close the assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group opoperating in the air has thehe resosources and d prevent sincn toto act with h such a high h de of sophiststication. eto handououshows what t the u.sclaiaims is surveillan f footage of f iran's revolutionary y guard removivinn unexploded mine e from the sidif ththe japanese oil tankerr atattacked. howevever, the president of th japanese companyny that owns t e ship said it wasot a attacked by mines but o o flyi objbjects hehe alssasaid he es n not belie any objects s were attached to e side of the ship.

iran denied anany involvement ad accusesed the trumpp admininistration. wewe will have m more after heheadlines with t the jibber s. the head of the federal elections commission warned thursday that candidates for public o office are prohohibitey law from receiviving help from a foreign n governmement. donald trump told george stephanopoulos this week that he might acceptpt dirt on political rivals from foreign actors in the e 2020 election. >> if russia, china, someone else offers you i informatition, should they accept i it or call the fbi? >> i think maybe you do both. i think you might want to listenen. . if somebody called from a country, norway, we have information on your opponent, oh, i think i would wanant to hr it. >> you would want that k kind of interference? it information.

i think i would take it. amy: in a statement posted online one day after trump's remarks aired on abc, fec chair ellen weintraub said -- "let me make something 100% clear to the american public and anyone running for public office. it is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a u.s. election. this is not a novel concept." white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders said thursday she will step down at the end of june after nearly two years on the job. as president trump's spokesperson, sanders defended the administration's most notorious policies, including the muslim travel ban, family separations, and the mistreatment of f migrants in u. custody. sanders repeatedly lied about basic facts, falsely claiming president trump never promoted violence at his rallies, denying knowledge about hush-money payments trump paid to former adult film star stormy daniels, and making false claims about african-american employment under trump. sanders has not held a news

conference in 95 days. a photo tweeted by cnn's maegan vazquez a month ago showed dust gathering on the lectern in the white housuse briefingng room. a federal watchdog recommended thursdayay that kellyanne e cony be remov f from her popost as white e house counselor for violating the hatch h act, a law barring federal employees from engaging in political activity as part of their offfficial duties. in a reporort submitted to president trump, the the officie of special counsel called conway a repeat offender saying she has repeatedly used tv appearances and social media to o disparage democratic presidential candidates. among conway's ethics violations -- she twice violated the hatch act by endorsing alabama republican senate candidate roy moore while speakingng in her official capacity for the white house. in early 2017, conway used an appearance on fox & friends to promote the ivanka trump clothingng line sold by the president's daughter. >> go buy ivanka's stuff. it is a wonderful line.

i'm going to give a free commercial here. amy: legal experts say the office of special counsel does not have the authority to discipline conway, and president trump can simply ignore the agency's recommendation. in texas, authorities have recovered the bodies of seven migrants from waterways near the u.s.-mexico border within the last week. all seven appear to have drowned by trying to cross the rio grande, which is swollen from spring snow melt and heavy rains. elsewhere in texas, attorneys visiting a migrant processing center in mcallen discovered the u.s. border patrol holding a 17-year-old guatemalan mother and her prematurely born one-month-old girl who was described as tiny, lethargic, cold to the touch, and not eating. ththe motherer was in a wheelchr and still recocovering from a caesarian section and had barely slept. immigrant rights attorney hope frye said the baby belonged in a hospital neonatal unit, adding, "you look at this baby and there is no question that this baby

should be in a tube with a heart monitor." both the infant and her 17-year-old mother are considered unaccompanied minors. under federal law, they should hahave been released to the offe of refugee resettlement within 72 hours, but had been held by the border patrorol since june h until they were reportedly released on thursday. meanwhile, indian officials are blaming an intense heat wave and drought for at least 36 deaths. in some regions south of mumbai, india, whole villages have been evacuated with an estimated 90% of villagers fleeing their homes in recent weeks due to searing drought and crop failures. on monday, india's capital delhi recorded an all-time high temperature of 48 degrees celslsius, nearly 120 degreeees fahrhrenheit. this comes a as a new study y by brown university finds the u.s. military emits more greenhouse gasses each year than many countries, including sweden and portugal. the study found ththat if the pepentagon werere a country, i s emissions would make it the world's 55th largest contributor.

the study's author, professor neta crawford, said -- "climate change is not a potential risk. it has begun, with real consequences to the united states. failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will make the nightmare scenarios strategists warn against -- perhaps even 'climate wars' -- more likely." in new zealand, the man accused of massacring muslim worshipers in the city of christchurch in march pleaded not guilty thursday to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and engaging in a a terrorist a. the 28-year-old australian is an avowed white supremacist who emailed out a racist manifesto minutes before he opened fire with an assault rifle at two mosques, live streaming his massacre on facebook. his trial has been set for may of 2020. in gaza, palestinian medic mohammed sobhi al-judeili succumbed to his wounds and died in a hospital after he was shot monday in the head by israeli snipers while serving with the red crescent a protest near israel's separation barrier with the gaza strip. he was the fourth medic killed

by israeli forces since weekly nonviolent protests began last year under the banner "great march of return." in february, a panel of un investigators found israeli forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by tatargeting the prprotesters wititlethal force,, includining children, , journal, and the didisabled. this c comes as israrael says it will indefinitely bar paststinian shining bos fromom the mediteteanean. since 2006, israel h increasingly restricd d gaza fishing vessels fromaiailing f bebeyond shore, , severely limig their catch h in a territotory e more than 10% of childn n are chronically malnourieded. later in the broroadcast, we wil speak with attorney lea tsemel, who has defended palestinian political prisoners in israeli courts for nearly half a cecentury, along with the direcr of a new film about her titled "the advocate." in london, julian assange appear his lifecourt saying

was effectively at stake. appearing via video link from the high-security belmarsh prison where he is spending time, u.s. prosecutors have indicted him on 18 counts, putting 17 counts of violations of the espionage act in the firsrst ever case of a journalit or publisher being indicted under the world war i era law. later the broadcast, we will look at why one of his friends has been jailed in ecuador for over two months. the u.s. is requesting his extradition. they were arrested on the same day. in michigan, state prosecutors dropped all criminal charges thursday against eight government officials blamed for poisoning the water supply of flint with toxic lead, pledging to start over and expand their investigation into the flint water crisis. the move drew alarm from flint residents, but also hope that momore people might t be ultimay be heleld accountable. the crisis began in 2014 when flint's unelected emergency manager, appppointed by michigan

governor rick snyder, switched the source of the city's drinking water in order to save money. the move has been linked to at least 12 deaths from an outbreak of legionnaires' disease, as well as widespread lead poisoning in residents, including children. earlier this month, the ap reported authorities used search warrants to seize the state-owned mobile devices of former governor snyder and 66 other current or former officials, raising the prospect of a far wider criminal probe under michigan's newly elected attorney general dana nessel. prosecutors said they won't answer questions about the revamped probe until after a public meeeeting in flint plannd for june 28. back in the united states, new york state lawmakers on thursday approved a bill to end religious exemptions for immunizizations, and governor andrew cuomo immediately signed it into law. the sometimes-deadly disease has spread in recent weeks in brooklyn and in rockland county, where vaccination rates in the ororthodox jewish communitis run low.

the centers for disease control reports 2019 has seen the greatest number of measles cases reported in the u.s. since 1992. and massachusetts senator and 2020 presidential hopeful elizabeth warren is s introducig a bill to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for 42 million americanans. senator warren said in a statement -- "the student debt crisis is real and it's crushing millions of people -- especially people of color. it is time to decide are we : going to be a country that only helps the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful, or are we going to be a country that invests in its future?" meanwhile, the democratic national committee thursday named 20 candidates who have qualified to appear in the first presidential primary debates on the 2020 campaign. the debates will be spread over tonight with 10 candidates appearing at each event to be held june 26 and june 27.

those who did not make the dnc cut include montana governor steve bullock, former alaska senator mike ravel, when muslim, and commerce member seth moulton of massachusetts. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. tensions between the u.s. and iran are again ratcheting up as the u.s. accused iran of orchestrating an attack thursday on japanese and norwegian oil tankers in the gulf of oman. iran denied any involvement and accused the trump administration of trying to sabotage diplomacy. secretary of state mike pompeo directly accused iran of attacking the oil tankers just hours after the incident. >> it is the assessment of the united states government that the islamic republic of iran is responsible for what happened in the gulf of oman today. this assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar attacks on shipping, and

the fact that no proxy group operating in the area have the resosources and proficiey toto t with such a a high degreree of sophisticacation. amy: on thursday night, , the united states alsoso released deo of which it claimed d was iran's revolutionarary guard removing an unplplodedine e from the e side of the japanenese oil tanker attacked. however, t the president of th japapanese comnyny that owns t e ship saiaid it was notot attkedy mines but twtwo flying objects. hehe also sa h he does notot bee any objects werere attached d te side of the ship.. iriranian shships diapapproach e oil tankers after the attack, but according to multiple news accounts, it was to help rescue dozens of crew members from the tankers. the timing of the incident also raised many questions as it came as the japanese prime minister was visiting iran in an attempt to bring iran and the united states to the negotiating table. iranian-american trita parsi said -- "sounds like some are afraid japan may succeed in starting

diplomacy. the message appears to be: don't you dare stand in the way of my war plans." last month, the u.s. blamed iran for attacking four otherer oil tankers in the persian gulf but offered no evidence. well, for more, we turn now to vijay prashad, director of tricontinental institute for social research and chief editor of leftword books. he's also the chief correspondent of globetrotter. he is the author of several books, including "the poorer nations: a possible history of the global south." welcome to democracy now!, vijay prashad. respond to what is happening now in the gulf of oman. >> hello, amy. i think it is important to pay attention to the words you just used. you said only hours after the in theorder the bombings norwegian and japanese tanker, the u.s. secretary of state went out and blamed iran. hours after.

it is for interesting there is a kind of rushed to blame iran for anything that has been happening around the gulf of hormuz. if the people look closely at the oil business, they understand 50% of the world oil goes through the gulf of hormuz. they understand carrying oil is a dangerous activity. all kinds of things happen. there are accidents. there is piracy. there are a series of quite common risks faced by oil tankers. iran is not one of those high on the list as far as risk assessors are concerned. and yet, of course, this is the first thing the united states government has said, as you said, without any evidence. so within a few hours and without any evidence, the united states government once -- once more provoking some sort of response from iran perhaps or at least to try to galvanize public opinion to believe iran is a

threat to the world. what is really important here is, yes, the fact that shinzo eight, the first japanese prprie minister to visit iran in 41 years, he goes to iran shortly after the iranian foreign minister visited him in japan. in fact, mr. is a wreath visited shinzo able in his home. they had a very important conversation where shinzo abe said the iranian nuclear deal is a factor of stability. opposed toirectly the trump administration's view. what is very important here is we're not talking about a country that is far from american orbit. this is japan, reliable ally of the u.s., which is not only reliance upon iranian oil, but understands the warmongngering n west asia is goingng to b be vey

but not only for eurasia, for the world. i think we need to understand as shinzo abe is inin japan, this sabotage or whatever it is -- amy: is and iran. >> japanese tankers. abe is in or rent. >> yes, for the first time in 41 years. this is a right-wing prime minister, not a person of the left. he has been saying there needs to be a return to the table. not only japan saying this, amy, it is also the europeans. the europeans are very keen the u.s. not break fully from this iran deal. the germans have been looking for an alternative mechanism for payment. india, which was one of the largest purchasers of iranian oil, had to back off because of thesese is very tight sanctions put in place by the u.s.

government. that the indians are also not that interested in the new approach by the trump administration. they would like to continue to buy oil. it is kind of an isolation the united states is facing, isolated alongside the israelis, united araband the emirates. no one else wants war. no one else once this deal to end. frustration is s out of that you see the united states jumped the gun, come in very quicklkly, and say iran is doing this and that and therefore we have to retaliate. inis important to remember 2017, the cia created a special unit called the iran mission center. this is an important outfit because it's entire mandate has been to ratchet up pressure on iran. i don't know what happened to the norwegian oil tanker or the japanese oil tanker, but i would

be interested to hear what the iran mission center at the cia has been up to since 2017. amy: iran's foreign minister mohammad javad zarif tweeted thursday -- "reported attacks on japan-related tankers occurred while pm abe shinzo was meeting with ayatollah khamenei for extensive and friendly talks. suspicious doesn't begin to describe what likely transpired this morning. iran's proposed regional dialogue forum is imperative." vijay prashad? mr.arif is a very reasonable person. he h has been leading iranian diplomacy and has opened many doors to diplomatic solutions for the stand up around iran. i think we need to take seriously what mr. zarif is

saying. when he uses the word "suspicious" i think we should underline that word. i'm not saying what happens in the gulf of hormuz is very clear there are alternative exexplanations. we don't know what happenened. we should be suspicious of the narrative put ford by the u.s. state department, but we should also be suspicious about what happened. we need to ask more questions. consider this from a regional standpoint. the united states, the russians, and others are in the middle of a very serious diplomatic effort in afghanistan. there are meetings the u.s. has qatar and the russians and moscow to dial down the oma's 19 your war that is taken place in afghanistan. imagine if the u.s. strikes against iran right now. it would bring catastrophe further to afghanistan. it would open up the wounds in iraq and in syria. mr. zarif has made itit clear in

attack on iran is going to create even more catastrophe in the region. that is one of the main reasons why the chinese are very interested in not allowing any kind of war in that region. they have a lot at stake, especially in terms of their initiative that cuts right through the region, goes through iran. a war here. it is important for americans to understand u.s. government is deeply isolated on this issue of iran and on the way the u.s. governrnment portrays iran. and the rest of the world, iran is seen as a stabilizing force. for some reason, the u.s. government believes iran is an interloper. they seem to be out of place where is the united states, which is thousands of miles away, portrays itself as a regional actor.

this is very bizarre for peoplee arouound the world. and i think american state understand that. amy: on thursday, members of the house armed services committee from both parties said pompeo told them m in a classified briefing that the united states and used the 2001 authorization for the use of military force to attack iran without congressional approval. this is the michigan democrat. >> we were absolutely presented with a full formal presentation onon how the 2001 a umf might authorize war in iran. set it with his own words. aututhorized the president to take military action against those responsible along g with any "associateded forces."." your resesponse to thahat, vijay prashahad, and whatat role do yu think saudi arabia is playing in this? >> this is very chilling, very

disturbing. they are marching us directly into a war. they are marching the world into war. there pushing iran. the sanctions have had a catastrophic effect on iran's ability to earn money. there are serious medical crises in the country. i think the focus should be on that. we have already seen house engines destroy countries, how they put a lot of stress on the country. but that is not the focus of anybody's attention. mr.re allowing people of pompeo, john bolton, and others to set the agenda here. they are being allowed to say that iran is a criminal country and must therefore be attacked. this is very disturbing. saudi arabia is playing a lead role in this. i mention the iran mission center. mr. michael andrea's is very close to the saudis. in fact, has played an important role'in the cias drone program

and likely to have had some role in saudi war in yemen. this is something for people to consider. this very quick march to war must be stopped. the reason i'm saying this is not just about iran, it is about the region, eurasia. the trump administration i think is playing fast and loose and being reckless. we see the trump administration be having recklessly in other parts of the world. that's true. but with iran, i think their finger is on the trigger. the very fact that pompeo gave this prevents and should just to people that this is not the time -- suggested people this is to have the time to sit back and say "i don't think they're going to do it." it is very likely the u.s. is going to make some strike on iran and that strike is going to open further the gates of hell for the region. , we're goingashad,

to break right now and when we come back, i want to ask you about the extradition proceedings that have begun against julian assange who is in the belmarsh prison in london, and look at why one of his friends, the internet activist ola bini, has been jailed in ecuador for over two months, picked up the same day as julian assange. this is democracy now! back with vijay prashad in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'i'm amy goodman. london, wikileaks founder julian assange appear before magistrates court today saying his life was effectively at stake if you can't honor's election edition request from the u.s. where he faces 17 counts of espionage. julian is averse to be indicted

under the -- the journalist or first publisher being indicted under the world war i-era law. while assange's case has dominated international headlines far less attention has been paid to a friend of assange who has been jailed in ecuador since april 11, the same day assange was takeken by force b y british authorities from the uauadoreanmbasassy ilondonon. olola bini i is a swedish h pror and datata privacy actctivist wo lives in e ecuador. he has not yet been charged thth any crimes and hasotot been permrmitteto posost il for h h release.e. the u.s. j justice deparartments now said t they want to o questn olola bini. critics say bini ibebeing targeted bececause he knewew and visited assasange multiplele tis at the embassy in loonon, as well as for his activi.. this is a statatement from hisis lawyerers, carlos sosoria speakg last m month. >> this is an embarrassment. our client i is summit whoho is innonocent and conontributed toe entire w world the devevelopmenf infoatioion ofrivacycy. just becauause he is a f friendo jujulian assange or he travels,

they put him in prison. there are nono words for t thisd wewe will denoununce it nationay and inteternationally.y. we cannot t allow ecuadodor to k like this. lilike a state t that persecutes people for the b books t they r, the technolology they usese, orh simple reason of having a friend who is crerently being reprchched by e woworld. bebefore, sangnge was appreciatd for letetting people know the atrocities committed. amy: still with us is vijay prashad. directotor of trtricontinental institute for social research.h. is he there? what was he picked up? why was ola bini picked up and jailed in ecuador the same day julian assange was put in the belmarsh prison in london? is a difficult story for me. i have known ola bini for many years. it is still perplexing to myself and to the friends of ola of why

he is in prison. we don't know why he is in prison. there is no charge against him. there has been some allegations made about his friendship to is an assange, but if that crime, you and i should be in jail as well. we have also met him. we have understood that meeting him is in itself not a criminal activity. ola bini is a programammer who spspent most of f hisife tryingo creaea tools to help humann rights activisists creatata shid against surveillanceyy govementnt. peoplele who are in n the tech d might know w the progrgrs. these e were developoped by y o. heoved to ecuador partly becaushehe felelwith the government o of rafael cororreat would be aooood placto d do th kindndf work he e s doing,

precisely ththe opposite of what people are a alleging of h him t hehe b bke into this, that, or e otherr govovernment mateterials. inin fact, thepposite. he would crereate shields to prprent governrnment from breakg into the kind ofatabases held by humuman rights defenders. you have g g to remember in the edwaward s snowden revelationsne saidid the nsa has been routiney attacking the servers s of human rightsts and other civil society organizations. the precisely ola's mission in life to protect those organizations. he was picked up on apapril 11 t the airport while he was on his way to an advertrtised martialal arts training forcinin japan he has b been held in prison for two months. there have be two hearis. no baihas been aowed. no charge has been put forrd. hasprosecution in ecuador made it seem like a sinister ththing thatat ola as mamany cos

and drives and so forth. when i travel to places, i carry about 10 to 12 2 p drives. that is because i k keep one for each storyry. it seems to be something sinister or bizarre. these are things that software developers have. aey try to make him seem like sadistic character. i was even told by another reporter that people are asking ifjola was the code cracker for julian assange, which he was not, and could not have been the code crackerer at all when the materials passed on by chelsea manning came to the wikileaks organization. that was one of the allegations that was floating around, not put on paper. ola only met julian when he was are ready in the ecuadorian embassy, long aftfter the revelations of your important crucial revelations that came from chelsea manning come also

now in prison. i personally feel the u.s. government in trying to make its case against julian assange have sort of swept up people that it thinks might have some evidence against julian, for instance, having chelsea manning once more in prison, ola in prison, squeezing them to see if they can either provide evidence against julian -- in chelsea's case, she said she will not do so -- in ola's case, he says i don't have any. it points the investigators in a direction to get julian. we have got to understand there is of indebted by the american state against julian assange. that is very clear. i think there's a lot of collateral damage around the world in the u.s. attempt to put julian either in pririson for te full length of his life or near that. amy: i want to turn to ola bini speaking last month to cnn in

spanish. >> they will find nothing because i have done nothing. the only thing i've done is being a friend of julian assange . the minister of interior goes on tv the samame day as i am detaid at the airport a and talks five hours before my defense orders remains is on tv that i am -- that feels to me like the government is out to get m me. >> [indiscernible] see my letter that he hates me. i wonder if he hates me. because subjecting me to something like this, this kind of process where i am put in prison without any evidence,e, when i know that i'm innocent because i'm not done anything, thatat feels personal to me. amy: that is ola bini speaking with cnn from jail. he was also asked by cnn about his relationship with wikileaks founder julian assange. believess me, he

strongly in the right to privacy. the first time i went, i actualally want t to talk h him about these things. i kept coming back because i like him, because he is a friend of mine, and i kept coming back because more and more people abandon him. i felt it was my responsibility to do it. but it was also my pleasure as a friend. amy: vijay prashad, he is speaking from jail to cnn. in the case of julian assange, we understand that ecuador was handing over all of his electronic equipment, hard drives, etc., to the british government. what is happening with ola bini 's electronic equipment, phones, computers? has the u.s. requested that equipment? >> the united states has been giving me a gregorian officials -- a gregorian officials, so-called help in breaking the barriers that -- ola is a very clever person. he has put all kinds of

protections to his materials. these are basically off-the-shelf protections come off the record, and so on. so the americans initially said they were going to assist the ecuadorians. now since thee u.s. government has asked for this material to be handed over to the united ststates directly. i jujust want to say somethingng abouout ecuador. ola was asked in the interview if the president of ecuadodor hates h him. it is very important to remember that shortly before the ecuadorian government handed over julian assange to the british police, the international monetary fund provided ecuador with a loan of $4.2 billion and there was also a commercial package have about x billion dollars, so a total of $10 billion was transferred to the ecuadorian government by the auspices of the imf. this happened just before julian assange was handed over to the british authorities, just before

ola was arrested. we have to understand the position when you look at these things in sequence, it looks like there must have been a deal. this huge package was given to the ecuadorians. at the same time, there has been an enormous leak of private information from the phone and gmail accounts of president marino. this information called the ina papers shows direct corruption by mr. marino, including an apartment in madrid, spain, and so on. he i is been deeply embabarrassy this and has been lashining out saying t there are russian hacks inside ecuador. at thesrst arrest of olala airport, the piece of paper he was shown had a russian name on it and it was said that it is a russian person. when ola said that is not me, i'm not russian,n, they took t e paper away, went back and made a new document with ola's name

on it, said he was swedish,h, ad picked him up. this is a strange story. we do not know all of the facts that we need to put the imf into the picture. i think we need to put the fact that there is pressure from the united states on ecuador now, first to hand over julian assange and now innocents to do something -- we don't know what -- to ola bini. amy: have you spoken to him in jail? what are the conditions like there? >> the conditions are very difficult for ola. ola is a vegetarian. he has had a hard time. as he said early on in to arrest, the conditions in ecuador are bad for all prisoners. , aadorians and himself swedish person, living in ecuador. he is a very decent and upstanding person. he refused to allow this to become nearly about himself, saying the conditions for ola bini are bad.

he said directly it is that for everybody. amy: is sweden doing anything about getting him out? >> the swedish government called in the ecuadorian ambassador, but sweden has very little leverage on ecuador. in fact, he does not have ambassador in ecuador, just a council. we're hoping that pressure from the u.n. special repertoire david kaye who is called as an opportunity detention will have some impact on other european countries, even the special repertoire hasas said this is a very a retreat from dangerous situation, should not be allowed. but the ability of these u.n. rapporteurs to move is limited. i'm afraid it has basically invalidated the moral standing of european countries and even the united nations. amy: vijay prashad, thank you for being with us, director of

tricontinenental institute for social research.h. we will continue to follow the cases of ola bini and julian assange, both picked up to mexico. ola bini remains in prison in ecuador and julian assange going through extradition hearings at the belmarsh prison in london. coming up, we look at "advocate," about the pioneering israeli attorney lea tsemel who spent five decades defending palestinians who defend the israeli occupation. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. attorney lea tsemel has defended

palestinians political prisoners in israeli courts for nearly half a century, insisting on their humanity and their right to a fair trial. her work has earned her the scorn and reprobation of many israelis as well as s death threats. a staunch critic of the israeli-occupation of palestine, tsemel has long argued that palestinians who carry out politically-motivated violence are freedom fighters, not terrorists. in 1999, lea tsemel won a landmark case in the israeli supreme court, making it illegal for israeli officials s torture detained palestinis duduri ininrrogations. the documentary titled "advocate" tells the remarkable life story of lea tsemel. this is t t film's trailer. >> my y xt guest is no doubt very controversial, ght? >> so they say. >> good mornin attorney a tsemel.

how do we reacach the detentntin cells s th the eletor? is it t ing dowown? >> w what will bececome of you?? >>hat do you thihink? >> whehewill you m mend youour ? >> i'm a lost cauause. >> rebel with a lost cause.

amy: "advocate" premiered at this year's sundance film festival. the documentary screened for the first time in new york city last night as the opening of the humaman rights watch film festival. the film was recently named best aviv sosomehe tel festival. the israeli cultural minister condemned the decision to honor the film. well, for more, we're joined by lea tsemel and director rachel leah jones. it is wonderful to have you with us. rachel, why don't we begin with you, why you made this film. >> high. why do we make any film. ia is the kind of israeli wanted to be. i grew up in israel. i left, came back as a young adult and had heard about her. i wanted to meet her.

she is one of the first people i wen met when i went back. she model the kind of israeli i wanted to be, somebody completely not thinking of going anywhere else. how to get people to live together in that space. rights, goes civil without saying. but with a basic understanding that the place has to be shared in complete and full of quality. amy: lea tsemel, talking about beingan israeli, how you grew up, and what made you decide to represent palestinians. >> i see myself as a typical israeli. i was born there. was born there in 1945 and grew up with the state. i was studying law in 1967 when the war broke. until then, i would say i was a normal, regular israeli.

and once the war broke, i realized that the students, the people were misled before the war. israel didn't think of creating peace. i found myself having to decide whether my humanity prevails when i so what happened to the palestinians in the occupied territories or my israeli loyalty would prevail. and i chose my humanity. therefore i became a lawyer and tried to defend the underdogs, the palestinians, while thinking all of the time the only possible solution to the , one, equality,

two current one state that doesn't it make a difference, really -- but freedom for , andtinian's, recognition withbility to continue quality. amy: i want to turn to a clip from the film "advocate" that features dr. hanan ashrawi, a palestinian diplomat and scholar. >> i was lookiking for theheawy. d from that day on, lea was oflally part of f our experiene struggle. ring all of these military inrsrsions, shohootings. lea wawashere.

fo us being a prisoner, it is a fact of lif

amy: that is dr. hanan ashrawi, longtime palestinian diplomat and scholar just o on democracy now! a few weeks ago. lea tsemel, continue along the lines of what dr. hanan ashrawi was talking about, who you come to represent. people who have been accused of violence, palestinian who have been accused of violence, and those who simply have been arrested. presentnk most of palestinians who are acting against the occupation in this way or another or tech when problems the occupation crcreat. like if we talk about jerusalem, afficulties in getting position, and getting their rights, in getting their

so this ision cards, the civil aspect of the occupation that i am also dealing g with. besides, of course, people who have committed a security offense, as they call it. and i believe that i'm obliged to defend them. i believe they have the right to act against the occupation like every person on this earth has a right to act against any occupation. i don't try to condemn them. -- as a lawyer, recruit t the israeli law t to defefend them. amy: let's go to another clip from " advococate." lea tsemel argued before israel's supreme court against torture, carried out by the israeli security forces. in 1990 9, 20 years ago, the israeli supreme court ruled the

practice is illegal. amy: that was 20 years ago, lea tsemel, and you won. you're not used to winning. in 50 years, how many cases have

you won? >> we were a group of lawyers, group of human rights appealedions that had for many years on the subject of torture. it was a big victory, it's true. countctory was somehow -- other ways that are also illegal. amy: that the security forces are continuing to torture palestinians? >> in this way or another, yes. but the situation continues. the struggle continues. we know it very, very well. highlight, undoubtedly. there are not too many winnings we can talk about. there are many failures. altogether i think the israeli

sosociety has failed to fight against the occupation as we should. amy: early i in your career, tak about the arab-israeli alliance, the group of young men who you represented that are portrayed in " advocate." >> we started as young, ambitious, hopeful revolutionaries, believing that we can change here and now the situation. and some of our leftist groups then, even went furthther on to join a palestinian leading group will stop then there were detainment centers with a lot of scandal, reaction to 17 years in prison like one who was the head of the group, and others. and since then, we did not see

the repercussion of the phenomenon. we do see cooperation at times. there is now bds. it is more difficult to cooperate. of i still carry the dream the common feature that will show the palestinians -- i don't see us getting there without this corporation. amy: you also represented euro has been, a activist, when he was jailed at of the alternative information center. >> he was charged with publishing in his office a booklet of how to sustain torture of security forces. the method of torture. cannot talke -- about it, should not expose it,

especially they tended to write it in arabic, so you could not tell it to the arabs. they would know what they were anticipating in the interrogation rooms. onhe was detained and later very little came out of it, but he spent some time in prison. at least youon, won your husband back. let's go to another clip of "advocate" featuring our guest lea tsemel.

amy: that is another clip from "advocate" and that is lea tsemel speaking in hebrew, translated. "advocate" was just named best

picture in tel aviv's film festival. the israeli cultural minister condemned the decision to honor the film. you are thejones, filmmaker. your response? a huge surprise. we have five sold-out screenings, roughly 1800 israeli jews came to see the film in over a course of the week and not a single person complained. wildest dreamsy or expectations for how a film like this could be received in a day and age like this in israel and we won first prize. the culturural minister has s bn condemning films l like this sie she came into position -- power. amy: and the film is oscar -qualified. that does it for this segment. we will do part two and post it on democracynow.org. lea tsemel and rachel leah jones .

world run just as crosby wallace. congratulations to our colleague. thank you for joining us. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

>> this isis al jazeera. ♪ >> hello. this is ththe news hour lilive m london. coming up, tehran rejects a u.s. claim that iran attacked two oil tankers and accuses rushing to of sabotage diplomacy. the world health organization decides not to declare an international emergency over the ebola outbreak in the democratic congo.c of accuses