Contributing Writers

Jewish Voice for Peace held its largest-ever national member meeting in Baltimore from April 31 through May 4, with more than 2,000 attending. We feature the address of Democratic Congressmember Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the only Palestinian American member of Congress, who addressed the conference as it began.

We speak with Congressmember Bonnie Watson Coleman, one of three Democratic lawmakers the Department of Homeland Security has threatened to arrest after they went Friday to inspect a newly reopened private ICE jail. They are accused of assaulting ICE officers. This comes after federal agents arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on trespassing charges after he joined their congressional delegation.

Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested and detained by masked federal immigration police Friday when he joined three Democratic congressmembers set to tour a newly reopened 1,000-bed Immigration and Customs Enforcement jail run by GEO Group, which advocates say lacks proper permits. Baraka says he was asked to leave the premises and left the secure area to join a group of protesters in a public area outside the gate — when he was seized by officers in a chaotic scene.

We go to Memphis for an update after jurors acquitted three former Memphis police officers of the murder of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black father who died after the officers brutally beat him during a traffic stop in January 2023. The group beating was caught on video, provoking widespread outrage and calls for police reform.

Ahead of the Mother’s Day holiday in the Untied States, we speak to Duha Latif, a mother of two children in Gaza, about life for mothers living under Israeli occupation and assault. Democracy Now! last spoke to Latif over a year ago, when she was attempting to evacuate Rafah with her family. She now resides in a tent in Khan Younis and struggles to feed her family as Israel’s blockade has created widespread famine throughout the Gaza Strip. “We are not living. We are enduring,” says Latif.

Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests are calling for Pope Leo XIV to institute a zero-tolerance policy and for the church to investigate his handling of prior sexual abuse allegations. “He needs to be transparent. He needs to be honest,” says Peter Isely, a survivor of sexual assault by a Catholic priest and a co-founder of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. “Wait and see,” says James V. Grimaldi, executive editor of National Catholic Reporter.

The first U.S.-born pope has taken the name Pope Leo XIV. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost is also a naturalized citizen of Peru, where he served the church for two decades. He greeted 1.4 billion Roman Catholics and the world Thursday with a message of peace and has posted statements online in support of migrant rights and criticized the Trump administration. In the first part of our discussion, we go to Rome for an update from James V.

We go to Memphis for an update after jurors acquitted three former Memphis police officers of the murder of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black father who died after the officers brutally beat him during a traffic stop in January 2023. The group beating was caught on video, provoking widespread outrage and calls for police reform.

Ahead of the Mother’s Day holiday in the Untied States, we speak to Duha Latif, a mother of two children in Gaza, about life for mothers living under Israeli occupation and assault. Democracy Now! last spoke to Latif over a year ago, when she was attempting to evacuate Rafah with her family. She now resides in a tent in Khan Younis and struggles to feed her family as Israel’s blockade has created widespread famine throughout the Gaza Strip. “We are not living. We are enduring,” says Latif.

Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests are calling for Pope Leo XIV to institute a zero-tolerance policy and for the church to investigate his handling of prior sexual abuse allegations. “He needs to be transparent. He needs to be honest,” says Peter Isely, a survivor of sexual assault by a Catholic priest and a co-founder of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. “Wait and see,” says James V. Grimaldi, executive editor of National Catholic Reporter.

The first U.S.-born pope has taken the name Pope Leo XIV. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost is also a naturalized citizen of Peru, where he served the church for two decades. He greeted 1.4 billion Roman Catholics and the world Thursday with a message of peace and has posted statements online in support of migrant rights and criticized the Trump administration. In the first part of our discussion, we go to Rome for an update from James V.

We go to Memphis for an update after jurors acquitted three former Memphis police officers of the murder of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black father who died after the officers brutally beat him during a traffic stop in January 2023. The group beating was caught on video, provoking widespread outrage and calls for police reform.

Ahead of the Mother’s Day holiday in the Untied States, we speak to Duha Latif, a mother of two children in Gaza, about life for mothers living under Israeli occupation and assault. Democracy Now! last spoke to Latif over a year ago, when she was attempting to evacuate Rafah with her family. She now resides in a tent in Khan Younis and struggles to feed her family as Israel’s blockade has created widespread famine throughout the Gaza Strip. “We are not living. We are enduring,” says Latif.

Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests are calling for Pope Leo XIV to institute a zero-tolerance policy and for the church to investigate his handling of prior sexual abuse allegations. “He needs to be transparent. He needs to be honest,” says Peter Isely, a survivor of sexual assault by a Catholic priest and a co-founder of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. “Wait and see,” says James V. Grimaldi, executive editor of National Catholic Reporter.

The first U.S.-born pope has taken the name Pope Leo XIV. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost is also a naturalized citizen of Peru, where he served the church for two decades. He greeted 1.4 billion Roman Catholics and the world Thursday with a message of peace and has posted statements online in support of migrant rights and criticized the Trump administration. In the first part of our discussion, we go to Rome for an update from James V.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has found U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who fatally beat Mexican father Anastasio Hernández Rojas responsible for acts of torture. It’s the first time the independent commission, which investigates extrajudicial killings and human rights violations, has issued such findings against a U.S. law enforcement agency.

A historic settlement is being hailed as a landmark victory for hundreds of women who survived abuse by Dr. Robert Hadden, a former Columbia University gynecologist. For over two decades, Columbia ignored his patients who spoke out, undermined prosecutors and shielded the sexual predator.

We speak with journalist Mehdi Hasan of Zeteo News about the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, the suppression of pro-Palestine activism and more. Hasan is a former host for Al Jazeera and MSNBC who started his own news outlet last year. On Zeteo’s first anniversary, he describes his frustrations while working for mainstream outlets and says the U.S. media continues to ignore Palestinian voices in coverage about the Middle East.

As the Israeli military kills two more Palestinian journalists in Gaza, a new documentary by Zeteo has uncovered critical details about Israel’s killing three years ago of the acclaimed Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The film, Who Killed Shireen?, identifies for the first time the Israeli soldier who allegedly shot Abu Akleh.

Pediatric nurse Sandra Adler Killen has just returned from a third medical mission to Gaza, where she says, “We have this horrific trifecta of starvation, of lack of medicine and supplies, and bombings.” She calls Israel’s ongoing assault and siege of civilians in Gaza an “annihilation,” with skyrocketing rates of anemia, birth defects and premature births.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has found U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who fatally beat Mexican father Anastasio Hernández Rojas responsible for acts of torture. It’s the first time the independent commission, which investigates extrajudicial killings and human rights violations, has issued such findings against a U.S. law enforcement agency.

A historic settlement is being hailed as a landmark victory for hundreds of women who survived abuse by Dr. Robert Hadden, a former Columbia University gynecologist. For over two decades, Columbia ignored his patients who spoke out, undermined prosecutors and shielded the sexual predator.

Dozens of people have been killed in the worst fighting between India and Pakistan in more than two decades. India attacked nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir early Wednesday, killing at least 26 people, including a child. Pakistan described the attacks as an act of war and responded by shelling areas controlled by India.