11/17/15 11/17/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> there will be an intensification of the strategy we put forward, but the strategy that we are putting forward is the strategy that ultimately is going to work. but as i said from the start, it is going to take time. amy: bomb them. in the wake of the paris attacks, the u.s. and france vow to intensify airstrikes in syria.

as is russia as it concludes a bomb brought down the russian airliner last month in egypt killing all 224 people on board. we will speak to two experts on how the u.s. invasion of iraq helped spur the rise of the islamic state. one is a journalist who twice interviewed osama bin laden, the the other is a researcher who interviewed former isis prisoners held in iraq. then governors of at least 27 u.s. states say they will not accept syrian refugees, despite the u.n. is urging the world to help the men and women fleeing violence in syria. >> the reaction to the wave of refugees we are seeing should be one of compassion, empathy. these are people who are fleeing the very destruction of daesh we've seen in paris. amy: we will also speed to the cousin of nohemi gonzalez, the 23 old american student killed

in the paris attacks. she has been described as a proud first-generation mexican-american. we will speak to her cousin in los angeles. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. russian authorities have confirmed a bomb brought down a passenger plane over the sinai peninsula in egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board. the self-proclaimed islamic state had claimed responsibility for taking down the plane, calling it retaliation for russia's airstrikes in syria. russian officials say an examination of the wreckage confirms an improvised explosive device went off soon after the plane departed sharm el sheikh en route to st. petersburg. russian president vladimir putin vowed to intensify russian airstrikes in syria in response to the bombing. people inder of our sinai is one of the bloodiest by the number of victims of such crimes.

we won't wipe off tears over our hearts and souls. it will stay with us forever. but that will not prevent us from finding and punishing the perpetrators. amy: france and the united states have also ramped up their airstrikes against isis in response to the attacks in paris that killed 129 people friday. in france and belgium, authorities have carried out a wave of raids in search of a suspect who escaped. french president francois hollande has requested a sweeping expansion of state power, calling for measures to ease police raids without a warrant, allow the government to strip citizenship from dual passport holders convicted of terrorism, and expand the current state of emergency for three months. addressing parliament, hollande sought changes to the french constitution. i honestly believe that we need to update our constitution to allow the authorities to act within the law against the terrorism of war. amy: french president francois hollande has also indicated he could seek a further expansion

of spying powers beyond new laws adopted since the charlie hebdo newspaper attacks in january. meanwhile british prime minister , david cameron vowed to fund an additional 1900 officers at the spy agencies mi5 and mi6, and in the united states cia , director john brennan invoked the paris attacks to defend mass surveillance. in an apparent reference to disclosures by nsa whistleblower edward snowden, brennan suggested revelations about mass spying have made it more difficult to find terrorists. >> because of a number of unauthorized is closures and a lot of hand wringing over the government's role in the effort to try to uncover these terrorists, there have been some policy and legal and other actions that are taken that make our ability collectively, internationally, to find these terrorists, much more challenging. amy: civil liberties advocates have questioned brennan's

claims. jameel jaffer of the american civil liberties union said -- "as far as i know, there's no evidence the french lacked some kind of surveillance authority that would have made a difference. when we have invested new powers in the government in response to events like the paris attacks, they have often been abused," jaffer said. in the wake of friday's attacks in paris, governors of at least u.s. states have now said they 27 will not accept syrian refugees. a syrian passport which appears to be fake was found near the body of one of the paris attackers whose fingerprints , matched someone who passed through greece and the balkans. all attackers identified so far are european nationals. the obama administration has said it still plans to accept syrian refugees. state department spokesperson mark toner said the refugees are intensely vetted. >> these refugees are subject to the highest level of security checks of a category traveler to

the united states. it is an interagency normal to agencies learning process that involves the national counterterrorism center, the fbi terrorist screening center, the department of homeland security, and the department of defense. to syria, these syrian refugees go through an extra yet additional forms of security screenings. amy: environmentalists are vowing to press ahead with peaceful protests planned to coincide with the united nations climate talks in paris, which begin in just under two weeks. french prime minister manuel valls has said side events, including rallies, will be canceled. but in a statement, nicolas haeringer, france campaigner for the environmental group 350.org, said -- "we fully share concerns about public safety -- just as we fully oppose any unnecessary crackdowns on civil liberties and minority populations. we can think of few better responses to violence and terror than this movement's push for peace and hope."

democracy now! will travel to paris to cover the two-week talks. stanford university students have surrounded the president's office and vowed to remain in place until the university completely divests from the fossil fuel industry. last year, in response to student protests, stanford agreed to divest from coal companies. but the students have now called for stanford to divest from all fossil fuels, including oil and gas. in texas, a tornado has leveled a halliburton plant in pampa, causing a massive chemical leak. no one was inside the building at the time. authorities have not identified the chemical involved. in minneapolis, minnesota, more than 50 people were arrested overnight as hundreds of protesters shut down a section of highway to protest the police shooting of 24-year-old african american jamar clark. police said clark was shot after a scuffle with officers who responded to a report of an assault.

but multiple witnesses have said clark was shot while handcuffed. >> the guy was tended down on the ground. he was not fighting, screaming, nothing. the next thing we know, maybe a minute or whatever after watching it, the gun went off. >> they put his hands behind his back. they slammed him on the ground and they shot that man in his head. amy: clark was reportedly taken off life support on monday night. in response to mounting protests, minneapolis mayor betsy hodges called for a federal investigation into the shooting. the protesters have continued to demand the release of video footage and the names of the officers involved. in news from california, video released by the san francisco public defender's office shows two alameda county sheriff's deputies beating a man as he lies on the ground. the security camera footage stanislausshow petrov surrendering right before

officers tackle him to the ground. the officers then punch him and oil on him with batons. public defender brendon woods compared the beating to the 1991 beating of rodney king by los angeles police and called for a federal probe. a new report has criticized the baltimore police department's handling of uprisings following the death of freddie gray in police custody. the independent review conducted by the police executive research forum found inadequate planning and training, confusion over the chain of command, and a lack of clear policies for making arrests. georgetown university has agreed to rename two buildings that honor past presidents with ties to slavery, following protests against racial injustice on campus. mulledy hall and mcsherry hall are both named for former georgetown presidents who facilitated the sale of slaves to help pay down the school's debt in the 1830's. georgetown is among the schools nationwide where students have rallied against campus racism. and a utah judge who came under fire for removing a foster child

from a lesbian couple's home because of their sexual orientation has removed himself from the case. juvenile court judge scott johansen had removed the baby from the same-sex couple, saying she would be better off with heterosexual parents. following protests and calls for his impeachment, he later reversed the order. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracyorg.org, the war and peace report. france and russia have staged a series of new air strikes on the syrian city of raqqa, the de facto capital of the self-proclaimed islamic state. russia announced earlier today it would intensify strikes in syria after russian intelligence service said they had found conclusive proof that a bomb had brought down the metrojet airliner in egypt's sinai -- sign up peninsula killing 224 people on board last month. meanwhile french president , francois hollande vowed to step up attacks in syria following friday's attacks in paris that killed 129 people.

cook's the need to destroy islamic state is an issue that faces the whole of the international community. i have therefore asked the security council to hold a meeting as quickly as possible markopt the resolution to this goal shared by all to fight against terrorism. amy: earlier today, secretary of state john kerry traveled to paris to meet hollande one day after president obama announced the u.s. and france have agreed to step up their exchange of intelligence on potential targets. france also has invoked the european union's mutual assistance clause for the first time, asking its partners for military help and other aid in missions in the middle east and africa after the paris attacks. over night, french police conducted 128 searches. france is currently in a state of emergency which allows authorities to search homes any time without court approval. hollande is seeking to extend the state of emergency for three months. a massive manhunt is still underway for salah abdeslam, a

prime suspect in the paris attacks. he is a belgian-born french national. french authorities have also identified abdel-hamid abu oud as the possible mastermind of the attacks. he is a belgian of moroccan origin believed to be in syria. while france, russia, and the united states bomb syria the , united nations is warning against escalating the regional war in the middle east. zeid raad al-hussein serves as the u.n. human rights commissioner. >> this is a dark time, a time of great turmoil in the international world -- world of international relations. paris believes, so, too, does beirut and aleppo and sinai and callous other cities. it seems the defenses against chaos and bloodshed that states erected, the laws they wrote and swore to abide by any agreements

and treaties they signed are giving way to increasingly unilateral action bound by no principle or any foresight. amy: to talk more about the islamic state, we are joined by longtime middle east journalist abdel bari atwan in london. he served as editor and chief of the london-based daily al-quds al-arabi for 25 years. he now edits the rai al-youm website. he is author of the new book, "the islamic state: the digital caliphate." he also recently wrote an article for salon headlined "america enabled radical islam: , how the cia, george w. bush and many others helped create isis." he interviewed osama bin laden twice in the 1990's. abdel bari atwan, welcome to democracy now! can you respond to the paris attacks and then how western countries are responding to those attacks? >> yes, amy, it is very nice to be with you again. i remember last time it was after the 11th of september

attacks and here we are talking parisparish -- the attacks took place last friday evening. what is happening now, the islamic's date is changing strategy. juryhey are adopting sever -- savagery management phase. in the beginning, they wanted to grab lands, consolidate, then expand. it seems because of more than 7000 against them, they decided to take revenge, to adopt the strategy of al qaeda which they condemned in the beginning of their emergence. when i say to adopt the strategy of a condo, to exalt the terrorism to outside middle east to the half of europe. industry, the economy, to terrorize people, to take revenge from the united states, maybe britain, who are on barding their positions --

bombarding the positions in syria,, muzzle, and other parts of iraq. this is a new strategy. it is not surprising that they are turning to this. it was expected. and there are very, very organized in this field. many people think those people are stupid. dirty beard, baggy trousers. no, they're not like that. they're very, very intelligent. their remnant of saddam hussein security institutions from also the army, the guard. those people when the army -- when the security organization was a sold, the republican guard, they were dumped in the streets by the american ruler of iraq. they were dumped, humiliated, frustrated. so they were behind the establishment of the islamic state.

to the second state, which is to take revenge. and that is why we see this eight people, eight people of a very organized cell, to attack six positions, six places in paris at the same time, the same night. it means they are lethal. they are dangerous. ofthese attacks, it is one four attacks that took place by the islamic state. the first i think was in tunisia and the results were about 40 people were killed. and then the downing of the russian tourism aircraft of 224 people killed to destroy the tourism industry in egypt and in tunisia. now they are attacking the tourism, the jewel of the crown of europe, which is paris. billion, the revenue of

that tourism industry for france. so they know what they're doing. they are docked in the strategy of al qaeda. al qaeda attacked the world trade center. here they are attacking the center of europe, the capital of europe, which is paris. and that is why it is devastating. amy: can you explain the term daesh? you see secretary kerry is continually talking about isis as what he calls "dah" so explain what that term means. >> to be honest, i am surprised when the french president uses the word "dash." -- they don't want to call it islamic state. i have been arguing because my book -- i was bombarded by the criticism because i used the term "islamic state."

i said, if your name is amy, should i call you cuddle? they named themselves the islamic state and islamic front. why here when it comes -- they want to change its same to an arabic man, which has the same meaning. it is really silly. i'm really shocked by this. its name is islamic state. we have to call it islamic state. like the united states, we call it the united states. barbaric or this is whatever. this is the problem. daesh in arabic, it is a shortening of islamic state and iraq and syria. that's it. many people in the arab world, they hide the sun by a little, what we call it, a little piece of cloth or something like that. theman't -- you can't deny are named. you can't avoid -- you don't

defeat of by saying it is daesh, not islamic state. it is islamic and it is state. when i say islamic, they are adopting the worlds interpretation of islam. andh was originated national solidarity. it is a state because it has all all of thelogy, state. they have an army, police, administration, cabinet, their own currency, their own flag, 9 million or 10 million with citizenship, whatever. they are dealing with neighboring countries, selling oil north of iraq them a selling oil to turkey and even to europe. people say, no, it is not a state. ok, good luck to you. and it is a state and it is islamic if we like it or not. if you want to understand, the state, the stairs organization,

this is not -- we have to be truthful. we have to be truthful to ourselves. we have to understand this. we have to study it and we have to fight it. not just, you know, say, no, it is daesh and not even to mention its name correctly. , theabdel bari atwan response since the terrorist attacks, the u.s. bomb -- the french are bombing syria. the russians are bombing syria. do you think a military response -- how do you think the military response will affect isis? is --l, amy, the problem sorry. when we talk about military response, military alone -- military solution is not actually enough. using military solution alone, it means we are prolonging the problem. we're strengthening the islamic state.

7000 soldiers until now, by the american and their allies. what happened? the islamic state has grown up. they managed to capture ramadi in a wreck, which is the third biggest city, and managed to capture palmyra in syria, another very well-known antiquities of history and legacy. this is the problem. security solution is not good enough. see what happened. the american -- military solution in afghanistan. and now for years, they're talking to surrender power to taliban. eventsed to school tell as a tourist organization. we're not going to talk to them. we have to root them out. they did not read them out. the same thing in libya. they said, muammar gaddafi is a bloody dictator. yes he is. they removed him most of what happened? chaos, filled by other terrorist

relations -- militias. whenever there is military intervention, there is american intervention in particular, there is failed state. we have more than five failed states in the middle east. who will fill the vacuum? the islamic state. that is why they have branches in egypt and sinai and afghanistan, branches in pakistan and now a very strong state in syria. they also have could be soon in palestine, west bank, and gaza. this is the problem. military solution intervention, military intervention, it is not actually the only way. amy, if you allow me, i will give you seven keywords if you want to understand the middle east and want to understand why this state missouri strong and getting stronger and stronger. first, humiliation. people are humanly did of the military intervention in their

own governments which is a dictatorship. frustration. we have more than 100 young people, 100 million young people at least either full employed or partly employed. those people are frustrated because there's no future. the third word, art you will is a. when the americans invaded and occupied it iraq, what happened. they marginalized the sunni state a gave advantage to the shiites. divided the country according to the sectarian life. this marginalization created think you bader for the islamic state. military intervention. when you intervene by military means in our countries, you create failed states. the fifth ward is lack of good governance. we don't have good governance in the middle east. corrupt regimes. look at the gulf region and the other parts of the air world. it is corruption everywhere. there is no democracy.

there is no transparency. and the other word is underestimation. one islamicion -- state was growing and we noticed it. we said, this is very dangerous. i wrote a book and i predicted this. i predicted more radical organization then osama bin laden. the final word is social media. people are not listening to the mainstream media anymore as they used to be. the islamic state is manipulating the social media, the internet, the facebook, twitter, snap chat, everything. they're using it to their own advantages. osama bin laden was actually an old man sitting in the front of a camera recording every detail and begging him to zero or cnn to broadcast it. now they don't need this.

they reach means of people. they have 100,000 tweets every day. 50,000 accounts on twitter. of thousands of pages on the internet. or facebook. that is why if you want to understand the middle east, we have to put these seven words into consideration. we will have a better idea and definitely we will know how to , not byis islamic state military means only, but also by other means -- by social means, by economic means. amy: can you talk about the role of saudi arabia? president obama held a meeting at the g20 summit on sunday. >> saudi arabia is the origin of islamic radicalism in the middle east and the whole world and the whole islamic role. why? islamic state ideology is the same ideology which adopted by

the saudi kingdom. ofy go back to the time mohammed in 1704. they are doing exactly the same. they are doing in syria and iraq's brutality, this savagery 1706 when they invaded. they committed the same massacres. saudi arabia actually now, they are with qatar and turkey, have some sort of alliance. they started the problem. they poured billions into syria hoping to topple the assad regime for personal and not political means. they just wanted to take revenge, personal revenge because assad insulted them and

somewhat or another. also, they showed they can topple him in a few weeks, few months maximum post up they poured billions of weapons. also encourage -- sorry, tens of thousands of volunteers to go through turkey, to syria, to fight against the al-assad regime. all this was happening while the west don't understand -- they were misled by turkey and saudi arabia and qatar. this is a fact. when i said they misled, they did not actually manage to understand -- they underestimated the emergence of such radical organization or state like the islamic state, which we are witnessing now. this is the problem. saudi arabia, until now, so we must topple the al-assad regime post ok, topple assad and gadhafi. where is the plan be? have you rebuilt? this is a good example in iraq

and libya and yemen and syria that was the plan after al-assad, for example, who will rule syria? is a going to be democracy or is it going to be like libya, like iraq divided on the sectarian lines? yes, saudi arabia, they managed to influence the american white house, the american position because in your country -- this is the problem. until now, the american policy in the middle east is a complete shambles. there is still policy, honestly. until six month ago, they said we should give the priority of rooting out the islamic state. ok, great. and now because of the saudi, turkish influence a set, no risk of future for assad in the political process. where is this political process? as it started? why didn't start five years ago when the problem started in syria? where we waiting until now? you had five years to sorted out and you did not sort it out. amy: it is not -- >> sorry.

themy: it is not only that u.s. is working with saudi arabia, i mean, they just sealed the largest weapon still in history with saudi arabia. >> yes, you're absolutely right. there is a history there. the problem is, when they were feeding radicalism and introducing -- as a puritan into rotation of islam and sharia law, they refused to work with them. they worked with them in afghanistan and it was very clear. what happened after that, they toppled a communist regime income goal -- income in kabul and left anarchy there. al qaeda emerged. now the intervene in syria. what happened? the islamic state emerged. they intervened in iraq. the same thing, al qaeda again. usually, when there is

uncalculated and underestimated intervention, that is what will happen in the middle east. amy: how do you think the u.s. can put pressure on saudi arabia? >> oh, yes, they can. they can. president obama was actually absolutely correct when he talked to the saudis, look, i'm not going to bomb iran because you want us to bomb iran. ok, we can protect you from any iranian danger am a but, you know, your problem is, your people. it is an internal problem. you have a population which is -- those populations completely marginalized. those people are unemployed and they have no future. they don't have any role in actually determining their future. so this is the problem. there are huge problems inside. the united states can put treasure on saudi arabia and can

put pressure on and in turkey and say, look, we can't continue arguments -- which is first, the chicken or the egg? the islamic state or the assad regime? they have to make up their mind. if the islamic state is the party, go for it. but you can't keep arguing while hundreds of thousands of people are killed. 7000 soldiers -- we don't know what these soldiers are killing, for example. how many innocent people are killed because of it? i don't believe these 7000 soldiers killing islamic state members. they are killing in people, civilians. who will tell us how many civilians are killed? it is completely taboo to talk about the civilian deaths because of these allied bombardment of syria and iraq, the islamic state areas.

until now come also at the same time, we don't have any accurate figures by your administration about how many people were of thein iraq because american invasion of iraq. this is the problem. among your enemy, nobody counts. among american, the british, the french, it is well calculated one by one. this is discrimination. how can the people of the middle east believe this kind of policy? how are they going to not find this -- fight this type of hypocrisy in one way or another? we're giving ammunition to radical terrorist organization like al qaeda, like the islamic state by this kind of policies. amy: abdel bari atwan, i want to get your response to the, to made by presidential candidate bernie sanders as saturday's democratic presidential debate in iowa. >> i would argue that the disastrous invasion of iraq, something that i strongly opposed, has unraveled the region completely and led to the

isis.f al qaeda and to amy: abdel bari atwan, can you respond? you interviewed osama bin laden twice. >> yes, amy. he is absolutely correct. anm personally proud to have american candidate saying the truth. we need the truth. yes, the american invasion of iraq created al qaeda or strengthening al qaeda and created or it created an incubator for the islam state. ofi said, under the banner the bath vacation, they have thrown millions of iraqi soldiers, ask officers on the streets without any hope, without any dignity, without any pension. nothing at all. this is the hard-core of the islamic state. that is why those people are full of revenge, full of anger,

full of blood. yes, the american -- i agree with that sound bite. this is the invasion which created most of the problem. yes, maybe it's all one problem, toppling a dictator. he was a dictator, no question. but how is iraqi now? iraq is completely dismembered. iraq is a failed state now. this is the problem. do you believe the americans greatest superpower, the most sovereign, the most actual modern power cannot actually fix erratic? cannot create a democracy there? cannot create coexistence among the people and what is happening is the opposite, dividing them, this is sunni in this is shia? this is the problem. the american invasion of the middle east, iraq in particular, theting that environment, best environment for the islamic state and for al qaeda to continue their savagery, their terrorism, their brutalism

against the people of that region. amy:b, thank you for being with us, author of the new book, "the islamic state: the digital caliphate." long time journalist who served as editor and chief of the london-based daily al-quds al-arabi for 25 years. now runs the rai al-youm website. he recently wrote an article for salon titled, "america enabled radical islam: how the cia, george w. bush and many others helped create isis." we will have part two of our discussion later this week. we will be back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: "masters of war." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. close tooadcasting on 1400 public radio and television stations around the world. our next guest is lydia wilson, a research fellow at the center for the resolution of intractable conflict at oxford university. she is also senior research fellow and field director at artis international, a conflict resolution research consortium. her latest piece for the nation is headlined, "what i discovered from interviewing imprisoned isis fighters." she is joining us from london. welcome to democracy now! explain what you found, how you interviewed isis fighters in iraq. firstly, i would like

to point out that these were iraqi local boys, sunni, arab, iraqis who were operating a sleeper so in kirkuk. particular group of people. and what i found very strongly from interviewing them, which was subsequently backed up by other people's witness reports, is that primarily, why they were fighting is because isis right now at this time is giving them their opportunity to fight for their sunni identity in terms of their land, their tribe, the family -- which they have not been given this opportunity, as they see it, since al qaeda formed the insurgency during the occupation. amy: what drove the isis prisoners that you talk to -- and described the setting where you talked to them? >> they were prisoners. they had been through process,

found guilty of terrorism. vehicleor various explosions and assassinations. it was within kirkuk. i was given access by the police and i was interviewing them before they were sentenced. quiet to begine with. when i gave them a chance to talk and to ask more open-ended questions, it became very clear they were fueled by a lot of anger, anger primary against the americans but also against a government that they perceived as shia -- sectarian and anti-sunni. they perceived that everybody was against them, that they weren't given a chance. in their own country. and many of them were poor. they were very low education rates. one was illiterate entirely.

big families and often unemployed. i was not only offering them a chance to fight for their sunni identity, but also offering the money. they were being paid to be foot soldiers. has 17them -- the eldest siblings. his story was that he hurt his back and could not earn in -- any money for labor, which you been doing. this money was greatly appreciative of them all, but that is not to say this only economic needs. there was this driving anger against americans, against the occupation. but not in terms of this ideology that we see coming out of the isis official publications were through social media. -- or through social media. it was much more personal. it was much more about their own childhoods and adolescence. they have been blocked from

having a normal life because, they sought, of the american occupation. amy: lydia wilson, why did they talk to you? >> i'm sorry? amy: why did they talk to you? >> we were given access by the police general of kirkuk. i'm not sure they had an option in it, to be honest. amy: what you know about the so-called handbook of isis called the management of savagery? >> well, it is interesting or previous guest referred to it, but very indirectly. this is huge. it is really a playbook for what is going on, which is why, to some extent, what is happened in paris should not come as a surprise. yes, it is shocking and tragic, but actually, it is all there in his handbook that is written by a student, published around 10 years ago when this group of

people were still al qaeda in iraq. later, a lot of these people formed the islamic state. and they are fulfilling it. they are following the rules held in this guidebook. one is to attack the unbelievers wherever they are. one is to cause as much terror on the streets as you can, to attack tourist destinations access security is strengthened in those places and it cost them believing nations more money. and one is to drag us into a war, to drive our forces into wars that we cannot win -- as base the it -- and also that we will spend an awful lot of our money and power fighting. amy: so the response right now, hours after the bombing -- the isis.s in paris fuels this is what they want, you're

saying, russia bombing syria? u.s. bombing syria? >> i'm sorry, i'm having very much trouble hearing. i'm so sorry, did you ask about the response? saying, are you saying the u.s., french, and russian bombing of syria is exactly what isis once? >> yes. they are seemingly delighted by what is going on, yes. amy: lydia wilson, thank you for being with us, research fellow at the centre for the resolution of intractable conflict at oxford university. we willing to your piece in the nation magazine. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn right now to what happened on sunday, more than 1000 people overflowed a ballroom at california state university long beach to honor and remember nohemi gonzalez, the 23-year-old american student shot dead on friday during the paris attacks. nohemi gonzalez was a senior at the school. she was studying for a semester

in suburban paris. on friday, she was eating at a restaurant in paris, fired upon by the gunman. -- ersity president said nohemi gonzalez has been described as a proud first-generation mexican-american. her cousin, miriam padilla, joins us from los angeles. our condolences to you and to your family. can you tell us who nohemi gonzalez is -- was? >> first, on behalf of my family, we would like to say that we stand in solidarity with the family and friends of all of the victims and the people of france. outspoken a very person. she was very cheerful, very bubbly. together.

my siblings and her family. she was a go-getter. she wanted -- if she wanted something, she would do it. and she was very excited to learn and to have an opportunity that our parents never had. you -- tell us how you like what happened to nohemi on friday. 's my aunt beatrice, nohemi mom, she called the older sister and my sister called us in seattle. so then i flew down here. my aunt found out because of her boyfriend, my cousin's boyfriend told her. has described herself as a proud first-generation mexican-american. her parents are from mexico will stop can you talk about your

response or how she might have responded, knowing her well, you are her cousin, to this latest news in state after state in the united states, governors saying they will not accept syrian refugees? i think the number we are at now is something like in 27 states. >> right. attacks, we feel that on unarmed civilians to publicize a political objective is a huge crime against humanity. that as human beings and as first-generation students and as children who come from immigrants are parents who migrated from mexico, we understand some of the most victims or the isis victims are muslims and arabs themselves, and this is something that i think as much hurt and pain

we're going through, we have to analyze the entire situation as human beings and realize that it is much more than just the attack in paris. amy: why her heritage? why nohemi's heritage, how that played out in her life and what she chose to do in her traveling to paris? >> why -- i'm sorry? amy: why it was important to her. do you sit connection between your own heritage, her own heritage, and her love of education and travel? >> right. well, like i said, my want an uncle, they migrated from mexico to give my cousins a better opportunity to educate themselves and to succeed and to do something and get back to the

community and one of her greatest goals was to go to school and to finish and to make her parents proud. and it is important that we talk about heritage because, you know, the issue with the refugees that are coming to the u.s. is because of the violence. this is same situation in mexico and all over latin america. people are leaving their homelands to come to the u.s. in the hopes of a better future. talk about why we're speaking to you in los angeles now? you are a student at evergreen state college in olympia, washington, correct? >> right. like i said, i live in washington, but i came down here to be with my family, my sister lives here, my aunt lives here. and just for moral support, to be together. it is very hard, very difficult tragedyr away when this

happened. it is easier to cope with it as a family, then individually. amy: and a you have a message, as we wrap up this conversation am a the paris attacks were friday, your cousin was killed in the midst of those attacks. in both a message for president obama and the other world leaders, one of the first responses now is bombing syria and the next response is these governors and the united states to crack down on migration. >> you know, there have been many, many tragedies so far these last few days in many parts of the world. i think it is really important to not compare tragedies. individual ast as human beings to come together and to unite and to stop. we are angry. we are angry that my cousin is

dead, but we are angry that there are hundreds of children and other families that are dying in syria, in iraq, and other parts of the world. thank everyone who made my cousin smile. amy: miriam, thank you for being here. i know how hard this must be post again, our condolences to your whole family. is a student at evergreen state college and a libya, washington, but we're speaking to her and los angeles where she is gathered with her family around the death of her cousin nohemi gonzalez who was killed in the paris attacks on friday. we will be back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: music by explosions in the sky. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in the wake of friday's attacks in paris, governors of a growing

number of u.s. states have now said they do not want to accept syrian refugees. a passport belonging to a syrian national was found at the scene of the bombing at the stade de france. the obama industry and says it still plans to accept syrian refugees, noting their intensely vetted. only about 1500 syrian refugees have been resettled in the united states since the syrian conflict began in 2011. we are joined by roula allouch, the national board chair of the council on american-islamic relations. can you respond to the growing number of governors throughout the united states you're saying no to refugees? >> first, if i may, i would like to offer my condolences to the previous guest on today's show for her loss and for her family. my thoughts and prayers are with her. but it also come in her for her courage and speaking in support of humanity and also offer condolences to the people of

paris and france and all those are victimized by these horrific acts. certainly, we see these governors coming out and speaking out against having refugees from syria, and find refuge in the united states. truly, this is a disturbing situation. these refugees are people fleeing from the same horrific that wet took place have condemned and seen in paris and beirut and other places. they are people fleeing war and persecution. it is disturbing and very un-american for these governors to be saying we as the united states would not offer a place of refuge and a place of safety and security for people who have been suffering from horrific ask for many, many years now. amy: i want to turn to alabama governor robert bentley. i'm over your [bleep] amy: we want to turn to one of

the governors who has spoken out against having refugees. this is alabama governor robert bentley. >> i think the thing i want to do as governor is to make sure the people of alabama are safe. if there is any -- if there's even the slightest risk that people who are coming in from syria are not the types of people that we would want them to be, then we can't take that chance. amy: not every governor is saying that the however. a growing number of governors are saying they want to accept -- they don't want to accept sooner refugees, but vermont governor peter shumlin said syrian refugees are welcome in for my. >> i think the governors who are areng those actions stomping on the qualities that make america great. which is reaching out to folks and they are in trouble and offering them help, not hurting them. amy: roula allouch, your

response? >> i commend the governor of vermont and welcome the remark by president obama in saying that despite the concerns that have been expressed by many, that we will continue to welcome these refugees. second, what was said by the government of vermont, the u.s. has always been a place seen as a beacon of light and hope for immigrants. we have the statue of liberty that stands as a symbol of that for our nation, and we have american principle and values that say we will welcome people and say, give us your hungry, you're poor, and we will be a place for security and safety for people that are fleeing horrible places and places where they are suffering from horrific atrocities, and that is exactly what the syrian people are experiencing today. any cope meanwhile, their attacks. just hours after the paris assaults, a caller left this voicemail for the islamic society of the nellis county in st. petersburg, florida.

>> i'm personally going to have a militia that will come down to your islamic society, firebomb you, shoot whoever is on site in the head. i don't care of their two years old or 100. i'm over your [bleep] check out facebook, this pack in france -- attacked in france is the last straw. [bleep] -- in my name is martin. come find me, please. please report me because i would love, love it. you're going to [bleep] whoever p] your name is, sand [bleep] amy: we bleeped as much as we could out of that horrific message as he repeatedly talked about sand "n" words.

texas, a koran covered in feces was found. roula allouch, what are you calling for? this point, we need to unite. we need to stand united and not allow fear and hate to take over and to sacrifice our american values and principles, really in doing so, we would be allowing the extremist and the people that we are fighting against to win. amy: in the case of the florida caller, yet in a five himself. what is happening at the mosque? what are they doing? how are they protecting themselves and do you feel the law enforcement is adequate? >> our florida team has been working with the people of the mosque in florida and law enforcement has stepped up to review -- as you said, the person felt comfortable and safe

to revive his name. i think that reflects a disturbing increase in islamophobia and a disturbing increase in what appears to be acceptability of that type of rhetoric and hate being spewed. it's really doesn't help when elected officials seem to be following that same line of hate and speaking out in ways that are contrary to american values. , thank youallouch for being with us, national board chair of the council on american islamic relations. that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is hiring a development director to lead our fundraising efforts and an on-air graphics operator. you can go to democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]