01/03/24 01/03/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new, york this is democracy now! >> because of the escalating tensions and the fragility of the situation in the region, we are calling for maximum restraint from all parties. we don't want any rash actions that could trigger further

violence. amy: the united nations is urging all parties in the middle east to show restraint after a suspected israeli drone strike killed a top hamas official inside lebanon, raising the risk of a regional war. we will speak to the dutch-palestinian analyst mouin rabbani. but first, the president of harvard claudine gay has resigned six months after becoming the first black woman to lead the university. she had been the target of an intensive right-wing attack following a contentious congressional hearing not anti-semitism when she was questioned by republican congressmember elise stefanik. >> will admissions offers be rescinded or any disciplinary action be taken against students or applicants who say "from the river to the sea" or "intifada," advocating for the murder of jews. >> as i have said, that type of hateful, reckless, offensive speech is personally abhorrent to me.

amy: we will speak to harvard professor khalil gibran muhammad. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. fears of a regional war in the middle east are growing after a top hamas official was assassinated in a suburb of beirut, lebanon, on tuesday. hamas's deputy leader saleh al-arouri was killed in a suspected israeli drone strike that also killed six other members of hamas. al-arouri was the chief of hamas's operations in the occupied west bank. he was also credited with strengthening ties between hamas and the lebanese group hezbollah. in the west bank, palestinians are holding a general strike today to protest al-arouri's assassination. hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah is scheduled to give a speech today responding to the killing. while israel has not claimed responsibility for the

assassination, one prominent israeli lawmaker congratulated the mossad and shin bet on social media. an israeli army spokesperson said the military was in a "very high state of readiness in all arenas, in defense and offense." lebanon's prime minister najib mikati condemned the drone strike, warning that the attack "aims to draw lebanon into a new phase of confrontations." u.n. officials in lebanon are urging all sides to show restraint to avoid a wider conflict. as we went to air, iranian state media reported at least 50 people have been killed and scores injured after at least two lasts went off at an event marking four years since the death of soleimani who was killed in iraq. he was the head of the revolutionary guard's elite quds

force. in gaza the death toll from israel's nearly three-month long bombardment has topped 22,300. an israeli strike on the palestinian red crescent's headquarters in khan younis has killed at least five people. gemma connell, who works with the u.n. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in gaza, spoke from the hospital after the attack. >> you can see on the floor, the blood. the world should be absolutely horrified, absolutely outraged. a child has been killed today. four more people were killed in a space that should be safe. there is no safe space in gaza and the world should be ashamed. amy: in rafah, a palestinian man has set up a tent on the rubble of his former home which was blown up in an israeli strike that killed his wife, six children, and two grandchildren.

hamada abu sleyma said he survived because he had gone out to find food. >> this place used to be the house of my family. my house. i am the only survivor in my family. what separated us is i wanted to get bread from the bakery. i wish i died with them. i wish there was no four minutes or five minutes when i was away. that would be better than me living like this. loneliness is tough and parting is hard. i am asking god at the beginning of the new year 2024 to give peace to the people and to give peace to the palestinian people and for this pain to end. amy: in other news from gaza, the u.n. says half of the population is now at risk of

starvation. arif husain, the chief economist at the world food program, told "the new york times" -- "i've been to pretty much any conflict, whether yemen, whether it was south sudan, northeast nigeria, ethiopia, you name it. and i have never seen anything like this, both in terms of its scale, its magnitude, but also at the pace that this has unfolded." in israel, 42 survivors of the october 7 attack by hamas are suing the idf, the shin bet security service, and israeli police over the massacre. the plaintiffs, who were attending the nova music festival in southern israel on october 7, accuse israeli security forces of approving the event amid safety concerns and failing to shut down and disperse the crowd after receiving information about a security breach just hours before the killing spree. this comes as an investigation from "the new york times" finds israeli forces were poorly

organized in their response and had no plans to stop such an attack, which went ahead unimpeded for hours. harvard president claudine gay has resigned amid a mounting firestorm fueled by right-wing politicians and media over free speech and support for palestinian rights on campus. claudine gay, harvard's first black president, announced she was stepping down tuesday, just six months into her tenure and weeks after university of pennsylvania president liz magill's resignation. both women resigned in the wake of last month's congressional hearing on anti-semitism in which they were grilled by lawmakers, including far-right new york congressmember elise stefanik, who gloated "two down" on social media following yesterday's news. sally kornbluth, president of mi two, is the third president elise stefanik is hoping to take down. following the hearing, conservative activists proceeded

to smear gay's academic history, accusing her of plagiarism after uncovering instances of inadequate citations her work. in her resignation letter, claudine gay wrote -- "it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus." we'll have more on this story with khalil gibran muhammad, professor at harvard kennedy school, after headlines. in sudan, the head of the paramilitary rapid support forces, or rsf, mohamed hamdan dagalo said his forces are open to an immediate, unconditional ceasefire. dagalo, known as hemedti, made the declaration tuesday as he signed an agreement with the newly formed civilian bloc the coordination of civil democratic forces, or taqaddum, which is led by former prime minister abdallah hamdok.

>> from here we apologize to all our people in sudan, in all its states, for all the violations that took place. we are extending our hands for peace if they want peace. nothing will make us lead khartoum except peace. amy: this comes as hemedti has been touring neighboring countries, meeting with the heads of uganda, ethiopia, and djibouti in what appears to be an attempt to gain legitimacy as sudan's leader ahead of any cessation of violence. since the war between the rsf and the sudanese army broke out last april, over 7 million people have been displaced within sudan, making it the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. another 1.3 million have fled sudan. some 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. reports of mass killings and ethnic cleansing have been mounting in darfur. activists say the sudanese people and its pro-democracy resistance committees are the ones who should decide the

country's fate and warn the rsf is attempting to whitewash its crimes. the somali government is denouncing an agreement between ethiopia and the breakaway republic of somaliland that would give landlocked ethiopia access to the red sea port of berbera. >> it is a defensive that endangers the civility and peace of the region which was already wobbling with problems. it is a violation of somalia's sovereignty, freedom, and unity of the federal public of somalia. the so-called memorandum of understanding and agreement of cooperation is null and void. amy: the breakaway republic of somaliland has not been internationally recognized since

seceding from somalia more than 30 years ago. access to the red sea port is allegedly being exchanged for ethiopia's future recognition of somaliland's independence, though this has not been confirmed by ethiopia. many major multinational companies must for the first time ever pay a global minimum tax of at least 15% on corporate profits. the landmark tax reforms went into effect monday, nearly three years after 140 countries agreed to a new system, which is expected to increase tax revenue by $220 billion per year. the u.s. is not currently participating in the reform despite backing the 2021 agreement. countries that have implemented the 15% tax since january 1 include the eu, the u.k., australia, south korea, japan and canada, as well as nations known as tax havens like ireland, luxembourg, the netherlands, switzerland, and barbados. the centre for international corporate tax accountability and research said the new global minimum tax would "reduce

incentives from companies to use tax havens and incentives for countries to be tax havens, put a serious brake on what was a race to the bottom." embattled new jersey senator bob menendez is facing renewed calls to resign after prosecutors issued a new superseding indictment accusing the democrat of accepting bribes and abusing his power to benefit the government of qatar between 2021 and 2023. federal prosecutors say menendez publicly praised qatar in order to aid his associate, businessman fred daibes, secure an investment from a fund linked to the qatari government. in exchange, menendez allegedly received luxury gifts, including gold bars, tickets to a formula one race, and offers of an expensive wristwatch. menendez was already facing charges of aiding the egyptian government. the senator and his four co-defendants, including his wife and fred daibes, have

pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to stand trial in new york city in may. civil rights leader bishop william barber is calling for more awareness and justice for disabled people following his ouster from a greenville, north carolina, movie theater last week. barber said staff at the amc theater confronted him over his use of a specialized chair he carries with him and needs to use due to an arthritic condition he has had for decades. the bishop was attending a screening of "the color purple" with his 90-year-old mother. bishop barber says his removal was a violation of the 1990 americans with disabilities act as he addressed the incident at a news conference this week. >> the ada act holds his birthright not to any one person. they draft legislation, testified, negotiated, filed

lawsuits, stood up in places, sat down in places. they fought, stood, engaged in nonviolence to say you will not push us to the corner. you will not block us from coming just because we are disabled. they built a movement. they built a movement. amy: bishop barber met with the head of amc yesterday and said he plans another meeting with him. donald trump appealed a decision by maine's secretary of state to remove him from the republican primary ballot for his role in the january 6 capitol insurrection. trump is also expected to appeal colorado's supreme court decision to remove him from its state primary ballot, which also cited the insurrection clause of the 14th amendment. the case will likely end up before the supreme court, where three of the nine justices were chosen by the former president. and trailblazing u.s. congressmember eddie bernice johnson has died at the age of

88. in 1972, johnson was elected to the texas house of representatives by a landslide, becoming the first black woman from dallas to win elected office. she also served in the texas senate before winning a seat in the u.s. house in 1992, where she served for three decades before retiring in 2022. eddie bernice johnson was a pioneer in many fields, including the first registered nurse elected to congress, first african-american to represent dallas in congress, and the first woman and first african american to chair the house committee on science, space, and technology. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. coming up, the president of harvard claudine gay has resigned six months after becoming the first black woman to lead the university. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "sometimes i cry" by les mccann. the soul jazz pioneer passed away last week at the age of 88. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the first african american and second woman to lead harvard university resigned tuesday after allegations of plagiarism and backlash over her testimony at a congressional hearing on antisemitism last month that is part of a broader effort to restrict pro-palestinian speech on college campuses. claudine gay's six-month tenure is the shortest of any harvard president in history. claudine gay will remain at harvard as a tenured professor of government and african and african american studies. in a letter tuesday, she wrote -- "it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor -- two

bedrock values that are fundamental to who i am -- and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus." the plagiarism allegations against president gay were part of a campaign started last month, led in part by conservative activist christopher rufo, who cheered her resignation on x, writing in all capital letters "scalped." the conservative website the washington free beacon published new plagiarism allegations tuesday. one of the authors rufo accused gay of plagiarizing was her thesis adviser gary king, who has dismissed the allegations, telling "the daily beast" -- "there's not a conceivable case that this is plagiarism. her dissertation and every draft i read of it met the highest academic standards." the harvard corporation issued a

statement tuesday saying gay "acknowledged missteps" and showed "remarkable resilience in the face of deeply personal and sustained attacks." claudine gay's resignation comes after the university of pennsylvania president elizabeth magill also resigned just days after the two appeared along with m.i.t. president sally kornbluth at a congressional hearing led by republican congressmember elise stefanik. this is at least a phonic questioning president gay. >> it is a yes or no question. you are president of harvard so i assume you are familiar with the term "intifada," correct? >> i have heard that term, yes. >> and you understand that the use of the term "intifada" in the context of the israeli-arab conflict is indeed a call for violent armed resistance against the state of israel, including violence against civilians and

the genocide of jews. are you aware of that? >> that type of hateful speech is personally abhorrent to me. >> well, let me ask you this. will admissions offers be rescinded or any disciplinary action be taken against students or applicants who say "from the river to the sea" or "intifada," advocating for the murder of jews. >> as i have said, that type of hateful, reckless, offensive speech is personally abhorrent to me. amy: that was last month. on tuesday, congressmember st efanik celebrated gay's resignation writing in all caps " two down." writing " the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history."

she was removed over her comments about voter fraud in the 2020 election that had opened no basis in evidence." meanwhile, the conservative activist christopher rufo announced tuesday evening he was "contributing an initial $10,000 to a plagiarism hunting" fund." for more on all of this, we are joined by khalil gibran muhammad , professor of history, race, and public policy at the harvard kennedy school. he is the author of "the condemnation of blackness: race, crime and the making of modern urban america." professor, welcome back to democracy now! first, if you can respond to and were you surprised by the resignation of claudine gay yesterday? >> thank you for having me. i have to admit i was not surprised but i was extremely disappointed.

this is a terrible moment for higher education. harvard and the university of pennsylvania are just the beginning. the political attacks you profiled by elise to phonic most other members of the house committee that held those hearings on september 5 have declared war on the independence come on academic freedom, on the truth of american history and are president, and all colleges and universities just as governor desantis has done and florida, greg abbott in texas, and other governors in many other states. this is the next step in our three year long campaign to destroy this country's capacity to address its past and its president, to deal with the structural racism, systemic quality that caused -- systemic inequality. right now the republicans and their allies are winning. amy: if you can put claudine

gay's --gay and context, the first black president, first woman president, second woman to lead harvard university. now her presidency is the shortest it harvard's history. and put in the context of the whole attack on dei, the whole attack on critical race theory, and if you can talk about this campaign by elise stefanik, rufo as they go from the congressional hearing, which did not exceed in taking her down, to this issue of plagiarism. >> let me start with the fact harvard is the oldest, wealthiest, most prestigious university in this country and globally. for almost 400 years, harvard has systematically excluded white women and people of color by and large front it's hallowed

corridors, from entering its gates. that is a fact. a fact the university under the previous president admitted to a report called the harvard legacy of slavery report issued just over a year ago, a report that points out precisely how do not only did the university exclude people of color from not getting an education, but collected the bodies of indigenous people and enslaved people for scientific research. and let into the 20th century calls for scientific racism that helped to construct the racial hierarchy that we still live with in this country today. so the very university that finally arrived at a moment where it not only reckoned with its own history, but also recognized the talent is universal and the best of us actually have the ability to move this country and world

forward in a time when the planet is literally on fire and most people who will suffer most from that will be people of color. that is the context that brought claudine gay to the presidency. she was ably and excellently qualified for that role. she had proven herself in previous administration roles, a dean of the largest school on harvard's campus. so when we put that in context, the affirmative action decision last june was the first victory for the conservative right in this country to dismantle the very possibility that people like claudine gay would have the qualifications that harvard and stanford degree necessary to take on such positions. within that political context, the attack on affirmative action is one example of what has been going on which is 30 years old, a battle, but more proximate to this moment, people like

christopher rufo in late 2020 in response to george floyd's killing have initiated an effort what we would call i white lash or backlash forms misinformation to essentially define a body of knowledge known as critical race theory that is the intellectual basis for understanding how systemic structural racism works as anti-american, marxist, as a threat to american civilization. that led to 24 states criminalizing the teaching of street in all its truth about race, racism, sex, gender. that led to the banning of dei in places like florida and to some degree in texas. what we saw with his campaign against claudine gay where plagiarism became the pretext, kind of like a black motorist with tinted windows being stopped only to look for drugs so they could be incarcerated as part of a war on lack people

during mass incarceration -- that is the context were christopher rufo who initiated the critical race theory anti-woke campaign has now culminated another big truth taken down claudine gay over a very, very minor offense within academic context. amy: we are talking to khalil gibran muhammad, professor of history, race, and public policy at harvard kennedy school. i want to turn to an op-ed published in "the harvard crimson" by bernie steinberg. he was the executive director of harvard hillel from 1993 to 2010. it is headlined "for the safety of jews and palestinians, stop weaponizing anti-semitism." in his essay, he supports

president gave. he wrote -- "during my long career as a jewish educator and leader, including 13 years living in jerusalem, i have seen and lived through my community's struggles. now as an elder leader with the benefit of hindsight, i feel compelled to speak to what i see as a disturbing trend gripping our campus in many others. the weaponization of anti-semitism by powerful forces who seek to intimidate and ultimately silence legitimate criticism and american policy on israel, in most cases it takes the form of bullying pro-palestine organizers. in other cases, these campaigns persecute anyone who simply does not show due deference to the bullies. the recent effort to smear our new university president claudine gay is a case in point.

i applaud the decision by the harvard corporation to stand by dr. gay amid the ludicrous charges she somehow supports genocide against jews and hope harvard will continue to take a strong stance against any further efforts by these powerful parties to meddle in university affairs, especially over personnel decisions." those are the words of bernie steinberg, the executive director of harvard hillel from 1993 to 2010. this was before the resignation of claudine gay. we can only assume the harvard corporation come the kind of board of overseers of harvard, made a deal with her from helped to force her out, so they had first supported her and now with tremendous pressure also from billionaire donors, she is out. if you can talk about the significance of harvard hillel, the former director

talking about expressing dissent over what israel is doing in gaza right now, professor? >> i think his comments and his testimony in the op-ed he wrote from his vantage point speaks very clearly to the absence of a balanced discussion about claudine gay's testimony was true of the two other presidents, liz magill and selleck warm blue. the truth is, they all performed as they should have. they spoke clearly and directly to personal condemning expressions of anti-messages on which -- anti-semitism which by definition intifada is not necessarily. but putting that aside, they were following the instructions of general counsel and likely the board chairs of their

various universities. in the case of claudine gay, you can see garber, the interim president, sitting behind in glasses and a beard, almost mouthing her responses. because second in charge of the university, they were both prepared to explain the current policies of that deal with hate speech and academic freedom. what mr. steinberg is talking about is the context in which that entire hearing was a set up where there was no correct answer to a lawful question, legal question, about whether or not certain forms of speech finally the code of conduct. it always depends. the weaponization of jews in this case, as he describes in his op-ed, suggested to me and watching the hearing for over five hours that people like virginia foxx had no intention of extending protection to jews

at harvard or anywhere else. this was a set up to take down dei and antiracism and all of the other things the right has been going after because that is what she said when she opened the hearing. she described the hearing as a case at people like me teaching classes which she identified in her opening remarks as the real problem, as a prime example of antiracism in critical race theory, creating institutional anti-semitism. that is a lie. i teach about anti-semitism in that class. what mr. steinberg is described is exactly what is happening here. jews have been used as a wedge for the right to take down all of the entire edifice that has been put in place to deal with shrek show in society. amy: do you feel a chill at the kennedy school? what about other

professors? your response to christopher rufo you can and cannot do.

they don't need to be a part of your life. they need to make sure you have freedom. we need to have capitalism, economic freedom, make sure we do all things so that individuals have the liberties so that they can have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do or be anything

they want to be without government getting in the way. >> thank you. and in the year 2023, it's astonishing to me that you answered that question without mentioning the word "slavery." >> what do you want me to say about slavery? >> no, you answered my question. thank you. >> next question. amy: so that is republican presidential candidate nikki haley. let's remember, she is the former governor of south carolina. facing backlash over a comet she later said "of course the civil war was about slavery. that is the easy part of it." professor khalil gibran muhammad , your professor of history, race, and public policy at the harvard committee school, author of the combination of blackness --"the condemnation of blackness: race, crime and the making of modern urban america." it was described as a real calf on her part that she missed oak but explain exactly what she was

voicing. this was not unusual to hear in a certain sector of u.s. society. >> it was not a gaff. let's be clear. nikki haley has consistently denied the relevance of the history of racism in this country in the presence of racism in this country. nikki haley running in a party led by a man known for a serial discrimination against people of color as well as harboring actual neo-nazis both within is larger political close circle but also defending people, as was true in august 2017 on the campus of the university of virginia, chanting "jews will not replace us," essentially giving them a path as good people. this is the republican party, the very party that led the witch hunt, trial, or the hearing that took place on

december 5. when you put it all together, the serial denial of slavery -- let's be clear, the serial denial of slavery that is absolutely responsible for how this country came to be an economic juggernaut in the 19th century because of cotton exports, which is a simple fact. it was embedded in northern institutions, the financial sector, as well as in the larger european context. to deny slavery in 2024, to essentially say week wink, nod nod, let's move on, is the inverse of what claudine gay and those other presidents were being accused of come of somehow denying the saliency of anti-semitism. but that is not true. this is why fascism is such a threat in this moment, because it does not depend on facts. it is only about misinformation

and propaganda and catering to people's fears. in this case, nikki haley is trying to compete for, ron desantis has already proven himself to have fascist tendencies just like trump announcing he plans to be a dictator at least for the first date in office. trump, by the way, was mentioned in the hearing as someone who the questioners as the president if they would be willing to invite to campus to prove their commitment to academic freedom. all of them said yes. this is the absurdity of the stakes of what we are talking about. people who deny slavery are leading a campaign so people like you don't get to teach the history of slavery and president xi claudine gay and liz magill and others don't get to lead institutions that will you better than they have been for most of their histories. amy: khalil gibran muhammad, i what to thank you for being with us, professor of history, race, and public policy at the harvard

kennedy school. author of "the condemnation of blackness: race, crime and the making of modern urban america." when we come back, the united nations is urging all parties from the middle east to show restraint after a suspected israeli drone strike killed a hamas official. we will speak with the dutch-palestinian analyst mouin rabbani. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "stranger in my homeland" by hosam hayeks. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. fears of a regional war in the middle east are growing after a top hamas official was assassinated in of beirut, lebanon suburb on tuesday. hamas's deputy leader saleh al-arouri was killed in a suspected israeli drone strike that also killed six other members of hamas. al-arouri was the chief of hamas's operations in the occupied west bank. he was also credited with

strengthening ties between hamas and the lebanese group hezbollah. while israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination, one prominent israeli lawmaker congratulated the mossad and shin bet on social media. an israeli army spokesperson said the military was in a "very high state of readiness in all arenas, in defense and offense." at the united nations, a spokesperson for the u.n. secretary-general urged nations to show restraint. >> because of the escalating tensions and the fragility of the situation of the region, we are calling for maximum restraint from the parties. we do not want any rash actions that could trigger further violence. amy: lebanon's prime minister najib mikati condemned the drone strike, warning that the attack "aims to draw lebanon into a new

phase of confrontations." the assassination came a day before the fourth anniversary of the u.s. assassination of the iranian general soleimani who was killed by a u.s. drone strike inside iraq under the trump administration january 3, 2020. earlier today, at least 73 people were killed in a pair of bomb blast in iran near his tomb at an event marking his death. 100 73 at least were injured in the blast, which local officials described as a terrorist act. we're joined right now by mouin rabbani, middle east analyst, co-editor of jadaliyya, and host of the connections podcast. he was previously a senior analyst for the international crisis group. his latest piece for mondoweiss is headlined "the long history of zionist proposals to ethnically cleanse the gaza strip." we are going to begin with what

has happened in lebanon and the significance of it. thank you for being with us, mouin rabbani. >> good to be with you. amy: if you can talk about the assassination of the hamas leader and what exactly this means, who a rory is -- was? >> saleh al-arouri was a west bank founder of the military wing of hamas. he spent many years and is really prisons and was then deported. most recently was living in beirut the southern suburbs, effectively under hezbollah protection. he was a key liaison between hamas and hezbollah in lebanon and also the iranian government. he is said to have been close with the political and military

leaders of hamas and the gaza strip and the architects of the hamas attacks of october 7. i think this assassination is significant in two respects. first of all, that israel has managed to assassinate the senior leader of hamas and insured against their family or to really achieve -- failure to achieve anything of significance in the gaza strip over the course of the last three months, this can be considered a significant achievement for them. although i think it's impact on hamas as an organization apart from the serious blow to their morale, i don't think there will be much consequence. the second and perhaps more important is that hezbollah has clearly identified any such act by israel on lebanese territory,

particularly in the b root, as a redline to which hezbollah will respond with significant escalation. although hezbollah is known to be very strategic in its actions and not to be impulsive in its reactions, i think our response is inevitable and the question people are asking now is whether it will respond in a way that maintains the kind of controlled escalatory ladder or whether israel's assassination has now set in motion a process that will lead to full-scale war not only between israel and lebanon, but perhaps a wider regional conflict. amy: you know about the others killed in this attack? >> seven people in all were

assassinated yesterday. in addition to saleh al-arouri, there were two commanders of a hamas military wing in addition to four other hamas cadres. it is quite clear saleh al-arouri was the key target. i think one thing that requires explanation from hamas's site is how the seven people were meeting in a hamas office in beirut at a time where it was clear saleh al-arouri was wanted not only by israel, but also by the united states, which proximally a decade ago put a price on his head. why they did not take greater precautions in terms of operational security that allowed israel this achievement and some were even describing it as a known goal by hamas at a time when it is denying israel

any significant achievement in the gaza strip. amy: what does this mean for a wider regional perhaps war? you have i think privately the u.s. has been reaching out to leadership in lebanon. this then takes place, not clear what the u.s. knowledge of this was. you have at the time of this broadcast, the head of hezbollah has not yet spoken but expected to give a major address. the significance of this attack on the killing of the -- some of the hamas leadership? >> i think what many analysts in in the region are concluding is that israel clearly would like to see greater regional escalation. and a key reason is because it knows that it will enjoy the support and eventually perhaps the participation of the united

states in that escalation. to be clear, washington has indicated to israel that one of its main priorities is to prevent precisely the kind of regional escalation that we may now be about to witness. but israel i think also understands that although it is acting in contradiction to u.s. policy preferences, it can't essentially do as it pleases because, apart from a potential slap on the wrist, there will be no consequences from either the united states or he european governments. therefore it can continue on this path. you mentioned the terrorist attack today your the grave of soleimani, the head of the quds force assassinated by the united states. ultimately, i think israel's

ideal situation would be one in which it is able to draw the united states into direct confrontation with iran. i don't think it is the likely scenario this point, but one becoming increasingly possible as we see intensify genocide not only in gaza but also these kinds of greater escalations in lebanon, the red sea, yemen, iraq, syria, now potentially elsewhere as well. i think the regional war is very much in the cards. it is by no by no means a certainty, but the confidence they have and not suffer any consequences. amy: i want to ask you about your new piece headlined "the long history of zionist proposals to ethnically cleanse the gaza strip." israeli news alice report the

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu reportedly told a group of israeli lawmakers last week "regarding voluntary immigration, this is the direction we are going in." israel's minister of national security, the man convicted of terrorism ben-gvir, has made similar comments. . >> the solution encouraging the residents to immigrate this one we must advance. it is the right, just, moral, and human solution. i call on the prime minister and the new foreign, who i congratulate on his appointment. now is the time to coordinate and immigration project, project to encourage the residents of gaza to immigrate to countries

of the world. amy: those were the words of israel's minister of national security ben-gvir. on tuesday, the u.s. state department issued a statement rejecting his comment as well as those made by smotrich. meanwhile, "the times of london" reports israeli officials have held secret talks with the democratic republic of the congo and several other countries to take in palestinians from gaza. if you can talk about the history of this? also, talk about when they referred to voluntary migration

in gaza and also talked about egypt and the pressure that is being brought to bear on egypt to open its borders to the palestinians of gaza. >> and voluntary immigration is now referencing that article you mentioned and marketed as humanitarian immigration. in other words, we doing these people a favor by ethnically cleansing them. i think the problem here is that many people associate the ethnic cleansing of palestinians with the israeli extreme right, with people like ben-gvir, symmetric, netanyahu, and so on -- symotrich, netanyahu, and others. ethnic cleansing or what

zionists would call transfer, is intrinsic to -- from the very outset. as early as 1895, the founder of the contemporary political zionist movement wrote that we need to spirit the population across the borders and find employment for it in other lands. if you go to the period between british mandate and the foundation of the state of israel in 1948, you find the zionist movement set off a transfer committee with very clear terms of reference to ensure that refugees who were expelled what not be able to return to palestine to destroy their villages and things of that sort. the gaza strip was a population that consists of more than three

quarters of palestinian refugees who were ethnically cleansed in 1948. and since the 1950's, have been a key target for depopulation by israel because it does not want all of these refugees living within sight, so to speak, of their former homes on its borders. they have tried to achieve that goal including in the 1960's to send over some 60,000 palestinians from the gaza strip to paraguay in return for which the mossad would discover it no longer had the resources to hunt nazi fugitives. my point was really to demonstrate that this is not a recent policy proposal by the extreme fringes of the israeli little spectrum, but has been

intrinsic to mainstream zionism and later israeli policy from the very outset. amy: you say at the end of your piece, mouin rabbani -- talk about netanyahu's goal to de-hamasify gaza and what exactly that means and the effect of the killing at this point, over 22,000 palestinians. >> that takes me back to the second part of your previous question, which i had neglected to answer. which is that at the outset of the current war, israel saw it

have unqualified, unconditional western support from its sponsors and resurrected this long-standing ambition to cleanse the gaza strip of palestinians. the proposal that was put front and center literally on october 7 and onwards was to move the population of the gaza strip to the sinai desert, to egypt. this was an idea that was very enthusiastically embraced by the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken. on his first trip to the region, he actually sought to market this to washington's arab allies. he is somewhat of a clueless airhead when it comes to the middle east. i think he was expecting to hear from u.s. arab allies, how can we help you help our israeli

friends? instead he was met with categorical refusal and rejection for this proposal. first and foremost, by egypt. and the u.s. and european governments later came out with the position that they would oppose forced displacement from the gaza strip, leaving open the possibility of what we're seeing now, an israeli military campaign, a primary objective of which is to make the gaza strip unfit for human habitation. and then the encouragement of voluntary or what is now even being called humanitarian emig ration in order to achieve the ethnic cleansing. i think the genocide that we are now seeing in the gaza strip -- and this is something that is going to be adjudicated by the international court of justice in the hague after south africa recently made an application

under the genocide convention. all of these things put together making the gaza strip unfit for human habitation. amy: we thank you so much for being with us, analyst of the middle east. we will link to your piece "the long history of zionist proposals to ethnically cleanse the gaza strip."