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Updated 2025-04-19 11:45
Former EU Envoy: Israel's Forced Transfer of Palestinians in Gaza Would Be a War Crime
Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, recently retired European Union ambassador to Palestine, says Israeli pain and anger cannot justify war crimes in Gaza, where Israeli bombardment has already killed over 1,500 people. Now with Israel demanding the relocation of 1.1 million people ahead of an expected ground invasion, von Burgsdorff says Israel must adhere to international law and protect civilians. No matter what Hamas did, it does not justify the incredible use of lethal force without distinction and without proportionality as far as the Palestinian population is concerned in Gaza," he says.
A Second Nakba? Israel Orders 1.1 Million Palestinians to Evacuate Northern Gaza Amid Bombing & Siege
Israel's military on Friday ordered 1.1 million civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate southwards" in just 24 hours, a demand that aid groups say will cause untold human suffering. The ultimatum comes ahead of an expected ground invasion of the besieged coastal enclave, where authorities say 1,537 people have been killed since Israel began devastating airstrikes in retaliation for a Hamas attack in which militants killed 1,300 people and took some 150 hostages. Hamas says the intense Israeli bombardment that has pulverized much of Gaza also killed 13 hostages. Meanwhile, Israel continues to maintain a total blockade of the territory, blocking food, water, fuel and medicine from reaching those trapped inside. For more on the crisis and mounting human toll, we speak with Gaza writer Muhammad Shehada, who condemns the international community and mainstream media for its complicity in Israel's destruction of Gaza. These things are unimaginable horrors that are inflicted on Gaza right now with no one intervening to stop it," he says. This is pure madness."
Headlines for October 13, 2023
U.N. Warns of Devastating Humanitarian Consequences" as Israel Orders 1.1 Million to Evacuate Gaza, Israel Fires White Phosphorus in Lebanon and Gaza, Iran's Foreign Minister Meets Lebanese Leaders, Warns Israel Could Face Other Fronts", Hamas Says 13 Hostages Captured in Israel Have Died in Gaza Airstrikes, Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin Says U.S. Won't Place Conditions on Weapons to Israel, Western Governments Ban Palestinian Solidarity Demonstrations, Competing Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestine Demonstrations Raise Tensions on College Campuses, Rep. Scalise Drops Bid to Become House Speaker Amid Republican Infighting, Sen. Bob Menendez Faces Fresh Charge of Acting as Unregistered Foreign Agent of Egypt, One Officer Convicted of Homicide, Another Acquitted, in 2019 Killing of Elijah McClain, Actors Vow to Continue Strike as SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood Studios Suspend Talks
Palestinian Journalist: Latest Violence Shatters Notion That Israeli Apartheid Is Sustainable
Palestinian journalist and senior editor at +972 Magazine Amjad Iraqi believes Hamas breaking through the military border between Gaza and Israel has shattered the belief that the occupation is sustainable. Without being able to ignore Palestinians, Iraqi says, long-term reflection on Israel's apartheid system is possible, but in the short term, the international community is indulging Israel's desire for revenge. Now for the far-right government, this massacre, as atrocious as it is, is for them a historic opportunity," says Iraqi, who describes the desire of Israeli leadership to force out Palestinians or completely destroy Gaza in response to Saturday's attack by Hamas. There is no military solution to this issue, and the real problem in the end is this wider apartheid regime."
Human Rights Lawyer Michael Sfard: "Israelis Must Maintain Their Humanity Even When Their Blood Boils"
Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer and expert on international human rights, calls for Israel to act within international law in response to Hamas's attack on civilians Saturday. My government is waging an attack that seems to be using war crimes to retaliate on war crimes," says Sfard. They want revenge, as if a revenge would bring back the dear ones that are gone." Sfard says Israel should end its bombing and lift the blockade on Gaza because civilians do not deserve punishment for militant attacks. Modern international law prohibits, with no exception, collective punishment."
Report from Gaza: Two Palestinians Describe "Horror" on 6th Day of Israel Bombing Besieged Enclave
We speak with two Palestinians in Gaza City about Israel's devastating bombing campaign while blocking all food, water and fuel from entering the besieged territory. The U.N. reports that all of Gaza's 13 hospitals are only partially operational due to a lack of fuel and medical supplies as the International Red Cross warns hospitals are going to be turned into graveyards." The territory's only power plant has stopped operating due to a lack of fuel, yet Israeli authorities are vowing to continue the siege of Gaza until Hamas releases the over 100 hostages it seized during its unprecedented attack on Saturday. Yousef Hammash, working with the Norwegian Refugee Council, says humanitarian workers cannot secure ourselves to start to deliver assistance for the others" and warns locals barely have time to think about political responses as resources run out. Within days, we will have nothing in Gaza." While U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha asks, Why don't they come here and listen to us?" He adds that Gaza has been the largest open-air prison in the world," but with the closure of the passage between Gaza and Egypt, now it has become a prison cell with no window.
Headlines for October 12, 2023
Gaza Death Toll Tops 1,350 as Relentless Israeli Assault Worsens Humanitarian Crisis, Israel Death Toll Tops 1,300 as Newly Formed War Cabinet Vows to Wipe Hamas Off Face of Earth, Settlers Backed by Israeli Army Kill Palestinians in Occupied West Bank, Israel Bombs Syrian Airports, Says Air Raid Alert Near Lebanon Border Was False Alarm, Netanyahu Thanks Blinken for U.S. Support in Fight Against Barbarians of Hamas", Jewish Voice for Peace Calls for Restraint After Sen. Lindsey Graham Urges Israel to Level" Gaza, Turkish President Condemns Israeli Massacre" in Gaza, Europe Shows Support for Israel While Cracking Down on Pro-Palestinian Protests, World Food Programme Can Only Support 1 in 5 Afghans as Humanitarian Crisis Spirals, Steve Scalise Receives GOP Nomination for House Speaker But Lacks Votes to Clinch the Job, UAW Workers at Ford's Kentucky Plant Join Stand-Up" Strike Against Big 3, Arundhati Roy Faces Possible Prosecution over Kashmir Comments Made in 2010
Can Peace in Ukraine Be Achieved Without War? Medea Benjamin & Barbara Smith Debate
So far this year, U.S. spending on Israel, typically the largest annual recipient of U.S. military aid, has been outstripped by military aid to Ukraine, though that balance could begin to change as President Biden plans to ask Congress to approve emergency funding to support Israel's retaliatory campaign against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip following Saturday's attack by Hamas militants. For more on U.S. policy in Ukraine and Israel, we host a discussion with CodePink's Medea Benjamin and the Ukraine Solidarity Network's Barbara Smith. Benjamin urges diplomacy and deescalation, arguing that we have to get off this treadmill of military madness that only benefits the weapons companies and brings horror, suffering, death, destruction," while Smith, a co-founder of the Combahee River Collective and of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, says that calls for immediate ceasefire are idealistic. This is an invasion by an imperial power, namely Russia, and I stand with the people of Ukraine," she states.
Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy: Israel Should Lift Siege & Call Off Plans for Ground Invasion of Gaza
From Tel Aviv, we hear from award-winning Israeli journalist and author Gideon Levy, whose recent column for Haaretz is headlined Israel Can't Imprison Two Million Gazans Without Paying a Cruel Price." Levy discusses the reaction within Israeli society toward Hamas's unexpected attack and condemns the Netanyahu government for only mobilizing for further warfare rather than providing effective assistance to victims. Nobody is leading Israel," declares Levy, who also calls for Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza and accept that its campaign of eradicating Hamas is impossible." After decades of Palestinian subjugation under Israeli rule, you can kill the current top people of Hamas, but you will not kill the ideology of Hamas," says Levy.
Mustafa Barghouti: Israel's Siege & Bombing of Gaza Are War Crimes. Is Ethnic Cleansing Next?
As Israel prepares to launch a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, we continue our coverage of escalating conflict in the Middle East. We're joined from Ramallah by Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian physician, activist and politician who serves as general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, also known as al-Mubadara, and is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Central Council. I don't want any Palestinian or Israeli civilian to be killed," says Barghouti, who argues that a ground operation in Gaza would constitute a campaign of ethnic cleansing, and condemns Israeli occupation and settlement under far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as having destroyed any prospective for a two-state solution." Barghouti also discusses President Biden's abnegation of responsibility toward Palestinian Americans, Egypt's role in the conflict and the relationship within Palestine between the totally marginalized" Palestinian Authority and groups like Hamas.
Headlines for October 11, 2023
Death Toll in Israel and Gaza Tops 2,200 as Gazans Face Total Energy Blackout and No Safe Refuge, Journalists Hold Funeral Procession for Their Colleagues Killed in Attacks on Gaza, Families of Israeli Hostages Speak Out as Survivors Grapple with Hamas Attack, Biden Does Not Urge Restraint in IDF Attacks Against Gaza as New U.S. Weapons Arrive in Israel, Another 6.3-Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Afghanistan, 29 People Killed in Burmese Military Attack on Refugee Camp in Kachin State, Dutch Lawmakers Move Toward Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Subsidies After Highway Blockade, World Food Programme Resumes Food Distribution in Ethiopia; U.N. Warns of Genocide Risk, French Soldiers Begin Withdrawal from Niger as U.S. Labels Military Takeover a Coup, George Santos Hit with 10 More Charges Around Campaign Financing Fraud, Hughes Van Ellis, One of the Last 3 Survivors of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Dies at 102
Univ. of MD Prof. Shibley Telhami to President Biden: Value Palestinian Life as Well as Israeli Life
As we continue to cover Israel's war on Gaza, we speak with Middle East scholar Shibley Telhami, who says this latest violence is likely to have a major impact on the wider region, especially if other actors like Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters get involved in the conflict. He says U.S. President Joe Biden's support for Israel following the Hamas attack on Saturday was understandable, but that focus must shift to finding a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is not a military challenge," says Telhami. This is a political problem, and the occupation has to be addressed."
Mohammed El-Kurd: How Much Palestinian Blood Will It Take to End Israel's Occupation & Apartheid?
Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd says Western reaction to Israel's assault on Gaza has once again highlighted the double standard when it comes to how Israeli and Palestinian lives are valued. Israel is bombarding the densely populated coastal territory in retaliation for Saturday's Hamas attack on southern Israel, as well as tightening the existing siege even further. Israeli officials have vowed to wipe out Hamas despite warnings of massive civilian casualties inside Gaza. One wonders how much bloodshed, how much Palestinian death is necessary for people to realize that violence begets violence and that the occupation and the colonization of Palestine, the blockade of the Gaza Strip needs to end for all of this violence to end." El-Kurd also accuses Israeli officials and Western media outlets of using Islamophobic tropes by spreading as-yet-unverified claims of sexual violence and beheadings by Hamas fighters, while downplaying the documented death and devastation being inflicted on Gaza residents.
Israeli Conscientious Objector Haggai Matar: Hamas Attack Reflects Israeli Violence in Palestine
Israel has mobilized some 300,000 army reservists as it ramps up its war on Gaza following a devastating surprise attack by Hamas militants on Saturday that killed hundreds inside Israel, including many civilians. Journalist Haggai Matar of +972 Magazine says that while the violence shocked Israelis, the unending military occupation and apartheid set the stage for this weekend's events. There is no military solution. These recurring attacks on Gaza bring nothing but death and destruction, and no hope for any of us," says Matar, a conscientious objector who refused service in the Israel Defense Forces.
Refaat Alareer in Gaza: Israel's "Barbaric" Bombardment Is Part of Ethnic Cleansing Campaign
As hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed by those killed and wounded in Israel's massive bombing campaign, we go to Gaza City to speak with Palestinian academic and writer Refaat Alareer about conditions inside the besieged territory. Israel announced Monday it was completely cutting off all food, fuel and electricity to Gaza amid airstrikes of unprecedented intensity, launched in response to Saturday's surprise attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. Hamas has threatened to begin killing hostages if civilians inside Gaza are targeted without warning. No one is safe. No place is safe. Israel is bombing everywhere," says Alareer, who describes his own children as shaking out of fear" amid the assault. Why is this happening? Because we refuse to live under occupation. We refuse to live in total submission. We want freedom."
Headlines for October 10, 2023
Gaza Death Toll Tops 770 as Israeli Strikes Hit Schools, Hospitals and a Market, Israel Says Death Toll from Hamas Attack Has Climbed to 900, No Electricity, No Food, No Fuel": U.N. Condemns Israel's Complete Siege" of Gaza Strip, Cross-Border Fighting Between Israel and Hezbollah Sparks Fears of Wider War, Biden and Western Leaders Pledge Steadfast and United" Support to Israel, Protesters Rally to Demand End to U.S. Military Aid to Israel, Afghanistan Earthquake Survivors Plead for Aid as Death Toll Nears 3,000, Guatemala's Attorney General Demands Crackdown on Pro-Democracy Protesters, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Breaks from Democratic Party, Announces Independent Bid for Presidency, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Vetoes Bill to Cap Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Vetoes Bill to Ban Caste Discrimination, Claudia Goldin Wins Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for Research on Gender Gap
Historian Rashid Khalidi: Palestinians "Living Under Incredible Oppression, … It Had to Explode"
In New York, we speak with Rashid Khalidi, author of The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, who lays out how this weekend's extreme violence between Hamas and Israel will force a paradigm shift." Colonial powers will no longer believe they can force people to live under the conditions Israel has subjected Palestinians to and expect no retaliation of the oppressed, says Khalidi. That idea has exploded as a result of the horrific events over the past two-and-a-half days," says Khalidi, who calls the blockade of Gaza a pressure cooker. It had to explode." In response to the escalated conflict, the U.S. promised Israel would have what it needs to defend itself," pledging more military aid and munitions to Israel, already the largest annual recipient of U.S. military funding, as the Biden administration moved warships toward Israel. We finance this occupation. We finance this violence," says Khalidi, who calls on Biden to defuse the situation instead of escalating it. You cannot make peace over the bodies of Palestinians."
Hamas Killed His Friend, But Knesset Member Cassif Says End the Occupation Now, All "Pay the Price"
We speak to Ofer Cassif, an Israeli Jewish Knesset member with the Hadash-Ta'al coalition, about Hamas' surprise attack and Israel's response. Cassif condemns the violence and killing of civilians on both sides," adding that both Israelis and Palestinians pay the price of the arrogant, criminal, ongoing occupation that Israel refuses to end." He then calls for an immediate end to occupation and of Israel's fascist subjugation" of Palestinians, an act which he says will also liberate the Israelis."
"Do You Hear the Bombing?": Gazan Human Rights Lawyer Raji Sourani Describes Israeli Siege of Gaza City
Do you hear the bombing?" asks our guest Raji Sourani in Gaza City, as Israel reportedly bombed the Islamic University of Gaza nearby him and intensified its bombardment after it declared war against Hamas. The award-winning human rights lawyer and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza describes the situation in Gaza, where Israel has now cut off food and electricity, and responds to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling Gazans to leave, calling it nonsense," and asks, Where to? We don't have safe passage."
"Dark Days": Israeli Human Rights Leader Orly Noy on Israel's War on Palestinians After Hamas Attack
Israel has declared war on Hamas after Hamas fighters launched a surprise coordinated attack over the militarized border, the largest in decades. In a military operation titled Al-Aqsa Storm," as many as 1,000 fighters from Hamas broke out of the blockaded Gaza Strip and carried out an unprecedented attack inside Israel on Saturday morning. Hamas cited the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the blockade of Gaza and increasing settler violence in the occupied West Bank as reasons for the move. Israel responded by pounding the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, which hit housing blocks, tunnels and a mosque. Over the past three days at least 1,300 people have died, including over 800 inside Israel and almost 500 in Gaza. We spend the hour discussing the unprecedented developments, starting in Jerusalem with Orly Noy, chair of the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem and editor of the Hebrew-language news site Local Call. There is a really strong sense of demanding revenge within the Israeli public," reports Noy, who says the attack catching Israel off guard is a massive military intelligence failure. Once the immediate crisis is over, the Israeli public will be demanding answers from the government and Netanyahu."
Headlines for October 9, 2023
Death Toll in Gaza and Israel Tops 1,300 as Israel Declares War on Hamas Following Surprise Attack, U.S. Beefing Up Military Support to Israel; U.N. Expert Blasts Selective Outrage" over Conflict, Apartheid Resistance Is Not Terrorism": Protesters Stand in Solidarity with Palestinians, Over 2,000 People Killed in Afghan Earthquake, Suspects in Killing of Ecuadorian Presidential Candidate Found Dead in Prison, Colombia and Dissident Rebel Faction Agree to Ceasefire Ahead of Peace Talks, Colombian Court Allows Fraud Trial of Ex-President Alvaro Uribe to Move Forward, Tens of Thousands Rally Across Guatemala to Defend President-elect Bernardo Arevalo, U.N. Warns Worsening Climate Crisis Will Displace Millions More Children, Study Finds U.S. Children Are Most at Risk of Eviction, Mack Truck Workers Reject Contract Offer and Strike as UAW Makes Gains in Strike Against Big 3, Officers Who Fatally Shot Stop Cop City" Activist Won't Be Charged, Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day
Kaiser Permanente Workers Give Update from Picket Line in Largest Healthcare Strike in History
In the largest strike of healthcare workers in U.S. history, 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers across the country walked off the job this week, seeking higher pay, better staffing, improvements in their pension plans and other benefits. We go to the picket line in Clackamas, Oregon, to speak with Meg Niemi, president of SEIU Local 49, and Keven Dardon, a patient access representative and a member of the union local's bargaining team, on the final day of the strike outside of Kaiser Permanente's Sunnyside Medical Center. Kaiser can do better," says Dardon, explaining how the union's demands for better working conditions will allow its employees to provide patients with better care. Adds Niemi, If we cannot reach an agreement, we'll be out here again."
300+ More Sex Abuse Survivors Sue Columbia U. & Jailed OB-GYN Robert Hadden
We speak to the attorney suing Columbia University and its affiliated hospitals on behalf of some 300 more patients who say they were sexually assaulted by former Columbia University obstetrician Robert Hadden over two decades while Columbia shielded the sexual predator. Anthony T. DiPietro filed a new lawsuit against the university and its affiliated hospitals earlier this week. Columbia knew from the beginning," DiPietro says of Hadden's abuse and its subsequent cover-up. Survivors, he continues, shouldn't be having to carry this burden around with them for their entire lives."
Medical Students & Survivors Demand Columbia U. Notify All Patients of Jailed OB-GYN Sex Abuse Record
On Wednesday, hundreds of medical students and sexual assault survivors of former university obstetrician Robert Hadden protested at Columbia University's campus calling for accountability during the inauguration ceremony of the university's first woman president. We speak with medical students and survivors demanding Columbia take action to notify all former patients of Hadden about his previous sexual assault convictions by the November 23 deadline of New York's Adult Survivors Act. Wouldn't you want to know if your OB-GYN had sexually assaulted 500 other patients?" asks survivor and activist Evelyn Yang, who has been sharing her experience publicly since 2020.
As Fraud Trial Gets Underway, Trump Tries to Provoke Judge to Jail Him: David Cay Johnston
We get an update on Donald Trump's civil fraud trial with Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston. New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking to fine Trump $250 million and is asking for a permanent ban on Trump family members running a business in New York. The outcome of the trial could put the future of the Trump Organization in jeopardy. Trump himself has already been barred from posting or speaking publicly about the trial after his public comments about James, which she described as race-baiting," and about Judge Arthur Engoron. Johnston, the author of three books on Trump, including The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family, says that though this trial doesn't carry with it the potential for incarceration that his criminal trials do, it is just as threatening to the Trump empire because Donald Trump is his money."
Woman, Life, Freedom: Narges Mohammadi, Imprisoned Iranian Activist, Awarded 2023 Nobel Peace Prize
Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her work fighting against women's oppression in Iran. Mohammadi will not be able to personally receive the prize because she is currently incarcerated in Iran for her protest activities. To share more about Mohammadi, the Woman, Life, Freedom" movement and the potential impact of the Nobel on Mohammadi's imprisonment, we speak with Negar Mortazavi, an Iranian American journalist, host of The Iran Podcast and senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.
Headlines for October 6, 2023
Biden Defends Decision to Waive Federal Laws to Speed Construction of Border Wall, Mexico's AMLO Rejects Border Wall as U.S. Plans New Deportation Flights to Venezuela, Mayor Eric Adams Tours Latin America to Warn Asylum Seekers Against Coming to New York, Ukraine Says 51 Killed in Russian Missile Attack on Kharkiv Village, Drone Attack Kills Scores at Graduation Ceremony for Syrian Military Cadets, U.S. Downs Turkish Drone Over Syria as Turkey Escalates Attacks on Kurdish Fighters, Iranian Guardians of Hijab" Force Accused of Beating Teenage Girl into a Coma, Iranian Human Rights Activist Narges Mohammadi Receives 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, Manish Kunwar Becomes 9th Rikers Prisoner to Die This Year, Brooklyn Subway Shooter Receives 10 Life Sentences, Federal Court's Selection of Alabama Congressional Map Enhances Power of Black Voters, Julia Ormond Sues Weinstein for Sexual Assault; Disney, Miramax and CAA for Enabling Him
"A Day in the Life of Abed Salama": How the Death of Abed's 5-Year-Old Son Sheds Light on Life Under Israeli Apartheid
We spend the hour with Nathan Thrall and Abed Salama, the author and subject of a remarkable new book detailing the many bureaucratic barriers and indignities that make the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation even more difficult. A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy focuses on the 2012 death of Salama's son, 5-year-old Milad, who was killed in a fiery bus crash during a school field trip to a theme park. What followed was a desperate daylong search by Salama and his family to locate Milad's body across different cities and hospitals, encountering numerous barriers due to the Israeli occupation system, like different ID cards giving varying levels of access through military checkpoints, and lack of help from any Israeli authorities. This awful event allowed me, in telling the story, to describe the entire elaborate system of segregation and subjugation and apartheid in which all of these people live," says Thrall, who first wrote about the tragedy in a 2021 essay for The New York Review of Books. Salama says his main motivation in participating with Thrall was to keep Milad's memory alive. When I start to talk about him, I feel that his spirit is behind me, around me," he says. I hope if anyone from the American government hears me ... we want only justice. This is what we want as Palestinians."
Headlines for October 5, 2023
Reps. Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise to Run for Speaker of the House After McCarthy's Ouster, Biden Suggests He Might Circumvent Congress to Continue Arming Ukraine, 11 Arrested at Protest Demanding Sen. Bernie Sanders Support Peace Talks for Ukraine, Record-Shattering September Heat Keeps 2023 on Track as Hottest Year on Record, Biden Administration Waives 26 Laws to Hasten U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Construction, Israelis Kill Two in West Bank, Days After Settlers Destroy Farm of Palestinian American Family, Gaza Medics See Increase in Ankle Injuries as Israeli Forces Shoot at Protesters' Legs, Candidates Challenging Egyptian President el-Sisi Face Attacks, Intimidation, Sen. Bob Menendez's Wife Nadine Killed a Man with Her Car in 2018. She Was Then Gifted a New Car, Biden Administration Cancels Another $9 Billion in Student Loans
A New Occupation Force? Haitians Denounce U.N. Vote to Deploy U.S.-Backed, Kenyan-Led Troops
The United Nations Security Council has approved an international armed force to address spiraling gang violence in Haiti, where street battles have paralyzed the capital Port-au-Prince since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. The U.N. mission, which came at the repeated request of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, is being led by Kenya, marking the first deployment of international security forces to Haiti in nearly 20 years. The U.S.-backed proposal received 13 votes in favor, with Russia and China abstaining, and allows foreign troops to remain in Haiti for one year. This validates the criminal government of Ariel Henry," says Haitian pro-democracy advocate Monique Clesca, who says the $100 million the U.S. has pledged to support the U.N. mission would have been better used to support civil society. The big problem right now is the governance system." We also speak with UC Irvine's Mamyrah Prosper, host of the podcast Haiti: Our Revolution Continues, who says many Haitians are rightly skeptical given the history of foreign interventions in the country, including by U.N. troops. This is not the first time that the Security Council has voted to send what Haitians are calling an occupation force," says Prosper. These missions don't really come in, in fact, to protect the population. They are there to protect multinational investments."
Rep. Ro Khanna: It Is "Unfortunate" Gov. Newsom Didn't Appoint Barbara Lee for Feinstein's Seat
Laphonza Butler was sworn in Tuesday to fill the California Senate seat of the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died last week at age 90. This makes Butler the only Black woman currently in the Senate and the first out Black lesbian in Congress - but the appointment also frustrated many progressives who had been pushing for Congressmember Barbara Lee to get the nod. Congressmember Ro Khanna, co-chair of Lee's Senate campaign, says it was unfortunate" that California Governor Gavin Newsom didn't name her. Although Butler would be a formidable candidate" if she runs for the seat in 2024, Khanna predicts that Lee can still win. She has a record that speaks volumes for the type of country we need to be," says Khanna.
Chaos in Congress: Rep. Ro Khanna on Historic Ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Democrats united Tuesday to join a revolt by far-right Republicans to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after just nine months on the job. No other speaker in U.S. history has ever been voted out, and the unprecedented development has thrown the House into deeper chaos and ground legislation to a halt. Republican Patrick McHenry of North Carolina has taken up the speaker's gavel temporarily, but who can unite the party's fractious caucus remains a mystery. Congress is at a halt, at a standstill," says Congressmember Ro Khanna, who blames far-right Republicans for being more focused on theatrics than on governing. There is no effort to actually address the economic issues, the kitchen-table issues that affect the American public."
Headlines for October 4, 2023
U.S. House Is Without a Leader After Historic Vote to Remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker, Judge Places Gag Order on Trump After He Posts Attack on Law Clerk During Civil Fraud Trial, Hunter Biden Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Gun Charges, Colombia Issues Apology for Extrajudicial Killings in False Positives" Affair, Indian Police Raid Journalists in Ongoing Crackdown on Press, Pakistan Tells Undocumented Immigrants to Leave by Nov. 1, Sen. Cardin Halts U.S. Military Funding for Egypt in Wake of Menendez Bribery Indictment, Sahel Unrest: Attack in Niger Kills 29 Soldiers; Siege on Timbuktu Puts Malians on Edge, Oil Blast at Nigerian Homemade Refinery Kills 37 People, Climate Groups Sue TotalEnergies over East African Pipeline, Climate Destruction, Climate Activists Descend on Insurance Forum to Demand Industry Stop Funding Fossil Fuels, Shooter on the Loose After Injuring 5 People at Morgan State Homecoming Event, Baltimore Archdiocese Files for Bankruptcy as Maryland Enacts Child Victims Act, 75,000 Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Workers Walk Off Job Across Half a Dozen States
Police Killings of Black & Brown People May Be Double Previous Estimates: La Raza Database Project
The newly released Raza Database Project reveals the number of Brown and Black people killed by police in the United States may be more than double the amount that is widely reported. Statistician and demographer Jesus Garcia explains how the team merged data sets from independent research projects on police violence to more accurately determine the ethnicities of victims. These are terrible numbers to look at," says Garcia. The results are stark and bare." Project manager Ivette Xochiyotl Boyzo calls the research groundbreaking" because of the lack of federal data collection on police violence. It's so unfortunate that there's not any type of actual collection of information against these types of violences," says Boyzo, who calls for accountability. What's the most disturbing out of all of this, it's the impunity rate."
Gunman Wearing MAGA Hat Shoots Indigenous Activist at New Mexico Protest over Conquistador Statue
In New Mexico, a 23-year-old gunman wearing a red MAGA hat opened fire last week on Jacob Johns and other Indigenous activists opposing plans to reinstall a statue honoring the 16th century conquistador Juan de Onate, New Mexico's first colonial governor. Johns, the prominent climate activist, was airlifted from Espanola to an Albuquerque hospital and required emergency surgery. We speak with Malaya Peixinho, who participated in Thursday's gathering, about how the statue of the colonial leader has divided the local community. It is a really controversial thing to talk about Onate," says Peixinho, who believes funds for the statue could go to social programs instead. That feels more important than funding a statue being resurrected." The shooter, Ryan Martinez, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for shooting Johns and aiming the gun at Peixinho, who calls the charges fair" and blames police for not intervening. They didn't show up for us," says Peixinho.
"Crime Against Humanity": Exiled from Diego Garcia for U.S. Military Base, Residents Demand to Return
Over 50 years since the United States forced them out in order to build a military base on the island of Diego Garcia, exiled residents of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean continue to pressure Britain and the U.S. to pay reparations and apologize for expelling residents. We speak with prominent Chagossian activist Olivier Bancoult, who is visiting the United States to meet with lawmakers and State Department officials. The U.S. is fully responsible for what happened to our people," says Bacoult. We want the Biden administration to apologize and to make reparation for what they did wrong to our people." Located halfway between Africa and Indonesia and about 1,000 miles south of India, the military base on Diego Garcia played a key role in the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a crime against humanity," says author of Base Nation David Vine, who adds that there are more than 20 cases of the U.S. displacing local populations for military bases. The Chagossians are not alone."
Headlines for October 3, 2023
U.N. Approves Armed Intervention Force for Haiti, U.N. Mission Arrives in Nagorno-Karabakh as Some 120,000 Ethnic Armenians Flee Azerbaijan's Takeover, Supreme Court Opens New Term with Case on Reduced Sentences for Nonviolent Offenders, Supreme Court Won't Halt Execution of Texas Prisoner Sentenced over Junk Science" Testimony, Clarence Thomas Recuses Self from Appeal of Trump Legal Adviser Who Communicated with Ginni Thomas, GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz Files Resolution to Remove Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, Laphonza Butler to Be Sworn In as First-Ever Out Lesbian Black Senator, Trump Assails Judge and Prosecutors as Civil Trial Opens in Manhattan Court, Labor Department Opens Probe of Child Labor at Perdue and Tyson Foods, WHO Approves Second Vaccine Against Malaria for Children, Dolores Sanchez, Publisher of Bilingual Newspapers for L.A.'s Latinx Community, Dies at 87, Journalists Mark 5th Anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi's Murder with Calls for Accountability
Survived & Punished: Meet Tracy McCarter, a Nurse Jailed, Then Cleared, for Stabbing Abusive Husband
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, and we look at how Black and Brown survivors of domestic abuse are further criminalized by police and prisons - and how activists have been organizing to win their freedom. In her first broadcast interview, we speak with Tracy McCarter, a nurse and grandmother who was jailed after her abusive husband, a white man, died of a stab wound when she defended herself during an altercation. McCarter, who is Black, describes being a criminalized survivor of both domestic violence and the criminal legal system. She was held at the notorious Rikers jail for nearly seven months and had her murder charges dropped in November after a campaign led by the grassroots abolitionist organization Survived and Punished. This comes as one-third of women imprisoned in New York for homicide were abused by the person they killed. It became clear to me that I wasn't going to be considered a person whose life was important enough to defend," says McCarter, a registered nurse and graduate student at the time of her arrest, who shares her story and explains how racism affected her case. We also speak with Brooklyn Law School professor Jocelyn Simonson, a member of the I Stand With Tracy" solidarity campaign and author of the new book, Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Incarceration.
Gavin Newsom Taps Laphonza Butler to Fill Sen. Feinstein's Seat, Rejecting Calls to Pick Barbara Lee
California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving woman to ever serve in the Senate, has died at the age of 90. Feinstein had previously announced plans to retire at the end of this term, sparking an ongoing race to replace her open seat that's been led by California Congressmembers Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff. California Governor Gavin Newsom has tapped Laphonza Butler, the president of the Democratic pro-abortion organization EMILY's List and a former leader of the California SEIU, as Feinstein's temporary replacement. Butler will become the only Black woman in the Senate and California's first openly LGBTQ+ senator. For more on Newsom's choice of Butler, the race to replace Feinstein and the late senator's political legacy, we continue our conversation with journalist Sasha Abramsky, whose latest piece for The Nation is titled Dianne Feinstein's Empty Seat."
Far-Right Republicans Look to Oust Speaker McCarthy After He Averts Government Shutdown
Congress passed an 11th-hour short-term funding bill this weekend, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown for the next 45 days, but the House is in a state of turmoil as far-right lawmakers threaten to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for working on the bipartisan bill. It's a crisis entirely of Kevin McCarthy's own making," says our guest Sasha Abramsky, the West Coast correspondent for The Nation, who also calls McCarthy's impeachment inquiry into President Biden the most ill-prepared, ill-thought-out, poorly advised Republican inquiry you could possibly imagine," and discusses Republicans' embrace of Vladimir Putin to contrast with establishment Democrats' support of Ukraine in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Headlines for October 2, 2023
Kevin McCarthy Reverses Course, Passes Deal with House Democrats to Avert Gov't Shutdown at 11th Hour, Gavin Newsom Picks EMILY's List President Laphonza Butler to Fill Dianne Feinstein's Senate Seat, Dianne Feinstein, Longest-Serving Woman Senator, Dies at 90 After Months of Declining Health, Record Rains Turn NYC Streets into Rivers as Gov. Hochul Warns Extreme Weather Is New Normal", Labor News: UAW Ramps Up Strike; Kaiser Permanente Health Workers Inch Closer to Major Strike, Migrants Killed Near U.S. Border; Traffic Deaths Expose Dangers for Migrants Traveling Through Mexico, Russia-Friendly Candidate Wins Slovakia's Parliamentary Election, Right-Wing Opposition Leader Loses Bid to Form New Spanish Government, Mohamed Muizzu Wins Runoff Election to Become Maldives President, Protesters Rally to Oppose Police Training Center in San Pablo, CA, Donald Trump Arrives in New York for Start of Civil Fraud Trial, Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Scientists Whose Work on mRNA Led to COVID Vaccines
Top Cuban Diplomat Seeks Probe of D.C. Embassy Attack & End to "Unbearable" U.S. Sanctions
Cuba has released footage showing an individual throwing two Molotov cocktails inside the Cuban Embassy compound in Washington, D.C., last Sunday, condemning it as a terrorist attack. An investigation is underway, but no arrests have been made. Cuba's Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio says the country is demanding a speedy investigation, adding that it is the latest in a series of attacks against Cuban diplomatic missions in recent years. Meanwhile, international pressure continues to grow for the Biden administration to lift the embargo on Cuba and remove it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. Cuba's relationship with terrorism is as a victim," Fernandez de Cossio says of the terror designation. The reason is not very clear to us, beyond the wish of trying to make life as unbearable as possible for the people of Cuba as a way of trying to extract from Cuba political concessions."
Nazi Veteran Honored in Canada Was Part of Wave of Collaborators Harbored in West: Lev Golinkin
Poland says it's preparing to seek the extradition of a 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi after he received a standing ovation in the Canadian House of Commons last week following a speech by visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka was invited by the speaker of the House, who has since resigned his post, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized for the episode on Wednesday. Hunka fought during World War II with a Nazi unit composed of Ukrainian volunteers who were involved in numerous atrocities, including massacres of Jewish civilians. But Hunka is not an outlier, according to Ukrainian American journalist Lev Golinkin, who says Canada took in many Ukrainian Nazi collaborators after the war. That includes the grandfather of Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who spent years painting him as a victim rather than the Nazi propagandist he was. Of course Hunka didn't think anything would happen, because you had the deputy prime minister who was caught whitewashing a Nazi collaborator, and nothing happened," says Golinkin.
Fearing Ethnic Cleansing, 90,000 Armenians Flee Nagorno-Karabakh After Azerbaijan Military Blitz
The government of Nagorno-Karabakh is dissolving itself after decades of struggle for autonomy from Azerbaijan, just days after Azerbaijani forces carried out a military blitz to seize the breakaway region, which has a majority of ethnic Armenians. More than half the territory's 120,000 people have reportedly fled to Armenia, while thousands more remain without food, shelter and clean drinking water. Basically, this is ethnic cleansing," says Roubina Margossian, managing editor of EVN Report, an independent media outlet based in Armenia. This is the victory of a dictatorship over a democracy."
Headlines for September 29, 2023
Ahead of Shutdown, Biden Says GOP Extremists Are Trying to Burn the Place Down", Biden Warns Trump & MAGA Movement Are a Threat to Democracy, Activist Disrupts Biden Speech, Urges Him to Declare Climate Emergency, 18 Youth Climate Activists Arrested for Occupying Speaker McCarthy's Office, GOP Witnesses Admit No Evidence Yet to Support Impeaching Biden, GOP Lawmakers Refuse to Say Trump Should Be Held Accountable If Convicted, NY Appeals Court Rejects Trump Effort to Delay Civil Fraud Trial, Dozens Killed in Two Blasts in Pakistan, U.N.: Over 2,500 Migrants Have Died or Gone Missing This Year Trying to Cross the Mediterranean, Protesters in Niger Rally Outside French Military Base Demanding Immediate Troop Withdrawal, Former Bolivian President to Pay Damages for 2003 Indigenous Massacre, Mexico: Three Arrests Made After Bodies of Six Kidnapped Teenagers Found, Texas Man Pleads Guilty for Role in Death of 53 Migrants Trapped Inside Truck, MAGA Gunman Attacks Protest in New Mexico over Reinstallment of Conquistador Statue, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Sues Tesla over Racial Abuse of Black Workers, California: Gov. Newsom Raises Minimum Wage for Fast-Food Workers to $20, Rep. Bowman and Sen. Markey Introduce Green New Deal for Public Schools Act
Breaking the Menendez Cycle? Senator Pleads Not Guilty to Corruption, But Calls Grow for Resignation
Senator Bob Menendez appeared in court Wednesday to face corruption charges yet refused to resign. A growing number of politicians have called for Menendez to step down, after federal agents discovered large amounts of cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz in the Democrat's New Jersey home. There's a possibility that this cycle that we see will not recur," says David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, who says even the New Jersey political machine is shunning" Menendez after his second corruption indictment in less than 10 years.
David Dayen: Amazon & Google Antitrust Cases Highlight "Newfound Vigor" in D.C. to Fight Monopolies
On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, but the details of the suit remain unclear as much of it is redacted to the public. We speak with David Dayen, author of Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power, about the significance of this lawsuit, which comes just two weeks after the opening of a landmark antitrust trial against Google. Suddenly there is all this activity in the antitrust space after a period of dormancy for about 40 years," says Dayen, who says the charge is being led by FTC Chair Lina Khan. Khan represents an aggressive set of antitrust enforcers that the Biden administration has put in and really reversed this troubling trend of the last 40 years."
Ralph Nader: Why Is GOP Not Debating Corporate Crime Wave & the Weakening of Our Democratic Society?
Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader responds to Wednesday's second Republican debate, saying, It's pretty embarrassing that this is what they put forward to become the president of the most powerful country in the world." Nader discusses the debate's topics of social media, former President Donald Trump and wealth inequality in America. Nader also calls for the Democratic Party to stop engaging in candidate suppression" and respect third-party candidates such as Cornel West to run for public office as a constitutional right.
"Donald Duck" & "Missing in Action": GOP Rivals Criticize Trump for Skipping Another Debate
Donald Trump skipped the second Republican presidential debate of the 2024 race on Wednesday, declining once again to share a stage with competitors for the nomination whom he leads in the polls by double digits. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie criticized Trump for his absence, but most of the seven candidates avoided direct attacks on the front-runner. Instead, they largely aimed their fire at President Joe Biden - and each other. We air highlights from the debate, including the candidates' remarks on the UAW strike, immigration and the economy.
Headlines for September 28, 2023
GOP Presidential Candidates Attack an Absent Trump, Each Other at Chaotic Debate, Trump Calls on Unions to Support Him in 2024 as He Addresses Nonunion Auto Plant, Las Vegas Hotel and Casino Workers Overwhelmingly Vote to Authorize Strike, U.S. Gov't on Cusp of Shutdown Amid Republican House Dysfunction, Nagorno-Karabakh's Gov't to Self-Dissolve by Jan. 1 as 50,000 People Flee, Burkina Faso Military Coup Leaders Say They Thwarted Another Coup Attempt, North Korea Expels Soldier Travis King Back to the U.S., Palestinian Rights Advocates Condemn U.S. Visa Waiver for Israeli Travelers, Ethiopian Researchers Verify at Least 1,329 Hunger Deaths in Tigray, Justin Trudeau Apologizes over Nazi Soldier Applause After House Speaker Steps Down, Dutch Climate Activists Have Been Blocking a Major Highway for 20 Days, Environmentalists Slam U.K. Approval of Rosebank Oil Project in North Sea, European Court Hears Historic Case from Portuguese Youth Suing 32 Nations over Climate Crisis, Bob Menendez and Co-Defendants Plead Not Guilty to Bribery as 30 Dems Calls for His Resignation, Outrage in Philadelphia After Judge Dismisses Charges Against Cop Who Shot and Killed Eddie Irizarry
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