hundreds of civilians have been killed and injured since the u.s.-backed offensive began in june. then as thousands of muslims march against violence after last week's barcelona van attack , we will speak to prominent muslim scholar tariq ramadan. and we will look at president trump's warning to pakistan. trumka we can no longer be silent. the taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. amy: all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in charlottesville, virginia, residents cheered and celebrated as wororkers covered two confederate statues -- one of general robert e. lelee and another of general stonewall jackson -- with black fabric on wednesday in order to mourn the death of heather heyer, who was kikilled by a neo-nanazi duringa white supremacist rally in charlottesville on august 12. >> i feel like it is progress. i am concerned it wiwill be an invitation for people who disagree with shrouding the statue to come back here. i have concerns about that. the real resolution that i would like to see is the statue coming down. i feel really impatient about that at this point. but i also feel hopeful that all of this has tipped off something in our country, a shift of consciousness. and that is kind of the hope i am holding onto. amy: charlotte hill resident anne-marie. the city councilors voted unanimously in favor of covering the statues earlier this week, after a highly contentious town hall meeting on monday. hundredsds of residents ultimaty shut down the meeting by protesting and demanding the resignation of city mayor michael signer. >> [indidiscernible] amy: charlottesville is holding another town hall tonight with the justice department. meanwhile, white supremacist christopher cantwell has surrendered himself f to virgina police and admitted that he attacked an anti-racist protester with pepper spray on august 11, the night hundreds of torch-bearing g ku klux klklan memberers and neo-nazis rallllit ththe university of virginia. cantwell is fafacing three felonies. this is s cantwell speaking g wh "vicice" reporter abo ivanka trump. > trying to make myseself m e capable ofof violence. i'i'm here to spspread ideas, tk in the hopeses that somemebody e cacapable w will come along ando that, somebody like dononald trumump, who doeoenot giveve his daughter to a jew. i don't think you could fefeel about r race the waway i do and walk that kushner bastard around a beautiful girl. amy: meanwhile, the trump administration has issued a permit for a white supremacist rally in san francisco this weekend. on wednesday, the national park service approved the rally, despite the objection of local leaders. the armed right-wing extremist group, the oath keepers, says they'll send members to the rally. major anti-racist counter rallies are already being planned. in syria, the local journalistic group raqqa is being slaughtered silently says the u.s.-led coalition has launched over 100 airstrikes in raqqa over the last few days and that the airstrikes and artillery fire have killed dozens of civilians since the weekend. the major bombardment comes as amnesty international released an in-depth investigation documenting how hundreds of civilians have been killed and injured since the u.s.-backed offensive began in june to seize control of the isis stronghold. survivors and witnesses told amnesty internatational that thy were trapped between isis militants on one side and the u.s.-led coalition force's constant barrage of artillery strikes and airstrikes on the other side. we'll have more on the u.s.-backed offensive in raqqa with amnesty international after headlines. meanwhile, in paris, friends and family members gathered for the funeral of syrian actress, activist, and poet fadwa suleiman, one of the most recognizable faces of the syrian revolution. despite being of alawite descent, like syrian leader bashar al-assad, suleiman rebelled against the regime and helped lead major nonviolent protests in homs. she was pursued by state security forces and forced to flee syria in 2012. she died of cancer last week at the age of 47. this is syrian activist mazen alhummada. fadwa is one of the brilliant women who has given us a beautiful example, the syrian revolution, even though she was somewhat considered part of the al-assad regime. she rebelled against the regime after she saw her people demanding the freedom and dignity, joining them in the revolution might even leaving behind her popularity. amy: in yemen, a u.s.-backed saudi-led airstrike north of the capital sanaa killed at least 41 people wednesday when it struck a hotel. local doctors say the victims were farmers, and that there were up p to 100 people e inside hotel at t the time of the atta. some witnesses, however, told the ap the victims included houthi rebels. the death toll is expected to rise as s more thanan dozen bods are still buried under the rubble. this is emergency worker yehia hussein. >> the saudi american aggressors target of the hotel. proximally 100 people in the hotel. we found 35 martyrs and some body parts belonging to the victims. there are ohms 13 wounded and the rest of the victims are still under the rubble. amy: president trump's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner visited saudi arabia on tuesday, where he met of thee manager version ongoing campaign in yemen. he also met with egyptian president on wednesday following the u.s. decision to egypt amongst egypt's to generating human rights situation post of the u.s. contitinues to give massive military aid to egypt. amnenesty internatioional said a program hobbies, smart tear gas, used to oppress critics of the egyptian facilitate serious human rights violations like extrajudicial executions." the white e house hass refused o say exactly where jared kushner is going through this middle st are, but also known he met ,ith a jordanian king in iman is slated to meet with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas today. a white house memo has outlined some of the details of f presidt trump's ban on transgender people serving in the u.s. military. the memo instructs the pentagon to refuse to admit transgender people to the military and to stop paying for the medical treatment for transgendered people who are currently serving in the military. the memo gives the pentagon six months to implement the ban, which was first announced on twitter by president trump in late july, sparking widespread outrage. five transgender military members have sued trump over the band. thousands of transgender people are currently serving in the u.s. military. the indian supreme court has ruled in a landmark case that individual privacy is a fundamental right under ththe constitution, , ruling ththat could threaten the future of the world's largest biometric identitification program. the case was over whether mandatory use of the national identity cards violated individuals' privacy r rights. the carards beganan as a voluntarary program, but then became required to receive social serviceces, open a bank account, receive college scholarships, and to access a slew of other government programs. the cards collect a slew of personal information and data. activists say the supreme court ruling is a major victory against government surveillance. the science envoy for the u.s. state department dan kammen has resigned in protest of president trump's refusal to quickly condemn the deadly white supremacist violence in charlottesville, virginia, earlier this month. in his resignation letter, kammen writes -- "your presence in the white house harms the united states domestically and abroad and threatens life on this planet." the first letter of each paragraph spells out the word "impeach." this is now resigned science envoy dan kammen, speaking to democracy now! during the 2016 climate change conference in marrakesh, morocco, just after president trump was elected. a climate denier in 2016 is to simply ignore science. a businessman is supposed to be thoughtful about opportunity. clean energy is an economic boom and a boom for equity around the planet. and to turn your back on that is to put ideology over simple, good, clean energy business and clean energy jobs. amy: in mexico, journalist candido rios vazquez of the newspaper diario de acayucan has been murdered in the state of veracruz. the longtime crime reporter had for years received death threats from a forormer local l mayor, gaspar gomez jimenez, because of rios' reporting on corruption and the mayor's alleged connection to the disappearance of a local clerk. his wife says hihired men had beaten him up in his home and had threatened to cut out his tongue. this is his wife hilda martinez. justice is done and they do a thorough investigation to see if it was personal or what. since gimenenez always brighten with death, i'm not too sure. i also want security for myself so they don't do the same thing to me. amy: the reporter was shot to death tuesday, despite being enrolled in a government program aimed at protecting the lives of journalists. he is at least the ninth journalist killed in mexico so far this year. meanwhile, the dismembered remains of swedish journalist kim wall have been discovered washed up on a copenhagen beach. wall was last seen alive on when she boarded the submarine august 10 of d danish inventntor peter madsen, who has s been charged with involuntarary manslaughthter in her dedeath. wall had w written foror "the nw "harpers," and "the guardian," and had won an award for her reporting on climate change and nuclear weapons testing in the marshall islands. denmark's largest daily newspaper has called her death "the most spectacular murder case in danish history." in the philippines, major protests against president rodrigo duterte's so-called war on drugs are spreading across the capital manila, as thousands rally to demand justice for 17-year-old kian loyd delos santos. the high school student was killed last week by police during anti-drug raids. while the police claim they shot the teenager after he pulled out a gun, footage shows two police officers dragging the unarmed student through the streets. witnesses say the student's final words before he was shot in the head were, "please stop. please stop. i have a test tomorrow." duterte's drug war has killed at least 12,500 police since he took office last year. back in the united states, the pharmaceutical giant johnson and johnson has spoken out against its drugs being used in executions. today, the state of florida is slated to use an anesthetic drug developed by a division of johnson & johnson in the execution of death row prisoner mark asay. if carried out, it will be the first time this drug is used in an execution in the u.s. in response, the johnson & johnson division said -- "we do not condone the use of our medicines in lethal injections for capital punishment." a federal judge has again block texas' harsh voter id law, saying the revised version of the law does not correct the discrimination in the earlier version, and in fact, could even further restrict voting rights. the texas law, first imposed in 2011, created a list of id's required to vote that skewed heavily toward id's carried by whites, such as gun licenses, while excluding id's often carried by people of color, such as government employee id's and public university id's. the new version does not expand the list of acceptable id's. instead, it allows people without the id's to vote if they bring additional paperwork and sign an affidavit. but judge gonzales ramos says the criminal penalties attached to lying on the affidavit could deter people from voting because they could fear prosecution if they make an honest mistake on the form. new york city, more than a -- or than people rallied in 1000 support of former san francisco 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick outside the national football league headquarters in manhattan wednesday. last season, kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to o protest racism and police brutality against african americans. his actions sparked similar protests across the nfl and other professional sports leagues. he has yet to be signed by an nfl team for the upcoming 2017 season, which many believe is a retaliation for his activism. this is 15-year-old luis franco. >> my name is luis. i'm here to watch the protest of: pac colin kaepernick. there's a lot of black people being killed with no justice. we're all americans. we all live in america. he is taking a knee for people not getting justice. for the nfl to tell him he is not allowed to play i think is wrong. i play football myself for my town, my city. i think what is going on is wrong. i don't think you should have been in any trouble for taking the knee. i understand the reasons. amy: and in the marshall islands, the longtime political leader and anti-nuclear activist tony de brum has died at the age of 72. de brum helped organize for his country's independence from the united states and went on to serve in a number of top political position during his 50 year career in government. he was one of the world's most prominent voices confronting climate change, which threatens the marshall island's future. he also spent decades organizing against nuclear weapons after having witnessed firsthand the united states' nuclear testing on his homeland. this is tony de brum speaking in 2015 as he accepted the right livelihood award, known as the alalternative nobel peace prize. after conclusion of devastating nuclear testing in the marshall islands, i mightt e branded by some as a radical f r my impassioned conviction against the use, testing, orr possession of nuclear weapons. but this is s not radical. it is only logical. i have seen with my very own eyes such devastation andnd no with convictioion that nuclear weapons must never again be visiteted upon humamanity. between 1946 and 1958,8, the united states conducted 67 large-scale nuclear test in the marshall islands. 1.6 is the equivalence of hiroshima shots evevery day for2 years. amy: he died in the marshall islands at the age of 72. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. in syria, the local journalistic group raqqa is being slaughtered silently reports dozens of civilians have been killed by u.s.-led bombing and artillery fire over the last few days amid the ongoing battle to seize control of the city of raqqa from isis. the group says as many as 32 civilians were killed amid bombing in one neighborhood alone. among the victims were eight members of a family who had fled to raqqa from earlier fighting in palmyra. a local syrian journalist with the outlet sound and picture reports -- "the city is devoid of doctors and the market is devoid of food. what food there was in our fridges has rotted because of the absence of electricity." amy: amnesty international has just released an in-depth investigation documenting how hundreds of civilians have been killed and injured since the offensive began in june to recapture the isis stronghold. survivors and witnesses told amnesty international that they were trarapped on all sides between isis militants, u.s. led collllision forces, artillery strikes, and russia. amnesty is now calling on all warring parties to prioritize protecting civilians and granting them safe passage. we go now to donatella rovera, senior crisis response adviser at amnesty international. she's authored the new report titled "'i won't forget this carnage': civilians trapped in battle for raqqa-syria." donatella rovera, welcome to democracy now! why don't we begin where you lay out the findings of your report and what people said to amnesty in raqqa. civilians who have been, for four years, under the brutal dictator of isis, are now completely trapped in the city. they are unable to escape because isis uses them as human shields. lined theers have escape routes and are actually shooting civilians if they see them trying to flee. at the same time, they're under a barrage of artillery shelling and aerial bombardment being carried out by the u.s.-led coalition forces who are operating on the ground in partnership with the local armed group, the syrian democratic forces. this is a mostly kurdish group, curtis-led with the participation of other local fighters. they are the ones who essentially give the coordinates and call in the strikes, and s,en the u.s.-led coalition's which are made up on the ground mostly of u.s. forces, are the ones that didn't fire the artillery shells or drop the bombs. and that is where a lot of civilians are getting killed. the fact that isis and bed the self with the civilian population that tries to use them as human shields, all of that has been known for a long time. so i think we can presume that all of that was factored in when the battle plans were being drawn in the strategy was being laid out. the fact is the strategy isn't good enough for this kind of where in an urban setting a few meters can make a huge difference. it can make the difference between a house full of isis combatatants or a house full of civilians cowering and trying to keep safe. therefore, the concern that we have at the moment is that the of by the u.s. coalition munitions which are not as precise as they could be. both the artillery shells and droppeds that are being from aircraft are -- they're not always precise, especially the artillery shells. they also have a very widee impact radius, so they cause a will beyond the point of impact, well beyond the intended target. and that is how so many people have been killed. secondly, virtually, all of the civilians by spoke to who had managedto escape raqqa to do so by crossing the river in small boats because the bridges were bombed by coalition forces earlier in the year. so knowing that the river is the main escape for civilians, u.s. coalition forces have dropped leaflets telling people not to use both across the river because they will be bombed. in general townsend, the u.s. commander of the coalition thats, said recently basically, they bomb every boat. i quote him. he said "we bomb every boat." that is extremely worrying and absolutely acceptable. nermeen: you were crititical of the reporter -- article of the kinds of weapons being deployed by the coalition forces, but the u.s. military has said again and again that they are using the most precise weapons they have in their attempt to retake raqqa from isis. what did people there tell you about the effects of the bombardment? families whoo many literally run from place to manage tostill didn't be safe and lost family members. we had repeated testimonies of people who, as the artillery strikes -- the artillery barrage started to hit the neighborhood, tried to run away. that is what people told me. you didn't really know where to run to because you didn't know where the next shell is going to come from. byartillery shells fired falling all over the place over an area of like several streets, , it may 10, 12 houses well be that some of those houses were legitimate military targets where there were combatants. but a lot of the others were civilians. now, it is certainly not the usinghat the coalition is the most precise munitions available. there are muuch more the size munitions-- precise which have a smaller impact radius. and it means that they don't people much danger to other than the targett that has been chosen. beeeans that people who may 5050eters, 10000 meters away wil not be at risk t to the same extetent as they are with the kd munitions the kind of that are being used at the moment. amy: according to air force on june 5, u.s. leonard airstrikes killed as many as 21 civilians at the river waiting to escape by boat. the coalition actually acknowledges launchingng 35 airstrikeshatt destroyed 68 votes s between june 4 and june sixth. so even if people try to flee -- >> absolutely. especially people trying to flee. the river has been the main area through which people have escaped. both the residents of raqqa who were trying to get out of the city, but also the residents of the villages to the south of escapeho were trying to the indiscriminate bombardment from syrian government forces backed by russian forces who have been launching indiscriminate attacks, including with international banned. those people were able to get out of those areas and to get to safety. those managed to do so, they did so by crossing the river. boat as general townsend said, is tantamount to launching indiscriminate attacks. and that is in violations of the laws of war. been talkinghave about how difficult it is for people to fleeq, but doctors without borders or msf has quoted a survivor who did manage to escape who said -- not "in die byity, if you don't airstrikes, by mortar fire. if not by mortars, then stop her shots. if not by staffers, then mix was of device. and if you get to live, your besieged by hunger and thirst and there is no food, no water, no electricity." what is amnesty calling on coalition forces to do for those people who do manage to make it out? some pepeople have managed to escape and those are the people that i have been talking to. and some of them lost family members in the process. i spoke to a woman who lost three family members in front of her eyes just as they were a relativeause stepped on what was obviously some sort of booby-traps laid by isis. so several of the people have spoken -- with through that dramatic kind of incident as they were trying to escape. those who have left are sheltering in either formal or theshift camps, which conditions are absolutely dire. again, it was very well-known when the battle for raqqa was being planned that this would result in large numbers, hundreds of thousands of people displaced who are going to need looking after. they're going to need food and water and accommodation and medical care. ofil now, the provisions humanitarian aid for those who ise managed to escape raqqa minimal. it is completely inadequate for most of them. and for those who are in areas further removed, they are getting no aid at all. i saw people in makeshift camps, literally in the middle of the desert, who had received absolutely zero humanitarian aid . and ononce again, we get back to what should be a very simple equation. if there are funds for the war, there should be an there must be funds for the consequences of the war. this is not a surprise. this is something that should have been prepared, budgeted for. the humanitarian aid should have been already prepetition in areas just pre-positioned in areas where people were going to be arriving. instead,d, we're almost three months into the final phase and there are a lot of people who are not getting any humanitarian aid and that is unacceptable. amy: amnesty is also saying the u.s. led coalition is using white phosphorus munitions on the outskirts of raqqa and that it is unlawful and may amount to a war crime. can you talk about what you found? >> w white phosphorus was used earlier on on a couple of occasions in the outskirts of raqqa, so some time ago. it was used in a manner ththat babasically constitutes indiscriminate -- an indiscriminate attack because it was air bursted, where it breaks in midair and sort of cascades down on the residential areas. we did not ourselves meet anybody who had been injured or relatives of people who had been killed as a result of the u usef white phososphorus. but clearly,y, using white phosphorus in that manner in that particucular setting is something that should not be done at all. white phosphorus is not banned, but it must not be used indiscriminately on civilians. what is killing civilians in large numbers are the airstrikes in the artillery strikes. and now we're entering a very crucial phase in the battle for raqqa. it is the final phase. the final -- the fighting is happening in the center of the town. there is nowhere to run to. there is no escape. neither for the civilians nor for the isis combatants, who are there for, more likely come on the one hand, to fight harder and on the other, put more pressure on the civilians -- not to allow them to escape. so it is really crucial that every feasible step that can be taken come every precaution must be taken. and there are precautions that must be taken in terms of the choice of munitions and the choice of strike locations. if it is not possible to verify that a certain location is absolutelely a military target, then the strike should not go ahead. we have seen too many families who have lived in the hell of the dictate of isis for four years and are now being killed just as isis is being ousted from their city. you know, when they could have a chance for a better life and instead they're being killed in the process. amy: when it comes to the u.s. forces, they are not only bombing raqqa from the air, but there are hundreds of military on the ground like rangers and others, donatella. we just have 20 seconds. mainn. soldiers are the ones who are carrying out the artillery strikes. thatat is their main task. amy: donatella rovera, think for being with us, senior crisis response adviser at amnesty international. author of the report we will link to "'i won't forget this , carnage': civilians trapped in battle for raqqa-syria." speaking to us from london. when we come back, we had to geneva. thousands of muslims marched in barcelona against violence after the attacks last week. we will go to geneva to get the latest. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "talking with accidents" by beach beach. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: spanish police are continuing to investigate last week's attack in barcelona where 15 people died after a van plowed into a crowded walkway along las ramblas, the city's most famous avenue. on monday, police shot dead the man suspected of driving the van, 22 year old moroccan-born man named younes abouyaaqoub. police believe he was part of a 12-person cell plotting to carry out a series of bomb attacks. eight of the cell's members are now dead, four suspected members have been detained. the police investigation is now focused on the role of an imam named abdelbaki es satty. he died on the night before the barcelona attack in an explosion at a house where police says bombs were being made. amy: the events of the past week have shocked many in the barcelona region. on sunday, thousands of muslims -- many from morocco -- marched against violence in barcelona, chanting "islam is peace" and "not in my name." we go now to geneva to speak with tariq ramadan, professor of contemporary islamic studies at oxford university. he is the author of a number of influential books on islam and the west, including "western muslims and the future of islam" and "in the footsteps of the prophet: lessons from the life of muhammad." professor ramadan was named by "time magazine" as one of the most important innovators of the 21st century. professor, welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what happened in barcelona, both the attacks -- are they on increase around the world? and also the response. very few people in the west reported on the thousands of muslims who marched against violence sunday. yes, i think it is important to understand that it is increasing and we have people going very far and very quickly. these are cells that are informal in a way. anbody can do and launch attack on civilians. it happened in france. it happened in barcelona. it happened before in the u.k.. inhave this happening also finland. we have these happening now in europe. we need more security. we need to condemn as muslims what is happening. this cannotto say be accepted and has to be condemned. i kept on saying to muslims, we can't say this has nothing to do with islam. we have to take a position and a say that these people are muslims. and some of them are quoting verses of the koran thomas we have to take a stand. and we have to condemn. what was done by muslims in barcelona -- not only in barcelona, because it happened in many other countries. it also happened in the states, by the way, with some of the things done by muslims by saying "it is not us." the problem, as you said it, it is not covered a lot by the media. there is a narrative that is important to us, which, yes, we know these people are radicals or violent extremists. even though, by the way, if we go to figures and facts, we understand many of these in people were not even practicing muslims two weeks or three weeks one month before. we have to speak carefully about radicalization. the notion of radicalization means they were practicing muslims and step-by-step they which isdicalized -- not come in fact, the case for the great majority of these people. the narrative important to us is to say, we have a problem with violent stream is. at the same time, muslims are not vocal. they are not condemning another. for the last 15 years -- it started in 2001 in the states -- i have been asked, you don't condemn enough. look, when are you going to listen to the great majority of the scholars, the consensus among the muslims that this is to be condemned by muslims, and not something we are condoning and something we cannot accept? the voices are not heard. my point here is something which is connected to the story that you had before. the narrative that is important to us is in the name of this war on terror, yes, the violent extremist, the muslims are the problem, but islam is the problem to the point, when for example, we go to syria and iraq and where targeting daesh and say we are targeting the violent extremists and these people, at the same time, the innocent ,eople within the city of raqqa for example, are not so much important because at the end of the day, they are also part of the big picture that we are making islam is a problem in the civilian muslims are thehe problem. i think this is very, very dangerous. the narrative behind the whole story that we have now in the middle east as well as in the united states of america or europe today are very dangerous because it is as if in normalized aware of treating people in a way which is discrimination, racist, and targeting, and stigmatizing a portion of the european citizens. at the end of the day, muslims are american citizens, european citizens, western citizens. professor ramadan, could you explain why it is or elaborate on why it is that thousands of muslims from europe have gone to the middle east to fight on behalf of isis in addition to those who carry out these attacks within europe? many have pointed out that one of the common traits amongst those who are perpetrating these attacks in europe is that they tend to be young menen who are below the age of 25. about the talk significance of that, at this particular demographic in different european countries and why they are increasingly drawn to isis? i think it is deeper than that. it is that only young people. we've been working with the european muslim network in brussels. we have even been seeing some testimonies from people who were going to leave or who left and came back on their way from turkey. what they're saying is true, their young, but not only men women. not very much involved in terrorist attacks, but they are involved -- they are attracted by the same way. we're going to support the muslims who are targeted in syria and we're going to free the country and support the so-called islamic state. look at the facts in the figures and even the stories behind, you can see the great majority of them are not practicing muslims. and very often, completely disconnected the muslim organizations on the ground. not more thanve six weeks of practicing the religion. and seem of them are not practicing until the day before -- and some of them are not practicing until the day before. there is something that has to do with the instrumental is lizati, the perception of the worldon were the feeling is frustration, discrimination, and the feeling of being g victims d the narrative that we have today in the west as muslims. and we need to get this right. we can't disconnect the narrative we are imposing and the consequences. it does not mean we are not condemning, but we need to understand the great majority of the reasons behind the whole thing as nothing to do with a religioiousamework or reference. it is much more political. in thehe wrong popolitical understanding connected to frustration on the ground when it comes to the image of being a muslim in the west today. the image -- some of them are very well educated, but it one point, in many countries in europe, whatever you do, it is never enough. why? the narrative about stigmatizing islam and being mistrusting the muslims is something that is there. wewe cannot justify it, but need to understand it. i keep on repeating to try to explain it is not to justify, but to try to explain is to try to understand what is happening. it comes with your western. --ould say the government the answer coming from the government. the only answer we have now is targeting them and coming with security policy. it is as if the narrative is not there. it is as of today when it comes, for example, to the black lives matter and the black situation -- the situations of black people in the united states of america, you just look at what they're doing and you say it is security measure, and you don't understand there is a very old narrative there making or connecting the black people to insecurity and violence. you justify the whole policy of discrimination in the name of the narrative you created. that is exactly what is happening with muslims. ththat is why it is connected ia way what we're saying about the middle east today, about western muslims today is connected to violence, mistrust. so if you are an american muslim citizen or a european muslim citizen and you look at the picture, you look at what is said about you in society, it is negative. it is that you are suspected. you are not to be trusted. and you're not bringing anything good within society. and if you look at the way, for example, all what you're saying, what donatella was telling us about what is happening in raqqa , it is as if the innocent civilians who are trying to flee the e bombarding of the coalitin are targeting themselves. it is as if the civilians have no value. if your citizens here, we don't have i use here or there. i'm going to save my life by being a hero. of course, once again, we condemn this. but we want to come with the big picture and to say, yes, not in my name, violence, but please, as an american citizen, tell your government, not in our name what you're doing in iraq and raqqa, the fact you are dividing the middle east and supporting, for example, israel, and now letting the palestinians be killed. not in our name. as much as we are expecting from muslims to say "not in our name," let us come together as western citizens and say, "not in our name what you are doing." report of amnesty international unacceptableng how is the american policy in the ,egion by targeting people boats, were civilians are trying to flee and we accept this and don't speak about it? it is not covered by the mainstream media? we need democracy now! to say, look, this is something serious here? we are also to blame in the way we're done with the issue. nermeen: on that point of media coverage and what is covered and what is not, even as we are covering the fact that attacks of this kind have recently been increasing in western europe, the number of casualties in the middle east from terrorism and the surrounding region is exponentially more than the west . just this morning, out to zero reported that of the almost 35,000 people killed in terrorist attacks last year, only 238 were in western europe while almost 20,000 people died from terrorist attacks in the middle east and the surrounding region. professor ramadan, can you talk about that and the disproportionate coverage that is given to victims in the west as against these literally tens of t thousands in one year killd in the middle east? look, you set it all. that is exactly what is happening. the coverage of our debt has definite do with the coverage of the people who are dying over therere. it is not as if we don't care. as i told you come in the name of this war on terror, we hahave iswe are -- the narrarative that our people are e more innocece than their civilians. theieir civilians are not so innocent. at the end of the day, muslims are living in a muslim majority country or the middle east, so connecting the big picture, it is as if they're not as innocent as we are. while our governments in the west, the united states of america and the european governments, are now dealing with the situation in a way which is unacceptable against the geneva conventioions, againt all the laws o of war come all f the agreements we have international resolutions that we have. we are not respecting this and we are imposing a narrative that their killing is to be normalized because we are dealing with a violent extremists. and the media are not helping us. mediathe marginal covering it. if you look at figures, who are the victimims? do you want the muslims to go in the street and to say, not in our name because the people were killed in barcelona? what about the syrian people and the iraqi people and yemen? what about this ally of the west? --are selling them billions weapons for billions, and they are paying. saudi arabia. they are killing innocent people in yemen. we don't care. it is nothing. it is as if it is nothing, that their civilians are not to be diet. that is unacceptable. it gives the perception in the middle east and within our societies and the west that the life of the muslims or the life ,f the suspected muslims civilian muslims come are the innocent muslims have less i you then our lives. beaker,ay, let us also we need to condemn but we also need to try to get these people -- and that so happy by the fact that every time it happens, we're killing the people. we don't know who they are. we killed ththem. i was in africa with people telling us, i don't understand the logic of the way we're dealing with terrorists because we keep on try to kill them and that is it. we don't want to catch them and understand why this is happening. it is unacceptable even in the way we are dealing with people -- yes, there are terrorists and we have to get with more security and to catch them. but let us try to understand how we're going to deal with this and not be happy only because we kill them and that is what we want. i would say the media coverage now, it it is nurturing this narrative that was coming from this 2001 with this war on terror, normalizing something that we can do whatever we want in the middle east or accepting even to target civilians there. and d they are p part of the problem.m. and d part of the p problem, ifs of lieiens are part of thee problem, whahat we mean and d wt we get out of this is that the narrative is saying, it is not only the violent extremists, it .s the muslims are problematic and i would say here that if we don't address this issue, if we not serious about this, if we don't ask the journalists to respect the minimum of the common principles, which is treat all c citizens, all innoct people the same way here in the states or europe as well as inn the middle east -- if you don't start with this, it means you have a double standard, that you are nurturing a sense of frustration for the victims. and at the end, they're not going to except this without reacting to it. so we can'condemn thee reactition. let u ucondemn ththe reasons why things like this are also happening. tariq ramadan amy:, thanks for joining us, professor of contemporary islamic studies at oxford university. he is the author of a number of influential books on islam and the west. he was banned for six years and was of a strategic notre dame, but became a professor at oxford university instead. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. back in a moment. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen:n: we turn now to look t pakistan. in his primetime address on monday night, president donald trump issued a warning to pakistan. pres. trump: we can no longer be , the taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in afghanistan. it has mucuch to lose i continug to harbor criminals and terrorists. amy: president trump went on to say the u.s. would develop a strategic partnership with india, calling on the modi government to help in afghanistan. observers say that the move might be a signal to islamabad that the u.s. would back india in the struggle between thee south asian rivals unless pakistan severed ties with the afghan taliban and the haqqani network, one of its factions. amy: we go now to ithaca, new york, to where we're joined by raza rumi, a pakistani journalist who was targeted by a taliban affiliated militant group in 2014. his colleague was killed in the attack. rumi moved to the u.s. soon after and now teaches at ithaca college, new york. his book is titled "the fractious path: pakistan's democratic transition." wewelcome e to democraracy now! can you start off, professor, i responding to what president trump said in his monday address? new strategy, or -- ithereof, has been followed closely. after 16 years of u.s. engagement in afghanistan, spending trillions of dollars, u.s. war machine still finds itself in a tight corner. there is no sign of a "victory." instead, the path that has been chosen has been that of scapegoating pakistan. which has been rendered unstable due to the afghan situation leading to nearly 70,000 deaths in pakistan. trump has a point about the safe ava's to the afghan -- safe havens to the afghan taliban. at the same time, pakistan has been trying to fight some of these militias and sort of punish them as well in the last three years. and all of that -- and all of the countries local situation has been ignored in this larger narrative, which is a very u.s.-centric narrative, unfortunately. and i don't think the call to india is going to be even more worrying sign because india and pakistan i believe spans over several decades. thatf you escalate conflict in the region, it is not a very responsible thing to do for superpower. nermeen: you mention one of the groups the u.s. is calling for getpakistani government to sever ties with is the haqqani network. can you explain who this is anad how it began? >> the haqqani network is one of the leading factions within the afghan taliban. originally were trained and supported by the u.s. during the 1980's and the war against the soviet union when the russians occupied afghanistan. we have a team in this region of all of the earlier experiments with islamic militancy and propping up extremists against even these soviets. that has now taken a full circle. all of these former allies have turned against the western countries, like the u.s. is supported them in the first place. but that is a different story. the haqqani network operates both in afghanistan. it has closed ties with pakistan and pakiststan'ss government, yu know, , cular agenencies. but it also has a presence e in the middle easast, in the uae ed other countrieies where it raras a lot of money and manages a lot of businesses. but having said that, on the one hand, the u.s. says they want afghan

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