and promote its establishment and consular data and so this is the watered down wording of that cause the president himself said that was going to be hugely controversial this would give ammunition to other countries to criticize israel that would harm israel but the message is the same elizabeth that is coming out of this the message is that you know it is a jewish nation state that they have the priority that they are have should be living in areas only exclusive to them having said that they're ready community sort of committees in communities throughout the country that will assess someone coming in and will say well you cannot live in our community because you don't fit our certain values or ethnicity or ever it is this is a ready a policy in place so the bigger picture here it's symbolic but it is actively putting into law this is what is crucial really inherently in israel's constitution highlighting that this is the way forward for this country of course that is extremely concerning as you mentioned

a twenty percent of its population palestinian citizens of israel who speak hebrew who speak arabic and now even the arabic language is no longer an official language it is called a special status whatever that means but the message certainly is not a very inclusive or democratic one stephanie thank you very much for that and now that stephanie deck of the nations from west of us saddam thank you. we're going to move on to other news now out of syria and an agreement being reached between the government and opposition in now while it is the largest remaining rebel held city in the self that has faced an intense aerial bombardment over the past two days and elsewhere to besieged towns and syria's province have been evacuated after a deal was struck between opposition fighters and pro-government forces thousands were bussed out of four and fair in the northwest the shia towns have been under siege by sunni rebels for more than four years for regime forces and their families were among those who left their been taken to areas under government control and exchanged the government's expected to release hundreds of offers of detainees.

south korean court has ordered two hundred million dollars in compensation to be paid to the families of victims of the two thousand and fourteen seawall ferry disaster more than three hundred people mostly schoolchildren drowned when the overloaded vessel capsized a group of victims' families found a lawsuit against the government and ferry operators saying they were liable for the disaster the court ordered each family be paid about two hundred ten thousand dollars. now a new report by the human rights group for five rights is calling for the arrest of twenty two military and police officials in myanmar they were used of committing crimes that constitute genocide against the country's that one hundred community of a group bombed more than thirty police stations in august two thousand and seventeen and it was these attacks that led to a military crackdown against. stage but the report documents how the army committed mass killings rape and asked them against revenge in two thousand and sixteen

months before the police station bombings the military also disarmed by confiscating sharp objects from their homes at the same time they provided weapons to non one hundred people for food and humanitarian aid to handle blocked in a bid to weaken them ahead of the two thousand and seventeen crackdown the report concludes that myanmar's government made extensive and systematic preparations for attacks against what we're going to get more on this now we're joined by matthew smith you the chief executive officer of forty five watts which is the nonprofit human rights group that prepared the report and he's joining us live from bangkok always good to have you with us on al-jazeera mr smith so very importantly your report you know it refutes that dominant narrative in myanmar and beyond that the army cracked down on the revenge or was a response to attacks by a group on police outpost and also details the army's plans you know to rape to

kill it to displace or that they were in place long before the attacks on authorities. that's right you know the medium our military would like the world to believe that it was fighting terrorism in rakhine state and that this was a spontaneous response to the attacks of we have documented crimes by our so but more importantly with respect to the mass atrocities that have taken place we have documented the way in which the military was making these systematic preparations weeks in months before august twenty fifth two thousand and seventeen which is when that attack by militants took place do you think that the you know one hundred forty page report i believe it is and the evidence that you have connected that this will now go to the international criminal court this will be referred by the u.n. security council and given. ally china is on the security council and the veto power

they have and how they have protected me on my in the past. well we do have hope that this will spur meaningful international action the one thing that we've learned in the thing that the russians a community of all have learned is that following the october two thousand and sixteen violence there was almost complete inaction from the international community and that essentially paved the way for genocide to take place and so we do think that the international community will take this information act we have sent the report to the international criminal court we do have other information that we're making available to governments and others and right now u.n. security council member states should apply. unprecedented leverage against other member states on the council to ensure that there is an i.c.c. referral urgently and volume you know wait for possible i think see before action

from the u.n. security council the twenty two officials that the report says had responsibility for those operations can individually countries take action take steps like sanction things individuals. absolutely and we are encouraging governments of conscience to apply sanctions on the individuals that are named in the report it ranges from the highest level senior general men all mine who has largely escaped attention for his role in orchestrating these attacks these genocidal attacks the list ranges from him all the way to a much lower staff sergeant named budget. from a battalion five six four that carried out a massacre in a village called long knew these individuals should not only be sanctioned by governments but they should be investigated and potentially prosecuted for genocide and crimes against humanity this is my thank you very much for your time on this that is that matthew smith of forty five writes joining us from bangkok thank you.

still ahead on the bulletin and investing in africa china's president told the continent looking to increase its financial presence in the region and maintain the public thailand's rescued young footballers the moment they were found and five the flood of k. . hello most of europe is still enjoying really you rather warm summer for some a bit too boring to keep ticking in scandinavia and then interrupts to pieces this massive tabs been wandering around for quite a long time now there's a cold front going in this direction but this circulation is just within a raise you twenty twenty five degrees typically up to thirty even has fallen has moments beyond this chart now this obviously just became briefly cooler but to be

honest not cold it's just the potential for a bit of flash flooding what the whole it's just rain in the form showers and these showers are developing now in the increasingly warm west and so if your past is thirty represents. good high temps just thirty four in madrid you see the blue around the bay of biscay well that is showers developing and they're going to be more likely overland of the fronts maybe germany and switzerland and that these come friday otherwise it remains a pretty warm regime i think we're showing more interest in the depth of the shadows as time goes on as all of the land over the mediterranean and all over north africa is just a picture largely of sunshine young show brief makes you feel a bit colder places but he's thirty nine in tunis you'll notice. when people think of cuba they think of revolution but ivana is undergoing

a revolution and people have a life to get back it's an old and we're here to discover if those changes are reflected on the plate that this is q what is today q and future. russia i don't know i'm trying to read more to david root a.j. it's on al-jazeera. good to have you with us here these are our top stories israel has a controversial law that for the first time declares the country to be the nation

state of the jewish people the legislation also makes hebrew the official language downgrading the status of arabic and it encourages the building of jewish communities. has been accused of committing crimes that constitute genocide against the henge a community and you report is quoting on the international criminal court to arrest twenty two officials in myanmar for making extensive and systematic preparations ahead of the military crackdown on the head in two thousand and seventeen. now there's even more confusion about what donald trump believes or doesn't believe about russian interference in the two thousand and sixteen u.s. presidential election the latest twist see him at odds with his aides and contradicting has comments rosalyn jordan reports from washington d.c. . u.s. president donald trump ended wednesday the way he started it leaving his country and the world very confused about whether he thinks russia interfered in the twenty sixteen presidential election trump told us television he did blame russian

president vladimir putin well i would because he's in charge of the country just like i consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country so certainly as the leader of a country you would have to hold him responsible but also on wednesday trump told other reporters this is russia still targeting us. that's it the white house press secretary into damage control mode he was saying no he's not taking questions for trump's aides this was day three of cleaning up after the president during his joint press conference with putin on monday trump said he had raised the interference question during their meeting he just said it's not. russian then after republican and democratic outrage over trump statement the president spent tuesday trying to walk back his words and a key sentence in my remarks i said the word would instead of what he. said should have and i don't see any reason why i went or why it wouldn't be right and

scars the u.s. intelligence community is concerned there is no question about the russians behavior he's got his view is expressed his view i can tell you what my view is. the intelligence community's assessment has not changed my view has not changed which is that russia attempted to interfere with the last election and that it continues to engage in more and influence operations to this day but only a few people are paying attention to a policy conference in the american way what is getting most people's attention is the stream of mixed messages some would say alarming messages from the white house about russia and the american political process was in jordan al-jazeera washington . there was judge has ordered a russian woman charged with acting as a foreign agent to be held in jail pending trial prosecutors want that movie and

pertain to has ties to russian intelligence and as a flight risk she's accused of conspiring against the u.s. government and infiltrating the national rifle association. chinese president xi jinping is flying to africa for the brics economic summit to make stops in senegal and wanda before heading on to south africa where china is investing heavily in africa both financially and militarily brown has more from beijing. well this will be president xi jinping third visit to africa in less than six years that is a measure of just how important africa is to china right now he's going to be away for ten days the highlight of his african tour is probably going to be an address he's due to make of the brics forum in south africa brics of course comprises the world's five leading developing economies that's brazil russia india china and south africa and given that china is now in broiled in a trade war with the united states it's fair to assume the president xi will

deliver a robust defense of free trade and multilateralism which is something the brics believes in so he's going to be among allies and friends at brics africa has become hugely important to china it recently opened a military base in djibouti on the horn of africa where the united states also has a base china relies on african minerals to help fuel its economy and of course china is behind some of the biggest infrastructure projects in africa recently a new light rail system opened in nigeria that was paid for and built by china and of course china has hundreds or thousands of labor is in the country at the moment that's all helping china's g.d.p. but we are starting to see a push back especially in places like kenya and ghana a feeling that after that china is in a sense acting out of self interest and is becoming more and more like an economic

colonialist. members of the thai football team trapped in a cave for more than two weeks have attended a board the ceremony to rid themselves of misfortune. he. believed extends life and ward off danger the boys and their coach were released from hospital on wednesday a week after the dramatic rescue they spotted publicly for the first time a news conference forecast live around the world some of the boys described the moment they were found as a magical step fasten reports from chan by. the happy faces of what is now one of the world's most famous football teams the wild boars can finally go home well no not for the performances on the pitch but for my regular survival and rescue from the pitch black of a cave in north thailand. by a truck to go into the water and dig to see if we can go through but i could feel that the bottom was all sand and the top was just rocks the rope and the boys

pulled me back afterwards i told one of the boys that we cannot exit this way. what was planned as a one hour visit to the cave turned into an ordeal for eighteen days and nights closely watched by news viewers around the world. we found a sandy hill and there was water dripping from cliffs and rocks so i told everyone that we'd better stay near the water so we decided to spend the night there before we went to sleep i told him we should pray together before sleeping the youngest is only eleven years old. i tried not to think about food otherwise i'd feel in more hungry after nine days they finally were found. and we heard some noises of people talking at that moment so we told each other to be quiet and listen to the noise we weren't sure so we listened and it turned out to be true i was surprised. a team of international divers finally managed to swim

them to safety in what experts this cry by one of the most difficult and dangerous cave rescue operations ever remarkable stories of survival told by the boys and their coach for the first time with no food at all trying to hide any clean water they could drink all the time they were trying to find a way out as they became weaker and weaker by the day. the father of the fourteen year old goalkeeper says he wants his life returned to normal as soon as possible i mean of course i am worried we can't see in the future but i will tell my boy when he returns to the normal world he may face things he has never experienced before i try to encourage him to make sure he will be ready to face this issues only speak about what he wants to say things that hurt him he should avoid the wild boars will all become novice monks for a period of nine days to pay tribute to the former tiny navy diver someone who lost

his life during their rescue. di artists have made this mural in chang right. honor the extreme bravery and international teamwork of everyone who participated in the rescue operation after sharing their stories with the world the boys can finally go back home step fasten al-jazeera chiang rai. now it's been five years since a stranger tough and it's already hard line immigration policy sending refugees and migrants to remote present caps on pacific islands successfully deter people from trying to reach the mainland by boat or refugee advocates say the human cost is far too great andrew thomas reports from said me. the boats carrying refugee holiday mansell and her son arrived in australia insurer's in march twenty thirty mm they spent months in detention but are now on a path to a permanent life in australia how the second son was born in australia just four

months after harmony arrived her sister and her two sons made the same journey in between australia's government announced a new policy towards refugees arriving by boat people who come by boat now have no prospect of being resettled in australia the rules have changed for the man saw and her sons were sent to the tiny pacific island of nuru and were told they'd never leave. some people was lucky on sunday for me. just for a few miles. last month variables how many days nephew killed himself he was twenty six five years in heart. and in the tent without condit have done nothing. as it were mine if you say i lost a lot how can i i said no you can't start again you are young now but. you know i lost him now. i can't live it. i can but

it. australia's policy change in twenty thirteen was in response to almost daily budgets of about fifty thousand people described as an authorised arriving from the nineteenth of july all refugees and migrants were sent to either the tiny island state of nuru or mouse island in papua new guinea as a deterrent it worked the boats had stopped arriving by the middle of twenty fourteen by which time a new australian government that it turning back boats it seemed to the policy since the commencement of operation sovereign borders we've been able to provide the human environment to the people to settle in regional processing centers obviously conducted boy in the now room carson our own government employee injury about the pay injury government we provide assistance to those processes but at the same time the dividend of the success of stopping bites and most importantly stopping drownings at sea is that we've been out of a record number of places under the humanitarian refugee program was an estimated

two and a half thousand people were sent to mount a silent on a route around six hundred were later paid to return to the countries they've fled three hundred have been resettled in the united states about four hundred have been brought to australia the australian government will not say so publicly twelve people have died or been killed on mount a solar roof about a fountain people remain on the island if the policy is only sixty. because it demands a sacrifice of human lives of people off shore then it's not an effective policy but the big political party in australia proposes changing the policy so its fifth anniversary is unlikely to be its last. again i will have a problem in doha with the headlines on al-jazeera israel has passed a law that for the first time declares it to be the nation state of the jewish

people. all our members of the knesset were removed from the hall after tearing up the downgrade the status of the arabic language and encourages the building of communities exclusively for jews and say plants the seeds of an apartheid state. and syria an agreement agreements being reached between the government and opposition in it is the largest remaining rebel held city in the south and has faced an intense aerial bombardment over the past two days myanmar's army has been accused of committing crimes that constitute genocide against the hinge community a new report is calling on the international criminal court to arrest twenty two officials in myanmar for making extensive and systematic preparations ahead of the military crackdown on the hunger and twenty seventeen donald trump says he holds russian president vladimir putin personally responsible for moscow's meddling in the twenty sixteen presidential election

a fallacious shift in language from the us president has been criticized for failing to confront putin at their summit and finland. a south korean court has ordered two hundred million dollars in compensation be paid to the families of victims of the two thousand and fourteen seawall ferry disaster more than three hundred people mostly schoolchildren drowned when the overloaded vessel capsized a group of victims' families followed a lawsuit against the government and ferry operator saying they were liable for the . disaster the court. ordered each family be paid about two hundred and ten thousand dollars now members of the tophet fourteen trapped in a cave for more than two weeks have attended above the ceremony to rid themselves of misfortune each. in the ceremony is believed to extend life and what of danger to the boys and they were released from hospital on wednesday a week after that dramatic rescue that's the headlines on al-jazeera do stay with us what this is coming up next thank you for watching. the former bishop of hong

kong says the pope is sending out trying this complex. of things out there on. the beach which cardinal joseph zahn talks to. the. united arab emirates accuse of helping to boost islamophobia in britain media watchdog says the amber aussies mobilized opinion in the highest echelons of the british government against the muslim brotherhood but all the limits of political lobbying in the u.k. this is inside story. oh they're welcome to the program i'm laura carlisle the united arab emirates is

being accused of helping promote islamophobia in the u.k. the british media watchdog spin watch says the year a spent millions of dollars to influence political decision making on the watchdog says pressured journalists and think tanks all aimed at influencing the bush government against the muslim brotherhood has been what says it had leaked emails showing how they were involved in what's described as clandestine lobbying tactics in both person and the. u.s. and it highlights the campaign against castle and the twenty twenty two world cup the i.a.e.a. along with saudi arabia bahrain and egypt cut diplomatic ties with cattle thirteen months ago and imposed an economic blockade we'll get to our guests shortly but first here's more from paul brennan in london. the two thousand and eleven arab spring saw a wave of democratic grassroots protests which toppled longtime leaders and offered the hope of a new vision for the middle east the response by some of the kingdoms and emirates of the region was just as dramatic

a report by the spin watch group says that in the u.k. the united arab emirates mobilised a narrative against the muslim brotherhood in britain in the highest echelons of government it says the abu dhabi crown prince and the then prime minister david cameron had several undeclared meetings and it says through a combination of persuasion and threats the u.a.e. campaign produced results one threat which is made by the uni to david cameron was if you don't institute an inquiry into the muslim brotherhood we will cancel the typhoon fighter jet deal from bush's base i will stop british petroleum getting an oil concession in the law that was successful in extraordinary effort by the each actually could jaw and bully the british government into a pursuing its foreign policy the success or failure of the other u.a.e. lobbying is less clear spin watch says that the u.a.e. put pressure on the b.b.c. over its coverage of the arab spring but the b.b.c. in a statement has flatly denied that it caved in to any political pressure it's been

watch also quotes a source suggesting that iraqi donations to the think tank chatham house may have affected that institute's research but chatham house is vigorously denied that it could be affected in that way but the u.a.e. foreign minister is known to have had close contacts with selected u.k. journalists meetings which led the u.a.e. piaf quilla to claim that views changed and the report highlights the ways the two thousand and seventeen blockade against katsa saw the intensification of the us p.r. campaign including bitter criticism of catalyst twenty twenty two world cup the lobbying rules are woefully inadequate it seems to me and explain what the greater safeguards. to prevent the sort of influence which seems to be exerted on the on the risk of what's in the way which is has been and of course you know some of the only time the consequences have been the growth of islamophobia in this country and we're seeing the expression of that on the streets of britain the report notes

that now theresa may is u.k. prime minister abu dhabi's clout has diminished significantly but there seems little to prevent a possible slide backwards the central issue in all of this is one of transparency when does the jetsam at lobbying become undue influence and to quote the report itself promising billions in return for influence infiltrating the british media buying politicians loyalty donating to think tanks and trying to influence media coverage some would see as a step too far paul brennan al-jazeera central london. let's bring in our panel and joining us from london. university from brazil david miller founder of spin watch and also from london kevin craig c.e.o. of p l and all this political lobbying and media relations by war welcome to all of you david if i just start with you talk us through for you what were the key

findings of your report. well the key thing about this report which are many reports in the past on elite groups encouraging islamophobia but the key thing about this report was we did will be able to get leaked to us the internal. e-mails between quiller and some of the you the handlers and that was really quite dramatic because i like to see not just a specific question of transparency a lot of transparency or specific area of activity but i like to see the overall strategy which they were adopting and that struck she was really quite wide ranging as you heard in the report there yes they were trying to influence think tanks by funding them and trying to manage she was employed there yes they were trying to influence the b.b.c. by trying to mine and she was reporting from b.b.c. out of it yes they were trying to influence journalists by briefing them secretly and then giving them information about opposition groups and about qatar but they were also engaging directly with westminster in whitehall with secretly with the

prime minister with tory m.p.'s with the foreign affairs committee people with the zero party policy group splashing money on trips to five star hotels into to the gulf so we were able to see a really wide ranging lobbying campaign. even talk about the particular things which they might be cut out to write in that company ok so these emails just to be clear have are new to you because some of looked at this report and said there's nothing new in it that it's just a rehash of an old report back in two thousand and fifteen well if they've looked at the report concluded that they haven't read the report properly because they would say we have got. in the report is not rehashed it's new ok and kevin what do you make of the reports what was your conclusion that you've drawn from that. well just for the record because it's been so far moving i haven't been able to read every single page and wouldn't claim to but i have read the summaries and i do actually think that dave's organization play of valuable role in

discussions around lobbying and transparency in britain and beyond but i am as the founder and chief executive of one of the u.k.'s leading lobbying firms i'm surprised by a loss of the content of it is not shocking to me that gulf states seek to maximize their relationships with foreign governments i am very skeptical of the suggestion that the b.b.c. who we deal with who is up there in terms of top to media as al-jazeera but you can influence the b.b.c. they're taking phone calls from people of all opinions the left right and center all the time so i'm very skeptical about the impact whatever the consultants claimed and i would say that i think there is scrutiny is a very important thing but in the u.k. since two thousand and fourteen we've had a law being registered we were the first to sign it which means you have to declare every meeting that happens with ministers where i think there is an interesting

area of debate which spin watch of uncovered here is that. some of these meetings haven't been declared and perhaps people weren't aware of how many times the prime minister of the day was meeting with a particular government but none of that shocks me because in global diplomacy people want to push their own agenda all the time ok there's a couple of points i certainly want to pick up on there as the discuss and unfolds just first as you want to pick up on that point that you make have been about the means about media the b.b.c. and chatham house i do think it's important to say that even again today members of chatham house strenuously denied to our team that there had been any influence by the usa within their think tank. so do you think perhaps david that the reporters rather overplayed that aspect of the story no no not at all i mean this is this is interesting isn't it i mean the the the idea that the b.b.c. is invulnerable to pressure is manifestly ridiculous the b.b.c.

has been volatile to pressure from powerful institutions not resistance from the very beginning of their particular claims that we make in the report were fake we were very careful not to overemphasize the queens that make us the case in the b.b.c. but also with with us it was we know that that. produced briefings to target particular officials and chatham house we know there was an attempt to influence the kind of people who were there we don't see that those attempts were successful but we do note that to the people who were targeted no longer have positions they were not making any claim that was a causal relationship between the two those that so we're being very clear what it is that we were suggesting that we have evidence that these people were targeted we do have evidence that they were causally that that was related to them no longer having positions on the question of transparency yes i think it's correct to say that there are meetings which are not disclosed in the clear and that that should be looked at in terms of loving legislation but the problem is far wider than that as our lobbyist friend knows then the lobby legislation that we have is pathetic it

requires lobbying and i will. wait on this government is that it will be looking very deeply at that as a key part of this discussion before we do i just want to pick up on one point that you made that that a sense the usa was perhaps unsuccessful in lobbying or trying to lobby the b.b.c. and chatham house and there was no evidence that they had after what's the us aim here and where was it successful but i think to raise it is no different from the of any other country and this is one point i think this report perhaps hasn't made as well as it could have done and that is that the behavior of the u.a.e. is in line with the behavior. of every country including the u.k. influence is at the heart of politics what we are seeing here is the u.a.e. acting in its own interest its interest in this particular instance was presumably

of the muslim brotherhood represented a threat to security and stability in the region and particularly to them and that was the agenda that they were pushing whether we agree with that agenda or not is irrelevant the fact is that that is what they believed and they were using all the leavers of influence they have in a way that is no different from the way that the u.k. the usa and other countries. deploy it i think the question here is when does that influence become malign when is it in conflict with the interests of. a country such as the u.k. in this instance. and i think that is where we should concentrate and that is where we should. exploit the report it's positive aspects in generating the

debate but i think the implication there is that and i don't want to be seen to be defending huey i don't agree with some of its foreign policy at all but in this instance i think it would be wrong to suggest that the u.a.e. was acting in any way that is different from other countries absolutely and if the u.a.e. had come on the show we did ask them there they did not want to appear they would say exactly that that everyone's asset given at what point let's talk about this at what point does lobbying become an acceptable. i think it becomes unacceptable when it verges into corruption and by the way what a mistake by the usa not to take up the the opportunity to take part and to debate today's discussion as a real silly thing but it becomes maligned when it veers into corruption and i think you know one of the other good david i think so legislation in this country is prophetic baxley i think it's remarkable that we can find out so much about what

does go on if i want to find out what the mayor of london has had for breakfast he has to declare it if it's an external me saying and there are those trips that we talked about the u.a.e. where they attempted to make friends with british members of parliament and take them to the middle east it's all declared in the members' register of interests we have one of the most expensive records in terms of what members of parliament of all parties how they get hosted their hospitality and i think there are things we're not perfect but part of the problem is perhaps that globally there's not a parallel level of information i think the issue is when the things big become a line and corrupt it is normal that the british government is going to listen to a foreign government if there is over six billion pounds worth of contracts up for discussion at a time when brics is going to in the views of many do measurable harm to our economy of course the prime minister he or she is going to listen to people who

will inevitably seek to advance their own interests if they've got big business and big contracts to place they will at the same time we've into their own interests but as long as we know about it as long as it's out there and that's the important thing and that's why you know i do welcome today's report ok david at what point do you think the airways actions one malign and corrupt. seems to be the problem here is that we are all trying to get to a position of saying that yes lobbying is a noble thing we what's wrong with everyone does this well it's not normal for vested. to be able to secretly and covertly and no adequately transparently pursue their interests let me just give one example of where this is a problem the problem is that what this country was doing was encouraging racism and islamophobia in this country for its own particular sectional interest back home is we've we've crossed a line the idea that you can. well yes it was i mean that the inquiry is really

required to the muslim brotherhood the designation of of a peaceful muslim groups in this country as it was it hasn't had that back up closer than from what you're trying to do when it's not an impediment rather that i want to know ted that was immediately designate at those organizations as terrorist the guest that is the organization the terrorists are perfectly legal peaceful political organizations in this country as part of a pact washington against muslims being active in political life today which means which is which result which results in tokyo with the supporters marauding in the streets in central london intimidating but bus drivers will try to go but really best this vast the result of it and that's where the normal lobbying i don't want any part of normal of being after would you agree with that that this lobbying result heads and in the end when a backlash against muslims i'm staggered you see i r i've been looking at terrorism and religious extremism since nine hundred ninety eight and islamophobia is a horrible thing and something that i've suffered from but to suggest that this

was the primary consequence i find very difficult to to accept without this instance we had islam phobia and i'm sure god forbid we will continue to have it i think the point here that david just made which i think is worth looking at is the issue of transparency and i think what constitutes. acceptable lobbying i mean i'm not defending lobbying i'm just saying that is the currency of international relations now if you want to change it we have to change it internationally but in the meantime we should have clear guidelines about when is lobbying except for war when it isn't a corruption of course is one of those but there are other things values. and laws if any lobbying forces ago our government to take up stances which affect our

values which affect our laws and that is. an area for scrutiny at least by parliament if not by the public and there is an issue here where security is affected and intelligence is involved in those instances that very comprehensive recording of public meetings and public. politicians activities may not be effective but there are other mechanisms that we should perhaps bring into place as the scrutiny of certain types of meeting certain types of activities certain types of lobbying by parliamentary select committees suitably security cleared committees or by other mechanisms we have scrutiny of our intelligence services by independent clear organizations i mean it's really not

about that whole when you have any you call israel not being in the title of your company do any of those so policing of lobbying exists i mean how do you in your eyes successfully and a well not be a politician. there are a number of things it's about how you tell a story about the consequence of a policy or a legislative objective increasingly these days you get the ear and attention of politicians by mobilizing public opinion on a large scale especially in the u.k. currently with such a feeble. state in parliament where the government is covering governing with a. minority needs another political party from northern ireland to govern there are there is lots of scope for change in parliament you know some of it very progressive based on the fact that the government is vulnerable to small swings in

opinion but lobbying works when you tell a story when you bring it to life with the economic consequences the consequences of the human beings involved the consequences of policy on the environment and organizations public sector private sector charities pressure groups all have an opportunity to make themselves heard in an increasingly lobbying is more and more about mobilization of large numbers of people and the digital age i don't think we can ever be complacent at all about corruption in the principles behind report such as this in an important groups but it is now about how do you get politicians to act and they act whether they're left or right if it's if they're encouraged to act in line with their values and those that put them in parliament and what they are there supposedly to do ok david how vulnerable are politicians too aggressive not being well being. well i think that the opposite is the case too or just start really that what we face that the last twenty thirty years is

a process of. minimizing the possibility of popular opinion on policy which means a smaller and smaller groups are able to affect policy and that's why it's so important that cameron had the secret meetings or that didn't go out to the public that change think tank can secretly brief david cameron because he's his friend without it be disclosed this is a not only the not knowing is a system which is institutionally corrupt that lobbying is a form of institutional corruption in politics and so the question of politics is we look vulnerable yes they're much more vulnerable than they were before if one wants to think of them in that way as being victims but they are also of course participants in the system they get the money they get the trips they get the sinecures after they leave office they become advisors for the multinational companies et cetera et cetera and so it's a real problem with with that with our whole system of government it's not a question just of of breaking the law or of corruption in the sense of which people are talking about is an institutionalized milly's insight for us in making

which means that popular views are less and less listened to by government and i lead course you get a government which would be able to do to listen to them ok just to pick up on that point how influence has the u.k. government being by the deafen act as in its gulf crisis well i don't know i don't think there's a quantitative assessment of that but i think the point that it's just been made is a very serious one and it needs to be taken seriously the claim is that small and so small and numbers of single interest groups are having greater influence than the popular democratic opinion and if that is the case it is a legitimate point of concern for a democratic society and how do we manage that will we manage that by looking at threats in an object to. manner and holding politicians to account and and

calling them out when we have evidence that they've done this what we don't do is come up with innuendo and claim that is doesn't hold up to scrutiny even if it might be true it needs to hold up to scrutiny to give credibility to the point that the author has just made and i think he's making a very serious and important point but you can't make those points by suggesting that. anybody who criticizes or feels threatened by a political movement such as the muslim brotherhood is now causing islamophobia i'm sorry but other politicians both here in the u.k. and in the u.s. have caused more islamophobia concern than the u.a.e. these attempt to show their perspective and it is a legitimate perspective from their point of view if we may not agree with it that

is the muslim brotherhood has been embryonic in terms of the extremist movement such as al qaeda and others in the middle east that is a very well researched and a well held point of view occasionally that there's something like we are running out of you and a lot of and we have been able to let you do that shaking your head but in a show about not being many might the distantly ask who funds spend what some whether spent much has an agenda here. they may legitimately ask and that's why of course we publish on our website every organization that gives us money so we are transparent about that we the other organizations that were engaged in this dispute dispute and discussion were similarly transparent because think tanks the real we have are not similarly transparent they list some of the people who give them money but they don't list all of them so yes we're happy to do that in the years that the muslim brotherhood is an organization which has many different forms there is that there is no threat from muslim brotherhood in the there is a threat in the in the u.a.e.

and indeed it out other places like saudi for the democratic reforms and that they have set their face against democratic reforms and that's why they're trying to do what they're trying to defend here and that the particular consequences yes of course is not only the u.a.e. which is causing islamophobia on this country just the government as they said ok kevin something's got me one second is that i haven't i do other organizations twenty seconds i have it my very helpful suggestion david is very helpful suggestion get one hundred thousand what it was read by the brotherhood nice to get one hundred thousand people in the u.k. to sign an online petition in the house of commons it will force a committee of m.p.'s to analyze perhaps gus the british government response to attempts to campaign but let's see if that can happen gently has been a fascinating discussion today thank you very much indeed for joining us. david miller and kevin craig thank you very much for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website dot com and of other discussion do go to our facebook page at facebook dot com for slash inside story you know as i join the

conversation on twitter one hundred at a.j. inside story from me laura cottle and the whole team here it's my finale. where were you when this idea popped into it when they're on line it's undoubtedly chief cole. over the inequality in our society today or if you join a sunset criminal justice system is dysfunctional right now this is a dialogue what does it feel like bring you have to go back for the first time everyone has a voice and allow refugees to flee the speakers first say join the colobus conversation announces iraq. iran waste inefficiencies and a growing population of lead to do when the water supplies. have been determined to

extract water from any source also told this is what you see as a result now with the country's future it's still. attitude to change and innovative solutions are being found. people in power investigates iran's water crisis on al-jazeera. one of the really special things about working for al-jazeera is that even as a camera woman i get to have so much employed in contribution to a story i feel we cover this region better than anyone else would be what it is you know it's very true they believe particularly because you have a lot of people that are deployed their own political issues we are with the people we live to tell the real story i'll just mend it is to do the work in-depth journalism we don't feel inferior to the audience across the globe. the world's primary could train producing nation. is at the forefront of the war on drugs so we're talking about serious organized crime as a country we're reaching

a critical point while some have made fortunes many others have suffered at the hands of this multi-billion dollar industry growth of this business will go on forever change almost global policies do who are the winners and losers of this illicit trade snow will be andy's on al-jazeera. a controversial no wish to find israel as a jewish nation state passes the israeli parliament. and i welcome to al-jazeera live from my headquarters and me it was a problem also ahead extensive and systematic preparations a new report details how myanmar prepared to attack or have just civilians during the summer of twenty

seventeen. confusion over the extent of russian interference the latest donald trump and to reports of at odds with his aides and his own comments and reliving the rescue of the type of football team talks about getting trapped and then being freed from the cave. israel has passed a controversial law that for the first time declares the country to be the nation state of the jewish people the legislation makes haber the only official language downgrading the status of arabic and it encourages the construction of jewish only communities opponents say it will harm the rights of israeli arabs who make up twenty percent of israel's population of nine million and as yada silva reports many people are angry. its official israel is a state exclusively for jews that's the essence of the controversial nation state

bill passed by the knesset on thursday after hours of heated debate the measure became law by a vote of sixty two to fifty five with two abstentions three years the language of the bill divided political opinion between the ruling parties and the opposition arab members of the knesset say the law legalizes discrimination. this is a bill from a government that is an enemy to palestinians it's the most dangerous measure it's a law from a racist government against palestinian rights and to create an apartheid regime it turns israel into a fascist state. the most controversial clause in the bill a provision calling for jewish only communities was replaced at the last minute the original legislation would have allowed the state to establish separate communities on the basis of religion and nationality the replacement provision says the state sees developing jewish settlements as a national interest and will take steps to encourage advance and implement this

interest illegal settlements for jews are already being built in breach of international law and un demands another contriver sees the status of the arabic language a new law says hebrew will be israel's only official language demoting arabic to second. the deputy. turny general says the law also allows the construction of synagogues and ritual but not mosques the israeli president says the legislation could harm jewish people and israel's enemies could use it as a weapon protest as against the new law march through tel aviv on saturday. of israelis came today to protest against the nation state law which is a racist and fascist law that is trying to turn israel from a democracy into something else therefore we are here to block this drift towards dictatorship and fascism. i came today to say that the arab citizens of israel are not inferior nations to discriminate against them as the israeli government has

been doing for many years arabic is an official language and they deserve equal rights. the government led by prime minister benjamin netanyahu insists that it's important to establish that israel is the historical homeland of the jewish people who have the sole right to national self-determination palestinians see the law as legitimizing apartheid when the silver. the palestinian chief negotiator has criticized the legislation calling it a dangerous and racist you know all. citizens and their right to self-determination to instead be determined by the jewish population he went on to say that they will officially legalize pot to and defiance israel as an apartheid system well guise of an assistant professor of u.s. foreign policy and the middle east at the american university and he called it a sad day for democracy in israel. the entire world understands that israel is the

nation state of the jewish people but there is also another people who live there and the arabs and the that corporation of independence made it crystal clear that equality was a fundamental principle in which israel would be established that i think. increasingly difficult for israel to claim that it is a the only democracy in the middle east when it discriminates against its minority and i mean this is this this piece of legislation says absolutely nothing doesn't even mention the word democracy and certainly it's an illiberal piece of legislation it's discriminatory it's the quality it's anti-humanist it's just it's a terrible bill it's a terrible piece of legislation and and so it can clearly be used by israel's enemies and i think that it is in israel's best interest to repeal it as soon as

possible. let's get more on this knowledge on by correspondent stephanie decker she's live for us in west jerusalem so what does this now mean stephanie for israeli palestinians who as we mentioned make up some twenty percent of the population how is that going to affect them now. well they they say that this is already been an active policy by this government a very right wing government over the years that is a discriminatory policy against them if you talk about israeli palestinians they make up around twenty percent of israel's population they hold an israeli passport that i was talking to someone yesterday was telling me while you were that the feeling is that you're trying they're trying to strip you of your palestinian roots and identity but the same time they don't want you to be israeli you are still a second class citizen so where do they fit into what is their country it's very very difficult indeed and now what you have is this is ingrained in what is essentially israel's constitution if you've been listening to you know the guest

you had on an insurance package really does lay out you know a segregationist policy a discriminatory policy that controversial article article seven which was about the expansion of jewish settlements while the wording was changed now it's called the encouragement but it still is legitimization of this policy which is what is so shocking i don't think i've been trying to do research into any other country in the world that has this kind of a policy ingrained in its constitution of a sort of segregationist policy which is why everyone is so shocked about it even though people will tell you that this is a ready been an active policy by this government and that is the reality on the ground already and so can that reality be challenging now that the bill has been passed into law. well these basic laws which make up what is essentially israel's constitution very difficult to overturn so regardless of the criticism and their houser already been criticism from n.g.o.s both palestinian and

israeli from you know even israeli lawmakers from of course the arab members of knesset from the palestinian leadership from the international community essentially i don't think it's going to change anything i think many people say that israel's policies often go unchallenged it is not held accountable for the policies that it advocates whether it's towards palestinians in the west bank and gaza whether it's to awards israeli palestinians who are citizens of israel holding an israeli passport this message is that this is only a country where jews are welcome and that is very dangerous if you look at the bigger picture just briefly there's been a number of bills passed through the israeli knesset that's israeli parliament over the last couple of years particularly even just last week two bills post one called breaking the silence nor which is essentially limiting access of groups like breaking the silence which is ex army soldiers which who took out against government policy military policy they can no longer go and talk to children in

schools giving them their narrative or what they think may be wrong about certain policies in this country another bill passed that limits palestinian access to courts in the west bank now only being able to go through administrative courts not the high court and the high court had in the policy been seen as being more sympathetic towards their cases often allowing or calling and making happen the demolition of settlement homes in the west bank so you've got to look at this is a bigger picture of a shift to the right and of this government pushing through bill after bill after bill and many people will tell you they are discriminatory they're racist and as you mentioned many people calling this the entrenchment rule of an apartheid state and all of this before the elections next year we will leave it there for now though stephanie thank you very much for that stephanie dechen live in west of us and thank you let's move on to other news now to syria and agreements have been reached between the government and opposition in the city of najaf and the province of. the.