03/27/23 03/27/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> what we're doing tonight this protesting the government. we are fighting for our democracy. amy: a general strike has largely shut down israel following a weekend of massive protests against benjamin netayahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary. in his firing up israel's

defense minister. as hundreds of thousands of israel call for preserving few -- democracy, few are demanding democratic rights for all palestinians. we will go to tel aviv for the latest. then as the united nations warns 2 billion lack safe water, we will look at the fight to protect water across the globe. >> water needs to be at the center of the political enda. all humanity depends in some way on charting a new science-based course to bring water action agenda to lie. amy: and we will remember human rights activist and lawyer randall robinson. he has died at the age of 81. you played a critical role in the anti-apartheid movement in the united states and was a prominent critic of u.s. policy in 80. in 2004, he helped expose the u.s. role in the coup that ousted haitian president jean-bertrand aristide.

>> the problem is with our democracy. it wasn't with theirs. we feel a divine right can go in and overthrow governments willy-nilly when they're living under leadership of their own clear choice. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in israel, hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets over the weekend as the country's political crisis reached new heights. on sunday, prime minister benjamin netanyahu fired defense minister yoav gallant one day after gallant called for a halt to the government's drastic judicial overhaul, which has triggered months of mass protests and international condemnation. gallant said the plan posed a security threat after the military warned it may have to reduce operations as a growing number of reservists said they would refuse to show up for duty in protest. israel's largest trade union is

on a general strike today. histadrut represents over 700,000 workers across various industries, including banks, healthcare, and transportation. in tel aviv, police used water cannons against protesters as they blocked a multi-lane highway. fires were set in at least two major roads. in jerusalem, crowds also rallied outside netanyahu's private residence. >> i am not sure but we have no other choice. amy: meanwhile, israeli violence towards palestinians continues. israeli soldiers stormed al aqsa mosque in east jerusalem over the weekend, forcibly removing palestinian worshippers marking the holy month of ramadan. on sunday, palestinian authorities said israeli settlers burned down a home in sinjel, near ramallah, in the occupied west bank. president biden declared a

federal emergency after a devastating tornado killed at least 25 people in mississippi and one in alabama. entire neighborhoods were flattened. mississippi residents recounted the harrowing moment the storm hit their homes. >> i don't want to die. i don't want me or the kids to die. >> ran and got in the bathroom with my wife and put pillows over us and we hear stuff hitting the roofs. a lot of trees down. amy: while visiting the aftermath of the tornado, homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas warned extreme weather events are increasing in gravity, in severity, and in frequency. over 20 million people across the south and southeastern u.s. are under threat of more severe storms today. in tunisia, the coast guard says it recovered the bodies of 10 migrants sunday after their ship sank in the mediterranean. the disaster came just hours after a human rights group said another 19 refugees from sub-saharan africa drowned off tunisia's coast as they tried to

cross to italy to seek asylum. at least 67 migrants were reportedly missing. this comes as italy's government says the number of migrants arriving at italian ports has tripled in the first three months of 2023, with more than 4000 people disembarking in southern italy over the weekend. on saturday, a humanitarian aid ship rescued 78 migrants aboard a sinking rubber dinghy in international waters near malta. one day earlier, the rescue ship geo barents, operated by doctors without borders, rescued 190 migrants, including unaccoanied minors, off the coast of italy. virginia mielgo gonzález, a coordinatowith the group, said a new set of rules passed by italy's far-right government last month has severely curtailed rescue efforts in the mediterranean. >> our main concern would be being detaid, so being stopped from doi what the're doing

and we are rescuing pple in e mediterranean sea. people will still use this route. amy: ukraine called for an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council sunday as nato condemned russia for its "dangerous and irresponsible" suggestion it could soon deploy tactical nuclear weapons to belarus. president vladimir putin made the comments saturday. >> alexander lukashenko is right. we're the closest allies. we agreed we will do the same. amy: the head of the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog rafael grossi is due to visit the russian-occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant this week amid ongoing fears over a possible nuclear disaster. the plant has had to rely on its emergency diesel generators six times over the past year due to attacks in the region. on the battlefield, the russian mercenary wagner group said it

captured a metal plant in the north of bakhmut. this comes after ukraine said its military is still holding on to the decimated eastern city which has been the site of some of the war's fiercest battles for months. in afghanistan, at least six civilians were killed and several others wounded today in an explosion near the afghan foreign ministry in kabul. a police spokesperson said the blast occurred after guards shot a suicide bomber near us he could he checkpoint, leading to heavily fortified street housing severagovernment buildings. honduras has formally cut ties with taiwan while establishing diplomatic relations with china. in a statement issued sunday, honduras' foreign ministry called taiwan an inalienable part of chinese territory and said beijing is the sole legitimate government there. taiwan said it was closing its main embassy and a consulate in honduras and is withdrawing its ambassador. the move leaves taiwan with just 13 diplomatic partners, most of

them in central america, the caribbean, and the south pacific. vice president kamala harris is on week-long tour of africa where in her first stop in ghana, said the biden administration is committed to increasing economic investments. harris will also visit tanzania and zambia as the u.s. seeks to counr the continent's growing ties with russia and china. the government of chad says it has nationalized all assets and rights held by exxon mobil. the u.s. gas giant announced last year it sold its operations in chad and cameroon to u.k.-based savannah energy, which said it would contest chad's nationalization plan. the west african nation has the 10th largest oil reserves in the continent and exports 90% of its oil. in germany, transportation is at a standstill as workers nationwide hold a 24-hour mega-strike. union leaders say pay raises are a matter of survival for workers amid soaring inflation.

it's the latest mass action led by unions in europe as people struggle with mounting food and energy costs. here in the u.s., educational staff in los angeles reached a tentative deal with the school district late friday following a three-day strike. if approved, some 30,000 bus drivers, special education assistants, cafeteria workers, custodians, and others will receive a 30% wage increase, retroactive pay of up to $8000, and average salaries of $33,000 -- up from $25,000. 35,000 l.a. public school teachers joined the picket line last week with the educational support workers. in other labor news, workers ousted the appointed president of the united auto workers in its first direct election by union members. shawn fain, a three-decades-long union member has vowed to take a tougher approach in negotiations . the uaw has been dogged by corruption scandals in recent years. donald trump held his first

major rally for his 2024 presidential campaign in waco, texas saturday, vowing to destroy the deep state and railing against prosecutors investigating his crimes. >> when they're going after me, they're going after you. the only way to stop is to rebuke and reject this evil persecution by sending us straight to the white house to expel the communists and the marxists and all of them in 2024. amy: waco is currently marking the 30th anniversary of the federal siege of the branch davidians, an anti-government cult led by david koresh, which ended in the deaths of 86 people. timoy mcveigh said it inspired his terror technique federal building in obama city exactly two years later in 1995. timothy mcveigh was executed. prior to the rally, trump posted on his site truth social that filing charges against him could result in "potential death and

destruction." the manhattan grand jury that could indict trump is expected to resume its work today. trump also posted a photo of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of manhattan district attorney alvin bragg. on friday, trump referred to bragg, manhattan's first black d.a., as an "animal." also on friday, a threatening letter and containing white powder. "the texas observer" says it is shutting down and will lay off its 17-person staff after 68 years of publication. the storied magazine was the long-time home of progressive journalists, including ronnie dugger, molly ivins, and kaye northcott. "the observer" is known for its combative style, its muckraking investigative journalism, and for providing an independent voice in the face of mass media consolidation. in eastern pennsylvania, at least seven people are dead and 10 others were hospitalized

after an explosion leveled a chocolate factory in the town of west reading. the blast destroyed one building and damaged another at the r.m. palmer company plant known for producing seasonal chocolates, including easter bunnies. investigators have not yet determined the cause of the explosion. philadelphia officials said sunday tap water is safe to drink until the end of today following earlier warnings not to drink from the tap after a chemical processing plant released as much as 12,000 gallons of acrylic latex polymer into a tributary of the delaware river. philadelphia mayor jim kenney said late sunday that no contaminants had yet been found in the city's tap water system as authorities continue to conduct tests. "the guardian" is reporting a police officer fired pepper ball rounds into the closed tent of slain activist manuel paez terán before shooting at them

with live fire, leading to their death. the activist, who went by the name tortuguita, was killed while defending georgia's weelaunee forest from the construction of the $90 million police training facility dubbed cop city. the new information surrounding tortuguita's killing was recently revealed in police incident reports and confirms atlanta police planned and led the deadly operation of january 18. in financial news, first citizens bank announced it will purchase a large portion of the assets of the failed silicon valley bank. 17 former branches of svb will now operate as first citizens banks. the fdic took over svb earlier this month after a run on the bank caused it to collapse in the second-largest bank failure in u.s. history. and house republicans passed a bill increasing parental control in public schools, including a right to review curricula and reading lists, as well as books that are available at school libraries. the so-called parental rights have become a flashpoint for

conservatives and has led to over 1600 books being banned in school libraries and classrooms from mid-2021 to mid-2022. senate majority leader chuck schumer said the democrat-controlled senate will not take up the bill, which he called "orwellian to the core." fellow new york lawmaker representative alexandria ocasio-cortez spoke out against the measure thursday on the house floor. >> look at these books that have already been banned due to republican measures. "the life of rosa parks" is a partly to -- is apparently too woke. "song of solomon" is an acceptable post 40 of banned books reported are significantly addressing us -- specifically addressing lgbt issues. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show looking at the growing political crisis in israel. workers across israel are taking part in a general strike today to protest plans by prime minister benjamin netanyahu to disempower israel's judiciary. critics say the moves could turn israel into a dictatorship. the strike has shut down israel's two main sea ports. flights have been suspended at israel's ben gurion airport. the strike has also shut down schools, banks, and other institutions. over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of israelis took part in protests. many blocked roads and highways, shutting down large parts of the country. on sunday, prime minister netanyahu fired his defense minister yoav gallant who had warned that plans to overhaul the judiciary posed a "a clear, immediate and tangible threat to the security of the state." these are the voices of some of the protesters in tel aviv this weekend. >> soldiers -- this is an

emergency time for the democracy of israel. we are here to fight for the liberal democracy and our rights in the jewish state, which was established 75 years ago. we all have to fight for our rights because of the plans of benjamin netanyahu wants to turn this nation into a dictatorship. >> what we're doing here tonight is protesting the government, once again, holds the power to take all the rights from our citizens. this is why we're here, fighting for our democracy. amy: as hundreds of thousands of israelis call, if you are demanding democratic rights for all palestinians. we go now to tel aviv, where we are joined by haggai matar, an executive director of "972 -- advancement of citizen

journalism." there is so much going on. talk about the significance of the mass protests and the firing -- netanyahu's firing of the defense minister. >> thank you for having me. this is truly an unprecedented moment. we have never seen such a massive powerful committed protest movement in israeli history. there is nothing to compare it to. right now people are demonstrating throughout the country. people are blocking main roads and seaports and so on with the unions warning today. it is interesting to note that the reason they have pushed the unions to join, universities, the larger institutions to join the protest movement is the firing of the defense minister.

that is still the rallying message for many israelis for this protest movement. while the chants offer democracy and equality, it feels like for many people it is an internal jewish conversation. at the same time, i have to say it is an incredible and inspiring to see such a force of people coming out and try to defend marcy, albeit limited and only for jews. the power of it is truly incredible. amy: yoav gallant, it is not as if he did not support weakening the defense, but expired what he objected to. also the consul general, the israeli general here in new york just resigned. >> the israeli consul general is liberal, from the left, a

remnant of the previous government. but yoav gallant is a war criminal. he was responsible general for the war crimes and gaza in 2009. he is no defender of democracy. the only reason he decided to step up against netanyahu was the army is basically collapsing. the central and most important units, israel's air force and intelligence corps, are basically filled with thousands of people who are saying they will refuse to continue service or the reserve service if the legal overhaul goes through. gallant is former general in defense minister said we cannot sustain israel's defense without the armies collapsing because of the reforms -- it is not that we don't support them, we don't have an army left.

so that is where gallant comes from. when netayahu response is not ok and listening but i am going to fire you because you did that agree with me, that was the last straw that pushed the unions and other players into the game. amy: you say he should have been fired but he was fired for the wrong reasons. >> the entire government should be fired. everybody there are playing some part in fferent parts of war crimes. he was fired for the wrong reasons, yet. amy: explain what is happening in the west bank and gaza. you have this unprecedented mass protest, the unions demanding change and the stopping of what is happening. how it has life changed in the st bank and gaza? >> gaza has been very much the same under the same siege for over 15 ars now. thsame situation which

actually means people's lives continue to deteriorate but not an a substantially different way now than they were 1, 2, or five years ago. in the west bank, we have seen israel the past year and a half escalating measures, indication of plans for ethnic cleansing, of attacks on palestinians which has led to more and more resistance on the side of palestinians with the palestinian authority basically losing control of entire parts of the west bank and militants stepping up their attacks on israelis. that also has been ongoing since even the previous government and is ongoing to this very day. i think palestinians also in many ways are just looking at what is happening inside israel and waiting to see what plays out and where this is going. this government, which was seen as a stable, far right government with very dangerous

place for palestinians might coapse within a matter of days. so palestinians now in the month of ramadan, alwaysery strenuous time, are basically looking at where things are going at this point. amy: the parallels with the united states between netayahu and trump, both are under investigation. netayahu has been indicted for corruption. trump -- it looks like to be indicted. and both trying to -- now completely going after the judiciary. if these judicial changes went through, would that also benefit netayahu personally? >> yes, of course. a cluster of motivations for the attack on the judicial system and netayahu's personal and other's personal interest for their indictments for corruption are what -- from the religious

parties to promote clerical agenda, very extreme agenda of jewish religion taking over the somewhat secular nature of the country and plans for annexation and forced to of palestinians. all of these things are things the judicial system, which had not been an ally to palestinians in any way or defender of human rights in any way, has put in place some checks and balances around corruption, religion, and annexation that they are trying to dismantle right now. between israel and the u.s., doesn't have any mechanisms to stop this from happening except from the power of the people that are out in the streets. amy: what would happen if the government did collapse? every hour it is being said netayahu is about to address the nation, though he hasn't. >> we are hearing likely in the

coming hours to announce a halt to the reforms he understands he cannot move forward, that the power against him is greater then he is ever seen before internally. so he will announce a halt mt likely. and then the question is, what happens next? will he succeed to take charge of his government, his coalition is falling apart. it is likely the coalition will collapse. and what comes next? the highest chances are for a coalition between the right and the center in which they will aim to create a government of healing so-called and try to offer some protections to the judicial system, but also protect the essential nature of the state as an apartheid state. that will be an off the table, off negotiations.

the protest movement will accept that. i think there are questions as to what degree the palestinians will accept that and to what degree international allies of israel that have been very concerned of what has been happening, including international finances, the capital that is been pulling away money, divesting from the israeli economy. from what degree will it be able to -- will he be willing to reinvest without israel adopting equality as a policy. if the international community accepts israel under these conditions of yes to apartheid and no two judicial reform, that will mean the system will stay basically as is. we can only hope and demand international players hold israel to account also an apartheid and not only on the recent measures. amy: haggai matar, thank you for

being with us, speaking to us from tel aviv. when we combat, a quarter of humanity lacks access to clean drinking water. we will look at the fight to protect water across the globe. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "in my mind" by jonny polonsky. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to a somewhat overlooked but hugely significant new report by the united nations that warns a quarter of humanity lacks access to safe drinking water and nearly half of the global population has no access to basic sanitation. unless action is taken, 60% of the world's population could face water supply issues by 2050. u.n. secretary-general antónio guterres addressed the findings at the u.n. water conference in new york last week, the first such event in nearly half a century. >> water is a human right. the common denominator to shape

a better future. but water is in deep trouble. we are draining humanity's lifeblood with overconsumption and unsustainable use and evaporating heat through global heating. amy: the secretary-general follows other u.n. secretaries-general who warned of the link between water and the potential for war, including boutros boutros-ghali in 1985 who said, "the next war in the middle east will be fought over water, not politics" and ban ki moon who warned in 2007, "water scarcity threatens economic and social gains and is a potent fuel for wars and conflict." for more, we are joined by two guests working in areas facing some of the worst water scarcity. in phoenix, arizona, mohammed mahmoud is the director of the climate and water program at the middle east institute. and at a capital ofiger, boluwaji onalu is presidenof thnetwork nigerian female

professionals in nigeria and the diaspora, which focuses on water, sanitation, hygiene, and public health. we welcome you both to democracy now! let's begin with boluwaji onabolu. if you can talk about what is happening across the content of africa. the numbers are absolutely terrifying of who has access to water, to clean drinking water, not to mention sanitation. >> thank you very much, amy, for having me on. before i speak about africa, the war report you referred to has actually brought to the attention of the world something that is a bit different from what we in the sector have been looking at. usually, reports would say this never, this proportion of people

globally will not have access to water and sanitation, but in this report, this report says if urgent action is not taken, the number of people that will not have access to basic drinking water willouble from 2016, which was about 930 million people, to 2.4 billion people. now delete report- a report did in assessment in rica for the very first time and i would like to quote some of the speakers of the findings. in africa19 out of the 100

possible points -- 90 out of the 100 possible points. an average of 60 to 70. in the past five years, 25 out of 54 countries in africa made no progress at all. access to basic drinking water ranged from 37% in the central african region 1099% in egypt. coming to my country nigeria, which is very pivotal because nigeria with its population of about 200 million people, has more people than the whole of west africa combined.

and in terms of regression, access to basic water reduced from 67% from 70% in 2018 to 67% in 2021. what are the implications? the world water report reminds us, and like you said, the current u.s. secretary-general and the first one have said that access to water -- water security is pivotal to achieving every other human right, every sustainable goal. so far in africa, it is the major issue. the impact on health, on education, impact on the

economy, on security. so based on what the the port calls for speeding up, scaling outcome and sustaining. amy: mohammed mahmoud, you are director of the climate and water program at the middle east institute. can you talk about what particularly is happening in the middle east know around water? we always hear about oil and gas and wars for oil. what about for water? >> gd morning, amy. thank you for having me on the show. i think just link with the report and what was just mentioned, one of the main takeaways as we are certainly not on track for the goal as it relates to clean, safe water and

sanitation to meet the mark that was intended by 2030. i think that is just one piece of the puzzle when we look at those issues related to water quality. similarly in the middle east, north africand certainly other parts ofhe world, share this issue. when it comes to water security, i think there are multiple dimensns being impacted. one on the waterupply side. and that is overlaid with the impacts of climate change. certainly climate change amplification has caused droughts certainly in the region to become more sustained and sere. the region itself is naturally prone to being dry and arid, but with the overlay of climate change, freshwater sources have been stressed. to put it into perspective, 12 of the 15 most water stressed countries in the world reside in the middle east and north africa regi. groundwater supplies have been

the predominant source of supply for the region for as long as folks have been utilizing water. those have been over depleted. the few surface watesystems and rivers are certainly the two biggest, now river basin and tigris euphrates system, because of the impacts of climate change, these systems that rely on high elevation water being generated from snowpack precipitation are experiencing less generation of water from these higher elevations. that causes an issue certainly with egg about transboundary nations, certainly in the nile, with ethiopia being upstream and said and downstream -- sudan, downstream. that is just the water supply. when we look at water demand, where less water available, there is a lot more competition.

the biggest is agriculture, which was mentioned in the report itself. 60% to 70% of water use globally on average and certainly from country to country goes toward agricultural water use to food production and food security. order of magnitude less than that is water needed for human consumption comes a residential or urban water demand. the other category is industrial water used to support manufacturing, energy production -- our plants need water for cooling and so forth. with less water, the sectors are in essence becoming in competition with each other. the other piece that is also of concern is water conveyance issues. what i mean by tt is how do we move water from the source to where it is being used, whether through open channel canals, pipelines. certain parts of the released have infrastructure that is so

old or has been neglected in terms of repair and maintenance. certainly will we lebanon infrastructure is losing up to 40% to 50% of the water being transmitted from source at least to residential demand. that is a lot of water wasted that could be saved to help mitigate some of these issues of not enough water and to much demand. then of course the last piece which we just talked about is water quality. when we think of where water tends to be transmitted or conveyed the most, these tend to be toward urban centers where more populations reside in the region. the drawback of that is those communities that lead in rural areas outside of these more dense networks where water is being conveyed from source to utilization, those areas tend to be neglected. in some cases, the concern --

and we've seen this in surrey area the last two years -- syria because of conflicts -- these rural areas because of economic conditions, rising costs, not being within the networks of water transmission, tend to take water directly from the surface water systems like the tigris euphrates directly. without proper treatment and adequate water treatment, many of these people can follow bill and can cause an outbreak of waterborne illnesses. so certainly, the report highlights i think the water quality component in terms of sanitation, clean water. it does mention agricultural water use being so high. but i think also these other issues compound the water security question, certainly under the middle east, but you can drawarallels to other parts of the world as well. amy: as we begin to wrap up, boluwaji onabolu, you have talked about water rights as

human rights and you say people should be held to her -- people in power shoulbe held accountable for war crimes. explain. >> well, i used the word water crimes. i said if there is a term called "war crimes," how can we don't have "water crimes?" we have said water is life. for 350 million people in africa, those people that lack access to opportunities for health, income generation, education for them because the political leadership has failed

to provide opportunities for them to access this basic resource. i believe the world should be talking about water crimes in terms of political accountability. because without accountability, we will not be able to ensure that the resources are going to where they are supposed to go to and to whom they are supposed to go to. amy: boluwaji onabolu, we want to thank you for being with us, with network of nature and cannot professionals. and mohammed mahmoud is the director of the climate and water program at the middle east institute. we continue from one river, the

nile, to the colorado river. at the u.n. water conference, deb haaland delivered the u.s. statement and also spoke about indigenous governance of shared waters and the imports of indigenous-led conservation and addressing the climate and drug crises after the u.s. supreme court heard oral arguments last monday on whether to allow the navajo nation to pursue a claim that the federal government has a duty to address the native-american trucks water rights. here is now the environmental news site reported on last week's supreme court hearing where the justices seen nearly divided. but if the navajo win, they will have a narrow but workable path to secure a significant water settlement on the colorado river most of it if they lose, their litigation over the river will come to an end, forcing them to look elsewhere for water problems solutions." we are joined by the principal

hydrologist for the navajo nation department of water resources water management branch covering 27,000 square miles of reservation land that straddles new mexico, arizona, utah, much of which borders the colorado river. welcome to democracy now! talk about your experience growing up without running water and the ongoing lack of access to water now as the west battles historic drought. >> thank you, amy. the opportunity to be able to be in the position i am now ando secure a sustainable water future for navajo residents within the navajo nation and it is important to consider what the challenges are associated with the drought we have been experiencing, the impact on water supply.

within the navajo nation, we're securing our water future by -- securing our water rights and protecting our water rights, trying to resolve some of our water rightthat w have that are unresolved while at the same time we also have projects that we are diversifying our water portfolio with projects like the water supply that will bring sam one river water, a tributary to the colorado river, to be able to service 43 navajo communities. currently we have a portion of that water project that are servicing eight navajo communities currently. the listers might be curious why is there a need to be able to secure the water feature. as described earlier, groundter chalnges are definitely impacts of our availability to access the water. so we in the navajo nation, we have water all the challenges such as brackish water.

if people don't knowhat that is, it is salty water. in addition to that, we have legacy mining issues. added on top of all of that are climate change impacts to water. so shallow aquifers that are very dependent on precipitation but in time a prolonged drought, definitely have their challenges with water availability. america let me ask you about water rights and if you could talk about what is at stake in the supreme court case. >> i am hopefulor the supreme urt case. at this time, we really don't have an understanding what the outcome might. we will have an outcome of what that might be until june. but in the navajo nation, what we continue to do is work on water projects. regional water supply systems that interconnect smaller public water systems to be able to

secure our water future. amy: can you talk about the water infrastructure and particularly the biden administration and its stance on navajo lands? >> so there has been funding thatas been available under the american rescue plan act, the infrastructure and act, rpa invested 215 million dollars for water and wastewater projects. even at a community level, community representatives h -- to be able to invest in water and wastewater infrastructure projects with the funding. with regards to the infrastructure investment and jobs act, the indian health service whh also helps by

connecting homes to the public water system, received $3.5 billion. also known as the bipartisan infrastructure law. we are hopeful this finding -- we are working every day to be able to close the clean water act gap within the navajo nation. there are a large number of projects that need to be done. regional water systems to provide that water supply, that allows the opportunity for connection of homes to clean, reliable drinking water. at theameime, it is also part to understand what the u.n. and it's sustainable water support, sanitation, you know, water in and water outcome and it is equally important because both of those contribute to successful water system. we are working on both excesses for water, both sanitation and also access to clean water. amy: we want to thank you so much for being with us, principal hydrologist.

next up, we remember that human rights leader, lawyer randall robinson, founder of transafrica. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: haitian singer-songwriter manno charlemagne. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we ended today shall remember

in the human rights leader, lawyer randall robinson who has died at the age of 81 in st. kitts where he has lived since 2001. he was the founder of transafrica, played a key role in launching the cree south africa movement, arrested many times the south african embassy in washington, d.c., protesting against the apartheid regime. 2007, interviewed him about his book. he began by talking about how broadcaster tavis smiley and from a company member ron dellums learned of u.s. plans to oust aristide. >> when i was a child growing up , we were called negroes. known i knew knew what we were called -- no one i knew knew i we were called up. no one knew the provenance of that word. it had no connection to what we might have been before.

we were blocked from view by that lethal, opaque space of slavery. and so, we didn't know anything about ourselves, except we had been called this, but not by ourselves. and it turns out that it's much like the case of the sardine. there's no such thing as a sardine as a fish living free in the ocean. it only becomes one when it is captured and put in a can. and we were only called negroes when we were labeled during slavery as that as a way of severing us from any memory of what we had been. and so we lost our mothers, our fathers, our families, our religions, our languages, our cultures, our memories of what we had been. and so, we thought we had no history before slavery. and this name, this new name, this new label, helped to

facilitate that loss of memory. now, memory is the aive agent of all collective social progress. if you can't remember yourself, you're suffering from serious debilitation. this novel is the story of an extraordinary woman who is a poor, blind waitress in richmond, virginia, who remembers past lives. and so, she remembers timbuktu in the late 1300's when her father was a priest who underwent cataract surgery at the university at timbuktu. she remembers her days in ancient egypt, when the two egypts were united thousands of years before. she remembers lives in west africa. she remembers all of this, and she tells it to her grandson, who wants to be a writer.

and they have a special relationship. and she swears him to secrecy that he tell no one that she has these memories, or people will think she's a bit fruity, as she says. but she remembers these lives in extraordinary detail. and he is inspired by it. he gains his confidence from it. and this is, of course, to symbolize the enormous consequence. sometimes when we think of slavery, we calculate the economic consequence of it. but we have not calculated the psychosocial consequence of it, unless we factor in the loss of memory, which was occasioned by a deliberate and systematic program imposed from those -- by those who controlled us.

juan: when you are in transafrica, working in washington, the climate in the 1980's and 1990's was just more incarceration, more incarceration. did any of the political leaders that you dealt with realize the long-term impact of what was happening? >> i recall that when we were first being arrested at the embassy and i went to jail that first night, everyone in the lock-up with me was black. amy: this was -- you were being arrested for protesting apartheid south africa. >> for protesting at the embassy. everyone was black. and i had some sense of this. i think at the time i was told that one out of every three young black males in the district of columbia was under one or another arm of the criminal justice system. and what stunned me about it, and what continues to bother me about it, is that when we were struggling during the civil

rights movement, some of us were in better positions to benefit from this change that was coming than others were. and so, while we had all been in the same boat during segregation, when change came, we weren't all in the same boat anymore. some of us could escape but others of us were bottom-stuck. and i don't believe that those of us who escaped worked as hard, as tenaciously, since, to remember those of us who could not. and the result is that we now see our future as a people in america being warehoused. how can we not be concerned, in some relentless way, about the fate of all of these young black people who are being imprisoned?

because we are indissolubly bound up with them. their future is our future. our future is their future. and we have to be mindful of that. but it doesn't so much penetrate if we don't have news of it every day. so many people don't know. amy: you spearheaded the anti-apartheid movement in this country, getting arrested numerous times among other places in the south african embassy. you fasted almost unto the death to stop the -- to fight the u.s. government -- president clinton, i think, at the time -- to allow haitians to come into this country at the time of the bloody coup of 1991 to 1994 in haiti. talk about the power of movements and what you see, from your perspective now living in st. kitts, having quit america -- the name of one of your books

-- what you think needs to happen in this country. >> just 12% of the people who commit nonviolent drug infractions are black. i think 56% of those, nonetheless, who are prosecuted, and something on the order of 75% of those who are imprisoned. i mean, we can see the striking unfairness of it. but we have to find a way to get that information to people. outrage has to be informed by information to go anywhere. south africa worked because everybody knew about the apartheid system when we went to jail. and so it was instant. this is a little bit more difficult. we're backward in the world in so many ways. we find ourselves in bed with

china, iran, and two or three other nations in our embrace of the death penalty when the rest of the world is moving in the other direction. but 75% of those executed are black and hispanic. and so the unfairness of it is seen in the statistics of who pays and who doesn't. we get sentences twice as long for commission of the same crime. it's just fundamentally unfair. and the question, amy, is how we can put this together in a way that is consumable and inspiring to people to let them know that this is not just a black or racial issue, it's an issue for all americans who care about democracy and equity and fair play and decency. and that's what we have to do. we are killing our own country's future is what we are doing.

and we're killing genius in jail cells that does not have a chance to blossom and to flower. amy: that was randall robinson in 2013 in an interview juan gonzalez and i did with him and michelle alexander. you can see the whole interview at democracynow.org. we will also link to his interview in 2007 on haiti. randall robinson just died this weekend at the age of 81 in st. kitts where he had lived since 2001. he was the founder of the group transafrica, played a key role in the launching of the free south africa movement. he was arrested many times at the south african embassy in washington, d.c., protesting against the apartheid regime. his books included "the debt: what america owes to blacks," and "quitting america: the

departure of a black man from his native land" as well as the book "an unbroken agony: haiti from revolution to the kidnapping of a president." to see all of our interviews, go to democracynow.org. with randall robinson. juan gonzalez is moderating an online panel today on chicago's 2023 mayoral race, reclining harold washington's multiracial coalition. you can see details at democracynow.org. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for a digital fellow. you can learn more and apply at democracynow.org. 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!]

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