Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2025-08-18 Monday

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

Democracy Now! Monday, August 18, 2025

From New York, this is Democracy Now. I believe we had a very productive meeting. There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there, but we've paid some headway. So there's no deal until there's a deal. Ahead of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, President Trump vowed Putin would face very severe consequences if he did not agree to stop the war in Ukraine.

But after the meeting, Trump dropped his demand for a ceasefire. Today, he meets with Ukrainian President Zelensky and European leaders at the White House. We'll speak with Russia, expert, nation publisher Katrina Vandenhovel. Then massive protests in Israel. Over a million Israelis call for an end to the war in Gaza, ahead of Netanyahu's promised takeover of Gaza City. We'll go to Ornzev of 972 magazine in Tel Aviv. Finally, President Trump's called for a far-reaching review of Smithsonian Museum exhibitions in order to ensure they align with his administration,

administration's views on history. We'll speak with the president of the Organization of American Historians, Harvard Professor Annette Gordon-Reed. It's unprecedented. It goes against the reason the Smithsonian was creating as an independent entity that was supposed to follow the truth wherever it led and do history the way historians do it. This is an unprecedented interference with their autonomy. All that and more. Coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report.

I'm Mimi Goodman. President Trump's meeting today at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Finland, and Italy, as well as NATO chief Margarita and the European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen. This comes three days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, but failed to secure a peace agreement.

Ahead of the Alaska summit, Trump had vowed Russia would face very severe consequences if Putin did not agree to stop the war, but Trump then dropped his call for a ceasefire. Putin's insisting on Ukraine giving up the eastern Domba, says a condition for ending the war. Putin spoke Friday. But at the same time, we are convinced that we are. convinced that for the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, all the root causes of the crisis, which have been discussed repeatedly, must be eliminated. All of Russia's legitimate concerns must be taken into account, and a fair balance in the security sphere in Europe and

the world as a whole must be restored. I agree with President Trump. He spoke about this today. That, of course, Ukraine's security must also be ensured. Putin and Trump did not take any questions after giving brief remarks. On Sunday night, Trump posted a message online saying, quote, Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately if he wants to, or he can continue to fight, unquote. Trump said Zelensky must give up on joining NATO or reclaiming Crimea, which Russia next in 2014.

Trump officials have floated the idea of the U.S. offering Ukraine some sort of security guarantee. Meanwhile, Zelensky's accused Putin of trying to humiliate diplomatic efforts by launching attacks over the past day that killed at least 10 people, including three children in Kharkiv and Zaporica. The U.S. State Department's halted all visitor visas from Gaza, including for children who need urgent medicine. care. The move was announced Saturday, one day after far-right activist Laura Lumer posted a video complaining that injured Palestinian children are coming to the United States for care. The U.S.-based Palestine Children's Relief Fund decried what it called a, quote, dangerous and inhumane decision, unquote. The group said, quote, medical evacuations are a lifeline

for the children of Gaza, who would otherwise face an imaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza, unquote. In more news from Gaza, Amnesty International's accused Israel of carrying out a, quote, deliberate campaign of starvation. That's, quote, systematically destroying the health, well-being, and social fabric of Palestinian life, unquote. At least 263 Palestinians have now starved to death amidst the Israeli blockade. Meanwhile, Israel's intensifying its attacks on Gaza's city as it moves to forcibly evict the city's entire population.

On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike hit an Ahli hospital in Gaza City, killing at least seven people. Hamas has accused Israel of engaging in a new wave of genocide and displacement over its plans to relocate all residents of Gaza City. This is a Palestinian medical student in Gaza City who sent this voice memo to a colleague in the U.S. I just wanted to die right now. I think it's the only way I will find relief. I'd want to be displaced again, even. I'm so tired.

I'm so tired. I wish I could see you soon. Even just for a moment. and hug you before I die. Israel's Channel 12 has aired leaked recordings of Israel's former military intelligence chief saying 50 Palestinians must die for every victim of October 7th. In the recording, Aharon Haliva is heard saying, quote, it does not matter now if they are children. He said, quote, they need a Nakpa every now and then to feel my life.

the price, unquote. In Israel, over half a million protested in Tel Aviv Sunday to demand an end to the war in Gaza and for the Israeli government to reach a deal to free the hostages in Gaza. Over a million Israelis took part in protests across the country as the families of Israeli hostages called for a nationwide day of stoppage. This is Liché-Maran-Levi, the wife of Omri Maran, who is being held in Gaza. Last week, we decided to call to everyone in Israel, to all the citizens, to stop, take all the day and stop all the country in one saying, please release the hostages, bring them home and stop the war. We are really caring about our dear that over there, my own wings over there, 681 days.

I miss him. Our daughter, Throne and the Alma, really miss him. And I really, really scared and afraid about his life. I want him here, and I want all the hostages here. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the protesters, saying, quote, those who call to end the war, delay the hostages release, and guarantee that the horrors of October 7th will return, unquote. will have more on the protests later in the broadcast.

The Trump administration's expanding its takeover of Washington, D.C., with the Republican governors of West Virginia, Ohio, and South Carolina agreeing to send at least 700 additional National Guard troops to D.C. In a major shift in policy, NPR reports national guard troops in the nation's capital may soon be carrying weapons. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's backed down from its plan to install the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as D.C.'s emergency police chief after D.C. sued U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. This comes as video has gone viral of six masked federal officers detaining and tackling a food delivery driver after he left a coffee shop in Northwest Washington Saturday morning. The officers violently tackled the man.

Christian Enrique Carrillas Torres, Venezuela to the ground, and appeared to use a stun gun on him. He was then taken away, and an unmarked car's bystander screamed at the officers. On Saturday, thousands of protesters marched the White House to condemn Trump's takeover of Washington, D.C. Truths on the corner, feds on the block. Truths on the corner. The Bush's takeover must be stopped. The Bush's takeover must be stopped. New York immigration advocates are demanding the release of a seven-year-old elementary school student

who is taken into custody, along with her 19-year-old brother and their mother at a routine check-in with ice at 26 federal plaza in Manhattan last week. This is the first known ICE arrest of a New York City check-in. child under the age of 18 during Trump's second term. The city reports the girl and her mother were transferred to a newly reopened family detention camp in Dilley, Texas, while the teen was sent to the troubled Delaney Hall Ice Jail in Newark, New Jersey. The family is from Ecuador and lives in Queens. This comes as some Democratic lawmakers are calling for New York Governor Kathy Hockel to

shut the power off at 26 Federal Plaza to stop what they call ICE's occupation of the building. CNN is reporting the U.S. military is deploying more than 4,000 Marines and sailors to the Southern Caribbean, along with nuclear-powered attack submarines, spy aircraft, several destroyers, and a guided missile cruiser. The move comes after President Trump signed a secret directive authorizing the use of military force to carry out operations in Latin America under the guise of targeting drug cartels. The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed President Trump's new budget law will trigger over half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts in coming years.

Democratic Representative Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania said, quote, Republicans knew their tax breaks for billionaires would force over half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts, and they did it anyway, he said. The Republican law also includes $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts. In northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir, at least 337 people have died and climate change-induced flash floods. Dozens of people remain missing as landslides partially buried at least 10 villages. In Bolivia, two right-wing candidates are headed for a presidential runoff in October. The results of Sunday's election end more than a generation of rule by the Socialist Mass Party, which stands for movement for socialism. The Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz, the son of a former Bolivian president, placed first in Sunday's vote and will face off against the former right-wing president, Jorge Tutu Kiroga, who finished second.

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who was barred from running, urged his supporters to deface their ballots and protest. In the end, 19 percent of the ballots were deemed to be invalid. The official candidate from the Moss Party won just over 3 percent of the vote, barely enough for the party to keep its legal standing as a national party. El Salvador's government will continue to detain more than 80,000 people accused, of being gang members and swept up under President Naïbu Kelly's state of emergency. Salvador and lawmakers voted Friday to extend their imprisonment for at least two more years without trial, even as prosecutors have not yet presented any evidence linking tens of thousands of people to gangs. Protests broke out in the capital San Salvador with the families

of detainees calling for their relatives release and an end to Bucheli's state of emergency. This is a Salvadoran mother whose son is being detained. My son has been there for four years. On May 10th, he completed three years, and now he's entering his fourth. Now I hear the news. They're saying there's a two-year extension for him. How many more years do they have to hold him? Why do they give me this and not release him? And the longtime Florida radio and TV host Rob Lurie has died at the age of 70. He was among the founding members of WMNF Community Radio in Tampa, where he worked for over 35 years. Rob Lurie appeared on Democracy Now a number of times, including in 2009, when we broadcast Democracy Now from Tampa.

So, you know, frankly, I wonder about the model of public broadcasting, whether or not, you know, relying on those local donations, relying on CPB funding for a small fraction of the funding, whether or not that's a good model. I often look over at England and look at those licenses that people pay for radio and television and think, wouldn't that be a better way to fund broadcasting? We wouldn't have to go hat in hand to Congress every year and ask for a small appropriation. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman. President Trump is meeting today at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of at least five European nations, including Britain and France and Finland and Italy and Germany.

This comes three days after Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Alaska failed to secure a peace agreement. Ahead of the Alaska summit, Trump had vowed Russia would face very severe consequences if Putin did not agree to stop the war. But Trump then dropped his demand for a ceasefire. Putin's insisting on Ukraine giving up the eastern Donbass region as a condition for ending the war. Putin spoke alongside Trump on Friday.

But at the same time, we are convinced that for the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long term, all the root causes of the crisis, which have been discussed repeatedly, must be eliminated. All of Russia's legitimate concerns must be taken into account, and a fair balance in the security sphere in Europe and the world as a whole must be restored. I agree with President Trump. He spoke about this today. That, of course, Ukraine's security must also be ensured.

On Sunday night, Trump posted a message online saying, quote, Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately if he wants to or he can continue to fight, unquote. Trump said Zelensky must give up on joining NATO or reclaiming Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Trump officials have floated the idea of the U.S. offering Ukraine some sort of security. security guarantee. Meanwhile, Zelensky's accused Putin of trying to humiliate diplomatic efforts by continuing to attack Ukraine. Russian attacks have killed at least 10 people, including three children over the past day in Kharkiv and Zaporica. For more, we're joined by Russia expert Katrina Van Denhovel, editor and publisher of the nation magazine. Katrina, welcome back to Democracy Now. Can you first assess for us what happened on Friday and then talk about this.

Well, it's amazing how large this meeting is going to be at the White House with the European leaders as well as Ukrainian President Zelensky and the heads of NATO and the European Commission. There's sort of proxy wars on battlefields and in different capitals. Listen, I think the Trump administration has made so many grave domestic. and foreign policy steps that it would take an entire show of many moons. But on the Ukrainian process, now moving from a ceasefire to a peace process, I think this, what we're witnessing is a kind of a jaw, jaw, jaw, talk, talk, and trying to find not just a ceasefire,

but as several have said, root cause of this conflict, there's a difference between a ceasefire in a peace process. I do think there is, it's a remarkable, will be a remarkable scene, Amy, when we see the European leaders flanking Zelensky. There is room for dialogue. I think it's important that Putin, who launched this war of aggression, did speak of the need to providing security guarantees. Those will not be Russian security guarantees, but international security guarantees for Ukraine. I think this process is moving and no summit, not even a well-prepared one, which the one in Alaska certainly was not, can resolve everything. I think this is important that the steps are moved, that we're seeing steps forward and that there's an investment in

diplomacy, not just in weapons, because the disinvestment in diplomacy and the investment in weapons has led to so many being killed, Amy, that it's time to end this war. This is Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking Friday. But at the same time, we are convinced that for the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long term, all the root causes of the crisis, which have been discussed repeatedly, must be eliminated. All of Russia's legitimate concerns must be taken into account, and a fair balance in the security sphere in Europe and the world as a whole must be restored. I agree with President Trump. He spoke about this today. That, of course, Ukraine's security

must also be ensured. Of course, we are ready to work on this. I would like to hope that the understanding we have reached will allow us to get closer to this goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine. We hope that Kiev and the European capitalists will perceive all of this in a constructive manner and will not create any obstacles or attempt to disrupt the emerging progress through provocations or behind the scenes intrigues. So that's Russian President Vladimir Putin. It's interesting that he says, of course, Ukraine has to have security guarantees. Now, what exactly does this mean?

Is he actually talking about if the U.S. makes those security guarantees, U.S. troops could be on the ground in Ukraine? So that, I think, is the break point. That's the Rubikon, Amy. I mean, what I think, and Witkoff, the envoy, the special envoy to Moscow, said on a Sunday show the other day about you might see U.S. troops on the ground. I don't think that's, you're going to see that. What you're, what he's calling on Putin is Europe to take more of the burden of this. But let me just step back for a moment. This is a regional security humanitarian crisis. Ukraine is not a core U.S. interest. President Obama said that. It is an important, important to resolve this crisis.

69% of Ukrainians seek a peace negotiation. The United States, not to link treasure of real lives and money, but has put in 175 billion into Ukraine, security weapons, et cetera, since 2022. And I think the New York Times did a brilliant article, which got little attention a few months ago called a partnership. This has become a proxy war. The Ukraine war is not the United States War. Europe has decided, however, that it is going to rearmament of Europe is now a generational struggle for identity in Europe. Putin, I think, and especially Trump, see Europe playing more of a role in the security discussion. Maybe UN peacekeepers, but it's not going to be U.S. troops, and it's going to be some form, but it is important that that is where the discussion now centers to some extent

because it repriezes the former diplomatic negotiations of Minsk 1, Minsk 2, which have been aborted, sabotaged, undermined by both the Russians and the United States. But it is ironic to see Marco Rubio arguing against sanctions, more sanctions on Russia, considering his role in Cuba, etc., but it's at a point where you, you have different elements. There are those inside the Trump administration, I'll stop, who would like to end the Ukraine war to pivot to China. But there are those who see the idea of U.S. troops on the ground is veretical. And Europe is trying to find its identity in the belief, a narrative belief that I think has deformed U.S. Russian foreign policy and European,

that Russia is an inherently expansionist power. I know that's heretical. But I don't think Russia wants to pay pensions in the Baltics. Russia has been exposed to a large extent as a weak power. Trump, Putin thought he could take Ukraine in three days. The army has been revealed in Russia and in Ukraine as being not as strong. So I think we're on a track that is going to find an end and hopefully in addressing root causes.

I want to go to French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking Sunday, ahead of Ukrainian Zelensky's meeting with President Trump and Macron and the other European leaders today at the White House. We must enter a new diplomatic phase, one in which we assume responsibility for having and defending the interests of Europeans. We're going there tomorrow, not just to accompany Ukrainian President Lelensky, but to defend the interests of Europeans. Europe doesn't want to be at the table for major discussions as a topic of discussion.

Europe must be at the table to discuss itself and its future. That's what I would like. So that's the French president, Manuel Macron. He and Germany's leader, Friedrich Meertz, as well as George Maloney of Italy, Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Union, Alexander Stubb of Finland, Mark Lutte, the head of NATO, and Kier-Stormer, the British Prime Minister, will all be there. What are each of their interests?

or are they all the same, Katrina? It's interesting that Ruta, who is the head of NATO, an institution that is not known just for coffee clutches. It's been expanding in the last years. It's a haven for military companies. But it's also perceived as, you know, keeping Germany down, Russia, out, America in. That was the mantra after World War II. NATO has been at the root cause of much conflict between the United States.

and Russia. But again, Europe now sees in Russia, Putin's Russia. They see hooves and, you know, hooves and horns, but they also see inherently expansionist Russia, which they are now defending against. As I said, having traveled in Europe and March to UK, France, and Germany, what you saw was a resurgent right against a kind of atomized center and a left that is finding its way, but that there is a sense of a generational commitment to re-arming Europe to take on Russia. And you think of what is at the forefront of our security crises. You have a weakened Russia, already weakened not as much as many would like, but you have security crises and you have pandemics and you have at the root of so much

there should be more attention to the danger of escalation, nuclear escalation. And by the way, in the Western Hemisphere now, Ukraine has absorbed so much energy that there's been very little attention paid to the full dismantling of the infrastructure of arms control. In February 2026, the last remaining arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, start two, is either signed or it expires. John Bolton, who has pranced around the TV shows, denouncing Trump, should remember that he, under George W., abolished the centerpiece of the arms control movement, the ABM. So there's a lot of work to be done in rebuilding, and certainly I'll stop rebuilding Ukraine. The damage, the ravage, that Russia should participate

in rebuilding costs, but you have 40% AWOL statistics now from the Ukrainian military, and Russia appears at some point to have been losing 1,500 men a day. This is untenable. I think the battlefield facts are driving to some extent this pressure to find a ceasefire into a peace resolution. I want to end with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy responding to the Putin-Trump summit while he was in Brussels, Belgium, during a joint news conference with the European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen. First of all, I don't know what Putin and President Trump actually talked about.

and I want President Trump to tell me a lot of details, and then to European leaders. And the fact that President Trump gave a signal about security guarantees is much more important to me than Putin's thoughts, because Putin will not give any security guarantees. Security guarantees are a strong army. Only Ukraine can provide that. So Katrina Van de novo, your final comments right now, as we move into today, this mass meeting at the White House and where you see this ultimately all going. Do you see a trilateral summit with Zelensky, Putin, and Trump? I'm not sure. I'm not sure that's the best way. I think it's important that

Zelensky's meeting with European leaders behind him with Trump. At the same time, there seems to be a kind of, the way this relationship in the summit has been understood is a victory for Putin. wrong-headed. It's a victory for moving away from ravage of war. But I do think that we're going to see process moving. And I hope that those in the prisons of both Ukraine and Russia, my colleague Boris Kagalitsky, many years, has been in prison in Russia for now two or three years. That people are released, that there's a normalcy that returns as countries are being rebuilt. But Europe needs to rethink what security for Europe means. Does it mean this century-old return to warfare in Europe?

When you witness Ukraine as little as we do, notice that it's kind of a World War I fighting in the trenches inch by inch with 21st century weapons. And I return, let us put down those weapons and talk, talk, talk, and find a real true security guarantee. not provided by Russia, by any measure. But there's talk of armed neutrality, UN peacekeepers, and not as Whitkoff, Special Envoy to Moscow, said crazily, U.S. troops.

That is the line against which all will stop. Katrina Van Denhovel, editor and publisher of the nation magazine, expert on Russia. Thanks so much for being with us. Up next, we go to Tel Aviv. Organizers say more than a million Israelis join demonstrations across Israel calling for an end to the war in Gaza. We'll speak with 972 reporter, R&ZEVE. Stay with us. Let's go back to sleep, Rahaf. We're so tired.

See the bunny sleeping till it's near the moon. Shall we wake them with a merry tune? They're so still, are they ill? Wake up soon. Let's pretend to sleep. Wake up little bunnies. Skip little bunny, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, and stop. Let's hop again.

Ms. Rachel, dancing with Rahaf, a three-year-old. double amputee from Gaza, who lost her legs in an Israeli airstrike and came to the U.S. for medical care. On Saturday, the U.S. State Department halted all visitor visas from Gaza, including for children like Rahaf. The move was announced one day after far-right activist Laura Lumer posted a video complaining that injured Palestinian children are coming to the U.S. for care. The U.S.-based Palestine Children's Relief Fund decried what it called.

a, quote, dangerous and inhumane decision, unquote. You can go to Democracy Now.org to see our interview with Ms. Rachel. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman. We turn now to Israel. We're over 500,000 people protested in Tel Aviv Sunday to demand an end to the war in Gaza and for the Israeli government to reach a deal to free the hostages in Gaza. Over a million people took part in protests across Israel as the families of Israeli hostages

called for a nationwide day of stoppage. This is Lyshe Moran Levy, the wife of Omri Moran, who's being held in Gaza. Last week, we decided to call to everyone in Israel, to all the citizens, to stop take all the day and stop all the country in one saying. Please release the hostages, bring them home and stop the war. We are very caring about our dear that over there, my own wings over there, 681 days. I miss him. Our daughter, Ronnie and Alma, really miss him.

And I really, really scared and afraid about his life. I want him here and I want all the hostages here. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the protesters saying, quote, those who call to end the war delay the hostages release and guarantee the horrors of October 7th will return, unquote. For more, we go to Arn's Eve, reporter and photographer for 972 magazine and the independent Israeli news site local call. Arn, welcome back to Democracy Now. You are covering the protests.

Can you talk about the significance of the size of these protests and what exactly the Israelis were calling for. Thank you for having me. I think it's really interesting moment because over the past almost two years, we've seen a big protest, but not huge like that, and we've seen also moments during the war with Iran, with Lebanon, and other occasions that the numbers were really low.

People, you know, Netanyahu is doing what is doing the best and is dragging time and making people tired. And this is also true to the Israeli public that went in tens of thousands, the last year and a half or two years, but yesterday a big and a significant number of people went out and it's even more important with the incitement we've seen from Netanyahu and other ministers that were even more harsh than now saying the protesters are helping Hamas, making the price of a deal higher and so on. So in the fact of in the end of this day, during the day,

there were hundreds, if not thousands, small vigil, direct action, roadblocks. The country was shut down basically traffic-wise and in the evening we've saw one of the biggest vigils and the demonstration we've seen in recent years of almost half a million people in the streets in Tel Aviv and this is first and for all a message

from the Israeli public and what the polls show that the vast majority of the Israeli public is willing to end the war in order to release the hostages. Now it's important to say that this is from my internal Israeli perspective. It's not like the protests we see abroad. These are people who are calling to return the hostages

in any price and after two years many of them many in the Israel Republic blame Netanyahu he's trying to blame Hamas but many of the people or the most of the people who went out yesterday to the streets are blaming Netanyahu for not doing a deal

to survive politically this is a very common statement you hear from everyone on the streets and they're calling to end the war they've seen in the last two years that only political agreements and ceasefire agreements bring back hostages alive. We've seen over 40

hostages that died in captivity either from the armies attacked or from reaction of Hamas when they were trying to, when the army was coming nearby and people had enough. In the same time it's important to say that the

vast majority of the protesters yesterday, although the fact they called to end the war, they're not speaking directly on the suffering in Gaza, on the killings, on the children, on the starvation. You can hear it here and there, you can hear it from smaller groups that have been protesting from the beginning of the war against the genocide and then they're ongoing ethnic cleansing. But it's not on

the stage. It's not the main message yet. I wanted to get your response to how Israelis have responded to Israel's Channel 12 airing those leaked recordings of Israel's former military intelligence chief saying 50 Palestinians must die for every victim of October 7th, saying tens of thousands of Palestinians must die. In the recording, Aharon Haliva is heard saying, quote, it does not matter now if they're children. He said, quote, they need a knock-but every now and then to feel the price, or in Zee. So to be honest, the vast majority of the discussion inside Israel was regarding the fact that this person that many Israelis sees the responsible for the catastrophe of October 7, for the failure of the Israeli intelligence to finding out that this will happen. So people thought this kind of leaked a recording.

Some people say that he might have leaked it out, are kind of serving him to clean him and to blame the problem is the general system. So in Israel, the vast majority of discussion was about that. Was it really leaked? Is it serving him? Why, you know, many people hostages, family members, hostages are saying he should be trialed and sit in prison? But this segment didn't catch a lot of attention in Israel, because unfortunately, this is very common. It's something we heard from day one, from politicians, from army people, in the public, in the right-wing demos, we hear it. We hear it everywhere.

So unfortunately, this didn't cause a lot of. noise in Israel, but definitely it shows you that such a high commander saying these things openly, you know, without being ashamed and without getting any attention in Israel, show you that this decision of revenge of genocidal war was done from day one. And Israel also to cover the failure of October 7 decided to go to our revenge, a horrific war as we're seeing now. And you can see that this decision is not just by soldiers on ground or right wing or extreme so-called settlers. This is all across the army, from the

high-ranked commanders and the politicians to the simple soldiers. And now when we see the horrific reality in Gaza, after almost two years, we can understand this was planned. The army felt they have to revenge to cover up the failure of October 7. I also wanted to ask you about the Israelis who were refusing to enlist in the Israeli military. You just posted a short video of 19-year-old Yono Rosman, who was sentenced to 30 days in military prison. Today I'm going to show up at the draft office and declare that I refuse to serve in an army that's committing genocide. And for that, I will probably be sent to military jail. That's Yona Roseman. How common is this, the refusenics?

So it's not very common, especially in mandatory service, 18-year-old student, high school students, are all the system, all their life, all the education system is pushing them to go to the army. That's the norm. In order to be like Yona and other brave young Israeli, you have to go against the stream and to educate yourself and to go to demonstration and meet people and not to watch the Israeli mainstream media who doesn't show you what's going on in Gaza and the West Bank. And so it's not very common, but we've seen some increase in the number. Already from the beginning of the war, more than 12 announced ones who went public.

youth who refuse and they pay a price it's not only 30 days in prison they have to go again and again to prison a few times but among reservists we've seen a reservist we've seen a growing movement of people refusing because of what's happening in Gaza also calling to release

the hostages and we've seen hundreds of people refuse with some of them the army chooses not to deal with prison but to release them quietly specifically about Yona and her group from Meservot refusing in Hebrew they are showing they want to show that not

everybody in Israel that there is a small group who resist the genocide and the horrific things the army does and as she told that that's her duty that's the only thing you can do when you see what the army is doing she told me in an interview before she went to prison that she decided even before October 7 and

before the war in Gaza to refuse but after the genocide started it was much easier for her to take this decision and we hear it from other refusenics as well And, you know, it's very hard when she appears on social media or on national media. They get a lot of incitement, hatred, inside the prison. And also when they go out, last month, they burned some of the enlistment orders in the streets in Tel Aviv.

And to do something like that in the general atmosphere in Israel that is very hostile to this action, is very, very brave. I finally wanted to ask you as you cover protests. Yes, the protests this weekend of a minute. million Israelis, but also about the protests outside the hotel where GHF staff were staying in Tel Aviv. That's the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the shadowy U.S.-backed Israeli company that is supposedly providing food aid, but when people come, they are often shot dead as they try to seek food, children, and adults alike.

What about that protest? So last week, a group of activists, radical left-known activists, located where the so-called GFF staff, including CEO and other senior members, are staying in Tel Aviv because, you know, they work in Gaza in coordination with the Israeli army and other companies, but they're staying in a very fancy hotel in the shore of Tel Aviv. And they wanted to come there to send a clear message that this is not accepted, that they're not well. welcome here and to stop this lie that is called the Gaza Humanitarian Fund. So they came there around 50 protesters to surprise. The police was not aware of it. They arrived there to the entrance of the hotel. We know from people inside, they heard them inside the hotel.

And they were protesting there for about an hour. The police was trying to push them away. Some tourists and people who passed by tried to confront them. And this happens, by the way, in every demo like this against the genocide, against the starvation in Tel Aviv and other cities that are often attacked by the Israeli Republic. The mainstream media doesn't show the images or the voices from Gaza like you do and many other media outlets. So when the Israeli public is met on the street with people who are trying just to show the fact to shed light on what's happening on the other side of the fence, people are many times surprised or even angry and try to attack the protesters.

and they're telling me this is only one of first actions they will do against the GHF operation here in the region. Oran Zeev, want to thank you for being with us, reporter and photographer for 972 magazine and the independent Israeli news site Local Call. When we come back, we go to Annette Gordon-Reed, president of the Organization of American Historians. President Trump has ordered a review of how U.S. history. is told in Smithsonian Museums, we'll also look at a curriculum that is being adopted by at least 10 states that's put out by Prager You, among the videos children are shown, is an animated Christopher Columbus talking about why, well, slavery was better than death. Back in a minute. Black waters

Black waters rise over the mountain She's a pretty bird She sings a sweet tongue In the rites of tall to bird She mess with her young. When the hillside explodes and the dynamites roar, the voice of the small bird is heard there no one. Black Waters, performed by Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman in our Democracy Now studio.

They joined us in March to talk about their recent appearance at the Kennedy Center, where they unfurled banners to protest President. Trump's takeover of the fame cultural institution. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman. We end today's show looking at plans by the White House for a far-reaching review of Smithsonian Museum exhibitions in order to ensure they align with President Trump's interpretation of U.S. history.

That's according to the Wall Street Journal, which obtained a letter from a White House official instructing that Smithsonian exhibits could be, quote, accurate, patriotic and lightning, ensuring they remain places of learning, wonder, and national pride for generations to come, unquote. In March, the president signed an executive order directing officials to eliminate, quote, improper device of her anti-American, unquote, ideology from its museums. This latest plan comes after the Smithsonian removed references to two Trump's, his two impeachments during his first term in office. Press for details. This is President Trump's speaking last week during the signing of an executive order.

We want the museums to talk about the history of our country in a fair manner, not in a woke manner or in a racist manner, which is what many of them, not all of them, but many of them are doing. Our museums have an obligation to represent what happened in our country over the years. Good and bad, but what happened over the years in an accurate way. The Smithsonian has said they have returned the references to Trump's impeachment. impeachment. For more, we're joined by Annette Gordon-Reed, a Harvard history professor and president of the Organization of American Historians. She is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book,

The Hemmings of Monticello, an American family. And her most recent book is titled on Juneteenth. Professor, welcome to Democracy Now. It's an honor to have you with us. Let's begin with the Smithsonian. And of course, also so significantly, what's happening to the Smithsonian Museum of African-American history and culture? Well, it's something of a, not a shock because we see other things that are happening at the same time. But the idea that the Smithsonian, which was created as an independent entity, should reflect any administration's vision of history and not the vision of the historians. and the researchers and the other people who devote their lives to studying these things is more than problematic, I would say. So it's not a shock because we can see what's happening in other arenas, but it is something that's a departure from what should be expected, what is right, actually.

Talk about the founding of this museum, what it took, and how interesting. I mean, years ago I did an interview with Lonnie Bunch, who was the founding head of the African-American Museum of the Smithsonian. who then was elevated to be had, as he is today, of all the Smithsonian museums, and what this means to President Trump. Well, I think there's an attempt to shape the narrative of history. We know history is political in many ways, and this is an opportunity he feels, the administration feels, to put his stamp on the way we tell the story of America. And I don't think that this is something that the American people want. we see survey after survey that indicates that people support the idea of a capacious and a truthful, unvarnished picture of American history, because that's the only way to figure out what happened

in the past. There's no way to learn if you don't know what actually happened. I want to go to an issue of curriculum in this country that also will affect the Smithsonian Museums. Starting this school year in Oklahoma, teachers must earn a teaching certificate to be able to teach in the public schools of Oklahoma this school year and what an Oklahoma school official says will keep away woke indoctrinators. The assessment was designed by Prager U, a conservative media company, the talk show host Dennis Prager's company, whose educational material. have been approved for use in public schools already in 10 states, including Arizona, Florida, Texas, New Hampshire, and Louisiana. One of their recent videos, which kids are shown, which has gone viral, features a cartoon of Christopher Columbus downplaying and justifying the practice of slavery. slavery is as old as time and has taken place in every corner of the world, even amongst the people I just left.

Being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no? Being taken as a slave as being better than being killed, no, as if also they're mutually exclusive. Annette Gordon-Reed, can you talk about what is being taught here that kids are being subjected to? And the larger thread, and if you feel it's a white supremacist take on history. Well, it's an attempt to play down or downplay what happened in the United States with slavery. Of course, slavery has existed, biblical, since biblical times. People know that. That's not something that has never been acknowledged.

But the question is, how did it play out in North America from American history? how did we do it? What, what affected it have on the people who were enslaved and what legacies are still there? This is a way of trying to prove that nothing bad happened to African American people, that there's no reason for any kind of redress, that there's no reason to pay any attention to the legacies of slavery. So this is, this is something that they've long wanted to achieve and because they are in political ascendancy at this moment, that they can do it. But this is a whitewashing of history. One of the guise of making white children feel better about themselves.

I mean, the thinking is that they feel guilty. And that has not been my experience in talking to young people about slavery, the institution of slavery. They know that they are not responsible, that they didn't enslave people. There's no reason for them personally, but it's reason for them to understand why things are the way they are and how we go. about creating a fair and multiracial society. I wanted to go back to your Pulitzer Prize winning book, Professor Gordon Reed, to the

Hemmingses of Monticello and American Family. And if you would talk about how Sally Hemings and the family has been talked about in the past, I remember going on a tour where she was not discussed as an enslaved person. and having to ask a question of the tour guide there. Why aren't you telling us more? Talk about this story as you feel it needs to be told. And do you believe that narrative is threatened today in places like Oklahoma right up to the whole Smithsonian array of museums?

Well, there's been a sea change in the attitude at Monticello about how you talk about Sally Hemings. There's actually a tour that's devoted. to the Hemings family. And her story is told there. And in a particular room that we thought she may have lived in for a time at Monticello. It's important because it shows you that this country has never been just a white country. It's a country that involves slavery, which was not just making people work without pay. It was a society where blood mingles. There are people enslaved their own family members. And that's something that I think people should know. And my experience

in talking to people about this is that Americans want to know history, want to know the accurate history. That story may be imperiled. I mean, there are always people who fight against it because they think it reflects poorly on Jefferson, that it makes him something other than a white person in a way to have had children with a woman who was African American, a part African American. But we always fight these battles. And it's just, it's a continuing struggle. And that's the nature of it. We have to defend what is true and follow history to follow the truth of wherever it leads us. Professor Gordon-Reed, I also wanted to ask you about these latest developments. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently announcing that a Confederate memorial

removed from Arlington National Cemetery would be put back. The 32-foot bronze statue was actually installed almost 50 years ago after the Civil War ended in 1914, as well as reinstalling a statue of Confederate General and alleged Ku Klux Klan member Albert Pike in D.C. that was torn down by Black Lives Matter protesters back in 2020. Can you talk about the significance of this? Well, the significance of it is that it's somewhat akin to why they were put up to begin with as a statement about white supremacy, I think, in promoting this notion. There's no reason to honor people who attack the United States of America, fought against the United States of America. This was a way of sending a signal to African American people in the community and the places where these things were put up all across the South that we were not really.

a part of America. And so, and I think it still has the same message today. And I also wanted to ask you, as a professor, who is just reading an article about Howard's students returning to campus, especially the first timers, you know, actually the freshmen who are coming to Washington, D.C., and being afraid to step foot outside their new dorms, because of the occupation of the city by National Guard troops. And what could happen to them if they take one false step or even if they don't do anything that they know is a problem.

Can you talk about the significance of what's taking place? Well, it's sad because this should be a time of excitement, looking forward to a future. and the notion that you feel threatened by being in the place that's supposed to be your new home for four years, you're beginning your journey in life is a terrible, it's a terrible thing. But I think in general, this is a part and parcel of all of this, is together. It's a movement to, I think, marginalized African-American people even more. I mean, Washington is a city with a large black population.

the optics of it suggests that this is a desire to sort of take control and to send the message that we aren't really a part of this society. And that's the great tragedy of it. Finally, Professor Gordon-Reed, I wanted to ask you about your new book on Juneteenth. It's part history, but also part memoir and meditation on your own growing up in Texas, the original home to Juneteenth. Tell us in the midst of this climate what it means to you. Well, it means it's sort of interesting because when it became a federal holiday, it looked like this was a chance for people on a yearly basis to talk about an occasion to talk about slavery and the legacies of slavery. And now that could be in jeopardy as well.

I mean, we've been celebrating this a holiday as a state holiday in Texas since 1980. this red state or this purple, you know, gerrymandered state has been celebrating Juneteenth since 1980. And the idea that we may pull back from that, or we have pulled back from that, is a little disheartening. But I think we will, you know, we will continue. I mean, people celebrated in 1875 in the end of reconstruction every year since the day itself. So I have continued that we will persevere. I'm assuming that we will, in fact, persevere and go ahead with it. But it's definitely under attack now in this whole measure, this whole effort to take things back, roll back the civil rights movement, and roll back advancements for African-American people.

Annette Gordon-Reed, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Harvard History, Professor. Thank you. And president of the Organization of American Historians. She's the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book, The Hemmings is of Monticello and American Family. And her most recent book is titled on Juneteenth. That does it for our broadcast. Democracy Now is produced with Mike Burke, Renee Feltz, Dina Guster, Messiah Rhodes, Nermynne Sheikh, Maria Teresana, Maria Teresana, Nicole Salazar, Sarah Nassar, Trina Nadara, Sam Alcoff, Tammary A-Studio, John Hamilton, Robbie Karen.

Mouss, and Safwat Nizal. Our executive director is Julie Crosby. Special thanks to Becca Staley, John Randolph, Paul Powell, Mike DeFilippo, Miguel Noggera, Hugh Grant, Carl Marksor, Dennis Moynihan, David Pruid. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.