01/22/24 01/22/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> reaching another staggering milestone in gaza. nearly 35,000 people reported killed according to the gaza ministry of health. 70% of them, women and children. another 61,000 at least have been injured. several thousands more are under

the rubble. many, presumed dead. amy: as israel continues to pound gaza, not yahoo! is facing more pressure to bring home the remaining 130 hostages -- netanyahu is facing more pressure to bring home remaining 130 hostages. we will speak with mosab abu toha about conditions including for his brother's wife who is about to give birth. did israelism about the relationship between u.s. jews in the state of israel and their disillusionment as it begins to question israel's occupation. >> what we have been told is the only way that jews can be safe is if palestinians are not say. the more i learned about that, the more i came to see that as a lie. >> and the jewish community, there has been a striking change. >> they are angry about the way they were indoctrinated,

justifiably so. amy: we will speak to the director of the film and one of the american jews featured in the film as they head out on tour with 40 new screening dates around the country. we will look at the state of the republican as the gop presidential primary in new hampshire becomes a two-person race. >> i am suspending my campaign. i am proud to have delivered on whatever percent of my promises and i will not stop now. it is clear to be a majority of republican primary voters want to give donald trump another chance. amy: ron desantis has dropped out. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in gaza, the death toll from israel's 15-week war has topped 20 5000 with at least 190

killed in the last 24 hours. there are reports israel is blowing up entire neighborhoods in the besieged city of khan younis where israel has targeted hospitals, ambulances, and schools. palestinian families in khan younis are burying loved ones inside the nasser hospital complex. >> currently, dead bodies are being buried here inside the complex. it is difficult to leave the complex and go to any cemetery to bury them because we are under siege. anyone who leaves is targeted. last night was horrifying. the shelling would not stop or even one minute. buildings would shake with us inside, shrapnel would fall on as. amy: in more news from gaza, "the wall street journal" is reporting the united states, qatar, and egypt are pushing israel and hamas to take part in what the paper describes as a phased diplomatic process involving the release of hostages held in gaza and the eventual withdrawal of israeli forces. after the report was published, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he rejects the

proposal because it calls for the war to end. over the weekend, he reiterated his opposition to the formation of an independent palestinian state. a two state solution. despite pressure from the united states to support one. this all comes as netanyahu faces more domestic pressure to bring home the remaining 130 hostages held in gaza. earlier today, the israeli knesset session was suspended after families of hostages disrupted a committee meeting demanding lawmakers do more to free their loved ones. protesters also blocked entrances to the knesset. on saturday, friends and relatives of israeli hostages protested in tel aviv. this is macabit mayea, her nephews ziv and gali berman are still being held in gaza. >> stop the war. take them out. save them, after a while, there

is no victory without them out. no victory. nothing. amy: on saturday, hundreds of israelis and palestinians living in israel came together to take part in an antiwar rally in the third largest in israel. in the occupied west bank a 17-year-old palestinian-american named tawfiq ajaq was fatally shot in the head on friday. according to the group defense of children international, ajaq was killed when an israeli settler and soldiers opened fire on him in ramallah. he grew up in louisiana near new orleans. he moved to the west bank last year with his family. ajaq is at least the 93rd palestinian child killed in the occupied west bank since the attack on october 7. on saturday, tawfiq ajaq's father spoke to reporters at his son's funeral. >>, here and see for your own eyes what kind of life we are

living. what is the pressure. the women and kids and how many fathers and mothers have to say goodbye to their children. how many more? amy: israel carried out airstrikes on syria and lebanon over the weekend. israel blew up a building in damascus, syria, killing five advisors from iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps. in a separate attack, an israeli drone struck a car near the lebanese border. four people reportedly died including a member of hezbollah. hours after israel bombed damascus, iranian-backed militants in iraq fired missiles at an airbase housing u.s. forces. u.s. central command reports a number of u.s. personnel are being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries. on friday, the united states bombed houthi targets in yemen for at least the sixth time over the past 10 days. this comes as houthi forces

continue to target commercial ships in the red sea and gulf of aden as part of a campaign to pressure israel to halt its assault on gaza. florida governor ron desantis has dropped out of the presidential race less than a week after he lost to donald trump by a record 30 percentage points in the iowa caucus. in a video released on sunday, desantis said he would endorse trump. >> he has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of purple to some. amy: with desantis out, the republican race has essentially become a two-person contest between trump and nikki haley, the former south carolina governor who served as trump's u.n. ambassador. over the weekend, haley campaigned in new hampshire ahead of tuesday's primary. she questioned trump's mental fitness after he repeatedly confused her with former house speaker nancy pelosi.

joe biden is now running an online ad questioning trump's mental capabilities featuring haley's comments. >> last night trump is at a rally. >> nikki haley. nikki haley. nikki haley. >> he is going on and on mentioning me multiple times. >> nikki haley is in charge of security. we offered her 10,000 people. they don't want to talk about that. >> i wasn't in office than. they say he got confused. he got confused and said he was running against obama. he never ran against obama. >> we didn't with obama. we won an election that everyone said we couldn't. president obama doesn't want to talk about it. >>, president biden. >> i am joe biden and i approve this message. amy: president trump also said joe biden will bring us into world war ii. we will have more on the republican race later in the

program. in news on the war in ukraine, at least 27 people have died in the russian-occupied city of donetsk when a crowded market was hit by a barrage of artillery shells. local authorities blamed ukraine for the attack which ukraine has denied. on friday, a ukrainian drone attacked an oil storage depot inside western russia resulting in a major fire. the russian facility held about 1.6 million gallons of oil. in germany, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets over the weekend in nationwide protests against the rise of the far right. the protests came days after a german news outlet reported members of the far right alternative for germany, or afd party, recently took part in a meeting where a plan was discussed to mass deport immigrants and "non-assimilated citizens." german protesters decried the growing rise of the far right. >> it is particularly important

to me because i for feeling the same thing is happening again as happen with the nazis back then. the whole ship to the right is being normalized. people would rather work with the right than the left. we are here. we are many and we are against it. amy: indian prime minister narendra modi has inaugurated the controversial ram temple, a massive hindu temple built on the ruins of a historic mosque in the northern town of ayodhya. the site was previously home to the centuries-old babri mosque, which was razed to the ground in 1992 by a hindu mob, triggering the most deadly religious riots since indian independence. over 2000 people were killed, most of them muslims. the opening of the new temple is seen as an unofficial kick-off for modi's re-election campaign for a third term and a triumph for his hindu nationalist agenda. here in new york, a three-month-old migrant girl has died after suffering a cardiac arrest. she was staying at a migrant

shelter with her family in queens. this comes amid an ongoing housing crisis for migrants, many of whom have been left scrambling for a safe place to live after new york mayor eric adams imposed a 60-day limit for families to stay in shelters. the limit is just 30 days for single men. in brooklyn, around 2000 migrants staying at the floyd bennett field tent facility, many of them children, have been facing below-freezing temperatures for days. democracy now! was there this weekend and spoke with fabiola mendieta-cuapio, a brooklyn resident and immigrant justice activist who has been organizing to help provide immigrants with essential needs and resources. >> we have been receiving complaints about people getting sick because of colds. they have heat inside but still, the area is cold, isolated. most of the people in the tents

are new arrivals. i don't think it is fair that they're going to get kicked out and make them go to the intake center again and reapply and wait outside in the cold. we are talking about families with kids. i think they should reconsider about the 60 day rule, especially for families with small kids. amy: 90 deaths have been recorded over the past week as winter storms pounded vast swaths of the country. tens of thousands of homes lost power over the weekend in oregon and other states. in tennessee, a boil water notice was issued to all memphis area residents after water mains froze and broke. a federal judge in new york has ordered the release of james cromitie who has spent the last 15 years in prison after being entrapped in a government-orchestrated bombing plot. he is the fourth and final member of the so-called newburgh 4 to be ordered released. the men, who were all black and

muslim converts, were sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2010 after being convicted on terrorism charges. judge colleen mcmahon criticized the fbi sting operation saying the men "would not have, and could not have, devised" the crime they were accused of. visit democracynow.org to see all of our coverage of the newburgh 4. president biden on friday canceled nearly $5 billion in student loan debt for 74,000 people. it's the latest effort by the administration to provide much needed relief to borrowers after the supreme court last year threw out biden's plan to erase over $400 billion in debt for millions of people. the latest move will benefit teachers, nurses, firefighters and other public service workers, among others. and in park city, utah, filmmakers and community members have organized vigils and protests to coincide with the sundance film festival, which is celebrating its 40th edition this year. an international coalition of filmmakers organized under the

banner film workers for palestine is calling for a gaza ceasefire, an end to israel's occupation of palestine, and an end to u.s. military support for israel. over 700 film workers have signed onto the group's mission, including the american actor susan sarandon, british mike leigh, ken loach, and many others. roughly 200 people rallied in the busy main street sunday, shutting down traffic, demanding a cease-fire. meanwhile, the group reports sundance officials have been directing filmmakers not to publicly raise the topic of palestine. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in gaza, where the death toll from israel's 15-week war has topped 25,000.

there are reports israel is blowing up entire neighborhoods of the besieged city of khan younis. al jazeera reports israel has targeted hospitals, ambulances, and schools in the city where thousands of civilians are sheltering. meanwhile, "the wall street journal" reports the united states, qatar, and egypt are pushing israel and hamas to take part in what the paper describes as a phased diplomatic process involving the release of hostages held in gaza and the eventual withdrawal of israeli forces from gaza. after the report was published, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he rejects the proposal because it calls for the war to end. on thursday, netanyahu publicly rejected calls by the biden administration for the future establishment of a palestinian state and called for israel to be in control of the region from the river to the sea. >> i clarified that in any arrangement in the foreseeable future, within a court or

without an accord, the state of israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the jordan river. this is a necessary condition. it clashes with the principle of sovereignty. what can you do? i tell this truth to our american friends and i also stopped the attempt to impose a reality on us that would harm israel's security. a prime minister in israel should be able to say no, even to our best friends. say no when yeses very and yes when possible. -- say no when necessary and yes when possible. amy: this comes as netanyahu is facing more domestic pressure to bring home the remaining 130 hostages held in gaza. earlier today, the israeli knesset session was suspended after families of hostages disrupted a committee meeting demanding lawmakers do more to free their loved ones. protesters also blocked entrances to the knesset. for more, we're joined in cairo, egypt, by mosab abu toha, a palestinian poet and author who was detained by israeli authorities as he and his family fled gaza.

he wrote about his experience in a "new yorker" article last month headlined "a palestinian poet's perilous journey out of gaza." he is a columnist, teacher, and founder of the edward said library in gaza. also the author of the award-winning book titled "things you may find hidden in my ear: poems from gaza." welcome back to democracy now! we talked to you just after you made it out of gaza following some of your family members. you had been detained. can you describe that journey and the family members that are still left in gaza, particularly your brother's wife who is about to give birth? >> thank you for having me and thank you for the continued coverage of what is taking place in gaza.

i was on the show a few weeks ago and i describe the horrific things i went through. yesterday i watched the video of an israeli soldier stripping naked civilians and were beating them in the face, in their stomachs. they are outside in the open in the cold weather. i am surprised because when some media outlets communicated with the israeli army about my case, they said, well, we deny everything he says. it is truly interrogated him but we did not attack them. but we can see now on social media the merciless treatment of palestinians by israeli soldiers. everything is army is doing is inhumane, it is against whatever a child can think of doing -- even a child cannot to anything like that.

yesterday, my wife told me my son, every time he is going to sleep, he starts to weep and sob and cry out loud sometimes. he asks about his friends in gaza. are they eating well? do they have water? what about his grandparents? his cousins? what is going on now in gaza is really unprecedented. i can't think of another case in history where everything is taking place live. and the world leaders are supporting israel with whatever they can. i was released, thankfully, after a lot of friends and media outlets brought about my case. but there are so hundreds and hundreds of innocent people who are still under israeli key city -- custody who are being stripped naked, beaten in the face drunk outside in the cold.

my parents and my siblings are still in gaza. my parents had three of my siblings and their children are in north gaza, a place where there are only six ambulances for more than 500,000 palestinians. they are running out of food, running out of water. yesterday, my brother sent me a voice message from his phone there is no bread for the children, no medicine -- not to mention there is no medicine for people with chronic diseases. we have been telling the whole world about this on social media , on tv, and no one is listening. israelis are accusing egypt of closing the border with gaza. but this is a big lie. from day one, israel bombed the rafah crossing with egypt. they are bombing the aid trucks

and not allowing the unwra commission general from going to north gaza. this is a highly efficient person and he is not allowed to go to gaza because they are saying hamas is stealing the aid from the people. let the international staff go into north gaza and see what is happening. why are you looking away between the northern part of the southern part? from day one, israel asked people of northern gaza to go south. now there continuing to bomb the southern part of the gaza strip. so nowhere is safe whether it is north or south gaza. yesterday i posted something on social media and someone -- i don't know what kind of people they are -- they said, why is your brother still in north gaza? you mean, if you left north gaza he would live in peace in south gaza?

my friends and neighbors and wife's family are starving. where do we go? amy: can you talk about the telecommunications blackout that went on for something like eight days and what that means for someone like her sister-in-law when it comes to giving birth? >> israel was cruel enough not only to cut off water and food from the people in gaza, but they also cut electricity, cut off internet connections, cut off mobile services and landline services. so this is not about me calling my brother, "hi, how are you?" it is even when someone is been bombed and many people -- many people are under the rubble and they sometimes send messages from their phone.

the only way they can communicate with the outside world is using a sim card, a network outside. they will send messages, can someone call the red cross? it is not only about disconnecting us from each other, but also when someone is wounded, thrown in the streets, and they try to reach out to an ambulance, there's no way they can do that. i don't know what kind of cruelty leads someone to cut water, food, cut connections, also to cut their lives. they are ending the lives of everyone in gaza. amy: mosab abu toha -- >> now my brothers wife is pregnant. amy: would issue expected to give birth?

she is in jabalia refugee camp? >> yes. she was staying at an unwra school where they have three other children but because the schools are very crowded and there is no water, no toilets, sometimes they go back and forth between the family house and the school in the refugee camp. by the way, our house was bombed in october, october 28. we were lucky because we were not there. no one was harmed. but still, they are under threat of being killed any moment. not only by the israeli airstrikes, but also my brothers wife is now pregnant and there's no guarantee she will give birth like other mothers give birth to their children. there is no cleanliness. there are no close for the

newborn. there's no formula, milk that is needed. no medicine for the mother if she needs any treatment. many people are saying because of the bombs, but also because there's not any sign of good life there. amy: i want to ask you mosab abu toha, about the significance of massive protests around the world. in the united states, particularly led by the jewish community, what that means to you. and also south africa bringing this case against israel, charging it with genocide, to the international court of justice. >> >> i was invited to read at an event. the south africa attempt to prove israel's genocidal attempts to kill as many gazans. so we have african people live

under the apartheid system and we have jews who were killed during the holocaust in europe, uniting together to stop this massacre. so that we share the same suffering as gazans, but unfortunately, this suffering is brought to us by other people now in israel who are bringing this cycle of violence to us. and not for your to come it is been happening even before the nakba 1948. this tells us it doesn't -- you don't have to be a muslim or arab or male or female, it is enough for you to be a human to sympathize and call for a cease-fire and stand for your fellow man beings.

i hope we can hear similar pleas and we can see other attempts -- not by the free people of the world but if there are any free leader of the world who can step up and say out loud to stop the massacre come the nonstop massacre of the palestinian people and call for a just solution. amy: mosab, we spoke to you right before roth alareer was killed in an airstrike in gaza, the renowned palestinian poet. i know he was a close friend of yours. i was wondering if you could share your remembrance of him, talk about his significance and how he died.

>> first of all, his death is not a unique one. there are many other wonderful and lovely people who were killed the same way. by the way, many people don't know this, but refaat's body is still under the rubble of the house that was bombed. i want everyone to imagine that your brother, father, your neighbor was not only killed, but his body is still under the rubble and the body is starting to decay. i don't know what remains of him, but this breaks my heart. i would like to remember refaat as someone always ready to listen. he liked to read some of shakespeare's sonnet, john done's poems.

loved to go to strawberry farms and pick strawberries and to play fun games. he is someone who did not want to die. in his poem "if i must die," he said, "let it be a hope." it is very sympathetic and very beautiful to see that many people around the world are reading his poem. i'm sure that refaat is outside now saying -- his body is still under the rubble, but he is watching the clouds are flying in the sky their free world. i believe his only hope right now is that the sky will fly over gaza to protect the children and mother and father

and everyone in gaza from the israeli airstrikes. amy: i want to end by asking about what you are calling for. "the wall street journal" is reporting the u.s., qatar, and egypt are pushing israel and hamas to take part in the release of hostages and the eventual withdrawal of israeli forces. the following the report, netanyahu says he rejects the proposal because it calls for the war to end. your response? >> i don't think any cease-fire is going to be signed between hamas and israel is going to end of palestinian suffering. i don't think there will be peace. what we should call for is a just solution to the palestinian case. it's not only about the hostages or even the children who are

being kidnapped. because if there is no peace, not realistic peace, if peace is not been reached, i think we will unfortunately witness more and more of the killing of innocent people everywhere. what i call for is a cease-fire because we want to save as many children and family members as possible. if they can impose a cease-fire right now, at least get some food and water and some sanitary pads to the mothers and everyone in north gaza at least. i don't know what makes this world powerless in front of israel. amy: mosab abu toha, thank you for being with us palestinian , poet and author detained by israeli authorities as he and his family fled gaza. columnist, teacher, and founder acolumnist, teacher, and founder of the edward said library in gaza. author of the award-winning book

"things you may find hidden in my ear: poems from gaza." we will also link to his pieces in "the new yorker" magazine. next up, we speak with one of the directors a people featured in " israelism" about the relationship between u.s. jews and the state of israel. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. six students have sued harvard, accusing it of becoming "a bastion of rampant anti-jewish hatred and harassment." tolerating harassment and termination against your student since october 7. islamophobia has also soared nationwide but there's been a broader effort to restrict pro-palestinian speech on college and university campuses and to conflate anti-semitism with criticism of israel's occupation and demands for an immediate ceasefire in gaza.

the former harvard president claudine gay was forced to resign earlier this month, just weeks after the university of pennsylvania president liz magill step down in the wake of congressional hearing on anti-semitism where they were grilled by lawmakers, including the far right new york congressmember elise stefanik. the lawsuit against harvard was filed by two law firms, including the new york-based kasowitz benson torres, which filed similar lawsuits against new york university and the university of pennsylvania. the firm also has ties to the trump administration. the law food -- the lawsuit refers to harvard's campus in support of palestinians, describing demonstrators as "mobs of pro-hamas students and faculty." it singles out a screening at harvard divinity school last september of the new documentary "israelism." in a minute, we will speak with one of the films directors and

one of the main subjects. this is the film's trailer. >> some american jews will come here same would left from palestine. >> the non-jewish community does not understand our obsession with israel. >> i went to a jewish state school. >> summer camp, organized trips to israel. >> israeli soldiers are hot, awesome, strong. >> quite a few of our former students joined the idf. these are kids. 18, 19-year-old. >> i told my parents i don't need to apply to college. i'm going to join the israeli military. >> 10% of my graduating class joined the israeli military. >> i don't think i realize the extent to which i would come to see on the ground would really

shocked me and horrify me. when people look at the west bank and say this is an apartheid system, it is not just throwing out words. >> palestinians living day in and out without experiencing a day of freedom. >> what now democracy looks like. >> we have been told the only way that jews can be safe is if palestinians are not safe. the more i learned about that, the more i came to see that as a lie. >> there's been a striking change in the jewish community. >> they are angry about the way they were indoctrinated. justifiably so. >> we talk about we are losing the kids, we have lost them. i think there super naïve. >> you are a self-loathing jew, kill yourself. >> it is about protecting

israel. how dangerous is that? anything to preserve unconditional support for israel. >> the irony, there is a resurgence in anti-semitism. history is not going to judge us kindly. amy: that is the trailer for the documentary "israelism." for more, we're joined by erin axelman, codirector of the film. the film is now on 40-city screening tour in canada and the united states. in new york, we're joined by simone zimmerman jewish american , activist and co-founder of ifnotnow. why did you make this film? >> this is based on my story. it is based on my story of young american jews money can idealize and sanitized version of israeli history.

upon coming into contact with palestinians the narrative has a rude awakening on the oppression of the palestinians. upon learning about the nakba as a young person, i wanted to do whatever i could to help change my own jewish community as well as end the repression of the palestinian people. i began to realize my own story was part of a much larger generational change as hundreds of thousands of young american jews began to realize living out to our best of ability, we must fight for freedom and polity of palestinians while also fighting against anti-semitism. amy: talked about the organization to chronicle that you sort of depict in this film. those that are challenging the state of israel and those that are supporting it, that the other groups are taking on. >> we -- simone is the main

character. we try to tell generational story and my own story through simone in many ways only chronicle a variety of jewish groups, including if not now, jewish voice for peace, many others. on the right we document a lot of pro-israel groups. the former head of the -- we talk about other groups that have tried to keep the status quo unconditional support for israel alive. amy: let's bring simone zimmerman into this conversation. tell us about your upbringing. talk about your allegiance to the state of israel, how it was instilled with you, and then talk about your transformation. >> absolutely. i grew up in a jewish community where the holocaust was a formative part of my upbringing and i saw defending the state of israel as a core part of what it

meant to keep the jewish people safe. so much so when i met anti-zionist jews, anti-zionist israelis, people who are fighting apartheid when i was a college student at uc berkeley, i could not believe those people existed. they were an anomaly to me. the more i met those students and, more importantly, met palestinian students, learned about their lives, about what it means from the moment you were born to live under a system that deems you lesser, less worthy, that you have to live under occupation and dispossession just because of who you are and where you were born, i very quickly ran out answers that felt moral and logical to me to answer the hard questions i was hearing from the students about how i could justify the oppression they live under. amy: i want to go to that moment at uc berkeley, or graduate of the university of california

berkeley, a clip from "israelism," which features a clip in when the student senate 2010 failed to override a veto of a bill calling on campus officials to divest from companies that supply weapons that israel uses in its occupation of the palestinian territories. >> i knew it was this god thing i had to fight. >> antisemitism. >> you're trying to maybe feel marginalized on my own campus. >> remember us going, well, should not boycott israel because it is applying a double standard and because it is unfair to single out israel. >> police, i beg of you, i beg, please, have compassion and remember we are alienating students. i am a human being. >> i remember you have these palestinian students who said,

jewish students, you are crying about feeling silent and marginalized. my and send cousins did not sleep for weeks while bombs were falling overhead. what do you say about that? >> where do we begin to describe the hostility of a military occupation. amy: simone zimmerman, if you can talk about that moment at uc berkeley, what exactly was happening and how you decided to explore further the kind of questioning that actually also came out of your jewish education. >> absolutely. first, i what to say it is striking to have this conversation right now as the israeli military has destroyed all of the universities and gaza right now. i remember in that campus debate the way this narrative about

jewish students being unsafe on campuses i think is a deep conflation between being unsafe and being uncomfortable. i was deeply uncomfortable. i did not know about the realities the palestinians lived under. i was systematically denied any education about that reality. to this day, we see pro-israel organizations working to do everything they can to change the topic away from palestinian suffering on to jewish discomfort. occupation and apartheid are deeply uncomfortable. we should all be uncomfortable and outraged by what is happening in gaza right now. as i already said, the more i listened to palestinian students testify about the realities, the more it was undeniable to me that i was missing a huge part of the story and i had to find out or. amy: erin axelman, i want you to introduce us to an american who decides not to go to college

first but to serve in the idf. we are about to play a clip of him. >> from our hands and threw him to the ground while he still blindfolded and hands tied behind his back, they started kicking him for a good few minutes. i was responsible for this man's well-being. i was responsible to bring him from the checkpoint, the detention center. that was my job. and right outside the fence of the detention center, they grabbed him and started beating him. i felt responsible but my commander was not saying anything so how could i say anything? the entire time this was happening, a military police officer was standing just inside the fence watching, smoking a

cigarette. as soon as these guys were done kicking this palestinian man, the military police officer tossed his cigarette and brought him inside the detention center. and i did not even speak up. i did not speak up. that is just one of many stories that i have from my time in the west bank. amy: that was eton. it reminds me of our previous guest mosab describing being beaten by the idf. while eton came to serve in the idf, tell us more about him and his transformation. >> many american jews are told to defend the jewish people and to be a good jewish person, one of the best things you can do is join the israeli military

support. we extensively interview many and they openly bragged about how many kids they have gotten to serve in the military. that is tragic. i have had american jewish friends who have also served and joint young people, as 18-year-olds thinking they're doing a great thing by defending the jewish people. many are sent to the occupied west bank and quickly realized they are a cog in a system of apartheid, system that places you in a different legal system based on your race you are born into. so many american jews and some israelis when they realize what they are doing, they are defending a settlement expansionist program and the west bank, that is literally a system of a part-time, it is heartbreaking. the great victims are the palestinians love to face the apartheid, but it is inspiring to see members of breaking the silence both israelis and

americans speak out saying we thought we were 20 to do something and found out we were part of this apartheid system and what to do everything they can to end this apartheid. we want to include people like him because they tell a story i media my friends who were serving in the israeli military realizing they were part of a system of apartheid and now doing everything they can -- amy: simone zimmerman, you did not serve in the idf but you did go to israel and the occupied territories. for a moment, what was it, two days, became the outreach coordinator for the bernie sanders campaign before the campaign was waged against you. talk about your trajectory, going to the occupied territories, coming back, founding itsnotnow. >> yeah, i went -- i had grown

up spending time in israel. i felt deeply connected to the place. i thought i knew israel. the way the apartheid system is built as such the israeli-jews don't have to see the reality the palestinians live under. they can drive on roads. they can drive on the side of the wall where they don't have to see what is on the others. the daily horrors and brutality and denial of dignity and freedom that palestinians live under. once i saw those realities with my own eyes, once i met people who have been evicted from their homes, who were denied basic freedom of movement, people just like me who want to live in freedom and safety, whose every piece of their lives have been destroyed and constructed by a system of jewish supremacy, i could not unsee those things.

as erin spoke about, this is a story that thousands of jewish people around the world have encountered. we know it is so deeply contrary to our values as jewish people to support this disgusting oppression and denial of freedom from another people. i have been part of this generation that includes ifno tnow and jewish voice for peace and many other groups that are taking on an outdated establishment that whats to enforce a pro-israel orthodoxy and will do whatever they can to attack and marginalize and silence anybody who dissents from the viewpoint. you mentioned at the beginning of this segment the lawsuit going on at harvard university. i can't help bring up the attacks we have seen over the weekend on the director of a

jewish study center at harvard university, a world-renowned jewish studies scholar. he has been attacked for being named to antisemitism task force at harvard this because he criticizes the israeli government. we are seeing how far this establishment is willing to go to attack and marginalize anybody who does not toe that very strict and narrow orthodoxy and increasingly anybody who does not defend this government's genocidal assault on the gaza strip. it is absurd but also deeply dangerous and offensive to those of us who are acting out of a deep place of intellectual integrity, of jewish values, of a commitment to justice who want to build as world of safety and dignity for jewish people and palestinians. that old guard is more and more desperate to keep any of us out of public life and political life, and certainly, not to be

legitimize as a legitimate jewish voice. amy: erin axelman, you're in canada. simone is in new york will stop your starting yet another tour of the film was to pass, nation, "israelism" is mentioned in the harvard lawsuit, equating anti-semitism with anti-zionism or criticism of the israeli state. your final thoughts as the two of you travel both countries? >> totally. it is ironic, there were 10 to of screenings in the fall. it was jewish student groups or jewish faculty bringing this to the venue or university. it is ironic under the guise of protecting jewish students, administration's or venues are trying to cancel a film brought by jewish people, made by jewish people, about jewish people. it shows how confused this

moment is and how all criticism of israel, even made by jews,* is often considered anti-semitism. our sure there are quite a few tinted cancellations. barnard's president unilaterally cancer a screening of "israelism " february and we will fight all attempts of cancellations of the part of the movement to fight back against cancellation of any progressive jewish voices. amy: erin axelman, codirector of "israelism" and, cofounder of ifnotnow. when we come back, ron desantis has dropped out of the presidential race. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we look now at the state of the republican party as its presidential primary in new hampshire on tuesday is now a two-person race. after republican florida governor ron desantis announced he is dropping out in a video posted sunday on social media. >> today suspending my campaign. i'm proud to have delivered on 100% of my promises and i will not stop now. it is clear to me a majority of republican primary voters want to give donald trump another chance. amy: as desantis drops out and endorses trump, more questions

are being raised about trump's mental capacity. at a campaign event friday, he confused nikki haley repeatedly with nancy pelosi. >> january 6. nikki haley. nikki haley. nikki haley. did you know they destroyed all of the formation, all of the evidence? destroyed all of it because of lots of things like nikki haley is in charge of security. we offered her 10,000 people. soldiers. national guard. whatever they want. they turned it down. amy: trump's labs promoted his opponent nikki haley to question his mental fitness in an interview sunday on "face the nation." >> he claimed joe biden was going to get us into world war ii. i'm assuming he meant world war iii. he said he ran against president obama. he never did.

he said "i'm the one that kept secret from the capitol on january 6." i was nowhere near the capitol on january 6. don't be surprised if you have someone who is 80 in office. there mental stability is going to continue to decline. that is just human nature. we know that. amy: for more, we're joined by rick perlstein, author of a four volume series on the rise of the modern conservative movement. his column for the american prospect is "the infernal triangle." we don't have much time but a lot to cover. talk about the significance of desantis pulling out, endorsing trump, what this means, a two-person race though he is winning and polls by -- in iowa, level we have not seen before, trounced desantis by 30%. one after another, republicans are endorsing him. >> yes. he is definitely going to be the nominee, resuming his continued

ability to function as a human being, which is eligible -- negligible. the important thing to understand is the horserace stuff is fine but the horserace doesn't matter if the guys and the maga hats blow up the truck. donald trump is going to win the nomination. the important thing is not how many votes he gets in november but he's going to claim he won no matter what. the important question is how many people are going to be willing to take arms up for donald trump the next january 6, you know, 2025? i don't want to be melodramatic, but reality itself now seems for millions of americans a considerable part of the republican party, flows from the person of donald trump. the word we have to begin using for the situation is "american

fascism." amy: can you talk about people like to have her governor sununu who did endorse nikki haley, now saying if it is trump come he will ultimately support him to the questioning of "meet the press" by kristen welker? support him despite january 6, despite what you said about insurrection? all of these republican leaders who have questioned trump falling into line in the end as trump today, once again, is dealing with the rape of e. jean carroll, the judge called it, essentially, -- >> there is nothing new about that. over look at what lindsey graham said in 2015 and 2016 about donald trump and then what they said when they saw him as a vector to heap their own power. again, it is unfortunate and

kind of creepy that the only sort of words we have within the context of political philosophy that describe what is happening, from the german language. the truth comes from the leader. when they need to get behind a criminal in order to be you know, kind of a legitimate figure within a political party, that political party is -- you have to wonder what these guys are going to look like 50 years from now in the eyes of history. they will look like the guys like the guy who said we have hitler back to so far under corner he will squeal. he was the vice chancellor of germany, the guy made religion with hitler that made him chancellor of germany. these things are processes. we are very far along in process , one for which the questions that are asked by conventional political journalism, no longer signify anymore.

amy: we're going to continue this discussion and posted online at democracynow.org. also talk about what ron desantis represented as he goes back to florida as governor. rick perlstein writes