Weekend Edition: Another 'Horrific Massacre' in Gaza

 

Sunday, June 9, 2024 ■ Today's Top News  Fresh Calls to 'Reject AIPAC' After Analysis of GOP Money in Dem Primaries "George Latimer in New York and Wesley Bell in Missouri are trying to become Democratic members of Congress off millions of dollars of money from rich right-wing Republicans," said one group. By Jessica Corbett Ben-Gvir Sets Sights on Israeli War Cabinet After Gantz Quits The National Unity leader delayed his departure due to an Israeli military operation that rescued four hostages but killed at least 274 people in Gaza and wounded 698 others. By Jessica Corbett Thousands Protest Gaza Genocide in 'Red Line' White House Rally "We as the people are drawing the red line today to say enough is enough," said a protester from the Palestinian Youth Movement. "It's time for an arms embargo, and it's time to end this." By Jessica Corbett 'Horrific Massacre': IDF Kills 200+ Palestinians Rescuing 4 Hostages "It's a nightmare at Al-Aqsa," said Samuel Johann, MSF coordinator in Gaza. "How many more men, women, and children have to be killed before world leaders decide to put an end to this massacre?" By Jessica Corbett NY Gov. Hochul 'Must Sign' Climate Change Superfund Act "Gov. Hochul, fresh off a spineless congestion pricing reversal that scandalized New Yorkers, needs to get back to work and make this landmark legislation the law of the land," said one campaigner. By Jessica Corbett 'This Ain't It': Pennsylvanians Slam Jay-Z's Roc Nation for School Voucher Push "An out-of-state billionaire is pairing with a suburban Philadelphia one to try to destroy public education," said one critic. By Jessica Corbett As pro-public education groups plan a rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, educators and advocates on Friday criticized hip-hop icon Jay-Z's company Roc Nation over a campaign backing a proposed school voucher program in the commonwealth. The campaign's "Dine & Learn" events in Philadelphia this month are intended to share information about the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) or "Lifelife Scholarships," as supporters also call them. If approved by state legislators in the next budget, the program would put tax dollars toward "education opportunity accounts" for certain families to send their children to K-12 private schools rather than low-performing public ones. "Just to be clear for those not in Pennsylvania, the legislation Jay-Z is supporting here is a Republican-led effort to gut public education." "We have enjoyed such a special connection with Philadelphians, so we've made it our mission to invest in the long-term success of the city's changemakers," Roc Nation managing director of philanthropy Dania Diaz said in a statement. "Impact starts with the students and with awareness. We want to empower the youth and families with the knowledge to pursue their scholastic dreams, make their voices heard, and become the leaders of tomorrow." While the campaign led to multiple headlines about "How Roc Nation Is Helping Underprivileged Students in Philadelphia Get Into Private Schools," some critics of putting tax money—in this case, potentially tens or hundreds of millions of dollars—toward private school tuition expressed disappointment and frustration on Friday, just weeks away from Pennsylvania's June 30 budget deadline. "This ain't it," said the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania (AFTPA) on social media, posting a photo of Jay-Z—whose given name is Shawn Carter—with suburban Philadelphia multibillionaire Jeffrey Yass, a Republican megadonor with a history of using his money to push for school vouchers and the defeat progressive political candidates. "Don't get it twisted, PASS is a Yassified school choice/school voucher bill," one social media user wrote. Other critics also mentioned Yass. Phil Gentry, an organizer with West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools, referenced reporting that the billionaire is being considered as a potential Treasury secretary if former Republican President Donald Trump beats Democratic President Joe Biden in the November election. "Just to be clear for those not in Pennsylvania," Gentry noted, "the legislation Jay-Z is supporting here is a Republican-led effort to gut public education, spearheaded by future Trump Cabinet member Jeffrey Yass." Challenging the framing of some of the news coverage about the Roc Nation campaign, Philadelphia public interest lawyer Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg said, "As Pennsylvania is on the verge of transforming the most inequitable school funding system in the nation, an out-of-state billionaire is pairing with a suburban Philadelphia one to try to destroy public education instead." The attorney highlighted that the hip-hop billionaire's company is pushing for vouchers as Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are "working to pass a $5.1 billion transformation" to help the commonwealth's poorest school districts, sharing a report from the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Urevick-Ackelsberg also circulated criticism from New York Times Magazine journalist Nicole Hannah-Jones, who said that "voucher programs have not been shown to improve results for poor Black children because most cannot get into high-quality private schools." "Read the fine print. All of the money is coming from taxpayers," she continued. Roc Nation's "involvement is to convince poor Black parents to leave the public schools." While PASS advocates argue the program will not take money from public schools because it "will be fulfilled by government funds from a separate line item and will not reduce the overall budget to public education programming," Hannah-Jones pushed back. "It is a lie that these programs do not take from public school funding. Fewer kids in the classroom means fewer dollars to the school," the journalist stressed. "This is a windfall to the city's private schools at the expense of the public ones that most kids attend." Citing research by Michigan State University professor Josh Cowen—the author of The Privateers, a forthcoming book on school vouchers—Hannah Jones added: "Stop playing with us. Not only do students who go to private schools on vouchers not perform better, 1 out of 5 [leave] the private school and actually see improved academic results by returning to the public school." Other critics referenced an award-winning sitcom created by Philadelphia-born writer and actress Quinta Brunson, with National Press Foundation fellow Bradford William Davis saying that a "new Abbott Elementary villain just dropped." Dena Driscoll, a parent in the city, said that "Jay-Z is like 'defund Abbott Elementary' and for real though my actual Philadelphian children's public school. Lifeline Scholarships mean most of our children are left to drown." The battle over including the program in Pennsylvania's 2024-25 budget follows a similar fight last year. As the Capital-Star reported in May: "The PASS program was initially supported by Gov. Josh Shapiro during partisan debates over the state budget last year, but House Democrats opposed it. While the version of the budget that passed the Senate included funding for the voucher program, House Democrats refused to pass it unless Shapiro agreed to veto the item. Ultimately, that's what happened." When the Democratic governor unveiled his budget proposal in February, he called school vouchers "unfinished business." While Roc Nation is now behind the push for PASS, people across Pennsylvania continue to organize against school voucher programs. AFTPA pointed out Friday: "We're literally holding a rally on Monday against this. Join us!" The rally, planned for noon local time on June 10, will involve "a coalition of pro-public education labor unions, organizations, and advocates," organizers said in a statement. Parents, students, retirees, and group leaders "will speak on the need for the General Assembly to fulfill its constitutional duty by funding public education and rejecting any effort to divert funds away from public schools through private school vouchers."

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■ More News Southern California Passes First US Rule to Electrify Water Heaters, Boilers Clarence Thomas Finally Reports Gifts He Says Were 'Inadvertently Omitted' From Disclosures 'Summer of Heat' to Take Aim at Wall Street for Funding Climate Chaos 'No Excuse': News Outlets Backed by Big Oil Ads Quiet After UN Chief's Call for Ban United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was unequivocal this week in his call for a global ban on fossil fuel advertising—but while outlets like The Washington Post and The New York Times covered his remarks on Wednesday, the corporate media showed little sign of abiding by Guterres demand that they stop helping oil and gas companies to "greenwash" their climate records and their effects on the planet. The Guardianreported Friday that it received few responses when it reached out to 11 major news organizations and tech companies including Politico and Meta, with a spokesperson for Politico defending its practice of running fossil fuel advertisements alongside news coverage. "Advertisers are prominently identified, and a clear distinction between news and ads, including sponsored content, is maintained across Politico's platforms," said the spokesperson. "No advertiser or advertisement sways editorial decisions or news judgment." But as Harvard climate disinformation expert Naomi Oreskes told The Guardian, regardless of their ad policies, outlets like Politico, CNN, and others are likely clouding their audiences' understanding of the gravity of the climate emergency by reporting on the issue—only to then display ads by the companies that are responsible for heating the planet. "No one is saying this is easy," Oreskes said. "But we need to face the hard stuff." The Australian grassroots group Climate Council noted on Friday that since Guterres' speech, Channel 10 has continued airing "gas lobby ads like a news bulletin." As The Guardianreported, an Australian Senate inquiry into greenwashing found that since March, the network has aired segments sponsored by gas industry lobbyists that were "made to look exactly the same as the headlines and using the 10 News sets." "Big fossil fuel corporations in Australia have become expert greenwashers, gaslighting Australians and cashing in on the climate crisis," said Climate Council. In his comments, Guterres urged public relations and advertising firms as well as news networks to view fossil fuel advertising the same way they have come to see tobacco ads, which some publications have stopped running in recent years due to the products' human health harms. Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, pointed out that the Times said in 1999 that it would no longer display cigarette ads because editors didn't "want to expose our readers to advertising that may be harmful to their health." Henn implored the Times: "Tell me the same logic doesn't apply to fossil fuels." The Guardian, Vox, and Le Monde are among global news publications that have stopped selling ad space to oil, coal, and gas companies in recent years. Amsterdam became the first city in the world to ban fossil fuel ads, and France enacted a ban on certain ads for the industry in 2022, while the United Kingdom did the same for misleading environmental terminology in ads this year. Similar actions globally would "hit oil companies where it hurts," University of Miami professor Geoffrey Supran told The Guardian. "If Big Oil loses its ability to lobby the public," he said, "its political power to delay climate action will be severely diminished."

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■ Opinion The Perils and Promise of the Emerging Multipolar World The world economy is experiencing a deep process of economic convergence, according to which regions that once lagged the West in industrialization are now making up for lost time. By Jeffrey D. Sachs The New White House Carbon Offsetting ‘Principles’ Lack Teeth The administration should find the courage to reverse course and acknowledge that carbon offsets are a dangerous and damaging distraction. By Laurie Williams,Allan Zabel

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