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Democracy Now
Dec 08, 2023

Why Is Brazil Joining OPEC Oil Cartel, If Lula Is Committed to Phasing Out Fossil Fuels?
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is calling for phasing out fossil fuels but has alarmed many climate activists as Brazil moves to join the oil producer alliance OPEC as an observer state. Paula Vargas, director of the Brazil program at Amazon Watch, lays out Brazil's environmental policy under Lula and Jair Bolsonaro's legacy of impunity for those attacking environmental defenders. "Brazil has a big, big possibility of being the top leader in environmental change," but civil society must push leaders around the world to enact climate solutions, Vargas says.

Democracy Now
Dec 08, 2023

Exclusive: Indigenous Climate Activist Jacob Johns Speaks Out After MAGA Gunman Shoots Him in New Mexico
Broadcasting from COP28 in Dubai, we speak with Jacob Johns, a Hopi and Akimel O'odham environmental defender who is leading the Indigenous Wisdom Keepers delegation at COP28. This is his first interview after surviving being shot in the chest by a far-right agitator in September. Johns and other Indigenous activists were holding a vigil opposing plans to reinstall a statue honoring the 16th century Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate in Española, New Mexico, when a 23-year-old shooter wearing a red MAGA hat fired on the crowd. Johns says he died in the airlift on the way to the hospital and is still dealing with medical issues from the shooting, but wanted to come to the climate summit to share Indigenous wisdom with the world. "We as Indigenous people understand that as the old world dies, that a new one is created and that we must focus on that creation process."

Democracy Now
Dec 08, 2023

COP28 Activists Say Palestine Solidarity Protests Calling for Ceasefire Face Severe Restrictions
At COP28 in Dubai, protests in solidarity with Palestine have faced severe restrictions. Asad Rehman, the lead spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition, joined with human rights groups at an unofficial media briefing to explain how climate summit officials have threatened to debadge participants for even wearing Palestinian colors or sporting visual depictions calling for a ceasefire. "This is probably the most restrictive we've seen," Rehman said. "Everything we have tried to do has been within the U.N. rules, … but the rules are being changed on a day-by-day basis."

Democracy Now
Dec 08, 2023

"If I Must Die": IDF Strike Kills Gaza Scholar Refaat Alareer; Friend Pays Tribute & Reads His Poem
Scholar and policy analyst Jehad Abusalim remembers his friend Refaat Alareer, the acclaimed Palestinian academic and activist who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City earlier this week. "Refaat Alareer was a towering figure in Palestinian society, especially in Gaza," who used education and "language as a weapon against oppression," says Abusalim, who speaks about the widespread destruction of schools and educators in Gaza by Israel's renewed bombardment, siege and invasion. "The tragedy that has befallen the academic, scholarly and intellectual community in Gaza and in Palestine is unprecedented. Israel is destroying the foundations of society in the Gaza Strip."

Democracy Now
Dec 08, 2023

"We Want Freedom": Refaat Alareer, Gaza Scholar & Activist Killed by Israeli Strike, in His Own Words
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza has killed the acclaimed Palestinian academic and activist Refaat Alareer, along with his brother, his sister and her four children. Alareer was just 44 years old. For more than 16 years, he worked as a professor of English literature at the Islamic University of Gaza and authored dozens of stories and poems about life under Israeli occupation in Gaza. "Whether it is my kids or any Palestinian kid or any Palestinian, no one is safe. No place is safe. Israel is bombing everywhere," Alareer told Democracy Now! on October 10.

Previous interviews with Refaat Alareer:
• October 2023: Israel's 'Barbaric' Bombardment Is Part of Ethnic Cleansing Campaign
• May 2021: Israel Is Trying to Destroy Us: Gaza Father & Writer Speaks Out as Palestinian Death Toll Nears 200

Democracy Now
Dec 08, 2023

Headlines for December 8, 2023
Israeli Soldiers Strip and Detain Palestinians in Gaza, Including Journalist and Other Civilians, Israeli Airstrike Kills Palestinian Academic and Activist Refaat Alareer and Family Members, Netanyahu Threatens to Reduce Beirut to Rubble If Hezbollah Increases Attacks, Released Captives Confront Israeli War Cabinet over Response to Hostage Crisis, Venezuela Orders Oil Companies to Begin Exploring Disputed Essequibo Region , Texas Judge Intervenes to Allow Pregnant Woman to Receive Critical Abortion Care, Trump Supporters in Nevada and Wisconsin Brought to Justice Over "Fake Electors" Scheme, DOJ Indicts Hunter Biden for Tax Evasion, Benjamin Zephaniah, Anti-Imperialist Poet and Activist, Dies at 65

Democracy Now
Dec 07, 2023

"Green Colonialism": Nigerian Climate Activist Nnimmo Bassey Says Africa Is Being Sold Out at COP28
Longtime Nigerian activist and poet Nnimmo Bassey joins us at COP28 in Dubai to discuss how "false climate solutions" like carbon trading markets are hurting efforts to reduce emissions and prevent catastrophic global heating. "People are making deals rather than talking about how to cut emissions at source," says Bassey. "We're seeing a sellout of the African continent." Bassey is director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation and received the Right Livelihood Award in 2010 for his environmental activism.

Democracy Now
Dec 07, 2023

"Cabal of Oil Producers": Climate Scientist Kevin Anderson Slams Corporate Capture of COP28
As we broadcast from COP28 in Dubai, leading climate scientist Kevin Anderson lays out why he dismisses the annual climate talks as "grand events" that do little to actually curb emissions. "These COPs have become little more than a scam under which the oil companies and the other fossil fuel companies are hiding that nothing is being done," says Anderson. Decades of inaction make solving the climate crisis much harder, and Anderson notes "technology and fairness have to go hand in hand" in order to save the planet.

Democracy Now
Dec 07, 2023

"Terrorized": Gaza Poet Mosab Abu Toha on Being Stripped, Jailed & Beaten by Israeli Forces
We speak with celebrated Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha for his first interview after he was jailed and beaten by Israeli forces, when he was detained at a checkpoint in Gaza while heading to Rafah with his family. He was rounded up with scores of other Palestinians. "I felt humiliated. I felt terrified and terrorized by this army because they were ordering us to do everything at gunpoint," says Toha, now in Cairo. He calls on Western leaders to stop supporting the violence against Palestinians. "If you can't stop the war, if you can't stop the carnage, the genocide, just stop financing it."

Democracy Now
Dec 07, 2023

Headlines for December 7, 2023
More Palestinian Civilians Killed as Israel's Assault on Gaza Enters Third Month, As Israeli Siege Continues, U.N. Warns 97% of Gazans Have "Inadequate" Food Supplies, Reuters Investigation Reveals Israeli Tank Killed Journalist Issam Abdallah and Injured 6 Others, U.N. Chief António Guterres Invokes Article 99 in Rare Move to Force Debate on Gaza Ceasefire, Doctors Without Borders Holds Vigil for Medical Workers Killed in Gaza, Senate GOP Blocks $111 Billion Package with Military Funding for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel, Gunman Kills 3 People on University of Nevada, Las Vegas Campus, Kevin McCarthy Announces Retirement 2 Months After Ouster as House Speaker, Presidential Hopefuls Attack Transgender Youth in 4th Republican Debate, Trump Says He Won't Be a Dictator If Reelected, "Other Than Day One", Ex-President Alberto Fujimori Released from Peruvian Prison on "Humanitarian Grounds", Norman Lear, Prolific Activist and Producer Who Changed the Landscape of Television, Dies at 101, Legendary Linguist, Professor and Public Intellectual Noam Chomsky Turns 95

Democracy Now
Dec 06, 2023

Why Are Russia & U.S. Promoting Nuclear Power at U.N. Climate Talks? Russian Environmentalist Speaks Out
As Vladimir Putin arrives in Abu Dhabi but does not plan to attend the COP28 summit in Dubai, we speak with Vladimir Slivyak, co-chair for the leading Russian environmental organization Ecodefense, about the climate impact of Russia's war on Ukraine and the renewed push at the summit to expand nuclear power. "When you promote nuclear power, you have to understand it's diverting resources from renewable energy, and renewable energy is the real, most efficient answer to climate change," says Slivyak. He also discusses how the collapse of civil society in Russia has pushed him and other social activists to leave the country.

Democracy Now
Dec 06, 2023

Carbon Colonialism: Oil-Rich UAE Buys Up Large Swaths of Africa for Carbon Credits to Keep Polluting
As Democracy Now! broadcasts from COP28 in Dubai, we look at how the United Arab Emirates is using its vast oil money to buy up the rights to land in many African countries in order to sell carbon credits to major polluters, a plan that critics characterize as a new form of colonialism. "After failing to mitigate at the source," wealthy polluters now "want to, basically, buy, on the cheap, African land," says Power Shift Africa's Mohamed Adow about wealthy nations' failure to deliver on climate finance and turn to a "land grab" on the African continent. "What they're doing is actually commodifying nature," says Adow, who describes carbon credits as an "imaginary concept" amounting to "permits to pollute."

Democracy Now
Dec 06, 2023

Big Oil's Takeover of U.N. Climate Summit Decried by Activists Fighting for Fossil Fuel Phaseout
Climate activist Harjeet Singh joins us for an update on the U.N. climate summit in Dubai, where fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber many countries' delegations. "It is deeply, deeply problematic to see how fossil fuel lobbyists are taking over these climate talks," he says, noting that climate activists' fears of an industry takeover of the world's foremost gathering for climate governance appear to have come true. "We can't just allow fossil fuel industry to define what is going to happen here," Singh warns, as financial interests continue to divert political energy away from decarbonization. Singh is the head of global political strategy with Climate Action Network and works on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a global initiative to phase out fossil fuels and support a just transition.

Democracy Now
Dec 06, 2023

COP28: Amy Goodman Attempts to Question UAE Oil CEO Serving as President of U.N. Climate Talks in Dubai
As Democracy Now! broadcasts from the U.N. climate summit, Amy Goodman attempts to question the oil CEO presiding over the talks. COP28 president and United Arab Emirates oil CEO Sultan Al Jaber is facing criticism over the record number of fossil fuel lobbyists in attendance at the summit, and recently claimed there is "no science" to back up calls to phase out fossil fuels in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Democracy Now
Dec 06, 2023

"Catastrophic": Gaza Aid Worker on "Horror" of Forced Relocations Amid Israel's War on Southern Strip
We go to Gaza for an update on Israel's attack, which is now being described as one of the worst assaults on any civilian population in recent times. As Israeli tanks enter Khan Younis and the Palestinian death toll tops 16,000, we speak with Yousef Hammash. The advocacy officer for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Gaza describes how he and his family are facing internal displacement for the third time during the assault, this time from Khan Younis, where they had fled after Israeli warnings to head to the south of the Gaza Strip. Now in Rafah by the Egyptian border, they are struggling to find shelter and, like thousands of other now-homeless Palestinians, have resorted to living in a makeshift tent. "I left everything behind," Hammash says about leaving his home in Gaza City, now destroyed. "I didn't care what I was going to lose. I was looking for the safety of my family." Hammash says a paltry amount of humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza even as refugees of the war face starvation, dehydration and infection. "The amount of aid that's coming to Gaza is literally not tangible," he says.

Democracy Now
Dec 06, 2023

Headlines for December 6, 2023
Israeli Forces Intensify Assault on Khan Younis as U.N. Official Decries "Apocalyptic" Situation, IDF Spokesperson Lauds Reported Ratio of 2 Civilians Killed for Death of Every Hamas Fighter, U.S. Bans Visas for Settlers Involved in Violence; Divided Senate Votes on Israeli, Ukraine Funding, 14 Congressmembers Vote Against House Resolution Conflating Anti-Zionism with Antisemitism, AIPAC Throws Millions at Possible Insurgent Campaigns to Unseat Progressive Democrats, Advocates Condemn Lack of Attention to Sexual Assault Accusations Against Hamas, Senate Confirms 400 Military Nominees After Sen. Tuberville Ends 10-Month Blockade, Woman Sues Texas After She Was Denied an Abortion for Nonviable Pregnancy, Drone Attack in Nigeria's Kaduna State Kills 85 Civilians Celebrating Religious Holiday, Honduras Issues Arrest Warrant for Suspected Mastermind in Berta Cáceres Assassination

Democracy Now
Dec 05, 2023

Planet for Sale? Record 2,500 Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Descend on COP28 U.N. Climate Summit in Dubai
This year, there are at least 2,456 lobbyists at COP28, the U.N. climate summit in Dubai — nearly four times as many as last year — from companies like Shell, Total and ExxonMobil. The lobbyists outnumber the delegations of every country other than Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the summit, presided over by the CEO of the UAE's national oil company, Sultan Al Jaber. "It's definitely impossible to ignore how front and center the fossil fuel influence is at this particular COP," says Rachel Rose Jackson, director of climate research and policy at Corporate Accountability, who says the climate summit must kick out big polluters and "reset the system so that it can finally end fossil fuels and advance real solutions and save millions of lives that don't need to be lost."

Democracy Now
Dec 05, 2023

Climate Crossfire: From Gaza to Ukraine, How War & Military Spending Accelerate Climate Chaos
Broadcasting from COP28 in Dubai as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza, Democracy Now! investigates how militarism and war fuel the climate crisis. "The jets, the tanks, the bombs, the missiles, all of these things that we are seeing raining down on people, they're all fossil fuel-dependent," says Deborah Burton, co-author of a new report that shows increased spending by NATO nations will divert millions of dollars from climate finance while increasing greenhouse gas emissions. "We are absolutely going in the wrong direction." Shirine Jurdi, a women, peace and security expert with close colleagues in Gaza, lays out how women are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and the global war machine. "If we want to talk about real impacts and outputs out of this COP, we really need to look at militarization."

Democracy Now
Dec 05, 2023

"There Simply Is No Safe Place in Gaza": Aid Groups Demand Ceasefire as Israel Intensifies Its War
The World Health Organization is warning the crisis in Gaza is getting worse by the hour as Israel intensifies its ground and air assault across all parts of the Gaza Strip, including surrounding the Jabaliya refugee camp and bombing Khan Younis, where many had fled to from the north. With Israel's attack killing close to 16,000 Palestinians, Shaina Low from the Norwegian Refugee Council describes the "hectic, chaotic, desperate" conditions on the ground and says she can barely get in touch with her colleagues in Gaza, let alone coordinate a humanitarian response to the destruction. "If they can't get in touch with each other, our operations come to a standstill," says Low. "We desperately need a ceasefire in order to be able to finally address these dire needs."

Democracy Now
Dec 05, 2023

Headlines for December 5, 2023
Gaza Death Toll Approaches 16,000 as Israel Intensifies Attacks and Lays Siege to Hospitals, Israeli Strikes Kill World-Renowned Researcher Sofyan Taya, Journalist Montaser Al-Sawaf, U.S. State Department Says It's "Too Soon" to Judge Whether Israel Is Protecting Civilians, Lawsuit Accuses Netherlands' Government of Complicity in Israeli War Crimes, Death Toll from Tanzania Floods Rises to 63, Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Flood COP28 Climate Summit as Carbon Emissions Reach Record Pace , Trial Opens of Two Paramedics Charged with Negligent Homicide in Death of Elijah McClain, Ex-U.S. Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha Charged with Spying for Cuba, Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Bankruptcy Plan Shielding Sacklers from Opioid Liability

Democracy Now
Dec 04, 2023

Climate Summit Host UAE Blasted by HRW for Migrant Worker Abuse, Toxic Pollution & Mass Surveillance
The U.N. climate summit underway in Dubai marks the first time in nine years that representatives from Human Rights Watch have been allowed access to the United Arab Emirates. We speak with researcher Joey Shea about toxic pollution from UAE fossil fuels processing, and the state of political rights in the authoritarian country — especially for migrant workers who constitute 88% of the population but lack many labor protections under the kafala system. "There is no independent civil society in this country," says Shea, adding that there is "sustained targeting of human rights defenders, activists, judges, lawyers, regular Emirati citizens" and anyone else who speaks out. Shea also warns that attendees of the COP28 conference are subject to mass surveillance from the moment they step foot in the country.

Democracy Now
Dec 04, 2023

COP28: Asad Rehman on Funding a "Just Transition" Off Fossil Fuels & Limits on Protest in UAE
As Democracy Now! broadcasts from the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, we get an update on negotiations and more from Asad Rehman, executive director of War on Want and lead spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition. He says developing countries must be compensated by rich countries for the impacts of the climate crisis and to allow for a "just transition" away from fossil fuels around the world, not just in the Global North. The annual United Nations conference opened Thursday with delegates agreeing to adopt a new "loss and damage" fund to help poorer nations deal with the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis, but it has raised just a fraction of what activists say is needed to address the annual cost of climate catastrophes. The United States only pledged $17 million for the fund. Meanwhile, COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber is facing a new wave of criticism after claiming there is "no science" backing the need to phase out fossil fuels. Al Jaber is also the head of the UAE's state oil company ADNOC.

Democracy Now
Dec 04, 2023

"We Are All Palestinians": COP28 Activists Demand Ceasefire in Gaza, Defying Protest Restrictions
Despite strict limits on protest in the United Arab Emirates, as well as United Nations rules at the climate conference known as COP28 now underway in Dubai, over 100 people demonstrated on the sidelines of the summit Sunday in solidarity with Palestine to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Some held banners with watermelons painted on them, a known symbol of the Palestinian movement, to circumvent a ban on Palestinian flags. Protesters were barred from chanting phrases like "from the river to the sea" and "Free Palestine" and were not permitted to say "Gaza," "Palestine" and "Israel" or name any other nation. Several still did so in defiance. Democracy Now! is broadcasting from COP28 this week, and we feature voices from the protest.

Democracy Now
Dec 04, 2023

"No One Is Safe in Gaza": Journalist Akram al-Satarri Reports from Khan Younis Amid Israeli Assault
We speak with Palestinian journalist Akram al-Satarri in Khan Younis, the southern Gaza city that is now the focus of Israel's assault. Israel has ordered many Palestinians to leave their homes and head further south toward Rafah near the Egyptian border, which Israel also attacked over the weekend. "They are being bombarded while they are trying to move," says al-Satarri. "The safety is in the very south of Rafah, and when they reach the promised safety, they end up being bombarded." Gaza's Health Ministry says Israel's air and ground assault has killed more than 800 people since Saturday, and Israel has killed over 15,500 Palestinians and displaced more 1.7 million from their homes since October 7, when it began its war on the besieged territory in response to a deadly attack by Hamas militants on surrounding Israeli communities.

Democracy Now
Dec 04, 2023

Headlines for December 4, 2023
Israel Kills 800 Palestinians as Truce Ends; Hospitals Under Attack as Gazans Have Nowhere to Turn, UAW Becomes Largest U.S.-Based Union to Call for Gaza Ceasefire, COP28 Climate Delegates Agree to Loss and Damage Fund with "Deficiencies", COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber Claims There's "No Science" to Back Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels, Venezuelan Voters Approve Sovereignty Claims Over Disputed Region of Guyana, Four Killed, Dozens Wounded in Explosion at Catholic Mass in Philippines' Largest Muslim City, Sandra Day O'Connor, First Woman to Serve on U.S. Supreme Court, Dies at 93, House Votes to Expel Republican Rep. and Serial Fabulist George Santos over Ethics Violations

Democracy Now
Dec 01, 2023

The Case Against Henry Kissinger: War Crimes Prosecutor Reed Brody on Kissinger's Legacy of "Slaughter"
Former U.S. secretary of state and national security adviser Henry Kissinger has died at the age of 100. He leaves behind a legacy of American statecraft that brought war, covert intervention and mass atrocities to Southeast Asia, South Asia and South America. "Few people have had a hand in so much death and destruction," says our guest, human rights attorney and war crimes prosecutor Reed Brody. By some accounts, Kissinger was responsible for the deaths of at least 3 million people. We focus today on Kissinger's actions in Cambodia, Bangladesh (previously East Pakistan) and East Timor, where, Brody argues, Kissinger ordered and oversaw U.S. actions that would make him "liable for war crimes."

Democracy Now
Dec 01, 2023

Resumed Bombing of Gaza Will Be Crushing to Palestinian Students Shot in Vermont, Says Victim's Mother
We speak with the mother of Hisham Awartani, one of the three 20-year-old Palestinian college students who were shot last weekend in Burlington, Vermont, in a suspected hate crime. Elizabeth Price traveled from her home in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank to see her son, who is still hospitalized in Burlington. He was shot in the spine and, while in stable condition, now faces an immediate loss of mobility. Price shares how her son's "resilience" and "brotherhood" with his childhood best friends who are the other survivors of the shooting, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, have been an integral part of his recovery. She also emphasizes that had Awartani been shot in Palestine, "he would have been dead in prison or thrown somewhere in a medical facility without the support to recover from this." We also discuss life under occupation in the West Bank, U.S. displays of solidarity with Palestinians, and the media narrative surrounding the shooter's motives. Of the three young men's commitment to highlighting the larger picture of Israeli oppression of Palestine, Price says that "the fact that the Israelis have started bombarding again in the Gaza Strip is something that will crush them more than their injuries."

Democracy Now
Dec 01, 2023

"Mass Assassination Factory": Israel Using AI to Generate Targets in Gaza, Increasing Civilian Toll
We look at a new report that reveals how Israel is using artificial intelligence to draw up targets in its military assault of Gaza. The report's author, journalist Yuval Abraham, has found that the IDF's increasing use of AI is partly a response to previous operations in Gaza when Israel quickly ran out of military targets, causing it to loosen its constraints on attacks that could kill civilians. In other words, the "civilian devastation that is happening right now in Gaza" is the result of a "war policy that has a very loose interpretation of what a military target is." This targeting of private homes and residences to kill alleged combatants means that "when a child is killed in Gaza, it's because somebody made a decision it was worth it." It has turned the Israeli military into a "mass assassination factory," with a "total disregard for Palestinian civil life," continues Abraham, who also notes that, as an Israeli journalist, his reporting is still subject to military censors. We also discuss another recent report revealing that Israel may have received intelligence about Hamas's planned attack more than a year in advance of October 7, but ignored it.

Democracy Now
Dec 01, 2023

Headlines for December 1, 2023
Dozens of Palestinians Killed in Renewed Israeli Attacks as Weeklong Gaza Truce Expires, Freed Palestinian Prisoners Say They Faced Torture and Rape in Israeli Jails, NYT: Israel Had Hamas Battle Plan More Than a Year Ago But Failed to Prevent Oct. 7 Attacks, Arizona Police Arrest Protesters and Journalist Covering Blockade of Raytheon Building, MSNBC Cancels "The Mehdi Hasan Show," Sparking Uproar, Russia's Top Court Bans Queer Activism in Escalating Persecution of LGBTQ Communities, "We Are Living Through Climate Collapse": U.N. Issues Urgent Warning as COP28 Opens in Dubai, Biden to Eschew COP28 as U.S. Opens Another Oil and Gas Leasing Auction, George Santos Refuses to Resign on Eve of House Vote on His Expulsion, Animal Rights Activist Wayne Hsiung Gets 3 Month Jail Term for Freeing Sick Factory Farm Birds

Democracy Now
Nov 30, 2023

Historian Greg Grandin: Glowing Obituaries for Henry Kissinger Reveal "Moral Bankruptcy" of U.S. Elites
Henry Kissinger is dead at the age of 100. The former U.S. statesman served as national security adviser and secretary of state at the height of the Cold War and wielded influence over U.S. foreign policy for decades afterward. His actions led to massacres, coups and and even genocide, leaving a bloody legacy in Latin America, Southeast Asia and beyond. Once out of office, Kissinger continued until his death to advise U.S. presidents and other top officials who celebrate him as a visionary diplomat. Yale historian Greg Grandin says those glowing obituaries only reveal "the moral bankruptcy of the political establishment" that ignores how Kissinger's actions may have led to the deaths of at least 3 million people across the globe. Grandin is author of Kissinger's Shadow: The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman.

Democracy Now
Nov 30, 2023

"This Is Genocide": Attorney Raji Sourani on Israeli War Crimes & Fleeing Gaza After Home Was Bombed
After his home in Gaza was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in October, Palestinian human rights lawyer Raji Sourani joins us from Cairo. He says Israel is enacting a "new Nakba" in its war on Gaza, and the expulsion of all Palestinians from their homeland is the clear end goal of the Israeli state. "They want us out, out of Palestine, out of Gaza, out of the West Bank," says Sourani. "This is genocide, this is ethnic cleansing, and these are first-class war crimes."

Democracy Now
Nov 30, 2023

"Horror Show": Doctors Without Borders Demands Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza, Medical Aid for Wounded
We get an update from Avril Benoît, executive director of Doctors Without Borders, on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and violence hospitals are facing in the occupied West Bank. Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian children Wednesday during a raid on the Jenin refugee camp, and medical workers say they were blocked from reaching the camp to treat the wounded. "Under humanitarian law, anyone should be able to reach a hospital," says Benoît, who is demanding a "proper ceasefire" in the region to allow medical aid to reach people devastated by Israel's war. She says the prospect of Israel resuming its bombardment of Gaza, including in the south where people were ordered to move, would be "a horror show."

Democracy Now
Nov 30, 2023

Headlines for November 30, 2023
Israel and Hamas Agree to Last-Minute Deal Extending Truce by 24 Hours, Decomposing Bodies of Premature Babies Discovered in Besieged Gaza Hospital, Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinian Children in Raid on Jenin Refugee Camp, Palestinian Gunmen Kill 3 at Jerusalem Bus Stop; Netanyahu Pledges Gaza Assault Will Resume, "Christmas Is Canceled": Protesters at NYC Tree-Lighting Ceremony Call for End to Israeli Occupation, House Progressives Join White House Hunger Strikers in Call for Gaza Ceasefire, Prominent Law Firm Rescinds Job Offer to Arab American Attorney Who Supports Palestinian Rights, Henry Kissinger, Who Instigated Wars and Backed Dictatorships Under Nixon and Ford, Dies at 100, DOJ Indictment Alleges Indian National Plotted to Assassinate Sikh Activist in U.S., Elon Musk Tells Advertisers Pulling Out of X, "Go F*** Yourself"

Democracy Now
Nov 29, 2023

Remembering Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady & Pioneering Advocate for Mental Health Journalism
We look at former first lady Rosalynn Carter's decadeslong advocacy for mental healthcare in the United States. She died November 19 at the age of 96. Carter campaigned for legislation forcing health insurance to cover mental healthcare and fought to remove stigma around the topic through a fellowship program for journalists. "There are hundreds of fellows that were inspired by Mrs. Carter, and that has led to a sea change," says Aaron Glantz, award-winning journalist and former Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism. "There was no established beat for mental health in journalism, and she's utterly changed that.

Democracy Now
Nov 29, 2023

Mass Killings in Darfur Revealed as Fighting Between Sudanese Military Factions Escalates
We get an update on the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where more than 12,000 people have been killed and over 6 million displaced since April, when the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group broke out into fighting. Earlier this month, human rights groups say members of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group carried out a massacre of around 1,300 Masalit people over three days in Sudan's West Darfur region and have subjected them to unlawful detentions, sexual violence, ill-treatment and looting. "The overall picture that survivors drew to us is horrific," says Human Rights Watch researcher Mohamed Osman, who details how the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are suspected of backing the fighting between the groups. "What we know is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the violations that people are facing day to day," says Sudanese activist Marine Alneel, who lays out how today's fighting continues the country's history of power struggles.

Democracy Now
Nov 29, 2023

UAE Oil CEO Sultan Al Jaber Uses His Role as U.N. Climate Summit President to Push Fossil Fuel Deals
As the largest-ever United Nations climate summit kicks off Thursday in Dubai, we look at how the COP28 president, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who is also CEO of the United Arab Emirates state oil company, has used climate summit meetings to lobby countries for oil and gas deals. The Centre for Climate Reporting obtained documents from meeting briefings that include Abu Dhabi National Oil Company talking points. The Centre's Ben Stockton lays out how the oil boss was put in charge of the climate summit, and how the UAE also hopes to use COP28 to deflect from "a record of human rights abuses." The new revelations "call into question the integrity of COP28," he says. Democracy Now! will broadcast from COP28 in Dubai next week.

Democracy Now
Nov 29, 2023

Headlines for November 29, 2023
More Captives Released from Gaza and Israel as Key Parties Urge Extension of Truce, Aid Groups Detail Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza as Hundreds of Thousands Face Starvation, Israeli Forces Continue Deadly West Bank Attacks, Lay Siege to Jenin Hospitals During Lengthy Raid, "I Am But One Casualty in the Much Wider Conflict": Shot Palestinian American Student Speaks Out, Koch Super PAC Endorses Nikki Haley as GOP Nominee for President, Center for Reproductive Rights Argues Against Texas Abortion Ban Before State's Supreme Court, Panama to Expel Canadian-Owned Copper Mine After Supreme Court Ruling, Indigenous Group Wins Fight to Reclaim Ancestral Land After Being Forced Out 8 Decades Ago, Peace Talks Resume Between Philippines Gov't and New People's Army, Sierra Leone Officials Say Recent Attacks Were Failed Coup Attempt, Rosalynn Carter Memorial Service Brings Out Former and Current Presidents, First Ladies

Democracy Now
Nov 28, 2023

Remembering Pablo Yoruba Guzmán, Young Lords Co-Founder, Afro-Latino Leader, Legendary NYC Journalist
We remember the legendary activist and journalist Pablo Yoruba Guzmán, who died from a heart attack Sunday at age 73. Guzmán was the former minister of information of the Young Lords Party, the revolutionary social justice group led by Puerto Ricans in the 1960s and '70s. He later became a beloved print and television reporter, known for his street reporting. Guzmán was the "first great public relations expert of the Latino community," says Democracy Now! co-host Juan González, also a former Young Lord. "He was one of the first Afro-Latino people in the media," adds Johanna Fernández, associate professor of history at the City University of New York's Baruch College and author of The Young Lords: A Radical History. She says Guzmán "brought to the Young Lords a theorization of race in Latin America" and built "common cause with Black Americans."

Democracy Now
Nov 28, 2023

Jeremy Scahill: Israel's "Lethal Lie" About Al-Shifa Hospital as Hamas Base Was Co-Signed by Biden
The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill deconstructs Israel's narrative around Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, including unsubstantiated allegations Hamas uses tunnels under the hospital as its command center — tunnels that Israel itself built. "We were told that this was like a Hamas Pentagon," says Scahill, who describes how the Israeli military's own evidence disproves its allegations that the hospital was dangerous enough to justify its siege and bombardment. The World Health Organization says Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, "is no longer functioning." The Israeli disinformation campaign against it was a "lethal lie," says Scahill. We also discuss the status of Palestinian prisoners who are now candidates for release in Israel and Hamas's ongoing hostage exchange.

Democracy Now
Nov 28, 2023

"Atmosphere of Hate": AFSC Leader & Palestinian Vermonter on Shooting of 3 College Students
We get an update on the three university students of Palestinian descent who were shot Saturday in Burlington, Vermont. Two were wearing keffiyehs and speaking Arabic at the time of the attack. Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmad are now recovering, though Hisham Awartani, who was shot in the spine, has reportedly lost feeling in the lower part of his body. The FBI is reportedly investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime. "This atmosphere of hate" starts "from the federal level," declares Wafic Faour of the organization Vermonters for Justice in Palestine, who joins us to discuss the recent history of Vermont's suppression of pro-Palestinian sentiment. "If you talk about Palestinian rights, you're going to be called 'terrorist,'" says Faour, yet although "the attacker is a white supremacist, … we don't call it as is." We also speak to Joyce Ajlouny, former director of the Ramallah Friends School in the occupied West Bank, where the three victims were students together. She reads poems they wrote in sixth grade and notes that over the course of the decadeslong occupation, "Palestinians of all faiths … have not been offered the humanity and dignity that they deserve."

Democracy Now
Nov 28, 2023

Headlines for November 28, 2023
Israel and Hamas Agree to Extend Truce by 48 Hours to Exchange More Captives , Elon Musk Says Starlink Internet Service Will Operate in Gaza Only with Israel's Approval , Vermont Man Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Murder of Three Palestinian Students, Former Obama Adviser Pleads Not Guilty to Hate Crimes over Racist Harassment of NYC Vendor, Activists at White House Launch Hunger Strike Demanding Biden Press for Gaza Ceasefire, Ahead of COP28 Climate Summit, U.N. Warns of Rapidly Melting Antarctic Sea Ice , Biden Won't Join World Leaders at COP28 Climate Talks, Climate Reporters' Sting Reveals Saudi Plan to "Hook" Poorer Countries on Fossil Fuels, U.N. Warns of Worsening Humanitarian Crisis in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Russia Cracks Down Further on Journalists Masha Gessen, Evan Gershkovich, Vermont Community Radio Pioneer and NASCAR Enthusiast Ken Squier Dies at 88

Democracy Now
Nov 27, 2023

"There Is an Alternative": Meet the Israeli & Palestinian "Combatants for Peace" Urging Nonviolence
With Israel and Palestine experiencing the worst violence in decades, we speak with two co-founders of Combatants for Peace, a group composed of people from both sides of the conflict who have committed to nonviolence and peaceful coexistence. Avner Wishnitzer is a former member of Sayeret Matkal, one of the Israel Defense Forces' elite commando units, and Sulaiman Khatib spent more than 10 years in prison after being arrested as a teenager for an attack on Israeli soldiers. The two recently co-authored a piece for The New York Review of Books on modeling a nonviolent path toward peace. "We are offering a different direction that's based on partnership and common interest and common values," says Khatib. Wishnitzer adds that only a political solution can bring lasting peace. "When people are fed with the idea that there is no choice but violence, they respond with violence to each other," he says.

Democracy Now
Nov 27, 2023

Israel-Hamas Hostage Deal Highlights Plight of Palestinian Prisoners, Many of Them Children
With a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas set to expire after Monday, we look at who has been released and the growing pressure to extend the pause in fighting that has given Gaza residents small respite from Israel's relentless bombardment and allowed humanitarian aid to reach people inside the territory. The pause began Friday to allow for the release of Israelis and foreign nationals kept hostage by militants in Gaza in exchange for the freedom of some of the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, many of whom are minors and women. "We are talking about over 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners inside Israeli prisons right now. More than 2,500 are being held under administrative detention … without a charge and without a trial," says Tala Nasir, a lawyer with Addameer, a group that advocates for Palestinian prisoners. We also speak with Israeli journalist Orly Noy, who says the sheer number of Palestinian prisoners shows "how central the tool of incarceration is in the Israeli project" of occupying and oppressing Palestinians. "The same system that allows every Jewish settler, citizen or soldier or policeman to walk away after killing Palestinians under the most outrageous circumstances is the same system that treats a 12-year-old who threw stones as a dangerous terrorist," says Noy.

Democracy Now
Nov 27, 2023

Headlines for November 27, 2023
Calls Mount to Extend Truce as Dozens of Hamas Captives and Palestinian Prisoners Freed, Israeli Forces Kill at Least 8 West Bank Palestinians Amid Surge in Violence, Vermont Police Arrest Suspect in Shooting of 3 Palestinian Students, Activists Shut Down Manhattan Bridge; Demonstrators Disrupt Macy's Parade Over Protest-Filled Weekend, BBC Censors BAFTA Acceptance Speeches Expressing Solidarity with Palestine, NYU Cancer Doctor Sues After Firing for Racist Posts, Far-Right Xenophobe Geert Wilders on Path to Become Dutch PM After Parliamentary Election, Russia Launches Largest Drone Attack in Ukraine Since Start of Invasion, Far-Right Groups Riot in Dublin After Knife Attack Stokes Anti-Immigrant Hatred, Tens of Thousands March to Demand the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Over 100 Arrested as Australian Climate Activists Blockade World's Largest Coal Port, Portland Teachers End Strike After Winning Higher Wages and Smaller Class Sizes, Thousands of Amazon Workers Strike on Black Friday, Young Lords Co-Founder Turned "Best Street Reporter on TV" Pablo Yoruba Guzmán Dies

Democracy Now
Nov 24, 2023

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Rashid Khalidi on Israeli Occupation, Apartheid & the 100-Year War on Palestine
In this special broadcast, we air excerpts from a recent event organized by the Palestine Festival of Literature at the Union Theological Seminary here in New York. The event featured a discussion between the acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi. Coates won the National Book Award for his book Between the World and Me. Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia. His books include The Hundred Years' War on Palestine. Their conversation was moderated by civil rights attorney Michelle Alexander.

Democracy Now
Nov 24, 2023

"The Mandates of Conscience": Michelle Alexander on Israel, Gaza, MLK & Speaking Out in a Time of War
"But We Must Speak: On Palestine and the Mandates of Conscience." That was the name of a recent event organized by the Palestine Festival of Literature here in New York, where leading writers and academics came together to speak out against Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Speakers included Yasmin El-Rifae of PalFest and the civil rights attorney Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

Democracy Now
Nov 23, 2023

"Text-Book Case of Genocide": Top U.N. Official Craig Mokhiber Resigns, Denounces Israeli Assault on Gaza
Hear from Craig Mokhiber, a longtime international human rights lawyer, who previously served as director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on why he left his post while decrying U.N. inaction over what he calls a "text-book case of genocide" unfolding in Gaza. Mokhiber's letter of resignation went viral last month. He spoke to Democracy Now! shortly after.

Democracy Now
Nov 23, 2023

Lakota Historian Nick Estes on Thanksgiving, Settler Colonialism & Continuing Indigenous Resistance
Lakota historian Nick Estes talks about the violent origins of Thanksgiving and his book Our History Is the Future. "This history … is a continuing history of genocide, of settler colonialism and, basically, the founding myths of this country," says Estes, who is a co-founder of the Indigenous resistance group The Red Nation and a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

Democracy Now
Nov 22, 2023

Gaza in Ruins: Satellite Imagery Researchers Say Israel has Destroyed or Damaged 56,000 Buildings
Democracy Now! speaks with two researchers who lead the Decentralized Damage Mapping Group, a network of scientists using remote sensing to analyze and map the damage and destruction in the Gaza Strip since Israel's attacks began on October 7. Radar technology shows that Israel's bombing campaign has left about half of all buildings in northern Gaza damaged or destroyed since October 7, with at least 56,000 buildings in Gaza damaged overall. Doctoral researcher Corey Scher explains how researchers use open data to bring consistent, transparent assessments of the rapidly expanding damage in Gaza. "We've all been surprised at the speed of this," says Jamon Van Den Hoek, lead of the Conflict Ecology lab.

Democracy Now
Nov 22, 2023

Meet the Israeli History Teacher Arrested & Jailed for Facebook Posts Opposing Killing of Palestinians
On November 9, Israeli police arrested Jerusalem history and civics teacher Meir Baruchin after he posted a message on Facebook about his opposition to the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians. Police seized his phone and two laptops before interrogating him on suspicion of committing an act of treason and intending to disrupt public order. After being in jail for four days, Baruchin was freed but lost his job as a teacher and is still facing charges. "These days Israeli citizens who are showing the slightest sentiment for the people of Gaza, opposing killing of innocent civilians, they are being politically persecuted, they go through public shaming, they lose their jobs, they are being put in jail," says Baruchin, who says if he had been Palestinian, he would have faced more violence.

Democracy Now
Nov 22, 2023

Israel & Hamas Agree to 4-Day Truce & Hostage Release as Netanyahu Threatens War on Gaza Will Go On
Under the terms of a new hostage deal, Hamas will release 50 hostages who were captured in its October 7 attack in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli prison and agreeing to a four-day pause in fighting to exchange captives and bring urgently needed humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The four-day pause could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would continue its 47-day bombardment of Gaza that has killed 14,000 Palestinians. "This is a rare glimmer of hope," says former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy, who explains how this deal will shape Israeli politics and Netanyahu's prospects moving forward. "The morning after this, he faces the music."

Democracy Now
Nov 22, 2023

Headlines for November 22, 2023
Israeli Continues Deadly Attacks as 4-Day Truce Announced, Gaza Death Toll Tops 14,100, Gaza's Indonesian Hotel Under Siege; WHO Mourns Employee Killed with Family in Israeli Strike, Three Doctors, Including Members of MSF, Killed in Strike on Al-Awda Hospital, Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha and Family Released After Abduction by IDF, BRICS Leaders Call for "Durable Truce"; South African Lawmakers Vote to Suspend Ties with Israel, Ro Khanna Joins Congressional Call for Gaza Ceasefire, Activists Protest at Missouri Boeing Plant; UTA Drops Susan Sarandon for Calling for Ceasefire, WFP Warns of Dwindling Food Supplies for 1.4M People in Chad, Incl. Sudanese Refugees, Australian Army Whistleblower David McBride Pleads Guilty to Sharing Afghan War Crimes Information, Elon Musk Sues Media Matters; Brands Withdraw from X over Promotion of Antisemitic Content, Binance Founder Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges as Company Hit with $4.3 Billion Fine, Holly Maguigan, Beloved Law Prof. Who Pioneered the Rights of Domestic Violence Survivors, Has Died, Former CCR Director Bill Goodman, Who Defended Guantánamo Prisoners and Challenged NYPD, Dies at 83

Democracy Now
Nov 21, 2023

Argentina's Trump? Far-Right Javier Milei Wins Presidency with Echoes of Past Dictatorship
Far-right libertarian Javier Milei has been elected president of Argentina, defeating centrist Peronist Sergio Massa. Milei is a climate crisis denier who has proposed banning abortion and easing restrictions on guns. He has vowed to shut down Argentina's central bank, replace the nation's currency with the U.S. dollar and crack down on women's and LGBTQ people's rights. We discuss what else to expect from Milei's presidency with Argentine feminist activist Verónica Gago and Franco Metaza, the director of international relations for the Argentine Senate.

Democracy Now
Nov 21, 2023

Becca Balint, First Jewish Congressmember to Back Ceasefire, Expresses Support for Rashida Tlaib
Dozens of members of Congress are now calling for a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities in Israel and occupied Palestine. We speak to Democratic Congressmember Becca Balint of Vermont, the first Jewish member of Congress to join these calls. "The horrific violence has to stop. Hostages must be released. We have to end the suffering in Gaza. Palestinians and Israelis both deserve safety and security, and now more than ever I believe that we need a true, negotiated ceasefire to get to a two-state solution," Balint says of her position. We also discuss her friendship with fellow Democratic congressmember and the only Palestinian American in Congress, Rashida Tlaib.

Democracy Now
Nov 21, 2023

Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha Freed After Being Abducted in Gaza & Beaten by Israeli Forces in Jail
Israeli troops detained and reportedly beat the acclaimed Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha after he was stopped at an Israeli military checkpoint Sunday while heading toward the Rafah border crossing with his family in Gaza. His whereabouts had been unknown until today, when news emerged that he had been released. According to the Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu, Abu Toha was taken to an Israeli prison in the Naqab, where he was interrogated and beaten along with more than 200 other Palestinians who remain in detention. We play excerpts from Abu Toha's recent appearance on Democracy Now! and speak to Buttu, who says, "Mosab's story is like that of so many Palestinians in Gaza."

Democracy Now
Nov 21, 2023

A Grim Milestone: Journalist Death Toll Tops 53 as Israel Kills More Reporters in Gaza and Lebanon
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 50 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza. Forty-five of the slain journalists have been Palestinian. Others have been arrested or injured. According to CPJ, this has been the deadliest period for journalists covering conflict since the media group began tracking deaths over 30 years ago. Meanwhile, journalists in Israel and the West Bank have been confronted with cyberattacks, physical assault and other forms of censorship for allegedly "harming national morale and harming national security" while reporting on Israel. It's a "news blackout," says CPJ's program coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Sherif Mansour, under which the Israeli government is blocking "essential media coverage" and withholding "lifesaving information" from Gaza in order to win its Western propaganda war.

Democracy Now
Nov 21, 2023

Headlines for November 21, 2023
WHO Says Israeli Attacks Have Taken All of Northern Gaza's Hospitals Out of Service, U.N. Chief Condemns Israel's "Unparalleled and Unprecedented" Attacks on Civilians, Israeli Attacks Kill Palestinian Journalists in Gaza and Media Workers in Lebanon, Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha Abducted by Israeli Troops at Gaza Checkpoint, Families of Israeli Hostages Blast Bill to Impose Death Sentence on Hamas Members, Sen. Jeff Merkley Calls for Gaza Ceasefire: "Too Many Civilians and Children Have Died", Protesters Rally at Seattle Space Needle to Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Federal Judges Block Private Plaintiffs from Suing to Enforce Voting Rights Act, Gunman Wielding Assault Rifle Wounds Four at Ohio Walmart, Labor Unions Step Up Campaign Against Tesla in Solidarity with Striking Swedish Mechanics, Oil-Producing Countries Stall Talks on U.N. Treaty to Curb Plastic Waste

Democracy Now
Nov 20, 2023

Palestinian Activist Remembers Vivian Silver, Israeli Canadian Peace Activist Killed in Hamas Attack
Israeli and Palestinian peace activists are mourning 74-year-old Canadian Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver after she was confirmed killed on October 7 during the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri, where she lived. She was previously thought to be held hostage. Silver co-founded the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation, sat on the board for the human rights group B'Tselem and was an active member of Women Wage Peace. Silver's friend and colleague Samah Salaime, a Palestinian feminist activist, says Silver would have pushed for dialogue to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. "This was her legacy, and this is what we have to march for and fight for after her death."

Democracy Now
Nov 20, 2023

Israel's Raid on Al-Shifa Questioned as IDF Fails to Present Hard Evidence Linking Hamas to Hospital
We continue our coverage of Israel's unrelenting 45-day bombardment of Gaza, where health officials say the overall death toll has topped 13,000 since October 7. Writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada joins Democracy Now! to discuss the global protests calling for a ceasefire, the ongoing hostage negotiations, and Israel's failure to prove Hamas ran a command post underneath Al-Shifa Hospital.

Democracy Now
Nov 20, 2023

Palestinian Death Toll in Gaza Tops 13,000 as Israel Repeatedly Strikes U.N. Schools Housing Refugees
Over the weekend, at least 82 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Jabaliya refugee camp, including multiple United Nations schools sheltering Palestinians. At least 85 incidents of Israeli bombing have impacted 67 facilities run by the United Nations relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in the last two months. We speak with Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for UNRWA, about the organization sheltering close to a million Palestinians from Israel's assault, which has killed 104 of her colleagues since the beginning of the war — the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history of the United Nations. Alrifai says her agency is only getting half of the fuel they need to serve people in Gaza, being forced to choose between clean water, food and transport. "If UNRWA ceases to exist tomorrow, then there is a huge layer of stabilizing and stability that UNRWA usually offers in a very, very volatile area that also collapses."

Democracy Now
Nov 20, 2023

Headlines for November 20, 2023
IDF Attacks Gaza's Indonesian Hospital After Forcing Al-Shifa to Shutter, U.N. Helps Evacuate Babies, Israeli Airstrikes Kill Dozens of Gazans Sheltering at U.N. School as Death Toll Soars Above 13,000, Families of Hostages Complete March to Jerusalem as Int'l Talks Indicate Possible Progress, Houthi Fighters Seize Israeli-Linked Japanese Ship in Red Sea, Israeli Forces Continue Deadly Raids in West Bank; Residents of Hebron's H2 Under Harsh Lockdown, Protesters Disrupt Yale-Harvard Football Game to Call for Gaza Ceasefire, Activists Shut Down Event for California Candidates to U.S. Senate, American Public Health Association Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza, Far-Right Libertarian Javier Milei Elected as Argentina's Next President, Joseph Boakai Elected President of Liberia, Texas GOP Bills Turn Police into Immigration Enforcers, Criminalize Asylum Seekers, U.K. Supreme Court Rejects PM Sunak's Plan to Deport Asylum Seekers to Rwanda, Average Global Temperature Rises 2°C Above Pre-Industrial Levels for First Time on Record, Flooding Kills at Least 130 Across Horn of Africa with 770,000 Displaced, Climate Crisis and Slash-and-Burn Agriculture Drive Record Wildfires in Bolivia, Colorado Judge Won't Bar Donald Trump from 2024 Ballot, Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Dies at 96

Democracy Now
Nov 17, 2023

Cop City Protest Tear-Gassed as Activists Face "Unprecedented" RICO & Domestic Terrorism Charges
Protesters in Atlanta held a week of action to stop the construction of the massive $90 million police training complex known as "Cop City" in the Weelaunee Forest. This comes as activists have been organizing for a citywide referendum on the project which officials have tied up in court. Meanwhile, 61 people facing RICO, or racketeering, and domestic terrorism charges appeared in court this month as the state tries to characterize them as "militant anarchists." We get an update from Kamau Franklin, founder of the Atlanta-based grassroots organizing collective Community Movement Builders, who describes Atlanta's repression of peaceful civil disobedience as part of an effort "to protect cops and capitalism." We also feature excerpts from Al Jazeera's new Fault Lines documentary on the "Stop Cop City" movement and speak with correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who calls the mass charges against protesters "unprecedented."

Democracy Now
Nov 17, 2023

Sharif Abdel Kouddous on the Targeting of Journalists & Israel's "Colonial Fantasy" to Depopulate Gaza
As the United Nations calls again for a ceasefire in Gaza, Palestinian health officials are warning thousands of women, children and sick people could soon die as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza. Gaza is also facing a second day of a communications blackout. "Gaza City itself is a hollow shell" where "the streets have been turned into graveyards" and "the smell of death is everywhere," says independent journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous. "It increasingly seems that Israel is trying to push Palestinians into Egypt, which is a long-standing colonial fantasy," he says of Israel's campaign of Palestinian displacement in Gaza. Kouddous also calls out the journalism community's silence in the face of what is the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades, noting the "bias being laid bare."

Democracy Now
Nov 17, 2023

Capitol Police Violently Break Up Jewish-Organized DNC Protest Calling for Gaza Ceasefire
As protests for a ceasefire in Gaza continue around the United States, the Jewish-led peace organization IfNotNow helped organize Wednesday's protest at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in Washington, D.C. The protesters held hands to block the entrance to the building and were met with pepper spray and police use of force. "Let's be clear that police escalated the protest," says Eva Borgwardt, national spokesperson for IfNowNow. "Our Jewish values and our safety as Jews is extremely, extremely contingent on calling for a ceasefire now," Bogwardt, who is Jewish, continues. She also comments on Democratic Party leaders' resistance to and suppression of public calls to rein in Israel's lethal assault on Gaza, as well as the role of the powerful lobbying group AIPAC in policing public dissent.

Democracy Now
Nov 17, 2023

Headlines for November 17, 2023
Israel Lays Siege to Gaza's Hospitals, Strikes Jabaliya Refugee Camp Amid Telecoms Blackout, Israeli Drone Strike Kills 3 Palestinians in Occupied West Bank, U.S. CENTCOM Commander Meets Top Israeli Officials Amid Mounting Regional Violence, Protesters Shut Down Boston and San Francisco Bridges Demanding End to U.S. Support for War on Gaza, Vermont Rep. Becca Balint Becomes First Jewish Congressmember to Call for Ceasefire, L.A. Times Calls for Gaza Ceasefire to End Israel's "Indiscriminate Killing of Palestinian Civilians", Russian Artist Gets 7 Years in Prison for Replacing Grocery Price Tags with Antiwar Messages, Ismael Villagómez Becomes at Least 5th Journalist Killed in Mexico This Year, 100 Imprisoned Immigrants in Washington State Launch Hunger Strike, Judge Declares Mistrial for Officer Who Shot into Breonna Taylor's Home During Deadly Raid, Paul Pelosi Attacker Found Guilty of Attempted Kidnapping, Assault, Disgraced NY Rep. George Santos Will Not Run in 2024 Amid Myriad Findings of Fraud, UAW Members Vote to Ratify Contracts with "Big 3" Despite Some Lingering Dissent, Thousands of Starbucks Workers Walk Off the Job on "Red Cup Day"

Democracy Now
Nov 16, 2023

Niece of Israeli PM Netanyahu Backs Ceasefire in Gaza, Says Military Solutions Will Not Bring Peace
Ruth Ben-Artzi, the niece of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, joins Democracy Now! to call for the Netanyahu government to focus efforts on releasing Israeli hostages and to stop the bombing. A professor of political science at Providence College, Ben-Artzi recently joined prominent Rhode Island rabbis, Jewish leaders and Israelis demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. "A ceasefire is really the only way that any solution can be achieved," says Ben-Artzi, who explains why military actions will never resolve this conflict and that "finding a political situation … is really the only way that the roughly 7 million Jews and 7 million Palestinians who live between the river and the sea will ever be able to find peace."

Democracy Now
Nov 16, 2023

Israel Has Enjoyed Decades of Legal Impunity. Could the War on Gaza Finally Change That?
We speak with two experts in international criminal law about the long history of Palestinians attempting to seek justice in global institutions and the "very grave crimes" for which Israel is being prosecuted regarding the country's ongoing assault and siege of Gaza. Chantal Meloni, an international criminal lawyer who represents victims in Palestine before the International Criminal Court, lays out the history of cases brought before the ICC regarding Israel's siege and collective punishment of Palestinians being denied justice for more than 14 years. "The fact that there was no accountability for the last decades of occupation and crimes related to the occupation has created a sense of impunity," says Reed Brody, a war crimes prosecutor, who reports this new assault on Gaza has forced ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan to confront Israel. "Will this be followed up by real action for the first time?"

Democracy Now
Nov 16, 2023

"Failure to Prevent Genocide": Biden Sued as U.S. Provides Arms & Support for Israel's Gaza Assault
As Israel rejects growing international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Center for Constitutional Rights in the United States is suing President Biden for failing to prevent genocide. The center is seeking an emergency order to block Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from providing further military funding, arms and diplomatic support to Israel. Katherine Gallagher, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights on the case, argues the U.S. is complicit with Israel in the "crime of crimes" by "aiding and abetting genocide" with military aid, advisers and political support despite clear signs of intent to collectively punish the Palestinian population.

Democracy Now
Nov 16, 2023

Headlines for November 16, 2023
Israel Orders Palestinians to Flee Parts of Southern Gaza, Continues Attacks on Hospitals, Without Citing Evidence, Biden Backs Israel's Claim That Hamas Used Hospital as Base, Biden Calls Xi Jinping a "Dictator" After APEC Meeting, U.N. Security Council Passes Resolution Calling for "Humanitarian Pauses" in Gaza, Protesters Take Over Strategic Sites in D.C., Los Angeles, Oakland to Call for End to Gaza Assault, Majority of National Book Award Finalists Call for Ceasefire During Prize Ceremony, 24 House Lawmakers Call for Gaza Ceasefire, Citing Violation of Children's Rights, Senate Passes Stopgap Spending Bill as Far-Right House Lawmakers Rebel Against New Speaker , 7 More Women Join Texas Abortion Ban Lawsuit; Judge Blocks Idaho's Out-of-State Abortion Law, African Leaders Call for Reparations for Slavery and Its Enduring Effects

Democracy Now
Nov 15, 2023

March for Israel Speaker Pastor Hagee Once Said God "Sent Hitler to Help Jews Reach the Promised Land"
Speakers at Tuesday's "March for Israel" on the National Mall included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Christian fundamentalist House Speaker Mike Johnson and radical Christian Zionist pastor John Hagee, who once said God "sent Hitler to help Jews reach the Promised Land." Sarah Posner, a reporter focused on the American Christian right, discusses Hagee and Johnson's backgrounds and explains how Hagee and other extremist evangelical Christians and Jewish Zionists use each other to advance their own movements. Rabbis for Ceasefire's Alissa Wise notes the "influence of Christian Zionism on U.S. foreign policy is way understated" and should be vigorously countered by white American Christians, just as white American Jews have mobilized a high-profile opposition to Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

Democracy Now
Nov 15, 2023

Rabbis for Ceasefire: Jewish Leaders Organize to Halt Israel's Bombardment of Gaza
We speak to Rabbi Alissa Wise, an organizer with Rabbis for Ceasefire and the founding co-chair of Jewish Voice for Peace's Rabbinical Council, about Tuesday's "March for Israel" in Washington, D.C., that was covered widely by the mainstream media and platformed antisemitic Christian Zionists. Wise sees a deep connection between Jewish religious principles and anti-Zionist activism and says accusations that anti-Zionists are antisemitic are a cynical strategy used to "shield Israel from accountability." She says Israel cannot be uniquely exempt from political and humanitarian critique. "Israel is not a Jewish person. Israel is a state. God forbid we should not be able to cry out when states are committing horrific genocidal violence in the name of Jewish people."

Democracy Now
Nov 15, 2023

Peter Beinart: Israel Will Only Be Secure & Safe If Palestinians Are Given Freedom
Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of Jewish Currents, discusses proposals for a prisoner swap with Hamas, the ongoing cycle of Palestinian oppression and resistance, censorship of pro-Palestine advocacy in the United States, what he calls a "generational struggle" among American Jews over Zionism, and more on Israel's current assault of Gaza.

Democracy Now
Nov 15, 2023

Worse Than Hell: Dr. Mads Gilbert Decries Israeli Military Raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza
The Israel military raid on Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians are sheltering, is an "unprecedented attack on civilian society" in the "darkest time in modern history," that is being justified in the West by "a deep-rooted and frightening racism," says Dr. Mads Gilbert, who worked at Al-Shifa. "You don't do these things to people you consider equal." Dr. Gilbert is a Norwegian physician who just spent weeks in Cairo trying to enter Gaza to help his colleagues and has worked extensively in Palestine since 1981. "The civilian population of Gaza [have] done nothing wrong other than being born Palestinians in Gaza," he says. "Israeli impunity has reached a new level, and we are all sinking into that abyss of disregard for human life."

Democracy Now
Nov 15, 2023

Headlines for November 15, 2023
Israel Raids Al-Shifa Hospital, Turning Gaza's Largest Medical Facility into War Zone, "We Will Drown": Displaced Gazans in Refugee Tents Face Heavy Rain, Israeli Forces Kill 8 Palestinians, Attack Hospital in West Bank, Israel Confirms Death of Oct. 7 Hostage; Hamas Blames Israeli Airstrike, Belize Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Israel; U.N. Palestine Observer Slams Olaf Scholz's Defense of Israel, "March for Israel" Brings Together Celebrities with Right-Wing Leaders, White Nationalist Pastor, Russian-Backed Attacks in Syria Ramp Up, Killing 66 People over Past Month, House Passes Stopgap Government Funding Bill to Avert Shutdown Until 2024, Biden Outlines Plans to Mitigate Climate Crisis as Federal Report Shows All of U.S. Is at Risk, U.N. Warns National Climate Plans "Strikingly Misaligned with Science", Rights Groups, Lawmakers Rally to End Solitary Confinement, Union Leaders Testify Before Congress; Sen. Markwayne Mullin Challenges Teamsters Head to Fight, Presidents Biden and Xi Meeting in San Francisco as They Attend APEC Summit

Democracy Now
Nov 14, 2023

Antony Loewenstein: Israel Is Testing New Weapons on Gaza as Arms Dealers Profit from Gaza War
Worldwide protests calling for a ceasefire are drawing attention to the role of weapons manufacturers and distributors supplying machinery to Israel's assault on Gaza, with demonstrators blocking shipping tankers and entrances to weapons factories, and unionized workers refusing to handle military materiel over the war in Gaza. There is "a growing public awareness and anger" about the global connection between Western powers and the Israeli military industry, says Antony Loewenstein, who has investigated how Israeli weaponry and surveillance technology are used on Palestinians and exported around the world. "Israel is already, as we speak … live-testing new weapons in Gaza," says Loewenstein. He also discusses what he characterizes as the "intelligence" and "political" failures of the October 7 Hamas incursion.

Democracy Now
Nov 14, 2023

NY Times Writers Jazmine Hughes & Jamie Keiles Resign After Signing Letter Against Israeli War on Gaza
Democracy Now! speaks to award-winning writers Jazmine Hughes and Jamie Lauren Keiles in their first broadcast interview since being forced out of The New York Times Magazine for signing an open letter condemning Israel's siege on Gaza. The magazine's editor Jake Silverstein said the letter violated the outlet's policy on public protest, but Keiles says there are no clear guidelines, especially for contributing writers. He explains he signed on to the letter due to his disappointment in the journalistic standards missing from mainstream coverage of the war in Gaza, saying "this is an industrywide question." Both writers say their former institution's scrutiny of pro-Palestinian activism is a double standard that indicates tacit support for Israel.

Democracy Now
Nov 14, 2023

We Are Not Numbers: Palestinian Journalist Ahmed Alnaouq Mourns 21 Family Members Killed by Israel
One-and-a-half million residents of Gaza have been displaced by Israeli bombing and siege since October 7 in what many Palestinians are calling a second Nakba, or catastrophe, referencing the 1948 expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians to create the state of Israel. "It's what has been going on for the past 75 years," says Palestinian journalist Ahmed Alnaouq, who describes how 21 members of his family were killed in Gaza, including his father and several siblings. Alnaouq had not been able to visit his family for four years prior to their deaths, due to restrictions upon entry into Gaza. He joins us from London, where historic protests calling for a ceasefire were deemed "hate marches" by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who was fired shortly thereafter. Alnaouq speaks about global support for Palestinians and responds to U.S. President Joe Biden's latest comments on Israel's targeting of hospitals in Gaza.

Democracy Now
Nov 14, 2023

Headlines for November 14, 2023
U.N. Says Life-Saving Operations in Gaza Will "Grind to a Halt" Unless Israel Allows Fuel Shipments, Biden Says Israel Should Take "Less Intrusive Action" After Attacks on Hospitals, Israeli Peace Activist Vivian Silver Confirmed Killed in Oct. 7 Attack by Hamas, Journalists Say Israeli Military Targeted Them Near Israel-Lebanon Border, Palestinians and Rights Groups Sue Biden for Failing to Prevent Genocide in Gaza, Jewish-Led Protest on Capitol Hill Demands Lawmakers Support Gaza Ceasefire, LGBTQ Advocate Jesús Ociel Baena Found Dead in Mexico, Scandal-Plagued Supreme Court Publishes "Code of Conduct" with No Enforcement Mechanism, Ex-Attorney Says Donald Trump Did Not Plan to Leave White House "Under Any Circumstances", Police Fire Tear Gas and "Less Lethal" Munitions at Stop Cop City Protesters, Latin American Theologian Enrique Dussel, Who Crafted a "Philosophy of Liberation," Dies at 88

Democracy Now
Nov 13, 2023

"We're Being Exterminated": Hear One of Dr. Hammam Alloh's Last Interviews from Gaza Before His Death
We feature one of the final interviews with Palestinian doctor Hammam Alloh, who died Saturday when an Israeli artillery shell struck his wife's home, killing him, his father, brother-in-law and father-in-law. On October 31, Democracy Now! spoke to Dr. Alloh about conditions at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest hospital, and his decision to continue working, as he called on people in the United States and the rest of the world to take action against Israel's indiscriminate assault. When asked about why he refused to leave his patients, Dr. Alloh responded, "You think I went to medical school and for my postgraduate degrees for a total of 14 years so I think only about my life and not my patients?"

Democracy Now
Nov 13, 2023

"Beacon of Light": Fellow Doctors Recall Dr. Hammam Alloh, Gaza Doctor Killed by Israeli Airstrike
We speak with two physicians who knew Dr. Hammam Alloh, a Palestinian nephrologist at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital who was killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike. They recall him as a "committed physician, wonderful father" and "beacon of light." He had refused to heed Israeli directives to evacuate in order to continue providing care to his patients. "He spent a decade learning how to serve his people," says Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan with Doctors Without Borders. "He wanted his children to be able to see a day when they had a free, just, durable, free life in Palestine, without occupation," says Dr. Ben Thomson, a fellow nephrologist who worked with Dr. Alloh.

Democracy Now
Nov 13, 2023

Gaza Hospitals Fail Under Israeli Bombardment; Doctors Without Borders Describes Horrific Conditions
Gaza's two largest hospitals are under a complete siege by Israeli forces and no longer functioning. Palestinian health officials have also accused Israel of using snipers to shoot at people inside Al-Shifa Hospital, where thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge. Israel has claimed Hamas runs a command center below the hospital, though this has been denied by hospital staff and Israel has not publicly released any evidence behind the claim. Dr. Fadel Naim of Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital says surgeons are forced to operate in hospital corridors with limited anesthetic supplies. "Unfortunately, we couldn't help many of these patients. Many of them died because we couldn't do anything for them." We also hear from Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care physician with Doctors Without Borders who has worked in Gaza and the West Bank. She is a co-founder of the social media account Gaza Medic Voices. "Anyone who tries to leave the hospital is targeted," says Haj-Hassan. "We have descended into a very dark era for humanity."

Democracy Now
Nov 13, 2023

Headlines for November 13, 2023
Gaza's Largest Hospitals Close, Premature Babies Taken Out of Incubators, as Health System Collapses, French President Emmanuel Macron Says It's Time for Ceasefire in Gaza, British PM Rishi Sunak Fires Home Sec. Who Branded Pro-Palestinian Marches "Hate Crimes", President of Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald Calls for Israel to Be Held Accountable at ICC, 300,000 Protest in London to Demand Ceasefire in Gaza, Hezbollah Attack Injures 7 Israeli Soldiers and 10 Others Near Lebanon Border, Pentagon Says It Bombed Two More Sites in Syria in Response to Drone and Missile Attacks, Sudanese Paramilitary Group Carried Out Massacre of Masalit in Darfur, Protesters Challenge Spanish Government Deal Granting Amnesty to Catalan Separatists, Australia Agrees to Resettle Climate Refugees from Tuvalu in Exchange for Security Pact, FBI Seizes Electronic Devices of NYC Mayor Eric Adams Amid Campaign Finance Probe, Sen. Tim Scott Drops Bid for 2024 GOP Presidential Nomination, Animal Rights Defender Wayne Hsiung Convicted of Felony for Rescuing Factory Farm Animals

Democracy Now
Nov 10, 2023

Palestinian Groups Ask ICC to Arrest Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for War Crimes & Genocide in Gaza
We speak with Palestinian human rights lawyer Noura Erakat about a new effort to hold Israel accountable at the International Criminal Court over the war in Gaza, where Israel's monthlong air and ground assault has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians. On Wednesday, three Palestinian rights groups filed a lawsuit with the international body, urging it to investigate Israel for the crimes of genocide and apartheid. The petition also calls for arrest warrants to be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. International inaction against Israeli aggression is part of "a systematic failure to hold Israel to account for decades," as well as the "absolute double standard" applied to war crimes committed against people of the Global South, says Erakat, who was part of a team of academics and activists who came together to support the ICC lawsuit. "This is not just a crisis of international legal institutions, but also a crisis of democratic — or so-called democratic — institutions in the countries in which we live."

Democracy Now
Nov 10, 2023

"From the River to the Sea": Omer Bartov on Contested Slogan & Why Two-State Solution Is Not Viable
Israeli American scholar Omer Bartov says the two-state solution is dead after decades of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, making the creation of an independent Palestinian state all but impossible. He says a one-state solution — a single democratic state for all Jewish Israelis and Palestinians — is also unlikely to work given the competing national visions of the two communities. "The only solution is a confederation," says Bartov, describing a scenario in which two states would be closely intertwined and interdependent. He also discusses the phrase "from the river to the sea," used by both Israelis and Palestinians to refer to the land.

Democracy Now
Nov 10, 2023

"Clear Intention of Ethnic Cleansing": Israeli Holocaust Scholar Omer Bartov Warns of Genocide in Gaza
Israeli American scholar Omer Bartov, one of the world's leading experts on the Holocaust, says Israel's brutal assault on the Gaza Strip is at risk of becoming a genocide. The monthlong air and ground war has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave, a majority of them women and children. Israel has also severely limited the movement of food, water, fuel, medicine and other essentials into Gaza. Bartov says the disproportionate killing of civilians by Israel, as well as dehumanizing statements by Israeli leaders and suggestions of mass expulsion, are of grave concern. He recently joined hundreds of lawyers and academics in signing an open letter warning about Israel's violations of international law in Gaza. "There is an indication that there are war crimes happening in Gaza, potentially also crimes against humanity," says Bartov. "If this so-called operation continues, that may become ethnic cleansing … and that may become genocide."

Democracy Now
Nov 10, 2023

Headlines for November 10, 2023
Israeli Tanks Surround Gaza Hospitals After Repeated Strikes on Medical Facilities , "A New Nakba": Palestinians Condemn Forcible Transfer from Northern Gaza, Attacks on U.S. Forces in Mideast Surge Amid Warnings Gaza War Could Spread Like "Wildfire" , U.S. Official Says Toll from Israeli Strikes Is "Even Higher" Than Official Figure of 10,000 Killed, Media Workers Protest New York Times for Biased, Anti-Palestinian Coverage of Israeli War on Gaza, Nan Goldin Cancels NYT Project over Its "Complicity with Israel", Students at Brown, MIT, Columbia and Other Colleges Risk Arrest, Retaliation to Protest War on Gaza, 7 Million People in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Are Now Displaced, Joe Manchin Says He Will Not Seek Reelection to Senate, Jill Stein to Seek 2024 Green Party Presidential Nomination, U.S. Court Sides with Biden, Allows Willow Oil Project in Alaska to Go Ahead, Texas Executes Brent Brewer Despite Glaring Issues with His Case, DOJ Launches Federal Civil Rights Investigation into Lexington, Mississippi

Democracy Now
Nov 09, 2023

"Knuckle-Dragging Hawkishness": Matt Duss on GOP Presidential Primary Debate, Israel, Gaza & More
We speak with analyst Matt Duss, former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, about the U.S. political response to Israel's bombardment of Gaza. The third Republican presidential debate on Wednesday saw candidates pledge unwavering support for Israel with "rhetoric that was frankly barbaric," according to Duss. "This is just knuckle-dragging hawkishness to feed their base," says Duss, who comments on Congress censuring Palestinian American Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders's stance on a ceasefire, and the parallels between Ukraine and Palestine. "As a Ukrainian American, I also stand in solidarity with people under occupation."

Democracy Now
Nov 09, 2023

"Unspeakable": Dr. Fady Joudah Grieves 50 Family Members Killed in Gaza & Slams U.S. Media Coverage
Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza has killed more than 10,500 Palestinians, including dozens of family members of award-winning Palestinian American writer, poet and physician Dr. Fady Joudah. "It is really beyond words to describe what it means to be a Palestinian in this moment," says Joudah, who calls for the humanization of the people of Gaza and allowing more Palestinian voices into the public spotlight. "Palestinians in the West are only alive when they are dying, and that is abhorrent and unacceptable."

Democracy Now
Nov 09, 2023

"We Have Come to an End": Palestine Red Crescent Says Gaza's Hospitals Are Out of Solutions
As tens of thousands flee northern Gaza amid an intensifying Israeli ground invasion, most operations have been halted at al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City due to limited fuel supplies and Israel's bombardment nearby. "We have completely run out of all solutions," says Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society, which operates the hospital, where thousands of civilians are sheltering. Israel's evacuation order is impossible to follow without killing patients in critical care. "Evacuating them means killing them."

Democracy Now
Nov 09, 2023

Headlines for November 9, 2023
U.N. Human Rights Chief Calls for Gaza Ceasefire, Citing "Living Nightmare", Palestinian Journalists Condemn Deadly Israeli Attacks on Colleagues, CIA Director Heads to Qatar, Where Talks Are Underway to Free Hostages Held by Hamas, Israel Bans Antiwar Protests, Criminalizes "Consumption of Terrorist Materials", 300 Prominent Ukrainians Show Support to Palestinians; Belgian Leader Calls for Sanctions on Israel, Activists, Congressional Staffers, USAID Employees Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Thousands Flee Sudan's Darfur Region Amid Spiraling Humanitarian Disaster, 2023 Will Be the Hottest Year on Record, Torrential Rains, Flooding in Somalia Kill Dozens After Years of Drought, Fire at Houston-Area Chemical Plant Prompts Evacuations, Shelter-in-Place Orders, Front-Runner Donald Trump Boycotts as 2024 Republican Hopefuls Hold Third Debate, SAG-AFTRA Reaches Deal with Hollywood Studios to End Actors' 118-Day Strike, Bangladeshi Garment Worker Killed by Police as Protests Continue to Demand Fair Wages

Democracy Now
Nov 08, 2023

"Stop This Madness": Holocaust Survivor Marione Ingram, 87, Condemns Israeli Assault & Calls for Peace
We speak with 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Marione Ingram, who has been protesting outside the White House calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Ingram says experiencing anti-Jewish hate, losing family members to the Nazi killing machine and surviving the Allied bombing of Hamburg as a child all inspire her to speak out for peace. "What Israel is doing will not end this conflict. It will only exacerbate it," says Ingram. She calls the vote to censure Palestinian American Congressmember Rashida Tlaib "shameful" and describes her as a "hero." We also hear from leading Holocaust scholar Omer Bartov, who recently signed an open letter warning of the potential for genocide in Israel's assault on Gaza. "The refusal of the Israeli government to find any kind of compromise with the Palestinians … is what led and keeps leading to this ongoing and increasingly violent confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians," says Bartov.

Democracy Now
Nov 08, 2023

"I Will Not Be Silenced": Rep. Rashida Tlaib Calls for Gaza Ceasefire as House Votes to Censure Her
As the death toll from Israel's relentless assault on Gaza tops 10,000 and millions around the world march in the streets for a ceasefire, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to censure the only Palestinian American in Congress. By a vote of 234 to 188, lawmakers officially rebuked Congressmember Rashida Tlaib for her criticism of Israel, including her defense of the slogan "from the river to the sea" as a Palestinian call for freedom and equality; 22 Democrats joined Republicans in the vote. "The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me," Tlaib said in an emotional speech before the vote. "What I don't understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all."

Democracy Now
Nov 08, 2023

The Choice Is Choice: Abortion Rights Supporters Win Big in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia
We look at the results of Tuesday's U.S. elections with The Nation's Amy Littlefield and John Nichols, who say the results leave no doubt that protecting and expanding abortion rights is motivating voters across the country. Ohio approved a state constitutional amendment to protect reproductive access, overcoming numerous procedural hurdles from opponents, and Democrats won key races for the governor's mansion in Kentucky and the Virginia statehouse based on enduring voter anger over abortion restrictions. "This is one of the best nights for Democrats in an off-year election that we've seen in a very, very long time," says Nichols, who adds that the results suggest the electorate is more progressive than pundits often claim. Littlefield notes that after decades of abortion being treated as a third rail in U.S. politics, Democrats now "need the abortion rights movement more than the movement needs them."

Democracy Now
Nov 08, 2023

Headlines for November 8, 2023
"Either Kill Us All or Let Us Live": Civilians Have Nowhere to Go as Israel Decimates Gaza, Israeli Mourners Mark One Month Since Oct. 7 Hamas Attack; Grieving Mom Slams Netanyahu, G7 Calls for "Pauses" in Israeli Assault as U.S. Rebuffs Idea of Post-Conflict Occupation of Gaza, Over 150 Killed in West Bank Since Oct. 7.; Prominent Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Arrested, House Censures Rashida Tlaib, Congress's Only Palestinian American, Abortion Rights and Democrats Score Major Victories One Year Ahead of National Elections, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi Begins Hunger Strike from Prison Cell, Countries Draft Tenuous Loss and Damage Fund Plan Ahead of COP28, Facebook Whistleblower Says Meta Is Aware That Platforms Harm Kids, Ignores Warnings, California Court Convicts Captain of 2019 Scuba Boat Fire and Drowning, SAG-AFTRA Resuming Talks with Studios in Hopes of Ending 4-Month Strike, SCOTUS Hears Arguments on Guns for Domestic Abusers, Agrees to Hear "Bump Stock" Case

Democracy Now
Nov 07, 2023

Trump Lashes Out at Judge, Attorney General in Fraud Trial That Could End His Real Estate Empire
Former President Donald Trump lashed out from the witness stand at the judge and prosecutor in his New York civil fraud case Monday. He could be forced to dissolve much of his real estate empire and bar his family from doing business in New York. "The scene was pretty incredible to witness," says Lauren Aratani, reporter for the Guardian US who is covering the trial. The court is now determining how much the Trumps must pay in damages as the case enters the penalty phase.

Democracy Now
Nov 07, 2023

"No Ceasefire, No Votes": Arab American Support for Biden Plummets over Gaza Ahead of 2024 Election
As protests across the U.S. denounce President Biden for refusing to support a ceasefire in Gaza while arming Israel's deadly bombardment of Palestine, polls conducted by the Arab American Institute reveal Biden's support among Arab American voters is plummeting, dropping from 59% to 17% since the 2020 presidential election. "Something horrible is happening to these people, and this administration is turning a blind eye to it," says James Zogby, the institute's president. "There are going to be electoral consequences." He argues the United States has "blown it" in the Middle East after decades of "disappointments.

Democracy Now
Nov 07, 2023

Palestine Children's Relief Fund: Israel Is Threatening to Bomb Gaza's Only Pediatric Cancer Unit
As the U.N. secretary-general repeats his call for an immediate ceasefire, the death toll in Gaza has topped 10,000, including 4,000 children. We speak to an American doctor who just left Gaza and the founder of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, which runs the only pediatric cancer unit in Gaza. Israel has just ordered the hospital with the unit to be fully evacuated. "They're not getting care right now because their hospitals are under attack," says PCRF founder Steve Sosebee, who describes medical workers trying to evacuate to Egypt or continuing to provide care while sheltering in the hospital. "We can't heal their bodies until this conflict stops." Dr. Barbara Zind, a pediatrician who arrived in Gaza to support the PCRF a day before the Hamas attack, describes finding shelter and rationing food and clean water. After nearly a month trapped in Gaza, she was finally evacuated through the Rafah border crossing and arrived back home on Monday.

Democracy Now
Nov 07, 2023

Headlines for November 7, 2023
U.N. Warns Gaza Is Becoming a "Graveyard for Children" as Israel Bombs Hospitals, Ambulances, Netanyahu Rules Out Ceasefire, Says Israel Will Take Responsibility for Security in Gaza, Israeli Minister Calls Nuclear Attack on Gaza "An Option", South Africa Recalls Ambassador to Israel, Citing "Collective Punishment" of Palestinians, "Not in Our Name": Jewish Peace Activists Rally at Statue of Liberty to Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Pakistan Bulldozes Homes of Refugees to Enforce Mass Deportation of Afghan Immigrants , Zelensky Rules Out Elections in Ukraine as Russian Assault Continues, Trump Takes Witness Stand in $250 Million Civil Fraud Trial, Second Officer Acquitted of Homicide Charges over 2019 Killing of Elijah McClain, Dozens of "Stop Cop City" Activists Appear in Georgia Court to Face RICO Charges, Father of Highland Park Shooter Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanors After Helping Son Obtain Assault Rifle, On Election Day, Virginia's Legislature Is Up for Grabs; Ohio Voters Will Decide Abortion Rights

Democracy Now
Nov 06, 2023

"Entirely Inadequate": Dr. Alice Rothchild Slams Biden's Gaza Response as Health System Fails
Israel says it is responsible for an attack on a convoy of ambulances outside Gaza's largest hospital on Friday that killed at least 15 people. Meanwhile, doctors in Gaza lack the resources to provide adequate care to the sick and injured, thanks to Israel's blockade of water, food and fuel from entering the besieged region. For more on the rapidly deteriorating state of medical care in Gaza and Israel's illegal targeting of medical providers, we speak with Dr. Alice Rothchild, a retired OB-GYN who has long worked in Palestine and is a member of the steering committee of the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council.

Democracy Now
Nov 06, 2023

Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisor Dr. Alice Rothchild on Gaza Catastrophe as Health System Fails
Israel says it is responsible for an attack on a convoy of ambulances outside Gaza's largest hospital on Friday that killed at least 15 people. Meanwhile, doctors in Gaza lack the resources to provide adequate care to the sick and injured, thanks to Israel's blockade of water, food and fuel from entering the besieged region. For more on the rapidly deteriorating state of medical care in Gaza and Israel's illegal targeting of medical providers, we speak with Dr. Alice Rothchild, a retired OB-GYN who has long worked in Palestine and is a member of the steering committee of the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council.

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