Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2025-09-01 Monday

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

Democracy Now! Monday, September 1, 2025

From New York, this is Democracy Now. Wake up little bunnies. Skip little bunny, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. Skip, little bunny, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. Let's hop again. Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop. Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, and stop. That's Ms. Rachel, dancing with Raha, a three-year-old double amputee from Gaza,

who lost her legs in an Israeli airstrike. Ms. Rachel's videos are watched by millions of children around the world. She's been called the Mr. Rogers of our era, and she hasn't shied away from speaking out about injustice, most notably about Gaza and the plight of Palestinian children. It's never been wrong to say not to starve children and not to bomb children and not to kill 15,000 children. What's wrong is to be silent. We'll speak with Ms. Rachel in one of her first live interviews, and Tara Khalat with the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. Plus, in this Labor Day special, will air readings from Howard Zinn's voices of a people's history of the United

states, including Alphrey Woodard, reading the words of the labor activist, Mother Jones. I want you to pledge yourselves in this convention to stand as one solid army against the foes of human labor. Think of the thousands who are killed every day and there is no redress for it. We will fight until the minds are made secure and human life valued more than props. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. Well, if you've spent any time around young children in recent years, our first guests may need no introduction. The Washington Post has called her the Mr. Rogers of our era.

Her YouTube channel has about, oh, 16 million subscribers and more than 10 billion views. In January, Netflix began licensing episodes. Her show is now the seventh most watched on Netflix in the first half of this year. We're talking about Ms. Rachel, the children's entertainer, educator, and mother, who's become a worldwide sensation over the past six years since she began posting videos for toddlers on YouTube. Much like Mr. Rogers before her, Ms. Rachel hasn't shied away from speaking out about injustice, most notably about Gaza and the plight of people. Palestinian children. She recently wrote on Instagram, I want my taxes to help children, not kill

them. I want my taxes to feed children, not starve them. I want to build a better world, not bomb it, unquote. In another Instagram post, Ms. Rachel said she would refuse to work with anyone who's not spoken out against the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. She's also featured Palestinian children on her show. This is a video of Ms. Rachel singing with Rahaf, a three year old girl from Gaza, who lost both her legs in an Israeli airstrike. Let's go back to sleep, Rahaf. We're so tired. See the bunny sleeping till it's near the noon. Shall we wake them with a merry tune? They're so still. Are they ill? Wake up soon.

Let's pretend to sleep. Oh, shoo, shoo. Wake up, little bunnies! Skip little bunnies, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, and stop. Let's hop again. Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, and stop. That was so much fun.

Thank you. That video has been liked over a million times on Instagram. The three-year-old girl in the video, Rahaf, came to the United States from Gaza for medical treatment after losing her legs in an Israeli air strike. She was brought to the United States by the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, which has evacuated over 250 children from Gaza. On August 13th, Democracy Now is Juan Gonzalez and I talked to Ms. Rachel in one of her first live interviews, as well as Tarak Halat, the director of the Treatment Abroad Program for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. Days after we did this interview, the State Department halted all visitor visas from Gaza, including for children who need urgent medical care. The Palestine Children's Relief Fund decried the decision. decision as dangerous and inhumane. Let's turn now to our interview with Tarak Halat and Ms. Rachel.

Thank you so much for having me, Amy. It's an honor to speak with you. Rahaf is an adorable, bright, loving three-year-old girl. She came here through the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, PCRF, and she was evacuated with her mom, Isra. And they're, getting therapies and treatment at the hospital and living with a host family. And she's absolutely delightful. She's similar to three-year-olds I've worked with because she loves to pretend and she's just adorable and just taking in the world and so sweet and innocent. And then she's unlike three-year-olds I've worked with across communities because she has lost her legs. She's away from her dad and her brothers right now her there and gas yeah and um so yeah just seeing her

and also she's having more of her human rights respected right now so she's getting medical care and she's getting food and she's absolutely thriving this girl is going to change the she has changed the world and she's going to go so far she just has that chance now because she has her human rights respected and i saw videos of her in gaza on the hospital floor I saw videos of her looking extremely depressed, and one of the things her mom told me is thank you for helping her with her mental health, because in Gaza, she just looked so distraught, and she's three years old, and three-year-olds are so delightful and happy, and she just, yeah, it was just really, really hard seeing her in Gaza how she looked and the amputations, and she's been through so much, and she's three. you rarely make overt political statements but instead stress helping children regardless of where they live and who they are what made you decide to speak out more forcefully on the Palestinian children and what's been the reaction that you've gotten from your millions of followers well as an early childhood educator I know

what children need to thrive. They need food and food is being blocked from them. They need water and water is being blocked. They need to be in school and they've been out of school for two years because most of their schools have been bombed. They need medical care and most of their hospitals have been bombed. So I see precious children and I see them just like I see my children and I see all children as precious and equal. My deep care for children doesn't stop at any border And I saw these human rights violations, and I had to speak up because it's who I am. That's who I am as Ms. Rachel. I love all kids.

You've also spoken out on social media about Ariel and Kaffir Bebas, Jewish children whom Hamas took hostage. And after the Bebas's deaths were announced, you wrote in a post in February, quote, My heart is with the Biba's family, the Jewish community, and people all over the world who are grieving. We need to protect children always. But despite you're speaking out that way, you've been labeled an anti-Semite by some organizations, pro-Israeli organizations. Can you talk about that? Yeah, so that's really painful because obviously it's not true. care so much about Jewish children and all children. And it is difficult to receive criticism,

but I know who I am. And that pain will never compare to the pain of not speaking out during a genocide and what would happen if I didn't try to help. And obviously, that pain is nothing compared to a mom in Gaza who I put myself, I sat with a mom from Gaza. She is a teacher like me. sat with her while her child doesn't have legs. I sat with her while she face-timed her children who she can't eat anymore on face-time with them because they're so hungry. And I pictured my little boy there with my husband and I pictured myself with my little girl having lost her legs and have that happen. And I will do anything for her. And I thought, what would I want her to do for me if we were switched? Because I was just born here and she was born there. We're

different. I saw her look at the pride on her son's face when she saw her beautiful sons in Gaza. And she had the same pride that I have when I look at my wonderful Thomas. And she is so broken about what's happened to Rahaf, but so supportive and sweet. And all she thinks about every day is getting back to her boys. And I think as a mom, the most excruciating thing in the world would be being separated from your children, and I think about Israeli moms who have children still held hostage, and I just, I think about mothers all the time everywhere whose children don't have what they need, because if I couldn't provide milk for my daughter, and it was

miles away, and my baby, I have a six-month-old, and she cries for milk, you know, and every time I feed her, I think, why is milk miles away? and not getting to them. And my son said, mommy, could the kids of Gaza, could they take a car to get the milk to the babies? And our kids are watching us. They're taking in what us grown-ups are doing and we're not protecting children.

So Rahaf's mom is with her here. Why weren't her father and brothers able to come? I believe Tarat can speak better to this, but I don't think that men are often approved to come. I'm not sure. They weren't approved. And we are going to ask him in a moment, the Palestine Children's Relief Foundation. Tariq Hailead is the director of the Treatment Abroad Program for Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

And he is joining us as well. Tariq, can you address that issue? Why isn't Rahaf's family altogether here? Yeah. First of all, thank you, Amy and Juan. Hello, Rachel. It's good seeing you. So obviously it is a really difficult situation, and Rachel was actually 100% correct on the reasoning as to why we were not able to bring her other children and the father.

The medically evacuating children needs the approval of the Israelis to be able to take them out. And actually, both Rahaf, her mother, and her siblings and father were all rejected the first time that we tried to evacuate them. And it didn't take until three other months of advocacy and petitioning to get the approval to at least Rahaf and her mother to then finally receive that approval from the Israeli military to be able to take them out and evacuate them with all the other children that we brought here to the United States. And it's really unfortunate because I don't think in any other war, conflict, genocide, would you ever see the side that is causing. the harm on these children have to provide the approval for them to be medically evacuated. You know, I think about it in the context of Ukraine and Russia. You would never need the Russian approval to take a Ukrainian child out to receive medical treatment. However, it's unique in this particular case where we do need the Israeli military's approval to take out an injured child

that was injured by the Israeli military. And, Tariq, your organization has evacuated over 250 children out of Gaza. But the estimates are that there were, oh, 40,500 children have been injured since October 24, and that includes 940 children who have had limbs amputated. What kind of medical care is necessary for amputees, especially for children amputees? Yeah. So we are the largest Palestinian-led organization to medically evacuate children. And that is only 250 children. I mean, that is a drop in the bucket. And if we had the say on how we wanted to treat these children, it would not be evacuating them all the way to the United States to receive a prosthetic device. What we would do is part of our other programs, like our medical missions, or our

infrastructural program where we build hospitals inside of Gaza, like the only pediatric oncology center currently in Gaza, that was bombed twice, we would build infrastructure inside of Gaza to treat the children inside of Gaza. However, due to these restrictions and due to the crumbling healthcare infrastructure, due to the constant dangers of our buildings being destroyed, we have to evacuate children out. And again, it's only 250 children, and you're talking about the largest organization, that should just show how many months of hard work it takes just to evacuate one child like Rahaf. I mean, at the end of the day, this is the largest population of child amputees in modern history.

I mean, just saying that statement alone is insane, let alone trying to imagine just all the conflicts and the wars that have happened during our lifetime and before. And this is right now the largest population of childhood amputees. And we can't even bring in ampute, we can't even bring in prosthetics to Gaza. because they won't even allow that. I want to go back to the issue of hunger. Ms. Rachel posted on Instagram. She addresses the crisis of child starvation in Gaza, mom to mom.

Ms. Rachel, you say, as you respond to a video of a mother in Gaza, she is holding her emaciated daughter and you're holding and your daughter, Susie. Let's go to the clip. I wanted to talk mom to mom. I saw the video of you and your beautiful daughter, Aya. Look at her. You can see her bones. Look at her legs. This is what a baby about that age should look like. There's no baby formula available anywhere in the country. What am I supposed to do? Is it just because she's from Gaza? Do our children have to go through this just because they're from here? And yes, it's because she's from Gaza. It's because she's born in Gaza that she's being starved.

She's being butished because of where she was born. I'm so sorry that my baby has formula and yours doesn't. I'm going to do everything I can to try to help. Our children are like any other children like the children of the world. Look at my daughter. Her life is at risk. Your beautiful daughter, Aya, is just like any other baby in the world. I want you to know that I see you in Aya.

And I am so sorry. And the whole world needs to just stand up and say this is wrong. I see you. So that's the Instagram post that you, Ms. Rachel, put up. Can you talk about the response to it? I think it's shocking for people to see what a baby that age should look like. I mean, we all love the little chunky rolls on baby's thighs. And I think I have a huge audience of parents. That's what my platform is. And I think the majority of people, around the world, they want babies to be fed, and they were heartbroken seeing Aya, and they wanted to send formula themselves. Mom said, is there any way I could send my own breast milk to Aya and ask me for information? And I just, that they wanted to send their own breast milk there.

It's just beautiful. I wanted to go to another little girl who was known around the world posthumously, and that's Hinder Shab. Now, Hindrajab came up today in the news because the Hindrajab Foundation, along with another group, has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court against six senior Israeli commanders over the killing of the Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif and four of his colleagues at Al Jazeera, as well as a freelance journalist, who was killed along with them in that well-marked press tent against, against Al-Shifa Hospital. The foundation is named for Hind Rajab, that five-year-old Palestinian little girl,

who was killed in 2024, along with five of her family members and two rescue workers who were attempting to reach them during an attack on Gaza City. On January 29th last year, Hindrajab climbed into a car with her aunt, her uncle, and cousins in Gaza City as they prepared to flee to the southern part of Gaza. But as they were in the car, an Israeli tank approached them and opened fire. His 15-year-old cousin Leanne called the Red Crescent for help. Hello? Hello, dear.

They are shooting at us. Hello? They are shooting at us. The tank is next to me. Are you hiding? Yes, in the car. We're next to the tank. Are you inside the car?

Hello. Hello, hello. Hello. So that was 15-year-old Leon, who was killed along with the rest of her family. The only one who remained alive in the car was Little Hind. Wounded, she called the Red Crescent. back, pleading with the dispatcher to be rescued. Come take me. You will come and take me?

Do you want me to come and take you? I'm so scared. Please come. Please call someone to come and take me. Okay, dear, I will come and take you. After seeking approval from the Israeli military, two emergency workers with the Palestine Red Crescent, Yus Saino and Ahmad al-Madun, went to try and rescue Hind. But dispatchers lost contact with the medics. Nearly two weeks later, Israeli forces finally withdrew from the area. And Hinn's surviving family ventured back to the neighborhood. They found the little girl dead inside the car alongside the bodies of five of her family members.

The car riddled with bullet holes. The bodies of the two emergency workers were also found in an ambulance nearby and appeared to have been killed by Israeli fire just yards from the car. After this, the Henn-Ber-Jab Foundation was formed. her name became known around the world. You had a takeover protest at Columbia, and they renamed the building Hend Hall. Talk about hearing that story, Ms. Rachel. Talk about what it meant to you of this little conflicting reports of whether she was five or six years old. When I heard the phone call of her begging for help, I mean, there's nothing to describe.

how I felt and I posted about Hind and then I actually heard from her mom and Hind she calls her her angel baby. Hind love to play doctor and take care of everyone and Hind love school and she has a brother and they're they're a family just like anyone's family and I'm just so devastated at that profiled loss and how it happened, and I'm so glad that her, you're telling her story. But it was just hearing her on the phone. There's nothing

like that. And Ms. Ritchell, you've been compared by many to Mr. Rogers, in terms of your influence on children around the world. You grew up watching his show talk about what he means to you and his political advocacy and his courage.

Yeah, I grew up loving Mr. Rogers and I used to go up to the TV and try and block the trolley from leaving because I didn't want the show to end. He just meant so much to me as a kid. And then I continued to read his books and watch his documentaries. And there's a, and one part in the documentary, he swims back and forth and prays for people. And, you know, he, Yeah, he had such deep care for children, and he took media so seriously that it should really serve children and that it's a big responsibility. So I think about that responsibility all the time. And then people say, you know, he wasn't political, and he did, he was political. And he, as you're showing now, he shared the pool with Officer Clemens during that time.

Actually, let's play that clip. This was 1969. Mr. Rogers used his massive platform, as Ms. Rachel does today. He used it to advocate for desegregation at a time when many white Americans were fiercely against integration of schools, swimming pools, and public spaces. In this episode, Mr. Rogers invited an actor portraying an African-American policeman, Officer Clemens, to share his wading pool and towel. Oh, there's Officer Clements. Hi, Officer Clements. Come in. Oh, Officer Rogers, how are you? Come on, why don't you sit down? Oh, sure, just for a moment.

It's so warm, I was just putting some water on my feet. Oh, it sure is. Would you like to join me? It looks awfully enjoyable, but I don't have a towel or anything. Oh, you share mine. Okay. Sure. Come along. I'll put some more water in here.

Oh. This is going to turn into a beautiful day. You like bare feet? Well, yeah, as I grew older, I liked it more and more. Uh-huh. Good for you. You're pulling up your pants. I forgot to do that at first. Oh, I don't want them to get wet. Right.

Well, that was so enjoyable. I'm sorry, I couldn't stay longer. Well, I know how busy you are. But sometimes just a minute like this will really make a difference. Who would have thought that this was so revolutionary? And for people who are listening on the radio or just audio, there is Mr. Rogers. There is Officer Clemens' black and white feet in the waiting pool. And then Mr. Rogers shares that towel for Officer Clements to dry his feet. An incredible moment in television history.

Who would have thought that would be so controversial? Yes, and I've seen that they were throwing chemicals into the pools where black people were swimming, and I've also seen that a family was interviewed after seeing that, and that was the end of the conversation of whether pools should be segregated, because they said, if Mr. Rogers wants to share his pool, you know, we can share our pools. So I think that's, I think that's really beautiful. And I will share when Rahaf came to visit that there, I tried to rent a space to, to, to, to, to, be with Rahaf, a private space. And some people didn't want Rahaf and her family to come to the space, and we were denied. And so it made me think about just how horrible that is to say, because of who you are and where you come from, you're not welcome. And I have so many Palestinian friends now, and they're just amazing people and it's just awful that there's dehumanization, which I've seen. And it's just so painful, I can't imagine. Yeah, I wanted to ask Tarik, if you could talk about the work of the

Palestine Children's Relief Fund and how people who want to support the children of Gaza can get involved? Yeah. Thank you for that question. Palestine Children's Relief Fund has been an ongoing organization, a trusted organization, transparent organization for the last 30 plus years. It's older than I am. And it serves multitude of functionalities. It's obviously you know about our treatment abroad program, which is the one that I led that evacuates children like Krohoff. We've evacuated thousands of children in the last 30 years. We also have a medical missions program where we bring physicians from the United States to treat children in Palestine, in Jordan, and the Levant area. We have infrastructural program where our mission is to build the infrastructure and the medical

complexes within Gaza and Palestine and the Levant area so that we don't need to bring children all the way here to receive medical treatment. And we have now been distributing aid, something that we have been doing as part of the Gaza Urgent Relief Project, we've been on the ground for the last two years, nonstop, not a single day, have we not been distributing aid? We've spent over $45 million since October 7th in distributing aid, like baby formula milk to children, such as Ayah, and many others that don't get their story highlighted. And in terms of how to help people, how to help the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, you can volunteer, you can donate on our website, and you can just speak about what's happening.

And I want to touch on this very importantly, because I know Rachel probably won't say this, but Rachel has been, I would say, one of the most significant, if not the most significant voices for Palestinian human rights. Her advocacy has touched the hearts of people that never would have ever heard about Gaza or the Palestinian children. And that's why her voice is so vital and been so important. And I remember prior to reaching out to her, I was really sad at how everything was conveyed. And I felt like it was hopeless. And when Rachel began to speak out, I saw a tide shift like no other. I mean, to the point where I'm a medical student here, and I remember going to my medical class and some of the surgeries and the nurses and the surgeons and some of the

just medical students would say, oh, you know, I just saw this poor child talking about Rojaf, and this is just so sad about what's happening over there, all because Ms. Rachel shared the post and spoke about it, because she touches a crowd of people that never once knew about these Palestinian children and everything that they're going through. Can I please just give Tarek some love back? Tarek, you've become such a dear friend, and Tarek is one of the helpers that Mr. Rogers was talking about, and I'll text Tarek a baby, and he's a full-time medical student, and he'll text back right away, and he'll find the child, and he's just, he's my hero, and he texts me pictures of him and his cats,

which I enjoy, and I just, you've become such a dear friend, and Tarek's actually going to be on our show with Rahaf, and Tarx, I talk about how he's my friend and he talks about how he's always wanted to be a doctor and because he wants to be, he wants to help others and Tarak's just amazing and I love you, Tarak, sorry. We have to break, but we're going to come back to this conversation. Tarak Halott is with us, director of the Treatment Broad Program for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. And for those children who are listening, you don't need me to say that Ms. Rachel is on with us because you recognize her. But yes, we're joined by Rachel Griffin Accorso, a.k.a. Ms. Rachel. I also want to ask when we come back, the two of you, about children in the rubble in Gaza watching Ms. Rachel.

And also what it was like to have Rahaf be in the studio for her as you were dancing and sleeping together. And how she did that was she actually nervous as she stood there and danced on her. for two prosthetics. This is Democracy Now, back in a minute. overcome one day deep deep in my heart I do believe

that we shall overcome one day And we'll walk hand in hand. We'll walk hand in hand. Every faith and every man, every man. That's Roger Waters, yep, Pink Floyd, performing, We shall overcome. accompanied by a young Alexander Roiton on cello in our Democracy Now studio years ago.

This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman in New York. Juan Gonzalez is in Chicago. We're continuing our conversation with Ms. Rachel, the children's entertainer and educator who's become a worldwide sensation over the past six years. In March, Ms. Rachel posted a video of two children watching one of her videos. That's not unusual at all, most places in the world. But this was watching one of her videos in the rubble of Gaza. The caption read, my friend Selina and Celia, in what used to be their home in Gaza,

they deserve to live in a warm, safe home again. Ms. Rachel is still with us, along with Tarak Halot. student and director of the Treatment Abroad Program for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. Talk about that video, Ms. Rachel. Oh, Selena Zela are so precious. I've gotten to know many families, and I just wish that our leaders got to know these families and sat with them as well. Seeing them smile and feel a little bit of joy in the midst of unimaginable suffering,

it's it's such an honor to to be their friend and yeah it's just unbelievable and tarak before the break you were talking i mean you are you are Palestinian talk about her effect in Gaza talk more about that what it means for kids to be sitting in the rubble and watching video of miss rachel i think it's it's the fact that they feel seen more than anything. I mean, I think this is, you know, you were talking about one of the revolutionary moments. I think this episode will be one of those revolutionary moments because Ruff's mother would tell me all the time, never in my wildest dream did I ever imagine that Rahaf is going

to be on an episode with Ms. Rachel. I mean, you have to understand that they have lived in a blockade for God knows how long now. never did they ever imagine to come to the United States let alone to be on an episode with their hero right so I think that is probably one of the most important thing is for the first time ever these children truly feel seen on a large scale and that is what Rachel's platform is providing for these children and Rachel you posted a quote from James Baldwin on social media that said quote, the children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe. And I'm beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality. Do you sometimes lose hope that our leaders in the West are incapable of morality? You know, I do have moments where I lose hope, to be honest. But it's really, what brings me back

to hope is another beautiful quote. And that one I hold dear all the time. I can't remember who it's by, but it says that we have to hold on to hope for the children in these situations. And we have to keep speaking out. And we have to hold on to hope because we have everything right now and they have nothing. So it's our responsibility. Ms. Rachel, can you talk about how other celebrities have responded? Start there.

you have said that you don't want to work with people who don't speak out on Gaza. And can you talk about people changing if you feel that people are changing and more willing? I do think things are changing. And I think that it's really important for celebrities and leaders to know that you can handle some criticism for saving human lives. and that nothing is more precious than their lives. And the criticism, I think that there's a narrative that there's so much criticism and not support, but there's so much support. I have had so many people come up to me from all walks of life and start crying about these kids.

And I think leaders think, oh, you're not connected to Palestinian people and Gaza. And what's true is we are connected to them. you're not connected to us. You're not hearing us that we want to feed children and we want children to have education and we know it's just the right thing to do to help children, but it also serves everyone and it serves our children. We know that because of research, that when you take care of children and they have education, they're going to become happier, healthier adults in societies. And so I just think it's so important that we take care of the world's children. And I think it's, I think it's such a huge failing of us adults that were not.

Talk about, I mean, you're often doing social media, for example, on the children of Sudan. We just did in our headlines the effect on children, the horror there. And then also just how you got your start. Now, who is, Ms. Rachel? Oh, my heart breaks every day for Sudan. And I actually, one of my first things I ever did was work teaching music with Sudanese and Somali refugee children in Maine. And they actually inspired me to become a music teacher. And I did some work with kids with disabilities. And I worked at daycares and I worked at schools. And so for 20 years, working with so many different kids and kids give us so much. I mean, I went in, I'm going to help kids and they transform you. Service to others transforms you. And it brings you lasting joy.

and it's really what matters. And so I just love kids and I see them all as equal and wonderful. And I just wish everyone did. And I hope things change soon. And talk about how you got your start? I started at a preschool for kids with disabilities and then I worked with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club. and then do you mean the start of the show or the startup? Have you got your start and just doing the show and going from a couple people watching to a virvillian?

I was inspired by my amazing little boy, who's him and my little baby Susie are my world. And I would stay up until 2 a.m. learning about speech to try and help my little guy with a severe speech delay. And I think as we've talked about in this program today, that as a mom, when you see your child struggling, you'll do anything. Go moms. So I learned so much about development and speech and milestones and then I was looking for a program for him and that I couldn't find. So my husband has a very extensive Broadway background and composing. And we joined together to create something that would meet some of the needs that we weren't seeing met. And Tarik, I wanted to ask you whether You feel that after this long, continued genocide by the Israelis in Gaza,

that you feel that we're reaching a turning point, especially after that massive protest, hundreds of thousands of people in Australia, in the pouring rain, and now one country after another, even in the West, beginning to recognize the Palestinian state and demand the end to the genocide. Do you feel that we're finally reaching a turning point in this conflict? I do. I do. And I say that with a lot of reflection on the past because one of the biggest missions that we've had at PCRF and with the treatment abroad program was that we didn't just want to evacuate children to the United States. We wanted to globalize it and we wanted to open up new

pathways. And we wanted to do it in a humanitarian way. And so we said that our mission was to try to convince these governments to open up their borders to receive children to receive medical care in those countries. And countries such as Britain, Australia, Canada, we were able to convince to open up their borders to take in the first few children from Gaza. And I'm so thankful because now it's opened up these pathways for other organizations to also evacuate children. I just saw that another child was just recently evacuated to Britain. But yes, I do feel like the tide is shifting. I think that, again, I think Rachel has been a really, really big part of that, and I genuinely mean this, because the narrative is beginning to change. New people

are beginning to hear about what's happening. More voices are starting to speak on the subject. More celebrities are starting to see that joining this cause is not going to be detrimental to your reputation, but in fact, not speaking up on what's happening is what's most likely going to be detrimental on your reputation in the future and how our children and grandchildren see these celebrities. So yes, in short. We have 30 seconds, Ms. Rachel, your final thoughts. You can share them with children around the world, with their parents, with humanity. Well, quickly, I want to say that I'm so relieved that people are

starting to talk about the starvation of these this population and I just want to honor the 18,000 children that have been killed because it should have been so much it should have been like these children mattered and they were they're not just numbers their 18,000 precious children and they were everyone's universe as a Jewish check says so they were somebody's whole world and somebody's whole universe and I just want to say to the kids hi I'm so proud of you you have great ideas and a brilliant mind and a wonderful heart and you're so kind and you're welcome and I adore you. Rachel Griffin, Accorso, known as Ms. Rachel, two millions of children around the world who watch her videos and listen to her songs. The Washington Post calls her the Mr. Rogers of her era.

She has 16 million subscribers, more than 10 billion views, one of the most popular people on Netflix. Thanks also to Tara Kalat, director of the Treatment Abroad Program for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. Coming up, readings from Howard Zinn's voices of a people's history of the United States. Stay with us. in the hand of the worker But it all amounts to nothing If together we don't stand There is power in a union

Now the lessons of the past We're all learned with workers' blood The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for From the cities and the farmlands To trenches full of mud War has always been the bossy's wiser. The Union forever defending our rights down with the blacklegal workers unite With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand

There is power in a union Now I long for the morning that they realize This brutality and unjust laws cannot defeat us who'll defend the workers. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman. To Mark Labor Day, we end today's holiday special with highlights from a production of Howard Zinn's voices of a people's history of the United States. Dramatic readings from history selected by the late great historian Howard Zinn. We'll hear Alphrey Woodard read the word.

of the labor activist Mother Jones. Howard's son, Jefferson, read the words of an IWW poet and organizer. Marissa Tomey reads the words of the woman's suffrage leader Harriet Hanson. But first, the late great actor James Earl Jones reads from Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States. My viewpoint in telling the history the United States is that we must not accept the memory of states as our own. Nations are not communities, and never have been. The history of any country, presented as the history of a family, conceals a fierce, fierce conflict of interest.

And in such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus, suggested, is not to be on the side of the executioners. Thus, in that inevitable taking of sides, which comes from selection and emphasis in history, I prefer to tell the story of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the arrow axe, of the Constitution, from the standpoint of the slaves, of the rise of industrialism, as seen by the young women in the low textile mills, the concedurember. the conquest of the Philippines

as seen by black soldiers on Muzon the post-war American Empire as seen by peons in Latin America and so on to the limited extent that any one person however he or she strains can see history from the standpoint of others my point is not to grieve for the victims

and denounce the executioners those tears that angry cast into the past deplete our moral energy for the present and the lines are not always clear in the long run the oppressor is also a victim in the short run the victims themselves desperate and tainted with the culture that oppresses them turn on other victims

still understanding the complexities this book will be skeptical of governments and their attempts through politics and culture to ensnare ordinary people in a giant web of nationhood pretending to a common interest. I will try not to overlook the cruelties that victims inflict on one another as they are jammed together in the boxcars of the system. I don't want to romanticize them.

but I do remember, in rough paraphrase, a statement I once heard. The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don't listen to it, you will never know what justice is. This is the late historian Howard Zinn. What is too often overlooked in a triumphal story of the growth of American industry in the 19th century is the human cost of that triumph. The lives cut short, the maimed bodies of the men and women who worked in the factories, the mills. In the Lowell, Massachusetts textile mills of 1836, where girls went to work at the age of 12 and often died by the time they were 25, one of the first strikes of mill girls took place. It is described by one of them, Harriet Hanson. Read by Marissa Tomei.

When it was announced that wages were to be cut down, great indignation. was felt and it was decided to strike on moss this was done the mills were shut down and the girls went in procession from their several corporations to the grove on chapel hill and listened to incendiary speeches one of the girls stood on a pump and gave vent to the feelings of her companions in a neat speech declaring that it was their duty to resist all attempts at cutting down the wages this was the first time a woman had spoken in public in lowell and the event caused surprise and consternation amongst her audience. My own recollection of this first strike, or turnout, as it was called, is very vivid. I worked in a lower room where I had heard the proposed strike fully, if not vehemently, discussed.

I had been an ardent listener to what was said against this attempt at oppression on the part of the corporation, and naturally I took side with the strikers. When the day came on which the girls were to turn out, those in the upper rooms started first. And so many of them left that our mill was at once shut down. Then, when the girls in my room stood, irresolute, uncertain what to do, asking each other, would you, or shall we turn out? And not one of them having the courage to lead off. I, who began to think they would not go out after all their talk became impatient and started on ahead

saying with childish bravado, I don't care what you do, I am going to turn out whether anyone else does or not. And I marched out and was followed by the others. As I looked back at the long line that followed me, I was more proud than I have ever been at any success I may have achieved. The IWW, industrial workers of the world, was a radical labor organization of the early 20th century. It organized all workers, black, white, men, women, native-born, foreign, skilled, unskilled, which the American Federation of Labor refused to do. Its goal was revolutionary to take over the industrial system and run it for the benefit of the people. When immigrant women in the textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, went on strike in 1912,

they were met with police violence and judicial intimidation. The IWW poet and organizer Arturo Juvenetti was arrested on spurious charges for murder. Here is his speech to the jury which found him innocent. Mr. Foreman and gentlemen of the jury It is the first time in my life that I speak publicly in your wonderful language And it is the most solemn moment in my life There has been brought only one side of this great industrial question Only the method and only the tactics

But what about the ethical part of the question what about the better and nobler humanity where there shall be no more slaves where no man will ever be obliged to go on strike in order to obtain 50 cents a week more where children will not have to starve anymore where women no more will have to go and prostitute themselves where at last there will not be any more slaves any more masters but just one day great family of friends and brothers. They say you are free in this great and wonderful country. I say that politically you are and my best compliments and congratulations. But I say you cannot be half free and half slave. And economically, all the working class in the United States are as much slaves now as the Negroes were 40 and 50 years. years ago. Because the man that owns the tool where another man works, the man that owns the

house where this man lives, the man that owns the factory, where this man wants to go to work, that man owns and controls the bread that that man eats and therefore owns and controls his mind, his body, his heart and his soul. I am 29 years old. Not quite. I have a woman that loves me and that I love. I have a mother and father that are waiting for me. I have an ideal that is dear to me that can be expressed or understood. And life has so many allurements and it is so nice and so bright and so wonderful that I felt the passion of living in my heart and I do want to live. Whichever way you judge, gentlemen of the jury, I thank you. 2014, a thousand miners with wives and children who had gone on strike against the Rockefeller-owned coal mines in southern Colorado were holding out in a tent colony near the tiny hamlet of Ludlow.

One day in April, the National Guard, financed by Rockefeller, began pouring machine gun fire into the tent colony and then came down from the hills and set fire to the tents. the next day the bodies of 11 children and two women were found suffocated burned to death this became known as the ludlow massacre mother mary jones 82 year old organizer for the mine workers had come to colorado to support the miners and on the eve of their strike as they gathered in the opera house in trinidad she spoke to them what would the coal in the mines be worth if you did not work to take it out the time is ripe for you to stand like men i know something about strikes i didn't go into them yesterday i was carried 84 miles and landed in jail by united states marshal in the night because i was talking to a miners meeting the next morning

I was brought to court and the judge said to me, did you read my injunction? Did you understand that the injunction told you not to look at the minors? As long as the judge who is higher than you leaves me sight, I will look at anything I want to, said I. The old judge died soon after that and the injunction died with him. At another time when in the courtroom, the bailiff said to me, when you are addressing the court, you must say your honor. I don't know whether he has any or not, said I. Someone said to me, you don't believe in charity work, mother? No, I don't believe in charity.

It is a vice. We need the upbuilding of justice to mankind. We don't need your charity. All we need is an opportunity to live like men and women in this country. I want you to pledge yourselves in this convention to stand as one solid army against the foes of human labor think of the thousands who are killed every day and there is no redress for it

we will fight until the minds are made secure and human life valued more than props look things in the face don't fear a governor don't fear anybody you pay the governor he has a right to protect you You are the biggest part of this population, the biggest part of the population in this state.

You create its wealth. So I say let the fight go on. If anybody else, nobody else will keep on. I will. That was Alfry Woodard, reading the words of labor activist Mother Jones as part of a live reading of Howard Zinn's voices of a people's history of the United States, the event organized with Anthony Arnav. And that does it for our show. Democracy Now is produced with Mike Burke, Renee Feld,

Dina Guster, Messiah, Rhodes, and Hermine Sheikh, Maria Tarasana, Nicole Salazar, Sarah Nasser, Tarina, Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Taymary, A studio, John Hamilton, Robbie Karen, Honey Massoud, and Safwat Nazal. Our executive director is Julie Crosby. Special thanks to Becca Staley, John Randolph, Paul Powell, Mike DeFilippo, Miguel Negara, Hugh Grant, Carl Marxer, Dennis Moynihan, David Pru, Dennis McCormick,

Matt Ely, Anna Ozbeck, Emily Anderson, Dante Torreieri, and Buffy St. Marie Hernandez. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.