Democracy Now!

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.

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."

We get an update from Avril Benoit, 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 Benoit, 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."

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"

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.

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.

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.

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

We remember the legendary activist and journalist Pablo Yoruba Guzman, who died from a heart attack Sunday at age 73. Guzman 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. Guzman was the first great public relations expert of the Latino community," says Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez, also a former Young Lord. He was one of the first Afro-Latino people in the media," adds Johanna Fernandez, 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 Guzman brought to the Young Lords a theorization of race in Latin America" and built common cause with Black Americans."

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.

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."

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

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.

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.

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 Guzman Dies

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.

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.

We speak with Josh Paul, a former State Department official, about his decision to resign from his position in protest of U.S. arms sales to Israel amid its recent bombardment of Gaza. Paul tells Democracy Now!, I decided to resign for three reasons, the first and most pressing of which is the very, I believe, uncontroversial fact that U.S.-provided arms should not be used to massacre civilians, should not be used to result in massive civilian casualties."

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.

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! 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.

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.

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."

Israel Continues Deadly Attacks as 4-Day Truce Announced, Gaza Death Toll Tops 14,100, Gaza's Indonesian Hospital 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 Guantanamo Prisoners and Challenged NYPD, Dies at 83

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 Veronica Gago and Franco Metaza, the director of international relations for the Argentine Senate.

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.

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."

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.

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

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."

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.

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."

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 Harvard-Yale 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 2C 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

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."

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."

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 IfNotNow. Our Jewish values and our safety as Jews is extremely, extremely contingent on calling for a ceasefire now," Borgwardt, 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.

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 Villagomez 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"

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 solution ... 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."

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?"

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.

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

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.

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."

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.

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."

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

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! 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.

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.

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