12/18/18 12/18/18 am from pafica, th is mocracy now. >> it isaffling at they n dede to prect anotr cotry' enomy versrotect our constutionalights. i knew had to somethi becae this ll affecmore thanuste. itay also affect kids. i knew sometng had tbe done and i uld not st let ipass . amy: aalestini-america teacr in ausn, texaslost r job as speech thologis

after resing to gn a o-israelath. now bahiamawi isiling a federal wsuit ov a texasaw criminaling suppt of bds the boycott divestment sanctions movement. we will speak to her and the pulitzer prize winning journalist glenn greenwald who first wrote about her case for the intercept. texas is one of 26 states with laws preventing state agencies from contracting with companies or individuals aligned with bds. then we speak to temple university professor marc lamont hill, who was fired from cnn after giving a speech at the united nations in support of palestinian rights. after an investigation come he will remain a professor at temple university. >> an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words, but to commit to political action, grassroots action, local action,

and international action that will give us what justice requires. and that is a free palestine from the river to the sea. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump signaled monday he will not support a one- or two-week spending bill to avoid a government shutdown over the holidays, as the white house continues to demand at least $5 billion to expand a wall on the u.s.-mexico border. democrats have offered about a quarter of that amount. with christmas approaching, more than 380,000 federal employees face the prospect of unpaid furloughs, while a further 420,000 so-called essential

federal workers could be required to work without pay. david cox, president of the american federation of government employees, said -- "congress and the president should not hold agency funding hostage to controversial policies unrelated to the budget. our members are asking how they are supposed to pay for rent, food, and gas if they are required to work without a paycheck. the holiday season makes these inquiries especially heart-wrenching." in yemen, a u.n.-brokered ceasefire agreement appeared to be holding early tuesday after a saudi-led coalition fought pitched battles with houthi rebels in the strategic port city of hodeida for a few hours after the truce was due to take effect at midnight. the fragile ceasefire comes as the u.n. warns tens of thoands of yemenis are enduring famine conditions, while half of yemen's 28 million people are on the brink of starvation. last week, the senate voted 56 to 41 to end u.s. support for

the war in yemen, but a similar bill in the house is not expected to pass this year. the trump administration is barring the yemeni mother of a two year old boy with a rare brain disease from visiting her dying son in california one last time. doctors have put abdullah hassan on life support and say the boy will not survive much longer. abdullah and his father, ali hassan, are both u.s. citizens, but the boy's mother, shaima swileh, is a yemeni citizen who now lives in egypt. under the trump administration's travel ban, which was upheld by the supreme court in june, people from five majority-muslim countries -- iran, libya, yemen, syria, and somalia -- are barred from entering the united states. the family is seeking a waiver for swileh so she can visit her son in a hospital in stockton, california. ali hassan told the san francisco chronicle -- "all she wishes is to hold his

hand for the last time." a federal judge is set to sentence former trump national security adviser michael flynn, who's pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about conversations he had with russia's ambassador to the u.s. before trump took office. in a sentencing memo filed earlier this month, special counsel robert mueller said he is not seeking jail time for flynn, citing his substantial assistance with the probe into russian interference in the 2016 election and at least one other investigation. on monday, the fbi arrested two of flynn's former business associates and charged them with illegally influencing u.s. lawmakers on behalf of the turkish government. prosecutors say they failed to register as foreign agents and lied to the f guy about their efforts to have the -- register as foreign agents and lied to the fbi about their efforts to have the turkish cleric fethullah gulen extradited to turkey from his home in the pocono mountains of pennsylvania.

the senate intelligence committee says that social media companies -- including google, facebook, and twitter -- misrepresented the degree to which russian trolls sought to spread fake news and sow discord ahead of the 2016 election. a pair of bipartisan reports published by the committee monday claim russia's government targeted african-americans in particular in an effort to suppress the turnout of voters likely to cast ballots for hillary clinton. the reports came as the naacp says it will begin a one-week digital protest, starting today, organized under the hash tag #logoutfacebook. the civil rights groups says facebook has a history of data breaches that unfairly target users of color. it also says facebook lacks diversity among its executives. in nicaragua, press freedom groups have condemned the government of president daniel ortega after police raided the office of a journalist and

government critic last thursday, breaking open locks before seizing equipment. the raid came as nicaraguan police also seized the headquarters of a prominent human rights group and after lawmakers outlawed nine ngo's critical of ortega's government. this is carlos fernando chamorro, a prominent tv news host and editor of the digital newspaper confidencial. >> the objective is to silence us. they want to step out ideas. they want to shutdown the meter, but they won't succeed. we're going to continue to inform the public. we're going to continue announcing the investigation, the abuses of the ortega dictatorship. in palestine, the united nations is appealing for $350 million in emergency humanitarian relief, after the trump administration cut funding to the unrwa, the u.n. relief agency for palestinians. the u.n. says the funds are urgently needed for 1.4 million palestinians most in need of food, shelter, health care, clean water, and sanitation.

the appeal came as australian prime minister scott morrison formally recognized jerusalem as the undivided capital of israel, even though israel has illegally occupied east jerusalem since 1967. >> now recognizes west or solemn -- west jerusalem, and many of the institutions government is the capital of israel. west jerusalem is the capital of israel. to movingk forward our embassy to west jerusalem when practical, and supportive, and after final status determination. amy: in may, the trump administration drew international condemnation when it moved the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, a city that palestinians want as part of a future state. at the united nations general assembly, the u.s. voted monday against a framework agreement aimed at protecting the rights of refugees around the world. the vote on the global compact

on refugees was 181-to-2, with only the far-right government of hungary joining the trump administration in rejecting the refugee pact. among other things, the compact seeks to find alternatives to jailing asylum seekers, especially children. the trump administration is currently detaining about 15,000 immigrant children in government custody. in hungary, thousands of protesters took to the streets for a fifth straight day on monday in opposition to far-right authoritarian prime minister viktor orban. the protests were sparked after orban's government created a new court system controlled by his party. protesters are also furious over new rules that allow employers to demand their employees work up to 400 hours of overtime, and giving employers up to three years to pay for the extra work. critics have called the rules "slave laws." this is andy, a 26-year-old student in budapest.

>> i think the discontent is growing. and with this, not only anger and frustration, but also the voices which would like to make change. i think this is a process where we are trying to come up with new ideas. amy: monday's protests targeted state-run tv and radio stations over their one-sided support for prime minister orban. guards ejected two independent lawmakers from hungary's state television building after they demanded the broadcaster read out a petition from the protesters. back in the united states, the trump administration is rolling back a federal surveillance program known as "quiet skies," but u.s. air marshals will continue to track airline passengers who they deem suspicious. in july, "the boston globe" revealed the existence of the domestic surveillance program run by the transportation security administration, or tsa, which has been shadowing u.s. citizens on planes and in airports since 2012.

under the "quiet skies" program, federal air marshals collected -- collect information about u.s. travelers' common behaviors, like using the bathroom repeatedly, sleeping on flights, or sweating heavily. under changes announced monday, air marshals will continue to profile passengers but will no longer report many of their observations to other intelligence agencies. cbs said monday it will withhold all of a $120 million severance package for les moonves, former chair of the media giant. moonves resigned in september after "the new yorker" published an article detailing a slew of previously unreported sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations. his resignation came as the longtime executive producer of cbs's "60 minutes," jeff fager, was fired for bullying and sexually harassing women employees, and less than a year after cbs's star charlie rose was also ousted after being accused of sexual assault and harassment.

attorneys general from 45 states are asking pennsylvania prosecutors for information about sexual misconduct by catholic priests, as well as efforts by the church hierarchy to cover up the abuses. is comes as jesuit provinces inaryland and the midwest released the names of 84 clergy members who are credibly accused of sexually abusing children. the latest lists bring the number of jesuits accused of sexual crimes since the 1950's to 230. in west virginia, a high school administrator is under fire for allegedly bullying a transgender student who used the boy's bathroom. 15-year-old sophomore michael critchfield, who identifies as male, says he was cornered in an otherwise empty boy's bathroom at liberty high school by assistant principal lee livengood, who challenged him to use a urinal to prove that he was a boy, before saying -- "not going to lie. you freak me out." the superintendent of harrison county schools has said

livengood acted "inappropriately" and "was insensitive" during the encounter. the aclu warns that over 50% of trans male teens attempt suicide during their teenage years. in missouri, a judge has ordered a serial poacher who illegally shot and killed hundreds of deer to watch the walt disney film "bambi" at least once a month over the course of a one-year prison term. authorities say over a three-year period, david berry, jr. left hundreds of bodies to rot after beheading the deer for hunting trophies. and in canada, indigenous activistwho haveeen ysicallylocking e cotructionf the laest frackiroject icanadian historare bracg for a lice id on thr in cama. meers of t unist'ot'en cn step transnada corration workers omntering eir terrory to wo on the ane .7 billi coast gstly

high planebut a jue has ruled trscanada n begin cotructionn first tions land. the ght has awn suppters om both e u.s. a canad. seattlewashingt, about protters laia 50 foo pipene to thexecutivlobby of j.p. rgan cse'pacific northwt hdquarter and created mock oil in protest against thbank's financg of transcada anotripeline compans. th is rachel, a tribal membe who joinethe prott. >>his is aut o future generaons. that is whi have my five-mth-old b out her ultitely, thdecisions tha they a making,e are mang, l have tdo with eir ture. the idea them n having clean r to brehe were ean ter is sh -- it is such a horrible thing to think about, buthe facthat it jt doesn't bother som pple- so have toome out re and talk abo this.

reallythis fig isn't just out attaing the sue of pipeline but als abo what a redoinfor our ture neration am and tho are somof the headline this is mocracy w!, mocracyn.org, thwar an pee report 'm amgoodman. juan: d i'm an gonzaz. weome to a of our steners and viers fromround th couny and arnd the wld. a paleinian-amican teaer in austi texas, s filed federal wsuit folosing h b as a sech pathogist after fusing tsign a pro-isra oath. baa amawi an abic-speing chillanguage speciast who h worked r nine yrs in thpflugerville independt schoolistrict. but she st her job last ar after e declin to sign edge thashe "wilnot boycott rael durg the te of the ctract," d that s will notake any tion thais "intendeto penale, infli economicarm on, limit commerci relatio with rael." amy:efore fing the lsuit ononday, bia amawipoke to the inrcept about at

happenedo her. theoint of ycottingny produc that supportsrael. it is tout presse on the iseli govement to ange its eatment the paltinian ople. having gwn up as a palesne, know firhandhe oppreion on a ilyuge sis. have totand up r what i juste and eql opportity r everyby a hane itions. r me, it wn easy dision in that pect. i cod not si it. was fced to dart fromy job beuse i wi not sig it and i caot return ck if i don't sign i i ha been he in the stes r over 3 years i amn americ citizen i foow the l. have the luxy ofaving

these rits, whicmany peoe inther couries do t have. it infries on all my inciples on t of tt, my rit to eech andhe righto protes ty canaling that throw th down outhroats d dede torotect ather untry's econo versus proct ouconstituonal rigs. juanlast yea texas bame onof 26 stes with ws prevting sta agenciefrom coracting th compaes or inviduals igned wi 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: democracy now! reached out to the pflugerville independent school district, which responded with a statement saying -- "pfisd followed state law, which does not allow school districts to hire a contractor unless the contract contains a written verification that the contractor does not boycott israel and will

not boycott israel during the term of the contract. the plaintiff did not agree to the contract as written; therefore, it was unable to be executed in accordance with texas law." well, for more, we go to austin, texas, where we are joined by bahia amawi. in chicago, her attorney gadeir abbas, a senior litigation attorney with the council on american-islamic relations. we welcome you both to democracy now! let's begin with bahia amawi. explain exactly what happened and how you noticed what was in this contract. you have been teaching -- this is a public school, right? you have been teaching for how long? >> this is a public school. i have been contracting with them for around nine years. every year i get a contract that is a duplicate of the year before. this year i got it as well post up the contract at the initial start of my month, which is august, when school began. i signed the initial contract,

exactly as a sign every year. it later on a few weeks later, my speech coordinator contacted me and says, give adtional papers this year. this is brand-new. we want people to sign it. when i received the papers, i looked through it, maybe a stack of four she's a paper with a bunch of new compliances and codes. they appeared to be normal, job-related issues like background history, criminal history, equaopportuny employment. then i came across the one that has nothing to do with my job, 2270.is code i was reading it and it states will not boycott israel, in short, causing economic harm. that is when i noticed it and

right away i sent in the mail immediately. i stopped even reading the additional codes. i sent in a mill to my speech coordinator saying, listen, i cannot sign this. this is agnst my principles and constitutional rights. it is against my moral and ethical rights considering i am a palestinian-american and i ine family that live occupied territory, so it affects me personally as well. it affects me in both ways as an american and a palestinian-american, too. i have a good relationship with her. i've known everybo for nine years, so i have a good relationship with everybody at the school district. she tried to say, let me see if i can go around it. after two weeks, she returned back to me and apologized and said, i'm sorry, but they said they will not pay you if you do not sign this part of the new compliances. so i kind of had to forcefully leave at that morning and could not return. were youia amawi,

aware this law had been passed in texas at all? had you heard anything in the media about it? why did you decide then that you needed to seek an attorney's help in challenging this? >> i did not -- i was not aware this law was passed. i have heard of it in other states, but i did not know it passed in tes. undetected, it think. it was that something they advertised or talked about much in the media. i am not a social media person, so i'm not always online. i'mve four children and very busy with them. i doot go onacebook or look up things or anything. i was not aware of this new law being passed. was unfair andit so many ways. it just did not make sense. it was baffling and shocking that my position as a speech

therapist, helping kids with their speech and developing their communication affects economic harm in israel. did not make sense. it was a violation of my first amendment -- my freedom of speech, the right to protest, my constitutional rights. it was a no-brainer. i knew i had to doomething about it. i did not want this to grow into something more -- which it can possibly. it affects everybody, including my kids when they go to the university. who knows if they ask us if they have decided before registering for classes? into something more. i knew i had to do something about it. amy: i want to look a little more closely at the language contained in the contract. it asks our guest bahia amawi to sign a pledge that she does not currently boycott israel and that she will " not boycott israel during the term of the contract." the contract goes on to explain

-- "'boycott israel' means refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations specifically with israel, or with a person or entity doing business in israel or in an israeli-controlled territory, but does not include an action made for ordinary business purposes." so let me bring your lawyer into this conversation, gadeir abbas. this is one of 26 states that has passed similar laws. hia was tose, if ba friend, "i ama not going to buy something that is made in the occupied territories that israel is selling in the united states," this would make are in violation

of the law? >> yes. bahia would be disqualified from working for any school district in the state that is following this law simply because she chooses not to buy, for instance, sabra hummus. decision automatically under this law disqualifies her from all public employees -- all public employment of all kinds. corporatengaged in ticket activity that really has a hallowed place in american tradition, from boycotts against british tea, from the montgomery boycott, from the boycott .gainst apartheid south africa her actions and choices to spend her money in a particular way are expressive transactions that are protected by the first amendment.

the state of texas is siding with the foreign country's policy over the needs of bahia's students. let's remember, her students are being deprived of their speech pathologist in exchange for accommodating the provinces of a foreign country. that is illegal and objectionable. juan: given that there are 26 states that have similar laws in place, and legislation that has gotten very little, if any, national attention, it must indicate there is an intent to lobbying effort going on at the state level in either by the state of israel or by lobbying groups employed by groups in defense of state of israel. do you know ything about this? >> it is extremely successful. texas, for example, passed in

the legislature almost unanimously on a bipartisan basis. yeah, these bills have passed with relatively little controversy. it has only escalated. ben cardin, a democrat who is pushing to include a criminal version of this state law and the continued resolution is set to expire on friday. we might have, by the end of this week, a federal law that criminalizes the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement in the activity associated with it. and here it just goes to show that for some issues, and israel and palestine are one of them, that the propeller steny and voices, the folks advocating for palestinians have equal rights, don't have necessarily an ally in the democratic party or the republican party and really must look to the activists and the

movement for palestinian rights itself to vindicate these basic rights to speak out in favor of palestinian rights. and i want to turn to texas governor greg abbott speaking about the legislation last year in may. >> israel isne of the largest trading partners. abouthere is the issue the essential international ally that israel place for both the united states and the state of texas. anti-israel any policy is an anti-texas policy. israel ists of considered to be un-texan. and texas is not going to do business with any company that boycotts israel.

amy: that is texas governor greg abbott speaking about the legislation a year ago. bahia amawi, are you an active member of the bds movement? >> i am not an active member of bds at all. for just, personally myself, if i'm aware of our product that is supporting israel or is made in the country, then i just have her personal -- i make a personal choice to avoid it because i don't want to support their ongoing occupation and aggression and inhumane treatment of the palestinians. it is making me complicit with the whole occupation. i did not go -- through and find a list of things. i just happen to know about it or if somehow i found out, then i just avoid it. other than that, i'm not really an active member.

juan: what has been the reaction of your fellow employees at the school were other teachers as the results of what happened to you in this case? >> well, so when i had to i worked on ave, early childhood team, which are the ones that usually in association with and they depend on me to do the arabic evaluations, so when i told them, they were kind of shocked because after nine years they were like, why? what has changed all of the sudden? that is when i shared with him this to compliance. they were just as disturbed as i was. they supported me. they said, we understand and we hope you do pursue and do something about it. they were very encouraging and supportive. they were hoping i could return eventually, which is my goal.

i want to be able to go back to work again. there is a need for a speech therapist who speaks arabic to evaluate students who have arabic as a second langue. it i beneficial. there is such a need all over. amy: gadeir abbas, is there any reference to any other state, any other country in this kind of contract that you have to sign, a kind of oath to another country? >> there is no other country mentioned in the state of texas law, no other country mentioned in any of these laws in the more than 25 states that have passed them or the executive orders that have been issued by governors. this is only about israel. it really is unique in american history to have a law that specifically prevents americans from boycotting a particular foreign country.

i have never seen any kind of historical analog to what we're seeing here. though, of the matter, free speech rights in the united states are very well protected. boycott activity, supreme court, and other courts have held over and over again, is a core expressive action that bahia and others are welcome and entitled to take. so whatever the state of texas and the governor of texas obviously, he has cast his lot with israel rather than texas citizens like bahia who are put in the position of losing their job or advocating for their beliefs. the constitution and the bill of exist her right to protest the policies of israel and occupied territories as she sees fit. amy: gadeir abbas, thank you for

being with us senior litigation , attorney with the council on american-islamic relations. he is representing bahia amawi in her lawsuit against the pflugerville independent school district and the state of texas. when we come back, we will be joined by the pulitzer prize winning journalist glenn greenwald who wrote about bahia's case in the intercept. we will talk about these laws around the country, and what is the legal record when they are challenged in places like kansas and arizona? are these laws struck down? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan gonzalez. we turn to glenn greenwald, one of the founding editors of the intercept. his latest piece is headlined "a texas elementary school speech pathologist refused to sign a pro-israel oath, now mandatory in many states -- so she lost her job." why don't you talk about exposing this story nationally.

we are talking about the law in texas. in fact, more than half the states in the united states have a contract like she was being forced to sign if she wanted to keep her job as a speech pathologist. >> there are 26 states in the u.s. that have some version of this texas law. they're not all as severe as the one in texas, though many of them are. others have very's kinds of restrictions on people who boycott israel, prohibiting the expenditure of any funds to invest in companies, for example, or in pension funds that have companies that invest or advocate a boycott of israel. they all have one thing in common, they impose limitations on the opportunities and abilities of private citizens or private companies that support or participate in the boycott of israel. i think the most extreme example that stuns me the most is andrew cuomo in new york who in 2016

issued an executive order because it could not get a pass through the legislature barring new york state agencies from doing business with companies that boycott israel. he actually ordered them to compile a public list that would be published on a website of any companies that were found to be boycotting israel. amy: glenn, if you could talk further about how public do you have to be to be in violation of the law? if you say to a friend you're not going to buy a product from israel because you don't want to support the occupation by the israeli state of the occupied territories, you have to be a card-carrying member -- if they have cards of the bds movement

texas',ould a law like when would they say, you violated the law? >> i'm not sure if you are able to hear that last answer. i was talking about the law imposed by andrew cuomo in new york where he ordered the agencies to use public information to compile a list of companies who said they were boycotting. in the case of texas, they are relying on the word of the contractors. just lie others could and say, "i promise not to boycott israel," even know they are. presumably, you could get someone fired if you find out they really are supporting the boycott of israel. the point was making about new york and other states is that at the same time, for example, governor cuomo ordered a boycott were barred a boycott of israel, two months earlier, he ordered his state employees to boycott north carolina in protest of an anti-lgbt law that that state had adopted. comeau's worldview and

the worldview of texas, you're about to boycott other american states and harm american businesses and be employed, you're just not allowed to harm our boycott this one foreign country, israel. you can boycott canada or russia or anybody else, it is just this special protection for israel that not even american businesses enjoy. that is what makes it so shocking. juan: glenn, this prospect of the possibility of an omnibus budget bill being passed with a similar legislation at the national level? could you talk about that and how little attention it has gotten? >> so last year, a democratic senator from maryland, benjamin cardin, one of the most loyal aipac supporters, introduced a bill that would make it a crime, a felony, to participate in an international boycott of israel.

it attracted 43 cosponsors, 29 republicans and 14 democrats. the aclu screened and yielded about this. they issued warnings saying this is one of the gravest threats to free speech they have seen. a bunch of democratic senators who cosponsored it with your support, but out benjamin cardin is back with a somewhat watered-down version, but still very threatening, designed to uphold the state laws and also to allow financial penalties on the federal level for anyone participating in the boycott. he is trying to sneak it through a bill that has to be passed, the lame-duck budget bill, so there's no separate vote on this. you would sneak it in there. the aclu is trying to do every thing they can to warn people of the grave threat posed by senator cardin and his allies to make it a federal crime to participate in the boycott of israel. juan: the very act of getting all of this legislation passed to prevent people from

participating in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement seems to indicate there is a growing fear that the movement is having an impact. >> of course, it is having an impact. we have two newly elected members of commerce for the first muslim women to be elected to the congress. they are celebrated stars of the democratic party. they both explicitly support the boycott of israel. so you have some members of the democratic party like hillary clinton and chuck schumer who is boycotting israel anti-semitic, but no you have a new generation of democrats are much more critical of israel, including two who support the boycott. it is spreading on u.s. campuses and spreading through western europe. there are jewish groups that now support the boycott of israel. you are right, the reason why there's a worldwide effort to criminalize and suppress and punish it is precisely because

they worry the same thing will happen to israel is what happened to the apartheid regime in the 1980's and south africa when they were targeted with an identical boycott, which is the regime and the repression finally fell. that is what they're most concerned about. amy: glenn, i want to read the beginning of a piece just out by university michigan professor cole. he is writing about airbnb. he says, a living space sharing company airbnb on monday denied an allegation of the israeli tourism minister that it had suspended its listing of apartments in israeli squatter settlements, which are jewish only in the palestinian west bank. airbnb has to boycott the israeli squatter settlements because they are illegal. european union has for sometime and post some sorts of boycott on settlement institutions and requires the labeling of settler goods and a full economic boycott is under consideration

in countries like ireland. the argument sometimes heard is that airbnb is treating me squatters differently than it does other disputed territories. it is a stupid argument and quite dishonest. there are not any other companies that are keeping finally people stateless and without citizenship in a state and gradually usurping all of the rights and property." can you talk about this, for example, airbnb? >> the airbnb case is really interesting because they did not say they're going to do list all apartments or properties in israel proper, they said only in the occupied territory of the west bank, end of 2016 ruled was an illegal occupation. one of the interesting things about the texas law that makes us so offensive is it not only bars people from boycotting companies in israel, but israeli

companies and the west bank. you're not even allowed to do the more mainstream version of the boycott and adjust the illegal settlements in the west bank that even the u.n. said was illegal. now there is a dispute him has airbnb caved in? that is where these laws we're talking about come into play and are so pernicious. imagine if you are an airbnb executive, you could stand to lose a lot of business because there's so many laws in so many states barring governments from entering into contracts with you as a company if you in anyway boycott israel. this is the cord nation they are trying to impose to prevent this kind of boycott from succeeding. amy: we're going to go to break and ask you to stay with us, glenn. but we're going to be joined by. glenn greenwald, pulitzer prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of the intercept.

we will link to his views "a , texas elementary school speech pathologist refused to sign a pro-israel oath, now mandatory in many states -- so she lost her job." back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: we turn now to look at controversy around cnn and temple university professor marc lamont hill. the 70thstand here on anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights and the tragic commemoration of the -- we have an upper to the to not just offer solidarity in words, but to commit to political action, grassroots

, andn, local action international action that will give us what justice requires. and that is a free palestine from the river to the sea. thank you for your time. juan: that was marc lamont hill speaking at the u.n. on international day of solidarity with the palestinian people in november. just one day later, cnn dropped him as a commentator after service and pro-israel groups such as the anti-defamation league, condemned his comments, calling them anti-semitic. temple university's board of trustees also criticized his remarks, but the university has set his speech was protected by the first amendment and that he will remain a professor. ,my: we are joined now by professor of media studies and urban education at temple university. he is the author of several books, including "nobody: casualties of america's war on the vulnerable, from ferguson to

flint and beyond." welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what you said at the united nations at this annual event, and the fallout from it, you're firing i cnn? thank you for having me. i encourage everyone to watch the full remarks. i think in a moment of soundbites and 140 or 80 characters, sometimes it can get reduced to small snippets and not get the context and texture. andve a speech at the u.n., i was attempting to offer a framework of human rights and to use that as a lens to analyze what was going on in the state of israel, in the west bank, throughout the diaspora, and to

make an appeal for the plight of palestinians -- which was the theme of the day. i juxtaposed particular human rights issues and promises of the universal declaration of man rights in 1948 to the realities of palestinians on the ground. at the end of that speech, i also called for a free palestine. i used the phrase "from the river to the sea." in terms of calling for free palestine from the river to the sea, i was specifically speaking to my believes that a one state solution is the most fair, just, and workable possibility right now. i talked about the need for redraw in the borders, full citizenship rights and equal and other international measures as well to respond to injustice.

at no point in the speech to the call for the destruction of israel or violence against jewish brothers and sisters, both in israel or around the world. that was not my content. that was not my intent. that was not the spirit of the speech. the spirit of the speech contradicts what people were saying. of course, i never want to do harm or create any sense of pain or fear or anxiety among anyone, particularly the people i was talking about, specifically must jews. not mean that in the speech, but i did call for a free palestine. -- i certainly did not mean that in the speech, but i did call for free palestine. many responded and were frustrated or said i was amount secretly. was link for violence. whistling for violence.

juan: the immediate response of cnn to your remarks, could you talk about their interaction with you and also there is a long history of solidarity humann african-american rights advocates here and the palestinian movement, so this -- the fact you were expressing this kind of solidarity should come as no surprise, even to people who employed you at cnn. yeah, my conversation with cnn was relatively brief. i received a phone call and was told the speech did not match their values. i pressed a bit to find out what those values were or what part of the speech did not match said values. i did not get a clear answer. i did not get an answer at all. just the repeated refrain, "this does not match our values." there was in a long, drawnout argument. there was no antigonus to anything. they made a decision and i moved on. but there's absolutely a long

tradition of black support for palestinians and a black internationalism. if we are going to be honest, there's been a long and deep support of african-american blacks throughout the diaspora for the state of israel. we cannot ignore that history, either. think in the last 51 years, i would say the six-day war, we us in the bck left for sure engage in a kind of internationalism that looks for solidarity not just with palestine, but movements in africa and latin america an attempt to really shore up a base and community of freedom fighters that understand that inequality and injustice is not local, but a transnational experience. in order to redress any problems we have, we have to look internationally. that is what malcolm x was doing and what martin king was doing, the black panthers. when we look at current

movements like black lives matter, one of the first things i found impressive about the movement is the fact that were looking internationally. amy: while the president of temple university has defended your right to free speech, the school's board of trustees has condemned your remarks. they said -- >> included a statement that many regard as promoting violence, the phrase from the river to the cecum that is been used by anti-israel terror groups and widely perceived as language that threatens the existence of the state of israel. the members of the board of trustees of temple university hereby state their disappointment, displeasure, and disagreement with professor hill's comments." that is the statement from temple. professor hill, if you could respond and talk about what happened after you were fired from cnn at temple, what they said. i think the statement's temple have been fairly public.

they've been litigated in the present a great deal. from my perspective, academic freedom means we have the right to in gauge -- engage in public discourse, the right to engage in democratic discourse, about issues that are of great importance both long-term and short-term, both historical and current issues, domestic and foreigissues. both popular issues and a popular issues. popular ideas and unpopular ideas. i imagine temple university or ay university in the u.s. has space to trade ideas and sometimes their controversial. i think any attempt to intimidate or threaten or undermine academic freedom can set us on a very dangerous .ourse and the concerns me this is not specifically about temple university, but a broader academic climate that we see. the fact that it happened at temple is alarming to me, but ultimately they made a decision not to give me any penalty or

punishment, which i think is the right choice. respectfully disagree with the board. i think also to send a message apologizing or rather condemning my particular remarks without condemning any other remarks made by any other university professor at the school, including some folks close to home who have also may controversial remarks come also sends a very specific precedent. i respectfully disagree with the university. the board has a right to respond to my statements and analyze and critique my statements. i have a right to offer my. i'm going to continue to move forward. , in your speech, you raise criticisms of progressives in the united states for their

failure to speak out at times on the issues of israel and palestine. could you talk about that as well? >> yeah, this idea being progressive except for palestine is something that can be problematic. i think if we worry about injustice, we have to be concerned with injustice across the board. it doesn't mean everyone has to target palestine as the issue. there are many issues on the board we have to take seriously. a position one palestine, a position on what we call a conflict, that i think to be silent on the issue -- or if your position on israel have in contrast, thatrk is where we get a very, very problematic -- we enter a problematic space. if i'm outraged by justification or the separation of families or redlining, or all of these kind or eventic issues

american border issues, then i have to be able to take that same kind of outrage to every part of the world. it doesn't mean we only focus on israel. of course, i've spent a great , particularly at huffington post, looking at syria, looking at yemen more recently. i've written considerably about saudi arabia because i am deeply concerned. egypt is complicit in palestinian suffering as well. look across the board, but israel cannot be exception. palestine cannot be in exception. too often we have folks like hillary clinton that will emerge and pay themselves as a progressive figure, but resist, t any criticism of the israeli state, and i think that becomes dangerous. we have to be morally and ethically consistent. amy: i want to turn to the comet of jewish voice for peace who ,riticized cnn for firing you

professor hill. jewish voice for peace said in a statement -- "who gets to talk about israel-palestine? appellate, rick santorum, a man who egregiously from there are no palestinians in the west bank. that is ludicrous. by firing dr. hill, we believe cnn is discriminating against a commentator who spoke up for palestinian rights. they should make it right and reinstate him." before we go back to you, professor hill, i want to bring glenn greenwald back into this conversation. when, you wrote about marc's firing saying cnn submitted to right-wing mob. respond. things i found most appalling and disturbing 's firing,- about marc despite of being a blatant act of censorship, is that so many

andhe right-wing pundits news outlets like fox news that love to pretend to be defenders of free speech and throw a said nothingng fit about his firing, just like they refuse to cover the story you covered in the first part of your show about the israel oath resulting in people being fired. that is disappointing. even centrist and mainstream democrats are willing -- not willing to speak up on what he said. there's so much fear about the israel issue when it comes to mainstream liberalism. , are there any behind-the-scenes negotiations going on with cnn, the possibility be going back? >> i haven't been in any conversations with cnn.

my plans right now are to continue to do the work that i've been doing, which is activism and writing and scholarship. i'm hoping -- open a possibility is, but the keeper me is that the we can have a honest, rigorous, principal of human discussion about everything on the table palestine being no exception. amy: marc lamont hill, thank you for being with us, professor media studies in urban education at temple university in philadelphia. and glenn greenwald, speaking to us from brazil, cofounder of the intercept. that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! has an immediate job opening for a full-time social media manager here in new york city. resumes are being reviewed as received so apply online today. that does it for the show. 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!]

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