Dear Progressive Reader,

The ceasefire in Gaza has gone into effect, and while many remain cautious in their anticipation of the next steps, relief at the cessation of bombing appears almost universal. Writing on X on Wednesday, award-winning Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha said, “The agreement signed should be emphatically about a permanent ceasefire. No more slaughtering of more Palestinians. It must not take phases to end a genocide. This is not truly anything close to peace! To me, it sounds like a pause of bloodshed for a few days or weeks!” Abu Toha, whose work has been featured in The Progressive, won a Pulitzer Prize for his commentaries on life in Gaza in The New Yorker. Nourdine Shnino, our correspondent in Gaza, tells the story this week of a teenager whose career plans have been derailed by the past two years of war. “Zain still clings to hope,” explains Shnino. “ ‘All I crave,’ [Zain] says, ‘is for this war to end and to go back to my home in Gaza.’ His message to the world is simple: ‘Help us end this war. Help us rebuild Gaza. Give children like me a chance to live again.’ ”

Elsewhere on out website this week, Sam Stein chronicles his time with hunger strikers in Boston, Massachusetts, seeking a just end to the war in Gaza; and Stephen Zunes addresses the moves by a growing number of nations to recognize Palestinian statehood. Also, Bill Lueders reviews the new memoir by former death row inmate Gary Tyler; and Ed Rampell looks at the new film The Alabama Solution that goes inside what has been called “America’s deadliest prison system.” Plus, Sage Amdahl, an intern at The Progressive reports on state-level legal battles in Wisconsin and Montana; Mike Ervin interrogates the lies being spread by Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about autism; Brianna Nargiso Newton describes how Trump’s federal occupations of cities will impact students and schools; Amy Shea pens an op-ed on how cities are taking the wrong approach in responding to homelessness; and Connor Leahy opines on the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its potential to launch military strikes unless safeguards are quickly built into its core.

Finally, this past week I attended a gathering of a number of progressive news outlets where we discussed and strategized about our publications and the new threats faced by a free and independent press under the current administration. It was both frightening and reassuring to hear dozens of journalists discussing the pressures they are facing, and the bold moves they are taking to respond and to build sustainable structures. All of us are firmly committed to continuing to provide the best news and information to our readers even as we all continue to confront new forms of attacks on funding, rights, and the safety of reporters and news outlets. It will be a long struggle, but I left our meetings feeling reassured that all of us will continue to get the word out about all that is happening in our country and our world.

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. – For readers in the area around Madison, Wisconsin, The Progressive is co-hosting a screening, together with the local union Madison Teachers, Inc., of the new film The Last Class with Robert Reich at The Barrymore Theatre on Sunday October 19 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available online and at the door. Please join us if you can.

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