As America’s longest war inches closer to an end as a result of Donald Trump’s deal with the Taliban, commentators are furnishing autopsies of how the so-called “good war” in Afghanistan hasn’t lived up to its moniker after nearly two decades of stalemate. In Jacobin, I lay out a simple point: the “good war” was never good.
‘Please Call Back Later’: Filing for Unemployment During a Pandemic
I lost my main source of income due to the Covid-19 pandemic, had a helluva time filing for unemployment insurance, talked to some New Yorkers who had similar experiences, and wrote about it for The Progressive.
Why International Law Can’t Save Palestine
Liberal critics of Israel often think that, to achieve peace with Palestinians, all Israel needs to do is better respect international law. Noura Erakat’s new book, Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine, powerfully corrects this narrative by showing how international law has done more to entrench Israel’s settler colonialism than impede it. I reviewed the book for Jacobin.
Fordham’s Students for Justice in Palestine Did More Than Win Club Status
When I was an undergrad at Fordham, my friends and I tried to form a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The student government voted to approve our application, but the dean of students overruled that vote and prohibited us from attaining official club status on campus. So we filed a lawsuit. Last week, we won: a judge ordered Fordham to recognize SJP as a university-sanctioned club. I wrote about it for The Nation.
Add Trump’s Yemen Veto to Obama’s Spotty War Legacy
In The New Republic, I point out how Obama’s Libya war paved the way for Trump to veto the resolution demanding an end to US support for the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen. Trump loves to present himself as the anti-Obama, but he has no one to thank more than Obama for his ability to veto the bill—based on a narrow reading of “hostilities” developed by Obama and his lawyers to bomb Libya in 2011.
It Will Take More Than Congress to Cure America’s War Addiction
If we care about ending war, calling on Congress to “reassert its war powers” isn’t nearly enough. In The New Republic, I argue that we must prioritize specifically anti-war arguments, without getting bogged down in fruitless proceduralism.
Media Rally Around ‘Forever War’ in Afghanistan
U.S. negotiations with the Taliban have been gaining steam. Media and the foreign policy establishment are very worried about this. For FAIR, I argue that they shouldn’t be.
