Democracy Now!

The Western corporate media is failing in its coverage of Israel's war on Gaza, says Palestinian independent journalist Dalia Hatuqa. A lot of what's missing from the bigger portrait ... is the Palestinian voice," says Hatuqa, who applauds local journalists in Gaza for providing the world a crucial window into what's happening there while international reporters are blocked by Israel from entering the territory. Nobody knows Gaza better than the Gazan journalists on the ground." Hatuqa also speaks about her latest piece for The Century Foundation about rising Israeli state and settler violence in the occupied West Bank, which she says can accurately be described as pogroms. The fog of war has allowed Israel to perpetuate crimes at a very large scale, not only throughout the West Bank, but including occupied East Jerusalem."

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, one of the most vocal supporters of Julian Assange, says the United States must drop its espionage case against the jailed WikiLeaks founder. He faults the Australian government for pushing for a plea deal that would allow Assange to walk free from Belmarsh Prison in London in exchange for an admission of guilt. Julian is never going to plead guilty as if journalism is a crime," says Varoufakis. He also discusses his new book Technofeudalism, which argues that platforms like Amazon have destroyed the idea of buyers and sellers operating in an open market. Capitalism was killed by capital," he says.

As Germany intensifies its crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices, we speak with Greek economist and politician Yanis Varoufakis, one of the planned speakers at a conference in Berlin last weekend that was forcibly shut down by police. The Palestine Congress was scheduled to be held for three days, but police stormed the venue as the first panelist spoke. Germany's Interior Ministry had also banned some conference speakers from even entering the country, including Varoufakis, the Palestinian British surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah and the Palestinian researcher Salman Abu Sitta. This is not about protecting Jewish lives and Jews from antisemitism. It's all about protecting the right of Israel to commit any war crime of its choice," says Varoufakis.

Gazans Continue to Lose Children, Parents, Loved Ones as Israeli Attacks Continue with Impunity, Palestinian Doctors Uncover New Mass Grave at Al-Shifa in Wake of Israeli Siege, Sheikh Jarrah: Israeli Court Orders Three Palestinian Families Be Forced Out of Their Homes, Iran and Israel Both Vow to Respond in Kind to Any Further Attacks, Coordinated Demonstrations Across the U.S. and the World Disrupt Travel, Weapons Industry, Yale Students Launch Hunger Strike; USC Cancels Graduation Speech by Muslim Student, Judge Threatens to Jail Trump If He Disrupts Hush Money Trial as Jury Selection Continues, 3 Iraqi Survivors of Abu Ghraib Bring Torture Case Against U.S. Contractor to Trial, Torrential Rains Kill at Least 100 People Across Pakistan and Afghanistan, NOAA Warns World Is Experiencing Its 4th Coral Bleaching Event Due to Warming Oceans, Fourth Body Recovered from Baltimore Key Bridge Collapse as FBI Launches Probe, Judge Sentences Armorer of Alec Baldwin Western Rust" to 18 Months for Death of Halyna Hutchins, SCOTUS Declines to Hear Case Targeting Organizers of Group Protests, Faith Ringgold, Trailblazing Artist, Author and Activist, Dies at 93

Donald Trump is making history today in New York as the first former U.S. president to stand trial for criminal charges. Trump faces 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to hide hush money payments he made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels and others, just weeks before winning the 2016 election. He is accused of violating federal campaign finance laws for failing to disclose the payments and instead recording them as a legal expense." Each of the 34 counts carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. What Donald Trump is accused of is the type of crime that's prosecuted in New York every single day ... [a] garden-variety, ordinary grift," says Ron Kuby, a longtime New York criminal defense and civil rights lawyer who is following the trial closely. Kuby explains what we can expect from the trial - the first of four different criminal cases Trump is currently embroiled in, but likely the only one he will stand for ahead of the 2024 election - in the coming days.

The Middle East is bracing for the possibility of regional war after Iran responded to Israel's bombing of the Iranian Consulate in Damascus with a major drone and missile attack Saturday. The attack caused little damage inside Israel, as it intercepted nearly all of the drones and missiles with help from the United States, Britain, France and Jordan. Iran's government described the attack as a defensive maneuver after Israel's unprovoked strike on its embassy killed some of Iran's top military brass. This was a performative operation to send a message," says journalist Reza Sayah, who joins us from Tehran. But while Iran does not want to escalate matters," Israel may be preparing to do just that. Washington, D.C.-based analyst Trita Parsi says that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been trying to instigate conflict between the U.S. and Iran for more than two decades," and given that Biden has demonstrated an unwillingness to draw any red lines for Israel publicly," these latest provocations could become a prime opportunity" for such a war. Crucially, Iranian restraint cannot last forever," warns our final roundtable guest, the Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, who touches on both Iran's own sovereignty and increasing global pressure for Israel to end its war on Gaza. Gaza is still starving and bleeding, and we shouldn't forget it," says Levy.

The Middle East Is on the Brink": U.N. Calls for Maximum Restraint After Iran Directly Attacks Israel for First Time, Death Toll from Israel's War on Gaza Reaches 33,800 as Nuseirat Camp Comes Under Intense Fire, Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Villages in Occupied West Bank, Burning Homes, Killing at Least 1, Trump's Criminal Hush Money Trial Kicks Off in New York, War in Sudan Marks 1 Year: 15,000 Killed, 8.6M Displaced, 25M in Need of Immediate Aid, Australian Police Say Mass Stabber at Sydney Mall Was Targeting Women, House Reauthorizes FISA Clause Which Has Been Used to Spy on U.S. Citizens, Kamala Harris Tells Arizona Voters Trump Is to Blame for State's Draconian Abortion Ban, German Police Shut Down Palestine Congress After Barring Prominent Speakers, McCarthyism Is Real": Hobart and William Smith Colleges Suspend Prof. for Defending Palestinians

We go to Part 2 of our conversation with Israeli scholar Neve Gordon, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London and chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom for British Society of Middle East Studies. Gordon talks about the massive surveillance apparatus" Israel has imposed on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, the use of artificial intelligence tools to bomb targets despite the high error rate in those systems, and the shock of the October 7 attack by Hamas that killed some 1,200 Israelis. The state seemed not to be functioning, so most Israelis were in great pain, were in great fear," he says. My fear is that most Israelis are still trapped, still stuck in that October 7th moment and unwilling to lift their eyes to see basically the genocide unfolding in the Gaza Strip."Watch Part 1 of this interview: Road to Famine: Israeli Law Prof. Neve Gordon on Israel's History of Weaponizing Food Access in Gaza

We speak with The New Yorker war correspondent Luke Mogelson about the war in Ukraine, where the government has just passed a controversial bill that expands military conscription and cracks down on draft dodgers in an effort to replenish the depleted ranks of the army, more than two years since Russia launched its invasion. Military leaders have warned that Russian forces outnumber Ukrainian troops tenfold in the east. Mogelson says the Ukrainian military ranks are filled with predominantly working-class men from rural areas or smaller villages," while people in Kyiv and other large cities, where the elites live, can more easily avoid the full impact of the war. You can really feel the gap between the two worlds widening," says Mogelson, adding that most people realize the war cannot be sustained indefinitely and that at some point there needs to be a negotiation" to end the fighting. Mogelson is the winner of this year's prestigious George Polk Award for magazine reporting for his article Two Weeks at the Front in Ukraine."

President Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House on Thursday, the first meeting of its kind, which comes as the U.S. moves to expand its military presence in the South China Sea to counter China. The Philippines has deepened military ties with both the United States and Japan in recent years as maritime confrontations with China have escalated. The trilateral summit at the White House resembled a council of war," according to Filipino scholar Walden Bello. He says the U.S. is the primary driver of tensions with China, building up its military footprint in the region as Pentagon officials openly muse about war, while China has focused primarily on its economic reach. This militarization of the Pacific is very dangerous," says Bello.

Gazan Children Play Among Ruins as Israeli Bombs Rain Down on Eid, Samantha Power, Top USAID Official, Admits Northern Gaza Is Experiencing Famine, U.S. Sends Top General to Israel Amid Reports of Iranian Retaliation for Israel's Damascus Attack, Morocco Sentences Activist to 5 Years for Criticizing Normalization Deal with Israel, Mexico Brings Grievances Against Ecuador to ICJ Amid Mounting Diplomatic Row, Ukraine Passes Contested Draft Bill with No Limits on Wartime Military Service, Poland Begins Debate on Rolling Back Abortion Ban Under New Liberal Leader, Biden Cancels Another $7.4 Billion in Student Debt, Biden Admin Closes Gun Show Loophole", Far-Right Flank of House Block Reauthorization of Controversial Section 702 of FISA, Goon Squad" Convicts Get State Sentences of 15-45 Years for Torturing Black Men, Climate Crisis Triggers Great Barrier Reef's Worst-Ever Coral Bleaching, 10 Years After Chibok Abduction, Leaders No Longer Fighting for Survivors and Remaining Captives

In Arizona, Republican lawmakers have blocked efforts by Democrats to repeal an 1864 law - first written before women had the right to vote and recently revived by the state's Supreme Court - that bans nearly all abortions under threat of criminal penalties including jail time. To respond, we host a trio of reproductive justice advocates in Arizona. Dr. DeShawn Taylor, an OB-GYN physician, abortion provider and the CEO of the only Black woman-operated abortion clinic in Arizona, emphasizes that her practice will continue to provide abortions until we are made to stop," but warns that in the future abortions likely will not happen in Arizona because of those criminal penalties." Meanwhile, organizers like Chris Love and Alejandra Pablos are fighting back. Love is a spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition of reproductive rights organizations working to put a constitutional amendment on abortion on the state's upcoming November ballot. The petition for the proposed ballot measure is still collecting signatures. We know what we want, and we want people to have the care that they need," concludes Pablos, who organizes for reproductive, racial and immigrant rights.

We speak with two doctors who've just returned after two weeks at the European Hospital in Gaza. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa and Dr. Mark Perlmutter are co-authors of a new piece for Common Dreams titled As Surgeons, We Have Never Seen Cruelty Like Israel's Genocide in Gaza." They describe a hospital hanging on by a thread," with the majority of patients being young children, and bombing targeted at Muslim Palestinians concentrated at the time of evening prayer." Genocide was the overwhelming impression that I got," says Perlmutter. This is dehumanization. The purpose of this is to kill a population." He also says, of U.S. responsibility in this genocide, We're buying the bullets and the gun for the gunman who's going to the school and killing the children." If our support stops, the occupation stops," adds Sidhwa, urging other Americans to push political leaders and public discourse against the country's support of Israel. We have to raise the domestic cost for these policies." Dr. Sidhwa and Dr. Perlmutter worked with the Palestinian American Medical Association in collaboration with the World Health Organization in Gaza. Collectively, they have previously volunteered medical assistance in the West Bank, Haiti and Ukraine, and after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Boston Marathon bombing.

Israel Kills Three Sons & Four Grandchildren of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh, UNICEF Convoy Hit by Israeli Gunfire, Preventing Delivery of Aid to Northern Gaza, U.S. Envoy Admits All of Gaza May Face Imminent Risk of Starvation", Biden Pledges Ironclad" Support for Israel as Fears Grow Iran May Launch Retaliatory Attack, Republican Lawmakers in Arizona Block Repeal of 1864 Abortion Ban, Biden Hosts Japanese & Filipino Leaders as U.S. Expands Military Presence Near China, South Korea PM Offers to Resign After Conservatives Suffer Major Defeat, Russia Hits Major Power Plant Near Kyiv in Latest Strike on Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure, Mass Flooding in Kazakhstan and Russia Displaces Over 110,000 People, Ocean Heat Records Set Every Day for Past Year, Ex-VP in Ecuador on Hunger Strike After Arrest During Raid on Mexican Embassy, EPA Issues New Rules on PFAS & Chemical Plants, Biden Says He Is Considering Dropping Prosecution of Julian Assange, Ex-Trump CFO Sentenced to Five Months in Prison for Lying Under Oath, Cornel West Taps Black Lives Matter Activist Melina Abdullah to Be Running Mate, RFK Jr. Staffer Fired After Admitting Campaign Aims to Help Trump Win in November, Islamic Center at Rutgers University Vandalized as Eid Begins, Palestinian American Law Student Protests Backyard Dinner Hosted by UC Berkeley Law School Dean, German School Rescinds Job Offer to Jewish Philosopher Nancy Fraser over Her Criticism of Israel

Democracy Now! speaks with two former Israeli soldiers who are members of Breaking the Silence, an anti-occupation group of Israeli army veterans. The group's education director, Tal Sagi, describes growing up in a settlement and joining the military without understanding what occupation was. We've been told that this is security and we have to control millions of lives and we don't have other options," says Sagi, who says Israeli society is not open to ending the occupation. We're trying to say that there are other options." We also speak with Breaking the Silence deputy director Nadav Weiman about why the group is touring U.S. colleges and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. We stood in checkpoints. We raided homes. We attacked Gaza from the air. We fought from the ground," says Weiman. So, when you bring reality, you bring real conversation about the occupation, and you bring real conversation about Gaza."

President Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies in Gaza a mistake" and urged Israel to call for a temporary ceasefire to allow in more aid in a televised interview on Tuesday. While Israel has pledged to open new aid crossings, the U.N. said on Tuesday that there has been no significant change in the volume of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza," and the Biden administration has not actually changed its policies or withheld any arms transfers to Israel. Words are cheap, and statements are a dime a dozen," says Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani, who explains Israel can safely ignore statements if policy remains unchanged. What really matters is not what these people say, but what they do." Rabbani also speaks about the United Nations considering Palestinian statehood, ongoing negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire, and Israel attacking the Iranian Consulate in Syria.

In a historic ruling, Arizona's conservative Supreme Court has upheld an 1864 law banning almost all abortions in the state. The court sent out this warning: Physicians are now on notice that all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman's life, are illegal." The 160-year-old law predates Arizona becoming a state and was passed decades before women could even vote. Although Arizona's Attorney General Kris Mayes said she will not enforce the draconian law," the ruling sent shockwaves across the nation. The central strategy of the anti-abortion movement is to roll back the clock to the Victorian era, because they know that they cannot win through the democratic process," says Amy Littlefield, abortion access correspondent at The Nation, who says conservatives supporting these unpopular restrictions face an uphill battle this fall. Democrats are banking on this being a huge way to lift their boats in the next election." Activists are preparing a November ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona Constitution, and reproductive rights will be a key issue in the state's closely watched Senate race.

Arizona Supreme Court Revives 1864 Law Banning Abortion, Biden: Israel Should Just Call for a Ceasefire"; Netanyahu Is Making a Mistake" in Gaza, Israel Continues to Attack Gaza as Palestinians Mark End of Ramadan, Lloyd Austin Denies Israel Is Commiting Genocide; About 50 Protesters Arrested on Capitol Hill, Turkey Restricts Exports to Israel to Protest Gaza Assault, Trump Loses 10th Attempt to Delay Hush Money Trial, Missouri Executes Brian Dorsey; 70 Prison Guards Pushed for His Life to Be Spared, Parents of Oxford High School Shooter Sentenced to Between 10-15 Years in Prison, NYC Reaches $28 Million Settlement over Hanging at Rikers Prison, Bodycam Video Shows Chicago Officers Fired Nearly 100 Shots at Dexter Reed During Fatal Shooting, Norfolk Southern Agrees to Pay $600 Million over East Palestine Derailment

Rwanda is holding a week of commemorations to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, a period of around 100 days in which up to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu militias while powerful countries, including the United States, stood by and refused to stop the mass killings. Shortly after the genocide, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame took power and has since ruled Rwanda with an iron fist, leading a harsh crackdown on the press and opposition groups. We look back at the 1994 genocide and discuss the country's trajectory since then with two guests: Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor at Princeton, and Noel Zihabamwe, a survivor of the genocide whose parents were killed during the violence in 1994 and whose brothers were disappeared by the Kagame regime in 2019. Zihabamwe now lives in Australia and runs the African Australian Advocacy Center.

Lawyers representing Germany at the International Court of Justice delivered their concluding remarks at The Hague today in a case brought by Nicaragua, which has accused Germany of facilitating the commission of genocide in Gaza by providing military and financial aid to Israel. Germany is Israel's second-largest arms supplier, and Nicaragua has asked the United Nations' top court for emergency measures to halt its material support to Israel. While the United States is the leading arms supplier to Israel, it has a much more limited acceptance" of the ICJ's jurisdiction, according to our guest Kenneth Roth. A visiting professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and formerly the longtime executive director of Human Rights Watch, Roth details Nicaragua's case against Germany, as well as the U.S. government's stance toward Israel. Despite President Biden's public condemnation of the recent World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack and the huge leverage" of ongoing U.S. military assistance, the administration's warnings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are empty words," says Roth. Joe Biden never backs them up with consequences," and his reelection campaign is taking progressive voters for granted as domestic dissent grows in the lead-up to the 2024 election, Roth adds.

Award-winning journalist Arwa Damon has just returned from a humanitarian trip to Gaza in her capacity as the founder of INARA, the International Network for Aid Relief and Assistance, a nonprofit currently providing medical and mental healthcare to children. Damon describes the overwhelming need for aid under Israel's siege of the territory. Nothing goes in and out of Gaza without Israel's approval. That includes aid, and that includes people," she says, calling the Israeli military's rules for what is allowed in illogical" and arbitrary. The zone needs to be flooded, not only with aid ... but also with humanitarian workers," concludes Damon. We also discuss the mental health crisis gripping the population, U.S. military assistance to Israel and how anti-Arab racism and fearmongering in Western media coverage has and hasn't changed in the post-9/11 era.

Netanyahu Says Date for Rafah Invasion Has Been Set as Israel Continues Its Deadly Attacks, UNSC Considers Palestine Request for U.N. Membership; Germany Tells ICJ It Is Not Abetting Genocide, Elizabeth Warren, a Legal Expert, Admits Israel's Actions in Gaza Meet Definition of Genocide, We Are Repulsed by Your Actions": New Irish Prime Minister Sends Message to Netanyahu, Iran Opens New Consulary Site in Damascus, Accuses U.S. of Greenlighting Israel's Attack, ACLU Warns Against UMich Censorship Policy over Palestinian Rights Activism, Trump Boasts Overturning Roe v. Wade But Backs State Authority Over Abortion, Panama Papers Trial Kicks Off 8 Years After Tax Evasion Scandal, Mozambique Shipwreck Kills Some 100 People, Including Children, Biden Announces New Student Debt Relief as He Campaigns in Wisconsin, European Rights Court Hands Win to Swiss Seniors, Defeat to Portuguese Youth in Historic Climate Cases, Brazil's Indigenous Communities Receive Gov't Apology; Literary Recognition for Ailton Krenak

Three of the most significant greenhouse gases contributing to global heating - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - reached new record highs again last year, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Global CO2 levels are now over 50% higher than they were before mass industrialization, due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and livestock agriculture. Meanwhile, climate scientists continue to raise alarm over the catastrophic impacts of rising temperatures in Antarctica after researchers in 2022 recorded the largest hike in temperature ever measured in the coldest region on Earth. All of these records that are being broken should be absolutely no surprise to the public," says NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus, speaking with Democracy Now! in his personal capacity and not on behalf of the agency. The cause is the fossil fuel industry. The only way out of this heat nightmare is to end the fossil fuel industry." Kalmus also discusses Monday's solar eclipse across much of North America, saying the celestial event should cause introspection about humanity's place in the universe and lead to better stewardship of the planet. We live on a very fragile and beautiful rock in space, the only place we know in the cosmos to support life," he says.

Walid Daqqa, one of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, has died from cancer. The novelist had spent the past 38 years locked up for his involvement with an armed group that abducted and killed an Israeli soldier in 1984. Rights groups had been pressuring Israel to release Daqqa, who had already finished serving his prison term, saying he was in dire need of medical attention. Last month Amnesty International called for his release, saying that since October 7, he had been tortured, humiliated and denied family visits. Walid Daqqa suffered from medical negligence for years," says Palestinian politician Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. The most inhuman behavior was the fact that they did not allow his wife and his daughter, his only daughter, to visit him since the 7th of October, and while knowing he was in terminal stage, just about to die."

Israel's war on Gaza hit the six-month mark on Sunday, a grim milestone. Over 33,100 Palestinians have been killed, including 14,000 children. Nearly 76,000 have been injured, and tens of thousands are missing. About 1.7 million people have been displaced, and the United Nations is warning that famine is imminent. Meanwhile, Palestinians are returning to Khan Younis after the Israeli military announced it had withdrawn its ground troops from the area four months after invading it, leaving Gaza's second-largest city almost unrecognizable, with much of it turned to rubble. Israel is also still vowing to invade Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which is sheltering more than half of Gaza's population. Speaking from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian physician and politician Dr. Mustafa Barghouti says growing outrage against Israel, including among some Western leaders, is largely due to regular people who have been protesting in solidarity with Palestinians. We have to thank the people of these countries," says Barghouti. We also speak with writer Muhammad Shehada, chief of communications at Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and a columnist at The Forward. He says the last six months have exposed the Israeli military's complete disregard for human life," with routine evidence of summary executions, torture and other crimes that rarely get reported in corporate Western media. They're not even trying to hide it," says Shehada.

Palestinians Return to a Decimated Khan Younis as Hunger Grips Gaza, Death Toll Tops 33,100, Al-Shifa Has Become a Graveyard": Video Reveals Complete Destruction of Gaza Hospital by Israel, Nicaragua Accuses Germany of Enabling Genocide in Gaza at World Court, 40 Democratic Lawmakers, Including Pelosi, Urge Biden to Halt Arms Transfers to Israel, Ceasefire Talks Continue in Cairo as Gaza Death Toll Mounts, Israelis Escalate Protests Against Benjamin Netanyahu, Prominent Palestinian Political Prisoner and Novelist Walid Daqqa Dies of Cancer, 20 Pomona College Students Arrested After Occupying President's Office, IAEA Warns Drone Attacks on Zaporizhzhia Could Lead to Nuclear Disaster, Biden to Host Japanese & Filipino Leaders as Nations Hold War Games in South China Sea, Mexico Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Ecuador After Raid on Mexican Embassy in Quito, International Community Failed All of Us": Rwanda Marks 30 Years Since 1994 Genocide, Trump Raises $50M in Lavish Fundraiser as He Promises More Billionaire Tax Cuts If Reelected, Police Arrest Suspect in Act of Arson on Bernie Sanders's Vermont Office, FAA Probing Loss of Engine Cover During Takeoff on Southwest Airlines Boeing Aircraft, 6 New York Inmates Will View Eclipse from Prison Courtyard After Winning Case Against Lockdown

We continue our conversation with Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham about the award-winning new documentary No Other Land, which he co-directed with Palestinian activist Basel Adra, about land dispossession in Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank. While accepting the audience award for best documentary at the Berlinale, Abraham said Israel was practicing apartheid, a comment for which he later received death threats. You have German politicians who are not Jewish who labeled me as an antisemite. For what? For calling for a ceasefire? For calling for equality between Israelis and Palestinians? For using the word 'apartheid,' which should be common sense to describe these parallel systems of inequality?" says Abraham, who calls for an end to the apartheid reality" in Israel and Palestine. If there is no full political equality and really full freedom to everybody who lives in this land, then there can be no future here. We are going to continue to fight to change this."

The Israeli publications +972 and Local Call have exposed how the Israeli military used an artificial intelligence program known as Lavender to develop a kill list" in Gaza that includes as many as 37,000 Palestinians who were targeted for assassination with little human oversight. A second AI system known as Where's Daddy?" tracked Palestinians on the kill list and was purposely designed to help Israel target individuals when they were at home at night with their families. The targeting systems, combined with an extremely permissive" bombing policy in the Israeli military, led to entire Palestinian families being wiped out inside their houses," says Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist who broke the story after speaking with members of the Israeli military who were shocked by committing atrocities." Abraham previously exposed Israel for using an AI system called The Gospel" to intentionally destroy civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including apartment complexes, universities and banks, in an effort to exert civil pressure" on Hamas. These artificial intelligence military systems are a danger to humanity," says Abraham. AI-based warfare allows people to escape accountability."

Israel Says It Will Allow Aid in Gaza After U.S. Warns of Possible Policy Change", Biden Continues to Funnel Arms to Israel Despite Killing of Aid Workers, Warning to Netanyahu, New Video Shows Israeli Military Killing Innocent Gazan Walking with Airdropped Aid Package, Euro-Med Says Israel Killed 563 People Around Aid Sites; Palestine Red Crescent Says 15 Staff Killed, Kill Them, But Nicely": Gazans Condemn U.S. Hypocrisy as Israeli Bombs and Missiles Rain Down, HRW Says Israel's Oct. 31 Attack on 6-Story Apartment Building a Likely War Crime, We Are All Complicit": Israeli Doctor Details Amputations, Inhumane Treatment of Gazan Detainees, Israeli Forces Fire Tear Gas on Worshipers at Al-Aqsa on Muslim Holy Day, Israel Escalates Threats Against Iran After Deadly Attack on Iranian Consulate in Syria, No Business as Usual While Gaza Is Destroyed": Activists Blockade Lockheed Martin Facility in NorCal, Columbia Suspends 6 Students Amid Crackdown on Palestinian Solidarity Activism, Peruvian Congress Rejects Impeachment Attempt Against President Dina Boluarte, Supporters of Death Row Prisoner Brian Dorsey Make Bid to Save His Life Ahead of Planned Execution, Housing Activists Take Aim at Real Estate Board of New York for Blocking Good Cause Eviction Law, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Peace Activist & Advocate for Survivors of Church Sexual Abuse, Dies at 94

Senegal has inaugurated the youngest elected president in Africa. Newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye nominated Ousmane Sonko to be his prime minister this week, capping a remarkable three-week period that saw the two opposition figures go from prison to ruling Senegal, vowing to fight poverty, injustice and corruption. Faye and Sonko were released from prison in mid-March after previous President Macky Sall had attempted to delay the vote, sparking fears of an anti-democratic election process. Faye's ultimate triumph, running on a platform of pan-Africanism and reform, has been a cause for celebration among many Senegalese, including former Prime Minister Aminata Toure, who says democracy prevailed," giving the country's younger generation a long-awaited opportunity to shake up the system," adds the Senegalese lawyer and political analyst Ibrahima Kane. Both join the show from Senegal's capital Dakar.

As the world reels from the World Central Kitchen attack in which seven aid workers in Gaza were struck and killed by three separate Israeli missiles while delivering aid for starving Palestinians, we speak with prominent Israeli scholar Neve Gordon about Israel's history of weaponizing food access in the Gaza Strip via the destruction of Palestinian agricultural land, labor restrictions and blockade, controlling and managing the population through food insecurity." Neve Gordon is a professor of human rights law and author of multiple books on Israel's occupation of Palestine whose latest essay for The New York Review of Books is titled The Road to Famine in Gaza." Now as aid deliveries dry up amid fears of further attacks on humanitarian workers, Gordon emphasizes that Israel has been controlling the food basket and using it as a weapon since the beginning of the occupation until today."

This week the White House canceled a planned Ramadan dinner after many Muslim American leaders refused to attend as the Biden administration indicates it plans to continue arming Israel. Instead, Biden held a scaled-back meeting Tuesday with Muslim American community figures. The curtailed meeting was itself met with protests, including from Palestinian American emergency room physician Dr. Thaer Ahmad, who walked out after handing Biden a letter from an 8-year-old orphaned Palestinian girl named Hadeel that read, I beg you, President Biden, stop them from entering Rafah." Ahmad tells Democracy Now! that he also told Biden, Make no mistake about it. It's going to be a bloodbath," before walking out. Ahmad is a board member for MedGlobal who recently spent three weeks in Gaza volunteering at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. He joins us today to discuss the meeting with Biden, in which Ahmad, the only Palestinian American in attendance, was told he and other attendees would be the first people who had actually been in Gaza after October 7 to directly brief the president. This meeting was not going to be impactful," says Ahmad, who shares how Biden's continued backing of Israel, even after its attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy left an American citizen dead, indicates that nobody is safe" in the Gaza Strip.

Jose Andres Condemns Systematic Targeting" of World Central Kitchen Aid Workers, Israeli Military Uses AI to Target Palestinians for Assassination, Palestinians Search Ruins of Al-Shifa for Loved Ones After Israel Obliterates Hospital, Netanyahu's Main Rival Benny Gantz Calls for September Elections in Israel, U.K. Under Pressure to Halt Israeli Arms Sales; Spain to Recognize Palestinian Statehood by July, Russian Drones Kill 4 People in Kharkiv, Including Rescue Workers, Russian Court Sentences Pussy Riot Activist Pyotr Verzilov to 8 Years in Absentia, Turkey Restores Election Victory of Pro-Kurdish Mayoral Candidate Following Unrest, Kenya's Public Sector Doctors Enter Third Week on Strike, Zimbabwe Declares National Disaster over Drought; Philippines Schools Close Amid Extreme Heat Wave, New York Judge Overseeing Trump Hush Money Case Rejects Bid to Delay April 15 Trial, 109-Year-Old Survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre Appeal to Oklahoma Supreme Court in Reparations Case, Martin Luther King Jr. Was Assassinated 56 Years Ago, April 4, 1968

As Benjamin Netanyahu faces mass protests at home and increasing diplomatic pressure abroad, we speak with Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator and president of the U.S./Middle East Project. He says Netanyahu is desperate to save his political prospects, primarily by continuing the war on Gaza for as long as possible and undercutting ceasefire talks. Prime Minister Netanyahu needs this war to continue and is willing and has already gone to extreme lengths to do so," says Levy, who faults the Biden administration for not applying any real pressure on him. Stop telling me that Netanyahu is a problem. You're the problem, because you're the enabler, you're the facilitator."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel says he will act immediately" to ban Al Jazeera in the country after the Knesset passed a law Monday that allows the government to shut down foreign news networks deemed to be threats to national security. Al Jazeera, one of the few outlets with local reporters in Gaza, denounced the move and said it was part of a pattern of Israeli attacks on the Qatar-based network, including targeting its journalists in Gaza since October 7 and the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank in 2022. For more, we speak with Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator and president of the U.S./Middle East Project, who says Netanyahu's move to ban Al Jazeera is red meat to his own base ... in a situation in which the war is not going particularly well for Israel. He's looking for distractions."

We speak with Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, about Israel's ongoing attacks against aid workers in the Gaza Strip. Israel has admitted it killed seven volunteers with World Central Kitchen on Monday after repeatedly bombing their clearly marked vehicle convoy, leading the humanitarian relief group to suspend its operations in Gaza and further restricting distribution of badly needed food amid a growing famine in the territory. Other aid groups have followed suit, citing the lack of safety. This comes after Israel had earlier banned UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, from bringing aid into northern Gaza, where the need is greatest. Egeland says even Israel's international backers need to rein in a war machine out of control" that is causing so much death and destruction. If you have a conflict where there is a world record in killing protected categories of personnel, then the law is broken to pieces. There's no other way to see it." He also calls for an end to international arms sales to Israel and resumed funding and support for UNRWA.

We get an update on the crisis in Haiti, where deadly violence has continued to escalate between armed groups and police fighting for control of the capital Port-au-Prince. The country's political future remains unclear, with recently resigned Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who is stranded outside of Haiti, raising questions this week over the constitutionality of a transitional council" formed to serve as an interim governing body until elections are scheduled. Meanwhile, Canadian forces have been sent to Jamaica to train troops from Caribbean nations to join the U.N.-authorized mission to Haiti. Haitian American scholar Jemima Pierre says the transitional council is essentially a front for U.S. interests, and warns there will be inevitable war crimes" if foreign troops are deployed to Haiti. It's a terrible situation, but I think the idea that there's a Haitian-led solution coming is actually a false one," says Pierre. We are also joined by Kim Ives, editor of the English section of Haiti Liberte, who says Haiti is in the midst of a revolutionary process," led by Jimmy Barbecue" Cherizier. Ives says that far from being a gang leader, Cherizier has built a coalition to fight the criminal groups in the country and was central to the ouster of Ariel Henry. They always have to demonize, criminalize the people's resistance, and that's what we're seeing today when they try to put all the armed groups of Haiti's popular classes into one bag called 'the gangs,'" says Ives.

U.N. Chief: Israeli Attack on World Central Kitchen Aid Workers Is Unconscionable", Biden Outraged" over Aid Attack, But U.S. Claims Israel Hasn't Violated International Law, USAID Officials Privately Warn Biden That Gaza Famine Is Unprecedented in Modern History", Israeli Police Fire Water Cannons at Anti-Netanyahu Protesters, Iran Urges U.N. to Take Action After Israeli Bombing of Iranian Consulate in Syria, Uncommitted" Vote Movement Grows as Democratic Voters Voice Dismay over Biden's Gaza Policy, Palestinian American Doctor Walks Out of White House Ramadan Meeting with Biden, Senegal: Bassirou Diomaye Faye Inaugurated as President Weeks After Being Freed from Jail, Mayoral Candidate in Mexico Assassinated While Campaigning in Celaya, Taiwan Hit by Largest Earthquake in 25 Years, John Eastman Disbarred in California over Advising Trump on 2020 Coup Attempt, In BDS Victory, Pitzer College Ends Study Abroad Program with Israeli School

Iran has vowed to retaliate after Israel bombed the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing at least seven people, including three senior Iranian commanders and at least four other Iranian officers. Among the dead is senior commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the highest-ranking Iranian military officer to be killed since the U.S. assassinated General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020. While Israel sees strikes on foreign soil as part of their self-defense strategy," Iran feels it must respond to this breaching serious diplomatic norms," says Akbar Shahid Ahmed, senior diplomatic correspondent for HuffPost, who reports the pace and audacity of Israel's international attacks have escalated since October. While Israel is receiving huge amounts of American support, while Gaza is suffering and Israel is pummeling that Strip, we now see them risking a two-front war, maybe a three-front war."

Democracy Now! speaks with an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Air Force on hunger strike to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Senior Airman Larry Hebert is on day three of his hunger strike outside the White House, where he has been holding a sign that reads Active Duty Airman Refuses to Eat While Gaza Starves." It's just completely wrong and immoral for civilians to be starved and bombed and targeted in any manner," says Hebert. I'm hoping that other active-duty members will be more public with their concern over the atrocities happening in Gaza." Hebert was inspired by the actions of Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., in February to demand a Gaza ceasefire. What really infuriated me was the silence thereafter. ... I don't know a single member of our government or leaders in the military that really spoke on Aaron, even uttered his name," says Hebert, who is now looking to leave the military after learning more about U.S. foreign policy. I can't see myself continuing service."

The Washington Post reports the Biden administration has recently authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel. The arms package includes more than 1,800 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, which can be used to level entire city blocks. The U.S. is also sending 500 MK-82 500-pound bombs and 25 F-35 fighter jets. It has been doing this on a weekly basis since the conflict began, just an open tab of arms," says Josh Paul, former State Department official who worked on arms transfers before resigning in October to protest increasing arms sales to Israel. These are the arms that Israel is using to kill not only thousands of civilians but hundreds of aid workers, as well."

Israel is facing global condemnation after killing several international aid workers in Gaza. The workers with charity group World Central Kitchen were killed by an Israeli airstrike after unloading more than 100 tons of food aid carried by ship from Cyprus into Gaza. The charity staff, including three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national and an American-Canadian dual citizen, and their Palestinian driver were struck while traveling in a clearly marked convoy branded with the charity's logo. World Central Kitchen said the attack occurred after the workers left a warehouse in Deir al-Balah, even though the charity had coordinated in advance about the convoy with the Israeli military. Every single humanitarian aid worker ... is already recognized by the Israeli army," says journalist Akram al-Satarri, reporting live from Rafah. It's the full responsibility of the Israeli government now to clarify and ... demystify the circumstances that led to that catastrophic incident." Al-Satarri also reports on Israel's move to ban the outlet Al Jazeera and on his experience living in Gaza right now, where food and medical supplies are scarce under Israel's strict blockade. The famine is not looming. The famine is already taking place."

World Central Kitchen Suspends Aid Operations After Israeli Airstrike Kills 7 of Its Workers, Biden Admin Could Send Another $18M in Arms to Israel Despite Mounting Deaths, Public Opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu Plans to Ban Al Jazeera, One of the Few Major Outlets Reporting Inside Gaza, Tehran Vows Revenge After Israeli Attack in Syria Kills 7 Iranian Officials, Incl. Top Commander, Primary Voters Urged to Protest Biden Support for War on Gaza at the Ballot Box, Florida's Top Court Approves 6-Week Abortion Ban But Offers Hope with Abortion Ballot Measure, Germany Decriminalizes Cannabis for Personal Use, Armed Violence Claims More Lives in Haiti Amid Stalled Leadership Talks, NY Judge Expands Trump Gag Order as Ex-President Pays $175M Bond in Civil Fraud Case, Izzy Award Honors In These Times, Mohammed El-Kurd, Lynzy Billing, Trina Reynolds-Tyler, Sarah Conway

On Sunday, tens of thousands rallied across Israel calling for the return of hostages and the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the largest nationwide protests since the October 7 attacks. From Tel Aviv, we're joined by Oren Ziv, a reporter and photographer for +972 Magazine who has been covering the Israeli protests. Ziv says the majority of Israelis generally support the war on Gaza but are increasingly turning against Netanyahu's far-right government, whose refusal to entertain a ceasefire is seen as an obstacle to the return of Israeli hostages.

As Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday, Palestinian Christians from the occupied West Bank were prevented from reaching Jerusalem for Good Friday to walk the Via Dolorosa, the path Jesus is said to have followed on the way to his crucifixion more than 2,000 years ago. Meanwhile, Jesus's birthplace of Bethlehem is uncharacteristically empty of tourists this year as Israel's assault on Gaza and crackdown on the West Bank escalate. Nothing can wash the blood from your hands," said the Reverend Munther Isaac at an Easter vigil for Gaza on Saturday, about Western complicity in Israel's genocide of Palestinians. Isaac is a Palestinian Christian theologian and the pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem. He joins Democracy Now! to discuss the history of Palestinian Christians in Gaza, Israel's occupation of Bethlehem and its strangling of freedoms in the West Bank, U.S. Christians' support of Israel and more.

Israeli forces withdrew from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City today after a two-week raid that has left most of the medical complex in ruins. Since October, Gaza's health sector has been completely decimated, leaving only a dozen hospitals partially functional as the entire medical infrastructure is relentlessly shelled, besieged and raided. We speak to British Palestinian reconstructive surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who spent over a month treating patients at Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli Baptist hospitals. He pays tribute to Dr. Ahmad Maqadmeh, a fellow surgeon who was found killed today alongside his mother at Al-Shifa. I blame the Western journalists, who perpetuated the narrative that militarized the hospital as a justifiable and acceptable target," says Abu-Sittah about Maqadmeh's death. This was a war Israel declared on Palestinian children," he later concludes, because Palestinian children represent the Palestinian tomorrow that is incompatible with the Zionist settler-colonial project." Plus, we hear from a trauma surgeon currently volunteering at the European Hospital in Khan Younis. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa describes the scene at the hospital as a squalid shelter for thousands of refugees. There's no privacy, no dignity for any of these people," he says.

Israel Ends Siege on Al-Shifa Hospital After Killing More Than 400 Palestinians, Israeli Airstrike on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital Kills Four; Injured Include Seven Journalists, Israel Creates Kill Zones" in Gaza Where Soldiers Are Ordered to Shoot and Kill Everyone, Biden Admin Authorizes Billions of Dollars in New Bombs & Fighter Jets for Israel, Mass Protests in Israel Call for Ceasefire & Removal of Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Land Day Protests Held Across Globe, Smith College Students Continue Occupation Calling for School to Divest From Weapons Manufacturers, Pope Francis Repeats Call for Ceasefire in Gaza, Rep. Walberg (R-MI) Calls for Gaza to Be Bombed Like Nagasaki and Hiroshima", Blast Injures Three U.N. Military Observers & Translator in Lebanon, Trump Posts Video of a Hogtied Biden, Continues to Verbally Attack New York Judge's Daughter, Recep Tayyip Erdoan Suffers Major Blow as Turkish Cities Vote for Opposition Party Mayors, Peruvian Police Raid President Dina Boluarte's Home Amid Rolexgate" Investigation, Transgender Day of Visibility Sees Rallies, Celebrations, and GOP Attacks, Eight Chinese Migrants Found Dead on Mexican Beach After Boat Capsizes, California Fast-Food Workers Are Now Making at Least $20/Hour, Louis Gossett Jr., First Black Actor to Win Best Supporting Actor Oscar, Dies at 87

Republicans are on a crusade" against responsible investing, says Andrew Behar, CEO of the nonprofit group As You Sow that promotes corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy. His group was subpoenaed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee this week as Republicans probe whether investments that take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns violate antitrust laws. Republicans have introduced bills in dozens of states across the U.S. to limit state bodies from working with banks and other financial firms that take things like climate change into consideration in their investments. ESG is a framework for assessing risk," Behar says. Basic good business says you want to assess and address risk, and that's what they're trying to suppress."

As the death toll in Gaza tops 32,600, we speak with UNICEF spokesperson James Elder in Rafah near the Egyptian border, now home to some 1.5 million Palestinians seeking shelter from the fighting. He says Israel's continued obstruction of aid into the territory is a man-made and preventable" crisis of hunger and acute malnutrition that could be ended if Israel just opened access to more aid trucks, especially in northern Gaza, where desperate people could be reached in as little as 10 minutes. When I'm on the street, every person, the first thing they want to tell me, in English or Arabic, is 'We need food, we need food,'" Elder tells Democracy Now! They are saying that because their assumption is the world doesn't know, because how would this be allowed to happen if the world knew?" He also reiterates UNICEF's call for a full ceasefire and warns against Israel's planned ground invasion of Rafah, which he describes as a city of children."

Pro-Palestine protesters disrupted the largest one-night fundraiser in presidential campaign history on Thursday. The event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City included numerous celebrities and featured President Biden alongside former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, raising a record $25 million for Biden's reelection campaign. The main event was an onstage conversation with the three U.S. presidents moderated by late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert, but people began disrupting it just 10 minutes into their conversation, as Biden was talking, with protesters calling on the president to stop arming Israel and to enforce a ceasefire in Gaza. Meanwhile, thousands of protesters were also massed outside the venue to protest the Biden administration's support for Israel's assault on Gaza. We play voices from inside and outside the event.