11/08/23 11/08/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! the choice is choice. democrats and supporters of reproductive rights have score major victories as ohio votes to enshrine abortion rights in the

state constitution kentucky's , democratic governor wins re-election, and democrats in virginia gain control of the general assembly, meaning they have control of both houses of the legislature. we will get the latest. then the house of representatives has voted to censure rashida tlaib, the only palestinian-american member of congress, for criticizing israel's month-long bombardment of gaza. we will hear rashida tlaib in her own words. >> speaking up to save lives no matter faith or ethnicity should not be controversial in this chamber. the cries of the palestinian and israeli children sound no different to me. what i don't understand is why the cries of palestinians sound different to you all. amy: then is israel on the verge of committing genocide in gaza? we will speak to omer bartov, an

israeli-american professor of holocaust and genocide studies at brown university and 87-year-old holocaust survivor named marion igram. she has been protesting in washington calling for a ceasefire in gaza. >> i feel great empathy for those who are suffering the same horrors i experienced. i feel sick that children are being murdered. i want a cease-fire now. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israel said tuesday its forces are operating in the heart of gaza city and "tightening the nosose."

an estimated 15,000 people fled northern gaza tuesday as the u.n. says 1.5 million people, more than half of gaza's population, have now been displaced. over 10,000 people have been killed, nearly half of them children. the international committee of the red cross says aid vehicles are being targeted as hospitals run out of lifesaving medical supplies. aerial bombardments throughout the gaza strip continue. this is a resident of khan younis, an area that was supposed to be safe, speaking after israeli airstrikes leveled homes and killed at least 23 people tuesday morning. >> it is a genocide. they strike the houses and don't care about children, women, elderly people, men. they don't care. no one cares about us and his whole world. i don't know why their silence, why the world is silent. we are not living. we need a solution. either kill us all or let us live.

amy: doctors without borders is mourning the death of the medical technologist who was killed along several family members november 6 and israel's bombing of a refugee camp. mourners gathered tuesday night mark one month since hamas's attack that killed up to 1400 people. they called for the release of some 240 hostages still being held. this woman son was killed by hamas october 7. >> my son was killed october 7, was murdered by hamas terrorists in his kibbutz. i came to demonstrations against the government before october 7 and i still feel the government is not representing my interests and i'm very concerned about many of their actions.

i would like netanyahu to take responsibility and how he is going to prevent -- i would like him not to blame everyone but himself. he is supposed to be in charge of security. how could this happen? amy: you can see our interview with noy katzman on democracynow.org as well as his rabbi in seattle, washington, where haim was a graduate student. members of the g7 today called for humanitarian pauses in the fighting. their joint statement also condemns hamas and supports israel's right to self-defense. meanwhile, the white house has ruled out the ongoing occupation of gaza post-conflict after israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's said monday israel will take indefinite security responsibility over gaza. national security spokesperson john kirby said biden believes "a reoccupation by israeli forces of gaza is not the right thing to do."

blinken spoke after a g7 meeting earlier today in tokyo. >> when it comes to post-conflict governance in gaza, a few things are clear and necessary. one, gaza cannot be continued to be run by hamas. that simply invites a repetition of october 7. it is also clear israel cannot occupy gaza. amy: in the occupied west bank, israeli soldiers and settlers have continued to intensify their attacks on palestinians with over 150 killed since october 7. hundreds of palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their homes and lands due to violent threats by israeli settlers. over 1400 palestinians have been arrested by israeli forces in the last month, including the prominent human rights activist ahed tamimi who was taken into custody monday after another round of overnight israeli raids and fighting in the west bank. he is being accused of inciting terrorism and calling for the killing of israeli settlers on

social media. her mother nariman tamimi denied her daughter ever wrote such post and said there are dozens of imposter social media accounts. she described the moment ahed was taken from their family home. >> i came and started yelling at us she hugs me and told me not to be afraid. she said, i am strong and do not worry, you're all strong. don't worry, my dear mother. 10 they came and pulled us apart. amy: her father was also taken. to see our interview can you can go to democracynow.org. in washington, d.c., the house of representatives voted tuesday to censure michigan democrat rashida tlaib, the only palestinian-american member of congress. 22 democrats joined republicans in backing the resolution, which falsely accuses tlaib of calling for the destruction of the state of israel and defending hamas' actions on october 7.

tlaib addressed her colleagues on the house floor tuesday, flanked by fellow progressives who have signed on to cori bush's resolution calling for a ceasefire. >> trying to bully or sensor me won't work because this move for a cease-fire is much bigger than one person. it is growing every single day. their minds of people across our country who oppose netanyahu's extremism and are done watching our government support collective punishment and the use of white phosphorus bombs. there done watching our government supporting cutting off food, water, electricity, medical care to minds of people with nowhere to go. like me, mr. chair, they doubly the answer to war crimes is more war crimes. amy: to see rashida tlaib's full speech, we will be broadcasting it later in the broadcast. abortion rights activists and

democrats scored big in tuesday's elections. in ohio, voters approved with a double-digit margin a measure to establish the right to an abortion in the state constitution. ohioans also voted in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana. in virginia, democrats regained control of the full legislature, holding on to the senate and flipping the house of delegates. the victory will block republican governor glenn youngkin from enacting parts of his far-right agenda, including a ban on abortions after 15 weeks. one of the virginia democrats claiming victory is danica roem, who will become the commonwealth's first openly transgender state senator. in kentucky, voters kept pro-choice incumbent democrat andy beshear in the governor's office as he fended off a challenge from trump-endorsed attorney general daniel cameron. his win, however, will not change the near-total ban on abortions imposed by kentucky's supreme court. in mississippi, the republican incumbent governor tate reeves defeated democratic candidate brandon presley, cousin of elvis

presley, who was anti-choice. in pennsylvania, democrat dan mccaffery won an open seat on the state's supreme court, beating out an anti-abortion candidate. also in pennsylvania, democrat cherelle parker will become the first black woman and the first woman mayor of philadelphia. here in new york, exonerated "central park five" member yusef salaam won his harlem race for city council. salaam was one of five black and latino teenagers wrongfully convicted of the 1989 beating and rape of a white woman. at the time, donald trump called for their execution. yusef salaam spent seven years in jail before being exonerated when the real perpetrator confessed. in iran, imprisoned nobel peace prize laureate and human rights advocate narges mohammadi has begun a hunger strike protesting the lack of medical care and the mandatory hijab policy for iranian women. mohammadi is refusing to wear a headscarf even in her confinement. in retaliation, prison officials have denied mohammadi's request to be transferred to a hospital where she can receive urgent care for her heart and lung

conditions. mohammadi recently smuggled a letter out of the notorious evin prison in tehran. this is her 17-year-old daughter kiana rahmani reading mohammadi's message to the world. >> the world observes the revolutionary movement of women, life, freedom continues its campaign and resistance in iran and is a hard struggle for relapse society. the strength of this movement lies in the agency of iranian women. we surely know what we want far better than what we do not want. we believe it and are certain of victory. amy: a special u.n. committee tasked with helping implement a loss and damage fund for those most affected hashed out key provisions to fulfill the breakthrough deal after nearly a year of negotiations. at a meeting in abu dhabi last weekend, a consensus of countries agreed to have the world bank temporarily

administer the fund, which critics say will give the united states and other wealthy countries too much influence over the fund. the u.s., one of the world's worst polluters, has notoriously opposed the loss and damage agreement reached at the u.n. climate summit in egypt last year. the fund's initial size is expected to be about $500 million, far lower than the trillions of dollars that would be needed for countries to cope with the damage of climate disasters in the years to come. global leaders will be asked to ratify the plan when they meet for cop28 in dubai starting later this month ahead of the fund's planned launch in 2024. democracy now! we'll be broadcasting from dubai for the u.n. climate summit. a former facebook employee-turned-whistleblower testified before a senate panel tuesday on the harmful effects of social media on children and teens. arturo bejar told senators meta abides by a culture of "see no evil, hear no evil" despite executives being repeatedly told the algorithms that keep users hooked on facebook and instagram push content that promotes

bullying, drug abuse, eating disorders, and self-harm. bejar also said teenagers are regularly subjected to unwanted sexual advances. arturo bejar laid the responsibility squarely on meta executives, including mark zuckerberg. >> one, meta knows the harm kids experience on the platform and they know their measures fail to address it. two, there are actionable steps that meta could take to address the problem. three, their timing -- there deciding time and time again to not tackle this issues. amy: in california, a boat captain was convicted of criminal negligence for the 2019 deaths of 34 people who died aboard a scuba diving vessel that caught fire and sank south of santa barbara.

jerry boylan abandoned ship and jumped overboard, saving his life. he faces up to 10 years in prison. in labor news, negotiators with the sag-aftra actors union are resuming talks with hollywood studios today in hopes of hammering out an agreement to end the nearly four-month-long strike. sag-aftra said monday that two sides still remain at odds on certain issues including artificial intelligence after studios put forward the last, best, and final offer. the supreme court appears poised to uphold a federal ban on gun possession for people under domestic violence restraining orders. this comes more than a year after the far-right majority on the supreme court struck down a century-old new york law that limited the carrying of concealed handguns outside the home and requiring new gun laws to adhere to historic, centuries-old gun standards. as the justices heard oral arguments inside the courthouse tuesday, gun safety and violence prevention advocates rallied outside the supreme court. >> i have been hesitant to share my story but i know the

importance of using my voice in these spaces because i know many other victims of abuse are not able to share their stories. even worse, many of them have not been able to leave their situations alive. there is no doubt in my mind that if my abuser was able to get their hands on a gun, this dad wound on my chest that i look at every morning would have been a gunshot wound and i would not be standing in front of you all today. amy: a decision in the case is not expected until next and in june. related news, on friday, the supreme court agreed to hear a case challenging the 2018 federal ban on bump stocks, which can turn semiautomatic rifles into fully automatic machine guns. the ban came in the wake of a 2017 mass shooting in las vegas when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival, killing 60 people and injuring hundreds. he fired more than 1000 rounds during the massacre thanks to the use of bump stocks.

and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we, back, we will look at how democrats and supporters of reproductive rights scored major victories in two states elections. back in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin today's show with results from tuesday's election, which included major victories for abortion rights advocates after the supreme court overturned roe v. wade last year. an ohio, voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment to "make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions," including contraception, abortion, fertility treatment, and miscarriage care. republicans had tried to derail the measure with misinformation and undemocratic procedural changes, and the conservative legal activist leo leonard's dark money network spent $18 million opposing it. in kentucky, democratic governor andy beshear was re-elected in the otherwise red state, defeating republican attorney general daniel cameron who

backed the state's near-total abortion ban and is known for calling the police killing of breonna taylor in louisville justified. in virginia, democrats maintained control of the state senate and ended republican control of the house after a campaign focused heavily on abortion rights. the victory will block republican governor glenn youngkin from enacting parts of his far-right agenda, including a ban on abortions after 15 weeks. for more on all of this, we are joined in madison, wisconsin, by john nichols, the nation's national affairs correspondent, and in boston by amy littlefield, abortion access correspondent at the nation. we welcome you both back to democracy now! amy, let's begin with you. clearly across the country, the choice was choice. can you talk first about ohio and what happened there and then take us to mississippi, to virginia, and kentucky? >> before i start, i want to

thank you and the entire team at democracy now! for your coverage of gaza. thank you for reminding us why we need independent media in this moment. thank you for bringing us a modicum of hope during this horrific israeli bombardment and the voices speaking out to may cease-fire now. i feel honored to add my own tiny ray of hope this morning to the show and that is that in ohio, voters resoundingly approved a measure to enshrine abortion rights as well as the right to continue her pregnancy, to seek contraception, fertility treatments in the house the constitution. was it close? not close. 57% approved and they did so despite an overwhelming amount of official misinformation. starting with the fact the summary that voters saw in the ballot box referred to the unborn child, had misleading

information approved by the ohio supreme court which, fun fact, the ohio governor mike dewine's son sits on that court. it came after oh how republicans on the official state senate website, which the associated press pointed out his privileged and search results because it is an official, referring to the dismemberment of children. it comes after an attempt to kneecap by making it harder to pass initiatives like this over the summer, which ohio voters saw through and defeated. for good measure, saw secretary of state frank larose purge 30,000 ohio voters from the rolls at the last minute. still, the voters resoundingly approved this abortion rights amendment. ohio is the seventh state to vote directly on abortion rights after the supreme court overturned roe v. wade and the seventh state to go for the abortion rights position. we are 7-0 for the pro-choice

position. it is the first state that is republican-led to vote on a proactive, pro-choice amendment like this with this swirling official misinformation. there is an important caveat, which is the amendment in ohio does allow abortions to be banned after viability. a lot of abortion-rights supporters i talked to saw this as a concession that was not necessary. i think looking at the margin this past by and the fact they're using inflammatory language about abortion up until birth and abortion at every stage of pregnancy regardless of the fact this allowed the legislature to ban abortion after viability except to say the health of the pregnant person, should raise questions about concessions like that in the future. i think the overwhelming message coming out of the election on tuesday is voters are still big mad about the dobbs decision.

i have to say, after i came on the show following the kansas result last summer and after the midterms every step of the way, pundits are saying are people going to stay mad about dobbs or is that anger going to fade? i'm sorry, this is insulting to insinuate that. it is not like we all experienced a moment of collective hysteria after the dobbs decision and all got our periods and got mad temporarily and forgot republicans single-handedly overturn a 50-year-old situational right. yes, voters are still angry and see through the republican misinformation and abortion rights are popular and always have been. and voters overwhelmingly demonstrated that on tuesday. juan: i'm wondering if you could talk about the pennsylvania supreme court election, which is also garnered a great about of attention. you talk about the candidates and their background?

>> state supreme court's are hugely important of course for whole array of rights, putting voting rights. we saw the mail-in ballots being a crucial issue in pennsylvania in the last election. he saw that democrat defeating the republican candidate who had been among the republicans who since the dobbs decision have run as fast as they can't away from the issue of abortion. she had a resume that referred to herself as a defender of life at all stages. she scrubbed that from her website in the lead up to this election. i think we see another spot on the map where abortion-rights is a decisive factor in bouyoing -- bouying them to victory. juan: i would like to bring an john nichols.

what is your take away from this -- the election results and the large number of democratic victories? >> i think it is about democratic victories. this is one of the best nights for democrats in an off year election we have seen in a very long time. it is not just the top end results are governor of kentucky for the virginia legislature and things like that, but when you burrow into the results and you go to mayoral races, city council races, county executive races across the country. remarkably strong not for democrats. but it suggests is there something more going on in our politics than the polls and the punditry. this is a big deal. we tend to be, because of a lot of the collapse in local media around the country, very reliant on national media outlets. they get a pull and talk about

it for a week. and we lose sight of these elections around the country which are not holes but people voting. let me rewrite you have a couple of things that happened last night. in addition to andy beshear winning in kentucky as a supporter of abortion rights and someone who vetoed an anti-trans bill, someone who also marched on the uaw picket line, and andy beshear is not a leftist by any means but he won in kentucky on a lot of issues that are considered to be kind of hot but ston issues. you saw a review to governor glenn youngkin who tried to make the race there a referendum on abortion-rights and a host of other issues, try to advance right-wing agenda. in new jersey, looks like they picked up seats in the state legislature. you had the pennsylvania result you just mentioned.

you had the ohio result you just mentioned. i did when you start to look at places like allegheny county and pennsylvania where the county executive was elected as a progressive, you just start seeing result after result after result. i think the message or comes off that pain he said. you saw folks compromising on some issues or making concessions on some issues because they were afraid if they did not, they could not prevail. in reality, the evidence from tuesday night's that candidates who took some chances, who pushed the limits, who went further than expected did very, very well. if i can add one final note, at a point where we are so much evidence of islamophobia in this country, in minnesota, suburban minneapolis, nadia mohammed was elected as the first muslim

mayor, somali immigrant elected to the mayoralcy. this is a breakthrough for immigrants across the country and for muslim candidates around the country. i think it is important to recognize when you go into these results, you see this as a much more progressive country then i think a lot of the pundits would tell you. amy: john nichols, this whole issue of youngkin who is putting forward what was being called a moderate 15-week ban on abortion and being seen as a possible republican presidential candidate now being thwarted by the legislative victory for democrats in both houses. this all coming at a time when biden -- we don't really talk about polls on democracy now! but the polls are showing him at an all-time low. the overturning of roe v. wade

-- horrified to think -- i have been quite a gift to biden considering how abortion was the theme throughout the country even when it did not seem to be. mississippi, you have reeves winning again, the governor, but he was up against a democratic challenger, elvis presley's second cousin, who was anti-choice. >> you are exactly right. let's start with the youngkin result. glenn youngkin went all in on this election. he was the face of the republicans in this race. he was also someone that if we follow presidential politics closely, realize a lot of very wealthy republicans are looking at him as a possible last-minute entry into the 2024 presidential race, somebody who has backing from the billionaire class. youngkin was dealt a horrible setback. he is now in a position where the talk of bringing him into

the presidential race i think will die very quickly. so what you see is, yes, the abortion-rights issue is resonant -- so are a number of other issues, including labor rights. it is notable a lot of these candidates who won were candidates who stood up for the uaw and its strike, stood up for working people in a lot of situations. again and again what you see is there is evidence that democrats when they compromise, when they make concessions, they do worse than they might have. if they had run boldly. the pulling on joe biden, i will offer you one thought. i europe from election when you have an incumbent president, are often going to see polls that show the running poorly. and then of course the pundit class will get obsessed with that. they will talk about nothing else. we just had remarkable intervention here. that is an election, relatively nationalized election, where you

could ask the question, given the choice, a clear choice on abortion-rights, clear choice on progressive issues versus going to the right, clear choice on labor rights on a whole host of other issues, given that choice across country in election after election after election, people voted for abortion rights. they voted for labor rights. they voted for progressive values. for democrats who often toe get this right. this is a very powerful reminder . it is not a route of concession, it is activism and engagement with communities that are rising up and saying they want a different direction, more progressive direction for this country. juan: amy, i would like your sense of how the outcome of tuesday's election set the stage for 2024, especially for the future of abortion-rights. what is your sense? >> i think crucially we saw

the failure of the two republican strategies. the first was this idea of a 15 week limit, for compromise on abortion. glenn youngkin was the face of this. he worked closely with susan b anthony list. the antiabortion movement try to rebrand itself. there were not going to be bans but limits and compromises. 15 weeks was supposed to be this compromise. a 15 week ban in mississippi got us to the dobb's decision in the first place and mississippi is living under a total abortion ban and has been for about a year and a half. i think we can chalk this surprising success of the gubernatorial candidate there partly up to that reality. they have not forgotten about dobbs. but we saw this strategy of the 15 week compromise fall on its face in virginia because voters saw through it.

they understood and abortion ban is a ban. this was a crucial part of the republican strategy to rebrand themselves after the dobbs decision. i think they're going to want to abort that strategy. i don't see that happening in the next 15 weeks. i think they're going to have to carry it to turn or at least until the next election in 2024. the other signature republican strategy was off on its face is in kentucky where somewhere in the order of $6 million was spent by right-wing groups attacking andy beshear for vetoing a bill that would have banned gender for me care for minors. this anti-transfer mongering did not work. chefs kiss. i love that $6 million might has well have been flushed down the toilet. so i think republicans are in

serious trouble. on the flipside of that, i don't think democrats can just lay back and count on abortion-rights to save their butts in 2024. we know joe biden is taking among arab-american voters. he is struggling in swing states from the "new york times" poll. this is a position that abortion-rights supporters are not necessarily used to. we are used to abortion being a third rail in american politics and democrats not taking the issue seriously. all of the sudden, it is looking like democrats need the abortion rights movement more than the movement needs them. it is not lost on me that while these results were coming in and it was becoming clear abortion has lifted the votes of democrats across all of the states from virginia to kentucky to ohio and beyond, we saw 22 democrats in congress fighting

with republicans to censure rashida tlaib, who, by the way, is one of the staunchest supporters of reproductive justice we have in congress in addition to being the only palestinian-american. i think supporters of abortion-rights need to ask themselves, what are you going to do with this power you now have? are you going to compromise or where are you going to push the envelope and go big and push democrats who now need this issue in order to win? amichai amy littlefield, thank you for being with us abortion , access correspondent at the nation. john nichols, the nation's national affairs correspondent. the perfect segue. we will play the full speech of rashida tlaib, the only palestinian-american member of congress. just before she was censured by the house of representatives. back in 20 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: "palestinian children" by peyoti for president. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. on tuesday, the house of representatives voted to censure democratic congress member rashida tlaib, the only palestinian-american in the congress, for her criticism of israel. the vote was 234 to 188 with 22 democrats joining republicans to censure tlaib.

prior to the vote, the congresswoman spoke from the house floor. >> i'm the only palestinian-american serving in congress. my perspective is needed now more than ever. i will not be silenced and i will not let you distort my word. folks forget i am from detroit, the most beautiful, blackest city where i learned to speak truth to power even if my voice shakes. trying to bully or sensor me won't work because this movement for a cease-fire is much bigger than one person. it is growing every single day. there are millions of people across our country who oppose netanyahu's extremism and are done watching our government support collective punishment and the use of white phosphorous bombs that melt flesh to the bone. they are done watching our government supporting cutting off food, water, electricity, medical care to millions of people with nowhere to go. like me, they don't believe the answer to war crimes is more war crimes. the refusal of congress and the

administration to acknowledge palestinian lives is chipping away at my soul. over 10,000 palestinians have been killed, the majority were children. let me be clear. my criticism has always been of the israeli government and netanyahu's actions. it is important separate people and government. no government is beyond criticism. the idea criticizing the government of israel is anti-semitic sets a dangerous precedent and has been used to silent diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation. do you realize what it is like for the people outside the chamber right now listening in agony to their own government dehumanizing them? dear the president of the united states we helped elect dispute death tolls as we see video after video of dead children and parents under rubble? do you know what it is like to fear rising hate crimes come to know how anti-semitism makes us all less safe? and worried your own child might suffer the horrors that a

six-year-old did in illinois? i can't believe i have to say this but palestinian people are not disposable. amy: as commerce member rashida tlaib composed herself, her sister al hunt omar put her hand -- bill hunt omar, put her hand on her shoulder. >> we are human beings, just like anyone else. my grandmother, like all palestinians, just wants to live her life with freedom and human dignity we all deserve. speaking up to save lives no matter faith, no matter ethnicity should not be controversial in this chamber. the cries of the palestinian and israeli children sound no different to me. why -- what i don't understand is why the cries of palestinians

sound different to you all. we cannot lose our shared humanity, mr. chair. i hear the voices in israel, palestine, around the world for peace. i am inspired by the courageous survivors in israel who have lost loved ones. yes, calling for a cease-fire and the end to violence. i am grateful to the people in the street for the peace movement with countless jewish americans across the country standing up and lovingly saying, "not in our name." we will continue to call for a cease-fire, mr. chair, for the immediate delivery for humanitarian aid to gaza, the release of a hostages, and those arbitrarily detained, and every american to come home. we will continue to work for reelecting piece that holds the dignity for all people and centers in peaceful coexistence

between israelis and palestinians and censures no one and ensures no person, no child has to suffer or live in fear of violence. 71% michigan democrats support a cease-fire. so you can try to censor me but you cannot silence their voices. i urge my colleagues to join with the majority of americans and support a cease-fire now to save as many lives as possible. biden must listen to and listen to all of us, not just some of us. i urge the president to have the courage to call for a cease-fire and the end of killing. thank you and i yelled. amy: that is detroit congressmember rashida tlaib, the only palestinian-american, speaking on the house for before the house voted to censure her for her criticism of israel. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we continue to cover israel's

bombardment of gaza, we're joined by two guests. one, holocaust survivor. the other, one of the world's leading genocide scholars. omer bartov is professor of holocaust and genocide studies at brown university. he is the author of numerous books, including most recently, "genocide, the holocaust and israel-palestine: first-person history in times of crisis." he is an israeli-american scholar who has been described by the u.s. holocaust memorial museum as one of the world's leading specialists on the subject of genocide. he recently signed an open letter warning israel committing a potential genocide in gaza. we are also joined by marione ingram, an 87-year-old holocaust survivor who has been protesting outside the white house calling for a ceasefire in gaza. longtime activist who was an organizer with sncc in the 1960's. she is the author of "the hands of war: a tale of endurance and hope, from a survivor of the

holocaust" and "the hands of peace: a holocaust survivor's fight for civil rights in the american south." we welcome you both to democracy now!\ we're going to begin with marione ingram. before we talked about the cease-fire in gaza, i would like you to respond to the censuring of the only palestinian-american member of congress rashida tlaib whose speech we just played. >> i totally support her comments. on top of that, it is shameful that are justified defense of human lives is considered anti-semitic. it is pro-human beings. i find it horrific the politicians have the nerve to

censure righteous voices for peace and for the lives of gazans who are being murdered in the slaughter that is happening. rashida tlaib is, in my eyes, a hero. netanyahu's government, israel's policies for decades has been the suppression of palestinians. land grabs, deprivation of palestinians. it is painful for me as someone who has experienced all of the tears that gazans are experiencing. and even the horrific attacks in israel by hamas. but hamas's attack on israel does not justify the slaughter of women and children,

especially children. i was a child of war. i have experienced all of these things. i have also known for a fact that what israel is doing will not end this conflict, it will only exacerbated most of it will increase resistance to anything. i think biden needs to defund all of the money that is given to israel. i think you should not only call for a cease-fire, i think he needs to start thinking about peace. we cannot continue to make wars and then call for cease-fires only to have wars start again after the cease-fire ends. we have experienced this over and over and over again. i am so tired of having to

protest everything -- wars, gun violence, the war against women. it is ridiculous that we are not able to think clearly. my husband has an expression and it is all about the bengies. i think the happiest people in the universe must be the manufacturers of armaments. probably also complicit in the promotion. the fact the united states is complicit in this murder have children to me is horrific indictment of humanity. and i applied rashida tlaib -- applaud rashida tlaib with all of my heart, with all of my being. i think she is fantastic. i wish there were more voices to

join her in the house. juan: marione ingram, you grew up in hamburg, germany, in the late 1930's and early 1940's. could you tell us and our audience some of your experiences that shaped and determined and made you want to put dissipate in these protests in washington against the israel i bombardment and invasion of gaza? >> because i am a jew, my mother was a jew, my family was murdered in 1941. my jewish family was murdered in 1941. hamburg jews were sent to minsk and belarus upon arrival. they were stripped and shot and

dumped into a mass grave. my grandmother was taken by two gestapo who came to my mother's apartment and took her away the night before i turned six years old. from about the time i was three years old, i was aware that i was the object of hate of the german government, the german country. it was made clear by a playmate who told me that she would not play with me because i was a dirty jew pig. i had no idea what she was talking about. this horrific war against jews

and germans nazi who protested the -- who protested the nazi regime got worse. my mother had to go to the gestapo every week. the only reason we were not taken in 1941 was because my mother had married anon-jew. this saved us in 1941. but in 1943, the nazis set all jewish spouses were to be exterminated as well. in 1943, in the summer of 1943, my mother got our deportation order. my mother tried to commit suicide in the hopes that by father's relatives would take in

her children in the hope she would be able to save her three daughters. she had sent me off to one of the relatives who was instrumental in helping us. i had not and allowed to be outside since the nazis came to power, and it struck me as very odd. i was 7.5, that she let me take my baby sister to my father's cousin. and i found my mother with her head in the gas seven. -- gas oven. i pulled her out. in my mother lived.

never had another such moment -- was horrifically strong. right after that, the allies bombed the city of hamburg. the brits bombed at night, the americans bombed during the day. it was a 10 day and 10 night uninterrupted bombing. my mother and i were not allowed in a bomb shelter. we were forced to run through flaming streets. the allies dropped phosphorus. i saw human beings jumping into the lake come into the canals and coming up, they were like

human candles. their bodies were in flames. every time they jumped into the canals and lakes, the flames would be doused but the minute they came up for air, they would be in flames. a 7.5-year-old, i saw more dead bodies burned to a crisp. two things. i'm a pacifist and it is ironic that this horrific revenge attack on civilians was entirely targeted on civilians, saved my life because there were so many burned bodies that could not be identified that i was able to go -- we were able to go into hiding. this was -- my father was in the

underground. he had managed to arrange for us to be hidden, sort of an ex-urban farm in hamburg, by communist underground members by an elderly couple who hit us were anti-nazi. we were in hiding. when there were people around, we had to go hide in an urban dugout. on my eighth birthday, 1943, and the earth and dug out, i live, i

would never, ever be quiet and i wanted to become a peacemaker. well, i have kept that promise. i have not been able to figure out how i can get governments to make peace, but i continue to battle on all fronts. i battled when i came to america as a 17-year-old. i saw america was a racist country. i became active in the civil rights movement. amy: in part two of our conversation, we're going to talk about your history in the civil rights movement. but just before we go to the israeli-american genocide

historian omer bartov, if you could share a message to the world about what "never again" means to you. >> two me it would mean never again to repeat the horrors that we have committed throughout my lifetime and certainly before that. nothing has been learned from the atrocities of the mid-20th century. the continued atrocities in vietnam, iran, afghanistan. amy: we have been holding signs of you calling for a cease-fire. >> i want more than that. i want peace. i am disgusted at the fact that a single nation, not a single leader has even mentioned that

word as though that is a word of -- a dangerous word. there has to be a way of bringing together warring parties. when they attacked hamburg, germany, thinking that would weaken the military conflict, it only strengthened it. but what israel is doing in gaza , has been doing, is only going to strengthen the attack on israel. you cannot expect that people will be quiet after what we have all witnessed. i say stop this madness. juan: i would like to bring in professor omer bartov, one of the most prominent scholars of

holocaust and genocide studies. your sense, professor, of what israel is doing right now in gaza? >> good morning. thank you for having me. look, what israel is doing right now according to its own political leaders and military commanders is attempting to destroy hamas, which is the hegemonic power in gaza at the moment. and claims to be doing it, a, as retaliation for the heinous attack on october 7 were over 1000 civilians were butchered and 240 people were kidnapped and are still cap in gaza. but claims also to be doing it because it feels without doing

that, would be permanently under threat from that organization. so that is its own position. the problem with this position is not only is the massive and excessive and disproportionate killing of civilians come up palestinian civilians in gaza doing a separation, it does not have any clear political horizon. there is no clear of what the answer would look like. the reason the israeli government does not want to talk about that is it does not want to have any sort of compromise with the palestinians. the policy of netanyahu, the administration -- many administrations for decades now. and netanyahu kept hamas quite strong and cap the palestinian

leadership in the west bank quite weak so he could say he could not find any representative of the palestinians who would be willing to sit down and find a compromise while at the same time he was busy, he and the settlers who are now heavily represented in government, could keep settling in the west bank. the larger context of this is that refusal of the israeli government to find any kind of compromise with the palestinians . and frankly, the indifference of the large majority of the israeli population to the occupation is what led and keeps leading to this ongoing and increasingly violent confrontation between israel and the palestinians was of amy: professor omer bartov, we will

continue with part two of our conversation and post it at democracynow.org. called by the u.s. holocaust memorial museum one of the world leading specialists on the subject of genocide. and marione ingram, 87 year old holocaust survivor about to