Author: Jana Cholakovska

This author has written 6 articles
What is Happening With the Kurds in the Middle East Right Now?
Features / In the Zeitgeist

What is Happening With the Kurds in the Middle East Right Now?

Last week Turkey launched a large scale military assault against a Syrian militia largely comprised of Kurdish fighters. The attack comes only days after President Donald Trump announced the retreat of U.S. troops from northeast Syria, where U.S. backed-Kurdish forces were instrumental in the defeat of the Islamic State and the further containment of IS fighters. Some call the retreat and subsequent indifference to Turkey’s attack from the largely Kurdish region an outright betrayal of the Kurds.

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October 16, 2019
ICE Raids Compromise the Court System and Threaten Public Safety
In the Zeitgeist

ICE Raids Compromise the Court System and Threaten Public Safety

A young man and his mother had just left Brooklyn Criminal Court. A mere block from the courthouse, two plain-clothed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the man, and dragged him to an unmarked vehicle. The mother thought that her son was being kidnapped. Neither officer would answer her simple question: “Who are you?” As the mother cried for help, a third officer appeared, shoved her against a wall, and repeatedly told her to “shut up.” The vehicle drove off and the mother was left sobbing on the street. She didn’t know what had happened until her son called from an ICE processing facility the following day.

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May 20, 2019
The Fight For Universal Rent Control is Heating Up in New York State
In the Zeitgeist

The Fight For Universal Rent Control is Heating Up in New York State

The First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn Heights opened their doors this past Saturday, March 23 for a tenant town hall meeting discussing universal rent control. The meeting, organized by the Housing Justice For All coalition, outlined nine points they want state legislators to pay attention to come June 15 when the state’s current rent laws are set to expire.

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March 26, 2019
Fighting Against Amazon, Poverty, and Gentrification: A Conversation With Jonathan Westin
In the Zeitgeist

Fighting Against Amazon, Poverty, and Gentrification: A Conversation With Jonathan Westin

Valentine’s Day fell on a Thursday this year. Although most New Yorkers had plans to celebrate after work, a conference room in Downtown Brooklyn was buzzing with excitement and it was barely two o’clock in the afternoon. A staff member of New York Communities for Change had just interrupted an ordinary meeting to inform everyone that Amazon was pulling out of the deal to bring half of their second headquarters to Long Island City, Queens. The news broke on Twitter, but soon all the major media platforms had confirmed the news. This was an enormous victory for NYCC, one of the grassroots organisations that vehemently opposed the deal. It was also a victory for Jonathan Westin, NYCC’s executive director, who stood among his staff smiling, in disbelief.

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March 5, 2019
In the Zeitgeist

Justice Kavanaugh And Partisanship

Our current political climate is highly polarized; there is no question about that. The magnitude of political tribalism, displayed by both Democrats and Republicans, has arguably soared significantly because of…

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October 22, 2018