Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement): The path to victory and the tasks of the Ukrainian left

By Sotsialnyi Rukh

Published 20 October, 2024

First published in Ukrainian on Sotsialnyi Rukh's website.

One of the key decisions of the Social Movement (Sotsialnyi Rukh) conference, which took place in Kyiv on October 5-6, 2024, was the adoption of the resolution, “The path to victory and the tasks of the Ukrainian left”. Below is the text of the resolution:

1. An honest response to the challenges of war, not hypocritical politics 

The uncertain prospects of Ukraine’s victory stem from the fact that the only reliable strategy to oppose the aggressor — mobilizing all available economic resources to support the frontline and critical infrastructure — contradicts the interests of the oligarchy. Due to the free market, Ukraine has a caricature of a war economy, and the concentration of luxury amid poverty becomes dangerously explosive. The unwillingness to nationalize production capacities, tax large businesses, and direct the budget towards rearmament makes it possible to prolong the war at the cost of significant human losses and constant mobilization.

We believe that the government should start a dialogue with the people about the achievable goals of the war, and most importantly, introduce a defensive economy or acknowledge the unpreparedness to fight for victory. We advocate for ending the uncertainty regarding the duration of military service, as it is a matter of elementary fairness. Gaining technological superiority combined with a careful approach to people is the path to victory.

Social Movement advocates for the development of the state sector of the economy, subordinated to the priorities of defense and full employment, and defends the rights of conscripts and servicemen to dignified treatment, demobilization after a defined term of service, and rehabilitation.

2. International solidarity as a way to overcome the crisis of the world order 

The ongoing war in Ukraine is one of the signs of a crisis in the world order based on the neoliberal model. It is characterized by the exploitation of poor countries by the rich, inequality in access to fundamental goods, and the prosperity of financial elites at the cost of debt bondage for entire nations. All these features of the neoliberal system have undermined trust in international law and made global polarization inevitable.

To fight against Russian aggression and for a path to post-war reconstruction that benefits the working people, we need support from the global community, including humanitarian and military assistance. European integration should not serve as a justification for antisocial reforms but should take place on fair grounds, accompanied by improving the welfare of the Ukrainian people and strengthening democracy. We are confident that our ties with leftist movements across Europe will help Ukraine better defend itself. At the same time, we stand in solidarity with progressive movements in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in their struggle against imperialism. We condemn the aggressive and occupation policies of other states — be it the oppression of Palestinians by Israel, Kurds by Turkey, or Yemenis by Saudi Arabia. A new architecture of international relations is needed, where there are no privileges for “great powers,” G7, or permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the voices of the peripheral peoples are heard.

Social Movement advocates for nuclear disarmament, interaction with left-wing forces that recognize Ukraine's right to self-defense, and supports the struggle of other nations for liberation.

3. Building a “Ukraine for All” as a space for solidarity and security 

Although the war against an external enemy was supposed to unite the people of Ukraine, in reality, shameful attempts are being made to divide Ukrainians into “right” and “wrong.” Instead of uniting as many people as possible around ideas of justice, freedom, and solidarity, conflicts within society are being provoked. There are manifestations of linguistic chauvinism, justification of hostility towards national minorities, the queer community, and fostering ideological uniformity. This will not allow the global fight against Russian imperialism to gain traction and will complicate the reintegration of occupied territories.

Establishing equality is impossible without overcoming social vulnerability. Conversely, the state’s reduction of social spending and irresponsible deregulation are already affecting the resilience of society. It is time to end the promotion of policies that exacerbate inequality. Demands for women's emancipation, inclusive spaces for people with disabilities, and support for victims of far-right violence can strengthen Ukraine's ability to resist tyranny both externally and internally. Proving our humanity = gaining an advantage over the aggressor.

Social Movement will oppose policies that divide society and will protect social rights as a prerequisite for affirming human dignity. We will demand full state control over the protection of lives and the well-being of workers, who are at greater risk than ever.

4. Ecosocialist transformation — The key to survival

Russia’s eco-terrorism, combined with years of large-scale, predatory exploitation of natural resources by domestic oligarchs and the authorities' neglect of environmental protection, poses a threat to Ukraine's ecosystems, including its biodiversity, clean water resources, soil fertility, and the health and lives of the population. The war and the anti-environmental policy of capital negatively affect poor and discriminated groups, increasing their vulnerability.

We emphasize the need to harmonize social production and ecological reproduction based on the principles of ecosocialism. The green transition, first and foremost, should be fair, taking into account the interests of the workforce by creating new jobs, retraining workers, and ensuring social guarantees and compensation for those who may lose their jobs due to the closure of enterprises. Efficient use of energy resources requires a reduction in working hours, and the nationalization of energy companies will allow rational management of capacities without the influence of commercial interests. We support small, family farmers for food security and agricultural greening, the idea of deprivatizing common resources, and firmly oppose monopolistic agroholdings that destroy the ecosystem.

Social Movement will work together with trade unions and other progressive public organizations to develop a program of transformations that meet the long-term interests of workers, farmers, and other vulnerable segments of the Ukrainian population in the context of production, ecology, and energy.

5. Workers bore the burden of the war, therefore they deserve a voice 

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the core of resistance to aggression — both at the front and in the rear — has been the working class. Unfortunately, in conditions where the main burden of the war has been shifted to the working class, there is no left-wing political force in Ukraine that would voice the issues inherent to working people and act on the principles of inclusive democracy. Under the realities of oligarchic capitalism, restrictions on freedoms often serve the interests of the elites.

To build an ecosocial, independent Ukraine of equal rights and opportunities, there is a need for a political democratic platform that will unite workers and other oppressed groups, representing their interests in politics, including participation in elections. We are open to interaction with political parties that share our vision. The sooner a competitive political process is restored, the sooner trust in the state will be regained. Corruption, censorship, and other abuses by officials harm the defense efforts. The best remedy against this is the democratic renewal of power. Freedom is the foundation of security for all citizens.

Social Movement advocates for the restoration of electoral rights, the right to peaceful assembly and workers' strikes, and the abolition of all restrictions on labor and social rights.

New Caledonia

Decolonisation now in Kanaky!

Monday 21 October 2024, by Cathy Billard




A statement on the position of the new French government and state in relation to the extraordinary mobilisation of the people of Kanaky was expected in the general policy speech of the French prime minister Michel Barnier on 1 October.

Since 13 May, the date on which a law to unfreeze the electorate was presented and then voted on, the territory known as ‘New Caledonia’ has been living under an emergency regime, despite months of growing mobilisation and attempts by the pro-independence movement to hold discussions. The vote, which was presented as a democratic enlargement, shredded all the commitments made by the French state since 1988 and the hopes of the Kanak people to finally decide for themselves, completely independent of the interests of French imperialism.

The uprising was such that it prevented President Macron from carrying through with his hasty policy and having the Congress, in which he would have had a majority, vote to ratify this umpteenth hold-up of democracy. And the dissolution, followed by the governmental vacancy, imposed a de facto suspension.

In the end, the prime minister announced what reflects the balance of power on the ground. The social crisis resulting from the paralysis of economic activities by roadblocks and angry demonstrations, as well as the election of the pro-independence Emmanuel Tjibaou to the National Assembly, dictated the announcement of the abandonment of the implementation of the law that had been passed and the postponement of the provincial elections that were to implement it. [1]

This is a first victory for the mobilisation of the people of Kanaky which the NPA-l’Anticapitaliste welcomes. It calls for follow-up action.

Firstly, the immediate and unconditional release of the hundreds of Kanak political prisoners, starting with the CCAT leaders deported to France. Secondly, independent investigations to establish the truth and bring justice to the young Kanaks murdered by the police and militias. As long as the right to self-determination is not implemented, it is not up to the people to pay the consequences of a situation caused by the authoritarianism of Macron-Darmanin-Backès-Metzdorf! Tens of thousands of people are unemployed: we need to compensate for the loss of wages and infrastructure instead of letting the misery deepen!

And of course there is an urgent need to resume the process of decolonisation. The time of the colonies must come to an end!

9 October 2024

Translated by International Viewpoint from l’Anticapitaliste.

Footnotes

[1] Le Monde, 1 October 2024 “Nouvelle-Calédonie : Michel Barnier acte le report des élections pour apaiser une « crise d’une gravité exceptionnelle »”.

France

• Martinique: ‘Our economy is based on a colonial model’.
• France in the grip of multiple crises
• Gender and sexualities: the reactionary offensive of the far right
• Macron scorns popular vote...and puts himself in the hands of the RN
• The permanent instability of a system in crisis

Kanaky

• No to the Darmanin law! Respect for the Kanak people’s right to self-determination!
• Kanaky – put a stop (really) to the time of colonies!
• An insurrectional climate?
• A referendum that is far from a level playing field

• Cathy Billard

International Viewpoint is published under the responsibility of the Bureau of the Fourth International. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect editorial policy. Articles can be reprinted with acknowledgement, and a live link if possible.

Why My Coworkers and I Unionized Our Architecture Firm

This summer, workers at Bernheimer Architecture in New York City became the first private sector architects in the US to ratify a union contract. An architect at the firm explains their road to a first collective bargaining agreement.

By Je Siqueira

October 20, 2024

Source: Jacobin

Credit: PICARYL



The first attempt to unionize a privately owned architecture firm since the 1970s started at SHoP Architects in New York City, where I was working at the time. This was part of a wave of nontraditional organizing efforts taking place around 2020 that included tech workers at Kickstarter and Google, baristas at various Starbucks locations, writers at Vice, and partners at Apple stores, just to name a few.

During the summer of that same year, while most “nonessential workers” were working remotely under stay-at-home orders, some of us hit the streets of cities all over the country to protest police brutality and the assassinations of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Several workers at SHoP Architects participated in those marches and brought that energy back to the office. We were told to keep conversations on related topics off of SHoP’s platforms, so those discussions spread via Zoom meetings with obscure titles and external chat apps.

At first, these communication tools allowed us and our coworkers to grieve the injustices happening outside of our office. But soon our conversations turned inward, toward what was going on at our own workplace. Since so much our lives took place there — sixty to seventy hours per week was fairly standard — many of us felt that our workplace needed to reflect our moral values.SHoP management’s lack of respect for our concerns became fuel for our union campaign.

A question circulating around various workplaces at the time, including ours, was how to diversify our workforce. When we started pitching diversity-related office-wide initiatives to management, we were met with a pat on the back and nothing else. At the end of the summer, after many virtual all-office town halls led by management, we learned that our ideas as employees had been ignored, and management instead just chose to continue donating to a couple of universities (alma maters of some of the higher-ups) and a local youth-empowering nonprofit organization.

They brushed off all the proposals we had brought forward, including those dealing with serious issues that needed to be addressed prior to any diversification: complaints about anti-Asian and anti–Asian American discrimination within the office (HR and the office’s internal legal counsel dismissed the complaints, as those bringing them forward had no grounds for a legal case). They also dismissed our ideas for hiring from historically black colleges and universities because “these new hires would require more mentoring.” They dismissed our calls for more transparency in the decision-making process for things that affected employees, including how we were assigned to projects and teams, wages, promotions, salary increases, and so on. And even though they diversified the office’s advisory committee — a worker-led group that advocated for better working conditions within the firm — by adding myself and another colleague, they shut the committee down just a few weeks after I joined.

Management’s lack of respect for our concerns became fuel for our union campaign. Though that SHoP effort did not succeed, it planted the seeds of the first union victory at a private sector architecture firm in the United States, at my next employer, Bernheimer Architecture, in 2022. We recently ratified our first contract in July of this year.
Architects Are Workers

Since architecture’s beginnings as a profession, Hollywood and architectural higher education have portrayed it in similar ways: both imagine lone artists — typically white and male — singlehandedly creating beautifully built masterpieces. In his article “Are Architects Human?” architect Roy Weber argued that “the patriarchal structure of the atelier system, embedded in architectural education, has helped shield the architectural office from unionization and erected artificial distinctions between drafting labor and other forms of technical work.” He asked whether “the atelier, the charrette, [and] the cocktail parties with the boss” had left architects uninterested in fighting for better working conditions — having come to see themselves as rarefied artists who didn’t need something as plebeian as collective action.

In the workplace, however, the lone artist concept is far from reality. Those architects who own a firm and work on very small projects might resemble that caricature. But the majority of us are employed by medium to large firms, tackling large projects run by similarly large teams. An architectural firm may have one name or a few initials on its front door, but most of the work is done by a group of workers.

And we do this work in exchange for a wage, not just to fulfill our creative ambitions or feed our souls. Though some architects may aspire to become sole practitioners, most of us will work for an employer for the entirety of our careers. Education is lengthy and expensive, and licensing exams may take years. These conditions inevitably tie us to our workplace, as they tie millions of other workers to theirs.Since a majority of young workers work an exorbitant number of hours, their pay often turns out to be lower than minimum wage.

Until last year, architecture was one of the few remaining nonunionized professions in the United States. In the 1930s, the Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians (FAECT) was formed by architects as a reaction to the American Institute of Architects publicly suggesting very low minimum-wage standards under the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). Active for nearly fifteen years as part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the union saw its membership grow very quickly from its formation into the thousands.

In 1946, the FAECT merged into the United Office and Professional Workers of America (UOPWA), which had many left-wing members. The union was eventually hobbled thanks in large part to the anti-communist provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, which led the CIO to expel the UOPWA when the union’s leaders refused to sign affidavits swearing that they were not communists.

As in the Depression era, grievances from architects today still revolve around low wages. It wasn’t until recently, for example, that architecture internships were required to be remunerated in the United States. Even now, however, the actual wage can be determined by the employer, and since a majority of young workers work an exorbitant number of hours, their pay often turns out to be lower than minimum wage.

Besides low wages, firms economize on costs by laying off more experienced workers, allowing them to make profitable use of the constant flow of cheap and very eager labor. The competition is fierce for those who have been practicing for ten to fifteen years or more.
Organizing Efforts in Architecture Today

In 2020, getting the first campaign at SHoP off the ground had its challenges. Since we were organizing a nonunion profession, many workers had little familiarity with unions, and union organizers were in turn unfamiliar with the architectural profession. That unfamiliarity, coupled with workers’ general tendency toward overidentification with their bosses, meant we were on an uphill journey of having to convince our colleagues that they were indeed exploited workers, who needed protections just like any other workers earning a wage.

Fast-forward a few months into the campaign I was helping to lead, in mid-December 2021, two weeks before we went public, I was laid off from my job at SHoP. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to attend emotionally charged captive audience meetings or dodge management’s evil stares in meetings, at the office kitchen, in or hallways. Less fortunately, I still had unused maternity leave that I was planning to use in the upcoming months and definitely did not see any of that reflected in the one month of severance pay SHoP gave me. In January 2022, one month into management’s expensive union-busting campaign, SHoP workers pulled the union petition and canceled the election.

The short-lived effort at SHoP had its bright side, though: the firm, we workers — especially the ones who exposed themselves as organizers, as I did — and the architectural profession broadly wouldn’t be the same. Prior to that campaign, conversations about issues in the profession had been rare. Now these complaint sessions were starting to land on concrete solutions, and unionizing was starting to be considered as a viable tool, at SHoP and elsewhere. Having the word “union” next to the name of a “Starchitect” in news headlines alone was a big win.Having the word ‘union’ next to the name of a ‘Starchitect’ in news headlines alone was a big win.

During my second interview at Bernheimer Architecture, one of the first few questions asked was about my experience with the campaign. My eyes glittered with happy tears during that interview, sensing that management was open to unionization.

A few months into the new job, casual conversations led to discussions about unionizing. After a few of those informal conversations, I suggested a group meeting with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) staff organizer who worked with us during the SHoP campaign. Two weeks after that initial meeting, we had 90 percent worker support. Two to three months later, we received our voluntary recognition from our boss.
Getting to a Contract

The process toward voluntary recognition wasn’t without its compromises. At first, we had the entire office as part of the unit, leaving principal Andy Bernheimer as the sole person in management. Even though a majority of management participated excitedly in the efforts to organize and were essential in our initial conversations, and they effectively had no hiring or firing power, Andy was adamant that they be removed from the bargaining unit. It was only when we agreed to that stipulation that we got our recognition without an election.

When negotiations began, both management and the unit agreed to pursue a collaborative method of negotiations mediated by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service called “collaborative-based bargaining.” With their assistance, we brainstormed our way through many of the issues the bargaining unit wanted to address alongside management. On some issues involving economics, we engaged in traditional bargaining.

We made some gains on that front, but economics were not the sole focus of our bargaining unit. We focused on and won a number of demands that improved our working conditions and our quality of life. These included a thirty-six-hour workweek, which can be worked in four days so long as it doesn’t impact an employee’s work or team negatively; compensating time off for more than thirty-six hours a week, with overtime pay kicking in after forty-five hours (a very significant win); and maintaining our ability to work remotely with certain caveats.
Organizing the Sector

Although we only recently ratified our contract, we started seeing improvements in the office immediately after recognition. For one, we quickly formed a labor-management committee and from the outset started addressing issues that either weren’t going to be bargained over or needed more immediate attention, such as instituting a temporary paid family leave policy until the formal policy in our new contract went into effect; improving access to architectural examination study materials; and improving office maintenance and upkeep, among others. Now, with a contract in hand, I see my colleagues navigating the workplace with a sense of confidence that I hadn’t seen before.More broadly, our goal with this first contract is to make strides toward legislative changes that prioritize unionized labor in publicly funded architectural projects.

We want our contract to be distributed widely beyond our office, too. We have already shared it with our fellow workers at Sage and Coombe Architects — the second architecture firm in New York City to voluntarily recognized its employees’ union — as they’re currently in negotiations for their first contract. We’re also sharing it with our umbrella advocacy organization, Architectural Workers United, so that other workers in the profession who are looking to organize have concrete examples of policies they can fight for. And as our numbers grow, we want to start the first dedicated local for unionized architects, representing all architectural workers in New York City.

More broadly, our goal with this first contract is to make strides toward legislative changes that prioritize unionized labor in publicly funded architectural projects and potentially bring architects under Project Labor Agreements, which are already common within the construction industry. We also would like to build on some now-dormant legacies of our historical predecessor, the FAECT. The FAECT advocated for progressive housing policy, created educational programs that extended formal architectural education to those who could otherwise not afford it, and also sought to assist members in preparing for licensing and in keeping up with technological advances.

Four years after the first failed attempt at SHoP and two years after the breakthrough at Bernheimer Architects, I’m hopeful the union movement in architecture is just getting started.

Je Siqueira is a registered architect with over fifteen years of experience in both public and private projects of varying scales. She was one of the leaders in the unionizing efforts at SHoP Architects and later at Bernheimer Architecture, where she’s currently a project architect and shop steward.

This Is Zionism

By Abby Zimet

October 20, 2024

Source: Common Dreams


Sha’ban Al Dalou being burned alive in an Israeli air strike in a tent at Gaza's al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. Photo from screenshot

Honestly, harrowingly, what to say. After a year of bombing, maiming, starving, killing Palestinians, mostly children, Israel just burned alive before the world a sleeping, wounded, 19-year-old software engineering student attached to an IV in a tent he had built for his incessantly displaced family. Video shows Sha’ban Al Dalou amidst an inferno, “a body writhing, crackling, a raised arm, reaching out for help.” He died two days before his 20th birthday. A Gazan’s vow: “May his death awaken us.”

Israel’s genocide lurches on, despite the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and American assertions it represents a “day-after” chance to “bring about a better day for the people of Gaza” – a claim one analyst dismisses as bitterly, bloodily “laughable…There is no day after.” With Netanyahu making it clear his slaughter is “not over” and likely never will be, many Israeli military leaders are now reportedly looking to an infamous “Generals,’” or Eiland Plan, that calls for ethnically cleansing the northern Gaza Strip by wholly besieging the area and halting all humanitarian aid with the ignominious resolution, “All of Gaza will starve.” Anticipating legal or moral challenges, Israeli officials who’ve already spent month after month carrying out a gruesome war on children – killing them in hospitals, mosques, their homes, their mothers’ arms, their cars as they try to escape, under long, slow, suffocating rubble – are evidently prepared to argue such actions are “legitimate and permitted under the strictest international law.”

Little wonder Israel this week launched its sixth U.S.-funded bombing of Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah – yet more war crimes – hitting a courtyard where hungry, displaced, often wounded Palestinians were sheltering in makeshift tents. Among them was Sha’ban Al Dalou, his parents, two brothers and two sisters, who since the start of the Israeli assault have had to flee five times after leaving their Gaza City home. A student at al-Azhar University until Israel destroyed it in November, Sha’ban, 19, was documenting online “this barbaric starvation war” and the hardships his family and others faced – homeless, inadequate food or water, no medicine, and now freezing weather; as he spoke, Israeli drones hummed in the background. A good boy and the eldest child, Sha’ban had built his family a tent against the cold; he also started a GoFundMe – “From Despair to Hope – so they could flee to Egypt. “In Gaza, dreams go to die,” he wrote. “Each displacement leaves behind another fragment of our shattered souls.”

Before the war, Sha’ban loved playing guitar, and dreamed of becoming a doctor; his parents liked to boast he’d also memorized the Quran. In the encampment amidst Israeli bombs dropping, he donated blood, volunteered at an open-air clinic, and often walked around the camp looking for an Internet signal to continue his studies. Time after time, he escaped death. On October 6, he was praying at a nearby mosque when it was hit by another U.S.-made bomb launched by Israel; it killed at least 20 people and buried Sha’ban beneath rubble, but bystanders dug him out: “I saw death in my eyes,” he wrote. “They took me out of the rubble; I was bleeding, injured – all like a dream.” He was taken to Al-Aqsa for head and lung injuries, got 11 stitches behind one ear, and returned to his family tent where they put him on an intravenous drip. He was asleep the night of Oct. 14 when Israeli bombed the courtyard, setting off an inferno, reportedly from gas cooking canisters sparking secondary explosions, that tore through the encampment.

Ghastly video posted by eyewitnesses shows Sha’ban in fiery silhouette, his raised arm still connected to his IV, screaming, twisting, frantically trying to free himself. Some in the crowd held back his 16-year-old brother, straining to reach into the fire to help: “The one in the video is my brother Sha’ban. He was yelling, ‘Someone save me!'” Their father Ahmed al-Dalou, who was badly burned but survived, later said he’d rushed to rescue his younger children but thought Sha’ban could get out on his own. The fire killed Sha’ban and his mother, Umm Sha’baan, 38, and at least three others; over 65 were wounded. Several days later, Sha’ban’s 10-year-old brother Abdul also died of his injuries. At his funeral, their bandaged father mourned his young son. “There is no consciousness or humanity,” he wailed. “My little boy. He was not guilty.” On Wednesday, which would have been Sha’ban’s 20th birthday, Ahmed said, “Sha’ban will be celebrating his birthday with his mother in heaven.” And, now, his younger brother.

The video of Sha’ban engulfed in flames, his trapped arm held high, has been viewed millions of times. Amidst widespread outrage, an Israeli army spokesman said, without offering any evidence, the hospital was a Hamas “command and control center” and they had “executed a precise strike on terrorists.” The claim rang grotesquely hollow. “This is Zionism. This is Israel defending itself,” wrote Dilly Hussain above images of the searing flames engulfing Sha’ban. “Funded and armed by the U.S. and diplomatically protected by the West” – “day after day.” Many responses came in rage. Said activist Philip Proudfoot, who recalled Sha’ban as “a kind person with dreams of living a normal life,” “Let his murder haunt every genocide-enabling western politician for the rest of their lives.” The righteous fury was often aptly aimed at a complicit America that has not just funded the slaughter, but publicly applauded its major author. “They’re burning people alive,” wrote Sonny Bill Williams, “but some of you are still scared to speak out.”

Hours after the footage surfaced, over 500 Jews and allies shut down the New York Stock Exchange, center of global capital, to demand the US stop arming Israel and profiting from genocide under moral cover of Jewish “safety…In horror and agony, we refuse to let our histories, identities and traditions be used (to) massacre Palestinians.” They noted the only condition placed on $18 billion in US funds for Israel is not how those bombs are used, but where they’re bought – from US arms manufacturers now posting “staggering” profits, many of which go to members of Congress. Among over 200 people arrested at the action were descendants of Holocaust survivors. The entire family of Elena Stein, of Jewish Voice For Peace, was massacred in their Lithuania shtetl; only her grandmother, who wasn’t home, survived. “Where were the neighbors?” asks Stein. “As the NYPDdragged me out by my arms and legs, I felt my Jewish ancestors at my back… We say now, with more conviction than ever, we refuse to be neighbors who just stand by.”

After a year of genocide livestreamed to the world, some hope “this particular horror,” the grisly sight of Sha’ban “tethered to an IV as U.S.-supplied Israeli bombs ignite fires around him,” may break through the noise – an awful defining image, like the mutilated face of Emmett Till his mother resolutely showed to the world or the weeping Napalm Girl of the Vietnam War, that “brings us back to our common humanity.” “This is what we need now for Gaza,” says Zak Witus. “We need to see and to believe.” “His name was Sha’ban,” wrote Dr. Omar Suleima. “He was.loved by his family and friends, a memorizer of the Quran. He was named after the month in the Islamic tradition that is referred to as the forgotten month. His name was Sha’ban. Let him never be forgotten.” Dr. Jennifer Cassidy echoed him: “Say his name – Sha’ban. The man, the human, the soul behind the photo seen around the world. The word war crime doesn’t begin to cover this. He is not a number. His name was Sha’ban. May he rest in peace and rise in power.”

Sha’ban Al Dalou with his family before the Israeli genocide began.Photo from Instagram via @shabanahmed19