10/14/19 10/14/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy nono >> whenever it is, w we leave. if there is s no safety, where should we go? we a are not worried about ourselves, we are concerned for the future of the children. amy: more than 130,000 people have been displaced as turkey escalates its invasion of northern syria. the death t toll is unknown.

as president trump orders a full withdrawal of u.s. troops from northern syria, the kurds have reached a deal to align with syria and russia in an effort to protect themselves from the turkish onslaught. we will get the latest. then we mark indigenous peoples day as more cities and states across the country are rejecting the federal holiday of columbmb. will look at the record of thisear's bel peace ize winner, the ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed. is peace between ethiopia and eritrean people, the horn of africa region will be a region of peace and development. are people who live scattered as refugees and humiliation will come back with dignity. our citizens will not be sold in exchange like commodities. amy: all that and more, coming up. wewelcome to democracy nowow!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

syrian troops are massing near the turkish border one day after bashar al-assad's government reached a deal to help protect the kurds from turkey's deadly aiair and ground assault. the kurds had been allied with the united states up until last week when president trump abruptly pulled u.s. troops from northern syria, paving the way for turkey's assault. more than 130,000 people have already been displaced over the past five days since turkey invaded northern syria. the death toll is unknown. turkey says over 500 "terrorist" have been neneutralized. turkey frequently refersrs to kukurdh groups ass terrorist. the third obseservatory for humn rirights is reporting tuturkish-backeded proxieses hat dead nine kurdish civilians including a prominent political leader, hevrin khalaf, who was killed along with her driver on saturday. she was the secretary general of the future syria party. kurdish authorities are

reporting 785 people affiliated with the islamic state, including women and children, escaped from a kurdish-controlled displplacemet camp i inorthern s syria. "the new york times" is rererting u.s. forces faililed o transfer five dozen high value islamic state prisoners out of syria. this is defense secretary mark esper speaking with face the nation's margaret brennan. >> i spoke with the president last night. after discussionsns, he directed thatat we begin a deliberate withdrawawal of forces from northern syria. >> from the entire country? >> from northern syria. which is where most of our forces are. >> so 1000 troops.s. how lolong and over what time period will you be -- >> we want to conducteted as safely and quickly as possible. amy: turkey is facing increasing international condemnation for invadingng northern syria. france and germany have halted arms exports to turkey as calls

grow for an eu-wide arms embargo. the turkish president erdogan is slated to visit the united states next month. president trump has defended his widely criticized decision to withdraw troops from syria by saying it's time to bring the troops home. this is s trump speaking at a minnesota relic thursday. pres. trump: we were supposed to be in syria for 30 days. we have been there now for 10 years. we were supposed to be in afghanistan for short period of time. we are now going to be there for close to 19 years. it is time to bring them home. amy: infect fact, trump has not said the troops withdrawn from northern syria will be coming back. and less than 24 hours after his minnesota campaign stump speech, the pentagon announced it is deploying an additional 1800 u.s. troops to saudi arabia.

meanwhilile, in more n news on a "new york titimes" investigation , a has revealeded h russisian warplanes have repeatedly bombed hospitals in syria, inincluding four h hospitals in n a 12-hour period on n may 5 and 6th. it is a war crime to recklesyy or intenentionally bomb a hospital. from april to september, more than 50 hospitals and clinics in opposition-held idlib province were attacked. rurussia has backed syrian leadr bashar al-assad in his brutal effort to recapture territory from opposition groups. a federal appeals court has ruled president trump must comply with a house committee's subpoena for eight years of his financial records. friday's ruling affirms an earlier ruling by a lower court. last week, president trump said he will not cooperate with the congressional impeachment inquiry, including refusing to turn over documents about his financial records. president trump is again facing allegations he is personally inciting political violence and

violence against journalists after news surfaced about the broadcast of a video in which a fake president trump shoots, stabs, and brutally assaults journalists and political opopponents. "the new york titimes" reports e video was broadcdcast at a miaii conference for trump supporters last week. in the video, the fake trump shoots a number of people whose faces have been replaced by the logos of news media organizations. he also physically assaults california democratic congress member maxine waters, hits former president barack obama in the back, and lights democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders' head on fire. in media news, fox news veteran chief news anchor shepard smith has quit. smit was one of the few prominent fox news voices to express skepticism about president trump, at times criticizing the president for his repeated lies and xenophobia. the shock of many, shepard smith announced his dedeparture frfroe

network at the end of his friday newscast. joe biden son hunter says he'll step down from the board of chinese company bhr after president trump repeatedly attacked hunter over his overseas business practices and openly called for the leaders of ukraine and china to investigate his political rival joe biden and his son for corruption. trump's apparent effort to pressure ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky to investigate hunter biden is at the center of the house's impeachment inquiry. on sunday, hunter biden's lawyer said if biden is elected his son would not "serve on boards of, or work on behalf of, foreign-owned companies." in fort worth, texas, outrage is growing after a white police officer shot and killed an african american woman by shooting through the window of the woman's home while responding to a non-emergency call from a neighbor about the

-- well check. 28-year-old atatiana jefferson and her 8-year-old nephew were plain videogames. the officers shouted through jefferson's bedroom window to put her hands up, and then opened fire, killing her. she is the sixth person since june who has been killed by one of the police department's officers. her killing comes after white off-duty police officer amber guyger was convicted of murder for killing her black neighbor botham jean in his own apartment in dallas. she had walked in thinking, she said, it was her own apartment, before she shot him dead. in japan, at least 40 people have died and over a dozen are still missing after typhoon hagibis swept through central and eastern japan saturday. experts say it was the worst

storm to hit japan in at least 60 years. it dumped record levels of rain across parts of japan, causing at least 25 rivers to burst their banks. this is typhoon survivor rie hasegawa. >> water came in immediately and i felt the water gradually go up in the dark. it was scary. i was worried about our lives. even thought it might be the end. amy: i in ecuador, t two weeks f massive indigenous-led protests have forced the government to cancel planned austerity measureses and withdraw from a $4.2 billionoan packe from the international monetary fund. the major victory came after televised negotiations between the ecuadorean government and indigenous groups on sunday. at least seven people were killed in the protests. over 2000 morere were arrested r wounded. celebrations broke out in ecuador's capital quito sunday night after the deal was reached. this is marco casagallo.

>> it is a celebration for us because we can rest easy after so many days of deaths, massacres, and other things that ecuador is gone e through. amy: in uganda, lgbt activists are fighting against the possible introduction of a bill that could make homosexuality punishable by death. the law, known as the "kill the gays" law, was passed in 2014, but was annulled by thee constitutional court on a technicality. in late september, democracy now! interviewed ugandan prime minister ruhakana rugunda at the united nations general assembly here in new york city. i want to ask you a tough question about lgbt rights in uganda. although a court has struck down the anti-lgbt legislation, still there is intense discrimination against gay and lesbian and trans community. as prime minister, what can you dodo? cocooks the discrimination you'e talking about and the courts of

uganda have taken a position and we stand by the decision taken by the court in uganda over the matter. amy: do you think lgbtq people should be respected and protected like any other individual in uganda? single human being should be discriminated. amy: in tunisia, retired law professor kais saied is poised to be the next president after preliminary results from sunday's election showed him with a landslide lead over his opponent, a multimillionaire tv mogul who had been arrested on charges of money laundering and tax fraud. celebrations filled the streets of tunis after the early results were announced. >> i am so very happy. i am so happy with you who in 2011 held a revolution and have today nominated the president with wisdom, with hope i salute tunisia's youth. they are our future.

they are everything. they're the ones who brought back our revolution today. amy: professor kais saied helped parliament draft tunisia's post-arab spring constitution and ran on a message of integrity and anti-corruption. but some have criticized his conservative viewsws, which include opposing equal inheritance for men and women and plans to reinstate the death penalty. spain's supreme court has sentenced nine catalan separatist leaders to nine to years in prison over their role 13 in catalonia's bid for independence. in 2017, the central government cracked down on separatists, arresting political leaders and charging them with rebellion following an independedence referendum and the catalan parliament's declaration of independence. in london, wikileaks' founder julian assange was remanded in custody friday after he appeared via videolink for a brief court hearing. the court will decide whether to extradite assange to the united states, where he faces 18 counts, including violations of

an espionage law and conspiracy to hack government computers. the full extradition hearing is slated to start in february. simone biles has become e the mt decorated gymnast in world championship history. on sundaday, the africican-amern gymnast won her 24th and 25th world medals. many consider her to be the greatest gymnast of all time. biles has also been an outspoken survivor of sexual abuse. in august, she called out usa gymnastics for failing to protect young athletes from dr. larry nassar, the former team doctor, who was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting and abusing more than 160 young female athletes. biles is a survivor of nassar's abuse. t is h hd comingere for an ornizationnd hing g hathem ililed uso m man times. we had doneveverytng t thehadd

asked us for a a they cod not do one damn jo you terally had oneob and you coulnot prott us. amy: andities anstates fm coast coast a celebrang indigeus peoples day today, rejecting the official holiday of columbus day. last week, washington, d.c., became one of the latest of over cities, counties, and 130 states to recognize indigenous people's day. sunrise ceremonies are being held this morning from randall's to alcatrazw york off the coast of san francisco. we'll have more on indigenous people's day later in the broadcast. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. syrian troops are massing near the turkish border one day after syrian president bashar al-assad kurds from turkey's deadly air and ground assault. on sunday, the kurds agreed, in

a deal brokered by russia, to hand over two border towns to the syrian government in exchange for protection. the kurds had been allied with the united states up until last week when president trump abruptly pulled u.s. troops from northern syria, paving the way for turkey's assaulult. on defense sececretary mark espr sunday, announced the u.s had ordered all remaining u.s. forces out of northern syria. more thahan 130,000 people have already y been displaced over te pastst five days since t turkey invaded northern syria. the death totoll is unknown. turkey says more e than 500 "terroriststs" have been neutralized. turkey frequently refers to kurdish groups as terrorist. the syrian observatory for human rights is reporting turkish-backed proxies have shot dead nine kurdish civilians including a prominent political leader, hevrin khalaf, who was killed along with her driver on saturday.

she was the secretary general of the future syria party. kurdish authorities are reporting 785 people affiliated with the islamic statete, including many women and children, escaped from a kurdish-controlled displacement camp in northern syria. the escape occurred as turkish-backed f forces shshelld nearby targets. on sunday, president trump's former defense secretary james mattis warned the current turmoil will lead to a resurgence of isis. this comes as "the new york times" is reporting u.s. forces failed to transfer five dozen high value islamic state prisoners out of the country before trump withdrew troops from northern syria. turkey is facing increasing international condemnation for invading northern syria. the european union has called on all member states to stop selling arms to ankara. to talk more about the situation in northern syria, we are joined by ozlem goner. she is an assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at the city university of new york. she is a member of the emergency

committee of rojova. she is from turkey and of kurdish origin. professor, welcome so much for being with us. could you talk about what you understand to be the latest situation now in northern syria? >> thank you for having me. well, the situation, as you just said, the kurds needed to have a deal. we need to look at the situation a little back and see that last year -- actually, the beginning of this year in january, president trump once again said he is going to withdraw the troops from syria, so leaving the kurds alone. this did not happen because there was a lot of reactions against this. then at the time, he had said, well, we're going to do this but in time and in due warning so our allies there can protect themselves. at this did not happen because just a random phone call this past week between erdogan and

trump come he all of a sudden decided to take all troops out of there without any vacation, without any time for the kurdish troops to protect themselves. so once they were left unprotected -- it is important to realize it is not just president trump, but we tried very hard to develop international solidarity against this to call for a no-fly zone so that even if the u.s. troops get out of the place that the kurds can be protected with their self-defense measures combined with no-fly zone so that turkey cannot do air attacks, which is the majority of losses last time happen. so this did not take place. this did not go through. there is no protection from the u.s. whatsoever. it was just very prompt taking of the troops out of their. so the kurds come in order to escape genocide, had to make a deal.

this is a shame because they had to make a deal with a regime that has been regressing now for decades in order to protect themselves. amy: explain what this deal, how it happened, it was brokered by russia. >> russia basically once the u.s. to withdraw from the region. russia became the major power in the region, negotiating between theey, assad forces, and sdf. russia is the only actor in the playing field right now, in addition to iran. right now we're speaking of the russian leadership. and so the terms of the deal are still unknown because for the part of the kurds, they are -- they're urgent need for some protection and to prevent genocide made them just urgently accept this offer from the assad regime. their hope is they can keep

their autonomy. this is what the leaders of the syrian democratic forces were saying, that this is just to protect the borders for now and to prevent turkish invasion, turkish war, turkish -- i mean, kurdish genocide at the hands of turkish forces. especially, you mentioned this and it is very important to understand, turkey, it is not just the isis fighters escaped. turkey actually bombed the isis prisons so they can escape. turkishy is -- the interior minister, five days ago, when after the tv program when turks were concerned about the potential isis attack stop it was like, become trouble, no need to be concerned. they don't have any option but to ally with us. withare openly allying isis. amy: let's go to president trump who was responding to questions

from reporters last week, asking what will happen to isis fighters in the region who are imprisoned and who could escape. he said, well, they will escape to europe. pres. trump: isis fighters escape and pose a threat elsewhere. pres. trump: well, they're going to be escaping to europe. they want to go back to their homes but europe did not want them for months. amy: your response to what trump just said? >> this is outrageous. there is the reemergence and happenede of isis that because of trump's sudden decision to withdraw the troops. without any protection whatsoever, without any plan to do something with these isis fighters and also their families. it is very important to understand what we call isis families as women and children. these are fighters. they have done you norma's human rights for cash norma's human

rights violations. free to letting them kill the kurds aligned with the turkish forces. it is europe's responsibility. amy: trump said, oh, the isis fighters will go to europe. he made very clear they will not come to the united states. >> we know how they can mobilize to attack and make terrorist attacks in all parts of the world. who hasly for someone been using the discourse of terror for such a long time and threats for such a long time, it is outrageous not to see the imminent threat and it is outrageous to not see the cooperation of turkey. an open statement that we're going to cooperate with isis, that we are going to use the forces of the jihadists, i says in addition to the land forces

and air forces to attack and unprotected territory. in the only news these people have is self-defense. it is important to understand this is not just the kurds in the region who are under threat, but the minorities and religious minorities who have been especially targeted by isis. so they are looking for revenge. they are looking for exterminating these leftover --ulations that they started the genocide they had committed and enslaved thousands. and letting them both operate in that region and then saying they will go to europe, and we know the danger they impose to the world, this is basically president trump's fault. but also, -- amy: what you say about trump tweeted today "kurds may be releasing some to get u.s. involved." >> tweeting.

who tweets about these issues? seriously. why would kurds do that? just bring a human face to this. we saw a woman holding her baby crying, her dead baby, saying we fled kobani. i nowsband died in kobani her daughter died at the hands of kurdish forces cooperating with the jihadists and isis. iss, the loss they suffer 11,000 people. 11,000 people fighting against isis were killed. so the major losses -- on amy: in northern syria. >> in northern syria. trump, as we know historically, there is the role of europe by colonizing this region of the world by separating kurds into four different nationstates.

builde not able to international solidarity to protect come to do something against this colonization over the century. and then this is important because then the u.s. -- it is important to say that when he says we don't have a responsibility, it is not our fault, who created the jihadis? who created i says? who made it in such a big threat to the world in the first place? we need to understand the u.s. involvement -- amy: explain. >> if you look at it, europe, first, because it was the earlyzing agent of the construction of this region and early separation of kurds under formation states, denying their sovereignty, denying the self-defense. and right now everybody is, who is terrorist? erdogan is using this that they

are terrorists. terroristslled because europe had denied sovereignty from them. when they were denied to be a nationstate, their self protection was called terrorism. we know world war ii and the u.s. involvement in this region, so how the u.s. has created these -- first i initiated the assad regime, these repressive regimes to suppress the left in the middle east in different liberals, thebaath new capitalist regime, the right regimes against the turkish left. so they have cultivated this region. and then we know since early 2000, especially following september 11, it has created this war on so-called terror,

reviving, re-creating these jihadi forces, these islamic forces, and letting them to run the region according to the u.s. interests. the major role the u.s. has played in creating these monsters, that then killed, massacred the people of the region and then denying responsibility for this. the i want to ask about syrian observatory for human rights reported a turkish back proxy shot dead nine kurdish civilians, including this prominent political leader. she was a secretary general of the future syria party. who was she? >> she was a human rights defender. she was also working, as you know, one of the major successes of the revolution has been to promote women and has been to fight against patriarchy. she was one of these major

figures, human rights defender -- theyvery active and attacked, they will attack first human rights. they will attack women, as this act is showing. that especially the jihadi and isis forces have been very famous in attacking come as you know she was -- we don't the exaxact -- what happened the exactly, but we know there was sexual violence. this is very important that theyey're going to attack these people who have been cultivating democratic, non-patriarchal system. not just isis, but the turkish government is standing with the jihadis who are very suppressive, very patriarchal, and who want -- who can't tolerate women being in the forefront. so women have b been the targets

first. women, and then it is going to be the religious minorities. obviously, all kurds. outrageous,s just not just what the trump administration did -- i think it is time for also the left to rethink about turkey's attempts to become the regional power and to see how'turkeys colonizing these places, these people with the use of the jihadi's and isis and to be against this, to be against really create a strong stance against us. amy: so president trump come at about the same time he had his conversation with erdogan two sundays ago and announced the immediate withdrawal of u.s. troops -- not saying they will go home because it was almost immediatelyy announceded the pentagon is going to send 1800 more troops on top of the

thousands more they had already said a few weeks before, to saudi arabia. the significance of this? >> thank you so much for bringing that, amy. people think, well, they celebrated. this is why -- telling amy: they really want to end the war. >> this is why the u.s. should really reconsider its war policy and how the cultivation of this region has been based on colonialism and imperialism and because the troops are very minor part of the role of the u.s. in the region. first of all, it is replacing these troops. so we are not even talking about these troops leaving the region. it is just taking them from here and putting them there stuck so letting these people get massacred because, to deal with turkey and because we are in good relations, where we going to send them there. first of all, the troops, even

though it is a minor issue in the whole region and the governing of the region, even the troops are not brought back to the u.s., they are just replaced. it also there is much more. the armament deal. where is turkey getting its weapons? where is turkey getting its airplanes to attack? one of the most defenseless populations of the world, getting it from the u.s. and european companies. so their complicity in this work is the kurds in the past century, especially the recent episode, is very striking. amy: trump come after announcing they were withdrawing troops from the area come and not necessssarily bringing them hom, also announced he will be h havg a meeting at the white house with erdogan. ran aashington post" piece is saying trump's decision on syria crystallizes questions about his business and his presidency. the article notes trump himself has acknowledged his conflict of interest with turkey come even after trump became president trump towers's temple remained

part of the trump organization, continue to generate revenue for trump himself. >> exactly. trump does -- he is saying, we don't have interest in there, he doesn't have interest in there. he doesn't have hotels. he doesn't have companies in rojova. we all know rojova is an anticapitalist, anti-patriarchal goal come ecologically from ecologically sensitive democracy. this area of northern syria that is led by curtis coalition forces. and also other ethnic minorities, religious minorities who were able to live peacefully in a region that was under the attack of i says. -- i says. and in the midst of the war, they were able to create up pluralistic, feminist, ecological democracy. honestly, trump's interest does not lie with the economic interest of this region, his

ideological interest is not like is us, theis why it u.s., and the left, who needs to see and see what is happening. amy: as we wrap up, what happens now? the kurds have made a deal with syria. >> so what happens now is we need to push for the kurdish autonomy. one of the leaders, commanders of the syrian democratic forces, said we have to make this deal to protect our people against genocide. it is important because we need to make sure that we create international solidarity. first of all, there are economic sanctions against turkey to try everything to bring the turkish occupation down. but at the same time, to make sure that syrian democraticc forces is a legitimate political actor while we are pushing the leaders to bring turkey to make

peace in the region and syrian democratic forces to establish its autonomy because this is under threat. and right now they are making this deal. they might lose their autonomy. they might be giving into the regime. the assad regime -- amy: which they have fought for so long. >> it has been violent against the kurds for decades. it is not like they want to make this negotiation. they have to because the u.s. left them unprotected because the u.s. was unable to establish a no-fly zone that would give them some protection. imprison, cancan torture, can kill, can murder the leaders of the syrian democratic forces. this really reminds me of early turkish as occurs where the leaders of the kurds, such as my region, had to negotiate with the turkish, had to give in themselves to protect their people. so it -- they're doing this to

prevent genocide because the in thedministration world left has not developed mechanisms in solidarity to protect them. so it is a shame that they have to turn to another dictator to protect themselves from one dictator. , thank you forr joining us assistant professor , of sociology and anthropology at the city university of new york. member of the emergency committee of rojova. when we come back, cities and states from coast to coast are celebrating indigenous peoples day today. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. christopher columbus arrived in bahamas 527 years ago this week, unleashing a brutal genocide that killed t tens of millions of native people across the hemisphere. cities and states across the united states are acknowledging this devastating history by rejecting the federal holiday of columbus day and celebrating indigenous peoples day instead to honor centuries of indigenous resistance. alaska, maine, minnesota, new mexico, north carolina, south dakota, vermont, and wisconsin have all officially recognized indigenous people's day. so have more than 130 cities and counties, from los angeles, san francisco, and dallas to smaller places like livingston, kentucky, and harpers ferry, west virginia. last week, washington, d.c., became one of the latest to recognize the holiday. washington, d.c., the district

of columbia, takes its name from columbus. in a statement before the vote, d.c. councilmember at-large david grosso said -- "columbus day was officially designated as a federal holiday in 1937 despite the fact that columbus did not discover north america, despite the fact that millions of people were already living in north america upon his arrival in the americas, and despite the fact that columbus never set foot on the shores of the current united states. columbus enslaved, colonized, mutilated, and massacred thousands of indigenous people in the americas." the movement to replace columbus day gained momentum in 1992 -- the 500th anniversary of columbus' arrival -- when berkeley, california, became the first city to make the change. earlier protests inspired the movemement, including the annunl national day of mourning in plymouth, massachusetts, held on thanksgiving to challenge the myth of peaceful coexistence between native people and the english settlers, the pilgrims. today, native american

communities are celebrating indigenous people's day across the country with sunrise ceremonies at new york city's randall's island to california's alcatraz island -- the former prison and site of a historic native american occupation and protest against u.s. treatment of indigenous people 50 years ago. for more, we go to iakowi:he'ne oakes. she is snipe clan, a mohawk of the haudenosaunee confederacy, and executive director of the american indian community house in new york. we welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. can you talk about the significance of this day? we are here in new york. there's a statue of wrist for columbus and columbus circle, and it is not one of the cities that is recognizing indigenous peoples day. >> well, this day, indigenous isples day, is -- it

indigenous people's day every day for me and my community. we have to fight colonization and try to maintain our identity every single day because it has been stripped away from us and, i guess,s just what we have been through and what has been taken from us from columbus and his crusade. at the american indian community house, one of my goals is to sort of reclaim space, our culture, and find a place and presence within society today. day to it is not just a celebrate us, it is a day to remind everybody else to take andonsibility and step up

resend things like the doctrine of discovery. the nativeote about american popululation in newew k in an article. you explain that among cities, new york has the largest population of indigenous peoples. can you explain the diversity of this population? >> from what we know at the community house, we represent up to 73 different tribal nations in new york city. based on the census, there is 118,000 native americans in new york city. overall, the entire native ofulation in the u.s., 70% natives -- of the native population are urban natives. new york city, being the largest population of all urban natives. for us to be here and do not

have a permanent space or a native center or any sort of equity and just a raised at of it is aand culture, tough time for us right now. right now it is like we are fighting every single day with the system. we are not heard of. but days like this, indigenous peoples day, is a reminder to everybody else that we are still here. amy: can explain what the fund is? >> it is great. that was a few people, what we call settlers -- you will see if you visit the site -- they approach the community house and worked with a few of our board members and trying to figure out a way that they could contribute to the native american community in new york city. their goodth all of minds, they come up with this fund. it is a sort of campaign where five dollars,te

$10, or a larger amount. you could do this online. you could make a pledge, which would be every single month -- sort of like the bernie campaign, $24 a month or it could carry on through the whole year. amy: as you speak, we're going to run a slideshow that was taken yesterday at randalls island. if you could talk about the ceremonies that are taking place right now as we speak. there's a sunrise ceremony both at randalls island and also at alcatraz, across the country. this is the period 50 years ago of an uprising. this is a big year, 50 years. the 50 year anniversary

for alcatraz and the american community house. with all of our ceremonies, we celebrate life. we celebrate what creation has given to us. we celebrate the waters, the earth, the moon, the stars, the skies, the animals -- all things that we depend on and need and coexist with equally. in alcatraz, from what i know, they are taking canoes and going to visit the island and they're having their ceremony there in unison with the ceremonies happening here. amy: also, the doctrine of discovery. if you could explain what that is. last year representatives of indigenous groups in the u.s. and canada went to the vatican to request retraction of the doctrine of discovery. explain. >> that was -- that is the beginning of it all.

in 1493, that is when the doctrine of discovery was created. , cope of alexander vi. >> and what that does is it gives dominion for white man or for christians come over non-christians, rather, indigenous people, us. if you're not christian, if you're not christian people, are not considered human or there is nobody there occupying that land or -- basically, we can't have title to land if we are indigenous and non-christian. and that has always been the root cause of all of this right now, colonization. that is the number one tool. amy: the american indian community house that you are the head of, it is also the 50th anniversary. explain its origins and what you're doing. , they'rers ago

basically doing -- rattling the same fight where we are today. we are trying to reclaim our culture. we are try to maintain our ourent and trend exercise strengths and authority for the future and try to regain title also. and one of those ways is, for me, one direction i want to focus on is bringing attention to the doctrine of discovery. throughout the past 50 years, it has been a little bit of a struggle. there was some support and now there is none. 50 years later, the community house is in a place where we have little to no funding. funding was taken from us in 2017 by the federal government. so here we are today -- line

amy: which coincides exactly with the time that indigenous people around the country have been leading the struggle against extractive industries and are on the forefront of the battle around the climate crisis. >> yeah. we are a threat. the moment things like the doctrine of discovery are rescinded, that challenges all title of land and authority. amy: i want to thank you so much for being with us. iakowi:he'ne oakes is snipe clan, a mohawk of the haudenosaunee confederacy, and executive director of the american indian community house in new york. when we come back, we look at the record of this years nobel peace prize winner, the ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed. stay with h us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we ended today show looking at this years nobel peace prize winner. norwegian nobel committee has decided to award for 2019 l peace prize to ethiopian prime mininister ay achiever his efforts to peace and international cooperation, and in particular, for his decisive initiative to resolve the conflict with neighboring eritrea. amy: that was the announcement by the norwegian nobel committee on friday in oslo. the ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed will receive the award december 10. the committee praised him for his role in brokering a histotoc peace deal between ethiopia and eritrea and lifting the state of

emergency in ethiopia. he has also released thousands of political dissidents from palouse and women to a record 50% of cabinet positions. for more, we go to staffordshire, england, to speak with awol allo, an associate professor at the keele university school of law. his recent article for al jazeera is titled "why i nominated abiy ahmed for the nobel peace prize." let's start there, , professor. why did you nonominate him and talk about his significance, the youngest leader in africa today? absolutely. i nominated him primarily because of the significance and remarkable change she has brought into the state. he is a leader, came to power on the back of struggles by people, a protest that lasted for years involving two-state of emergencies. this one came especially out of where. -- no

released thousands opoliticacal prisoners,s, allowed a n numberf opopposition forces that were forced outff t t country to come bacacand participate in dedemocratic pololitics. anand really gavave hope and optimismsm eththpian's so that n and of itself is ver remarkabable. was note nobel award givenecause he did these ththings internanally. i think for r any leader, , it s theieir duty to do ththose kindf ththings, but he was awarded primarilily for thehe transformaonal state that he has taken instep realizing the region -- in stabilizing the region. specifically, with eritrea. when he was appointed as prime minister and now is one of the most important policy stems he made was reaching out to eritrea

and saying to the leaders and the eritrean people that it is enough and we need to move forward. shortly after he became a prime minister, he unconditionally accepted the agreement. he accepted the boundary he made a deal with the eritrea --something most people thought was impossible. he took risks against significant internal o oppositi. he mobilized relations with eritrea and allowed thousands of families who were splintered as result of the war to reunite once again. that was hugely significant. beyond that, he tried to remediate the difference between cocountries in t the region. between n eritrea a a djibouti, between eritrea and somalia a, between somalia and kenya and south sudan, but most recently the peace deal that he managed a broker between the opposition alliance and the transition of

eritrea council in sudan itself. when you take all of those things together, i think he was clearly a very worthy candidate in terms of the criteria of the nobel peace prize. amy: i want to go to the ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed speaking last year. >> if there is peace between ethiopia and eritrean people, the horn of africa region will be a region of peace and development. our people who live scattered as refugees and humiliation will come back with dignity.. our citizens will not be sold in exchange like commodities. amy: so i was wondering if you could give us his biography in a nutshell? an unusual upbringing, interreligious -- his family. tell us about him. he comes from a very diverse background.

his dad is a muslim. his mom is a christian. is -- he fought as a soldier. he understands i think the miseries that were brought to people who fought in the war, but generally to people in the frontline area. time director of one of the intelligence agencies in the country. he was also a minister of technology. four years or so, he theme the deputy head of people's democratic organization , the political party that he leads now and from which he comes to become a prime minister. he is somebody that has a hugely diverse appeal to the different

sections in ethiopia' as highly diverse community. amy: and was a u.n. peacekeeper in rwanda. i want to turn to an opinion piece in deutsche welle by ludger schadomsky, who heads the newspaper's amharic desk. the article is headlined "nobel peace prize for abiy ahmed a misguided decision." in it, he writes -- "the initial shuttle diplomacy pursued by abiy and eritrea's autocratic ruler isaias afewerki has come to a halt. by now, both countries have rather resorted to forging unholy strategic alliances with countries located beyond the red sea, in accordance with that age-old motto that horn of africa nations ascribe to 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'' abiy has received the most prestigious peace prize for a peace that exists, predominantly, only on paper. worse still, the award could, eventually, even torpedo those peace efforts, if the eritrean leadership felt put under pressure to an even greater extent than before."

awol allo, could you? >> i read that piece. it is completely uninformed. very little knowledge of the political landscape in the horn of africa's politics. it comes with a lot of moral authority -- the words of this nature come with a lot of moral authority. could be used for purposes and ideas that are not consistent with the price. but at the same time, it is also very important tool for the recipients to use to advance the peace agenda. this award is not given to the most, you know, to the nicest person or the kindest person on earth. it is given for something very specific, for an individual who did the most in terms of advancing the cause of peace in

the previous years. i cannot really think of anyone around the world who did that better than abiy ahmed. there are challenges in terms of forging relationships? absolutely. eritrea is a very closed system. it has concerns in terms of everything it does come in terms of every bilateral relationship it enters into. in the face, for example, a, dishizing if you be ethiopia to a plurality of voices, there would be concerns. those concerns do not in any way basicallyfrom -- tried to do everything they can to give peace a chance. i think the segment you played earlier where the prime minister requiresg that piece stable and peaceful one of africa, that the relationship

they had with eritrea, making eritrea some kind of prior where -- diplomatically isolated putting on other western countries, and making eritrea hell-bent on establishing the region, that does not help was not it did not help. it will not help in the future. andsupport and peace stability in my country is next regularly tied to the -- extra extra ghibli tied. you're dealing with a highly authoritarian system, very difficult individual. there is limits in terms of how much. some people link democracy and human rights and eritrea with this award. think what is being claimed here is abiy ahmed is supposed to solve eritrea's problem, i think is a slightly

different question. amy: awol allo, thanks for being with us, associate professor at the keele university school of england. that does it for our broadcast. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]