The Supreme Court will now decide whether it will hear the case which could set a major precedent about the balance of power between Congress and the executive branch in northern Syria u.s. Troops have resumed combat missions against ISIS militants 2 months after President Trump through the region into turmoil by abruptly announcing the trawl of all u.s. Troops from northern Syria clearing the way for the Turkish ground invasion despite Trump's claims he was bringing the troops home some soldiers were moved to Iraq while others stayed in northern Syria to guard oil fields now the Pentagon says it's resuming combat operations against ISIS at least $500.00 u.s. Soldiers are currently deployed to Syria many of them in combat roles the United Nations says greenhouse gas emissions surged to record high levels last year the new report also says the increase in methane levels in 2018 was the highest increase in the last 20 years Methane's an extremely powerful greenhouse gas this is the world meteorologist organization secretary general to Terry. Last year we have seen growth in Europe has been growing. For the past 2 years and there's been married for for for for last year with 2 point one per cent for. The increase so despite the party's agreement for researchers to steal grower. In Kenya at least 56 people have died in landslides near the Ugandan border the landslides were triggered by unusually heavy rains increased rainfall rates have been linked to climate change leaked documents have shed new light on China's government's network of prison camps in the far western region of Shane Chiang where as many as 1000000 weaker Muslims have been detained without trial the Chinese government says these prisons offer a voluntary education but the leaked documents reveal a campaign to force prisoners to change their language culture and religious beliefs British human rights lawyer Ben Emmerson said quote It is very difficult to view that as anything other than a mass brainwashing scheme designed and directed at an entire ethnic community and quote the Chinese government has carrying has denied carrying out any human rights violations against the Weavers Colombian president even Duke a has called for a national dialogue as massive protests continue to rock the country following last week's general strike the demonstrations began as a protest against corruption economic inequality and the killing of indigenous and community leaders many are now calling for the ouster of 2 K.'s right wing government protesters around the world took to the streets Monday to protest violence against women crowds poured into the streets in Spain Guatemala Russia Sudan Turkey South Africa Bulgaria France July Colombia and Salvador and beyond to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women this is one of the protesters in Mexico City. People suffer daily the assault us they robbed from us they could not buy us they read us they kill us and the authorities don't even care I beg you have a little empathy put yourself in our shoes they're killing us it hurts us you don't even realize make laws that are just death to the rapists there's no other way in Argentina to Catholic. Were sentenced to over 4 decades in prison Monday for sexually abusing and raping dozens of students with hearing disabilities an institute in the city of Mendoza one of the priests have previously been investigated for sexual abuse at a school in his home country of Italy in the seventy's but was not convicted at the time a former gardener of the school in Argentina was also convicted for sexual abuse crimes that were bordered by over 20 alumni and took place between 20042016 in Minnesota at least 30 water protectors blockaded the entrance of the Enbridge line 3 pipeline Monday morning the proposed controversial pipeline would carry tar sands oil from Alberta Canada to terminal and Superior Wisconsin its path would cut through Minnesota where Indigenous communities have been fighting its construction saying the pipeline would violate tribal sovereignty and contaminate the land and water and both are more Maryland 3 men who were wrongfully imprisoned in 1983 have walked free from person after spending 36 years behind bars for a crime they did not commit Alfred chestnut ran some walk ins in and you're Stewart were arrested and jailed on charges of shooting 14 year old to wit Duckett in the hallway of Baltimore's Harlem Park junior high school allegedly because they wanted to steal his jacket the 3 African-American teenagers always maintained their innocence now in their fifty's the 3 men were released Monday after review of the case revealed multiple errors including the fact that the state's attorney lied about the evidence and that the police pressured teenage witnesses Google has fired 4 employees who've been active in labor organizing inside the tech giant one of the fired workers Rebecca Rivers had objected to Google's bid to collaborate with c.b.p. That's Customs and Border Protection another one of the fired workers Lawrence Pearland had protested hate speech on You Tube which is owned by go. Goal The company claims all 4 workers were fired for violations of Google's data security policies and Attorney General William Barr announced a nationwide plan to address the crisis of missing and murdered Native American women Friday during a visit to the Flathead reservation in Montana which has suffered high rates of violence against indigenous women and girls the Justice Department's new initiative would invest one and a half $1000000.00 to hire specialized coordinators and Levon u.s. Attorneys offices that have a large number of case loads from Native American reservations the coordinators will be responsible for developing protocols to improve the response of law enforcement and missing people cases for years indigenous activists have been protesting the high levels of violence against indigenous women and girls many of called for the restoration of tribal criminal jurisdiction over non native Americans who commit crimes on tribal land this is Mary Catherine Nagel an attorney and citizen of Cherokee Nation speaking on Democracy Now in 1078 the United States Supreme Court took away travel criminal jurisdiction over an Indian's and as the United States Department of Justice has reported Unfortunately the majority of violent crimes against our native women are committed by non Indians and so that means that you know quite often our travel governments their hands are tied because of the legal framework the federal government has put in place. Native American women experience some of the highest rates of murder sexual violence and domestic abuse nationwide with several federal studies showing indigenous women are killed at a rate more than 10 times the national average and those are some of the headlines This is Democracy Now Democracy Now dot org The War and Peace Report I'm Amy Goodman And Juan Gonzalez who welcomes all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world. The Israeli government deported the head of Human Rights Watch is Israel and Palestine office all Marshall clear on Monday the organization said the move places Israel in an ugly club of authoritarian regimes Israel has accused Shapiro supported the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement a nonviolent global campaign aiming to pressure Israel over the its treatment of Palestinians its 2017 Israeli law bans foreigners from Israel if they publicly support the b.d.s. Movement this is all Marsha care speaking on Monday if the Israeli government. Can deport somebody documenting rights abuse without facing consequence how can we ever stop rights abuse we believe in the right to free expression including the right of all people to call for boycotts or to oppose boycotts as a part of legitimate free expression the executive director of the human rights group that's. Tweeted in response to should care is deportation quote international and Israeli human rights and she is have much broader leeway as we enjoy so many more privileges and protections compared to Palestinian colleagues but in targeting a charge you Israel Amster deliver a chilling effect across the Sentai or spectrum he wrote well for more we go to Stockholm Sweden to speak with Omar should care Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch Rights Watch he was just deported and is now traveling around Europe to raise awareness about is the human rights abuses so Marcia care Welcome to Democracy Now explain what happened and how long you've been in Israel and Palestine and what Israel did. Thank you Amy for having me the Israeli government for 2 and a half years now I've been trying to bar Human Rights Watch as access to Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory It began actually with the denial for the organization to hire a foreign employee when we went public with that effort they quickly reversed and gave me a work permit but almost immediately began investigating my status and a year and a half ago they revoked that work permit we challenge that decision in court it was upheld up to the Israeli Supreme Court and yesterday I was deported over my human rights advocacy and could you talk about that Supreme Court decision what was the basis for it. The Israeli Supreme Court essentially interpreted the 2017 law that you mentioned earlier that instructs the Interior Ministry to deny entry to boycott supporters to apply to rudimentary basic human rights advocacy the Supreme Court in essence said that if you challenge the legality of Israel's settlements which is a war crime under international law which has been established over many decades you in essence are attacking the legitimacy of the state of Israel and as a result you are harming Israel posing a threat to the country and that the state is legitimate to deny you entry and therefore deport you so not only is Israel which calls itself a democracy deporting a human rights defender based on their peaceful advocacy but actually they're even going a step further and acknowledging that they're doing it with the court's stamp of approval or over human rights work based on international norms Human Rights Watch has never taken a position on b.d.s. What we rather do is call on businesses as we do across the world to respect human rights and decades of research has led us to conclude that businesses which operate in the illegal settlements and invariably contribute to that illegality and to rights abuse and we've asked for them to stop doing that which is of course different than a more general boycott call or even a boy call call specific to those companies or to Israel proper which we've never done so give the example for example air b.n. B. Did you call for for them. Sure so a year ago we released a report that documented the way in which air b.n. B. Is listings in illegal settlements and variably contributed to rights abuse they were renting properties on land stolen from Palestinians who themselves were not allowed to stay there this is a land in which Israeli settlers you know receive permits to build more Palestinians are denied those permits they also are operating on land in some cases where we were able to establish is privately owned by Palestinians who themselves can't rent there or benefit from that rental so we called on air b.n. B. To delist in settlements we did not call for a boycott a fair being b. We did not call for everybody to stop doing business inside Israel proper We were holding air b.n. B. To the standards under the un guiding principle the same things we do whether it be dealing with cotton picking in the back a stand or tech companies in China we call on all companies to respect international law which is different than calling for them to boycott you know Israel or much less calling on consumers to boycott that company has what happened to you this deportation happened previously to any Human Rights Watch researchers and if so why would these countries democracies as Israel claims to be. So this is the 1st time that a country that you know self proclaims itself to be a democracy deports a Human Rights Watch staff member and barring access to our stuff Israel is joining the ranks of countries you know like Venezuela like Egypt you know like Iran that have barred access to Human Rights Watch staff members of Human Rights Watch has been documenting human rights abuses in Israel and Palestine for nearly 3 decades now and while Israel's restricted our access to the occupied Gaza Strip we've had unfettered access for this time to Israel no us Bank this is the 1st time they've deported us it's the 1st time anyone has that had legal status in the country has been deported under this 2017 law and of course they're doing so in a way that is aimed to send a chilling message to other rights organizations human rights watch executive director Kenneth Roth criticized Israel's decision to expel Leo Marcia care it's not about. It's about human rights watch there's no point replacing them or because their next research would have the exact same problem that Omert in Israel can pick up more research Israel can preclude certain topics imagine what other governments will do China will say you cannot monitor Shinji Saudi Arabia will say You've got to leave Yemen alone. If you could take that from their own Marcia Kir and what you're planning to do right now. Absolutely I mean Human Rights Watch for us this is a principled issue we're not going to let any government have a veto power on what issues we work on or what we cover so our message is quite simple we will continue the work with me at the helm directing the research from one of far regional offices starting just across the river in Jordan one of our regional offices I should I should mention that does not censor our work the way that Israel does despite our criticism so we're going to continue to work on the same issues you know with the same intensity and the same vigor and in fact I think this sort of decision really push us to redouble our efforts because a government that has no qualms about deporting a representative of one of the world's largest human rights organizations certainly has no problem doubling down on the rights abuse that we were documenting in the 1st place a half century long occupation defined by institutional discrimination and systematic rights abuse and including what's happening in the Gaza Strip a you know decade long plus closure and that includes a generalized ban on travel nobody in nobody out outside of exceptional circumstances so all the know this decision certainly has been difficult you know on a personal level Israel Palestine has been my home for the last 2 and a half years I think about those that are not able to travel at all not just the people of Gaza but my colleague at Amnesty International who just a few weeks ago was issued a ban to leave the occupied West Bank to Jordan and previously to Jerusalem on undisclosed security grounds you know what appears to be another attempt to stifle or attempt to stifle the work of human rights organizations let me go to that issue of the amnesty researcher in October Israel issued a travel ban against Laith a boozy ad Palestinian campaigner for amnesty is Euro prevented him from departing from the West Bank for Jordan where he was planning to attend a relative's funeral Israel also denied entry. To Congress members no Marne Rashida to leave later granting permission for Congress member to leave to visit her family in the occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds but she rejected the offer which included the condition she not promote the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement Israel's also issued a series of travel bans against Omar Barghouti the founder of b.d.s. Movement and Siobhan jobber in the director of the Palestinian rights organization . Can you comment on these. Absolutely I mean this decision is coming amid a context in which there is a systematic assault on human rights organizations and there's a reason why the Israeli government is doing this they are trying to silence the messenger instead of dealing with the core human rights issues that are taking place on the ground but the reality is that these efforts are failing these efforts of only shine the light on the very issues that Israel is trying to cover up but of course what's happening to me must be noted is small compared to what Palestinians face in addition to the lates travel ban that you mentioned you know in recent months we've seen on the album eat up Palestinian prisoners rights organisation have their army their officer raided by the Army we've seen a field researcher with Bates who was detained while doing field work and of course if this is the way that human rights organizations are being dealt with think about the millions of Palestinians and year 53 of an ugly occupation which they regularly face excessive use of force home demolitions movement or structures that are discriminatory not to mention not having the most basic civil and political rights a 50 year old Palestinian today in the West Bank has never had the right to free expression right to free assembly their right to free association they've been living under a brutal military rule that the Israeli government wants the world to forget about but we won't forget about it I want to ask you both the European Union and the United Nations have condemned this action by Israel but of course Israel Grucci Levy ignores such. Condemnation from those international bodies what about the United States government where is it right now on this and could it have potentially an impact in terms of these kinds of actions of Israel against against human rights advocates. You know they're not in the United States is look never used its leverage to actually you know rein in Israeli rights abuse what we've seen under the Trump administration is a shift to greenlighting you know Israeli abuses and really being complicit in them in the in my case of course the u.s. Embassy attended each one of my court hearings up to the to the u.s. Supreme Court on a working level we had a regular conversation the State Department did make a statement you know over the summer indicating their support for free expression and their concern about the case and and such but obviously we didn't see the same kind of strong principled position in protecting the work of civil society groups that we solve from a range of other governments around the world including you know the European Union but also you know Germany France many others as well as civil society groups not only Palestinian Israeli but international including groups Jewish American organizations So the reality here is the United States whether it be on settlements with the declaration about Pompei or recently whether be of Palestinian refugees or whether it be on protection of human rights defenders the increasing. Relationship between the Netanyahu and Trump administrations only highlights their isolation because in every other case the world has stood around the principled issue the world sees through my deportation sees it for what it is an attack on the Human Rights Movement. Finally in a sharp reversal to more than 40 years of u.s. Policy the trumpet ministration announced earlier this month that no longer views Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to be a violation of international law and one $978.00 the State Department issued a legal opinion stating settlements were quote inconsistent with international law and every Us administration Democratic and Republican is up held that in 2016 a un resolution declared the settlements a flagrant violation of international law but now Secretary of State Mike Pompei o has announced a reversal and the u.s. Position Israel's embattled prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now been indicted welcome Pompei us announcement as a historic day for Israel I wanted to play the clip of Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat condemning the u.s. Decision because 80 quid a year settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories you could use that in a month only illegal under international law they are war crimes once the term of Mr Bush and decide to undermine international law once they become an administration that's parole is that I was a patient brought is a war crimes and this is constitute a major threat to international peace and security so that sob Erica Palestinian negotiator Omar should clear the or final response. Look I think the u.s. Declaration as a sign of their weakness and their irrelevance the reality is Trump's cannot trump cannot change decades of established international law that settlements are war crime by decree as much as he may want to this is not a controversial point that Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention makes critical makes clear that transfer of one civilian population to territory acquired by war is impermissible and it's quite clear that you know Israel wants to have its cake and eat it it's needed to on one hand you know it wants to say that settlements in the West you know are not illegal and in some cases even saying that the West Bank is not occupied but on the other hand they don't want to give Palestinians the human rights that they would deserve including the right to have you know full political rights and that kind of arrangement what we're facing is the increasingly clear reality today you know between the river in the sea so in the land of Israel and Palestine you know you have about 13000000 people about half of whom are Israeli Jewish and half of whom are Palestinian and Palestinians are treated fundamentally unequally with different sets of inferior rights whether they're in Gaza the West Bank or in Israel proper that reality is becoming increasingly transparent and the world needs to take action to stop it that if anything is clear the fact that international outrage did not stop my deportation should make critically clear that the only way we're going to be able to stop these abuses from continuing is going to be action and heightened action from the international community I will continue to do this and my role at Human Rights Watch and will continue to do with our Israeli and Palestinian partners and I'm confident that I will be back to Israel Palestine one day and when that day comes I believe it will be a day in which human rights and equality is the baseline for all people that live in the land and not what it is now exclusive to only. One population Oh Marcia care we want to thank you so much for being with us Israel and Palestine Director Freeh Human Rights Watch was just a ported from Israel speaking to us from Stockholm Sweden where we'll be broadcasting next week when we come back more than 340 people in Iraq have been killed since nationwide anti-government protests began in October we'll speak with the Iraqi poet novelist scholar Sinan Antoon Stay with us. Musician Camillia should run this is Democracy Now I mean the good man with Juan Gonzalez We turn now to Iraq where more than 340 people have died since anti-government protests began in early October war than 15000 Iraqis have been injured on Monday tires were set on fire and Main Roads and bridges were blocked in the cities of Basra and the city of over the weekend security forces opened fire on civilians in Baghdad and other cities. Demonstrators are protesting corruption and lack of jobs and basic services including clean water and electricity while I took part in the protests in Basra. Protests are peaceful we are taking to the streets to take our rights back we will never surrender neither today tomorrow nor even after one year by doing so all the authorities make themselves tired security forces our sons our cousins and our brothers why do they hate us whenever they get out of their vehicles they open fire on us in Baghdad many university students are taking part in the demonstrations and many do you know you're going to have to hear it when we are protesting we don't aim to dirty or destroy the streets our goal is to achieve our demands and to live in a home with peace and security God willing and with the determination of our brothers the protesters will achieve our separation we are university students we left college and joined the protesters God willing we will have success. To talk more about the protests in Iraq we're joined by the Iraqi poet novelist translator scholar Sinan Antoon he was born and raised in Baghdad now an associate professor at New York University here in the city his most recent novel The Book of collateral damage soon and it's great to have you with us 340 Iraqi protesters dead right now since the protests have just recently begun Can you talk about the situation there talk about the level of violence and also talk about what are the demands what caused this latest round of protests I mean this started out in October on the 1st day of October and unlike previous waves of protests in October 1st. There were very spontaneous and mostly from the working class impoverished neighborhoods and but at the end the unprecedented lethal response of the regime by killing many of these peaceful protesters you all the anger of so many other Iraqis who then came out in bigger waves especially. On the 25th of October and what has started out as a protest from a certain class and group of people has become now really widespread in that so many different sectors have joined these protests it's unprecedented in the modern history of Iraq that so many people from so many different backgrounds come together for this set of demands and it's basically the culmination of 16 years of corruption and inefficiency and failure on the part of the political class to deliver anything. Basic services as you mentioned and so the demands now are that the dissolution of the Parliament that there should be a new election law that there should be a new constitution that is drafted these are the demands and unfortunately and not surprisingly there is a dream has not really responded except with violence and death and it doesn't seem to understand the level of seriousness it's also a huge gap in so many ways between the political elite ensconced in the Green Zone living luxurious life and the rest of Iraqi society which lives outside it's also a generational gap I mean Iraq is a very young population and the great majority of these protesters are people who were born in the in the ninety's and who have only seen the corruption and the failure of this political elite even its inability to protect its citizens and what happened with ISIS occupation and so on and so forth but what's really important is the reclaiming of Iraqi identity and a new sense of Iraqi nationalism that transcends the sectarian discourse but was institutionalized by the United States in 2003 and that so many of these political parties use. To maintain their power over large sectors of society saw so many Iraqis despite the pain so many Iraqis are really hopeful to see the creativity and that is illions of these protesters and one for doing all across Iraq in these. Sites where they are trying to reinvent the meaning of the country but also in their ability to for example in to have your square to transform this place which has been the buildings and the tunnel and the simple square that is so important symbolically was completely ignored and they have managed to clean up the place through his art. To cover the walls with graffiti that represents unity and hope. To start a cinema and say to her square so it has I mean the main slogan that started these protests was we want a homeland which which is very simple yet is very powerful which reflects that the political class and the system that was installed after the occupation has failed to give citizens any sense of meaning or to deliver any services so and sadly I mean as the time goes by. And the regime's. Forces and the militias continue to kill these peaceful demonstrators one it's as you mentioned the efforts of the young protesters to go beyond the ethnic and religious divisions that have been exploited by the political class now as the whether it's Sunni assured. Or Kurdish or Israeli I want to the United States also has emphasized for so long 1st the the threat of Saddam Hussein then ISIS and of course always of Iran Iran being the great threat behind what. The problems besetting the Iraqi people could you talk about. The impact of this continued u.s. Effort to demonize particular groups in the Iraqi. The world of the Iraqi population Well I mean it's Iran has so much influence inside Iraq and has infiltrated some many of the institutions and back so many of these militias but all of that is a product of the Us occupation and invasion of Iraq so while Iran is. One of the targets of these protesters but it's important to remember that a lot of the signs and the placards that the protesters have been elsewhere say no to any foreign intervention so they say not to Iran not to Turkey no to Israel and no to the United States but of course the United States because of its geopolitical interests and its own going confrontation with Iran and so many countries focuses only on this one dimension which is Iran no one denies that Iran backs many of these parties in Iraq financially and otherwise and has infiltrated as I've said Iraqi society in so many ways but of course there are all of these other dimensions and sadly mainstream media in this country and even in Europe. Is very myopic and only see in these protests that they are against Iran and they are a threat to Iran and its influences of the regime of course and that's true but Iraqis want to reclaim a country and they want sovereignty and they're against all types of interventions and Iraq since 2003. And feel that the state is very weak in a way and we have Turkish troops in Iraq in the north we have American troops and so the protesters are really very conscientious of all of this and. You have a deep understanding at least judging from what they say when they appear on the media of that you know interest of Iraq and the Iraqis come 1st and sovereignty is very important of course is not going to be taken back overnight but they realize that Iran is not the Iranian regime is not the only threat and not the only sponsor of certain forces. President Mike Pence you made a surprise visit to Iraq this weekend with regard to our conversation with Prime Minister Ahmadi we spoke about. Taking place in recent weeks here in Iraq. That they were working. Under pressure that we see taking place even as we speak. Pledged to me that. They would work. And respect peaceful protesters as part of the democratic process here in Iraq. So that Vice President pence and that surprise visit your response to what he said about Iraq about the protests and also President from studies pulling troops out of the area when he was talking about Syria turns out he was putting them into Iraq. You know I mean look this is the language that a lot of these protests are also going out against pence called the democratic process and this is the actual in Iraq since 2003 using the term democratic process what has this democratic process brought to Iraqis $650000000000.00 has disappeared from the coffers and this is a very rich country and you know Pen's calls it under arrest and it's not really under arrest these are peaceful protests that are being killed so. This language is meaningless neither pence north. Has any credibility in Iraq or in the region nor does the u.s. Administration I mean it has a very long established history of supporting dictators and dictatorship and the reality thing I mean the conference of Saudi Arabia is just one example so of course I mean the u.s. Is in a way in collusion with the Iraqi regime and so none of this really matters to the protesters on the ground that is Elian and they're going to wait and try to snatch whatever is possible but I want to say that irrespective of what happens. I think the new language that these protesters have reclaimed and the new sense of belonging is going to go on and they're not going to give up on their demands no matter what the regional and international response is but you know I mean there are always calls to save the Iraqi people but most of these protesters realize that in a way they are alone there are some Moloch support internationally but they know that neither the u.s. Government nor any of the regional regimes are on their side. You've mentioned a couple of times the changes since 2003 obviously of the of the u.s. Invasion of Iraq are. The protesters now the young protesters were basically children at the time of the invasion but the question of how the elders of of Iraq the the older population judged the difference between the society they had under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and yet it was a modern and relatively well off population compared to what the situation that has existed for the past 16 years I mean it wasn't a well off population I mean I think the problem and on one of the many negative and disastrous effects of the u.s. Occupation and installing this new regime is to push people to sometimes you know make these comparisons I mean and I don't think 2003 is the actual break even though I use it myself but we have to remember that in 1901 the 1st Gulf War after Saddam's invasion of Kuwait is really the moment when to call Jim Baker back then he said we will return you to the pre-industrial age so the degradation of Iraqi society in terms of its institutions and its infrastructure started out in 1991. And then we had the sanctions for so many years that really also further destroyed it continued the war by other means killing 1000000 driving 3000000 out of the country but what matters is to look at what 2003 had done it really it was x. 3 in a very long process of dismantling the Iraqi state irrespective of Saddam Hussein destroying social fabric destroying not allowing the genie even to rebuild the country that's what really matters but i'm should say the majority of these protesters they are on income bird be. I all of these old questions and they really don't care much about comparisons between pre 2003 and post 2003 they want to live a good life in accordance with the resources that the country has they know that the country is very rich in resources they are well aware through social media through their access to information that this political class is a group of crooks they know because there are so many scandals and there are numbers and figures and that's what they really want Actually it's about the future it's not about the past what vision does this political class for the how for the country nothing semantic in talk about the role of women in these protests Yes I mean you know women in Iraqi society have a long history that many people don't know the 1st woman minister and then tire region was actually in Iraq in 159 so what's great about this wave of protests is that as I said so many people from all backgrounds are participating and women from various generations from various backgrounds are participating in the protests are there not in all not only in support of roles but really spearheading all of the efforts to stand to defend the spots in these squares and a sense of volunteers in a sense of coming together so. I'm usually a pessimist but what's really making me more optimistic about this is that it's really changing also the relationships between people of different backgrounds and making people come together for the country so everywhere you look you see women on the ground you see women at the forefront you see a change in the sense of people fighting against authority and against patriarchy there was a there are so many moving scenes there was a scene of a. Young boy who was taken inside a police car for for raising an Iraqi flag and you know schoolgirls you know from 9 or 10 years old crowded around the police car and started protesting and chanting and forced the police to release this war so this isn't a new sense of empowerment that people feel whether men or women people of different generations which is really amazing and also there are very few of the a stat any of the political parties or regular organizations involved it's to so large degree it's a little less a little surprising I mean it is a leaderless uprising and of course there have been attempts to hijack an infiltrator and their ongoing is respect but we once again the protesters have shown sense of awareness and that for example when. I asked them to present a list of figures to negotiate with they sent the names of the martyrs the people who have died saying these are our leaders it's very poetic but it's very powerful which means that unless they are held accountable for the crimes that they have committed there will be no negotiation of course this is a sense of strength not having leadership but it's also of course tricky because sooner or later there have to emerge a sense a certain structure and and the leadership to be able to translate these demands and to go on what you know we don't know yet well and I thank you Samantha in sunlight for being with us. Poet novelist translator scholar born and raised in Baghdad now here in New York an associate professor at New York University his most recent novel The Book of collateral damage when we come back we look at the life and legacy of Toni Morrison last week literary luminary social leaders from around the country gathered in New York at Cathedral of St John the Divine to honor her including Oprah Winfrey Stay with us. 2 by Bashar al Assad This is Democracy Now I mean a good man with Juan Gonzalez who want to turn to the incredible legacy of Tony Marston last week literary luminaries and social leaders from around the country gathered at the good the Cathedral of St John the Divine in Manhattan to honor Morrison one of the nation's most influential writers she died in August at the age of 88 from complications of pneumonia in 1993 Marson became the 1st African-American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature she's also want to Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for her classic work beloved much of Morrison's writing focused on the black female experience in America and her writing style honored the rhythms of black oral tradition and 2012 President Obama awarded Toni Morrison the Presidential Medal of Freedom well at St John the Divine town of Haci coats edge which Danticat and Oprah Winfrey were among those who spoke about Toni Morrison's life and legacy Oprah Winfrey with the last speaker at the evening. The 1st time I came face to face with Toni Morrison was in Maya Angelou's backyard for a gathering of some of the most illustrious black people you've ever heard of to celebrate Toni Morrison's Nobel Prize victory my head and my heart were swirling every time I looked at her I mean I couldn't even speak I had to catch my breath and I was seated across from her at dinner and there was a moment when I saw Miss Morson just gesture to the waiter for some water and I almost tripped over myself trying to get up from the table to get it for her. And Maya said Sit down. We have people here to do that. You're a guest so I sat down I obeyed of course but it was not easy I tell you to sit still or to keep myself inside my body I felt like I was all of 7 years old because after all she was there and so many others that day Marty Evans sister Angela Davis was there Nikki Giovanni was there read a dove was there Tony Cade them bar I was there it was a writer's Mecca and I was there sitting at the table taking it all in and as I look back that day remains one of the great thrills of my life you know I didn't really get to speak to Toni Morrison that day I was just too good dazzle but I had already previously called her up to ask about acquiring the. Film rights to beloved After I finished reading it I found her number called her and when I asked her Is it true that sometimes people have to read over your work in order to understand it to get the full meaning and she bluntly replied that my dear is cold reading. I was embarrassed. But that statement actually gave me the confidence years later when I formed the book club on the Oprah show to choose her work I chose more of her books than any other author over the years Song of Solomon 1st Sula The Bluest Eye and paradise and if any one of our viewers ever complained that it was hard going or challenging reading Toni Morrison I simply said that my idea is call reading. There was no distance between Toni Morrison and her words I love her dolls but lately I've been rereading her essays which underscore that she was also one of our most influential public intellectuals and when I say she said if writing is thinking and discovery and selection and order and meaning it is all so all and reference and mystery and magic and this facts can exist without human intelligence but truth cannot she thought deeply about the role of the artist and concluded that writers are among the most sensitive most intellectually anarchic most representative most probing of all the artist she believed it. Is a writer's job to rip the veil off to boil down to the truth she took the canon and she broke it open among the legacies the writers she paved the way for many of them here and this beautiful space tonight celebrating her. Toni Morrison was her words she is her words for her words often were confrontational she spoke the unspoken she probably unexplored she wrote of eliminating the white gaze of not wanting to speak for black people but wanting to speak to them to be among them to be among all people who are words don't permit the reader to down them quickly and forget them we know that they refused to be skimmed they will not be ignored they can gut you turn you upside down make you think you just don't get it but when you finally do when you finally do and you always will when you open yourself to what she is offering you experience as I have many times reading Toni Morrison a kind of emancipation a liberation and ascension to another level of understanding because by taking us down there amid the pain the shadows she urges us to keep going to keep feeling to keep trying to figure it all out with her words and her stories as guide and companion and she asks us to follow our own pain to reckon with it and at last to transcend it and while she's no longer on this earth her magnificent soul her boundless imagination her fierce Pat passion for gallantry she told me once I've always known I was gallant. Who says that. Who even knows they are gallant. Well her gallantry remains always to help us navigate our way through. I'd like to close the evening with an excerpt from Song of Solomon. You know I have many favorite passages when it comes to Tony's body of work one that you just shared given she's a friend of my mine from Beloved I love that mamma did you ever love us and the mothers response and Sula but this one from Song of Solomon Solomon never fails to inspire offer the and for that and so much else I say thank you to the singular monumental gallant writer. He had come out of nowhere. As ignorant as a hammer. And broke as a convict with nothing. Nothing but free people. A Bible and a pretty black haired wife. And in one year. He least 10 acres. The next 10 more. 16 years later he had one of the best farms in Montauk County a farm that colored their lives like a paintbrush and spoke to them like a sermon. You see. You see the farm said to them. See. See what you can do. You see. Never mind you can't tell one letter from another. Never mind you born a slave never mind you lose your name never mind your daddy did never mind nothing. Here this here is what a man can do if he puts his mind to it and is back at it. Stop sniffling it said stop picking round the edges of the world take advantage and if you can't take advantage take disadvantage. We live here me we live here. on 7 this planet. In this nation. In this county. Can't you see that it. Gets to see. We got a home right here in this rock Don't you see. We got a ham in this rock and if I got a home you got one too. So grab it grab this land. Take. Care of this land my brother's a nobody a crime in my home so I want you to take this. Make it my bros shake it screws it turn it to stick good kid good kid sit through pit stop what did I want to see I didn't want to. Sound like. And pass it all. Thank you. Oprah Winfrey remembering the great writer Toni Morrison at the Cathedral of St John the define in Manhattan the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning writer died in August at the age of 88 that does it for our show tonight into our Thursday and Friday specials on Thanksgiving we'll speak to the indigenous scholar and activist Nick asked citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux tribe and author of our history is the future then we'll hear from acclaimed writer and out he Roy on the crisis in Kashmir and growing authoritarianism in Indian around the world on Friday we'll bring you a special hour with the legendary musician and artist David Byrne Now talk about his time in the talking heads his years of bike advocacy reasons to be cheerful and his new hit Broadway show American utopia that does it for our broadcast democracy now is produced by might. 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