Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2025-08-05 Tuesday

Episode Date: August 5, 2025

Headlines for August 05, 2025; Oscar-Winning Director Demands Israel Return Body of Palestinian Activist After Settler Killed Him; “End the Starvation”: Jewish Rabbis & Allies Outside NY Trump Hotel Call for U.S. to Stop Arming Israel; Labor Leader Chris Smalls Describes Israeli Arrest & Assault After Military Raids Gaza Flotilla; Texas Showdown: Dem. Lawmakers Flee State to Stop Gerrymandering, Warn Trump Will Try It Again

From New York, this is Democracy Now. These brave public servants are taking a stand, a strong stand, against a blatant power grab that's happening in their state as we speak. And this will have implications, not just in Texas, but for our entire nation and its future. Showdown in Texas, more than 50 Democratic state lawmakers have fled the state in order to block a vote on a newly drawn Texas map that could add five Republican congressional seats, including foreign majority Hispanic districts, all at President Trump's request. We'll speak with Democratic Texas State Representative Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, who fled first to New York, along with other state legislators, and is now in Chicago. Then U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson led a delegation to Israel and the occupied West Bank amidst escalating settler violence against Palestinians.

Israel's refusing to release the body of Palestinian activists Oda Hadalini. who was shocked to death by an Israeli settler last week. He's since been released. Why did they kill him? What did he do? He was far away and not doing anything. Why does it always have to be us on the losing side? To feel this sort of pain daily, to lose people we love.

Suleiman first, then Ode, the best young men in the area. We'll speak with a medic who treated the wounded and with Palestinian activist and journalist Basiladra, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary, No Other Land and Close Friend of Ode. Then, as protests continue worldwide demanding an end to Israel's genocide and starvation campaign in Gaza, here in New York City, police arrested over 40 people

outside the Trump International Hotel in a peaceful action led by the Jewish, American group, if not now, and Jewish leaders. Today to Gaza will save the remaining hostages and it will save the children and the people of Gaza who deserve to live. We're here to say let Gaza live to risk everything to say never again. We'll speak with some of the people at the protest as well as Amazon labor union leader Chris Smalls. He was released from an Israeli prison and returned to the U.S. last week, after at least five days in Israeli custody, he was joined 20 activists with the

Freedom Flotilla Coalition that attempted to break Israel's blockade on Gaza by sailing in a civilian aid ship. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. At least eight more Palestinians starved to death in Gaza over the last 24 hours, including seven children, raising the hunger-related death toll to 188. Palestinian officials say Israel is allowing just 86 trucks carrying desperately needed food medicine and other supplies into Gaza per day, far short of the 600 trucks that aid organizations say are needed daily to meet the basic needs of Gaza's more than 2 million people.

On Monday, scores of Palestinian stood in long lines outside a makeshift soup kitchen in Han Yunus, hoping for a meal. This aid does not reach us. We do not see it. People like us do not get aid. Most of the people do not get the aid. We hear about it in the news, but we do not see it. We do not see it on the ground.

I hope that the crossings open and that the food has. enters and the flower and the aid enters for people and that this big crisis that we are living ends. Israeli attacks across Gaza over the past day, killed at least 87 Palestinians, including 52 people seeking food and aid. Another 64 people were injured, bringing the official death toll of the wounded to over 150,000 since October 23. Meanwhile, there are reports of heavy air strikes an artillery fire as Israel steps up its assault on Gaza. Israeli media's reporting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to announce plans to fully occupy the entire Gaza Strip, including areas where it's believed Hamas is holding Israeli hostages.

Israeli forces have arrested at least 15 Palestinians after another night of raids across the occupied West Bank, even as Israeli settlers attack Palestinian homes. homes north of Jericho and use bulldozers to level Palestinian farmers' crops south of Nabilis. The settler violence came as the Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, visited an Israeli settlement in the West Bank after an unannounced visit to Israel with other Republican lawmakers. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, but Johnson used his visit to declare, quote, the mountains of Judea and Samaria are the rightful property of the Jewish people, unquote.

Meanwhile, family members of a U.S. citizen who was killed in a settler attack in the West Bank last week are demanding the Trump administration open an investigation into his killing. 40-year-old Hamis Ayad, asphyxiated to death after settlers set fire to cars outside his home last Thursday. He died trying to put out the flames after Israeli soldiers arrived and fired tear gas in his direction. Ayat is a former Chicago resident. He leaves behind five children. He's at least the second U.S. citizen killed in the West Bank since July. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government voted unanimously to remove the Attorney General who's prosecuting Netanyahu for corruption. Attorney General Gali Bahrava Maira has repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu's coalition about overhauling the judiciary.

Netanyahu is facing charges of bribery, fraud, breach of trust in three separate cases. Here in New York, police arrested more than 40 people Monday evening as they held a nonviolent protest outside the Trump International House. hotel, demanding an end to Israel's starvation campaign in Gaza, and a halt to U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. The protests were led by the Jewish-American group, if not now. Democracy now spoke to Ari Lefornari, a rabbi from Philadelphia as he was being arrested for blocking traffic. The only way that Palestinians and Israelis can be safe, including the hostages who are held

in Gaza, is if the people of Palestine are free. We just saw that Evir Tardavid, one of the remaining living Israeli hostages, is starving. He's starving because everyone in Gaza is starving. Food aid to Gaza will save the remaining hostages, and it will save the children and the people of Gaza who deserve to live. We're here to say let Gaza live, to risk everything to say never again. Meanwhile, a coalition of direct action groups has announced the largest attempt yet by civilians to break the siege on Gaza. The global Samud flotilla aims to launch dozens of boats carrying humanitarian aid from Spain, Tunisia, and elsewhere in early September with delegates from at least 44 countries on board. Later in the broadcast, we'll speak with U.S. labor leader Chris Smalls, who's just returned to the United States after he was abducted by Israeli forces from the Handala aid ship as it sailed toward Gaza.

Smalls says he was beaten by his Israeli guards. Sudan's military rulers say they repelled and attacked by rapid support forces, paramilitaries, in the city of Al-Fashir. The army's last holdout in Sudan's Darfur region. Hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting are rapidly running out of food and under constant artillery and drone fire. Those who are able to flee the violence face squalid camps where cholera and other diseases are rampant and many face starvation. This is Inam Abdallah Muhammad, a 19-year-old who fled violence in Sudan Zamsam camp before she was attacked by RSF forces in a village near Al-Fashir. If they find a person with a mobile phone, they would take it from him. If you have money, they take it.

If you have good, strong donkey or something like that, they will take it from you. They kill the people. They killed people in front of us. They took girls in front of us and raped them. The World Food Program warns a protracted famine is taking hold in parts of Sudan with nearly 25 million people facing acute hunger. The United Nations warns over 1.5 million Afghans have been forcefully repatriated, most of them from Iran, where they face poverty, hunger, and serious human rights violations. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reports many of those returning face torture, mistreatment, arbitrary arrest, and detention. after the Taliban violated its promise to provide amnesty to people affiliated with the former U.S. back government that collapsed in 2021.

The World Food Programme warns nearly 10 million people, about quarter of Afghanistan's population, face acute food insecurity with its sharpest surge ever of child malnutrition, coming after the Trump administration terminated $1.7 billion in contracts for U.S. aid to Afghanistan. Texas's House of Representatives voted Monday to track down and arrest more than 50 Democratic legislators who left the state to block the GOP's new congressional map. The House Speaker said he would sign civil warrants, which would allow the sergeant at arms and state troopers to arrest the state legislators and bring them to the Texas state capital. The warrants would only apply within the state of Texas since the legislators have fled to Illinois, to New York, and. to Massachusetts. On Monday, Democratic Congressman Greg Kassar joined protesters in a march outside the Texas

governor's mansion. Governor Greg Abbott is a coward for saying that our law enforcement should go out and arrest our local elected officials. This is America. This is a place where you're not supposed to be sending law enforcement to go handcuff elected officials that you disagree with. After headlines will go to Chicago to speak with Texas State Representative Cassandra Garcia Hernandez. In New York, Democratic Governor Kathy Hokel announced the state would abandon

independent, nonpartisan redistricting after Texas Republicans pushed a new congressional map that would give the GOP five extra seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Governor Hokel was joined by Texas Democratic legislators who fled the state to block the GOP's redistricting effort. This is a war. We are at a war. We are at war. And that's why the gloves are off, and I say, bring it on. In more news from New York, a Scarsdale High School graduate student, was released Monday night from ICE custody. 20-year-old Yonsu Go, a Purdue University engineering student in Indiana, was arrested and taken into ICE custody in New York after a routine visa hearing last week.

week. In Los Angeles, a plaintiff in the lawsuit against federal immigration arrest described horrible conditions at ICE jails. They chained us and put me in a small room with 52 other people. No bathroom, no hygiene, just filth and fear. I'm diabetic. I need proper foods and fluids to survive. But what they gave us to eat was inhumane. Nothing a person should ever have to eat. My sugar levels were of control. I developed an eye infection while detained and begged for help, but no medical attention ever came. In more news from New York, a former prison guard has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the fatal beating of 43-year-old Robert Brooks, who was incarcerated

at the Marcy Correctional Facility. Body camera footage of the December killing shows the group of guards repeatedly punching and kicking Brooks in the face, chest and groin. Four of the officers involved were wearing body cameras but did not activate them. Brooks was black. All the officers who took turns beating him appear to be white. Six guards were charged with murder. Two survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have filed emotional letters to a court in New York lashing out at the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files. One of the survivors writes, quote, Dear United States, I wish you would have handled and would handle the whole Epstein files with more respect towards and for the victims. I am not some pawn in your political

warfare. What you've done and continue to do is eating at me day and after day as you help to perpetuate this story indefinitely, unquote. Another survivor rights quote, I feel like the DOJs and FBI's priority is protecting the third party, the wealthy men, by focusing on scrubbing their names off the files of which the victims know who they are. quote. The FBI had reportedly redacted the names of Donald Trump and other prominent individuals from the agency's files citing privacy reasons. Bloomberg News reports the FBI instructed its agents to flag any mention of Trump during a March review of hundreds of thousands of pages of records in the Epstein files. In California, a fast-growing wildfire has scorched more than 65,000 acres in

the Los Padres National Forest with the flames found by dry gusty winds. In Arizona, wildfire on the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park has become the largest act of wildfire in the United States. The Dragon Bravo fire has consumed 125,000 acres since it erupted July 4th. Meanwhile, vast swathes of Canada and the United States are experiencing unhealthy air quality due to wildfires raging across five Canadian provinces. Smoke from the fires has triggered air quality alerts for tens of millions of people in cities stretching from Minneapolis to Boston. And a new study in the medical journal, the Lancet estimates the global plastic pollution is responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding $1.5 trillion annually.

Researchers found the principal driver of the growing public health crisis is a huge increase in global plastic production, from 2 million tons in 1950 to a projected 1.2 billion tons by 2060. The report's authors write, quote, plastics are a grave, growing, and under-recognized danger to human and planetary health, unquote. The findings come as a conference of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Global Plastics Treaty opens in Geneva today. Greenpeace activists rallied ahead of the talks. Our demands are for a treaty that takes a full life cycle approach, cuts plastic production, bans toxic chemicals, and provides the financing that's going to be required to make this transition. And those are,

some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org. When we come back, we go to the occupied West Bank. Stay with us. It's 1159 and 59 seconds. If I'm going to die tonight, I won't heaven. Hey, eh, with you. It's 1159 and 59 seconds. If I'm only die tonight, I won't heaven. A, eh, with you. It was 11.59. 59 clicks. The whole world's burning, but the clock just ticks over and over every single day. Some people steal while.

Other people pray to God, to man, machines, or whatever. Some of us just lost faith altogether. No way, they say, we can't live this way. That's why so many people stand up and say. One love, one blood, one heart. One soul and one drum and only one rhythm, one tribe, and all of us singing, it's 11.59 in 59 seconds. If I'm going to die tonight, I won't have you with you.

It's 1159 in 59 seconds. If I'm going to die tonight, I won't have it with you. I want to rock with you. 1159 by Michael Fronty performing in our Democracy Now studio. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman in New York, joined by Democracy Now is Juan Gonzalez and Chicago. Hi, Juan. Hi, Amy, and welcome to all of our listeners and views across the country and around the world.

We begin today's show in the Occupied West Bank, where is forces have arrested at least 15 Palestinians after another night of raids, even as Israeli settlers attack Palestinian homes north of Jericho and use bulldozers to level Palestinian farmers' crops south of Noblos. The settler violence came as the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, visited an Israeli settlement in the West Bank after an unannounced visit to Israel with other Republican lawmakers. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, but Johnson used his visit to declare, quote,

the mountains of Judea and Samaria are the rightful property of the Jewish people, unquote. Meanwhile, family members of a U.S. citizen who was killed in a settler attack in the West Bank last week are demanding the Trump administration open investigation into his death. Forty-year-old Kami Sayyad, asphyxiated after settlers set fire to cars outside his home Thursday, he died trying to put out the flames after Israeli soldiers arrived and fired tear gas in his direction. Ayat is a former Chicago resident. He leaves behind five children. He's at least the second U.S. citizen killed in the West Bank since July. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities are continuing to refuse to release the body of the Palestinian activist Oda Hadalene, who is fatally shot by an Israeli settler

last Monday in the occupied West Bank. Israel's also still detaining seven members of his family. Sixty Palestinian women from the village of Umchalkir began a hunger strike Thursday to demand justice. Hadaline worked on the Oscar-winning film, no other land. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have released the settler accused of killing Hadaline, Enon Levy. He had been under House arrest. Earlier this year, the Trump administration lifted Biden-era sanctions on levy. This is Oba Hadlín's uncle, Ibrahim, speaking the day after his nephew was killed. After October 7, we have been undergoing difficult times that include land annexation, prevention of hurting, preventing people from accessing their lands,

attacking people directly, sometimes even killings, like what happened to the most, martyr, O'Day. All these procedures that we have been through are all tools of the settlers so that they could annex the land and empty it from its people. For more, we're joined by two guests, Basiladra, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, a Palestinian activist and journalist who writes for 972. He spent years documenting Israeli efforts to evict Palestinians living in Masafriyatta, south of Hebron. Oda worked with him and, you Yuval Abraham on the film. He was also a close friend of Oda Halaline. And in Hebron, Ty Kavanaugh is a former U.S. Navy medic who's a medical student at the University of Limerick, an international volunteer

working with Palestinian public health groups in the occupied West Bank. Last Monday, he was in Ume al-Qaer when Oda Hadaline was shot and killed. We welcome you both to democracy now. Ty, if you can start off by telling us the scene that day, if you can talk about what happened to Ode. Yes, yeah, I arrived there that day. Just by coincidence, I just wanted to visit these villages that I've been doing clinics in Masu Yata in the area. A friend of mine who's on Project Walsh, we have to know people there.

I figure I'd tag along with them. We get out of the car. 15 minutes later, the bulldozer doing like construction, starts driving. through their crops. People go out to try to wave it off and stop it. A man from the village is struck in the head and shoulder by that bulldozer. Myself, an American nurse, and a Palestinian nurse, I'm trying to treat him, at which point gunfire starts.

And then seconds later, some of people start yelling that Alda has been shot, at which point we go we treat him very quickly we try to take him to the settlement to get an ambulance at that gate we lose a pulse regarding CPR on him

meanwhile I later learned who I didn't see who the shooter was when it happened I later recognized the shooter as a guy who was just milling around just standing over us while within CPR many of the settlers especially those teenagers

type were jeering and laughing at us. I don't understand Hebrew, but I'm sure they were scaling all kinds of things at us. Myself and the Palestinian medic are told to leave. The American nurse is detained and

later deported by Israeli authorities for God knows what their pieces for that. The moment I had done treating the wounded and told to leave, I turn around and I see I don't know what I expected. Maybe that I thought the seriousness and that would cause change in behavior.

But the IDF is immediately just attacking the villagers. I see people blindfolded and handcuffed, everything penned in, and they're just trying to, it seemed like they're trying to pen everybody in with the agonized people. They want them with Iraq. They wanted an excuse to do stuff. And they were just dragging people out. And I see Levy pointing out people too.

And the IDF just goes in, drag them away. At one point, all the internationals and most internationals are detained by the IDF, of course, I'm covered in blood. I'm covered in blood. They did not ask me a single question about what happened. The only thing they started doing is looking at my visa and passport and screaming about my immigration status because they look at the wrong date. Yeah. We're showing images, by the way, of Inon Levy waving his gun, the gun that they said he used to kill Ode, Juan? And yes, I wanted to ask you, Ty, you're saying that the IDF soldiers never asked you any questions about what actually had happened, but then began to actually target the victims rather than the perpetrator?

Yes, of course. Yeah, no point with anyone who was unsure, anyone who was Palestinian or not a settler asked any question about what happened. And it was, that was not important to them. But what was important was going after the people in the village and they were trying to find excuses to arrest international observers or volunteers or the people who happened to be there. So, no, I myself happened, despite coincidence, I was doing a clinic in, I'm not here today. And we're seeing the injuries of the people who were released

that were beaten and held in stress positions while they were detained and all the women who are still on hunger strike and their health conditions. I'd like to bring in Basel Adra, also co-director of the Oscar winning documentary No Other Land. Could you talk to us about what has happened in the past few days, especially with Oda Hadlon? It has been crazy since. you know, shot our closest friend, Nauda, and killing him. Israeli occupation soldiers have been invading the mourn tent day after day,

forcing journalists, solidarity activists, and Palestinians like me, who's not residents of Omel Khear village to go out of the village, and they arrested activists from there. That happens during the day and during the night, the army come again and invade the community, arresting people for three nights, arresting residents, Aouda's brothers, cousins, and other relatives accusing them of, like, throwing stones, while the settler who killed the Aouda is free, and yesterday he was able to be back to work and to dig and to provoke the villagers and the family of Aouda next to

basically like expanding the illegal settlement of Kermail into the village, right next to Aouda's family homes and community center. Basel, our deepest condolences on the loss of your dear friend Oda. You work together on your film, the Oscar-winning documentary, No Other Land. If you can talk more about Inon Levy, the violent Israeli settler, very well known, who we've been showing, waving his gun, who the eyewitnesses say just opened fire on Oda was taken, then put under house arrest. And even as Oda's family remains arrested, he has been freed. If you can explain the movement right now, the 60 women who were on hunger strike. I covered a big protest in New York last night.

Oda's name was raised repeatedly. Yeah, Oda was our close friend. He was a father for three beautiful kids. He was an English teacher. He hosted all the time solidarity activists from the U.S., from all over the world, who come to Mesafriatta, to Omer-Hare. and tell the story of his village, of our villages. They've been traveling to different countries around the world

to talk about Omal Khair, about his story, the story of the community of Masaferiata, the threats that we were all facing. So he was the voice of the community. He was activists that filming what's happening. He filmed his own death when Iran shot him. He was a person that optimistic, that liked the life

and he was really planning for a beautiful future. He dreamed for a beautiful future. He was 35 meter away from this criminal, Enone Levy, and he was standing with his son in a small basketball

playground in the village when Yon shot him. Enone is a settler that created an illegal outpost in 2021 next to Zanuta a village here in the South Hebrew Hills and kept attacking Zanuta and the village of Zanota day after day, night after night, destroying crops, attacking shibberts, going to people

homes, smashing properties like solar panels, water pipes, cars as well, attacking sheep and shivers as well, the families in the houses, threatening people if they don't flee, they would die there. So 250 people who have been living in that village called Zanota. the fleet for their life from Miron and the Sucklers with him in that illegal outpost. Now, Baso, he has been released, but the body of Oda has not been, which means you can't have a funeral. Can you talk about the significance of this? Where is the Israeli military keeping his body? We don't know where they keep his body, for sure, in somewhere, somewhere, in some hospital, they're refusing to release his body unless the family would bury him outside

of his village, just with a participation of 15 people and he would be buried during the night, which is a family rejected at all. They're saying Alda was not a criminal, he was an activist, he was killed in a crime, and he deserved a funeral where all of us, all of his friends, all of his family would attend and would be a grief in a grave that's in his village and close to the family as they are asking. So his wife, mother, and other 60 women from his community are now since Thursday in a hunger strike, protesting the Israeli authorities holding Aouda's body. And not just that. Yesterday, as I said, Yanon, have been able to come back to the village

next to Aouda's brother's house to dig again for the expansion of the illegal settlements. They brought him there in a provocate, and to provoke the families. I mean, he just killed their son one week ago, and now we're able to come and work again with a bulldozer next to their houses, while the body of their, of Aouda, their son, is not released. And Baso, could you talk about the general situation in the West Bank, as Israel continues its genocidal war in Gaza? the situation with the increasing settler attacks on the West Bank, in the occupied West Bank, where do you see this going? Well, the story of how does not isolated.

As you know, nine Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year in settlers' attacks killed by Israeli settlers. This is not random attacks happening here and there. There are daily attacks and harassment and expansion with legal settlers. and outposts on our land and attacking Palestinian communities. This is a policy, this is a state policy like Israel, other policies of destroying our homes, our infrastructure, like the policy of closing, the West Bank closing cities and towns. So everything is escalating here under the shadow of the genocide that's happening in Gaza.

is using the policy of settlers' violence, as I said, the policy of expansion of the Israeli settlements, the destruction of our own communities, like the village of Khaltadabian and May it have been totally destroyed by Israeli bulldozers. And they continue with this to annex our land, basically. They want as much as they can of our land, and they want to ethnic cleansing us as much as they can. Bazeladra, I want to thank you for being with us, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, dear friend of Oda Hadaline, whose body is being kept by the Israeli military, and Ty Kavanaugh, former U.S. Navy medic international volunteer working with Palestinian public health groups and the occupied West Bank. I'm going to turn right now to here in New York. There have been mass protests about what's going on in Gaza and the West Bank. Prime Minister Netanyahu says he's going to occupy the entire Gaza Strip,

escalate the war there. In Sydney, Australia, hundreds of thousands of people marched. On Friday, hundreds took over the office lobby of New York Senators, Gillibrand, and Schumer, who voted against Senator Bernie Sanders' move to start. stop arming Israel. Last night, at Columbus Circle, outside Trump International Hotel, hundreds also protested in a protest led by the Jewish-American group, if not now, and other Jewish leaders. I'm Amy Goodman from Democracy Now, standing in front of Trump International Hotel at Columbus

Circle right on Central Park. Scores of people have been arrested, including rabbis. Here in front of the hotel, people are holding banners that say stop ethnic cleansing. Jews say no more. They're holding banners. There are many signs on the ground. Stop starvation. Stop ethnic cleansing. Never again is now. I'm Mautazazazai, a genocide survivor from Gaza, today I'm 26 years old, and I'm Witnessing Jewish brothers are protesting against the genocide, against the Israeli occupation, to end the genocide in my home in Gaza, to free Palestine from the occupation. It means a lot to me.

Around 16 months, after 16 months, people still protesting, people still calling for free Palestine to stop the genocide. It means a lot. It means a lot to me as a Palestinian from Gaza. I lost my family, lost my friends. And these people are loyal, loyal to us, loyal to our souls. here, these kinds of arrests in front of Trump Tower? They know, they watch this under it. Today, I'm going to share it with the people of Gaza.

But unfortunately, if you are starving, your kids are hungry, they didn't go to school for two years. It's not going to make you happy, you know? We need something on the guard in Gaza. And this hopefully will lead to something to happen in Gaza. My name is Rabbi Ari Lev Furnari, and I'm a rabbi for Cis fighter who believes they should end the starvation in Gaza. It's worth taking every risk we can to save every life bottle.

There are 2 million people in Gaza starving every single day. We just read on Tisha Ba'av that if there is a hungry child, you need to feed them bread. Why in front of Trump Tower? Trump is responsible for funding and fueling this horrible genocide in Gaza and enabling Netanyahu and his genocidal practices. The only way that Palestinians and Israelis can be safe, including the hostages who are held in Gaza, is if the people of Palestine are free.

We just saw that Evir Tardavid, one of the remaining living Israeli hostages, is starving. He's starving because everyone in Gaza is starving. Food aid to Gaza will save the remaining hostages, and it will save the children and the people of Gaza who deserve to live. We're here to say let Gaza live,

to risk everything, to say never again, let Gaza live. Every day, like with the phone, I have two phones. The two phones, don't stop, messaging. People are starving. People need food. People need money. They don't have cash. They have nothing. They can't leave and they don't want them to stay. They can't use the sea. They can't swim, even. So it's terrifying what is happening there and what's still happening. And today, Netanyahu ushered a decision that he's going to occupy all of God's threat. I'm worried about my grandma, my rest of my family, my house, my friends.

That was Motaz Azza, the world-renowned Gazan photographer. who just recently left Gaza, as so many of his family and friends have been killed. And the Philadelphia rabbi, Ari Lev Fortari, that does it for that segment. Special thanks to Jay Corgan, Ellie Kahn, and Kevin Rubinovich. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez, as we turn to Amazon Labor Union leader, Chris Smalls, who was released from an Israeli prison and returned to the U.S. last week after at least five days in Israeli custody. He was one of 21 activists with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition who attempted to break Israel's blockade on Gaza by selling a civilian aid ship named the Handala with baby formula diapers, food, medicine on board.

The second time in less than two months, Israeli forces raided a civilian humanitarian aid. ship bound for Gaza, as Palestinians face starvation in what UN experts have called a, quote, worst-case scenario of famine, unquote. Chris Small's detention spurred international outrage, as he described, being beaten by Israeli soldiers. He says they choked and kicked him, leaving visible marks on his neck and back. He's the only black activist aboard the Handala. He's joining us now from New Jersey. We welcome you, Chris, back to the United States, and on to democracy now. Can you explain what happened? Your Iowa and this account of when the Israeli Special Forces came on board your ship,

and then what happened to you? Yes, thank you for having me. And what happened was before they board this ship, you know, they cut communications first. That's the first thing they do. We were able to live stream up into the point of interception. And what they do is they don't want the world to see, so they definitely come during the sunset after the sunset. They come in the middle of the night, just like they did with the Madeline.

They cut communications first, then they board the ship, they announce themselves, and then they want to pretty much commandeer the ship, make sure they have full control, so they ordered all of us to stay on deck with our hands up.

We weren't able to move. And as they take over the ship, they pretty much kidnap us and take us against our will to the port of Ashad in Israel. That wasn't our intention. Our intention was to go to Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid. So for about 12 hours, we had to sail with the IOWF to make sure that we transferred to the port of authorities and the immigration department. And, Chris, you're known largely for your pioneering work as a labor organizer in winning the unionization drive at an Amazon plan. What made you decide to participate in the Freedom for TILA?

Well, first of all, U.S. labor unions in America have been very complicit, if not participate in its genocide. For the last 21 months, U.S. labor unions have been shipping arms to Israel every 15 hours. I've publicly called them out. The longshoremen has blood on their hands, and the AFLCIO has blood on their hands as well. They have passed zero resolutions since October 7, and half a million Palestinians are dead because of this. And as a U.S. labor leader and a U.S. taxpaying citizen, the Palestinian movement enlisted liberation and resistance always included trade unions since the first NACPA.

So from my journeys around the world and meeting with different trade unions, especially in the Middle East, I met plenty of Palestinian trade union presidents throughout the journey. And I understand that this is not outside the scope of labor. This is a working class issue. And as a labor leader, it is our responsibility to be the shield of the working class. An injury to one is an injury to all. and that doesn't exclude Palestinians. Chris, we only have a minute.

What happened to you in Israeli custody? And do you feel you were singled out? Well, absolutely. I mean, there's no doubt about it had everything to do with racism and bigotry. I can tell you right now, from my own experience, that Palestinians and people of color are not safe amongst the Israeli government. They single-handedly attack me out of the 21 volunteers because of the color of my skin. I didn't want to consent to their propaganda, so seven authorities threw me to the ground.

They put their knees in my back. They twisted my arms behind my back. They levitated me with three on each side, and one of them were pulling my hair back and choking me by the chains, telling me to shut up repeatedly. And they said some very racist remarks. They kept me isolated from the rest of the crew the entire time. And I know, once again, it was discrimination, and I wasn't treated like any of the other passages. Did you get food, water? Also, we had wanted to have you in studio, but you said you couldn't because you contracted scabies.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person, but we were on a hunger strike. So we absolutely did not eat any food. We remained in hunger strike from the moment of captivity up until our release. So we were on 24-hour lockdown. We were punished because we were on a hunger strike. We wasn't playing into the propaganda of what they tried to do with the Madeline with Greta with the sandwiches and water. We refused everything that was given to us.

The prison conditions were horrible, and because of that, yes, I could track the scabies. And, you know, a number of us had to suffer some, had to get medical treatment after being released because I wasn't the only one, our only thing that happened while we were in these inhumane conditions. Chris Moles want to thank you for being with us, founder of Amazon's first U.S. labor union, participated in the Gaza aid ship named the Handala, which was carrying baby formula, diapers, food, and medicine to try to break the Israeli siege on Gaza. When we come back, showdown in Texas, more than 50 Democratic state lawmakers have fled Texas in order to block a vote on a newly drawn Texas map that could add five Republican

congressional seats. Stay with us. behind his drunken amp stand behind his light of love hear him yowl his bloody tongue hear him yellow blood and war

do you believe in his sweet sensation do you believe in second chance. Do you believe in rapture, babe? Do you believe in Rapture by Thurston Moore

performing at Smith College in 2005? This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez. We go now to the redistricting showdown underway in Texas following a push by President Trump for

new voter maps that favor Republicans. More than 50 Democratic Texas legislators have left the state to block a vote on a newly drawn Texas congressional map introduced last week that would add as many as five Republican seats, including four that are in majority Hispanic districts. Republicans could try to force another vote today in a special session, which was supposed to address flood relief and disaster recovery. This comes as the Texas House voted Monday to track down and arrest the Democrats who fled. Democratic Congress member Greg Kassar joined protesters in a March Monday outside the Texas governor's mansion.

Governor Greg Abbott is a coward for saying that our law enforcement should go out and arrest our local elected officials. This is America. This is a place where you're not supposed to be sending law enforcement to go handcuff elected officials that you disagree with. Meanwhile, here in New York, Democratic Governor Kathy Hokel met with six of the Texas House Democrats and announced she's working with New York lawmakers to find ways to redraw New York's own congressional maps and response. For more, we're joined in Chicago by Cassandra Garcia-Anndez, Democratic Texas State Representative for House District 115,

which includes parts of Dallas and North Texas. She met Monday here in New York with Governor Hockel after she fled to block the passage of this new Texas congressional map, then joined her other colleagues who went to Illinois and say they planned to stay out of Texas for the remaining two weeks of this special session. Welcome to Democracy Now, state representative, Cassandra Garcia- Hernandez. Can you talk about why you left the state, the fact that they've now passed civil warrants for your arrest, which they can only administer if you're back in Texas? Yes, good morning and thank you so much for having me on here today. So they did issue those warrants yesterday, but I do want to make sure that we call out and point out the fact that yesterday, the only vote that was on the floor was a redistricting map.

And that comes on the one month anniversary of the floods that happened in which we lost many people in the floods and they're still reeling and needing financial help and assistance. So the fact that that happened to be the first vote that came to the floor, I think speaks multitudes of what Republican leadership is prioritizing in the state of Texas. And what about this call to have you, those of you who fled the state arrested? What's your reaction to that? You know, we were all advised as far as what the particular sanctions were for us leaving the state. We're well aware of the fines as well as they can also reduce our operating budget, and that impacts how we pay for our staff and run our offices, as well as issuing the warrants as well.

They've issued it in the past for past quorum breaks, but it was something that all of us were willing to sacrifice for the fact that this is an incredibly important moment that none of us could miss. And so we wanted to make sure that we met this moment and got out of there when we needed to do what we need to. Because as everybody knows, quorum breaking is a legal tool that us as legislators in Texas have available to ourselves. Now, even before this Republican move, the Texas maps had already been gerrymandered. to quite an extent by Republicans, because you talk about that and also the claim of the Republican leadership that they did this, these new maps, with no attention to race, yet according to political, about four of the districts that they are seeking to create would be majority Latino districts, but leaning toward GOP. Talk about that as well. This

Republican strategy of betting on the Latino community becoming increasingly conservative? Sure. First and foremost, to answer that first question that you had, so there is current pending litigation on the 2011 maps, or the most recent maps that were drawn, the 2021. And so those have been pending in litigation in El Paso for quite some time. The arguments that they made for those particular maps is that. those were not drawn based off race. The letter that Governor Abbott received from Trump, from Trump's administration essentially said that because of these particular four districts that were listed in that letter

were essentially community, you know, race districts that they needed to be redrawn. And you did mention as far as them being majority. Latino districts, but these are some of these, in particular, three of these seats or seats held by black members, three of them, three of the districts from the letter are from the Houston area, and one of them was from the Dallas area 33. But now that we've actually seen the maps, we see that multiple districts are actually impacted, that are more, it's a more broad list of district. districts that are impacted than the letter that Donald Trump had sent to Governor Abbott.

As far as the districts themselves, you know, I've had the opportunity. I lived in the Houston area, so I'm familiar with the Congress people who are being impacted in there, as well as the two districts being impacted in the Dallas area, actually overlap with my House district. As a matter of fact, one of them 32 is my congressional district, my Congresswoman, who I even myself, was drawn out of her district. And so, you know, as far as all of those districts, all of these districts essentially are minority and majority districts. Clearly, these are areas that have been targeted and those voices that are within those districts are being silenced. And so that's why so many of us have left the state is because we want to make sure

that all of our voices. Texas is an incredibly diverse state. We need to make sure that every community has the opportunity to be heard, that they are not silence. And we know that this is not just a Texas issue. Texas is essentially just going to be the guinea pig. Once Trump is able to get what he needs out of Texas, he's essentially just going to do it in other states. And we cannot allow that. So that's why we're using this very important tool right now is because we're also taking the opportunity to get out to other folks and educate people about what's happening in Texas, what's happening on a national level, but more importantly, what we need to do in working with each other, other states to essentially combat fire with fire. If Texas is ultimately able to pass and give Donald

Trump what he wants, we need to make sure that he does not grip that power and essentially take the power away from the people. I know you were referring to Congress member, Democratic Congress member Jasmine Crockett, also of the Dallas area like you, who revealed she would no longer live in her own district. We're going to play a clip. I currently don't live in the CD 30 that they created. I don't. That's not where I live. Now, they asked us where we live because they are supposed to take that into consideration. And these are some of the things that the court will look at when they're trying to determine whether or not there were problems with creating the maps as incumbents and where they live and they move me out of my district.

Yeah, they completely changed the makeup of Texas 30. It's really awful. So we'll have to have some conversations about what that looks like. So that's Democratic Congressmember Jasmine Crockett. She has been redistricted out of her district. She doesn't live in the new district that she would represent. If you could go on State Representative Cassandra Garcia-R-Nandez to talk about Republicans betting big on Latino voters, building on recent gains with the Latino community. Sure. I'm absolutely happy to answer that question.

As far as our community in Texas, we essentially make up the majority where the biggest demographic in the state of Texas the Latino community is. But we also have a substantial amount of the Latino community that doesn't vote. And the ones that do vote, very often a lot of the issues that they are hyper-focused are things like the meat and potato, the pocketbook type issues. Because of this last election, we saw some concerning trends amongst the Latino community as far as, you know, who they were voting for and how they voted from the top of the ticket all the way down to the bottom ticket. But I will tell you this, the concept and the idea and the message that the Latino community is overwhelmingly supporting and getting behind Republicans is not true. What is important is that people recognize the Latino community as a whole cannot be considered as one voting group. There are different cultural differences depending on what particular different country you come to come from. It also can vary based off age and whether you're a first, second or third generation.

There are so many different factors that play into an individual as a Latino deciding where there's, as far as politics. And so obviously it's very important for just, you know, for politics in general, for political parties, to invest in the Latino community. But I will tell you, the Latino community is just like any other community. They're filling the effects of Donald Trump's policies right now. They're not able to make ends meet right now. So, you know, I believe that ultimately, a lot of these policies and a lot of what Republicans are relying on and thinking that the Latino community is going to overwhelmingly show up for them this next time around, I think that they're seriously not really considering the factors and the policies that are

impacting in particular my community right now, but quite frankly, working Texas families all over our state. And Representative Garcia, on Monday morning, you met with New York Governor Kathy Hockel, she says her state may try to add Democratic House seats, even though legally the state is supposed to do, have a nonpartisan redistricting. What are you urging the blue states such as New York, Illinois, and California to do if Texas moves forward with this unprecedented redistricting? Sure. You know, just to be frank, all of us who are part of the House Democratic Caucus in Texas, the trips that we are currently having right now with elected officials all over the United States, we're not necessarily telling them to do anything.

We're just advising them of what's going on in Texas and having discussions with them about what we are seeing in our state, the sham process of the redistricting committee that turned out the maps, what we have seen from our Republican leadership. and how they are bowing down to Donald Trump and just giving them a history of what's going on in Texas because this is very unprecedented to see the redistricting happening

as it is right now. It should not be happening right now. And so that just goes to show and confirms why the quorum break, in fact, happened because we are in unprecedented times. We just have five seconds. Are you last, literally the last decision that we needed to make in order to make sure that we protect our democracy? We only have five seconds. Are you planning not to go back to Texas for two weeks, the rest of the term?

We are taking it day by day, hour by hour. We're just going to make sure that whatever we do, we do at United, and we prioritize not only Texans in our districts and our constituents, but also the American people. We have to leave it there, Democratic Texas, State Representative Cassandra Garcia, speaking to us from. Chicago. I'm Mimi Goodman with Juan Gonzalez.