08/28/19 08/28/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> with today's tragedy, the number of people that lost our lives on the mediterranean in .019 is now up to 900 we are just a few a away from reaching 1000 people dyingng at sea for the sixth year in a row. this is particularly concerned because on the central mediterranean, the route from libya to europe, the rate of death is rising sharply.

amy: at least 40 people are feared dead after a boat carrying dozens of refugees and migrants capsized off the coast of libya. we will go to geneva to speak refugee agency. venture brazil and the devastating fires and the amazon rain forest. >> what we see now is an unprecedented destruction in the amazon and the fires this year have an increase of 80%. policy and rheticic, basicalllly he gave a a green lt for illegal deforesestation. am: and we go to the middle east where israel has carriried o out airstrtrikes in iraq, syria, lebanon. authorities say they view these strikes as declarations of war. faceom now on, we will israeli drones in lebanon skies. we will bring down israeli drones when they enter our

skies. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the trump administration plans ofshift over billions dollars including $155 million from fema's disaster relief fund to help fund its highly contested policy. the funds would pay for temporary courts on the southern border to hear cases of asylum-seekers who have been forced to return to mexico while their cases proceed through the u.s. legal system. the money will be adding 7000 more spaces to immigration spaces. they're preparing for tropical storm dorian which could make a and strengthen into a hurricane later today. governor wanda vazquez has declared a state of emergency for the island.

on tuesday, president trump used the impending storm to take a jab at puerto rico, tweeting -- "wow! yet another big storm heading to puerto rico. will it ever end? congress approved $92 billion for puerto rico last year, an all time record of its kind for 'anywhere.'" san juan mayor and vocal trump critic carmen yulin cruz responded by saying in a cnn interview -- "trump's behavior, his lack of understanding is ludicrous. 3000 puerto ricans did not open their eyes this morning because this racist man did not have it within him to do his job. so get out of the way and let people who can do the job get the job done." the 3000 people she is referring to is the death toll from 2017's devastating hurricane maria. in more immigration news, the washington posost is reporting

trump reportedly told aides he will pardon them if they face any the group are questions related to the requestst is coud include seizing private land, expediting billions of dollars in construction contracts, and ignoring environmental regulations. the trump administration is reportedly into the medical deferred action program which allows immigrants with serious health problems to stay in the u.s. up to two years beyond the terms of their visas to receive critical treatment. massachusetts senator ed markey said, "the administration is now literally deporting kids with cancer" and that change would "terrorize sick kids who are literally fighting for their lives." the aclu of massachusetts has vowed to fight thehe policy chae in court. rescue teams are searching for at least 40 refugees who are feared dead after a boat carrying dozens of people capsized tuesday morning off libya's coast.

according to the libyan coast guard, some 65 passengers, mostly from sudan, were rescued with the help of local fishermen. the associated press reports that at least five people died, including a woman and a child from morocco. an estimated 900 people have died so far this year while crossing the mediterranean sea to reach europe. last month, another shipwreck off the libyan coast claimed about 150 lives, including many children. we'll have more on the migrant crisis in n the mediteterraneanh charlie yaxley, spokesperson for the u.n. refugee agency afterr headlines. in the occupied palestinian territories, the gaza strip is on alert after two bombs killed three hamas police officers at checkpoints tuesday night. the deaths were rereported by te ininteri m ministry. palestinian officials blamed the attacks on israel but other sources say people linked to the islamic state group may be responsible. tuesday's blasts followed an israeli attack on a hamas military post earlier in the day and after separate air

attacks monday on what the israeli military says was a hamas compound. israel launched the air raid in response to cross-border rocket fire, though hamas denied any involvement. in britain, prime minister boris johnson is expected to ask the queen to suspend parliament, increasing the likelihood of a no-deal brexit. johnson will reportedly request parliament be closed from mid-september to mid-october, meaning lawmakers who oppose a no-deal exit would have very limited time to pass legislation supporting any other measures. the u.k. is scheduled to leave the european union on october 31. back in the united states accusers of deceased financier , 16 jeffrey epstein appeared in city federal court tuesday to describe their experiences of sexual abuse at epstein's hands. jeffrey epstein was represented by an empty chchair next to thre of his lawyers.. epstein was found dead in his

manhattan n jail celell earliers month of an apparent suicide, and prosecutors requested charges against him be dropped but u.s. district judge richard berman decided to allow survivors of epstein's abuse testify against him. this is attorney gloria allred speaking outside the courthouse. >> it took a lot of courage for them to write thee statements in a have their voice heard. i really commend the for being here because jeffrey epstein's death, whether was it suicide or murder, does not and their fight for j justice. it doeoes not end ththere feelig that they were manipulated and victimized and that they were child victims. they spoke truth to powewer. they spoke truth to what happened to them. amy: "the washington post" is

reporting attorney general william barr is planning a $30,000 holiday party at the trump international hotel in washington, d.c. the event is reportedly not an official justice department party and will be paid for directly by barr. critics say that although the event would not be a legal violation, it skirts an ethical line. maryland and the district of columbia previously argued in a lawsuit foreign governments and other entities patronize the trump hotel in order to curry favor with the president,, putting other businesses at a disadvantage -- a violation of the emoluments clause. a federal judge temporarily blocked missouri's contested eight-week abortion ban tuesday -- one day before it was set to take effect. the ban, w which does not inclue exceptions for rape or incest, would penalize abortion providers who perform the procedure after eight weeks befofore many people are a aware , they are pregnant. a lawsuit filed by planned parenthood and the missouri aclu challenging the law is currently

being argued. purdue pharma and the sackler family have offered to settle the more than 2000 lawsuits against them for their role in the opioid crisis for $10 billion to $12 billion. it includes $3 billion from the sackler family fortune. the deal was reportedly discussed last week by purdue's lawyers and includes a plan for purdue to declare chapter 11 bankruptcy before restructuring into a for-profit public benefit trust that would allegedly serve the many plaintiffs suing the company. the sackler family would relinquish ownership of purdue under the deal. the news came out the same day as a landmark ruling in oklahoma, which found johnson & johnson helped fuel the state's opioid crisis. the company was ordered to pay over half a billion dollars. purdue pharma was also sued by oklahoma, but settled before any trial took place.

senator 2020 hopeful bernie sanders has released a plan to protect independent the -- end thein consolidation and corporate control of media outlets. his plan includes ending federal approval of huge media mergers, giving employees an opportunity to have ownership in news outlets, increasing funding for local and independent news, and strengthening anti-trust regulations to stop tech giants like facebook and google from "cannibalizing, bilk, and defund news organizations." sanders notes that trump's assault on the press has further threatened the media landscape. in othther news about bernie sanders, the vermont senator picked up his first labor endorsement from the united electrical, radio and machine workers of america. the group also backed sanders' run in 2016. sanders recently announced his workplace democracy plan, which would seek to double union membership, bolster collective

bargaining, end right-to-work laws, and protect worker pensions. a 17-year-old palestinian student who was scheduled to start his freshman year at harvard university was denied entry into the united states last week and had his visa revoked. ismail ajjawi told the harvard crimson he was interrogated by immigration officials upon his arrival at boston's logan airport on friday. they reportedly questioned his religious practices and searched his phone and computer, revealing posts by friends that were critical of u.s. policy. ajjawi, who was to attend harvard university on a full scholarship, was ultimately sent back to his home in lebanon. pen america's summer lopez said in a statement -- "the idea that ajjawi should be prevented from taking his place at harvard because of his own political speech would be alarming. that he should be denied this opportunity based on the speech of others is downright lawless."

after spending two weeks of boboard a solar powered 60 foot racing yacht, world-renowned 16-year-old swedish climate activist religion berg will arrive in new york city today where she will begin a monthlong tour of the americas. she does not fly and chose to make the journey from europe to the u.s. by boat to do the heavy carbon footprint of air travel.. this is greta thunberg speaking frfr the yacht y yterday. [indiscernible] we are about 300 miles away from nova scotia. very high waves. amy: crowds of supporters and reporters are expected to greet greta thunberg in manhattan this afternoon. anand the legendary peace activt frances crowe has died at the

age of 100 in northampton massachusetts. , over the past seven decades, frances crowe has been arrested countless times protesting war, nuclear weapons, nuclear power and the construction of new pipelines. when once asked how many times she had been arrested, crowe said "not enough." >> i have done everything g i kw of too do. and all i have left is my body and to put it in the way to s sy no. amy: in 2005, democracy now! interviewed frances crowe about how she set up a pirate radio station in her backyard to broadcast demomocracy now! >> finally we said, we will try my backyard. so i put a pole up and we were on the air. [applause]

and, you know, i have never broken a law that i felt better about. [laughter] amy: thanks to the efforts of frances crowe, democracy now! is now heard daily on wmua at the university of massachusetts. frances crowe died on tuesday at the age of 100. she was surrounded by her family and friends. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. at least 40 refugees and migrants are feared dead after a boat carrying dozens of people across the mediterranenean sea n route to europe capsized tuesday morning off the coast of libya. according to the libyan coast guarard, some 65 m migrants and refugees, moststly from sudan, werere rescued witith the help f local fishermen. the associated press reported at least five people were confirmed deadad, including a woman and a child from morocco whose bodies were recovered near the western town of khoms, 75 miles east of tripoli.

with tuesday's tragedy, the number of migrantsts and refuges who have lost their lives on the mediterranean in 2019 is up to 900. just last month, about 150 people, including children mostly from africa, also drowned off of the libyan coast in a separatete shipwreck. according to the u.n. high commissioner for refugees, rescscue operations for r the lt migrant shipwreck continue to be underway. the final death toll may be even higher. this latest disaster comes as far-right european leaders like italian deputy prime minister and minister of the interior matteo salvini continue to criminalize refugees and migrants, as well as humanitarian aid workers who often lead search and rescscue missions in the mediterranean. this june, police in italy arrested carola rackete, the 31-year-old german captain of the sea-watch rescue ship, after her vessel collided with an italian border police boat when she attempted to dock at an italian port.

and in 2017, pia klemp, also a member of sea-watch, was arrested at the same port and charged with assisting so-called illegal immigratioion. klemp is currently awaiting trial anand faces upup to 20 yes in prison n if convicted. for more, we go to geneva where we're joined by charlie yaxley, u.n. high commissioner for refugees global spokesperson for mixed migration, mediterranean, and africa. welcome toto democracy now! can you explain what just happened, this latest shipwreck and what the casualties are? well, once again we are yet another tragic incident resulting from people trying to flee the war and violence in libya. the rescue operation is still underway, but from what we understand from our teams who were there on the ground speaking with s survivors, a bot left in the early hours of

yesterday morning and very soon came into distress and appears that 40 people have now drowned on the mediterranean. this is just the latest in a series of drownings of people taking the similar journeys to this one. each time we do see a outpouring of public sympathy expressed from all corners, but we're calling now for those sentiments to be translated into meaningful action. forward ofosed a way getting refugees out of libya so they do not take these boats in the first place them up with the situation canannot continue as t is. amy: explain who was in this shipwreck ande explain why they could not get to land. >> this group is similar to the

kind of groups we often see departing from libya. it is a mixed group of people, .f refugees and migrantss around one third are from refugee-produducing countrieses. so in the eastern and western africa. we clearly have more than 50 unresolved conflicts -- 15 unresolved conflicts, particularly in places like eritrea and somalia and sudan west,e east, mali in the that people are fleeing ongoing fighting by armed groups and are in need of refugee protection. at the same time, we do see secondary movement from countries neighboring those there needs tose be strategic development assistance. when people don't feel safe and don't feel they are able to make

the most of economic opportunities that will allow them and their families to survive, we see a rising trend of people putting their hands -- their lives in the hands of smugglers and traffickers who commit a range of human rights abuses and are responsible for putting people on these flimsy and unseaworthy boats that often have little hope of reaching dry land. amy: an italian court ruled two weeks ago the spanish military and ship open arms, which was waiting off the italian island of lampedusa, carrying nearly 150 rescued migrants and refugees, should be allowed to dock in italy. this was in defiance of a ban by italy's far riright interioror minister and deputy prime minister matteo salvini. in a statement issued by his ofoffice, salvini i said --- "i continue and will conontinueo deny the lananding to those who claim to bring illegal immigrants always and only in italy." salvini also said that he will continue to defend italy's borders and say "no to

disembarking." can you talk aboutut significan, what this means for migrants at sea? well, this is a concerning and regrettable trend of increasing hostility, not only toward the people taking the crossings, but also the e people who seek to help them. in the past feww years, ngo rescue operations have saved countless lives, thousands and thousands of lives, but the number of ngo's able to do that right now has diminished to a small handful due to differenent legagal and logisistical restrictions being placed on them. only to be acknowledged and supported, not criminalized nor stigmatize. there are suggestions s by some ththat these ngogo's collllabore illllegallers and aid migratation, but we e see no evididence of thatat. atifferentnt timimes in the lalt

year, ththere have beeeen no ngo both operarating search andescue the e central mediterranean, and yet actually the average number of departutures has increaseded. whwh we look morclosely at the situatioion, it becomemes cleart is t the push factctors that pee are leaving behind, the violence and human rights abuses, the escalating violence in libya since april -- that has a much bigger motivating factor than any kind of potential pull factor of presence of ngo boat. amy:y: pia klemp, the german captain of a refugee rescue ship who now faces prison time in italy after rescuing hundreds of refugees in the mediterranean, has refused to accept an award given to her in july on behalf of the city of paris. klemp wrote on facebook last week that paris mayor anna hidalgo and the city of paris "want to award me a medal for my solidarian action in the mediterranean sea, because our

crews 'work to rescue migrants from difficult conditions on a daily basis.' at the same time your police is stealing blankets from people that you force to live on the streets, while you raid protests and criminalize people that are standing up for rights of migrants and asylum seekers." pia klemp was awarded the grand vermeil medal last mononth alongside carola rackete, a fellow member of the refugee rescue organization sea-watch. two years ago, klemp's ship was seized by authorities in an italian port and shehe was eventually charged with assisting so-called illegal immigratioion. shshe is currently awaiting tril and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. coulde yaxley, if you commmment on the stakes fofor pe who are trying to help those who might diet see? -- dyad see and are? >> think the frustration she expresses are understandable.

ngo boats are picking up people who are in a desperate state. let's be clear, people don't take these boats are in -- they are aware these journeys can often be fatal and nobody puts their own lives and the lives of their family at risk in that way unless they feel they're better off on the water than on the land. so whenn ngo's pickck people u d their them in the s sea, ordedeal is not over. they are then stranded at sea for days on end while states have often engaged in a political back and forth trying to see who can most shift responsibibility onto o others. i think what is needed now is for the toxicity in the political debate to be removed and a more objective perspective toto come in here. ththe number of arrivals reachig european shores are really down significantly.

we are no longer in a situation like we saw in 2014 and the immediate years that followed where we saw incredibly high numbers. we are back to the precrisis levels, but yet deaths remain broadly the same. so we're no longer in n a crisis of arrivals here, we're in a crisis of deaths. there needs to be some soul-searching about whether europe is willing to engage with people who are seeking asylumm n their doorstep. amy: you have said one in six or one in seven people die at sea? can you explain where they are dying? what is the routute they are taking? and talk about why libya such a critical place for them and where they are coming from. routes through north and sub-saharan africa are very complex, but typically, it

is where the smugglers and traffickers are able to carry out their actions with impunity. it is in places that are best .et by conflict it is in places where states often no longer have strong rule of law. they're not able to hold people -- the smugglers and traffickers accountable. [indiscernible] oil trafficking as well. any attempt to really address the situation will have to look at this holistically and develop a wayy to hold the smugglers and traffickers to account using the courts of law. and for those that are known to have sanctions against them, you know, many of these people are known and there are ways this can be done. last year there were sanctions

placed against some of the smugglers and traffickers in libya. but until that happens, at the same time we need to address the rootot causes. there needs to be greater effort to broker peace so that people are not forced to flee their homes in the first place. centerya has become a point for all of this because of the violence that has plagued the country since 2011. different militia groups have been allowed to take root and smuggling and trafficking has become big business. so until we see a more holistic strengtheningved security, holding smugglers and traffickers to account and brokering peace, we're likely to see more boat crossings in the future. amy: let me ask you about the 350 migrants stranded on a rescue ship in the mediterranean sea who disembarked in malta

friday after european countries agreed to accept them. the ocean viking, which is run by french charitities doctorss without borders and sos memediterranee, had been in aa tense standoff for two weeks as it remained in international waters after being denied permission to dock in italy or malta. most of the passengers on the ocean viking were from sudan and had been rescued in four separate missions. the ship w was carrying g aroun0 children, most of them unaccompanied. the migrants will now be relocated to germany, france, romania, irereland, portugal, ad luxembmbourg. but that p pture of ththe ship t sea being denied entry reminded inof back in world war ii the united states from the ship of 900 jews that was not allowed to dock in the united states in the ship went back and many of those perished. your comment on the refusal of countries to take in people who

face death? and also, what the european union is doing? images and the story is people told is sadly a all too famimiliar. regardless of whether these rescued people come from refugee producing couountries, all initially are migranants, at the hands of the smugglers they suffered beatings, torture, prostitution and irate, and some are sold as slaves. they have gone through incredibly dramatic expenses. even if they may not be in need of asylum, may need other forms of humanitarian protection. for the european countries on the mediterranean in, it is true they have borne a disproportionate amount of responsibility in the last three years for receiving refugees and

migrants rescued on the mediterranean. but what we need now is a system in place that gives shipmaster's clarity and predictability about where they can immediately dock people after they have been rescued. there are ready some seeds of hope on how this could work. unchr and iom have proposed a model and it requires states to come forward in solidarity with those mediterranean states and with refugees, and agree to a certain quota of people that will be willing to receive in such incidents. discussions about this have begun. there were recent meetings in paris and helsinki on this. there was a consensus that action needs to be taken, thatat this high loss of life on the mediterranean can i continue. -- cannot continue. the time is running out for many people in libya facing violence

and conflict in detention centers in libyaya. we have around 3000 people who are close to conflict areas and at risk of being caught up in the violence. a system for disembarking is needed now so the system is already in place and we are not left in this potential -- t adetual crisis bost by boa hoc approach. amy: a want to thank you for being with us, charlie yaxley, unitited nations high commissior for refugees global spokesperson. when we comeme back, brazil and the amazon fires. ayay with . ♪ [mumusic eak]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn now to brazil, where fires continue to rage in the amazon, new drone footage shows the widespread smoke and fires gathering strength. a vast plume of smoke has spread over south america and the atlantic ocean and is visible from space. the fires are also destroying large swaths of land in bolivia. as the devastation continues to spread, far-right brazilian president jair bolsonaro said on tuesday he would reconsider accepting a $22 million offer from the g7 nations to help fight the fires in the amazon, but only if frfrench president emmanuel macron withdrew the insults made against him. look, first of all, mr. macron shall withdraw the insults he made against me. first he call meme a liar, and then from the information that i have, he said our sovereignty over the amazon was an open

question.. in order to talk or accept anythihing from france, which might be with the best possible intentions, he is going to have to withdraw these words and then we c can talk. amy: facing global pressure, president bolsonaro pledged in an address to the nation to mobilize the army to help combat the blazes. bolsonaro has worked to deregulate and open up the amazon for agribusiness, logging, and mining since he came into office in january. the fires are unprecedented in recorded history. environmentalists say most of the fires were deliberately set by illegal miners and cattle ranchers. so far this year, there have been nearly 73,000 fires in brazil, with over half of them in the amazon region -- an 83% increase from the same period last year. as the wororld reacts to the amazon's destruction, indigenous brazilians are on the frontlines of the fight to save their land. indigenous leader sonia guajajara said in a statement -- "we're putting our bodies and our lives on the line to try to save our territories.

we've been warning for decades about the violations we have suffered across brazil. the predatory behavior of loggers, miners and ranchers has been getting much worse under the anti-indigenous government of jair bolsonaro, who normalizes, incites and empowers violence against the environment and against us." well, for more, we're joined by maria luisa mendonca, director of the network for social justice and human rights in brazil. visiting scholar at the city university of new york graduate center. welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. if you can talk about what exactly how this all happened, why the amazon is on fire at this point, and talk about the g7 offered to help. president trump not going to the climate meeting of the g7, the empty seat with the other world leaders around him. he said he was meeting with

india and germany, but promised or modi and chancellor angela merkel were in the two seats next to the empty seat, so he was not meeting with them. >> i think trump and bolsonaro do not believe in climate change. they are very close to industries that are the main -- thef climate change oil industry, agribusiness, mining. so bolsonaro gave the green light for illegal deforestation of the amazon. the current minister in brazil used to lobby for mining companies and has said brazil should allow mining exploit duraration in inindigenous land. -- exportatition and indigenenos lalands. he said brazil should expand

mimining in the amazon. the agribusiness and nining whicich lies on chemical inputs based on fossil fuels are the main cause of climate change. in brazil, with bolsonaro's policies cutting funding for agencieses that moninitor dederestation, he few weeks agoo fire t the heads of the national space research agency that was puputting out t information of t deforestation. so basically, he gave the green light for the illegal destruction that we see now. amy: explain the setting of the fires all in one day. i mean, the maps are incredible right now the rain forest. you see the indigenous areas. they are green. indigenous people protecting their areas. and then the areas outside of that are on fire. what did the loggers do? >> the amazon is that empty land. there are about a million indigenous people living in the

amazon. they have been protecting the land for many, many generations. but while we have seen -- what we've seeing is there is more pressure to expand the so-called agriculture in brazil in the amazon. usually what happens is we have local land grabbers that put fire in the land. they take the timber. they do this illegal activities and then you see either cattle ranching or mono cropping of soy. this is the cycle of destruction. and now this year the situation is much more dramatic. we have seen 80% -- over 80% of increasing of deforestation in comparison to last year. amy: and the european union? many people said it was pathetic what they're offering, $20 million, but that they were.

and then the politics of bolsonaro saying, no, you cannot even deal with your own notre-dame cathedral on fire, the frenchsulting president and his wife. >> yes, bolsonaro is really happy with the destruction of the amazon. he is going to come up with any type of excuse just not to take responsibility for what is happenening. so i think the international community needs to call for a boycott of the main commodities produced by agribusiness --beef, soy, sugarcane, and timber. i think this is the only message -- thatsonaro is going will have any type o of impact becacause he does s not believen climate change, so i think -- and also, giving aid to the bolsonaro administration, i don't think that is going to hehelp very much. i think we need to support

indigenous communities, small farmers that are protecting the land who purdue's over 70% of the food for internal markets. amy: several thousand indigenous women have it to protest the policies of bolsonaro. huhundreds occupied a hehealth mininistry building as they demanded the government respect indigenous rights in the amazon. this is the first indigenous woman elected to the brazilian congress. >> protest is important act to defend the rights of indigenous people. we are under systematic violent attacks. there is a lack of demarcation of indigenous lands. the issue of health, education, this is all in danger. we're fighting against privatizing are a fair and quality education. amy: if you could talk about what she said, the significance of the indigenous women gathering and protesting? >> that was very important.

they have a very large protest just a few days ago. indigenous communities in are very welll organized. they are calling the international community to pay attention, to keep monitoring the situation. we also have seen, for example, sayingy a u.n. report industrial agriculture is a main cause of climate change and one of the ways to prevent that is to protect indigenous beennities that have protecting the land for many generations. climate change and protecting indigenous communities are key factors to deal with the crisis that we have now. amy: you have bolsonaro pulling brazil out of being the host of chile willummit so

take on that responsibility. the illegal logging, those that are burning the forest. talk about the day they set fire to the amazon. it is not as if this doesn't happen at other times, does it the least, at a much smaller degree, but what happened on this one day? >> what we're seeing now is apparently, there was a record made it effort from illegal loggers and then grabbers in the amazon. they called the day of the fire. -- happened a couple of weeks ago. so now the police are investigating groups that work toward mating those activities, those illegal activities. also we have seen reports saying there was more rain this year than last year, although this is the dry season, so we cannot

explain why the level of to structure and -- there are so many more fires this year in comparison to last year. amy: can you talk about r refusal toting his first accept the money, but also to deal with the opening of the rain forest for business, putttting his critique in colonialist terms saying this is not your house, this is our house? yes, well, the thing is at , hesame time he says that because she was to privatize, for example, the national oil company, public banks, e electricity comompanie. so his o opening up our lands fr

mining exploitation, for agribusiness -- the agribusiness sector, the market of those commodities is very much controlled by large transnational corporations. so we're not talking about development of the brazilian economy. agribusiness, they promomote destruction. this is not about development. they produce just a few crops for export. they do not generate jobs. in plantations are horrible jobs. we have several cases of slave labor in those plantations. so if we really want development, we need to protect our national -- our natural resources. to have a productive system, we need to protect the soil, water sources, protect the biodiversity, and we need to transform our food system. agribusiness is the main cause of climate change. amy: and agribusinesses specifically? >> mainly, what they produce is

beef, sugarcane, soy, and timber. so that is why i think we need to call for a boycott of those four products from brazil. i think this is the only message that is going to have an effect in terms of pressuring me bolsonaro administration. he does not believe in climate change and is implementing policies that are giving a green light for deforestation. amy: maria luisa mendonca, thank you for being with us director , of the network for social justice and human rights in brazil. visiting scholar at the city university of new york graduate center. when we come back, we look at the suspected israeli airstrikes . authorities said they view them as declarations of war. we will speak with rami khouri, senior policy fellow at the american university of beirut. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

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

tensions are mounting across the middle east following a series of suspected israeli air strikes in lebebanon, syria, and i iraq. lebanese president michel aoun likened the recent israeli attacks to a declaration of f w. israeli drones bombed targets in lebanon on n both sunday and monday. meanwhile, some iraqi lawmakers are calling on the united states to fully withdraw its troops following a series of israeli air r raids. the fatah coalition said it considered israel's actions to be "a declaration of war on iraq and its people." israelel has only claimed responsibility for an attack on syria saturday, which they said targeted an iranian-operated base that was prepeparing toto launchch a drone assault on israel. for more, we go to boston, massachusetts, where we're joined by rami khouri, senior and a policy fellow non-resident senior fellow at the harvard kennedy school's

middle east initiative. khouri is a columnist at the new arab. his latest article is titled "the dangerous new landscape of arab-israeli warfare." rami khouri, welcome to democracy now! what is that landscape and what has happened over these last few days? >> what is happened over the last few days is a convergence of a trend that has been going on for about 50, 60 years in the middle east with israel asserting its philosophy that it must always be militarily stronger than any combination of foes around it. the united states officially supports this policy, and the israelis will use any military or subversive or surreptitious means or any means they feel they have to use -- assassination, bombing, whatever -- to preserve their security and of their security is more important than the security of anybody else around them. that is been going o on for 50,0 years. they have been a fascinating

people and bombing things all over the middle east. what happened this weeeek that s unusual, there were attacksks in three or four places almost simultaneously by the israelis and atattacks against the israel is. two different places in beirut. they attacked in iraq. they have threatened iran the whole timime. peoplere attacked by from gaza. not all outous war,, war, but a simultaneous seseries of attacks against four or five different targets by the israelis is something new and quite troubling, both for the israelis and the arab parties that are being attacked. this is something that i think is going to continue because traditional, conventional warfare has happened between 2006 is no longer

really possible because hamas has essentially -- hezbollah has essentially achieved deterrence with israelis witith hezbollah's technical capabilities with missiles and can medications and other things. is noteli-hezbollah war going to happen again probably. oh size want to avoid it. the landscape of warfare has shifted to drones and missiles and viruses and things of that nature. the fact there e are so many different groups in the middle east that have achieved higher levels of technical proficiency with the military defensive and offensive capabilities, should be troubling for the israelis. the israelis are going to try to figure out new ways to overcome this, which only exacerbates the likelihood there will be continued and expanding

destruction all over the region without resolving any of the core issues, ironically. amy: on sunday, thehe hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah speaking on sunday after what he said was an israeli drone attack in beirut. cook's what happened last that was an attack of the suicide drone on a target in the southern suburbs of beirut in lebanon. ththis is a breach o of the rulf engagement established after the 6 war. 200 we will do everything to stop something like this course. we will do everything to stop such a course. from now on we will face the israeli drones and lebanon skies . we will bring down is really drones w when they i injure ski. if israel kills any of our brothers in syria, we will on --d to this killing 11 in lebanon. amy: on tuesday, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu responded to hezbollah leader nasrallah. >> i heard what has rolla said.

i suggest to him to come down. he knows well that israel knows how to defend itself and to pay back its enemies. i want to tell him and to lebanon, which hosts this organization that aspires to destroy us, and i say it also to the chief of iran, watch what you say. and moreover, be careful of what you do. amy: so explain the responses here, rami khouri, the israeli prime ministers before that nas rallllah. >> the significant historical development is that has below over the last 30 years or so with significant iranian aid has been able to develop a very high level of technical military proficiency, offense e of and defense, camouflage, training, logistics -- which has essentially created a situation of mutual deterrence on the

israeli have a lebanese border. the 1970's and 2006, could come in at will with attacks and do anything at wanted. it is fascinated some palestinian people. they can't do that anymore as easily because there is a serious ability by hezbollah with tens of thousands of its rockets and missiles to inflict huge damage on israel if israel attacks lebanon again with conventional warfare. andtalk by nasrallah netanyahu is probably political posturing, but it is partly a reality that both sides have struggled now to come to terms with, which is they can't conventionally attack each other . it wouldld be so terrible for bh sides. mostly civilians would be killed. and partly because they probably

understand deep down there is no military resolution to this political conflict. at the critical point here is the rules of engagement that have been in effect since 2006 have now been broken by the israelis. those rules are that hezbollah and the israelis would do tit-for-tat attacks against each other between syria, lebanon, and israel which is disputed area. the lebanese and the syrians both claim it is theirs. the israelis accurately -- actually occupied. he has will attacks against this area are done because has the look and say we have attacked the israelis that we have not proper. israel poppe that is over now. has below will definitely respond. they always do. they will make some kind of response in israel at some point when they feel it is possible or appropriate.

that might be another thator-tat attack and things would quite dumb. this takes us back to the point where both sides have capabilities. their willing and able to fight if they have to and they will continue to do this fighting with these limited attacks probably. at the new really important thing is the fact that israel is having to fight against four or five or six simultaneous foes now. they attacked lebanon twice, ,yria, iraq, at war with hamas talked about maybe attacking houthi positions in yemen. behind all of this is the israeli have an american desire now supported by saudis, emirates, and other governments in the gulf, to do whatever they can to push back iran. the extraordinary irony of all of this is that all of the efforts toraeli gulf push back the iranians in the

last 15 to 20 years has only resulted in much bigger iranian strategic relationships across the region, many of them linked with hezbollah technical training, leading to a condition where israel faces at least a half a dozen foes around the region whose military technical capabilities are much, much greater than they were 15 or 20 years ago, therefore, cause strategic problems for the israelis and the americans and some of the gulf countries. a report came out this morning that the attack against popular mobilization militias in iraq that the israelis presumably did came fromm norththern iraq in an area controlled by militias supported by the united states and supported by the saudis. so when you're seeing this incredibly complex and moving configuration of forces,

relationships, attack points, and you are seeing this now in four or five different countries simultaneously. this is really the significant landscape we are sing. amy: you also had jihads a wreath, the foreign minister of iran, showing up at the g7 summit. can you talk about the significance of this and also iran saying they're not going to meet with trump negotiate with the united states until sanctions are liftfted? that is the arena position that is perversely logical. the americans broke the agreement and the americans reimposed sanctions so they need to r roll those back and they gt back to talking. they eventually will end up talking one day. what we've learned from the iranian situation and has will isis an example ofof this asas l because they were closely together, if you take a strong principled position, you have some support by the international rule of law and

you take military political or any other actions to defend yourself, your people support you you will be able to hang in there and was sent any kind of pressures aga y