Democracy Now!

In an extraordinary development, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled Oklahoma death row prisoner Richard Glossip will now get the chance to argue for a new trial, after maintaining his innocence for three decades. Glossip has faced nine separate execution dates and been given his final meal three times. In 2015, he was saved from death just hours before his execution only after prison officials admitted they had ordered the wrong drug. On Monday, Democracy Now! spoke to Sister Helen Prejean, one of the world's most well-known anti-death penalty activists, who has been Glossip's spiritual adviser since 2015. I believe what will happen is they will remand it back for a new trial, which I don't believe any court in Oklahoma is about to do, because they did so many underhanded things that will all be exposed, and I think they'll let Richard go free," says Sister Prejean.

Ohio lawmakers are taking the next steps to kickstart" their execution chamber with experimental nitrogen gas, just days after Alabama used the same method for the first time in U.S. history, which the U.N. has warned is a form of torture. Alabama officials claim the execution was humane and effective, but we speak with Kenneth Smith's spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeff Hood, who was there and says it was the most horrible thing I've ever seen."

Israeli Forces Storm West Bank Hospital Disguised as Civilians, Kill 3 Palestinians, Hamas Reviewing New Internationally Mediated Truce Proposal as Deadly Gaza Assault Continues, U.N. Chief Meeting UNRWA Donors in Bid to Keep Life-Saving Agency Running, Pentagon IDs Soldiers Killed in Jordan as Reports Indicate Mix-Up Led to Access for Enemy Drone, Palestinian, Muslim Students Sue Harvard for Failing to Respond to Harassment, Abuse on Campus, Pakistani Court Sentences Imran Khan to 10 More Years in Prison, Iranian and Pakistani Foreign Ministers Meet to Mend Ties After Attacks in Both Countries, 54 Killed in Attacks on Border Between Sudan-South Sudan; ICC Warns of War Crimes in Darfur, U.S. Reinstates Venezuela Sanctions After Top Court Upholds Election Ban on Opposition Leader, Biden Touts Toughest" Border Crackdown Plan, Vows to Shut Down" Border If Bill Passes, NYC Councilmember Yusef Salaam Stopped by NYPD While Driving with Family, NYC Council to Vote on Overriding Mayor Adams Veto on Police Accountability Bill

On the same day the U.N.'s highest court accepted South Africa's case alleging genocide in Gaza, Israel accused 12 employees with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, of taking part in the Hamas attack on October 7. The United States and at least 10 other nations have now suspended funding to the agency, which retains a staff of over 13,000 and provides essential aid to most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents. It's the worst possible reaction to these allegations," says Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He calls for an investigation but says donors must continue to support aid groups, with UNRWA being the most important. All of us combined other groups are not even close to being what UNRWA is for the people of Gaza," says Egeland. UNRWA has responded to the allegations by announcing the group will immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation."

We get an update on conditions in southern Gaza's Khan Younis area, where displaced Palestinians who fled there to seek refuge are reporting heavy aerial and tank fire as Israel intensifies its ground offensive around two main hospitals there. Dr. Thaer Ahmad is an emergency room physician who spent three weeks volunteering at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. I thought, 'This can't be real.' This is not something that I would expect in 2024," says Ahmad, who worked alongside doctors who have been volunteering without pay for months as waves of Gazans, including their own families, seek help and safety at the remaining hospitals. They assume that the hospital can be a sanctuary, and time and time again that has been proven incorrect in Gaza."

The Biden administration is on trial in the United States for failure to prevent the unfolding genocide" in Gaza. On Friday, lawyers for the Biden administration argued the court lacks the proper jurisdiction to decide the case, while Palestinians and Americans testified about atrocities committed by Israel with American support. I can't think of another time where, in a U.S. federal court, Palestinians have been on the witness stand, one after the other after the other, describing their experiences under Israeli occupation," says Diala Shamas, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the case against President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in November. Being Palestinians in America necessitates our involvement in this case," says Laila El-Haddad, a Palestinian writer who testified in court about her family's experience under Israeli assault. It obligates us to do everything we can to take every possible recourse, including legal recourse, to try and put an end to this, since it's our tax dollars."

The Pentagon is accusing Iranian-backed militants of killing three U.S. soldiers in a drone strike at a base in Jordan along the Syrian border, making the troops the first U.S. armed forces killed by enemy fire in the region since October 7. A group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the attack and said attacks would escalate if the U.S. continues to support Israel during the latter's destruction of Gaza. President Biden vowed the U.S. would respond. There will be more of these attacks, for sure," says Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri, who lays out the simmering regional conflict and questions U.S. foreign policy running counter to American opinion and strategic goals. All these actions, are they for the sake of Israel? ... Or is this really about U.S. strategic interests?"

Drone Attack in Jordan Kills 3 U.S. Soldiers; Pentagon Blames Iran, UNRWA Blasts Additional Collective Punishment" as U.S. and 12 Other Countries Halt Aid, Israeli Settlers, Far-Right Cabinet Members Meet in Jerusalem, Vow to Build More Illegal Settlements, U.S. Court Hears Testimony in Trial Against Biden and His Admin for Funding Israeli Assault on Gaza, Jury Ordered Trump to Pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 Million for Defaming Her in 2019, Biden Admin OKs $23 Billion Fighter Jet Sale to Turkey, Court Blocks U.N.-Approved Plan for Kenyan Police to Deploy to Haiti, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso Withdraw from ECOWAS, Biden Pauses New LNG Exports After Years of Activist Organizing, Court Paves Way for New Formosa Plastics Plant in Louisiana's Cancer Alley"

In a highly anticipated ruling, the International Court of Justice at The Hague has found that there is a real and imminent risk" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and supported at least some" of the provisional measures South Africa had requested when it brought the case in order to rein in Israel's military assault. Though the ruling falls short of calling for an immediate ceasefire, analysts say it is nevertheless a significant milestone. We discuss the unprecedented" decision by the World Court with a panel of experts: Palestinian human rights attorney Diana Buttu, genocide scholar Raz Segal and scholar of colonialism Mahmood Mamdani. It becomes imperative upon the world community to now act," says Buttu. This is the beginning of a process of isolating Israel," adds Segal.

ICJ Orders Israel to Prevent Genocide But Stops Short of Calling for Ceasefire, Israel Pounds Khan Younis, Targets Hospitals as Death Toll Tops 26,000, CIA Dir. Burns to Travel to France for Truce Talks with Qatar, Egypt and Israel, Minneapolis and Somerville, MA, Pass Gaza Ceasefire Resolutions, U.S. and Iraq to Start Talks on Phased Withdrawal of U.S. Coalition Forces, Humanity Takes a Step Backwards": Alabama Executes Kenneth Smith Via Nitrogen Asphyxiation, Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Sentenced to 4 Months for Defying Congressional Subpoena, 65,000 Pregnancies a Result of Rape Since End of Roe in States That Now Ban Abortion, Manslaughter Trial Starts for Mother of Oxford High School Mass Shooter, French Court Throws Out Large Parts of Hard-Line Anti-Immigrant Bill, Indigenous Activists Lead Protests Against Australia's Invasion Day", Activists Protest in Front of Henry Kissinger's Memorial Service

Students at Columbia University in New York held an emergency protest" Wednesday over the school's response to an attack on members of Columbia University Apartheid Divest at a rally on campus last Friday. Police in New York are investigating the attack on pro-Palestinian students, who say they were sprayed with a foul-smelling chemical. Eight students were reportedly hospitalized, complaining of burning eyes, headaches, nausea and other symptoms. Organizers allege the attack was carried out by two students who are former members of the Israeli military, using a chemical weapon known as skunk" that the Israeli military and security forces regularly deploy against Palestinians. The university responded to the attack by first scolding the organizers for holding an unsanctioned" rally, then later said it had banned the suspects from campus while police investigate. This comes after Columbia administrators banned the local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace in November, with students describing a climate of censorship and retaliation for pro-Palestinian activism on campus. Overall, it's been a very clumsy handling," Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani says of the school's response to student protests and campus safety. We also speak with Columbia Law School professor Katherine Franke, who says concerned faculty have been spending an enormous amount of time protecting our students from the university itself."

Among the consequences of Israel's war on Gaza is the destruction of the local economy. Even before the latest Israeli assault, daily life and commerce in Gaza were crumbling as a result of a 15-year siege on the territory enforced by Israel and Egypt. Meanwhile, Israel is withholding millions in taxes collected on behalf of Palestinians, leaving the Palestinian Authority unable to distribute wages to many public sector employees, while more than 150,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank are now unable to work inside Israel due to new restrictions imposed after October 7. We go to Ramallah to speak with economist Raja Khalidi, director general of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute. Khalidi says Israel is using a range of tools in its economic warfare" against Palestinians, and warns, We are on the precipice of a warlike situation in the West Bank."

We go to Rafah to speak with Palestinian journalist Akram al-Satarri in Gaza as the death toll continues to climb amid Israel's relentless assault on the territory. The Health Ministry says at least 20 people were killed Thursday as they lined up to receive humanitarian aid, and at least 12 others were killed a day earlier at a U.N. shelter hit by tank shells. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have surrounded the two main hospitals in Khan Younis, stranding thousands of patients and displaced people inside, and evacuated a third hospital. Over 1.7 million people have been displaced in Gaza and more than 25,000 have been killed in Israel's assault over the past three months, as the population continues to move further south in a desperate search for safety. People are dying. People are scared," says al-Satarri. There is an eradication attempt that is taking place in Gaza."

Gaza Deaths Mount Amid Mass Displacement as Israel Continues to Attack Schools, Hospitals, Aid Sites, U.K. Foreign Sec. David Cameron Urges Netanyahu to Agree to Pause" in Gaza Assault, ICJ to Announce Interim Ruling Friday on South Africa's Genocide Case Against Israel, Israelis Continue Protests to Demand Gov't Prioritize Release of Hostages, U.S. Mercenaries Share Details of Taking Part in UAE's Targeted Killing Campaign in Yemen, U.S. Forces Strike Somalia for First Time in 2024, Killing 3, UAW Endorses Joe Biden for 2024 Despite President's Refusal to Call for Gaza Ceasefire, Ohio's GOP Overturns Gov. DeWine's Veto on Anti-Trans Legislation, Minnesota Charges White State Trooper with Murder of Ricky Cobb II, Jan. 6 Capitol Insurrectionist Who Showed No Remorse Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison, Kenneth Smith Set to Be Executed Via Nitrogen Gas Asphyxiation After SCOTUS Rejection, Texas Defies SCOTUS Order to Remove Illegal and Deadly Barrier on Mexico Border, Argentines Take to Street to Protest Javier Milei's Crackdown on Speech, Austerity Agenda

Former President Donald Trump is the clear front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination despite efforts nationwide to remove him from the 2024 presidential ballot based on the 14th Amendment, which says public officials who have engaged in insurrection" are disqualified from ever serving again. Did Trump violate the Constitution, and should he be barred from running for president based on his attempts to overturn the 2020 election? Or is taking Trump off the ballot an anti-democratic measure that will only energize his base? Democracy Now! hosts a debate with Praveen Fernandes, vice president at the Constitutional Accountability Center, who argues the amendment clearly applies to the president and enforcing the law protects democracy, and Samuel Moyn, a professor of law and history at Yale University, who says the legal case is not strong enough and Democrats must appeal to more voters to defeat Trump. The Supreme Court has agreed to review Colorado's case and will hear oral arguments next month.

Former President Donald Trump trounced runner-up Nikki Haley in Tuesday's Republican primary, in what Jeff Sharlet, expert on the far right, says is another landmark in the acceleration of fascism in the United States. Trump is the nominee. Fascism is on the ballot," says Sharlet, who describes how Trump is appealing to broader groups of Americans, why the political press is failing to capture the fascist movement, and the importance of resisting its growth. It's popular front time. It's broad coalition time."

Former President Donald Trump won New Hampshire's primary on Tuesday with 54% of the vote to 43% for former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, the last major challenger to Trump's Republican bid. If there was a state she could win in, in the entire United States, it was this state, and she still lost by 11 points," says Arnie Arnesen, longtime New Hampshire radio and TV host and former politician. She doesn't have a future." On the Democratic side, President Biden won his party's primary as a write-in candidate after the state refused to cooperate with Democratic National Committee rules, and therefore did not win any delegates from New Hampshire. Refusing to recognize the state's primary and not campaigning in the state was a stupid political mistake" by Democrats that allowed Trump's claims to go uncontested, says Arnesen. This is an invitation to fascism."

Trump Wins GOP NH Primary; Nikki Haley Vows to Stay in Race, Biden Wins New Hampshire Primary as Write-In Candidate, Israel Orders Over 500,000 Palestinians to Evacuate Khan Younis as Attacks Intensify, ITV Films Israeli Forces Fatally Shooting Palestinian Man Moments After He Gave Interview, U.N.'s Guterres Calls Again for Ceasefire in Gaza & Two-State Solution, IDF Admits 21 Israeli Soldiers Were Killed in Gaza During Operation to Blow Up Palestinian Buildings, Genocide Joe": Protesters Demanding Ceasefire Repeatedly Disrupt Biden Speech in Virginia, NYPD Probing Chemical Attack Targeting Pro-Palestinian Students at Columbia, U.S. Bombs Yemen & Iraq Again as Risk of Regional War Grows, Russia Says Plane Carrying 65 Ukrainian POWs Has Crashed Near Belgorod, Turkish Parliament Votes to Approve Sweden as Member of NATO, Doomsday Clock Remains at 90 Seconds Before Midnight, U.S. Court Revives Mexican Lawsuit Against U.S. Gun Manufacturers, Los Angeles Times Slashes 115 Newsroom Jobs; Time Lays Off 30 Journalists

It's primary day in New Hampshire. As Donald Trump and Nikki Haley square off in the Republican race, we speak to 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson on her longshot campaign against President Biden. In an unusual twist, Williamson's name is on today's ballot, but Biden's is not. Biden opted out of running in New Hampshire after the state refused to move its primary until after South Carolina's. Williamson discusses why she's running for president, her antiwar platform, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, immigration reform and the New Hampshire primary election. Just like with health and sickness, you don't just treat sickness, you learn to cultivate health," she says. We need to not just drop bombs and put people in prison when there is conflict. We need to learn to prevent conflict. We need to proactively create peace."

We speak with acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who recently had an exhibition in London canceled after he publicly criticized Israel's assault on Gaza. We are gradually losing the ground of democracy or personal freedom," says Ai, whose show in London was indefinitely postponed after he posted a controversial tweet about Israel in November. He joins Democracy Now! to discuss his longtime support of Palestine and Western hypocrisy over human rights and free speech. Ai Weiwei also describes his new graphic novel Zodiac, about his experiences as a Chinese dissident.

As nine Democratic governors join together to call on President Biden and Congress to address the humanitarian crisis faced by migrants, we look at conditions faced by tens of thousands of asylum seekers in New York City and Chicago. Many arrived over the last year on buses from Texas as part of Republican Governor Greg Abbott's anti-immigrant efforts. We hear from a migrant staying in a tent shelter at a former airport site in New York City where they face below-freezing temperatures and a lack of medical services, and we speak with immigration rights activists. Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, and Oscar Chacon, executive director of Alianza Americas, discuss how immigrants have been treated as scapegoats by leaders who have failed to provide services and reform the immigration system. Migrants are simply making these failures in our society very visible," says Chacon.

Axios: Israel Proposes 2-Month Ceasefire in Exchange for Remaining Hostages, A Quarter of Gaza Faces Catastrophic Hunger as Unrelenting Israeli Attacks Target Schools, Hospitals, Yemenis Defiant as U.S. and U.K Launch New Joint Strikes on 8 Houthi Targets, SEIU Becomes Largest U.S. Union to Call for Gaza Ceasefire, SCOTUS Rejects Case That Sought to Silence Palestinian Advocacy Group, SCOTUS Offers New Hope to Death Row Prisoner Richard Glossip, Agrees to Hear His Appeal, SCOTUS Allows Biden Admin to Cut Down Razor Wire on Texas's Southern Border, New Hampshire Votes in Nation's First Primary of 2024, Biden, Harris Go After GOP as They Mark 51st Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, French Protests Decry New Legislation Targeting Immigrants, Illinois Gunman Kills 8 People Before Fatally Shooting Himself, Dexter Scott King, Son of MLK Who Devoted His Work to Preserving His Parents' Legacy, Dies at 62, Strikes Work": Cal State Faculty Return to Work After Reaching Deal on First Day of Work Stoppage

We look at the state of the Republican Party after Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's announcement Sunday that he has suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump to be the Republican Party's 2024 nominee, making it a two-person race between Trump and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. With the pivotal New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, we speak with author Rick Perlstein, a historian of the modern conservative movement, who describes Trump's iron grip on the Republican Party as American fascism." He says regardless of how many votes Trump gets, the real question is how his extremist supporters will respond. The horse race doesn't matter if the guys in the MAGA hats blow up the track," says Perlstein.

The new documentary Israelism examines the growing generational divide among Jewish Americans on the question of Palestine, with many younger Jews increasingly critical of Israel and less supportive of Zionism. Simone Zimmerman, one of the protagonists of the film and a co-founder of the group IfNotNow, says she grew up being told that supporting Israel was central to her Jewish identity, but that collapsed once she visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories and saw the system of apartheid under which millions live. It's so deeply contrary to our values as Jewish people to support this disgusting oppression and denial of freedom," she says. We are also joined by Erin Axelman, co-director and one of the producers of Israelism, who says Zimmerman's journey mirrors their own and those of many other young Jews who realize they must fight for the freedom and equality of Palestinians while also fighting antisemitism." The film is on a 40-city screening tour in Canada and the United States after previous efforts to ban the screenings on several campuses.

Palestinian health authorities say the death toll in Gaza has passed 25,000. This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly affirmed in recent days that he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, saying Israel must maintain indefinite military control between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. We get an update and speak with Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who was detained by Israeli authorities as he and his family fled Gaza in late November. He says that while there must be an immediate ceasefire to stop the suffering, only a just solution to the Palestinian case" will bring long-term stability to the region. If there is no peace, ... we will unfortunately witness more and more of the killings of innocent people everywhere," he says.

Gaza Death Toll Tops 25,000; Families Burying Deceased in Nasser Hospital Complex, WSJ: U.S., Qatar and Egypt Pushing for Phased Diplomatic Process" to End War on Gaza, Families of Hamas Hostages Demand Israeli Lawmakers Do More to Free Their Loved Ones, Israeli Fire Kills 17-Year-Old Palestinian American Teen Tawfiq Ajjaq in Occupied West Bank, Israel Strikes Syria, Lebanon; Iranian-Backed Fighters in Iraq Strike U.S. Forces, U.S. Bombs Yemen for 6th Time Amid Houthi Red Sea Attacks, Ron DeSantis Drops Out of Republican Primary, Endorses Trump, Donetsk Shelling Kills at Least 27 People as Ukraine Invasion Nears 2-Year Mark, Protesters Take to German Streets to Decry Rise of Far Right, Xenophobia, Narendra Modi Inaugurates Hindu Temple on Site of Razed Historic Mosque, 3-Month-Old Baby Dies in Queens Shelter as Migrants Across NYC Deal with Piercing Winter Cold, Winter Storms Kill 90 People Across the U.S.; Frozen Pipes Trigger Boil Water Order in Memphis, Judge Orders Release of James Cromitie, Final Newburgh 4" Member, Biden Administration Cancels Another $5 Billion in Student Loans, Film Workers for Palestine Takes to Sundance, as Prominent Filmmakers Speak Out Against War

Before Israel's unprecedented assault on Gaza, the territory had 36 functioning hospitals. Now only 16 partially functioning health facilities remain. As Israeli bombs and ground troops approach Nasser Hospital, the largest remaining partially functioning health facility in Gaza, we speak with Dr. James Smith, an emergency medical doctor recently returned from Gaza, where he worked alongside Palestinian healthcare workers to treat patients at Al-Aqsa Hospital. Every single day, without exception, there were multiple mass casualty incidents at the hospital," says Smith. They would include open chest wounds, open abdominal wounds, traumatic amputations, severe full-thickness burns ... really some of the most horrific traumatic injuries that I have ever seen."

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to continue the assault on Gaza, we speak with the first Israeli to refuse mandatory military service since Israel's offensive began over three months ago. Last month, 18-year-old Tal Mitnick announced he would refuse military service in what he called a revenge war" on Gaza, and was sentenced to 30 days in a military prison. Just released from jail, Mitnick faces another draft summons and says he will refuse over and over until someone gives up, until the army gives me an exemption." Mitnick says the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel broke the idea Israel could live with occupation. We need to keep fighting for a just future," he says, urging the younger generation of Israelis to use their voices for peace. We're the future, and we can change."

Texas defied a Biden administration cease-and-desist order this week to dismantle its border barrier near the city of Eagle Pass, where state troopers took over a 2.5-mile stretch and installed fencing, gates and razor wire. Last Friday, a mother and her two children drowned in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass when Border Patrol agents were denied access to the area by state officials acting under orders from Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Day after day after day, people are drowning because of the obstacles that this man put in the river," says Democratic Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez. No obstacle, no barrier is going to fix this problem. We need comprehensive immigration reform in this country."

A sweeping Justice Department report exposes the cascading failures" of the police response to the 2022 Uvalde elementary school mass shooting when 19 children and two teachers were killed by an 18-year-old gunman. Despite the presence of close to 400 officers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, it took 77 minutes for police to confront and kill the shooter. The scathing 600-page report lays out the haphazard" initial response in which hundreds of law enforcement officers stood by as the massacre unfolded. Democratic Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes Uvalde, says the report proves what happened on May 24th was the worst law enforcement response to a school shooting in our nation's history." Gutierrez describes the events of the school shooting, where everything that could have gone wrong happened," and why the shooter's AR-15-style rifle did so much damage and scared police. We need an assault weapons ban in this country, once and for all," says Gutierrez, who is running for U.S. Senate against Republican Senator Ted Cruz. These politicians are cowards on this issue."

Mexico and Chile Call on ICC to Investigate Israel's Assault on Gaza as Death Toll Nears 25,000, Netanyahu Rejects Palestinian Statehood, Says Israel Must Control Region from the River to the Sea, Biden Says U.S. Will Continue to Bomb Yemen Even Though Strikes Have Not Stopped Houthi Attacks, Congress Sends Stop-Gap Spending Bill to Pres. Biden's Desk, DOJ Report Details Cascading Failures" in Response to 2022 Uvalde Massacre, Trump Claims Presidents Must Have Full Immunity," Calls on SCOTUS to Absolve His Legal Woes, Haitian Gangs Besiege Port-au-Prince Neighborhood as Violence Spirals, Iran Sentences Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi to Another 15 Months, L.A. Times Workers Walk Out over Planned Job Cuts, Labor Dept. Fines Poultry Plant After Death of 16-Year-Old Worker, Winter Storms Kill at Least 40 People Across U.S., Researchers and Patients Affected by Long COVID Appeal to Senate for More Gov't Support

We are joined by 88-year-old Jewish German American Marione Ingram, who describes how her scheduled speaking tour in Hamburg - the city she fled in the Holocaust - was postponed" this month amid a wider backlash against those speaking out against Israel's assault on Gaza. Ingram has been protesting for months outside the White House calling for a ceasefire, and characterizes U.S. and German pro-Israel policy as disturbing" and frightening." As a survivor of the Holocaust, Ingram says, My childhood was spent in the first 10 years much the same way as the children of Gaza. I know exactly what they're going through. I know exactly how they're feeling." She argues it should be an absolute standstill of all governments that you are told over 10,000 children are being murdered. There is no excuse for that."

We speak with award-winning Palestinian American artist and filmmaker Emily Jacir, whose event in Berlin in October was canceled after Israel launched its ongoing assault on Gaza. Jacir decries a pattern of harassment, baseless smear campaigns, canceling shows, canceling talks" conducted against Palestinian artists in Germany and around the world. It's very much part of a coordinated movement," she says, connecting global censorship of diasporic Palestinian voices with the violent targeted destruction of culture in Gaza," which she calls a part of genocide."

We spend the hour looking at how artists, writers and other cultural workers in the United States and Europe are facing a growing backlash after expressing solidarity for Palestine. We begin with one of these canceled" cultural workers: renowned Palestinian American artist Samia Halaby, whose first U.S. retrospective was canceled by her graduate alma mater, Indiana University, after she criticized Israel's bombardment of Gaza. The school's provost said this week the show would have been a lightning rod" that carried a risk of violence." Halaby expresses her shock and disappointment at the betrayal of academic freedom" evidenced by the decision. The administration has lost sight of their responsibility to the community, to the students that are there," she says, and adds, This is much larger than I am," citing the suppression of pro-Palestine student activism around the country and calling it a kind of attempt at mind control."

Pakistan Launches Retaliatory Airstrikes Against Iran, U.S. Bombs Yemen for Fourth Time in a Week, Israeli Bombing in Rafah Kills 16 Displaced Palestinians, Including Children, Israel Blows Up Israa University Near Gaza City, Palestinian Journalist Wael Fannouneh of Al-Quds Today TV Killed by Israel in Gaza City, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Reiterates Call for Ceasefire in Gaza, 10 Palestinians Killed in Occupied West Bank as Israel Carries Out Major Raids, U.K. House of Commons Approves Plan to Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda, House Speaker Johnson Says Senate Deal Is Dead" If Dems Don't Back Border Crackdown, Texas Defies Biden Administration Order to Dismantle Border Barrier Where 3 Migrants Died, Ecuadorian Prosecutor Investigating Armed TV Attack Is Assassinated, Citing Significant Corruption," U.S. Bars Ex-Guatemalan President Giammattei from Entering Country, Judge Threatens to Toss Trump from E. Jean Carroll Defamation Trial over Outbursts, Ahead of New Hampshire Primary, Nikki Haley Says U.S. Was Never a Racist Country, Supreme Court Hears Case That Could Drastically Weaken Regulatory Power of Federal Agencies, Federal Judge Blocks Merger of JetBlue and Spirit, Citing Airline Industry Oligopoly", Biden Administration Proposes New Rules to Lower Bank Overdraft Fees, Greenland's Ice Sheet Loss 20% Higher Than Thought, Shedding 30M Tons of Ice an Hour, Organizing Cmte. for COP29 in Azerbaijan Does Not Include a Single Woman

Military actions by various actors across the Middle East are compounding fears that Israel's assault on Gaza is escalating into a full-blown regional war. In recent days, the United States has carried out strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen who have resumed their attacks on container ships in the Red Sea; Iran has struck targets in northern Iraq, Syria and Pakistan; while Hezbollah and Israel have escalated the intensity of fighting across their border. For a look at where all this is headed, we speak with journalist Spencer Ackerman, who says it's the most dangerous moment for the Middle East" he has witnessed in over 20 years of covering war and security. This is now a conflict with battlefronts ranging across the region," he says. We shouldn't think that absent an active act of deescalation that this won't continue spiraling outward throughout 2024." Ackerman writes the Forever Wars newsletter and is the foreign policy columnist for The Nation.

We continue our conversation with the renowned Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, who says there are growing questions about the IDF's response to the October 7 Hamas attack that cannot wait until the end of fighting in Gaza. That includes intelligence failures in the lead-up to the attack, as well as reports of troops killing Israeli civilians when they opened fire on homes taken over by Hamas militants. The fact is that those people were killed and might have been rescued. It must be investigated," says Levy.

We speak with acclaimed Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, columnist for Haaretz and a member of its editorial board, about how the Israeli media has covered the war on Gaza, the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and more. Levy says the domestic Israeli media all but ignores the Palestinians being killed, focusing mostly on its own soldiers and the families of hostages. The Israeli average viewer doesn't see Gaza at all," he says. They are betraying our first mission: to tell the full story."

We hear from Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, whose recent article for The Intercept documents how Israel bombed two Al Jazeera journalists in mid-December while they were accompanying rescue workers, seriously injuring both. But while the network's Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh managed to get to an ambulance nearby, his cameraman Samer Abudaqa bled to death from his wounds as Israeli forces prevented medical workers from reaching him for about five hours, despite the desperate entreaties of many foreign journalists to save the life of their colleague. The world should be outraged about this killing, about all the killings that are happening to Palestinian journalists in Gaza," says Abdel Kouddous.

Gaza is now the deadliest place on Earth for media workers. By some estimates, over 110 journalists have been killed there since Israel began its assault on the territory following the October 7 Hamas attack, and the Committee to Protect Journalists says more journalists were killed in the first 10 weeks of the war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year. We speak with CPJ's Middle East and North Africa coordinator Sherif Mansour, who says journalists in Gaza are showing great courage amid horrific working conditions. They really are rewriting what it means to be a journalist today with immense, brave and never-seen-before sacrifices," Mansour says.

Pakistan Condemns Iran for Attack and Violating Its Airspace; U.S. Attacks Houthis for 3rd Time, Israeli Attack on Al Nasser Hospital Sends Displaced Families Fleeing, Qatar, France Broker Deal for Gaza Aid, Medicine for Remaining Hostages, Deadly Israeli Attacks, Home Demolitions Continue Across Occupied West Bank, Two Palestinians Arrested After Car Ramming, Stabbing Attack Kills 79-Year-Old Israeli Woman, Senate Votes Down Bernie Sanders's Resolution to Require Reporting on Israeli Violations, Ben & Jerry's Calls for Ceasefire; 100+ Mennonites Arrested for Protesting Gaza War on Capitol, Indiana University Cancels Exhibition by Prominent Palestinian Artist Samia Halaby, A Mother and Her 2 Young Children Die While Crossing the Rio Grande, Bipartisan Lawmakers Propose $78 Billion Funding Bill That Would Revive Child Tax Credit, U.N. Warns Alabama Plan to Execute Prisoner Via Nitrogen Gas Violates Intl. Treaties, Law Enforcement Investigating Roger Stone Comments Hoping for Death of Powerful Dems in 2020, Oxfam Report Finds the Ultra-Rich Are Still Getting Richer as 5 Billion People Become Poorer

Former President Donald Trump has won the Iowa caucuses by a landslide, but polls reveal almost a third of voters believed Trump would not be fit to serve as president if convicted in his ongoing criminal trials. These trials of Trump may well turn out to be far more significant than a lot of political pundits assume," says national affairs correspondent at The Nation John Nichols, who says one upcoming state will determine if any other Republican candidate has a chance to be the GOP's nominee. It all comes down to New Hampshire."

Worldwide protests this weekend called for a ceasefire while marking 100 days of Israel's unrelenting bombardment and siege of the Gaza Strip since the October 7 Hamas attack. United Nations humanitarian leaders issued a joint demand Monday for dramatically increasing the flow of aid into Gaza. The situation is spiraling out of control" in Gaza, says pediatric neurologist Omar Abdel-Mannan, who shares on-the-ground health worker reports of the apocalyptic" scenes in collapsing hospitals. This is medieval-style medicine that we are seeing, and this is 100% man-made."

Bernardo Arevalo was sworn in as president of Guatemala Monday after conservative leaders attempted for months to disqualify Arevalo's landslide victory in August's runoff presidential election by claiming election fraud and persecuting his progressive Semilla party up until the final hours before his inauguration. Arevalo is the son of the country's first democratically elected president, who implemented a series of revolutionary reforms from 1945 to 1951 before a CIA-backed coup ousted his successor and ushered in decades of authoritarian rule. Many supporters see Arevalo's presidency as a new spring for Guatemala. We discuss the battle to defend his election, the pro-democracy protests in the country and what Guatemala can expect from his leadership with three guests: Andrea Villagran, Guatemalan congressmember with Movimiento Semilla; Lucia Ixchiu, exiled K'iche Indigenous leader; and Frank La Rue, Guatemalan human rights activist, lawyer and a member of the election observation team.

Trump Wins Iowa Caucus in Landslide, Heads Back to Court Today for Defamation Trial, Death Toll in Gaza Tops 24,000, Presidential Candidate Cornel West Calls Biden a War Criminal at D.C. Gaza Rally, Houthis Target U.S.-Owned Ship After U.S. Bombs Yemen Again, Iran Bombs Iraq and Syria as Tension Grows Across Middle East, Bernardo Arevalo Sworn In as Guatemalan President After Last-Minute Effort to Block Transfer of Power, China Denounces Newly Elected Taiawanese President, Sekou Odinaga, Black Liberation Activist Who Helped Free Assata Shakur, Dies at 79

Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his Beyond Vietnam" speech, which he delivered at New York City's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, I've Been to the Mountaintop," that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated.

Israeli Knesset member Ofer Cassif is being threatened with expulsion from Israel's legislature after he signed a petition supporting South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of acts of genocide. Cassif says the impeachment is based on an antidemocratic law that suppresses free speech. They want me and my friends to shut up," he says of the government's persecution of dissenting legislators. We've been against the war from the beginning because we are against bloodshed."

The second day of South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice at The Hague saw Israel take the stand, defending against accusations that its government is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa is demanding an emergency suspension of Israel's aerial and ground assault on Gaza in front of the United Nations' highest court. From The Hague, we hear from Diala Shamas, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, the organization that sued President Biden in November, accusing him of failing to prevent genocide in Gaza. Shamas recaps the two days of hearings and discusses other avenues for holding Israel accountable. Whether it's at the ICJ or whether it's in federal court in the United States, we're really looking to government to do everything that they can to uphold their duty to prevent an unfolding genocide," says Shamas.

The United States and Britain launched dozens of military strikes on Yemen on Thursday, raising fears of an escalation of conflict in the region. The strikes, launched in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea that have disrupted global trade, left at least five people dead. The Houthi movement began targeting ships in November essentially using a naval blockade in the Red Sea to prevent the blockade against civilians in Gaza," according to our guest, Yemeni American scholar Shireen Al-Adeimi. This is an offensive act. This is a breach of Yemeni sovereignty," she says about the U.S. coalition's strikes, which were launched without approval from Congress, and which Al-Adeimi additionally characterizes as a defense of capitalism."

U.S., U.K. Launch Strikes in Yemen, Killing at Least 5, Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions, Rallies in South Africa Support Nation's Genocide Case Against Israel at World Court, Over 10,000 Children Have Been Killed in Israel's Onslaught on Gaza, More Evidence of U.S. Complicity in Genocide": Report Finds U.S. Air Force Provided Intel to Israel, Trump Goes on Courtroom Rant as NY Civil Fraud Trial Wraps Up, Ohio Jury Declines to Charge Brittany Watts with Felony for Having a Miscarriage, The Lever: GOP Hopeful Nikki Haley Involved in Blocking Boeing 2020 Transparency Initiative, Pentagon Failed to Track Over $1B in Military Equipment to Ukraine, Taiwan Prepares to Vote in Highly Anticipated Election Amid U.S.-China Tensions, New Trial Kicks Off in Greece for Humanitarian Workers Who Helped Refugees