07/23/24 07/23/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! vice pres. harris: it is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win. amy: on her first full day campaigning, vice president kamala harris secured the backing of enough democratic delegates to win the party's presidential nomination

following president biden's stunning decision to step aside upending the presidential race. the democratic national committee is now planning to hold a virtual roll call vote to lock in harris as the party's nominee before the democratic national convention even begins. we will get the latest and speak to a former harris campaign worker who resigned from the biden administration over israel's war on gaza. plus, we go to israel where a group of public health professors are calling for an immediate ceasefire to prevent a polio outbreak after the highly infectious virus was detected in sewage in gaza. then to bangladesh. over 170 people have been killed during mass student protests. the government has arrested over 2500 protesters in a sweeping crackdown.

>> this illegal government is trying to uproot students. every moment, injured students are coming into the hospital. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org. war, peace and the presidency. i'm amy goodman. kamala harris appears on track -- to win the nomination with no obvious challenger. on monday, harris rallied campaign staff and supporters. she defended the biden administration's accomplishments and referenced her work as a courtroom prosecutor who went after perpetrators of all kinds.

vice pres. harris: abused womenf consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. so hear me when i say i know donald trump's type. amy: the democratic national committee confirmed it will hold a virtual roll call to confirm its presidential nominee by august 7, roughly two weeks before the dnc kicks off in chicago on august 19. the harris campaign says it raised $81 million during the first 24 hours of her candidacy -- a record haul. this comes after harris' campaign received nearly $100 million of previously-raised funds for president biden's now-canceled reelection campaign. several republican campaign finance lawyers have promised to challenge the transfer in a complaint to the federal election commission. we'll have more on these stories

after headlines. in gaza, israeli forces have continued their ground invasion of the southern city of khan younis, where thousands of terrified residents are fleeing airstrikes and heavy artillery fire. at least 84 palestinians were killed over the past day with more than 300 others wounded. medical staff at the nasser medical complex report they are completely overwhelmed and have been forced to treat patients on hospital floors. relatives gathered outside the hospital monday to mourn the dead. this is ahmed sammour who lost his infant child and several relatives when an israeli air strike destroyed the home where they were sheltering. >> we are tired. we are tired in gaza. every day, our child are martyred. this is the blood of our children. they want us to evacuate. they brought floors crashing

down on civilians. amy: israel's military says it has begun vaccinating its soldiers against poliovirus after the paralytic disease was found in a number of wastewater samples in gaza. the world health organization warns the risk of further spread remains high while gaza's children go unvaccinated during israel's assault, which has devastated gaza's water and sanitation infrastructure. public health officials have called it a major setback for global efforts to eradicate polio. we will speak with a public health doctor in israel later in the broadcast. israeli military raids on the west bank have killed at least seven palestinians, including a paramedic who died in a drone strike on the tulkarm refugee camp. meanwhile, several international activists were hospitalized in the west bank after they were assaulted by jewish settlers in the town of qusra. israeli soldiers who witnessed the attack reportedly fired

warning shots but made no arrests. this comes just days after the international court of justice ruled israel's decades-long occupation of the west bank and jerusalem is unlawful. meanwhile, representatives from rival palestinian factions, including hamas and fatah, have been meeting with chinese mediators in beijing where earlier today they announced an interim national unity government responsible for the west bank and gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has arrived in washington, d.c., monday ahead of his address to a joint session of congress on wednesday. activists opposing israel's assault on gaza are planning major protests across d.c., while dozens of democrats say they will boycott the address. last week, some 230 capitol hill staffers signed a letter calling

on their bosses to either protest or boycott netanyahu's address. vice president and presumptive presidential candidate kamala harris will not preside over the address. she will instead attend an event with a sorority in indianapolis. but harris is reportedly planning to meet privately with prime minister netanyahu during his visit. there are also reportedly plans for biden to meet with netanyahu this week, though it is unclear if you will be well enough to do so as he recovers from covid. a possible meeting between netanyahu and donald trump has also not been confirmed. on capitol hill, lawmakers on the house oversight committee grilled secret service director can really cheatle monday over security failures ahead of the july 13 trump assassination attempt, which cheatle admitted was her agency's "most significant operational failure." >> the secret service's solemn

mission is to protect our nation's leaders. on july 13, we failed. as the director of the united states secret service, i take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency. amy: both democrats and republicans are calling on cheatle to resign after she repeatedly stonewalled lawmakers when pressed on more specifics around what went wrong. among the few things cheatle did reveal was that her agency was informed about a suspicious figure multiple times before the shooting and that the roof the government shot from had been identified as a point of vulnerability. she also said the shooter was not considered a threat until "seconds before the gunfire started." meanwhile, house republicans used monday's hearing to lash out at the secret service's dei policies -- that's diversity, equity, and inclusion -- in a series of misogynistic attacks.

congressmember tim burchett of tennessee told cheatle, "ma'am, you are a dei horror story," while texas lawmaker michael cloud asked cheatle, "does every secret service agent meet the same qualifications, or do you have different standards for different people?" a federal judge on friday sentenced a january 6 rioter who performed a nazi salute at the top of the capitol steps to five years in prison and a $20,000 fine. tyler dykes, a former marine, also attended the infamous 2017 unite the right rally in charlottesville, virginia. during his sentencing hearing, tyler said, "i stand with president trump and support him to be the next president of our country." in related news, a republican state senator from ohio was forced to apologize after he said only a civil war would save the country if trump loses the -- in november. george lang made the comments during a rally for trump's

running mate j.d. vance. >> i believe wholeheartedly donald trump and j.d. vance are the last chance to save our country politically. i'm afraid if we lose this, it is going to take a civil war to save the country. and it will be saved. amy: ohio senate democrats said in response, "inciting violence over an election that hasn't even occurred yet is irresponsible and undemocratic." when j.d. vance took to the stage at the middletown, ohio, rally, he repeatedly attacked kamala harris and went on a tangent about diet mountain dew. >> it is the weirdest into me. democrats say it is racist to believe -- they say it is racist to do anything. i had a diet mountain dew yesterday and one day i'm sure they're going to call that racist, too. it is good. amy: here in new york, activists

gathered monday to observe the union square climate clock as it ticked down below five years for the first time ever. democracy now! spoke to climate activist gan golan. >> we're here today because it is climate emergency day. it is the day when the climate clock ticks down from five years to four years, meaning we now have four years to rapidly accelerate progress on climate solutions to avoid the worst climate catastrophe. it is a very short amount of time and that is why we need to push politicians, corporations, and move the media and everyone to understand the world has a deadline. amy: in greenland, long time anti-whaling environmental activist paul watson has been detained in the capital nuuk under an international arrest warrant issued by japan. watson was arrested as his ship docked in greenland before setting off to the north pacific on a mission to intercept a new

japanese whaling ship. watson, who's the founder of sea shepherd and co-founded greenpeace, has led countless direct actions over the years. greenland authorities have refused him bail and could face 15 years in prison. a russian court has sentenced russian-american journalist to 6.5 years in prison after convicting her of spreading false information about the russian army. she is an editor with the u.s. government-funded news service radio free europe, radio liberty which called the trial and conviction a mockery of justice and demanded she be reunited with her family. she said in a prior courtroom appearance she had not heard her children's voices in months. >> the last time was in october last year.

i don't have permission to make calls. i have no opportunity to call. i don't even have the opportunity to correspond. that is letters by mail take a month and a half. >> and how do you feel? >> steadily worse. amy: in france, hundreds of people marched in paris saturday to protest the participation of the israeli delegation in the 2024 summer olympics amid israel 's war on gaza. the games kick off in paris friday. protesters waved palestinian flags, carrying banners that read "ban israel was goat and "genocide is not an olympic event." >> the participation is shocking. especially when we know what has been happening for eight months in gaza. there dozens and dozens of young palestinian athletes who will never be able to participate in the olympic games and they can say thank you to israel for that and the international community

because i think israel's allows us up to behave like this because the international community has only been giving it little slaps on the wrist for decades. amy: and bangladesh, the death toll from a crackdown on massive student protests has risen to at least 174. more than 2500 people were arrested after police and soldiers were granted shoot on sight orders amid the unrest. internet access and most of bangladesh remained dark for the fifth day as the government declared a public holiday monday. we'll have more on bangladesh later in the broadcast. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. war, peace and the presidency: this is i amy goodman in new am york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: on her first full day campaigning, vice president

kamala harris secured the backing of enough democratic delegates to win the party's presidential nomination. the democratic party has quickly coalesced around harris following president biden's stunning announcement sunday that he is dropping out of his reelection bid. the democratic national convention begins in chicago four weeks away, but the democratic national committee is moving ahead with a virtual roll call vote to lock in harris as the party's nominee by august 7. on monday, kamala harris picked up some major endorsements including former house speaker nancy pelosi and every democratic governor, including some who were seen as potential rivals to harris, including kentucky governor andy beshear, michigan governor gretchen whitmer, and pennsylvania governor josh shapiro. harris has tapped former attormey general eric holder to vet potential running mates. since sunday afternoon, harris has raised over $100 million,

including a record $81 million in the first 24 hour of her campaign. on monday, harris addressed campaign staffers in wilmington. vice pres. harris: before i was elected as vice president, before i was elected as a united states senator, i was elected attorney general of california poster before that, i was a courtroom prosecutor. in those roles, took on perpetrators of all kinds. creditors who abused women. fraudsters who ripped off consumers. cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. so hear me when i say i know donald trump's type.

amy: while the democrats are quickly moving forward on nominating kamala harris, there are still voices in the party calling for an open convention in chicago to pick the party's nominee. democratic congressmember rashida tlaib of michigan said in a statement -- "i support a transparent democratic process at an open convention next month, and hope there is a fair vote on the resolutions at the dnc that calls for an arms embargo to stop the israeli government's war crimes." harris is heading to campaign in milwaukee today. she has declined to preside over the senate wednesday when israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu addresses a joint session of congress. she will be in indianapolis. we are joined now by waleed shahid. democratic strategist and adviser to the uncommitted campaign. previously spokesperson for justice democrats and former senior advisor for the campaigns of alexandria ocasio-cortez and jamaal bowman.

welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. if you can start off i just responding to these historic events that took place this weekend with president biden suffering from covid, not to mention the poll ratings and enormous pressure from within his party, announcing he is stepping aside and endorsing kamala harris to be president. >> since february, the uncommitted movement has been saying president biden's policy on gaza was disqualifying enough for him to be the democratic nominee because the policy had fractured the democratic party. this was on top of growing concerns amongst the parties electorate, the base about biden 's positions on the economy, cost-of-living, and his age. the coalition has been fracturing for months preceding the debate performance and the coalition was not really there to back the president once he had the disastrous debate performance.

for a long time now, the uncommitted movement, particularly in states like michigan, minnesota and wisconsin, allies and places like georgia, have been saying they have been waiting to see president biden change course on gaza. that has not really come. many events in breathed a sigh of relief that president biden was no longer the nominee and hoping kamala harris says "not another bomb" and turns the page on biden's disastrous policy on gaza and shapes a new course on middle east policy. juan: the rapid backing of kamala harris by the democratic establishment reminds me to some degree of what happened in 2020 when over a weekend in the midst of the primary with bernie sanders, gaining momentum, that suddenly the democratic

establishment united behind biden. >> yeah, the role of the vice president is to take the role of the president when the president is incapacitated. we are in uncharted waters here. maybe 1968 is the last time this happened. a vice president harris is set up to win the nomination. my understanding one of the reasons why president obama has not addressed -- endorsed kamala harris is to allow a democratic process. there has not been candidates who have thrown their hats in the ring to challenge her. iit seems 99% chance she will be the nominee. i think delegates still want their voices heard and want some assurances about her policy precisions -- positions and whether she will change or turn the page on gaza. her declining to sit behind netanyahu at the congressional

address in washington on wednesday is a step in the right direction. but i think people want to see a policy change or some signal of a policy change in the hertha administration would be different than biden's financial backing and arms shipments to what has been a genocide in gaza. juan: and you mentioned the democratic convention 1968. i haven't to have an outside that convention is one of the protesters back then in 1968. what are the limits of being able to use that analogy for the current situation? >> there were vietnam troops in vietnam and that played a huge role of the war being unpopular in the u.s. one of the analogies is when vietnam began to be televised in the u.s., drove the war to be incredibly unpopular. and today, young people have access to journalists reporting on the ground, civilians were

posting on instagram and type talk -- tiktok about the conditions of the war and showing the world these are american weapons that are dropping on palestinian civilians in gaza. i do think there will be actions at the convention inside and outside that pressure the democratic party, pressure the biden-harris administration and kamala harris to adopt new policy and enforce both american -- to ensure no weapons are being dropped indiscriminately on civilians in any war, but particularly this one. voicing opposition to this war should be a democratic principle, should be a principal of the democratic party, but has been crushed under -- over the the last few months and that dissent has been increasingly criminalized both inside the party and outside the party. so we are hoping to make our voices heard as an uncommitted movement and uncommitted

delegation inside the convention come outside the convention. people can go to our website to learn about those mobilizations happening around the dnc. we are in this fight not just for the next few months but the next few years to shape a democratic party that treats israelis and palestinians as equal human beings. amy: what about the republicans? when i was covering a protest against the police killing two separate instances black men in milwaukee during and right before the convention, milwaukee artists came up to me and said, where is the protest? he said it is only as local residents who are engaging in small protests. i hear about big protest planned for chicago. what about here? what about against trump? your thoughts. >> i think a lot of people feel because it is the current administration and the current democratic party that is in power they feel like it is their

duty to pressure the people who are currently in power. there almost no voices in the uncommitted movement that believe donald trump or j.d. vance would be better on palestinian human rights or policy toward -- on the israel- palestine question. i think most of the democratic party as their vehicle to bring pressure to have that party to align with the majority of its voters who believe there should be a permanent ceasefire and not a blank check to the idf or netanyahu. i think people are using their voices in the party they belong to. we are making clear we think biden in the white house's disastrous policy on gaza makes it harder for them to defeat trump. having a campaign based on democracy, having a campaign fighting far-right authoritarianism while sending bombs to one of the world's biggest far-right authoritarian's netanyahu was down visiting washington, d.c.,

makes a mockery of our party fighting on behalf of democracy. we want to see that party change course. amy: we want to thank you for being with us. waleed shahid is a democratic strategist and advisor to the uncommitted campaign. previously spokesperson for justice democrats and former senior advisor for the campaigns of alexandria ocasio-cortez and jamaal bowman. final question as we talk about current congressmembers and senators, bernie sanders has yet to endorse kamala harris but he said, actually, he will. your thoughts on him holding back? and do you believe it has to do with gaza? >> my understanding is one of the reasons why bernie stuck with biden so long is because bernie and biden were negotiating what biden's agenda would be for the 2024 election and i think bernie sanders was those same assurances on what kamala harris's economic agenda

would be for the 2024 elections. bernie has said publicly he believes the referendum -- the november election, that the democrats would win and i think he is waiting for that phone call. amy: thank you for being here. next up, we will speak with a former harris campaign worker who resigned from the biden administration over u.s. support for israel's war on gaza. stay with us.

amy: "cold blooded old times" by smog. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. war, peace and the presidency. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we continue to look at vice president kamala harris's run for the white house, we are joined by lily greenberg call . she worked on harris's presidential campaign in 2019. lily greenberg call went on to join the biden administration but resigned from her position in the interior department to

protest biden's support for israel's war on gaza. she was the first jewish political appointee to resign over biden's policies on gaza. she had been working to the assistant chief of staff at the interior department. she just wrote an article for the guardian headlined "i worked to elect kamala harris. she must break with biden on israel and palestine." welcome back to ♪ democracy now! explain exactly what your demand is. >> president bynes unconditional support for israel's assault on gaza has been widely unpopular with americans at large, with democrats, with american voters across the board, even within the american jewish community. vice president harris has an opportunity to chart a new path. not just because it is the right thing to do but because it is both a popular and politically savvy thing for her to do.

at this moment she needs to support an arms embargo toi, reject aipac's right-wing agenda, and use the -- use the u.s. leverage broker lasting ceasefire, hostage exchange, meaningful status quo change in israel-palestine that means safety and a thriving future for all palestinians and israelis. juan: what is your sense that she would be willing to make that break from biden policies, especially in the midst of a very shortened residential campaign? >> when i was in the administration, i heard reports that she was pushing the president to pursue a more humane policy that complied with international law. she was the first administration official to use the word "ceasefire," albeit calling for a six-week one. but there were reports that was and never by the president's staff to water down her speech in selma when she first called for the ceasefire.

it is disappointing to think potentially president and the president's staff were not only not listening to the majority of the american people and voters, but to his own vice president. i believe she would be more amenable to breaking with biden on israel and gaza. and i think she has to. over 700,000 democrats voted uncommitted in the primary, which was the protester president finds unconditional support for israel's assault on gaza. those voters are important. there progressive post their young people. they are part of the coalition that the vice president needs to win thank you swing states like michigan, minnesota, and georgia. if she wants to defeat donald trump, she has to not just reject authoritarianism at home but also abroad. that means rejecting the israeli government. amy: lily greenberg call, we be participating in protests at the

democratic convention? or if you're not going to be there, do you support those kinds of protests? >> i think voters have the right to hold our electeds and folks seeking elected office accountable. i do think -- i am glad to see people are rallying around kamala. i think it is important we unite the party and do everything we can to defeat donald trump, but i also think this is a moment to hold her accountable. president biden was weak by the end of his term. the party was divided. he became a political liability for democrats and large part due to his support for the war in gaza. i think the vice president needs to know she needs to do something different. juan: the administration has taken a lot of criticism for its pursuit of support of israel and

the war on gaza. the trump administration or trump as a candidate has received very little questioning from the media about what his policies would be other than to say that, as he sat at the convention, that the hamas attack would never have happened if he was president. but there are no specifics how trump we deal with the situation and israel's continuing attack on gaza. what is your sense of the media's role in this? >> i think it is clear that a trump presidency would be disastrous, second term presidency, not just for americans but for palestinians, israelis, for people around the world. i do think i would say in general, i don't know the media has done a good job in the last eight years, 10 years of holding trump accountable and showing him for what he really is, which is a fascist and a threat to our

liberties and freedom here. what i will say, for the hundreds of thousands of palestinians who have been massacred in the last nine months, the biden administration has been just as disastrous. the palestinian people in gaza are experiencing a genocide. for them, that is the most disastrous thing we could have. we need to remember this has been happening under a democratic administration as well. that is why this moment is so important and could have so much potential for an actual seachange. i hope the vice president and her staff vote are paying attention to what voters want. even the majority people in my own community, the american jewish community, support a cutting off of offensive weapons to israel and what a ceasefire. amy: i want to go back like seven years to 2017 when then california senator kamala harris pledged unconditional military support to israel at the aipac conference then.

>> our defense relationship is critical to both nations, which is why i support the united states commitment to provide israel the $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade. amy: that was when kamala harris was senator. it was seven years ago. this week netanyahu has already arrived in the united states. he will be addressing a joint session of congress on wednesday. she will not be presiding over that session. she will be elsewhere in indianapolis, which i think is a statement in itself. although, she will be privately meeting with prime minister netanyahu. can you talk about what you understand her trajectory has been and even in these 10 months of israel's assault on gaza how she has changed? >> i think the fact -- again,

vice president harris is not perfect by any means. her record as a past prosecutor was harmful. she has continued to maintain ties with aipac. i think those are all things we need to hold her accountable for. and i think compared to other people within the administration, she has shown she is more amenable to a status quo change in u.s.-israel policy and she is even, unfortunately, this is the status of american politics, but she has expressed empathy for and humidity for palestinians who are experiencing massacre and forced starvation and torture. that in itself, unfortunately again, it is devastating that is the state of our politics, but that is a break from the status quo. i think, you know, this is not an opportunity to let go of the momentum that has built. 2024 and 2017, we are in a very

different place now, especially how the american public views what is happening in israel-palestine, nasser protests across the country. people are watching through social media a genocide being live-streamed and they realize it is their tax dollars and american weapons being used to kill children and they are not ok with that. even with the israel-palestine, the movement to bring the hostages home -- there are hostage families, family members of people still being held hostage by hamas in gaza who came to washington, d.c., here to protest netanyahu's speech to congress. something is changing now. it is imperative the vice president charts a new path on israel-palestine if she wants to not only win the election and unite the country but reject authoritarianism here and abroad. amy: lily greenberg call, we want to thank you for being with us. lily became the first known

jewish political appointee to resign over president biden's policies on gaza. she had been working as special assistant to the chief of staff at the interior department. we will link to her piece in the guardian headlined "i worked to elect kamala harris. she must break with biden on israel and palestine." next up, we get an update on bangladesh where more than 170 people have been killed during mass student protests. over 2500 have been arrested in a sweeping crackdown. plus we go to israel where a group of public health professors are calling for an immediate ceasefire to prevent a polio outbreak after the highly infectious virus was detected in sewage in gaza. back in 20 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: "the world is dangerous" by hurray for the riff raff.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. war, peace and the presidency. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. israel's military says it has begun vaccinating his soldiers against polio after the paralytic virus was found in a number of wastewater samples in gaza. the world health organization was the risk of further spread remains high while gaza's children go and back needed during israel's assault, which has devastated gaza's water and sanitation infrastructure. public health officials called it a major setback to global efforts to eradicate polio. for more, we're joined in israel by dr. dorit nitzan. she is the former regional emergency director for the world health organization's european office. she co-authored a piece by eight israeli doctors and hearts on sunday.

thank you so much for being with us, doctor. if you can start off by explaining what the situation is in gaza right now and what you are calling for. >> thank you very much. thank you for bringing this issue. in gaza now, we -- it is hard for us to imagine newborn babies and mothers, kids are going through. but what we know is that sewage samples that arrived to israel, collected in gaza for analysis, revealed in existence of polio. this is something that is expected in such conditions. juan: and, doctor, can you talk

about without potentially means? especially given the fact the acted individuals -- infected individuals can show no symptoms for weeks? >> yes, sir right now we don't know -- fortunately, we don't know of any polio patients and gaza, but we anticipate it will come. we know behind each polio patient, there are about 100 and more people that are not symptomatic. meaning, it takes time for the symptoms to appear. the sewage system is a very good -- sensitive marker for that. knowing it is there and it might appear, then the circumstances and the conditions of the health care, the health services is so bad that we are really, really

worried for the kids. amy: the israeli government has begun a major vaccination campaign for israeli soldiers? they say there some vaccines available for palestinians, but throughout gaza, hospitals have been destroyed, have been bombed . the health care system is in shambles. talk about why you say the prescription right now for what is happening is a ceasefire. >> the prescription is ceasefire , vaccines, and good public health conditions. what we know, for the past 20 years, with israel's support, gaza and the west bank have succeeded high rates of vaccination, including for polio. so the older kids should be ok. those who are born just before

october 7 and after are at risk. and for that, ceasefire is needed because we need to get humanitarian workers, the health workers, the nurses need to get to each and every baby and each and every adult that has not been vaccinated in the past, is vaccinated. and that should be done under secure conditions. it cannot be done under war. juan: and you mentioned other global conflicts that have demonstrated the potential for the spread of polio. can you talk about some of those conflicts that have occurred? >> yes. we know in every country where there is a conflict, there is a risk for outbreaks, including polio ,hcolera, -- choler

foodborne diseases, respiratory diseasesa,. but polio is one of them. we saw it in ukraine, in ethiopia, and and many other countries in syria, is etc.. we know the viruses and the bacteria and the toxic materials know no borders. and they actually go across borders as we saw in iraq, syria, etc. it is not only the kids in gaza, it is also -- it is important to vaccinate the kids as soon as possible. those who are exposed to them, the humanitarian workforce, the health workforce in gaza, and here in israel. amy: as we wrap up, dr. nitzan, your prime minister is in the united states and is going to get address, joint session of the u.s. congress. i'm sure you follow the politics here. now kamala harris is the

presumptive democratic nominee for president. your message to her and to him? >> yes, my message is to go beyond politics. we do understand there are deep, deep divides here. the seventh of october was terrible. i do understand right now we do not want to risk the kids on both sides, in any place. we want to take a break and stop it and make sure that every child has access to the vaccine. amy: dr. nitzan, thank you for being with us, director of the masters program in emergency medicine -- preparedness and response to emergencies ben-gurion university of the , negev. we will link to the article you cowrote with a number of israeli doctors.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. war, peace and the presidency. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in bangladesh come the death toll from the governments crackdown on massive student protests has risen to at least 174 with more than 2500 people arrested. internet access across most of bangladesh remain dark for for day. police and soldiers have been granted shoot on sight orders. protesters are seeking job security and higher pay and what an end to civil service job quotas they call discriminatory. the quota system was designed to set aside a portion of government positions for the relatives of soldiers who fought in bangladesh's independence war against pakistan in 1971. joining us in new york is salil tripathi, author of "the colonel

who would not repent: the bangladesh war and its unquiet legacy." he is on the board of pen international and a contributing editor to the caravan. welcome to democracy now! if you could start off by explaining what is happening in bangladesh for global audience who may not have been paying attention? >> we do have to go back to the 1970 war in which hundreds of thousands of people died in a lot of bangladeshi fighters fought for freedom. in 1972 -- amy: the war was between? >> vegas -- basically pakistan was running bangladesh. for about nine months from march 1971 to december 1971, the war lasted in which hundreds of thousands people died. toward the end of the war, and you helped liberate bangladesh. after the war, the prime

minister -- the first elected prime minister come the father of the current prime minister, he decided they must do something for those who had sacrificed so much for the country which was the job secured program. that they would have access to jobs. later he became jobs for the kin. children, descendants, grandchildren kind of got that benefit. there isn't estimate that shows a number of people who are actually involved in the war and could be called freedom fighters, maybe 2% to 5% of the population. the quota was vastly disproportionate, 30%. about 12% or so of the young people between the ages of 15 and 29 are without jobs. lot of other people are also looking for work. the men had to go to work in backbreaking jobs in the middle

east and southeast asia and women are working in garment factories. there is a lot of anxiety about job concert he -- security. i think there is a resentment that those were not part of the category. juan: could you talk about why bangladesh has remained mired in such poverty, one of the poorest countries in the world come subsequent to independence and how that has fueled the discontent of the young people? >> if you look at economic growth, bangladesh is doing rather well. it has been growing at 6% per year. it made impressive gains from 10 years ago.

in terms of certain parameters, it is doing well. but it is growing inequality. a lot of people have become very wealthy and some of that wealth is because of corruption and nepotism. the collective anger you're seeing is inequality, lack of opportunity, and a perception those in the ruling class and elite are getting all the benefits. juan: in terms of those who are not familiar with the period before war the independence, could you talk about the role of the british colonialists in the independence movement and the indian subcontinent? >> part of the united -- until about 1905. in 1905, the province was divided into two halves, muslim and hindu part and that lasted

until 1911. between 1911-1947, a lot of divide continued to exist and prevail and became more significant. in that process, found politics and the british had the policy of divided rule and they were succeeding. one of the elements that happened was during the second word -- second world war, the prime minister decided to divert crops that would have come and state and come to india to other parts to feed the troops. that created an artificial famine. it has been written extensively about it. it has been very well documented by artists and film makers, novelists. that led to the impoverishment.

most of the hindu parts to india and most of the muslim -- then you had the third war. after 1974, there's a very bad famine. and because of the situation with the cyclones, parts closer to the water have become almost uninhabitable. amy: i want to ask about the prime minister. on monday, the bangladeshi prime minister shay casino defended her to plummet of the military to the streets, blaming the main opposition nationalist party, or bnp, for the instigating the violence. >> bnp is instigating it. my question is, they're doing so

many things. who is patronizing them? can you find who they are getting the financial help from? the most sensitive thing as a matter of the students. we must make sure they won't get harmed. we have tried but efforts of our police and our forces. when terrorism started, the protesting students that they were not involved in it and we condemn it. we don't want it. when they pulled off from the protest, i deployed army only then. i did not do it before the students pulled off from protest. many want to tell me about deploying army against the students. i was involved in student politics. i know what the army could do. amy: that is the bangladeshi prime minister sheikh, hasina, or fourth time as prime minister. can you explain who she is and also what is happening today, it

the number of people have been killed, the thousands who have been arrested, the number escalating every hour? >> it is interesting her story because she is one of the two sisters who were out of the country at the time her father and i must the entire family were wiped out in the coup of 1975. she remained in exile. in 1981, she comes back as a harbinger of democracy. she works very hard with others, including her current rival. they work toward building a democracy and they tried to restore democracy. she gets elected in 1991. she loses in 1996. there's a period where she is out of power. she gets elected in 2008. there's a lot of goodwill about her. but once she is elected in 2008, the elections after that have been questioned. within hours of the election,

people started boycotting. the reason is intimidation and so on. she is per -- she is critically ill right now, such imagine she in charge -- her son, who could be her successor, is in exile. to imagine she is manipulating or choreographing entire protest movement againsthasina, is a nice narrative but it is hard to establish the bnp, which is at the forefront of it all.

it is not a popular large force. you can fill a crowd at any time -- obviously, she would want to portray it as a continuation of past struggle but it is highly debatable. juan: i wanted -- give about how the prime minister is seen by other major powers in the region , particularly india and the u.s.. if seen mostly as useful ally in a predominantly muslim country? >> absolutely. she has played it to her advantage. i was doing some research around it. it showed she would stand shoulder to shoulder against the war on terror. she said she's going to make sure --

she is given concessions to india which has made and yet incredibly unpopular to bangladesh. she is a great ally in modi and has support of the u.s. administration. amy: where do you see this headed right now? >> very good question. prediction is hard, particularly about the future. more seriously, i think there are two options. one, she's going to dig in her heels and stay where she is and hope this passes. i think it can pass. she has to focus on the vulnerable and the poor and tried to see and operate in a transparent manner. whether she's capable of doing that is a question. the other scenario people talk about is some kind of a military intervention. which i hope not because nobody in bangladesh really likes military rule.

nobody who cares for democracy would like it either. what can happen is what it happened between 2006-2008, period when the military supported what was called a caretaker government boast this was a government of wise people and economists and bureaucrats and academics and so on who tried to help ease the transition to power and she won after that. the election was -- the constitution allowed that but she brokered that part of the constitution, which is why that concept is gone. but those are the kinds of things that can happen. maybe from the highly patriotic and spirited students will see a new form of leadership emerge. amy: salil tripathi, thank you for being with us, author of "the colonel who would not repent: the bangladesh war and its unquiet legacy." on the board of pen international and he is a contributing editor to the caravan.

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