12/01/23 12/01/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the resumption of hostilities in gaza is catastrophic. we urge all parties and states with influence to redouble efforts immediately to ensure a cease-fire on humanitarian and human rights grounds. recent comments by israeli

leaders indicating they are planning to expand and intensify the military offensive are very troubling. amy: at least 70 palestinians have been killed as israel resumes its bombardment of gaza after a week-long truce expired. we will look at a stunning new report in the israeli press about how israel has loosened its rules about killing civilians while developing what's been described as a mass assassination factory. >> try to explain why so many civilians are being killed in gaza, most of them women and children. and part of the reason is according to the sources is the increasing use of ai programs to accelerate the creation of targets at a faster rate than israel is april 2 strike. amy: then we speak to the mother of one of the palestinian college students shot in burlington, vermont, with two

other palestinian students. and we talked to human rights attorney reed brody about the death of henry kissinger, who escaped justice for decades. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. dozens of palestinians have been killed after israel resumed its bombardment of gaza, ending a week-long pause to facilitate the exchange of captives. hamas responded by firing a salvo of rockets towards southern israel. the u.n. says the resumption of violence puts thousands of innocent lives at risk. since the october 7 hamas attack, the israeli bombardment has killed over 15,000 palestinians, including 6100 children. israel has expanded its military campaign to target southern areas of gaza, where israeli planes have been dropping leaflets warning people to

evacuate areas around khan younis, warning the city was now a dangerous battle zone. israel previously expelled hundreds of thousands of people from the northern gaza strip to the south. just hours before the truce was -- expired, residents of khan younis searched through the rubble of their former homes for any personal items they could salvage. >> the end of the cal today feels like our executionm. they're telling us we have 24 hours before we return to sheltering in schools and squalor. without water, electricity, or proper shelter. we want the complete truce. amy: israel's renewed assault on gaza came after israel and hamas completed a seventh exchange of captives. on thursday, eight israeli held by hamas were released,

while 30 palestinians were freed from israeli jails. israel's government says it believes hamas still holds 137 hostages kidnapped during the october 7 attacks. newly freed palestinian prisoners report suffering torture and sexual assault. this is baraah abo ramouz, a palestinian journalist who spoke after his release from an israeli jail thursday. >> the situation in the prisons is devastating. the prisoners are constantly beaten, sexual assaulted, raped. i am not exaggerating. amy: earlier this week, u.n. secretary general antónio guterres called for an investigation into reports of sexual violence committed by hamas on october 7. israeli government officials knew hamas was planning a large-scale attack on israel more than a year ago but failed to respond to specific warnings about the plot after dismissing it as aspirational.

that is according to an explosive report in "the new york times" which says israeli officials intercepted a 40 page document detailing how the attack would play outcome a blueprint hamas closely followed october 7. meanwhile, another explosive new report by +972 magazine details how israel is using artificial intelligence to draw up targets in gaza and how israel has loosened its constraints on attacks likely to kill civilians. one former intelligence officer described the plan as a "mass assassination factory." after headlines, we'll go to jerusalem to speak with israeli investigative reporter yuval abraham who broke the story. in arizona, 26 people were arrested after peacefully blockading a raytheon manufacturing hub in tucson on thursday, demanding an end to u.s. arms transfers to israel. one protester said -- "we are outraged that more than 15,000 palestinians have been

killed, while companies like raytheon continue to fill their coffers with blood money." among those arrested was journalist alisa reznick of public radio station kjzz. she was arrested by pima county sheriff's deputies even as she carried recording equipment and repeatedly identified herself as press. msnbc is facing a torrent of backlash after announcing it's canceling the mehdi hasan show. the british-born journalist is known for holding powerful figures to account and is one of the most powerful muslim voices on american television. following the news, congressmember ilhan omar said -- "it is deeply troubling that msnbc is cancelling his show amid a rampant rise of anti-muslim bigotry and suppression of muslim voices." journalist ryan grim said -- "mehdi's style of confrontational interviews, in which he doesn't let public figures get away with lies or half true talking points, turned him into a celebrated journalist

in the u.k. his show's cancellation is such a pathetic indictment of the u.s. media." mehdi hasan's show has been welcomed as one of the few on a mainstream networks to question israel's narrative over its assault on gaza. earlier last month, hassan interviewed mark regev, adviser to prime minister netanyahu >> i have seen lots of children being pulled from the rubble. >> that is what they want you to see. >> you have killed children? >> first of all, you don't know how those people died. amy: russia's supreme court has banned lgbtq+ activism in a landmark decision amnesty international blasted as shameful and absurd. the ruling asserts the so-called

international lgbtq movement is extremist and threatens to further endanger the already-persecuted communities. this is transgender activist ada blakewell. >> i escaped from a conversion camp just over half a year ago. i was kidnapped. they tried to kill me for a year. they tried to convince me i was not a transgender woman. they failed. after the adoption of this lawsuit, i will not be able to talk about commercial therapy. it will be for bid and for me -- forbidden for me. i will not be able to help a large number of people. many have already left russia. i am one of the last we have remained in russia. what to do next? the only option i know is to leave. amy: the world meteorological organization reports 2023 is virtually certain to become the hottest year on record, warning of worsening wildfires, floods, ice melt, heat waves, and other extreme-weather events.

since the start of the year, the average global surface temperature is up about 1.4 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels, or about 2.5 degrees fahrenheit. that's just a tenth of a degree below the target limit of 1.5 degrees set by the paris climate accord in 2015. united nations secretary-general antonio guterres announced the findings thursday as the u.n.'s cop28 climate summit got underway in dubai. >> we are living through climate collapse and real-time and impact is devastating. we have the roadmap to limit the rise in global to pitcher to 1.5 degrees celsius and avoid the worst of climate chaos, but we need leaders to fire the starting gun at cop28 on a race to keep the o1.5 degrees limit alive. amy: tune into democracy now! next week when we'll be broadcasting from the cop28 u.n. climate summit in dubai.

the white house confirmed president biden will not attend the cop28 summit this year but that vice president kamala harris will be in attendance. this week the biden administration launched an auction to sell $3.4 million in oil and gas drilling leases. it's just the first in a series of auctions that will take place as cop28 unfolds. over the next two weeks, the interior department will sell off land exploitation rights in wyoming, new mexico, nevada, north dakota, oklahoma, and utah. this comes as the u.s. energy information administration finds the biden administration has surpassed the trump administration in crude oil production, bringing it higher than any other time in history. the center for biological diversity warns that biden's fossil fuel projects "threaten to erase the climate emissions progress from the inflation reduction act." the house of representatives is voting today over whether to expel new york congressmember george santos, who repeatedly lied about his professional experience, his background, and

likely committed multiple violations of campaign finance rules. santos painted himself as a victim of a smear campaign and refused to resign as he addressed lawmakers thursday. >> when this vote is on the floor, it is in the conscience of all of my colleagues that they believe this is the correct thing to do, so be it. take the vote. i am at peace. amy: if ousted, santos would become just the sixth member of the house ever to be removed by fellow lawmakers. and in california, animal rights activist and attorney wayne hsiung has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after he was found guilty of felony conspiracy and misdemeanor trespassing for rescuing dozens of injured and dying ducks and chickens at two factory farms in sonoma county, california. the charges stemmed from peaceful actions at sunrise farms and reichardt duck farm. mirais holden, a member of wayne hsiung's legal team, spoke outside the sonoma county courthouse after thursday's sentencing.

>> i believe that this trial will end up in the book of animal liberation when that book is written and am tremendously grateful to wayne for the sacrifice he has made, the injustice of the fact that a human being is being held in a cage for the supposed crime of compassion for rescuing other beings from cages will not be lost on the world. amy: wayne hsiung is a co-founder of direct action everywhere, a global network of animal rights defenders. to see our interviews with him, go to democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israel has resumed air strikes on gaza after a week-long truce ended. the strikes have reportedly killed at least 70 palestinians. israel is dropping leaflets ordering palestinians in khan younis, the largest city in

southern gaza, to head farther south toward rafah. since the october 7 hamas attack, the israeli bombardment has killed over 15,000 palestinians, including 6100 children. the office of the u.n. high commissioner for human rights has described the resumption of attacks as very troubling. >> the resumption of hostilities in gaza is catastrophic. we urge all parties and estates with influence over them to redouble efforts immediately to ensure a cease-fire on humanitarian and human rights grounds. recent comments by israeli leaders indicating they are planning to expand and intensify the military offensive are very troubling. amy: talks are reportedly continuing for a new truce and the release of more captives. israel says it believes hamas

still holds 137 hostages kidnapped during the october 7 attack. we turn now to look at a stunning new exposé on how israel is using artificial intelligence to draw up targets and how israel has loosened its constraints on attacks that could kill civilians. one former intelligence officer says israel has developed a "mass assassination factory." in one case, sources said the israeli military approved an assassination strike on a single hamas commander despite knowing the strike could kill hundreds of palestinian civilians. another source told 972 magazine -- "nothing happens by accident. when a three-year-old girl is killed in a home in gaza, it's because someone in the army decided it wasn't a big deal for her to be killed -- that it was a price worth paying in order to hit another target. everything is intentional.

we know exactly how much collateral damage there is in every home." 972 also reports the israeli military knowingly attacked civilian targets including apartment complexes, universities and banks in an effort to exert "civil pressure" on hamas. we are joined in jerusalem by the israeli investigative reporter yuval abraham. his latest report for 972 magazine and local call is headlined "'a mass assassination factory': inside israel's calculated bombing of gaza." thank you for joining us from jerusalem. if you can talk about who your sources are and what exactly they are using, the israeli military is using ai four. explain this idea of mass assassination factory. >> sure.

i will start by saying that there are some things i can say and others i cannot say. we are subjected to the military sensors so everything i have published has to be vetted by the military. so -- also my knowledge is partial. i've spoken to 70's really officers, sup -- i have spoken to seven israeli officers. they all took part in wars and bombing campaigns whether now or in 2021, 2022, 2014. these of artificial intelligence is an increasing trend that the army is adopting to mark targets in gaza. i think a good ear to look at, to understand it beginning with relation to gaza in 2019 when the chief of staff introduced this new division in the military.

it's idea was to bring together hundreds of soldiers and basically start to develop these ai algorithms and automated software to accelerate the targets creation for strikes with life and death consequences in gaza. a force that took part in this division sensor said that they were just being judged not by the quality of the target that they were producing but by the quantity. that the idea was that if you want to create a certain shock effect, if you're fighting against a guerrilla group like hezbollah or hamas, this is the source saying -- can you hear me? amy: we can hear you perfectly. >> sorry, somebody said something. should i repeat something? amy: know, keep going with what you're saying. >> so the source said this shock

effect is the way israel views its war tactic against these organizations. and part of that is trying to accelerate the creation of targets. in 2014, which was the previous biggest israeli assault on gaza, the israeli military right out of target after roughly three weeks. that operation lasted for 50 days. sources have described in previous operations, the military runs out of targets to bomb and alongside that there is some political pressure were some need to continue the war, to create a victory image for the israeli public, to apply more pressure. i think this increasing use of artificial intelligence and part is a response to that problem, to running out of targets. what we know now from sources is target production using these programs, one of them is called

the godspell and according to sources, it does facilitate this mass assassination factory that i can get into and a moment. the race of creating the target is now facste than they'rer able to bomb the target. this, already 12,000 targets were created during this war in this target position, using these artificial intelligence tools. which is two times as many targets as were bombs in the entirety of the 2014 war, which lasted for 51 days. amy: civilian targets, including private homes, public buildings, infrastructure, are referred to as power targets? >> could you repeat the question? amy: can you explain what power targets are?

>> i'm not hearing anything. amy: listen, we will go to a break and come back and we will make sure you can hear us. yuval abraham is a journalist based in jerusalem who has just written a piece called "'a mass assassination factory': inside israel's calculated bombing of gaza." we will be back in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: students at the ramallah friends school singing a solidarity song for the children of gaza with their teachers safia awad and issa jildeh. in a moment, we will be speaking with elizabeth price, the mother of one of the three palestinian college students in the united states who was shot in burlington, vermont, saturday night. but right now we're continuing with yuval abraham, journalist based in jerusalem who writes for +972 magazine. his most recent piece, "a mass assassination factory."

spine what a power target is -- explain what a power target is. >> it is a concept developed according to intelligence sources in the military first in 2014. the military defines power targets as residential high-rise buildings. eight floors, 12 floors, 14 floors. the official military's claim is in each of these buildings, there are military targets that legitimizes bombing the entire building. according to three sources in israeli intelligence i have spoken with who have deep knowledge of this tactic and have been involved with bombing power targets, they say the idea of power targets is to purposefully attack buildings that have all of these civilian apartments in them in order to put pressure on civilians in gaza, which is then translated to pressure on hamas. sibling pressure on hamas.

i've heard this term several times. in 2021, the israeli military bombed a building in gaza which it because an international uproar because this was a building that held media outlets. it was one out of nine high-rises that were bombed in 2021. i managed to confirm with sources in israeli intelligence, this was a power target. one source said there was this idea if we bomb the high-rises, it causes the civilians to feel like hamas is not sovereign, like they have lost control. one source that he felt this was a terrorist tactic. the sources i've spoken with have dealt with these power targets before 2023, before the current israeli assault in gaza. i know less about the specifics of power targets that are currently bombed, however, we do

know from official army statements, israel in the first five days, so up until october 11 and october 12, have bombed 1329 power targets and the military said half the targets bombed were identified as power targets in the military. during these five days, we know hundreds of children have been killed. we have managed to find indications of these buildings that were bombed without an evacuation protocol. this is a very important point because according to sources i have spoken with, in the past, the internal protocol in the military was you can only bomb power targets, which are high-rise buildings or governmental buildings inside neighborhoods, after you evacuate all the families from the building. it was a principal in place in 2021 where they bombed nine high-rises. no civilian palestinians were killed. they did put in place an

evacuation protocol. they called the guards in the building. at the end of the day, the goal was to put pressure on civilians by destroying their apartments from what i've heard from sources and not by killing them. i don't know -- again, i'm not spoken to sources that have bombed power targets in this operation, but there are clear indications i am finding in gaza, for example a tower that was bombed on top of all of the families inside of this war to other towers, that they were bombed while the families were inside. i think -- i'm assuming since these are high-rises and the military says they bombed over 1000 power targets, that these were power targets. so this is a shift. the evidence suggests there is a shift here of not only striking targets that are primarily intended to cause civilian shock

or put sibling pressure on hamas -- according to intelligence sources -- but apparently, in some of the cases, the evidence suggests such targets have led to the killing of families. amy: i want to turn to antony blinken speaking thursday at a news conference in tel aviv. >> the most sophisticated, one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world. it is capable of neutralizing the threat posed by hamas while minimizing harm to innocent men, women, and children and has an obligation to do so. the weight israel defends itself matters. it is imperative that israel act in accordance with humanitarian law and the laws of war. amy: yuval abraham, if you can respond to what blinken is saying? after the beginning of the attack, president biden said the support for israel was unconditional, they could do anything they wanted. now, clearly, with massive

pushback in the united states with protests with people all over the country and around the world, you have both biden and blinken stepping back and saying you have to protect civilians. one of your sources suggested the scale of this attack with an unprecedented number of civilian casualties in gaza has to do in part with the israeli's military wish to redeem itself after the catastrophic failures of october 7. now you have this big "new york times" expose that israel clearly knew a year ago the blueprint for this attack. and there other reports that say i think they were called the women surveillance soldiers along the gaza border, i think they're called spiders, were repeatedly telling their supervisors in the last weeks and months, we see this escalation here. it looks like hamas is about to

attack. they were told they would be brought up on insubordination charges if they kept pushing this issue. yuval? >> is very important for me to respond to blinken's statement. i have three things i really want people to listen to. the first is the very real war crimes that hamas has committed, killing people -- some i knew -- does not justify israeli war crimes and gaza that are being committed. number two, this idea the military is doing whatever it can to keep civilians in gaza saved or using its technology to not harm civilians in gaza is false. it is not true. i know this not only from looking at the catastrophic killing of so many civilians in gaza, but by speaking to intelligence sources who have told me all of the previous restrictions were permissive into harming civilians has been dramatically loosened. one source spoke about how you

get this approximation of where a target is and it is not pinpointed. yet soldiers will still strike it, knowingly killing civilians to save time in getting a more accurate pinpointing of the target. it is important people understand, according to five sources i've spoken with in israeli intelligence, in all of the targets that israel is bombing, the amount of civilians that are likely to be killed is written down. it is not a mistake, as you quoted in the beginning of this narration. when a child is killed in gaza, it is because somebody made a decision that this killing was worth it to hit another target. there are internal regulations -- the army has regulated it. so it is very clear to me after october 7, there is disregard for palestinian lives even when

hitting targets that are either not distinctive military in nature. the third and final thing, and this goes back to the idea of mass assassination factory, is there is a systematic policy according to sources of targeting private residential homes of hamas or jihadi operatives when they are in these buildings are private residences. just so you understand, what this means is the military is knowingly dropping a bomb that weighs a ton or often more on a residential building in order to assassinate one person, knowingly killing that person's family and neighbors in the process. when according to sources in the vast majority of cases, these buildings are not places where there is military activity that is being conducted. it is an assassination against somebody within hamas or jihad will at terry brigades, but

they're not in military place. one source was particularly critical of this policy, said thought it was like if israel would bombed -- sorry, if the palestinian militant group would bomb the homes of israelis not when they are wearing army uniform but when they're going back home on the weekend. essentially assassinating them through the bodies of their families or their neighbors and then saying they used those families as human shields. i think we have talked about these power targets and these assassination targets and of course there are many different types of targets that could be considered under international law more legitimate, for example, minute it sells, warehouses, and i think that is to look at the civilian devastation happening right now in gaza. you have to understand it as a consequence of a particular israeli war policy, a policy that has a very loose

interpretation of what a military target is an attacking people in civilian spaces. it is a war policy that centers on hitting these power targets that are intended to place civilian pressure on hamas. and a war policy that is increasingly being helped by the use of ai. i don't know everything, i've only spoken to several sources, but my evidence suggests many of the civilians who are being killed in gaza are being killed as a result of these policies that i do not think are justifiable policies. international experts would call them war crimes. that is why don't think what blinken is saying is true, honestly. amy: we will talk more about war crimes later in the program. yuval abraham, thank you for being with us, journalist based in jerusalem writes

, for +972 magazine and local call. we will link to your new piece "'a mass assassination factory': inside israel's calculated bombing of gaza." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to vermont, where family members of three palestinian college students shot in burlington saturday arriving to care for their sons who they say were targeted simply for being palestinian. in a minute, we'll speak with the mother of hisham awartani, who was shot in the spine when he took a walk with his friends kinnan abdalhamid and tahseen ali ahmad after they visited relatives while staying with hisham's grandmother's house over the thanksgiving break. all three had been friends since the first grade at the ramallah friends school in the west bank. two of them were wearing

kaffiyehs, a symbol of palestinian pride, when they were shot. their alleged attacker, jason eaton, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder. authorities have not yet added a hate-crime enhancement to his charges. the associated press reports eaton had a history of domestic disputes that led police to confiscate his shotgun a decade ago. nbc news reported tuesday that another ex-girlfriend told police in 2019 eaton had continued calling and texting her and driving by her house after she had made it clear she didn't want to communicate with him and she had considered filing a restraining order. so often mass shooters have abused women in their past. at a vigil monday on the campus of brown university, where hisham awartani is a student, professor beshara doumani, the mahmoud darwish professor of palestinian studies, read a statement from hisham. >> i would like to start off by

saying i greatly appreciate all the love and prayers being held my way. who knew that all i had to do to become famous was to get shot? [laughter] and as much as i appreciate and love every single one of you here today, i have but one -- i am but one casualty in this much wider conflict. had i been shot in the west bank where i grew up, the medical services that saved my life here would likely have been withheld by the israeli army. the soldier who would have shot me would go home and never be convicted. i understand and the pain is so much more real and immediate,

but any attack like this is horrific, be it here or in palestine. this is why when you send your wishes and let your candles for me today, her mind to not just be focused on me as an individual but rather as a proud member of the people being oppressed. amy: that's a statement from hisham awartani being read at a vigil monday night at brown university's campus, where he is a student. hisham's mother elizabeth price joins us now from burlington after traveling from her home in ramallah in the occupied west bank. to be with her son in the hospital. welcome to democracy now! i am so sorry you are here under the circumstances. can you talk about how your son is doing and his friends, the two other palestinian students shot saturday night? >> he makes me so proud. he was lying in his bed paralyzed from the chest down in

great pain from broken bones and shock and traumatized. he typed out that statement to be read out to a vigil. i was so impressed with his ability to focus on others during -- in this time of his life being devastated. he is in stable condition. he is going to be transferred to a rehabilitation center so he can learn to live with his injuries and then also hopefully and definitely we turn on a path towards full mobility -- we hope. his other friends are also stable. one has been discharged from the hospital but is severely traumatized. he spent 45 minutes thinking his friends had been shot dead. and a third child, the third young man -- they are children to me since they grew up in my

house -- is stable and working toward discharge. but they're all traumatized and they are all feeling grateful to be alive and feeling the bitterness of the fact they are receiving such attention and such support and such incredible medical services from the burlington community and medical facility while at the same time people are dying under the bombs of the israeli bombardment. the fact the israelis have started bombing the gaza strip again is something that will crush them more than their injuries have crushed them. my sense of when he went through the list of those who had died under the israeli bombardment a few weeks ago he found there were 30 that had his name hisham . he has said in another statement to a newspaper, to remember -- he said i am hisham. i think he just really wants

people to be thinking about the palestinians who are dying by the tens of thousands right now and not to be focusing on him. i think this is something that is shared by his friends as well. amy: although he wants to talk about himself as he said a member of an oppressed community, think of all of the people who go to get help when there shot right now in gaza and the west bank, but if you could tell us about hisham? he is palestinian, irish, american? 20 years old, a junior at brown? >> yes. hisham was born in america. he is a devoted giants fan. he grew up in palestine. he is an irish citizen because i was born in ireland and he is palestinian because his father is palestinian. he has mathematics in his family. he was told me numbers make him

happy. he is the type of person that she is a polyglot. amy: what languages does he speak? >> arabic and english. he is very good at persian. he can write. you studied hebrew, german, and friends and -- and french and is currently studying italian at brown. he is doing mathematics. when he took a course in archaeology, he was hit by a bug of archaeology and not doing a bsc and matt and ba in archaeology. not quite sure how those go together but he has the ability to create this incredible database of knowledge that he

can make connections with an come out with the conclusion that he shares with people. he is a computer in his brain. at the same time, he's very soulful and philosophical. i think in the last few days -- this has not even been a week since this happened to him. in the last few days, i really understood how hisham has the ability to have his heart and soul encompassed in people and for him to be able to contextualize -- conceptualize something he sees as the valid and the dignity of his people. i think that is giving him great comfort. there is an arabic word which means resilience. it is about the concept of existence being resistant, staying on your land no matter what. hisham signifies and symbolizes that concept. he is like an olive tree that

can get cut down but he will regrow. that is where he gets the strength to be thinking about other people and about his people even while he lies an event unable to move. amy: i think we can also see where he gets his spirit, from you, elizabeth. >> i am lucky and blessed to be his mother. amy: can you talk about them growing up in the ramallah friends school? we spoke with the head of the school, who is now head of the whole american friends service committee in the united d state. talk about his growing up in ramallah where you live and going to this quaker school. >> life in ramallah and palestine is a beautiful thing. we live under military occupation, obviously, so people are killed every day and often they are children. children are arrested and people are arrested.

often the school goes on strike in solidarity with the news of someone being killed by the israeli army, so it is a life where you know when the school goes on strike that someone has lost their life and the walls of the streets around the school are filled with pictures of people who have been killed. in memory of them. ramallah and palestine is a place of family and community, a place where everyone knows each other. we feel safe. my daughter who is 17 can walk on late at night in safety because everyone respects the other and sees the other is a member of a larger society or community or family stuff so you are never alone. everyone acts to take care of each other. these boys grew up together. they did united nations, they talked, they did math club and chess club. they would come to my house on a saturday afternoon like giraffes

as they grew up, sprawl over my couches and i would make food and theyh would cram themselves into's tiny room and they would talk about politics and language and talk about -- just joke with each other. when they were receiving their college results for those who had applied to american colleges, you get the result like 3:00 in the morning and palestine. they would stay up and be on the phone with each other and be there for each other. one person open in email and if it was good news, they celebrate. it was bad news, they would commiserate. that helped them survive so much. the three boys you mentioned are like brothers. i think that has been so important for them. after they were shot, they were kept in the same icu room for a number of days by the hospital because the hospital recognized the proximity meant they could

be with each other and give each other strength stopkinnan, who has been released, the least hurt, but deeply traumatized when he thought his friends had been killed. by keeping him, even though he could be released, with the boys, the hospital is able to give them that comfort of being with each other and having that camaraderie and brotherhood sustain them at a time where they were just trying to come to grips with the hatred that have been shown to them, the devastation of their lives, and the crippling of my son. amy: i'm looking at a report from nbc at one event at brown, 20 students were arrested by university police and charged with trespassing as they refused to leave a sit in outside brown president's office. a friend of hisham's said that hisham had attended a dinner with some of the jewish students who have been arrested during the sit in and they got together each friday afterward. they talked about the alliance

between jews and palestinians, who they saw increasingly anxious after october 7. >> hisham did notify brown he felt unsafe on campus. i had not realized that. he often had not told me things he was so busy with 20 hours of work and five courses. he did feel anxious. he was active. i have to tell you when we heard about the decision by the jewish students, we were moved. there's been such an incredible outpouring of support by jewish activists in america. the concept of the grand central station sit in was something that reverberated around palestine and really lifted our hearts. when hisham sent me a picture at shabat dinner with these people, i felt he was in the right community. when this type of thing happens, when palestinians are so

traumatized and so abused by the international community and the ignoring of their rights, my children learned over this last seven weeks what it is to be on the wrong side of justice. i think -- definitely my daughter and my son, it opened her eyes to what it is to be a part of an oppressed community and the opportunity for solidarity across that. jewish people have been targeted for centuries by antisemitism. other minorities in america, native americans have been in solidarity with the palestinians. black americans. so many different minorities have reached out and stood in solidarity with the palestinians, and i think the life i want my children to experience come to live in a community where they know and five are the -- against the injustice that others suffer and they know that others are standing with them in the injustice against the injustices palestinians suffer.

thatshabat dinner give me great joy. amy: people can go to democracy now! and say we are at the grand central protest. hundreds of jews arrested as they shut down grand central on a friday night. if you can say with the doctors are saying right now, hisham has a bullet lodged in his spine? also is some -- what else? >> from what i understand, hisham must have had his hands up when he was shot so the bullet went through his thumb into his clavicle. i think it may have ricocheted against his scapula, think it touched a rib and went into his spine. from what i understand, that trajectory in the passage meant the bones slowed down the bullet, which is very lucky because i think the bullet would have severed his spine. currently, the bullet is lodged

there, which is meant hisham has lost the sensation of pain and temperature but he can feel pressure from his mid torso down. so yes to go to the long process of physical therapy to be able to regain the control of his muscles down there. in the short term, i think you will be able to learn how to live with that. he will be taught how to live with his disability. our long-term plan is to support him to be able to regain motion in his body. but my son has incredible mind and incredible soul. he -- the doctors say it is hard sometimes to get people to engage with any situation and hisham has been asking questions and just taking control of it all with his curiosity and taking information so we can process it. he is tired. the next step -- the next phase

is going to be a very hard process, but he is very determined and he's brilliant and curious. i know he will have success to matter what he does. amy: there's a three congressional delegation. you have becca balint, the first jewish american congressmember to call for cease-fire, peter welch just joined her, the vermont senator, and vermont senator bernie sanders -- while he has not called for a cease-fire, he has called for aid to israel to be conditioned on what is happening. your final thoughts on what you're calling for now as your son lies in the icu? >> thank you. i think one of the things i want to emphasize is that it would be irresponsible for there to be any discussion of the metal health status of the perpetrator will stop there are millions of people suffering with mental health issues and it is disrespectful to them to imply

that mental health is something that leads to gun violence. their minds of people in america with mental health that don't pick up a gun and shoot. it is a responsible to victimize the shooter in this case. so any discussion of what his mental state was or emotional state was is irresponsible. it is also double standard. it is often applied to white perpetrators of shooting crime but not to those who are nonwhite or of different backgrounds, particularly in order backgrounds. i consider that to be an acceptable statement by the media that has highlighted that. they broke me last night. i find it incredibly offensive they would victimize the shooter. i would also say it is time to call for a cease-fire. the fact bombs are falling on gaza again, they crush me. i celebrated becca balint's stance. i applied and am so grateful for

peter welch's call for unconditional cease-fire. the policy people have been brutalized -- the palestinian people have been relies not just by the bombardment, the fact they did not have food, water, or fuel for weeks. they just sat there and died. i was in deep depression for seven weeks even before this happened to my son. my son would be i think redeemed in his suffering if he knew that in any way, in any small way attention brought to the palestine people through his plight helped make the decision makers in the american government recognize that palestinians are humans and palestinians deserve to live. and if one were palestinian child dies or is injured in the way my son was injured, it is a travesty. my son is receiving the best medical care in america. if he was in gaza for the west

bank, he would've been dead, in prison, or just thrown somewhere in a medical facility without the support he would need to be able to recover from this. so i am incredibly privileged come as is my son, that he is been hurt here amongst the community that supported us and provided us with the medical care. i think in my son's name, i call for all the decision-makers and policymakers in the american government to recognize palestinian children in gaza and the west bank and in jerusalem are also human and deserve the dignity and support that my son is being provided with. amy: elizabeth price, thank you for being with us, mother of hisham. please give him all of our regards, one of the three palestinian students shot by white man while visiting their family in burlington, vermont, this past weekend. elizabeth price joining us from burlington after traveling from ramallah in the occupied west

bank to be at hisham's site. coming up, reed brody on the death of henry kissinger. back in 20 seconds. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show looking more at the death of henry kissinger, remembered by some as a leading

diplomat by many others as a war criminal for his actions in vietnam, cambodia, pakistan, argentina, east timor, and other countries. but some accounts, was responsible for the deaths of at least 3 million people. he served as u.s. secretary of state and national security advisor under richard nixon and gerald ford. we're joined by reed brody, human rights attorney and war crimes prosecutor. he is author of "to catch a dictator: the pursuit and trial of hissène habré." in june, he wrote an article titled "is henry kissinger a war criminal?" why don't you answer that question and talk about what should happen at this point now at the age of 100 henry kissinger is dead. >> thank you. as you have said, few people have had a hand in so much death and destruction in different parts of the world then henry kissinger. but what i tried to do in this article was look at specific instances of henry kissinger's

action and whether he could be accused of war crimes. after the arrest of general pendant che -- pinochet, we asked students to look at different instances. three in particular suggest that henry kissinger could have been accused of war crimes. one is cambodia, the other is pakistan and the other, you have talked a lot about is east timor. i know we have little time. in cambodia, we know henry kissinger chose bombing targets, that he ordered that anything that moves the bombed. that in essence is ordering a war crime, ordering that even civilian targets be attacked. in the case of east pakistan, 1971, pakistan was two separate countries. there was an election.

independence leader won the east pakistan but west pakistan would have nothing to do that it. they started attacking civilians in east pakistan. raping tens of thousands of women. hundreds of thousands were killed. the american console in east pakistan wrote a memo to henry kissinger saying we are participating in a genocide, we have to stop. the u.s. ambassador to india keating, former senator of new york, told henry kissinger and richard nixon, we are participating in a genocide. kissinger had the author of the memo fired, called keating a traitor. not only did they not restrain pakistan who was receiving 80% of its military assistance from the united states, the actual organized a transfer of american

weapons from jordan to pakistan as the bloodshed continued. that makes henry kissinger liable for aiding and abetting the slaughter that was carried out. very similar situation you know well, amy, east timor. not only did henry kissinger and gerald ford give the green light to the invasion of east timor, but as the casualties mounted, as hundreds of thousands of timorese were dying, the u.s., which had a donor client as henry kissinger called it elation ship with east timor, supplying 90% -- excuse become indonesia, supplying 90% of indonesia's military, gave additional assistance. these situations, east pakistan, it is as if you're in an ammunition store and the guy is out there on a shooting spree and comes back to get more

ammunition and you give it to them. these things make henry kissinger, i believe, liable for war crimes. amy: we're going to continue this conversation after and post it at democracynow.org. reed brody, human rights attorney and war crimes prosecutor. we will link to your article "is henry kissinger