04/16/19 04/16/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from papacifica, this is democracy now! >> we will rebuild this caboodle together and it is undououbtedly part o of the french desestiny a project for the years toto come. we will rebuild notre dame because thatat is what the frenh expect and what our history deserves because it is our underlying destiny. amy: france is vowing to rebuild paris's beloved notre dame cathedral a day after a fire ripped through the 850-year-old

chururch, which has bebeen the centerer of caththolic in francr centuries. the fire topoppled notre dame's iconic spire but the main structure of the church remainis standing. we will get the latest and look the histotorical significance of notre dame. then we speak to palestinian human rights activist omar barghouti, a founder of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. he was scheduled to join us in our new york studio today, but he was denied entry to the united states. >> i think what happened to me yesterday morning at the airport is just part of an ongoing proxysion by israel or by byby the united stat o on behalf of israeael to silence the human rights defendersrs and the bds down.ment to shut us amy: omar barghouti will join us from ramallah in the west bank.

then democratic congresswoman ilhan omar is facing a spike in death threats after the president, "the new york post," and others falsely accused her of downplaying the september 11 attacks. we will speak to moustafa bayoumi, author of "this muslim american life: dispatches from the war on terror." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. france is reeling today after a massive fire tore through paris's beloved notre-dame cathedral, a medieval church built close to 900 years ago and a celebrated landmark around the parisians looked on in shock monday as around 400 firefighters attempted to get the blaze under control, some engaging in prayers and religious songs.

the fire claimed the cathedral's spire anand ravaged parts of the interior, , t the iconic twin medieval towowers remain standig asas does the rest of the onee structure. french president macron vowed to rebuild the cathedral. >> well beyond our borders, we will appeal to the greatest talents and many people will come to contribute too it. and we will rebuild. we w will rebubuild notre e dame because that is what the french expect and because it is what our history deserves because it is our underlying destiny. amy: two of france's wealthiest men have already pledged over $330 million to the recoconstructionon effort. the european union has also vowed to help rebuild the cathedral. authorities have launched an investigation into how the fire started but ruled out arson, sasaying they believed it was started by accident, likely related to the ongoing $180 million renovation of the church. we'll have more on this story after headlines with johns hopkins professor anne lester.

in jerusalem, another fire at a major holy site broke out monday. the blaze at al-aqsa mosque broke out in the marwani prayer room, but palestinian authorities say the blaze was contained and they are now assessing the damage. al-aqsa is located in n the old city of occupied east jerusalem house dedemocrats issued subpoes to deutsche bank and other banks monday as part of several congressional probes into president trump's and trump organization finances. the new york attorney general's office is also investigating trump's ties to deutsche bank. last month, "the new york times" reported deutsche bank loaned over $2 billion to trump for realal estate deals over nearlry two decades,s, even when other babanks refused to do so. trump still had over $300 million in outstanding loans from deutsche bank when hehe tok office as presidedent in 2017. the justice department announced monday the redacted version of

special counsel robert mueller's report will be released thursday. democrats have been calling for the full report -- authorizing a subpoena to compel its release -- but attorney general william barr told lawmakers last week he would not share the unredacted report with the public or members of congress. special counsel mueller handed over the long anticipated report to the attorney general last month and concluded the trump campaign did not collude with russia to win the 2016 election but did come to a definitive conclusion on possible obstruction of justice. the u.n. is warning the spread of measles is on the rise around the world. the number of cases reported in the first three months of 2019 is three times higher than the same time last year. the highly contagious infection kills 100,000 people every year, mostly children. all regions around the world have been hit by the recent

outbreak with africa reporting the greatest spike, up 700% since last year. the u.n. says the most affected countries are ukraine, madagascar, and india. although the disease is preventable, lack of access to ask nations in poor countries has helped good to to the recent surge in cases. last week york city declared a public health emergency mandating the vaccination n in someme parts of brooklyn where orthodox jewish communities, which are particularly low vaccination rates, have been hit hard by the outbreak. a man accused of setting fire to three historicallyly black churches in louisiana was charged with hate crimes monday. holden matthews, the 21-year-old son of a deputy sheriff, was also charged with three counts of arson after being arrested last week. the first blaze occurred at the end of last month and the two others in earlrly april.l. all three churches were in st. landry parish ababout 30 minutes north of lafayette. bernie sanders released 10 years of tax returns monday, revealing he has achieved millionaire

status since his 2016 presidential bid. senator sanders respononded to a question monday about whether his income would negatively impact his political message. view has always been that we need a progressive tax system which immense the wealthiest people in this country finally start paying their fair share of taxes. i make a lot of money. you make a lot of money. amy: senator sanders attributed his increase in wealth to sales from his b book. he told "the new york times" last week -- "i wrote a best-t-selling book. if you writete a best-selling book, you can bebe a millionair, too." other 2020 hopefuls have also released their tax returns in -- including senator kamala harris and former congressmember beto o'rourke. elizabeth warren, amy klobuchar, and kirsten gillibrand have also disclosed their tax returns.

trump has claimed for years he is under audit, a claim disputed by his former personal attorney michael: in congressional testimony earlier this year. about the 2020 elections, former massachusetts governor william weld announced monday he will run against trump for the republican presidential nomination. weld is the first republican to declare a challenge to trump in 2020. before becoming governor of massachusetts, weld served as a u.s. attorney, appointed by president reagan. he wasas the running mate for libertarian n party candidate gy johnhnson in t the 2016 electiss and boasts a record for cutting taxes and spending cuts but has more centrist views on social and environmental issues, supporting reproductive rights, lgbt issues, and rejoining the paris climate agreement. weld is set to hit the campaign trail today in new hampshire. the american medical association is blasting the trump administration for banning transgender soldiers from serving in the u.s. military,

calling the prohibition medically deficient. the trans ban, which was first announced by president trump in a july 2017 tweet, formally went into effect on friday. in a statement, the ama wrote -- "sexual orientation and gender identity are not psychological or medical disorders. the estimated 14,700 transgender military personnel are qualified and willing to serve. rather than stigmatizing and banning these patriots, dod should let them serve." in chicago, police arrested seven graduate workers from loyola university monday during a protest in front of one of the school's offices. the loyola student workers and their supporters were protesting the administration's refusal to recognize their union and negotiate a fair contract for their work as teachers and researchers. the graduate workers say that their compensation does not provide a living wage, especially considering the soaring cost of tuition, and that they should be treated more

as permanent staff and faculty. members of the union, which is part of the seiu graduate workers forward, are calling for a walk-out later this month unless the university agrees to a fair union contract. the new secretary of the interior, david bernhardt, is being investigated for potential conflicts of interest just four days after the senate confirmed him to the position. the interior department's inspector general said it received multiple complaints against former oil lobbyist bernhardt when he was deputy secretary of the interior. cnn reported last month that bernhardt made at least 15 policy decisions that directly benefitted former clients since joining the agency in 2017. bernhardt's predecessor, ryan zinke, stepped down in december amid multiple scandals and ethics investigations, two of which are still ongoing. in environmental news, democratic presidential candidate senator elizabeth warren announced she would ban any new fossil fuel drilling on

public lands or waters on day one of her presidency. in a post on medium, warren also vowed to increase the production of renewable energy, restore protections to national monuments targeted by the trump administration, bring in local and tribal leaders to help manage public lands, and create thousands of jobs via a youth and veteran conservation corps. senator warren wrote -- "we must not allow corporations to pillage our public lands. america's public lands belong to all of us. we should start acting like it." in climate news, activists across europe held sit-ins, marches, and direct action protests monday as part of a week-long campaign demanding urgent action on climate change. in london, police arrested over 100 people as protesters shut down waterloo bridge and oxford circus, with others supergluing themselves to the british headquarters of the shell oil company. this is theresa sanders of the direct action group extinctionon

rebellion. >> it is vital. it is the most important thing. we know there are other things going on, but if we haven't got a future, what is the point in anything? amy: in sweden, climate protesters held a die-in as they occupied the national parliament building. she is due to meet pope francis on wednesday. >> i feel like the debate is shifting. or people are tatalking about it momore and taking this more seriously and are becoming more aware. deal of thing we need to look at this is the omissions are actually increasing or r if they're reducing and right now they are increasing. that is the only thing we should look at. amy: new york city's american museum of natural history has post-- canceled plans to hold

gyre but also narrow at a black-tie event will stop loss and hours plenty -- is a administration has worked to open brazil's amazon rain forest to logging, mining, and agribusiness companies while violatating the rights o of indigenous people to their ancestral land. it was of the museum that was actually hosting him, it was a group that was renting out the museum space but the museum annonounced they will go elsewhere. in this your pull list surprise recipients were anannounced d my in n new york city. -- and this year's pulitzer prize recipients were announced monday in new york city. reporting on gun violence figured prominently with "the south florida sun sentinel" winning an award for its coverage of last year's massacre at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, and "the pittsburgh post-gazette" for its breaking news cocoverage of the mass shooting at the tree of life synagogue. reporters from "the new york times" and "the wall street journal" were recognized for their reporting on president trump. to see our interview with david barstow of "the new york times"

on how trump built his fortune through tax dodging and fraud, go to democracynow.org. jailed reuters reporters wa lone and kyaw soe oo were also honored for "expertly exposing the military units and buddhist villagers responsible for the systematic expulsion and murder of rohingya muslims from myanmar." reporters aaron glantz and emmanuel martinez were finalists for their expose of racial discrimination in mortgage lending. you can see our interview with aaron glantz at democracynow.org. we will also link to all of the winners there. 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'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. france is in mourning today after a fire ripped through paris's beloved notre-dame cathedral, a medieval church in the heart of the city built

more than 850 years ago. thousands of parisians watched in shock on monday as the fire toppled the cathedral's spire and continueued to burn for hoh. for centuries, notre dame has been the c center of c catholice in france and it is onone of the most visited churches in the worlrld. the fire occurred during the holiest weweek of the chriristin year. authorities are justst beginning to assess how much wasas damaged ininside the church. on monday night, french president t emmanunuel macron se to repeportersrs nearby. >> the worst has been a avoided, even though the battle has not yet been completely won. the next few h hours will be difficult. thanks to the courage of the firefighters, the main towers have not collapsed. above all, my thoughts go out to the catholics.s. catholics in france and all of the world, especially during this holy week. i know how t they feel and we ae with them.

my thoughts also go out to all of the people of paris. notre dame of paris is the cathedral. the mayor is with us all of these hourss from the first flames, and i know how she and all l of t r residents o of they are feeling. i alsoso want to spare a thought for all of our compatriotsts because the notre dame of paris is our history, ourr literature, our imagination, the place where we have lived all of our great moments in our epidemics, our wars, our liberation. it is the epicenter of our lives. the benchmark from which distances start and from which we measure ourselveses from par. it appeaears in so many books, paintings, a cathedral that is the one of all french men and women, even those who have never come here. juan: mourners gathered through the night in paris to pray and sing while watching the flames engulf the cathedral, which can be seen throughout the city.

[singing] amy: whihile the fire destroyedd the cathedral's spire, notre dame's iciconic twin medieval towers r remain n standing, as s the rest of the stone structure. french authorities have launched investigations into how the fire started and the structural stability of the building. the cathedral was undergoing a $6.8 millionon restoration when the blaze e began. last year, the catholic church launched a major fundraising appeal to help preserve the cathedral. at the time, the church saidid - "parts of the 850-year-old gothic masterpiece are starting to crumble, because of pollution eating the stone, and there are fears the structure could become unstable." french president macron has vowed to rebuild the notre dame. two o of france's wealthiest men have already pleledged ovever $0 million.

this comes as macron's government continues to push sweeping austerity measures. a guardian columnist tweeted, "the notre dame exposes the paradoxes of austerity politics. macron preaches cuts but swears the national effort to restore a cathedral. billionaires squeal at paying higher taxes, yet can throw millions at this. we haven't moved far from the rich buying indulgences." the european union has also vowed to help rebuild the church. donald tusk, president of the european council, spoke earlier today in brussels. >> the burning of the notre dame cathedral has again made us aware that we are bound by something more important and more profound than treaties. today we understand better the -- and how much we

can lose. defendant together. amy: to talk more about the fire at the notre-dame cathedral and the church's historical significance, we are joined now by anne lelester. she is associate professor of medieval history at johns hopkins university. professor lester, welcome to democracy now! feelings as you watched the flame yesterday, the ofmes engulfing the spire notre dame, the ceiling collapsing, what they call a forest because it took honest a forest of trees to build that ceiling. the significance of notre dame cathedral. >> i think like everyone across the world watching this, it was shocking and devastating, really. i spent my career working on paris, working on the medieval period, on notre dame and all of the things that have been

collected in the building their. in the life and cultural heritage of this building and what it embodies. i think we were all just shocked watching the fire burn and collapse into the center of the cathedral. and certainly, i think it made everyone think about the wayay a monumement likike this fununctin our modern world today. it really is a testament to a set t of ideas, human ideasas -n this case, about the divine. a all monuments, it has been here for hundreds of years before us and we all assumed it would persist for hundreds of years too come. i think it has been a very 24 hours.ng juan: professor lester, someone who knows well all of the historical -- the artifacts and the relics that are in the

cathedral, what have you heard so far -- what have you been able to glean in terms of what was preserved in what may have been lost? >> what we are from friends and colleagues in paris is it seems very e early on there were effos by the administrators of the cacathedral and i in coordidinan with the firefefighters to save what they could. that people were going in and grabbing what they could and leaving the building as quickly as possible. distinct efforts were made to preserve two of the most holy relics that were contained in the building that would have been the center during holy week . first and foremost, the crown of thorns, which is dating back to the time of jesus'passion, a relic of the crown believed that that was put on his head at the time of the passion to mark him and to mock him, the king of the jews did in a crucifixion. it was preserved and moved over

time to constantinople and eventually brought in the middle of the 13th century to paris, where he resided ever since, 1237. the history of that relic, the history for the catholic faith, of the culture of france and christianity is profound. it is my understanding that was saved, as well as a relic of the tunic of the king of france in the 1313th century who dies in 1270. a very holy symbol of the kingdom of france and the french realm. and those -- and possibly other relics and portable objects from the treasury were saved. juan: what was likely lost from what you have been able to telll soso far? >> it is greatat hard to know. anotother relic of grereat sisignificanance was t the relif ththe true cross that was also kept there.

i have yet to hear if that was preserved. what is clear, even though the stonework of the building itself as well as the vaulting on the interior for the most part seems to have been preserved, no doubt deeply scarred. ththere is g going to bebe bothe fromom the fire as well as from the water putting the fire out. water is not good for limestoto, much l like marble it will melts saturated with water and not able to dry quickly enough. there are parts of the building that were preserved, but then we know much of the wood on the interior, carved wood, part of the c choir that would have been carved in wood, the area where the tenants would sit and sing the mass, it is unclear whether the carved statuary that encircled the high altar and carvedrea, sculpture beautifully in the later middle ages, painted in fine detail --

something left out any visitor that walked run that part of the cathedral because it really told in an animated cycle of sculpture the story of the life of jesus. an extremely compelling way to communicate these stories to people, people from the middle ages onward who did not read, could not read, or were listening into the stories orally. that seems not to have survived. perhaps most of the ssss of thee glass in the cathedral. when a fire burns that hot, the lead that held thehe sting glass panelsls in place,e, particularn the choir area and in the crossing where the spire fell in the middle of the cathedral, that would either have the melt glass melt or lost. it seems the great rose windows on the west, north, and south facades have remained in place.

amy: if you can talk about, i mean, the history the cathedral has lived through, if you will. i mean, from the french revolution, epidemics, the two worlrld wars? >> absolutely. the cathedral, as we see it if youwas begun i in 1163, can imagine that. over 800 years ago. and persisted. was built over the course of more than 100 years through the 13th century. it changed in styles too express new ideas, new notions of devotion and what the divine was. it changed to accommodate more and more visitors who came to paris as the city itself grew. like a monument that is witness to so much that happens around it, notre dame was there for people during the period of the plague in the 14th century the

devastated cities like paris, it was there during the period of the 100 years war -- a backdrop to the story that played out for someone like joan of arc and other heroes in french history. likewise, the cathedral consisted through periods of war that marred france. and washere as a symbol damaged in turn on parts of the huguenots. it persisted through the revolution as well and was a symbol to people in the revolution, particularly the carving of the kings, representations of the old testament kings that were also viewed as representations of the kings of france. they were damaged. the has lopped off. with the people of paris lovingly saved that culture and some of it was able to be ove time. rnotre dame persisted through the two world wars as others did

not. good beaeatles were damaged, particularly during g either the first or second woworld war -- cathedrals that were damaged, particularly during either the first or second world war. the glass was tataken downwn and presererved, preserve the stonework of the cathedral. in this case, with this fire, something so unenexpected that moved at such a fast pace, there was no way there was time to consider howow or what to be preserved. so the building itself really has witness scores of french history, witnessed the very of france remaking and the french monarchy. it was a crucial building for and inn and his image visionon of what france couldd become the 19th century, as well as the way that france restored

itself after the second world war. it became e a symbol for peoplef unity and of what it means to rebuild and remake french civilization. juan: professor lester, your reaction to the overwhelming public reaction, people coming forward now to donate some of the richest -- some of the richest people in france promising hundreds of millions of dollars to restore the cathedral, especially coming as it did, this tragedy, right in between palm sunday and good frfriday and easter, the holiest week in the christian calendar? hasas building clearly resonance far r beyond the bords of france. it is a world monument. tourists come from across the globe to visit notre dame and to walk through the building, to vision of what the

experiences of the divine should be like. whether you're christian or not, people have entered into the building, you would experience some of that. i think the sentiment we see coming out across the world, certainly from americans who spent a great till of time there , some people in britain -- from all over who visited, this is a monument that has great cultural significance to all of us in many ways, representing a whole host of ideas. and to be sure to catholics during holy week, the loss of this building is a almost unbelievable, hard to really fathom. i think it is extremely difficult for us to conceive of the significance, as i say, of pt withins that were ke; the treasury. the crown of thorns would have been the focal point of devotion in holy week as it had been for

many years at notre dame. relic're very lucky the is saved, but it is hard to imagine the relic having the same meaning, not being able to move through the space of the cathedral itself. i think itit is not t surprisisg that people e are inteterested n donanating to the restoration of notre dame. that is crucial. it is clearly a way to bring people together within france. franance, like many cocountries acacross thehe globe, are goingo experience a set of really difficult decisions, , to really point out a pararadox o of the meaning of a cultural symbol like this -- which will demand attention right away. i hope there can be ways to navigate this situation, to have people of memeans donate as they this as to really take a moment where we can evaluate

whwhat it means for all of us to come t together r as a communitn the ways in which cultural symbols produce for cultural unitity, really can function in that w way. i think the rebuilding campapain will determine the sleep report. amy: anne lester, thank you for being with us, associate professor of medieval history at johns hopkins university. the relics they saved i understand will now be on display at the louvre as they rebuild the notre dame cathedral. whenen we come back, omar barghouti joins us, the trump administration did not allow him into the united states, but we break the sound barrier with his voice. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: people singing "hail mary" across the bridge facing the notre dame cathedral last night. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to the ongoing crackdown on pro-palestinian activism here in the united states. critics are demanding answers after the trump administration refused to allow prominent

palestinian human rights activist omar barghouti to enter the united states last week, despite his having a valid u.s. visa. barghouti is co-founder of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, or bds, an international campaign to pressure israel to comply with international law and respect palestinian rights. he was scheduled to be in the u.s. this week, giving talks at harvard and nyu and meeting with lawmakers and washington, d.c. but when he arrived at the ben gurion airport in tel aviv on wednesday, april 10, he was told that the united states was denying him entry. he was not given an explanation. omar barghouti and his supporters say the move was motivated by his involvement with the bds movement, calling it a form of "mccarthyite repression." amy: this is just the latest attack on the bds movement in the united states, which has gained steam in recent years. more than 100 measures targeting boycotts and other acts of palestinian solidarity have been

introduced in state and local legislatures and in congress since 2014. according to the website palestine legal, at least 27 states have now adopted anti-boycott laws, including five executive orders issued by governors. earlier this year on capitol hill, senators passed a bill that included a controversial anti-bds provision, aimed at preventing opposition to the israeli government by allowing state and local governments to sanction u.s. companies boycotting israel. well, for more, we turn to omar barghouti. he was scheduled to join us from -- in our democracy now! studio in new york today, but instead he joins us from ramallah in the west bank. omar barghouti is the author of "boycott, divestment, sanctions: the global struggle for palestinian rights." welcome to democracy now! can you describe what happened when you got to the airport in tel aviv on wednesday? >> sure, the airline told me there was an issue with my visa.

my visa was valid until 2021, so they called u.s. consulate in tel aviv and after a long delay, just as i was boarding, they prevented me from boarding thing the u.s. consulate had told them that there is an immigration issue, a ban of sorts against me, which was quite unbelievable. i have been to the united states many, many times, including on this same visa. juan: omar barghouti, in the past it has been israel that has tried to limit your ability to travel and banned you. how wewere you able to get suspension of the israeli efforts to stop you from traveling and were you surprised this time it was the united states that stepped in? >> yes, indeed. since 2014, israel has prevented or tried quite a few times to prevent me from traveling for refusing to renew my settlement

permit. this was condemned by amnesty international, including february of this year, as an arbitrary measure of punishing me for my human rights activities in the bds movement. this was quite surprising that to itshas outsourced allies in the white house. israel has oututsourced a lot of ideals.rthyite anti-democratic, anti-bds movements. but this is the first time we are aware of that this micro level of repression is done by the u.s. as a proxy for israel. amy: can you respond to your denial by the trump administration into the united states, what you have the say to them? yes, i think this is just how thestep that shows

right-wing administration, which is completely in alliance with israel's far right receiving, is terrified of our voices -- regime, is terrified of our voices, terrified of the tree. they're trying to prevent me from the mainstream media come to speak at the synagogue, to speak at harvard and nyu, and so on and so forth and suddenly deny me the right to be with my daughter for her wedding, which is happening next sunday. so by this, the u.s. a administration has just added to it already very deep record of complicity in israel's violation of international law but this time there are violating u.s. law because of ideological and political exclusion. otherl you and organizations are investigating this issue, -- aclu and other organizations are investigating this issue. juan: i want to ask you, as a founder of the bds movement, and

you have been watching the increased efforts worldwide by the israeli government to squelch and repress the bds movement, your reaction to the recent reports that ex-mossad agents have her rest u.s. students and bds activists here in the united states in order to intimidate them? ways of are so many intimidation that israel has resorted to. whether traditional jewish establishment lobby or the christian lobby, they are involved in true mccarthyism. i call it mccarthyism 2.0. loyalty to israel and the litmus test. israel is certainly spying on u.s. citizens who are active in the bds movement, as revealed in .l jazeera's documentary report

israel is spying and using legal persecution against activists to silence bds activists. several of the troops are funding the campaign that are smearing activists on canvasses and realize the number of jewish activists will support palestinian rights and support bds in the sentence. amy: i want to go back to an interview we did last year when we spoke to a speech pathologist who filed the lawsuit against the pflugerville i independent school district and texas in the texas state attorney general after being forced out of her position for refusing to sign a pro-israel pledge. amawi explained she doesn't consider herself a bds activist but does try to avoid purchahasg products that support the israeli occupation. >> i'm not actually an active

member of the bds at all. i'm just personally, for myself, if i am aware of our product that supports israel or is m me in the country, then i just have -- i make a personal choice to avoid it because i don't his support the ongoing occupation and aggression and subhuman treatment of the palestinians. of -- i justware happened and what about it or if somehohow i find out, then i avd it will stop but otherer than that, really, i i am not an acte member. amy: so she declined to sign her contract. which said "she will not boycott israel and the term of the contract and would not take any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic

harm, or limit commercial relations with israel." this was in her contract as a speech pathologist with a company that was working in the schools and shia been a beloved speech pathologist th for years. ere omar barghouti, howow common isis this? common.is is quite most of the 27 state legislatures that have passed anti-bds laws or signed executive orders by governors look very much the same. they are suppressing the free speech of american citizens. and as the aclu has called it, mccarthyiniscent of and loyalty oaths. those contracts a you will not engage in a boycott of israel or territories s under israel's control. israel and its lobby make note oftinction between israel

the border. this was raising a concern among liberals in general, not just supporters of palestinian rights. we are seeing that across the united states. people understand vividly, especially people of color, especially women, a gbg groups, and someone, understand vividly the this -- undermining first amendment. no one is safefe. no one can tell who is next. it is about all of the centers, all of those opposed to israel and u.s. imperialism and intervention and right-wing politics similarly, this will pro-palestinecing voices. it will go want to suppress other justice struggles, be it climate justice, gender justice,

sexual justice, ethnic, religious justice and raracial justice. juan: israel, i want to ask about the latest news about airbnb. originally, airbnb after protests by human rights activists had agreed to remove the listings of thousands of homes jewish settlers in the west bank that have been listed previously under -- on their site. but just yesterday, the reverse that and said they're going to keep those listings on even though, obviously, these are listings in a territory where there are illegal settlements according to international law. ,our reaction to airbnb apparently, caving in to pressure? surrenderednb has bullying in a very shameful way, indeed. instead of calling israel's

settlements as they are, as always the entire international community calls them, illegal settlements, in occupied territory that no one should tol with, airbnb has bowed israel's pressure and is not going to de-list the settlement propoperties. that is a clear violation of international law and will subject airbnb two possiblee boycott by human n rightsts activists. what is you talk about happening israel in the last week and how it affects you, the election once again, the record five term prime minister benjamin netanyahu, despite the fact the attorney general says he is going to charge him with corruption. what is a need for where you are in the west bank and gaza -- what does it mean for you where you are in the west bank and gaza? >> i think palestinians can expect really troubling times ahead, really darker -- a darker

era of repression, resource theft, or brutal siege on gaza, more ethnic cleansing in jerusalem and the. we can expect all of that to escalate with openly fascist forces, potentially joining the that isu government absolutely fascist and calls for ethnic cleansing. indeed, they are d doing it piecemeal everywhere. but they are not calling about. so at least israel with this new government might remove its final mask, it's thin mask democracy. israel has always been an apartheid state and now it's time to democracy, escape to liberalism, are completely shattered with this latest

election. on the one hand, this will cause more suffering to us, palestinians everywhere, in the 191967 area and the 1948 area ad the pre-existing borders and refugees and i will be further denied their basic rights. but there is also a silver lining because israel's role face as an apartheid colonial regime is being exposed to the whole world and it is being at the center off the right and far right fascist indices from bolsonaro in brazil to hungary to white house and many between. , this willxposure further escalate the bds isolate and oththers to israel's regime of oppression in all fields. amy: we want to thanank you very much for being with us, omar barghouti, palestinian human rights defender, cofounder of the boycott, divestment, sanctions national committee. scheduled this week to give

talks at nyu, which he did by skype harvard university and to , meet u.s. lawmakers, but the trump administration barred him from entering the country. which also means he cannot come to his daughter's wedding. omar barghouti is the author of "boycott, divestment, sanctions: the global struggle for palestinian rights." ththis is democracy now! when we come back, the attttackn freshmanan congressmember ilhan omar as she says there is a spike in death threats against her as the trump administration, particularly president trump himself, attacks her. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "dance of the bird" by hosam hayek. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: minnesota freshman congressmember ilhan omar says death threats against her have spiked in number since president trump tweeted a video juxtaposing her image with footage of the 9/11 attacks. trump posted the 43-second video friday with the caption, "we will never forget."

the president's tweet intercut video of the world trade center towers burning with video of omar speaking about the increasing attacks on the muslim-american community after 9/11. omar was speaking at a council on american-islamic relations event last month. >> far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen. and frankly, i am tired of it in every single muslim in this country should be tired of it. [applause] was founded after 9 9/11 because they recognize that some people did something andnd that all of us were starting to losoe accessss to our civil liberties. juan: cair was in fact founded in 1994. omar's spokesperson later said she misspoke and "meant to refer to the fact that the organization had doubled in size after the september 11 attacks."

congressmember omar's comments were originally taken out of con -- context and circulated by right wing media, from the daily caller to fox news. in a statement, congressmember omar said -- "since the president's tweet friday evening, i have experienced an increase in direct threats on my life -- many directly referencing or replying to the president's video. this is endangering lives. it has to stop." thilhan trendedwi over the weekend. trump said he is heading to minnesota. omar tweeted -- "the great state of minnesota, where we don't only welcome immigrants, we send them to washington #nobanact." in new york city, bodega owners -- yemeni bodega owners responded to the attacks against congressmember ilhan omar by announcing they were boycotting

the sale and purchase of the new york post over its front-page attack on omar. the murdoch-owned daily paper featured an image of the burning twin towers on 9/11 referencing omar's comment out of context -- "9/11 was some people did something" and the words "here's your something" in large print over the photo. the yemeni american merchants association said the cover provoked hatred and targeted people of muslim faith. to talk momore about congressmember ilhan omar, we're joined by moustafa bayoumi, author of "this muslim american life: dispatches from the war on terror." his recent guardian article is headlined "ilhan omar has become the target of a dangerous hate campaign." moustafa bayoumi is an english professor at brooklyn college at the city university of new york and also the author of "how does it feel to be a problem? being young and arab in america." welcome to democracy now! talk about what others have said

over time. this is the argument you make in your piece, ilhan omar has become the target of a dangerous hate campaign. give us a few quotes. >> if you just have even a short-term memory, i think you can remember that george w. bush, the former president of the united states, said something to the effect of, when referred to the 9/11 attackers, said something to the effect of, well, these folks committed this act. amamy: we have that clip. bush: : go to help t the victimd their fafamilies andnd to condua full skill investigation to hunt folks who to find those committed this act. amy: to find the folks who committed this act. >> that, to my ear, that sounds similar to what ilhan omar omar said. george bush is saying it to the whole country and not considered to be anti-american for that

statement whatsoever. i think what ilhan omar is saying is completely within the boundaries of what is normal political discourse in this country. and we could go one. that is one example. another example would be ilhan omar is now accused of claiming -- her detractors will say she claims jewish people in the united states suffer from a dual loyalty campaign. the fact, she did not say that, so i think it is important to qualify what she did say it did not say. questions ofout allegiance. if we listen to your last segment and talk about anti-bds laws, those are in fact allegiance laws built into that very system of the united ststates. however, somebody did say something that was in fact claiming dual loyalty for jewish americans, and that would be our president now, donald trump. amy: explain what he said. >> he said something to the effefect when speaking to jewish american groups --

amy: the jewish american coalition. me talk about your prime minister, referring to benjamin netanyahu as their prime minister. one go have your account for this enormous campaign that has been launched against this freshman congressmember in terms of, by so many conservatives and right-wing groups in the country, and by the president himself. and your sense, what is behind it? >> on one level, it is clear ilhan omar is one of two muslim women elected to congress, the first two muslim women elected to congress. i think i guess are certain level of prominence along with a certain level of vulnerability. not only that, being openly hair, a- covering her refugee, and immigrantnta black woman -- so she occupies all of those vulnerable positions in

our society today, but it is not only that, if you ask me. if she were a quiet black refugee woman from somalia, a muslim who covered her hair and all of that stuff, then i think people would love to trot her out for the optics alone. but she is done a quite congresswoman. i think that is a great thing. she seems to be a highly principled and highly effective politician, even in the short time she has been in congress. i think in fact she is a scary figure to a lot of people who are on the right, and even sometimes to the mainstream establishment of the democratic party as well. juan: what about the reaction of the establishment of the democratic party to the threats against her and to the scapegoating of her? >> i think what we saw was in fact in some ways the litmus test of where the democratic leadership and also those vying for the presidency lie on one of the more important issues of our day, which is islamophobia,

fundamentally. what we saw was nancy pelosi's statement on ilhan omar, i thought was extremely disappointing. i thought she was refusing to name ilhan omar explicitly, did -- come out to her defense in fact, was back end only accusing her of d sacra lysing 9/11 territory, which was not at point of this controversy all. i thought that nancy pelolosi's respononse was quite shameful. amy: and now she's being attacked f f criticizing stephen miller f for his fierce anti-immigrant views, being told because she is talking about stephen miller and the administration, she's singling out a jewish member of the administration, which groups she is anti-semitic. we had on dr. david gloster, stephen miller's uncle, who

criticized his nephew for his extremist anti-immigrant v view. >> exactly. does that mean ilhan omar can only criticize ilhan omar? resultuld be the natural of that. she is not criticizing stephen miller for his jewishness, but for the positions he holds and that completely are within the boundaries of american political discourse. amy: what this is me for muslims around the country? ilhan omar says she herself has faced a spike in death threats against her. the tweettrumppinning of the video where he has juxtaposed the 9/11 attacks with ilhan omar? we know about the attacks on the tree of life synagogue that 11 jewish worshipers that were citing the a killer same was the president trump used. president trump's words and what he tweets has meaning. >> absolutely.

there was a study performed or published last year that said there is a direct correlation with donald trump's anti-muslim treats and the rise in income up with -- muslim hate crimes. andter and hate crimes partially are connected and not only connected in the united states, but connected internationally as well. that is what the study found. not only is what donald trump tweeted completely disturbing, but it is also coming within weeks of 50 people being killed in new zealand and two different mosques by men who also have himself connected to president trump and his ideology. amy: and with the new zealand prime minister responded to president trump when he asked what can you do when he called the prime minister and she said, respect the muslim community, she then put on hijab herself to comfort the family of those killed. we want to thank you, moustafa here,i,, for being

professor at brooklyn college. we will link to your piece. 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!