05/14/21 05/14/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> to read the statements from president biden and lincoln and leaders of both parties, you would hardly know palestinians existed at all. amy: the death toll from the israeli assault on gaza has reached 119, including 31 palestinian children, but the united states is refusing to push israel to halt its attack. we will hear a moving speech

from the first palestinn-american woman electeto congress, rashida tlaib. then to the west bank to speak to longtime palestinian diplomat and politician dr. hanan ashrawi. >> we do not control our borders and ports. amy: plus, we speak to palestinian historian rashid khalidi. >> what has been going on in the last few ds in palesne and israel is roed in historical issues. palestinian property was taken than in similarly with disturbancn israeli cities. amy: and we look at how republican senators are trying to block one of the nation's most prominent voting rights advocates to had the civil rights division of

the justice department. we will talk to ben jealous about the fight over kristen clarke's confirmation. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the death toll in gaza has reached at least 119 as israel escalates its aerial assault and fires heavy artillery at the besieged territory ahead of a possible ground invasion. israeli attacks have killed at least 31 pestinian children, many under the age of 10. gaza authorities report 40% of the victims in the israeli strikes have been women and children. residents of khan younis described huddling in their homes during the eid al-fitr holiday as bombs exploded around them. >> we can't enjoy the celebration because our neighbors got hit. my neighbor and her daughter were killed. we are like one family.

we are very sad. the israeli forces stole the cheer of eid from the children. they are terrified and panicked. amy: over 830 palestinians have been wounded so far this week but gaza's hospital systems are on the verge of collapse as doctors face shortages of medicine and recurring power outages. many palestinians in gaza have been taking shelter in united nations schools, even as the u.n.'s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs reports more than 24 palestinian schools have been damageby israeli strikes. eight people in israel have been killed as hamas continues to fire rockets from gaza. israel has rejected calls for a ceasefire. in a video message addressed to lestinians, israeli defense minister benny gantz blamed hamas for the violence and threatened that "gaza will burn." >> they are sacrificingou for

e personal interests. citizens of israel have to sleep in shelters, then gaza will burn. there is no other equation. amy: elsewhere, israeli authorities have arrested dozens of arabs living in israel in attempt to quell an unprecedented uprising. many are being held without access to legal counsel. jewish mobs have been filmed attacking palestinians across israel. on live television. president joe biden on thursday reiterated h support for israel's military campaign in gaza, shrugging off concerns over the mounting palestinian death toll. pres. biden: and one of the things that i have seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction. amy: biden did not mention palestine or palestinians during thursday's remarks from the white house. the biden administration has blocked the u.n. security council from holding a meeting today on the crisis after twice blocking security council statements earlier this week.

on capitol hill, progressive lawmakers took to the house floor thursday, urging the biden administration to pressure israel into ending the eviction of palestinians from their homes in occupied east jerusalem and the west bank and to end the assault on gaza. after headlines, we'll hear the full speech of rashida tlaib, the first palestinian-american woman elected to congress. governments around the world reported more than 725,000 new coronavirus infections on thursday -- one of the highest daily tolls of the pandemic -- led by an ongoing massive outbreak in india, which reported another 4000 deaths on friday. indian health officials have announced plans to start using russia's sputnik v vaccine. fewer than 3% of india's population of nearly 1.4 billion people is fully vaccinated. japan has widened its coronavirus emergency to three more prefectures as hospitals report they are becoming

overwhelmed i devastating fourth wave of infections. a japanese doctors union this week has joined calls on the japanese government to cancel the summer on the big games as just 1% of the population is fully vaccinated. here in the united states, the centers for disease control and prevention says masks and social distancing are no longer required in most social settings for people who have been fully vaccinated against covid-19. cdc director dr. rochelle walensky said thursday's recommendations were driven by scientific evidence that vaccinated people are at very low risk of severe covid and that vaccines play a major role in curbing transmission. >> fully vaccinated and participates in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing. if you're fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things you had stopped doing because of the

pandemic. we have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy. amy: the cdc says rules requiring masks on public transportation still apply and that people should still mask up in crowded indoor situations. individual businesses are free to continue masking policies. the cdc's announcement reportedly caught even white house officials by surprise. about half of states, most of them with republican governors, have already lifted mask mandates. california governor gavin newsom says he'll lift a mask mandate in june, while a michigan order mandating masks in many cases will remain in effect for now. hackers have released a trove of internal documents from the washington, d.c., police in what experts say is the worst such ransomware attack in the united states. the cyber gang, known as babuk, reportedly released the sensitive materials on the dark web after a failed blackmail

attempt. the information includes officers' personal data, psychological evaluations, and disciplinary records. some documents also involve intelligence agencies and relate to the january 6 insurrection and the presidential inauguration. this comes a week after another ransomware attack shut down the colonial pipeline's fuel supply, triggering shortages and sending gas prices soaring. media are reporting colonial pipeline paid nearly $5 million in ransom to the hackers in order to restore its disabled computer network. president biden said thursday those behind the attack are likely based in russia but not believed to be linked to the russian government. an active-duty marine officer was arrested thursday for assaulting federal officers during the deadly january 6 insurrection at the u.s. capitol. in a video of the attack, christopher warnagiris is seen helping breach the capitol

building. he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. in michigan, protesters gathered at the state capitol in lansing before delivering eviction notices to canadian oil transport company enbridge after it defied an order from governor gretchen whitmer to shut down its line 5 pipeline by a wednesday deadline. whitmer called enbridge's actions unlawful and warned the state of michigan would seize its profits if it continues to operate. the pipeline carries 23 million daily gallons of crude oil and natural gas under the straits of mackinaw, a fragile waterway connecting lake huron and lake michigan. whitmer called the pipeline a ticking time bomb. in britain, journalists and freedom of speech advocates are sounding the alarm after former ambassador craig murray was sentenced to eight months in prison over his reporting of a scottish politician's sexual assault trial. a scottish court said murray provided details on his blog that could allow people to figure out the identity of witnesses in the sexual assault

trial despite never identifying the individuals himself. murray's defenders say he is being targeted because he is a whistleblower who has closely covered the case against wikileaks founder julian assange. the court is also preventing murray from traveling to spain to testify in a case involving the cia spying on assange while he lived at the ecuadorean embassy in london. in labor news, mcdonald's employees are planning a strike next wednesday, may 19, to demand a minimum wage of $15 an hour. on thursday, the fast food giant announced it is raising wages at company-owned restaurants, but 95% of mcdonald's branches are franchise locations that are not subject to the salary changes. mcdonald's worker and union organizer doneshia babbitt said -- "mcdonald's raising pay for some of us and using fancy math tricks to gloss over the fact that they're selling most of us short. we won't stop fighting, striking, and marching in the

streets until we win $15 and a union for all." and thursday marked the 36th anniversary of the philadelphia police bombing of the home of the radical, black liberation, anti-police-brutality group move that killed six adults and five children and burned down two city blocks. in a major development, philadelphia mayor jim kenney announced the resignation of the city's top health official over new revelations he cremated of some of the bombing victims' remains, including bone fragments, without their knowledge or permission. >> health commissioner dr. thomas farley disclosed several years ago he leaed remains found by the medical examiner's office that beng to victims of the 1985 me bombing stuff instead of fly identifying those remains and returning them to the family, he made the decision to cremate and just goes -- dispose of them.

amy: philadelphia mayor kenney said he demanded the health commissioner's resignation but put the city's medical examiner dr. sam gulino on administtive leave because he has civil service protection, unlike dr. farley, and because he is needed for the investigation. the mayor met with move family members wednesday and agreed to announce the news on the bombing anniversary. he said the amount of remains destroyed without notifying them is not yet known. an investigation will include people approved by the move family. this comes amid an ongoing investigation into how the university of pennsylvania and princeton university were in possession of bones thought to belong to one or two move children killed in the bombing, and used them in an online teaching course without the family's knowledge or permission. meanwhile, on thursday, move family members and hundreds of supporters held a memorial and

marched by the scene of the may 13, 1985, police bombing of their home in philadelphia, chanting the names of those killed and the lone adult and child survivors. >> teresa africa. frank africa. raymond africa. john africa. tree africa. delisha africa. little bill africa. birdie africa. ramona africa. amy: you can see our all of our interviews about the 1985 move bombing and its aftermath at democracynow.org. and those are some of the

headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the death toll in gaza has reached at least 119 as israeli -- israel escalates its aerial assault and fires heavy artillery at the besieged territory. israel is also threatening to send in ground troops. israel has so far have killed at least 31 palestinian children, many under the age of 10. gaza authorities report 40% of the victims in the israeli assault have been women and children. over 830 palestinians have been wounded so far this week, but gaza's hospital systems are on the verge of clapse as doctors face shortages of medicine and recurring power outages. the u.n. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs rerts more than 24 palestinian schools ve also been damaged in the israeli strikes. eight people have died in israel as hamas continues to fire rockets from gaza. israel has rejected calls for a ceasefire.

meanwhile, the united states has blocked the u.n. security council from holding a meeting today on the crisis. earlier in the week, the u.s. twice blocked the security council from issuing statements on the violence. on thursday, president biden said israel's actions do not represent a "significant overreaction." meanwhile, israeli authorities have arrested dozens of arabs -- dozens of palestinians living in israel in attempt to quell an unprecedented uprising. ny are being held without access to legal counsel. jewish mobs have been filmed attacking palestinians across israel, some on live television. meanwhile, in the west bank, al jazeera reports more than 40 palestinians have been injured -- both by the israeli military as well as mobs of jewish settlers. this all comes as palestinians are planning to mark the 73rd anniversary of the nakba or catastrophe when hundreds of

thousands of palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes after the state of israel was formed. later in the program, we will be joined by two leading palestinn figures -- the historian rashid khalidi and the longtime diplomat and politician hanan ashrawi. but we begin with the words of congresswoman rashida tlaib of michigan. she became the first palestinian-american woman to be elected to congress in 2018. she spoke thursday on the floor of the house. >> i am the only palestinian american member of congress and my mere -- i am a reminder to colleagues that palestinians do indeed exist, that we are human, that we are allowed to dream. we are mothers, daughters, granddaughters. we are just as seekers and are unapologetic about our fight

against oppressions of all forms. colleagues, palestinians aren't going anywhere no matter how much money you said israel israel to's apartheid government. we are to make good on our promises to support equal human rights for all. it is our duty to end the apartheid system that for decades has objected palestinians to inhumane treatment and racism. reducing palestinians to live in fear and terror of losing a child, being indefinitely detained or killed because of who they are, and the unequal rights and protections they have under israeli law. it must end. one of israel's most prominent human rights organizations has declared israel an apartheid state. human rights watch recently recognized it, too. this is why palestinians living under israel's oppression have been telling us for decadess. i've been told by some of my colleagues who dispute the truth about segregation, racism and

violence in israel toward palestinians that i need to know the history. what they mean unintentionally or not is that palestinians do not have the right to tell the truth about what happened to them during the founding of israel. they are in effect -- they erased the truth about ethnic cleansing of palestinians in israel. the sum referred to as the nakba , or catastrophe. as palestinians talk about our history, many of my black neighbors and indigenous communities may not know what we mean by nakba, but they do understand what it means to be killed, expelled from your home, land, made homeless, and stripped of your human rights. i and sisters and current family in palestine deserve the world to hear their history without obstruction. they have a right to be able to

explain to the world they are still suffering, still being dispossessed, still being killed as the world watches and does nothing. as written, "when you tell a people to forget it's past, you are not proposing peace. you are proposing extinction." the palestinian story is that being made a refugee on the land you call home. we cannot have an honest conversation about u.s. military support for the israeli government today without acknowledging for palestinians, dehumanization and displacement in their home that has been ongoing since 1948. to read the status from president biden, secretary in the day blinken, leaders of both parties, you would hardly know palestinians existed at all. there has been no recognition of

the attack on palestinian families being ripped from their homes in east jerusalem right now for home demolitions. no mention of children being detained or murdered. no recognition of a sustained campaign of harassment and terror by israeli police against worshipers kneeling down and praying and celebrating their holiest days in one of their holiest places. no mention of it. being surrounded by violence, tear gas, smoke while people pray. can my colleagues imagine if it was their place of worship filled with tear gas? could you pray as stun grenades were tossed your holiest place? above all, there has been absolutely no recognition of palestinian humanity. if our own state department can't even bring itself to acknowledge the killing of palestinian children is wrong, i

will cite over the millions of americans who stand with me against the killing of innocent children a matter their ethnicity or faith. i weep for all of the lives lost under the unbearable status quo, every single one, a matter their faith, background. we all deserve freedom, liberty, peace and justice and it should never be denied because of our faith or ethnic background. no child should ever have to worry that death will rain from the sky. how many of my colleagues are willing to say the same, distemper palestinian human rights as they do for israelis? there's a crushing dehumanization. "the new york post" reported palestinian jethro reported -- the death toll as israeli casualties. abc says israelis are "killed"

while palestinians "die." as if by magic, as if they were never humid to begin with. help me understand the math. how many palestinians have to die for their lives to matter? life under apartheid strips palestinians of their human dignity. how would you feel if you had to go through dehumaning checkpoints two blocks from your own home to go to the doctor or travel across your own land? how would you feel if you had to do it while pregnant under the scorching heat as the soldiers with guns controlled your freedom? how would you feel if you lived in gaza where your power and water might be out for days or weeks at a time? where you are cut off from the outside world by inhumane military blockade? meanwhile, palestinians rights to nonviolent resistance have been curtailed and even

criminalized. our party leaders have spoken forcefully against bds, calling the proponents anti-semitic despite the same tactics been critically -- critical to ending the south african apartheid mere decades ago. what we are telling palestinians fighting apartheid is the same thing being told to my black neighbors and americans fighting against police brutality her there is no form of acceptable resistance to state violence. as long as the message from washington is that our military support for israel is unconditional, netanyahu's extremism right-wing government will continue to expand settlements, continue to demolish homes, and continue to make the prospects for peace impossible. 330 of my own colleagues and democrats and republicans here, 75% of the body here signed a letter pledging israel shall never be made to comply with

basic human rights laws that other countries that receive our military aid must observe. when i see the images and videos of destruction and death, all i here are the children screaming from pure fear and terror. i want to read something a mother wrote two days ago. she said, "tonight i put the kids to sleep in our bedroom so that when we die, we die together." and no one would live to mourn the loss of another one. the statement broke me a little more because of my country's policies and funding will deny this mother's right to see children live -- her own children live without fear and to grow old without painful trauma and violence.

we must condition aid to israel on compliance with international human rights and end the apartheid. we must, with no hesitation, demand our country recognize the unconditional support israel has enabled the erasure palestinian life and the denial of rights of millions of refugees and emboldens the apartheid policies that human rights watch has detailed thoroughly in the recent report. i stand before you not only as a congresswoman for the beautiful 13 district strong, but also is the proud daughter palestinian immigrants and the granddaughter of a loving palestinian grandmotr living in the occupied philistine. you take that and you combinet the fact i was raised in one of the most beautiful, blackest cities in america, a city where movements for civil rights and social justice are birthed, the city of detroit. so i can't stand here -- i can't

stand silent when injustice exists, where the truth is obscured. if there is one thing detroit instilled in this palestinian girl from southwest, it is you always speak truth to power even if your voice shakes. the freedom of palestinians is connected to the fight against oppression all over the world. lastly, to my philistines comply staying here because of you. thank you. amy: democratic congresswoman rashida tlaib of michigan speaking on the house floor on thursday. she is the first palestinian-american woman elected to congress. when we come ba, we will be joined by two leadg palestinian figures -- the historian rashid khalidi and the longtime diplomat and politician dr. hanan ashrawi. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "hymn to gentrification" by faraj suleiman. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. as we continue to look at israel's assault on gaza and the

palestinian uprising, we are joined by two guests. in new york, where she'd -- rashid khalidi, edward said professor of modern arab studies at columbia university. he's the author of several books, including his latest, "the hundred-years war on palestine." and in the west bank city of ramallah, dr. hanan ashrawi, longtime palestinian diplomat and scholar. she was formerly an executive committee member of the palestine liberation organization, the first woman to hold a seat in the highest executive body in palestine. she also served as the official spokesperson of the palestinian delegation to the middle east peace process. welcome back to democracy now! let's begin with dr. hanan ashrawi. can you talk about what is happening now and the significance of both the attacks there and also the mob attacks

throughout other parts of israel and the occupied territories? >> yes. the israeli patient forces once again targeted an area that is theost does the populated area in the world that is under a state of siege. ey have nowhere to go. nor died. th don't have shelters. they don't have air force. of course, they have no protection whatsoever. they started bombing and shelling by air. the first three major high-rise buildings were resideial apartments then they contued. they escalated by destroying roads and streets, infrastructure, electricity, and so on.

and they're turning life in gaza, which was already a disaster area, turning it into shr hel there were so many people killed. it is diffult for us to talk about statistics,ut when i read stories and see ptures of whole families, mother and her three kids, a bombly in their own beds, this is the realy of livg under occupation is. under a state of siege wre israel has total license to use unbridled power to kill and maim and get away with that. then you get people like biden and others say israel is a right to self-defense. i ll repeat something i continued to say, there is no normalcy under occupation. this is an abnormal situation and an occupier who is

oppressing the whole people cannot claim self-defense if it's victims decide to strike back even in a minimal way. the real issue is the occupation. now we are seeing not just in gaza, horrific scenes of course i've death and destruction, we are seeing also in the west bank there are protest marches on going in every town, city, and village, again, the israeli security are targeting individuals, shooting at palestinians. they have injured scores of them and arrested many. the historic palestine in 1948, which became israel, the indigenous palestinians again are being targeted. they are being beaten up by jewish israelis because they happen to not be jewish because

israel legislated a basic law and which is this only jews have the right to self-determination, which meant even palestinians who were in palestine before israel created and although there are -- they are israeli citizens come have no rights at all. this is legal apartheid. as result of decades of discrimination and oppression and so one, the palestinian in all major areas are now protesting. they are facing the violenceiros who came from the west bank -- not enough they are stealing our land, building colonies and settlements in the west bank, they are fully armed. they are never held to account.

and they are always protected by the israeli under the west bank. now the most extremist right wi has bee emboldened and adopted, actually, by no yahoo!. they arereaking havoc within israel, within what they call theixed tow and cities, wherever they can find palestinians, even though they are supposed to ha the same nationalities as the israelis. they are totally vulnerae. the israeli security of netanyahu not only imported the settlers into israel but also the border towns, which means he is treating all of historical palestine like an occupied territory. all of these towns and villages as though they are part an occupied territory. which means israel is reoccupied palestine.

it has come to a head because now palestinians everywhere are united in thei protests. gaza strip, within israel, and all over the world. palestinians in the states and washington and manhattan, new york, chicago -- different places are also protesting, along with their allies, along with amazing solidarity network emerging in the u.s. as well as europe and the arab world. there is this unity of identity, unity of struggle despite the differences of injustice. you can be under occupation, you can be suffering from discrimination and apartheid,

you can be facing an army suffering exile, refugee status, but you all know the source of your oppression is the same step amy: i want to bring professor rashid khalidi into the conversation. he is here in new york. speaking of the united states and its role, i want to play clip of president joe biden reiterating his support for israel's military attack on gaza , shruggg off concerns over the mounting palestinian death toll. pres. biden: and one of the things that i have seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction. amy: biden did not mention palestinians during thursday's remarks from the white house. the biden administration has stopped the united nations on

several occasions this week, the security council, from taking up a resolution. can you talk about this, professor? >> yes. one wonders what proportion you have to have, air objects, palestinian deaths over israeli debts before the u.s. finally begins to recognize this is not self-defense. we are currentlyt about 11 to one. biased rhetoric from american leaders and politicians continues. i think this is a perfect illustration of the bias that has been a feature of american policy for many, many years. you have in washington an entrenched view going back to what hanan just said and what

rashida tlaib said, palestinians don't really count. 31 children have been killed. one israeli child has been killed. any child being killed is a tragedy, but that does not penetrate the consciousness of the politicians that make statements like this, whether the president or the secretary of state or the secretary of defense. i thinit is tragic a country that claims to be supporting human rights universally should basically consider a whole group of people less human and less entitled to rights. i think what is happening all over historic palestine today has brought us back to basics. it is really tragic issue take this kind of deal for everybody but in particular, the palestinians. but it has brought us back to the understanding of things done back in 1948, things that happened on since and whether it is the occupation of 1967 or the nakba of 1948, have echoed and

echoed down to the present. what happened in jerusalem, what happened in sheikh jarrah, what is happening now. gaza is not just a million people in a strip of land. these are people who were driven from their homes in 1948. and who have been denied permission to return to those homes and have been stripped of the propert by israeli loss. nobody talks about this in washington, the fact i terrible attack happened. it is been featured in the american need to post of the third holiest mosque built in the eighth century has been attacked repeatedly. some grenades, teargas bombs have been fired into the mosque is worshipers are prang in ramadan. i have not heard ap out of an

american official about this. we are really talking about something at the top of the american political pyramid. in my view it is quite disgraceful. i think things are changing at the bottom. i think people are aware of the complete inequity in the way the u.s. deals with this and are beginning to be aware american weapons being used to kill 31 children in gaza and another 80 people, are being used in violation of u.s. law. u.s. law dictates those weapons be used solely in defensive purposes. when american officials believe israel engaged in self-defense, they're not just protecting israel, they're protecting themselves because otherwise those arm cells would be illegal and they would be complicit in illegal actions. i think it is disgraceful we should hear such statements. but it is really understood -- interesting other voices are being heard in the u.s. and

around the world protesting. amy: do you see a difference between the trump administration and the biden administration in dealing with israel. >> of course there are differences, but they play the same tune. the trump ministraon essentially adopted the most extre tenets of the most extreme israeli government in history, intends to create one jewish supremacy state in the entirety of what they call the land of israel. that is the netanyahu agenda. the trump administration signed on to that completely. this administration, however, is still committed to the same kind of bedrock inequalities that every american administration for decades has supported, whether this involves not talking about palestinians at all -- as new administration

official has done all week -- or whether this involves a kind of acceptance of the israeli terms like israel's security. israel security is seen to mandate the killing of civilians , women and children. that is not shared. -- that is shared. amy: you talk about going back decades. i went to go back to 1986, more than 35 yearago, when and senator joe biden talked about u.s. support for israel saying israel did not exist, the u.s. would have to invent an israel to defend its interests in the region. this is what he said. mr. biden: we look at the middle east, think it is about time we stop -- those of us who support him as most of us do come israel and despite a, for apologizing for our support for israel. there is no apology to be made.

none. it is the best 3 billion-dollar investment we make, whether or not any israel and the united states of america would have to invent an israel to protect her interest in the region. united states would have to go out and invent an israel. amy: that was senator biden in 1986. has he changed his view? talk about what he is saying, professor. >> what he is saying is israel operates as a proxy of the u.s. in the middle east. he is saying vote for me and continue to give me campaign donations. that is unspoken. those two elements in support for israel, the democratic and republican party, have been constant. the search for a strategic role for israel sometimes has gotten pretty desperate because israel harms american interest in many cases in the middle east, but the pretext which during the

cold war biden was speaking in 1986 -- during the cold war, it could be israel is an american proxy or soviet proxy, someone. those are pretext for arguing for a strategic role for israel is benefiting the u.s. those have disappeared since the cold war. since then come the so-called war on terror has taken place of that. israel has managed to merge into american concerns sparked by the 9/11 attacks and the rise of the islamic state and so forth. in order to sell itself to americans. as a valuable ally in the war on terror. american support for israel probably provokes a lot of terrorts. israeli actions we don't provoke colonial settler views, always provoke -- if you dispossessed people, they're going to resist.

native americans did the same thing. africans facing colonialism to the same thing. callista means resisted. this is then turned into a pretext for arguing israel is vital to american interest. if you did not have the settler colonial process of dispossession, which has been going on since 1948, would not have resistance and you would not have what is being called terrorism by american politicians. amy: dr. hanan ashrawi, can you talk about what you think is going to happen over the next few days, particularly tomorrow, the significance of the day tomorrow, as well as these attacks happening during ramadan and the end of ramadan? >> well, of course it is expected. tomorrow is the commemoration of nakba in which was created on

the land of palestine, but it is not the beginning of palestinians suffering. it started way before that. not just with the declaration of -- there is always been an attempt of dispossessi palestinians. replacing themen with another nation. the ideology gained more and more traction has been adopted until now, and a process of negation of a whole nation -- our land, history, even are very physical presence, our identity -- and replacing them, replacing us with a new narrative, with a new people at came om outside palestine at the expense of the palestinian people without any kind of engagement or accountability.

so the palestinian people, the date nakba signals a process. it is in the middle of the process, but it is always ongoing. as you have seen in the protests , the ideology does seem to displace and replace all people. it is aettler colonial enterprise. it has acted as protection as a coloni -- western colonial outpost. it has been a functiona state focolonialism. amy: what do you think needs to happen now? >> what needs to happen is provide two things. palestinians need protection in accordance with the law and israel needs accountability in accordance with the law. the problem is it has been emboldened, it has been given license to act with full

impunity. it has become the primary source of identification and support. these refrains rashid talked about israel like to self difference, which is bizarre and unconscionable. is is one thing. in addition to the fact deployed -- terms of election and someone. all of these things are brought together in order to give israel differential treatment and immunity to act -- it needs to treat palestinians with full recognition of our rights to freedom come to dignity, to live in our own land come to self-determination, actually, and to stop treating israel as a country governed by international law and humanitarian law. the u.s., we don't expect miraculous transformations. we know the biden administration has bent over backwards in order

to prevent any kind of intervention or engagement. sending a sort of symbolic level civil servant does not do anything. when netanyahu clearly told the american administration, whether the president or secretary of state, it is an of your business. when they asked to come down on the issue of jerusalem and the al-aqsa mosque and sheikh jarrah evictions, is that we have the right to do whatever we want. told them very clearly, it is done of your business. if you think -- going to be list to or will have the ful weight of the office? no. it is clearly just a symbolic gesture. of course, biden is looking internally at his own elections, his own party's elections, and

ignoring a whole new conversation in the u.s., the progressives, the minorities, women's movements, lgbtq -- everybody is out there placing palestine in the middle of t conversation of rights, equality, of justice. and within the democratic party, not just turning a blind eye consort opposing -- they don't want to hear. there are changes now. there's a new conversation and leg which. palestine is no longer taboo. it is part of the discussion, part of the global rights movement. we have allies. this unholy alliance between the u.s. and israel historically has cost the u.s. a great deal to come has cost credibility and standing and interest and quite often even lives because when you have this obsessive support

for a country that is creating situation of extreme abnormality and injustice in the occupation in itself is an abnormal state, state of constant aggression and yet it is getting cover and protection and getting emboldened. as we said, during the trumpet administration, they became party to -- they became partners in crime of the israeli occupation and annexation and someone. this does not in any way serve american interest. it may serve the interest of individuals who seek to get reelected on the basis of palestine bashing and rendering the palestinians invisible and silent and amplifying the israel i voice in a distorted way, but at the same time come the truth is coming out. amy: on that note, we have to ended there but we will continue to cover what has happened and of elements on the ground in gaza in the west bank and

israel. dr. hanan ashrawi is a palestinian diplomat and scholar, speaking to us from romolo. rashid khalidi, edward said professor of modern arab studies at columbia university. we will link to your op-ed in "the washington post." next up, we look at how republican senators are trying to block one of the nation's most prominent voting rights advocates to had the civil rights division at the justice department. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "light up the world" by ruthie foster. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. as republican state lawmakers in georgia, florida, and texas are passing voter suppression laws, republican senators in washington, d.c., our attempting to block one of the nation's most prominent voting rights advocates to a top justice department position. in an 11-11 vote thursday, the senate judiciary committee deadlocked on whether to move attorney kristen clarke's nomination for assistant attorney general of the justice department's civil rights division to the senate floor for a full vote. no republicans voted in her favor. republican senator mike lee tried to suggest clarke has associated with people who hold antisemitic views. democratic senator ron wyden said "i don't think there is an

anti-semitic phone in kristen clarke's body." chuck schumer can still move to discharge nomination out of the coittee for debate and floor vote as he did for vanita gupta who has since been confirmed as vice associate attorney general and is the first woman of color and for civil rights lawyer to serve in the position. if clarke's nomination a successful, she will be the first black woman to lead the civil rights division. for more we are joined by ben jealous, preside of people for the americanay, former president of the naacp. welcome back to democracy now! talk about what needs to happen right now. the senate judiciary committee deadlocked, but this can still move to the senate floor, the vote on kristen clarke come to have a civil rights division, can't it? > yes. th is what chuck schumer will have to do. he will have to move this to the floor for about. republicans are voting on partisan lines, apparently because they are trying to suppress voting rights across the country.

if that is the case, the last thing yowould what is misting voter rights advocate leading that division of the u.s. doj. amy: talked about the hearing that took place. talk about what kristen clarke represents and why you feel it is so critical that she be confirmed. >> the attacks on her were a new low. sit it accrues accusing her of lying, pretended the words of the poet amiri baraka were her own words, which he forwarded anemia with e submission from him to student magazine just passing it on to her colleagues. he then read what the poet said and pretended it was kristen clarke saying it. that is the type of stuff we have been dealing with, lie after lie after lie. amy: i want to go to richard blumenthal, the democratic

senator from connecticut, to immediately -- who immediately responded to senator mike lee's accusations. >> i think as merrick garland said when he was at the hearing, i think i know it has some to someone i see it. i think this charge about anti-semitism is just very regrettably false. it is unfortunate. there is no basis for it. i don't think there is an anti-semitic bone in her body, judging by her record. amy: that is senator blumenthal. we had said it was senator wyden before. to raise that issue, talk about what kristen clarke represents through the years, what she has

done, especially in light of the hundreds of voter suppression bills that are being voted on around the country. >> she is a civil rights lawyer. she has made a name for herself fighting hate crimes, fighting implement discrimination, sexual harassment, and most notably, fighting for the right of every person in this country to participate in free and fair elections. in this moment, we are seeing the greatest rise in voter suppression legislation since jim crow, which is to say something because we said the same thing two years ago but this time it is actually worse. her coming into the u.s. department of justice at this moment would strengthen the hand of the department, which was guided by trump, to fight voter suppression across this country. kristen is one of the most even-tempered, evenhanded, most

dedicated people to defending the u.s. constitution you will ever meet. though the way they have lied about her is a new low. someone who has avoided controversy if you will simply by being absolutely decent every day of her life. she does not excite easily. one of the things that hurt me most was seeing them trotut the widow of the officer that mumia was convicted of killing to say kristen was antiwhite. it was the craziest thing. meanwhile, we are recording video of white women talking about kristen as their savior on the job because she fight against sexual harassment and social discrimination they were subjected to for years. again, they will lie as they call her a liar. it is really the worst hearing i've seen in a very long time. amy: we don't have much time left, but her position to had the civil rights division if she is confirmed, not only deals

with issues like voting rights, but also consent decrees for police departments? >> yeah, the special prosecution of police officers is handled by is office as well. you see the republicans in the u.s. right now, leaders in congress, purely very worried the u.s. to partner of justice under joe biden will get back to actually administering justice. that is why they have been so fierce in trying to stop ms. gupta and nowms. clarke. amy: what you understand chuck schumer will do? >> he will move this to the floor for a vote. he has to. republicans are lying again and again and not really doing their job. amy: ben jealous, thank you for being with us, president of people for the american way, former president of the naacp. that does it for our show.

happy birthday to erin dooley! democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

>> this is al jazeera. >> hello. i am mary muzzy. you are watching the ", newshour," live from london. israel's bombardment of gaza continues. the distal mounds and thousands of people have been forced from their homes. more than 100 rockets are fired from gaza. the