Lebanon, which is teetering on the edge of economic and political collapse, risks becoming entangled in the escalating war between Israel and Hamas. Hezbollah has launched multiple attacks on Israeli targets from Lebanon, prompting return fire from the Israel Defense Forces. Over a dozen people have died, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also at least a few civilians on both sides of the border, including a Reuters photojournalist.
Commentary
Florida’s Manatees Should Never Have Been Delisted from Endangered
Six years ago the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took Florida manatees down a notch on the endangered list, reclassifying them as merely “threatened.” Now, after nearly 2,000 have died over the past few years, the feds say they may put them back on the top of the list. Manatees had previously been on the endangered list longer than since the Endangered Species Act of 1973. They were an entry on the original list issued in 1967.
The Link Between Morbid Curiosity and Conspiracy Theories
From blood-harvesting Satanists who stealthily run the world to shapeshifting alien lizards invading the world, conspiracy theories often offer alternative explanations of unsettling events. They all centre on a proposal that a malicious group of people is behind strange or political happenings. Conspiracy theories have another thing in common – they go against mainstream explanations and lack concrete evidence.
In Gaza, Fighting Atrocities with Atrocities Compounds the Indefensible at Civilians’ Expense
Israel hasn’t won a war since 1967, and even that proved to be the untenable occupation and low-grade war it has faced for decades. It’s not about to win against Hamas. Hamas knows this. Israel knows it. Civilians are paying. Civilians alone will lose, as revenge substitutes for strategy and both sides perpetrate war crimes.
Union Power: Health Care Workers Win
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions reached a tentative agreement with its employer on a new four-year contract on Oct. 13, 2023. They agreed following the largest documented strike of U.S. health care workers on record, which involved more than 75,000 workers in several states and the District of Columbia.
The Disturbing Jingoism of Amish Tourist Towns
The shops that line the main streets of supposedly peace-loving Amish towns like Berlin, Sugarcreek and Walnut Creek sell a plethora of items that feature Christian nationalist motifs, intense patriotism and ominous suggestions of violence – all antithetical to the core values of the Amish.
Teach Democracy’s Strife in Public Schools. Don’t Censor It.
Public school is the forum for teaching young people how to engage with the contentious ideas that sustain our democracy. That training is necessary for democratic self-rule, and public school ensures the access promised by the Declaration of Independence.
Gaza Has Been Under Siege for Decades. Its Health System Is in Critical Condition.
For the wounded, injured and sick in Gaza, there is seemingly no escape. On Oct. 17, 2023, news broke that at least 500 patients, staff and people seeking shelter from Israeli bombs had been killed in an explosion at a hospital, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave. It amounts to a devastating loss of life during a campaign of bombing that has not spared the frail or sick.
Revenge Is Poor Strategy. Israel Needs Only Ask the U.S.
In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by al-Qaida on the United States, President George W. Bush made an expansive pledge to end terrorism. It didn’t work out so well. As Israel pursues its response to the Hamas attack, the Israeli government would be well advised to remember the past two decades of often indecisive warfare conducted by both the United States and Israel against insurgent and terrorist groups.
Laws of Combat in the Latest Palestine-Israel War
The killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas and retaliatory airstrikes on the densely populated Gaza Strip by Israel raises numerous issues under international law. President Joe Biden said that that while democracies like the U.S. and Israel uphold such standards, “terrorists” such as Hamas “purposefully target civilians.” But the European Union’s top diplomat said that Israel was not acting in accordance with international law by cutting water, electricity and food to civilians in Gaza.