thenation--2020-12-21--If Assange’s Fate Were Up To a Jury, He, Too, Might Have Walked Free

When the magistrate presiding last September at Julian Assange ’ s extradition hearing , Vanessa Baraitser , confined the defendant to a bullet-proof glass cage at the back of the court , she had precedent on her side .
All who entered her courtroom at London ’ s Central Criminal Court , the Old Bailey , had to pass a plaque memorializing a case against another defender of free speech and thought .
The finely wrought marble plaque reads : William Penn , then a 26-year old Quaker firebrand , stood accused of preaching doctrines anathema to the established Church @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When the judges asked how he pleaded , Penn demanded to know which law he had broken .
Sir John Howell , the recorder of London , told him he was charged under common law .
Penn asked , “ Where is that common law ?
” The exchange continued : HOWELl : You must not think that I am able to run up so many years , and over so many adjudged cases , which we call common law , to answer your curiosity .
PENN : This answer , I am @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question , for if it is common , it should not be so very hard to produce .
HOWELL : The question is , whether you are guilty of the indictment .
PENN : The question is not , whether I am guilty of this indictment , but whether this Indictment is legal .
The recorder called him “ an impertinent fellow ” and banished him to the bale-dock for the rest of the trial .
Like Assange ’ s glass box , the bale-dock was a locked cubicle separated from the rest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prevented Penn from witnessing the proceedings—and the jurors from seeing him .
Just as Assange admitted publishing American government documents that exposed war crimes , Penn did not deny preaching to his fellow Quakers .
If ever a jury deserved the accolade “ 12 good men and true , ” Penn ’ s did .
Foreman Edward Bushell and the other 11 jurors retired to consider their verdict .
When they returned , they declared Penn not guilty .
The furious Recorder ordered that “ you shall be locked up without meat , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We will have a verdict by the help of God or you will starve for it.
” For two days , they starved .
When they still refused to recant , the court fined them 40 marks , a large sum for the time , and sent them to prison .
The jurors appealed , the chief justice ordered their release , and the principle of jury independence was enshrined in English law .
Penn went free and 12 years later established the colony of Pennsylvania on the principles of religious tolerance and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lebanon Once Again Nears the Abyss Think the War in Syria Is Winding Down ?
Think Again .
Cut to New York , 1735 .
Another free thinker , printer John Peter Zenger , was tried for seditious libel over allegations leveled in the New York Weekly Journal at Royal Governor William Cosby .
Cosby , in common with the US Justice Department ’ s vendetta against Assange , sought to prosecute Zenger at any cost .
He had copies of the Journal burned .
Although two grand juries refused to indict Zenger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and brought him to trial .
Zenger was fortunate in his choice of lawyer , Pennsylvanian Andrew Hamilton .
Hamilton ’ s strategy was to present evidence of Cosby ’ s corruption—proving that Zenger had published the truth .
The prosecutor answered that “ being true is an aggravation of the crime.
” As in the Assange case , truth appeared not to be a defense so much as evidence of guilt .
Hamilton appealed to the jurors rather than the bench .
As former US senator Charles Goodell wrote in his 1973 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked the twelve to do what the judges refused to do , and what they ruled the jury had no right to do , to consider Cosby ’ s record as a justification for Zenger ’ s crime.
” The Bushell-Penn precedent gave the jury the right to overrule the judges , and they did .
Zenger ’ s newspaper resumed its vilification of Cosby , who died in disgrace two years later .
Juries do not hear extradition hearings in Britain .
If they did , the outcome in the Assange case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the right to publish evidence of state criminality .
A friend of mine wrote to me recently , “ When I was teaching , in the poorest area of East London , his [ Assange ’ s ] arrest warrant had just been issued .
People on the bus—shift workers , cleaners , construction workers—used to discuss him over their free copies of the Metro .
He was a hero to them.
” Magistrate Baraitser ’ s verdict , expected on January 4 , will not end the matter .
Either side @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brutal confinement well into 2021 .
The surest sign that the United States has ended its war on the free dissemination of vital information would be for the Justice Department to withdraw its extradition application and drop all charges against Assange .
President Trump could order that before he leaves office .
Joe Biden can do it after he takes the oath to “ preserve , protect and defend the Constitition , ” including the First Amendment , on January 20 .
After all , it would be consistent with President Obama ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it would have represented an assault on the entire free press that disseminated the same information Assange did .
A famous song , often sung by Pete Seeger , asked , “ Which side are you on ?
” Penn ’ s and Zenger ’ s—or Howell ’ s and Crosby ’ s ?

When the magistrate presiding last September at Julian Assange’s extradition hearing, Vanessa Baraitser, confined the defendant to a bullet-proof glass cage at the back of the court, she had precedent on her side. All who entered her courtroom at London’s Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, had to pass a plaque memorializing a case against another defender of free speech and thought. The finely wrought marble plaque reads:
Near this Site
William Penn and William Mead
were tried in 1670
for preaching to an unlawful assembly
in Grace Church Street
This tablet Commemorates
The courage and endurance of the Jury, Thos. Vere, Edward Bushell
and ten others who refused to give a verdict
against them and were fined for their final
Verdict of Not Guilty…
William Penn, then a 26-year old Quaker firebrand, stood accused of preaching doctrines anathema to the established Church of England during an unlawful assembly. When the judges asked how he pleaded, Penn demanded to know which law he had broken. Sir John Howell, the recorder of London, told him he was charged under common law. Penn asked, “Where is that common law?” The exchange continued:
HOWELl: You must not think that I am able to run up so many years, and over so many adjudged cases, which we call common law, to answer your curiosity. PENN: This answer, I am sure, is very short of my question, for if it is common, it should not be so very hard to produce. HOWELL: The question is, whether you are guilty of the indictment. PENN: The question is not, whether I am guilty of this indictment, but whether this Indictment is legal.
The recorder called him “an impertinent fellow” and banished him to the bale-dock for the rest of the trial. Like Assange’s glass box, the bale-dock was a locked cubicle separated from the rest of the court. Its underfloor location prevented Penn from witnessing the proceedings—and the jurors from seeing him.
Just as Assange admitted publishing American government documents that exposed war crimes, Penn did not deny preaching to his fellow Quakers. If ever a jury deserved the accolade “12 good men and true,” Penn’s did. Foreman Edward Bushell and the other 11 jurors retired to consider their verdict. When they returned, they declared Penn not guilty. The furious Recorder ordered that “you shall be locked up without meat, drink, fire, and tobacco…. We will have a verdict by the help of God or you will starve for it.” For two days, they starved. When they still refused to recant, the court fined them 40 marks, a large sum for the time, and sent them to prison. The jurors appealed, the chief justice ordered their release, and the principle of jury independence was enshrined in English law. Penn went free and 12 years later established the colony of Pennsylvania on the principles of religious tolerance and free thought. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung More From Charles Glass Ruling Assange Can’t Be Extradited Is an Indictment of US Prisons January 5, 2021 Free Julian Assange! February 26, 2020 With American Help, Lebanon Once Again Nears the Abyss November 27, 2019
Cut to New York, 1735. Another free thinker, printer John Peter Zenger, was tried for seditious libel over allegations leveled in the New York Weekly Journal at Royal Governor William Cosby. Cosby, in common with the US Justice Department’s vendetta against Assange, sought to prosecute Zenger at any cost. He had copies of the Journal burned. Although two grand juries refused to indict Zenger, Cosby threw him into prison anyway and brought him to trial. Zenger was fortunate in his choice of lawyer, Pennsylvanian Andrew Hamilton. Hamilton’s strategy was to present evidence of Cosby’s corruption—proving that Zenger had published the truth. The prosecutor answered that “being true is an aggravation of the crime.” As in the Assange case, truth appeared not to be a defense so much as evidence of guilt. Hamilton appealed to the jurors rather than the bench. As former US senator Charles Goodell wrote in his 1973 Political Prisoners in America, “Hamilton asked the twelve to do what the judges refused to do, and what they ruled the jury had no right to do, to consider Cosby’s record as a justification for Zenger’s crime.” The Bushell-Penn precedent gave the jury the right to overrule the judges, and they did. Zenger’s newspaper resumed its vilification of Cosby, who died in disgrace two years later.
Juries do not hear extradition hearings in Britain. If they did, the outcome in the Assange case might be a victory for free speech and the right to publish evidence of state criminality. A friend of mine wrote to me recently, “When I was teaching, in the poorest area of East London, his [Assange’s] arrest warrant had just been issued. People on the bus—shift workers, cleaners, construction workers—used to discuss him over their free copies of the Metro. He was a hero to them.”
Magistrate Baraitser’s verdict, expected on January 4, will not end the matter. Either side may appeal, prolonging Assange’s brutal confinement well into 2021. The surest sign that the United States has ended its war on the free dissemination of vital information would be for the Justice Department to withdraw its extradition application and drop all charges against Assange. President Trump could order that before he leaves office. Joe Biden can do it after he takes the oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitition,” including the First Amendment, on January 20. After all, it would be consistent with President Obama’s decision not to prosecute Assange because it would have represented an assault on the entire free press that disseminated the same information Assange did. Related Article What’s At Stake in Julian Assange’s Extradition Trial Nancy Carolina Graterol
A famous song, often sung by Pete Seeger, asked, “Which side are you on?” Penn’s and Zenger’s—or Howell’s and Crosby’s?


thenation--2020-12-21--A Covid Christmas in Palestine

A Covid Christmas in Palestine

At Christmastime in 2019 the Nativity Hotel in Bethlehem was a sight to behold .
Christmas trees lined the lobby , their ornaments and white ribbons reflected in the white marble floor , while the hotel staff bustled past guests , carrying their luggage inside .
Antique lamps , vases , and paintings depicting a majestic time in Middle Eastern history surrounded the grand living space , where more than a dozen blue and white velvet sectional couches blended modernity and Old World charm .
Bright lights made the marble and ornaments sparkle .
That , at least , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than a year later , Tareh , the Nativity ’ s 37-year-old owner and manager , sat alone on those sectional couches , watching videos from that December in a vacant hotel .
Little did he know then that in early March , Bethlehem—where 40 percent of all income is generated through tourism—would be the first place in the West Bank to succumb to the coronavirus .
These days , he spends his time reminiscing about life before the pandemic.2 “ From 75 employees , I now have five working part-time , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dependent on individuals who are coming to visit .
That ’ s why I ’ m telling you it ’ s not going to get better for another two or three years.
” 3 In some ways , Palestinians in the occupied territories have been conditioned for the curfews and travel restrictions that have attended the pandemic , considering the decades-long closures , curfews , Israeli-army-enforced blockades , land seizures , settlement expansions , and other abuses that govern their daily lives .
But the virus has intensified these struggles , fracturing an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at least , had been steadily improving.4 What Biden Can Do About the Israeli-Palestinian Mess He ’ ll Inherit Health and economic conditions in the long-blockaded , densely populated Gaza Strip are immeasurably worse , with critical shortages of ventilators and other medical supplies as coronavirus infections skyrocket , leading World Health Organization officials to caution in November that it would take less than a week for Gaza ’ s facilities to be overwhelmed .
Because Israel continues to exercise a nearly total blockade against Gaza , it ’ s hard to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the West Bank .
Indeed , the latter ’ s GDP was growing before the pandemic because the Palestinian Authority ( PA ) was able to capitalize on the tourism industry , which is nonexistent in Gaza .
In 2019 alone , 1.9 million visitors arrived to see Bethlehem ’ s Church of the Nativity , the site where Jesus is said to have been born .
At the time , the city ’ s population was 30,000.5 Tourism numbers then were strong .
More than 3.5 million tourists visited the West @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15 percent from the previous year , according to Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Maayah .
Despite its small size , Bethlehem and the rest of the West Bank were ready for those big numbers , which were expected only to rise in the years to come .
That was because the PA recognized the area ’ s potential for religious tourism , leading to successive growth and government investment.6 Covid-19 changed all that .
A report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics released on September 27 , World Tourism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the first half of 2020 , of which nearly half came from Palestinians residing in the area.7 The spread of Covid-19 has had a particularly powerful impact in the occupied territories , as nearly 60 percent of workers in the West Bank and Gaza are in the restaurant , hotel , commerce , or service industries .
About 75,000 people in the territories still haven ’ t recovered the jobs they lost in the past year , pushing total unemployment to 19 percent in the West Bank.8 In Gaza a distressed job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the possibility of a tourism industry because of the blockade , has registered unemployment at 49 percent—a figure that has hardly changed in years and , as of 2017 , was the world ’ s highest per capita .
Nearly 60 percent of Gazans who do have a job work in the service industry.9 “ Since March , travel from Gaza to Israel through the Erez crossing has been something like 3 or 4 percent of what is considered normal , ” said Miriam Marmur , the international media coordinator for Gisha , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focused on the freedom of movement of Palestinians in Gaza .
“ The groups of people who have been impacted the most are the very few who previously would have met the criteria for traveling errands , which Israel defines as humanitarian exceptions , and those with trader permits.
” 10 For Palestinians in Gaza , the Erez crossing—managed by the Israeli military—is the only entry into Israel and the occupied West Bank .
It usually accounts for thousands of daily crossings for work , medical care , and other travel purposes .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ crossings out of Gaza averaged about 14,960 , with over 10,000 people identifying as merchants , according to Gisha .
But by October of 2020 , only 612 Palestinians could exit .
In September and October combined , only two Palestinians categorized as merchants were granted passage through the border crossing.11 Bringing tourism and travel to a halt did have one benefit : It limited the spread of the coronavirus .
Out of an estimated 5 million people living in the occupied territories , there have been 98,850 cases of Covid-19 , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to the WHO .
Of the 9 million people who live in Israel , 332,192 contracted the disease , and 2,831 have died from it.12 Palestine was more prepared for the first coronavirus wave than many other governments because the PA ’ s security forces successfully lobbied the international community to provide them with a public health emergency simulation the previous year .
“ International donors gave them a workshop , and they modeled it on the basis of a potential MERS [ Middle East respiratory syndrome ] outbreak , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fellow at the London School of Economics.13 The exercise proved beneficial , since the PA already suffered from limited logistical options and an obstructed health sector as a result of the Israeli military occupation , which has prevented the acquisition of supplies and equipment and greatly constrained the travel necessary to keep up-to-date with medical training and development , according to a report by al-Shabaka , an independent global Palestinian think tank.14 Mustafa explained that the simulation was meant to include a workshop for representatives of the various branches of the security sector @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relevant political actors , such as representatives of the Health Ministry .
The first workshop in 2019 addressed potential solutions to anticipated problems—which included a novel respiratory coronavirus.15 Before the second workshop could take place , Covid-19 hit .
With the first simulation fresh in memory , the PA moved fast , setting up a joint operations center where the Health Ministry , the prime minister ’ s office , and the security branches came up with procedures and rules and then delegated them to each governorate in the West Bank.16 “ With @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was an instantaneous response as soon as there was an outbreak in Bethlehem , ” Mustafa said .
“ They basically shut down the area , and then a week or two later you ended up having the entire West Bank go into this severe lockdown .
They did an OK job in the first couple of months .
From what I was told , there was a lot of public consistency , where people were complying with the rules.
” But unlike the simulation , the pandemic didn ’ t end.17 Ten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of relative success , and a different reality has emerged in the occupied territories .
Makeshift checkpoints of dirt and stone now divide the towns .
Travel and trade with Israel have been restricted even more than usual .
And testing kits and supplies have run critically low .
All 350 artificial respirators available in the territories had been put to use by July , according to the Health Ministry .
At the same time , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pushing for annexation , a threat that preoccupied the Palestinian leadership @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PA saw no choice other than to look abroad for financial support .
But it ran into a roadblock.18 In the past , Palestinians relied heavily on US support , which amounted to around $ 400 million a year , according to a 2018 congressional report .
But the bipartisan Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act , which was signed into law by President Trump in 2018 , slashed that funding to virtually nothing .
According to that law , any foreign entity receiving US aid must consent to the jurisdiction of US courts regarding anti-terrorism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subject to terrorism-related lawsuits based on American law .
Considering that it pays a stipend to the families of Palestinian citizens who are imprisoned in Israel , some of whom are being held on terrorism charges , the PA opted against accepting any US money .
When the Palestinian economy shuttered after the first wave of the coronavirus , Washington pledged $ 5 million in aid—a paltry sum , roughly 1 percent of what had been the annual US aid budget to the PA.19 According to data from the Palestinian Finance Ministry Service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Al-Jadeed , since March , the PA has received no aid from Arab countries , some of which signed US-backed normalization agreements with Israel during that period .
These cuts arrived on top of a 50 percent decrease in foreign aid from outside the region , with total funding dropping from $ 500 million in 2019 to $ 255 million in 2020.20 “ When we ask how Palestinians are able to live under these conditions , we have to understand that it ’ s never been much better , ” said Yara Asi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Central Florida who is researching health and development in fragile and conflict-ravaged populations .
“ For Palestinians who can afford it , they will continue to access higher-quality private facilities or , travel conditions permitting , travel to Jordan , Egypt , or other states for advanced [ health ] care they are unable to get in the territories , ” she said .
“ Low-income Palestinians will continue to rely on the public health sector , buoyed by inconsistent aid to the Palestinian Authority , as US funding has essentially ended.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the world have filled some of the funding shortfalls , Asi added , many Palestinians will now be unable to access health care altogether while resources run dry and medical facilities and providers remain overworked and understaffed .
For example , “ thousands of Palestinians are missing needed vision care , as they have not been able to access ophthalmologists for months , ” she said .
“ One report estimated that 1,200 surgical procedures to help restore vision have been canceled since April.
” 22 Some critics say the Palestinian government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by al-Shabaka found that nearly $ 1 billion of the PA ’ s budget is allocated to the security sector—which has a long record of human rights violations—consuming more than the health , education , and agriculture sectors combined .
In fact , the Palestinian Doctors Association , a West Bank labor union , began a strike last February to demand more government investment , noting an acute shortage of staff and equipment .
That protest ended on March 6 to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.23 Some experts believe that as a result @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funding and supplies , and the looming threat of annexation , the PA resorted to dealing with the pandemic by extending its strict shutdown measures , which began to frustrate Palestinians only more.24 This has led some Palestinian rights activists to believe that the government ’ s failure to respond to the virus adequately has made it harder for the Palestinians to focus on their fight for self-determination.25 “ The Palestinian citizen did not receive any aid from the government , even though [ the PA ] received a large sum , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attorney based in Ramallah , said in an e-mail .
“ The government did not budget correctly , and the money was not spent as planned or agreed upon.
” 26 At the same time , the lingering Israeli occupation may have left Palestinians at a psychological disadvantage from the outset of the pandemic.27 “ The occupation really manifests in hundreds of ways , large and small , from movement restrictions to administrative ones , ” Asi said .
“ The outcomes of the occupation impact every part of life , from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life they can have , the pollution they are exposed to—all of which are determinants of health.
” 28 Difficult circumstances , however , are not unique to those living in the occupied territories .
On the other side of the Green Line in West Jerusalem , Johnny Asmar , a tour guide who identifies as an Israeli Arab , has started to come to terms with the new reality of life during the coronavirus.29 “ During the wars , the intifada , we used to sit at home for six or seven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ different , ” said Asmar , who became a tour guide more than 20 years ago , following in his father ’ s footsteps .
“ We don ’ t know when we are coming back to work .
Everyone is considering a new job.
” 30 To prevent an exodus of workers in the country ’ s usually booming tourism sector , the Israeli government passed legislation to support tour guides during the pandemic .
Now Asmar and others in his line of work are eligible to apply for unemployment benefits , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Asmar said he gets only 4,000 shekels a month ( about $ 1,200 ) , roughly 20 percent of his usual take-home pay .
But he maintained that he ’ s lucky to get anything .
“ The situation with Palestinians and their government right now is not that good , ” he said .
“ At least we get something , but they get nothing.
” 31 Yet just outside the separation wall in East Jerusalem , Rasheed Nashashibi has found a way to keep his tourism-dependent business afloat .
He owns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grandfather built in 1964 .
It boasts 120 rooms and employs 60 people—none of whom have been laid off .
By converting his hotel into a refuge for Palestinian workers who were stuck in Jerusalem after Israel closed its borders during the months-long shutdown , along with a loan and two grants he received from the Israeli government , Nashashibi has managed to keep his business solvent.32 “ We survived by filling the hotel with factory and construction workers , ” he said on the phone .
“ We put most of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Israeli ] government pays them up to 75 percent of their salary .
The hotel never closed.
” Nashashibi said the loan he received was about 16 percent of the previous year ’ s income , which amounted to 1.5 million shekels , or $ 450,000.33 But not everyone has been so lucky .
For Malda Alami , the coronavirus has brought a separation from loved ones due to the extreme travel and containment rules .
A 28-year-old Palestinian with Israeli citizenship living in Jerusalem , Alami married her husband , who resides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2020 .
But because of increased security and travel restrictions over the summer and much of the fall , she went three months without seeing him .
“ My husband holds a Palestinian ID , and he needs a permit to get into Jerusalem—and the Israeli government had suspended all permits from the West Bank for the lockdown , ” she said .
“ It was already hard to travel through the checkpoints before , but the virus made everything a million times harder.
” 34 Tomorrow My Family and Neighbors May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Settlers What makes it more frustrating for Alami is that travel isn ’ t as complicated for everyone in the region .
While Israel has been hit harder than the territories in terms of the death toll , Mustafa , the Jordan-based researcher , noted that Israeli citizens have been given an unofficial pass to travel through the West Bank .
This makes recovery efforts more difficult for the Palestinians , she explained , since it allows “ infected individuals to go into the West Bank and come out.
” 35 Meanwhile , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rights found that Israeli military bulldozers entered 300 meters into the Gaza Strip in mid-October , resulting in the most damage to agricultural land and irrigation systems by an Israeli military incursion since 2014 .
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that Israeli forces carried out 45 similar incursions into Gaza in 2020 alone.36 Considering the lack of resources , the dire state of the economy , the travel restrictions , and the continuing threat of annexation , it ’ s hard to tell what the future holds for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terrible blow , Alami sees it in a broader context that includes decades of military invasion , occupation , expropriation , economic strangulation , and restrictions on freedom of movement .
“ Nobody in the world understands the severity of what ’ s happening here until you come see it in person , ” she said .
“ Virus lockdown and curfew here and around the world are temporary .
Palestine has been going through that for a good 70 years now .
The coronavirus was the cherry on top.
” 37

This article appears in the December 28, 2020/January 4, 2021 issue.
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At Christmastime in 2019 the Nativity Hotel in Bethlehem was a sight to behold. Christmas trees lined the lobby, their ornaments and white ribbons reflected in the white marble floor, while the hotel staff bustled past guests, carrying their luggage inside. Antique lamps, vases, and paintings depicting a majestic time in Middle Eastern history surrounded the grand living space, where more than a dozen blue and white velvet sectional couches blended modernity and Old World charm. Bright lights made the marble and ornaments sparkle. That, at least, is how Khalil Saliba Tareh remembers it.1
Less than a year later, Tareh, the Nativity’s 37-year-old owner and manager, sat alone on those sectional couches, watching videos from that December in a vacant hotel. Little did he know then that in early March, Bethlehem—where 40 percent of all income is generated through tourism—would be the first place in the West Bank to succumb to the coronavirus. These days, he spends his time reminiscing about life before the pandemic.2
“From 75 employees, I now have five working part-time,” he said. “We’re dependent on individuals who are coming to visit. That’s why I’m telling you it’s not going to get better for another two or three years.”3
In some ways, Palestinians in the occupied territories have been conditioned for the curfews and travel restrictions that have attended the pandemic, considering the decades-long closures, curfews, Israeli-army-enforced blockades, land seizures, settlement expansions, and other abuses that govern their daily lives. But the virus has intensified these struggles, fracturing an economy that, in the West Bank, at least, had been steadily improving.4 More on Palestine What Biden Can Do About the Israeli-Palestinian Mess He’ll Inherit James Zogby A Century of Struggle in Palestine Kaleem Hawa
Health and economic conditions in the long-blockaded, densely populated Gaza Strip are immeasurably worse, with critical shortages of ventilators and other medical supplies as coronavirus infections skyrocket, leading World Health Organization officials to caution in November that it would take less than a week for Gaza’s facilities to be overwhelmed. Because Israel continues to exercise a nearly total blockade against Gaza, it’s hard to compare its responses to Covid-19 with those of the West Bank. Indeed, the latter’s GDP was growing before the pandemic because the Palestinian Authority (PA) was able to capitalize on the tourism industry, which is nonexistent in Gaza. In 2019 alone, 1.9 million visitors arrived to see Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, the site where Jesus is said to have been born. At the time, the city’s population was 30,000.5
Tourism numbers then were strong. More than 3.5 million tourists visited the West Bank in 2019, an increase of 15 percent from the previous year, according to Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Maayah. Despite its small size, Bethlehem and the rest of the West Bank were ready for those big numbers, which were expected only to rise in the years to come. That was because the PA recognized the area’s potential for religious tourism, leading to successive growth and government investment.6 Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
Covid-19 changed all that. A report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics released on September 27, World Tourism Day, shows fewer than 660,000 visits for the first half of 2020, of which nearly half came from Palestinians residing in the area.7 Current Issue View our current issue
The spread of Covid-19 has had a particularly powerful impact in the occupied territories, as nearly 60 percent of workers in the West Bank and Gaza are in the restaurant, hotel, commerce, or service industries. About 75,000 people in the territories still haven’t recovered the jobs they lost in the past year, pushing total unemployment to 19 percent in the West Bank.8
In Gaza a distressed job market, which has long been denied the possibility of a tourism industry because of the blockade, has registered unemployment at 49 percent—a figure that has hardly changed in years and, as of 2017, was the world’s highest per capita. Nearly 60 percent of Gazans who do have a job work in the service industry.9
“Since March, travel from Gaza to Israel through the Erez crossing has been something like 3 or 4 percent of what is considered normal,” said Miriam Marmur, the international media coordinator for Gisha, an Israeli human rights and research organization focused on the freedom of movement of Palestinians in Gaza. “The groups of people who have been impacted the most are the very few who previously would have met the criteria for traveling errands, which Israel defines as humanitarian exceptions, and those with trader permits.”10
For Palestinians in Gaza, the Erez crossing—managed by the Israeli military—is the only entry into Israel and the occupied West Bank. It usually accounts for thousands of daily crossings for work, medical care, and other travel purposes. Through most of 2019, the monthly crossings out of Gaza averaged about 14,960, with over 10,000 people identifying as merchants, according to Gisha. But by October of 2020, only 612 Palestinians could exit. In September and October combined, only two Palestinians categorized as merchants were granted passage through the border crossing.11
Bringing tourism and travel to a halt did have one benefit: It limited the spread of the coronavirus. Out of an estimated 5 million people living in the occupied territories, there have been 98,850 cases of Covid-19, with 822 deaths, as of December 1, according to the WHO. Of the 9 million people who live in Israel, 332,192 contracted the disease, and 2,831 have died from it.12
Palestine was more prepared for the first coronavirus wave than many other governments because the PA’s security forces successfully lobbied the international community to provide them with a public health emergency simulation the previous year. “International donors gave them a workshop, and they modeled it on the basis of a potential MERS [Middle East respiratory syndrome] outbreak,” said Tahani Mustafa, a Jordanian-based research fellow at the London School of Economics.13
The exercise proved beneficial, since the PA already suffered from limited logistical options and an obstructed health sector as a result of the Israeli military occupation, which has prevented the acquisition of supplies and equipment and greatly constrained the travel necessary to keep up-to-date with medical training and development, according to a report by al-Shabaka, an independent global Palestinian think tank.14
Mustafa explained that the simulation was meant to include a workshop for representatives of the various branches of the security sector first, followed by a workshop for relevant political actors, such as representatives of the Health Ministry. The first workshop in 2019 addressed potential solutions to anticipated problems—which included a novel respiratory coronavirus.15
Before the second workshop could take place, Covid-19 hit. With the first simulation fresh in memory, the PA moved fast, setting up a joint operations center where the Health Ministry, the prime minister’s office, and the security branches came up with procedures and rules and then delegated them to each governorate in the West Bank.16
“With the first wave, what you had was an instantaneous response as soon as there was an outbreak in Bethlehem,” Mustafa said. “They basically shut down the area, and then a week or two later you ended up having the entire West Bank go into this severe lockdown. They did an OK job in the first couple of months. From what I was told, there was a lot of public consistency, where people were complying with the rules.” But unlike the simulation, the pandemic didn’t end.17
Ten months have passed since those early days of relative success, and a different reality has emerged in the occupied territories. Makeshift checkpoints of dirt and stone now divide the towns. Travel and trade with Israel have been restricted even more than usual. And testing kits and supplies have run critically low. All 350 artificial respirators available in the territories had been put to use by July, according to the Health Ministry. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pushing for annexation, a threat that preoccupied the Palestinian leadership. With the government overwhelmed, the PA saw no choice other than to look abroad for financial support. But it ran into a roadblock.18
In the past, Palestinians relied heavily on US support, which amounted to around $400 million a year, according to a 2018 congressional report. But the bipartisan Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in 2018, slashed that funding to virtually nothing. According to that law, any foreign entity receiving US aid must consent to the jurisdiction of US courts regarding anti-terrorism claims, meaning the PA would be subject to terrorism-related lawsuits based on American law. Considering that it pays a stipend to the families of Palestinian citizens who are imprisoned in Israel, some of whom are being held on terrorism charges, the PA opted against accepting any US money. When the Palestinian economy shuttered after the first wave of the coronavirus, Washington pledged $5 million in aid—a paltry sum, roughly 1 percent of what had been the annual US aid budget to the PA.19
According to data from the Palestinian Finance Ministry Service and an analysis by the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, since March, the PA has received no aid from Arab countries, some of which signed US-backed normalization agreements with Israel during that period. These cuts arrived on top of a 50 percent decrease in foreign aid from outside the region, with total funding dropping from $500 million in 2019 to $255 million in 2020.20
“When we ask how Palestinians are able to live under these conditions, we have to understand that it’s never been much better,” said Yara Asi, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Central Florida who is researching health and development in fragile and conflict-ravaged populations. “For Palestinians who can afford it, they will continue to access higher-quality private facilities or, travel conditions permitting, travel to Jordan, Egypt, or other states for advanced [health] care they are unable to get in the territories,” she said. “Low-income Palestinians will continue to rely on the public health sector, buoyed by inconsistent aid to the Palestinian Authority, as US funding has essentially ended.”21
While donors in other parts of the world have filled some of the funding shortfalls, Asi added, many Palestinians will now be unable to access health care altogether while resources run dry and medical facilities and providers remain overworked and understaffed. For example, “thousands of Palestinians are missing needed vision care, as they have not been able to access ophthalmologists for months,” she said. “One report estimated that 1,200 surgical procedures to help restore vision have been canceled since April.”22
Some critics say the Palestinian government isn’t blameless. An analysis by al-Shabaka found that nearly $1 billion of the PA’s budget is allocated to the security sector—which has a long record of human rights violations—consuming more than the health, education, and agriculture sectors combined. In fact, the Palestinian Doctors Association, a West Bank labor union, began a strike last February to demand more government investment, noting an acute shortage of staff and equipment. That protest ended on March 6 to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.23
Some experts believe that as a result of conflicting priorities, a lack of funding and supplies, and the looming threat of annexation, the PA resorted to dealing with the pandemic by extending its strict shutdown measures, which began to frustrate Palestinians only more.24
This has led some Palestinian rights activists to believe that the government’s failure to respond to the virus adequately has made it harder for the Palestinians to focus on their fight for self-determination.25
“The Palestinian citizen did not receive any aid from the government, even though [the PA] received a large sum,” Anwar Abu Adas, an international law attorney based in Ramallah, said in an e-mail. “The government did not budget correctly, and the money was not spent as planned or agreed upon.”26
At the same time, the lingering Israeli occupation may have left Palestinians at a psychological disadvantage from the outset of the pandemic.27
“The occupation really manifests in hundreds of ways, large and small, from movement restrictions to administrative ones,” Asi said. “The outcomes of the occupation impact every part of life, from the food they can eat, the social life they can have, the pollution they are exposed to—all of which are determinants of health.”28
Difficult circumstances, however, are not unique to those living in the occupied territories. On the other side of the Green Line in West Jerusalem, Johnny Asmar, a tour guide who identifies as an Israeli Arab, has started to come to terms with the new reality of life during the coronavirus.29
“During the wars, the intifada, we used to sit at home for six or seven months, but this time is completely different,” said Asmar, who became a tour guide more than 20 years ago, following in his father’s footsteps. “We don’t know when we are coming back to work. Everyone is considering a new job.”30
To prevent an exodus of workers in the country’s usually booming tourism sector, the Israeli government passed legislation to support tour guides during the pandemic. Now Asmar and others in his line of work are eligible to apply for unemployment benefits, which had been unavailable to them. Asmar said he gets only 4,000 shekels a month (about $1,200), roughly 20 percent of his usual take-home pay. But he maintained that he’s lucky to get anything. “The situation with Palestinians and their government right now is not that good,” he said. “At least we get something, but they get nothing.”31
Yet just outside the separation wall in East Jerusalem, Rasheed Nashashibi has found a way to keep his tourism-dependent business afloat. He owns the Golden Walls Hotel, which his grandfather built in 1964. It boasts 120 rooms and employs 60 people—none of whom have been laid off. By converting his hotel into a refuge for Palestinian workers who were stuck in Jerusalem after Israel closed its borders during the months-long shutdown, along with a loan and two grants he received from the Israeli government, Nashashibi has managed to keep his business solvent.32
“We survived by filling the hotel with factory and construction workers,” he said on the phone. “We put most of our employees on leave, while the [Israeli] government pays them up to 75 percent of their salary. The hotel never closed.” Nashashibi said the loan he received was about 16 percent of the previous year’s income, which amounted to 1.5 million shekels, or $450,000.33
But not everyone has been so lucky. For Malda Alami, the coronavirus has brought a separation from loved ones due to the extreme travel and containment rules. A 28-year-old Palestinian with Israeli citizenship living in Jerusalem, Alami married her husband, who resides in Ramallah in the West Bank, in 2020. But because of increased security and travel restrictions over the summer and much of the fall, she went three months without seeing him. “My husband holds a Palestinian ID, and he needs a permit to get into Jerusalem—and the Israeli government had suspended all permits from the West Bank for the lockdown,” she said. “It was already hard to travel through the checkpoints before, but the virus made everything a million times harder.”34 Related Article Tomorrow My Family and Neighbors May Be Forced From Our Homes by Israeli Settlers Mohammed El-Kurd
What makes it more frustrating for Alami is that travel isn’t as complicated for everyone in the region. While Israel has been hit harder than the territories in terms of the death toll, Mustafa, the Jordan-based researcher, noted that Israeli citizens have been given an unofficial pass to travel through the West Bank. This makes recovery efforts more difficult for the Palestinians, she explained, since it allows “infected individuals to go into the West Bank and come out.”35
Meanwhile, the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights found that Israeli military bulldozers entered 300 meters into the Gaza Strip in mid-October, resulting in the most damage to agricultural land and irrigation systems by an Israeli military incursion since 2014. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that Israeli forces carried out 45 similar incursions into Gaza in 2020 alone.36
Considering the lack of resources, the dire state of the economy, the travel restrictions, and the continuing threat of annexation, it’s hard to tell what the future holds for Palestinians. While Covid-19 has been a terrible blow, Alami sees it in a broader context that includes decades of military invasion, occupation, expropriation, economic strangulation, and restrictions on freedom of movement. “Nobody in the world understands the severity of what’s happening here until you come see it in person,” she said. “Virus lockdown and curfew here and around the world are temporary. Palestine has been going through that for a good 70 years now. The coronavirus was the cherry on top.”37


thenation--2020-12-21--Why CUNY Faculty and Staff May Go on Strike

The Borough of Manhattan Community College ’ s library occupies the fourth floor of its TriBeCa campus .
It has a beautiful view in the middle of a neighborhood that was long ago ceded to the elite by way of inflated property values , and it belongs to students whose families are likely to make less than $ 20,000 a year .
Pleasing scenery may seem utterly superfluous to education , but as evidence of actually existing democracy on an island largely governed by real estate speculation , it is priceless .
BMCC , like other City University of New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without money don ’ t just deserve some job training ; they deserve a good education that might even involve some superfluous knowledge , the luxury of a well-appointed library , and a sunset over the river .
Until 1976 , CUNY was free .
Since then , tuition has steadily risen .
Given New York City ’ s unprecedented fiscal crisis in the 1970s , charging tuition in order to make up for a shortfall in public funds seemed to make intuitive sense .
The same logic , though , would dictate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a tuition-free CUNY .
This , of course , never happened because austerity measures seldom have any real relationship to the availability of funds .
Since then , tuition has risen , state funding has declined , and adjunct wages , when adjusted for inflation , have decreased .
Moments of crisis pass , but the sacrifices made by the public sector are never temporary .
We Want a More Democratic University—Until Then , We Won ’ t Pay When Covid-19 began to shut down campuses across the country , cash-strapped public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ private counterparts aggressively slashed departmental budgets , instituted hiring freezes , fired contingent faculty , and laid off staff .
The speed with which these measures were put in place was dizzying and the ease with which they passed troubling .
The logic of austerity has been so thoroughly internalized that defunding public services seems like a natural and inevitable side effect of economic uncertainty .
In July 2020 , 2,800 adjuncts were told they would not be reappointed .
Non-teaching adjuncts who work as librarians and other crucial instructional staff were put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Evers College who had obtained the much talked about one- and three-year appointments as part of their 2017 contract were all fired .
Unlike semester-by-semester appointments , these positions will never be reinstated .
When enrollment turned out to be higher than expected in the fall , rather than reappointing contingent faculty , class sizes were increased .
This pandemic is real and unprecedented , but it is dangerous to think of the campaign against public universities as the singular product of exceptional times , even worse to operate under the assumption that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happening at CUNY is not a natural disaster ; it is the logical conclusion of years of austerity-minded decision making by CUNY administrators and steadily decreasing state funding ( which accounts for 60 percent of senior colleges ’ operating budgets ) .
We can , and should , blame some of this on Andrew Cuomo ’ s indifference to CUNY ’ s well-being .
State funding has decreased 5 percent during his time as governor and the legislature withheld 20 percent this fall .
But we can , and should , also blame @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wage system , refused to address the needs of contingent faculty , failed to bargain over things such as class sizes , and left its membership vulnerable to severely degraded working conditions .
The university seems to believe this neoliberal narrative of economics as a force of nature and they are acting accordingly .
As Ben Lerner noted in The New York Times , CUNY has become so used to its sacrificial role that it began attacking itself in anticipation of budget cuts .
The PSC filed a lawsuit against the university following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remains off the table .
The injunction sought alleges that the university violated the terms of the CARES act , not the contract .
Rather than rehiring adjuncts the university increased class sizes , to which the PSC has responded with petitions and calls for socially distanced protests .
Media visibility and proof of grievances are not nothing , but they are decidedly not a demonstration of power—something that professors , librarians , and other educators still hold .
And a legal victory may benefit some workers in the distant future , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worker power .
Legal and legislative avenues—the preferred strategy of the PSC—are simply not a replacement for organizing .
Chapters of Professional Staff Congress ( PSC ) —the union that represents CUNY faculty and staff—have passed resolutions as several campuses calling on the union to hold a strike authorization vote .
If we are going to repair any of the damage that has been done over the past nine months and prevent a recurrence of this crisis , we need to leverage our collective power by demonstrating our willingness to strike over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students—which is intimately bound up with the quality of our own working lives .
We also need to be very clear about what it is that we are striking for .
CUNY has recently announced that it will be significantly delaying contractually guaranteed raises .
The explicit contract violation might produce a strike authorization vote , but the strike can not be about a 2 percent raise .
It needs to be about working conditions .
The next contract needs language about class sizes , adjunct job security , and compensation—monetary or otherwise—for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much more than the small raise pegged to a productivity increase that came with the 2020 contract .
As we saw with last semester ’ s mass firings and increased class sizes , the precarity of CUNY ’ s second-tier workers and the conditions that make good teaching possible—or not—are directly related : The ability to eliminate 3,000 members of the teaching faculty with no notice is the cause of ballooning class sizes .
Ignoring the needs of adjuncts is a race to the bottom for students and instructors alike .
For Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw this coming ; the absence of pandemic-specific language in the 2020 contract is no surprise .
But the slow drift away from physical classrooms was already well underway and we should have been thinking about the particular challenges posed by remote learning—the specific differences that this technology inserts into the job of teaching .
If this disaster has taught us anything , it is that technology is part of working conditions and that technological change is something we need to bargain over .
As a result of the transition to remote learning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced to participate in what amounted to a university-wide speedup : doing far more work for the same wages .
Now that faculty have done much of the work of overhauling their courses , they are subject once again to a speedup in the form of increased class sizes .
They are also paying for the universities ’ physical plant in the form of electricity and internet bills , computer maintenance , and new equipment purchases .
It is the union ’ s job to make sure that we receive raises , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that wages are lost .
Demoralized and over-extended workers cost companies money through productivity losses .
When the “ product ” is education , this demoralization translates into a degraded experience for students .
For online teaching to work , classes need to be smaller than they usually are and teachers need more support , not less .
Online classes can not be allowed to become significantly cheaper versions of their physical counterparts through mushrooming class sizes and extra work smuggled in via technological changes .
The Ivy League will return to campus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other public universities that serve populations who society has deemed undeserving of anything but the bare minimum are going to need to fight for their existence .
Believing that the worst outcome is inevitable is cynical .
But thinking that this will be solved through the polite pressure of a petition is naïve .
Militant collective action is both hopeful and our only hope .

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The Borough of Manhattan Community College’s library occupies the fourth floor of its TriBeCa campus. It has a beautiful view in the middle of a neighborhood that was long ago ceded to the elite by way of inflated property values, and it belongs to students whose families are likely to make less than $20,000 a year. Pleasing scenery may seem utterly superfluous to education, but as evidence of actually existing democracy on an island largely governed by real estate speculation, it is priceless. BMCC, like other City University of New York campuses, are reminders that people without money don’t just deserve some job training; they deserve a good education that might even involve some superfluous knowledge, the luxury of a well-appointed library, and a sunset over the river.
Until 1976, CUNY was free. Since then, tuition has steadily risen. Given New York City’s unprecedented fiscal crisis in the 1970s, charging tuition in order to make up for a shortfall in public funds seemed to make intuitive sense. The same logic, though, would dictate that fiscal abundance would mean a return to a tuition-free CUNY. This, of course, never happened because austerity measures seldom have any real relationship to the availability of funds. Since then, tuition has risen, state funding has declined, and adjunct wages, when adjusted for inflation, have decreased. Moments of crisis pass, but the sacrifices made by the public sector are never temporary. Related Article We Want a More Democratic University—Until Then, We Won’t Pay Rebecca Roskill and Willem Morris
When Covid-19 began to shut down campuses across the country, cash-strapped public universities as well as their obscenely endowed private counterparts aggressively slashed departmental budgets, instituted hiring freezes, fired contingent faculty, and laid off staff. The speed with which these measures were put in place was dizzying and the ease with which they passed troubling. The logic of austerity has been so thoroughly internalized that defunding public services seems like a natural and inevitable side effect of economic uncertainty.
In July 2020, 2,800 adjuncts were told they would not be reappointed. By the beginning of the fall semester, 2000 adjuncts and part-time staff remained without work. Non-teaching adjuncts who work as librarians and other crucial instructional staff were put on month-to-month contracts. Adjuncts at Medgar Evers College who had been eligible for the much talked about one- and three-year appointments won in the 2017 contract were laid off. When enrollment turned out to be higher than expected in the fall, rather than reappointing contingent faculty, class sizes were increased.
This pandemic is real and unprecedented, but it is dangerous to think of the campaign against public universities as the singular product of exceptional times, even worse to operate under the assumption that its effects are natural. What is happening at CUNY is not a natural disaster; it is the logical conclusion of years of austerity-minded decision making by CUNY administrators and steadily decreasing state funding (which accounts for 60 percent of senior colleges’ operating budgets).
We can, and should, blame some of this on Andrew Cuomo’s indifference to CUNY’s well-being. State funding has decreased 5 percent during his time as governor and the legislature withheld 20 percent this fall. But we can, and should, also blame union leadership that has implicitly endorsed a de facto two-tier wage system by neglecting the needs of contingent faculty, failing to bargain over things such as class sizes, and leaving its membership vulnerable to severely degraded working conditions. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
The university seems to believe this neoliberal narrative of economics as a force of nature and they are acting accordingly. As Ben Lerner noted in The New York Times, CUNY has become so used to its sacrificial role that it began attacking itself in anticipation of budget cuts. The Professional Staff Congress (PSC)—the union that represents CUNY faculty and staff—filed a lawsuit against the university following the mass firing. (Disclosure: I am a CUNY employee represented by the PSC.) The injunction sought alleges that the university violated the terms of the CARES act, not the contract. The PSC is also pursuing class-action grievances on the part of adjuncts, such as those at Medgar Evers, who were denied one and three-year contracts by the university in spite of department recommendations for approval. Rather than rehiring adjuncts the university increased class sizes, to which the PSC initially responded with petitions and calls for socially distanced protests. Media visibility and proof of grievances are not nothing, but they are decidedly not a demonstration of power—something that professors, librarians, and other educators still hold. A legal victory may benefit some workers in the distant future and a formal grievance filed on behalf of a small fraction of laid off adjuncts, but these actions fail, crucially, to build or demonstrate worker power. Legal and legislative avenues—the preferred strategy of the PSC—are simply not a replacement for organizing. On November 23, the union acknowledged that it needed to prepare for “a new level of emergency in 2021” and the delegate assembly voted to pass a resolution to prepare for strike-readiness—the union-wide organizing effort that necessarily precedes a strike authorization vote. Current Issue View our current issue
Chapters of PSC have passed resolutions at several campuses calling on the union to hold a strike authorization vote. If we are going to repair any of the damage that has been done over the past nine months and prevent a recurrence of this crisis, we need to leverage our collective power by demonstrating our willingness to strike over the quality of education being provided to our students—which is intimately bound up with the quality of our own working lives.
We also need to be very clear about what it is that we are striking for. CUNY has recently announced that it will be significantly delaying contractually guaranteed raises. The explicit contract violation might produce a strike authorization vote, but the strike cannot be about a 2 percent raise. It needs to be about working conditions. The next contract needs language about class sizes, adjunct job security, and compensation—monetary or otherwise—for the increased workloads. Contingent faculty need much more than the small raise pegged to a productivity increase that came with the 2020 contract. As we saw with last semester’s mass firings and increased class sizes, the precarity of CUNY’s second-tier workers and the conditions that make good teaching possible—or not—are directly related: The ability to eliminate 3,000 members of the teaching faculty with no notice is the cause of ballooning class sizes. Ignoring the needs of adjuncts is a race to the bottom for students and instructors alike. Related Article For Some Workers, Schools Never Closed Michelle Chen
No one saw this coming; the absence of pandemic-specific language in the 2020 contract is no surprise. But the slow drift away from physical classrooms was already well underway and we should have been thinking about the particular challenges posed by remote learning—the specific differences that this technology inserts into the job of teaching. If this disaster has taught us anything, it is that technology is part of working conditions and that technological change is something we need to bargain over. As a result of the transition to remote learning, adjunct and full-time faculty alike were forced to participate in what amounted to a university-wide speedup: doing far more work for the same wages. Now that faculty have done much of the work of overhauling their courses, they are subject once again to a speedup in the form of increased class sizes. They are also paying for the universities’ physical plant in the form of electricity and internet bills, computer maintenance, and new equipment purchases. It is the union’s job to make sure that we receive raises, but also to safeguard against the many ways that wages are lost.
Demoralized and over-extended workers cost companies money through productivity losses. When the “product” is education, this demoralization translates into a degraded experience for students. For online teaching to work, classes need to be smaller than they usually are and teachers need more support, not less. Online classes cannot be allowed to become significantly cheaper versions of their physical counterparts through mushrooming class sizes and extra work smuggled in via technological changes.
The Ivy League will return to campus when this is over, but CUNY and other public universities that serve populations who society has deemed undeserving of anything but the bare minimum are going to need to fight for their existence. Believing that the worst outcome is inevitable is cynical. But thinking that this will be solved through the polite pressure of a petition is naïve. Militant collective action is both hopeful and our only hope.
Editor’s note: The Professional Staff Congress was not contacted prior to the publication of this post; The Nation regrets the oversight. The post has subsequently been updated to more accurately describe the change in CUNY adjuncts’ employment status as of July 2020; clarify that the PSC never formally endorsed in a two-tier wage system in any official capacity; include the fact that the PSC is pursuing class-action grievances on behalf of adjuncts; and update the chronology regarding the union’s response to increased class sizes as well as its vote to pass a resolution for strike readiness. The post also clarifies that the author is a CUNY employee represented by PSC.


thenation--2020-12-21--Can Biden Finish What Obama Started With Cuba?

“ Today , America chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past so as to reach for a better future—for the Cuban people , for the American people , for our entire hemisphere and for the world , ” President Barack Obama announced on December 17 , 2014 , inaugurating a new era of “ positive engagement ” in US-Cuba relations .
For two short years , Obama ’ s new , historic approach showed remarkable promise : Washington and Havana reestablished full diplomatic relations ; Obama reinstated commercial air service as well as cruise ship visits to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizens exercised their constitutional right to travel , providing direct economic stimulus to Cuba ’ s expanding private sector ; US companies received permission to do business in Cuba ; Google helped modernize Cuba ’ s Internet systems and connectivity , expanding the flow of information and self-expression for the Cuban people ; US and Cuban officials established bilateral commissions to advance mutual interests in critical areas for both countries , among them counter-narcotics , environmental protection , human rights , and migration .
And Obama became the first US president to conduct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in an effort to leave the geopolitical baggage of the past behind .
More than six decades of Washington ’ s perpetual hostility toward the Cuban revolution finally appeared to be over .
Then came Trump .
Cuba Has Sent 2,000 Doctors and Nurses Overseas to Fight Covid-19 “ I am canceling the last administration ’ s completely one-sided deal with Cuba , ” Trump announced in June 2017 .
Since then , his administration has dismantled virtually every major component of Obama ’ s policy , replacing engagement with estrangement and diplomacy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Trump exits the White House screaming and kicking , he is leaving bilateral relations with Cuba , among so many other nations , in tatters .
But last week , two leading foreign policy advocacy NGOs—the Washington Office on Latin America ( WOLA ) and the Center for Democracy in the Americas ( CDA ) —released a comprehensive blueprint for reengaging with Cuba .
Titled “ The United States and Cuba : A New Policy of Engagement , ” the report is intended to provide a clear “ roadmap ” for President-elect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revisit and redress the abysmal state of current US-Cuba relations .
At a briefing for media and foreign policy analysts on December 17 to mark the sixth anniversary of Obama ’ s historic breakthrough on Cuba , WOLA and CDA representatives said they had provided the “ detailed inventory of what needs to be done ” to members of Biden ’ s transition team , and they hoped the report would create a “ momentum for engagement ” that would lead to stronger US-Cuba ties in the future .
Indeed , the briefing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Biden administration could act quickly to restore , decree-by-decree and statute-by-statute , a policy of constructive engagement—as well as a persuasive argument for why it is in the US interest to do so .
“ Diplomatic engagement will reduce bilateral tensions , help avoid future crises , and advance U.S. interests on a wide variety of issues , ” the report asserts .
“ Like it or not , many of the most critical problems we face in the Western Hemisphere are transnational—the effects of climate change , the spread of infectious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human trafficking , and migration .
Progress depends on cooperation with our neighbors , especially near neighbors like Cuba.
” Moreover , “ Cuba is changing , ” the blueprint continues .
“ The United States can have a positive influence on the trajectory of change , but only by being engaged .
To continue the policies of the past or to simply modify them at the margins will leave the United States out of the game—isolated from its allies , isolated from ordinary Cubans other than small groups of dissidents , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaders who will shape the island ’ s future.
” Even with all the other critical problems the new administration will face—the Covid crisis , economic recovery , and Iran ’ s nuclear development among them—the report offers a compelling case for making Cuba a foreign policy priority .
The report recommends that in his first few months in office , President Biden use his executive authority to “ reverse the damage done by President Trump.
” In a series of short presidential directives , Biden could restore the people-to-people category of travel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US citizens to see Cuba for themselves ; reinstate full commercial air and sea service to the island ; and abolish the onerous “ Cuba Prohibited Accommodations ” list that Trump imposed to prevent travelers from staying in Cuban hotels .
Biden also has the power to immediately reopen the flow of family remittances that Trump has closed , and to lift sanctions that have curtailed commercial economic activity between the two countries , which has contributed to the dire economic crisis Cubans are now confronting .
At the same time , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White House should take to reestablish the channels of civil diplomacy , which provides the foundation for constructive engagement .
Those include : • A personal call from Biden to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel inviting Cuba to attend the Summit of the Americas , which the United States will host in late 2021 .
• Issuing a new Presidential Policy Directive “ establishing the core principles of the policy of engagement and directing executive branch agencies to pursue relations of mutual interest with their Cuban counterparts.
” • Nominating a new US ambassador @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do , and restoring full staffing at the US Embassy , which Trump cut , as well as reopening the consulate .
“ Diplomatic re-engagement is a first necessary step in repairing the damage , ” the report emphasizes , “ and the United States should take the initiative to re-start it.
” After an initial phase of resetting Obama ’ s engagement policy , in its second year the Biden administration would undertake a series of initiatives to deepen and consolidate commercial , cultural , and political ties .
The United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health issues such as pandemic preparation , as well as on environmental protections , artistic and scientific exchanges , and economic engagement .
Washington would then be better positioned to engage the Cubans on the important , if contentious , issue of human rights .
These steps would go “ beyond what the Obama administration was able to accomplish , ” the study suggests , “ in order to keep the process of normalizing relations moving forward.
” The success of these initiatives would put Joe Biden in the historic position to press @ @ @ @ @ @ @ embargo altogether .
“ The embargo is a central obstacle to the normalization of relations with Cuba , as President Obama recognized when he called on Congress to repeal it , ” states the report .
But that will require finding the votes in Congress to repeal key sections of three laws—the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act , which provided the original authorization for the embargo ; the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act ; and the 1996 Helms-Burton Act , which codified the embargo into law .
Removing the embargo-related clauses of these laws would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once and for all , and , like Obama , break the shackles of the past .
Of course , there are formidable political forces arrayed against ending the embargo , and , the report concedes , major obstacles to renormalizing relations with Cuba .
Among them are the unresolved mystery of medical maladies suffered by US personnel in Havana and the deepening crisis in Venezuela , “ because Republicans will attack engagement as rewarding Havana despite its support for [ Venezuelan President Nicolás ] Maduro.
” Those Republicans , particularly the ones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have already launched preemptive attacks on any potential changes Biden may make .
“ Trump clearly and powerfully sided with the people of Venezuela and Cuba over their oppressors , ” former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley claimed last week in The Washington Post .
“ A Biden reversal in either country would amount to an embrace of socialism and give a pass to the most monstrous regimes in our hemisphere.
” Florida Senator Marco Rubio has urged Biden to “ follow in the footsteps of President Trump ” rather than “ return to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel…for decades of repressive behavior.
” In fact , Obama ’ s policy was a major success .
As “ The United States and Cuba : A New Policy of Engagement ” cogently argues , “ Engagement accomplished more in two years than the policy of hostility achieved in sixty ” —advancing concrete US interests and the interests of the Cuban people .
Moreover , it was a history-making game-changer for US foreign policy .
“ Obama ’ s opening to Cuba was every bit as historic as Nixon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states American University professor William LeoGrande , who drafted the blueprint .
Despite Trump ’ s merciless effort to erase that accomplishment , he told The Nation , “ Biden now has the opportunity to finish what Obama started .
”

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“Today, America chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past so as to reach for a better future—for the Cuban people, for the American people, for our entire hemisphere and for the world,” President Barack Obama announced on December 17, 2014, inaugurating a new era of “positive engagement” in US-Cuba relations.
For two short years, Obama’s new, historic approach showed remarkable promise: Washington and Havana reestablished full diplomatic relations; Obama reinstated commercial air service as well as cruise ship visits to the island; hundreds of thousands of US citizens exercised their constitutional right to travel, providing direct economic stimulus to Cuba’s expanding private sector; US companies received permission to do business in Cuba; Google helped modernize Cuba’s Internet systems and connectivity, expanding the flow of information and self-expression for the Cuban people; US and Cuban officials established bilateral commissions to advance mutual interests in critical areas for both countries, among them counter-narcotics, environmental protection, human rights, and migration.
And Obama became the first US president to conduct an official state visit to the island in an effort to leave the geopolitical baggage of the past behind. More than six decades of Washington’s perpetual hostility toward the Cuban revolution finally appeared to be over.
Then came Trump. Related Articles Are Cuban American Voters Really a ‘Special’ Case? Andrés S. Pertierra Cuba Has Sent 2,000 Doctors and Nurses Overseas to Fight Covid-19 Ed Augustin Barack Obama, Our Man in Havana Peter Kornbluh
“I am canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba,” Trump announced in June 2017. Since then, his administration has dismantled virtually every major component of Obama’s policy, replacing engagement with estrangement and diplomacy with punitive sanctions and imperial demands. As Trump exits the White House screaming and kicking, he is leaving bilateral relations with Cuba, among so many other nations, in tatters.
But last week, two leading foreign policy advocacy NGOs—the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA)—released a comprehensive blueprint for reengaging with Cuba. Titled “The United States and Cuba: A New Policy of Engagement,” the report is intended to provide a clear “roadmap” for President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration to revisit and redress the abysmal state of current US-Cuba relations. At a briefing for media and foreign policy analysts on December 17 to mark the sixth anniversary of Obama’s historic breakthrough on Cuba, WOLA and CDA representatives said they had provided the “detailed inventory of what needs to be done” to members of Biden’s transition team, and they hoped the report would create a “momentum for engagement” that would lead to stronger US-Cuba ties in the future. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
Indeed, the briefing book provides a detailed assessment of how the Biden administration could act quickly to restore, decree-by-decree and statute-by-statute, a policy of constructive engagement—as well as a persuasive argument for why it is in the US interest to do so. “Diplomatic engagement will reduce bilateral tensions, help avoid future crises, and advance U.S. interests on a wide variety of issues,” the report asserts. “Like it or not, many of the most critical problems we face in the Western Hemisphere are transnational—the effects of climate change, the spread of infectious disease, environmental pollution, narcotics and human trafficking, and migration. Progress depends on cooperation with our neighbors, especially near neighbors like Cuba.” Current Issue View our current issue
Moreover, “Cuba is changing,” the blueprint continues. “The United States can have a positive influence on the trajectory of change, but only by being engaged. To continue the policies of the past or to simply modify them at the margins will leave the United States out of the game—isolated from its allies, isolated from ordinary Cubans other than small groups of dissidents, and isolated from the rising generation of Cuban leaders who will shape the island’s future.” Even with all the other critical problems the new administration will face—the Covid crisis, economic recovery, and Iran’s nuclear development among them—the report offers a compelling case for making Cuba a foreign policy priority.
The report recommends that in his first few months in office, President Biden use his executive authority to “reverse the damage done by President Trump.” In a series of short presidential directives, Biden could restore the people-to-people category of travel, which permitted hundreds of thousands of US citizens to see Cuba for themselves; reinstate full commercial air and sea service to the island; and abolish the onerous “Cuba Prohibited Accommodations” list that Trump imposed to prevent travelers from staying in Cuban hotels. Biden also has the power to immediately reopen the flow of family remittances that Trump has closed, and to lift sanctions that have curtailed commercial economic activity between the two countries, which has contributed to the dire economic crisis Cubans are now confronting.
At the same time, the WOLA/CDA blueprint recommends specific steps the Biden White House should take to reestablish the channels of civil diplomacy, which provides the foundation for constructive engagement. Those include:
A personal call from Biden to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel inviting Cuba to attend the Summit of the Americas, which the United States will host in late 2021.
Issuing a new Presidential Policy Directive “establishing the core principles of the policy of engagement and directing executive branch agencies to pursue relations of mutual interest with their Cuban counterparts.”
Nominating a new US ambassador to Havana, which Trump refused to do, and restoring full staffing at the US Embassy, which Trump cut, as well as reopening the consulate.
“Diplomatic re-engagement is a first necessary step in repairing the damage,” the report emphasizes, “and the United States should take the initiative to re-start it.”
After an initial phase of resetting Obama’s engagement policy, in its second year the Biden administration would undertake a series of initiatives to deepen and consolidate commercial, cultural, and political ties. The United States would increase collaboration with Cuba on international health issues such as pandemic preparation, as well as on environmental protections, artistic and scientific exchanges, and economic engagement. Washington would then be better positioned to engage the Cubans on the important, if contentious, issue of human rights. These steps would go “beyond what the Obama administration was able to accomplish,” the study suggests, “in order to keep the process of normalizing relations moving forward.”
The success of these initiatives would put Joe Biden in the historic position to press for legislation that would end the economic embargo altogether. “The embargo is a central obstacle to the normalization of relations with Cuba, as President Obama recognized when he called on Congress to repeal it,” states the report. But that will require finding the votes in Congress to repeal key sections of three laws—the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which provided the original authorization for the embargo; the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act; and the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which codified the embargo into law. Removing the embargo-related clauses of these laws would allow Biden to lift the embargo, once and for all, and, like Obama, break the shackles of the past.
Of course, there are formidable political forces arrayed against ending the embargo, and, the report concedes, major obstacles to renormalizing relations with Cuba. Among them are the unresolved mystery of medical maladies suffered by US personnel in Havana and the deepening crisis in Venezuela, “because Republicans will attack engagement as rewarding Havana despite its support for [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro.”
Those Republicans, particularly the ones with presidential aspirations of their own, have already launched preemptive attacks on any potential changes Biden may make. “Trump clearly and powerfully sided with the people of Venezuela and Cuba over their oppressors,” former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley claimed last week in The Washington Post. “A Biden reversal in either country would amount to an embrace of socialism and give a pass to the most monstrous regimes in our hemisphere.” Florida Senator Marco Rubio has urged Biden to “follow in the footsteps of President Trump” rather than “return to the failed Obama Administration policy of rewarding Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel…for decades of repressive behavior.”
In fact, Obama’s policy was a major success. As “The United States and Cuba: A New Policy of Engagement” cogently argues, “Engagement accomplished more in two years than the policy of hostility achieved in sixty”—advancing concrete US interests and the interests of the Cuban people. Moreover, it was a history-making game-changer for US foreign policy. “Obama’s opening to Cuba was every bit as historic as Nixon’s opening to China,” states American University professor William LeoGrande, who drafted the blueprint. Despite Trump’s merciless effort to erase that accomplishment, he told The Nation, “Biden now has the opportunity to finish what Obama started.”