Opinion

On April 1, a mural appeared in the Southern Italian city of Naples, depicting Palestinian workers lining at an Israeli military checkpoint near the occupied city of Bethlehem, in the West Bank. It is called ‘Welcome to Bethlehem’.

The mural, which quickly became popular in the town and on social media, was the work of a well-known Italian artist and photographer, Eduardo Castaldo.

Castaldo, who is a cinematic and television photographer, is not your typical artist, as he dedicates part of his time and efforts to championing struggles for human rights, equality and justice, especially in Palestine and throughout the Middle East.  

Just in case you haven’t had enough of those “Masterpiece Theater” type of prestigious, polished, Brit productions, the British Film Institute has launched a ​subscription video on demand collection of more than 200 of the top UK movies for buffs across the pond in the colonies. BFI Player Classics offers the cream of the crop across genres, ranging from thrillers to comedies to horror to sci fi to documentaries and beyond.

The movies are categorized as “Collections,” including “Alfred Hitchcock,” which focuses on the England-born Master of Suspense’s oeuvre before he relocated to Hollywood, such as Hitch’s 1930 whodunit Murder! “Ealing Comedies” features flicks from that eponymous studio known for its humor-laced output, some starring Alec Guinness before he used the “force” in Star Wars, in 1949’s Kind Hearts & Coronets and 1951’s The Lavender Hill Mob. The “British Classics” Collection includes Carol Reed’s 1949 postwar film noir piece de resistance The Third Man, with a cynical Orson Welles portraying the titular underworld mastermind. Interestingly, none of the 200-plus offerings include screen adaptations of William Shakespeare’s plays.

While the proposal for a global ceasefire during a disease pandemic has done the opposite of catching on, there are a few small signs of sanity and even of successful activism. While most big military spenders (including the super-mega-biggest one) have increased or kept their spending steady, the SIPRI numbers show a serious reduction from 2019 to 2020 in military spending by Brazil, and reductions as well by China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey (the only NATO member stepping out of line on this), Singapore, Pakistan, Algeria, Indonesia, Colombia, Kuwait, and Chile.

Chile is reducing its military spending by 4.9% in order to better address the health crisis. I did say “small,” but small percentages tend to be significant amounts of money when you’re talking about military spending.

Imagine this: Your parents were refugees from Vietnam in the 80s because of the Vietnam War. Your parents own a Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich) shop in Washington DC’s Chinatown where you grew up in public housing with your parents and 3 other siblings in this two-bedroom one bathroom apartment together. They did not get you out of public housing until they opened this shop because finally, they had disposable income! You have been conditioned your whole life to make it as a doctor or else you have failed your family. So, you worked your butt off your entire life to go to college even though you cannot really afford it. Got into Georgetown but chose to go to University of Maryland and commute from the DC area since you lived with your parents and could not afford to pay for room and board. You got full ride and then some because your story is so compelling, and your family is so dirt poor that rich people who needed to make themselves feel better about themselves used you as a charity case to pay for your schooling.

There are two separate Sheikh Jarrah stories—one read and watched in the news and another that receives little media coverage or due analysis.

The obvious story is that of the nightly raids and violence meted out by Israeli police and Jewish extremists against Palestinians in the devastated East Jerusalem neighborhood.

For weeks, thousands of Jewish extremists have targeted Palestinian communities in Jerusalem's Old City. Their objective is the removal of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. They are not acting alone. Their riots and rampages are directed by a well-coordinated leadership composed of extremist Zionist and Jewish groups, such as the Otzma Yehudit party and the Lehava Movement. Their unfounded claims, violent actions and abhorrent chant "Death to the Arabs" are validated by Israeli politicians, such as Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Arieh King.

It’s the job of progressive advocates and activists to tell inconvenient truths, without sugarcoating or cheerleading. To effectively confront the enormous problems facing our country and world, progressives need to soberly assess everything -- good, bad and mixed.

Yet last week, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal, made headlines when she graded President Biden’s job performance. “I give him an ‘A’ so far,” Jayapal said in an otherwise well-grounded interview with the Washington Post. She conferred the top grade on Biden even though, as she noted, “that doesn’t mean that I agree with him on every single thing.”

As a Muslim, a retired veteran of the US Air Force and a proud Ohioan, I am sick and tired of Josh Mandel’s racist and Islamophobic behavior. He doesn’t deserve to serve the people of Ohio because he is no good for Ohio. But because he will do anything and everything to appease Ohio’s MAGA cult, one of the most robust in the nation, his chances of winning the US Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Rob Portman in 2022 are strong.

Mandel is among a half dozen Republican and Democratic contenders vying for Portman’s Senate seat. Over the next 18 months he will try to be more Trumpian than any of the Republicans to appease MAGA Ohio.

Indeed, Mandel posted a poll on Twitter in March asking, “Of the various types of illegals flooding across the border, will more crimes be committed by,” with the options of “Muslim Terrorists” or “Mexican Gangbangers.”

The May Free Press Second Saturday Cyber-Salon, hosted by Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism Board Member and longtime activist Mark Stansbery, had the theme of Immigrant and Worker Rights.

Watch the video here.

Mark started out acknowledging that the salon was happening right after May 1st – International Worker’s Day, as well as the day before Mother’s Day.

The first speaker was Andrew Lin of the Socialist Alternative who talked about the Amazon unionization effort in Alabama that Columbus Socialist Alternative supported along with organizations all over the country. Although the effort failed, it was a great step forward and taught the organizers a lot of lessons going forward.

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Isabel entered the restaurant, and Kate and their father, Edgar Smith Wilson, waved her over. He dutifully kissed and hugged both girls, his girls.

“Can you believe, we’ve never been to this place?” Isabel said, placing her cloth napkin on her lap. Sister Kate looked at Dad.

“I, uh, that is, we came here, but only once before,” he said, looking into his lap.

“Really? When was that?” Isabel said.

“The night … we took you to Pleasant Gardens,” Kate said.

“We needed a good meal and this place was close,” Edgar said.

“Yeah, Pleasant Gardens. Kind of makes me hungry for a big salad. Can you believe that? What am I, a veg-head? Hell no, I need a steak,” Isabel said, closing her Ten Commandments tablet-sized menu and letting it fall into the fourth, unoccupied seat at the four-top.

“What’d you find out?” Edgar said.

“The malls in Rome weren’t built to be shopped in one day,” Kate said.

“Crab cakes! That’s me,” Isabel said.

“Two,” Dad said.

“Copycats,” Kate said.

The meal concluded, time for talk. Edgar reviewed the plan of the Exercise. Short and sweet.