Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20161227 : vimarsana.com

Resolution is bad. It is bad for israel, bad for the United States, and bad for peace. Amy we will speak to Yousef Munayyer of the u. S. Campaign for palestinian rights. Then we look at Donald Trumps inaugural plans. I can announce the radio city rockettes will be taking part in the inaugural events. And 2005. O in 2001 i have been part of the American Culture for decades. They will present represent many women from around the country. We are honored to have them take part. Amy however, not all of the rockettes are excited. Some are refusing to dance for the president elect. We will speak to a former rockette and the journalist who revealed the donald trump dangled ambassadorships to lure alist inauguration talent. Why is he having so much trouble . Then what will happen when donald trump takes over obamas Drone War Program . We will speak with Jameel Jaffer author of the the drone memos , targeted killing, secrecy, and the law. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Israeli officials vowed on monday to build thousands of new settlement homes on occupied Palestinian Land in defiance of a United Nations resolution passed friday condemning such construction as a flagrant violation under International Law. The plans violate Security Council resolution 2334, which was approved friday on a 140 vote after the United States abstained, denying a veto sought by israel and president elect donald trump. Palestinian negotiator saeb erekat welcomed passage of the resolution. We hope that this your message to the israeli people is they must accept international committees call to stop settlement activities, to stop the occupation. Occupation and settlements provide no peace or security. The only way to peace and security is through a negotiated settlement to achieve a two state solution. Amy the resolution does not provide for any sanctions against israel for failing to halt settlement construction. It was introduced on friday by malaysia, senegal, venezuela, and new zealand one day after egypt withdrew the measure under intense pressure from israeli officials and from donald trump. Its passage infuriated israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who summoned and reprimanded envoys from most of the Security Council member nations who approved the resolution. Netanyahu also lashed out at president obama. As i told john kerry thursday, france dont take friends to the Security Council. I encourage by the statements of our friends in the United States , republicans and democrats alike. They understand how reckless and have this u. N. Resolution was. They understand the western wall isnt occupied territory. I look forward to working with those friends and with the new administration when it takes office next month. Amy the Obama Administration previously sided with israel at the United Nations vetoing a , similar Security Council resolution in 2011 that would have condemned israeli settlement building. The u. S. s abstention in fridays vote drew criticism from many democratic and republican lawmakers. Incoming Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer of new york called the move extremely frustrating, disappointing, and confounding. Republican senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina threatened to cut off u. S. Funding to the United Nations. Well have more on israeli settlements and the vote at the United Nations after headlines. Meanwhile, in the west bank, Israeli Forces fired tear gas and rubbercoated steel bullets to disperse a protest of palestinians on friday ahead of christmas celebrations in bethlehem, where christians believe jesus was born. The crackdown came as palestinians many dressed as santa claus approached israels massive separation barrier. Protesters were demanding unrestricted access to jerusalem. They currently must apply for permits to travel to the city, which borders bethlehem to the north. President obama on friday signed the National Defense authorization act, or ndaa, providing nearly 619 billion for war and military spending. The measure passed both houses of congress with a vetoproof majority and will bring troops a modest pay raise while increasing the number of active duty soldiers to more than 1. 3 million. The ndaa also restricts transfers from the guantanamo prison guaranteeing that obama , will leave Office Without fulfilling his pledge to close the prison. Meanwhile, press freedom advocates are raising alarm over a littleknown bill rolled into ndaa, which will create an antipropaganda center. Under the act, the state department will actively work to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state, and nonstick propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining United States National Security interests. A egypt, authorities arrested journalist friday comic using him of disturbing Public Security and spreading false news. Police said hussein would be held for 15 days while prosecutors considered whether to press charges against him. Egypt has charged a number of al jazeera reporters with crimes in recent years. Last may, a Court Recommended the Death Penalty for two al jazeera reporters convicted in absentia with endangering National Security. According to reporters without borders, egypt ranks among the worst countries on earth for press freedom, with dozens of bloggers and reporters imprisoned by the government of president abdel fattah alsisi. U. S. Officials have quietly begun a new program asking noncitizen travelers to reveal the social Media Presence when entering the United States. On tuesday, u. S. Customs and border protections started providing foreigners on the week Visa Waiver Program on the computerized dropdown menu asking for their account names on platforms such as facebook, twitter, and youtube. Although the program is billed voluntary, Civil Liberties groups fear most travelers will feel pressured to complete the forms, and many fear the program threatens Free Expression and poses new privacy and security risks. Donald trump said saturday he would dissolve his Charitable Foundation before Inauguration Day as part of an effort to prevent conflicts of interest. But the effort could be blocked by new yorks attorney general, who says trump cannot dissolve the charity while its under investigation for violating state law. In a pair of tweets monday, trump claimed 100 of the funds raised by his Foundation Money went to charity. But a Washington Post investigation revealed trump used more than a quartermillion of the foundations dollars to pay off legal fees associated with his businesses which is illegal under u. S. Law. The Washington Post also reported trump used Foundation Money to buy advertisements for his hotels and spent tens of thousands of dollars to purchase at least two portraits of himself. Meanwhile, Donald Trumps plans to attract celebrity performers to his inauguration suffered another blow over the weekend after the company that manages the rockettes said its members will be allowed to opt out of a command performance in washington, d. C. , on january 20. The decision by the Madison Square Garden Company came after the union that represents members of the rockettes initially said fulltime members of the troupe were contractually obligated to perform at trumps inauguration. That prompted a firestorm of protest from the public, as well as from some members of the rockettes. One dancer, phoebe pearl, wrote on instagram in a post that was later deleted the women i work with are intelligent and are full of love and the decision of performing for a man that stands for everything were against is appalling. I am speaking for just myself but please know that after we found out this news, we have been performing with tears in our eyes and heavy hearts. We will not be forced notmypresident donald trump has struggled to find star performers to attend his inauguration. According to journalist itay hod of the wrap trumps team even , offered u. S. Ambassadorships to at least two talent bookers if they could deliver marquee talent to the inaugural. Well have more on this story journalist itay hod as well as a former rockettes later in the broadcast. The nations Largest Police union is pressuring amazon. Com to stop selling tshirts and hoodies emblazoned with the phrases, bulletproof black lives matter and hands up, dont shoot. A letter from the police union to amazon Ceo Jeff Bezos accuses the online retailer of selling offensive merchandise from Third Party Sellers who are making money by exploiting racial divisions in our country. The campaign by the fraternal order of police follows a successful effort to get walmart. Com to stop selling clothes with the phrase, bulletproof black lives matter in its online store. In North Carolina, a new report finds the states Democratic Institutions are so flawed, the state should no longer be considered a functioning democracy. The report by the electoral integrity project points to extreme gerrymandering, Voter Suppression of communities of color, and the stripping of power of Incoming Democratic roy cooper by the power of the republicans. Writing in the raleigh news and observer, lead researcher Andrew Reynolds gives North Carolina an electoral integrity score of 58 out of 100 points similar to the scores of cuba, sierra leone and indonesia. , speaking on democracy now , the head of North Carolinas chapter of the naacp, reverend william barber, says republicans are fighting to prevent black and brown voters from claiming power. I believe all of the pushback we are seeing, the Voter Suppression, the redistricting, its because the extremists see the possibility of a third reconstruction. They know if we register 30 of the africanamerican voter, unregistered voter in the south, and we added that white and progressive whites and latinos, you will have changed the south. Amy in syracuse, new york, four people were arrested outside the Hancock Air National Guard base on friday at a nonviolent protest against the u. S. Drone assassination program. Demonstrators marked the Christmas Holiday by dressing as biblical figures and erecting a 20footlong nativity scene at the gates of the air base, which is home to the 174th attack wing of the National Guards reaper drone program. The pop legend and gay icon George Michael has died at the age of 53. Michael was found dead at his home on Christmas Day of heart failure. The british singersongwriter became famous as part of the 1980s pop duo wham when michael came out as a gay man in 1998, his lyrics celebrating all forms of sexuality had already helped change Public Attitudes on toward homosexuality. George michael lent his celebrity to the fight against hiv, helping to raise millions of dollars for aids research. He was also a vocal critic of the iraq war. His 2002 song and satirical video shoot the dog took aim at george w. Bush and his british ally in support of the iraq invasion, tony blair. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Israeli officials are vowing to build thousands of new settlement homes on occupied Palestinian Land in defiance of a United Nations resolution passed friday condemning such construction as a flagrant violation under International Law. Jerusalems municipal government says it will approve construction of another 600 homes in jewishonly settlements as part of a project to add another 5600 Housing Units in the citys east, which was captured by israel in a 1967 war. The plans violate Security Council resolution 2334, which was approved friday on a 140 vote after the United States abstained, denying a veto sought by israel and president elect donald trump. Palestinian negotiator saeb erekat welcomed passage of the resolution. This is a day of hope, a day of peace. This is a victory for those who believe in peace, who believe in a two state solution. This is a total defeat for those forces of extremism in israel who believe in destroying the two state solution and achieving and sustaining the assad regime their building the west bank. We hope this message is that they must accept International Communitys call to stop settlement activities, to stop the occupation. Occupation and settlements provide no peace and the security. In the only way to peace and security for israelis and palestinians is through a negotiated settlement to achieve the two state solution of the to live sidebyside with israel in peace and security. Amy it is the first resolution the Security Council has adopted on israel and the palestinians in nearly eight years. This is Prime Minister netanyahu. Over decades going american a and israeli governments have disagreed about settlement. But we agree the Security Council was not the place to resolve this issue. We knew that going there would make negotiations harder and drive peace further away. As i told john kerry on thursday, friends dont take friends to the Security Council. I am encouraged by the statements of our friends in the United States, republicans and democrats alike. They understand how reckless and destructive this u. N. Resolution was. They understand that the western wall isnt occupied territory. I look forward to working with those friends and with the new administration when it takes office next month. Executivef munayyers director of u. S. Campaign for palestinian rights. Welcome to democracy now how unusual is what happened on friday, the passage of this resolution critical of israel . It is good to be with you. It is not exactly unusual. We have seen tremendous agreement in the International Community on the illegality of the israeli settlement enterprise. There is a lot of International Agreement that the geneva conventions apply to the territory that was occupied after 1967, which makes the transfer of civilians to occupied territory illegal in International Law. We have seen that fact affirmed in the United Nations to get a Council Resolutions for years, since 1967, under various american administrations that either voted for similar resolutions or abstain on similar resolutions. The only president since 1967 who, prior to this week, had not done Something Like that, was barack obama. Amy when we say in the last eight years, that is true because that was Barack Obamas two terms. Absolutely. The only veto that president obama had ever used in the United Nations Security Council was used to protect israel from a resolution that was criticizing settlement enterprise. I think any objective comparative analysis of u. S. President s since 1967 has to conclude that there has been no president that has done more to protect israel before the International Community than barack obama. When you consider that Ronald Reagan allowed 21 different Un