05/20/24 05/20/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> today i am putting out applications for warrants of arrest and the situation in the state of palestine. amy: the international criminal court announces it is seeking arrest warrants for israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu, the israeli defense minister gallant, and three hamas leaders. we will get the latest. but first, to iran. >the iranian president and the foreign minister are killed in a helicopter crash, along with other officials. we will get the latest. then to a london court where the british high court has ruled wikileaks founder julian assange can appeal his extradition to the united states. we will go outside the british high court. and president biden addresses the graduating class of morehouse college. some students turned their back on the president to protest his policies on gaza. we will speak with two morehouse professors. one turned her back on biden and

another held up a flag of the democratic republic of congo behind president biden as he gave his address. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. iran has declared five days of mourning after president ebrahim raisi and foreign minister hossein amir-abdollahian died sunday in a helicopter crash near the border with azerbaijan. the crash occurred amid heavy fog in a mountainous area. it took rescue workers more than 16 hours to reach the crash site. raisi had led iran since 2021 and was widely seen as a possible successor to iran's supreme leader ali khamenei, who is 85 years old. iran will hold presidential elections in 50 days.

vice president mohammad mokhber has taken over as interim president. we'll have more on iran after headlines. the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has announced he is seeking arrest warrants for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, israeli defense minister yoav gallant, and three leaders of hamas. in an interview today with cnn's christiane amanpour, prosecutor karim khan detailed the charges against netanyahu. >> we applied for warrants. the judges must determine whether or not to issue them but we have applied today and will apply for once for the prime minister netanyahu and also ministry of defense gallant for crimes causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of

humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict. amy: karim khan said the charges against the hamas leaders include extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention. a panel of international criminal court judges will now decide if arrest warrants should be issued. in gaza, israel is threatening to expand its attack on the southern city of rafah despite widespread international condemnation. the u.n. estimates 800,000 palestinians have fled rafah in recent weeks, many of the displaced had sought refuge in rafah after losing their homes in other parts of gaza. over the weekend, israeli strikes on the nuseirat refugee camp killed at least 32 people - including 10 women and seven children. the overall official death toll has topped 35,400. across gaza palestinians say they have no safe place to go. >> are these america's gifts for us? instead of pitying us and

telling israel to stop, that is injustice, where are the arab leaders? where are the muslim leaders? where are the men of islam? where are they to see our conditions? let them stop the killing. let them stop the destruction. our houses have been destroyed. people cannot find a house to live in. people are displaced in tents. what is happening to us -- it is enough. someone needs to mercy. no one has humanity. amy: israeli is also laying siege to al-awda hospital in north gaza. doctors without borders reports the hospital has run out of drinking water. on sunday, the u.n.'s top humanitarian chief martin griffiths said israel's stranglehold on aid reaching gaza is having apocalyptic consequences. israeli opposition leader benny gantz has threatened to leave the coalition government unless israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu develops a plan for a post-war gaza. this comes as protests continue in israel calling for a ceasefire and a deal to release all of the remaining hostages held in gaza. on sunday, president biden addressed the graduating class of morehouse college, the prestigious black college whose alum include dr. martin luther king, jr. some students turned their backs on the president to protest his gaza policies. morehouse valedictorian deangelo fletcher, who had a palestinian flag affixed to his graduation cap, called for a permanent ceasefire in gaza. >> it is my stance as a morehouse man, nay as a human being, to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the gaza strip. amy: president biden was seen on video applauding deangelo fletcher's call for a permanent ceasefire. during his speech, biden also called for an immediate

ceasefire. biden's speech came just days after his administration notified congress of its plans to send another $1 billion in arms to israel, including tank ammunition, mortars, and tactical vehicles. later on sunday, protesters gathered in detroit where president biden addressed an naacp dinner. we will speak to two morehouse professors later in the program. one turned her back on biden and another held up a flag of the democratic republic of congo behind the president as he spoke. in news from britain, the high court in london has granted permission for wikileaks founder julian's to appeal his tradition to the u.s. assange did not attend the hearing due to health reasons. assange has been held in london's belmarsh prison for five years. if extradited and convicted in the u.s., he faces up to 175 years in prison. we'll have more on this later in the show. authorities in the democratic republic of congo say they thwarted an attempted coup in

the capital kinshasa on sunday. armed men attempted to storm the presidential palace as well as the home of a key lawmaker in an attempt to overthrow president felix tshisekedi's government. around 50 people involved in the plot were arrested including three u.s. citizens. the apparent coup leader, congolese opposition figure christian malanga, died during the attack. malanga had lived in exile in the united states for over a decade. in taiwan, new president william lai delivered a defiant message to china after he was sworn in earlier today. >> i also want to urge china to stop intimidating taiwan politically and militarily and to take on a global responsibility with taiwan to work hard on maintaining peace and stability across the taiwan strait and the region, to ensure the world is without the fear of war breaking out. amy: in response, beijing said, "taiwan independence is a dead end."

china also announced sanctions against a number of u.s. companies involved in arms sales to taiwan. in the dominican republic, president luis abinader easily won a second term in sunday's election. abinader has taken a hardline approach to immigration, increasing raids and deportations of haitians and shutting down migration from haiti despite the dire humanitarian situation in the neighboring country. he also began construction of a 100-mile concrete wall along the border with haiti. at least 11 people died in ukraine's kharkiv region on sunday as russia intensifies its offensive in northeastern ukraine. this comes as ukrainian officials have asked the united states and other nato nations to send troops to ukraine to help train new recruits. on thursday, the chair of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff general charles brown hinted such a plan is being discussed. he said, "we'll get there eventually, over time." in alabama, workers at two

mercedes-benz plants voted against joining the united auto workers. 56% of the nearly 5000 votes rejected the uaw after a massive pressure campaign by mercedes and republican leaders, including alabama governor kay ivey. uaw president shawn fain said the result will not deter the union in its bid to organize the south. >> i am not scared at all. i believe workers want unions. amy: in california, the man who broke into the home of then-house speaker nancy pelosi and attacked her 82-year-old husband with a hammer has been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison. during the trial, david depape admitted he wanted to take nancy pelosi hostage to interrogate her, but she wasn't home when he broke into her home just before the 2022 midterm elections. and in texas, the death toll from last week's storms in houston rose to seven people. some 240,000 customers still did

not have electricity by sunday evening as the area now contends with a heatwave, with temperatures topping 90 degrees president biden has issued a sunday. disaster declaration for the region. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the iranian president ebrahim raisi and if minister amir-abdollahian were killed on sunday in a helicopter crash along with six other officials and crew. state tv gave no immediate cause of the crash after wreckage of the helicopter was found early monday in a mountainous region of the country's northwest following an overnight search in blizzard conditions. raisi was returning from iran's border with azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam when the crash happened. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei declared five days of public mourning and announced that vice president mohammad mokhber would serve as the iran's acting president until

elections are held. the 63-year-old raisi was elected in 2021 in a vote that saw the lowest percentage turnout in the islamic republic's history after major opposition candidates were disqualified from taking part. for more, we are joined by trita parsi, executive vice president of the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. welcome to democracy now! if you can just respond to what has taken place in iran? talk about the death of the president and the foreign minister and what this means. >> this is a major event in iran , but the president and foreign minister and several others have died. it is something that is coming at a time when the iranians already have an extremely low participation rate in the elections and now they're going to have to have elections within the next 60 days. as you pointed out, the only reason why raisi got elected the

first place is the majority of the population refused to partake in the elections because of the fact the conservatives had shrunk the political spectrum in iran and refused other candidates who are not conservatives to be able to run in the first place. now the regime is going to have to try to whip up and normalize voters and excitement for an election within 50 days and make a decision. is it going to allow other candidates to stand or continue on the path it set out in which these elections increasingly become rather meaningless in terms of actual democratic value? this is coming at a time when neither regime is placing -- potential crisis, including the secession that will take days within a couple of years when the current supreme leader ali khamenei passes away. raisi was considered to be a potential candidate for that

position but, obviously, no longer. amy: if you could talk about raisi's record, who he was, how close he was to the supreme leader? and also the foreign minister? >> so raisi was not particularly well known until a couple of years ago because he spent most of his time in the judiciary, clergy. he is related by marriage to the supreme leader. frankly, has not been particularly impactful president or influential president. at the end of the day, he seems to have been selected precisely because he was compliant to the supreme leader, because he would not do it freezes deaf previous presidents have done which is challenge the hardline establishment. if we were to take a look at what are the main policies he has been -- it is difficult to identify. imagine if this had happened to their previous president during

the height of the nuclear negotiations. it would have thrown a major wrench into those negotiations precisely because was such a strong force in resolving the diplomatic issue. there's no equivalent to that with raisi of such a policy or any major policy in which his absence will be particularly felt. if anything, most of the current policies of the islamic republic are likely going to continue unabated even with him being absent. amy: we don't know the exact cause of the crash come although the weather has certainly been talked about. i what to read this from ap, iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. it's military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 islamic revolution. irna published images it

described as raisi taking off in what resembled a bell helicopter, with a blue-and-white paint scheme previously seen in published photographs." and you have the washington post saying iran hampered by sanctions getting parts for government aircraft has suffered several high-profile helicopter crashes in recent years. talk about this. >> few countries have as many aircraft and helicopter crashes as iran, which to a large extent is due to the fact the u.s. ancients have prevented them from being able to service those planes i get airports for them. in fact, as part of the nuclear deal, the iranians were going to buy a large number of boeing aircraft as well as getting boeing to service the planes iran already has, the fleet mainly coming from the 1960's and 1970's. boeing executives and technicians went to investigate

the planes and in return concluded they would not service those planes because they were in such bad shape that boeing did not want to take on the liability of having to service them because they would likely crash even with that service and boeing would be liable at that point. so it refused to service those planes. it tells you how bad shape the iranian fleet is. and this is overwhelmingly the result of the sanctions. amy: the foreign -- former foreign minister blamed the united states because of the embargo weaving their fleet, saying this will be in a list of u.s. crimes against the iranian people. >> this is obviously a lie many in the government will take and point to the sanctions. i think there's also another message that comes with this which is they are really pointing to this being an accident.

this is an effort for them to put to rest any speculation that perhaps there was somehow play, whether it was internal players or external players. at this moment, for instance, they will be adamant about denying this -- that israel had anything to do this despite the fact under normal circumstances, they would be rather quick to bkllame the israelis. it would be too embarrassing to even entertain the idea the israeli's have the capacity to be able to essentially kill the iranian president and foreign minister. i want to be clear, there's no evidence israel -- i'm just raising this as a point as to why there active in trying to blame this on an accident. it is because they want to put to rest any such rumors not only because of the embarrassment but also they do not want to see in intensified infighting inside of the regime, mindful of the fact raisi was a contender for the next supreme leader. amy: raisi was in charge during

a crackdown on protests that led to the deaths of many and imprisonment of many others after the death of mahsa amini. and this weekend, we got word that bbc reported the jailed iranian nobel peace prize winner narges mohammadi said she is facing a new trial after she accuse the security forces of sexually assaulting women. she said in her statement that she was dragged to the unjust and farcical cords table again due to her protest and disclosure of religious regimes, sexual assault against women. what will happen now that raisi and the foreign minister are dead when it comes to using protests, when it comes to what is happening with mohamed he heard something dragged to court

again? >> i don't think this will be likely to be an event that will cause new protests. at the end of the day, i think a very large number of people of iran who are very unhappy with his regime recognize raisi was not that important of a figure. it will be a completely different situation when the supreme leader passes away. i think you will see the regime orchestrate a tremendous amount of force, extra security in order to minimize any such risk -- but you're not likely going to see this galvanizing into a moment of protest. part of the reason for that is the mahsa amini protest did not yield the type of change they wanted. certainly changed iran's society. perspective on the hijab. it is led to situation in which the population who earlier on and still have lost faith in the change to the ballot box have

also lost faith in change through revolution. i don't find this to be very likely to have that type of instability in the country or protest. amy: what does this mean for the middle east? you have hamas and hezbollah expressing condolences. next week, wasn't the united states and iran to be in a meeting through a third-party with iran overall in the last months saying they were tamping down attacks on the united states? >> i don't see this having any impact on iran's nations with hezbollah or hamas, but i think the latter point you raised is an important one. over the course of the last couple of weeks, we have seen how the united states and iran have negotiated quietly behind the scenes in order to be able to temper their own tensions and get an end to the attacks by militias that have been aligned with iran against u.s. troops.

they iranians did put pressure on them to seize those attacks because the iranians don't want to see a broader war in the region. if this leads to some sort of debilitating crisis, not existential crisis for the regime but one in which they will become somewhat paralyzed in the foreseeable future, it can lead to a situation in which their control over some of these militias will weaken further. and many of them are more hawkish than iran, or eager to take on the u.s., will actually restart their attacks on the united states. that would obviously be a bad situation for the u.s. and the biden administration, particularly mindful of the upcoming elections. amy: trita parsi, thank you for being with us executive vice , president of the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. when we come back, the international criminal court is seeking arrest warrants for the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, the israeli -- and

three hamas leaders. we will get the latest. ♪ [music break]

amy: "a lament for existence" by hesam inanlou and max baillie. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has announced he's seeking arrest warrants for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, the defense minister gallant, and three hamas leaders. icc chief prosecutor karim khan discuss the case as an interview today on cnn talking about the charges against him as. close the charges are extermination, murder, taking of hostages and rape and sexual assault in detention. so these are the key crimes that are alleged to have been committed by these three individuals. the world was shocked on october

7 when people were ripped from their bedrooms, their homes, from israel. people suffered enormously. we have evidence to support the applications that we have submitted to the judges. >> you have also issued warrants against the top political and military leadership of the government of the state of israel. >> we applied for warrants. the judges must determine whether or not to issue them. we have applied today and will apply for warrants for the prime minister netanyahu and also the ministry of defense gallant for crimes causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict. amy: that was international criminal court's chief prosecutor karim khan on cnn this morning. netanyahu responded to the

possible icc arrest warrants. >> this court has no authority over the state of israel. the possibilities it will issue an arrest warrant for war crimes against idf commanders and state leaders come this possibility is a scandal of a historic scale. 80 years after the holocaust, and international bodies that were founded to prevent another holocaust are considering denying the jewish state its right to defend itself. defend itself against two? against those who are still working openly to commit genocide against us. what an absurdity. what a distortion of justice and history. this will be the first time a democratic country which is fighting for its life according to all the rules of international law is accused of war crimes. amy: that clip of the prime minister was from april. for more we're joined by middle east analyst rabbani. he is an of jadaliyya and host editor of jadaliyya and host of

the connections podcast. he is contributor to the book "deluge: gaza and israel from crisis to cataclysm." he was previously a senior analyst for the international crisis group, joining us for montrealers we thank you for being with us. this story broke just before we went to air. can you talk about the significance of these charges if the icc court decides to bring them? >> their very significant because it places israel's leaders of this genocidal in the gaza strip and of course the prosecutor karim khan is also seeking the arrest of three hamas leaders. i think there is also a lot that can be said about this. for karim khan, once again history begins on october 7. even though his investigation by his own account has been ongoing for a number of years and is supposed to take into account

all crimes committed since 2014, he has yet to address any crimes between 2014 and 2023. notably, crime of apartheid, the crime of illegal settlements in occupied territories, israel's -- hamas conduct in the 2014 war and 2021. the other thing that struck me is karim khan's attempt to let's say place the onus primarily on hamas. so he has indicted three hamas leaders and two israeli leaders. what struck me is he is seeking the arrest hamas titular leader who, according to most accounts, was not involved in the planning and execution of the hamas attacks of october 7 -- presumably, there is some

element of command responsibility involved. but he has not sought the arrest of either israel's president isaac herzog or the israeli chief of staff or any of the commanding officers involved in israel's onslaught since october 7, nor, for that matter, other key decision-makers in israel's work at it like benny gantz and others -- were cabinet like benny gantz and others. amy: can you talk about what this practically means? >> i think it will have more impact on assuming again the arrest warrants are in initiative, will have more effect on israel than hamas. when is the last time you saw hamas leaders go on a shopping trip in paris or london? it is the israeli who lead to travel to europe and elsewhere where they would face the prospect of arrest.

i think this also puts other countries in the dark. they now have to make a choice between israeli impunity and obligations under the rome statute, at least those who are members of the international criminal court. i think and broader political terms, this is a massive significance. despite all the shortcomings that have just been discussed. this means israel's leaders are entitled war criminals. we heard netanyahu tried to hide behind the holocaust and what he claims is israeli democracy and so on. that is no longer going to fly. that has been peeled away. israel will be seen and judged on the basis of its actions in real time rather than on history in europe. amy: what does this mean for the united states?

for the u.s. main ally, israel, it's ally indicte ond war crimes? >> that is another issue. the u.s. rejects the international criminal court and rejects is jurisdiction over this issue, but i think there is another key point here which is all the threads that are being made by the united states, particularly most recently by a group of republican senators, threatening all kinds of reprisals and retaliations against the international criminal court if it were to proceed with this measure. and this is a crime in and of itself. it will be interesting to see if the u.s. follows through on those threats. and if it does, how the prosecutor of the international criminal will react. to make one additional point, the reason we have gotten to where we are today is actually because of hamas.

about a decade ago, the palestinian president was coming under increasing palestinian criticism and condemnation for dragging his feet on the palestinian application to ratify the role statute and become part of the international criminal court. he said he would only do so if he had the explicit endorsement to do so of the hamas leadership. and it was only after he obtained that that palestine sought to become a state party to the international criminal court. so here you have a situation where the palestinians who have been calling for an investigation of all crimes committed in what is called the situation in palestine, whether by themselves or anyone else, and israel and the united states categorically rejecting the court's jurisdiction and any measures it may take. amy: israel and the unites

states are not signatory to the icc. but looking at this "new york times" article from last july, president biden has quietly ordered u.s. government to begin sharing evidence of russian war crimes in ukraine with the international criminal court and the hague according to officials familiar with the matter stop signaling a major shift in american policy. russia also was a signatory and putin was indicted. talk about that cooperation with the icc in that case but certainly not in this case. >> that is called a rules-based international order were you apply international law and the jurisdiction of the international criminal courts and so on to your enemies and adversaries. but you reject them for yourself and your allies because there the rule is total impunity and to do as you please. i should say karim khan himself played a rather nefarious role

in this. upon assuming his position of prosecutor, he briefed the security council and informed the security council that he would only pursue those cases referred to him by the council. and that was a clear signal he was no longer going to pursue the cases in afghanistan and palestine. he did so before russia invaded ukraine. once russia did invade ukraine, that principal went out the window and he basically did the bidding of those who had supported his campaign to become prosecutor. i think it is also in that broader context that has continued ability to slow foot and marginalize and ignore the situation in palestine, particularly in the context of the current genocide, became untenable. amy: can you tell us about the three hamas leaders?

>> i should add one is also not a signatory to the rome statute and this should not lead to the extradition to the hague. the head of the bureau of hamas and the titular leader of the organization. another is the leader of hamas within the gaza strip. at the same time seen as the most powerful leader within the movement as a whole. and the third is the head of the military wing of hamas. two specifically are also seen as the main architects of the october 7 attacks in southern israel and hamas's military strategy in the months since. amy: rabbani, thank you for being with us, middle east

analyst, co-editor of jadaliyya and host of the connections podcast. former senior analyst for the international crisis group and a contributor to the book "deluge: gaza and israel from crisis to cataclysm." this is democracy now!, the war peace report. a high court and london has granted permission to woodley's founder julian assange to appeal his extradition to the united states. the decision came after a critical hearing in london that assange did not attend for health reasons. he is been held in london's belmarsh prison for nearly five years awaiting possible extradition to the u.s. where he faces up to 175 years in prison for publishing classified documents exposing u.s. war crimes in a rack and afghanistan. before that, he spent seven years inside the ecuadorian embassy in london where he have been great to political asylum. -- granted political asylum. in march, the court said that if

assange, who is an australian citizen, couldn't rely on the first amendment then it was arguable his extradition would be incompatible with the european convention on human rights, which also provides free speech and media protections. in april, the biden administration provided assurances to the court that assange would not face the death penalty and that his first amendment rights would be protected if he were to be extradited from britain. for more, we go to london, just outside the british high court, where we are joined by chip gibbons, policy director of defending rights & dissent. he is covering the extradition hearing for jacobin magazine. his recent piece for the nation is headlined "end the persecution of julian assange." welcome to democracy now! can you explain what just took place in this last hour in britain's high court? >> sure. in february, the assange defense apply to appeal on nine different grounds. in the u.k. legal system, have to be granted to appeal --

permission to appeal. the one groundless about the death penalty and the defense agreed today the death penalty assurance was satisfactory. the remaining two grounds, which they been granted, the u.s. -- not satisfactory, stem from a comment gordon, berg, a prosecutor in the case, also prosecuted daniel hale, he was involved in another prosecution and a notorious figure for abuse of civil rights and civil liberty, said he was could argue that julian assange does not have first amendment rights because he is a for national. this raised two grounds for appeal. first that assange would be -- a trial or sentencing -- [indiscernible] due to [indiscernible]

violated his right for free expression under european convention. i will note in that ruling, u.k. high court's ruling in march, did not find prosecuting join assange for exposing war crimes would violate his rights and raise the death penalty issue also have asked the defense no longer to bring up the cia plot to kill him because if assange is extradited to the u.s., then the cia looses the reason to assassinate him. assange's defense basically have both her hands tied behind their backs and were given only the most narrowest of narrow grounds of appeal in what is the press freedom trial of the century. against all odds, they have prevailed today saying the u.s. assurances on the first amendment, on nationality are not sufficient. they excepted the death penalty assurance was sufficient. there will not be in appeal on the death penalty. the u.s. put forward the said

assange would not be limited in his defenses because of his nationality and he could seek to rely on the first amendment but that was ultimately for a court -- they also did not say gordon crom berg or whoever is the executive would refrain from bringing the argument that assange had no first amendment rights based on his australian nationality. so the defense pointed out gromberg stent refusing to bring this claim and a court independently bring it and of a court independently brings it, that could be free expression of the corporate independent of cro mberg rul,e that could be a violation of his free expression rights in the assurance he could to rely on the first amendment is not an assurance he could rely on the first amendment. the court stay may know ruling

about whether or not assange can be extradited or whether or not this should block his extradition. the only ruled there are grounds for an appeal based on this issue. amy: what does this mean, chip, exactly? what is the timeline here? julian assange has been in maximum-security belmarsh prison for more than five years now. and before that, for years he holed up in the ecuadorian embassy though he had been granted political asylum and ecuador in order to get there he would have had to go through britain which means to fly to ecuador which means he would have been arrested. how much longer does this go on? >> i would note, the united nations on arbitrary defense and found assange's time in embassy constituted arbitrary detention. as we speak, a member -- members

of u.k. parliament are seeking to found out why the service intervene in that swedish extradition request in order to prolong it, setting him up to be extradited to the u.s.. it is not clear to me how much longer this goes on. assange will have another appeal about whether or not is free expression rights will be violated and whether or not he will be discriminated against on the basis of his nationality. it is clear the judges were not very impressed with the arguments the u.s. and u.k. put forward today. i don't quite know the timeline for that appeal yet. it is unclear. the defense and the prosecution have to work together to come up with some documents. this could keep going on for a lot longer. it is worth remembering even if u.k. courts eventually rule against him, which a lot of us felt like they were going to

given they were basically telegraphing to the u.s. what they need to do say and u.s. couldn't even do that, they're still the chance of going to the european court of human rights. assange remains confined and belmarsh, one of the harshest prisons. we know his health is deteriorating. we also know they have for bitten remote access for journalists are not based in england and wells because they cannot be prosecuted for taking a screenshot of the hearing. that is why i am in london. i suspect the reason why they won't grant these transmissions is they are afraid of -- if julian assange shows up, someone will take a screenshot of him. we know they don't want people taking pictures of julian assange, revealing the terrible shape he is in. this is a victory for julian assange in that he lives to fight another day come his case lives to fight another day, but he is not out of belmarsh yet or

in the clear yet. this could still end in him being sent to the u.s. the person who can stop this is joe biden and merrick garland. they could drop these charges today. they keep claiming this is the justice department, we don't want to politicize the justice department. but this is a political prosecution. the choice to bring charges against a journalist for exposing u.s. war crimes is that choice to bring political prosecution. it was local when barack obama refused to bring the case and a political decision when trump chose to bring it. biden can say he is not like trump, he believes in democracy, journalism is not a crime, all of those sorts of things, but those words are extremely hollow so long as biden continues to make a political decision to continue this trump you're persecution of a journalist whose only crime is exposing war crimes, pieces of power, and state criminality. amy: chip gibbons, thank you for being with us, policy director

of defending rights & dissent. in london to cover the julian assange extradition hearing for jacobin. we'll link your peace in the nation headlined "end the persecution of julian assange." when we come back, we speak with two morehouse professors, president biden gave a commencement address at the historically black college yesterday. one of those professors put her fist in the air and turned her back on president biden protesting gaza policy. the other held a flag of the democratic republic of congo behind the president as he spoke. back in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: "televangalism" by ethel cain. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on sunday, president biden addressed the graduating class of morehouse college, the prestigious black college whose alum include martin luther king jr.. pres. biden: it is a humanitarian crisis in gaza. that is why i have called for an

immediate ceasefire. an immediate cease fire. stop the fighting. bring the hostages home. i've been working on a deal as we speak, working around-the-clock to get more aid into gaza, rebuild gaza. amy: president bides address came just days after his administration notified congress of its plans to send another $1 billion in arms to israel including tank ammunition, mortars, and tactical vehicles. some students turned their backs on president biden to protest his gaza policies. the morehouse valedictorian deangelo fletcher, had a flag affixed to his graduation cap, called for a permanent ceasefire in gaza. >> dr. king was a global philanthropist of social justice, believing injustice anywhere was a threat to justice everywhere. his campaign message reached far and wide to follow in the

footsteps of our great alumnus it is only right for the class of 2024 to utilize any platform provided to stand in solidarity with peace and justice. the israel having gaza conflict has played the people of the region for generations. -- plagued the people of the region for generations. it is important to recognize both sides have suffered heavy casualties. from the comfort of our homes, we watch an unprecedented number of civilians mourn the loss of men, women, and children who are calling for the release of all hostages. for the first time in our lives, we have heard the global community seeing one harmonious song that transcends language and culture. it is my stance as a morehouse man, nay as a human being, to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the gaza

strip. here the people of this world sing the song of righteous justice. thank you. amy: president biden was seen applauding deangelo fletcher's call for a permanent ceasefire in gaza. later on sunday, protesters gathered in detroit were president biden addressed in naacp dinner. for more we're joined by two professors, dr. taura taylor is an assistant professor of sociology at morehouse college. she turned her back and raised her fist at president biden gave his commencement speech. samuel livingston is an associate professor of africana studies and a member of friends of the congo. professor livingston was behind president biden holding the flag of the democratic republic of congo as president biden spoke. we're going to get to the congo

in a minute but i wanted to start with dr. taura taylor. can you talk about your protest yesterday as the president addressed the graduating class of morehouse? >> yes. one of the things i understood was that there is definitely a contingent amongst our community regarding the invitation for biden to be the amazement speaker but on top of that that he was to receive an honorary degree. luckily, now i can speak freely because some of our information has become public. the faculty, we basically were divided regarding wanting biden as a commencement speaker but we understood we could voice our discontent but we were not going -- they were not going to resend him being the speaker. i think at that point i pretty much already had it in my mind there is going to have to be some level of protest i was going to do. i spoke with other fellow faculty members. the particular issue was the students were held to this rule

of what they could and could not do. president thomas made it clear a silent protest was very acceptable, however, any type of disruption would cancel the commencement overall. as a faculty member, particularly one connected to the students, i did not want to be the reason that the commencement stopped. at the same time, students were frustrated biden was selected as the speaker. we also had faculty that also were very much disappointed in the way it was handled by our administration in terms of selecting him and giving him an honorary degree. it was a moment i realized i was going to be at the commencement, but i wanted to take it upon myself to stand up for my principles and also a solidarity for my students as well as other faculty members who felt we were caught in this moment where it

seemed like we as a community selected biden when we all did not. amy: can you talk about deangelo fletcher, the psychology major, the valedictorian's call for an immediate cease fire from the significance of what he did standing before the world because this was been broadcast by many news outlets around the world? and then also president biden calling for immediate cease fire, dr. taylor? >> i was proud of fletcher. i also understood the amount of pressure for the students basically to make a statement or not to make a statement. the young man said he was a little nervous about being the valedictorian knowing he would have to give a speech. if anyone has ever done public speaking, everyone is there, your nervous. now this heightened moment and the fact he made the statement

-- and there was some divide even amongst the students that he took this moment to basically use his platform to make a statement. i was very proud of him. it brought honor to his fellow peers but also honor to those of us who stand on the shoulders of dr. king. one of the things we are always hearing about being faculty in community at morehouse, this is dr. king's alma mater in we should stand up for social justice, humanitarianism. at the same time, we as a community get another message from our administration in terms of how to not embarrass the college, to engage in a form of respectability politics. for that young man to take that moment to send a message, i was very proud of him. amy: to be clear, president biden called for immediate cease fire. fletcher deangelo called for a permanent ceasefire. >> exactly. to me it was pandering. it was the moment and also the

conflict of basically -- this is a commencement speaker for the students and he is using it as a campaign stage. even to the extent he recited several things he did for the black community, while i was standing there with my fist raised, i was shaking my head because i was like this is what we typically see campaign trolling, pandering, and these are the young men's future. one thing a cannot help but notice there is basically the secret service with snipers. there's also the idea black men who faced incredible injustices and policing and harm to their bodies in their moment of graduation, their moment of celebration, they are also being refined to being repressed and the threat of possibly being harmed as they speak out in protest. biden's statements to me were very much hollow and fell on deaf ears. amy: dr. taura taylor turned her

back on president biden as he spoke at the morehouse graduation with her fist in the air. professor samuel livingston was also at the graduation, associate professor of africana studies and a member of friends of the congo. throughout president biden's address, he was standing in front of the congolese flag. it was you, professor livingston, holding up that flag. can you talk about why and what your demands are? > first of all, thank you for having us this morning. it was me and dr. cynthia hewitt who were holding up the flag. i have to mention that. we held up the flag because the police state that dr. taylor mentioned in terms of the secret service being on campus is local but also global. we held up the flag because the people of congo do not get enough media attention in terms

of the active genocide the u.s. is supporting through its support of rwanda, support and rwanda support of the m23 rebels. we have been standing in solidarity and working with congolese organizations -- i have been working with them since 2012. i have been concerned about the congo since about 1987 as i began my journey to be in africana studies professor. plain and simple, there are so many congolese people who could speak to their case but the u.s. media, most of the major newspapers, most of the corporate media will never feature them all stop i mention one of our partners who we brought to morehouse college and spoke about the situation in the congo at one of our symposiums. we have has sustained engagement

with the congo that will not show up always in terms of protest but that type of engagement is transformative with our students. we also have a program where we pair our morehouse students in our first year experience forces with congolese students and they engage in conversation. i think that is very important. we recognize the connection of the congo to the current situation in the middle east. the fact president biden tried to strike a deal with the noted conflict mineral mining magnet who is also israeli and has been using those profits in many ways have gone to enrich him but also vicariously the israeli state, therefore the oppression of palestinian people. those connections are there. we raised the flag and held up the flag because we could not rely on just a chant.

that could be ignored. even if we gave an interview, maybe not like this one, but with "the new york times" for example, a story on the fact there have been no protests at hbcu's or relatively few. i was misquoted in terms of saying joe biden seems like a decent person. why must say that again? i should not even say it again. compare to donald trump, i guess anybody could be a decent person. but he does not get it. he may have the dr. king bust in the resolute desk or at the resolute desk in the oval office, but he is not listening to king. he needs to listen to hbcu faculty who really have held out the only hope of real social change in america in its history, especially in the 20th century. we could go back further. we held the flag for those

reasons. the congo deserves justice, reparations from the united states for the assassination of patrice lumumba, inspiring that assassination come and the people today deserve a country that is built on peace and justice.