10/19/23 10/19/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: i come to israel with a single message, you are not alone. you are not alone. as long as the united states stand, and it will stand forever, we will not allow you to stand alone. amy: israel is continuing its deadly assault on gaza a day after president biden traveled to israel and protests against

israel's bombardment of gaza are growing across the middle east and in the united states. hundreds arrested inside the capitol wednesday in a protest organized by jewish groups. people chanted, "cease fire now." we will hear remarks by the only palestinian american congress woman proceeded to leave and cori bush, along with naomi klein. >> these are the darkest days i have ever experienced. the israeli government announced an intent to commit genocide using jewish fears of another genocide as the excuse. and now it is in the process of making good on that threat. that is what we must stop. amy: first, we go to the occupied west bank, ramallah, to

speak with dr. mustafa barghouti and then longtime israeli journalist amira hass, who has spent decades covering the occupied west bank and live in gaza for years. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. dozens of palestinian civilians were killed in gaza as israel bombed the besieged palestinian territory for the ferc -- 13 consecutive day. the ministry reports nearly 3800 gazans have been killed in israeli strike since hamas attack on october 7 that come more than 1400 israelis. defense for children international palestine reports israeli strikes have on average killed one child every 15 minutes in gaza since fighting

escalated. this is a surgeon in gaza city who narrowly survived tuesday's explosion at a hospital, a blast palestinians blame on israel. cooks of all the cases i've seen, they have been children. they have lost two parents. unfortunately, these kids have long recovery in front of them. amy: earlier today, the british prime minister arrived in tel aviv where he was greeted by prime minister benjamin netanyahu. sunak said he believed israel's military was "taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians." he made no mention of israel's decision to cut off food, water, fuel, and medicine to gaza -- a siege that's widely considered a breach of international law. on wednesday, president biden said egypt and israel have agreed to allow 20 humanitarian aid trucks through the rafah border crossing into gaza.

the trucks are not expected to arrive until friday. a spokesperson for the red cross and red crescent societies said said -- we are talking about julian people who are in need of everything, so 20 trucks will be a drop in the ocean, they said. in the occupied west bank, at least seven palestinians were killed by israeli forces and armed settlers of the past day. amid mounting arrests. 69 palestinians have been killed in attack since october 7. major protests across the west bank have also taken aim at the ruling palestinian authority, which has launched a violent crackdown on demonstrators. a 12-year-old palestinian girl named razan nasrallah was shot and killed by pa security forces tuesday during protests in jenin following the deadly bombing at gaza's al-ahli hospital. the united states has vetoed a u.n. security council resolution

calling for a humanitarian pause to israel's relentless bombardment of the gaza strip and its million inhabitants. 2.4 the resolution sponsored by brazil called for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for u.n. agencies to deliver lifesaving aid to the besieged territory. it included a condemnation of hamas's attacks on israel and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of hostages. on wednesday, 12 of the security council's 15 members voted in favor of a humanitarian pause in gaza, russia and the u.k. abstained, while the united states used its privilege as a permanent member of the security council to exercise its veto. this is the u.s. ambassador to the united nations linda thomas-greenfield. >> the united states is disappointed this resolution made no mention of israel's rights of self-defense.

amy: the united states veto of a humanitarian pause in gaza came two days after the u.s., france, japan, and the united kingdom rejected a gaza ceasefire resolution proposed by russia. palestinian u.n. ambassador riyad mansour spoke after wednesday's vote. >> it is beyond belief that some still speak of a right to self-defense of an occupying power that has made clear it is seeking blind vengeance, forced transfer, and annihilation of our people. amy: an israeli parliament ethics committee has suspended knesset member ofer cassif for 45 days after he criticized israel's assault on gaza. his suspension comes as israeli authorities have arrested more than 100 israeli citizens over social media posts supporting palestinians in gaza. at least 70 israeli university students face suspension or

other disciplinary action for posting pro-palestinian sentiments online. to see our interview, go to democracynow.org. in washington, d.c., vermont independent senator bernie sanders has blocked legislation that would have effectively barred u.s. humanitarian aid from reaching gaza. on wednesday, sanders objected when florida republican senator rick scott tried to pass the so-called stop taxpayer funding of hamas act. >> right now there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children in gaza who have lost their homes. they have been thrown out of their homes. they have no food. they have no water. they have no fuel. i remind my colleagues that half

of those people are children. amy: pentagon chief lloyd austin has ordered an additional 2000 u.s. troops to deploy to the middle east in support of israel. the order builds on a rapid response force of 2000 u.s. marines sailing for the eastern mediterranean along with two u.s. navy carrier strike groups. this evening president biden is giving a prime time address where he's expected to ask congress for $100 billion in emergency funds to ship more weapons to israel, ukraine, and taiwan and to further militarize the u.s.-mexico border. meanwhile, a high-ranking state department official has resigned in protest of the biden administration's policies on israel and palestine. for 11 years, josh paul oversaw arms transfers to u.s. allies while serving as the congressional and public affairs director of the state department's bureau of political-military affairs. in a letter explaining his

resignation, paul condemned what he called u.s. blind support for israel as "an impulsive reaction built on confirmation bias, political convenience, intellectual bankruptcy, and bureaucratic inertia. " paul wrote his greatest desire was to see both israelis and palestinians flourish, adding -- "collective punishment is an enemy to that desire, whether it involves demolishing one home, or one thousand; as too is ethnic cleansing; as too is occupation; as too is apartheid." on capitol hill, police arrested at least activists wednesday as 300 they held a non-violent sit-in protest in the cannon -- congressional cannon rotunda to demand lawmakers press for a ceasefire in gaza. the arrests came after thousands of people rallied on the national mall for a demonstration organized by the

groups if not now and jewish voice for peace. organizers called it the largest-ever protest of jews in support of palestinians. among those addressing the crowd was award-winning author, naomi klein. >> friends, these are the darkest days i have ever experienced. the israeli government, with the full support of every western power in the world, announced an intent to commit you aside using jewish fears on another genocide as excuse. and now in the process and making good on that threat. that is what we must stop. that is what we are here to stop. that is what we will stop. there are so many more lives to save. amy: later in the broadcast, we will hear more voices from the jewish voice for peace rally in d.c. among those who was covering the rally, we will speak with amira hass.

thousands of protesters took to the streets around the world following tuesday's attack on the al-ahli hospital. in the middle east and north africa, major protests were seen in ramallah, beirut, and across cites in tunisia, iraq, and iran, among others. large actions against israel's what they are calling genocide in gaza have also been seen across europe. in the hague, demonstrators rallied outside the headquarters of the international criminal court to demand israel be held accountable for war crimes. >> world leaders don't have to stay silent. they're only talking on social media but they are not taking action. we have to stay forever silent and wait for everybody there is dead? when are they going to take action? amy: last week, south african lawmaker and grandson of nelson mandela, nkosi mandela, joined a palestinian solidarity protest in cape town. >> each and every one of us to

stand set by side in the trenches -- amy: in colombia, president gustavo petro triggered a diplomatic row with israel after comparing its assault on palestinians to nazis during world war ii, a comparison that has also been drawn by progressive jews who have spoken out against israel's actions. meanwhile, spain has rejected israeli claims that two of its lawmakers are aligned "with isis-style terrorism" because they called for benjamin netanyahu to be brought before the international criminal court for committing war crimes in gaza. ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy says his military has successfully deployed u.s.-supplied long-range missiles known as atacms for the first time, targeting russian warplanes and ammunition depots.

"the washington post" reports the missiles were armed with cluster bomblets rather than single warheads. such weapons are banned by the convention on cluster munitions, which has been adopted by more than 100 countries -- though not by russia, ukraine or the united states. on wednesday, russian president vladimir putin called the biden administration's decision to arm ukraine with atacms reckless and a grave mistake. he predicted the weapons would not change the course of the war. >> for ukraine, nothing good will come of this. it prolongs the agony. a while ago they started the highly anticipated and highly advertised counteroffensive. it has had no success. there have been losses but no success. amy: putin made remarks from beijing following lengthy talks wednesday with chinese leader xi jinping.

the pair discussed the wars in ukraine and gaza, and growing trade between russia and china, estimated at nearly $200 billion annually. russia has detained a russian-american journalist and charged her with failing to register as a foreign agent. alsu kurmasheva is an editor with radio free europe-radio liberty, a u.s. government-funded news service. the committee to protect journalists demanded her immediate release. they added in a statement, "journalism is not a crime and her detention is yet more proof that russia is determined to stifle independent reporting." she is the second u.s. journalist detained by russia this year after "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich was arrested in march on what the newspaper called trumped-up espionage charges. and back in the united states, far right republican congressmember jim jordan lost his second floor vote to become

house speaker wednesday, receiving just 199 votes -- one fewer than the first round of voting a day earlier. it was the first time in a century the majority nominee received less than 200 votes. jordan is a close ally of trump and was involved in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. he also has been accused of a cover-up, ignoring accusations of sexual abuse against in ohio state university position -- physician by members of the male wrestling team jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at the school in the 1980's and 1990's. congress members are voting again today as jordan vowed to keep going. the house has been at a legislative standstill since kevin mccarthy was ousted over two weeks ago. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world.

the death toll in gaza is nearing 3800 as israel continues its aerial bombardment of the besieged territory for a 13th day. dozens of palestinians were killed overnight as israel bombed southern gaza in areas that were supposed to be safe zones after israel ordered residents of northern gaza to vacate their homes. this is raafat al-nakhal speaking in khan younis after an israeli airstrike. >> we came from gaza city. they told us to come to the south so we came to the south. we found the strikes intensified in the south. we stayed in a house. in front of us there were strikes and behind us there were strikes. there is no safety. there is no were safe in gaza. you have to be ready to die and gestate in your house. there is no difference between gaza city, rafah, khan younis, between the south and north, east or west. they brought us to the south and

it has been strikes every day. every day there are martyrs in massed numbers. i am over 70 years old. i have been through several wars. it is never been like this. no religion and no conscience. thank god we only have hope -- amy: funerals were held earlier today in khan younis after an israeli airstrike leveled a three-story building, killing 12 members of the same family. relatives of the dead said it included seven children. >> what has happened to them? five children and four women slipping in their houses. no man. they were sleeping step the strike hit a three level building on six babies and four women. what shall we say, think i? children are all five or six years old. there was no warning because it

was an israeli despicable country not an islamist country. >> these are seven babies. four are buried here and three in another site. the total is 10. >> the children died. their mothers and their grandmother. nermeen: meanwhile, in the northern gaza strip, an israeli airstrike trapped children under rubble. dramatic footage shows palestinians trying to rescue the children. amy: this all comes as israel has amassed tanks on the border of gaza ahead of what appears to be an imminent ground invasion. protests have been growing across the middle east after hundreds of palestinians died in an explosion at the al ahli baptist hospital. palestinians say the blast was caused by an israeli missile.

israel has denied responsibility despite attacking the same hospital just days earlier. according to the world health organization, 115 held facilities have been attacked so far. united states vetoed the u.n. security council resolution calling for a humanitarian cause. president biden schedule to give a primetime address tonight seeking $100 billion from congress to help arm israel, and taiwan. israel says they believed 203 hostages are being held in gaza after being seized october 7 in the hamas attack. we go now to ramallah where we are joined by dr. mustafa barghouti, palestinian physician, activist, and politician who serves as general secretary of the palestinian national initiative. it's been a member of the legislative council since 2006 and also a member of the palestine liberation central council. welcome back to democracy now! if you can respond to all of the

developments, most recently president biden has just left. your assessment of his visit and the arab summit that was canceled by but would a boss who is based where you are in -- mahmoud abbas, who was based where you are. and your assessment of what israel is saying about the attack. >> amy, i don't know where to start. the atrocities are beyond description. we're subjected now as palestinians not only in gaza but also the west bank. horrifying war crimes stop ethnic cleansing. acts of collective punishment against the population of gaza where civilians are dying because they don't have water, electricity don't have food, don't have medicines. an active genocide.

every five minutes i palestinian is killed in gaza. every 15 minutes, palestinian child is killed in gaza. and it goes on. my last number is already wrong because with the passage of each minute, more palestinians are killed. what did president biden do? instead of coming here and telling the israeli's, and he knows very well united states is the only country in the world that has leverage over israel, instead of telling them to have a cease-fire so you can at least save those -- he came here to be complicit with israel i war crimes and push the united states into becoming a participant in these war crimes by sending soldiers to participate in israeli invasion and in the crimes that are

committed against the palestinian people. he bought every lie netanyahu told him. and he kept repeating them. i don't understand how the american intelligence structure don't tell their president that these are lies. the first lie about decapitating children, it turned out to be a big lie post the other lie about raping women. it turns out to be a light and that is what the los angeles and the times apologized about. this is a huge lie about palestinians killing themselves and their hospital. this huge lie that israel distributed in the israeli military come as they usually do, by telling a series of lies and changing them one time after the other. before i come back to president biden, let me explain. israel committed terrible airstrike on the baptist hospital, killing more than 300

-- no less than 473 palestinian people. mainly children and women. and injuring more than 300 others. why? for what? it was all about israeli -- no less than 27 hospitals, including the largest hospital in gaza, schiff a hospital, to evacuate so that israel can conduct ethnic cleansing a big parts of gaza at the moment with a plan of ethnically cleansing all of the gaza strip. the strike was securely -- clearly israeli. the type of explosion is something a palestinian medical group has. a huge blast that took the lives of almost 500 people instantly in less than a minute. that is no power that no

military power has. the first israeli action was they did the airstrike on the hospital -- admitted it -- and said they did this because hamas militants were hiding there. then they changed the story and said hamas is taking palestinians as human shield. then they changed the story and sent it was hamas rockets. and then the fourth light is it was a jihadi -- how could the u.s. repeat these lies and accept them without verifying them? israel did that before with the case of shireen abu bob blank when they changed the story. each time the beginning, they said she was killed by a palestinian and gradually they said it was their crime. believe me, these lies should not be continued. the united states should immediately support an immediate cease-fire.

the meeting that should have been taking place with the jordanian king and the egyptian president and the palestine president did not take place because all these three people realized mr. biden does not want to support cease-fire neatly. and they realized he is practically supporting the ethnic cleansing of palestinians from gaza into egypt. something egypt refuses and something jordan refused and something all the arab countries refused. that is the essence of what is happening now. so israel now is changing the plan a little bit by pushing all the people from the northern part of gaza and the middle of gaza into the southern part. it is already a very small area of less than 140 square miles, becoming now less than 60 square miles with 2.3 million people. they say they push them down for safety, but they continue to

bombard them in the south. the game is clear. they want to ethnically cleanse completely the gaza strip. 20 palestinian communities in the west bank have already been evicted by israeli terrorist settlers. where more than 75 palestinians already killed also in the west bank. at this very moment, the israeli army is attacking two camps. they are using drones and also rockets against civilian populations in the refugee camp. this is the situation that is getting worse and worse every day. the latest plan as i can see it, according to an israeli minister, going to shrink gaza's size. what does that mean, annexing the northern and middle part? what will happen to all of these hospitals?

let me repeat to you what world health organization said. the world health organization says 130 attacks were committed against health the these in gaza. during which time 491 palestinians were killed, 16 health workers were killed, 370 people were injured, 23 palestinian health ambulances were destroyed, and 26 facilities were completely destroyed or partially destroyed. similar attacks also took place in the west bank. so nobody can convince us that it was palestinians who killed palestinians in that hospital. and nobody should give justification for the behavior of president biden. the only conclusion that one can come to is that he cares only about his reelection. he doesn't care even about the lives of the israeli president,

neither him nor netanyahu. otherwise, why wouldn't they accept -- why netanyahu continues his airstrikes which already killed 22 israeli prisoners. they continue because they don't care about lives. mr. buying should not listen to the lies of netanyahu but to the noble voice of the jewish people , the american-jewish people who came to the american congress to demonstrate and demand one thing, immediate cease-fire. i am telling you, we're calling on the whole world to immediately stand up and instead of supporting the genocide and the collective punishment and the hysterical israeli ethnic cleansing, support an immediate cease-fire so we can stop that killings that are taking place. a cease-fire that could

guarantee safe passage to the prisoners but also that could guarantee humanitarian aid to palestinians who are now dying because of thirst, because of starvation, and most importantly, because of lack of medicine and because of possibility of an epidemic that could start in gaza because of the suspension of vaccination for children and because of the destruction of sanitary infrastructure. we could see and epidemic up colorado soon in -- cholera soon . is that what mr. biden once? is that what mr. netanyahu wants? it will be considered not only complicit but a participant in the war crimes. nermeen: could you respond to the decision that biden announced, egypt opening the rafah border for 20 humanitarian

trucks to enter into gaza, you know, and what you think the significance of that is if there is any? and the specific concerns you have raised as a doctor, of the tens of thousands of pregnant women in gaza today, what the fate of patients there are who are in urgent need of medical care and none is available? >> one of the most striking scenes was the images of children who died in the uterus of their mothers because they were pregnant. there are 5500 palestinian women who are giving birth this month, and we already received terrible information about an giving birth in the streets because there's no place to go to. in the south of gaza, they don't have any space anymore besides the fact there is no safe space

for anybody. israel has already destroyed more than 80,000 homes, houses of people. people have no place to go to. there very high risk now i've increased infant mortality, parent mortality, because of the situation palestinians find themselves on. no sanitary facilities. no drinking water. nor any water. no proper sewage system. it is a total disaster. total humanitarian crisis. he asked me something about president biden. can repeat that? >> about the decision to let convoys come humanitarian convoys of a 20, in from egypt into gaza. >> imagine 2.3 million people already deprived of food, electricity, medications, and food for 12 days and you send 20 trucks for them? what does that change?

it is less than a drop in the ocean. that is much less than what people need. i'm not against bringing these trucks, but that is not what we need. we need an open corridor so food, water, the tree city, as well as medications -- electricity, as well as medications can reach. we have medical teams working along the work of the red crescent as well as the ministry of health. they are calling us every day telling us, we don't have more medications. we don't have dressings to help injured people. we don't have proper sanitation facilities. how can we deal with patients in these conditions? patients -- surgical operations took place the other day on the stairs of the hospital because there were no beds left. the massacre that happened in

the baptist hospital was so shocking and practically brought the whole health structure down. and now already, three hospitals stopped working because they have no electricity. because they don't have sufficient medications. it is a humanitarian disaster that is building up. the only explanation is netanyahu wants to solve what he thinks is the demographic problem of israel, being the number of palestinians today and west bank and gaza strip and in israel is equal to the number of israeli-jewish people. he was to eliminate them. first, by ethnically cleansing the 2.3 million people in gaza, pushing them out of gaza and then annexing the gaza strip. and then initiate a process of ethnic cleansing for palestinians in the west bank. first in area c and in the west bank. that is why the cape of jordan

is so upset about his land because he knows he is next. after they finish with gaza, they will move the west bank. this is something that nobody should accept. i never thought -- i never thought, i admit and i was wrong, i never thought that israel could dare to conduct that they cleansing in the 21st -- ethnic cleansing the 21st century. in porcelain, i was wrong. that is exactly what their doing today. ask the question, they said israel had the right to respond. ok, they responded. they responded. they already killed almost 4000 people. how many thousands of children, how many thousands up patients, how many thousands of women and men should die before israel decides it is enough? or should all the millions of palestinians disappear from palestine and disappear from this world so that these

fascists --i call them fascists and nazis -- that are governing israel, should be satisfied? nermeen: i want to quote you, i think this is the senior minister to whom you're referring, comments,, israel's foreign minister saying in an interview with israel's army radio on wednesday, "at the end of this war, not only will hamas no longer be in gaza, but the territory of gaza will also decrease." if you could talk more about that, elaborate on your point about what precisely they intend to do with gaza? and then talk about what is happening in the west bank. you said it is also the site of war crimes and ethnic cleansing. it also the protest directed against the palestinian authority there. we had earlier in the headlines that the protests across the west also taking aim at the ruling palestinian authority,

which has launched a violent crackdown on demonstrations was not a 12-year-old palestinian girl was shot and killed by pa security forces tuesday during protests in jenin. if you could talk about that come the situation in the west bank. >> i'm sorry, but you asked about something else before the west bank? >> i cited to you the person whom i thought you were mentioning earlier, the foreign minister -- >> yes. the foreign minister of israel, as israel is turning acids egypt is not allowing the ethnic cleansing of people in gaza to egypt up to now, is turning to plan b. plan b is to remove everybody in the northern part of gaza and in gaza city itself. that is about 1.1 million to 1.2 million people. move them down to the southern part of gaza.

and then annex that area. cutting down the size of gaza from 140 square miles to maybe less than 50 square miles or maybe 60 square miles. this is the only explanation of what he said. shrinking the size of gaza, bringing it down. they think -- the israeli government thinks if they cluster these millions of people in such a small area, then the pressure will be so huge that egypt will be obliged to open the border and let them out of gaza. in that case, israel would have achieved its original plan of total ethnic cleansing, pushing palestinians out of palestine and into the sinai. mind you, 70% of these people have already been ethnically cleansed by israel in 1948. they were displaced from parts of the 520 communities that

israeli troops erased back in 1948, committing 50 massacres and pushing palestinians out of palestine. they want to repeat the same ethnic cleansing again. but let me tell you, this is not the last planet israel. netanyahu made it very clear, maybe i am repeating that, in front of the whole world weeks ago, the map of israel included the annexation of all of the west bank and the annexation of all the occupied gaza strip. this is their plan. annexation, committing genocide. the question about the west bank, let me tell you the situation is very dangerous and very grave. first of all, israeli ports practically process fragmenting

the west bank into 224 small ghettos, if you want, separated from each other by no less than 640 military israeli checkpoints. many of which are closed completely. and then the wall itself and the so-called bypass roads. many palestinians cannot move down from one area to another. our health workers is becoming come the keita because we cannot move medications or medical teams. the worst situation is in the so-called area c, which is no less than 60% of the west bank, where settlers are continuously attacking palestinians. israeli settlers attacked a village in thenablus area and killed three palestinians. the israeli army came and killed

a fourth. the next day, when the people who are having the funeral of these four palestinians killed, settlers came back again and killed two more people, father and son. six people in one village and less than 24 hours. the terror of settlers is everywhere. in addition to that, the israeli army is conducting wide range campaign of -- according to my information, no less than 750 palestinians have been arrested during the last week. the number is growing, which means a number of prisoners in israeli jails is more than 6300. many of whom are health and so-called ministers of detention, which means they don't know why they are in jail. they don't have any legal due process. their lawyers cannot even defend them because they don't know what they're charged for. including 260 children who are in israeli jails at the moment. add to that the fact already

more than 75 palestinians have been killed in the israeli army is now thinking everybody is busy with what is happening in gaza and are now conducting military operations against palestinian areas including refugee camps and before that another refugee camp was of this can go on. it is a very dangerous situation. it is very risky. amy: we only have a minute but what about and why then the palestinian authority violent crackdown on demonstrations with the 12-year-old palestinian girl shot and killed in jenin. >> that was also a crime committed by palestinian security forces. you should not have happened. it is unacceptable to encounter demonstrators with gunfire. that is unacceptable. not calling for chaos here among palestinians.

we have enough in front of us fighting the israeli's. but the reality is the behavior of the security apparatus is unacceptable, including suppression of freedom of expression. people were angry at what was happening in gaza about the killings of people inside that hospital and maybe -- maybe they went out of control but responding to that by shooting palestinians, that is the last thing we can accept where we should accept. amy: i -- >> i want to say they also have to abide by the national law and stop this from doing. amy: dr. barghouti is a palestinian physician, activist, and politician who serves as general secretary of the palestinian national initiative. coming up, we will hear the voices of the historic jewish led protest in washington, d.c. thousands came out, hundreds were arrested calling for an immediate cease-fire in gaza. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "mother, what's with the wind" by the gaza youth choir. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: on capitol hill, police arrested at least 300 activists wednesday as they held a nonviolent protest in the cannon house office building to demand lawmakers press for a cease-fire in gaza. the arrest came as thousands of people rallied on the national mall for demonstration organized by the group if not now and jewish voice for peace.

organizers called it the largest ever protest of jews in support of palestinians. among those who spoke was the only-american congressmember rashida tlaib. >> i wish all of the palestinian people would see this. i wish they would see not all of america want them to die. but they not disposable. they have a right to live. they did not ask to be born in occupation. i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, the dehumanization has chipped at my soul and i can imagine what it is made so many other people feel. so you will being here to speak truth because the warmongers are out, all. they are ready. they want to kill and not stop. it is pure insanity. i still remember the cry of maya .

being dragged out of that festival, crying for her father. just like porsche, who was number one in her score -- i don't know if you know anything about palestinian culture, but it is a big that 70 from gaza could score number one -- it is like valedictorian for the whole palestinian people. and both of them are victims. they are victims of the oppression, and both deserve to live. maya did not deserve to be targeted. that is the common humanity we all have to remember because they are trying to take it away from us. we have to make sure it doesn't happen. not on our watch. i am going to be real with you

all. my colleagues, many of them -- i usually don't talk smack. i am usually considerate because i don't like them policing me. so i do not police them. as an american, not just a member of the united states congress, i am ashamed. i am ashamed they are saying, "not yet, maybe next week." close shame! >> not yet, rashida. maybe in a couple of days. how many more have to die? amy: that was the only palestinian-american congresswoman rashida tlaib. this is naomi klein. >> thank you all for being here. i have never seen anything like this in my history of jewish

anti-zionist activism. it is been decades. we used to be tiny. we are huge and growing. we have a sacred responsibility to engage with our parents, our grandparents come our uncles, our brothers and sisters, and try to save their souls, to keep them from indulging in this quest for bloodied vengeance. we are here because we will not let our fears of anti-semitism be manipulated in this way, as cover for war crimes and colonial land grabs and to foreclose on a possibility of a political solution. which will only come with an end to occupation, an end to apartheid, with true palestinian freedom and self-determination.

[cheers] >> we will not use the fact that many of our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents were refugees from genocide to justify making hundreds of thousands or even millions of new palestinian refugees. these are not our leaders. not in the knesset with his so-called unity government and not here in congress which reconvenes now in part in order to improve new money and new weapons to send to israel for its. genocidal attacks on palestinians. amy: award-winning author and writer naomi klein. when we come back, amira hass. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. amy: to talk more about this was bombardment of gaza and the process in washington, we're joined by amira hass, haaretz correspondent for the occupied palestinian territories, based in ramallah. her latest piece is headlined "with no water or electricity from israel, gazans risk dehydration and disease." hass is the only israeli jewish journalist to have spent 30 years living in and reporting from gaza and the west bank.

she joins us today from new york. welcome back to democracy now! if you could talk about this, this is the first time we are having you on is this crisis began, your response to what is happening and the latest news? >> it is very hard. details, describing the horrors that -- unfortunately, i'm not in the country. i came a few days before this hell started. yesterday i was at the demonstration in d.c. i was in the demonstration not to cover it but to be part of a group that first of all demands to put an end, to declare an immediate cease-fire. i wanted to share -- to be with

people who share common feelings of grief, of fear for the people we know and love, of mourning for the people we know and love, jews and palestinians, people who can be emotional and rational. they can be appalled by what happened on saturday, october 7 and at the same time say it is -- history did not begin with october 7. people who grieve and our pained but what is happening. i feel every word i say is hollow because it does -- it is not enough. the words i need do not exist in our dictionary to describe the horror that my friends in gaza now go through. and we are here.

yes, we gather and meet and talk and talk again and turn on our tv programs, but we don't reach the main people. we don't reach -- as dr. mustapha said, we don't reach the american leaders who are the only ones who can tell israel to stop his carnage now. we don't reach western countries who could also put some pressure and we don't reach the israeli public that is so drunk with the will to take revenge of what happened on october 7 that it is not even know one detail. even if it knew one detail about gaza, it does not care because it just wants revenge. revenge is not enough to explain what is happening. the israeli government is carrying on political pogrom of

the extreme fascist, religious, right wing -- settler right-wing apartheid. who the leader said he had a plan in 2017 for palestinians. they have three options he told the palestinians. either give in and accept you will never have a state, you will never be free, you will never have your right for self-determination materialize and then you can live as first-rate, second-rate, whatever individuals in this israel. the second option for you is to immigrate. as because sometimes transfer --

willful transfer expulsion by consent. the third option, if you don't agree to give in or you don't agree to immigrate and you resist, the israeli army will know what to do with you. that it's what is happening now. but in gaza and the west bank. israel is carrying out the political plan of this extreme fascist, settlers colonizing right wing. for years, people on the israeli left have been warning about the brutalization if things continue . a brutalization that might come to a place of no return. he always hoped when i warned about the danger of brutalization, the possibility of brutalization, that this

morning would work. that we would not reach it. i'm so afraid to say now that we have reached it and the western world is appallingly -- appallingly, doesn't intervene to stop it. i was at the demonstration yesterday and i cried. i told myself not to cry all these terrible days. not much, at least sometimes. but i cried when some people spoke about their grandparents, holocaust survivors. i was there to represent my dead parents who are holocaust survivors. call to the world to stop -- you know how can they stand on the side and do nothing to stop this terrible slaughter? i cannot bear myself talking

here safely in new york when i know 2 million people -- more than 2 million people are going through and nothing can justify what is real, what we with my tax money, is causing right now. i don't know if my tax money is behind the missile that might kill one of my good friends, loved friends in gaza. this is really appalling, appalling, appalling beyond words. amy: and your latest piece, write about your family, your friends who are still in gaza city. israel has ordered palestinians to leave the northern part and go south. that is where gaza city is in the north. can you talk about them, what options they have, their

decision to stay? also, president biden giving a major address tonight, coming back and saying, he is going to get the border open so 20 trucks can come in with some supplies. >> that is a joke. anything, which is not a complete cease-fire, an immediate cease-fire -- it is a drop in the ocean is a cliché but it is less than a drop in the ocean. my friend who wrote to me her brother-in-law is in a wheelchair, half paralyzed, they could not leave because they said, how can we leave the house with him? and we cannot leave him behind. her mother is old. so they are there. i cannot even imagine what they have been through.

she just sent me a flower this morning that had a little shred of internet, so she sent me a flower -- responded to my wha tsapp hours earlier. i have friends cramped in a school in a refugee camp. a refugee from 1948, has seen so many wars since then -- amy: we have 30 seconds and then we will continue this conversation and we will host it -- >> i know, i know, i think of all of the sick people, the sick parents that my friends are staying with them because they don't want to leave them alone dying under the bombing. they did not save themselves in order to be with their parents. amy: amira hass, we will

continue this conversation and post it at democracynow.org. amira hass is a longtime journalist and correspondent for haaretz in the occupied palestinian territories, normally based in ramallah. i will