Dear friends--
I hope you stay well!
Back in 1924 the distinguished Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci wrote, “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: Now is the time of monsters.” He well understood what he was writing about. Mussolini's fascist movement had come into power in Rome two years earlier. Then in 1926 Mussolini had Gramsci imprisoned-- though he was a serving parliamentarian. In prison, Gramsci was beaten and denied medical care. He wasn't released until 1937, and his brutally battered body failed just a few days later.
(His was a very Palestinian story.)
Gramsci's words about the "old world dying" resonate deeply today. The system of de facto U.S./Western hegemony over world affairs that has lasted since 1990-91 is now clearly dying. Its death blows are coming daily from the grotesque scofflawry with which Washington itself is treating key global institutions. That process has been underway for several years now, but the arrival of Donald Trump as president has greatly accelerated it... And the new world of basic human equality and of universal respect for human rights that the vast majority of humankind longs for has yet to be born.
Thus, in many places what we see today are the monsters of which Gramsci warned. Monsters, carrying out their genocide very little checked, on a continuing, daily basis in Gaza, and elsewhere.
Israel has been attacking Gaza's population in numerous ways in recent weeks:
- Through repeated, very heavy bombardments that have killed scores of people-- mainly women and children-- every day.
- Through the complete blockade it maintained around Gaza, continuously from March 2 through May 21. (On May 21 and 22 it finally allowed a total of 197 aid trucks to enter. But as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres noted in the rare and potent public appeal he released yesterday, supplies from only 115 of those trucks could be collected, "And nothing has reached the besieged north."
![]() Through continuing efforts to displace and concentrate Gaza's remaining population into an area now comprising less than 20% of the Strip's extent. (Click on the image to see the details of this, as of May 21.)- Through the ongoing, deliberate demolition of Gaza's remaining housing and other buildings-- some of it proudly (and sickeningly) publicized by IDF bulldozer drivers like Avraham Zarbiv-- who is also an IDF rabbi.).
The truly monstrous behavior that Israel has engaged in in Gaza has been shielded and supported all along by the U.S. and many other Western governments. But here in the United States, we are also witnessing many other forms of monstrous governmental behavior that hit at the heart of the previous social compact here within U.S. society, and also in the international arena, more broadly.
Here in the United States, we've seen masked police agents causing terror in neighborhoods by scooping from the streets immigrants-- including many who are here quite legally-- and with no heed for due process transporting many of these unfortunate souls very far afield. We've seen the president using crass methods to attack some of the most highly regarded scientific and educational institutions-- with many of these attacks pursued under a campaign that (by quite wrongly conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism) deems any criticism of Israel's action to be "antisemitic."
We've also seen Pres. Trump driving his broad and brutal bulldozer through long-established norms of international law and through international institutions like the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), and even the United Nations itself.
Yes, at so many levels, we are in a time of monsters... and the new world is still struggling to be born. What can we do?
I'm sure you have many plans of your own for how to help to bring the new, more egalitarian and rights-respecting world into existence. Here are some of the things I am committed to doing-- many of them in close collaboration with my colleagues on the Just World Ed board.
We stand steadfastly against all forms of hate and dehumanization
A few days ago, here in Washington DC a gunman shot and killed two young staffers from the local Israeli Embassy, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, on the street as they left an evening reception. Afterwards, the alleged gunman reportedly shouted "Free Palestine!" and claimed "I did it for Gaza!"
Every single Palestinian-rights organization in this country has denounced the man's actions. We on the Just World Ed board are quite clear in our opposition to all forms of hate-based activity, especially those that are violent. We denounce the killings of the two young Israeli diplomats-- as we have denounced the Israeli military's deliberate targeted killing of so many thousands of non-combatant and non-violent organizers and activists in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen, and elsewhere.
Highest on our list of those killed in this way whom we mourn are our late friend the writer and teacher Dr. Refaat Alareer, his boss, the president of the Islamic University of Gaza Dr. Sufiyan Tayeh, and every single one of the 211 Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7.
We are committed to amplifying the voices of Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere
I am proud to be able to count all of our JWE board members as my friends and comrades! Among them...
- Nora Barrows-Friedman, who week after week after week has been co-hosting Electronic Intifada's livestream. One of her particular roles is to read a digest of much of the most gruesome and taxing news coming out of Gaza. Truly, I don't know how she holds up as she prepares and delivers these weekly reports. My love to you, Nora!
- The contributions that Prof. Richard Falk has made over the years, and until today, do not need to be retold here.
- Working with Rami G. Khouri on JWE's "Understanding Hamas" project last year was a real pleasure... and we will likely be planning further joint projects this year.
... I don't want to single out any other members of our fabulous board. But under the general rubric of "amplifying Palestinian voices" I want to note these other two initiatives:
1. JWE's continuing sponsorship of the PalCast podcast
Ever since early November 2023, has been proud to sponsor this near-weekly podcast, which is co-hosted from Türkiye by Gaza-Palestinian Dr. Yousef Aljamal, and from Dublin, Ireland by Tony Groves. (I join them from Washington DC when I'm able to.)
The two most recent episodes of the PalCast featured English-lit professor Dr. Akram Habeeb, and Gazan teacher, story-teller, and mother Banyas Abu Harab. You can learn more about these guests, and find links to their conversations on Apple podcasts or Spotify, here:
2. My own commitment to the books and authors published by Just World Books
I founded Just World Books LLC back in 2010, some years before the broader group of us established the separate 501(c)3 non-profit org, Just World Educational. Over the years, the two bodies have have pursued some projects jointly, and some separately. In 2018, financial constraints prevented JWB from issuing any new titles, but we have always worked to keep our existing titles in print, and updated as necessary. From the very beginning in 2010 I was proud to include in JWB's list works by distinguished authors from Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine. And ever since Israel launched its genocide in Gaza in late 2023, interest in these titles has been very high!
![]() Now, I'm very happy to inform all my Francophone friends that the Montréal-based publisher Mémoire d'Encrier recently launched their distinctive, French-language edition of Gaza Writes Back, the short-story anthology that dear Refaat Alareer pulled together for JWB in 2014.
Mémoire d'Encrier's edition is called Gaza Écrit Gaza ("Gaza Writes Gaza.) Yara Ghadban of Mémoire had invited some very distinguished Francophone literary figures to do the work on translating the stories-- and was bowled over by the great response she got. (What a brilliant idea!)
You can read a great account of the book's launch in Montréal's prestigious La Presse, here.
I believe that for now Gaza Écrit Gaza is available only in North America, but Mémoire are planning a big launch in Paris in October. Stay tuned.
Let's defend the United Nations within U.S. society as much as we can!
As noted above, one of the key campaigns Pres. Trump is pursuing is to degrade, defund, and dismantle as many U.N. institutions possible. One of the crucial U.N. bodies that he-- and the Israelis-- have targeted has been UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
The United Nations has never been a perfect body. But in the face of the Trump administration's attacks on it, I think that those of us in the U.S. and elsewhere who want to see a more just and peaceful world in our own lifetimes need to re-double our efforts to protect this august and invaluable international body.
Heck, the day may even come when we U.S. citizens will need to beg for help from U.N. bodies to protect us from the assaults that Trump and his minions may one day launch against all of us here.
Launching a new effort to help explain and defend the United Nations may be one of the new projects the JWE board might consider at our next board meeting. In the meantime, though, next Saturday I'm going to do what little I can to defend and support the UN body UNRWA, by participating in the "Gaza5K" run being organized here in DC by UNRWA's US-based support body.
![]() I'll be participating in this run as part of our local ("DMV") Quaker team. Click here to learn more about what UNRWA-USA does.
And click here if you want to sponsor my participation in the run!
(I only figured last night that this is something I am able to do. So I have only 6.5 days to reach my fund-raising target. Yikes. Please help me if you can! It's for an excellent cause and will get my ageing body out there and exercising. The last time I ran it, I came in first in my age class. But that was six years ago... )
New Just World Ed plans for a new era...
As mentioned above, we're hoping to hold a new planning meeting soon for the JWE board. Updating the big![]() project on "Understanding Hamas And Why That Matters" that we launched last year will certainly be one of the avenues we might pursue... as could be a new, broad project on the U.S. role within the UN... and/or a revisiting of the project on the U.S.-China balance that we first presented nearly five years ago.
Meantime, we'll be continuing with all our existing programs, including our PalCast project, this newsletter, and (when I can grab enough time) my work on the Globalities writing platform.
As you almost certainly already know, all of Just World Ed's work is totally reliant on donations from the public. My fellow board members and I are all deeply appreciative of any help you can provide. Use the button beneath to see how to do so.
Stay well. Stay sane. And stay with us in this battle to build a more just and peaceful world...
~ Helena.
|
|