Dear friends— I write from a Washington DC that is shrouded for the second day in the toxic fumes of distant wildfires. There is an “end of an era” feel to this city, this country— and indeed to the whole of the White-dominated order the world has known for for the past few centuries. ' Here in Washington, an unhinged older White (orange-tinged) guy who denies all the science about climate change and has been dismantling regulations intended to curb it… who started (and recently re-ignited) a vicious war halfway around the world from which there is now no clear exit, even if he wanted to seek one… and who has corruptly enriched himself and his friends beyond all bounds of human comprehension… On Wednesday, this guy launched a whole new political campaign aimed at undermining the integrity of the U.S. electoral system. This, just 15 weeks before voters will be heading to the polls in our extremely significant mid-term elections. Such a lot to think, write— and act— about these days. I realize I can’t cover everything of importance in these newsletters. But here’s what I’ve got today:
Scroll on down to whatinterests you! My own assessments (and those of others) of the deadly battle of wills Trump and the Iranians are fighting in and around the Persian GulfI’ve done a lot of thinking and writing over recent weeks, trying to assess the probable/possible future course of the U.S.-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, and the impact of this contest on the balance of power both across West Asia, and globally. I finished my latest essay in that project a couple hours ago and published it on my personal Substack, here. My conclusion there was that in this battle of wills, Iran can be fairly confident of prevailing. This assessment is neither new nor original. (Indeed, it was very clearly expressed and explained by no less a figure than the vaunted neocon strategic analyst Robert Kagan, back in May.) Anyway, I hope you find the arguments I pulled together in my latest essay helpful and informative. I just added in this graphic, a version of which I had first posted back in March. Still informative, since it illustrates some very basic facts about the resilience of Iran’s power grid: By the way, if you do like what I’ve been writing on my personal Substack, do subscribe there. It is all still free of charge. (It’s been taking a bit of time for me how to learn how to use Substack well. I’m still learning! One thing I figured out recently is you can make a PDF of any post there that you might want then to print. I am such a words-on-paper person that I really benefit from that! You’ll find that PDF option at the “three dots” button at the top of the post. Too bad they don’t pre-number the pages for you,though…) The rapid, though far too long delayed, growth of Israel-curbing actions in the U.S. CongressIn a vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, an unprecedented 103 Democratic Party legislators cast their votes in support of an amendment to a National Security and State Department bill that sought to axe the whole of the $3.3 billion that the bill’s Republican authors want to send to Israel. The amendment failed by 314 votes to 104. Nearly all the 221 Republican members voted against it, as did 98 members of the Democratic caucus. (Ten Dems voted “Present” and 4 didn’t bother to vote at all.) But this revolt against endless pandering to the pro-Israel lobby is unprecedented within the Democratic Party. Along with the recent victories by Israel-critical candidates several recent primary elections, it seems to clearly presage a new wave of support for Palestinian rights within the party that seems well positioned— provided Pres. Trump doesn’t sabotage the elections— to wion at least one house of Congress this November. Read more in this good Responsible Statecraft analysis about the fierce battles over this issue now being fought out within the Democratic Party. It’s worth remembering that Israel-critical sentiment is evident at several powerful spots within the Republican Party, too, including in influential portions of the MAGA movement. Rep. Thomas Massie, who authored last Wednesday’s amendment, was one such figure. The White House’s still-powerful pro-Israel machine proved itself able to defeat Massie— along with two or three Israel-critical Senators— in their recent primaries. But one effect of those tussles was to “free” Massie, Sen. Bill Cassidy, and perhaps others, to come out with positions that are openly critical of the White House. And the White House machine’s campaign to oust Israel-critical legislators has certainly not succeeded in silencing other prominent GOP critics of Israel active in other spheres, like Tucker Carlson or Marjorie Taylor Greene… Two great new productions from Just World Ed’s PalCastOur great PalCast hosts Yousef and Tony recently released PalCast released a new audio episode with Palestinian writer, poet, artist, and dentist Asmaa Dwimah. as their guest. Asmaa recounted her journey out of Gaza after receiving a scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Public Health in the UK. She described the emotional challenges of adapting to a new country while remaining deeply connected to her family and community. She reflected on the destruction of her university during the genocide and paid tribute to colleagues whose lives and ambitions were cut short. And she recalled how last year she had completed her scholarship applications while displaced, walking long distances to find internet access and eventually receiving offers from several leading British universities. She spoke about turning to writing and poetry to document loss and preserve memory. Drawing on her published poems and her writing about her sister, who was killed during the genocide, she explained why bearing witness had become both a personal responsibility and a lasting mission. Listen to Asmaa Dwimah’s remarkable journey and share the episode to help amplify her voice and testimony! The episode is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. … And a new video PalCastWe are continuing our project to release recordings of some of PalCast’s most impactful conversations as videos, as well as in audio-only form. The latest video in this series is this convo that Yousef and Tony had recently with Hussam Tannera, an English language teacher, translator, and father speaking from Gaza City. Oh my. I just find all these conversations that Yousef and Tony manage to have with colleagues from inside Gaza so very, very moving! In this 27-minute episode, Hussam reflected on the transformation of his city, the struggle to provide for his family, and the resilience that has helped them endure. Watch it! Rami G. Khouri’s timely commentary on the Lebanon strifeOn July 14 (Bastille Day), our distinguished JWE board colleague Rami Khouri was interviewed by Al-Jazeera about the latest round of— in my view, outrageous— talked being held by Lebanon’s Vichy-esque government with Israel, in Rome. Rami’s commentary started thus:
Ilan Pappe’s latest, powerful critique of ZionismIf you have not read it yet, then the whole of this latest essay by Israeli historian Dr. Ilan Pappé should certainly be on your reading list. It is titled “The Crisis of Zionism and the Future of Palestine”, and it starts with these really super-timely insights:
Absolutely every sentence of what he wrote is worth reading carefully and reflecting upon. He carefully locates the whole Zionist project within the same settler-colonial matrix that contains the White settler-colonial project here in Turtle Island (North America.) Toward the end, he writes this:
As I said, certainly worth reading. Big thanks, too, to Dr. Ramzy Baroud and his team over at Palestine Chronicle who not only published this powerful piece from Ilan Pappé but also day after day after day publish an invaluable account of what the Zionists are doing in and against Palestine, and also much further afield. Mahmoud Khalil and Max Blumenthal resisting Zionist-spurred oppressionOn both sides of the Atlantic, there have been severe, Zionist-directed campaigns to curb the essential rights of activists for Palestinian rights. Here in the U.S., one of the most blatant of these campaigns in recent times was the one that last year saw masked federal agents kidnapping Palestinian rights activist, and former Columbia University grad student Mahmoud Khalil from near his home and holding him for 104 days in some of the most notorious of the ICE detention centers around the country. Now, Khalil is fighting back. This week, with help from the Center for Constitutional Rights, he filed a lawsuit protesting his detention against a string of Zionist and far-right organizations that, the suit alleged had conspired “to single out Mr. Khalil and other non-citizen Palestinians and their supporters for arrest, detention, and deportation, as punishment for their support of Palestinian rights.” You can learn a lot more about this lawsuit here, or here. And Max Blumenthal…The grievance of journalist, filmmaker, and author Max Blumenthal is much more recent. On July 10, Max was returning to this country after completing a six-day reporting trip to and around Iran. Upon return to Dulles airport, he was pulled aside for “secondary screening”, during which the detaining officers took from him the two cellphones he was carrying on his person. He has not been able to retrieve those items. On July 16, with the help of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee he filed a lawsuit requesting that the Government “immediately return Plaintiff’s electronic devices, together with any information, data, or copies obtained therefrom.” Stay tuned! The passing of two great, Catholic-inspired rights activists: Gabe Huck and John EspositoI was deeply saddened to hear of the recent passing of the writer and Catholic activist Gabe Huck. Back in 2016, I was very proud that my company Just World Books was able to publish the lovely joint memoir that Gabe and his wife Theresa Kubasak published about the time they had spent in Damascus, 2005-12. They went there with the mission of giving what support they could to some of the million-plus citizens of Iraq who had found refuge in Syria from the mega-lethal chaos that engulfed Iraq in the aftermath of the United States’ 2003 invasion of their country. What Gabe and Theresa did, specifically, was to establish an “Iraqi Student Project”, through which they held regular tutoring sessions for young Iraqis seeking to further their education at universities in the United States. Gabe and Theresa also worked hard to build a broad network of support in university communities across America which lobbied for local universities to take in these students, and then provided whatever support they could to the students who came. Their book, Never Can I Write of Damascus, tells the story of that project— and much, much more. (Sadly, I think it is out of print right now.) It was my deep pleasure and honor to work with Gabe and Theresa to fulfill their vision for the book. He was a sweet, erudite, and deeply committed person. Fittingly, the last time I saw Gabe was when Theresa, he, and I were all jostling together in one of the massive, slightly chaotic anti-genocide marches that were held in Washington DC in early 2024. …And John EspositoProf. John Esposito was also someone from a U.S. Catholic background who made a profound impression throughout West Asia. He was a prominent scholar of religion and international affairs at Georgetown University, who was the founding director of its Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He passed away aged 86, on July 15, due to complications from heart surgery. In this appreciation of his life Middle East Eye’s Yasmine el-Sabawy described him as “a world-renowned American author, professor, and scholar of Islam who consistently challenged western stereotypes.” She added,
RIP both those great people. … Well, so much death, so many losses, so much destruction. But there are also several amazing signs of great hope in our world today! We at Just World Ed want to do whatever we can to support the building of a much more peaceful and equitable world. I hope you might want to assist our efforts? One way to do so is to Subscribe to, “Like”, engage with, and help spread the news about some of our great materials. Including:
Additionally, of course, we’d love it if you could support our work financially! You can learn how to do that here: I hope the week ahead is a good one for you. Let’s keep the momentum for building the better world that we know is possible! ~ Helena You're currently a free subscriber to Just World Ed's substack. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. © 2026 Just World Educational Foundation |