ALJAZEERA notes, "Israeli forces bombed two more schools in Gaza City, killing at least 30 displaced Palestinians. Paramedics said 80 percent of those killed and wounded at the Hassan Salama and Nassr schools were children." REUTERS adds, "Footage circulated on Palestinian media showed bodies scattered inside the yard of one of two blast-wrecked schools as residents rushed to carry casualties, including children, and loaded them into ambulance vehicles that took them to at least two nearby hospitals." Kareem Khadder, Ibrahim Dahman, Eyad Kourdi, and Three floors of the northern wing of Al-Nasr School were destroyed, as was the ground floor of the adjacent Hassan Salama School, a local journalist told CNN. The two school buildings housed hundreds of displaced people, primarily women and children, according to the local journalist. Both schools were in a densely populated residential area." BBC NEWS observes, "The strikes were the third time in a week schools in Gaza have been hit by Israeli strikes."
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that the schools, which have been used as shelters by displaced Palestinians, have been severely damaged.
“This is the same exact scenario that we’ve seen in the past few days. What we know for a fact right now is that there is [a] concentration of attacks on evacuation centres. What’s really concerning about that is … that the Israeli military is not giving any prior warning to people inside these evacuation centres,” Mahmoud said.
The correspondent noted that most of the buildings used as shelters for the displaced in Gaza are schools, as they are the only large spaces available now to house a significant number of people.
Meanwhile there is no cease-fire -- faux or genuine, NEWS 18 reports, "US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to 'stop bulls[**]tting me' during their phone conversation on Thursday, an Israeli media report said Saturday." ALJAZEERA notes, "US President Joe Biden is expected to speak to Jordan’s King Abdullah and convene his national security team to discuss the escalating tensions in the Middle East, as Iran reiterated promises to retaliate against Israel over the killing of Hamas’s Haniyeh in its capital, Tehran." REUTERS adds, "Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call on Sunday that preventing regional escalation is tied to stopping Israeli 'aggression' in the Gaza Strip, Iraqi state media said."
Gaza remains under assault. Day 303 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll rises to 39,583 with 91,398 wounded." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:
Turning to the US elections, this past week, United Auto Workers endorsed Kamala Harris for president of the United States. Today on CBS' FACE THE NATION, UAW president Shawn Fain addressed the endorsement and other issues.
ED O'KEEFE: We're joined now by the United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, who is in Detroit this morning.
Mr. Fain, thank you for being with us.
I wanted to start by asking you. President Biden stepped out of this race on July 21, and your union endorsed the Vice President 10 days later. What did she actually do to earn your endorsement?
SHAWN FAIN (President, United Auto Workers): Hey, thanks for having us, Ed.
Well, I mean, many things. It's the body of work. And it's one thing we do as a union. You know, we put the membership in charge. And, you know, we listen to our members. We listen to our reps all over the country. And then we take that and move forward.
But the thing we've done most of all in any election is, we look at the body of work between the candidates. And when you put Kamala Harris and Donald Trump side by side, there's a very telling difference in who stands with working-class people and who left working-class people behind.
You know, you go back to 2019, when Donald Trump was president. GM workers were on strike for 40 days. Where was Donald Trump then? What did he do and what did he say about the striking workers? You want you know what he did? He did nothing. He said nothing. Kamala Harris, she was actually out on the picket line before it was a popular thing to do.
She stood shoulder to shoulder with striking workers to say, I got your back, you know? And you go further, Lordstown, Ohio. Multiple plants closed in this country when Donald Trump was president. Donald Trump told workers in Lordstown Assembly in Ohio: Don't sell your houses.
You want to know what he did and what he said afterwards to help change that situation? He did nothing. Workers in Lordstown got sent all over this country to GM plants, and their lives were wrecked.
And you want to know what Kamala Harris and the Biden administration did and their team did? They went to work when they became – when they took over the White House. And they actually put a path forward, they located a new battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
And now, under Harris and under Biden, those workers are moving back home now. They were dis – that were dislocated under Trump. So, you know, Trump's been all talk for working-class people.
You look at inflation. One of the biggest issues facing this country is inflation.
ED O'KEEFE: Yes.
SHAWN FAIN: It's not policy-driven. It's driven by corporate greed and consumer price gouging. And that's what Donald Trump stands for.
ED O'KEEFE: Let me ask you…
SHAWN FAIN: The rich get richer, and the working class get left behind.
ED O'KEEFE: … does the fact that she is now even with Trump, both nationally and in the automaking state of Michigan, eliminate your union's concerns about Democrats' ability to win in November?
SHAWN FAIN: Look, we believe Democrats are going to win.
And – and I will tell you, obviously, when – when Kamala Harris became the candidate, I mean, there's a new energy around the campaign. There's new passion. We're hearing from people that we weren't hearing from before. And there's – and there's a reason why, because they see a difference now. They see a path forward.
And they see that we can have a better life than what we had under Trump. We don't want to go backwards. And I believe we're going to win Michigan. But – but we can't we can't just look at polling and say, hey, the polling has changed, it's getting better, we got this.
We got to keep the pedal to the metal until the end of this thing and ensure it happens. And it's going to happen.
ED O'KEEFE: And you know that, this weekend, she of course is trying to sort out who should be her running mate. There are believed to be at least six in the mix. We – four governors, a senator and a cabinet secretary.
And of those six, give us a sense, who's your favorite? Who would be the best for organized labor?
SHAWN FAIN: Well, I mean, you know, we've – we've really broken down these candidates really looked at them.
And I will tell you, my favorite's Andy Beshear from Kentucky. I mean, I – the man stood with us, you know, on the picket line. He – you know, he's been there for workers throughout every – every bit of our walk. And, you know, he's won in a state where Mitch McConnell's from. I mean, it's a red – been a red state traditionally. He's won twice there.
And I just believe he brings a huge dynamic. And I believe the Harris and Beshear ticket would be unbeatable. I believe both of them would just be such dynamic candidates. But we really like Tim Walz from Minnesota also, think he's an awesome guy for labor, 100 percent behind labor.
And those would be our top two if we had to pick any. But, ultimately, look, I mean, Vice President Harris has to pick who she's most comfortable with, you know, because it's her running mate, and it's who she's going to be serving with. So, you know, we – you know, that's who we believe would be best for labor and for working-class people.
But, you know, that's her decision.
ED O'KEEFE: You didn't mention the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro. I know he has been supportive of private school vouchers, which is not something that teachers unions are a fan of, understandably.
SHAWN FAIN: Yes. I mean, that's a – that's a – that's a struggle, yes.
ED O'KEEFE: Are there any other union issues in his history? Are there any other union issues in his history?
SHAWN FAIN: I mean, well, I mean, I just – you know, one of the bigger ones is the school vouchers, obviously. And, I mean, you know, I don't believe that, you know – that, you know, public education should be – it's been under attack under Republican administrations forever.
And – you know, but they – they – they want to pass vouchers so that the rich people can subsidize their kids' education, and then the working-class kids can get excluded, because there's no guarantee we can go to those schools. But that's one of the bigger issues we see with – with Shapiro.
Josh Shapiro is a whore for money and sells out kids and teachers. At THE PROGRESSIVE, Peter Greene notes:
But for supporters of public education, Shapiro remains problematic.
Shapiro ran for governor as a supporter of school vouchers. According to his campaign website, “Josh favors adding choices for parents and educational opportunity for students and funding lifeline scholarships like those approved in other states and introduced in Pennsylvania.”
It was a stance he did not back away from during his campaign, even though the numerous voucher plans introduced in Pennsylvania were consistently crafted by the GOP. In 2022, while Shapiro was running for office, the version on tap was an education savings account—a pile of taxpayer-funded money that families could spend as they wished, calculated with a formula that would have cost some districts more than their actual cost per pupil.
Pennsylvania already has a tax credit scholarship school voucher program, and it has produced striking discrimination against students based on religion, LGBTQ+ status, and, in at least one case, arbitrary reasons they don’t have to disclose to the family. Shapiro has stayed silent on the issue of voucher-enabled discrimination. As Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters PA, pointed out when testifying at a Democratic Policy Committee hearing in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives:
In his budget address, Governor Shapiro said, ‘It’s ridiculous that here in Pennsylvania two women can get married on a Sunday and fired from their job on a Monday, just because they’re in love.’ What Governor Shapiro left out is that the children of this couple could get kicked out of their private school on Tuesday. And that tax dollars are used to support this discrimination. Discrimination is a feature, not a bug, of school voucher programs.
Shapiro’s education transition team included several school choice supporters, such as Amy Sichel, the superintendent who drew flak for selling naming rights for a high school to Donald Trump buddy Stephen Schwarzman, and Joel Greenberg, co-founding partner of Susquehanna International Group with Jeff Yass, Pennsylvania’s most well-heeled, deep-pocketed activist for school vouchers.
UAW and Shawn Fain continue to provide leadership while another union, The Teamsters, are imploding under shoddy leadership. Sean O’Brien has been an embarrassment for months now but achieved a new low when he tried to sniff the crotches of Donald Trump and JD Vance at the Republican Party convention.
While many left outlets have noted his embarrassing sucking up to the GOP, few have been willing to address Sean O'Brien's embrace of transphobia. At Z-NET, Hank Kennedy explains:
Today, there is a Teamsters LGBTQ+ caucus and Teamsters in San Francisco celebrate the Coors boycott and the solidarity it built. In 2020 the Teamsters hailed a Supreme Court decision ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protected people who were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Then-president Hoffa, himself no reformer, said “No one should face discrimination for their sexual orientation, identity or for any other reason.” Contrast this with the bigotry O’Brien says he supports “100%.”
O’Brien did send an apology letter to Chris Fuentes of the Teamsters LGBTQ+ caucus. Parts of this apology are so circuitous they look like a lawyer or PR flack wrote them. O’Brien says he “in no way intended to support negative criticism of social issues” and that he apologized for “having caused consternation and confusion among members of the LGBTQ+ caucus.” He reassures Fuentes that he will “keep advocating for our LGBTQ+ members as I have from day one.” How O’Brien plans to do this while lauding such anti-queer politicians as Hawley and J.D. Vance (O’Brien said Vance has “been right there on all our issues,” despite his zero percent rating from the AFL-CIO) is unaddressed.
Much of the “left” media reaction to O’Brien’s promotion of anti-trans bigotry has been farcical. Even as a Teamsters communications staffer put out a swiftly deleted social media statement stating “Unions gain nothing from endorsing the racist, misogynistic, and anti-trans politics of the far right,” few have been willing to face the issue. At Jacobin, Teamster official Dustin Guastella didn’t see fit to bring it up. At Labor Notes, Teamsters for a Democratic Union steering committee member Dan Campbell mentions the “MAGA movement’s” attacks on trans people, but doesn’t acknowledge Sean O’Brien’s amplifying of same. At least Alexandra Bradbury, also at Labor Notes, called out that “divisive nonsense.”
In 2021, as a Teamster and TDU member, I campaigned for O’Brien. While handing out literature at one morning shift, I struck up a conversation with a gay man who was concerned that the shop steward was always wearing pro-Trump paraphernalia. He didn’t feel like the steward could represent him fairly, given the homophobia of the Republican Party. I agreed the union needed a new course and handed him some literature. Now I feel like I sold him a bill of goods.
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