mintpressnews--2020-04-15--GOP Tax Cuts in Coronavirus Relief Bill Give 82% of Benefits to Millionaires and Billionaires

Hidden away in the Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security ( CARES ) Act is a series of Republican tax cuts that will save the ultra-wealthy $ 90 billion in 2020 alone .
According to a report from the Joint Committee on Taxation ( JCT ) , a nonpartisan congressional body , almost 82 percent of the benefits of the tax breaks will go to just 43,000 Americans who make over $ 1 million annually .
In contrast , less than three percent will go to the great majority who earn less than $ 100,000 per year .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ bill intended to save the economy from implosion , allows business owners to suspend any limitations on how much they can deduct against their non-business income , such as capital gains tax , in order to further reduce their tax liability , in some cases likely to zero .
Unsurprisingly , this business-friendly loophole is destined to aid the extremely wealthy and ultimately hurt the rest .
The JCT projects that the tax cut will add almost $ 170 billion to the deficit over the next ten years , something that Republicans , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use as a battering ram against any progressive policies tabled .
The Trump administration , which originally brushed off the coronavirus as a liberal “ hoax ” intended to unseat the president , has of late spared no expense in trying to buoy the fortunes of the rich .
Last month , the government injected over $ 1.5 trillion into the stock market – the equivalent of the entire national student debt – resulting in a 15-minute rally before another fall .
Big business has been bailed out to the tune of trillions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Despite the fact that filming has been suspended and its theaters , hotels and amusement parks are deserted , Disney ’ s share price has been rallying by over 20 percent of late due to the promise of an enormous quarter-trillion dollar bailout for the hotel and leisure industry .
Meanwhile , airlines are expecting a similarly generous settlement , leading American Airlines stock to surge 27 percent in the last two weeks , despite the fact that barely anyone is currently using their services .
In contrast , the clear losers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , many of whom will have to wait up to five months for a meager $ 1,200 check – far less than those in other advanced countries are receiving .
Unlike for the aviation industry , there has been no moratorium on rent for ordinary Americans , many of whom are risking their lives daily for low wages in jobs now deemed “ critical ” to the survival of society .
Across the United States , breadlines form outside food banks as tens of millions of poor , furloughed or laid off Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ small business owners are not faring much better .
Indeed , one economic consequence of the pandemic might be that large corporations , more able to influence government policy , are saved while smaller ones go under , accelerating the transition of the country into a corporate state .
Barbara Lee ( D–CA ) , the only senator to vote against the PATRIOT Act in 2001 , condemned the new bill , saying : Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ( D–RI ) was equally condemnatory , describing it as “ loot [ ing ] American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and human tragedy , ” demanding that , “ Congress should repeal this rotten , un-American giveaway and use the revenue to help workers battling through this crisis.
” However , the government , whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans , has a clear history of bailing out the rich at the expense of the poor .
While Wall Street was saved in 2008 , millions had their houses repossessed or lost everything due to the great crash and the prolonged economic hardship that followed it .
Unfortunately , while the Whitehouse might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ using a crisis to enrich the ultra-wealthy is becoming a trademark of modern American governance .
Feature photo | Richard Pruitt waves a flag at passing traffic trying to attract business for a tax service located in a strip mall in Dallas , April 6 , 2020 .
LM Otero | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

Hidden away in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a series of Republican tax cuts that will save the ultra-wealthy $90 billion in 2020 alone. According to a report from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), a nonpartisan congressional body, almost 82 percent of the benefits of the tax breaks will go to just 43,000 Americans who make over $1 million annually. In contrast, less than three percent will go to the great majority who earn less than $100,000 per year.
The provision, inserted into the emergency bill intended to save the economy from implosion, allows business owners to suspend any limitations on how much they can deduct against their non-business income, such as capital gains tax, in order to further reduce their tax liability, in some cases likely to zero. Unsurprisingly, this business-friendly loophole is destined to aid the extremely wealthy and ultimately hurt the rest. The JCT projects that the tax cut will add almost $170 billion to the deficit over the next ten years, something that Republicans, if history is any judge, will use as a battering ram against any progressive policies tabled.
The Trump administration, which originally brushed off the coronavirus as a liberal “hoax” intended to unseat the president, has of late spared no expense in trying to buoy the fortunes of the rich. Last month, the government injected over $1.5 trillion into the stock market – the equivalent of the entire national student debt – resulting in a 15-minute rally before another fall. Big business has been bailed out to the tune of trillions for the second time in twelve years. Despite the fact that filming has been suspended and its theaters, hotels and amusement parks are deserted, Disney’s share price has been rallying by over 20 percent of late due to the promise of an enormous quarter-trillion dollar bailout for the hotel and leisure industry. Meanwhile, airlines are expecting a similarly generous settlement, leading American Airlines stock to surge 27 percent in the last two weeks, despite the fact that barely anyone is currently using their services.
In contrast, the clear losers of the bailout have been working-class Americans, many of whom will have to wait up to five months for a meager $1,200 check – far less than those in other advanced countries are receiving. Unlike for the aviation industry, there has been no moratorium on rent for ordinary Americans, many of whom are risking their lives daily for low wages in jobs now deemed “critical” to the survival of society. Across the United States, breadlines form outside food banks as tens of millions of poor, furloughed or laid off Americans struggle to afford basic sustenance.
Many small business owners are not faring much better. Indeed, one economic consequence of the pandemic might be that large corporations, more able to influence government policy, are saved while smaller ones go under, accelerating the transition of the country into a corporate state.
Barbara Lee (D–CA), the only senator to vote against the PATRIOT Act in 2001, condemned the new bill, saying:
Instead of giving relief to Americans who are struggling to make ends meet, Senate Republicans snuck in tax breaks and corporate giveaways for their wealthy friends. We should be prioritizing the needs of working-class Americans – not millionaires.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D–RI) was equally condemnatory, describing it as “loot[ing] American taxpayers in the midst of an economic and human tragedy,” demanding that, “Congress should repeal this rotten, un-American giveaway and use the revenue to help workers battling through this crisis.”
However, the government, whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans, has a clear history of bailing out the rich at the expense of the poor. While Wall Street was saved in 2008, millions had their houses repossessed or lost everything due to the great crash and the prolonged economic hardship that followed it. Unfortunately, while the Whitehouse might characterize the latest legislation as un-American, using a crisis to enrich the ultra-wealthy is becoming a trademark of modern American governance.
Feature photo | Richard Pruitt waves a flag at passing traffic trying to attract business for a tax service located in a strip mall in Dallas, April 6, 2020. LM Otero | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-04-15--As One of the Largest Bailouts in History Looms, “Crisis-Ridden” Corporations Reap Record Profits

Hospitals overflowing with sick and dying patients .
Overworked staff risking their lives wearing garbage bags as makeshift protective equipment against an invisible but deadly virus .
Refrigerated containers left outside medical facilities , filling with the dead .
Mass graves being dug in the city .
It is like something out of a horror movie .
But it is very real and is happening right now in America .
“ We are doing the best we can , ” Derrick Smith , a certified registered nurse anesthetist in New York City told MintPress last week , “ but people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exaggeration.
” “ I ’ ve never imagined or seen our healthcare system take such a beating before , ” he said .
“ This is something that none of us have ever really seen.
” Despite leaving nearly every other sector of the economy in ruins , the COVID-19 pandemic has been a windfall for the for-profit healthcare industry , which is expecting to make dazzling profits off of the crisis .
For example , UnitedHealthcare – the country ’ s largest insurer , controlling over 50,000 doctors – is predicted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billion later today .
That is according to former healthcare industry director turned industry whistleblower and reform advocate Wendell Potter , who yesterday accused the conglomerate of some highly unethical practices in order to cut corners .
Just as the pandemic was first hitting America , Potter says , UnitedHealthcare began strongarming its doctors into accepting pay cuts of up to 60 percent in an effort to nickel and dime employees and ensure they were operating with the minimum number of staff possible .
As a result , even patients at in-network hospitals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by out-of-house medical professionals , seeing as UnitedHealthcare does not directly employ enough staff .
“ Patients are getting crushed financially because of UnitedHealth ’ s actions .
And , believe it or not , some doctors may as well , ” Potter says , concluding that , “ As ER docs & other physicians risk their lives treating COVID-19 patients , UnitedHealth is playing games to rake in profits.
” Other big corporations winning big from coronavirus are Amazon and videoconferencing software Zoom .
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has seen his fortune @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while Zoom founder Eric Yuan ’ s fortune has more than doubled of late , up to $ 7.4 billion .
At least the healthcare industry is doing something productive as it rakes in huge profits .
Other corporations stand to make billions even as their businesses are completely idle .
Filming has been suspended , movie theaters closed , Disney ’ s stores and hotels are shuttered .
Disneyland is gathering dust , the once teeming theme parks now eerily silent .
The company has furloughed 43,000 staff .
And yet Disney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from $ 85.76 per share in March to over $ 106 today , shareholders have seen the value of their holdings increase by 20 percent .
The reason ?
Because of a quarter-trillion dollar bailout of the hotel and entertainment industry that will see the largest corporations like Disney plied with cash , even as ordinary Americans will have to wait up to five months for a meager $ 1,200 government check .
People without a bank account – i.e .
the poorest in society – will be the last to receive aid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ USA Today suggests that large airlines are the “ big winners ” from Trump ’ s bailout package .
This , despite the fact that industry is hemorrhaging money .
Virtually nobody is flying , and airlines have had to refund huge numbers of travelers .
Yet stockholders in big airline corporations are smiling , thanks to news of a similar bailout .
Since April 3 , American Airlines shares have rallied from $ 9.39 to $ 11.94 today , a 27 percent surge .
The government also rushed through laws ensuring that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the next six months .
Needless to say , there has not been similar legislation for American citizens laid off or self-isolating due to COVID-19 .
While the government insists there will be some strings attached to one of the greatest corporate bailouts in history , it is clear that , just like in 2008 , they will not insist on transformative changes within the industry .
Indeed big questions are not even being asked .
How many hotels are offering their empty rooms to the homeless or to people needing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
How many have offered to be turned into makeshift hospitals ?
In France , the nationalized high-speed rail service is ferrying the sick around the country from coronavirus hotspots to hospitals with free beds .
Couldn ’ t unused planes be doing the same thing in the United States ?
And if the government is essentially going to buy out every hotel or airline in the country , why not nationalize them outright and use the future dividends from a profitable industry to pay for better schools , roads and fund social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that all corporations taking money accept workers on their boards or pay all employees at least $ 15 per hour ?
Does it not make sense that a public health emergency requires a public healthcare system ?
Unfortunately , it is abundantly clear for whom the government works in the U.S. , and this is underlined by the lack of questioning or conditions on the bailout .
Once again , it appears that big business will get bailed out and the people are getting sold out .
Feature photo | Vice President Mike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pharmaceutical executives in the Cabinet Room of the White House , March 2 , 2020 , in Washington .
Andrew Harnik | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American @ @ @ @ @ @

Hospitals overflowing with sick and dying patients. Overworked staff risking their lives wearing garbage bags as makeshift protective equipment against an invisible but deadly virus. Refrigerated containers left outside medical facilities, filling with the dead. Mass graves being dug in the city. It is like something out of a horror movie. But it is very real and is happening right now in America. “We are doing the best we can,” Derrick Smith, a certified registered nurse anesthetist in New York City told MintPress last week, “but people are dying left and right, no exaggeration.” “I’ve never imagined or seen our healthcare system take such a beating before,” he said. “This is something that none of us have ever really seen.”
Despite leaving nearly every other sector of the economy in ruins, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a windfall for the for-profit healthcare industry, which is expecting to make dazzling profits off of the crisis. For example, UnitedHealthcare – the country’s largest insurer, controlling over 50,000 doctors – is predicted to announce yearly profits of over $21 billion later today. That is according to former healthcare industry director turned industry whistleblower and reform advocate Wendell Potter, who yesterday accused the conglomerate of some highly unethical practices in order to cut corners.
Just as the pandemic was first hitting America, Potter says, UnitedHealthcare began strongarming its doctors into accepting pay cuts of up to 60 percent in an effort to nickel and dime employees and ensure they were operating with the minimum number of staff possible. As a result, even patients at in-network hospitals risk receiving surprise bills after being treated by out-of-house medical professionals, seeing as UnitedHealthcare does not directly employ enough staff.
“Patients are getting crushed financially because of UnitedHealth’s actions. And, believe it or not, some doctors may as well,” Potter says, concluding that, “As ER docs & other physicians risk their lives treating COVID-19 patients, UnitedHealth is playing games to rake in profits.”
Other big corporations winning big from coronavirus are Amazon and videoconferencing software Zoom. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has seen his fortune swell by over $24 billion, while Zoom founder Eric Yuan’s fortune has more than doubled of late, up to $7.4 billion.
At least the healthcare industry is doing something productive as it rakes in huge profits. Other corporations stand to make billions even as their businesses are completely idle.
Free rent and welfare… for corporations
Filming has been suspended, movie theaters closed, Disney’s stores and hotels are shuttered. Disneyland is gathering dust, the once teeming theme parks now eerily silent. The company has furloughed 43,000 staff. And yet Disney’s stock price is rallying; from $85.76 per share in March to over $106 today, shareholders have seen the value of their holdings increase by 20 percent. The reason? Because of a quarter-trillion dollar bailout of the hotel and entertainment industry that will see the largest corporations like Disney plied with cash, even as ordinary Americans will have to wait up to five months for a meager $1,200 government check. People without a bank account – i.e. the poorest in society – will be the last to receive aid.
Along with the hotel industry, USA Today suggests that large airlines are the “big winners” from Trump’s bailout package. This, despite the fact that industry is hemorrhaging money. Virtually nobody is flying, and airlines have had to refund huge numbers of travelers. Yet stockholders in big airline corporations are smiling, thanks to news of a similar bailout. Since April 3, American Airlines shares have rallied from $9.39 to $11.94 today, a 27 percent surge. The government also rushed through laws ensuring that airlines will not have to pay rent for the next six months. Needless to say, there has not been similar legislation for American citizens laid off or self-isolating due to COVID-19.
While the government insists there will be some strings attached to one of the greatest corporate bailouts in history, it is clear that, just like in 2008, they will not insist on transformative changes within the industry.
Indeed big questions are not even being asked. How many hotels are offering their empty rooms to the homeless or to people needing to self-isolate away from family members or housemates? How many have offered to be turned into makeshift hospitals? In France, the nationalized high-speed rail service is ferrying the sick around the country from coronavirus hotspots to hospitals with free beds. Couldn’t unused planes be doing the same thing in the United States? And if the government is essentially going to buy out every hotel or airline in the country, why not nationalize them outright and use the future dividends from a profitable industry to pay for better schools, roads and fund social programs? Why not at least stipulate that all corporations taking money accept workers on their boards or pay all employees at least $15 per hour? Does it not make sense that a public health emergency requires a public healthcare system?
Unfortunately, it is abundantly clear for whom the government works in the U.S., and this is underlined by the lack of questioning or conditions on the bailout. Once again, it appears that big business will get bailed out and the people are getting sold out.
Feature photo | Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump meet with pharmaceutical executives in the Cabinet Room of the White House, March 2, 2020, in Washington. Andrew Harnik | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-04-15--Long Breadlines Form Outside of Food Banks as America Struggles to Cope With COVID-19 Fallout

At least 10,000 cars line up in an orderly fashion in San Antonio , all full of hungry , increasingly desperate people .
Thousands already arrived the night before just to get a chance to eat .
“ We just can ’ t feed this many , ” said the CEO of the local food bank that Texans have descended upon .
It is a scene playing out across the country ; 1,300 cars swamped the drive-thru Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank .
The United Center , home to the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks , has been transformed into a huge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a wedge through the cracks in American society , where tens of millions of people now face unemployment and hunger .
Some have claimed that the food lines are a glimpse into what a future American socialist state would look like .
However , this is not a hypothetical society but a very real present .
It is Breadline 2020 , today ’ s America .
Existing food banks are struggling to cope ; one worker of a food bank in Baton Rouge , LA , claimed that the current situation is worse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spoke to a number of people on the front lines attempting to keep America fed during the worst pandemic in a century .
“ Needs have skyrocketed not just here but around the country , ” said Eleanor Goldfield , a creative activist , and journalist .
Along with Guayaquil , Ecuador , the New York-New Jersey metro area is one of the world epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic .
Authorities have barely any idea about how many people have died ; New York State ’ s estimate for the New York City @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the city ’ s own count – an indication of just how badly overwhelmed the system is .
Over one percent of all retirees are currently in hospital with COVID-19 .
“ People are dying left and right , no exaggeration , ” Derrick Smith , a local certified registered nurse anesthetist , told us last week , “ I ’ ve never imagined or seen our healthcare system take such a beating before.
” Makeshift morgues – cooled trailers full of bodies – are a feature of most hospitals in the area @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dug on an uninhabited island in the Long Island Sound .
“ New York City is facing a crisis unlike anything we ’ ve seen .
As the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic continues , more New Yorkers are facing food insecurity , ” said the Food Bank for New York City .
It estimates that it will have to provide 15 million meals over the next 90 days .
“ We have seen a significant increase in demand for food , about 30-40 percent higher , ” said Karla Bardinas of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Ocean Counties , New Jersey .
Workers on the frontline not only have to deal with increased demand but also the very real risk of death .
“ We recently lost a colleague , Diana Tennant , age 51 , from complications of the coronavirus…so of course , it has been difficult .
But we all have a commitment to feeding our neighbors who are food insecure , and now , more than ever , people need our help to put food on their tables , so we are inspired to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bardinas told MintPress .
Even taking the maximum precautions possible , critical workers are putting themselves on the line every day .
That is one thing when you are a medical worker like Smith , knowing before you sign up that exposure to infection is always a risk .
It is quite another for low paid workers in retail .
Last week a 27-year-old grocery store worker at Giant Foods in Maryland died after contracting the virus .
Her mother claimed that the store refused to provide protective equipment .
She was given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ My baby ’ s gone because of $ 20.64 .
You know what using the proper PPE could ’ ve done for my baby ?
” she asked MSNBC ’ s Stephanie Ruhle .
Both Bardinas and Goldfield said their organizations are taking strict safety precautions in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19 .
Like with so much else , it is the poor that are being hit hardest by the coronavirus .
1.5 million New Yorkers are food insecure at the best of times .
The South Bronx has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent – of any community in the United States .
In the Bronx , the poorest borough of New York , people are dying at over twice the rate as they are in Manhattan .
While the rich have the means to shelter in place and use their savings during a crisis , that option is not available to the poor , not least because of the anemic response from the government , who have been quick to bail out industry , but much slower to help the people .
Nearly half of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Furthermore , 32 percent of Bronx residents work in caring professions ( nurses , care workers , teachers , etc ) and simply can not work from home as others can .
It is a similar story the world over .
In Brazil , residents of urban shantytowns can not safely self-isolate , as their houses lack private rooms and do not have the ability to store large quantities of food .
Furthermore , few have piped water , making washing hands and other sanitary practices impossible .
In India , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , offering 2,000 rupees ( around $ 26 ) to all citizens to get them through .
But locals complain this is far from enough to sustain themselves and that the poor , who live semi-communally , lack the equipment to cook at home , thus putting them at greater risk .
Back in D.C. , Goldfield is putting a brave face on it , but it is clear food banks around the country are struggling to keep up with demand .
“ We ’ re doing the best we can .
Mutual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with what comes – fluid but never flimsy , ” she said , “ we ’ ve been making our own masks and hand sanitizer .
We now have more delivery days set up , and are expanding our network to access produce , bread , meat and cheese from local and environmentally conscious producers.
” In New Jersey , Bardinas says Fulfill has had serious problems acquiring certain products but is currently rising to the challenge .
“ But our expenses are exorbitant meeting the increase in demand .
We could use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flexibility to immediately meet the needs of our community at fulfillNJ.org.
” Virtually every food bank across the country is in a similarly difficult position .
“ It is powerful and heavy working here right now…this is the first time I ’ ve been in D.C. for such a long stretch of time .
But right now , everywhere is the frontline .
Everywhere is crushed by the horrific failings of our oppressive capitalist system , ” said Goldfield , adding : The great author and activist Arundhati Roy recently wrote that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ future : “ We can choose to walk through it , dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred , our avarice , our data banks and dead ideas , our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us .
Or we can walk through lightly , with little luggage , ready to imagine another world .
And ready to fight for it.
” The storm might far be over , but there is the possibility to use the crisis to build a fairer society , one where the need for food banks will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ books .
Feature photo | Boxes of food are distributed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank , at a drive thru distribution near PPG Arena in downtown Pittsburgh , April 10 , 2020 .
Gene J. Puskar | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

At least 10,000 cars line up in an orderly fashion in San Antonio, all full of hungry, increasingly desperate people. Thousands already arrived the night before just to get a chance to eat. “We just can’t feed this many,” said the CEO of the local food bank that Texans have descended upon.
It is a scene playing out across the country; 1,300 cars swamped the drive-thru Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank. The United Center, home to the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, has been transformed into a huge food warehouse, as COVID-19 has driven a wedge through the cracks in American society, where tens of millions of people now face unemployment and hunger.
Some have claimed that the food lines are a glimpse into what a future American socialist state would look like. However, this is not a hypothetical society but a very real present. It is Breadline 2020, today’s America. Existing food banks are struggling to cope; one worker of a food bank in Baton Rouge, LA, claimed that the current situation is worse than after Hurricane Katrina.
https://twitter.com/PndmcSrvvrsUSA/status/1247714788978933761
MintPress News spoke to a number of people on the front lines attempting to keep America fed during the worst pandemic in a century. “Needs have skyrocketed not just here but around the country,” said Eleanor Goldfield, a creative activist, and journalist.
One man who called us here at D.C. Mutual Aid to request help said that he had walked several miles the day before in order to get to a local food bank only to find that they were closed. He said he was completely out of food and didn’t understand how they could just shut down operations like that.”
Along with Guayaquil, Ecuador, the New York-New Jersey metro area is one of the world epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities have barely any idea about how many people have died; New York State’s estimate for the New York City death toll is over 1,000 more than the city’s own count – an indication of just how badly overwhelmed the system is. Over one percent of all retirees are currently in hospital with COVID-19. “People are dying left and right, no exaggeration,” Derrick Smith, a local certified registered nurse anesthetist, told us last week, “I’ve never imagined or seen our healthcare system take such a beating before.” Makeshift morgues – cooled trailers full of bodies – are a feature of most hospitals in the area now, and mass graves are being dug on an uninhabited island in the Long Island Sound.
“New York City is facing a crisis unlike anything we’ve seen. As the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic continues, more New Yorkers are facing food insecurity,” said the Food Bank for New York City. It estimates that it will have to provide 15 million meals over the next 90 days.
This is what I saw. Blistering heat. Folks in line since 7pm the night before. To get food. Hundreds of volunteers busting it to serve, so families could go home (probably to pass some out to their neighbors too) & get the nourishment they need. This is the COVID-19 Crisis. pic.twitter.com/CL8Be0wNwI — Robert R. Fike (@robfike) April 9, 2020
“We have seen a significant increase in demand for food, about 30-40 percent higher,” said Karla Bardinas of Fulfill, formerly the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, New Jersey.
These meals are on top of what we were already serving as a direct result of schools and businesses being closed and people losing their jobs.”
Workers on the frontline not only have to deal with increased demand but also the very real risk of death. “We recently lost a colleague, Diana Tennant, age 51, from complications of the coronavirus…so of course, it has been difficult. But we all have a commitment to feeding our neighbors who are food insecure, and now, more than ever, people need our help to put food on their tables, so we are inspired to work hard to continue our mission,” Bardinas told MintPress.
Even taking the maximum precautions possible, critical workers are putting themselves on the line every day. That is one thing when you are a medical worker like Smith, knowing before you sign up that exposure to infection is always a risk. It is quite another for low paid workers in retail. Last week a 27-year-old grocery store worker at Giant Foods in Maryland died after contracting the virus. Her mother claimed that the store refused to provide protective equipment. She was given her last paycheck: $20.64. “My baby’s gone because of $20.64. You know what using the proper PPE could’ve done for my baby?” she asked MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle. Both Bardinas and Goldfield said their organizations are taking strict safety precautions in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Like with so much else, it is the poor that are being hit hardest by the coronavirus. 1.5 million New Yorkers are food insecure at the best of times. The South Bronx has the highest rates of hunger – 37 percent – of any community in the United States. In the Bronx, the poorest borough of New York, people are dying at over twice the rate as they are in Manhattan. While the rich have the means to shelter in place and use their savings during a crisis, that option is not available to the poor, not least because of the anemic response from the government, who have been quick to bail out industry, but much slower to help the people. Nearly half of America was already broke before the pandemic. Furthermore, 32 percent of Bronx residents work in caring professions (nurses, care workers, teachers, etc) and simply cannot work from home as others can.
COVID-19 rate & 2009 foreclosure petition rate in Boston neighborhoods pic.twitter.com/oMDpQDrwxt — Toby Merrill (@tobmer) April 7, 2020
It is a similar story the world over. In Brazil, residents of urban shantytowns cannot safely self-isolate, as their houses lack private rooms and do not have the ability to store large quantities of food. Furthermore, few have piped water, making washing hands and other sanitary practices impossible. In India, the government has declared a generalized three-week lockdown, offering 2,000 rupees (around $26) to all citizens to get them through. But locals complain this is far from enough to sustain themselves and that the poor, who live semi-communally, lack the equipment to cook at home, thus putting them at greater risk.
Back in D.C., Goldfield is putting a brave face on it, but it is clear food banks around the country are struggling to keep up with demand. “We’re doing the best we can. Mutual aid is powerful in that it rolls with what comes – fluid but never flimsy,” she said, “we’ve been making our own masks and hand sanitizer. We now have more delivery days set up, and are expanding our network to access produce, bread, meat and cheese from local and environmentally conscious producers.” In New Jersey, Bardinas says Fulfill has had serious problems acquiring certain products but is currently rising to the challenge. “But our expenses are exorbitant meeting the increase in demand. We could use monetary donations that will give us the flexibility to immediately meet the needs of our community at fulfillNJ.org.” Virtually every food bank across the country is in a similarly difficult position.
“It is powerful and heavy working here right now…this is the first time I’ve been in D.C. for such a long stretch of time. But right now, everywhere is the frontline. Everywhere is crushed by the horrific failings of our oppressive capitalist system,” said Goldfield, adding:
Mutual aid is how we fight, and how we build. It’s horrible to see how fragile the construct of our society is, how easily it disposes of the most marginalized. Yet, it would be far worse to ignore that reality than to see it and act upon it. I’m hopeful that this work will not only see us through this crisis but create the foundations of what is to come, after the storm is over.”
The great author and activist Arundhati Roy recently wrote that the current pandemic is a portal to the future: “We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.” The storm might far be over, but there is the possibility to use the crisis to build a fairer society, one where the need for food banks will be relegated to the pages of history books.
Feature photo | Boxes of food are distributed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, at a drive thru distribution near PPG Arena in downtown Pittsburgh, April 10, 2020. Gene J. Puskar | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-04-14--Palestinian Prisoners Day: Remembering Palestine’s Organic Intellectuals

April 17 officially marks Palestinian Prisoners ’ Day , a day when the Palestinian people collectively remember the more than five thousand prisoners currently incarcerated in Israeli jails , many of them minors and many held without charge or trial .
Few have been as tireless in advocating for these forgotten souls as Palestinian intellectual powerhouse and author Ramzy Baroud .
Baroud recently penned “ These Chains Will Be Broken : Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons.
” The book consists of twenty stories narrated or written by Palestinian prisoners and offers a unique insight into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ face .
MintPress is proud to partner with the book ’ s author to publish its introduction in its entirety .
“ FOR MY OPINIONS , ” wrote Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci , “ I am willing to lose my life , not only to stay in prison .
And this is why I am calm and at peace with myself.
” Gramsci spent 11 years in prison during the fascist reign over Italy , a brutal regime that crushed every form of political dissent between 1922 and 1943 .
He died only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gramsci ’ s revolutionary life and untimely death at the age of 46 reflected his own definition of the “ organic intellectual , ” someone who is not a mere “ mover of feelings and passions ” but an “ active participant in practical life , as constructor and organizer—a ‘ permanent persuader , ’ not just a simple orator.
” This definition qualifies all men and women to be intellectuals , as per Gramsci ’ s thinking , even if they do not possess that function in society , simply because “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every form of intellectual participation can be excluded , ” particularly those activities that are guided by “ a conscious line of moral conduct.
” All the people whose stories are being told in this book , every single one of them , possess a claim to true , organic intellect .
They all fought for an idea , an opinion , were—and are—willing to lose their lives to defend these ideas .
In the case of Faris Baroud ( “ I See You in My Heart ” ) , and many other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , done so .
These are the stories of Palestine ’ s true intellectuals , women and men , mothers and fathers , children and teens , teachers , fighters and human rights advocates , united by a single motive that transcends region , religion and ideology : resistance , that is , taking a brave moral stance against injustice in all of its forms .
It would be utterly unfair to box Palestinian prisoners into convenient categories of victims or terrorists , because both classifications render an entire nation either victim or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reflect the true nature of the decades-long Palestinian struggle against colonialism , military occupation and the entrenched Israeli apartheid .
According to United Nations and Palestinian sources , between 750,000 and 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned since the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem , the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in June 1967 .
They include 23,000 women and 25,000 children .
Currently , there are 5,250 Palestinian political prisoners in Israel , a number that is constantly growing , not only because Israel insists on maintaining its military occupation , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to resist it .
Expectedly , Israel dubs any form of Palestinian resistance an act of “ terrorism , ” a misleading depiction of the reality of Palestinian political dissent which ultimately aims at their dehumanization , and thus justifying the subjugation of an entire nation .
But Palestinians are not passive victims , either .
“ In the end , we did more than fashion hope out of despair , ” wrote Khalida Jarrar , a Palestinian leader and prisoner , in her story , “ The Cohort of Defiance ” : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the way we perceive ourselves , the prison and the prison guards .
We defeated any lingering sense of inferiority and turned the walls of prison into an opportunity .
When I saw the beautiful smiles on the faces of my students who completed their high school education in prison , I felt that my mission has been accomplished .
Jarrar , who also wrote the Foreword to this book , is Gramsci ’ s true organic intellectual in its most ideal manifestation .
She has been more than a “ mover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has defiantly and tirelessly challenged her tormentors , educated a generation of women who were denied such opportunities in prison , and has never deviated from her strong , revolutionary discourse .
It is no surprise that she was imprisoned repeatedly by Israel .
Each time , she emerged stronger , more defiant and determined .
Dima al-Wawi is Khalida Jarrar in the making .
At the age of 12 , she was arrested , tried and imprisoned on the basis of the ever-convenient charges of attempting to stab a fully armed Israeli @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tzur , which was built illegally on Palestinian land that belongs to her town of Halhul , north of Al-Khalil ( Hebron ) .
“ After I was released I returned to the Halhul Martyrs School , ” she wrote : It was wonderful to be back , and I can not wait to finish my education and become a journalist , carrying the message of the prisoners and their suffering to the world .
I want to show the world how the children of Palestine are mistreated every day by the occupation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prisoners protected young Dima , serving the role of mother and older sister , in itself an act of solidarity that defines Palestinian society .
Israa Ja ’ abis is one of these prisoners who assumed the role of family ; her story inside prison is conveyed through her sister , Mona .
“ The harshness of the occupier scarred her face and body , amputated her fingers and is relentlessly trying to break her spirit , ” wrote Mona .
The fact that Israa embraced Dima during her short stay in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mother ’ s spirit was never broken , although severe burns have covered most of her body .
Whether Khalida , Dima , Israa , Ali , Dareen , Faris and all others have met in prison , in court or anywhere else , matters little .
Their lives are connected at their very core .
The struggle is one and the same .
Their stories are elaborations on the same narrative , that of engaged resisters , organic intellectuals who are serving a higher cause than their own freedom : the freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resistance is a collective experience , the writing of this book has also been a collective effort .
It is our attempt to reclaim the narrative of our people , to liberate it from the suffocating confines of political , media and academic discourse and take it into the heart of the resistance .
These Chains Will Be Broken is a collection of the stories of Palestinian resisters , either conveyed by them , or through close family members , in an intimate setting that is free from the typical representation and misrepresentation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the prisoners will not be defending themselves as if in an Israeli military court , or trying to directly address media reporting about their presumed “ guilt.
” Nor will the issue of violent vs. non-violent resistance be dealt with .
Such a “ debate ” may satisfy the theoretical preoccupations of western audiences in far-away academic circles , but none of these prisoners—whether accused of killing Israeli soldiers or of writing a poem—have sought to classify their muqawama—resistance—in any way .
The stories in this book were written directly or conveyed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recordings , by those who have lived them .
The initial research questions that prisoners or their families were asked to address sought to elicit an understanding of the prison experience and its impact on the individual , the family and the community .
The end result provided here expresses the individually unique experience of each prisoner , while highlighting a recurring theme—a thread in the narrative that represents the collective story of Palestinian resistance .
While conducting interviews related to the book with several freed Palestinian prisoners in Istanbul , Turkey in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the clarity of their political discourse .
Of the three prisoners we interviewed , one was associated with the political movement Fatah , another with Hamas , and a third with Islamic Jihad .
Despite the seemingly great ideological divides among the three groups , I was struck by the degree of unity and cohesion in their individual narratives when it came to the subject of resistance , whether in or outside prison .
As the book demonstrates , muqawama is the common denominator among all prisoners ; in fact , among all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in part , why we have chosen this form of narrative to tell the story of Palestinian prisoners and , by extension , the story of Palestinian resistance as a whole .
As in all my previous books , I am compelled by this imperative to relocate the centrality of the Palestine narrative from an Israeli perspective to a Palestinian one , especially one that overlooks the typical , elitist angle and focuses , instead , on retelling the story from the viewpoint of ordinary , poor , underprivileged and working-class Palestinians .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not mine alone .
I and those who have dedicated to putting this book together , are mere conveyors of ideas , notions and the intelligence of Palestine ’ s true organic intellectuals , even if they are not accorded such a role in society .
On the other hand , these are also our stories , for all the Palestinian contributors who helped facilitate and assemble the content of this book have also experienced Israeli imprisonment in various forms .
I lived in a Gaza refugee camp for much of my life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of my fellow refugees , under protracted military curfews , some lasting months at a time .
It is this “ positionality ” that allowed me , together with other Palestinian researchers , to be able to relate to the text in an entirely different way .
This is not a detached journalistic or academic text .
It is our own collective story , as well .
Indeed , the “ prison ” in this book is a metaphor for the collective Palestinian prison experience .
All Palestinians are prisoners—those held in besieged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fences and checkpoints in the West Bank .
All experience some manifestation of prison every day of their lives .
Even those trapped in their seemingly endless exiles , unable to reunite with their families or visit their Palestinian homes , are also enduring that prison experience in one way or another .
One would dare to claim that Israelis , too , are prisoners , though of a different kind .
“ A man who takes away another man ’ s freedom is a prisoner of hatred , he is locked behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” wrote the late iconic anti-Apartheid hero and long-time prisoner , Nelson Mandela .
“ The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.
” I believe that this book needed to be written .
This stems from my insistence that only “ people ’ s history ” or “ history from below ” is capable of unearthing and fairly conveying reality in the most egalitarian and democratic way .
Specifically , people ’ s history directly defies two , dominant narratives concerning Palestine : the elitist rationalization of Palestinian political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outcome of the workings of an individual or a faction/group ) , and the reductionist approach to any subject concerning Palestinians , a discourse that teeters between the extremist view , which denies their very existence , and that which presents their struggle and national aspirations as a “ problem ” to be quickly—if not haphazardly—remedied .
The story of Palestine can not be truly appreciated through the understanding of the counter-claims on this precious piece of land : those made by the original inhabitants of Palestine , the Palestinian people , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ began arriving in Palestine in the late 19th century .
The Palestinian story is also that of emotions , of resistance and sacrifice , of defiance and sumoud , steadfastness .
Though it is a Palestinian story , it is also the story of every nation that has fought against injustice , regardless of when and how it expressed itself .
Antonio Gramsci could have easily been a Palestinian prisoner , as Faris Baroud could have been an Italian partisan , fighting fascism .
The former wrote to his mother from prison ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s letters to him .
I would love to hug you tight to show you how much I love you and to relieve some of the pain that I caused you , but I couldn ’ t do otherwise .
That ’ s life , it is very hard , and sometimes children must deeply hurt their own mother , to preserve their honor and their dignity as human beings .
“ Oh , how I cried for you , Faris , ” wrote Ria Baroud : My eyes can only tell day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But thanks to God , thanks to God , I am content with my fate , for this is what Allah has decided for me .
It is you that I am concerned about .
So , I pray all day , every day .
I make supplications to God so that you come back , and that I may choose your bride for you .
We will throw a big party and all the neighbors and friends , all the Barouds and all the freed prisoners and their families will come and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on April 27 , 1937 from a cerebral hemorrhage , only six days after he was released .
Faris Baroud died on February 6 , 2019 , from a kidney disease , in Nafha Prison in the Naqab Desert .
They were both organic intellectuals of the highest caliber .
Feature photo | A man passes a mural supporting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails , in the West Bank city of Ramallah .
Nasser Nasser | AP Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a widely published and translated author , an internationally syndicated columnist and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is The Last Earth : A Palestinian Story ( Pluto Press , 2018 ) .
He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter ( 2015 ) , and was a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies , UCSB .
Visit his website at www.ramzybaroud.net .

April 17 officially marks Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, a day when the Palestinian people collectively remember the more than five thousand prisoners currently incarcerated in Israeli jails, many of them minors and many held without charge or trial.
Few have been as tireless in advocating for these forgotten souls as Palestinian intellectual powerhouse and author Ramzy Baroud. Baroud recently penned “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons.”
The book consists of twenty stories narrated or written by Palestinian prisoners and offers a unique insight into the struggles they, and their families, face. MintPress is proud to partner with the book’s author to publish its introduction in its entirety.
“FOR MY OPINIONS,” wrote Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci, “I am willing to lose my life, not only to stay in prison. And this is why I am calm and at peace with myself.” Gramsci spent 11 years in prison during the fascist reign over Italy, a brutal regime that crushed every form of political dissent between 1922 and 1943. He died only six days after he was released.
Gramsci’s revolutionary life and untimely death at the age of 46 reflected his own definition of the “organic intellectual,” someone who is not a mere “mover of feelings and passions” but an “active participant in practical life, as constructor and organizer—a ‘permanent persuader,’ not just a simple orator.”
This definition qualifies all men and women to be intellectuals, as per Gramsci’s thinking, even if they do not possess that function in society, simply because “there is no human activity from which every form of intellectual participation can be excluded,” particularly those activities that are guided by “a conscious line of moral conduct.”
All the people whose stories are being told in this book, every single one of them, possess a claim to true, organic intellect. They all fought for an idea, an opinion, were—and are—willing to lose their lives to defend these ideas. In the case of Faris Baroud (“I See You in My Heart”), and many other Palestinian prisoners, they have, indeed, done so.
These are the stories of Palestine’s true intellectuals, women and men, mothers and fathers, children and teens, teachers, fighters and human rights advocates, united by a single motive that transcends region, religion and ideology: resistance, that is, taking a brave moral stance against injustice in all of its forms.
It would be utterly unfair to box Palestinian prisoners into convenient categories of victims or terrorists, because both classifications render an entire nation either victim or terrorist, a notion that does not reflect the true nature of the decades-long Palestinian struggle against colonialism, military occupation and the entrenched Israeli apartheid.
According to United Nations and Palestinian sources, between 750,000 and 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned since the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in June 1967. They include 23,000 women and 25,000 children. Currently, there are 5,250 Palestinian political prisoners in Israel, a number that is constantly growing, not only because Israel insists on maintaining its military occupation, but also because Palestinians insist on their right to resist it. Expectedly, Israel dubs any form of Palestinian resistance an act of “terrorism,” a misleading depiction of the reality of Palestinian political dissent which ultimately aims at their dehumanization, and thus justifying the subjugation of an entire nation. But Palestinians are not passive victims, either.
“In the end, we did more than fashion hope out of despair,” wrote Khalida Jarrar, a Palestinian leader and prisoner, in her story, “The Cohort of Defiance”:
We also evolved in our narrative, in the way we perceive ourselves, the prison and the prison guards. We defeated any lingering sense of inferiority and turned the walls of prison into an opportunity. When I saw the beautiful smiles on the faces of my students who completed their high school education in prison, I felt that my mission has been accomplished.
Jarrar, who also wrote the Foreword to this book, is Gramsci’s true organic intellectual in its most ideal manifestation. She has been more than a “mover of feelings and passions,” and has defiantly and tirelessly challenged her tormentors, educated a generation of women who were denied such opportunities in prison, and has never deviated from her strong, revolutionary discourse. It is no surprise that she was imprisoned repeatedly by Israel. Each time, she emerged stronger, more defiant and determined.
Dima al-Wawi is Khalida Jarrar in the making. At the age of 12, she was arrested, tried and imprisoned on the basis of the ever-convenient charges of attempting to stab a fully armed Israeli settler, near the settlement of Karmei Tzur, which was built illegally on Palestinian land that belongs to her town of Halhul, north of Al-Khalil (Hebron).
“After I was released I returned to the Halhul Martyrs School,” she wrote:
It was wonderful to be back, and I cannot wait to finish my education and become a journalist, carrying the message of the prisoners and their suffering to the world. I want to show the world how the children of Palestine are mistreated every day by the occupation.
In prison, many Palestinian female prisoners protected young Dima, serving the role of mother and older sister, in itself an act of solidarity that defines Palestinian society. Israa Ja’abis is one of these prisoners who assumed the role of family; her story inside prison is conveyed through her sister, Mona.
“The harshness of the occupier scarred her face and body, amputated her fingers and is relentlessly trying to break her spirit,” wrote Mona. The fact that Israa embraced Dima during her short stay in the Ofer Prison is proof that the young mother’s spirit was never broken, although severe burns have covered most of her body.
Whether Khalida, Dima, Israa, Ali, Dareen, Faris and all others have met in prison, in court or anywhere else, matters little. Their lives are connected at their very core. The struggle is one and the same. Their stories are elaborations on the same narrative, that of engaged resisters, organic intellectuals who are serving a higher cause than their own freedom: the freedom of their people.
And because Palestinian resistance is a collective experience, the writing of this book has also been a collective effort. It is our attempt to reclaim the narrative of our people, to liberate it from the suffocating confines of political, media and academic discourse and take it into the heart of the resistance. These Chains Will Be Broken is a collection of the stories of Palestinian resisters, either conveyed by them, or through close family members, in an intimate setting that is free from the typical representation and misrepresentation of Palestine and her people. Here, the prisoners will not be defending themselves as if in an Israeli military court, or trying to directly address media reporting about their presumed “guilt.” Nor will the issue of violent vs. non-violent resistance be dealt with. Such a “debate” may satisfy the theoretical preoccupations of western audiences in far-away academic circles, but none of these prisoners—whether accused of killing Israeli soldiers or of writing a poem—have sought to classify their muqawama—resistance—in any way.
The stories in this book were written directly or conveyed in person, through interviews or audio recordings, by those who have lived them. The initial research questions that prisoners or their families were asked to address sought to elicit an understanding of the prison experience and its impact on the individual, the family and the community. The end result provided here expresses the individually unique experience of each prisoner, while highlighting a recurring theme—a thread in the narrative that represents the collective story of Palestinian resistance.
While conducting interviews related to the book with several freed Palestinian prisoners in Istanbul, Turkey in April 2019, I was astonished by the clarity of their political discourse. Of the three prisoners we interviewed, one was associated with the political movement Fatah, another with Hamas, and a third with Islamic Jihad. Despite the seemingly great ideological divides among the three groups, I was struck by the degree of unity and cohesion in their individual narratives when it came to the subject of resistance, whether in or outside prison. As the book demonstrates, muqawama is the common denominator among all prisoners; in fact, among all Palestinians.
The above truth explains, in part, why we have chosen this form of narrative to tell the story of Palestinian prisoners and, by extension, the story of Palestinian resistance as a whole. As in all my previous books, I am compelled by this imperative to relocate the centrality of the Palestine narrative from an Israeli perspective to a Palestinian one, especially one that overlooks the typical, elitist angle and focuses, instead, on retelling the story from the viewpoint of ordinary, poor, underprivileged and working-class Palestinians.
Undoubtedly, however, this work is not mine alone. I and those who have dedicated to putting this book together, are mere conveyors of ideas, notions and the intelligence of Palestine’s true organic intellectuals, even if they are not accorded such a role in society. On the other hand, these are also our stories, for all the Palestinian contributors who helped facilitate and assemble the content of this book have also experienced Israeli imprisonment in various forms. I lived in a Gaza refugee camp for much of my life and was held, along with thousands of my fellow refugees, under protracted military curfews, some lasting months at a time. It is this “positionality” that allowed me, together with other Palestinian researchers, to be able to relate to the text in an entirely different way. This is not a detached journalistic or academic text. It is our own collective story, as well.
Indeed, the “prison” in this book is a metaphor for the collective Palestinian prison experience. All Palestinians are prisoners—those held in besieged Gaza or those trapped behind walls, fences and checkpoints in the West Bank. All experience some manifestation of prison every day of their lives. Even those trapped in their seemingly endless exiles, unable to reunite with their families or visit their Palestinian homes, are also enduring that prison experience in one way or another.
One would dare to claim that Israelis, too, are prisoners, though of a different kind. “A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness,” wrote the late iconic anti-Apartheid hero and long-time prisoner, Nelson Mandela. “The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”
I believe that this book needed to be written. This stems from my insistence that only “people’s history” or “history from below” is capable of unearthing and fairly conveying reality in the most egalitarian and democratic way. Specifically, people’s history directly defies two, dominant narratives concerning Palestine: the elitist rationalization of Palestinian political reality (which sees history as an outcome of the workings of an individual or a faction/group), and the reductionist approach to any subject concerning Palestinians, a discourse that teeters between the extremist view, which denies their very existence, and that which presents their struggle and national aspirations as a “problem” to be quickly—if not haphazardly—remedied.
The story of Palestine cannot be truly appreciated through the understanding of the counter-claims on this precious piece of land: those made by the original inhabitants of Palestine, the Palestinian people, and those by mostly European colonialists, who began arriving in Palestine in the late 19th century. The Palestinian story is also that of emotions, of resistance and sacrifice, of defiance and sumoud, steadfastness. Though it is a Palestinian story, it is also the story of every nation that has fought against injustice, regardless of when and how it expressed itself.
Antonio Gramsci could have easily been a Palestinian prisoner, as Faris Baroud could have been an Italian partisan, fighting fascism. The former wrote to his mother from prison; the latter never received his mother’s letters to him.
“Dearest mum,” wrote Gramsci:
I would love to hug you tight to show you how much I love you and to relieve some of the pain that I caused you, but I couldn’t do otherwise. That’s life, it is very hard, and sometimes children must deeply hurt their own mother, to preserve their honor and their dignity as human beings.
“Oh, how I cried for you, Faris,” wrote Ria Baroud:
My eyes can only tell day from night, but nothing else. But thanks to God, thanks to God, I am content with my fate, for this is what Allah has decided for me. It is you that I am concerned about. So, I pray all day, every day. I make supplications to God so that you come back, and that I may choose your bride for you. We will throw a big party and all the neighbors and friends, all the Barouds and all the freed prisoners and their families will come and celebrate with us.
Antonio Gramsci died on April 27, 1937 from a cerebral hemorrhage, only six days after he was released.
Faris Baroud died on February 6, 2019, from a kidney disease, in Nafha Prison in the Naqab Desert.
They were both organic intellectuals of the highest caliber.
Feature photo | A man passes a mural supporting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Nasser Nasser | AP
Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a widely published and translated author, an internationally syndicated columnist and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story (Pluto Press, 2018). He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter (2015), and was a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UCSB. Visit his website at www.ramzybaroud.net.