link removed]) the new book Means of Control, about the growing U.S. surveillance state. Earlier this month, was the anniversary of the government’s court injunction ([link removed]) to prevent The Progressive from publishing an investigative report on the manufacture of the Hydrogen bomb. A case the magazine eventually won by default, allowing us to publish
([link removed]) the article six months later.
Next month from April 25 to 27 in Madison, Wisconsin, The Progressive (the magazine founded by Robert M. La Follette), will be celebrating the centenary of La Follette’s third-party campaign for the presidency in 1924. We will be holding a conference at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, the Arts and Literature Lab, and the Barrymore Theatre with scholars and authors, speakers and musicians, and a theatrical performance by La Follette’s great granddaughter, Tavia La Follette. For more information, visit progressive.org/progressive-presidency.
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. NOW HALF PRICE – Just $7.50 plus $3.00 shipping. Just go to indiepublishers.shop ([link removed]) , and while you are there, check out some of our other great offerings as well.
P.P.S. – If you like this newsletter, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to this free weekly email, please share this link: [link removed].
P.P.P.S. – If you don’t already subscribe to The Progressive in print or digital form, please consider doing so today ([link removed]) . Also, if you have a friend or relative who you feel should hear from the many voices for progressive change within our pages, please consider giving a gift subscription ([link removed]) .
P.P.P.P.S. – Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated to support The Progressive! We need you now more than ever. If you have not done so already, please take a moment to support hard-hitting, independent reporting on issues that matter to you. Your donation today will keep us on solid ground and will help us continue to grow in the coming years. You can use the wallet envelope in the current issue of the magazine, or click on the “Donate” button below to join your fellow progressives in sustaining The Progressive as a voice for peace, social justice, and the common good.
Donate ([link removed])
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2024 The Progressive, Inc.
P.O. Box 1021 • Madison, Wisconsin 53701 • (608) 257-4626
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
