06/09/16 06/09/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we call it our power to the people's plan that essentially enables us to address the economic, social, racial, ecological, democratic, financial crisis that we are grappling. amy: hillary clinton has claimed victory in the democratic race , becoming the first woman to win a major party's presidential nomination, but there is another

woman aiming to be on the palate, -- ballot, jill stein. we will speak with green party presidential candidate jill stein. then new york governor andrew cuomo signs a sweeping anti-bds executive order. >> if you boycott against israel, new york will call you. amy: we will host a debate. and then as outcry grows over the stanford rape case we will , look at the "hunting ground," the groundbreaking documentary about sexual assault on college campuses. >> i went to the dean of students office and said, i just want to make sure above all else that you don't talk to anyone about this. it could be bad for everyone if people started rallying. >> he is a predator and he is dangerous and that is exactly what i want. amy: we will speak to the

filmmaker and a sexual assault victim featured in the film. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. more than 22 people have been killed and 70 wounded in two separate bombings around the iraqi capital baghdad. one of the explosions hit a commercial street, killing at least 15 people. the second hit an army checkpoint. the united nations says it underestimated the number of civilians trapped in the iraqi city of fallujah, which iraqi forces are attempting to reclaim from isis. u.n. humanitarian coordinator lise grande revised the numbers. >> we underestimated the number of civilians in fallujah. i think we thought there would civilians who0 are at grave risk. what we now think raised on the stories people are telling us is that are probably closer to 90,000 civilians that are still inside of fallujah that are

still trapped that still cannot reach safety. amy: in syria, airstrikes hit three hospitals in a rebel-held area of the aleppo, including a u.n.-supported pediatrics center. unicef said it was the second attack on the al-hakeen hospital. at least 10 civilians were reported killed. in israel, two palestinian suspects opened fire on civilians in a restaurant in tel aviv wednesday, killing four people. police have identified the attackers as cousins from the israeli-occupied west bank. in the united states, senator bernie sanders returned home to vermont wednesday after his rival hillary clinton claimed the democratic presidential nomination. sanders heads to the white house today for a meeting with president obama, who is expected to endorse clinton in the coming days. obama said he hopes democrats will be able to "pull things together" over the coming weeks. >> i have spoken to hillary and bernie at certain points turn the campaign, and i don't know

if they asked me for advice, but i did it anyway. [laughter] you know what? it was a healthy thing for the democratic already to have a contested primary. i thought that bernie sanders brought you norm is energy and new ideas, and he pushed the party and challenged them. i thought it made hillary a better candidate. amy: we will have more on the race for the white house with green party presidential candidate jill stein after headlines. climate activists have delivered more than 90,000 petitions to the democratic national committee demanding the party's platform for the 2016 race include a nationwide ban on fracking. this comes as voters in butte county, california have approved , a local ban on fracking. critics say it threatens health on the climate. the united nations says the government of eritrea has committed crimes against humanity. the crimes against civilians since 1991 include enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture,

persecution, rape, and murder all aimed at keeping leadership in power. eritreans are among those attempting to flee to europe in the greatest refugee crisis since world war ii. the military has confirmed two senior commanders of the militant group al-shabab have been killed in somalia. the u.s. africa command said one of the commanders was killed by a u.s. airstrike in late may, while the other, mohamad dulyadayn died in a somali ground operation. he was accused of masterminding the attacks on a kenyan university last year that killed 148 people. a former cia officer convicted of a role in the kidnapping of an egyptian cleric under the cia's extraordinary rendition program says she is facing extradition to italy. sabrina de sousa faces four years in prison after an italian court convicted her in absentia for the kidnapping of abu omar. omar was snatched off the street in milan and sent to egypt, where he said he was tortured. if de sousa is imprisoned in italy, it would mark the first time any cia officer involved in

the rendition program has gone to jail. here in new york, the powerful leader of one of the largest corrections officers unions in the country has been arrested on corruption charges. norman seabrook, who has led the correction officers benevolent association for 21 years, was -- for 21 years. u.s. attorney preet bharara said seabrook steered money for officers' pensions into a high-risk hedge fund, in exchange for $60,000 in kickbacks. arrested norman seabrook, longtime president of the correction officers association, the union representing over 9000 corrections officers in new york city. we also charged and arrested the founder of platinum partners a a new york-based hedge fund. they are charged with engaging in a straightforward and explicit bribery scheme. the complaint describes a simple

quid pro quo, $60,000 cash kickback to seabrook with promises of even more in exchange for a $20 million investment in the hedge fund. amy: and in california, a judge who sparked national outrage by sentencing a former stanford university swimmer to six months in jail after he was convicted of three felony counts for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, has quietly started a new six-year term. santa clara county superior court judge aaron persky did not face election for the new term because he had no challengers. so his election was canceled. to see our interview with the stanford law professor who has launched a recall campaign against judge persky, go to democracynow.org. later in the cast, we will have more on the case. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i am juan gonzalez. welcome to our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we turn now to the race for the white house.

hillary clinton has dominated this week's news after claiming victory in the democratic contest setting her on a path to become the first woman to win a major party's presidential nomination. with only one primary to go, clinton has an insurmountable lead in pledged delegates over challenger bernie sanders. but clinton's pledged delegate count falls short of the 2383 needed, meaning she will need to rely on the support of unelected superdelegates to officially secured the nomination at next month's convention in philadelphia. but hillary clinton isn't the only woman aiming to be on the ballot in november. jill stein is moving closer to securing the green party nomination. on tuesday, she won the green party's primary in california. she has so far won 20 of the 21 contests ahead of the party's national convention in august in houston. amy: jill stein first announced her candidacy on democracy now! last june. she also ran for president on the green party ticket in 2012.

in april, she wrote an open letter to bernie sanders urging him to consider joining forces to "ensure the revolution for people, planet and peace will prevail." jill stein joins us now from albany, new york, ahead of saturday's nominating convention of the new york green party. jill stein, welcome back to democracy now! can you respond to what happened this week, hillary clinton clearly saying in the brooklyn navy yard before thousands of people that she has secured the democratic party's nomination. she is the presumptive nominee. >> yes, and good morning, it is great to be with you. this is kind of what many people have for seen all along. it was kind of in the cards. the democratic machine has very

steeply tilted the playing field from the beginning by limiting the debates, limiting the exposure of bernie sanders, some very questionable election practices, 100,000 voters disappearing from the rolls in brooklyn, some very questionable things that happen in the democratic primary in california where independent voters thought they could just show up at the polls and cast a vote for bernie sanders but were unable to buy large numbers. and huge discrepancies between the polls in advance and the actual outcome of the elections. know, needless to say, the superdelegates have massively tipped the playing field. in the announcement the night before by major news organizations that hillary clinton had already clinched it, you know, hard to call that just a coincidence. dustems tailor-made from

for discouraging people from coming out and exercising their right to vote. this is what the democratic --ty has done for decades many decades, in fact. after the election of george mcgovern in 1972, i should say his election to the nomination of the democratic party, the party changed the rules to steeply tilt that playing field, creating superdelegates and super tuesday's that make it very hard for a grassroots campaign to prevail. over the years, the party has allowed principled candidates to be seen and heard, but at the end of the day, sabotaged them in one way or the other, often through fear campaigns and smear campaigns in the same way that bernie is being called a spoiler now and has been for some weeks. dennis kucinich was redistricted

and basically taken off of the political map. we saw jesse jackson the victim of a smear campaign. scream remember the dean used against howard dean as a peace candidate. in many ways, the democratic party creates campaigns that fake left while it moves right and becomes more corporatist, the lecherous, imperialist. this is why we say it is hard to have a revolutionary campaign inside of a counterrevolutionary party. that is why we are here at the green party to build a place where a revolutionary movement can truly grow with a political voice. jill stein, given try for monster reach out to bernie sanders because you acknowledge inre are many similarities your program and his, to join forces. what has been the response from the campaign and what are you hopeful for now? >> the response over the last several weeks has been the same

as the response over the last several years. in fact, the green party reached out to bernie sanders before the last election to see if you might be interested in running on the green party ballot line. that was in 2011. basically, we have not heard back yet. so i'm not holding my breath that we are going to. in fact, i think it was just yesterday that senator sanders he would be meeting with president obama to basically stay the course and to essentially move his campaign inside of the democratic party -- which i think is a mistake and would be essentially an abandonment of the movement that has been built. we have seen principled and powerful efforts to reform the democratic party from within over the course of many years.

the democratic party keeps marching to the right. my hope as senator sanders himself said, this is a movement, not a man. my hope is that the movement will continue. we have offered -- i have offered, basically, to put everything on the table and to see how we can work together and take inwhat it would order for that to happen. amy: let's go to bernie sanders -- let's talk about that from and it. let's go to bernie sanders last july speaking at the u.s. hispanic chamber of commerce and was asked if he would run on a third party ticket if he failed to win the democratic nomination. >> if it happens that i do not when that process, what i run outside the system? no, i made a promise i would not and i will keep that promise. and the reason for that is i do not want to be responsible for electing some right-wing

republican to be president of the united states. amy: that is bernie sanders last july. you talked about the possibility of a joint ticket. -- iou saying you would mean, you are not the presidential nominee of the green party yet, you are running in different state primaries and conventions, but are you suggesting that the green party would consider him being the presidential candidate whether or not he would consider this? >> it would obviously take a major change of rules for that to happen. but what i am saying is that if senator sanders made the case that now he understood, after the very disturbing experiences of the last many months in the way he has been mistreated and beaten that by the party, perhaps he has a different view of the potential to create

revolution inside of a counterrevolutionary party. maybe he has come to see the necessity for independent third parties to actually move this movement forward. ift would be a game changer he made the case that he has come to understand the critical need to build the green party as the political voice of that revolution. if that were the case, i think many things would become possible at that point for making the rule changes. i cannot change those rules, but i can have those discussions with him and lay the groundwork for it. it would probably have to be taken to the green party convention. it in terms of my own view, am a physician, not a politician. i don't have a vested interest in a political career or particular political office. my job is to do everything that i can to create an america and a world that we can live in and that we can survive in. i would be very interested in

having this discussion. i am not holding my breath it is going to happen. i think it is important our campaign be plan b, if not for senator sanders, then for his supporters. juan: jill stein, what you say to those who for instance criticize third-party efforts as spoiler efforts through out the history of the country -- ross perot running in the early 1990's with the result that bill clinton was able to defeat republican candidate. and of course, ralph nader in the 2000 race, blamed by some although others disagree that that was the result, for resulting in george bush being elected in 2000? >> let me say first off, this is a problem that could be fixed with the stroke of a pen. this electoral system that tells you to vote against what you are afraid of, and not for what you believe.

what we have seen over the years, this strategy has a track record -- this politics of fear has delivered everything we were afraid of. all of the reasons you were told you had to vote for the lesser evil because you did not want the massive wall street bailouts, off shoring of jobs, the meltdown of the climate, the endless expanding war, the attack on immigrants -- all of that we have gotten by the droves because we'll out ourselves to be silenced. silence is not what democracy needs. we have an election where even the supporters of hillary clinton, the majority don't support hillary, they just oppose donald trump. the majority of donald trump supporters don't support him, just oppose hillary. the majority are clamoring for another independent or several independent candidate and an independent party and feel they are being terribly miss served and mistreated by the current politics. so to further silence our voices is exactly the wrong thing to do.

i will point out, donald trump himself is lifted up by a movement which is very much the product of the clinton's policies. the lesser evil very much makes inevitable the greater evil because people don't come out to vote for a politician that is throwing them under the bus. and so we see houses of congress, state house after statehouse slipping from red to blue over the years as the democratic party has become the lesser evil party. and donald trump is buoyed up by the policies passed by bill clinton, supported by hillary, that is deregulation of wall street which led to the disappearance of 9 million jobs, 5 million people thrown out of their homes. which exported those jobs. that is exactly the economic oppression and stress that has led to this right-wing extremism. you cannot get to where you want

to go through the lesser evil. at the end of the day, we have to stand up. we could fix this right now simply by passing right choice of voting, which takes the fear out of voting. if you can put your values into your vote, we don't have a democracy. rank towards voting says you can write your first choice first and if it doesn't make it, is eliminated and loses, your vote is automatically reassigned to your second choice. this is used in cities across the country. my campaign proposed this in the massachusetts legislature through a progressive democratic representative back in 2002 in the first race that iran, running for governor. we proposed that bill, filed it, so there would be no splitting of the vote. the democrats refused to let it out of committee. that tells you something important. they rely on fear. they need to use the scary tactic of, oh, the other guy is

worse. why is that? at the end of the day, they are not on your side. they need you to be afraid of them because they are not for you. that speaks volumes about how far we are going to get. i will just conclude saying, this is a unique moment. we have never been here in history before. what we are facing is not just a western of what kind of world we want to be, but whether we will be a world at all the way the nuclear arms race has been reengaged, the way hillary clinton once to create an air war over syria through a no-fly zone against another nuclear armed power that is russia. the climate crisis, were the day of reckoning is coming closer and closer all the time. we cannot keep using this failed policy of silencing ourselves with the politics of fear. it is time to forget the u boat, stand up and fight for the greater good like our lives depend on it because they do. amy: and to those supporters who

have started saying, if it is hill, it is jill. and this is going back to the point of what you would say to sanders supporters worried about trump? >> yes, exactly. i would say, putting another clinton in the white house is only going to make that right-wing extremism greater. we will see more of these neoliberal policies like wall street deregulation, like the transpacific partnership which hillary has always supported. she has changed her tune a little bit, but hillary has walked the walk. look at the walk and not the talk. trump says scary things -- deporting immigrants, massive militarism, you know, ignoring the climate. hillary, unfortunately, has a track record for doing all of those things. hillary has supported the deportations of immigrants,

opposed the refugees -- women and children coming from honduras, whose refugee crisis she was very much responsible for by giving a thumbs-up to this corporate coup in honduras that has created the violence from which those refugees are fleeing. she basically said, no, send them back. thingsthese draconian that donald trump is talking about, we actually see hillary clinton doing. it is not only the militarism that trump talks about, it is hillary's record of militarism, the russia to libya. she was the prime mover behind a campaign with the military against.rgely her approval for the war in iraq and so on. herthreat to bomb iran and demonization of russia and china and the pivot against china. we are rushing toward war with hillary clinton who has a track record. and on climate, trunk -- trump

talks terrible on clinical step it in ireland, i believe it is, he is tried to build a wall to protect one of his luxury golf courses because he is worried about sea level rise from climate change according to the papers he has filed for the permit. on climate, hillary clinton established an office to promote fracking around the world while secretary of state. the terrible things that we expect from donald trump, we have already seen from hillary clinton. i would say, don't be a victim of the propaganda campaign which is being waged by people who exercise selective amnesia. they're quick to tell you about the terrible things the republicans did, but quick to forget the equally terrible things that have happened under a democratic white house with two democratic houses of congress. it is time to forget the lesser you will, stand up and fight for the greater good. we are the ones we have been waiting for. have 30l stein, we just

seconds. , forunsolicited advice bernie sanders, for what he should demand when he meets with president obama today and then your advice to him when he comes outside? obamaon't think president is going to change his tune because of something that bernie sanders says to him. i think what is really important -- in the words of frederick douglass, power concedes nothing without a demand. it never has and never will. this is why you third parties are effective. otherwise, there is no counterweight of the power of corporations which have basically taken over the two major corporate political parties. i think it is very important for bernie to have a teachable moment here and to take heed of his experience of the mass -- past month and stand up and do with the world needs for him to do and what the world needs for

this movement to do. if bernie is not able to overcome his experience of many decades as a loyal and faithful democrat, i really understand that, but i think for those of us who are living in today and are seeing what tomorrow looks like, it is very important for us to move ahead and take back the america and the world that works for all of us based on putting people am a planet, and peace over profit. amy: jill stein, thank you for being with us 2016 presidential , candidate for the green party. when we come back, a debate on the executive order just issued by new york governor cuomo on dds. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in israel, to palestinian suspects opened fire on civilians in a restaurant in tel aviv wednesday, killing four people. police have identified the attackers as cousins from the israeli occupied west bank will stop in response, the israeli military revoked permits for 83,000 palestinians to visit israel and said it would send hundreds more troops to the west bank. we turn now to look at a growing debate here in new york's rate. new york governor andrew cuomo has issued the first-ever executive order forcing state agencies to divest from any organizations aligned with the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. bds is an international campaign

to pressure israel to comply with international law and respect palestinian rights. however, its opponents say bds is a thinly disguised, anti-semitic attempt to debilitate or even destroy israel. amy: governor cuomo's executive order forces state officials to make a list of businesses and groups that are engaged in activities targeting israel. on sunday, cuomo announced the decision right before he marched in the celebrate israel parade in new york. >> today i'm going to sign an executive order that says very clearly, we are against the bds movement and it is very simple. if you boycott against israel, new york will boycott you. if you divert its revenue from israel, new york will divert revenue from you. if you sanction israel, new york will sanction you. period. movementainst the bds

in every way. we are against companies that do it. we are against the promotion of it by companies and by entities. i am very proud to be the first governor in the united states of america to sign this executive order. and i encourage every -- [applause] governor inevery this country to sign such an executive order. juan: the new york legislature had unsuccessfully tried to push through anti-boycott legislation for months and cuomo signed the executive order just days before the legislative session ended. civil liberties groups and pro-palestinian organizations have declared cuomo's order unconstitutional and a form of 21st century mccarthyism. several other states have also moved to support israel and prevent their governments and agencies from doing business with companies or individuals that endorse the boycotts. amy: well, for more, we're

joined now by two guests. here in new york, we're joined by rebecca vilkomerson, executive director of jewish voice for peace. her group is organizing a protest against cuomo today. and in baltimore, maryland, we're joined by robert freedman, a visiting professor of political science at johns hopkins university and the former president of baltimore hebrew university. we welcome you both to democracy now! your response to the executive order, the first in the nation? did thenk the governor right thing. i would have preferred it to go to the legislature as possible. but be, which are particularly ugly, i think it was something that had to be done. let me just go over with you very quickly am a rebekah, if i could, what the goals are. movement. if you look at them, one is allegedly to end israeli occupation and colonization of palestinian territory. in 1948, israelis

there was a chance for a palestinian state, palestinians rejected it. parameters offered a peaceful solution for palestinian state and an end to occupation and the palestinians rejected it. then israeli prime minister offered a peace plan, abass rejected it. occupation is not just one. secondly, they call for "full quality of air palestinian citizens in israel." i support that, but according to israel's declaration of independence, there is equality. there are arab judges. 50% of this due to embody in israeli universities are arab. 40% of israeli doctors are arab. this is not apartheid south africa. it is a different situation. the worst element to bds in my view is their call the so-called

right of return for palestinian refugees. mean, some 5ld million refugees and their descendents, that is the end of ofael as the nation stated jews, something recognized by the un. movementr of the bds is all for a one state solution, were the arabs would be the majority. so i have a real problem with that. basically, it says that all other nations -- germans, french, english -- can have their own nationstate ethnically, but jews cannot. even worse, if you look at what the history of the refugee problem was, in 1930 -- amy: we're going to cut you off because we want to get a direct response from rebecca vilkomerson to the executive order issued by governor cuomo.

>> first of all, i would remind robert and everybody that the boycott, divest, sections call, a court has demand according to international law, based on simple to man's to end occupation, full rights for palestinian citizens of israel, and the right of return for refugees. the idea the many from israel that is stop violating the human rights of palestinians and to use a tool, which has been used whenway to create change governments are unwilling to do so, is something that is -- until those conditions end, it is not against israel forever or because it is a jewish state, but because of its human rights abuses and its possession of palestinians. it is not anti-somatic. boycottperience, the national committee which is the representative of all of the palestinian organizations that of called globally for support for bds has called very much for

universal human rights including speaking out against anti-semitism and all forms of oppression and racism. use equally.ose i we are proud and honored to be part of that movement fighting for human rights and fighting against palestinian dispossession. juan: were you surprised by the statement by governor cuomo? it seems the impact will be perhaps greater in terms of europe where the bds movement has grown more rapidly than even here in the u.s., because obviously, and a multinational world that we live in, there's a lot of european companies that do business in new york state. >> interesting point. we were surprised by the executive order because as you mentioned, there was bills going to the legislature and for days until the end of the legislative session, and they were stalled in committee because there were strong opposition from over 100 organizations around the state to these bills.

it felt like governor cuomo is trying to hold onto a consensus that doesn't really exist anymore in the electorate. contending just more more people are recognizing how israel is continuously violating palestinian human rights and because of increasing right-wing nature of the israeli government. amy: i want to go to glenn greenwald who wrote -- the stench of hypocrisy of cuomo and democrats is suffocating. just over two months ago, cuomo band state officials from traveling to north carolina in order to support the boycott against that american state in protest over its anti-transgender law. , can youilkomerson talk specifically about what this executive order would do? >> one thing is, we don't exactly know. it seems to have cast a very broad net and it is vague. it says state agencies have to proactively go out and figure out how organizations and

companies that are supportg -- not just cooper dissipate, but advocate for the boycott. that seems like that could be -- it is proactively creating this blacklist and saying the state has to from lowe's companies and organizations. what that is when you look like, we don't know. regardless of what they feel about israel, palestine, bds, anyone who feel strongly about speaking out on any kind of human rights issues needs to be concerned about the state dictating what kinds of advocacy our available -- are available. amy: what happens to those companies that do this? >> the state is instructed, and this is new, to divest from those organizations and companies and that they cannot do business within the state of new york. juan: robert freedman, or you surprised by the governor's action and now the possibility that other governors may follow suit? i was particularly interested when the governor use the word "entities," not just companies.

i would assume that would mean universities, churches. >> it is quite possible. i would like to refer you to the statement of them association of university professors of may 2013 which opposed the bds movement. let me quote it for you. in view of the association's long-standing commitment to the free exchange of ideas, we oppose academic boycotts. on the same grounds, we recommend that other academic associations oppose academic boycotts. now, bds is at the heart of the average academically boycott israel. there's no question about that list up there have been attempts in a number of associations -- the american studies association voted for the boycott. the american anthropology association just voted against the boycott. there are very strong feelings on campuses about this.

if you believe in the free change of exchange of ideas, then you cannot boycott universities. if you want change in israel, theuniversities are agents of change and boycotting them a self-defeating. you cannot blame universities in the country for the action of the government anymore than you can blame american universities for the u.s. intervention in iraq, invasion of iraq in 2003 and a but that is what bds is doing. it opposes the free exchange of ideas. it is self-defeating, and to make matters worse, israel, among 196 nations of the world, is it out by it self for this kind of discrimination. you have what is going on in syria with 300,000 people dead, the russians actively supporting it, the chinese supporting it at the u.n., but do you care boycotts of russian universities or exchanges between russian

universities and american universities or chinese universities and american universities? what about the crackdown on free expression in turkey? amy: let's get a response from rebecca vilkomerson. we're going to get a response from rebecca vilkomerson. and also, if you can talk about companies that have been successfully boycotted. >> yes, yes. this is a very old, my opinion, tired argument is a israel is being singled out. there's all kinds of trouble in the world. all kinds of fights happening against all kinds of terrible things and struggles in the world. the u.s. is boycotting places like syria and north korea. this as a response to a call by palestinian civil society, the fact this is that the only problem in the world is not mean it is not one that does not need to be responded to. we have a way to respond to it because we are responding to the request for solidarity in the face of these human rights violations. the other thing is, we as americans are certainly

complicit in this ongoing oppression and abuse of human rights because the u.s. government gives more money to israel than any other country and with our diplomatic, economic, and military might we're putting all of our weight behind the israeli government. without that support, i don't think israel could continuing doing what it does. 11 obligation to use the tools we can, and i think bds is the most effective tool because we are having victories. it is putting pressure on israel and i think the reas we're seeing things like the executive order, the tens of millions of dollars being invested in trying becausethe bds movement they see it is gaining ground on campus. things like this executive order -- juan: let me ask robert freedman to respond to that, given the amount of aid the united states has been giving to israel and enormous economic support israel receives from americans who support that country, that there

might be a particular reason why the bds movement would arise in this country as an alternative tactic or movement. rebecca,we heard from and i'm quoting, a response to a call by palestinian civil society. the call was from omar barghouti , not particularly known as a democrat in palestinian society, and basically he calls -- >> i have to interrupt. i'm sorry. i need to interrupt list of over 170 palestinian organizations from a wide range of civil society, trade unions, union groups, palestinian political parties, a broad spectrum of civil society have called for the bds. >> who is the palestinian leader of that movement? >> the boycott national committee. the boycott national committee. omar barghouti is one of the leaders of the boycott national

committee, which is the group of those 170 wide range organizations that have called for the boycott. amy: i want to her bout one successful boycott campaign you have launched. >> most recently, it is been against a company that is involved in security around the world. this is the one that raised -- that bds work so well because it is global. there have been campaigns in europe, the u.s., and geforce announced it is pulling of the pressure and contracts they're losing because of their involvement in israeli prisons. we thank you both for discussing this and we will continue to cover this issue. >> i would love for folks to come to a demonstration today at 5:30 of the governor's office in new york city at 3rd avenue. amy: rebecca vilkomerson, executive director of jewish voice for peace. robert freedman is a visiting professor of political science

at johns hopkins university and the former president of baltimore hebrew university. this is democracy now! go to theme back, we stanford rape case and of the latest. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: lady gaga performing "til it happens to you" at the oscars in february, a song from the documentary "the hunting ground." she was joined on stage by dozens of survivors who had phrases like "not alone" and "not your fault" written on their arms. lady gaga herself is a sexual assault survivor. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: more than 60,000 people have signed a student petition calling for stanford university to publicly apologize to the woman who was raped on campus last year by a stanford university swimmer. the case made national news this month when a judge sentenced the rapist brock allen turner to just six months in jail despite being caught by two witnesses sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. efforts are underway to recall judge aaron persky who quietly began a six-year term this week. brock turner's father fueled the outrage by complaining his son's life had been ruined for what he called "20 minutes of action." the victim wrote a powerful letter to her attacker which has been viewed more than 10 million times online. meanwhile, a report by the daily beast found that the rape was not an isolated event. according to data from the u.s. department of education, the

-- stanford reported 26 rapes on campus in 2012, 2013, and 2014. that is a rape case every two weeks for three years. the actual number of rapes on campus is believed to be far higher since most go unreported. amy: but the problem is not just a stanford. we spend theest of the hour looking at groundbreaking documentary "the hunting ground," which examines the issue of sexual assault on college campuses across the country. in a moment we will be joined by the film's director as well as a victim profiled in the film, but first, the film's trailer. >> i got a call from the dean of admissions asking, if you're to get into harvard, would you accept? and i said, yes. i knew my mom would kill me if i said anything else. the first few weeks i made some of my best friends. but two of us were sexually assaulted before classes have even started. i went to the dean of students office. she said, i want to make sure that you don't talk to anyone

about this. they protect perpetrators because of a financial incentive to do so. with sexualem assault on campuses is enormous. >> i think it is fair to say they cover these crimes up. >> he lectured us about how we should not go out in short skirts. >> they told me the fact i had a written admission of guilt by presented them could only prove he loved me. >> they discourage them from going to the police. and as a public record. >> universities are protecting a brand. >> campus police cannot contact an athlete. >> just a down with the students and asked them, where the hotspots? >> the second most common type of insurance in history is for rape. >> the name matched to other cases and he was allowed back on campus. >> the message is clear, you're not going to win. >> no one connected the dots

before. >> students were from sexual assault the terms to survivors and now activists. >> a name is carolyn. >> alexis. >> air. >> this is a national problem. favorwas working in their to silence me and i was terrified. >> the only action they took was against me. >> we have a lot further to go. amy: the trailer to the documentary "the hunting ground." we are joined now by amy ziering, producer of "the hunting ground." she is also co-author of a new book by the same title. we are also joined by kamilah willingham. she is a harvard law school graduate who says she was sexually assaulted while unconscious by a fellow harvard law school student in 2011. she's now a writer, speaker, and anti-violence activist. she is featured in amy's film.

the stanford rape case. can you talk about the significance of what took place in that courtroom? a judge sentencing of convicted rapist who was found guilty on three felony counts to six months in the county jail -- not in prison -- with good behavior he could get out in 90 days. >> yeah, no, what has happened and what we are witnessing is a watershed pivotal moment. what happened in the courtroom was the victim of these egregious crimes, read this incredible letter that she had written to explain to the judge was she not only had gone through during the assault but in the brutal aftermath, and having to cope with that kind of micheleand you know, dauber was in the courtroom at the time. she heard the letter and text to me and said, you have to read this. i read it and texted her back

and said, oh, my god. she said, let's get this out. i called a buzzfeed reporter who i respect who is report on this issue in a really great way and said, you have to read this. can you read this right away? she did and got it to the editors and they put it online. it has exploded in a viral way. i think we should all stop and go, oh, this is a wonderful moment for the movement because all of american now, you know, i think it is at 13 million people have read the letter, and there has been this outpouring of support for survivors and outrage about, you know, the way these crimes are treated with ubiquity in this country, especially on college campuses, which is to ignore them and not do anything to prosecute of people perpetrating them. juan: kamilah willingham, you also were a victim at another elite university. your reaction to what you heard about the stanford situation? >> it was a really sad reminder of what i went through and what

so many other people go through. really, i guess the silver lining to how much attention this case is getting is it points out the flaws in our laws and legal systems. we tell victims that they need to come forward because rape is unreported. if more people reported the crimes to the police, that was somehow fix things was to as if it is our duty. it you look at what happened in the stanford case. this is the best case outcome. she got farther than most victims get in the system. most rapists never see the inside of a courtroom, let alone a jailhouse or prison. and even still, she is treated in this way. it is similar to what i found when i was going through the criminal process where it honest felt like it wasn't even a question of whether i was believed, but whether i was valued enough that what was done to me was worth its consequences. amy: explain what happened. >> i was sexually assaulted by a

friend and classmate. he actually assaulted me and another girl in the same night. it was a typical night of drinking. he was a nice guy who offered to my drunkake care of friend. the next thing you know, i wake up in my drunk friend has been addressed and he is trying to penetrate me. i woke up to this kind of assault. he took credit for it. we would not have gone to the police if we did not have text messages from him confirming what we thought had happened. so it wasn't even -- to me, did not feel like my word against his. again, we had more evidence than most cases do. police andit to the my school. school, after an extensive investigation, found him responsible. lefthen somehow after i the school, the faculty voted on whether to uphold the sanction and reversed the decision without informing me.

at the same time, we went through a lengthy criminal trial process. of the six felony charges the prosecutors attempted to bring against him, he was charged with three and found guilty of a lesser included offense of one, which was a misdemeanor assault. he got probation. 19 of my harvard law professors publicly defended him -- and did much of what we see happening in this case. turning the attention to the perpetrator as the "real victim" in this case. the pain he suffered, his reputation, his life being on reallyring the trial is what they were outraged about, even though it was caused by his own predatory actions. and the pain that my friend and i who were sexually assaulted suffered is secondary. we are treated as if all of this is because of us, because we spoke out, not because somebody

thought it was ok to force himself on new capacity to woman. juan: you mentioned harvard professors. in november 2015 when the "hunting ground" aired on cnn, 19 of those harvard professors published a statement attacking me film's the trail of your case. they wrote -- "there was never any evidence that mr. winston used force, nor were there even any charges that he used force. no evidence whatsoever was introduced at trial that he was the one responsible for the inebriated state of the women who are portrayed in the film as his victims. we believe that brandon winston was subjected to a long, harmful ordeal for no good reason. justice has been served in the end, but at enormous costs to this young man. we denounce this film as prolonging his ordeal with its unfair and misleading portrayal of the facts of his case." that is what the professors wrote. your response? i have several responses.

one, if they watched the film and review the case, they would see there is no allegation of force. the entire point was we were unconscious. no force was required to dominate as while we were unconscious. the second point that all of this was caused or -- yeah, all of his her trip was caused for no good reason. again, it is a question of whether what he did to us was were the consequences. and the consequences for him, his life being derailed? so was mine. i was a young black promising law student in my future was entirely thrown up into the air because of what he did. amy: i want to ask amy ziering about this, which was both an attack on kamilah willingham and the film, the response that you got -- i mean you did a previous film which got enormous attention, and the difference in

these two films that dealt with sexual assault in the military. >> "invisible war" it was the first film we made on this issue and broke the story of a potomac rape in our military. like you said, it was and notngly embraced challenged. sort of accepted and what i get the pentagon credit for is they saw the film as a critique, not an attack and they started using it as a training tool on bases. they said, my god, we have a problem and we really have to take care of it. what is interesting, the reception to "the hunting ground" is what we see laid out with the stanford case -- played out with the stanford case. the concern and focus was more on questioning and challenging, oh, is this really going on? is this really an epidemic? as opposed to saying, oh, thank you for pointing this out, let's

take care of it. there's a difference in leadership we're seeing on campuses. where is a letter of apology from stanford for this happening at the y has or not -- i think in 10 years, there's only been an expulsion at stanford for any of the assaults. were is this unwillingness are still seeing, which i'm hoping the letter will shift and this will be a change and everyone will say, we need to do better, we need to protect our students better. i want to go back and say two things -- amy: we have 20 seconds. >> read by the law professors. there's not one factual error in our film. there is evidence yet assaulted kamilah. their letters are rife with errors. go to our website and we can explain how that is. it is unconscionable they use their platform to critique someone in this way. amy: we're going to do part two of this conversation and post online at demoacynow.org.

amy ziering, the filmic are behind "the hunting ground" and kamilah willingham, student at harvard law school when she and a fellow student work assaulted. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appr

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