[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i especially appreciate the support of our friend the u.s. president joe biden. i am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved to restore quiet insecurity to you, the citizens of israel. amy: israel's bombing of gaza continues as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu rejects growing calls for a

ceasefire while thanking president biden for his support. this comes as the u.s. is opposing a fourth resolution at the u.n. security council calling for a ceasefire. this one from france. but pressure is growing biden to do more to stop the assault. >> i believe we should be mourning the loss of israeli life, but we should also be mourning the loss of palestinian life -- or perhaps, some people think that palestinian lives don't matter. i would hope not. amy: we will speak to longtime israeli journalist gideon levy and palestinian human rights attorney and legal scholar noura erakat. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. israel has continued its

ferocious bombing and shelling campaign on the gaza strip for an 11th straight day, bringing the palestinian death toll to at least 231, including 65 children. earlier this morning, israel bombed the crowded jabaliya refugee camp. palestinian health officials say 1700 palestinians have been wounded. over 1300 housing units have been completely or severely -- been completely demolished or severely damaged. israeli authorities say 12 people have been killed inside israel from rockets fired from gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has so far rejected calls for a ceasefire but hamas officials say a truce could be reached within a day. in the west bank, palestinian president mahmoud abbas demanded an end to the israeli attack and israel's occupation. >> what the occupation is doing in gaza, including deliberate

shelling out residential areas and institutions, destruction of infrastructure, as well as the killing of women, elderly, and children as organized state terrorism carried out by the israeli occupation of war crimes punishable by the international law. amy: president biden reportedly told netanyahu he "expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a cease-fire." but the biden administration said they would block a united nations security council resolution proposed by france calling for an end to violence and humanitarian access to the gaza strip. the u.s. has blocked at least three other such attempts at the u.n. since israel's bombing campaign began 11 days ago. on capitol hill, senator bernie sanders introduced a resolution wednesday calling for an immediate ceasefire and supporting diplomatic efforts to protect human rights and to uphold international law.

sanders blasted a competing republican-led resolution for failing to express sympathy for the killing of palestinians. >> the law -- loss of 12 innocent israeli life's fees in fact a tragedy. but what about the loss of 227 palestinian lives, including 64 children and 38 women? amy: today senator sanders is expected to introduce a resolution of disapproval on a planned $735 million u.s. sale of precision-guided weapons to israel. a similar resolution in the house was co-sponsored by democrats alexandria ocasio-cortez, mark pocan, and rashida tlaib. ocasio-cortez tweeted -- "the united states should not be rubber-stamping weapons sales to the israeli government as they

deploy our resources to target international media outlets, schools, hospitals, humanitarian missions, and civilian sites for bombing." after headlines, we will spend the rest of the hour on the crisis in israel and the occupied palestinian territories. india reported another 3800 coronavirus that's on wednesday, a day after a record high. the nation's reporting more than a quarter million cases per day. in recent days, hundreds more corpses of covid-19 victims have been discovered floating in the ganges river, adding to evidence that prime minister narendra modi's government is concealing the true toll from its failed response to the crisis. india's official death toll now stands at over 287,000, though public health experts say the real number could be up to five

times higher. here in new york, mayor bill deblasio joined a ribbon cutting ceremony at celebrity chef daniel boulud's newest manhattan restaurant wednesday, cedmbrating the return of and/or dining at 100% capacity for the first time since march of 2020. >> this is the largest restaurant reopening since the pandemic. this is a symbol of new york city coming back. right here, right now. amy: daily u.s. coronavirus cases continue to decline even as the pace of u.s. vaccinations continues to slow. there were fewer than 30,000 new cases reported nationwide wednesday. meanwhile, the european union said wednesday that fully vaccinated travelers will be -- it will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated travelers. on wednesday, french president emmanuel macron shared a dnk at an outdoor paris cafe with france's prime minister to celebrate the partial reopening of restaurants. more than 3 in 10 people in france have received at least one shot of a covid-19 vaccine.

the house approved a bill wednesday to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the january 6 insurrection at the u.s. capitol. 35 republicans joined democrats in favor of the bill. indiana congressmember greg pence, the brother of former vice president mike pence, voted against the bill even though vice president pence had to be evacuated with family on january 6 as the mob of insurrectionists called for him to be hanged. the measure's fate now rests in the senate, where minority leader mitch mcconnell has vowed to oppose it. as the house minority leader kevin mccarthy also opposed it. elsewhere on capitol hill, three survivors of one of the worst racial terror attacks in u.s. history testified to congress wednesday in favor of reparations ahead of the 100th anniversary of the tulsa massacre. over two days beginning may 31, 1921, racist white mobs set fire to homes, businesses, and

churches in greenwood -- a thriving african american business district in tulsa, oklahoma known as "black wall street." 107-year-old viola fletcher is the oldest living survivor. she testified. >> i will never forget the violence of a white mob when we left our home. i still see black men being shot, like bodies lying in the streets. i still smell smoke. i still see like businesses been burned. i still hear airplanes flying overhead. i hear the screams. i have lived through the massacre every day. a country may forget this history, but i cannot. i will not. and other survivors do not. and our descendants do not. amy: a warning to our audience, this next headline contains disturbing footage of police violence. the associated press has obtained video of louisiana

state troopers electrocuting, beating, and dragging ronald greene, a black man who was killed during a 2019 traffic stop in monroe, louisiana. ap released portions of the 46-minute video showing one officer putting greene in a chokehold and punching him in the face while another can be heard calling him a "stupid mfer." after the beating, ap reports the officers left greene unattended, moaning and face down for more than nine minutes as officers refused to render aid -- instead, washing blood off their hands and faces. ronald greene arrived dead at an area hospital with two taser prongs in his back. police initially told greene's family he died of a car crash. greene's family has filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit.

a north carolina jury has awarded $75 million damages to compensate two brothers who spent more than three decades in prison after they were falsely convicted of rape and murder. henry mccollum and leon brown, who both are black and have intellectual disabilities, were sentenced to death over confessions that, for years, they said were coerced. they were released in 2014 after an investigation by the north carolina innocence inquiry commission found dna evidence implicated another man in the crimes. texas carried out its first execution in 10 months on wednesday night, administering a lethal injection to quintin johns, a black man convicted for killing his great aunt in 1999. jones had pleaded with the texas governor to spare his live in a row video produced by "the new york times." the victim's family had forgiven jones and publicly opposed the execution, including signing a petition for clemency. in a shocking move, there were no media witnesses present

during the execution. a spokesperson said new staff failed to tell reporters it was time to carry out the lethal injection, and so they were left waiting in an office across the street while jones was put to -- was executed. executives from biotech company emergent biosolutions were grilled by lawmakers wednesday over multiple failures in their manufacturing of coronavirus vaccines, which led the company to throw out 15 million doses earlier this year due to contamination. this is new york congressmember carolyn maloney speaking at the hearing wednesday. >> this is unfair to the american taxpayer, to say the very least, when you have a contract, should produce the product. so far we have not even got one dose of the product out to the american taxpayer. yet you have been able to get bonuses, millions of dollars in pay, going out to executives and they have not completed the contract. amy: former government officials

serve on the board of emergent and the company spends an average of $3 million a year on lobbying lawmakers. a massive sheet of ice four times the size of new york city has broken free from antarctica's ronne ice shelf, becoming the world's largest iceberg. though such events are part of a natural cycle, scientists warn greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution are waing the rth's polar regions faster than the rest of the globe, threatening wildlife and contributing to rising sea levels. in britain, scientists with the group extinction rebellion locked themselves to an exhibit at the london science museum wednesday to protest its sponsorship by oil company shell. climate activists also staged an oil "cleanup" outside the museum. one of the protesters said, "shell is using the science museum to legitimize its crimes." and mcdonald's workers across

the united states held a strike wednesday to demand a minimum wage of $15 an hour. senator bernie sanders and congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez were some of the high profile supporters who joined airtual action in solidarity with workers. congress member oak ridge has called on mcdonald's to have all of its franchise locations is that a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour. >> because they are a leader in this industry and their actions set the tone and set the standard for some and other competitors as well. and so you're not just fighting for you and yourself, y are fighting for food workers across this country to be paid a living wage and be able to get the unit they deserve. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. a palestinian man in a wheelchair, his pregnant wife, and three-year-old daughter are among the latest victims in israel's devastating bombing and

chili campaign in gaza. on wednesday, an israeli missile struck the home of eyad salha as he and his family were preparing for lunch. israeli air strikes and shelling have killed at least 231 palestinians, including 65 children. 1700 palestinians have been wounded. is really authority say 12 people have died inside israel -- israeli authorities say 12 people have died inside israel from rockets fired from gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has so far rejected calls r a ceasefire, but hamas officials say a truce could be reached within a day. on wnesday, president biden spoke to netanyahu and reportedly told him that he "expected a significant de-escalation today on ipad2 a cease-fire." despite biden's request, israel continues to bomb gaza. earlier this morning, iael bombed the crowded jabaliya

refugee camp. meanwhile, at the united nations, the united states is continuing to oppose efforts at the u.n. security council to call for a ceasefire. france has circulated a new resolution but the united states has already come out against it. the u.s. previously blocked three other u.n. surity council resolutions and statements. on wednesday, prime minister benjamin netanyahu thanked president biden for his support. >> i especially apprecie the support of our friend the was president joe biden the state of israel's right to self-defense. i am determined to continue this operation until his objective is achieved to restore quite insecurity do you, the citizens of israel. amy: -- and security to you, the citizens of israel. amy: meanwhile, palestinian president mahmoud abbas spoke thursday demanding an end to the israeli attack and the occupation. >> our work is focused on stopping israeli aggression against our people.

extending the israeli occupation of the lands and the state of palestine, including east jerusalem, our capital, reaching a full and fair solution agreed upon according to resolution 194 to achieve fair peace in the region. amy: we are joined now by noura erakat, an assistant professor at rutgers university, author of "justice for some," and in tel aviv, gideon levy award-winning israeli journalist and author, columnist for the newspaper ha'aretz and a member of its editorial board. he's also the author of the book "the punishment of gaza." gideon levy, let's begin with you. you have written piece after piece on what is taking place right now. we have just talked about the latest of a number of conversations. the president of the united

states, president biden, has had with the indicted sitting on trial for corruption prime minister of israel netanyahu. now, it is known they are not the best of friends. obviously, netanyahu was very close to president trump. but even with this lack of friendship, it sounds like he could not have right now a better friend than biden who has repeatedly at the united nations stopped u.n. security council resolution after resolution calling for a cease-fire. the latest one, from france. can you talk about the significance of the u.s.-israeli relationship, especially now with the biden administration expediting 700 $5 million for the precision guided missiles to israel in the midst of israel's bombardment of gaza with netanyahu saying they don't plan

to end this anytime soon? close good morning, amy. it is unbelievable how things repeat themselves. administrations are changing. prime minister recep israel are changing. the traditional policy -- bliny supporting -- [indiscernible] does not change. it is not about talking anymore. israel leaed -- state department condemned. even the security council can condemn. it is time -- if we want to stop on this, israel must be held accountable for those crimes. israel must pay for those

crimes. i don't see any intention of moving from talking to des. joe biden, i am sure his heart is in the right place. so was barack obama. but by the end of the day, there supporting all this. what does he mean, the american president, that isra has the right to protect itself? sure it does. but at any price? with any means? without any restraint? i mean, where will be the stage in which the world where the america president will say enough is enough, this is not protection killing 70 children? this is not self protection to destroy again and again gaza? and above all, does not serve israel. amy: explain how it does not serve israel and what is the israeli pipe the response right now, the response of the israel israeli population?

>> this may be the most depressive site of the horrible scene from gaza. you look at the israeli media and you look at israeli public opinion and the discourse and you hear only one voice, the voice of cheering for the fighting of asking for more, of asking for more blood, a supporting it in an unconditioned way, no criticism. and above all, no real information. the israeli tv viewer sees nothing of gaza. you see here and there those towers falling down. it is very photogenic. but nothing about the sacrifice, nothing about the equity, nothing about the families, nothing about the suffering of the children. the israelis don't see, which

helps them to feel good about themselves and feel just about themselves. but at the end of the day, this is brainwashing. denial is also part of the system, namely that all gazans, hamas everything is moral and they deserve all this and they are to be taken accountable for everything that happens. if you ask any israeli, they will tell you it is only supportive hamas. if you ask if there's any kind of accountability, responsibility, of israel, not at all. we have the most moral army under the world. amy: i want to bring in noura erakat, palestinian human rights attorney and legal scholar, assistant professor at rutgers university, and author of "justice for some: law and the question of palestine." hundreds of palestinians have died in gaza come have been killed in the israeli military

bombardment of this enclave, of extremely crowded millions of people. in the united states, in the corridors of power, the biden white house, yet still has so much sway over what israel does because it is the largest recipient of u.s. military aid in the world, yet we are seeing a fracturing of the democratic party, noura erakat, and you have a front row seat here being in the united states. can you talk about whether this has surprised you? does it make a difference to you as palestinians die? the u.s. has the first palestinian american congresswoman in u.s. history, rashida tlaib, who gave a powerful address on the floor of the house. >> thank you, andy.

i want to emphasize even when palestinians are not dying, the israeli targeting roads to hospitals, targeting schools, targeting clinics, targeting bookstores -- all of that reduces the chance of life. even a palestinian lives are spared in the flesh, they have limited chances of survival. we should emphasize the structural nature of these attacks. i have been very pleased and heartened by the shift in u.s. politics, though not completely surprised. the progressives -- what they called the progressive insurgency within congress and specifically the democratic party, reflects years of movement work on the ground where prior to even the words intersectional emerge that emphasize the enjoyment of struggle -- entwinement of struggle between black, brown

communities have brought these new lawmakers to power. so the analysis that they are sharing with us now on the house floor both reflects those grassroots constituencies as well as the analysis that has been forged new the crucible of struggle. for example, cori bush who came to washingn on the shoulders ofovement in ferguson, missouri, gave a moving speech on the house floor in dedication to a fallen wire. -- why you're. she besides like a palestinian solidarity is real and there is a commitment not because of some theoretical framework, but because of the work they did on the ground during the ferguson-gaza moment, during the occupation of ferguson in 2014 the simultaneous bombardment of gaza when it became clear and evident that israeli and u.s. state violence are not the same but quite similar and operate similar circuits of capital and profit, the fact that u.s. police officers from ferguson

were trained by israeli army personnel and police, the fact that similar technologies are used in u.s. prisons as well as israeli prisons for surveillance was of the fact that similar tactics of racial profiling are used, the fact that excess weapons from u.s. were making the middle east camille's warmaking in the middle east are then distributed to local law enforcent officers. here in the united states. makes clear this is not about self-defense, this is not merely about the struggle for civil rights but this is about state violence and oppression meant to maintain the supremacy of one racial group above all. i am excited by the shift in congress, though i'm not surprised. i hope to see more of it is grassroots movements continue to take leaders to washington post of amy: we're going to break i contacted this discussion. you have an hour there guest noura erakat, palestinian human rights attorney and legal

scholar here in the united states, and gideon levy, israeli journalist and author and member of haaretz editorial board. we will also hear from angela davis expressing solidarity with the palestinian people. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. as israel faces international condemnation for its assault on gaza, we turn to look at growing accusations that israel is an apartheid state. earlier this week, new york congress woman alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeted,

"apartheid states are not democracies." in march, human rights watch set for the first time israel is committing the crimes of apartheid and persecution in the occupied palestinian territories. for that in january, the israeli human rights group but slim issued a report titled "a regime of jewish supremacy from the jordan river to the mediterranean sea: this is apartheid." earlier this week, i spoke with hagai el-ad and asked him about this let mark report. >> 1989, we have been analyzing human rights violations in cupied territory since then. for more than three decades by now. throughout this period, we've only looked at human rights violations in the occupied territories, in the west bank, including east jerusalem, and in the gaza strip. we came to the conclusion that

to continue to analyze the situation separately, as if there are two distinct regimes -- a democracy inside the green line and a temporary occupation attached to it but somehow separate from it in the occupied territories on the other side of the green line -- that that worldview of democracy plus occupation has become untethered from reality. and it's incumbent on us to be factual and to wake up to reality. if one desires to continue to hold on to that big lie, then you need to ignore a lot of things. you need to ignore the passage of time, that israeli control over the entire territory has been going on for more than 50 years. you need to ignore the fact that there are more than 600,000 israeli jewish settlers living on the other side of the green line in the occupied west bank, as if they're living inside israel proper. you need to ignore the fact that part of the occupied territory has been formally annexed -- i'm talking about east jerusalem -- with the rest of it being de facto annexed.

you need to set aside a lot of facts in order to continue to hold on to that bankrupt worldview. but the key thing is that to hold on to that, you need to ignore the key aspect, which is there is one organizing principle that is applied by the israeli regime between the river and the sea, and that principle is the supremacy and domination of one group of people, jews, over another group of people, palestinians, with all this happening in a situation of demographic parity. there are 14 million people that live between the river and the sea. about half of them are jews. about half of them are palestinians. but the system, the regime is structured so that that demographic parity will not translate into parity in political power or in access to the resources of this land or to protection or rights. now, one of the most important

aspects of this reality has been israel's ability to fragment this space for palestinians, while keeping it intact for jews. right? so if you're a jewish individual, like myself, no matter where you live between the river and the sea, whether it's inside israel proper or in the occupied territories, the state will -- within one of the more than 200 illegal settlements th israel has reestablished in the last half-cenry-plus, then the state will do everything in its power to provide you with the same set of rights, privileg and protections. so that's the treatment for jewish israelis. but for palestinians, it makes a very big difference if you live as a second-class citizen inside the green line or as a permanent resident in occupied and illegally annexed east jerusalem or in the rest of the west bank as a palestinian subjectr one of the 2 million palestinians that are living in that large

open-air prison that is the gaza strip. so there are different categories of palestinians, from israel's perspective, and in each and every one of those, there is a different subset of rights -- always less rights, always a degree of oppression. but nowhere between the river and the sea, there is a single square inch in which a jewish person and a palestinian are equal. it is always structured in this way that's domination and supremacy for the jewish half of the population. and it's incumbenon us to connect the dots. so let me try and do that. look at israel's bombings of gaza. do these strike you as proportional? look at israel's occupation of the west bank. does it strike you as temporary? look at israel's drive to cleanse east jerusalem neighborhoods from palestinians. does that strike you as legal? look at israel's oppression of palestinian citizens as second-class. does that strike you as equal treatment under the law?

it's not proportional. it's not temporary. it's not legal. it's not equal. and it's not complicated. believe your eyes. follow your conscience. the reason that it looks like apartheid is simply because it is apartheid. amy: hagai el-ad, what is the response within the israeli jewish population to your critique, now calling what's happening in gaza war crimes and to your apartheid report from january? >> yeah, the response is definitely not -- not welcoming or popular in any shape or form, which also is not new. but fighting for human rights is not a popularity contest. and i am encouraged by the way in which, first internationally,

the understanding of the situation here as apartheid is becoming more and more mainstreamed. this is the result of efforts by palestinian colleagues. palestinian scholars and ngo's and activists have been making this point already for many years, right? and then, much more recently, the b'tselem report in january and the human rights watch very broad legal determination that israeli officials are guilty of the crimes of apartheid and persecution, in april. and i think, thanks to that, and thanks to reality being what it is, it's becoming less and less possible to obscure it and to hide it and to continue to lie about it. we're hearing key figures in u.s. politics and media saying the truth out loud. and with that, i think it will also eventually resonate back

here. and jewish israelis will need to come to terms with the fact that the world is waking up to what is going on. and that's really the central aspect because what is happening now in gaza, it has to stop. this kind of bombings, it just has to stop. that's the most essential aspect to save human lives. but that's not sufficient. the people responsible need to be held accountable, because otherwise, it is just going to be allowed to continue the same way that this has been allowed to continue, which has brought us to this assault on the gaza strip. but also, it's essential that we do not go back to the status quo. the status quo is a false term. it's never static. and the status quo is not justice. the status quo is apartheid. so yes, the bloodshed that is happening now has to stop. but the bloodshed is related to the underlying reality, to the overarching reality, to the

condition of apartheid that has to end. hagai el-ad and because that ishagai el-ad, executive director of b'tselem. to see the pledge of you, you can go to democracynow.org and we will lead to the b'tselem report. we are spending the hour with noura erakat and gideon levy. one of your recent pieces is headlined "we can keep lying to ourselves on apartheid but israel has crossed the line." talk about the sensitivity of israel to this accusation, palestinians and many others around the world have leveled it for a long time. it is increasingly adopted, that term, by mainstream organizations like human rights

watch -- and we just saw b'tselem. the significance of calling it this and h it change clubs unfortunately, it is very, very, very slow process. still a long way to go. very long way to go. because, amy, israel, as you know, is a society in total denial. i cannot recall one socie which lives in such a denial like the isrl jewish society and the last 20 years or so. nothing from the occupation gets into our daily lives. the occupation seems to be somewhere else, be the oceans, another continent if at all. the israeli is not affected by thoccupationnot affected by the apartheid. we live r lives in our bubble, which is very pleasant and i

would say very democratic. and nobody cares to know what happens 15 minutes away froour homes come half an hour away from our homes. most of the israelis never travel there. most of them were not informed about what is going on there. the information which does get to the israelis is always this official. for me portraying -- false information for training them as terrorists, nothing but terrorists, and portrayi us as victims, the only victims. even now when we are speaking now, most of the israelis are sure -- the fact that people in gaza d't even have shelter doesn't cross the mind of anybody. it is so hard to make israelis

feel something about the palestinians, see them as human beings is a lecture here because most of the israelis don't see. what can you say about the fact out of over 200 victims, almost 100 are women and children? can you still climb this is moral? can you still claim they were territories? no. do you think anybody is shaken by this in israel? the israeli media? nothing because we live in denial, therefore as long as people will call us apartheid -- entice semites, therefore, not our fault and israel will continue to live in thi denial even though you know it penetrates slowly, much too slow

, into the discourse. amy: noura erakat, you have hamas and other militants endless tuning groups sending -- shooting something like 3000 missiles into israel 12 people in israel have died, two tied -- migrant workers. we have israel bombing gaza, hundreds of palestinians have died. more than 60 children. killed by the israeli attacks. you have described what has happened in gaza strip as an outright massacre. can you talk about the effect on the ground? you have a friend, for example, who is a harvard law graduate we just lost 15 members of his family. described this to us in the overall context of what is happening for people to understand this, what, david

cameron, former british prime minister, described as an open-air prison, gaza. >> thank you for lifting up the story of my friend who's a harvard law graduate and a dear friend of mine. numbers indicate he lost 21 members of his family, the dest bng aged 90 and the youngest being six months. this is four generations of palestinians wiped out in a single instance. that is more dense in terms of civilian casualties in one strike than hamas has meted out in the current configuration. the important thini would if the size about history see has not met his family. he is based in the u.s. and is not granted injury. this is a future palestinian life. a bit undermining the singular national identity of

palestinians as indigenous population to this land. he intended to meet them and now cannot upon his return to palestine. what is even more tragic is that he and his family where his parents, anyway, had led gaza to the united states retraces a better le and yet their pursuit of that life in the u.s., which is the primary feature of israel, imperial patron is part of the structure, as is my life in the u.s. and yours in everyone was watching from the u.s. as part of the structure on violence by violence that continues to be needed against gaza. i went up as i something about israel. there is no parity here. we understand that. in regards to hamas rocket we should distinguish hamas maybe using rockets that cannot target -- you can critique that recklessness and it, too, can be tend not to work right, but they have already been punished.

they have been designated as terror organizations by the u.s. and eu and subject to siege. the becomes redundant and irrelevant to continue to condemn that and demand some sort of false parity. what i want to emphasize about israel's use of force is within the framework of -- israel does not have the right to self defense against a population that it occupies. it cannot assert enforcent, law enforcement power from the native population, impose a siege, govern the airspace and the seaport and the perimeter commit govern how much caloric intake palestinians have, and none shoot missiles onto a besieged population. it could not do both. this is been established by legal scholars such as christine gray. it is an old truck condemned in the 1970's when portugal, south africa, israel tried to going

the right to self-defense in order to protect its colonial territories. you cannot dominate any other people and then use the claim of self-defense in order to protect that domination. israel is not protecting itself citizens, it is protecting its domination, protecting its occupation. the first thing that needs to happen in the aftermath, one, this is a form of aggression. the first thing that needs to happen in any outcome is the seat must be lifted. we did not endure in other massacre like this where it becomes theater for politics and news media and then not demand the siege be lifted as the bare minimum of what happens next. amy: we're going to gotta break and we come back, we will talk about the issue of solidarity was angela davisecently released a statement on what is happening in palestine. we are speaking with noura erakat who is a palestinian

american scholar, assistant professor at rutgers university, and gideon levy is an award-winning israeli journalist and a columnist for haaretz, sits on the editorial board. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. on sunday, many arab, muslim, and palestinian communities boycotted president biden's virtual eid celebration. a letter to the white house from the muslim delegates and allies coalition said -- "in lieu of flowers or condolences for martyred palestinian children, or even a white house eid celebration, we request the united states recognize dignity rights worldwide. a first step in recognizing our humanity would be to not allow a policy of mass slaughter in the sacred islamic month of ramadan." we turn now to the legendary activist and scholar angela davis, author of many books.

she recorded this message of solidarity for an event on sunday called "eid with palestine: a protest of the white house eid event." >> i join the many individuals and organizations around the world in expressing grief and anger and protest in light of the acceleration of violce by the israeli government and the settlers they protect at sheikh jarrah. we protest the storming of the mosque and the extensive and brutal bombing of gaza. and we call attention to and protest the biden-harris administration's collusion with the israeli government, even as the biden government participated in the celebration of eid. and at a time when palestinians

the world over have been commemorating n theakba. people all over the u.s. and indeed throughout the world express their outrage when george floyd and breonna taylor's lives were extinguished by racist police violence. we know that shortly after these murders occurred, ahmad erekat was shot down on his sister's wedding day at a checkpoint betwee lamb outside of occupied east jerusalem. this was clearly a state sink when execution that we now recognize as harbinger of the current violent assaults on palestinians in east jerusalem and gaza were over 100 people, including children, have already been killed. this is unconscionable.

in 2011, i had the opportunity to visit sheikh jarrah with the delegation of indigenous and women of color activist, scholars, and artists. we spoke with a palestinian family who have been evicted from their home with a had lived for many decades. jewish settlers had moved into the main rooms of their house and they, the rightful owners, were relegated to a small area in the back of the house. progressive jews were connecting demonstrations every week to protest the eviction of palestinians from their homes. what we witnessed 10 years ago is now happening on a much larger and more threatening scale. we should now understand that as

these evictions continue, they prove that israeli settler colonialism will only be hted when people all over the world demand the rights of the palestinian people in occupied palestine be respected. here in the u.s., we must make our demands for justice in palestine resonate as powerfully as our demands for an end to racist police violence. stop the evictions. stop the demolitions. stop the bombing. end the occupation. justice for palestine. amy: that is professor angela davis. she and our guest noura erakat were part of the conversation published in the nation magazine with the killing of hagai el-ad -- killing of ahmad erekat.

angela referenced his death. i want, if you could, because i know it is still so painful, talk about your cousin most of the investigation you have done of his death at an israeli checkpoint and then as we begin to wrap up, put that in the larger context of what is happening today in the occupied territories. >> thank you for lifting up ahmad erekat, my cousin. he was shot at a checkpoint separating two palestinian cities on the day of his sister's wedding. he had a mechanical air in the car. shot dead. six times about the waste in two seconds with his arms above his head, left on the pavement even as the israeli invalids came to treat the lightly injured soldier, refused to treat ahmad.

the israeli army refused a palestinian ambulance to treat him. there was no autopsy conducted on his body. he had remained in an israeli refrigerator out hostage to punish the family as well as other palestinians in a sign even after death they will be treated cruelly. he is one of 62 palestinians held in this way in response to our advocacy to just get the body back, that included the forensic architecture investigation, that demonstrated scene by scene that ahmad was probably far from accelerating, as the car comes out of control in response to mobilizing the erekat family across the u.s. who has also sought refuge here. we ask six senators to intervene on the family's behalf with the israeli government was that

benny gantz said not only would they not released the body, they would dig up palestinian bodies accused of participating in resistance activities to hold them hostage as well. the way this fits in the larger frame has to do with israel's expanding use of force. we have to be careful when we are calling for international law and to describe what iael is doing this work crimes becae israel's work is also in the battle of changing what the law means. it is shrinking cap as palestinian -- he regards palestinians as already always been a threat. all palestinians are deemed a threat to their mere existence and challenginghe zionist settler colonial mythology up and drifted jewish racial and temporal presence. what was he happened to i cousin has been a pattern and practice the u.n. as documented in said

israel shoes as a matter of precautionary measure and in some cases they have placed weapons alongside th palestinian bodies. we saw this manifest most cruelly during the gaza march of return when stivers shot down -- snipers shot dead hundreds. for all of those same palestinians should be peaceful, we have been nothing but. the question is, how have they not been more violent given the atrocious treatment? they shut hundreds of palestinians, 90% of which entity had a net and back and torso as they were fleeing medics. children and the israeli supreme court said this was justified? because even the peaceful protests are "amassed plus eutectic -- hamas blessed be tactic. they have the bare minimum of what an international community

watching now that just cares about the violence during these spectacular moments. if you really, really sincerely care about the violence, you must place sanctions on israel. you must demilitarized israel. you must force israel to sign the nonproliferation treaty. you must hold israel to account. otherwise, your only asking palestinians to die quietly. amy: i want to go now to gideon levy in tel aviv. as you listen to noura erakat, your latest piece in ha'aretz, a pepper israel carries out violence because it can. bernie sanders, alexandria ocasio-cortez, the first palestinian american congresswoman rashida tlaib succeeded in stopping the expediting of $735 million of

precision-guided weapons to israel, would this have any affect or senator sanders calling for a cease-fire? what kind of impact does this have on israeli society? do you think this could stop the bloodshed? >> let me tell you come amy come if there would have been an administration -- and you could administration who not only like to stop the violence but put in into the occupation, could do so within months. the problem is we never place in administration really decisive or really caring about the status quo. biden is now labeled by israel as hostile president. joe biden sign on this were quita lot. he would be decisiveor american president, would put an end to at once.

those forget the israeli relying on the united states, but israel learned the unid stat is in its pocket. the support is unconditional. the money will come and the check is open no matter what israel does. that is the way the united states has corrupted israel. cause if you get this pre-supply of arms like a free supply of drugs, you become addicted and you become totally corrupt because you know there is going to put limits to your behavior. as i wrote today in ha'aretz, israel by far is too strong. would israel be less strong, would be much of a moral state.

they are not monsters, but they do those things because no one stops them because this overall power makes people arrogant. they can't provoke the palestinians in jerusalem and they can kill people at the checkpoint and they can continue to steal land and to do all of those things in the world just backs israel. israel continues. there will be no resistance from within israel. the israelis will never wake up one shining morning and think, "oh, this is not nice, the occupationlet's put in into it." why would they after 53 years in they were toldithout occupation, isel will not survive? the only way to put an end to it is to make israelis pay be

punished and then it will be their choice if there ready to take it up i can assure you most of the israelis will say no. amy: gideon levy, member of the oeño

narrator: on this episode of "earth focus," climate change is forcing people to migrate in search of food and shelter, altering traditional lifestyles across the globe. in tijuana, mexico, haitians fleeing devastation are building a neighborhood as their dreams of entering the united states dwindle. while in mongolia, the traditional herding lifestyle is threatened as drought forces a new generation to the capital in search of opportunities.