proud boys hate group, enrique tarrio, was arrested monday on misdemeanor property destruction charges after he publicly admitted to tearing a black lives matter banner off a historically black church in washington, d.c., and setting it on fire last month. police say tarrio had illegal high-capacity magazines of ammunition on him when he was arrested. the metropolitan ame church has sued the proud boys for "engaging in acts of terror and vandalizing church property in an effort to intimidate the church and silence its support for racial justice." later in the broadcast, we'll speak with the lawyer representing the metropolitan ame church, kristen clarke. iran says it has resumed enriching uranium to 20% purity -- a level barred under the 201i iran nuclear agreement. president trump unilaterally withdrew the u.s. from the ndmark deain 2018. an has lonmaintainedts nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. this comes as foreign policy

experts fear president trump could be plotting an attack on iran as one of his final acts before joe biden takes office on january 20. in labor news, more than 200 employees of google announced monday they were joining a labor union, accusing the tech giant of ignoring worker demands that the company promote solidarity, democracy, and social and economic justice. members of the newly-formed alphabet workers union wrote in a "new york times" op-ed monday "our bosses have collaborated%d with repressive governments around the world. they have developed artificial intelligence technology for use by the department of defense and profited from ads by a hate group. they have failed to make the changes necessary to meaningfully address our retention issues with people of color." in chicago, scores of teachers refused to return to classrooms monday as the chicago public school district reopened in person classes for the first time since march. members of the chicago teachers union said they're preparing a strike authorization vote in the school officials can ensure stronger protections against the

coronavirus. this is a special education teacher. >> all of this breaks my heart. he breaks all of our hearts. but we cannot be the great teachers that we are under these unsafe conditions. and what kind of teachers would we be if we showed our students that are overwhelming and anxiety and fear are the most common feelings that are associated with their classroom, the school building, and their first school expenses? amy: and in nevada, indigenous leader, land rights activist and water protector carrie dann has died at the age of 88. beginning in the 1970's, carrie dann and her sister mary refused to pay grazing fees to the federal government over its repeated violations the 1863 treaty of ruby valley, which defined western shoshone territory. in the 1990's, armed federal marshals rounded up the dann sisters' horses and cattle in a series of sometimes-violent raids, setting up a legal fight that went all the way to the

u.s. supreme court and the united nations. the dann sisters also fought to restore western shoshone land poisoned by atomic bomb tests and cyanide used in gold mining operations. carrie dann spoke to democracy now! in 2008 about the fight against barrick gold and other mining companies. these golder from mines in order to get to the microscopic gold, which is under the water table. they pump anywhere from 20,000 gallons to 70,000 gallons per minute. 365 days out of the year. they are pumping life, in my opinion, the life of the future generations -- not only of the human life, but all life. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey.

hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. happy new year. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. and happyjk;% news year to all. at a campaign rally monday night in georgia for the two critical senate runoff elections taking place today, president trump addressed thousands of unmasked supporters and used much of the time to focus on himself and again dispute the outcome of november's presidential election. pres. trump: i want to thank you very much. llo, georgia. by the way, there is no way we lost georgia. there is no way. that was a rigged election. we are still fighting it. you will see what is going to happen. amy: in a rambling speech, trump cited the same conspiracy theories he used to pressure georgia's secretary of state in a recorded telephone call over the weekend to "find" him enough votes to overturn the state's certified election results.

on monday, georgia's top election official, republican gabriel sterling, held a press conference to debunk trump's election fraud claims. nothing in our investigations are these data claims that shows nearly enough ballots to change the outcome. the secretary and i at this podium have said since november 3, there is illegal voting in every election because they're human beings involved. at.s a question of limiting we had part of the hand teller we discussed in relation to the potential -- let's go to the other ridiculous claims, the voting machines are somehow flipping votes. by doing the hand tally, it shows none of that is true.

not a wit. .his is all easily false yet the president persists. amy: democrats say trump could be prosecuted and even impeached for illegally trying to pressure georgia officials to commitr voter fraud, while house republicans are rushing to trump's defense. on monday, georgia senator kelly loeffler promised to join a republican effort to contest the electoral college result during a joint session of congress on wednesday. she was speaking alongside president trump and a rally he came down to to support her and georgia's other senator david perdue. perdue affects the effort to cannot vote since his senate term ended on sunday. there about facing runoffs today. greene also said the election "should be decertified," but when cnn asked

her if doing so would impact her own injury since she was on the same ballot, she said "we're just talking about the presidents race. for more, we're joined in washington, d.c., by kristen clarke, president and executive director of the lawyers' committee for civil rights under law. welcome back to democracy now! these are extremely dire times, to say the least. can you talk about the significance over what a dozen senators in over 140 congressmembers, all republicans, are going to do tomorrow if they challenge the certification of the election of joe biden and kamala harris? clubs thank you for having me and happy new year. it is important to remember that the november 2020 election is now nine weeks behind us. in the ensuing nine weeks, we have counted pallets, recounted ballots, have lived through

lawsuits in a number of states, particularly in places that are home to large numbers of black voters, cities like milwaukee, philadelphia, atlanta, detroit, and others who are very much the focal point of a lot of these failed lawsuits that we endured. -- wel results certified sell results certified. the electoral college hazmat. the meeting happening between congressbers of commerc tomorrow is a ministerial meing in which both chambers are there to meet and carry out one simple task. and that is certifying the work electoral college has done that is certifying the electoral results. very much marked moment where we should be putting the selection behind us. it is most unfortunate their members of congress in both the house and senate that are

planning to use tomorrow to orchestrate and do grandstanding, frankly, to continue this kind of baseless claim there was something wrong with the 2020 election. isthe end of the day, it important to remember we are still living through a pandemic that has upended life in our country. and despite that, over 150 million americans were able to overcome tremendous obstacles and barriers and have their voices heard. for election officials to ignore that grim reality and continue this charade, this sham, and to perpetuate this mythology about irregularities in our election, is incredibly un-american. what we have lived through over the past nine weeks, really about political showmanship.

these are elected officials, states attorneys general, who almost seem to be trying to outperform one anothere ?v;3çh their antics. we have seen lawsuits that have been frivolous, that have been packed with conspiracy theories and baseless allegations. lawsuits that had errors in the documents. it is unfortunate that they have clogged up the court system. at this stage, we need members of congress, many of whom just sworn an oath, many new member of congress, sworn an oath to uphold the constution and serve the public dutifully, to do their job and not use tamara's historic meeting for the kind of political grandstanding that we have been saying over the last several weeks. clarke, then extraordinary comments that

president trump made in that phone call over the weekend, however, no matter how delusional and how lacking in facts his statements are, they do serve to, in essence, consolidate his base of support, don't they? it is almost a theory if you keep repeating a lie often enough, no matter how big it is, that there will be a portion of people who will beeve it because it has been repeated so often. i am wondering your sense of the onact of this conversation the foundations of our democracy? call, aslarmed by the i imagine many americans are. i think there is a question out whether the conduct in that call potentially is criminal. there provisions under both georgia state law and our federal election law which

prohibits this kind of attempt to interfere with our election. there is a georgia criminal law that would prohibit the kind of soliciting a state official to engage in unlawful conduct in a way that call seemed to transpire. there's another provision in our federal election law, 52 usc 20511 which would pribit and make unlawful the kind of interference with the way federal election is carried out in the way that call seemed to transpire. there is a question of whether that call is potentially criminal. it is most certainly unethical and it is absolutely antidemocratic. we do not want to live in a democracy where officials at the executive level are putting their thumb on the scale and using their unique vision of

power and authority to persuade those who are tasked with running our elections to rig the outcome, to rewrite the will of voters, to cancel out the voices ,f some while amplifying it inflating the impact of other voices. this is not the kind of conduct that we want to tolerate in our democracy today. amy: we're talking about georgia and what is happening inside congress tomorrow. but there are a lot who are deeply concerned about what is happening outside on the streets. the pentagon has reproved a request by the washington dc mayor muriel bowser to call out the national guard and of the planned antidemocracy protests by trump supporters. wednesday's rally scheduled to coincide with that joint session of congress know lawmakers will vote to certify the results of the presidential election. during a similar protest in december, four people were

stabbed, 32 arrested, violent confrontations between far-right groups and anti-fascist counterprotesters. meanwhile, the leader of the proud boysate group was arrested monday on misdemeanor property destruction charges after he publicly admitted to carrying a black lives matter banner off a starkly -- historically black church in washington, d.c., and setting it on fire last month. police say he had illegal high-capacity magazines of a mission on him when he was arrested post of the metropolitan ame church has sued the proud boys for "engaging in accept tear and penalizing church property." after the attack on the church pastor said -- "for me it was reminiscent of cross burnings." shortly after the attack, tarrio told "the washington post" -- "let me make this simple. i did it."

kristen clarke come you are the lawyer spearheading for the church this lawsuit against proud boys. talk about the significance of this. >> sadly, our nation has very dark and warded history of targeting historically black churches, which are imrtant institutions that have long provided a safe haven for black committees. but the metropolitan african methodist episcopal church, which was targeted by the attack that you're describing, is particularly special institution. it dates back to 1872. it is a place where frederick luminariesoke, where and people who have fought for racial justice throughout the decades have taken to the podium and spoke in crowds across to advance justice. this is a very special institution and sits on one of the oldest properties, longest

and unbroken chain of black ownership. it serves righteously today by the reverend william lamarr iv. it has openly showed support for the black lives matter movement. on december 12, members of the proud boys another extremists ripped the sign down and targeted other churches. in one instance, involving the asbury methodist church. they ripped the sign down, port excel rent on the banner, and burned it. it wasn't -- it was a scene that hearkened back to the cross era and verybygone a modern-dayted cross burning intended to instill fear and promote chaos in communities across our country. so this lawsuit is about standing up and bit caving --

vindicating the rights of this historically black church for the lawsuit is also about sending a message to other bad actors out there seeking to carry out the objectives of the proud boys. seeking to promote racial chaos. when we look back at history in our country, we think about the four girls of the birminam church that was bombed. the nine peaceful worshipers who were killed during a prayer service at the charleston church. we think about three historically black churches in louisiana that were burned just a year ago. and this makes clear there is an unbroken chain of racial violence and a dark history when it comes to the targeting of black churches. and with this lawsuit, we are making clear we will not allow the proud boys to carry out mob violence with impunity. we will use the court to hold him accountable. and we will use civil rights law

as a way of sending a message to extremists that they are not above the law and will be held accountable for their dangerous, toxic, and dark actions. amy: kristen clarke, thank you for being with us, president and executive director of the lawyers' committee for civil rights under law. juan, i think your have one more question before we lose kristen. i want to make sure you get that in. juan: i wanted to ask about this issue of the rally of the pro-trump folks in front of congress. i don't think i recall a rally of calling for a protests in washington. i heard a president speaking sometimes or addressing a ral but they support it, but especially in the context of the fact these 10 former secretaries, of the living former secretaries of defense issued this amazing letter this

week calling for no intervention of the military on the issue of the election. you have some concern about possible violence, not only by the right wing, but possibly by agent provocateurs who may pose as leftists or progressives trying to confront these right-wing folks to devolve into possible violence that one is looking for? >> and admin respects, what we saw in december 12 was that chaos and violence that infused when you combine toxic election disinformation with racial violence, threat that is been growing the country. i do anticipe there is some potential for the kind of chaos that we sa in december 2 unfold inside our nation's capital once again.

i'm glad we are seeing d.c. leadership, but the mayor and the d.c. attorney general, really taking bold and swift action to hold members of the proud boys accountable, to make clear this is not a place where open carry is permitted. i think vigilance is required and leadership is most certainly required at this moment. it really has been incredibly chaotic, unruly with members of congress openly and brazenly protest stage this sham tomorrow in the halls of congress. i think for americans at the end of the day, we know the tremendous barriers and hurdles that were crossed to register our voice at the ballot box, amid the pandemic. there is nothing that will change the fair outcome of this election. íbo" moveb/ñhp.9

amy: kristen clarke, thank you us.being withmocracy. we come back, go to georgia. pushing back on terms desperate attempt to still the election but voting rights activists say this may be a falling out among thieves. we will look at the purging of votes in georgia up until this day. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "stepping into tomorrow" from madlib invades blue note. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. is runoff day in georgia. republican senator david duke is facing off against democrat jon ossoff. and republican senator kelly loeffler is running against reverend raphael warnock. the races will determine the control of the u.s. senate. over 3 million georgia residents have already cast their ballots, in a record turnout for runoff elections. but voting rights activists fear many eligible voters may be blocked from voting. the aclu of georgia has revealed 198,000 voters had been wrongly purged from the polls. while legal efforts to reverse the purge ahead of the runoffs failed, voting rights activists continue to pressure state

officials to re-examine how voter rolls are maintained. we turn now to a report by investigative journalist greg palast, narrated by the actress debra messing. >> the are t competing sties. wideread vot suppreson or ssive ter frd. this ye's gegia gop secretarof statecced 1000 gegians ofotingwice. there are 100peopleomef 150,00 that acally doue vote 100dole voter th is a lony crime how many d he arre? zero none. ro vot fraud whaabout vote suppreion? justefore the 2020 eleion me theame georgia oicia canced the vot registrion .

ey call is a pur. >> got my hands othe purg list itook years. >>reg palas wh rollin stone go suspicis abouthe disaearance tens of thousandof voters fm orgia's voter ll georgi tolpalace tthese vors had med out otheir home left gegia, b the purged vers told reporter -- sce 1968.tere close cordingo the ate of geora,hey saidhese people moved ay. i we to th lisand stard findg these ters. i have ved hereor 20 years. 3 years. >> i he beenurgedfrom the voter lls. ve not med. my me was n there. clo stas hathese vors ve moved whonows if umoved? theost offi has license who can go to theostal computerand tell youxactly who has lled out those pe of address cards.

the post office contrtor give me t officia list the pele of moved d the pele who ve not mov. it tns out the voterhave nomoved. 35had nomoved. i took this ttheclu of geora. theyssued myepor. you bet.l? accoing to t feder law, fore you purase meone off the vor rollsyou ve to check wi the pos offe and the licsee contraor. that is w. i gea call om t psident the natiol barssociaon. >> purging from the res is a classic gn of vot suression. i'it ironithe peop been purged fm the pol blarge are blacand browvoters? how do yoexplain at? close sooto returall 190,0

vote to theoles. suit w filed obehalf 's-- behaf bck les matte waspreadinghe messe oemporment. simpleequireme to have third rty licens. sile reqrementou c literay in a matter being able to rify thathose names --e ds 190,00name >> they sa they me. >> ther's evidenc tse 198,000 move feelievehis is aorm ter suppssion. >> jge was td to mee with blk vote matter and fix t discrencie the massive errs in thpurge list. latos bown, bked by dam tm of lawys, went the atecatal to cfront

offials to fix those discrencies. >> thi pge case just on tryingo desty the vo. if e ter is disfranchis, th is one o many >> demded a eting. a mar.s lettucen on aarch. is was oe the het of the conferacy. we t to theffice ofhe secrary of ste and iis loed and dark, b there's a one numbapedo the do. [phon rings] yr callas been forrded system. a cap trick avoid lasha. but shhad anotr idea we went on aunt. is, chrise

harvey, georgia'sirector o elecons. e m whorased tse ver registratio. mr.arvey, qck questn. .justalk someoters cording her oice, the voters fled o chae of adess forms becaustheyoved they we removedrom t ll they td us thehave not moved. 20 yea in the me house, 10 yes. they never fild out ose fos. can i ve you tir names and put themack on t roles? >> will bhappy take th names d we can flow up. >> wha a list of 19000. ift turns o they have not mod as you claimwill you returnhem to t voter rls? ill be hpy to take t informion and folw-up. >> so evf th were wrongly reved, y won't returnhem

the vot rolls? yo're just nogoing too it? >>indiscerble] i'm not goi to answ any question-- you ought mae the po had ideify ese peop as hing mod. ey said ey did n. we checd wi that rson. you ner checkeith at pers or the st offi. d. y did yogive thcourt e imessionthat u theostal censee tcheck whher thes peopleoved youidn' haveou sken to ancho >> i wl not anering re estions. >> iv oken othe liceees? youon't spk to the you will ll the fedalaw? e just want to gett relved. there ar190,000eople we feel strongly out oureing senfrancsed. were cominin good ith.

we he reacd out repeatedl the last sevedays. just wa tget resolved. weould lika sit do with u all. we d't wa toet the run around the k. we wt toit down and have meetinave ou expts s do with yr expertand get it resold. at t end of the day, peoe's voting rhts, youndersta how cricalhat is. >> [inauble] >> will yoand the cretary meet with latoa bro? you' not goi to sawhethe yowill meewith us? the crt says u shouldeet withs. >> as of today come the state of georgia stl resist retni 198,00 vers theirightand refuseto meet with latosha brown. amy: a video report by investigative reporter greg palast, narrated by debra messing. we are joined now by latosha brown, co-founder of the black voters matter fund and the bvm capacity building institute. welcome back to democracy now!

we were left hanging. did you ever get to meet with the secretary of state brad raffensperger, who is being held as a hero for standing up against president trump as he )táhju him the winner ofhll00 the georgia elections? 198,000alking about purged, stolen votesin a sense. >> we have never met with him. we have not heard from his office yet. my legal team, we are still waiting dear from the office. we will pursue this. we will continue to pursue this. while we were not able to get injunctive relief, our case is still pending in the;+u. courtsd we will press forward. i think because we have reached out in good faith and the judge did recommend we sit down and meet and he has not responded, i think we will convey that to the courts as well.

it is interesting, baffling to me, that raffensperger is being perceived as a hero. the truth is, he simply does not want to go to jail. he does not want a crossover into this new territory that trumis asking him to do to be able to unravel -- too big of amount of crime. the truth is, he's done everything in his office -- he is abusing his power to make --e he gave trump the best and the republicans the best possible opportunity to be able to steal this election, starting with the disenfranchisement of almost 200,000 voters that is post brianhis kemp. this happened october 2019. we became aware of it in september this year. there was a report handed to him. we reached out to him repeatedly and those almost 200,000 votes have never been restored. he could have restored them. not meet thehe

basic fundamental requirement in the national registration act which was to have a licensee vendor that can check these names to make sure the 198,000 people he kicked off the voting rolls, said they had moved. what we have discovered is they have not moved. greg palestine is investigative team literally the first week case, we wouldt call people and one of the voters said they lived in their home for 27 years. they never moved most of their not even thinking about moving. another said they have lived there for 18 years. the bottom line, we don't know where he got these 198,000 voters. i think it is interesting -- accidental the majority of them, many of them on the list are african-american voters. let's be clear about what this is. if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is a duck.

this is voter suppression. for state is ground zero voter suppression. what we are witnessing right now, black voters being a key constituency group coming out is not because voter suppression does not exist, not because raffensperger is doing such a great job, we have out organized them. social justice, community organizations have been working on the ground, used our network and information -- the message matters but the messengers matter. those who e embedded in communities have been doing the work, to engage people. the voters have been relentless. when you're saying black voters in the state of georgia vote, people should understand how remarkable that is. it is not because voter suppression isn't happening. this is on the backdrop of voter suppression. it is in the south, voter suppression has been part of the water we've had to navigate that minibus organizing on the

ground, which is why i am -- we're talking about building political power, ground zero is organizing stuff is not television ads, it is organizing on the ground. you been able to navigate through these voter suppression waters by literally being able to engage people directly to educate folks and motivate people to go out and vote in spite of what we are seeing in voter suppression. juan: latosha brown, this 198,000 purged boats, we should put that in the context that joe biden come just those purges, was able to win by less than 12,000 votes. as you are looking at today's elections for the u.s. senate, two key races in georgia, how do you see the enthusiasm and the turnout -- will these purges have aimpact on what happens in this race come these two races today? >> i think it is had an impact on every single race.

anytime you have 198,000 people disenfranchised, i don't know how they were going to vote, but that many to be disenfranchised, and absolutely impacts the election. we should be frustrated. we should be furious this is happening in this country right now. regardless while we do want -- in terms of -- i'm speaking in my black voters matter hat. certainly we have a vested interest. we want to make sure we see these republican senators defeated because they have not been online with our communities, not been good to our communities. they have been instructed -- they have been constructive. voting line and there was a republican person that was voters right next to me as someone was trying to deny them because they were republican, i would fight as ferociously for them as i went

because of the democratic voter because i believe fundamentally in the right to vote that every single citizen should have the right to operate and cast their vote. i certainly think it will have an outcome on this race. the question is, are we able to overcome the voter suppression? i think what you saw in novemb is we were able to overcome the voter suppression that happened. and hoping today what i'm feeling in terms of energy, soon as i could of his interview with you all, i'm putting on my black voters matter sweater and hitting the streets again. amy: we want to thank you, latosha brown, cofounder of black voters matter. coming up, israel has the highest vaccination rate in the world but what is happening with palestinians? why are they expected to wait months, perhaps years, for a vaccine? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "angered" by reem talhami. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. israel has bome the first country in the world to administer covid-19 vaccines to more than 10% of its population. as of monday, 14% of israelis had received a vaccine -- far higher than any other country. israel's health minister's has a total want that is needed to combat the surging number of new infections. this as human rights groups are expressing alarm over israel's not offering the vaccine to palestinians living in the occupied west bank and gaza where about 1500 people have died during the pandemic. physicians for human rights recently said -- "israel bears moral and humanitarian responsibility for vaccinating the palestinian population under its control." israel is, however, offering vaccines to jewish residents living in illegal settlements in

the west bank. israel has defended its actions citing the oslo peace accords which put palestinian@@ authorities in charge of healthcare in the west bank and gaza. palestinian officials are facing a number of hurdles in launching its own vaccine campaign, including a shortage of money, lack of access to vaccines and lack of infrastructure to distribute a vaccine. israel has so far been relying on the pfizer-biontech vaccine which needs to be stored at -94 degrees fahrenheit. storing such a vaccine is impossible in gaza where residents often go 12 or more hours a day without electricity. in 2014, israel bombed gaza's only power plant in what amnesty international described as "collective punishment of palestinians." we go now to the west bank city of ramlah, where we are joined by dr. mustafa barghouti, physician and member of the palestinian parliament. head of the palestinian dical relief society and has been leading efforts to manage the pandemic in the west bank and gaza. he was infected with covid-19 in december.

he is secretary general of the palestinian national initiative, a political party. he was presidential candidate in the 2005 elections. we welcome you to democracy now! , dr. barghouti. can you explain what is happening? world and yet palestinians are not getting vaccinated? who is in charge of this program? who should be? >> thank you, amy, i'm glad to be with you. laael is violating national because it is denying its responsibility as an occupying power. israel managed to get 14 million butines for the israelis, nothing for the palestinians. so practically thereaccinating 8 million israelis and not exiting 5.2 millionalestinians

in the occupied territories. more than that, the system of racial discrimination, which can only be compared to apartheid, 750oing something -- thousand illegal settlers come as you said, are getting the vaccine now. in thelion palestinians west bank are getting nothing. more than that, the israelis dish israel ordered the guard to get the vaccine and probably did criminals, but the palestinians, 5000 prisoners, getting nothing. ?hat can be more clear here this confirms this is discrimination. we speak to the authority responsible, first of all, the authority approached asking at least for vaccines for us, the

health care providers, who are being infected around the clock and israel refused. the palestinian authorities in charged only 30% of the west is --62% of the west bank israel is doing nothing for palestinians there. if the palestinian authority tries to import a vaccine from dylan israel does not allow it. israel controls the border, the import and export. in the biggest disaster is in gaza. in gaza, you have 2.1 million lacking health facilities, lacking [indiscernible] they're not getting any vaccines. fromre refugees displaced their land.

[indiscernible] you can do that if and 10 people living in two rooms. the problem is the rate of infection today in the west bank it gaza, 36% while in israel is 4.5%. are getting the vaccines and palestinians are getting nothing. , isn't it inghouti the interest of israel from a public health perspective, even thisey want to pursue continued antagonistic policy toward the palestinians, to have the palestinians vaccinated, to reach herd immunity in the total area? >> you're absolutely right. this minnesota- racist. the only things of himself. he only things of his political future.

he only thinks of escaping the criminal charges against him and being reelected again. in realitythe government is cannot reach herd immunity if you have bait million people vaccinated and 5.2 million people not vaccinated. workersill continue to and thereel for work israelis comeher illegal settlers, who will continue to commute and communicate with the 3.1 million unvaccinated palestinians. this is a crime against palestinians and a crime against health of israelis. it is a crime against international law but in my opinion, the worst crime against

ethics which says nobody should be discriminated against. which says do no harm in up you can. juan: the covax facility the world health organization established to help poor countries has pledged to vaccinate 20% of palestinians. where does that stand right now in terms of that pledge? communication with them here. they are trying their best, but they do not think they can get efore forhere bu five months at their like you. they don't know which vaccine they can get. up to now, they don't know how to get vaccines. the huge spread of community infections and gaza, --y high number of cases,

the who approached israel asking at least four vaccines for officials and israel continues to refuse. unfortunately, we're looking at potentially real serious disaster. as a person suffering from covid-19 out after nine months of being so protective and trying to be very careful, i can tell you this is a horrible disease. i don't wishing for anybody. its very dangerous. itan be destructive. it can kill the people. withn also leave them issues for the rest of your life. , youdr. mustafa barghouti are in the throes of covid-19,

sub erica died of covid-19. your frontline position. do you get vaccinated? what about the vaccines? apparently, they have asked the united arab emirates to share some of its chinese made vaccine and the palestinian authority reportedly has ordered 4 million doses of the russian sputnik vaccine. ton are these doses going come and with her you demanding of not only the israeli government, with u.s. government since it gives so much money to the israeli government? >> at the guard, from the international community to do two things. first of all, put pressure on israel to allow the vaccines to at least the beginning to the hot officials that are taking care of people so perhaps it would not collapse. but also, asking the international community to passing israel. israel will not respond. the international community has a big duty here.

-- i wasn vaccinated not vaccinated. we don't know when we will get the vaccine. it is critical because the rate of infection is going up and this is affecting or could affect everybody in the community. the russian vaccine, there was a request but i think the russians cannot provide -- the capacity of production is still low. they produce only 500,000 up till now of the vaccine. the maximum capacity i45 million. milliond 100 vaccinations for russia itself. i don't think -- what we need is a way of getting astrazeneca or the moderna vaccines. of course, we have a problem with pfizer -- although, we have

-- the most immediate need -- it is a health disaster. the whole population is subjected to very big, alarming risk. tot is why it is very urgent leave the pressure so palestinians also get the vaccines. amy: would you describe this as medical apartheid? >> absolutely. .'¥x africa. this is the only description. imagine you go to prison, you vaccinate the carpet of the prisoners. you vaccinate the israeli prisoners and not palestinian political prisoners. to the citizens of the west bank, settlers are vaccinated and nearby palestinians and communities are not vaccinated. not only do they grab our land

and settle illegally on our land, take away our natural resources, sources of economy, the system of apartheid.