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Author Adam Shatz on ‘Israel’s Descent’ (I)

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This is the first part of an article that appeared in the June 20, 2024, issue of the London Review of Books (LRB), a magazine based in the United Kingdom. Its author is Adam Shatz, LRB’s U.S. editor. Shatz’s essay begins with a list of recently published books that discuss Israel, Palestine, and Zionism. In reviewing those books, Shatz raises important issues that deserve further discussion in light of the gruesome October 7 attack led by Hamas that targeted civilians in Israel, the genocidal war Israel unleashed in retaliation on the entire population of Gaza, and a new wave of violence by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Zionist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israel’s War on Gaza Grinds On

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After months of U.S. opposition to a ceasefire in the war on Gaza, the United Nations (UN) Security Council adopted a U.S.-sponsored ceasefire plan in a near-unanimous vote on June 10. Yet no end to the war is in sight. Israel’s relentless assault grinds on. The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has passed 37,000 with over 85,000 wounded. On June 12, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, warned, “A significant proportion of Gaza’s population is now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.”

Amazon Labor Union Members Vote to Join the Teamsters

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STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, June 18, 2024 — Workers at Amazon’s giant JFK8 fulfillment center here ratified affiliation with the 1.3-million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). The results were announced today. According to an Instagram live stream of the tally provided by the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), the vote to affiliate with the Teamsters was nearly unanimous, with 98.3 percent approving. Of the nearly 850 workers who cast ballots, 824 voted YES and 14 voted NO. Ten ballots were deemed invalid. The newly chartered local will represent Amazon warehouse workers at JFK8.

Support Campaign to Send Pacemakers to Cuba

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The National Network on Cuba and the U.S.-Cuba Normalization Coalition have launched a new campaign that combines raising money to send crucially needed cardiac pacemakers to Cuba with boosting efforts to end Washington’s economic war against Cuba and to remove Cuba from the U.S. State Department State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT) list. That designation makes it almost impossible for Cuba to buy pacemakers commercially. 

Young U.S. Unionist Seeks to Change His Country

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This article appeared in the May 27, 2024, issue of Trabajadores (Workers), the daily newspaper in Cuba of the Confederation of Cuban Workers (CTC). Miguel Bautista, the U.S. unionist interviewed in the story, visited Cuba in late April-early May as part of the “Labor and Youth Activists” delegation organized by the Los Angeles Hands Off Cuba Committee.

‘Our Fight for Justice for the Working Class Continues’: UAW to press forward after setback in Alabama

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This is a statement by Shawn Fain, President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), released by the union May 17, 2024. Fain responds to the results of the union recognition vote at the Mercedes manufacturing complex in Alabama, which workers lost by a 56% margin. “While this loss stings, these workers keep their heads held high,” said Fain. “These workers will win their fair share. And we will be there every step of the way to support them.” His statement makes plain that the UAW remains committed to a nationwide union organizing drive, with whatever ups and downs lie ahead.

Support Pro-Palestinian Student Protests!

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Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are fleeing Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, as Israel steps up its bombardment and threatens an imminent, even more massive invasion.Meanwhile, opposition to Israel’s genocidal war continues to grow. It includes encampments and other protests by students on campuses across the United States. Many of these student actions have been violently suppressed by the police on the request of university authorities. Faculty members and others across the country have issued statements condemning this crackdown and defending the students’ right to free speech. They include a statement by the Academic Advisory Council of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), “An Open Call to Fellow Jewish Academics,” which World-Outlook is sharing in this post.

Solidarity with Palestine Key Theme of May Day in Cuba

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HAVANA, Cuba — Keffiyehs and Palestinian flags were among the most visible symbols as Cuban workers began massing at 4:30 a.m. on May 1 for the 200,000-strong rally hosted by the five municipalities closest to the U.S. embassy here. It was one of several May Day rallies in Cuba’s capital. Ten other mass gatherings took place in Havana alone. More than 4 million Cubans celebrated May Day — the international workers’ holiday — in avenues, town centers, and plazas across the island. They gathered within walking distance of their homes and workplaces instead of joining a single, massive march in each city, in order to save fuel, which is in short supply due to the ever-tightening U.S. blockade.

Why Opposition to Zionism is Not Antisemitism

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An important and increasingly sharp debate is taking place today on what is antisemitism, or to use a more accurate term — Jew hatred. The Statement from Concerned Jewish Faculty Against Antisemitism we are publishing below, now signed by more than 1,000 Jewish faculty members across the United States, is a welcome and important contribution to this debate.

Rashid Khalidi on the War in Gaza, Perspectives for Palestinian Liberation

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Palestinian American Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He is also the author of “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine” and other books. In this interview, he explains the causes of the current war in Gaza and outlines his views on how the conflict in Israel and Palestine can be resolved. He also answers the smears of “antisemitism” leveled against the student protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Iran-Israel Shadow War: Its Role in Mideast Conflict (II)

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Iran’s theocracy took power through a counter-revolution in the 1980s. The clerics crushed the independent struggle of Iranian workers and peasants who had carried out a popular uprising in 1979. That social revolution had reverberated across the region and the world. The mobilization of working people toppled the U.S.-backed monarchy of the shah — a brutal and hated regime. Since it tamed the mass struggle, the theocracy has held on to power through periodic brutal crackdowns on any expression of opposition to the Islamist regime. This article sketches the origins of this regime that underlie its current trajectory, including the damage it has inflicted on the Palestinian struggle.

Iran-Israel Shadow War: Its Role in Mideast Conflict (I)

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Iran and Israel traded direct airstrikes on each other’s territory, for the first time, in a confrontation in April that raised the danger of a full-blown regional war. Both governments, however, stepped back from the brink after Israel chose to launch a limited strike in response to Iran’s large but ineffective rocket barrage aimed at Israel. Having avoided further direct military conflict, both countries returned to their long-running shadow war, in which Iran’s strategy is to arm and direct allied militias such as Hezbollah. These developments also shed light on Tehran’s pretentious “support” for the Palestinian liberation struggle. The clerical regime uses such posturing to prop up its dictatorial hold on power in Iran and its reactionary reach through proxy armies across the Mideast. Many Palestinians in the occupied territories, as well as working people and others in Iran, are beginning to see through such grandstanding and now openly oppose it.

Students Protest Israel’s War in Gaza, Answer Smears of Jew Hatred

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This statement appeared today on the Substack page Zeteo. The author is Johnathan Ben-Menachem, a graduate student at Columbia University and a participant in the recent protests on that campus. The ongoing student actions oppose Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and demand that Columbia “Divest all finances, including the endowment, from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine.”

Miami Event: Cuba’s Example in Confronting Climate Change

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MIAMI — An important frontline engagement in the battle of ideas took place on the main campus of Florida International University (FIU) here on Friday, April 12. About 25 people attended a showing and discussion of the documentary “Cuba’s Life Task: Combatting Climate Change.” The film was made by Helen Yaffe, a lecturer on economic and social history at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and a frequent visitor to Cuba who is widely respected for well-known books about the Cuban Revolution.

Historic Victory: Volkswagen Workers Vote for Union

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Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted by a 73% margin for representation by the United Auto Workers (UAW). It is a huge accomplishment for the workers involved, for all auto workers, and for the labor movement and working class across the United States. The results have historic significance. The UAW failed in two previous attempts to organize VW, in 2014 and 2019. Other efforts to organize auto plants in the South have also been unsuccessful. In Chattanooga, workers won for the first time in a foreign-owned U.S. auto plant. It was also the first Southern auto factory where workers approved a union through an election since the 1940s. Chattanooga workers opened the door to extending unionization of other auto plants in the South and beyond, as part of the nationwide organizing drive the UAW launched last fall.

‘For a Just Peace Enabling Israelis and Palestinians to Co-Exist with Mutual Respect’

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Graça Machel published this appeal on April 4, 2024, in Project Syndicate (PS), a magazine in South Africa. Machel is a member of the Elders, “the group of independent global leaders that I co-founded with my late husband, Nelson Mandela,” as she explains. She is also the founder of the Graça Machel Trust, a women’s rights organization based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Machel was born in Mozambique. She is the widow of Mozambique’s former President Samora Machel (1975–1986) and South Africa’s former President Nelson Mandela (1998–2013).

‘Your Defining Moment to Change Your Lives’: UAW President Speaks in Alabama

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Shawn Fain, President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), gave a speech to Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama, on March 24, 2024, which we are sharing in this post. The UAW has made progress in its effort to organize auto workers in this factory in Vance, Alamaba, as part of a nationwide campaign to organize non-union auto assembly, parts, and battery plants. The union announced the organizing drive on the heels of the significant victory in its strike against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis — the Big Three — last year.

UN: Full Investigation Needed on Oct. 7 Sexual Violence Charges

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In early March, Pramila Patten, United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), issued a report on the Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank. The report concluded that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred at several locations across the Gaza periphery, including in the form of rape and gang rape, during the 7 October 2023 attacks.” It also stated: “The mission team was unable to establish the prevalence of sexual violence and concludes that the overall magnitude, scope, and specific attribution of these violations would require a fully-fledged investigation.”

Volkswagen Auto Workers To Hold Union Election in April

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When the United Auto Workers (UAW) scored a victory in its strike against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis last year, the UAW announced a major campaign to organize workers at non-union auto assembly, parts, and battery plants. This article reports on an important breakthrough in this nationwide union organizing drive, at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a union representation election is now set for April 17-19.

Frantz Fanon and the Paradox of Anticolonial Violence (II)

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The March/April issue of Against the Current features the essay by Alan Wald “Frantz Fanon and the Paradox of Anticolonial Violence.” World-Outlook is reposting Wald’s essay with the author’s permission. Our views are not identical to all of those expressed in it. But we believe the main issues Wald raises deserve further discussion in light of the gruesome October 7 attack led by Hamas that targeted civilians in Israel and the genocidal war Israel unleashed in retaliation on the entire population of Gaza. This is the second of two parts.

Frantz Fanon and the Paradox of Anticolonial Violence (I)

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The March/April issue of Against the Current features the essay by Alan Wald “Frantz Fanon and the Paradox of Anticolonial Violence.” World-Outlook is reposting Wald’s essay with the author’s permission. Our views are not identical to all of those expressed in it. But we believe the main issues Wald raises deserve further discussion in light of the gruesome October 7 attack led by Hamas that targeted civilians in Israel and the genocidal war Israel unleashed in retaliation on the entire population of Gaza. This is the first of two parts.

Miami: Unity Strengthens in Fight to End U.S. Blockade of Cuba

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Activists in Miami made significant advances towards unity in action and in winning new people to the struggle against the U.S. Blockade of Cuba over the weekend of March 8-10. These were registered in a March 8 event at Floriday International University marking International Women’s Day, and a teachers’ march two days later to oppose antidemocratic measures enacted by the Florida state government.

Palestinian-Jewish Convoy Carries Food, and Hope, to Gaza

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his article appeared in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. It reports on an antiwar action organized by the group “Standing Together.” Made up of Palestinians, Jews, and others, this organization is among the most prominent in Israel campaigning to end the war on Gaza and calling for a ceasefire and an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories. Amidst Israel’s genocidal war and catastrophic conditions of famine spreading in Gaza, this action is an important example of solidarity with the victims of the assault.

Rape as a War Crime and the Need for Accurate Reporting

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On February 28, The Intercept published the article we are sharing in this post, “‘Between the Hammer and the Anvil’ – The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé.” In detailed reporting, The Intercept revealed that the December 28, 2023, Times story,  “‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7,” was based on faulty reporting and intended to support the political viewpoint of the Times’ editors.

Gaza: In Face of Famine, a New Massacre

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In the face of ever-growing world condemnation of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, a new massacre unfolded February 29, resulting in the deaths of 104 Palestinians and injuries to more than 700 others. Each day the humanitarian crisis created by Israel’s relentless assault grows more dire. This was captured in a February 29 New York Times essay, excerpts of which are included in this post. The article also includes a Jewish Currents report featuring interviews with three displaced Palestinians in Rafah who “describe unlivable conditions in a city bracing for imminent Israeli invasion.”

Open Letter to Israeli & U.S. Governments on Issue of Rape

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This open letter was initiated by U.S.-based anti-Zionist Jewish feminists. It has since gained support across the United States and internationally. As its preamble notes, the signatories “believe we have a particular responsibility to speak out in support of Palestinian rights and against the current genocide.”It also states clearly, “We support the investigation initiated by the highly-qualified members of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry into the entire range of war crimes committed during both the October 7 Hamas attack and the Israeli state’s subsequent assault on Gaza.” The letter is a response to efforts to discredit supporters of women’s rights who speak out against rape but also oppose Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.

In Defense of Free Speech

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In the wake of the October 7 Hamas-led attack and Israel’s brutal retaliatory invasion of Gaza, new challenges have been raised to the right to free speech. Across the United States, restrictions on the democratic right to express one’s views on the conflict in the Middle East center today on college campuses. But precedents set there will be extended, with dangerous consequences for free speech, if they are not answered and opposed.

Palestinian Leaders of ‘Standing Together’ Speak Out

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PPalestinian members of the national leadership of Standing Together released this statement on the social media platform X on January 30, 2024. Standing Together is one of the most prominent organizations in Israel — made up of Jews, Palestinians, and others — campaigning against Israel’s war on Gaza, calling for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The statement was issued in response to a January 25 statement by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a group affiliated with the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. PACBI accused Standing Together of “serving apartheid Israel’s propaganda.” The Palestinian leaders of Standing Together vigorously oppose PACBI’s charges.

Can Jews and Palestinians Stand Together in Opposing Israel’s War?

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This article, originally published in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, reports on a debate among those who oppose the decades-long Zionist occupation of Palestinian territories and Israel’s current genocidal war on Gaza, launched in response to the gruesome October 7 attack led by Hamas. It refers to the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. One of the organizations affiliated to this international effort, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), issued a statement on January 25, titled “Standing Together: Serving Apartheid Israel’s Propaganda.” The statement attacked Standing Together, the most prominent organization in Israel — made up of Jews, Palestinians, and others — that has been campaigning against Israel’s war on Gaza, and calling for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The Ha’aretz piece reports on Standing Together’s response.

Protesters March in Tel Aviv, Demand Ceasefire in Gaza

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This is an article originally published in the January 18, 2024, edition of the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. It reports on an important action that day in Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli government launched its war on Gaza with substantial domestic popular support. The war is coupled with extreme Zionist rhetoric, police and mob attacks on many of those who dare to question any aspect of Tel Aviv’s conduct of the war, and a crackdown on the democratic rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel that includes arbitrary firings and indiscriminate arrests. Under these conditions, public protests involving Israeli Jews and Palestinians calling for a ceasefire, and an end to the war or Israel’s brutal military occupation of millions of Palestinians are rare. But they offer a much-needed glimpse of hope for the future.

‘Farha’: The Palestinian Story

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This is a review of “Farha,” a 2021 film written and directed by Darin J. Sallam, a Jordanian of Palestinian descent; 92 min., in Arabic & Hebrew with subtitles, available to stream on Netflix. “Everyone needs to see ‘Farha,’ because it is… my story, it is the Palestinian story,” Leila Giries told CNN. Giries is an 82-year-old Palestinian refugee who survived the 1947-48 Arab-Israeli war, which resulted in the creation of Israel as a colonial-settler state. “Farha” is based on actual events. It is inspired by the story of a young Palestinian girl and the violence she witnessed during the 1948 war, when about 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes by armed Zionist groups in what Palestinians have since called the Nakba or “catastrophe.” It is also a movie Israel tried unsuccessfully to censor.

On the Character of the Oct. 7 Attack by Hamas

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This is a Discussion with Readers column on the character of the October 7 attack on Israel led by Hamas. “I’ve noticed that you keep referring to the Hamas Oct 7 attack as ‘gruesome,’” Meryl Lynn Lombardi wrote. “Why would this be needed in the face of the over 18,000 murdered Palestinians, nothing but genocide and ethnic cleansing. And the wholesale destruction of Gaza.” World-Outlook’s editors explain why they do not think that the attack by Hamas has become less gruesome because Israel — with its exponentially greater military power — has outdone Hamas in barbarity.

‘The Jewish Tragedy Finds in Israel a Dismal Sequel’ (IV)

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In June 1967, following the “Six-Day War” with several Arab countries, Israel emerged victorious. It captured large areas, including Gaza, the West Bank, and two-thirds of the Golan Heights — territories it continues to occupy decades later. At the time, New Left Review — a political journal based in London — conducted an interview with Marxist scholar Isaac Deutscher. Originally titled “On the Israeli-Arab War,” the interview is being republished today by World Outlook. Even though the interview took place more than 50 years ago, many of Deutscher’s insights remain timely and of striking political value in light of the ongoing murderous Israeli assault on Gaza in response to the gruesome October 7 attack by Hamas. This is the last of four installments.

‘The Jewish Tragedy Finds in Israel a Dismal Sequel’ (III)

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In June 1967, following the “Six-Day War” with several Arab countries, Israel emerged victorious. It captured large areas, including Gaza, the West Bank, and two-thirds of the Golan Heights — territories it continues to occupy decades later. At the time, New Left Review — a political journal based in London — conducted an interview with Marxist scholar Isaac Deutscher. Originally titled “On the Israeli-Arab War,” the interview is being republished today by World Outlook. Even though the interview took place more than 50 years ago, many of Deutscher’s insights remain timely and of striking political value in light of the ongoing murderous Israeli assault on Gaza in response to the gruesome October 7 attack by Hamas. This is the third of four parts.

‘The Jewish Tragedy Finds in Israel a Dismal Sequel’ (II)

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In June 1967, following the “Six-Day War” with several Arab countries, Israel emerged victorious. It captured large areas, including Gaza, the West Bank, and two-thirds of the Golan Heights — territories it continues to occupy decades later. At the time, New Left Review — a political journal based in London — conducted an interview with Marxist scholar Isaac Deutscher. Originally titled “On the Israeli-Arab War,” the interview is being republished today by World Outlook. Even though the interview took place more than 50 years ago, many of Deutscher’s insights remain timely and of striking political value in light of the ongoing murderous Israeli assault on Gaza in response to the gruesome October 7 attack by Hamas. This is the second of four parts.

‘The Jewish Tragedy Finds in Israel a Dismal Sequel’ (I)

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In June 1967, following the “Six-Day War” with several Arab countries, Israel emerged victorious. It captured large areas, including Gaza, the West Bank, and two-thirds of the Golan Heights — territories it continues to occupy decades later. At the time, New Left Review — a political journal based in London — conducted an interview with Marxist scholar Isaac Deutscher. Originally titled “On the Israeli-Arab War,” the interview is being republished today by World Outlook. Even though the interview took place more than 50 years ago, many of Deutscher’s insights remain timely and of striking political value in light of the ongoing murderous Israeli assault on Gaza in response to the gruesome October 7 attack by Hamas. This is the first of four parts.

Marking Hanukkah with Call for a Gaza Ceasefire

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It was a sober marking of Hanukkah Thursday night, December 7, as close to 1,000 Jews and our allies stood in the dark and cold to demand a ceasefire in Gaza on the first night of the holiday. Filling Columbus Circle, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, participants held menorahs, candles and “Let Gaza Live” signs. We surrounded a giant menorah, 14 feet high, configured with the letters “CEASEFIRE” burning from the nine candles.