11/20/23 11/20/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> president biden, i call on you to stop this humanitarian catastrophe, this genocide against her innocent people. history will not absolve anyone of these crimes.

the war must stop immediately. amy: as palestinian leader mahmoud abbas calls on the u.s. to help end israel's 45 day bombardment, the situation in gaza grows more desperate as israel attacks the indonesian hospital and the jabalia refugee camp while the palestinian death toll tops 13,000. we will speak to an official at unrwa. over the weekend israeli strikes , hit at least two u.n. schools where thousands of displaced palestinians had sought refuge. >> we were really outraged to see once again an unrwa school that is sheltering displaced people in gaza got hit and people died in our school. schools are protected places. schools are places where people go looking for safety. amy: plus, we remember the israeli-canadian peace activist vivian silver who was killed in

the october 7 hamas attack. she was declared dead last week after her remains were identified. she had spent decades working for peace. >> we are no longer willing to do this. we much change the paradigm that we have been taught for seven decades now, where we have been told only war will bring peace. we don't believe that anymore. it has been proven it is not true. amy: we will speak with her palestinian colleague. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israeli tanks have surrounded gaza's indonesian hospital after israel's military continues its relentless assault on the gaza strip's health infrastructure. israeli artillery fire killed at

least 12 people earlier today inside the medical complex where about 700 others, including medical staff and injured people, remain besieged. egyptian television showed ambulances carrying sick and premature babies passing through the rougher border crossing to egypt after the u.n. assisted in moving 31 premature babies from gaza's al-shifa hospital to rafah on sunday. unicef warned the babies' conditions were incredibly fragile after the multiple moves in extremely dangerous conditions. other babies died as medical services collapsed at al-shifa. doctors say babies had to drink formula prepared with contaminated water, further endangering their survival. a number have infections. a world health organization team visited the al-shifa hospital, which it called a death zone, and lauded the heroic healthcare workers sacrificing everything

to treat patients. >> health care professionals, i'm absolutely humbled by the heroic efforts you have made. i have no words. amy: israel has claimed it uncovered a hamas tunnel at the al-shifa hospital. the claim was rejected by hamas and hospital workers and has not been verified by independent parties. israel also said hostages are being held at al-shifa. hamas has previously said it took several hostages to hospitals for treatment. on saturday, an israeli air strike killed at least 50 palestinian civilians at the u.n.-run al-fakhoura school in the jabalia refugee camp, though some estimates put the number as high as 200. a separate attack on the tal al-zaatar school also resulted in civilian casualties. other parts of jabalia were also hit, including a large residential complex.

this is a gaza ambulance worker. >> we were trying to focus on pulling out survivors. we are working with their own two hands. there is no equipment. the only excavator is in northern gaza and it stopped working. a large number of civil service cars stopped running because of fuel running out. amy: israel has killed at 13,000 palestinians and injured another 30,000 since the start of its assault. the death toll includes at least 5500 children, or one out of every 200 children in gaza. another 1800 children are missing under the rubble, most of them presumed dead. over the weekend, reports emerged that talks between israel, the u.s., and qatari mediators for hamas were closing in on a deal to release dozens of women and children hostages and pause fighting for five days. in israel, thousands completed a

march from tel aviv to jerusalem saturday, where they demanded the government do more to release their loved ones who were taken hostage by hamas on october 7. >> they have to talk to the families. it is impossible there are 240 kidnapped people and the government -- our government isn't telling them what is going on, what is on the table. amy: yemen's houthi rebels say they seized a japanese cargo ship in the red sea. the vessel named galaxy leader is reportedly partially owned by an israeli businessman. around 25 people are believed to be on board the india-bound ship though israel said none of their citizens are among the crew. a houthi spokesperson warned the international community regional security is at stake unless it helps put an end to the war on gaza.

>> the yemeni armed forces confirmed the continuation of carrying out military operations against the israeli enemy. until the aggression stops and the ongoing heinous crimes against palestinian brothers in gaza and the west bank cease. amy: in the occupied west bank, israeli forces killed at least two palestinians during multiple raids sunday. israeli military and settler attacks have killed some 206 palestinians in the west bank since october 7. meanwhile, palestinians living in the west bank's heavily fortified and monitored h2 district in hebron have been under one of its longest and strictest lockdowns ever since the start of the conflict. some 39,000 palestinians and around 900 extremist israeli settlers live in h2. palestinians have largely been barred from leaving their homes, except during very brief windows, with israeli soldiers forcing them back inside at

gunpoint. president biden warned violence against palestinians in the west bank could result in a visa ban against israeli perpetrators. in a "washington post" op-ed published saturday, biden also continued to reject a ceasefire in gaza and called for a two-state solution. in new haven, connecticut, hundreds of students and alumni from yale and harvard brought a football game between the two universities to a halt for nearly two hours saturday night as they called for a ceasefire in gaza. protesters waved palestinian flags and banners that read "end the occupation, end the genocide" and "free palestine." they also demanded yale and harvard divest from weapons manufacturers that supply israel's military. meanwhile, palestinian rights advocates shut down a convention organized by the california democratic party in sacramento saturday.

several protesters held a sit-in while others marched through the convention hall chanting "ceasefire now." demonstrators also disrupted speeches by u.s. senate candidates congressmembers katie porter, adam schiff, and barbara lee. outside the convention, protesters placed 500 pairs of children's shoes to represent the over 5000 palestinian children killed in gaza. the american public health association governing council is calling on president biden and congress to press for a cease-fire in gaza. a resolution approved last week by 90% of members also calls for the "de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the hostages and those detained. the restoration of water, fuel, the true city, and other basic services, and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the

gaza strip." recently, delegates to the american medical association voted against debating a similar resolution calling for a cease-fire in order to protect civilian lives and health care personnel. the group health care workers for palestine said in response, "the ama has a responsibility to uphold the well-being of health care workers and minimize human suffering and it is clear these values are not being upheld by some of the most influential physicians in the country," they said. in argentina, far right libertarian javier milei has been elected president. official results sunday showed milei, who's been compared to donald trump with 56% of votes, defeating centrist peronist candidate sergio massa who conceded defeat. milei is a climate crisis denier who has proposed banning abortion, easing restrictions on guns, and hs vowed to shut down argentina's central bank

replacing the nation's currency with the u.s. dollar. milei has also questioned the tally of murders during argentina's dirty war from 1976 to 1983. he spoke from buenos aires sunday night. >> argentina situation is critical. the changes our country needs are drastic. there is no room for gradualism. there is no room for half measure. amy: in liberia, incumbent president george weah conceded a tight race to joseph boakai friday. voters say weah was not able to fulfill his promises of reducing poverty, increasing employment, and stemming corruption. boakai, a former vice president under president ellen johnson sirleaf, had lost to weah in 2017's presidential election. in a post-election interview, boakai vowed to redistribute wealth from the exploitation of

liberian resources to its citizens. >> the mindset is going to be very, very watched. we have to know what is happening with our resources, what people are getting for them, and what do we see after they are no longer there. and make texas governor greg abbott is expected to sign into law a bill approved by lawmakers last week allowing local law enforcement to arrest immigrants and asylum seekers and charge them with the new state crime for crossing the u.s.-mexico border. the bill would also give texas judges the authority to issue removal orders to mexico. meanwhile, other legislation passed by the republican majority texas house last week would appropriate $1.5 billion to build a border wall.

the aclu has condemned the measures, calling it "some of the most radical anti-immigrant bills ever passed by any state." in british immigration news, the u.k.'s supreme court ruled the government's plan to send asylum seekers to rwanda was unlawful. the proposal was first announced last april and met with swift legal challenges and condemnation from rights groups. prime minister rishi sunak said he would instead seek a formal treaty with rwanda and introduce emergency legislation in hopes of pushing through the plan. in climate news, global average surface temperatures on friday averaged more than 2 degrees celsius, or 3.6 degrees fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels. it's the first time on record that earth's daily average temperature has exceeded the 2-degree benchmark. the 2015 paris climate agreement set just 1.5 degrees as the

maximum allowable global temperature rise. in the horn of africa, at least 130 people have been killed after unrelenting heavy rains triggered once-in-a-century flooding in ethiopia, kenya, and somalia. more than three-quarters of a million people have been displaced with the death toll expected to rise. the flooding follows the region's worst drought in 40 years, which pushed millions of people into extreme hunger. bolivia's environment ministry reports a severe drought combined with slash-and-burn farming practices have driven an unprecedented number of wildfires. the fires have scorched nature reserves and indigenous communities in bolivia's amazon and into neighboring brazil, killing wildlife and triggering air-quality alerts that have forced thousands of schools to cancel classes.

on friday, environmentalists rallied in the capital la paz to demand government action. >> millions of animals are dying. our mother earth is dying. our vegetation are disappearing. there are thousands of animals. the firemen who are their cannot put out the fires. we want a national emergency to be declared because we want our land to be safe. amy: back in the united states, colorado judge has ruled donald trump engaged in an insurrection but it does not bar him from appearing on the presidential ballot next year. the judge ruled the 14th amendment's ban on insurrectionists holding office does not apply to presidents. friday's ruling comes after courts in michigan and minnesota also shot down attempts to keep trump off those state's primary ballots. and related news, the new house speaker mike johnson announced he will release 44,000 hours of footage from the january 6 capitol insurrection to the

public. he fulfills the pledge he made to the far right members of his party whom he circumvented last week in order to pass the stopgap government funding bill. extremist conspiracy theories alleging federal agents participated in the attack have already started recirculating and's the first 90 hours of footage were released friday. democrats and other critics are warning the videos, which show in detail how rioters into the complex and how lawmakers escaped, could endanger the safety of staff and congressmembers. and rosalynn carter, wife of former president jimmy carter, has died at the age of 96. carter served as a longtime political adviser and strategist as jimmy carter went from a rural state senator to governor of georgia in 1970 and president of the united states in 1976. as first lady, rosalynn carter joined white house cabinet

meetings and served as an envoy to latin america. "time magazine" in 1979 declared her to be second most powerful person in the united states. after leaving the white house, she campaigned to expand u.s. mental health service. she and jimmy carter also worked with the charity habitat for humanity. jimmy carter, who turned 99 in october, entered home hospice care in february. they had both just celebrated their 77th anniversary. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. coming up, we get the latest from gaza where the palestinian death toll has topped 13,000. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. health officials in gaza say the overall death toll from israel's 45-day bombardment has topped 13,000. more than 1.7 million palestinians have been displaced with many fearing they will never be allowed to return home. in gaza city, israeli tanks have surrounded the indonesian hospital. palestinian officials say at least 12 people have already been killed in israeli strikes on the hospital. the government of indonesia has condemned israel's targeting of the hospital, saying it is a clear violation of international humanitarian laws. the largest hospital in gaza city al-shifa, 31 premature babies have been evacuated.

the babies were suffering from dehydration and sepsis were taken to route 5. some have already been moved across the border. on saturday, an israeli airstrike killed at least 50 palestinian civilians at a u.n. run school, though some estimates put the number as high as 200. a second unrwa was also hit saturday. this comes as the world food program is warning residents of gaza may soon face starvation due to a massive shortage of food. we begin today show with tamara alrifai, spokesperson for unrwa. she is joining as from jordan. welcome back to democracy now! if you can talk about the situation right now in gaza? we understand u.n. workers were allowed in to help transport these premature babies from

northern gaza to southern gaza, some have crossed over into egypt right now? and then you have the bombing of the unrwa schools. you work for unrwa in the jabalia refugee camp. >> i do work for unrwa. sadly, the bombing of the school in jabalia's the 18th incident against an unrwa building. we have 67 unrwa buildings, but many of them are actual shelters that have sustained damage because of strikes nearby, killing 176 people who are displaced inside the u.n. billing under the u.n. flag in safer safety. nowhere is safe. as you so rightly mentioned, 1.7 million gazans, roughly 77% of

the gaza population, is now displaced outside of their homes, not knowing whether they're going to go back -- especially if they had to from the gaza strip to the south -- noting the north has been completely sealed for the last few weeks. amy: explain what these schools did before and now what is happening. >> unrwa has a system of education, schooling, where 300,000 girls and boys in gaza receive quality education. very much focused on human rights, tolerance, conflict resolution. this was before the war. for the last six weeks, these schools have turned into shelters. people in gaza, sadly, are used to wars and used to sheltering in unrwa schools because this is

where they feel there is sanctity. a global understanding that when someone is in the protection of the u.n., these buildings will not be targeted. sadly, this is not the case. so not only are three quarters of the gaza population now being forcibly displaced, some of them for the second or third time, but also their access to basic food and humanitarian assistance is very, very restricted. given the low level of supplies that have been coming into this trip, despite an agreement to let trucks in. amy: can you talk about the children? well, i should say the infants, who were at al-shifa. we have all seen the pictures of them not in incubators but huddled together, wrapped in aluminum -- aluminum to try to maintain their he. now u.n. workers getting in and

bringing them south and just as we are broadcasting, apparently, some are being taken over the border into egypt. what did that whole journey involve? how did the u.n. workers get in? >> i think this picture of these premature infants will remain as one of the most compelling once of the conflict. it will come back to remind us that gazans really hold -- it took a very complex and elaborate u.n. operation to be able to go to al-shifa hospital and remove these premature babies. the mission was led by the world health organization, with support from several u.n. organizations including unrwa. i am afraid these babies might

be joining their peers in gaza who before the war we had already identified that most children in gaza suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder because of having grown up within a choking blockade of this trip where they cannot leave the strip and because of having survived so many conflicts at such a young age. i really hope these kids parents are alive and that they will be taken care of, but that is something to remember about the long-term impact on the psychology of children of all of these wars. amy: i want to play for you a clip. this is the senior adviser to the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he recently spoke on msnbc where he was interviewed. >> i have seen lots of children

being pulled from the rubble. >> hamas wants you to see. >> you have killed children? >> i do not. first of all, you don't know how those people died. those children. amy: he said "oh, wow." tamara alrifai, your response? >> there are -- there is enough footage and documenting from credible sources, including the u.n., of children dying. save the children a few weeks ago said at least 4000 children died. it is a really. every war in gaza sees scores of children dead and those who do not die, most of them have long-term impact of psychological and their mental well-being. amy: i am wondering if you can talk about unrwa, your agency that serves palestinians,

warning that you will have to stop life-saving operations in gaza and less you receive more fuel. >> a couple of days ago, there was an agreement of letting fuel into the strip. after many weeks, since the beginning of the war, of not allowing fuel in. i to say word about the centrality of fuel to human to train operations. trucks that bring the aid from the rafah crossing and electricity generators that provide electricity to water pumping and water desalination so people can have access to clean drinking water, life-saving machines and hospitals, bakeries, everything needs fuel. the agreement of two days ago is an agreement to bring in 120,000 leaders of fuel to cover two days. we require that same amount

every single day. so effectively, we're getting half of what we need for our humanitarian operators for the bakeries, hospitals, trucks, clean water -- which forces us to have to take very difficult decisions as to what do we diminish? do we diminish access to clean drinking water at the risk of skin and gastric diseases? do we diminish the bakeries, especially i just heard you say that the world food program is warning a famine? do we diminish bringing trucks from the rough of water? if we do not get the exact and that we need for a minimum humanitarian response, then we're going to have to function halfway and only provide half of what these people need. amy: if the idf knows the coordinates of unrwa locations, you know, among them, least 40

unrwa buildings have been hit? >> 67 buildings now that we are speaking. i cannot explain militarily how decisions are taken, but i can reiterate that unrwa provides very regularly, every two weeks, the gps location of all its installations to both parties. so to the israeli authorities but also the hamas authorities. so no one can say "we did not know." everyone of our schools and installations and warehouses are clearly marked and that marking is communicated. amy: what is the unrwa mandate? >> it is to provide basic services, schools, health services, social protections to palestine refugees until there is a political solution whereby

5.9 people who are descendants of the original palestine refugees who were expelled or fled in 1948, there's a solution that takes them into account so they are no longer refugees. these palestine refugees are not citizens of a country, therefore unrwa runs services that are like public services -- schools and health centers -- until there's a political solution and hopefully, they no longer have that status in limbo of a refugee. amy: how you respond to republicans who -- senate republicans who introduced a bill to block funds for unrwa, accusing it of harboring terrorist in its facilities? >> a respond by reminding of the extremely thorough reviews we do have all our teaching material, page by page reviewed to ensure nothing we teach in our school

-- over 700 schools -- the u.n. guys and principles. also if unrwa ceases to exist tomorrow, then there is a huge layer of stabilizing instability that unrwa offers in a very, very volatile area that also collapses. it is in everyone's interest that the unrwa schools, health centers, food assistance, and the protection continues because besides the humanitarian and human rights value, it has a stabilizing impact on the region. amy: what do you say to the israeli military that won't allow in fuel because hamas will take it? >> our trucks take their fuel from the border into our depots come into our warehouses and then we use it directly or we deliver it directly to the

bakeries and the hospitals. so there is no intermediary between the fuel and the beneficiaries. we are the only empathy -- entity responsible for using that fuel. amy: finally, the u.n. secretary-general has repeatedly called for a cease-fire. that has not been accomplished at this point. there have been protests around the world demanding a cease-fire. the first jewish american congressmember becca valid of vermont has joined scores of other congressmembers in calling for a cease-fire. but especially around the u.n., at this point, what can it do? >> it can continue calling for a cease-fire. i want to notice several countries have called for a cease-fire, including france.

and without the cease-fire, it is going to be very difficult to come back from the break or to de-escalate. the u.n. the political side --u.n. member states must continue to push for a cease-fire and on they committed terry side, we must continue to advocate for more funding and more access to the gaza strip. right now the access of aid agency is almost restricted to the south. the north is completely sealed. we have to be able to reach people where they are and for that we need a cease-fire. amy: we thank you so much for being with us tamara alrifai, , spokesperson for unrwa, the united nations agency for palestine refugees. we are going to break now and when we come back, we will talk about what is happening in gaza. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. to talk more about the dire situation in gaza, we're joined by a writer and analyst from gaza, chief communications at euro mediterranean human rights monitor and a columnist at the ford newspaper, jewish weekly in new york. he is joining us from copenhagen where there have been a number of protests. can you start with those protest s? what is happening in copenhagen? >> i was -- pretty remarkable. i've never seen a protest at that size. there was the climate march last year in november. every political party was very keen to show, including the

prime minister. the demonstration yesterday was almost twice the size of the climate march in the climate is a huge topic here. it has been a tremendous ongoing daily movement where people -- with demonstrations every night to different locations of denmark's capital to make a statement about the necessity of a cease-fire and to stop the bloodshed in gaza. it has been extraordinary. amy: to people their face the same issue that they face in the united states? being accused by some that if they criticize israel, they're automatically anti-semitic? >> absolutely. there's plenty of that. even the danish prime minister, she leaves a wreath of flowers at the embassy of than asked, would you do the same for palestinian victims? she said, there's no comparison whatsoever. israel is defending itself, hamas is a terrorist

organization. it is the same in danish media. the question of hamas, the same question asked to anyone when they want to talk about what israel has done to them and their own families in gaza, and the media bias is very visible as well. amy: in the last few days, the israeli military completely controls the media of international journalists in gaza, does not let them in and less they are embedded with the israeli military and the review their video, and less there journalists, gazan journalists, palestinian journalists inside gaza, of course, are there operating -- so many of them, more than 30 of them come have been killed. but in the last few days, the israeli military has brought in journalists from bbc, from cnn.

they show them in al-shifa hospital where they say, this goes directly down right near al-shifa come into the ground and then underneath al-shifa. can you talk about what we understand at this point? >> absolutely. as you said, it is a very horrendous dissing journalists agreeing to these humiliating conditions that basically mean anything they convey is liberal propaganda. we are not allowed to speak to any palestinian or gazan to challenge what the idf is spoon feeding you. you're not allowed to go beyond what the idf wants to show you and where they take you and you have to review the material with them before you publish. the result of that is not journalism, it is propaganda. with al-shifa hospital, what we have seen is basically for gaza's main medical complex of

giant symbolic value and of important -- the crucial necessity to the lives of thousands -- there were about 50,000 people sheltering their. for israel to state it has lost its protected status, it has a huge burden of proof to show the hospital was used to direct were engaged in hostilities against it. but up until now, what we have, the facts we know, not a single bullet was fired against the idf from the hospital over the last week where they have operated in the hospital completely. not single footage of a hamas rocket being fired from the hospital. not a single incident of this alleged command-and-control center that israel has published as cgi and made it footage and claimed they knew the precise entrance. they have not showed any of that. they have not shown or captured

any hamas militants in the hospital or hamas members. basically, there's no satisfying prefer the hospital to lose its protected status and for what israel has inflicted on the hospital the last week. they literally starved everyone inside. about eight babies were suffocated to death. 22 units were killed and six dialysis patients were killed. the overall totality of how many people killed were 53 in total. that is very atrocious. as you said, the only evidence israel had to show was a hole in the ground. experienced engineers who were familiar with different structures that were observed, for instance, and they said that does not look like a hamas whatsoever because you have two very giant, solid concrete columns on both sides of the entrance.

and these can only be billed by pouring cement into a mold and vibrating every time you pour a little bit and vibrated with a concrete vibrate or and wait for it to dry. and that takes days. it makes a huge noise. thousands of people going in and out on a daily basis, that is not how you build a secret tunnel. the idf has not allowed anyone to go inside the alleged tunnel to see what is in it. even if you presume it is a tunnel, the idf would still have a burden of proof to show hamas was actually using it at the time of the idf raid to essentially legitimize the raid or using it at all. they have not shown any evidence of that. amy: i saw one israeli military spokesperson showing a cnn reporter at the bottom there whe you see a metal door, they haven't opened it because they

say they are afraid there are explosives that are attached to it, it would make -- and that within go under the hospital. so they have not shown the tunnel itself is under the hospital. they say what behind it, what they can't see, they think makes a turn. >> yeah, but even with that door -- hamas and other militant groups were abiding by very strict decision since 2014 at least to not have any military activities in or around hospitals because that was previously israel's pretext for bombing medical facilities, schools, and homes. they had a strict decision not to use it. you don't need to believe hamas, but you take a statement that gaza's ministry of health has made. they said we would allow any international edition to come into gaza and scrutinize every

little aspect of the hospital without any of the patients dying. israel's response has been a resounding refusal. so if israel had -- they had eight days inside the hospital, daily operation, and interrupted, going through every single room and detail and still unable to show any traces of hamas using the hospital for military activity. the idea of propaganda becomes more of propaganda becomes more laughingstock than for communication. especially when last week they went to a children's hospital after doing the same, surrounding it, starving people inside, forcing them out at gunpoint. and once they went inside, the spokesperson of the idf went to the basement and showed a piece of paper on the wall and said, this shows the names of hamas terrorists guarding hostages here and showed a baby napping and said, that is pre-. a bottle of milk and a children's hospital where

thousands of people were taking refuge. even with the list on the wall, it was basically a calendar with saturday, sunday, monday. if you believe monday is a legitimate target, go and kill monday. amy: do you have any information on the latest negotiations? the ideal where dozens of hostages would be released by hamas, particularly women and children? prisoners would be released by israel. there are thousands of palestinian prisoners in israeli jails. and it would be some kind of cease fire? >> there is plenty of proposals that have been put on the table. i have been following them meticulously. so the priority right now is to get israeli children, women, elderly released and returned to israel. and hamas alleges kidnapped by

other -- once the fence collapsed and they studied audit and collect these hostages and release them, which is why they have been asking for a temporary cease-fire for five days to allow them to go and find the hostages held by less known groups. basically, that is one of the reasons. the negotiations were stopped, hamas promised to release 50 to 70 hostages during a five day cease-fire. in return, mainly for israel to allow food and humanitarian aid and fuel to go to all of gaza, especially the north. because now the northern half, israel has not been allowing any aid inside the north for the last 44 days. it has become a death zone. to force people out and to defeat hamas militarily by

besieging and starving and randomly killing everyone inside. basically, hamas's condition was for israel to allow aid to the north for those people and to allow fuel to go through the united nations to run, for instance, the solar power plant come to power water facilities to prevent diseases and humanitarian catastrophes. there are two adjustable stumbling block -- logistical stumbling blocks. they say the two sides are almost in agreement but the two major blocks basically hamas asking people who fled to the south be allowed during these five days of cease fire, they should be allowed to go back if they want or people in the north to go south. israel is objecting to that. hamas is asking the israeli military takes to pull back a

little to allow for the hostages to be taken out and moved to rafah where they would be released and also in the south as well. they are asking the israelis to suspend their drone surveillance on top of gaza because they are afraid they will use that moment of the hostage release to find out the hideouts of hamas and their military infrastructure. it is more of a logistical militant demand that a substantial block. but israel is still refusing the entry of humanitarian aid and fuel to the northern half and they are refusing the return of people that were displaced in the south to return to the north. amy: mohamed, thank you for being with us, writer and analyst from gaza. jewish weekly here in new york, joining us from copenhagen. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show remembering

the 74-year-old canadian-israeli peace activist vivian silver who was killed on october 7 during the hamas attack on kibbutz be'eri where she lived. she was declared dead last week after israeli authorities identified her remains. up until last week, her family thought that she may have been taken hostage. vivian silver had co-founded the arab-jewish center for equality, empowerment, and cooperation and was a member of women wage peace. in 2017, she joined a march of israeli and palestinian women to the shores of the jordan river to call for an end to israel's occupation. close we are organizing women from all of the country, from every side of the political spectrum who are saying enough. enough. we're no longer willing to do this. we must reach a political agreement. we must change the paradigm that

we have been taught for seven decades now where we have been told that only war will bring peace. we don't believe that anymore. it has been proven it is not true. amy: those were the words of vivian silver in 2017. on thursday, friends and relatives of vivian silver gathered for her memorial service. during a recent bbc interview, her son yonatan ziegen was asked what his mother would say about what is happening in israel and gaza right now. >> this is the outcome. this is the outcome of not striving for peace. israel has that saying, living on our soul. and this is what happens. it is really overwhelming but it

is not completely surprising. it is not sustainable to live in a state of war. and now a burst. amy: we are joined now by samah salaime. she is a writer at +972 magazine and a palestinian feminist activist. her most recent piece is "a tribute to vivian." in the piece, samah writes -- "nothing prepared me for yesterday's bitter news of vivian's tragic end. i felt deep despair, like a bottomless sink-hole had opened under the foundations of humanity, where thousands are already buried -- men, women, children, innocent palestinians and israelis. people who had wished for peace,

and did not live to see that wish fulfilled." samah salaime, welcome to democracy now! under horrific circumstances. can you tell us more about vivian and your response last week when you learned she was on a hostage as you all and her family had hoped but she had died at the kibbutz she lived on for decades, be'eri? >> thank you for the invitation. i will use the few minutes to introduce vivian silver to your audience. vivian was a feminist. very optimistic woman. she believed in people, believed in humanity. she made a difference in the room, group, or initiative or

any peace process she wished to be part of. vivian, for five decades, worked -- dedicated her life to make a shared life possible. partnership between palestinians and israelis to end this ugly conflict that we all live in. vivian passed away, she was killed and we did not know. we all believed she became a hostage like 240 hostages. because the army told her family there is no evidence that something bad happened to her. they believed it.

all the friends and feminists and peace activists prayed for her safety. we totally believed she would know how to communicate with the people in gaza. and she was in gaza. she visited gaza many times. after the siege started, she insisted to take palestinian kids from the checkpoint, from the border to the hospitals inside israel. we have a dream that one of these kids she helped will find her and communicate with her in gaza. these images were wishful thinking for everyone. we had to deal with the devastating sad news that she is gone. the painful thing in israel, some people use her memory to

justify the war in gaza, something she didn't really believe in forced militarism and bombs. she really wanted to fight for peaceful process of endin this conflict. g for example, one of the israel activists put her name on a rocket that was supposed to bomb gaza for her memory. this is despite all the things that vivian -- the minister of security in israel [indiscernible] tweeted on his twitter account saying that this is what the palestinian do with people who believe in peace and she paid

the price. and this kind of harassment and incitement against peace activists, this is the atmosphere here. we were not allowed to demonstrate against the ministry, against the war. we could not shout that we need and want a cease-fire. any gathering is forbidden in israel. but what the death of or the murder of vivian succeeds to do is gather hundreds of people, palestinian and israeli, men and women, from all the region came to say goodbye to this wonderful and amazing woman.

amy: we had hope to have her son yonatan ziegen as well but he is still sitting shiva right now, still mourning his mother's death. is it true that someone wrote vivian's name on a rocket that would be used in gaza? >> this is one thing the activist show me during the memorial and i was shocked. someone posted a photo on social media before the memorial which is like putting salt in an open wound. we both cried to see this because this is not -- this is something that vivian would not do or wish or want her name on any military action or violent tool.

she used to say if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem around you will be -- will look like a nail that you have to hit. the palestinian-israeli conflict has to be dealt with a different tool and you have to be creative and optimistic and we have to speak and keep the dialogue open and compromise, find a solution and not to keep the circle of blood going every two years. this is what her legacy and this is what we have to march for and fight for after her death. amy: we just have a minute to go, but what do you want to see happen now and what do you think vivian would be saying right now? >> i think vivian, her cousin --

with her great sense of humor, she would gather us. she would speak and break the law by organizing a demonstration against the war and would call for a cease-fire now. she would have the courage to share photos and images from that. she usually always had a unique voice that nobody has around her. and she would be the voice of palestinian families, innocent people that send us messages all the time that they're very sad of her loss and missing her and they could not be at the memorial because of the war. vivian will march around and will break the -- she will do

everything against this war. i don't know where she brings this power from, but people will follow. this is her energy. the peace movement. amy: samah salaime