02/14/24 02/14/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> on this boat, 216-2011, the motion is adopted. amy: for the first time ever, the houseboats to impeach a cabinet member. homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas, or the biden administration's handling of the

u.s. border. we will speak with césar cuauhtémoc garcia hernandez, author of "welcome the wretched: in defense of the 'criminal alien'." into gaza and the killing of a six-year-old girl and her family. amy: we will look at the case of hind rajab, who called for help after her family were shot and killed. two weeks later, their bodies were found alongside the two rescue workers who tried to save her. we will speak with palestine red crescent about the case. and what is the state department doing about the killing, the arrest, and the attack on palestinian americans both in the occupied territories and here at home?

>> nobody should be dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night. we expect the israeli government to release my mother unconditionally so she may return to the united states. this is our expectation because there is no other rational outcome. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. south africa has urged the international court of justice to take action if israel goes ahead with its planned ground invasion of rafah, where over a million displaced gazans have sought refuge. in a statement, the south african government said it is concerned israel's actions in rafah will "result in further large-scale killing, harm and destruction" and breach the genocide convention. in january, the icj ordered israel to take steps to prevent genocide in gaza. on tuesday, the u.n.'s top humanitarian chief warned an

assault on rafah could lead to a slaughter in gaza. in an interview with reuters, international criminal court prosecutor karim khan expressed -- spoke about the situation in rafah. >> half the population of gaza concentrated around rafah, reportedly six times normal concentration. when you have 60% children and women by all accounts, the risks to civilians is profound. and there is no blank check. that all parties are on notice. israel, members of the military are on notice that we are investigating. if there are crimes, we will get to the bottom of it. we have our judges to make sure there's no room for impunity. amy: meanwhile, politico is reporting the biden

administration is not planning to punish israel if it launches a military campaign in rafah without ensuring civilian safety despite public calls by president biden to protect civilians. displaced palestinians in rafah say there are no safe places for them to go. >> we hope the war ends quickly. we are tired of fleeing from one city to another. we're are so tired. i swear to god, people are tired. i am hoping the world stands with us and looks at us with the merciful i. we are tired. we are always crying. there is no food. amy: while the united nations is warning gaza is on the brink of famine, israel's finance minister bezalel smotrich has admitted he is blocking a u.s.-funded shipment of flour into gaza despite a promise that israeli prime minister netanyahu personally made to president

biden several weeks ago. smotrich blocked the flour shipment after learning it would be distributed by the u.n. aid agency unrwa. in the city of khan younis, the israeli army has forced hundreds of patients, staff, and displaced palestinians to evacuate nasser hospital, which has been under an israeli siege for weeks. israeli snipers killed at least three people at the hospital on tuesday. in other news from gaza, an israeli drone struck a pair of al jazeera journalists on tuesday, seriously injuring correspondent ismail abu omar and his cameraman ahmad matar, who were rushed to the european gaza hospital in khan younis. doctors had to amputate abu omar's right leg. he also suffered severe bleeding and still has pieces of shrapnel in his head and chest. the pair were critically injured while reporting on displaced palestinians in the rafah region. al jazeera accused israel of

deliberately targeting the journalists. according to palestinian officials, at least 126 journalists have been killed in gaza since october 7. on tuesday, u.n. secretary general antonio guterres condemned the killing of journalists in gaza. >> by the number of journalists that have been killed in this conflict. freedom of press is a fundamental condition for people to be able to know what is really happening everywhere in the world. amy: the u.s. state department has confirmed a 17-year-old palestinian-american teenager with u.s. citizenship was shot dead on saturday in the town of biddu in the occupied west bank. according to the group defense for children international, mohammad ahmed mohammad khdour

was shot in the head by israeli forces while he was sitting in a car with a relative in a wooded area where local residents often pick mushrooms and sage. mohammad was a senior in high school. israeli forces and settlers have killed 98 palestinian children in the occupied west bank since october 7. another u.s. citizen, 17-year-old palestinian-american tawfiq hafez tawfiq ajaq, was shot dead last month. in news from occupied east jerusalem, israeli forces have raided and demolished the home of fakhri abu diab, a prominent community leader who has campaigned for years to fight the eviction of palestinians living in the area of silwan. al jazeera reports israel has long sought to push out 130 palestinian families to make room for a biblical theme park. in more news from the region, al jazeera is reporting the palestinian human rights lawyer diala ayesh has now spent nearly

a month in jail without charge. she was detained on january 17 at an israeli checkpoint. prior to her arrest, she had helped form a new collective of women lawyers to work on the unprecedented number of palestinians being jailed in the west bank and jerusalem following the october 7 hamas attack. tension remains high on the israel-lebanon border. earlier today, one israeli was killed and eight others injured in a rocket attack by hezbollah. israel responded by firing rockets into southern lebanon. on tuesday, hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah vowed attacks would continue until israel ends its aggression in gaza. >> we are fighting in southern lebanon with our eyes on gaza. with the aggression stops on gaza, we will stop the shooting in the south. in indonesia, prabowo subianto appears to have won today's election in a landslide.

prabowo is a former general who has been implicated in mass killings in east timor, papua, and aceh as well as the kidnapping and torture of activists in jakarta. he is a longtime u.s. protégé and the former son-in-law of the former indonesian dictator suharto. critics fear his rise to power could result in the return of military rule in indonesia. visit democracynow.org to watch our interview on tuesday with journalist allan nairn on the indonesian election. house republicans voted to impeach homeland security alejandro mayorkas, making him the first sitting cabinet member to ever be impeached. the final vote was 214 to 213. republicans accused mayorkas of failing to uphold immigration laws at the u.s.-mexico border.

following the vote, president biden issued a statement saying -- "history will not look kindly on house republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games." three republicans voted against impeaching mayorkas. congressmember mike gallagher of wisconsin, who just announced he will not seek re-election, warned the vote will "set a dangerous new precedent that will be weaponized against future republican administrations." the democratic-controlled senate is expected to reject the charges against mayorkas, which would allow him to remain in office. in 1876, the house voted to impeach war secretary william belknap, who resigned just before the vote. former new york democratic congressmember tom suozzi won a special election tuesday to fill the open seat left by disgraced republican congressmember george santos. suozzi won nearly 54% of the

vote, defeating mazi pilip, a nassau county legislator who was born in ethiopia and later served in the israeli military. a pro-palestine protester disrupted suozzi's victory speech. >> stop supporting genocide! amy: tom suozzi's win leaves the republican party with a narrow 219 to 213 edge over democrats in the house. in other congressional news, president biden is urging republican house speaker mike johnson to allow for a house vote on the $95 billion foreign aid package approved by the senate on tuesday. the bill provides $60 billion in military aid for ukraine, $14 billion for israel, and $5 billion for allies in the pacific, including taiwan. the bill also strips u.s. funding for unrwa, the united nations relief and works agency

for palestine refugees. the senate approved the measure by a vote of 70 to 29, with 22 republicans voting in favor. three members of the democratic caucus -- senators bernie sanders, peter welch, and jeff merkley -- voted against it. the senate vote came just hours after the european union's foreign policy chief josep borrell urged the united states and other nations to stop providing arms to israel. >> how many times have you heard leaders around the world saying too many people are being killed? president biden -- it is not proportional. if you believed to many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms. to prevent so many people being killed. amy: meanwhile, president biden has blasted former president trump for encouraging russia to

attack nato allies who do not pay enough in military spending. pres. biden: former president of the united states saying that? the whole world heard it. the worst thing is, he means it. no other president in our history has ever bowed down to russian dictator. let me say this as clearly as i can, i never will. for god sake, it is shameful, dangerous, un-american. amy: the u.n. has warned of escalating tensions in senegal as the government intensifies its crackdown on protesters who've taken to the streets since last week denouncing president macky sall's postponement of february's election. sall's government has again cut off mobile internet access and banned a large mobilization that had been planned for tuesday. this comes as amnesty international reported senegalese security forces recently killed at least three protesters, including a 16-year-old teenager, in the

capital dakar. ethiopia's army killed at least 45 people last month as they carried out door-to-door home raids in what's been described as one of the worst recent acts of violence in the region of amhara. that's according to ethiopian human rights advocates, who said governments forces accused the civilians of supporting the armed group fano. a pregnant woman was among those shot according to witnesses. the extrajudicial killings in the town of merawi come after months of fighting between fano and ethiopia's military, which had jointly fought tigray people's liberation front until that conflict ended in november 2022. details of january's massacre only emerged in recent days due to a months-long internet blackout in most of amhara. the ethiopian human rights commission said the death toll could be higher. authorities in texas say the shooter who opened fire at a megachurch in houston on sunday had legally bought an ar-15 style rifle in december despite having a criminal record and a history of mental illness. police identified the shooter as

genesee ivonne moreno, who was shot dead by off duty police officers working inside the church. two other people were injured. including the shooter's seven-year-old son, who was shot in the head by off duty police. he remains in critical condition. in health news, "the washington post" is reporting the centers for disease control and prevention is considering loosening its covid isolation guidelines. the cdc currently recommends individuals who test positive to stay home from work and school for five days. under the proposed guidelines, individuals would not need to isolate if they have mild symptoms and have been fever free for 24 hours. california and oregon have already moved away from specific isolation times. and in media news, the parent company of cbs paramount global has announced plans to lay off 800 workers, including 20 employees at cbs news. the announcement came just two days after the cbs broadcast of

the super bowl became one of the most profitable and watched television events in history. and those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers around the country and around the world. amy: for the first time ever, the house has voted to impeach a cabinet member after failing on its first try last week, the republican-led house voted tuesday to impeach homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas over the biden administration's handling of the u.s.-mexico border. >> on this vote, 216-2011. the motion is adopted. amy: the house approved two articles of impeachment accusing mayorkas of not enforcing u.s. immigration laws and making false statements to congress.

house republicans have spent months investigating the secretary's actions as they gear up to make immigration a key election issue. they had to push the vote to take place tuesday because they just won by a one-vote margin and a new democratic member of congress could have been sworn in today. former new york democratic congress member tom suozzi won special election tuesday to fill the open seat left by george santos. in a statement, president biden called tuesday's impeachment vote by house republicans "blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games." meanwhile, the senate passed a $95 billion military funding package for ukraine, israel, and taiwan on tuesday that did not -- stripped out a border deal that have been blasted by trump even though it was a republican proposal and would have further militarize the border and ramped

up immigration enforcement. for more, we are joined by césar cuauhtémoc garcia hernandez, a law professor and the gregory williams chair in civil rights and civil liberties at ohio state university. he is the author of the new book "welcome the wretched." his recent op-ed for "the new york times" is headlined "this immigration bill was never going to fix the border." he is joining us from albuquerque. welcome to democracy now! thank you for being with us. you have the house voting for the first time ever to impeach the homeland security secretary, the first time impeaching a cabinet member, and this was over biden's immigration policy. at the same time, republicans are rejecting their own proposed border policy that further militarize the border because president trump did not like it. if you can talk about the significance of what is taking place right now, where the

democrats and republicans stand on the border, and what needs to be done? >> pleasure to be with you here. i wake up most mornings and i spent a good chunk of my day criticizing the department of homeland security that secretary alejandro mayorkas over sees, the sad reality is the politics of immigration policies have taken over in congress. there is nothing that secretary mayorkas is doing that is so out of line what other top immigration officials have done, both republican and democratic administrations, to merit the impeachments that we saw yesterday. the reality is that the two parties in congress are trying to out tough one another. endless repetition of policies we have see in the past.

immigration bill that was unveiled in the senate just recently would have devoted more money hiring more border patrol agents, more money paying for more immigration beds across the network, and more money for advanced surveillance technology . all the while, the political bargaining chip was asylum, close enough access to the united states for people who are literally fleeing for their lives and hoping in the united states they might find safe harbor. we have seen versions of this debate in the past. the reality is, we have never been able to police our way out of people wanting to come to the united states. had this bill got some traction either in the senate or the

house and ended up on president biden's desk. seems clear he would have signed it. my expectation is we would have been in much the same situation just a few years down the road. juan: what about some of the republican arguments on this one that the president was -- they were concerned about -- they claim he was abusing his parole authority and parole in large numbers of people unnecessarily into the united states. this whole issue of the proposed bill about closing the border if it goal -- goes over the injuries between ports of entry, above 4000 per day on average? what would closing the border mean? they talk about closing the border to just people coming over or all of the traffic, commercial traffic that crosses that border every single day?

>> the parole authority that republicans in the house really rallied around as one of the reasons why they moved forward with his impeachment vote against secretary mayorkas is truly an astonishing reflection of a lack of historical understanding. parole has been part of federal immigration law since the middle of the 20th century. it was first used on a large-scale while dwight eisenhower was sitting in the oval office in the 1950's. it has been used by presidential administrations ever since then. if they don't like the way the biden administration is using it now, fine. but it is a law that was enacted by congress and congress can change that law if they so choose. but to claim secretary mayorkas

overseeing the department that is violating or subverting immigration law by exercising the legal authority that is invented in the existing immigration law is truly saddening. when it comes to president biden 's declaration that had he already received the power that this bill would give him and other presidents he would have closed down the border, that is truly astonishing statement to make by any president, whether republican or democrat because those of us who have lived and those of us who have spent time in border communities understanding border is far more than just the sight of chaos and crisis that we would imagine if all we do is listen to members of congress or members of the white house team talk about the border. it is also families that straddle communities across both

sides of the border. economic relationships, cultural ties that extend for generations. and to promise to shut down the border really does not give much weight to the meaning that goes to those people who make their lives and hope for their futures in these communities, whether we're talking about san diego on the western tip or brownsville on the eastern tip. the power this would have given is basically targeting asylum-seekers specifically. it would have exempted u.s. citizens and permanent residents, those with green cards, but it would have shut off access to people reaching the united states -- specifically to request asylum, request legal safe harbor. despite there is a federal law on the book since 1980 that since anyone in the united states that is afraid for their

lives can request asylum. this bill would have empowered the department of homeland security to really turn them around. that is what we saw under president trump during his use of the title 42 policy and biden administration seems quite willing to return to that trump era. juan: i also wanted to ask you, to what degree is all of this border chaos narrative affecting not just average white americans but also within the black and latino communities as more and more migrants are being sent to the northern cities? there seems to be increasing tension, for instance, between mexican and central americans, many of whom are undocumented

but have been in this country for decades and are now seeing all of this attention focused on the latest migrants? what is your assessment of the potential for divisions even within the latino community as well as other communities of color as the failure of the federal government to deal with the current migrant surge accelerates? >> it is impossible to ignore the fact the first latino to head the department of homeland security is also the first sitting cabinet secretary in the history of the united states to be impeached. on top of that, we are seeing communities of color are being vilified in this notion that these masses of people who are doing exactly what people have done for generations, that is reached united states that hopeful in the land of opportunity they might begin a new life that in this country they might reach economic prosperity that is unavailable

to the and places that they are fleeing. and in this country, they might provide their children a secure and safe future that they cannot do in homes they are leaving behind. in that sense, the folks we are seeing come to the united states these days from south america, central america, from various countries across africa and the caribbean, are in no meaningful way different from the folks who came a century ago or more. yet we're seeing in places like denver and other cities that democratic-led city governments are asking for their staff to cut essential services that are heavily used by communities of color that reside in those places. in denver, the mayor has announced the local youth

recreation centers will be cutting back their hours as a way of paying for support the city is giving to migrants. meanwhile, they are not taking advantage of the fact there may be other options available to them to support migrants without having to make those difficult trade-offs that essentially picked one community against another. amy: republican-led house had to vote yesterday come on tuesday, on impeaching mayorkas because they won by just one vote. and a new democratic member of congress would have been sworn in today and that would have meant they would not win. they failed in the vote last week. the former new york democratic tom suozzi filled the seat left by george santos.

suozzi won nearly 54% of the vote, defeating mazi melesa pilip. suozzi's victory leaves the republican party with a narrow edge over democrats in the house. meaning at the tv commercials that philip and suozzi jenna campaign focused on immigration. this is a long island queens race. this is one of the winter's ads. southern border is 2000 miles away but the migrant crisis is in our backyard. i will work across the aisle to secure our borders, open a path to citizenship for those willing to follow the rules. in the past, i worked with the compromise solution to the migrant problem.

amy: that was tom suozzi. césar cuauhtémoc garcia hernandez, if you can tell us more about -- i mean come he really raid on immigration. it was the number one issue, that an abortion because i this largely long island district. can you talk about the fact the democrats adopted republican stance on militarization and yet it was the republicans that rejected it? and what this bodes for what is happening next? >> the idea democrats can out tough the republican party when it comes to immigration policy is a dead-end strategy. the politicians like to imagine we can police our way out of immigration policy problems, but they are imagining a fantasy world that has never existed and does not exist right now. the solution to regulating

migration were to be bought by more border patrol agents, more ice prison beds, more advances of technologies that are being deployed at committees that cross the border on a regular basis, then we would have bought that solution along time ago. but the reality is, so long as people have the desire to get to the united states, so long as people have families and friends already in the united states, and so long as people are able to begin those lives they dream up in the united states by getting to work soon after arriving -- which we all know is exactly what happens in cities and towns large and small across this country -- whether those migrants have the federal government permission or not, that people are going to be coming. if elected officials want to find out who is coming to the united states, to ensure there is an orderly migration process,

then they need to open up lawful pathways into the united states. the bill that was introduced in congress would have begun to move in that direction, not nearly enough, those positive attributes really overshadowed by some of the policing focus approaches and the clampdown on asylum. what happens is, if we simply reinforce the border by building trump-style walls or deploying more law enforcement agents, then all we are doing is turning the migration process into something that is more expensive and more dangerous. the result is we then push people further into the hands of unscrupulous smugglers and also make it more likely that they will die in the process of getting to the united states.

juan: i wanted to ask you, i think it was last year, mexico passed china to become the largest trading partner of the united states. it is the number one country for imports and exports of goods to the united states. how do you reconcile the fact that people -- leaders in this country have no problem with increasing goods crossing the border, in fact, no one complains about all the goods crossing the border between mexico and the united states, but what to erect, as you say, barriers and restrictions, the flow of people back and forth across that same border? >> the united states is a vital trade partner of mexico and vice versa. this is not a new phenomenon, nor is the fact we are perfectly happy to see a free exchange of

goods and products but not so happy to see an exchange of people. but the reality is, the people are going to be crossing the border anyway. people are crossing the border. people come into the united states, sometimes that the government's position to come here and stay after the fact. that is true of canadians, true of western europeans, true of mexicans. that is not a result of citizenship, but the fact life happens and priorities shift over time. what we truly want is to encourage the cross-border ties, then we need to stop using the border as a political baseball bat to beat political opponents with. we've seen the biden administration shut down ports of entry or a few days at a time. we have seen the governor of texas greg abbott demand

inspection 100% of the cargo -- commercial cargo carrying vehicles crossing at certain ports of entry as a weight to make a point about border security. and all of these have an enormous impact not simply on the people, but the economic relationship between the u.s. and mexico. in the interest of united states to have a strong mexican economy, just like in the interest of mexican citizens to have a strong u.s. economy. we're not living in vacuums. we will never live in vacuums. we cannot seal ourselves off from any part of the world, certainly, not from our neighbors, from places that many of us have strong ties to, many of us have family -- in fact, many of us have lived there. my latest book "welcome the wretched," i wrote that in my apartment in mexico city.

this is not a faraway land that is unfamiliar to many of us. many of us, we think of migration from latin america, we think of our family, our friends, our neighbors, the people were closest to us. amy: you are a professor of law. i want to talk about your book in the context of will this border deal included something like $7 billion for ice, to increase deportation and detention of immigrants. talk about your book "welcome the wretched" in defense of the criminal alien in which you make the case against and argued immigrants are not be deported if there charged or convicted of a crime. talk about what you need and what you're advocating for. >> the united states is nothing if not a country that has been built by holy ordinary people.

people who have risen to their finest moments when the time calls for it but people whose lives are also peppered by the worst moments, failure, moments in which we engage in regrettable kind of an reprehensible conduct. that has nothing to do with her citizenship and everything to do with their humidity. that is true of migrants who are coming today and that is true migrants who came in generations past. the reality is most of us spent most of our days trying to be the best versions of ourselves. the reality is, all of us fail to be those best versions of ourselves at one moment or another. i want immigration law to reflect the reality of the humans that it is supposed to serve. those humans are people who will

on most occasions try to do right by their families and friends and neighbors, but sometimes they will inevitably fail. i want this to be a country that accepts people for being exactly the fallible, and perfect team that those of us who happen to have been born into u.s. citizenship are and quite often we celebrate, whether that is in popular culture or talking about elected officials who are facing dozens of indictments at a given time or for anything from insurrection against the country to sexual violence against women. amy: clearly, this is a major issue that will continue throughout this election year and beyond and we will continue to cover it. césar cuauhtémoc garcia hernandez, thank you for being with us, law professor at ohio state university, author of the new book "welcome the wretched: in defense of the 'criminal alien'."

we will also link to your op-ed in "the new york times" headlined "this immigration bill was never going to fix the border." coming up, what is the state department doing about the killing, rest, taxon palestinian-american spoke in the occupied territories and here at home? stay with this. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. a palestinian-american detained in the west bank by the israeli military last week was beaten in custody and denied medication. this is according to her family. she was detained near the area of the west bank february 5. her family said she was dragged from her home by israeli soldiers and badly beaten. they also set her home was destroyed and the raid. the israeli military confirmed

her at detention sink she was arrested for incitement on social media but did not respond to the allegations of mistreatment raised by the family. the family is calling on the state department to gain consular access to her and to secure her release. at a press briefing, the state department said it could not address any specifics about the case. samaher esmail case is just one of a number of palestinian-american detained, attacked, or killed both in the occupied west bank and in the united states. we will go through some of those cases. we are joined now by samaher esmail's son who is joining us from new orleans. and we're joined from atlanta by edward ahmed mitchell civil , rights attorney and national deputy director of cair, the council on american islamic relations. we welcome you both to democracy now!

can you tell us about your mother? where was she when she was detained? what has happened to her? have you been able to communicate with her? >> i can give you a little insight on that. it was monday morning february 5, jerusalem time. they came in the middle of the night, raided our home, dragged her out of the house in her pajamas. they broke stuff inside the house. they came in with buddy shoes on purpose. long story short, they came and took her and ever since we have not had any communication with her. it has been very traumatic. we are hearing there is not even a formal charge.

on monday, the judge ruled she is not a security threat and there is no charge so he allowed her to get put out on bail. i'm not sure exactly, but somebody appealed it and they have an automatic appeal process. once that happens, she has to be in detention for a believe another watch oh days, maybe of two a week. -- four days, maybe up to a week. this past week she is been question, interrogated, all that. it seems like they're trying to find something to paint on her just because they are annoyed with her for speaking her mind. juan: when they came into your home, there is no explanation why they were there? were they specifically looking for her or were they seeking other people when they came into your home? >> apparently, they were looking

for her but we had no knowledge. she would have been fine with him coming in. we had no idea she was wanted for they were looking for her. they did come into my village that day and took multiple people for what appears to be social media, just something they don't like, something supporting palestine. that's all i know about that. amy: let's bring in edward ahmed mitchell to talk about samaher esmail's case and then talk about another young man from your community is self, a palestinian-american, was just killed by israeli forces in the occupied west bank. first, let's continue with samaher esmail's arrest. you held a news conference on

monday in washington, d.c., demanding the state department deal with these palestinian-americans. can you talk about what they are saying about her? >> thank you for having me. the israeli government is out of control. they're not only committing genocide against palestinians in gaza, but targeting, kidnapping, even killing palestinian americans. this is the latest example. our state department is not doing enough. they claim they are working behind the scenes to look at the issue. they made general statements about the importance of protecting american citizens abroad. but the reality is they are not taking any concrete action to hold the israeli government accountable for abusing american citizens. even palestinian americans are not safe, then you can imagine palestinians are not safe at all. that is the condition we are in. the state department is making general statements, boilerplate

statements, but not using any concrete action to protect american citizens who are being attacked by the israeli government. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to this discussion to talk about a young man from louisiana, just like samaher esmail, but this teenager was killed. we are talking to edward ahmed mitchell, civil rights attorney and national deputy director of cair. and we're speaking with suliman hamed, smaher's son. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the family -- we are looking at calls for the u.s. state department to address the killing, rest, and attacks on palestinian americans, both in the occupied territories and here at home. we just spoke about the case of samaher esmail, palestinian-american woman from louisiana, forcibly taken by israeli soldiers in the occupied west bank earlier this week. the family of two palestinian-american brothers say the pair, canadian father, and three other relatives, have been detained after an israeli raid on their home in gaza. the brothers, borak and hashem alagha, are aged 18 and 20. national security spokesperson john kirby says the u.s. will talk to israel about the

detention of the brothers, as well as samaher esmail, a we also learned about the stabbing in texas, the sunday stabbing and austin of 23-year-old palestinian american zacharia doar was a hate crime. for more, we continue with edward ahmed mitchell, civil rights attorney and national deputy director of cair, the council on american islamic relations. and suliman hamed, samaher esmail's son. if you can talk about this arrest, killing, and detention -- attacks on palestinian americans, what the state department essay in each case? we also learned about the killing of two palestinian american teens, one in -- the state department assange they're looking into this as well as

another young man from gretna. >> sadly, you have described what the state department is saying and it is what they say every time this happens "we're looking into it" and that is about all you get. no condemnation of the israeli government, no concrete action, nothing. whether it is the shooting of the young man from new orleans who was shot in the head while driving in a car with his family, whether it is the kidnapping of the two palestinian americans from gaza, you don't get much from the state department other than " we're looking into it and we care about the state of american citizens abroad." they need to be condemning the israeli government for attacking not only american citizens who are in palestine but also palestinians in general. as long as the israeli government feels the american government will not hold them accountable, then they're going to target everyone without any

sort of -- with impunity. sadly, that is what we are seeing happen. juan: i wanted to ask suliman hamed, attention so far in world press coverage has been on gaza for the most part not what is happening to palestinians in the west bank. you mentioned when your mother was taken -- was arrested, there others in your same town there were arrested by the idf. can you talk about what life is like for those living in the west bank today? >> of course. it is filled with humiliation, harassment by israeli forces. they come in the middle of the night and take her little boy, your little girl, your mom, your dad. they have no respect for us. they have said on record multiple times they see us as animals. that is how it feels.

like you said, this was all in the west bank, a war zone, no mass or anything like that. -- no hamas or anything like that. they treat us poorly. i want to add something. i forgot to mention, about my mom's condition, her lawyer had said she had been beaten in prison. she wrote an official statement that we got in the u.s. embassy that said she had bruises, black and blue all over her body, specifically on her hands and back. she was shaking from lack of i guess medication and the abuse she has received. they have had her medication for over seven days and they still have yet to administer it. they are just cruel. they are cruel. it is not a way to treat a person, first of all, not a way

to treat a u.s. citizen. i what to see the embassy speak up about that. amy: i want to go to state department spokesperson matthew miller tuesday. >> we see reports of u.s. citizens that have been detained, arrested, have been killed, anyway potentially mistreated, then we first gather information. if appropriate, we ask for a full investigation. if it shows should be accountability, would call for accountability measures. i will state when it comes to activity in israel, the u.s. has shown it is willing to impose its own accountability measures when appropriate. amy: that is matthew miller. i what to address this to the lawyer, looking also at the case of the 17-year-old palestinian-american shot and killed in the occupied west bank last week. he was born in louisiana and he and his family returned

frequently to their ancestral home in the village and the occupied west bank. on january 19, he and our friend were driving and a pickup truck on a dirt road near the village when they came under fire from at least 10 shots, hitting the truck. one of the bullets struck the boy in the head. the car skidded off the road, flipped several times. he was pronounced dead when brought to the hospital in ramallah. police did not identify who fired the shots the described incident as "extensively involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, soldier, and a civilian." the white house has called for a transparent investigation into the killing. edward ahmed mitchell, if you could tell us more about this case? then we will talk about what happened outside austin, texas, a case your representing as well. >> it has been almost a month

the man was shot in the head and killed. has the state department anything more? as the israeli government announced charges? no. they're not going to do it. what the state department is doing is releasing boilerplate statements and then nothing happens. you know this because you can go back even further. we remember the assassination of shireen abu akleh. has anyone been charged with killing her? has anyone been held accountable? no. the israeli government says no it is going to be charged with killing her. even the people who tried to save her were shot at. the israeli government is not owing to hold itself accountable. only the american government can do that but they are refusing to do so. whether it was a young man shot in the head, two people kidnapped and gaza, you see the same pattern over and over again.

the state department says something basic and generic and they don't do anything about it and wait for the story to fade away. that sends the message to israel, could you whatever you want, even americans listen, and no one will hold you accountable. amy: how significant is that the austin police have declared it a hate crime on saccharide door zacharia dooar? >> february 4, there was a protest held in austin. zacharia and three of his friends were driving home. they had flags on their car. when they got to a stop sign, a man named brett baker approached their car and attempted to rip the flag off the car and opened the back door, pulled zachariah out of the car. his friend subdued the attacker

and then he pulled out a knife and zachariah jumped in the way one of his friends to save them but was stabbed in the process. the police department relatively quickly confirmed what we knew and that, which is it was a hate crime. this is the latest example of an anti-palestinian for anti-muslim hate crime in the u.s. we know about the six-year-old oil who was stabbed and killed in chicago by his anti-ma muslim landlord. there is not only a war against palestinians in gaza, there is a war against palestinian americans, on the right to free speech, their culture. that is designed to silence. you can't help but having

blowback in america. that is what we have been seeing the past watch roman. amy: sluman, your final comment as we wrap up this segment? if you can talk about your mother? >> my mom, she is the sweetest lady. everybody knows her in our community. she is a teacher -- she was a teacher, businesswoman, a mother of four. she raised us with good morals, to be good kids, professionals. just the sweetest woman. helper. she expresses her opinion and sometimes she demands justice and i applaud her for that. she is my hero for that. i don't think it is anything for her to be imprisoned about. amy: suliman hamed, thank you for being with us. we will continue to follow your mother's case. edward ahmed mitchell, civil rights attorney and national deputy director of cair, the

council on american islamic relations. that does it for our show. we want to thank all of those hooper to zepeda in producing today's broadcast. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]