01/12/24 01/12/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> south africa purports to come to this court as a guardian of the interest of humanity. in delegitimizing israel 75 your existence in its opening presentation yesterday, that brought commitment to humanity

ring hollow. amy: israel defends itself against accusations of genocide at the international court of justice in the second take of historic hearings. we will go to the hague to speak with raji sourani, the renowned palestinian human rights attorney, whose own home was bombed in gaza. and we will speak with an israel i-jewish knesset member calling it a genocide. at first, in a move many fear could trigger a broader regional war, the u.s. and britain bomb yemen repeatedly last night. >> this escalation to the ongoing war in yemen that started in 2015, the u.s. have been bombing yemen essentially through the uae, but the causes and reasons are different but represents the same policy of escalation and resorting to bombing rather than cease-fire

and diplomacy. amy: we will get the latest. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the united states and britain have launched dozens of strikes from the air and sea targeting yemen in a move many fear could trigger a broader regional war. at least five people were killed. the strikes targeted areas in yemen controlled by houthi forces who have been attacking israeli-linked ships in the red sea to protest israel's bombardment of gaza. so far the houthis have not killed anyone aboard the ships, but the group's actions have disrupted a key global trade route. in a statement, president biden said -- "these targeted strikes are a clear message that the united states and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation." president biden is the fourth u.s. president in a row to bomb yemen.

houthi officials have vowed to retaliate and continue to target israeli-linked ships in the red sea until a ceasefire in gaza is declared. >> we say to all countries, asian countries like china and others, european countries in the west, everyone in the world, there is no problem free to pass through the red sea. the only targets exclusively our ships linked to israel. amy: the houthis, who control parts of yemen, are seen as a member of the iranian-backed axis of resistance, a loose-knit group of forces in the region that also include hamas and hezbollah. meanwhile, in washington, president biden is facing pushback from some lawmakers for bombing yemen without congressional approval. in a message on social media, congressmember rashida tlaib said the president is violating article i of the constitution. she went on to say, "the american people are tired of endless war." at the international court of

justice in the hague, israel has rejected claims by south africa that it is committing genocide against palestinians. on thursday, south africa demanded an emergency suspension of israel's aerial and ground assault on gaza, which it said was intended to bring about "the destruction of the population of the territory." earlier today in court, israel accused south africa of distorting the situation in gaza. >> if there have been asked characterized as genocidal, then they have been perpetrated against israel. if there is a concern about the obligations of states under the genocide convention, the it is in relation to their responsibilities to act against hamas's probably declared agenda of annihilation. amy: on thursday, pro-palestinian rallies were held in south africa as the icj began hearings. many south africans praised

their government for supporting the people of gaza. >> south africa is very brave to have done what it has done. i am hoping -- it works to ensure palestine come the people of palestine get the justice they deserve. amy: in more news on gaza, the ngo save the children says more than 10,000 palestinian children have been killed by israel's assault. that is 1% of the total child population in gaza. at least 1000 children have lost one or both limbs. this comes as doctors warn conditions inside gaza's remaining hospitals continue to deteriorate amid israeli attacks and dwindling supplies. >> today the area around the hospital was hit. we even started to run out of medical supplies. sadly, we have cases we can't do

anything about. we have nothing to offer. this is very sad and bad, to be honest. we hope and he said will be able to ensure the ability for the medical staff to work. amy: the intercept has obtained documents suggesting the u.s. air force sent officers to israel in november to help provide intelligence, including satellite data, to help israel pick targets to bomb in gaza. the document from november 21 references the deployment of an air defense liaison team to israel. craig mokhiber, a former u.n. official who resigned over the war in gaza, said the intercept's report is "more evidence of u.s. complicity in genocide." here in new york, donald trump's $370 million civil fraud trial wrapped up thursday with trump insulting the judge overseeing the case and accusing new york attorney general letitia james of persecuting him, saying she

should pay him for what he called a political witch hunt. as the extraordinary scene unfolded, judge arthur engoron, who had denied trump's request to deliver his own closing statement, instructed his lawyer to "control your client." attorney general james spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. >> this is our last day in our case against donald trump for persistent and repeated fraud, illegality. this case has never been about politics or personal vendetta were about name-calling. this case is about the facts and the law. and mr. donald trump violated the law. and as you know, the judge has already found he violated the law for repeated fraud over a

period of years. amy: in ohio, a grand jury has refused to indict a woman who was charged with felony abuse of a corpse after having a miscarriage at home. 34-year-old brittany watts was then treated in the hospital, where a nurse called the police after watts said she had to dispose of the contents of her miscarriage. she was criminally charged two weeks later. she had been refused abortion care prior to her miscarriage. brittany watts spoke to supporters at a rally thursday. >> i want to thank my community, warren, ohio. i was born and raised here and graduated high school here. i'm going to continue to stay here because i have to continue to fight. amy: the abortion fund for ohio said -- "we're grateful for today's decision but remain livid at the circumstances that brought us here. ohioans, especially black women,

fear for their lives and freedom during pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and abortion. it's unacceptable. we deserve so much better, and we demand it." the federal aviation administration has launched an investigation into boeing and whether the company failed to ensure its 737 max 9 planes were safe following last week's incident in which a cabin panel blew off during an alaska airlines flight, causing the cabin to depressurize. the faa has since grounded the max 9 pending inspection of the aircrafts. meanwhile, passengers from alaska airlines flight 1282 have sued boeing for injuries sustained during the ordeal. in related news, the lever is reporting republican presidential hopeful and former boeing board member nikki haley helped quash a proposal to compel boeing to be more transparent about its spending. the measure sought to uncover whether boeing's lobbying led to more lax regulations. in the wake of two major crashes

in 2018 and 2019, which killed all 346 people on board. the defense department's watchdog says the agency has failed to track some $1 billion in military equipment provided to ukraine for its fight against russia's invasion. the weapons in question include javelins, stinger missiles, night-vision devices, and one-way attack drones. this comes as the white house said thursday u.s. support to ukraine "has now ground to a halt" amid stalled negotiations over a new funding package that congressional republicans are demanding be conditioned on further militarizing the u.s.-mexico border. in taiwan, voters are preparing to cast ballots saturday in a high-stakes presidential and parliamentary election that's being closely watched by china and the united states. three candidates are in a tight race to succeed president tsai ing-wen, who is not eligible to run again after serving her two

four-year terms. the election could help decide whether taiwan continues to assert its autonomy and strengthen ties to the u.s., moves closer to china, or takes what one candidate calls a middle path. and a retrial is underway on the greek island of lesbos for 16 rescue workers who helped save the lives of refugees who crossed the mediterranean sea in 2015 and 2016. greek authorities have accused the aid workers of crimes, including espionage, in what has been slammed as the criminalization of humanitarian work. just this week, at least three migrants died after their boat sank off of lesbos. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the united states and britain launched dozens of military strikes on yemen on thursday night, raising fears of an escalation of conflict in the region. this trucks were carried out from land and sea and targeted areas controlled by the houthi rebels and left at least five

people dead. the u.s. said the strikes came in response to the houthi's attacks on ships in the red sea to protest israel's assault on gaza. president joe biden said the strikes "are a clear message that the united states and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation." calling the strikes barbaric, the houthis said the group will continue targeting ships heading towards israel and that the strikes "will not go unanswered and unpunished." at least four oil tankers have diverted course from the red sea following the overnight attack. yemen has been targeted by u.s. military action and bombings over the last four american presidencies of george w bush, barack obama, donald trump, and now joe biden. for more, we are joined by shireen al-adeimi, a yemeni-american assistant professor at michigan state university and a non-resident fellow at quincy institute. she is joining us from east lansing, michigan.

professor, thank you for being with us. can you respond to the british, u.s. attacks on yemen last night? >> thank you for having me. these attacks are not unexpected. the u.s. has resorted to violence and bombardment in the past. they have been part of the coalition that has supported -- has bombed yemen and forced an air blockade for several years, since 2015. this represents a continuation of that policy of escalation a policy of resorting to violence and bombardment rather than doing what most american people have been asking president biden to do, which is calling for a cease-fire in palestine against the people and making sure the people don't have to pay the price for the actions of hamas on october 7. instead of working with the israeli government to end what

south africans and others are calling genocide against the palestinian people, we see an escalation of hostilities in the region. amy: can you talk about what the houthis are doing in the red sea? what ships are they going after? what has this meant for trade? >> their controlling the strait, 13% of global shipping goes through. going to europe goes through this straight. they happened targeting any ships that are headed toward israel. either israeli ships or ships headed toward israel and they have been very clear about why they're doing this. they are doing this in support of palestine, and support of the people. they repeatedly have said all of these attacks toward these ships that are either israeli are going toward israel will stop once the israelis stop there war

, specifically, preventing food and medicine from entering. using a naval blockade and the red sea to prevent the blockade against the civilians. last week they announced this was also in accordance with their obligation under genocide prevention, article i which says they should have an obligation to prevent genocide. that is what the houthis have been saying. the u.s. has mobilized troops in the region to defend global shipping, essentially, and specifically the israeli economy. the coalition they put together i think is called operation prosperity guardian. more u.s. presence in the region in the last few weeks in order to protect the waters from the houthi attacks.

amy: i want to talk about the response in britain and the united states. responding to the attack, u.s. congressmember ro khanna, who represents silicon valley, california, in congress, said on social media, biden "needs to come to congress before launching a strike against the houthis in yemen and involving us in another middle east conflict. that is article i of the constitution. i will stand up for that regardless of whether a democrat or republican is in the white house. section 2c of the war powers act is clear -- potus may only introduce the u.s. into hostilities after congressional authorization or in a national emergency when the u.s. is under imminent attack. reporting is not a substitute. this is a retaliatory, offensive strike." of course potus is president of the united states. similarly, the prime minister of britain is facing opposition

questioning, demanding he come before the british parliament to explain why he did this without authorization. professor, your response? >> absolutely. there are laws that prevent u.s. presidents -- the constitution itself and the war powers active 1973 prevent presidents from launching airstrikes, launching war without congressional authority. the houthis were not attacking the u.s. they were preventing shipping toward israel. this is not a defensive war by any means. not informing congress of this is a violation of the constitution. we know biden understands this. there are tweets going around from 2021 when he was criticizing trump for having gone or potentially attacking

iran without going to congress, say no president should do this without congressional approval. this tweet you read coming from representative ro khanna is important because ro khanna come along with senator bernie sanders, led the war powers act, war powers resolution in congress in 2019 when they directed trump to end hostilities in yemeni. essentially refueling saudi planes was centered and active war the president had no authority to use without congressional approval, let alone direct u.s. strikes like we are seeing right now without congressional approval. it is not defensive, even if president biden chooses to frame it as such. this is a breach of yemeni sovereignty. multiple cities, multiple provinces were attacked last night. there are casualties. people have been killed.

we don't know how many yet. why escalate to such levels of violence when the ask was clear? work toward a cease-fire, end the suffering of the palestinian people, and u.s. interest here are commercial. this is a defensive capitalism as well. and yet to president biden resorting and rishi sunak resorting to escalation in violence instead of diplomacy and cease-fire. amy: we are showing live footage from the capital of yemen. thousands of people are rallying against the strikes. shireen al-adeimi, thank you for being with us yemeni-american , assistant professor at michigan state university. this is democracy now! today israel defended itself against accusations of genocide

at the international court of justice in the hague. in one of the biggest cases ever to come before the united nations' high court, south africa accused israel of acts of genocide against palestinians and demanded an emergency suspension of israel's aerial and ground assault on gaza. a decision on that request will probably take weeks, though the full case will likely last years. israel often boycotts international tribunals and u.n. investigations, calling them unfair and biased. but this time, the first time, they attended the hearing and sent a high level legal team to defend against the accusations of genocide. the two-day hearings at the peace palace in the hague began on thursday with south africa laying out its case against israel, saying its three month assault on gaza is being conducted with the intent to bring about the destruction of palestinians as a group. israel defended itself today against the accusations. at the hearing, israeli legal advisor tal becker criticized

south africa for accusing israel of genocide. >> the applicant has now sought to invoke this term in the context of israel's conduct in a war it did not start and did not want. a war in which israel is defending itself against hamas, palestinian jihad, and other terrorist organizations whose brutality knows no bounds. the applicant has regrettably put before the court a profoundly distorted factual and legal picture. the entirety of its case hinges on the deliberately curated, decontextualized, and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities. south africa arts to come to this court in the lofty position of a guardian of the interest of humanity.

but in delegitimizing israel's 75 year existence and its opening presentation yesterday, that brought commitment to humanity rang hollow. in a sweeping count of factual description of the israeli-palestinian conflict, it seemed to erase both jewish history and any palestinian agency of responsibility. amy: for more, we go to the hague where we are joined by raji sourani, an award-winning human rights lawyer and director of the palestinian center for human rights in gaza. he left gaza in november after his home was bombed while he, his son, and wife were in it. he is part of south africa's legal team in its genocide case against israel. we spoke to you at home before your home was bombed when islamic university was bombed

right next door. then right after your home was bombed, then when you made it to cairo, egypt, now you are standing at the hague where this historic hearing is taking place. can you talk about the significance of it? you were there in the court of justice when israel said it is not committing genocide and south africa has no right to allege that. can you respond? we hear the protest all around you. hundreds of pro-palestinian marchers there. go ahead. >> hello, amy? do you hear me? amy: we hear you perfectly. >> a few days after the israeli attack on gaza -- hello? hello? amy: we hear you perfectly.

just speak. we're going to go to a break and then we will come back. we are talking to raji sourani, well-known human rights lawyer, won the rfk human rights prize is ago. we will come back to him standing outside the hague where hundreds of pro-palestinian supporters are holding up palestinian flags. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "aden said" by the democratic yemen youth union band. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. an historic trial or rather hearing is taking place at the international court of justice in the hague. i want to turn to another clip of the israeli legal advisor tal becker who talked about the october 7 attack by hamas saint israel had a right to defend itself. >> first, there have been acts that may have been characterized as genocidal, then they have been perpetrated against israel. if there is a concern about the obligations of states under the genocide convention, didn't it is in relation to their responsibilities to act against hamas's proudly declared agenda of annihilation, which is not a secret and is not in doubt.

astonishingly, the court has been requested to indicate a provisional measure: not israel to suspend its military operations. at this amounts to an attempt to deny israel its ability to meet its obligations to the defense of its citizens, to the hostages, and to over 110,000 internally displaced israelis unable to safely return to their homes. madam president, members of the court, the hostilities between israel and hamas have exacted a terrible toll on both israelis and palestinians. but any genuine effort to understand the cause of this toll must take account of horrendous reality created by hamas within the gaza strip. madam president, members of the

court, the nightmarish environment created by hamas has been concealed by the applicant but it is the environment in which israel is compelled to operate. israel is committed, as it must be, to comply with the law but it does so in the face of hamas 's utter contempt of the law. it is committed, as it must be, to mistreat humanity but it does so in the face of hamas's utter inhumanity. it is respectfully submitted that the application and request should be dismissed for what they are, a libel design to deny israel the right to defend itself according to the law from the unprecedented terrorist onslaught it continues to face and to free the 136 hostages hamas still holds.

amy: we're joined now at the hague by diala shamas, senior staff attorney at the center for constitutional rights. in november, ccr sued president biden, accusing him of failing to prevent genocide. thank you so much for being with us. i know it is very noisy outside. there is a major pro-palestinian rally outside the international court of justice. this is historic, with yesterday south africa accusing genocide and today israel defended itself. can you talk about their major arguments saying this is an existential battle, there simply engaging in self-defense? >> thank you for having me. it really is a historical moment. i would prefer to have started

with yesterday's argument and just the significance of what we heard yesterday and what we saw yesterday and what all of these people that are here now even over an hour after the hearing concluded, still chanting and protesting and thanking south africa. the significance that south africa brought this petition and started at the outset of the hearing yesterday, reminding the world and the court the context is 75 years of apartheid. we all know south africa and south african people have emerged from horrific battle against apartheid. they know what abandonment i the international committee looks like and feels like. it is in that spirit that they have come to this court and also very clear in their statement that they have come to the court out of their legal and moral

obligation. but their legal obligation to do something to prevent the unfolding genocide against the palestinian people. today we heard predictable arguments in response. nothing that we have not already heard over the set the last three months. in many ways, what we have heard from the israeli legal wing for the last 20 years, leaning heavily on self-defense -- although, south africa, clearly yesterday and then today in a brief statement on the steps here in front of me, reminded the world that self-defense is never a justification for genocide or any atrocity, really. the other arguments we heard a lot of, more sort of factual disputes and gas lighting and

cherry picking and a lot of complaints that everything is sort of one-sided. the two other main legal arguments they leverage were essentially, first, the court should not have jurisdiction in the first place. that south africa had not followed the proper procedures, had not followed appropriate protocols to be in the court in the first place. and the second is that south africa -- the relief south africa is seeking, the provisional measures are not something the court is essentially permitted to grant, citing various arguments to make that point. you can't be here and then you can't do anything about it. in the middle, everything we do is self-defense. deflection. never at any point addressing the incredibly powerful argument

laid out yesterday at a hearing for three hours by the south african legal team, really compelling factual and legal argument on intent, laying out the litany of statements by israeli officials in the highest level of government all the way down to the foot holders showing an environment, showing intent to commit genocide in gaza. and everything else that was laid out. so it was -- to sit and listen to the arguments today after yesterday where, frankly, for the first time in the last three months, we have been able to hear from beginning to end uninterrupted compelling case of what we have all seen play out over the course of the last three months. the south africa team noted we

have been watching this atrocities on our phones, we have seen palestinians broadcast their killing and the genocidal acts. and the south african legal team put that out to the world. amy: i want to turn to another clip from today's hearing. this is the deputy attorney general of israel calling on the court to dismiss the charges. >> this case concerns a large scale of conflict with tragic consequences for civilians on both sides. yes, there is a heart-wrenching armed conflict with the attempt to classify it as genocide and trigger provisional measures is not just following law, it has far-reaching and negative implications that extend well beyond the case before you. ultimately, entertaining the

applicant's request would not strengthen the commitment to prevent genocide but we can it. -- weaken it. it will turn into instrument to prevent horrors of the kind that struck the conscious of humanity during the holocaust into a weapon in the hands of terrorist groups who have no regard for humanity or for the law. for us, provisional measures would lead to a perverse situation. it would effectively allow hamas to continue attacking the citizens of israel, to hold 136 hostages in unbearable conditions, to keep tens of thousands of displaced israelis from returning to their homes, and essentially promote its plan to massacre as many israelis and jews as it can. amy: diala shamas, you are standing outside the hate.

you watch this argument inside the hague. your response? >> i can't hear you. amy: i am asking for your response as you sat inside the hague come inside international court of justice -- your response to the arguments of israel? >> yes, again, everything we expected, there were no new arguments raised by the israeli legal team. essentially, it amounted to them telling the court, "trust us. don't believe what we have been telling the world, what we have been putting out in all of our

statements, the statements that have circulated with genocidal intent just saying we want to wipe out the population of gaza, making comparisons." they just think, "we were not serious gthere, just trust us that we are democracy with the rule of law, this is something -- this is a public image the israeli government has done a lot of work to cultivate over decades. they do everything by the book. just don't look at the evidence. don't look at everything the south african layout lately yesterday. don't look at everything the world has been seeing and just trust us that we have procedures we are following here and we are doing our best."

plenty of concerns -- it is hard to pick up where to start picking. they view concerning statements -- a few concerning statements about civilians, essentially, making an argument that civilians have become targets because the legal team repeatedly stated over the course of their arguments that, you know, it is because hamas operating in gaza and israel has to do it and it includes the targeting of civilians. again, fundamentally, the claim brought by south africa here is the claim of genocide. there is simply no argument that self-defense is a justification for a genocide. the south african team has laid out the argument showing intent and also the underlying act.

everything else is essentially a distraction. amy: the biden administration is due in federal court later this month while israel faces charges of genocide at the hague yesterday and today. in a case you are working on with ccr, you're taking it right to president biden. explain the theory of your case and what exactly you expect to happen. is there any connection between that case and the u.s. federal court and what we're seeing right now at the u.n.'s highest court, the world court? >> i could not hear the full question but i think you're asking about the case at the center for constitutional rights brought against president biden,

secretary of state blinken, and secretary of defense austin and california federal court raising failure in their duty to prevent genocide and complicity in genocide argument. that case has a hearing coming up on january 26 where our team will be standing up in court arguing for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to order the end of military assistance and other forms of assistance to israel in light of the unfolding genocide. the relationship is, you know, having to stand up in court having to defend that after this hearing and possibly also after the icj has issued preliminary measures is going to put this administration in -- i think it

will be one of the first tests we will have of how the u.s. government is responding to the icj decision and the arguments raised here and arguments that we are also raising in the u.s. case. i think we are all going to be looking to how the world responds to any preliminary measures issued by the court of justice. as a south african attorney yesterday said, this is ultimately a test of the very legitimacy of international law and international legal order. if we can't stop and unfolding genocide, then what is in you have it for? she made a compelling closing argument citing to a palestinian who spoke his christmas sermon,

asking the world, what will you say where you were when the genocide was unfolding? whether it is icj or the federal court in the united states, we're to government to do whatever they can to hold the duty to prevent and unfolding genocide. and having our case in the u.s. is incredibly important because the u.s. is the biggest supporter of israel. there has been investigative reporting showing how much military aid, military support -- indispensable to israel's war on gaza. yet we have also seen repeated statements of unconditional support from the u.s. administration to the israeli government despite three months of daily attacks on civilians

showing an intent to destroy the civilian population of gaza in whole or in part. the palestinian population. amy: i what i thank you, diala shamas, senior staff attorney at the center for constitutional rights. in november, ccr sued president biden, tony blinken, accusing them of failing to prevent genocide. for those who missed yesterday's show it was just after south africa made its case at the international court of justice, we wanted to bring you south africa lawyer who hopes to lay out the case at the hague. >> for the past 96 days, israel has subjected gaza to what has been described as one of the heaviest conventional bombing campaigns in the history of modern warfare.

palestinians in gaza are being killed by israeli weaponry and bombs from air, land, and see. they are also at immediate risk of death by starvation, dehydration, and disease as a result of the ongoing siege by israel, the destruction of palestinian towns, the insufficient aid being allowed through to the palestinian population, and the impossibility of just riveting this limited aid while bombs fall. this conduct renders essentials to life unattainable. and because is south african lawyer -- amy: that is a south african lawyer yesterday speaking before the international court of justice, laying out south africa's case against israel saying it is

engaged in genocide in gaza. to see excerpts of yesterday, you can go to democracynow.org. when we come back, we will speak with an israeli jewish knesset member who is facing expulsion first saying what israel is doing and gaza is genocide. back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: "al mina" by haneen alajleh. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we continue to bring you response to the two days of the international court of justice, the historic hearing. yesterday, south africa presented its case against israel saying what it has engaged in an gaza is genocide. today, israel defended itself and said there simply engaging in self-defense. we're going to turn right now to the minister of justice and

correctional services of south africa. he is part of the south african legal delegation. he responded to what israel said. >> the state of israel today has failed to disprove south africa that was presented before the court yesterday. we stand by the fact, the law, and all evidence that was submitted yesterday. we believe in state with confidence that those facts come the law, are in violation of the genocide convention. under the genocide convention, nothing justifies genocidal acts currently be committed by israel . self-defense is not an answer to genocide. nothing can ever justify genocide. there is no balancing exercise israel suggests.

it is the rule of law. no matter what someone may have done, no matter how great the threat to israel might be, genocidal attacks on the whole of gaza and the population with the intent of destroying the cannot be justified at all. amy: that was the minister of justice of south africa speaking outside the hague. we end today's show with an israeli lawmaker who is backing south africa's genocide case against israel even as he faces expulsion. -- expulsion from the israeli knesset. the israeli newspaper haaretz is reporting 70 lawmakers in the knesset have signed a motion to expel ofer cassif from the legislative body after he signed a petition supporting case against israel at the international court of justice. ofer cassif is a jewish lawmaker

for the arab-jewish hadash-ta'al coalition. he denounced the move to expel him, pointing out that no action has been taken against lawmakers who have called for the complete destruction of gaza or backed the removal of all palestinians from gaza. he has also been critical of the potential criminal negligence of the israeli government on october 7. ofer cassif, welcome back to democracy now! thank you for joining us from jerusalem. can you talk about what is happening to you in the israeli knesset where you serve? >> thank you for having me. it is important for me to emphasize i'm not against israel, because the government of israel. the government of israel is the most dangerous to the israeli society and the israelis. my signature in support of this south african appeal to the icj

is not against the israelis, it is against the israeli government. 85 members of the knesset signed. allow me just briefly to explain the importance of the expulsion from the knesset. it is based on a law in 2016, which is an undemocratic law because it allows the majority to persecute and suppress not only the freedom of speech but the very existence of a member of the knesset such that belongs to the minority -- impeachment goes as follows. 70 members of the knesset out of 122 signed a motion, request to

expel a member of the knesset. then if there is that number, if that number is achieved, it goes to the knesset committee in which 75% of the members are needed to vote for the impeachment in order to go forward to the assembly. once a goes to the assembly, 90 out of 120 votes, members of the knesset after 14 days is expelled with the option to appeal to the supreme court. we are now between the second stage. 85 signatures are collected. in the coming week, the week after, next monday january 22, about to face the knesset committee toward my impeachment. amy: talk about their arguments. what some have said your support for the south africa case and directly aligns with goals of hamas and the attack on october

7. there were allegations by the israeli members in the hague today that south africa is serving as the political wing of hamas. your response to all of this and what it means to you to talk as a jewish member, israeli member of knesset, being critical of the israeli government and what they're doing right now and gaza, calling it a genocide? >> i'm very proud of my views and beliefs and by friends' views and beliefs. we're the only ones who totally reject -- accusing us in supporting the terrible carnage committed by hamas october 7 is not only a sheer lie, it is also incitement . they know perfectly well, i personally and my colleagues,

published time and again in the last 100 days, the massacre committed by hamas took place we published everywhere -- i think they sent it to you also -- that we are totally against, totally condemn the terrible crime against humanity and war crime come this massacre in the atrocities committed by a mass. we are totally against it. accusing me of supporting it, this is sheer incitement. nothing to do with reality. but they what to silent size. they want me and my friends to shut up. they don't want us to raise our voice against any kind of violence because as i said many times, as someone who objects and opposes the israeli occupation in siege against the palestinian people, we said, i

said explicitly, even we could not the massacre committed by hamas. the criminal massacre by hamas cannot justify the massacre and assault of israel on gaza in which 30,000 people are already killed and more than 70% are innocent civilians, and allow 10,000 children -- around 10,000 children. support investigation -- bear in mind, the petition i signed on -- it does that we deserve an investigation. the government of israel, one where another, branches of the

government, cannot -- it doesn't make any sense. that is one of the main things in supporting south africa, to investigate. on top of that, with an against the war from the beginning because we are against bloodshed. we know the terrible assault on gaza, in part being criminal and deadly come it won't bring security to no one, especially to the israelis. we want to bloodshed to stop. we want the war to end the sake of lives. not only -- dozens of palestinians are killed. israeli soldiers are killed.

the hostages are at risk. the government has a duty thing. amy: we have to leave it there because our show is ending. ofer cassif, push member of the israeli knesset, facing expulsion. i deeply fond farewell to our video fellow.