Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20240714

Tension between tbilisi and moscow at least georgias Tourism Sector is struggling at the height of summer. In a welcome back to you in a National Weather forecast what we are dealing with a new round of rain here across parts of china and in central areas we are looking at very heavy rain causing problems in terms of water rescues here in greenland take a look at the most current video coming in out of the area you can see the water has been rising rescuers have it out getting people out of the homes as well as businesses but unfortunately waters going to take a little while to go down so this is going to be an ongoing problem if you take a look at forecast map we are going to be seeing some scattered showers across much of the area over the next you days and with saturated soil already in flooded areas that means any more rain in the area is going to be causing a big problem here as we go towards tuesday more of the same for the region and we are going to be looking at most of the conditions seeing partly cloudy to mostly cloudy conditions with the rain continuing i want to take you now down here across the philippines where we are watching the possibility of the development of a new tropical system out here just towards the east now you notice the clouds right there that system is going to be slow in developing but the winds and the rain are going to be increasing all the next few days here on monday the area of low pressure is going to be making its way towards the west and rain is also going to be increasing for parts of luzon as well as the winds at manila rain for you at 28. 00. He was sponsored by countdown and. Every reclaim news cycle brings a series of breaking stories. Is maximum jail term has jumped from 5 years to 175 years joined the listening post as we turned the cameras on the media donald trump shouldnt be the one deciding who is a journalist and who isnt and focus on how they were called on the stories that matter the most they will cause for a cause or to look a little tired shut down both international and domestic News Coverage on aljazeera. This is aljazeera a quick reminder of the top stories for you irans president says his government would be willing to talk to the u. S. If washington lifts its economic sanctions and returns to the conditions of the 2050 nuclear deal several of the deals european signatories also issued a statement calling for dialogue to resume. The u. S. President is under fire for a series of racially charged tweets against 4 Democratic Congresswoman of color donald trump told the group to leave the u. S. And go back to where they came from democrats have denounced the attack as hate filled and santa phobic and chinas economy has grown at its weakest pace in more than a quarter of a century the slowdown and follows lower domestic consumer and business demands and at the ongoing trade war with the United States. A former South African president jacob zuma is expected to appear at an inquiry into government corruption he was forced from office last year accused of overseeing the mass looting of state funds. Ports. A string of public protests the media revelation. And pressure from within his own party led to jacob zuma as resignation as president now 18 months out of office zuma continues to fight allegations of corruption many of them linked his relationship with the gupta family the doctors are accused of using their relationship with zuma to influence government policy and win lucrative state contracts for its businesses while zuma and the captors deny any wrongdoing the former president is expected to make his 1st appearance at an inquiry into corruption. Or is really. Youre not going to see his his direct fingerprints on a lot of things you know a lot of the corruption that happened was happening inside state owned so it would happen under a c. E. O. C. F. O. That had effectively been appointed by him you know by the ministers that he had appointed. The accusations against zuma and the doctors are just the latest in a long line of scandals zuma is she to return to court in september on charges of fraud corruption and Money Laundering a 180000000 dollars deal with a French Military arms company teles zuma says the charges are political conspiracy the beautiful Economic Research estimates that and as soon as leadership to that because economy lost 70000000000. 00 president has called as peter says his time in office 9 years and many South Africans agree or enjoy some support especially in his home problems of course in a towel there is great Public Interest in seeing him how to account for his suspected role in state corruption with many saying zuma led the looting of state coffers the allegations extend to zuma spammy with his son to design a link to businesses owned by the captors mr zuma. Tends to view the process. Of justice the process of governance as weve seen when hes been called before parliament to answer questions as well as weve seen when hes been called before the courts to answer he views all of these processes as being beneath him. In a very patronizing paternalistic way. While many South Africans are anxious to hear zuma give his side of the story its still not clear whether he would testify before the commission or crossexamine witnesses who have implicated in. Aljazeera janas berg. The 1st case of a boar has been reported in the democratic republic of congo city of goma the discovery has raised concerns the virus could spread quicker in the densely populated area course to the ones in border goma which has a population of 1000000 its located south of where the 2nd largest of. Records was 1st detected a year ago. Tens of thousands of people have returned to the streets of hong kong to protest against what they say is beijings growing political influence in the citys affairs but what started as a peaceful march in the suburb of shuttin and its in violence says riot Police Charged towards demonstrators in a Shopping Center and open reports from hong kong. After bringing Central Hong Kong to a standstill on previous sundays protesters are taking their fight to the suburbs. And government leaders are struggling to clamp down on the wrist systems movement that is largely leaderless most of the protesters here are young people who tell us they are disillusioned about hong kongs future. Protesters set up barricades in the center of schatten and riot Police Arrived from Different Directions trying to close off access routes. The situation is tense protesters remain defiant and the patience of police is wearing thin and. By 8 pm the police sent out a warning. They are ready to charge but here you can see the benefit of moving i think we can fix that in the end of the moment but the police told me you know yelling and yelling when you know showing them in the back here. Was easy for me because in fact i am moving in to meet them in the morning all you want to get from some of the protesters retreated to a nearby mall complex the police ran after them and thats when the situation became even more violent i like so many protests here this march is meant to be a peaceful one most. Our own home people do not trust the. Chinese government and they did they did not have. Echoed ours for the past 5 weeks these have become familiar scenes in hong kong tens of thousands of protesters showed up here today surprising even the moments organizers and president did for us suburban area like that and the message is quite clear to carolines government enough is enough the controversy over the proposed law to extradite suspects to stand trial in china sparked large scale protests last month and now demands have broadened protesters want reassurances that their fundamental freedoms are protected britain returned hong kong to chinese rule in 1997 the socalled one country 2 systems handover agreement guaranteed the people of Hong Kong Freedom is not widely available in mainland china. But people here tell as those freedoms are being eroded by creeping all story tyrion ism from beijing it remains to be seen what sort of concessions chief executive caroline can offer that will be enough to pacify young people here for now protesters vow they will continue to push back until they achieve meaningful political reforms. Dogon aljazeera hong kong. Who earlier my colleague barbara sorrow spoke with joshua long leading hong kong prodemocracy activist it was jailed for his role in the movement he says the process will continue until their demands are met. More than 100. 00 and people get on the street again government foully withdraw and terminated their extradition bill and in the long term its a must to apply free election in hong kong especially when one country 2 system eroded to be one country one in a hostile the government has not rift jodhaa bill yet in fact abused exists in the legislative program of cost the leader of hall call provide a misleading narrative claimed that the bill is set but when we check on the largest of the program of the parliament of hong kong the bill is due exis and can be easily reactivated again in the next trial thats why movements do continue and we urge government to terminate it to be you know free election is to wait especially half off to sit off the legislative kind of so not democratically elected leader of hong kong is selected by beijing instead of elected by hong kong people thats why we continue our strike and hong kong people he says freedom and democracy and if youve seen any indication from authorities that they are taking you seriously bad they are perhaps thinking of some concessions to give the demonstrators they claim that they take seriously with using baten attack on me and use pepper spray shit on me and thats what i experience 7 hours ago in sight the Shopping Mall if peaceful demonstration is useful no one had to take risks that might be prosecuted and jailed especially as the one have to joke for 3 times. Unfortunately hong kong to staff a 1000000 of population which is 25 percent of hong kong citizen talk to district already but governments do. Thats why. The movements do continue not only is so rotten that the government headquarters but also protests and rally happen in different districts including the district in a new terror terrorist close to mainland china. At least 60 people have been killed in flash floods and landslides in the poll dozens of people are killed and tens of thousands of others are displaced continues for instance thursday has inundated homes as well as destroying bridges and roads across the country in northeast india more than a 1000000 people have been displaced after flash flooding hit the region killing 10 farmlands and residential areas have been submerged after their rivers burst their banks it has more. Those living in northeastern india were prepared for the monsoon rains but not for this. So much rain has fallen the Brahmaputra River has burst its banks watering up entire villages. 6 this family is safe and now. They are among nearly a 1000000 people who have been displaced by the flooding in the state. With thousands of homes under water some have been forced to take refuge on rooftops. While others are doing all they can. To protect their families from the ongoing rains. The deluge has also triggered mudslides and several people have been killed. Others have turned to government run camps for relief. All farmers are worried about their crops so that. As soon as farmers began sowing and irrigating the land thats when the rain began its been extreme 72 hours of continuous rain the water level kept rising and then study submerged of farmland nearly all of our crops have been destroyed so its not just india affected by the heavy rains dozens have been killed in neighboring nepal and bangladesh. While this couple didnt let the rain dampen their wedding theres not much to celebrate for thousands of others here in india more monsoon rains are forecast and the flu. The waters are expected to continue to rise in the coming days. And josina. Georgians launched a campaign to attract tourists to their country after a spat with russia sent visitor numbers plummeting Andrew Symonds reports from tbilisi. To news to break up the Many Russians at this time of year in this part of the world from the black sea to the capital city to russian easy to find. Ethnic russians who are. Making the trip. Here. In. Nations should live. Our history. With. Many people. To try to persuade people. To. Spend. 65. Percent of. What started as a small facebook. Has quickly morphed into something much bigger. Who are. Experienced. This. Is a russian business woman who lives in georgia she says putin has made claims that russians. I dont feel are now and. People. Very friendly. And now its not change the georgian government heard forecasts more than 1800000. 00 russian tourists would visit this year now one bank is predicting half that number and 300000000. 00 of revenue will be lost if the flight plan goes all the placing that shortfall with new markets will be hard if not impossible Andrew Simmons aljazeera to please. This is on to syria and these are the top stories irans president says his government would be willing to talk to the u. S. If washington lifts its economic sanctions and returns to the terms of the 2050 nuclear deal several of the deals european signatories also issued a statement calling for dialogue to resume it or that it will go when a big pair is a bully we have to stand up to it it must stop being the bully we have always believed in talks always right this hour right this moment if they stop the oppression if they stop the beleaguered rence if they lift sanctions return to the table return to logic we are ready. The u. S. President is under fire for a series of racially charged tweets against 4 Democratic Congress women of color donald trump told the group to leave the u. S. And go back to where they came from democrats have described the tweets as being hateful and feeling white nationalism. Raids by u. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are reported to have begun donald trump announced that be a crackdown on undocumented workers in 10 cities this weekend religious leaders in Houston Texas pledged to provide sanctuary for those facing deportation. Chinas economy has experienced its weakest rate of growth in more than 25 years data for the worlds 2nd largest economy shows it grew just 6. 2 percent in the 2nd quarter of the year the slows and falls lower domestic consumer and business demands amid the ongoing trade war with the United States the 1st case overboard has been reported in the democratic republic of congo city of goma the discovery has raised concerns the virus could spread quicker and the densely populated area close to the ones and older goa which has a population of 1000000. 00 is located south of where the 2nd largest a ball i break on records was 1st detected a year ago Officials Say the city has been preparing for a potential i break and tens of thousands of people have protested against what they say is beijings can growing political influence in hong kongs affairs but what started as a peaceful march in the suburb of shutting ended in violence as right Police Charged towards demonstrators in a Shopping Center well those are the headlines the news continues here on aljazeera after the listening post. In one lifetime we cannot see everything with our own eyes but that testimony we would know very. Quickly this documentary is that open your eyes and imagine seeing. Your on t. V. And this story will live on on the web were talking about israel and palestine how careful in. Your words right now id like to think that ive always been careful. But at this moment im especially careful not because i want to get away with something but because i want to be heard. Magine youre going on the air at c. N. N. And there are cameras there are bright lights there are questions being thrown at you what goes through your mind whats going through my mind is there are so few opportunities for palestinians to be able to tell our own story i have to get this right its like a hostile interrogation as a palestinian been ive so deeply internalized all of the landmines that we can step on that i. Its almost 2nd nature and i also know its some tough stuff has to be said so critics have to be made but at the core i believe that if i am careful with my words i can help contribute to a conversation that will lead to an outcome that is freedom justice equality and selfdetermination for every minute. Hello im richard just heard youre watching a special edition of the listening post from washington d. C. Were still more than a year away from the american president ial elections but there are already more than 20 candidates running on the democratic side vying for the right to take on donald trump in november 2020 as they establish their campaigns stake out their policy positions and fight for News Coverage among the issues threatening to divide their party is this countrys relationship with israel. Americas support for israel usually at the expense of palestine has been unwavering one of the most reliably bipartisan issues in congress with republicans and democrats standing with their israeli allies through thick and thin but there is change in the air you can see that online and to a lesser extent on the airwaves we have i would say probably the best relationships right now with israel that we have ahead of president trumps unquestioning support of israel and its ever more hawkish Prime Minister has shifted the debate. In the Democratic Party the firmly pro israel old guard faces a challenge from a rising wing of progressives and activists who are calling out israel as never before the goal must be to try to bring people together and not just what one country which is now run like when. There i say racist government they sense an opportunity to force previously taboo topics such as b. D. S. The boycott divestment and sanctions campaign into the political and media mainstream one of the most critical rights that we have in our country its freedom of speech. Our country having the right to economic point the narrative on israel is shifting not just here in d. C. But in news rooms reflecting what is being said online on University Campuses and amongst activists across the country. Thats what were here to examine in d. C. New york city and the states of michigan and texas. The most recent changes in washington began at the ballot box last years midterm elections sent 111 new faces to the capitol resulting in the most racially and gender Diverse Congress in americas history for the 1st time more than 100 house members scored today the 1st muslim women michigans rashida to lead and minnesotas still had almost challenging conventional washington wisdom on immigration policy Racial Injustice and economic inequality is not what provoked the most intense criticism of these congress with their positions on israel to the same wave that brought in hung ahmed and xandra. And it is she that into office the same wave that makes Bernie Sanders so popular amongst young people that same progressive wave is actually creating space for 2 congresswoman to support us by sanctions for the 1st time ever to criticize israel very openly and to call out the us his policy on israel more broadly the bipartisan nature of support for israel that for several decades has been sort of the standard position for any ambitious politician to take that has been blown wide open and part of it is the omar conversation part of it is the election of a militia to play we know that the Progressive Movement is increasingly seeing israel as an ally and increasingly are concerned about palestinian rights at the same time the critique and the punishment for critiquing israel is becoming much harsher we see that israels influence is waning that the hetero doxie around israel as infallible as something that both. Sides of the aisle will protect we see that crumbling so it makes sense it makes sense that as its crumbling there isnt a head gemini that holds up itself where people just self corrects and self discipline but instead there is a rise in the coercive force to punish those who step out of line support of the boycott divestment and sanctions movement has suggested that if you are supporter of israel your guilty of too old loyalty in the past and she along with so i dont mar is part of any medic mentioned the Democratic Party now being protected by the democratic leadership so i expected. What i mean by pushback is you know ugliness hate and misunderstanding and anger being directed at me and really my faith or somebody that looks like me kind of developed into this massive kind of targeting attack. Which she did to leave has been pressured and scrutinized in a way 1st term members of Congress Almost never are and she says what her colleague yohann omar has faced has been worse really critical time and hahn all maher in so many ways is at the forefront of being a person that is there at the right time at the right place and we have to uplift that so that even before she became a congresswoman omar had been branded an anti semite for her criticism of israel then in february after a republican congressman repeated that accusation and an online debate ensued omar tweeted 6 words echoing lyrics from the world of hip hop words for which she would later apologize the benjamins were a reference to 100. 00 bill omar was talking about the millions the pro israel lobby spends in washington the online reaction was swift. But. The opinion editor of a jewish newspaper the forward accused omar of peddling a malevolent trick. Omar responded by calling out a path the american israel. Public Affairs Committee the most influential probe is real lobby group in the us but your. Reply went viral. This country is desperately in need of a conversation for how we can be leveraging our closeness with israel to end the occupation of the palestinians that is not the conversation that congresswoman omar is having she did not criticize israel what she did was characterize support for israel among americans and among American Jews in a way that was just off enough just long enough that it slipped to right into the well worn grooves of antisemitic tropes what do i mean by that she criticized a pack the israel lobby. Of course you can criticize a pack without being antisemitic i do it all the time the problem was that she mischaracterized apac exactly in a way that fell into an antisemitic trope just like everyone else you know i read i read the tweets and i thought i dont see this is being particularly antisemitic riva sickly controversial there are progressive American Jews people i know well who hear some of the things that are being said and just it hits something deep inside of them and i think it hits them sometimes as allies who say ive been a good ally of the rights the palestinians or human rights but here this hurts me so much youve gone too far and the sense of we should be able to pull you back and tell you what is the right way to criticize israel so that you dont offend us by the same token it is not up to white or jewish progressives to tell palestinians or progressives of color what is the acceptable way to to to express their concerns thats not a good look for progressives to say the least. The controversy around omars position on israel and palestine and the language she uses did not end with the tweet affair a few weeks later at a town hall meeting that was live streamed omar said this i want to talk about the political will in. This country that says ok for people to push for a foreign country she was talking about israel the context was disregarded and once again she was called anti semitic the charge of antisemitism is leveled at anybody who is potentially vulnerable to it so for example when. Thomas friedman of the New York Times says that a pact bought and paid for an applause line got congress to basically apply that to the other speech nobody or person that is anti semitic because they know the dark target would not stick and somebody like Thomas Friedman by contrast when you have. Muslim black member of Congress Making comments about the israel lobby shes much more vulnerable to that kind of charge if she is a hater im going to say shes got the whole world is watching watch an israeli audience supposed to take from a comment like that what she did not say critically she did not say anything about American Jews using money to control politics and she said absolutely nothing about American Jewish loyalties to the United States or to israel or anything of that sort and yet that was the dominant narrative in the media which i thought was really preposterous and the media pile on did not come out of nowhere it was a long time in the making a congress are under attack and. It developed in the corridors and back rooms of american politics where legislators the reporters tracking their words antisemitic trope and studio anchors across the country have collectively constructed and reinforced a largely black and white narrative on a story with multiple shades of grey this antisemitic charged thats because the jewish people literally for hundreds of years the condemnations from the political side came not just from republicans but also from Democratic Congressional leaders like nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer they reflect simply prepared a resolution for a vote to condemn antisemitism in effect they were singling out omar preparing to bring her to heel but the pushback was fierce and unprecedented the young multiethnic progressive wing of the party demanded that any resolution and evolve over what it will have an old market said had to condemn not only anti semitism but also islamophobia hate speech against immigrants the l. G. B. T. Community and other marginalized america. Then when key democratic contenders weighed in siding with the new guard over the old the democratic leadership did the math and realized it did not have the votes it had to concede to the pressure from the progressives the resolution is agreed and widen the scope of the resolution that marked a turning point. Over the course of 70 years the american israel public Affairs Committee. Has grown into one of the most influential Foreign Policy lobbying groups in washington. Daniel conference is a key event on the capitals talent a mix of politics pageantry and hardcore partisanship 18000. 00 people attended this years gathering Political Consultants activists journalists politicians from israel and the u. S. Including president ial candidates and congressional leaders. Politicians have much to gain by aligning themselves with the group as a disproportionate amount of clout to shape legislation promote pro israel politicians and direct funding very way from allied donors but one of the pacs greatest achievements lies in what is or is not said its ability to effectively set the boundaries of the israel palestine debate in the us across the political and media sphere one thing thats really important to remember is that lobbying is part of the democratic process its a pretty terrible part it is a corrupting influence apac and not just the uses its power and influence to ensure the us has no possessions but the n. R. A. Uses its power and influence to keep there from being you know laws against the guns the oil and coal industry use the power of its lobby to make sure that environmental regulations are not passed even though were in a crisis of climate change. In a capital need deep in lobby groups a pac has plenty of company in Foreign Policy lobbying alone arab gulf countries like saudi arabia the u. A. E. And qatar all play a high stakes big money game to cultivate politicians influence them and shape media narratives usually out of the ring of news cameras 8. Pac used to be the Industry Standard in lobbying but the others have been catching up and there are a mistake about signs that things are changing this year 7 democratic president ial candidates stayed away from this conference as recently as 4 years ago in 2016 that would have been unthinkable the longstanding taboo that you do not criticize a pac is now being challenged d. C. Is the most powerful lobby is facing the kind of scrutiny its never seen. I think apacs really losing a lot of power trump in a way he obviated right hes a sort of one man israel so he made them a little bit a little bit obsolete on the right and he sort of made them toxic on the left because anything associated with israel is now going to have to account for its injustice it back at this point i would say its really sort of its losing a lot of power. And other jewish advocacy groups j. Street jewish voice for peace if not now have emerged in the u. S. Progressive voices now challenging apacs dominance over discourse on israel and palestine and news outlets have grown bolder when dealing with journalists dig deeper into the groups work and question it more openly than they chose to or felt able to in the past as it becomes more and more clear that apac does not speak for the American Jewish community and that in fact it is an odds with the majority of the American Jewish community if were going to see an increased willingness to investigate what is really about still the limits on discourse over palestine and israel remain and the consequences for venturing beyond them can be career threatening last November Marc lamont hill an academic and activist as well as a paid political contributor at c. N. N. Learned the hard way lamont hill made a speech on palestine at the u. N. It lasted 21 minutes and consisted. Of 2837 words he ended it by calling for a free palestine from the river to the sea his critics online contended that those last 6 words from the river to the sea amounted to a call for the elimination of israel the counter argument was that that was not what mont hill meant that the rest of his speech made that abundantly clear however within 24 hours without so much as speaking to lamont hill c. N. N. Fired i cant say what red line across in literal terms because i wasnt given any specific reason or analysis obviously the speech was the red line the protests however from the speech where largely around those last 6 words from the river to the sea thats what at least became the pretext for the outrage from many people is there a double standard at play here because you get fired for saying what you said at c. N. N. And yet the Network Continues to employ for his punditry a former american senator Rick Santorum he once denied that palestinians even exist so how much of this do you feel has to do with what gets said and how much is about who says it i think its both if i had said as Binyamin Netanyahu son had said a few weeks ago on twitter israel is a jewish state from the river to the sea i would have not been fired i would have not been criticized i would have gone unnoticed now obviously when people of color or one muslim say it there are even lower threshold for critique in this in this vein c. N. N. Succumb to a very serious Smear Campaign against Marc Lamont Hill that was driven by a wide range of pro Israel Forces the United States mandela was the editor of the Washington Examiner he accused Marc Lamont Hill of supporting genocide against jews which is just utterly ridiculous and they have even people like ben shapiro was a popular personality on the right he also joined the campaign to brand Marc Lamont Hill in an environment. People are susceptible to Smear Campaigns theres no question about it and unfortunately Large Media Companies are concerned about their image and so they sometimes respond in the wrong way to Smear Campaigns you know twice over the past decade c. N. N. Has fired veteran journalists jim clancy and Octavia Nasser for online comments that offended pro israel voices and unbeknown to most of the networks viewers its lead political anchor wolf blitzer wasnt always a journalist he used to work for apac a one time pro israel lobbyist now occupying a c. N. N. Anchor chair his former employer and other pro israel advocates dont just focus their efforts on politicians elected to congress or News Networks based in new york they do plenty of lobbying work beyond washington and its paying off particularly at the state level more than half of the 50 states have now passed laws that shield israel from a campaign of boycotts divestment and sanctions the b. D. S. Movement in some cases those laws dont just ban states from hiring employees who support b. D. S. They force american citizens to sign an oath of loyalty to another country israel many of the anti b. D. S. Laws are virtually identical copy and paste pieces of legislation written in clear violation of the Us Constitution and americans 1st amendment right to free speech and many of my colleagues today even know and realize thats what they signed on to do you know that ive talked to them they did not realize that this wasnt about hey we support israel and israel is our friend this was also about suppressing peoples freedom of speech by saying no one can economically boycott the state of israel and to me you want to show support of israel then show support in other forms not by oppressing the american people. From speaking out and were turning in the country that is not democratic is not about. Freedom freedom of expression religion speech all of those things. Although 2 organizations care the council on American Islamic relations and the a. C. L. U. The American Civil Liberties union are fighting that trend in the courts and in some cases winning. Public radio in the case of george hale for instance a radio journalist who station broadcasts out of texas a and m. University having once reported from the west bank and having seen the effects of the occupation hale supports the b. D. S. Campaign last year the university which is funded by the state of texas required hale to sign a contract stipulating that he would not participate in or speak in favor of a boycott of israel and mention that i dont agree because i made it very clear and they rejected that immediately cosigner it wont work those are the exact words from the higher ups this past april a federal judge in texas struck down the states anti b. D. s law on constitutional grounds saying it threatens to quote manipulate the public debate through coercion rather than persuasion the judge ruled that boycotts are constitutionally protected under the 1st amendment guaranteeing freedom of expression since he said such campaigns are inherently expressing how is it that you are going to condition somebody some point man on their political activity that poses no harm or National Security threat right how is it that participating in a Grassroots Campaign to overcome diplomatic intransigence to hold a primary u. S. Ally accountable to human rights norms in International Law somehow a threat out to see the context its what has been legislated across the United States in an effort. To defeat top down what has not been able to be crushed from the bottom up so now the effort is to tweak these laws to get around that by saying well it only applies to companies of maybe 10 or more people theyre trying to figure out how we can tweet tweet tweet tweet tweak until we have legislation that fine maybe it wont prevent george hale from boycotting israel and ill still be able to get his contract but as a matter of u. S. Law in u. S. Policy it will deem boycotts of israel or settlements to be a cross around line illegitimate and to some extent illegal 250000000 americans live in states where laws like these have been passed so i think its important for people to understand that this is not the issue that applies to only like a tiny little group of people its not impossible to imagine a scenario in which the state legislature could basically make your employment contingent upon you signing that you wont boycott the n. R. A. Or like that planned parenthood or whatever else so its important that we take a step back and realize that this is not about israel its not about the sun in the middle east but its actually about our rights as americans and that really in many ways free speech is under attack you know the process United States. A danger to free speech in what Many Americans call the land of the free over a conflict that lies more than 4000 miles away all those state laws written to narrow what little space there is for criticism of israel may in fact be a tangible sign evidence that for the 1st time the pro israel lobby is losing ground in this argument. And israels critics may have found an unwitting ally in president trying hes deeply unpopular among american democrats and even moderate republicans have grown uncomfortable with his seemingly unconditional support of the netanyahu government and its policies repeatedly. He asked a pack officials for an interview for this program they refused had they said yes we would have asked them whether donald trump is helping or hurting israels comments to some the answer is obvious. The United States has long been biased in favor of israel for many decades but when the Trump Administration has done is escalated that to a whole new level where the United States right now is an active participant in israels war against the Palestinian People in a way that we have never seen before and despite these extremely troubling developments on the ground we are beginning to see a shift in discourse within the United States on this issue where people finally identify pursuit of these policies with the extreme regressive right that donald trump essentially represents at this point you could be tempted to say oh my god things are getting more intense its more draconian the battles almost lost and i say quite the opposite im saying because its so tough right now because the policies are so intense theres a theres an opportunity here dr Martin Luther king said only when it is darkest can you see the stars. The policy moment some way is very dark but i see a star possibility and i think in the next 10 years well be having a very different conversation about palestine and about israel and about justice than weve ever had before. The 2020 elections are still almost a year and a half away American Voters will have a multitude of issues to consider before they cast their ballots and for the vast majority their countries relationship with israel will not be the deciding factor but elections do have a way of clarifying. And the campaigning the rallies good news conferences the t. V. Interviews the tweets the terminology all of them will reflect what americans be they politicians academics or journalists are allowed to say what is permissible discourse on palestine and israel things are clearly changed what we do not know and will not know until the votes are cast is how much youve been watching a special edition of our program on palestine israel and american politics well see you next time here at the listening just. You know strategy or a battle rages over the countrys bomb animal with activists invading fox stealing livestock and intimidation from its one i want to ask cause these tracks spawn too far on aljazeera. Iran offers talks to ease rising tensions with washington as european nations call for dialogue. Im home i had seen this is al jazeera life from doha also coming up no bolling no kind of attack to silence me is going to work donald trump under fire the u. S. President is accused of racism after a twitter attack on a group of Democratic Congresswoman. Chinas Economic Growth slows to a record low as its trade war with the u. S. Deepens. And tension between tbilisi and moscow leaves georgias Tourism Sector struggling at the height of summer. But we begin with new diplomatic efforts to end months of heightened tensions between iran and the United States iranian president Hassan Rouhani says his government would be willing to talk to the u. S. But only if washington lifts its economic sanctions and returns to the conditions of the 2050 nuclear deal. Or direct it was only when a big pair is a bully we have to stand up to it. It must stop being the bully we have always believed in taught always right this our right this moment if they stop the oppression if they stop the beleaguered rence if they lift sanctions return to the table return to logic we are ready. What shortly after his comments european leaders who are signatories to the deal issued their own statements going for dialogue between all the parties to resume in a joint declaration france germany and the u. K. Said we are extremely concerned about irans decision to store and enrich uranium beyond the authorized limits however they also said we believe thats the time has come to act responsibly and to look for ways to stop the escalation of tension and resume dialogue the risks are such that it is necessary for all stakeholders to polls and consider the possible consequences of their actions its Ashley Butler has more now from paris. It was clear in the statement from france britain and germany that they are increasingly concerned about the future in the survival of the j c p o a now the 3 powers say that the 2015 iran deal should be supported they continue to support it they say its the best deal out there to ensure Regional Security and curb Irans Nuclear ambitions but they say there is a real risk that this deal could collapse because of the ongoing pressure from u. S. Sanctions on the iranian economy now what they are asking for is for all sides to deescalate tensions to really calm the situation they also once again urge iran to reverse some of the steps its taken recently to exceed some of the uranium enrichment limits that it agreed to under the 2015 deal they are not to break any more commitments that is made to the j c p a a and they say they will continue to work as hard as they can to try and find some sort of solution to all of this now what we know is the french president a week ago spoke to the iranian president and said that the 2 had agreed to find some sort of climate or context for talks in the coming week so far we havent heard anything more but in that elise a statement there was a date july the 15th now they lease are now downplaying that that date they say that its not a deadline it simply shows that there is a sense of urgency and there is a real desire to try and find some way to break the deadlock and calm the situation were going carlos a former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for transnational threats at the cia he says iran is taking steps to encourage the u. S. To return to its former position on the Nuclear Agreement. I think its an astute step for iran to take because here we are talking about an offer to negotiate the substance of a position that iran is suggesting or trying to move back to is really the status quo prior to the change by the United States towards iran withdrawing from the Nuclear Agreement and putting sanctions on iran it also is a stupid because it echoes or in forces or corresponds to the position that the e. U. Is taking which is that any negotiation is better than shooting and killing people which would have. Fathomable. The potential consequences so from that perspective its a useful thing in substance theres not a lot to it and the american response even from dennis ross who is no longer in america formal american official but for decades has been probably the premier american expert for the middle east. Urges iran to stop its Enrichment Program and to stop its support for fundamentally the hizbullah in lebanon syria and then in yemen yemen and that is. Not a position that iran is going to accept yours so substantively difficult diplomatically i think 0 useful step from irans perspective. The u. S. President is under fire for a series of racially charged tweets against Democratic Congresswoman so trump called them foreign born troublemakers and told them to go back to where they came from gabriel amazones a reports from washington d. C. The demon ization is not only with those families but its also with the agents that weve had told to do this to these families theyre 1st time Congress Women and vocal critics of the u. S. President and it appears theyve gotten under donald trump skin he took to twitter to say in part progressive democrat Congress Women who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe should go back to the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came however 3 of the Congress Women were born in the u. S. Not elsewhere as he suggested alexandria cortez of puerto rican descent was born in new york Ayana Presley is from massachusetts and russia to tell you the palestinian american was born in michigan she responded to trumps attack on social media this is our country and no amount of heathfield myleene from the white house is going to change that were going to fight back together and were going to become stronger for it please know that ill never back down no bully no kind of attack to silence me is going to work another target of trump congresswoman ileana omar was born in somalia came to the u. S. As a refugee when she was a teenager and became a u. S. Citizen nearly 20 years ago omar responded to trump by tweeting mr president as members of congress the only country we swear an oath to is the United States which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen. The racially tinge tweets came on the same day trump said immigration officials would be conducting raids throughout the country to arrest any vict undocumented migrants with removal orders it stoked fear in immigrant communities of being caught up in a dragnet of mass deportations and earlier in the week trump threaten to go around the Supreme Court and demand people answer a question in next years census on whether they are u. S. Citizens and it was say its all part of a trial pattern this is a president who once said that he calls for the total and complete shutdown of muslims entering into the United States once referred to mexicans as the rapists once started the barack obama birth or controversy and so its really important when you see this sort of racism zina phobia massage any islamophobia coming from the commander in chief its really important for minority communities here in the United States to act as intersectional allies to one another ensure that hes a one term president trumps anti immigrant and racially divided undertones in the run up to the 2016 election did not prevent him from becoming president he won anyway he now likely thinks that his latest rhetoric will not hurt his chances for reelection next year gabriels on dough aljazeera washington. Chinas economy has grown at its weakest pace in more than a quarter of a century for the worlds 2nd largest economy shows just 6. 2 percent in the 2nd quarter here the slowdown in full lower domestic consumer and business to months and that the ongoing trade war with the United States lets get more on this wayne hay is live for us in beijing wayne concerns will the Chinese Government be by these numbers. Well i dont think theyll set out right because partly they wont want to cause too much concern domestically here in china but theres no doubt they will be concerned whats an all doom and gloom and the numbers that have been released on monday there were some positive signs in retail sales and also industrial output both those sectors showing some strong signs in the 2nd quarter of the year industrial output in particular will be welcomed because that sector had been struggling resulting in many factories around china laying off staff but its the overall decline of course in these economic numbers that will be causing some headaches since late 2012 really its been trending downwards part of a global trend the Global Economy is slowing down effect many countries in the around the world will would be very happy to have some of the numbers that china is now reporting but china is judged very differently of course because of the huge Economic Growth that this country has been through over the past 30 years or so so yes it will be causing some concern both domestically and also around asia and beyond and when is the trade war with the u. S. Is not having an impact at all. It seems as if it is yes we had the latest trade statistics released also on friday they showed that exports and imports both down for the month of june compared with the same period a year ago the government saying at the time of releasing those numbers that yes the war with the United States tariffs is having an effect but that it is manageable i think one of the main concerns though with this trade dispute in the impact that it may be having on the chinese economy is that there doesnt seem to be any end in sight yes weve had this truce declared between the chinese president xi jinping and u. S. President donald trump when they met in japan last month so that means that no new tariffs are being placed on each others goods at the moment but we still have not heard any official word about when those face to face negotiations are going to restart we know that the trade negotiation teams from both countries have spoken on the phone last week but again no word yet on when they meet may meet again face to face to restart those negotiations ok way hey there live in beijing thank you lots more still ahead on out of syria 18 months out of office but former South African president jacob zuma is facing more questions over corruption claims. And monsoon rain