Up First from NPR - UN Resolution on Gaza, Death Toll Passes 20,000, Verdict in Colorado death

Episode Date: December 23, 2023

The UN Security Council agreed on a resolution pressing for more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. In the territory itself, people are suffering from lack of food and water and intermittent communications blackouts. A jury found two paramedics guilty in the death of Elijah McClain while he was in police custody.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The U.N. Security Council passes a resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. But due to the pressure from the U.S., it falls short of calling for a ceasefire. I'm Scott Simon. I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News. Arab states say the vote falls short of what they'd hoped for. While today we start building a humanitarian architecture that responds to an intolerable situation, we are still unable to stop the war.

And we bring you the latest on the war in Gaza. Where health officials warn of widespread famine. And in Colorado, a jury finds two paramedics guilty in the death of a black man. So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend. Now Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to our change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their

storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. Earlier attempts to get the UN Security Council to agree on a position on Gaza failed. This time, members took a more modest approach. And pair diplomatic correspondent Michelle Kellerman followed the vote and joins us now. Michelle, thanks for being with us. Nice to be here, Scott. Maybe the news here is what this resolution does not call for, which is a ceasefire. Can you tell us why?

Yeah, I mean, the U.S. opposes it. Before this vote, it had actually vetoed U.N. calls for a ceasefire. Can you tell us why? Yeah, I mean, the U.S. opposes it. Before this vote, it had actually vetoed U.N. calls for a ceasefire. And U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says diplomats worked hard all week to get this latest draft to a place where the U.S. could abstain and let it grow through. Take a listen to what she had to say to reporters after the resolution was adopted. The resolution is not perfect. We were appalled that some council members still refuse to condemn Hamas's horrific terrorist attack on October 7th, which set so much heartbreak and suffering in motion. You know, Scott, while she says the U.S. doesn't support a ceasefire because Israel has the right to go after Hamas. She says Israel is willing to pause fighting, as it did for a week last month, if Hamas releases more hostages. That's diplomacy that's going on outside of the

chambers of the U.N. Security Council. But inside the chamber, the U.S. has gotten a lot of flack for its position on this situation, both around the world, but also here in the United States. What's the resolution actually do? So it calls for urgent steps to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access across Gaza. And it talks about creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities. That's kind of the broad language in there. The ambassador from the United Arab Emirates, Lana Nusebe, says she thinks it will make a difference on the ground and it will help to get more aid into Gaza, which she says is urgent. But it definitely falls short of what she had hoped to get. Here's what she said after the vote. It is not lost on us that while today we

start building a humanitarian architecture that responds to an intolerable situation, we are still unable to stop the war. It is not lost on us that despite the incalculable damage visited upon them with impunity, Palestinians are asked to accept that diplomacy is the art of what is possible. The art of what is possible. The art of what's possible. So getting this resolution through, which doesn't call for a ceasefire, but does, she says, offer a glimmer of hope for Palestinians right now. Let's look ahead at events just over at the horizon.

Are there going to be more efforts to try to get the United Nations more involved in Gaza? Well, that's the idea, to have a UN coordinator overseeing the aid operation and then reporting back to the Security Council. So there will likely be more debates and probably more pressure on the U.S. to change its stance. NPR's diplomatic correspondent, Michelle Kellerman, thanks so much. Thank you. In Gaza itself, the population continues to crowd into any shelter they can find. And the health ministry there says the death toll has surpassed 20,000 people. And Paris, Carrie Khan joins us from Tel Aviv. Carrie, thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me.

UN agencies and others have been giving increasingly dire warnings about conditions in Gaza. What's the latest you've heard? First of all, more than 85% of Gazans, according to the UN, have been displaced from their homes and into southern Gaza. That's in and around the city of Rafah. That's nearly two million people, Scott. Food and water is scarce, as are toilets. Hundreds of thousands of kids under five are on the brink of severe malnutrition, and that's according to UNICEF. Overcrowding is an understatement. Most people are living in schools or makeshift tents. Electricity is sporadic, and it rained hard here last night with thunder and it's cold. You've had some communications with one of our producers in Gaza, Anas Baba. What have you heard from him?

It's been very hard to keep in touch with him this week. He was able to send us some interviews about people dealing with the lack of phone and internet services. I want to play you a little bit from Mohamed Al-Namla. He's describing this hopelessness that he feels of not being in communication with anyone. He's saying we suffer from war and bombings everywhere, and then you can't even check up on the safety of your brother who could be living just 100 meters away. There's no way to just communicate and ask, are you okay? Do you need anything or require help? Carrie, what has Israel said about the displacement of so many civilians, and is there any indication of when people can begin to go back home, even if it's been destroyed?

I'll note that Israel says it is Hamas that has put so many civilians in danger. And that's by building tunnels and command centers and storing weapons in these dense populated places. Israel has just ordered new evacuations for even more residents out of central Gaza. I just want to play you a little bit from an English teacher, Bilal Shaber, who lives in central Gaza. He doesn't know where to go now, and he's still grieving the deaths of some of his students, many who were killed. Those little children and kids are very beautiful. Their hearts are like the birds, little birds. I do love them so much and I do miss them. I really cried like a little boy. It was like very tough for me.

I'll note that President Biden yesterday says he was heartbroken himself about the news of a 73-year-old Israeli-American dual citizen who was believed to be a hostage but had actually been killed by Hamas in the October 7th attack and his body was believed to be a hostage but had actually been killed by Hamas in the October 7th attack and his body was taken to Gaza. What do we know about Israel's military phase right now? Military officials say they anticipate soon having, quote, operational control around Gaza City in the north. There are fierce battles raging in Qanunis, one of the largest cities in the south, and that's where they believe that leaders of Hamas are hiding out. That's according to military officials.

Israel's defense minister, Yoav Galant, said last night that forces are preparing for a further expansion into Gaza. Galant says the operation will be extensive, it will be long, and it will require patience. And Paris Kerry Khan in Tel Aviv, thanks so much for being with us. You're welcome. Two paramedics were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain. He died four years ago. Colorado Public Radio's Allison Sherry has been following the trial and joins us. Allison, thanks for being with us.

Thanks for having me. And please remind us the circumstances under which Elijah McClain died. Yeah, he was walking home from a convenience store in a Denver suburb of Aurora in 2019 when someone called and reported that he was acting strangely. Police violently detained him, they called paramedics, and soon he was dead. Initially, local prosecutors declined to charge the three police officers and two paramedics who were involved, but a year later when George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, Colorado Governor-Democrat Jared Polis reopened the case

and assigned a special prosecutor. The police officers were tried in two separate trials this fall, and then the paramedics these past several weeks. So their convictions now wrap up all the prosecutions in this case. The paramedics said Elijah McClain was in what they called a state of, quote, excited delirium. Yeah, a diagnosis that's since been discredited by medical professionals. It was mostly a law enforcement definition describing someone who was possibly overdosing, acting out of their mind, sometimes having superhuman strength. So the paramedics gave McLean a dose of the sedative ketamine, which the coroner says was the main contributor to his death in the hospital several days later. And again, McLean wasn't doing anything wrong or suspected of committing any crime at the time the police detained him. Why were the paramedics convicted

of criminally negligent homicide as opposed to medical malpractice? Yeah, it's a good question. You know, it's because of that autopsy I mentioned. You know, this case in some ways was straightforward. Body-worn camera footage shows the paramedics doing almost nothing to help McClain from the moment they get on the scene to the six minutes later when they give him an overdose of ketamine for his body weight. Then after they give him the ketamine ketamine for his body weight. Then after they give him the ketamine, they didn't really do anything either. They kind of let him lie there

for a few more minutes before loading him onto the ambulance where they discovered he had no pulse. So all of that amounted to what prosecutors say was reckless negligence. What did the paramedics say in their defense? You know, really the paramedics, Jeremy Cooper and Peter Czajkuniak, stuck with this excited delirium story throughout. They took the stand in their own defense. They said they followed their training for delirium to a T. But body-warm camera footage shows McLean wasn't exhibiting excited delirium symptoms, especially when the paramedics arrived. He was handcuffed.

He was still struggling with police, who he told he couldn't breathe, but he wasn't showing signs of crazy strength or deliriousness. So the paramedics saying that under oath, I think, could have seemed a little hollow to the jurors. Five men have now been tried in the death of Elijah McClain, three police officers and the two paramedics, all of whom are white. Did they all get criminal convictions? No. Two of the officers originally charged were acquitted, but Officer Randy Rodima and these two paramedics, Cooper and Chukuniak, were all convicted of criminally negligent homicide.

And all of them will be sentenced next year. And it's a pretty big sentencing range in Colorado from probation, so no prison time at all, to six years. The paramedic supervisor, though, I'll note, was led away in handcuffs on Friday because he was also convicted of an assault charge that guarantees custody. And Allison, what's been the response of Elijah McClain's family? Well, Shanine McClain, Elijah McClain's mother, was extremely emotional afterwards. She left the courtroom saying, we did it, in tears with supporters. She texted me late Friday that she's still processing the verdict.

She's hoping to speak to reporters next week. Allison Sherry with Colorado Public Radio. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me. And that's Up First for Saturday, December 23rd, 2023. I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon. Tomorrow on the Sunday Story, we'll introduce you to two construction workers who helped build the landscape of modern China, but have little to show for all their effort. That's right here in the Up First podcast feed. The Saturday version of the podcast was produced by Michael Radcliffe. Our editors are

Larry Kaplow, Eric Whitney, and Matthew Sherman. Our director is Andrew Craig. Technical director is Hannah Glovna with engineering support from Carly Strange, Nisha Hynes, and Phillip Edfors. Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor, Sarah Lucy Oliver is our executive producer, and Vicki Walton-James is our managing editor. And thanks to all those people who put together this amazing little radio show called Weekend Edition, even on one of those holiday weekends when y'all snuggled up. Yeah, you can hear their work every Saturday and Sunday morning. Let's have a good snuggle and a nice listen. Find your NPR station at stations.npr.org.