Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-09-29 Tuesday

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

Democracy Now! Tuesday, September 29, 2026

in Denmark, this is Democracy Now. I want to thank the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister, Greenland, Denmark, and we're going to have a tremendous relationship, a secure relationship, and we look forward to it. After repeatedly threatening to seize Greenland, President Trump has signed a deal that would allow the U.S. to expand its military presence there, but Greenland will remain a territory of Denmark. As we broadcast from here in Copenhagen, we'll speak to the chair of the National Organization for Greenlanders in Denmark. Then is the death toll in Gaza top 74,000 over the past three years, we'll speak to the Palestinian analyst Mohamed Shahada.

He's from Gaza that lives here in Denmark. You see, basically, Israel tried since 1948 until today to destroy us as a people, as a group, and they failed at it. Our people are still there resilient. And next week marks the 25th anniversary of the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. We'll speak to the Danish Afghan journalist Najib Khashya. In 2008, he was kidnapped by the Taliban. And then he escaped.

His most recent documentary on Afghanistan is titled Winning Hearts and Minds. All that in more, come. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman in Copenhagen, Denmark. Iran's foreign minister has held indirect talks with the U.S. on a diplomatic proposal to end seven months of fighting. On Monday, Foreign Minister of Basarachi said he discussed a plan with Qatari mediators that would see a phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within seven days in exchange for an end to all high. hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade of Iran, the unfreezing of billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets, and an end to sanctions on Iranian oil. The indirect talks came as Iran defended its strikes on U.S. bases across the mid-east as self-defense, warning neighboring countries would come under further attack if they continue to host U.S. forces. Iranian diplomat Nasser Assadi Nizari delivered the warning in an address to the UN General Assembly on Monday.

The missiles that killed 168 children at the primary school in Minop and struck the lawmard sports complex during the U.S. Israel regimes joined aggression against Iran will launch from neighboring territory. These are only two of many such examples. In the UK, the five men who are arrested. on suspicion of terrorism after they allegedly approached the RAF Fairford military base carrying explosives, have been released on bail. The UK has allowed U.S. warplanes to launch long-range strikes on Iran from R.A.F. Fairford since March 1st. Fueling speculation, Iran was behind a plot to attack the base. This is Tristan Wilkinson, the counselor for the Katswal District. So there was a specific threat about six weeks ago from the Iranians on this base.

At the time, there was an increased surveillance around the area. This is an operational base. It's no secret that we have American bombers here that are taking part in what's happening in the Middle East at the moment. So there's always the risk. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the incident at RAF Royal Air Force Fair, quote, clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor, unquote. Iran's embassy in London responded that a, quote, categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations, unquote.

In Ukraine, a wave of Russian drone and missile strikes has killed nine people and left 80 others wounded. Among Russia's targets was Ukraine's Academy of Science in Kiev, where two people were killed by a Russian drone that struck during the workday Monday. Survivor said the attack came without a sound and without warning. I don't understand the senseless war. I don't understand any of what's going on. I don't know how to resolve this issue.

But what's happening is not right. And it's ordinary people who are suffering. President Volodymyr Zelensky said 80 of the 120 drones fired at Ukraine. were a newer jet-powered model, making them harder to shoot down. Elsewhere officials in eastern Poland scrambled fighter jets and ordered residents to shelter in place after a Russian drone crashed near the Polish-Ukrainian border Monday. Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed long-range attacks on two Russian factories and an oil facility far from the front lines. The Trump administration issued new fuel economy rules on Monday that loosen the limits automakers must meet on pollution from gas-powered cars and

light trucks. Rules set under the Biden administration called for vehicles to average about 50 miles per gallon by 2031. The Trump rules cut the target to just under 35 miles per gallon. Dave Cook, the senior vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists Clean Transportation program said, quote, the federal government's decision to gut fuel economy standards is a handout to automakers and oil companies that will strap American consumers already struggling with an affordability crisis, unquote. The White House is defending its decision to run campaign style ads promoting President Trump during NFL games and network news broadcasts. The 30-second spots include the tag. paid for by the U.S. government. The White House calls them public service announcements,

but Democratic lawmakers and former ethics officials argue their political ads and violate federal appropriations laws and the Hatch Act. One 30-second ad titled Final Battle is nearly identical to a campaign video Trump posted to Truth Social in 2024. In the ad, Trump promises to expel the quote-unquote warmongue. globalists and deep state actors from government. More than $300,000 has been spent on the ad. We will route the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all. Senate Majority Leader Republican John Thune told reporters, quote,

it's a great message. I like the message. but it shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars, he said. In Texas, state election officials have sent tens of thousands of delayed voter registration applications to county election officials after discovering an error. Some of the applications had languished for over a year. The backlog sparked a scramble by counties to process the applications with just weeks left before November's midterm elections.

In more news from Texas, a black woman who was sentenced to five years in prison for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election has overturned her conviction on appeal, capping a nearly decade-long legal battle. The five-to-four decision by Texas' highest criminal court ends the case against Crystal Mason, whose provisional ballot wasn't even counted since she was disquited. qualified from voting at the time due to a past felony conviction for tax fraud. To see our coverage of Crystal Mason's case, go to our website at DemocracyNow.org. A top FBI official said Monday, he's stepping down about a year after he was nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate. Andrew Bailey served as co-depity director of the FBI in an unusual arrangement with right-wing podcaster, Bongino before Bonino left the FBI in January after clashing with former Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files.

Bailey had been tasked with overseeing some of the investigations into President Trump's debunk claims that the 2020 election was rigged. Meanwhile, the FBI's confirmed hackers accessed a trove of personal data on potentially tens of thousands of current and form FBI employees, including their names, addresses, phone numbers, and details on their spouses. OpenAI is scrapping the release of its latest AI model known as GPT6.1 Astra over safety concerns. This comes after OpenAI agents interfered with websites run by the U.S. Education Department, the Commerce Department, and the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, without the company's knowledge.

In an interview, the Open AI head of safety said the latest model had scored poorly on its ability to align with humans and showed higher levels of deception. Meanwhile, Reuters reports Anthropics prospectus for an initial public offering in IPO details how the company lost $42 billion last year, while warning investors that advanced AI could pose, quote, catastrophic or existential risks to human. humanity, unquote. This comes as chipmaker, NVIDIA, announced the largest ever stock buyback increase in U.S. corporate history valued at $150 billion. Invidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, has gone on record saying he rejects warnings that AI could make humans extinct. Invidias among the companies profiting most from the rapid buildout of AI data centers, which has drawn protests across the country. The Trump administration announced Monday it had reversed a Biden-era policy that broadened the

federal ban on sex discrimination in schools to cover LGBTQ people. Shwali Patel of National Women's Law Center responded, quote, sexual harassment and assault, continue to be pervasive in schools, and to the fullest extent possible, we should be working to enforce the laws that protect students, survivors of sexual violence. Yet Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump administration have decided to ignore what survivors need instead weaponizing Title IX to attack trans students, she said. And a New York prosecutor has reopened a sexual assault investigation at Cornell University. After a woman alleged she'd been drugged, assaulted, and gang rape by seven former and current members of Kai-5 fraternity, in 2024 when she was a 20-year-old undergraduate student.

The allegations came in a lawsuit filed this month by a woman identified only as Jane Doe, who says campus officials and law enforcement failed to take her accusations seriously. On Monday, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houton defended his initial decision not to seek charges, writing, quote, seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we're provided with additional evidence, unquote. A lawyer for the plaintiff says his client's claims have not materially changed since she filed a police report in the weeks after the alleged assault. On Sunday, New York Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez addressed the controversy

at a Students versus Billionaire's event in Ithaca, New York. I want to be clear that the culture of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States and including Cornell University in this instance. That Jane Doe, that survivor, lost her education because you can't stay in school when something like that happens to you. rape is often used as an act of war. It is one of the most horrifying violations that a human being can endure, a form of torture. You can't stay in school. The fact that she had to lose her education and those men were protected by an institution and granted an Ivy League degree as a reward, never again.

Never again. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman, broadcasting from Copenhagen, Denmark. Remember when President Trump said this shortly after he returned to the White House? We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it. But we need it really for international security.

world security. And I think we're going to get it. One way or the other, we're going to get it. It's German. Well, after more than a year and a half of threatening to take over Greenland by force, President Trump last week signed a 10-page agreement with Greenland and Denmark that fell short of his earlier demands to turn Greenland into U.S. territory. The deal that Trump described as tremendous allows the United States to open new bases in Greenland, bolstering its military presence on the vast, mineral-rich and strategically located island. Under the 1951 Defense of Greenland Treaty, the United States already has wide latitude to station forces and build military bases in Greenland. The U.S. currently has one active military base on Greenland, about 160 troops on the ground. During the height of the Cold War, the U.S. maintains 17 military installations in Greenland with over 10,000 troops.

Under the New Deal, the U.S. would be allowed to build two new bases. The new agreement signed shortly after President Trump's speech to the U.N. General Assembly last week, recognizes Greenland as part of Denmark, but would still apply if Greenland eventually chooses independence. Describing is, quote, a deal that could last for a. However, the Danish Prime Minister, Metzv-Krederksson, praise the deal as strengthening NATO and staving off the growing presence of Russia and China in the Arctic. This deal is good for the United States. It's good for Greenland, for Denmark, for the NATO alliance, and therefore also good for Europe.

Mr. President, you have been very clear. You don't want adversaries to come too close. I fully agree. And with this deal, they are not. We are making sure that they will not be allowed to get any control or significant influence in Greenland. Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens Frederick Nielsen, reiterated his support for the United States and the NATO alliance. This agreement should put to rest any doubt today and in the future about where Greenland's loyalty lies. Our commitment to this alliance and to the security we build together is not in question.

We are, have been and will remain a steadfast friend of the United States and a part of the Western Alliance. Your security is our security. And our security is your security. To understand more about this deal and what it really means, we're joined now by Julie Gadmacher, chair of Wagut, which means us, an organization for Greenlanders in Denmark. Julia is a former member of the parliament here in Denmark. Welcome to Democracy Now. It's great to have you. Well, in your country here, talk about the significance of this.

You had President Trump saying he's taking over Greenland. He's annexing Greenland. He's occupying Greenland. And now there's this deal made between your country, Greenland and Denmark and the United States, but involves expansion of the U.S. military presence. Well, we already have military presence by the U.S. in Greenland, and we have had that for several decades, actually. It's been even more in the past.

So two more military bases will not be new in Greenland. But it's very important for the Greenlandic people that they are listened to because the last time the Americans left the bases that didn't clean up. So this is one of the very important questions asked by the public in Greenland. But the deal has been absolutely amazing in so many years in Greenland because we have felt listened to the last week. For the first time in world history, an American president has said out loud. Yes, it's the Greenlander's right for self-determination. And we've been not only fighting for Greenland the past one and a half year, but also been the front of the fight for democracy in the world,

because we've been fighting for our own right to decide whether or not Greenland should be part of Denmark, U.S., or become independent. And with this deal, Greenland can do what Greenlanders and Greenland want. to do. So I think in many ways it's definitely a good deal for Greenland and for Greenlanders. So it's been great news, especially concerning the last one and a half year, where we have felt threatened by the American president. So what would you like to see happen with Greenland? I mean, you were a member of the Danish parliament here. You are a Greenlander. What does Oagut, your organization of Greenlanders in Denmark

want? Yeah, as a former member of Danish Parliament and also as a Greenland I've been living for so many years in Greenland. I'm a mother also. So for me, it's very important that the future of Greenland will be decided by Greenlanders, also in Greenland. I think in so many ways, we have been threatened by military with force to be taken over by annexation of the U.S. Congress still has. the proposal that they want to annex Greenland. So I would like to say that happen in reality, not only on a paper, now signed by the American president, but also in reality, definitely.

But I also kind of have a worry that the trust between Americans, Greenlanders and Danes, it's not the same anymore because we've always relied on the Americans. We've always trusted the Americans and the American president to be our protector. But now, after threats in one and a half year to annexed Green, and we don't have the same faith or the same trust in Americans and the U.S. president. So we definitely have something to work on in the future. Julie Rademacher, so far Trump has vowed to build two, as he says, very major basis in Greenland. There's also interests in Greenland's resources.

If you can talk about this, last month it was reported that a U.S. oil company linked to President Trump, cold Greenland energy, was preparing to drill in Greenland without local approval. The firm recently landed drilling equipment on Greenland's eastern coast. Greenlands, government issued a strong warning that no permission was granted. The Island's Mineral Resources Authority must provide all future logistical operations before they proceed, officials said. What are Trump's personal interests here? Well, that question you have to ask the American president, but I can say that as Greenlanders, our interest is to be listened to. We have our own democracy in Greenland. We have a self-rule

government. We are also part of the kingdom of Denmark. So when we make deals, we do it together with Greenland and Denmark. And then, of course, also negotiate with other countries like the US. If Americans want to drill for oil in Greenland, it has to be approved by the population in Greenland. You know, Greenlanders don't go to the US and drill for oil. So, of course, Americans also have to ask Greenlanders if they want to... drill for oil, and the government and municipalities have to approve it. And this hasn't been the case. So in so many ways, we still fight for the platform and also to be listened to as Greenlanders

because of the MAGA movement and because of all these investments going on. We are still quite worried that money men from MAGA movement will try and buy Greenland in other hands. also despite the fact of this new deal on security. So I think we have very much aware of that. Trump said in a social media post announcing this agreement that it gives the United States permanent control over security and all other needs in Greenland completely addressing all of our many U.S. concerns, he said.

What does he mean permanent control of all other needs? Well, again, you have to ask that question to the American president, but I think in many ways the deal is good because the right for self-determination is approved in the deal. And also the fact that if Greenlanders want to become independent within the NATO alliance, it can happen. So for the first time in history, Greenlanders are actually acknowledged and also approved as a people for the right to Greenland. But at the same time, we can see that if you want to build U.S. military bases in Greenland, it also has a chapter in the deal where it says it has to be with respect of the culture, of the fishery, of the hunting. Right now it's hunting season in Greenland, so everyone is talking about reindeer's and caribou hunting. And at the same time, we sit here in Copenhagen discussing this in a room. And many people ask me here in Denmark, so how, what do the Greenlanders talk about?

And I tell them, well, they talk about reindeer's and caribus because it's that time of the year. But at the same time, yes, definitely we sleep better now at night with this deal, but we still have uncertainty and worries. And we don't feel completely that we can completely rely on the American citizens. Who are the adversaries that the Danish Prime Minister referred to? Adversaries. He talks about the adversaries, the interest of different powers in the Arctic. Yes, I think in so many ways, the Arctic is opening up. We already saw that in the American U.S. Navy strategies from 2018.

I believe it's very important that now Greenland, Denmark and the European Union works, and new Arctic strategies. And also they work on working to, they work very close together with the Americans about security in the Arctic because who's the real enemy here? You know, maybe it's Russia and China and not Denmark and the US. So I think it's very important that we can make deals on security and that we now have leaders in the same room signing deals, but also diplomats that can negotiate because we haven't seen that for one and a half year.

just felt terrified and being threatened. So this is definitely a new situation, but we are still worried as Greenlanders in both Denmark and also in Greenland. And who is paying for this deal? Trump said there will be no cost to the United States. Yeah, that's kind of interesting, because at the same time, Trump wants more military in Greenland. So I don't know who's paying for the new military in Greenland, but we can hear on the Danish and Greenlandic leaders that it will not be the Danes and the Greenlanders that will pay.

So it's going to be interesting to follow. And I can see in financial acts and suggestions and proposals for next and next year again, that it isn't in the budget. So that's a good question to ask back home in the U.S. Also, aren't there four unexploded nuclear bombs dropped by a U.S. B-52 bomber there from 1968 still under the ice? Yes, and there were also this very crazy project where the Americans drilled like a tunnel inside of the ice cap.

So we have several military bases where the Americans haven't cleaned up in Greenland. And that's also why many people in Greenland are worried that these military bases will be built, but with no respect of the culture, of the local people, of the hunters, but also of the environment and nature. Because for Greenlanders, it's, for us, the nature is like a holy place. It's what we come from. It's what we live by. So for us, it's very important that it's respected.

Julie Radamacher, we want to thank you so much for being with you. It's nice to be in the same studio with you here in Copenhagen. She is chair of Waukut. It means us. the National Organization for Greenlanders in Denmark. She is a former member of the Danish Parliament. Coming up is the death toll in Gaza top 74,000 over these past three years. We'll speak to the Palestinian analyst Mohamed Shahada.

He's from Gaza but lives here in Denmark. Stay with us. Song by Ayup Peter, a Greenlandic, Inuit activist and attorney. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman. We are broadcasting from Copenhagen, Denmark. The Palestinian death toll from Israel's war on Gaza surpassed 74,000. According to Gaza's health ministry, Israeli attacks since the so-called ceasefire last October have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians. Gaza's government media office puts the toll even higher at more than 1,400. On Sunday, two Palestinians, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on downtown Gaza City. Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, settler violence has killed at least 1,107 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. On Monday, a senior

UN official condemned what he called the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. This is UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Rames Al-Aqbarov, addressing the UN Security Council. I strongly condemn the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which fuels tensions, impedes access by Palestinians to their land, and threatens the validity, viability of a fully independent, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state. The rapidly expanding settlement footprint, including outpost, is taking place in conjunction with a rise in settler attacks.

Well, democracy now is broadcasting from Denmark, which recently joined 20 other countries as well as the European Commission and signing a declaration opposing Israel's planned settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. Denmark, along with 11 other countries, is also backing sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. On Monday, Denmark's permanent representative to the United Nations, Christina Marcus Lassen, address the UN General Assembly. In Gaza, civilians continue to pay the police. applies. Far more must be done to secure humanitarian access and long-term peace. And it

the occupied West Bank, settler violence and settlement expansion, threatened the daily lives of Palestinians and undermine the prospects for a future Palestinian state. This has to stop. That was Denmark's ambassador to the United Nations, Christina Marcus Lassen. For more, we're joined here in Copenhagen by Mohamed Shahada, writer and analyst from Gaza, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Mohamed Shahada, welcome back to Democracy Now. It's wonderful to be here with you in the studio in Copenhagen. We're usually interviewing you by Zoom.

These are extremely harrowing times. It's been almost a year since the Trump plan for Gaza was created, October 9, 2025. Can you explain what that plan is? What has been fulfilled so far? Thanks so much, Amy. Great to finally see you in person, one of my favorite heroes. So the idea of the plan was to divide the reconstruction, rehabilitation, Israeli withdrawal decommissioning of Hamas,

and Palestinian statehood into three phases. The first one was related to early recovery, so it would see Israel suspending its attacks, allowing 600 trucks per day of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza, rehabilitating basic infrastructure, water, electricity, hospitals, roads, sanitation, and basically opening up the Rafah border crossing for people to be able to travel in and out. The second phase was the one that relates to Hamas decommissioning and Israel withdrawal from Gaza as well as the reconstruction, the rebuilding of the enclave.

And the third one is the long-term one that relates to Palestinian statehood. So far, only one item of the 20 items on the Trump plan has been fulfilled. and that is the release of every single Israeli hostage in Gaza and the remains of dead hostages. Nothing else was completely fulfilled. Israel either violated its obligations completely or fulfilled some of them extremely partially to the point that it does not have any significant impact on the ground.

For example, food instead of 600 trucks of humanitarian aid per day, we are getting an average of 95 trucks per day, which is less than 20 percent. Instead of suspending attacks on Gaza, Gaza, Israel has been bombing Gaza every day. As you mentioned, 1,400 people killed since the so-called ceasefire started. And the idea here is that the plan ended up just buying more time for the genocide, allowing Israel to continue it with sort of low intensity, low profile,

amid a facade and promises of progress. But those promises, if there is no enforcement mechanism behind them, they read mostly as a wish list, they don't read as a plan. Why did Palestinians sign this deal? You're a Palestinian from Gaza. I've asked Palestinian negotiators and Arab mediators as well, what was the highest expectation behind that deal. And the answer is unanimous.

Nobody expected it to be fulfilled completely. The highest ambition was three things, allowing more food to go in at a point when Israel manufactured famine in Gaza, reducing the Israeli killing machine in Gaza as much as possible. So before that ceasefire was put in place, Israel was killing an average of 100 people per day. Now it's about five people per day, which is still monstrous and atrocious. But the idea was to reduce the rate of the killing. And the third one was to prevent the mass migration or the mass ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

That was the ambition from the Palestinian and Arab side. The other dimension is that they were blackmailed very openly by the Trump administration, that if they don't sign onto that deal before the Nobel Peace Peace, Prize was announced on Friday in that October 2025 that Netanyahu would get a total free hand to dissimate Gaza and annihilated. So Arab mediators told us that Steve Whitkoff, Jared Kushner, would keep nudging them daily to say, you need to get a deal by Wednesday, you need to get a deal by Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize is going to be announced tomorrow, and we want to make the big guy happy.

That was the idea of the deal. And of course, President Trump was not the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Precisely, but he managed to steal it anyways from Machado. Yes. From the Venezuelan woman who won the Peace Prize, she handed her trophy to him, and though the Nobel Committee said it doesn't matter who hands a trophy to anyone, we give out the prize. If you can talk about at this point, what role Netanyahu is playing? Well, Netanyahu is doing two things.

number one, he is using Gaza, the destruction there, the citle terrorism that we see in the West Bank as his election campaign. So he's promising the Israeli public that if he's re-elected, he will finish the job in Gaza. We're seeing him, his Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, his Minister of Finance, Bisleil Smutrich, all of them promising one after the other that Israel's plan for Gaza remains resuming military operations back to full scale,

doing even more destruction than what we have seen before, because now Israel doesn't have any hostages in there so they can accelerate the damage and destruction exponentially and basically ethnically cleansing Gaza completely and rebuilding Jewish-only settlements in the enclave. So that is number one. The other thing is that Netanyahu is trying to show that he's stronger than the United States and the international community, that he cannot be pressured by Trump. So when the Trump plan was announced and the Trump roadmap was then announced this year,

I think in July, when Hamas accepted to disarm, lay down its arms. in return for Israel's withdrawal. Netanyahu used it for his theatrics to pretend to be stronger than Trump, to pretend to be the Winston Churchill of Israel, that he can stand on his own against the storm and not bend at all. And one of the reasons for this is because opposition parties in Israel are attacking Netanyahu from the right, not from the left. So Gari Eisenkot, the next prime year in Israel,

supposedly the one with the highest chance of winning and becoming prime minister, has been telling the Israeli public that Netanyahu will, quote, squander and waste away the achievements, the military achievements of the IDF in Gaza and capitulate to Trump and fulfill his roadmap. So Netanyahu is stuck in the position of pretending that, no, I am actually stronger than Trump and I can prevent any progress. I wanted to get your response to the foreign minister of the UK. We were just in London yesterday. Ed Miliband was in Liverpool addressing the Labour Party. And I want to say to the millions of people in this country and indeed elsewhere who have been moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people, we hear you. You were right.

We call out ethnic cleansing by the settler terrorists in the West Bank. We call out the evidence of war crimes. in Gaza. We call out Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine and we match words with action. We will ban the import of goods from illegal settlements. We will disrupt the supply lines of British finance, British construction and British services for illegal settlements. And when it comes to the attempt to destroy the two-state solution, this party, this movement, this government says we will not let you succeed. that's the British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband on Monday, saying there will be new economic

sanctions on Israeli settlements. This speech came a day after police, though, arrested more than 50 protesters outside the Labor Party Conference in Liverpool with demonstrators nonviolently urging support for the Ban direct action group Palestine Action in the UK. Mohamed Shahada. It's extraordinary and very surprising to me. a few years ago before October 7th, before the genocide in Gaza, the idea of even demanding from those governments to impose sanctions on Israeli settlements was so laughable, so impossible and unthinkable

that no one would even try to bring it up. And what we see now with Id Miliband, it's an extraordinary speech. It was very heartwarming to watch, especially from someone that comes from a Jewish background that grew up in a household that was very supportive of Israel and to see that transformation. It shows even more deeply that, It's not about Ed Miliband himself.

It shows the fundamental shift in public opinion in the United Kingdom that now those in power are trying basically to catch up with where public opinion is. Nonetheless, what we see here is an extraordinary shift in rhetorics, but not an equally strong shift in actions. There's still more that needs to be done, banning weapon exports to Israel, basically sanctioning Israeli government officials Netanyahu himself, his entire cabinet. the Israeli army.

If Ed Miliband is saying that war crimes were committed in Gaza, that incriminates the chain of command. And the last point is that I hope that Miliband's speech is the future of the Democratic Party in the next few months. The son of the imprisoned Palestinian leader, Marwan Barguti, his name is Ara Barguti, was recently interviewed by Pierce Morgan and shared his reaction to seeing National Security Minister

to Marban Gavir, haunting his father in prison in Avidia. As a son, it was a shock to me to see my father in this condition. And this is important to highlight that my father has been put in solitary confinement right after October 7th, even though obviously he has nothing to do with it. He has been tortured, assaulted multiple times. You ever get to see him or speak to him? I haven't been able to see him in four years.

I haven't been able to speak to him in four years. I haven't been able to hug or even touch my father in 25 years. In 25 years? Yes. And this is an experience that thousands of Palestinians go through. So that was the son of Marwan Barguti. And for a global audience, if you can talk about Marwan Barguti's significance, on Saturday you wrote on social media, quote,

releasing Marwan Baghuti would be the most consequential event in Palestinian politics since the death of Yasser Arafat. He's the only leader that can unify Palestinians, and that's precisely why Netanyahu told John Kerry he'd never release him. That's what you wrote. Explain. Absolutely. So I remember exactly the day when the Israeli security minister Bingvir stormed Marwan Bargudi's presence sale in that video showed up. And I remember being at a conference with fellow Palestinians, some of whom were very critical of Fatah, the party that Marwan Bargudi comes from. And as soon as we watched that footage, it felt like a dead.

dagger that was basically stabbing you straight to the heart to everyone around the table. It was so shocking because Bargudi has been established in our minds, in our collective memory as the father of the Palestinian nation, as our own Nelson Mandela. And basically that legend allows him when he comes out to do things that other Palestinian leaders in today's political mainstream are incapable of doing, one of which is to unify the Palestinian factions, to heal the divide and accomplished total reconciliation. We see that in every poll, Marwan Barguti is by a giant margin leading against any

opponent from Fethar or Hamas or any other political party for that matter. And that's precisely why you have people even in the Israeli lobby in the United States or in the Israeli army and the Israeli government that are in favor of releasing him, because from their perspective, the power of Barguti allows him to take steps of reconciliation and compromise vis-à-vis Israel that no other Palestinian leader would be able to without his legitimacy coming into question. From our perspective,

it's basically we see that he would revitalize the Palestinian street. He would re-establish the connection between the leadership and the public and energize our movement again. And that's precisely why Netanyahu told John Kerry in 2013 that he would never release him

because he's the only one that can unify Palestinians. Releasing him at this stage is the single most consequential event in reviving Palestinian politics that has been long murdered by a veto from the United States, from Israel, from the international

community, that heavily invested in maintaining the divide between Gaza and the West Bank, Hamas, and Fethar, the diaspora and Palestinians in the occupied territory. And that's precisely why we need to add it as an agenda item for the Democratic Party in the United States. I saw

Roe Kahana already advocating for his release. And that is the right thing to do at this stage. Finally, NASA has just been relieved. The documentary by Yvahmah Mohammad and Rachel Sear, a film that portrays the Israeli military's use of secret AI-powered system to deliberately and systematically target and kill civilians in Gaza, received this record ovation at the Venice Film Festival, exposing Where's Daddy and Lavender?

under something Yuval has been reporting on others. Palestinians and Israelis have been talking about O'Badol in this film, Yuval Abraham. If you can finally comment on the significance of this film and the Israeli, some officials in the Israeli government threatening to remove the citizenship of these filmmakers. So the movie, Naza, it perfectly captures the distinction between disproportionate warfare in which you are attacking an enemy. then civilians in high numbers are getting killed

and genocide in which the civilian population is the target. If you watch the movie, you can't help but come out with the impression that Hamas, in that instance, Hamas militants that were being targeted were basically the excuse or the alibi or even the collateral damage that you see Israeli soldiers that are saying that they were authorized to drop a bomb that would kill 500 civilians, most of whom are children and women, to get to one junior Hamas militant that even may or may, not be there in the first place.

And the idea is to use that militant as an excuse for maximum damage. That's why we saw the chief of staff of the IDF at the start of the war, Herzii Halavi, saying that the focus for us is on the damage, not on the accuracy. That's why we're seeing Israeli politicians and military generals and commanders throughout the genocide that were telling their soldiers explicitly destroy everything. Don't leave anything standing, maximum destruction. I even met Israeli soldiers here in Copenhagen. A colleague of mine brought them here to testify before European decision makers and politicians.

And when I met them, their testimony was very simple. It was three things. We were told to destroy everything in our face. We were told to kill every single person that crosses an invisible line. And we were told to use people as human shields systematically. The problem is that most decision makers refused to even meet with those soldiers to hear the testimony because they wanted to maintain plausible deniability. So now having that power being captured in image, in art, it is extraordinary.

And that's why Israel feels threatened. Mohamed Shahad, I want to thank you so much for being with us. Writer and analyst from Gaza, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations lives here in Copenhagen. Next week marks the 25th anniversary of the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. We'll speak with the Danish Afghan journalist, Najib Ghaja. His most recent documentary on Afghanistan is titled Winning Hearts and Minds. In 2008, he was kidnapped by the Taliban, but escaped.

Stay with us. We who believe in freedom cannot rest. We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes. Sweet Honey and the Rock performing at the 2025 Peace Bowl. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the war and peace. report. I'm Amy Goodman. We're broadcasting from Copenhagen, Denmark. Next week marks the 25th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, which began October 7, 2001. The war in occupation would go on for nearly 20 years. Following the withdrawal of international troops in

2021, the Taliban quickly returned to power. We end today's show with the award-winning Danish Afghan journalist and documentary filmmaker Najib Khajah. His most recent documentary is an investigation into what went wrong in the war, a question with many answers. In the film titled Winning Hearts and Minds, Khazja returns to the capital of Helmand province with fellow filmmaker, former Danish soldier Martin Tam Anderson. Danish and British troops had been deployed to Musa Kala in 2006 to defeat. their allies, the local police against Taliban insurgents.

What they didn't understand at the time is the police were a ruthless drug cartel. The film was released in 2023 and featured on the BBC's Storyville series. This is the trailer for Winning Hearts and Mines. Go inside. Take cover. Hellman Province, Afghanistan. My first impression of the police was positive. I got it through chief of police coca. He was the most effective man in dealing with Afghan police officers that I had met.

But actually, we know that you're probably a murdering, raping, drug trafficker. Koka and Isha Khan are synonymous with tyranny. Be careful about this, Afghan. If he gets angry, you can't escape. They took off my clothes and raped me. There were 14 or 15 boys there who were used as sex slaves. I'm aghast this is taking place.

We might all be ambushed. They could turn on us at any time. F*** the Danes. Did they make these claims against me? Can't you stop the film from coming out? I'd sacrifice myself. for your head. Things haven't been the same since you left. That's the trailer for winning hearts and minds. We're joined now here in Copenhagen by Najib Kajah,

the award-winning Danish Afghan journalist, war correspondent filmmaker, kidnapped by the Taliban in 2008, held hostage for a week before escaping. We'll talk about that in a minute, but it's great to have you with us. I think the last time we spoke to you was when the Taliban fell, you were in Kabul. We were interviewed. viewing you there. But right now, why did you call this film winning hearts and minds? Because, you know, that was like the headline when the foreign forces that went into Afghanistan, that the whole purpose, you know, the whole strategy was to win hearts and minds.

But what happened was exactly the opposite, actually. They lost the hearts and minds. And the reason why they lost them was that they allied themselves with forces that in rule Afghanistan were considered worse than the Taliban. So for the rule, Afghans, I'm talking specifically about southern and eastern Afghanistan, the police forces and the warlords that were fighting side by side with American, Danish and British forces. there were drug cartels, there were ruthless criminals, there were rapists. So basically, you know, the film that we did, Martin Tom Anderson and me, is about one of these cartels in Musa Kala in Helmand. It was the first big city in rural Afghanistan that fell to the Taliban in 2006. And it started like a, it was a snowball that started back then.

And it developed into a very big snowball that took the rest of the country and ending with Taliban taking back power in 21. You profile Isakhan and Abdul Wali Khoka. You talk about the West's favorite leaders there and who they actually were. Yeah. Yeah, we do. What happened was that Martin and I, we embedded ourselves with their forces. They didn't know that we were doing an investigative document. actually revealing their atrocities.

They thought that we were going to do kind of a propaganda film about how the friends of the West they worked in southern Afghanistan. But, you know, the parallel process while we were embedded with them was also finding their victims, interviewing them, checking up,

checking the sources, trying to verify the facts that people were telling us. The Chai Boys, the T-boys that they raped. Yes, and also kidnapping random boys from poor families, exploiting them, sexually abusing them, and also demanding big ransoms, killing innocent people, collective punishment of villages. These were, to be clear, not Taliban. These were the forces that the U.S., that the West was working on.

Yes, and these were the forces. Isakhan and Koukhas forces. They were in Musakala. And their forces cooperated with American forces, British forces, and Danish forces. How did you get kidnapped in 2008? I tried to do an embed with the Taliban, and I was set up by the person, the so-called fixer, who was supposed to give me the access. And he sold me.

How did you escape? I managed to escape together with my photographer. We convinced one of the guards to flee together with us. We bribed him, basically. It's 25 years later, Najeeb, after the U.S. bombed, invaded Afghanistan. What do you think is the most important lesson? The important lesson is that the Afghans, they've been the victims under the previous rule, but also under the current rule.

You know, the Afghans, they've been, you know, they've been, what can you call it? Like, it's like a chessboard, and they're just being thrown around by the different, different power brokers in the country. And first, under the previous government, it was the rule Afghans who suffered most. And now it's, you know, the more progressive Afghans living in the cities who are suffering under the totalitarian rule of the Taliban. So ultimately, what we learned is that the Afghans, they're always, you know, the average Afghans are the losers every time.

And the Taliban, you feel coming to power. were a response to the brutality of the warlords, the drug lords, the rapists that the West worked with? That's one of the answers. There are a lot of answers to this question. A lot of other things also went wrong. But one of the reasons, one of the big reasons is that, you know, it was a reaction. And I have to emphasize that there were the lesser evil in some of the rural areas. They were not the lesser evil in the cities.

In areas like Kabul and Mazar, a lot of people were benefiting from the foreign presence. Women, they had rights. And, you know, they were going to universities and working as journalists. And we're going to talk more about that in part two of our discussion. Ajib Khadha, award-winning Danish-Afghan journalists, covered the wars in Afghanistan and Syria, his latest film, Winning Hearts and Minds. I want to thank our crew here in Copenhagen, Peter Thorsso, Casper Thorso, Charlotte Peterson, Michael Berrinth. Happy birthday to Paul Powell.

We'll be at the Grand Theater tonight at 7 for the screening of Steelers Story. Please, I'll be speaking after with director Carl Deal. Special thanks to Dennis Moynihan. We're in Copenhagen.