One of the lessons people might have incorrectly drawn from the 2020 uprising around racial justice in the United States was that it was spurred by a sharp, rapid increase in police violence directed toward Black people. Protesters around the globe were attributing the murder of George Floyd, while technically at the knee of Officer Derek Chauvin, to the entire Minneapolis Police Department and, more widely, to a system of policing that allows the police to enact violence on the communities they’ve sworn to protect and serve. The video of the killing, courageously recorded by a 17-year-old woman, showed millions of Americans what really goes on when an initial police statement announces a “medical incident.”

NEWARK, NJ–The world has been watching the latest war between Israel and the Occupied Territory of Palestine-Gaza for the past seven weeks. According to the latest reports, to date, over 14,500 have been killed in Occupied Gaza and some 1,200 in Israel.

Today, representatives from Israel and Palestine reached a four-day truce set to begin tomorrow at 7 am. The agreement, brokered by Qatar,  outlines several key objectives, including the release of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners, humanitarian aid to Gaza, and a halt on military engagement. 

Thanks to laws like Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the government is empowered to conduct mass surveillance with minimal safeguards to protect our privacy and rights. Because of this power, digital mass surveillance is trampling our very democracy.

May 15 of this year marked the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, or The Catastrophe. That’s 75 years since Palestinians were first forcibly expelled from their land, and they continue to be expelled to this day. This year, the United Nations (UN) commemorated the day with performances, testimonies, and videos at their New York City headquarters, featuring a keynote address by the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, as well as a statement by the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo. 

Of all my views that have shifted as I've learned and grown, none may be as unrecognizable as my views on policing. I grew up in New Jersey, in a white neighborhood, in a white town, and had an uncle and next-door neighbor who were police officers. I saw the police as providing safety, protecting everyone from evil--the good guys. I wondered aloud why anyone would run from the police and thought cops should be able to use their cars against people who ran. Any cracks in that good guy facade didn't go very deep

As a Palestinian American farmer in urban Northern New Jersey, and a Land Advocacy Fellow with the National Young Farmers Coalition, I recognize that the 2023 Farm Bill will dictate U.S. food and land policy more than any other policy decision over the next decade. It will set the stage for how our communities use the land they are rooted in and will decide who has access to that land. 

In dense communities like ours here in Passaic and Essex Counties, the Farm Bill will play a huge role in what land can and can't be protected. My hometown of Clifton was once mostly sun-kissed farmland. Clifton used to be known for its fertile land and provided food for neighboring communities. Today, there are only two parcels of farmland left in town after the third was recently sold to developers.