Washington Watch Articles From 2022


Dark Money is Killing Open Debate and Free Elections
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Dark Money is Killing Open Debate and Free Elections

Twenty years ago when Congress passed the bipartisan McCain-Feingold bill on campaign finance reform , many celebrated what they hoped would be a new era in US politics. There were limits set for individual contributions and those of political action committees. All contributions in federal elections were to be reported to the Federal Election Commission and made available for public scrutiny. There was also a taxpayer fund established that would allow presidential candidates, if they wished, to secure matching funds for lower-level contributions to their campaigns, if they accepted a limit on their overall spending.

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I Knew Ghassan Kanafani
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I Knew Ghassan Kanafani

Fifty years ago this July, Israel assassinated Ghassan Kanafani. They planted a bomb in his car killing him and his 17-year-old niece, Lamis. Over the years I’ve thought a lot about Ghassan, his significant contributions to Arab literature, my meetings with him, and the role he played in shaping my doctoral dissertation and my thinking about Palestine. 

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