the, the safe them even come in as an international anti corruption, excellence award denominator hero. now the so i'm fairly bad. the boy in doha, with the look at the headlines on al jazeera and american activists has been killed after being shot in the head by is really soldiers in the occupied westbank. 26 held ation. or as he was taking part in a protest against the expansion of a legal is really settlements near the town of bater, south of novice. these are the army has released a statement saying during is really security forces activity adjacent to the area of beta. the forces responded with fire toward a main instigate to a violent activity. well, harold walks up the forces and pose

a threat to them. these are the armies looking into a force that a for a national was killed as a result of shots fighting the area. the details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review of the us secretary of state on to me bank and says he's been briefed and wants to find out more information as to how this unfolded. we the poor, this tragic loss. now, most important thing to do is to gather the facts. and that's exactly what we're in the process of doing. and we are intentionally focused on getting those backs and any actions that we take, or driven by the fact. so 1st things 1st, let's find out exactly what happened. as these days came on, the days really forces withdrawal from jeanine after attend a military operation. thousands took part in funeral processions on friday for 21 palestinians killed by his ready soldiers in the city. 59 were killed across the

entire occupied westbank during the offensive. much of janine's infrastructure was significantly damaged. at least 5 people have been injured in russian. it strikes on ukraine a launch, fire broke out, and in this, in the west. the cause of the blazes thought to be the result of drone debris falling into an industrial area. the cities about a 1000 kilometers from the front lines in the east. the us meanwhile, is sending more military aid to ukraine worth $215000000.00. defend the secretary lloyd austin, made the announcement in germany ways hosting ukraine's president top commanders and the allies at the ranch. tina base is a critical moment time is of the essence, especially with winter on its way. we must all step up our support and quickly. so i'm pleased to say the president biden will announce today an additional $250000000.00 security assistance package or for ukraine. it will search more

capabilities to meet ukraine's of all being requirements. and we'll deliver them at the speed of war. it's as strikes by me and more as government has killed 11 people, according to an ethnic minority armed grove resisting the country's june to the time national liberation armies. as 2 areas were bombed, in the town of num. com, early on friday and other 11 people were injured. moore has been in term wise since the military deposed on science, which is government 3 years ago and initiated a crackdown which sparked and armed uprising. in kenny, at least 18 students have died after a fire broke out a school dormitory. it happened in gary county to see it. the number of dead will continue to rise. president william brutal has called on our forties to hold those responsible to account 27 students were injured by the place and dozens remain on accounted for leo know what to what to to come. we saw several children in the that

had been bent. i was lucky to save just one of them, but i heard later that he died. it was a very troubling inside tragedy. donald trump sentencing and his hash money try and has been postponed until after november as presidential election. he was convicted in may on 34 counts of falsifying business records. it was the 1st time that a former or serving us president had been convicted of a crime. sentencing had been scheduled for september, the 18th. finally, the main suspect in a school shooting in the us state of georgia has appeared in court. 14 year old cold gray is facing for accounts of 1st degree murder over the killing of 2 students and 2 teachers at a school near atlanta on wednesday. and those are the headlines is always much more on our website at all, just 0 don't com up next year. it's the bottom line to stay with us. thanks. watch the

. ready a hi, i'm steve clements and i have a question when it comes to pro palestinian activism or the rights to free speech free thought and free assembly under attack. let's get to the bottom line. the for almost a year pro palestine active as have been raising their voice, the demand a ceasefire to the warrant, gaza calling for sanctions against israel and freedom for the palestinians. also since then, demonstrations have been met with force and protesters have been prosecuted. students have been suspended from the universities and folks have been fired by their employers for speaking up. so we witnessing a crackdown on free speech and assembly. it's not just affecting students and not just happening in the united states. is this creating a chilling effect on free debate on palestine in israel, and is the war on gaza,

sparking a further erosion of civil rights in many western countries. today we're talking with richard mad hurst, a british journalist, who was detained last month under the u. k. terrorism, mac and de mont heavy founder and director at palestine legal which works to defend americans experiencing reprisals for advocating for palestine and has published several reports on the issue, including the palestine exceptions to free speech. thank you both for joining me today. this is a topic i care deeply about. i hate censorship. i. i see it everywhere right now, richard, i'm often going in and out of london. he for a week airport. i'm off in uh, commenting on these issues. but you went through an incredible experience. tell us about it. thanks for having me on stevens. yeah, it's incredible is certainly one way of putting it. they, you know, certainly detain me, but arrested me. and i'm the 1st journalist in present and to have to be arrested under section 12 of the terrorism act. and it's specifically section $121.00

a. so if you read the uh, the legislation is extremely broad. lead. define very abstract costs a very wide net. so you know that this, these are the dangers that many of us, the wound about years ago, whether is schedule 7, where, where, you know, you'll, you'll detained for questioning and you have to answer every question which section 12, and i think they're trying to make an example out of me and if they felt very very, um, uh, you know, over the top, i mean they sent 6 police officers and, and ham coffee and a took all of my equipment. i'm not just talking about my phones, which is bad enough. they, they took all of my journalistic tools, you know, my microphones wired and wireless headphones just, you know, it felt so unnecessary and they kept me in custody for almost 24 hours in frankly, abysmal conditions. i mean, it was more like a dungeon than a cell, and you are being recorded the whole time. so you know, you're in feel we crushing power of the state. you feel how over the top it is. and

it's designed to be intimidating. and you really a thing, and i think that the people who did this the arrest, they certainly would hope that this would discourage others from speaking about palestine. because ultimately that is what i was arrested for. it was for my reporting and, and nothing more. and they're trying to make a basic journalism out to be yeah, something a sinister and very, very sinister. you know, this is a full, full of intents and purposes can to a political persecution. and i covered julian this on this case, and i, i know how these things work and this isn't in a different direction, but it bears some resemblance in, in some manner. well, let's take it, you know, a further said, i don't see and i've, i, i'd love to know from you. did they underline a sentence that you said that they underline a paper or a news article or a video that you produced and said you have. so cross the line with what is legally

acceptable and we're, we're classifying as terrorism. did that ever happen? well, i was, i was questioned by 2 detectives. and uh, i mean, i'm not at liberty, legally speaking to go into what they are specifically. but um it is about my reporting. so you know, it's basically things to do with palestine and again, they, the problem with this is that they have the sort of put me in limbo now because i was released on conditionally on, on bail and some, some lawyers, it's their opinion that this was done on purpose, because now i don't know what i can and cannot say. and i believe that, like i said, because on the 1st year on this to be arrested under section 12 that they're trying out test case. they're trying to see how much they can get away with. and the same week they went off to activists as well, you know, tell us on action and sarah wilkinson so that it's definitely a crackdown you, you, you can certainly describe it as such. and so, you know, i think it's,

it's just perfect that you would do this to any one, but especially in a democracy where you're supposed to have the right to report freely as a journalist i, i feel like my rights to exercise my journalistic freedoms. they've been taken away completely. i don't know what i can and cannot say, and i feel like there's a target on my back. so yeah, deem i'd love to ask you to give us a snapshot of what's happening more broadly on, particularly in america. and i want to ask you, what is the state of the constitutional protection or freedom of speech in the united states when it comes to those that had been commenting and concern and active as about palestine and the gaza crisis right now? yeah, we are in a dire period, there is no doubt about it to and it's not new. i think that's really important to remember. we've been a policy and legal documenting for a year as a a, an attack on people who speak out for palestinian rights. we called it

a palestine exception to free speech. where in the us we have very strong constitutional protections for free expression. there seems to be this exception when it comes to palestine. and that's for a number of reasons. it is one of the issues that people in this country can't dissent on because there is such a complete by pot, bi partisan consensus that we're starting to see cracks in. but there's still a bi partisan consensus for unconditional support for israel. i think it's also important to contextualize what's happening to the movement proposed in rides. it in a broader uh, in, in a broader context of, of what period we're in. generally there is a far right resurgence across the country and across the globe. and the result of

that is a, a serious crack down on unconstitutional in human rights ever. so in this country, it's not just attacking descent on palestine. we also are seeing a massive effort to crack down on the move met for black lives on indigenous and fire mental justice movements. there is legislation being passed across the board. that is undermining constitutional protections for free speech and assembly and association. we're seeing a activists being targeted with criminal prosecutions, with lawsuits by corporations or israel lobby groups, and that that is attacking them for their, their advocacy and their organizing on a grass roots level. and as i said, politic, elected officials are at the forefront of introducing legislation in the context of

the palestine movement that is fundamentally anti posting. and there's no doubt that we're seeing it going israel's own genocidal language and type posting and language and rhetoric and actions. we're seeing our own elected officials mirroring that kind of dehumanizing rhetoric and also introducing legislation that, for example, calls for the presentation of all palestinians. and you know, similar to richards experience, we are also seeing the weather, the nice ation of not only anti terrorism laws, but also i q, the ition of anti semitism that are targeting advocacy for posting and writes that are claiming that anti zionism, you know, criticism of zionism, the political ideology of the state of israel are equivalent to anti semitism. so there is a what

a wide spread crack down the we're seeing that isn't new. that has been the combination of years and even decades of repression of the cost on right. man, as well as other right, you're n y u, i should note his just made design is i'm a protective class at their university, which is very interesting because off times protecting classes, gender or sexual identity or ethnic identity is a very different dimension of a protected class, we'd love to get your thoughts but more deeply, you know, as you just said, the accusations are costs of people is anti semites who are engaged in what i would call absolutely protected speech and absolutely protected protests and, and labeling them races. do you see models out there dema of institutions that are getting it right for the most part. and unfortunately, i think there are very few that are getting it right. and institutions like columbia are setting the standard for universities,

calling the police to brutalize and arrest their own students and professors and others. and also a, you know, instituting for coney and sanctions on students expect owing, says, pending. um, you know, buying them from their own housing and, and food services. so that has really set the standard in a lot of ways for the ways universities are responding. we are seeing some university saying, you know, we're not going to compliment on anything. we're not taking any kinds of stands whatsoever. and, and that's the other side of the claim. but we have seen a couple of examples of universities actually responding to students demands um to, to stop using their to wish $10.00 to invest in the military. industrial complex to invest in this genocide against the palestinian people and war and militarism.

and unfortunately, they are only been a couple of universities that have taken these positions where they are actually responding to their students and engaging what they are asking for. and, and in other situations, again, university is have, have followed the lead and follow the, the demands of pro israel groups and of elected officials to really crack down on on protesters. unfortunately. thank you, richard. i'm going to ask you about the general ecosystem of news out there when it comes to this israel palestine conflict, which has now been going on far, far longer than most predicted. and i have to be honest that it rises and falls in the media, and it usually rises when, you know, in reaction to a shock. i remember before jose andres world central kitchen staff work build. um, you know, israel palestine had largely fallen off the map of, of, of front us pages. you know, this show has been focused on this really throughout the crisis. what are your

observations, as you talk the media and journalist around there? are you finding editors trying to squelch this story? what do you want? and i just basically said, you think as media in journalists, we are, is dedicated to this story as we should be. i think, i think, i think for the most part uh most journalists and, and outlets are, uh, they sort of cough covering the issue. um, what do i mean by that when they cover it? um if they do, they of course told the usual, uh, you know, is riley line and um, the other half just simply don't done coverage at all. i mean for example, if you go through um, you know, public transport in germany or australia, whatever they have is like tv screens up there. uh, and sometimes you literally do not see palestine mention whatsoever. so its not even that they're showing it and then giving you, you know, these riley perspective on what is happening is not mentioned which,

which really shocked me because it's the biggest new story in the world. i mean, how can you just not talk about it? and act like it's not happening. so i think i think most outlets are not doing the due diligence and, and they're sharpening their responsibilities. they've advocate to that jesus, john, this. i mean we can take the example of the hostages. for example, the v 6 is rarely hostages, that were found dead a few days ago. you know, the bridge media, us media, they put up their photo garage, they put up their names and everything, and they do the same all across europe in french and german. and then when it comes to the palestinian victims, there's no and near the same level of human eyes ation. so you know, again, it's like built they'll, they'll talk about victims only when there is riley or when they happen to be western victims arrayed walkers. but the palestinians receive nowhere near the same kind of human eyes ation. and it is really, really shocking on the dang. great, for example, it states a mon, what's covered better by is really media, then the media in britain or in the united states, which, which shocked me. because you would think that of foreign media would perhaps, uh,

you know, whole the, the soldiers more to account. but they are honestly and they're not being is really media. so we are living through very, very strange times. but to on the whole, you know, most journalists and outlets are certainly abdicating their duties to informed the public. but team and i, you know, i want to talk to, because i don't want to get into a, you know, question, what's more like equivalent or encore, what the people are really paying with their jobs. they're paying with their reputations, you know, etc. if they're standing up for something that they care about in, in the united states, this is allegedly a protected act by the united states constitution. do you see the a, c o u or do you see any of the institutions that typically stand up for those? trying to stand in front of the tank and say, look, i see things differently and these are my rights. are there any movements now from a legal perspective within you, us courts beginning to turn some of this around, for those victims of the bandwagon and what you call your,

your institute is called the mccarthy. i spread of you know, refreshing against those that have been concerned about palestine and yeah, thanks for that question i, i think what we are seeing here in right now is not just this precedent of crap down, but really since october 7th and before october. so i'm just an enormous wave of solidarity with palestinians and you know, not only the unprecedented marching it is in the streets around the world. but certainly, you know, when we see our governments to bring nothing in response to a majority of people wanting a ceasefire, wanting an end to us arms to israel. um, you know, as new and creative next to a really big, strong business as usual right now as well. that not only started on president

cracked and but unprecedented solidarity mobilization and this genocide and to for freedom for palestinians. and that includes the legal community. so since october's some we've had a really a tsunami of had of people and we've had of lawyers and calling us up to, to volunteer their time. so that includes the organizations across the country that work on civil rights and civil liberties issues. and we are challenging these kinds of excesses, this repression in courts in government agencies. but the reality is that palestinians in palestine are not safe, they are under constant attack. they are being killed and starved and a dying from, from disease as we speak. and people here understand the moral obligation to stand

up, even if it means risking, you know, our careers are reputations of being slapped with frivolous lawsuits, etc. and, and i think that's really critical here. and what we have to understand is that there is safety in numbers and as long as we stand up and fight back and challenge these efforts to undermine constitutional rights. and again, that's discriminatory enforcement of regulations that universities against discriminatory unemployment decisions. we, we are going to, we're gonna ultimately prevail, as with all movements. as was all movements. i think we did, it takes time, right? we, we've didn't see a court victories against segregation for years and years. we didn't see the upholding of 1st man at rights against mccarthy as purchase for, for years after that. so a,

the wheels of justice turned slowly. right. but ultimately, i think we'll see and history will prove us correct here. thank you, richard. is it your sense that this situation in europe and in democratic societies is, is possibly going to tilt in a better direction, or are you worried about the repression and censorship becoming far worse? it is definitely getting worse. um and i know i know people like to throw around the f for it a lot. i mean fascism in this in this case. but i do not. i don't say this lightly. what when i say that we are witnessing fascism or the materialization of fascism. and again, it's not just about me, it's also about the others that were targeted with, with section 12 and within the same week or i'll be an activist. but nevertheless, i targeted and really harsh ways and more of i'd also point to for example the case

of mary co stock. it is in australia who is facing um you know, a charge of, of a legit anti semitism for you know, for, for things that don't even contain opinion in them. right? for tweeting will re tweaking things that literally have no opinion and then whatsoever they just it journalism. and then it was basic form quotes. they're trying to criminalize the most basic function of a journalist which has to critique the governments to report news to gavin used to collect information and, and also to combat any form of poets and activism. be people who go on march is people who are working. you know, help people in gaza with charity work or who uh perhaps engaging more direct action . so at least for bridge and i can a 100 percent confirm it is unfortunately getting worse and we're seeing the erosion that the destruction of, of our civil liberties of rights that we've taken for granted for uh, for decades, adult centuries. and again, this is,

this is no way for any country to behave. it really isn't. i know that the labor government have said they will withdrawal, searching out of $350.00 at the ons exports licenses for, for example, labels. so withdrawing the challenge to the archdiocese jurisdiction in palestine. but these are, you know, these are empty gestures at the end of the day they've, they've actually gone and single about people that these riley's find problematic. now i don't know if they've done it with these writing these or on their behalf. but they have single that people who have large platforms and who are doing effective work and they're trying to make examples out of us and that is not healthy in any society. especially not one that calls itself democratic gmail. uh, thank you very much for that team. i'm going to ask you just, you know, quick closing, just a quick comment. so i'm just this in the sort of state of law today. you know, when you have the world court that sold israel, that the occupation of gaza and east jerusalem and, you know, it cetera is, is illegal. and you kind of look at this old, you know, long term ignoring of norms, rules, laws that are,

that are out there that are in clear. uh, you've got clear violations, i guess, coming back to what richard just said. what should those victims, students, employees, journalists that are out there engaged in this fight who find themselves all of a sudden, disagreement a. where do they, what do they do? what do they outreach? yeah, i mean as i said i, i think it's critical that we continue to challenge all of the repression that is happening and to connect it to broader efforts. as richard said, of this, a resurgence of fascism. this is not just going to impact palestinians and allies and people who speak out for post and in rights. it's going to impact journalists like richard. it's going to impact of people who are dissenting on other issues. ultimately, if we leave it to the state and to the powers that represent the status quote,

to dictate what is okay to say what is okay to report what is okay to teach in our classrooms. so the stakes are really high and it requires the mobilization of every uh, every profession. right? uh, not just lawyers uh, challenging this in court because the courts won't save us either. but, but, but you know, it, it, at universities, unions are critical in workplaces, you know, getting, getting the support of your colleagues and getting your hands set back you and support you. they played a critical role and pushing back for you. we do have safety and numbers and we have to challenge every aspect of this repression. well, listen, i want to thank you both the, my holly, the founder and director of palestine legal and independent journalist, richard met hers, amazing story that you shared with us. thank you so much for being with us today. i

think so what's the bottom line in the us talking about anything sensitive where there are winners and there are losers and where there is bias. and there is misunderstanding, has become complicated and were personally dangerous for people trying to break through the orthodoxy or conventional framing of many crucial topics. one of those crucial topics is definitely anything related to palestine. and the same problem applies to the way we talk about race in america, especially after the murder of george floyd. now we are seeing those trying to raise their voice and support a palestinian rights and just as slandered as races themselves. guess what? there is no fixed of this is been happening this way from the dawn of american history. people have been cancelled for centuries, but somehow, over time, we actually get to a better place. it's only a matter of time. the only question is, when will the us get to a better place on palestine and palestinian rights? because there is just no system big enough to silence all the voices who care. and

that's the bottom line, the to delancy, you know, used to live in philosophy. we didn't curse. no, she lives here. a private boxing club turned into a shelter. she is one of more than 50 people forced from their home since she printed forces. launch that incursion into russia along the border with the curse creature. i'm grateful for the help we receive, but i feel bad that i'm here. there's nothing else i want more than for this war to be over. people here are frightened. i feel i have to help people in every possible way. more than a 130000 russians forced to flee their homes along the border which who prayed in the 1st reach of one consent to shock and hardship they lifted. katrina. the piano is one of 200 volunteers who come here to help distribute age. they lost their

cheese houses, zillow's to old, many people that deal, not bad, but the big garage with no sign of it into the fighting between ukrainian and russian forces. they expect to see more looking for help, very soon the . so i'm fully battery boy in doha. with the look at the headlines on the algae 0. an american activists has been killed after being shot in the head by is really soldiers in the occupied westbank. 26 year old ation or as he was taking part in a protest against the expansion of is really a legal settlements near the time of beta south of novice is there as ami says it's looking into the incident. as his desk came on, the day is really forces withdrawal from jeanine after a 10 day military operation. thousands took part in funeral for us.