07/22/24 07/22/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> last week a former president was a must assassinated and this week the current president is not running for reelection. amy: president biden drops out of the race and endorses kamala harris as the democratic nominee for president.

we'll get response from mehdi hasan, founder of zeteo. then, should there be an open convention? we put the question to latosha brown of black voters matter and jim zogby, longtime member of the democratic national committee. and the international court of justice rules israel's occupation of the west bank and -- in east jerusalem is illegal. >> israel has an obligation to repeal all legislation and measures creating or maintaining the unlawful situation, including those which discriminate against the palestinian people in the occupied palestinian territory as well as all measures aimed at modifying the democratic composition of any part of the territory. amy: we will go to brussels to speak with palestinian human rights attorney diana buttu. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president joe biden announced sunday he is dropping his bid to seek reelection in a move upending the presidential race just four months before election day and a month before the democratic national convention. in a letter posted sunday, biden wrote he was stepping aside "in the best interest of my party and the country." biden endorsed his vice president kamala harris, who quickly received the backing of many powerful democrats but she could still face a challenge for the party's nomination. if elected, harris would become the first woman to serve as u.s. president. she made history in 2020 when she became the first black person or person of south asian descent and first woman to be elected vice president. the 81-year-old biden had faced tremendous pressure to drop out following a disastrous debate

with donald trump that raised questions about his physical and mental health, as well as his ability to beat trump. biden announced the decision while at his beach home in delaware where he has been isolating after testing positive for covid. biden's decision makes trump, who is 78, the oldest presidential nominee in u.s. history. questions about biden's candidacy have been growing since at least last year. the activist group roots action launched a campaign called don't run joe 20 months ago. during the primary season, more than a half million voters chose "uncommitted" instead of biden to protest his support for israel's war on gaza. biden's decision comes just four weeks before the democratic national convention begins in chicago on august 19, though the dnc has considered holding a virtual roll call vote before the convention. the dnc rules committee will meet on wednesday.

the last open democratic convention took place in 1968 in chicago. after lyndon johnson decided not to seek reelection. on sunday, harris wrote, "i am honored to have the president's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination." kamala harris has already picked up endorsements from 32 senators, 153 representatives and 10 governors, as well as former president bill clinton and former secretary of state hillary clinton. new york democratic congressmember alexander ocasio-cortez endorsed harris, writing, "it is crucial that our party and country swiftly unite to defeat donald trump and the threat to american democracy." alexandria ocasio-cortez had warnick is the effort to push biden out saying the demand was being driven by wealthy donors. meanwhile, former president barack obama and former house

speaker nancy pelosi have yet to make any endorsement. neither has independent senator bernie sanders, who praised biden as "the most pro-working class president in modern american history." many republican lawmakers, including house speaker mike johnson and vice presidential nominee j.d. vance, responded to biden's announcement by calling on him to immediately resign as president. we will have more on biden's decision and the democratic race after headlines. in gaza, israel has killed at least 39,000 palestinians today in khan yunis. one strike hit a tent used by journalists near al-aqsa hospital. israel began attacking khan yunis just moments after it ordered 400,000 palestinians to evacuate the area. the official death toll from israel's war on gaza has topped 39,000 with over 90,000 wounded, though the true total is believed to be far higher. the international court of justice has ruled israel's

56-year occupation of west bank and east jerusalem is illegal. in a major decision announced on friday, the court ruled that israel "is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the occupied palestinian territory as rapidly as possible." the court also said other nations are obligated "not to render aid or assistance" to israel's settlements in the occupied territories. palestinian foreign minister riyad al maliki praised the ruling. >> all states and the u.n. are now under obligation not to recognize this was presence in the occupied palestinian territory and to do nothing to assist israel in maintaining this illegal situation. they are directed by the court to bring israel's illegal occupation to an end. amy: israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is headed

to washington where he will address a joint session of congress on wednesday. dozens of democratic lawmakers plan to boycott the speech. netanyahu's visit comes two months after the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court karim khan nst is seeking an arrest warrant for netanyahu. the center for constitutional rights has urged the justice department to investigate netanyahu for genocide, war crimes, and torture. israel attacked the yemeni port of hodeida on saturday killing six people and injuring 83. the strike came a day after houthi fighters launched a drone strike on tel aviv that killed one person. the attacks raised fears israel's war on gaza could spark a broader regional conflict. israel is also continuing to launch strikes on southern lebanon. in related news, the lebanese photojournalist christina assi carried the olympic torch in paris on sunday to honor journalists wounded or killed on

the job. she lost her leg in the same israeli attack that killed reuters videographer issam abdallah. she spoke sunday. >> of course this is all for my best friend issam abdallah. and all the other journalists we have lost this year. this is offer them to pay tribute and honor their memory. i will keep issam's memory alive and everything i do. amy: in bangladesh, the government rollback but stopped short of abolishing its highly contested quota system for public sector jobs after massive student protests, that killed 160 demonstrators amid a brutal crackdown. this is a lawyer for the students. >> the supreme court, according to article 104, gave a final ruling that is 93% quota for general people, 5% for freedom fighters and their kin 1% for the ethnic minority,.

amy: over 500 others have been arrested since the high court reinstated the quota last month, which reserved up to 30% of the coveted government positions for the relatives of soldiers who fought in bangladesh's independence war against pakistan in 1971. but students are vowing to resume protests until the new rule is implemented, a curfew fully lifted, schools reopened, and detained students and protest leaders are released. in response to the student uprising, the government of prime minister sheikh hasina ordered the army to use deadly force against protesters and imposed a nationwide curfew and a communications blackout. at least 40 people have died after a boat carrying asylum seekers caught fire off the coast of haiti. another 41 were rescued. aid groups warns more and more people are attempting to flee haiti amid a spiraling security and humanitarian crisis, despite the life-threatening risks. u.s. ambassador to the u.n. linda thomas-greenfield is traveling to haiti today to show

support for the kenya-led international military mission that is now operating on haitian soil. in related news, over 40 haitian gang leaders, police, and officials were charged last week over the november 2018 massacre in port-au-prince which killed dozens of civilians. the police officers involved had been working with a u.n. mission. one of those charged on thursday was notorious officer-turned-gang leader jimmy "barbecue" chérizier, who is accused of financing the operation. consumer and digital rights groups are calling for big tech monopolies to be broken up following friday's global microsoft outage that grounded flights and caused chaos at banks, media companies, and mass transit around the world. the advocacy group nextgen competition said -- "for decades, microsoft's pursuit of a vendor lock-in strategy has prevented the public and private sectors from diversifying their i.t. capabilities. millions are feeling the consequences of the greed and ego of one of the most egregious offenders in big tech."

in illinois, a former sheriff's deputy has been charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting sonya massey, an unarmed 36-year old black woman, in the face inside her own home. sean grayson, who is white, was responding to a 911 call from massey on july 6, who reported a prowler near her home. but instead of helping her, the officer yelled at her and shot her three times despite no signs have danger as she held her hands up in fear. he also told his partner not to render aid to massey after shooting her. the police killing has prompted community outrage and protests calling for justice for sonya massey. and longtime texas democratic congressmember sheila jackson lee has died at the age of 74. jackson lee was a tireless fighter for civil rights and progressive causes throughout her three decades in the u.s.

house of representatives. she announced last month she had pancreatic cancer. in 2002, congressmember jackson lee was an early and outspoken opponent of the disastrous and illegal invasion of iraq. she was also an impassioned advocate for reparations. >> people in america are the descendants of africans, kidnapped and transported to the united states with the explicit complicity of u.s. government and every arm of the united states lawmaking and law enforcement infrastructure. the dehumanizing and atrocities of slavery were not isolated but mandated by federal laws that work codified and enshrined in the constitution. the role of the federal government supporting slavery and discrimination erected against blacks is an injustice that must be acknowledged and addressed. amy: sheila jackson lee led the charge to establish juneteeth as a federal holiday, which was finally signed into law in 2021, making it the first new federal

holiday in nearly four decades. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president joe biden announced sunday he is ending his campaign to seek reelection in a move upending the presidential race just four months before election day. in a letter posted sunday, biden wrote he was stepping aside "in the best interest of my party and the country." biden endorsed his vice president kamala harris, who quickly received the backing of many powerful democrats but she could still face a challenge for the party's nomination. if elected, harris would become the first woman to serve as u.s. president. she made history in 2020 when she became the first black person, first person of south asian dissent, and first woman to be elected vice president. the 81-year-old biden had faced tremendous pressure to drop out following a disastrous debate

with donald trump that raised questions about his physical and mental health as well as his ability to beat trump. biden announced the decision while at his beach home in delaware where he has been isolating after testing positive for covid. biden's decision makes trump, who is 78 years old, the oldest presidential nominee in u.s. history. questions about biden's candidacy have been growing since at least last year. the activist group roots action launched a campaign called don't run joe 20 months ago. during the primary season, more than a half million voters chose " uncommitted" instead of biden to protest his support for israel's war on gaza. biden's decision comes just four weeks before the democratic national convention begins in chicago on august 19, though the dnc has floated the idea of having a virtual roll call vote before the convention.

democracy now will be at the convention expanding our coverage to two hours daily in chicago. the dnc rules committee will meet on wednesday. it will be a public meeting that is livestreamed on youtube. the last open democratic convention took place in 1968 in chicago after lyndon johnson decided not to seek reelection over increasing protest of his support for the war in vietnam. on sunday, kamala harris wrote, "i am honored to have the president's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination." we began our coverage today in washington, d.c., with mehdi hasan, journalist, author, and editor-in-chief and ceo of the new media company zeteo. welcome back to democracy now! your response to these historic developments over the weekend? >> thank you, amy.

we are really living through history. this is an insane moment in time where last saturday, the former president almost got assassinated and this sunday the current president says, know what? i am not going to run for reelection. it is just too much to cover for those in the media business. this is a big moment for american democracy. if donald trump wins in november, i am one of those people who firmly believes american democracy is -- i believe he will bring forward a fascist plan. a clear and present danger to our rights, constitution, therefore beating donald trump, regardless of what you think of your politics, is vital that joe biden took the advice, so we say pressure, to do the right thing and step aside. his ego was in the way.

he said he wasn't going to quit unless the almighty tells me to quit. i guess nancy pelosi is the almighty because she letter pretty effective behind the scenes lobbying and pressure campaign which finally got through to the white house. on friday, his campaign manager was going on msnbc saying, no, he is campaigning, he is still in the race. sunday says, i am out and i endorse kamala harris. the endorsement of harris, which can separately to his resignation letter -- he puts the resignation out first. i am sure you were stunned. hold on, he is not endorsing harris. 25 minutes later he endorses the vice president in a tweet. this is a huge moment. it is hard to overstate how huge it is. amy: you kind of predicted what would happen. earlier this month, wrote a piece for the guardian headlined "kamala harris may be our only hope. biden should step aside and endorse her." interestingly, the piece begins,

"i have never been a fan of kamala harris." can you talk about how you came to your position? >> very briefly, i criticized harris a lot in 2019, 2020 when she was trying to run for the democratic is a digital nomination, specifically around her record in california as an attorney general and d.a. she did some things to do with convictions and criminal justice reform which i thought were pretty right wing and unfair and i think there are a lot of issues there with a record from a progressive point of view. she also to progressive things, too. i was not a fan of her campaign. i was right at the time. she withdrew before single vote was cast in the primaries. but then she got lucky when joe biden decided to forgive her for attacking him and made him his running mate. this time around, we are in a different world.

for me, biden stepping aside is important. i know people talk about open conventions, contested conventions. i think that is not going to happen. i don't think it is helpful right now. i think they're legal, financial issues. in early july it was, get biden out of the way. her polling has gotten better. it was showing she was matching truck, doing better than biden with trump, leading with independents. it is a no-brainer, of a younger, energetic candidate ready to go in the wings, already on the ticket, already won with you in 2020, might be better on gaza. and a good record as a senator and attorney general, so why would you go with kamala harris? also history making. will bring enthusiasm from the

base. i was right. it was record-breaking donations for the democratic party since she was endorsed by biden as she would be the first black woman president, the first salvation -- the first woman president. amy: i think reported something like raising a number of $50 million. you just mentioned perhaps, harris is better on gaza. why don't you go into her record and what you can discern as she is working with the president? >> when i say i want to be clear to pure solicitors when i say better than biden, i don't mean she will become president and time for an embargo on israel. she is not going to make major policy changes. which is a tragedy. people are dying. people in gaza have not stopped being killed. i think that is important to say the outset.

there are important differences. it is the rhetoric. the idea biden doesn't even show empathy for the palestinian people. there is been in erasure of palestinians. a statement after 100 days did not mention the palestinian guests. i think that is a problem. kamala harris, since october 7, she was trying to take a stance that humanize palestinians more, tried to criticize israel more, was dragged back by the white house. there is reporting about her speeches being changed to make them less critical. she was calling for at least a temporary cease fire earlier than joe biden. i spoke to in official who is been in the room for some of these conversations the no doubt, al harris is better on these issues than joe biden.

politico put out a piece last night quoting some of the people have quit the biden administration in protest of biden and even they are singing their cautiously up to medic she might be better than biden. -- cautiously optimistic she might be better than biden. she says cease fire now unless -- amy: i want to turn to a buttering telephone responding to president biden's decision. >> i am glad biden stepped down. we have been concerned about his policies toward palestine and his support for israel and the ongoing genocide against the palestinians. i am relieved to see another candidate that might not have the same policies and has not backed the brutality against the palestinians. i think there are still a lot of questions on kamala and what

policies will be but i think for a lot of voters, a lot of people in my community -- i am muslim and pakistani -- this has been the biggest issue that we have been paying attention to. amy: mehdi hasan, if you can respond to the california voter? >> he makes a very good point. we need to keep the pressure on kamala harris. she is not going to come in and transform american foreign policy. let's not be naïve. but at the same time, we can pressure her in a way we failed to pressure joe biden to change policies on this. netanyahu is in town and will be speaking in congress, meeting biden at the white house. amy: he's going to be meeting with kamala harris. it is not clear, will he be meeting with biden at the white house given biden is in isolation? >> it is a good question. that was always planned for monday. i don't know what the latest is with biden's covid. trump has been posting that

biden is faking covid. it is not just california. go to michigan. i talked to a lot of people in dearborn and detroit who are furious about gaza the uncommitted movement that came out of michigan. the question is, does putting harris on top of this ticket help the democrats hold on to michigan? do people say, know what? -- there's a lot of hatred for biden personally. it was called abandoned biden. he is called genocide joe. whether you like it or not, the antipathy is focused on biden. i think just getting him out of the way allows democrats to say, there is a possibility of a fresh start. that won't happen unless we keep up the pressure on harris and make it clear to take a state like michigan which will be so crucial in november.

amy: i what to return to congress member aoc, alexandria ocasio-cortez, who went on instagram live on thursday night following former president trump's speech at the rnc. she said "if you think there is consensus among the people who want joe biden to leave, that they will support vice president harris, you would be mistaken. they're not going to be fully honest but i will be honest for them. in these rooms, see what they say in conversations. i am here to tell you a huge amount of the donor class and a huge amount of these elites and a huge amount of these folks in these rooms that i see that are pushing for president biden not to be the nominee, also are not interested in seeing vice president being the nominee." that was aoc before president biden's announcement. she has supported biden staying in as to bernie sanders and a number of members of the squad, but now through her endorsement to campbell harris.

your thoughts on her saying that people who wanted biden out where the donor class? >> great question. for the first time in my life over the last few weeks about myself rooting for nancy pelosi and adam schiff over aoc and bernie sanders. this bizarro world we are in right now. i think aoc -- i think the squad were wrong. i think there were multiple things going on. i think they managed to get a lot of stuff done with biden. he probably has had more access to this white house than any white house in history while he is been a member of congress. i think they were generally worried about what would happen once biden goes, will the be

civil war? i think there are donors who don't want harris. we heard chatter about joe manchin throwing his hat in the ring -- he ruled that out this morn. many did not want kamala harris. the reality is, look at how the democratic party came behind harris. i was done, impressed at how quickly everyone fifollowed. the one victim who did not endorse harris was not the way donor but the former black president barack obama who did not endorse her in his statement. we're still waiting for nancy pelosi to see what she says. i would be surprised if she does not come out for harris. but they quickly raise a lot of money, multiple members of congress, including squad members like johan omar and aoc and ayanna pressley, have backed harris.

i get the initial concerns from the left. i think if they carried on and if biden had not stepped aside, history would have judged those who clung with biden to the end. i'm glad biden didn't listen to bernie sanders nancy pelosi. amy: thank you for being with us, mehdi hasan. should there be an open convention? we will put the question to latosha brown and jim zogby. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. that was "oh yeah" by yello.

would let more now at president biden's announcement sunday that he is dropping his bid to seek reelection and what comes next in the four months before election day. biden endorsed his vice president kamala harris, who quickly received the backing of many powerful democrats. biden's decision comes just four weeks before the democratic national convention begins in chicago on august 19. we will be broadcasting live all that we come expanded to two hours from chicago. the dnc has floated the idea of having a virtual roll call vote before the convention. the dnc rules committee will meet on wednesday. to talk more about the steps forward and if there should be an open convention, we are joined by two guests. in washington, d.c., jim zogby is a longtime member of the democratic national committee

and a former dnc executive committee member from 2001 to 2017. earlier this month, he proposed to the dnc chair what he called an open, transparent, and energizing process for the dnc to choose its nominee if biden stepped aside. and joining us from atlanta, georgia, is latasha -- latosha brown, co-founder of black voters matter and a longtime community organizer and political strategist. we welcome you both back to democracy now! latosha brown, let's begin with you. your response to president biden dropping out of the presidential race and almost immediately endorsing kamala harris and what you think should happen next. >> i think he was courageous and had a lot of integrity in doing that. i think it has created a whole different kind of energy that has gone in the party. i think it was a really smart moved away i think you made the

announcement and separated the two announcements. what josé going forward, this is a moment the party -- we have less than four months. we have a major threat to democracy on the others of the trump and vance ticket. this is the time i think we need to be organizing, buckle down, and literally go forward going into this convention not necessarily saying an open process. i think there should be a process of the rules committee set in place but let's be clear, there were 14 million people in the primary that voted for the biden-harris ticket. with the full endorsement -- i don't think was just about personality what people voted for biden, it was about policy. some of those policies, people want to see supported. going forward, thing to be able to keep down confusion, chaos, and we think about historically,

they have not gone well for democrats. this is the idea to close friends and have a convention that people leave feeling energized and like we have our boots on the ground and we are ready to go. amy: dnc member jim zogby, your thoughts? >> look, i wrote in the plan i submitted to jamie weeks ago -- amy: jamie harrison, head of the democratic national committee. >> and i still think an open convention is important for two reasons. one, it will make the eventual nominee stronger. i believe it will be kamala harris. i will support kamala harris. but i feel if she went through a process as she herself has said she wants to earn it, i think with town halls and competing candidates, with a chance to air competing views, will both energize the base, create a more

dynamic convention, and it will make her a stronger candidate going into the fall. she wants to earn it. i believe she has the right to earn it. i think she will be the nominee. i will endorse her. but i think an open convention is what democracy needs from our party right now. i have been on the dnc for 31 years. we cannot just be props who because somebody says vote this way we all vote that way. i think she wants to earn it and i think we need to respect that and create a process where she can earn it and were democracy can be shown to be the hallmark of what our party is about. amy: practically, explain what that would look like, jim. >> what we laid out was a plan that said the dnc members would nominate 40 members would be necessary for candidate to be placed on the slate, they would have to come from all four regions of the party. there are about 440 dnc members,

so you would get a very small number. at this point i don't know if anyone would want to get in but i think would be a good testing ground for some people are looking to the future. governor shapiro or governor whitmer -- any others would say, yeah, let me put my hat in the ring and we would have two televised town halls where the candidates would be asked questions, they would commit to endorsing whoever the winner is, and they would commit to running positive campaigns. we would have floor votes at the convention. i think kamala would win in the first round without a doubt for the just being on a stage with the rest of what we would call the bench those others who are in line in the future to be leaders of our party, i think would be an important visual for the american people. we would not be like the republicans slamming each other and slashing each other's records. we would be presenting alternate visions or our own credentials.

and then at the convention, we would have this exciting process that people would pay attention to. i don't want a virtual vote being called for because it is too gimmicky. frankly, i think people have stopped watching conventions because there's nothing unexpected about them. there's nothing interesting to see. this will be a really dynamic process. it would be 68 -- it would not be 1968, it would be when john kennedy won and the fantastic convention i went multiple ballots. people would say, what is going to happen? how is this going to work. i think it would be important for the country and important for the candidate who wins to have emerged successful from that process. amy: latosha brown, what would you envision for what should happen, what should happen at the d&c? how do you disagree with jim zogby? >> i think the idea of she has

to earn it, i think she has earned it. amy: she herself said -- >> millions voted for the biden-harris ticket. i think it is time to buckle down. it would be the delegates. the delegates that have already been assigned for the biden-harris campaign but they would have the opportunity to cast that. ultimately, going to convention, that sounds great of all things would go exactly as planned. this is not the moment to take a risk on having chaos, confusion for someone who wants power to jump up and say, "i want to create confusion because i think there needs to be another way forward." this is a moment we have to defeat trump. under no circumstances we have to be unified -- i'm more concerned about power than i am a process that ultimately has not gone well in the past for the democratic party. amy: she herself, kamala harris,

said my intention is to earn and when this nomination. >> i am in support of her. i understand what she is raising. i am raising that as someone on the ground in four months with the do a lot of work. what i'm saying is in this process, i think it can be simplified. i think the delegates can push their issues. i don't think necessarily a process is gimmicky, it streamlines the process so we can move forward, come into the convention having clarity and no confusion and i think it minimizes the opportunity for chaos. amy: jim zogby, i want to ask you about the whole movement to have biden removed. the protests everywhere he went were not around his age, they were around gaza and his support and supplying weapons to israel

and decimating gaza. it is quite something that is just so happens that this week in washington, netanyahu this coming, invited by the house speaker but then endorsed under a lot of pressure by hakeem jeffries and chuck schumer. he will address a joint session of congress on wednesday. i want to read from a post by linda sarsour who is been very involved in the uncommitted movement. she wrote on instagram -- "they will never admit this but joe biden became a political liability for the democratic party on gaza my period. they knew they could not win states like georgia, michigan --

so this is what linda sarsour said. you are the head of the arab american institute. we last had you on talking about the uncommitted vote. one of the first tests this week of kamala harris is she is going to be meeting with these really prime minister benjamin netanyahu. your thoughts on what she should do and what is going to happen

with the uncommitted vote at this point? and if you knowing thing about the protest at the dnc that has been planned, amazingly, far more protest has been planned, not clear it will now happen, then protest of trump in milwaukee. >> the genocide continues and continues unabated. areas designated by israel as safe zones are the ones being attacked. the horror, the nightmare of 2 million people being literally shuffled around like cattle in the slaughterhouse being moved from this area to that area and bombed in every area they go is just traumatizing to a whole constituency. it is not just arab and muslim voters, but the polling we have seen have shown young voters, black, latino, asian voters, significant chunk of them have moved to the point where they furious about the fact america

appears to be complicit -- not appears to be, but has been complicit. what will harris do? a conversation i had with her and people i know in her desk to advise her, she has much greater empathy than we have seen from president biden. disturbingly, we have not seen that from president biden. he has mentioned it at times but not with any real depth of feeling as i've seen from the vice president. i would be surprised if she had a hale and hearty embrace and, oh, my god, so great to see you and blah, blah, blah. i think she will be a little sterner. i think she will be a little more distant. she still the vice president. the policy still comes from the president. i think she would make her mark in this meeting if it in fact happens that she is not on board with the same level of support. america sees israel as an ally.

that is not going to change. but america has to treat israel as an ally who is gone astray and has been doing things that are harming not just israel, but also harming america's image across the middle east in the world. we are isolated today as a country. we are not the leader of the human rights and free world communities. we are in fact seen as complicit in a war genocide and blocking international efforts to stop israel from doing what they're doing. i would hope kamala harris has a different feeling about these issues than the president does. i hope we will see that on display when she meets with netanyahu. amy: before we go, latosha brown , i want to switch gears to ask you about the long time texas democratic congress member sheila jackson lee, who has died at the age of 74 of pancreatic

cancer. she was a tireless fighter for civil rights and progressive caucus -- causes throughout her 30 years in the u.s. house. in 2002, congress member jackson lee was an early and outspoken opponent of the invasion of iraq. she was an impassioned advocate for reparations. >> i people in america are the descendants of africans, kidnapped and transported to the united states with the explicit complicity of the u.s. government in every arm of the united states lawmaking and law enforcement infrastructure. the dehumanizing and atrocities of slavery were not isolated but mandated by federal law that were codified and enshrined in the constitution. the role of the federal government supporting the institution of slavery and subsequent discrimination directed against blacks is an injustice that must be acknowledged and addressed. amy: if you can talk about the

legacy of this remarkable houston congress member? >> ♪ if i can help somebody along the way then my living has not been in vain ♪ i have been thinking about her this weekend. it is in this moment right now i'm feeling very. she left a legacy of service. there was not a single time we called or people that i know in the movement called her and she did not respond. she has left a legacy of service, and legacy of love, that she was active -- not only when you talk about reparations, when you talk about the reason why we have juneteenth as a holiday is because of her. if you look at some of the pieces she is n economic development for small businesses and black-owned businesses as a stallworth of being on the front lines and making sure women's rights were protected, that she has been an amazing servant of this country.

she has been an amazing servant to redistrict district in the state of texas. a giant has fallen. i think in that legacy i hope we continue to work in terms of leading on reparations. that was a significant move. she was literally relentless on it. if you ever met her, if you knew her, she was someone that you could always depend on. i lift up her family in this moment, the constituents. or all of us, she is someone who will be greatly, greatly missed. amy: latosha brown, thank you for being with us, cofounder of black voters matter fund. speaking to us from atlanta. jim zogby, longtime member of the democratic national committee. next up, the international court of justice rules is rose occupation of the west bank and east jerusalem is illegal -- israel's occupation of the west bank in east jerusalem is illegal. ♪ [music break]

amy: "you don't love me" by dawn penn. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show in the hague, where the international court of justice has ruled israel's occupation of the west

bank and east jerusalem is illegal and should come to an end "as rapidly as possible." israel's illegal military occupation of the territories began in 1960 seven and forcefully expanded, killing and displacing thousands of palestinians. icj presiding judge nawaf salam read the nonbinding legal opinion friday, deeming israel's presence in the territories illegal. >> israel must immediately cease all settlement activity. is will has an obligation repeal all legislation and measures creating or maintaining the unlawful situation, including those which discriminated against the palestinian people and the occupied palestinian territory as well as all measures aimed at modifying the democratic composition of any parts of the territory. israel is under no obligation to provide all reparations for the damage caused by its internationally wrongful acts to

all natural or legal persons concerned. amy: the court also said other nations are obligated not to legally recognize israel's decades-long occupation of the territories and "not to render aid or assistance" to the occupation. the 15-judge panel said israel has no right to sovereignty of the territories and pointed to a number of israeli actions such as the construction and violent expansion of illegal israeli settlements across the west bank and east jerusalem, the forced permanent control over palestinian lands, and discriminatory policies against palestinians -- all violations of international law. the palestinian foreign minister riyad al maliki praised friday's ruling. >> all states and the u.n. are under obligation not to recognize israel's presence in the palestinian territory and do nothing to assist israel in maintaining this illegal

situation. there directed by the court to bring israel's illegal occupation to an end. this means all states and the u.n. must immediately review their bilateral relations with israel to ensure their policies do not aid in israel's continued aggression against the palestinian people, directly or indirectly. >> all states must fulfill their clear obligations, no aid, no collusion, no money, no weapons, no trade, nothing with israel. amy: in 2022, the u.n. general assembly issued a resolution task in international court of justice with determining whether the israeli occupation of the palestinian territories amounted to annexation. this all comes as the icj is also overseeing an ongoing genocide case against israel filed by south africa and as the

international criminal court is seeking arrest warrants for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and israeli defense minister yoav gallant. despite mounting outcry over israel's war on gaza, which has killed some 39,000 palestinians -- more than 16,000 of them children -- netanyahu is scheduled to travel to washington, d.c., to address a joint session of congress. for more, we go to brussels, where we're joined by diana buttu, palestinian human rights attorney and former adviser to the negotiating team of the palestine liberation organization. thank you so much for being with us. first respond to this court ruling since it is nonbinding stop what is the significance of it. >> even though it is nonbinding, it does not mean it doesn't have any weight. it simply means israel is going to ignore it. it just said the legal precedent for other countries and those

other countries do have to respect the opinion of the highest court come the highest international court. so we see with this decision is that -- it is a very important and necessary one because we see the court makes it clear, not only that israel's occupation is illegal, but it also says all countries around the world have an obligation to make sure israel doesn't get away with it. they have an obligation to make sure the occupation comes to an end. over the years, in particular over the past 30 years, we have seen a shift in the international diplomacy to trying to push palestinians to somehow give up their rights. and here we have the highest international court saying that isn't the case and that it is up to israel to end its military occupation and up to the international community to make sure israel does that. amy: exactly what is the extended decision when it comes

to how other countries should deal with israel at this point? >> well, there's some interesting elements to this case. the first is that the court comes out really and that says the occupation is illegal but also say the settlements have to go and the settlers have to go. they also say palestinians have a right to return. now, we're talking about over 300,000 palestinians who were expelled in 1967 and probably 200,000 palestinians who have never been able to return back. we're just talking but the west bank in gaza strip because of israel's discriminatory measures. the other thing the court says is it is not just the west bank in east jerusalem that are occupied but also gaza as well. this is a very important ruling because for so many years, israel has tried to blur the lines and make it seem as though they're not in occupation of gaza -- which they are. what this requires is the

international community not only not recognize the occupation but they take into account measures or take measures to make sure israel stops his occupation. that means everything from an arms embargo to sanctions on israel -- anything that is necessary that can be done to make sure israel's occupation finally comes to an end. this is where we now see instead of the world telling palestinians they just have to negotiate a resolution with their occupier, with their abuser, that the ball us down there court, it is up to the international community now to put sanctions on israel to end its military occupation. amy: i was asking about what is happening in gaza. you have the deaths -- expected to be well over 39,000 -- but you also have this new report by oxfam that finds israel's using water as a weapon of war with the water supply plummeting 94% since october 7 and the nonstop israeli bombardment.

even before, access was extremely limited. and then you have this catastrophic situation where you have, because of the destruction of the water treatment plants, forcing people to resort to sewage contaminated water containing pathogens that lead to diarrhea, especially deadly for kids, diseases like dysentery, hepatitis a and typhoid. meanwhile, the israeli army has started to vaccinate the israeli soldiers after palestinian health authorities set a high concentration of the poliovirus has been found in sewage samples from gaza. it is taking place -- the vaccination program of soldiers come across israel in the coming weeks. the significance of this? >> this is precisely what we've been talking about witches israel is caring genocide. they know they are carrying out genocide. we don't see anybody stopping

israel and carrying out this genocide. here we have yet another international court of justice ruling. the previous ones are binding. saying israel has take all measures to stop the genocide. yet we simply don't see the world has put into place measures to sanction israel come to isolate israel, to punish israel. instead, it gets to do whatever it wants. something else important, israel somehow believes it is going to be immune, that somehow these diseases aren't going to boomerang back into israeli society. they will post up the issue here is whether we are going to see some very robust action on the part of the international community now that we have a number of decisions from the icj saying to israel it has got to stop and the genocide must come to an end, israel must pay a price for continuing this genocide. amy: i want to ask about netanyahu coming here. the center for constitutional rights tweeted --

if you can talk about the significance of netanyahu addressing the joint session of congress -- also it is expected the person who president biden has said he is supporting as he steps aside to run for president, harris is expected to be meeting with yet yahoo! come and what you would like to see happen here? -- meet with netanyahu and what you would like to see happen there? >> it is repugnant to hear a war criminal, a person who has flattened gaza, who said he was going to flatten gaza, who has issued orders to kill more than 40 thousand come upwards of

190,000 palestinians -- we still another numbers -- who has made life in gaza unlivable, using palestinians as human pin balls, telling them to move from one area to the next who is presiding over genocide and unabashedly so, it is shocking to see the number of rounds of applause and standing ovations that this man is going to be receiving. it very much signals where the united states is, which is complicit in this genocide. and palestinians know this. if anything, he should not have received in invitation. he should simply be getting a warrant for his arrest, not be receiving applause and accolades in congress. amy: diana buttu, thank you for being with us palestinian human , rights attorney joining us from belgium. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for a director of development to lead our fundraising team. you can learn more and apply at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for

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