Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20160520 : vimarsana.co

Those passengers chose canada. When they arrived here, they were rejected. A century ago, canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologizes for canadas history of discriminatating agagainst sououth asians s in ws known asas the komomagata maruru incident. A century ago,o, the premier of British Columbiaiteded the needd for keeping this a white mans country. We will speak to filmmaker ali kazimi. Then we look at the recent 15 day occupation of a Canadian Office overseeing Indigenous Affairs office here in toronto. Comes togheher to telell you, in your face, you have got to respect this. Were humans. Every single one of us are humans. Private property on stolen land. Amy it was led by black lives members black lives matter members in toronto. Addressing youth suicides and first nation committed these. We will look at how the movements are working together here in canada. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are broadcasting from toronto, canada. San Francisco Police chief gregory suhr has been ousted following weeks of Hunger Strikes and protesting over Police Killings in the city. Said at mayor edwin lee he asked for the resignation after a Police Officer shot and killed an unarmed africanamerican woman in a car in the bayview district, the same neieighborhood or officers shot and killed mario woods in december. These officer involved shootitings, justified or not, have forced our city to open its of whento questions and how police use lethal force. That is why i have asked for chief suhr for his resignation. The best injures interest of the city he loves so much, he tendered his resignation early today, despite the political rhetoric of the past be weeks, i have nothing but profound admiration for granted. He is a true Public Servant and he will always have respect. Ouster comes after activist known as the frisco five held a more than two weeks Hunger Strike demanding the Police Chiefs departure. They issued a statement which was read aloud at a gathering outside city hall. People made this happen. We have won this battle, but the war is notot over. It is said that 22 people had to lose their lives at the hands of the sf pd. We want the officers involved in these shootings charged with murder, demand an immediate meeting with the interim chief to discuss real reform created by the community. Is the thirdsuhr police chief of a major u. S. City to be ousted within the last year amidst nationwide protest to many Racial Justice and an end to Police Brutality. Baltimorores police commissionr anthonony batts was fired after the death of freddie g gray, whe Chicago Police superintendent was ousted following the release of the video showing the police kiing of luauan mcdonald who was shot 16 times by chicago Police Officer jason van dyke. The Egyptian Military says it has found debris from egyptair flight 804 w which crashed thursday on route frorom karas o cairo. Authorities are e still investigating the cause of the crash. The minister is is terrorism was a more likely cause than technical failure. The French Parliament has voted to extend frances state of emergency for another two months. The emergency measures were approved followed me november 13 attacks in paris, giving president hollande sweeping expansion of state powers, including measures to permit police raids without a warrant. Parliament member spoke out against the extension of the emergency measures. People have been called into question about things that have nothing to do with the fight against terrorism. The executive power left itself continuously dangerously forcing the state of emergency for measures that are destroying freedom. Whats more of a means to an end, other than a fight against terrororism. Amy in japan, u. S. Military contractor and former marine has confessed to having dumped the body of a 20yearold japanese woman in a forest on the island of okinawa, which is home to u. S. Military bases. The 32yearold marine was arrested thursday. He is not confessed to killining the woman who disappeared last month. Japanese Prime Minister abe spoke out. Angerer. A strong i believe it is a regrettable situation. I am at a loss of words when i think of her family. Amy okinawa r residents have lg prototested the right presene of the u. S. Troops on the island of saying they bring crime and pollution. The Israeli Defense minister has resigned saying i fault with all my might against manifestations of extremism, violence and in israeli society. It comes only days after the deputy chief of staff compapared modernday israel to nauseating trends in naziera germany. Benjamin n netanyahu has offered the position to the right wing ultranationalist politician of lieberman, considered to be one of the most hawkish politicians in israel. Meanwhile, palestinian journalistst has returned home o the west bank after holding a 94 day Hunger Strike to protest his indefinite detention by israel. The journalist is a reporter for the saudi news agency. He was accused of being involved with come asked. His wife spoke upon his release. It is a feeling of happiness that cannot be described on this historic day. We thought that mohammed might die during the Hunger Strike, but now that is just a memory. Amy in canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to apologize for a lowering mp while on the floor of canadas parliament. The elbow in came as trudeau was attempting to pull a conservative lawmaker toward his seat, so the parliament could begin a vote on assisted dying. In the process, trudeau elbowed the female lawmaker, sparking outrage from conservatives. Meanwhile, t the canadadian Food Inspection Agency has approved the genetically modified salmon for sale as food will stop it is the first genetically modified animal approved in canada. Aqua advantage say my was developed by massachusettsbased aqua bounty technologies. They grow twice as fast as natural salmon. In india, severe heat wave has shattered the National Benchmark for the hottest day on record as the tetemperature inin the cityf phphalodi ppeded a staggerining3 dedegrees fahrenheit. Seseveral hundred people have dd so far from the extreme temperurures across s india, increasinglyly deadly heat waves have b been linked to climate change. A new report by Human Rights Watch has found that thousands of u. S. Service members were unfairly discharged from the military after reporting a rape or Sexual Assault. Many of the survivors received other than honorable discharges that prevented them receiving benefits. Others were discharged with diagnoses of personality disorders. S. One Sexual Assault survivor spoke out. When into8 years old, military intelligence and went to the marine cocorps ball wheri was sexexually assaulted. After reporting the rarape, my entire career in the mililitary wentnt from excxcelling a an exy promising path to ultimately being discharged with a personality disorder. Amy immigration lawyers are once again suing the Obama Administration over its practice of immigrant family detention arguing g the federal government , is violating a federal judges ruling prohibiting children from being detained for extended periods of time in jaillike facilities. This comes as ice is reportedly preparing to launch a monthlong campaign rates aimed at rounding up and deporting undocumented Central American mothers and children. On wednesday, dozens of mothers detained in the south Texas Family Residential Center wrote a letter to the director of ice, saying we did not leave our countries to live a pictureperfect life in the United States. Befled so that we would not killed. We came seeking asylum, as is our right, and instead have been subjected to a new hell of detention, they wrote. Imprisoned Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning has formally appealed her conviction and imprisonment, arguing arguing her 35year prison sentence is grossly unfair and unprecedented. Her appeal argues, no whistleblower in American History has been sentenced this harshly. In 2013, manning was convicted of passing hundreds of thousands of documents to wikileaks. The canadian government is pledging to examine its own practice of f detaining asylylum seekers after a string of deaths inside detention centers. One refugee died on saturday at edmonton remand centnter, while two o other refugeeses died whin the custody of the Canada Border Services agency this spring in ontario. The Oklahoma Senate has passed a bill that makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to three years in prison. Oklahoma governor mary fallin has not said whether she will sign the bill. Prochoice groups say the bill is unconstitutional and will not stand up to a legal challenge. In oregon, residents of hood river coununty have e voted to k Nestle Waters fromom building a 50 million bottling p plant tht would have sucked 100 million gallons of water outut of oxbow springs each year. The ballot initiative, which was passed tuesday, babans all large water bottttling operations in e county. In mexico, parents of the 43 students who disappeared in september 2014 protested outside the Foreign Ministry thursday, demanding experts from the Interamerican Human Rights Commission returned to mexico and reopened their investigation. The experts have accused the Mexican Government of stonewalling their probe. Meanwhile in new york city, a father of one of the missing students met with the uns special repertoire on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. To o investigate hihis sons disappearance. He spoke out after the meeting. The rapid d tour about the invitation we propose last year and she said she wrotote to the mexican governmenent askingo be invited to investitigate thea but she didid not receive an answer. Now shes going to ask again and we hope she will get an answer. We help hope the mexicanan gogovernment will openen its dos to her and we especially hope she goes to see what the Mexican Government has done to us. In florida, 32yearold africanamerican transgender woman was murdered sunday in a parking lot. Mercedes successful was an active member of the lgbtq nudity enhances the and represented jamaicica where she was born in the gay caribbean 2014 usa pageant. Cbs news legend d morley safer s died at the age of 84. Safer was the longestserving correspondent in 60 minutes history, filing a total of 19 919 stories over his 46 years. He filed one of them a significant stories of the vietnam war when he reported on u. S. Marines torching a village. The story changed the way the vietnam war was reported. He received Death Threats after he was aired. He died thursday at his home in manhattan. He was born here in toronto, canada. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, ththe war andd peace report. Im amy goodman. We are on the road in toronto, canada, broadcasting from the studios of the canadian broadcasting corporation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has formally apologized for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident in which canada turned away a japanese steamship in order to prevent more than 370 indians, including six muslims and hindus from immigrating to , canada. The move was widely acknowledged to be aimed at keeping indians out of canada. Then premier of British Columbia sir Richard Mcbride said at the time, we always have in mind the necessity of keeping this a white mans country. On wednesday, more than a century after the boat was turned away,y, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized. Mr. Speaker, today i rise in this house to offer an apology on behalf of the government of canada for our role in the Komagata Maru incident. [applause] more than a century ago, a great injustice took place. On may 23, 1914, a steamship sailed into vancouver. On board were 376 passengers of sikh, muslim, and hindu origin. Those passengers, like millions of immigrants to canada before and since, came seeking better lives for their families, greater opportunities, a chance to contribute to their new home. Those passengers chose canada. And when they arrived here, they were rejected. No words can erase the pain and suffering they experienced. Regrettably, the passage of time means that none are alive to hear our apology today. Still we offer it, fully and sincerely. For our indifference to your plight, for our failure to recognize all that you had to offer, for the laws that discriminated against you so senselessly and for not apologizing sooner, for all of these things we are truly sorry. Just as we apologize for past wrongs, so, too, must we commit ourselves to positive action, to learning from the mistakes of the past and a making sure that we never repeat them. That is the unique promise and potential of canada. Amy that was canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking on wednesday, formally apologizing for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident. The tragedy of the Komagata Maru was s told in the 2004 documentary, continuous journey. This is part of the films trailer. May 20 third, 1914, immigration officers around the onegata maru and anchor it kilometer from shore. No one can land. No reasons are given. Who are these men . Sea for twomers at long months. Their british subjects finally t thisg the shores of dodominion. They believe they can gogo anywhere in the empire. Promoted by imperial interests,s, the asserertion tht all brititish subjects arere eql withthin and throughout the empire. The attetempt by canada to excle south asiaians from entering had the potenential to explicitly explode e that myth. There couldld not really be n open policy of exclusion. It had to be a concealed one. It had to be one that could be. Denied in 1908, the Prime Minister, after younger cat mckinsey can, came to design such a veiled policy. He was clear in his, dental report. The Kenneth Fisher remain a white mans country is not only desirable, but b believed to be necessary on political and social realms. Amy that was part of the trailer for the awardwinning documentary on Komagata Maru incident called continuous journey. For more, were joined here in toronto by its director, ali kazimi. He is a filmmaker, writer, scholar, and visual artist. He is also the chair of the department of cinema media arts at York University. He is the author, undesirables white canada and the Komagata Maru. On wednesday, was in the audience when Justin Trudeau formalally apologized. Welcome to democracy now talk about the significance of the canadian Prime Ministers apology 100 years after what took place. I think it is significant. We just heard over and over again in the clips and in your quote that canada was imagined as a white mans country and that assertion was repeated during the debates in the house of commons 100 years ago and even before that. Assert thehe 1967, i canada had what wass effectively a whites only immigration policy. And one of the instruments of keeping the country white mans country was the continuous journey regulation, which prevented the Komagata Maru. Amy why was a called continuous journey . You had to come back continuous journey from your country of nationality or what the authorities were worried about is if canada denied indians the right to enter, and it would go up in flames. This was a real fear. Policy had to be designed that was veiled so mackenzie king, who later became ononof the longest standing Prime Ministers, design the policy which said, you just have to come back continuous journey. It made no mention of race or nationality and there in lies its brilliance. Therefore, it has been ignored by historians as thing an instrument of racial exclusion. Amy at the time of the Komagata Maru incident in 1914, malcolm reid was the dominion immigration agent canadas , westcoast gatekeeper. He laid siege to the Komagata Maru. The man who had appointed reid and gave him orders resided in ottawa federal member of parliament h h. H. Stevens. This clip from ali kazimis documentary, continuous journey, we begin with an actor recr