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tv   Up Front  Al Jazeera  February 16, 2024 11:30pm-12:01am AST

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the details, but it looks like the former president, as well as his business, his top executive and his 2 oldest sons have all been fined a total of about $355000000.00. the judge also saying that the former president can't do business in new york state for 3 years. his sons not for 2 years . the award that he granted the state prosecutor here is just slightly less than what she was asking for in damages to the state. she had asked for $370000000.00. this is all money that they alleged. he made by over valuing his property for insurance purposes and for other purposes for sale purposes. so that is how they came to that amount. uh, obviously this is a huge blow to the former president who built his fame and fortune on his real estate business based here in new york and going forward, his ability to do so obviously will be severely curtailed. he is expected to appeal
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this. yeah, but it does, will tie up funding for his business going forward. what happens next given his lawyers have said that they will appeal question right. so that is expected to be a very lengthy process that could take years to work out the signs and the for the prohibition on him doing business would be a likely stayed until the appeal could be heard. but again, it does make it difficult for him to do business. he will have to set aside that money in an account for future payment. should the ruling not go in his favor? and of course, this is all happening at a time when he is facing multiple legal issues, including for criminal trials. this of course is a civil case. he's not facing jail time or anything like that for that. but he does
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have 4 other criminal cases which could result in jail time one, just a block away from here that the judge put on the court docket for march 25th just yesterday that one relating to hush money payments to a film former adult film star that could be the 1st $1.00 that goes to trial, that of course, he's also got the voter fraud case insurrection case in washington dc says, how to keep up with the measurements of the question for us that i'm afraid that we run out of time. but thank you very much for that for now. that is kristen salumi joining us live with a very low shes from new york that does it for this half hour of news. you can always keep up to date with all the news on our website. i'll just say, or i don't com up front is coming up the on counting, the cost of israel is 1st credit raising down graves. how bleak is the outlook for
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its economy? commercial real estate in the us as faltering banks as far away as germany of feeling the pain. plus we find out whether a full day work week will boost workers productivity counting the cost on i will just say around. and i pad, recently published in the wall street journal called the city dearborn, michigan home to one of the largest populations of muslims and arabs in the united states. america's just had capital, many of called this another sign of the rising anti muslim sentiment in the country since october 7th. so have october 7th and israel's war on gaza affected the most of the population in the united states. and what impact could this have on the upcoming presidential election? we'll ask that question. dearborn is major abdullah mood later in the show. but 1st, as israel says it's targets on the southern city of rough us and the gaza strip. top me, when official has stated that any escalation could lead to a quote slaughter, and that over a 1000000 people were quotes bearing death in the face of africa has urged the
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international court of justice to consider using its power to intervene. so how will be you in response to the situation and what is that utility at a time like this will speak to this. we've headliner, former director at the new york office of the un high commissioner for human rights, pregnant card the in october, craig mo, khyber, formerly director of the new york office of the un high commissioner for human rights, left his post. he protested that the u. n. was quote, failing and his duty to prevent what he called a text bookcase of genocide against the palestinians. and guys of the also it gives the us the u. k. and much of europe of being, quote, wholly complicit in this for risk a. so today will speak them ok for about the utility of the you in and of time like this, but also talk about what's at stake for the future of palestine. greg, i wanna thank you for joining me on a front good to be here last friday. prime minister benjamin netanyahu,
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or the population of guys, is rough, our district to be evacuated ahead of unexpected ground invasion. the mc international secretary general, one that civilians and guys are, were at quote, grave risk of genocide in response to israel's order. at this point is, was killed over 28000 palestinians and likely more because many people are still lost in the rubble. it's now been nearly 4 months since you left you proves that the un in protest. how is it that months later, they're still not doing much of anything to stop this a so as well? i think it's because of the fundamental dynamics that i and others want about all the way back in october has not changed. israel operates under the climate of absolute infinity. that is because the activities of israel, in gaza and elsewhere, are underwritten by the united states by the united kingdom by much of europe as i indicated in my letter. and that has not changed very significantly. we've seen
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a wholesale slaughter in gossip wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure and gaza, starting from the north and working its way south. now you have half the population, literally up against the fence and rough, the southern most town in all of gaza and points to be the next target in this ongoing massacre. and as i've said this ongoing genocide and until those dynamics change until states begin to respect their international obligations until the international organizations stop, searing, powerful member states like the united states. it's not going to change at the international level either. let's talk about some of those arrangements specifically with the powerful member states that you mentioned. you spoke about how the u. s. u. k, and other western countries have such a, an extraordinary influence on what is real. does they give them the arms? they give them the economic support and they give them diplomatic cover. i mean, if you think about israel uh, and its treatment at the un security council, the us of stains, they be till they do all the things necessary to provide diplomatic cover for
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israel. i use of you and for over 30 years, in your view, isn't you when even capable of being more than an extension or a to western interest both to the extent that the you and functions as an extension of the western power, the one should not exist because the one was set up, us should not exist to the extent that it functions as an instrument of western power does not exist. but there is this tension into you. and you know, the u. n. was set up as a normative institution, as a constitutional institution. it was supposed to be about international law, international human rights that a peaceful resolution of disputes, international development cooperation. but there was another side of the you and the political side of the house that is not interested in full respect for those norms and standards of international law that are more involved that are kind of deference to power. and you know, you and officials and un office is that sort of triangle late, where the power is, are always going to way in favor of oppression and not in favor of their mission of
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their mandate. and the people who are on the front lines in the you and the amount of terry and workers, the human rights defenders. the more than 150 unreal workers have been murdered by as rarely bombs and bullets in the course of the last few months. those are heroic defenders of the norms and standards of the organization, but they've been abandoned by the political leadership and they've been abandoned by some of the integral mental bodies. we all know the story of the security council, which has been rendered absolutely impotent by the us veto in the circumstance. and every time the us has vetoed a cease fire, thousands more of innocent civilians have died in, in gaza. there you have a challenge of massive institutional reform, but that is not the case with regard to the political leadership, there is nothing stopping senior you and political leaders from speaking truth to power. and i would argue it is their job to do so that when it is a question of the violation of the norms and standards of the organization, it is their job to speak up at to call a spade
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a spade. in this case to say out loud where it's like a part time where it's like genocide, they haven't been willing to do that. it isn't a decision not to say genocide or part sites as simple as political cowardice or is there some other strategic or a reasonable legal calculation there i. e, the courts decide which genocide, not us, but the i. c, j decided that the licensee decide that in order for the you in to be above the fray, we can get involved in, in those types of, of judgments. it is political cowardice, and i'll tell you why the one that is capable and has in the past aligned its positions with its own norms and standards. think about apartheid in south africa. the u. n. maintained the principal law based position on behalf of equality international, human rights and international law until apartheid fell in south africa in palestine 30 years ago. they abandoned that position in favor of an amorphous political project. where somewhere down the road, there was a promise of a 2 state solution which became a smoke screen behind which we saw
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a continued persecution, dispossession, massive and systematic violations of human rights and leading now to genocide, it is true that only a court can determine whether or not, it is genocide in the final instance, but the convention of the un on genocide prohibits mandates, not just genocide, but also mandates. the prevention of genocide and the u. n. is willing to speak out when it sees torture. work crimes, even crimes against humanity, without waiting for a court decision. when the crime of crimes is being committed, you cannot wait until the dust has settled and the blood has dried to even under the word genocide. this is a classic, as i've said, textbook case of genocide. what, what if there's no red line here? textbook? there is no red line. but what makes the textbook? because there are people who will say, well, south africa was very, very clear. other isn't rwanda. campbell, it we, we could look in places like these are indisputable black and white issues. whereas with israel, it's complex, that's a favorite word use. this is complex. how do you respond to people who say, well,
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you know, the story here isn't as simple as a, as, as eagles, committing genocide. even october 7th, itself stands as an example of a war crime being committed against israel and israel's responding. that's what folks say. what do you say to them? well, it's not so complex. i think that is a rhetorical device that used to avoid looking clearly at the situation as it is on the ground. and this is the san, also of the united nations. they're willing to talk about 2 amount of terry and aid . they're willing to talk about even a ceasefire, but they're not willing to talk about the root causes, but not willing to talk about setting their colonialism. they're not willing to talk about apartheid. only in the case of israel and palestine, are they afraid to even talk about the root causes and instead talk about and eventually 2 state solution that's not going to solve the conflict. the, the only solution to the conflict of course is the situation and we have equal rights for christians, muslims, jews, and others. but nobody's willing to talk about that. so i think that's a real cop out. i think it explains why this has continued for 76 years now. and
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why current efforts attending even a general, a genocidal assault are not going to be effective in mark. you know, the other thing that's not complex is genocide. i was addressing this as an international human rights lawyer x and according to the language of the genocide convention. according to international jurisprudence, there is no question that the 2 main elements of genocide, genocidal intent and acts of genocide as defined in the convention had been manifest here. and in particular, when you have a situation where the leadership of israel, political and military, the president, the prime minister, at least 7 cabinet ministers, the military leadership themselves have openly, publicly, repeatedly declared genocidal attach. you have to take them at their word. it's not complex. it's genocide, it's interesting, right, you. 1 are making a very compelling case that is real, is given an almost protected status in these bodies, the menus of israel. and israel says the you,
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it has been for us then you went focuses almost exclusively on us. israel's minister of energy accused you and secretary general antonio lieutenant is of supporting from ass and endorsing the court murder of the elderly. the abduction of babies in the rape, a women on october 7th, war cabinet minister bin against also labor the you in chief, a quote, terror apologist. how do you, how can we reconcile those 2 things? but because there are to you and there is the you and is i was describing which is based upon international law. and that you and is a form in which israel cannot win because it is in violation of all of the norms and standards of the organization. because of dispossession because of a part time because of institutionalized discrimination because of persecution because of settlement activity or all of these are violations of international law . but there's another side of the you and the one that i am criticizing, which is the political leadership of view and, and some of the more trepidations are compromised. inter governmental bodies. those
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are the sides of the un that ignore those norms and standards that ignore international law and defer to the power of the united states, the united kingdom, europe, sometimes other other major powers. and the frustration that is really, leaders are expressing is that they don't get impunity when the norms and standards are applied. but they know they have an audience for impunity when it comes to the political leadership. and they know as well, in recent years that they have built up a network of israel lobby groups that are specifically focused on persecuting, attacking, smearing un officials. and you and mechanisms that dare to speak out against is really atrocities. and that, that also suppresses an honest commentary. you know, the willingness to speak truth to power by senior un officials. so those are to you and they are intention, they are intention. but the, the, the, the, you, when that is simply an expression of the political power of the west is not to you and that the world need is what the world needs is the promise of the went that the
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world would be governed by the rule of law by international law and by international human rights is also a very pragmatic and practical un that's the way and that is providing live, saving him in and tearing assistance. that's the you with making sure that palestinian refugees have some possibility of re settlement that they have right now, hospitals and in housing and in all of the stuff that underwear, for example, provide you in, in many ways, is the last stop getting them or is there any danger, technically speaking of being so critical of them right now, we already have israel doing it from the other side. if you're critical of the wind from your vantage point, do we run the risk of as a practical matter undermining the chance of palestinians getting assistance? well, that's why i'm always very careful distinguish between the parts of the un that i am criticizing. i mean, we're, for example, which has been absolutely heroic and has paid the highest cost for a $150.00 plus of its staff members murdered in this, in this genocide exists because of the denial of the rights and self determination
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of the palestinian people in the palace thing people don't want to rely upon and run what they must because remember the people in gaza were already refugees from inside. what is now israel? they were purged from their homes on the basis of the ref, mississippi through mass occurs and attacks and forced into gaza, where they have had to rely upon a un agency for education, for health care, for housing, for, for survival. you're right. and so, and that's, that's exactly why israel is attacking, going wrong with its repeated disingenuous, false bogus claims about wrong doing on the part of one world. and imagine mark, even if a couple of people participated in some crimes, even if that were the case. that is not an indictment of one rug. one right. has 13000 staff in gaza. 30000 stat. uh, overall, if you made a list of people who worked for the us government who have committed crimes, would that mean that, that the us government needs to be dismantled?
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it's, it's an absurd claim in every direction 1st, because there's no evidence that anyone has committed to crime. and secondly, that even if they did, that's not an indictment of unreal. the real purpose here is the destruction of monroe because it's in the way of the destruction of the palestinian people. right, mcguyver, thank you so much for joining us on a. thank you, mark for having the just be october 7th attacks and the war on as this, there has been arise in anti muslim and anti arab incidents affecting communities and citizens across the united states. one of those affected communities resides in the city of dearborn, michigan. home to one of the largest populations of arab americans per capita in the country. you may have seen dearborn in the headlines recently after an opinion piece was published in the wall street journal, which labeled the city as quote americas jet had capitol. many of pointed out that this is yet another sign of the rising tide of islam, a phobia. meanwhile,
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many of the most of them in our communities across the united states have expressed their outreach at the bite and administration for its support of israel's deadly onslaught. in gaza. so what impact has israel's world guys ahead on most of them in our communities in the us? and how will it affect the upcoming presidential election? good to speak with us as dearborn is 1st muslim and 1st arab american mayor abdullah, how mood miracle mood. thanks so much for joining us in upfront, much for him in the 3 months following october 7th, the council on american islamic relations. so a 178 percent increase in complaints of anti muslim and anti palestinian incidents around the united states that you were raised in dearborn. your arab american, you're most of them have you experienced this rise of your seeing what people are talking about. absolutely, you know, immediately following the events of october 7th, there was, uh, an individual in the state of michigan who said that you wanted to come to dearborn to a quote unquote hon. palestinians was put the city on high alert and obviously following
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that garbage opinion piece that was permitted to be published in the wall street journal. we had to establish more patrols around our places of worship, and to show it to the community that the community is safe, knows it's safe and also feel safe. because many of threats and demonizing language has been and continues to be live done. social media, are you worried that it can get worse? absolutely, i mean, this isn't new. unfortunately. ality it though, is because it notes the city of dearborn, especially as somebody who grew up in the post 911 era where, you know, we had folks to pull the gun. i mean, days after 911, st. keep walking before we're just had to shoot. you, most them kids, we had our every american festival cancelled because individuals came through protesting with pigs, heads and spears and signs. i said, we have dumped our blood, our bullets and takes blood so that when we shoot you as you go to, it hadn't done so. so this unfortunately, is it new to city of dearborn. whenever you see a rise in war in the middle east and, and continue to strive,
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the dehumanizing language comes out around most of the, in our markins. and that leads to increased the threats to our security. your are in the states. you talked about that piece. you just called it today, garbage which you also said that it was a distraction. what did you mean by that? and i think it was not a coincidence that as we have been doing the media circuit and many folks have to highlight what's happening with deplorable conditions. and it has the genocide this ongoing, that's such a piece, gets published in the wall street journal to distract everybody from talking about what's unfolding on the ground. because and to talk about this individual that has a slab of 4 big and, and t r. tendencies to speak about a city, you know, nothing about. i think it was a distraction to get us off topic. and that's the last thing that we wanted this to now just talk about this wall street journal article. rather, we want to keep the conversation going centered about our citizen brothers or as a uh, the wall street journal. i bet. and the only one that has come out this has been
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pretty controversial and has been making the rounds of the new york times. recently publish an opinion piece by thomas friedman. now this one is called understanding the middle east, through the animal kingdom. i can see by your facial expressions of how you feel about it. probably friedman for the, the us as the old line and the king of the middle east jungle. and he also compared iran to a parasitic wasp. and him as to a trap door spider that digs tunnels and leaves in wait when you hear rhetoric like that, we hear language like that. how does it affect you? how does it affect the community? this sends that message that uh and the out of bigotry that a sama fob. yeah. but these are acceptable forms of, of, of hate. cuz i'm not sure to what other community such headlines would be acceptable. you know, we talked about the new york times fees. there was another wall uh, wall street journal opinion piece written by the editorial board after the city of chicago board of trustees for and the headline red city of chicago,
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both for her mass. you know, under what world are these headlines permissible under what communities is this ignorance permissible? it seems as though that again to solve a formula and data bigotry, our capital forms of hate and really want to shadow that cycle. we have to have better representation in these media sources and really to push back against such pieces that were being published to begin with. of course, the 1st time we've seen a rise in anti muslim sentiment in the united states. we saw spice like this happened after 911, as you mentioned. and during former president donald trump's 2016 campaign and his actual presidency. how's the current situation fit within this broader history of anti muslim sentiment in united states? the rhetoric that undoubtedly comes from the highest office in the world, the presidency, our white house, certainly influences and can create or dismantle the climate and what to see this assignment for beyond the client. and so if you looked at my message following the wall street journal, you know, the president tweeted, you know,
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kind of condemning the wall street journal indirectly. and my comments were the, i was glad to see that the president recognized this, but i think it's equally important to recognize the climate that was established that permitted such a piece to come out to begin with. when you have the press secretary, when you have the various books, people for the various federal departments coming forward denying how many passing it had been killed. speaking of, of, of thousands of been killed simply as civilian casualties when you speak of ukrainians. you advertise, you showing motion when we speak about a policy needs, this callous it's cold and that adds to this type of environment and fuels. this type of rhetoric. and so, yes, it happened under president donald trump, but we're seeing it also happen under current president by to your state of michigan is a battle ground state. and it's a state that help president biden win the election in 2020, in a pretty tight campaign against donald trump. uh at that time, bite and support among arab americans was at 59 percent. but a recent survey show,
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the president losing that support largely in light of his pro. israel stands the numbers of the window. they're down to 17 percent approximately. the administration, of course, is trying to court the most of them vote in the air vote by in the run up to 2024. he seems to be trying to mend relationships. is it possible or is it too little too late? you know, i firmly believe that it's always the right time to do the right thing. and at this moment the right thing here is calling for a ceasefire. it's restricting military 8 and support to benjamin netanyahu. and the most right wing government, israel's history, it's permitting humanitarian aid, specifically and through a little while, which is this phenomenal work on the ground. i think these are tangible steps that can be taken to demonstrate good faith to a community and what you want to build support for the upcoming election. i think anything less is unacceptable. i think we're past the point of talking points. you
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know, um donald trump is i've got to american democracy. i recognize this many in the community recognize this new upcoming election. and i think the question we have for president biden is, what will he do to prevent the unraveling of this american democracy? and why is the alignment with benjamin? nothing, you know, potentially worth sacrifice. think that democracy if president biden falls short of a ceasefire, do you imagine him getting the air of american vote? and you know, there's many a conversations happening across the city outside of even just contextualizing us in the form of, you know, what's coming in the polls and the elections for many in the community calling for a ceasefire. it doesn't necessarily equate to support in the general election calling for a cease fire is just a humane and decent thing to do. and that can establish a pathway to have in conversation. and i think you know that it's a long conversation, you know, our community, they are community, the muslim community is not a monolith. there are many issues that they are passionate about. and ceasefire is just one of them as it pertains to what's on folding right now. and the guys and so
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i, i don't know where the community will be come november, but what i can tell you right now is michigan is unique. we're one of a few states that offers the ability for voters to check the box called uncommitted on our presidential primary ballots. and that is the pleasure that i have made along side not 40 elected officials across southeast michigan out of non auto. most . i'm a non wilson, as well as the majority of that community to vote for uncommitted come february 27th to demonstrate that no presidential candidate has actually earned our votes today. you know, some argue though, that the stakes of a 2nd, trump presidency, are simply too high for people to refuse to vote for bite. and uh, that a 2nd, trump presidency would not only threaten democracy. here in the united states, which you yourself said, what they would also be catastrophic for palestinians. they would point out that during the 1st trump presidency, he embraced the more extreme nationalist elements and israel, by recognizing israel's sovereignty over disputed territories like the golan heights. he also recognized jerusalem as israel's capital. he cut all the funding
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to unreal. uh, what do you make of people who say, look, we get the issue with biden. but the stakes are just too high to do anything. an adult for, you know, i, i look to a resident that came to a council meeting when we passed the cease fire resolution in which he spoke to losing a loved ones. and then i have folks are telling me while they would have been worse under trump, and i don't know how i can be that message to that resident. what would the, the president's message be to that residence? i do believe that trump is, i've tried to american democracy, but what i would counter with is, you know, we're not the ones running for the highest office in the world. president biting this. it's a good question to replace back, squarely in his lap. what will he do to earn the trust and the respect of the constituency that he's trying to serve in the highest of offices? what will he do to prevent the unraveling of american democracy? and really the most outlined this question being, why is the unilateral and unconditional support of benjamin netanyahu as rightly ministers and his right wing government and the ongoing jonathan has the worst
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again, potentially unraveling that american democracy. that question needs to be put back to him. mayor, i'm the hello. thank you so much for joining us. all right, thank you so much for having me. everyone that is our show upfront. we'll be back the was discussing the defining issues of our time as we are the subject of a i, we are not the users of a i going beyond the artificial intelligence hyphen, big tech propaganda to explore how to build the sites an ethical ai, the racial biases get worse, you get more of those in power. are the ones with the resources to decide where it's used? how do we change this paradigm? studio b, b, a r series on
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a jersey to the colleges. when the business latest is free to you, believe i guess is aligned slowly on one of your this makes modern pleads. the
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business latest is free to you believe i guess is an ice fly on one of your just makes modern, pleads the the, the hello of elizabeth autumn. and this is the new zone line from doha. coming off for the next 16 minutes, palestinians suffering full starvation protests near the dolphin crossing, as well as the blockade of 8 supplies is causing fat and light conditions. we hear from a doctor working at one of glasses functioning hospitals as is really forces keep targeting medical facilities.

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