01/02/24 01/02/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the collective punishment of palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force, israel is a war crime. the deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food, and water

to the residents of gaza is tantamount to genocide. amy: as the death toll from israel's bombardment of gaza now exceeds 22,000, south africa has filed a case at the international court of justice in the hague accusing israel of genocide. we will speak with international human rights lawyer francis boyle. >> i believe also south africa will win any order from the world court against israel to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the palestinians. amy: then as we enter 2024, a pivotal election year, with a look at how the powerful lobby group aipac, the american israel public affairs committee, is set to spend more than $100 million against aggressive congressmembers critical of israeli human rights violations

in palestine, including the only palestinian-american member of congress rashida tlaib. >> speaking up to save lives, no matter faith, ethnicity should not be controversy 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: this comes as polls show a majority of u.s. voters support a in gaza. we will speak with ryan grim, d.c. bureau chief of the intercept, about his new book "the squad: aoc and the hope of a political revolution." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the death toll in gaza from

israel's 12-week bombardment has now topped 22,000. over 200 palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours. in one of the deadliest incidents, an israeli strike on a home in central gaza killed 15 people. this comes as the biden administration has bypassed congress again to approve selling israel nearly $150 million in artillery munitions. over the weekend, the israeli defense forces announced it would withdraw some of its troops in northern gaza while sing the attack on gaza will continue throughout the year. on sunday, new year's eve, one 12-year-old palestinian camp in a rafah refugee camp reflected on the events of the past year. >> this year is a nightmare for every child in gaza, for every man and woman.

god will link in 2024, i wish when i wake up i january 1, discover this is all a dream, for the war to end, suffering to end. i wish for everything to go back to the way it used to be. i wish this was all a dream. every day i pray it is a dream, rather, a nightmare. unfortunately, it is a bitter reality. amy: meanwhile, in the occupied west bank, israeli forces have killed at least five palestinians. more than 320 palestinians have been killed in the west bank since the october 7 hamas attack. seven palestinian prisoners have also died in israeli custody since october 7, raising new questions about conditions inside israeli jails. the most recent prisoner death occurred on monday. south africa has a filed a case at the international court of

justice in the hague accusing israel of committing genocide in gaza. in its filing, south africa said israel's war on gaza is "genocidal in character" and that israel is intending to "destroy palestinians in gaza as a part of the broader palestinian national, racial and ethnical group." south african accused israel of violating the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, which israel has signed on to. we will have more after headlines. israel's supreme court has dealt prime minister benjamin netanyahu a setback by striking down a controversial new law that rolled back some of the high court's power. netanyahu's broad effort to weaken the judiciary sparked massive protests across israel last year that deeply divided the country. on sunday, a former member of

netanyahu's cabinet, galit distel atbaryan, issued a rare public apology for her role in creating divisiveness inside israel before october 7. she said -- "i was one of those people that caused the state to be weakened, that harmed people. i created a split, i created a rift, and i created tension. and this tension brought weakness. and this weakness, in many ways, brought massacre." protests against israel's war on gaza are continuing. here in new york, a caravan of cars with palestinian flags blocked traffic headed to john f. kennedy international airport on monday. meanwhile, in pasadena, california, protesters calling for a ceasefire in gaza briefly halted the rose bowl parade. tension keeps escalating in the red sea. an iranian war ship has reportedly entered the red sea after u.s. forces killed 10

houthi fighters from yemen and sank three of their ships. the pentagon claims the houthis fired at a pair of u.s. navy helicopters that were responding to a distress call from a container ship targeted by the houthis. since november, the houthis have been carrying out attacks on ships in the red sea to show support for palestinians in gaza. russian president vladimir putin is vowing to intensify attacks inside ukraine after a ukrainian attack on the russian city of belgorod killed at least 25 people, including five children, on saturday. more than 100 people were injured in what was one of the deadliest attacks inside russia since moscow invaded ukraine 22 months ago. the attack on belgorod came a day after a massive russian strike on ukraine's largest cities killed at least 41 civilians. earlier today, russia fired hypersonic ballistic missiles at ukraine's two largest cities,

kyiv and kharkiv. four people were reportedly killed in kyiv and another 92 were injured. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy has accused russia of firing 170 armed drones and dozens of missiles at ukraine since sunday. in japan, at least 48 people have died after a massive magnitude 7.6 earthquake on new year's day. rescue teams are still trying to reach some remote areas. the quake caused widespread damage, toppling buildings and triggering fires. in the coastal town of suzu, as many as 1000 homes are believed to have been destroyed. a tsunami warning was issued on monday but it has been lifted. earlier today, five people died aboard a coast guard plane that collided with a japan airlines plane at tokyo's haneda airport. the collision sparked a major fire, forcing all 379 people on board the commercial flight to

evacuate. they had something like 90 seconds. the coast guard plane was preparing to take food to areas hit by the earthquake in south korea, opposition leader lee jae-myung is recovering after being stabbed in the neck while speaking to reporters in the city of busan. a 66-year-old suspect has been detained. lee jae-myung ran for president in 2022 and narrowly lost to the conservative yoon suk yeol. lee is widely expected to run for president again in 2027. in bangladesh, a court has sentenced nobel peace laureate muhammad yunus to six months in jail for labor law violations, along with three of his colleagues. yunus won the nobel peace prize in 2016 for his development of a microfinancing system which offers small loans to the poor. yunus has been a vocal critic of bangladesh's prime minister hasina sheikh.

former amnesty international head irene khan decried yunus's conviction as a "travesty of justice." yunus, who is 83, has been granted bail during the appeals process. in the democratic republic of congo, president felix tshisekedi has been declared the winner of the country's recent presidential election, but opposition candidates are refusing to accept his victory. the drc's election commission said tshisekedi received 73% of the vote, easily defeating his 18 challengers. on sunday, nine opposition candidates signed a joint declaration rejecting the results and demanding a new vote. in mexico, the zapatistas have been holding a four-day celebration to mark the 30th anniversary of the group's 1994 uprising when they declared war on the mexican government and took five towns in chiapas in southern mexico. the uprising began on january 1,

1994, on the same day that nafta, the north american free trade agreement, took effect. the zapatista national liberation army, or ezln, warned nafta meant death to indigenous peoples. supporters of the zapatistas took part in this weekend celebration and praised the group for standing up to the mexican government. >> to see the organizations upholding their of tom and me encourages me. it is an example of dignity. they were the only ones who dared to raise their voices, to say enough is enough, against progression, against death, against discrimination. amy: in the united states, nearly 10 million low-wage workers received raises on january 1 when the minimum wage increased in 22 states. the biggest increase came in hawaii where the minimum wage jumped from $12 to $14 an hour. in washington state, the minimum

wage increased to $16.28, the highest rate of any state. the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 an hour. that's the same level it has been for 15 years. a slew of other new state laws went into effect on january 1. new laws banning gender-affirming healthcare treatments for transgender youth have gone into effect in louisiana and idaho. but a number of states are pushing back against the wave of anti-trans laws. in maryland, the trans health equity act went into effect ensuring the state's medicaid program covers gender affirming healthcare. in california, a new state law offers new legal protections for people who travel to the state for abortion and gender-affirming care. in other health news, the price of insulin has gone down for millions of americans. as of january 1, the

out-of-pocket cost of insulin has been capped at $35 a month by three of the nation's largest insulin manufacturers. here in new york, exonerated central five-member has been sworn into a seat in the new york city council representing harlem. salam was one of the 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. he spent seven years in jail before being exonerated when the real perpetrator confessed. the australian journalist and documentary filmmaker john pilger has died at the age of 84. he made over 60 documentaries, many deeply critical of u.s. and british foreign policy. pilger reportedly extensively on cambodia, vietnam, east timor, and the devastating impact of

u.s. sanctions on iraq. over the past decade, he was a vocal supporter of the imprisoned wikileaks founder julian assange. >> courage of those who speak the truth and speak up for the truth who stand up to the powerful, these are our unsung heroes. today as he is led into court, julian assange is both our collective conscience and a true australian hero. amy: j to see our special on julian assange, which we broadcast january 1, go to democracynow.org. the longtime consumer advocate dr. sidney wolfe has died at the age of 86. with ralph nader, he helped found the health research group in 1971 as part of the consumer advocacy organization public citizen. dr. wolf spent decades fighting the food and drug administration

and pharmaceutical industry and is credited with helping to force 28 dangerous medications off the market. in a statement, ralph nader said millions of people benefited from dr. wolfe's work. dr. sidney wolfe last appeared on democracy now! in 2017. looks 50 years ago for the first time ever, this country decided that health care was a right for two groups of people, the old and the very poor. we all hoped that shortly after that, something would happen to add more to those two vulnerable groups of people. and the only thing that's happened in 50 years is president obama's affordable care act, which added about 20 more million people and put in important provisions, such as not discriminating against people because of pre-existing illness. so to roll back the clock not only on the affordable care act, but to start eroding medicare and medicaid, now 51 years old,

is cruel, is not passionate and is not consistent with a doctor's ethical duty to first do no harm. amy: and the diné activist and musician klee benally has died at the age of 48 in arizona. benally was from black mesa, spent years organizing against uranium mining on native land as well as to protect the sacred san francisco peaks in flagstaff, arizona. he was also the former lead singer of the indigenous punk band blackfire. klee benally had just published a new book in december titled "no spiritual surrender: indigenous anarchy in defense of the sacred." in the book he writes, "if history is written by the conquerors, it will be unwritten by those who refuse to be conquered." klee benally spoke to democracy now! in 2014 when we did the show from flagstaff, arizona.

>> many of our people don't have running water or electricity yet our lands have been exploited. we have coal-fired -- three coal-fired power plants that pollute our air. we have these abandoned uranium mines and new mines that are threatening the region. we have fracking, hydraulic fracking, that's threatening our land as well. but this isn't just an issue for here. wherever there's an environmental crisis, there's a cultural crisis because we are people of the earth. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, as the death toll exceeds 22,000 and gaza, we look at how south africa has filed a case at the international court of justice in the hague accusing israel of genocide. ♪ [music break]

amy: klee benally performing on democracy now! in 2014 when we were on the road in flagstaff, arizona. he said the song was for the people of flint, michigan. this is democracy now,! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. happy new year. juan: hi, amy. happy new year. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world. amy: as the death toll from israel's bombardment of gaza since the october 7 hamas attack on israel now exceeds 22,000, south africa has a filed a case at the international court of justice in the hague accusing israel of committing genocide and trying to "destroy palestinians in gaza."

this comes as the separate international criminal court is already investigating alleged war crimes committed by both israel and hamas. in its filing to the icj, which is the main judicial body for the united nations, south africa says -- "the acts and omissions by israel complained of by south africa are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the palestinian national, racial, and ethnical group." south africa accused israel of violating the 1948 convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide which israel has signed on to. israel responded by saying the charge is "without legal merit " and the israeli foreign ministry accused south africa of "collaborating with a terrorist group that calls for israel's annihilation."

south african president cyril ramaphosa has compared israel's treatment of palestinians in the occupied territories to the racist system of apartheid in his own country, which ended in 1994 after nearly half a century. in november, ramaphosa responded to israel's assault of gaza by recalling south africa's diplomats from israel. >> collective punishment of palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force by israel is a war crime. the deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food, and water to the residents of gaza is tantamount to genocide. amy: meanwhile, in october, south african lawmaker and grandson of nelson mandela, nkosi mandela, joined a palestinian solidarity protest in cape town.

>> [indiscernible] amy: for more, we are joined by francis boyle, professor of international law at the university of illinois college of law. he previously applied the genocide convention for bosnia and won two requests for provisional protection from the icj against yugoslavia and thinks the same could apply here. his books include "the bosnian people charge genocide," "palestine, palestinians and international law," and "world politics, human rights and international law." professor, welcome back to democracy now! it is good to have you with us in this new year but under very serious circumstances. if you can explain why it is south africa that is bringing this charge and what exactly is the international court of

justice, where it fits into the world justice system. talk about the charge of genocide. >> thank you very much for having me on. my best to your listening audience. not to too my own horn here, but i was the first lawyer ever to win anything under the genocide convention from the international court of justice that goes back to 1921. i single-handedly won two world court orders for the republic of bosnia against yugoslavia to cease and desist all acts of genocide. and based on my careful review all the documents so far submitted by the republic of south africa, i believe south africa will win an order against

israel to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the palestinians. and then we will have an official determination by the international court of justice itself, the highest legal authority in the united nations system, that genocide is going on. and under article i the genocide convention, all contracting parties, 153 states, will then be obliged "to prevent" the genocide by israel against the palestinians. second, when the world court gives this cease-and-desist order against israel, the biden administration will stand condemned under article iii paragraph e of the genocide convention that criminalizes

complicity in genocide and clearly we know the biden administration has been aiding and abetting israeli genocide against the palestinians here for quite some time. this has also been raised by my friends in the center for constitutional rights and in the national lawyers guild in a lawsuit against biden, blinken, and austin. i believe we will be able to use the world court order. right now my sources tell me the hearing will be january 11, january 12. based on my experience with the bosnians, we can expect an order within a week. i would also say with respect to the biden administration, they are currently in violation of the genocidal convention and

limitation act that makes genocide a crime under united states law. again, once south africa wins this order, the biden administration also will stand in violation of the genocide convention implementation act. so i believe this is where we will be going between now i would say at the end of this month. it is up to all of us as american citizens to figure out and support what south africa is doing at the international court of justice here. juan: francis boyle, what is the difference between international art of justice and the international criminal court, which is already considering allegations of war crimes by both israel as well as the palestinian militant groups? >> the international court of

justice was originally established back in 1921. it's legal predecessor in law. and that is where i filed the genocide case. i was the first lawyer ever to win two orders in one such case is the world court was established in 1921 and it was on the basis of the genocide convention. the international record -- criminal court is a separate organization set up in 2000. the problem is this. back in 2009, after operation cast lead, i advised the palestinian president abbas to accept the jurisdiction of the international court -- of the international criminal court for

palestine, which he did. i regret to report that the international criminal court has not done one darn thing to help the palestinians since two thousand nine. the international criminal part has all the blood of the palestinian people on its hands since 2009. juan, that is why we set up a campaign to find a state willing to file a lawsuit at the international court of justice, the world court. the icc basically operates at the behest of its funders and founders and masters, which is the u.s., the nato states, the european states, etc. until they are expedited --

indictment of president putin as u.s. nato l'affaire aiken's russia, the international record has not indicted one american, one european, one brit, one nato citizen and one israeli, and one white person. we have a campaign now to support the republic of south africa at the international court of justice. we are starting this campaign today, i am part of a coalition -- we are starting this campaign today to get members of the genocide convention to file declarations of intervention at the world court in support and solidarity with south africa against israel and in support of

the palestinians. juan: i wanted to ask you, joan donahue is the president of the international justice. she previously worked in the u.s. state department. how do you think she will approach south africa's application? what power does she have to shape the proceedings? >> that is a good question. donahue is a lifelong career u.s. state department legal of a russian, which is how she got the job. i am sure she is in contact right now today with the u.s. state department, giving them a heads up on everything going on over at the hague behind the scenes. she will tow the state department party line in these proceedings. i regret to report the president

does have a lot of power there to shape these proceedings. i suspect she will use that power to shape the proceedings in favor of israel. however, i have also been advised the republic of south africa is as of now nominating a judge ad hoc. that is their right under the statute of international court of justice. i don't have an, but i would hope the south african judge ad hoc will do his or her best to try to keep donahue straight. amy: i want to go back to south africa, who has done this genocide filing. in 2008, i had the opportunity to speak with the south african anti-apartheid icon, the nobel peace laureate archbishop desmond tutu. i caught up with him at the

south african vice consul's apartment in new york right before archbishop tutu received the global citizens circle award . i asked him about palestine. >> when you compare the occupation of gaza and the west bank to apartheid south africa? >> i speak about what i knew. most people will usually speak about -- a jew will usually speak about their experiences and maybe compare whatever it is that is happening with what happened in the days of the holocaust. for me, coming from south africa and going -- i mean, and looking at the checkpoints and the arrogance of those young

soldiers, probably scared, maybe covering up their apprehension, there's no way in which i couldn't say -- of course, that is a truth. it reminds me -- it reminds me of the kind of experiences that we underwent. amy: that was archbishop desmond tutu. francis boyle, talk about the significance of it being south africa and what it means for one state to bring a charge against another state, who are signatories here, and how binding is this? explain what happened in bosnia. >> sure. first, the connection with the late great archbishop tutu, the current lead counsel now in the lawsuit for south africa is

professor john do guard, a longtime friend of mine. he was one of the very few courageous white professors of international law international it opposed criminal apartheid system in south africa at risk to his life. second, later on, professor dugard became u.n. special rapporteur for palestine. i read all of his reports. they are excellent. his heart and head are in the right place with the palestinians, and he is one of the top professors of international law in the world. so there is a direct comparison between the israeli apartheid system on all the palestinians,

including citizens of israel -- palestinian citizens of israel, and what happens in apartheid south africa. professor dugard has written the israeli system of apartheid against the palestinians is worse than the apartheid the afrikaners applied to black people in south africa. i was involved in the struggle against apartheid in south africa, and that is my assessment, too. indeed, the parallels here that led me in november 2000 to call for the establishment -- the establishment of the disinvestment campaign against israel, for the exact same reasons we had a divestment, disinvestment campaign against the criminal apartheid regime in south africa.

and then in 2005, palestinian civil society contacted me to go in with them on establishing the palestinian boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign against israel, against apartheid israel for the exact same reason we had a bds campaign against the criminal apartheid regime in south africa. so tut, dugard, i, cyril ramaphosa it south africa who has made compelling speeches, they all understand what is going on here and what is at stake. amy: the issue of genocide in bosnia. if you could explain for people who are not familiar with what happened and then what came of the charges at the international court of justice. >> yes, well, yugoslavia

exterminated about 200,000 bosnians, raped about 40,000 bosnian women. i was arguing their case at the international court of justice. i won these two orders in april 1993 and september 1993. until i won that order april 1993, everyone was denying that genocide was going on. once i won the order, massive and overwhelming in favor of the bosnians, no one could deny anymore that genocide was going on. as for the effectiveness, when i walked out of the world court on april 8, 1993, and won that

order, i walked into the foyer outside the grand courtroom. the news media were there. i said at the time, the world court has just determined that genocide is going on in bosnia under article i, every state party to the genocide convention has any obligation to prevent genocide in bosnia. and i hereby request direct military intervention by the united states and the nato states to save the bosnians from genocide. later that day, united states and nato announced that they were instituting a no-fly zone, influ enforcing a no-fly zone or bosnia. so these orders by the world

court can have consequences. it will be up to us here in the united states to devise the strategy for consequences for the biden administration because we have to pressure the biden administration to order israel to stop the genocide. they will do what we americans tell them to do. in operation cast lead that have been going on for a. of time under -- going on under a period of time under bush junior, the obama people were coming into power. obama was about to be inaugurated and in order not to spoil obama's inauguration, the united states government told israel to stop operation cast lead. so we have to understand the

here in the united states of america have the power to stop this. what we have to figure out, how to use the order that south africa will win here in united states of america. this is exactly what happened in nicaragua. you remember, amy. i was involved in devising on most every piece in and lawyer here in the united states -- peace ngo and lawyer here in the united states. my teacher, mentor, and friend at harvard law school won a world court order against the reagan administration in 1984 and then also a final judgment on the merits of the 1986. we here in the united states use

that world court order and the final judgment to stop reagan's war against nicaragua. amy: we have 20 seconds. >> regretfully, 16,000 nicaraguans were killed, including a citizens, but we did stop it. i believe with this world court order that south africa will win, we can stop what israel is doing to the palestinians. amy: francis boyle, professor of international law at the university of illinois college of law. his books include "the bosnian people charge genocide," "palestine, palestinians and international law," and "world politics, human rights and international law." when we come back, as this pivotal election year gets underway, we speak with ryan grim about how the powerful lobby group aipac is set to spend more than $100 million

against progressive congressmembers who are critical of israeli human rights violations in palestine. his new book, "the squad." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "ezln para todas, todos" by manu chao. this week marks the 30th anniversary of the zapatista uprising in chiapas. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. it is 2024. as we move into this election year, we look now at how the powerful lobby group, aipac, american israel public affairs committee, is set to spend more than $100 million against progressive members of congress who are critical of israeli human rights violations in palestine. the goal is to remove members of the squad from congress this year, including congressmembers cori bush, ilhan omar, jamaal bowman, summer lee, and rashida tlaib. she is the only palestinian american member of congress. progress poll found two thirds of u.s. citizen support a cease-fire in gaza.

for more we are joined by ryan grim, d.c. bureau chief for the intercept. his book is just out titled "the squad: aoc and the hope of a political revolution." why don't you lay out your revelations in this book and perhaps you can start with alexandria ocasio-cortez and what happened when she was elected. i want to play for you a clip. you write in book about how a representative of aipac approached democratic congress member alexandria ocasio-cortez's team with an offer of $100,000 in july 2018 to "start the conversation about her views on." ." israel this is the then candidate alexandria ocasio-cortez being interviewed by pbs in 2018.

cooks in the campaign you made one tweet war in one statement that referred to the killing by israeli soldiers of civilians in gaza and called it a massacre, which became a little controversial. i have not seen anywhere, what is your position on israel? >> i believe it israel's right to exist. i have a proponent of a two state solution. for me, this is not a referendum i think on the state of israel. for me, the lead spree which i saw this incident as an activist, organizer, 60 people were killed and ferguson, missouri, 60 people killed in the south rocks, 60 people killed in puerto rico -- i look at that incident or through just as an incident. to me it would be completely unacceptable that that happen on our shores. amy: that was alexandria

ocasio-cortez in 20 before she was first elected, what of the four members of what is known as the squad, which is also the title of your book. can you take it from there, what you reveal in this book? >> later in the interview, the interviewer really starts to parcel out of her words you said the word word "-- you can see are growing more uncomfortable and she finally taps out and says, i'm not a geopolitical expert on this issue. this isn't something we talked about at my dinner table among puerto rican families in the bronx, and moves on from there and stop student interviews for a little while after that. after she had been -- from the time of her win in june until then, dominating and getting bigger and bigger interview requests,

even doing late not shows. a week later, her team gets a call from somebody saying it was aipac saw the interview and willing to help educate her on the issue, start the conversation, and you start that conversation they already have commitments up to $100,000 and there would be a lot more money where that came from. she did not even consider the offer. she had plenty of campaign cash coming in. but it did open a window for her team and for her about what congress is like for so many rank-and-file members of congress who did not have her profile at that point. now not only are you being offered $100,000 just to start, it comes with an implicit threat -- if you don't take the money, the money will be spent but it will be spent against you instead. juan: ryan, could you talk about -- and you do so in the book -- aipac's role in purging the

democratic party of any potential candidates or officeholders who don't toe the line and it comes to israel? >> the same months that the squad was sworn into office, including ilhan omar and rashida tlaib, january 2019, the super pac democratic geordie for israel was stood up at this flashy "new york times" profile. it was affiliated with aipac, founded by mark mehlman who had led their efforts to undo barack obama's iran deal and at the time he was a consultant to the head of the party that became while he was mark mehlman's client prime minister israel. he found this super pac dmfi,

which does aipac's work. they are built supposedly -- explicitly to stop the expansion of this faction within the democratic party that feels willing to criticize israel. in may 2021, the last time there was a major war on gaza, the squad and a number of other house democrats went to the house floor denouncing israel's attack on gaza. that was sort of an alarm bell for aipac. aipac after that launched it super pac -- its own super pac. spent more than $30 million. now they're looking to spend significantly more this cycle. juan: you say the rise of the squad and at the cut revolutionary forces has been simultaneous.

could you elaborate on that? obviously, donald trump never tires of criticizing the squad as if they are in charge of the democratic party. >> it was remarkable to go back and re-report this story, starting with say the bernie sanders campaign in 2015 up to today, just to see how central this question of israel- palestine has been to the pushback and the reaction to the rise of the squad the entire time. the democrats in 2018, they ran against trump, against his welcome xenophobia, muslim ban. much of the first six month of the democratic majority in 2019 was spent with democrats sometimes joined by trump and sometimes not coming after ilhan omar or rashida tlaib for various transgressions or tweets or speeches or otherwise. it really kind of dictated and

determined what the entire progressive wing was doing. oftentimes you will have the organization justice democrats, what you're spending so much time focusing on israel- palestine? the answer would be, they are not. it is actually the reaction. they are forced to. the amount of spending that was done against them and continues to be done against them kind of forged them into a cohesive political formation that might not actually have existed otherwise. so in a 2022 cycle, that is when they spent millions across the country going after progressives who are critical of israel but also her progressives. the same kind of hedge fund, private equity executives, baseball team owners that are funding aipac and dfmi have the

same interest as any major business owner would. the same agenda that forms kind of the squad criticism of israel, their support of green new deal, medicare for all, closing tax loopholes for the wealthy -- it is a bonus that you can't align your class interest with this fight against palestinian rights. amy: if you could talk more, ryan grim, about this election year, about the $100 million, who is involved with that come about the targeting of the squad, more people allied with the squad have been elected since then. and also the role of -- >> 2020 the first time in its history that aipac did its own super pac.

previously, in a given directly to campaigns or its members had given directly to campaigns and dmfi identity super pac affiliated with aipac but not straight from them. 2022, the first time they came through with more than $30 million. and some races, spending more than $5 million. they spent lands against summer lee in the pittsburgh race the last month of the campaign, but there was enough pushback from an organized group super pac and small donors that she was able to barely hang on. in 2022, they tried to constrain the growth of the squad and squad-allied factions within the party. this cycle they are trying to shrink them. there has been reporting their bit offers of $20 million to two different candidates to try to run against rashida tlaib.

they successfully recruited candidates to run against jamaal bowman, cori bush as a challenger, ilhan omar has a challenge. they're coming directly at them. mark penn and nancy jacobson our main characters in this book as well, along with mark penn's protégé, congressman from north jersey, the chief antagonist of the squad. they have raised tens of millions of dollars over the years for this organization "no labels." private equity folks, football team owners, home depot ceos, that kind of crowd. they try to present themselves as this nonaligned centrist organization. nancy jacobson has said aipac is one of the groups she works most closely with. famously, they're trying to recruit a joe manchin type

figure to run as "independent" in the presidential campaign, which presumably would be to the benefit of trump. juan: you mentioned josh gottheimer. the congressman from new jersey. could you talk about his history before he got into congress? >> not only does it have the standard pro-israel activism, but he works with mark penn for many years and mark penn did a lot of his business with saudi arabia. that gets to a creation of a political alliance in washington that did not get a lot of publicity over the years, which is the teaming up of the united arab emirates, saudi arabia, and israel. those two countries still don't even recognize israel but in washington, the three of them were spending enormously, basically, to counter iran and

to counter iran, and also pushback on any kind of climate agenda that might get in the way of their fossil fuel interests, and that often meant targeting the left flank of the democratic party. so josh gottheimer, became the lead antagonist against particularly rashida tlaib and ilhan omar. repeatedly pushing for censure resolutions, going on cable news regularly to denounce his colleagues and encouraging other democrats that then also denounced them, teaming up with hakeem jeffries to do a super pac that was aimed at going after them and going after kind of squad-aligned candidates as well. that is really the kind of nexus

of the civil war that is going on inside the house of democrats. amy: we have about two minutes to go. i am wondering if you could talk about what most shocked you and the research for your book "the squad." >> i think it was the sheer amount of money that was involved and just how dominant it had been. we can say the numbers over and over again, 30 million dollars, 40 million dollars, $100 million. what doesn't quite come through is how that influences not just the races where money is spent, but also where it is not been. i heard somebody for conversations that would be held among consultants in campaigns that were worried that aipac war dmfi was going to start spending millions of dollars in their race and they would meet and have a call and figure out, ok, how do we stave this off? this was without aipac spending a dime. they would say the easiest thing

to do, post "i stand with israel." some candidates would do that. others would reach out to dmfi. john fetterman, his campaign did this, other state as well saying, what do we need to do? what kind of policies do need a publicly? not that you're going to find us, but you're not going to find our opponent? to a shocking degree, that constrained what democratic candidates were willing to say when it came to criticizing israel. amy: ryan grim, we want to thank you for being with us d.c. , bureau chief for the intercept. his new book is called "the squad: aoc and the hope of a political revolution." we will also link to your articles at the intercept as you continue to cover this issue. for those who did not get to see democracy now! january 1, you can go to democracynow.org and

see the belmarsh tribunal, excerpts of it, looking at the case of julian assange, whose final appeal goes before london court february 20 and 21. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed