The Gaza Hospital Strike.

 

There is a massive strike on a hospital in Gaza. Hundreds of people have died from it. Many Palestinian officials blamed ongoing Israeli airstrikes for the tragedy, and the IDF blamed Palestinian Islamic Jihad for the attack. Regardless of who is responsible, there is absolutely no justification for the attack at a hospital. Anyone responsible for this act has committed a war crime and should be brought to justice (I don't care who does it regardless of if it is Israeli forces or Islamic Jihad). At least 3,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since last Saturday. President Biden plans to visit Israel on Wednesday which is very dangerous. There is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, civilian Israeli deaths, and Iran's support of Hamas plus Hezbollah. The Hospital's name is Al-Ahil Baptist Hospital in Gaza. Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm the Israeli embassy in Jordan. We are consistent. We condemn the terrorist group Hamas killing and kidnapping innocent Israelis. I don't agree with Hamas's call for a day of rage in Wednesday. We condemn the occupation and the oppression of the Palestinian people. We disagree with the IDF using white phosphorous in Gaza. That is a war crime. We desire political and economic solutions where Israelis and Palestinians live in peace, equality, and justice. The rise of hate crimes makes us aware that anyone using collective blame of all Jewish people or all Arabic people for what is going on in the Middle East is a racist who has no respect from me.

There was a hate crime against a Palestinian family when a Palestinian American boy was murdered by a racist person. Wadea Al-Rayoume was stabbed to death by the landlord Joseph Czuba. Czuba was upset over the Israel-Hamas war. The mother of the child wanted people to pray for peace. President Joe Biden condemned Wadea Al-Fayoume's fatal stabbing. Biden is right that such a hate crime is antithetical to human rights. People should be free to pray, to live, and to work in peace regardless of a person's religion or creed. We reject murder, and only a coward would murder a child. The funeral of the child took place in Bridgeview, Illinois. Bridgeview is home to a large Palestinian population. Joseph Czuba was charged with murder, attempted murder, and hate crime charges after being arrested and held in custody. Illinois JB Pritzker condemned the murder as a hate crime. Many people want Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and anti-Palestinian racism to end. They are right.

The Hamas spokesman said that they are willing to release foreign hostages when "field conditions are right." This is ludicrous as hostages must be released ASAP. There are back-channel discussions in freeing the hostages. There are as many as 250 or more hostages in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is going out of its way to gain credibility when it's a terrorist organization. There is much pressure on Hamas to free the hostages too. Israel has pressure to use restraint and follow international laws of war to intervene against Hamas. Right now, over 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,300 Israelis have been killed. The attack on the Gaza Hospital represents a new era of the Israel/Hamas conflict. If this conflict is not resolved, then we can't omit the view that WWIII could come. This is the first time in my life that WWIII could come in the near future if nothing is done. There should be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Some probably won't adhere to it, but the humanitarian crisis is so bad that this plan is fair. 

We have over 450,000 workers going on strike so far this year in 2023. Two years ago, it was 44,000. That is an increase of over 900%. This historic moment of the labor movement is important because we see courageous men and women standing up for economic justice, not the status quo. Workers never believed in allowing multinational corporations and billionaires to centralize the majority of the wealth and power on Earth. This is why tax cuts for the rich don't work. Tax cuts for the super-wealthy will explode the federal debt, fuel giant profits at the biggest firms and financial institutions, and stoke a surge in billionaire wealth. These types of tax cuts don't trickle down to the people. We have to register to vote. The House GOP dysfunction has caused extra funding for childcare programs to expire. Without more congressional action, 70,000 childcare programs will close, leaving 3.2 million children without care. New research showed that after California and New York raised the minimum wage to $15, total employment went up. Raising the minimum wage helps workers and the economy in general. After the biggest strike in U.S. healthcare history, 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers won huge concessions. Workers now vote on a 21% raise over four years, a minimum wage of $25 in California and $23 in other states.

Representative Jim Jordan lost his first vote in trying to be the new House Speaker in Congress. He has strong opposition from the GOP too. Jim Jordan is an election denier, a far-right extremist, and promotes political divisiveness constantly. 20 Republicans voted against his candidacy. Jordan wants to keep going in trying to get more votes. Some Republicans want to expand the power of the interim speaker, who is Republican Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina. Jordan is a staunch supporter of the racist, sexist, and xenophobic Donald Trump. He helped to found the hardline House Freedom Caucus. He also led GOP-led investigations into Joe Biden. Time will tell what will happen. What is true is that once upon a time, there were many liberal Republicans back in the 1960's and the 1970's. That isn't the case now as most Republicans are far right in Congress today.

By Timothy