Must Read Roundup - October 20, 2023

Photo: Kelly Hayes

From billion-dollar “supersize” prisons to Gaza and Native land struggles in the U.S., here are some important stories you may have missed this week.

Billion-dollar supersize prisons are slated to be built across the U.S. But do they help or hurt public safety? by Marquise Francis. “Alabama is building a new supersize prison that will cost over $1 billion – the most expensive incarceration facility in U.S. history.”

"This is not simply between Israel and Hamas. It's much bigger than that." (Paris Marx interviews Antony Loewenstein.) What’s likely to happen in the coming months or year is Israel will begin or restart what they used to do decades ago, which is a global assassination campaign. I think you can almost count that as a given. In the 70s and 80s, it was very common for many Palestinian leaders or spokespeople to be assassinated by Israel. I’m not talking about in Israel, I’m talking about in European capitals and across the world.”

‘We were not consulted’: Native Americans fight lithium mine on site of 1865 massacre by Michael Sainato. “On 12 September 1865, US federal soldiers in the 1st Nevada cavalry committed a massacre of Native Americans, the Numu, across Thacker Pass, named Peehee Mu’huh – Rotten Moon, in the Numu language. Thirty to 50 Native Americans are believed to have been killed, including women and children.

The pass is also the site of the largest known lithium deposit in the US and one of the largest in the world, and Native people and their supporters say another tragedy is now unfolding there.”

Against Genocide: Introduction by Zoé Samudzi. “Genocide is a crime, the ‘crime of crimes.’ It is a supposedly rare eliminatory violence that, by our canonization, exemplifies the very worst of human political behavior because it is the attempt to destroy a people simply for who they are.

That genocide is a crime is probably the least important thing about it.”

This could be my last report from Gaza by Tareq S. Hajjaj. “I’m not a fighter. I have never held a gun or engaged in a fight. I don’t believe I’m a threat to Israel or anyone else — I’m just a writer who tells people’s stories. But I’m wrong.

For an occupying power, I might pose more of a danger to Israel than a fighter.

The fighters may die, and their journey will end, but as a writer, my stories can last forever.”

Solidarity With Palestine Is Not a Crime by Ido David Cohen and Ran Shimoni. “Israeli journalist Israel Frey holed himself up in his apartment on Sunday after dozens of far-right activists threatened his life the night before. They threw flares at his building in the ultra-Orthodox Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak, and some of them pursued him after he fled … In particular, he faced criticism for a video in which he recited the Kaddish Jewish mourners' prayer for the victims of the war, including hundreds of women and children in Gaza whom he claimed had been ‘slaughtered.’”

The Story of a Post-Holocaust Group Seeking Revenge Against Nazis is Part of the Story of Israel Itself by Shane Burley. “For many, the Holocaust had crushed the utopian foolishness of the socialists, the faith of the democrats, leaving only a nihilistic fury to show the entire world that Jewish suffering came at a price.”

Israel’s Violence Will Never Bring “Safety” to Anyone, Including Jews by Sarah Lazare and Maya Schenwar. “There is no safety for anyone in a society based on ethnonationalist militarism. Safety can only come through collective liberation, throwing our grief into the struggle against Palestinian genocide, apartheid and colonization, toward a society premised on justice and equality.”

Mother Sues Alabama Jail After Being Forced to Give Birth Alone in a Shower by Mike Ludwig. “Attorneys for an incarcerated mother in Alabama say she experienced nothing less than ‘torture’ when she was jailed while pregnant, denied prescribed psychiatric medication and forced to give birth alone in a shower.”

If you are looking for something to listen to, I recommend checking out the latest episode of Death Panel with Rasha Abdulhadi, who talks about how to practice solidarity with the Palestinian people and how we must reject the idea that the genocide of Palestinians is inevitable.

If you’re looking to pick up a book, I urge you to visit Haymarket’s website and download several free e-books on Palestinian struggle that are currently available free of charge. Do not miss out on this opportunity! I have downloaded the books myself and will be diving into Light In Gaza this week.

Given that many of us are taking to the streets in protest, I also want to share a resource to support those efforts this weekend. A group of radical artists has generously shared this collection of artwork that can be printed for use at Palestine liberation protests. So, if you would like to carry a beautiful sign, but don’t have time to make your own, or if you would like to fill your organizing space with resistance art in support of Palestine, don’t miss out on this resource.

May we all find the comfort, love, and courage we need to face these times together. Stay informed and stay as safe as you can out there.

In solidarity,

Kelly