Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-04-01 Wednesday

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

Democracy Now! Wednesday, April 1, 2026

From New York, this is Democracy Now. I would only say that we're doing extremely well in that negotiation, but you never know with Iran. President Trump plans to address the nation tonight on Iran. Will the war be over in a few weeks? Will there be a ground invasion? Will the Strait of Hormuz remain closed? We'll speak with Ali Vez of the International Crisis Group. Then from black rain falling on Tehran.

to threats on desalination plants. We'll speak to an Iranian environmental scientists who just won the Stockholm Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for Water. Emerging in many places, what we see is a persistent failure state where water systems can no longer realistically return to their historical baselines.

We call this condition global water bankruptcy. Then days after Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth prayed for overwhelming violence against U.S. enemies. Pope Leo condemned the war on Iran and said warmongers have blood on their hands. We'll go to Ramallah to speak with Reverend Isaac Muntler about Christian nationalism and more. And finally, 3,800 meatpacking workers are on strike in Greeley, Colorado, demanding better pay and conditions. Go to Colorado. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. President Trump claimed Tuesday U.S. forces would end operations in Iran

very soon, saying it could take two to three weeks. Iran's foreign minister of Basarachi told Al Jazeera, he has no faith in talks with the U.S. and says, while he's exchanged messages with Washington, there are no negotiations currently underway. On Tuesday, Israel struck a major pharmaceutical company in Tehran. Israel claimed the plants responsible for developing chemical weapons. This comes as the USS George H.W. Bush deployed to the Middle East Tuesday, along with three destroyers, according to two U.S. officials speaking to the AP. The carrier strike group consists of more than 6,000 service members.

Defense Secretary Pete H. Seth held a news briefing at the Pentagon Tuesday morning and launched into a prayer for U.S. troops in the region. May God watch over all of them each day and each night. May His almighty and eternal arms of providence stretch over them and protect them and bring them peace. In the name of Jesus Christ. And amen. President Trump's expected to address the.

nation tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. It comes as several European nations have refused to back the U.S. Israeli war in Iran. France has blocked Israeli planes from flying weapons through its airspace, while Italy refused last-minute permission for U.S. bombers to land in Sicily. Spain has consistently denied the U.S. use of its bases and airspace for the war, and on Tuesday, Spain's defense minister said Spain will not accept lectures from anyone. British Prime Minister Kierre Starrmer also pledged the United Kingdom will not be dragged into the war in Iran. In an interview with the telegraph Tuesday, President Trump said he's strongly considering pulling out of NATO. This is Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Fox News last night. We are going to have to reexamine

whether or not this alliance that has served this country well for a for a while. while is still serving that purpose, or is it now become a one-way street where America is simply in a position to defend Europe. But when we need the help of our allies, they're going to deny us basing rights and they're going to deny us overflight. A drone attack sparked a large fire at Kuwait International Airport this morning, according to Kuwaiti state media. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia says it intercepted and destroyed two Iranian drones. Bahrain also said it's working to extinguish a fire. at a business facility that resulted from an Iranian attack.

A tanker also came under attack off the coast of Qatar earlier today. Israeli strikes in southern Beirut killed at least seven people Tuesday, according to Lebanon's health ministry. It comes as Israel says it will keep control of southern Lebanon, establish a new security zone and destroy all homes in Lebanese villages near the Israeli border after its war with Hezbollah ends. Israel's killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, since it resumed its war with Hezbollah, according to Lebanon's health ministry,

more than a million people have been forced to flee their homes. This is Lebanon's Minister for Social Affairs. I think this is a very different character from the previous war, different regions that have been targeted. And you have also the fact that host communities are tired. And this is another challenge. ensuring the social cohesion. A U.S. journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad Tuesday.

Shelley Kittleson is a U.S. freelance journalist based in Rome who's covered the Middle East. According to police, Kittleson was seized by four men in civilian clothes and taken in a vehicle. The State Department said it had previously warned Kittleson of threats against her and is coordinating with the FBI to secure her release. President Trump says he plans to attend Supreme Court oral arguments today on his executive order ending birthright citizenship. It would be the first time a sitting president would be present during oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Critics call it a dangerous assault on the independence of the judiciary. President Trump signed the executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship on his first day back in office. A series of lower courts blocked it ruling the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil.

Here's President Trump speaking to reporters yesterday. And this is not about Chinese billionaires or billionaires from other countries who all of a sudden have 75 children or 59 children in one case or 10 children becoming American citizens. This was about slaves. And if you take a look, slaves, we're talking about slaves from the Civil War. In an eight to one decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a law that ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ children in Colorado. The challenge to Colorado's ban is led by a Christian licensed counselor, Kaylee Charles, who argued the ban is a violation of her First Amendment rights to free speech and religion. Supreme Court Justice Katanji Brown Jackson was the only dissenting vote, the ACA. The ACLU of Colorado said in a statement, quote, this case is a major blow to the rights of LGBTQ plus youth, not only in Colorado, but across our country.

Conversion therapy has no place in our country attempts to change in individual sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression causes severe lasting psychological harm to LGBTQ plus youth, the ACLU said. So-called conversion therapy has been widely discredited by medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Federal Immigration agents will reportedly be stationed at an upcoming Marine Corps graduation in Paris Island, South Carolina, raising fears for undocumented families attending the event. The agents are reportedly charged with identifying whether any of the graduates' family members are undocumented. Thousands of non-U.S. citizens have served in the military with advocates condemning the deportation of veterans, service members, and their relatives under Trump and other U.S. administrations. In related news, a federal judge in Boston has ordered the Trump administration to restore protections and deportation relief for tens of thousands. of immigrants who entered the U.S. through a parole process under President Biden. The Biden administration established the CBP-1 app in 2023 to allow immigrants to make appointments

to petition for asylum at ports of entry and the southern border. Judge Allison Burroughs ordered the Trump administration to reverse its policy, which ordered as many as 900,000 immigrants who'd use the app to leave the U.S. immediately. Tens of thousands of immigrants who receive the notice have already left the U.S. voluntarily or have been deported. President Trump signed a sweeping executive order cracking down on mail-in-voting as he escalates as attacks on voter access ahead of this year's midterm elections. The order seeks to create a list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state directing the U.S. Postal Service to mail ballots only to verified voters. Arizona's Democratic Secretary of State, Adrian Fonte, said in a statement, quote, this executive order is a disgusting overreach from the federal government and shows how little

the Trump administration understands about election administration. We will not let this order stand without a fight and will meet the federal government in court, Fonte said. Arizona is among several states the Trump administration has sued in order to access sensitive voter data. The state was also at the center of Trump's false claims of election fraud in 2020. In the last election, in the last month that President Trump voted in in Florida, he mailed in his ballot. A federal judge has ruled President Trump's executive order defunding NPR and PBS is unconstitutional. Judge Randolph Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said in his ruling, quote,

the First Amendment draws a line which the government may not cross at efforts to use government power, including the power of the purse, to punish or suppress disfavored expression by others, unquote. President Trump's executive order last year spurred Congress to claw back $1.1 billion in federal funding for public media outlets, including PBS and NPR. Congress's rescission of the funds remains in place. Trump's executive order led to the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had funded public media in the United States for more than half a century.

The White House called Tuesday's decision a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge and vowed to appeal. A federal judge has temporarily blocked construction of President Trump's White House ballroom, saying he doesn't have the authority to fund the $400 million project through private donors. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon also said President Trump does not have the power to remodel the White House without congressional approval, writing in his decision, quote, the president of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of first families. He is not, however, the owner, unquote. The lawsuit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Earlier this week, Trump told reporters the ballroom would be a shed

for a massive military complex being built underneath. And Canadian diplomat, politician, and human rights advocate, Stephen Lewis has died of cancer at the age of 88. Lewis served as the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and led Ontario's progressive New Democratic Party, the NDP. He was also the father of socialist activists and documentary filmmaker Avi Lewis, who has just been elected as head of Canada's new Democratic Party. Stephen Lewis spent decades advocating for global HIV-AIDS awareness, co-founding AIDS-free world. From 2001 to 6, he served as the U.N. Secretary General's Special Envoy for HIV-AIDS in Africa.

We spoke to him in 2012 as one of the largest international AIDS conferences concluded in Washington, D.C. There's never a smidgen of that money available, Amy, for global public health. We're always struggling for the crumbs and the pennies from the table when we know the amounts of money that are available for other and more perverse purposes internationally. And that too has to end. And there we need voices in the G8 like those of President Obama to say everything is distorted. The priorities are wrong.

The human imperative is what should count. And we're making a grave mistake in our priorities. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the war in peace report. I'm Amy Goodman. As the U.S. and Israeli war in Iran enters its 33rd day, President Trump's preparing to address the nation about Iran tonight. On Tuesday, Trump said the war could end in the coming weeks.

What happens to the strait, we're not going to have anything to do with because these countries, China, China will go up and they'll fuel up there. beautiful ships and they'll leave and they'll take care of themselves. There's no reason for us to do it. We hit them hard. We got rid of a lot of the radicalized lunatics along the straight, but if they want something. But I would say that within two weeks, maybe, two weeks, maybe three, we're hitting them very hard. Last night, we knocked out tremendous amounts of missile making facilities. We, as you probably read or wrote. We knocked out, excuse me? Pardon me, pardon me. The U.S. would be gone.

or done with the war? I think we're two or three weeks. We'll leave. When we feel that they are for a long period of time put into the stone ages and they won't be able to come up with a nuclear weapon, then we'll leave, whether we have a deal or not irrelevant. While President Trump's talking about the war ending, the Washington Post reported Sunday, the Pentagon's preparing for ground operations in Iran.

if Trump chooses to escalate the war. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports the United Arab Emirates is pushing for a plan to open the Strait of Hormuz by force. To talk about the state of the war, we're joined by Ali Valles. He's the Iran Project Director of the International Crisis Group. He also serves as senior advisor to the president of the International Crisis Group. He is co-author of a new peace in foreign affairs headlined, the Iran war has escaped its authors. What do you mean, Ali Baez?

It's good to be with you, Amy. Well, of course, this war started as a war of choice. The president went into this conflict with a high degree of wishful thinking that it would be a quick win by decapitating the Iranian political system and by the shock and awe of initial U.S. and Israeli attacks, the Iranian system will quickly capitulate. We know that CENTCOM had warned him against Iran closing the strait of Hormoz, and he had dismissed those warnings and had said the Iranians would surrender before they would get a chance of closing the strait.

And now we're in the second month of this conflict, and it has become a war of necessity for him, because unlike what he said yesterday, leaving this conflict without opening the strait would be a humiliating defeat for President Trump. Can you talk about the latest what's happening? First of all, you have this whole issue of President Trump claiming regime change. And I want to play a clip to talk about what this means as the U.S. and Israel kill one group of Iranian leaders after another. Talk about what that means and where you. you see this leadership right now? Can you hear me, Ali? Oh, yeah, sorry. I thought you were going to show the clip. Yes, look, the regime in Iran indeed has changed, but it has changed and become a much more radical regime. It is still, of course, the Islamic Republic. It is not a fundamentally different political order, but its leadership is now in the hands of the most hardline elements within the Revolutionary

guards. Anyone with a degree of experience and a degree of moderation or pragmatism has been eliminated. So you're now left with the Revolutionary Guards, which is designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization, in charge of that country. Even individuals like the Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad Bagar Kalibov, that the president believed could potentially played the role of Delci Rodriguez in Venezuela and make deals with the United States is a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards Air Force. And this entire strategy is based on a flawed understanding of how the Iranian system functions. This was never a totalitarian system similar to North Korea or to Syria in which it's a pyramid

sitting on its head, and if you remove the head, the whole thing will collapse and unravel. this was always a multi-center political structure with overlapping authorities and competing agendas, which in a time of crisis, which would actually ensure the durability of this political system. And that also means that there is no one like the Speaker of Parliament or whoever else remains at the end of this war at the helm would be able to do a deal with the U.S. that would be politically competent. compromising for them because there are other power centers and they would check each other out. So this is why, in fact, what he has created is a much more radicalized and militarized political structure in Iraq.

I want to go to White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt speaking on Monday. Some of the previous leaders who are now no longer on planet Earth because they lied to the United States and they strung us along in negotiations. and that was unacceptable to the president, which is why many of the previous leaders were killed. Your response, Aliveyaz. Well, let's remember that it was the United States that withdrew from a deal with Iran in 2018

under President Trump's first term in office, not the Iranians who were complying by their obligations as verified by the UN nuclear watchdog. And the amount of time that the Trump administration in its second term has spent with Iranian counterparts negotiating five rounds in 2025 and three rounds in 2026. Amy, if you put it all together, is less than a week. And if that is considered prolonging negotiations, I think probably the Trump administration doesn't have a good sense

of how dealmaking is done. Talk about the thousands of paratroopers, U.S. military, that are being brought into the Persian Gulf area. And the significance of what this means, the possibility that Harg Island and the significance of it would be invaded or islands nearby. And what it means for President Trump to say he may end the war before he controls the Strait of Hormuz. He has also said he wants it called the Strait of Trump. And he might pull out of NATO if they don't help. Well, this is typical mixed messages coming from President Trump that it's unclear that what is it that exactly he wants. On the one hand, he threatens Iran with war crimes, destroying its energy infrastructure, flattening cities and civilian infrastructure if the strait is not opened.

And then on the other hand, he says it's somebody else's problem. And if NATO doesn't help, the U.S. would withdraw from NATO. So typically, if you don't know where you're going, any road would take you there. But reality is that we are now at a critical juncture that the president would have to decide, and we'll see if he makes a statement along these lines in his speech tonight, that he either has to exit this war and accept that he hasn't been able to achieve most of his strategic objectives because the regime is still in place. It is still firing rockets and drones and missiles towards U.S. bases, U.S. allies in the region, even at Israel, with much more efficiency and precision than was the case at the beginning of this war.

It still has a pathway to nuclear weapons because it still has almost half a ton of nuclear material that is unaccounted for. And the straits remains in control of Iran. or the president would have to double down on escalation in order to try to open the strait. And there the options are really unattractive. If he puts boots on the ground on any of these islands, U.S. troops would basically be sitting ducks for Iranian attacks from the mainland. And as we have seen in the case of the Red Sea with the Houthis, these attacks can happen from deep inside the mainland.

And what is the U.S. going to do? Go further and further inland. This would be a Vietnam scenario. You start with air-powered and you start with limited boots on the ground, then it becomes mission creep that lasts for months or years. Or if he goes after Iran's energy infrastructure, then the Iranians would torch the oil and gas facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the UAE, and that would push up the price of oil to above $250 a barrel,

resulting in a global economic meltdown and a political fallout for President Trump in an election year. Can you talk about at what point destabilization of the region breaks down the Gulf Alliance? And talk about the position of each of the Gulf countries. The UAE has just said it may get involved with the military response. The word is that Saudi Arabia has been pushing Trump to continue the attacks on Iran. Talk about what's happening. Well, typically the Gulf countries are not on the same page. They are sort of on a spectrum.

And on the one hand, you have countries like Oman, who would like to see this war end as soon as possible on mutually beneficial terms. Then you have countries like Qatar and Kuwait who understand that at the end of this war, the U.S. is going to leave and be occupied with other crises in the world, but they have to live with Iran for centuries to come. And so they don't want a zero-sum approach here, but they want a situation that is stable. And then you have Bahrain, the UAE at the other end of the spectrum, who are much more hawkish on Iran and want Iran to be defanged in a way that this cannot happen again. And what that means exactly, they haven't really clarified because the Houthis right next door in Yemen, which are a right.

rack-tag group of rebels have not been defanged after years of Saudi and Emirati attacks on them. So it's unclear how a country of 92 million could be defamed. And then you have the Saudis kind of in between these two camps, because the Saudis have been involved in mediation efforts by the Egyptians, the Turks, and the Pakistanis, that now China is supporting to try to resolve this crisis. But at the same time, I think they share. some of the Emirati concerns about a situation in which Iran would feel emboldened at the end of this conflict, and especially if it remains in control of the traffic in the strait, it gives it some

sort of coercive leverage that would be very uncomfortable for the Saudis. So they are on a spectrum, but at the end of a day, they also have a very limited agency. This is a decision that President Trump will probably make without much consultation. with them, and they are the ones who have to live with the consequences. What do you think it's most important for President Trump to say tonight, given he has said things right across the spectrum? Well, look, undoubtedly, he is going to put out a narrative of victory. He is going to talk about sinking the Iranian Navy, which was never a threat to begin with.

Iran had a third-word Navy with no possibility of power projection. Iran's capabilities has always been asymmetric. It's underwater drones, as mines, it's a cruise missiles that pose a threat. And those are the reasons that the strait remains closed. He would talk about killing the leadership of Iran and changing the regime. But again, as we discussed, none of that really means much. I think the most important thing would be to see if he has a set of realistic

strategic objectives. And if he can match the ends and means, and he can basically define what an off-ramp would look like, if he is still seeking a set of maximalist demands that would amount to Iranian capitulation, that is just simply not on the cards. And it means that this conflict can go on for much longer, and the longer it goes on, the higher the cost and the risks for everyone. Ali Baez, I want to thank you for being with us. Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group will link to your new piece. The Iran War has escaped its authors. Ali Baez is speaking to us from Geneva, Switzerland.

This is Democracy Now, DemocracyNow.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. More than a month into the U.S.-Israeli War in Iran, concerns are mounting over the long-term consequences of war on human health, land, and marine ecosystems, and aquifers, as well as war's impact on global warming. Among many concerning incidents, Israel bombed oil facilities around Tehran in the first weeks of the war, causing fires to burn for hours, spawning a thick cloud of toxic smoke over the city of 10 million people. Many residents complained they had trouble breathing as black raindrops full of toxic chemicals fell across the Capitol. A Monday, President Trump threatened to blow.

blow up desalination plants in Iran. He wrote on Truth Social, quote, if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately open for business, we'll conclude our lovely stay in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their electric generating plants, oil wells, and Khark Island, and possibly all desalinization plants, exclamation point, which we have purposefully not yet touched, Trump said. In the Gulf, desalination is the primary source of potable water, and hundreds of desalination plants could be at risk if the conflict escalates. To talk more about this and more, we're joined by the Iranian environmental scientist Kavamadani. He's director of the United Nations University Institute for Water Environment and Health.

Last month, he was awarded the 26 Stockholm Water Prize for his pioneering work on the concept of water bankruptcy. previously served as a deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment, but went into exile after his work on water scarcity brought accusations of sabotage. He says war is the worst nightmare for someone fighting for the environment. He's joining us now from Toronto. Why don't we start there? Why is war the worst for someone who is hoping to save the environment? We know that even in peace times, many governments struggle to pay attention and take serious action about the environment.

So if there is a war, the chance of getting the attention of government in societies would be much more limited. the society, the people who are fighting for their survival and they're trying to stay alive would not think about the future generations and don't have even the bandwidth to think about the environment, clean air, sustainable water, and so on. So this is just only the attention span and the priority, the fact that the environment would get out of the priority list.

But on top of that, just think about the long-term consequences of wars, all the chemical leftovers, all the debris. The greenhouse gases resulting from the war, explosions and everything. So war is going to push us backward. And that's why anyone who cares about the environment should also care about peace. way, congratulations on this major prize you just won, Kaiv Emadani, the Stockholm Prize for Water, considered the Nobel Prize for Water. Can you respond to Trump threatening to blow up more civilian infrastructure, including Iran's desalination, he calls them desalination plants? What exactly that would mean? First, I should say, I'm not going to share my award with him.

But, you know, I think that's the, that's really scary, I mean, from multiple standpoints, but, you know, let's break things down. First thing is that we know the, the war started with the violation of international law. But even if the enemies of the Islamic Republic consider that justified, wars have, even wars have rules. And there are rules to follow even during the wars. Attacking civilian infrastructure is a violation of international humanitarian law. And that can be a war crime, threatening to put essentially to compromise the situation and endanger the civilians who have no agency in this war. The civilians that the attackers on the Islamic Republic claim to want to, you know, claim that they want to rest. is contradictory. So it's not serving anyone if there would be a regime change. If they want to bring

liberty to Iran and Iran without water resources or energy resources would not be in a better place. So that's very confusing even for those who are the strong supporters of this war on the Iranian side. But let's understand the situation. So first of all, Iran doesn't have rely on desalination. It's the rest of the countries in the region. Israel, the Gulf states, and Saudi Arabia are heavily relying on desalination. So if the first resalination plant is attacked, there would be retaliation, and the whole region would be on fire, and the whole region would be losing. And we're talking about the lives of people with no agency in this war, effect on drinking water, health implications. Some of the smaller states,

unlike Iran, don't have the luxury of having access to different sources of water. Some of them only have a few days or few weeks of water left. So if their desalination plans are shut down, we are dealing with a major crisis. But let's not forget that there are other ways that you can disrupt the water system. If the electricity systems are shut down, pumps stop working, treatment plants stop working, water distribution systems fail. So even by attacking the energy infrastructure, you can disrupt the water system. And we know we have heard about Iran's water problems.

We have heard about water problems in the rest of the region. This is one of the most water stressed regions of the world. Many of the countries are already water bankrupt. And just making them worse is not going to help anyone. So there is no purpose or gain or strategic gain in this threat or accomplishing. this essentially a threat. And I hope this is just a social media slogan and not a real action. A recent analysis of the war has found 5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions were released in the first two weeks of the war. The analysis by the Climate and Community Institute found

that the first two weeks drained the global carbon budget faster than 84 countries combined. If you can talk about these climate impacts, and you have said, we always blame the oil-producing states for gas emissions, but we don't blame the buyer. Put those two things together. Yes, I think this is something to argue. In climate activism, the countries in the region that now are going through a war except for Israel are commonly blamed. for selling oil. Now that we see the straight of hormones being shut down,

we know who the buyers are because we are seeing how different countries are complaining. And I've always said that, you know, it's, if you really want to stop oil production and reliance on oil, blame the oil buyers.

And if there are no oil buyers, these countries would not be selling oil. So that's kind of an issue or ethical issue that we have in the environmental campaigns. But now these countries are on their threat. They cannot sell their oil, as we know, or at least their oil production is very limited. But there is a war going on. All the weapons that have been produced have been, have had carbon footprints, the missiles that fly, the jets, the tanks that are burned, the oil fields that are being attacked and the gas

fields that are being burnt, all of these are producing a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet we are not seeing much, much complaint. We are not seeing climate activists out on streets and calling for the stop of the war. And, you know, I have had a lot of Iranians questioning these things in the past from me, why we see hypocrisy when it comes to climate change activism or environmental activism. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but I expect to see more people who fight for peace, who advocate for peace, who advocate for the environment. The impacts are lasting.

What we are seeing in the Middle East, as we know, is affecting all of us right now, but also in the years and decades to come. The pollution that would remain in the region, the greenhouse gases that are going up into the atmosphere, they are going to impact us in the long term. And kind of before we go, just have a minute, but if you can talk about water bankruptcy, what that means? So water bankruptcy, just like financial bankruptcy, explains the situation where we are suffering

from insolvency, meaning that the amount of water use is far more than the rate of renewal or the income that nature gives us. We have the check-in account, surface water, we have the savings account or groundwater. We have exhaustive. our chicken account. We have also, our savings accounts are also declining around the world and as a result we are seeing shrinking surface water systems, rivers, wetlands and so on, declining groundwater, land subsidence, desertification by diversity loss, wildfires, and so on. And this is a situation that we can no longer call a crisis because these systems won't bounce back and we have entered an era called the era of water bankruptcy in which systems lose their ability to restore their

historical condition. Action for dealing with this situation is totally different. We need to admit that we have failed if we want to save the future and enable the future. Combine mitigation with adaptation to a new reality that is more restricted than before. Kevin Medani, want to thank you for being with us. We'll certainly have you back on to talk more about water bankruptcy. Kavamadani is Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water Environment and Health, previously served as the deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment, just awarded the 26 Stockholm Water Prize, often referred to as the Nobel of Water, speaking to us from Toronto, Canada. He went into exile from Iran. Coming up days after, Defense Secretary Pete Higgseth

prayed for overwhelming violence against U.S. enemies. Pope Leo condemned the war in Iran and said warmongers have blood on their hands back in 15 seconds. Ark of emotion by Leonard C. Miller. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman. As Christians across the world are observing Holy Week, Pope Leo is escalating his calls for the war in Iran to end. He spoke in Rome on Tuesday in a rare moment. move mentioned President Trump by name. President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war.

Hopefully he's looking for an offering. Hopefully he's looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that's being created and it's increasing constant. police and else you. In his Palm Sunday address in Vatican City, Pope Leo called the war in Iran atrocious and said leaders who start wars have hands full of blood.

Brothers and sisters, this is our God, Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them. saying, even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. Pope Leo's remarks were widely seen as a rebuke of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who recently prayed for military commanders to unleash overwhelming violence against enemies. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead,

unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy. Preserve their lives, sharpen their resolve, and let justice be executed swiftly and without remorse that evil may be driven back and wicked souls deliver to the eternal damnation prepared for them. Secretary Hague Seth, whose long embraced Christian nationalism, has repeatedly invoked Jesus Christ in recent weeks during official remarks about the war in Iran. To the families who said, finish this, we will. And I say the same to every American who want peace through strength. May Almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight. And again, to the American people, please pray for them every day on bended knee with your family, in your schools,

in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ. We're joined now by Reverend Muntha Isaac, Palestinian Christian theologian director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace, and justice, the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Ramallah. He made global headlines in 2023 for giving a Christmas sermon titled Christ in the rubble. He later wrote the book, Christ in the rubble, faith, the Bible, and the genocide in Gaza. Well, we're speaking to you now in the midst of the U.S. Israeli war on Iran and Iran retaliating throughout the region. if you can first comment on the Pope's Palm Sunday address where he talked about God refusing the prayers of leaders who have hands full of blood, Reverend Isaac. Yeah, thank you for having me, Amy.

I applaud the Pope for his courage to say what his position demands him to say as a leader of faith, as someone will look up to to speak truth to power and to call for. a vision of peace. And what we've witnessed is actually two versions of Christianity. One represented by the Pope, shaped by the ethics of Christ, shaped even by Old Testament prophetic tradition that emphasize justice, care for the poor, for the oppressed, and as I said, shaped by the vision, the ethics of Jesus, blessed are the merciful, blessed are those who are thirsty for righteousness and peace. At the other hand, we see another version shaped by Christian nationalism shaped by even a fascination of return it to the days of the crusades that by Pete

Hexas and many Christian Zionists. And I'm grateful that the Pope is bringing back sanity and trying to reclaim, as I said, the ethics of Jesus into this conversation. Our God is not a God of war. And this is really frightening to have this war framed as a religious war, even as a holy war. And ironically, they accuse the Iranian regime of invoking religion into their politics. And now we have the same thing done by the American Secretary of War. So I'm grateful for the voice and courage of Pope Leo on this matter. I also want to ask you about what's happening in Jerusalem. And Sunday, Israeli police stop the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulch.

on Palm Sunday to celebrate Mass. Due to Israel's ban on gatherings at religious sites during the Iran War, the Latin Patriarchate said it was the first time in centuries that the heads of the church were prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the site, calling the incident a grave precedent. Following the backlash, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Latin patriarch would receive full and immediate access to the church. Now, interestingly, I think probably the most powerful response for Netanyahu were the people you refer to as the Christian Zionists, like the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Hacobie, and Ted Cruz. If you can link these two.

Yes, well, first of all, we must emphasize that the actions of Israel stopping the patriarch from going to the church has nothing to do with safety. security. So let's be clear. They were four leaders going to pray in the church alone. The church has respected every security measure with terms for safety and the number of people allowed to gather. I mean, if Israel is really concerned, they would go to the Israeli-Jewish neighborhoods and stop people from gathering. But let's be clear again. If Israel is concerned for our safety, they would stop the settlers from attacking us in the West Bank. They would not kill us in mass numbers, committed genocide in Gaza. This is about control. They stopped

them on the way to the church. They want to emphasize who's in charge of Jerusalem. This is what it's all about. And you mentioned the response of Prime Minister Netanyahu saying that now he's kind enough to allow us to go and pray in our churches. I mean, do we really need permission from an occupying authority? Because let's remember Jerusalem, I mean, Israel does not have sovereignty over, should not have sovereignty over Jerusalem. It was annexed illegally. And now he comes across as someone who's allowing Christians to worship in the church, knowing that we have been worshipping here for centuries uninterrupted, this is what it's all about. And I think the backlash shows sometimes that Israel does some missteps when it comes to its

image. They're always concerned about their image. So they've seen the backlash to the extent that even their biggest cheerleaders, the Christian Zionist, had to interfere. and I find it troubling that only now they come to the defense of Christians, given the great numbers of violations exempt Christians by Israel that we have articulated, that we have said. Christian Zionists are a big danger to our region at the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice. We do our best to counter that theology because we think it's a theology of war, of violence.

And what's needed at this time is to reclaim the teaching. of our religions, of our faith that promote justice and peace, not the idea of a tribal God of favoritism. So as much as, you know, we were surprised by the comments of the ambassador Hackeby and Ted Cruz at the same time, let's not kid ourselves. They are not really on the side of Christians in the Holy Land. This is all about the image of Israel in the West. Your final thoughts as you speak to us from.

Ramallah from the occupied West Bank in this holy week, your trajectory from Christ in the rubble in 2023, and then writing the book about it to finally where we are today with a war on Iran. I mean, sadly, things are not that much better since I made that sermon or wrote the book. Let's not be under the illusion that the war on Gaza has. ended or the genocide has entered. The siege is not lifted yet. Aid is not entering. People are still suffering as a result of ruthless decision makers who have total no regard, I mean, to human lives. And on Good Friday, we're reminded of this idea that Jesus himself became the victim of the violence of empire and religious extremism. And although

things will look many times dark, silent. There will be times in which even we doubt, where is God? Jesus himself on the cross cried, my God, why have you forsaken me? We cannot lose faith that justice will ultimately win. Resurrection is about the victory of life. And in these dark moments when millions are displaced, not from Gaza now, now even in Lebanon are displaced in which we see children pulled from under the rubble in Iran. We see more and more embrace of the culture of death and violence and even celebrating death. More than ever, we need courageous faith leaders to say what the Pope said, that God takes sides with the victims, with the poor, with the marginalized,

and that God is looking for voices of peace, voices of sanity, voices that elevate human dignity and life above every national religious ideology. And I hope this is the message that is preached from pulpits around the globe in this Easter in which we celebrate life and the resurrection of Jesus. Reverend Mather Isaac, Palestinian Christian theologian director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice, pastor of the Lutheran Church. This is democracy now coming up. 3,800 me packing workers are on strike in Greeley, Colorado, back in 20 seconds. Glory, glory, hallelujah, since I lay my burdens down. Glory, glory, hallelujah, since I lay my burdens down.

Glory, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, performed by Rising Stars, Fife and Drum Band at the Brooklyn Folk Festival. This is Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman. In Greeley, Colorado, more than 3,800 meatpacking workers are in the third week of a strike. It's the first major strike in the meatpacking industry in 40 years. The workers are protesting unfair and dangerous labor conditions at JBS USA, the world's largest food producer. The Greeley facility processes 6,000 head of cattle a day. United Food and Commercial Workers, local seven members have been fighting for wage increases that take into consideration, rising health care costs and requiring the company to pay for life-saving personal protective equipment. That's PPE, like metal aprons

that protect workers from cutting themselves. Currently, the workers must pay for their own equipment. It comes out of their own salaries. For more, we're joined by two guests. In Greeley, we're joined by Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, representing the JBS workers in here in New York, Caitlin Clark, Director at Essential Workers for Democracy. Let's go to Greeley first. Kim, if you can start off by talking about the significance of you going into this third week of the strike, and what exactly you're demanding? Yeah, good morning.

As you said, this is a historic fight with these very brave workers, which is mostly led. The strike is mostly led by immigrant workers. This workforce is, this workforce is, is. made up of workers that speak around 57 different languages from all over the world doing this really important work feeding our communities, our country, and in fact, the entire world. You know, we've been fighting over JBS's unfair labor practices. This is a company that doesn't follow the law. They are violating workers' rights as well as human rights for these workers who work in this

very dangerous industry. as you said, charging and garnishing workers for the replacement of personal protective equipment. Workers can die or have significant dangerous injuries as a result of not having the proper equipment at work. This company is one of the richest companies in the world and the wage increases that they're offering simply just don't keep up with the economy and the high cost of living. it's less than 2% a year for their wage increases while they are shifting the cost of health care. And we've seen an increase of health care over the last five years moving up over 37%. Really, these wage increases that they're offering really come up to about 8 cents an hour, which isn't going to help workers or sustain a workforce in an industry that has a high turnover rate

because it's so fast-paced, so dangerous. and workers are being exploited. This is a really big fight, and we're really fighting to make change throughout the industry. How dangerous is it? I mean, you're talking about they are required to buy their own PPE personal protective equipment out of their meager salaries? So what's happening is that JBS is keeping a very low inventory,

personal protective equipment. So when workers are hired, They're either provided initially with equipment that may be used, damaged, doesn't fit them. And if you are maybe a size large and they give you a 5x, it's easy to get ripped. They're working with at a fast pace with sharp equipment, disassembling a very large animal. So if something happens to your equipment and it's stolen, it's damaged, it doesn't fit you, your check is being garnished to replace that equipment. And some workers are working with damaged equipment because they can't afford the garnishment,

which puts our members' lives at risk. And you have a thousand Haitian workers at the Greeley plant that have filed a class action lawsuit for discriminatory practices at JBS that push them to work at dangerously fast line speeds? Yes, yes, including allegations of. human trafficking. There's been, you know, allegations of child labor use here. There was a lawsuit over that. It's wage theft that's happening with these garnishments, with these workers. And there is a lot of issues around bathroom breaks in this plant. I mean, we've heard about this within the industry. It happens at JBS where workers are not allowed to use the bathroom, have a

restroom, proper restroom break. They're retaliated against if they asked to use the bathroom. They've been disciplined over that issue. It's really horrible working conditions for the largest food producer in the world. And Caitlin Clark, your director at Essential Workers for Democracy, put this in a national context. I mean, you have the broader immigrant workers movement, including places like Omaha, Nebraska, and also just this whole issue. of the workplace conditions and how the immigrant crackdown affects their work every day. Yeah. So JBS is one of the largest meatpacking companies in the world. And 5% of all beef consumed in the United States comes just from this JBS Greeley plant that's currently on strike.

These workers literally feed America. And yet JBS has paid over $100 million in court settlements, legal fees and fines in just the last year alone for illegal collusion with other meatpackers in the industry to repress worker wages and increase prices for consumers. And this is really a historic strike. These workers are standing up not just for their own plant, but the meatpacking industry as a whole, which, as you mentioned, is an industry that employs predominantly immigrant workers. And what we saw at JBS when these workers took their strike authorization vote several weeks ago was that several immigration officers were stationed outside of the plant on that day. But these workers ultimately voted to authorize a strike by 99%. And being out on the picket line,

it's just incredible to see workers from all around the world, teaching each other chance in their languages, playing music together, dancing, sharing food. And it's really an incredible just picture of solidarity across the barriers that the meat packers typically try to use to divide workers and prevent them from organizing. But now we're seeing lots of solidarity on the line. Caitlin Clark, director at Essential Workers for Democracy, and Kim Cordova, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, will continue to cover this strike. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.