Steve Shalom

The short statement below was written for a collection of essays in support of Ukraine on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion in 2022, published by the Syllepse collective in France. The entire collection in French can be found here: For two long years, Ukraine has fought to defend itself from an all-out Russian invasion. Though facing a much more powerful foe, the spirit and determination of the Ukrainian people have enabled them to blunt the Russian aggression.

Supporting the Palestinian cause, however, should not take away from the need to stand with Ukraine. In both cases, a stronger military power is attempting to occupy and deny self-determination to oppressed people.

Why are we still teaching reading the wrong way?” Why are “more than 60 percent of American fourth-graders not proficient readers?” asked Emily Hanford, an American Public Media correspondent, in the New York Times (October 26, 2018) and on public radio under the title, “Hard Words: Why Aren’t Kids Taught to Read?”1 The answer?