Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20140912

Documentary about antinato protests in chicago. We will also hear james foley in his own words. I am adjusted and what you said about the categories asian of other categories asian of others categories of others. Painting the other group as the other, and the dehumanization process. That is extremely dangerous, but i guess it happens in a war. To medea we will speak benjamin of codepink. Which held protests outside of the White House Well president obama spoke the other night during then a former israeli soldier speaks out. I was sure that if the israeli public knows what i know, the occupation has to stop. It will stop, but it did not. Eran efrati, an israeli Soldier Turned antioccupation activist. He recently interviewed several Israeli Soldiers who participated in the shujaiya massacre in gaza. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Secretary of state john kerry is in turkey in an ongoing effort to drum up support for a u. S. Militaryled campaign. Inthursday, john kerry was 10 arababia where countries egypt, iraq, jordan, lebanon and six gulf states, including saudi arabia and qatar, agreed to help the United States fight the sunni militants that have seized swathes of iraq and syria. Arab nations play a huge role in our roles. The foreign fighters, which isil requires to thrive, and certainly the effort to recruit it once and for all the dangerous, the offensive, the insulting distortion of islam tot isil propaganda attempts spread through the region and the world. Retired marine general john allen has been kept to oversee the campaign. He previously served as a top u. S. Commander in an. The pentagon has announced they will in afghanistan. The pentagon has announced they will start airstrike missiles airstrike missions. Present dilemmas facing key questions about striking without ande house approval critics note that resolutions only apply to nations and groups that planned, authorized, committed, or aided the 9 11 attacks. We will have more with Medea Benjamin of codepink after headlines. The mother of slain u. S. Journalist james foley says she is appalled by the u. S. Governments handling of her sons imprisonment by isis militants. Diane foley told cnn the government threatened her family with prosecution if they tried to raise money for foleys ransom. She also criticized the broader u. S. Response toward isis. We are dealing with very Difficult People when we are. Alking about isis their hate for us is great, yet some of our response to them has only increased the eight. Well hear from james foley in his own words from a 2012 interview at antinato protests in chicago later in the broadcast. Alqaidalinked Syrian Rebels on have released all 45 fijian peacekeepers they had held captive for two weeks, the a on heights. The United States marked the anniversary of an 11. Meanwhile, chile marked the 41st across the border chile marked the 41st anniversary of its own , 9 11 on thursday. On september 11, 1973, democratically elected president Salvador Allende was ousted in a u. S. Coup, ushering in 17 years of brutal dictatorship under augusto pinochet. Chilean president Michele Bachelet urged people to come forward if they have information on the more than 1,000 disappeared people still missing after the pinochet era. I already sent this the past few days and i will repeat it again today. This is the time for us to join together in truth and it is essential that those that have relevant information come forth, whether they are citizens or military. A new tally by the Associated Press finds more than 5,000 people have died in Central African republic since december, when fighting erupted between muslims and christians. The clashes have sparked fears of genocide. The tally is more than twice the number cited by the United Nations in april when it approved a peacekeeping force due to arrive next week. The ap said there has been no official record of the steady rise in deaths since then. Hundreds of thousands of catalans have flooded the streets of barcelona to demand a vote on independence from spain. Turnout estimates ranged from half a million to nearly two million people. The call for secession was bolstered by next weeks referendum in scotland on independence from the united kingdom. Ahead of the march, catalan president artur mas said european leaders should accept a referendum on Catalan Independence scheduled for november. There are european l referenn scotland, but do not except at the same level the referendum in catalonia. Is catalonia a different nation it is a different nation, but it is also a nation. So, if the scottish people have the right to decide their political future, why not the catalan people . Scotlands top banks have cotlands top banks have scotlands top banks have threatened to move to england if scottish voters choose independence in next thursdays referendum. Polls show scots are about equally divided. Historic Monsoon Floods in india and pakistan have killed more than 400 people and displaced nearly a million. The flooding is the worst to hit the kashmir region in half a century. Has pleadedard guilty to charges that former employees bribed officials at russias top Prosecutors Office for a technology contract. In total, the firm has agreed to pay 108 million for bribing officials in mexico, poland and russia. Thats a tiny fraction of hps net revenue, which totaled 27. 6 billion in the last quarter alone. The news came as the Obama Administration announced it would implement new economic sanctions on russia over its handling of ukraine. A new round of european sanctions on russia takes effect today. Human rights watch has found israel committed war crimes by attacking schools where displaced residents were sheltering gaza. The report looked at three attacks on United Nationsrun shelters this summer which killed at least 45 people, 17 of them children. It came a day after israel said it had opened criminal probes into two of the most publicized killings of Palestinian Civilians during this summers assault, including one of the school attacks. But Human Rights Watch noted quote israel has a long record of failing to undertake credible investigations into alleged war crimes. South african olympian and doubleamputee oscar pistorius, known around the world as the blade runner, has been found guilty of culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter, for killing his girlfriend. Pistorius was acquitted of murder. Judge takazeela maseepa accepted pistorius claim he mistook Reeva Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots at her through a locked bathroom door last valentines day, but she deemed his behavior negligent. Play sot sot anchor negligent. I am of the view that he was negligent. Pistorius could face up to 15 years in prison at his sentencing. Argentina has enacted legislation to repay its debts domestically, skirting the ruling of a us judge which sent the country into default. The judge blocked argentina from making any repayments without also repaying us hedge funds led by billionaire paul singer. Argentina has refused to pay the socalled vulture funds, which bought the countrys debt for bargain prices after its financial crisis, then demanded full repayment. But argentina has vowed to repay its other debts. Newly unsealed documents have revealed how much pressure the u. S. Government exerted on yahoo after the tech company opposed it demands for User Communications. In 2008, the government threatened to fine yahoo 250,000 per day if it did not comply with a secret court order which yahoo believed was unconstitutional. Yahoo ultimately lost its legal battle and ended up providing User Communications to the nsa under the secret prism program, as did other tech companies. Missouri has enacted one of the longest waiting periods for abortion in the country. The legislation extends missouris waiting period from 24 to 72 hours, leaving no exception for victims of rape or incest. Missouri lawmakers overrode a veto of the measure by democratic governor jay nixon, who said it would quote jeopardize the health and wellbeing of women. About half of u. S. States impose a waiting period between counseling and an abortion. Most commonly the wait is 24 hours. Utah and south dakota have also enacted 72hour waiting periods. Students at Columbia University are holding a rally today in solidarity with emma sulkowicz, a columbia senior who has been lugging a dorm room mattress around campus to protest the universitys handling of sexual assault. Sulkowicz says she will continue carrying the mattress until the student who raped her two years ago is expelled. On wednesday, students gathered to support sulkowicz by helping her carry her mattress to class. Trustees at the university of illinois have voted nearly unanimously not to reinstate steven salaita, a professor whose job offer was withdrawn after he posted tweets harshly critical of the israeli assault on gaza. Students, faculty and a number of academic associations had urged the trustees to reinstate salaita, saying his Academic Freedom had been violated. Salaita said he is consulting with his attorneys about future options. A new study has found People Living near fracking wells are nearly twice as likely to report Certain Health issues. A former Yale University medical professor surveyed residents in southwestern pennsylvania. He found 39 of People Living within about half a mile of gas wells reported upper respiratory health problems, compared to 18 percent for those who lived more than 1. 2 miles away from wells. And the federal Communications Commission says it has received a Record Number of comments about its proposal to effectively end net neutrality. On wednesday, thousands of websites joined the internet slowdown, a day of action against the fccs plans, which would let corporate isps create fast and slow lanes for internet service. The protest helped bring in nearly 1. 5 million comments. That beats the previous record set in 2004 when the agency was flooded with complaints over a wardrobe malfunction that revealed Janet Jacksons breast on Live Television during the superbowl halftime show. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. I am juan gonzalez. Welcome to our listeners and viewers around the country and around the world. The pentagon has announced it will soon start flying Bombing Missions out of the kurdish region of Northern Iraq as part of an expanded u. S. Led military campaign against militants from the Islamic State. But it remains unclear when the u. S. Will launch air strikes in syria. According to mcclatchy, president obama has not yet authorized the u. S. Central command to conduct offensive combat operations in syria. Many questions remain unresolved. On thursday, 10 arab countries egypt, iraq, jordan, lebanon and six gulf states, including saudi arabia and qatar, agreed to help the United States fight the sunni militants that have seized swathes of iraq and syria. The commitment came after Foreign Ministers from the countries met with secretary of state john kerry in saudi arabia. Arab nations play a Critical Role in that coalition the leading role, really, across all lines of effort military support, humanitarian aid, all work to stop the flow of illegal funds and foreign fighters, which isil requires in order to thrive, and certainly the effort to repudiate once and for all the dangerous, the offensive, the insulting distortion of islam that isil propaganda attempts to spread throughout the region and the world. Secretary of state kerrys trip to saudi arabia came on the 13th anniversary of the sept. September 11 attacks which were carried out by 19 hijackers, including 15 saudis. On thursday iran questioned the u. S. Plan to fight the Islamic State and blamed gulf nations including saudi arabia for stoking the sunni militancy that led to the Islamic States rise. An Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman said iran had quote severe misgivings about the coalitions determination to sincerely fight the root causes of terrorism. They have agreed to provide training for what is described as moderate islamic fighters. There was also discussion in saudi arabia of using the newly formed coalition to also attack Islamist Groups besides the Islamic State. To talk more about president obamas plans, we are joined by Medea Benjamin, the founder of codepink. He is the author of she is the author of drone warfare killing by remote control. Welcome to democracy now can you respond to president obamas speech and the fact that the vast majority of americans polled support taking military . Ction in iraq and syria i think president obama been hounded by the media, the war hawks in congress, also by the democrats, and is going into bombing in iraq and talking about going into syria, at a time when just a couple of months ago the American People made it very clear we were tired of war. When obama tried to do this a year ago the American People rose up and demanded that they take a vote, Congress Said no, and obama backed out. I think the support of the American People is very skin we, asmy, and if peaceloving people, do our job in getting out there and making some noise, we can actually have an impact in stopping the u. S. And, itting into syria, think, stopping the u. S. From this insane, neverending war. And what about the status of the Peace Movement right now. There has not done in the last few days much of an outcry from peace advocates on this new policy of the Obama Administration. Well, the Peace Movement was camey decimated when obama in and has been trying to rebuild ever since, but now i think we have to think of all of us as the Peace Movement. Now if the time to say that if you are an environmentalist, you had better understand that were is the greatest polluter on the planet. If you care about having money for youth groups or for infrastructure, or for green energy, you had better understand that sucking money into the military we are now paying 7. 5 million for just the bombing in iraq. Imagine if we start going into syria. We cannot afford this. If you care about money in politics, this is the time to get out there and say this is part of the subsidy to the militaryindustrial complex. This is an issue for all of us out there now, and we have to get on the phones, into the streets, demand town hall meetings, get our present it is, and say to them, representatives, and say to them we want you to vote and say no. President obama vowed it would not repeat the recent wars. I want the American People to understand how these efforts will be different from the wars in iraq and afghanistan. They will not involve american combat troops fighting on foreign soil. The Counterterrorism Campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out isil wherever they exist using our air power and our support for partners forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us while supporting partners on the front lines is one that we have successfully pursued in yemen and molly and somalia for years. We mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order. Dea, can you respond to president obama, and to the issue of, well, what is an alternative right now to u. S. Led military strikes . It is almost comical to hear them talk about yemen and somalia as positive examples because they are almost disasters. Takenntervention has relatively isolated places like afghanistan where they were extremists and now spread them yemen, somalia, iraq, syria, Northern Africa this is been a policy where the results have been fantastically tragic, and to think that adding more fuel to the fire is going to be a positive result is just insanity. I think we have to come out and say been there, done that. Weve already destroyed iraqi and created the conditions by not addressing the sunni grievances for isis to exist. What we have to do now is be part of not this warmed over coalition of the willing, that george bush put together, but a real u. N. Led effort. The sunnis have to have your grievances addressed. We have to stop the flow of weapons to the entire region, where the u. S. Is the purveyor of 80 of those weapons. We have to stop the countries from buying the oil that isis is selling, address the humanitarian crisis we help to create there are many things we can do that can be positive, but bombing is not one of them. We would like you to stay with us. Were going to break, and when we come back we will be joined by the Academy Awardwinning wexler who isell deeply concerned about using the name of james foley, the beheaded journalists, one president obama cited his name in explaining why the u. S. Would be attacking iraq and syria. Stay with us. [music break] war by bob marley and the whalers. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Address to the nation wednesday night, president obama invoked the memory of two american journalists who were brutally killed by the Islamic State, as he outlined his case for u. S. Airstrikes against the group inside syria. In a region that is known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality. The execute captured prisoners. They kill children. They enslaved, raped, and forced women into marriage. They threatened the religious minority with genocide, and in acts of barbarism, they took the lives of two american journalists, jim foley and stephen saw off. Soft off. Pose a threat to peace in the middle east and american facilities. If left unchecked, these threat thecan pose a on the region, including the United States. President obamas reference to james foley in his bid for u. S. Led military aggression offended a filmmaker who met foley during antinato protests in 2012, shortly before he returned to syria. Both foley and the legendary cinematographer and director Haskell Wexler were in chicago when veterans of the iraq and afghanistan wars led protests against the nato summit there, and hurled their war medals toward its gates. Haskell wexler has won two Academy Awards for cinematography whos afraid of Virginia Woolf . And bound for glory. Over his six decades of filmmaking he has also received five oscar nominations, and an emmy. He is perhaps best known for his 1969 film, medium cool, which includes scenes of the 1968 protests in chicago during the democratic convention. He returned to the city to make four days in chicago, about the nato protests, and interviewed james foley, who was also there to report. After they talked, foley offered to use his own camera to shoot footage for the film. Well, shortly before obama spoke wednesday, wexler wrote in Facebook Post quote for the president to use jims name and other journalists as reason to pursue the stated military policy to degrade and destroy the Islamic State so that it is no longer a threat is an insult to the memory of james foley and to the intelligence of the American People. Wexler will join us in a moment, but first, this is a clip he shared with democracy now, from his 2012 interview with james foley. What countries have you recently been to . Syria, i was in afghanistan with u. S. Troops in 2010, and i am really interested in the young guys, the ones coming back from iraq and afghanistan, those guys perspective. That has a huge impact. If they are giving their medals back, that harkens back to essentially vietnam, and what those guys did, right . Im really interested in that young mentality. In occupyn young vets in the sea and new d. C. And new york and have gravitated toward them. They are the most authentic voice. Beat. Ere inside the of course i was, too, but i was just a journalist. To a certain extent you have and have certain credentials. When you are embedded in this era you are totally dependent on the u. S. Military for logistics, food, security, of course everything. You have to wake up and remind yourself every day i am a journalist, not one of the soldiers, just to maintain your objectivity, and it becomes very difficult. Guys,ow, some of those you know, they would sacrifice for you, and your question is what do you owe them, and mostly you owe them the truth. It is tough. But it is a Good Opportunity to be away because youre only seeing the afghan you cannot get true knowledge of what they think when youre Walking Around 15 guys in an armored vehicle. He did not get an idea of what will happen in the future of the anniston. One thing you mentioned afghanistan. The one thing you mentioned, the feeling of motherhood brotherhood that particular feeling, we all have, and it could be used for good things. We should look out for one another and feel for one another. The army needs that, but so do human beings. It is sad because it is some young strongest bond for men, giving your life to your brother, but to what end, and what greater purpose and that is the broader question, what end are we fighting for . Yeah. Journalist james foley who was beheaded last 2012 beheaded last month speaking with Haskell Wexler the legendary the legendary cinematographer, journalist, filmmaker. For more, wexler joins us now from los angeles. Thank you for sharing this incredible interview with us, and welcome to democracy now we will play more of this interview with james foley. Tell us more about why youre bringing this out now. I am pissed off. I am angry. I see how the American Public is being confused, lied to, and yiven theater to make us bu that war is the way to have journalistto use a like jim foley, who was truly a journalist, who wants to search for the truth actually was out amongst them and volunteered to work with my film which arehicago, documenting an antinato demonstration. In fact, he himself took a camera, and i have 30 minutes of film of him talking to people in chicago. Detacheds not a person journalist. He realized that our Foreign Policy is destructive when you have a humanitarian crisis that hurt him deeply that he saw in syria. And the funny thing is, the government knew what his position is. With all of the surveillance, just students in chicago andg nato in chicago the war the taking of their computers, the lookunions to tornalists lookins journalists and their point of view if they did not before no before, when james foley took a camera to work with me and my fellow chicago filmmakers in an nato film, there is no question on what side of the fence he is on, and the government functions on you are either 100 for us, or you are the enemy, and that is why a lot of our discussions and other talking about jim how other authorities can is, andh who the other once there are others, they are less than human, less than smart, and you can do anything to them because you have to teach them a lesson. So, for them to use him as a poster boy for more violence is obscene, and i think the country has to know that it is obtained. Wexler, letsll go to footage that you shared with us of fully speaking with you in 2012 at the antinato protests in chicago. Here is another clip. The other, that is us. I am interested in what you said about the other, because libya, it in all wars, sides and it is like both attempting to paint a group as an enemy, as the other, and what happens the dehumanization process to that. Dangerous, butly it has to happen in a war so they can kill each other. A slicker heree authority,ice and they say they are chicago, and they are protecting chicago, and they call the world word security. I think the media helps to separate us from people. Td tv does it. Because what will this coverage focus on we will see some shots of police, and cutaways to protesters. Hopefully they will get some kind of action in there, and that is essentially the story. It does not go much deeper than that on broadcast news. Haskell wexler, you were in chicago at the nato summit, making a film, four days in chicago. That is how you came across fully. How did you end up deciding to jim foley. To make thedecide film . I did not hear the question. The film you were making at the nato summit when you met jim foley, how did you decide to make that film . I decided to make that film because chicago is my hometown. In 1968, when another antiwar demonstration was there, the power of the police and the suppressing e later he was called the police riot. Then, when occupy was announced to be in chicago, the Chicago Tribune in an article that quoted the mayor saying that this is not going to be like 1968, and actually he mentioned , and hemedium cool said theyre going to deal with these people in a new way, so i decided i had better go back to my hometown and find out what is there, and i went there with two west coast filmmakers who were chicago people, andy davis, and mike gray and with the help of a lot of young people in chicago we made a film called four days in chicago. Haskell wexler, i wanted to get your reaction to diane mother, who foleys did an interview with Cnns Anderson Cooper and she said officials told her she could face prosecution if she tried to raise a ransom to free her son, and she also said the u. S. Had also refused to Exchange Prisoners or carry out a military rescue effort early on. Get think our efforts to jim freed were an annoyance, you know . An annoyance to the government . Yeah, and it did not seem to be in our strategic interest, if you will but i was appalled as an american. Jim would have been saddened. Believed to the end that his country would come to their aid. We are dealing with very Difficult People when we talk about isis. Their hate for us is great, yet some of our response to them has only increased the hate, you know . Fori feel there is a need debate, discussion. I pray that our government will be willing to learn from the mistakes that were made, and to acknowledge that there are better ways for american citizens to be treated. So, that was the exclusive interview that Anderson Cooper of cnn did with diane foley, james foleys mother, and they the newll page ad in york times today on their new foundation. Haskell wexler, your response, as diane foley says the u. S. Government treated these parents, before james foley was beheaded, as an annoyance . I am trying to get over my anger that i expressed earlier about the theatrical utilization of the opposite of what james foley and try to concentrate on what lessons we have from this situation. Foleys mother, and i thought here is a brave, good woman representing what america is all about, and she is saying that our government is not media, the truth and our and there might be a few breaks now, certainly with you, but otherwise, saying what they call call america being war where he. It is war where he. It is not that we are tired of war, but we are tired of being deceived. This is interesting also because the spokesperson for the family of the other beheaded cnnnalist, spoke to wednesday, and said he was sold to isil by other socalled moderate Syrian Rebels. We can say stephen was sold at the border. He was on a list as responsible for the bombing of a hospital. He was sold at the border . Yes, we believe the socalled moderate rebels that people want our administration to support, sold them. I wanted to bring Medea Benjamin back into the conversation. As you listen to Haskell Wexler, foras you hear the mothers james foley and the spokesman nameseven sotloff, the that president obama has invoked in justifying this campaign, your thoughts. Out tot, my heart goes diane foley as a mother, and to the hundreds of people that we have killed in an equally barbaric fashion with our drone strikes where we incinerate people alive, leaving pieces of their flash lying in trees, doing this to mothers, children, teachers, farmers every one of those joan strikes is a barbaric and drone strikes is a barbaric tragedy. We are not have the moral high ground in this, unfortunately. And Haskell Wexler, your final thoughts this day after you bring us the video of james foley at the antiwar protests in 2012. My final thought for today is the government, that is our military i am saying it is far more deeply militaristic than we even realize, and our government is going to do whatever it is going to do. It has certainly shown that about syria, but they have to develop new, theatrical events to make it seem like something good. You know, dropping bombs, and then humanitarian aid as the new policy. How the forces are, and realize there is plenty in this country that will see through the sham before it is too late. Haskell wexler, thank you for being with us. Legendary cinematographer, journalist, director, perhaps film,nown for his 1969 medium cool. He has worked with journalist in 2012 before james foley return to syria where he was kidnapped and beheaded by isis. They met when foley helped shoot video for wexlers film four days in chicago, about the antinato protests led in part by veterans opposed to the wars in iraq and afghanistan. Haskell wexler is 90 two years old now. And thank you so much to Medea Benjamin, founder of codepink, author of drone warfare killing by remote control. She joins us from oklahoma city. This is democracy now . When we come back, a former israeli combat soldier speaks out. Stay with us. [music break] heritage. Nian this is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. With juan gonzalez. Well the Israeli Military , says it has opened criminal probes into two of its most publicized killings of Palestinian Civilians during the summers assault on gaza. Investigators will examine the killing of four palestinian children on a gaza beach and a later attack that killed 14 people in a un school, one of several that hit un shelters. Over 2,100 palestinians, more than 75 civilian, were killed in the israeli assault. Critics say israel is seeking to deflect international scrutiny, including the United Nations Human Rights Council probe and potential cases before the International Criminal court. The israeli army has not announced plans to investigate another notorious episode that occurred during its recent assault on gaza. Thats the shejaiya massacre in july when nearly 90 gazans were killed, and 13 Israeli Soldiers. Shejaiya is one of gazas poorest and most crowded neighborhoods. Activists with the International Solidarity movement posted a video on youtube showing the Fatal Shooting of an unarmed palestinian civilian during the massacre. Family members later stumbled onto the video and identified the man as 23yearold, salem khaleel shamaly. In the video, we see shamaly lying on the ground, apparently wounded by an unseen sniper. As shamaly tries to get to his feet, two more shots ring out, and he stops moving. Well, our next guest interviewed three of the Israeli Soldiers who witnessed the killing of salem khaleel shamaly. His Confidential Sources within the idf reportedly informed him that the real reason for the recent idf shujaiyya massacre was that idf soldiers were deliberately targeting civilians as punishment and retribution for the deaths of fellow soldiers in their units. His name is eran efrati and hes a former israeli combat Soldier Turned antioccupation activist and investigative researcher. Later this month, efrati will testify at the russell tribunal on palestine in brussels. Eran efrati, we welcome you to democracy now . Democracy now thank you. Can you talk about why you went to the border . I started collecting testimony from the soldiers, and then moved on independently to get news from soldiers in the idf because i was there as a soldier and i know that what we get in the Mainstream Media and what we get in the news is most of the time very far from what is really going on in the area. In the summer, i was sitting in jerusalem in my home, and the atmosphere in israel, the fascist atmosphere in the streets of jerusalem, and the overall approval of the terrible massacre that happened in gaza was so overwhelming that i decided to go on to the border in gaza and speak directly with the soldiers because i knew i would get Something Else from them. Steven sotloff i would like i gosteven sotloff to would like to go to a channel four news interview where Krishnan Gurumurthy questioned israeli spokesman mark regev about the shooting death of salem shamaly. He asked regev if israel plans to investigate the shooting. This is how regev responded. I would urge if there are allegations of misbehavior, we cannot rely on hearsay from political activists. I urge people to come forward. The israeli army holds itself to a high professional standard. So you are saying nobody is currently investigating one of the most notorious shootings of the military incursion that was widely circulated around the world. Now, someone has come forward spoken, he says, to some of the Israeli Soldiers involved, and they make clear allegations under the conditions they could opened fire. You have heard those allegations. Are you concerned . Do you believe there should be an investigation . First of all, i do not think a youtube put out by activists is necessarily objective reality. He is not just an activist i would urge. You said he was an activist, didnt you . That is what i heard. We have an independent Judicial Branch of the army that is strong and independent in israel, and people have information, they must come forward. Regevr response to what said. If the crime and the Israeli Military committed crimes against humanity, what they want is to investigate themselves, having civilians come to the army and tell the army they were doing something wrong, and they think it is independent. The army is controlling all of society. Everyone is working underneath the army censorship. No one can publish anything in israel and im not talking about television, newspapers, even bloggers on the internet, no one can publish anything if it does not go through the idf censorship, the same censorship for years under the palestinians. It is of course, ridiculous. What brings you to the United States . Im here because im doing my research from here on the israeli army and the american army. The most recent incredible story was the summer because not only did the war in gaza, the massacre in gaza it was of soldiererrible, but the from the neighborhood was a particular story in this war that i think really describes the entirety of it. Tell us more about it because as you interviewed these soldiers on the border who saw him killed, you were arrested by the Israeli Military. Right. What happened was i was in contact with the soldiers. I knew the soldiers from before the operation and that continue to be in touch with them that i was talking to them by phone from inside gaza. And happened in gaza he 2014 was surprising because we are not used to resistance from inside gaza, likely get from lebanon, for example. 2012, we did not lose soldiers at all, Something Like 12 soldiers to a mosque killing, killing, andamas most of it was from friendly fire. It is something new for the army. The army going in and losing almost immediately 30 soldiers in one day, that would become the night of the shujaiya massacre that killed more than 90 people in one night. After a hard night of bombing, the soldiers are going into the neighborhoods and using houses as basis. At that time, they are getting orders to their officers inside of those houses to get ready inside the house for an extended killing. They saidasked why, they understand they are theused, they are hurting killing of their friends from their units, and theyre telling him they will understand their frustration, and they will have a chance to take out their frustration on palestinians. They are waiting until the morning, and in the morning families are starting to come back into the neighborhood, civilian for family members they left behind and under the rubble. We can see the video uploaded to youtube and other videos with people going around the neighborhoods, screaming names of family members, the can for them, obviously unarmed civilians, and the soldiers are in the house, looking ahead, and at the time there is an imaginary red line in the sand. The officers tell them there has to be an imaginary red line to determine if they are a risk or not, and whoever would cross this red line would be a risk for them and they could kill them. Of course, that is not something new. And 2012. D in 2009 this time, the imaginary red line was drawn very far from the house. Snipers were sitting on the windows waiting for orders, and lookingmaly came back for family members, he crossed one of these red lines. The sniper on the window is asking his commander if he has approval to shoot, and his commander tells him wait to times, and then he gives him the first approval. Side,ots him to the left shamaly falls down, and the snipers asked for more approval officerh them off, the tells him to wait, and then gives them approval to finish shamaly off. It is not the only case that we know of, but the only case documented by International Activist in shujaiya. You say there were soldiers that you knew that talk to you yourself, or a combat soldier in the israeli army talk about why you decided to do this, the transformation that you went through. Well i grew up in a zionist, militaristic home. My father was the head of investigation for the israeli police. My mother was an officer in the army, my brother was an officer in a special unit in the army, so i am coming from a good background in israel, and i was waiting all of my life to join the army, and it was obvious this was the place i need to be. ,n 11th grade i went to poland the trips to the camps, and saw partial its, the same cap my , thear and wash with same cap my grandmother suffered survived, it and i was told that i have to stop a second holocaust from happening. I went through seven months of boot camp to get ready for a war and to stop a second holocaust from happening, but at the end of the seven months i do not find myself in a war, but in the middle of the west bank with one hundred 80,000 palestinians, in the middle of the city, a jewish settlement of 800 jewish settlers that i need to protect, and very fast i learned my job is to control the palestinians lives. My job here is to control the life for the entree going on for testing weapons on the grounds life for the arms ,rade going on on the ground not for the army, but for the protection of the rich government in israel. Talk about what happened then, and what was the Israeli Militarys response to your transformation. I started to give stories, breaking the silence, and one i am leaving the army almost after. Our years i was a sergeant when i am leaving the army, i start taking testimonies and try to publish them. Weoon i will find out cannot publish everything we want because breaking the silence is going underneath the dash it is the organization. Radcom in the organization collecting testimonies and trying to publish them right, the organization electing testimony than trying to publish them. Breaking the silence is only letting breaking the silence of the Israeli Government lets them. They have to clear the material with the israeli army . Exactly. Everything they do they have to give to the israeli army before the public. We will show the video, and possibly you will hear him as he as he is shot, and then shot again. He has been shot once now. He is reaching up. He is with other activists. [speaking foreign language] his family saw this on youtube . Yes. Hundreds of thousands of refugees in gaza were running away, trying to save their lives, leaving family members behind, and they did not know even today who was killed and who was not. Ple are still leaving looking for relatives, and his family is watching youtube and they see his son being killed by a sniper. This is how they find out he is that. We will leave it there. For our listeners, we are showing the video on television, the horror. Eran efrati, thank you for being with us, a former Soldier Turned activist, who recently interviewed soldiers in gaza. Later this month eran efrati will testify in brussels. This is democracy now today on George Hirsch lifestyle. I visit the historic 1770 house, where local hospitality has been preserved since the 18th century. Then i step into the kitchen with a local born and trained chef who serves up his passion in every dish. Back in my own kitchen, im squeezing fresh mimosas, and a refreshing frisee crab salad with fried egg and bacon croutons. Easy madefromscratch lamb sausage patties. And im flipping johnnycakes, topped with country maple syrup and sweet butter. Hi. Im George Hirsch. Welcome to George Hirsch lifestyle. [music playing]