Look Inside the November/December Issue
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From Nazi Germany to Occupied Palestine: U.S. Visa Policies Fail Refugees During Genocide

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"The moral failure of the United States to provide a safe haven to Jewish children during the Nazi genocide finds a haunting echo nearly a century later in its abandonment of Palestinian children," Rosemarie M. Esber writes. "In August 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly suspended all visitor visas for Palestinians seeking refuge from the Israeli-led genocide in Gaza."

Palestinian children have been brutally injured and killed by U.S.-made weapons. Now, our government is blocking the survivors of Israel's genocide from a chance to access the specialized medical care they desperately need. Programs to offer injured and critically ill people treatment were highly selective, offering only temporary stays and requiring individuals to undergo rigorous vetting and pay their own way. These visas offered children and hundreds of others a chance at a future—until the State Department slammed the door shut.

Contact Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Department of State, 2201 C St, NW, Washington, DC 20520. Call (202) 647-6575, or visit to email and tell him to reinstate medical-humanitarian visas to people from Gaza.

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The Last Libero: The Story of Ahmed Al-Mufti

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"When I got the news that Ahmed was gone, it felt like someone had punched me hard in the stomach. I couldn’t breathe," Tareq Said Zaqout writes. "I still can’t. It wasn’t just a loss for Palestine’s sports scene; it also shook everyone who knew him and even those who didn’t. Ahmed wasn’t just an amazing captain of our volleyball team; he was the kind of guy who earned your respect without ever asking for it. Whether he was spiking a ball or talking to you off the court, he carried himself with the same steady presence. He was only 36 years old."

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Honoring Awdah Hathaleen: Confronting Settler Violence and Demanding Accountability

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"Awdah Hathaleen was 31 when he was murdered by an illegal Israeli settler in his village of Umm al-Khair in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank," Diana Safieh notes. "He was born into this landscape of insecurity, but he refused to accept it quietly and often positioned himself at the forefront of nonviolent resistance. He was an English teacher and an activist, hosting foreign diplomats and journalists in his hometown, as well as coming to the UK to speak on this issue. Awdah worked as a consultant on the 2024 Oscar-winning documentary, 'No Other Land.' ([link removed]) His murder at the hands of Yinon Levi, too, was captured on film for the world to see."

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From Skulls to Sovereignty: Africa Demands Colonial Justice

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"Last February, the African Union (AU) took one of its boldest steps toward accountability and justice for centuries of colonialism, slavery, cultural plunder and resource exploitation it endured at the hands of Western powers," Mustafa Fetouri writes. "By declaring 2025 the Year of Colonial Accountability and Reparations, the AU effectively proclaimed: Africa is here, and it will no longer be silenced. The AU faces a steep diplomatic path: most former colonial powers have publicly resisted broad reparations claims or cash compensation, meaning the AU must pursue a mix of legal strategies, international campaigning, and concrete, domestically driven reparative policies if the 2025 initiative is to produce more than symbolism."

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