The news is full of tragic and shocking stories of the flight of refugees, such as the 12.6 million Syrians internally or externally displaced and 800 drowned this year in the Aegean sea. Today, more desperate refugees are seeking shelter in Europe than at any time since World War II. According to the United Nations Population Council, there were 232 million international migrants worldwide in 2013

It is a few months short of three years since Hurricane Sandy barreled down on NYC. The flooded subways have new barriers. The submerged hospital generators are back in order. The boardwalks along the shore are up and trod by beachgoers once again. But what of the thousands of poor renters, most on public assistance, who lost their homes that day? I don’t know all their stories. I only know one intimately, and it is not a happy story.

The increasingly militarized attacks on rebellious neighborhoods in the U.S. seem more and more like armed forces brought to bear on Palestinians in the Middle East.