10/21/14 10/21/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica this is democracy now. >> people believe the palestinians have been defeated. at if you look more closely the reality, the palestinians are winning the legitimacy war and most of those that when legitimacy wars prevail politically in the end. >> as palestinian leaders push for the u.n. security council to set a deadline for the israeli army to withdraw from the occupied territories, we speak

with richard falk who just completed a six-year term as united nations special rapporteur on palestinian human rights. he has just returned from four months in turkey. we will also talk with him about the battle for the syrian border the kurdsbani between and fighters from the islamic state. then pennsylvania's republican governor tom corbett is set to sign into law a bill critics say will trample the free speech rights of prisoners like mumia abu jamal. >> i welcome the governor's signature on an unconstitutional bill that proves the government of pennsylvania, the executive and the legislature, don't give one whit about their own constitution of the commonwealth of pennsylvania, nor the united states constitution. i welcome that because it proves that they are the outlaws. >> we will hear mumia abu jamal in prison. will this be one of the last

times we will hear his voice from the jail? all that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. cuba is sending 91 additional medical staff to west africa to help combat a record outbreak of ebola. the teams of doctors and nurses are departing today for liberia and guinea. cuba has already dispatched 165 health workers to sierra leone, bringing the country's total contribution to 256 people. more than one third of all medical staff there. leaders from latin american and the caribbean gathered for an ebola summit in havana on monday. speaking at the summit, cuban president raul castro offered to work with the united states. >> we believe that any politicization of this great problem should be avoided.

the divorcement from the fundamental objectives, which is to help this epidemic in africa and prevention in other regions. following from what the sick terry general of the united nations -- secretary-general said september 5, we have representatives participate in events held at the world health organization and the united nations, confirming that cuba is willing to work closely with all countries, including the united states. >> ebola has killed more than 4,500 people in west africa, including 239 healthcare workers. in the united states, the centers for disease control and prevention has unveiled new protocols for healthcare workers treating patients with ebola. the guidelines include rigorous training for staff and supervision as workers remove their protective gear. the steps come after two nurses who became infected with ebola while treating thomas eric duncan in dallas are currently undergoing treatment. on monday, 43 people who had

been in contact with duncan were cleared from ebola monitoring after the 21-day incubation period. about 75 health-care workers involved in duncan's care are still being monitored. the united states has continued its bombardment of islamic state forces near the syrian city of kobani along the turkish border. according to u.s. central command, u.s. military forces conducted six airstrikes near kobani on sunday and monday. in a bid to hold off the isis advance on kobani, the united states has begun droppingair supplies of weapons and aid to the syrian kurds, while turkey, under heavy u.s. pressure, is now allowing iraqi kurdish forces to cross over into syria to join the fight. on monday, secretary of state john kerry emphasized the importance of kobani. turkishlked with authorities, i did, the president did come to make it very committed clear this is not

a shift of policy by the u.n. and states it is a crisis moment, an emergency, where we clearly do not want to see exampleecome a horrible of the unwillingness of people to build a help those are fighting isil. >> the obama administration had previously said kobani was not a part of its "strategic objective." we'll have more on that story with richard falk later in the broadcast. john kerry was speaking in indonesia where he attended the presidential inauguration of joko widodo. known as "jokowi," the former jakarta governor defeated the u.s.-trained former army general prabowo subianto in this summer's elections. the inauguration was celebrated with events including a parade, concert, and the release of thousands of paper lanterns. indonesia,ws on

austrian authorities have announced they're dropping an investigation into the deaths of five australian journalist killed in the town in the lead up to the indonesian invasion of east timor in 1975. in 2009, and indonesian officer admitted the military had killed the journalist did attempt to hide its actions in east timor. this is one of the journalist's, australian tv correspondent greg shackleton, and the report he said the night before he was murdered. >> why, they ask him or the indonesians invading us yet cap -- invading as? why did they not send a delegation to find out? want, they ask him are the are surely in's not helping us? when the japanese invaded, they did help. wire the portuguese not helping? it is still portuguese colony. who will pay for the terrible damage to our homes? trucks that was a story and journalist greg shackleton speaking in 1975.

the next day he would be killed by the indonesian military. 2007, the corner found shackleton and the four other journalists were executed a donation special forces. today, the federal police said there was "currently insufficient evidence to prove in advance. south african olympic and paralympic runner oscar pistorius has been sentenced to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. pistorius is expected to serve just 10 months before entering house arrest. last month he was convicted of culpable homicide, a charge equivalent to manslaughter for shooting steenkamp through a bathroom door. he claimed he mistook her for an intruder. two new reports accuse ukrainian forces of using cluster munitions as part of their fight against pro-russian rebels in the city of donetsk. the new york times reports the two attacks in early october wounded at least six people and killed a red cross employee.

cluster munitions contain dozens or potentially hundreds of smaller components which fan out indiscriminately over a wide area. many don't explode right away, and effectively become landmines. human rights watch says ukraine's apparent use of cluster munitions in populated areas may amount to war crimes. the group said it suspects anti-government rebels have also used cluster munitions. protests are continuing in the philippines where a u.s. marine is suspected of murdering a transgender woman. outrage has focused on the visiting forces agreement, a decades-old deal between the u.s. and the philippines which critics say has been used to shield u.s. servicemembers from punishment. under the deal, u.s. marine joseph scott pemberton, remains on board a u.s. navy vessel while local authorities investigate the murder of jennifer laude, who was found in a motel bathroom where she was apparently drowned in the toilet. on monday, philippine president benigno aquino rejected calls to abandon the visiting forces agreement.

the murder came just six months after the united states signed a 10-year agreement to revive its military presence in the philippines, which is a former u.s. colony. the united nations warns sexual violence has become "rampant" in the civil war in south sudan. fighting erupted in december between forces loyal to president salva kiir and supporters of his former deputy riek machar. more than 10,000 people have been killed and over 1.5 million have fled their homes. u.n. special representative on sexual violence, zainab hawa bangura, said sexual violence is taking place on both sides. >> survivors and health care workers have told me stories of rape, gang rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage. those who tried to fight back against their attackers are often raped with objects instead. some victims have even been rape d to death. items include women, men, girls,

and boys. according to the statistics victims are 74% of under the age of 18. the youngest victim they've treated is two years old. >> in indiana, police have arrested an alleged serial killer accused of killing seven women. police say darren vann confessed to killing a 19-year-old in a motel room and provided information that led to the discovery of six more bodies. at least two victims appear to have been prostitutes. police suggested vann may have murdered other women in crimes dating back 20 years. the world trade organization has ruled against the united states in a multinational dispute over the labeling of meat. the united states requires the disclosure of a meat product's country of origin. but mexico and canada have argued the rules harm their livestock exports. on monday, the wto found the latest u.s. requirements violate trade rules. u.s. consumer groups including food and water watch have urged

the obama administration to appeal the wto's ruling, saying -- "the wto's continued assault against commonsense food labels is just another example of how corporate-controlled trade policy undermines the basic protections that u.s. consumers deserve." two u.n. officials have called for the city of detroit to restore water to residents who cannot afford to pay their bills, saying the city's mass shutoffs go against human rights standards and hurt its poorest residents. detroit has shut off water to at least 27,000 households this year as part of a consolidation plan which residents see as a step toward privatization. water bills in detroit cost nearly twice the national average, while the poverty rate is 40%. during a visit to detroit, catarina de albuquerque, u.n. special rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, and leilani farha, u.n. special rapporteur on adequate housing, met with

residents and city officials. >> we met today with the mayor and city officials and we are aware of measures that have been then in order to a dress water issue. we are of the view that such initiatives are to ensure [indiscernible] >> we're concerned because african-americans who are living in detroit and facing water shutoffs are being asked to make a possible choices. imagine you are choosing at ores to either pay your rent pay your water bill. >> two-thirds of households impacted by the water shutoffs are families with children; the children can be taken away by protective services if the house does not have water. the united states has spent millions of dollars on social security benefits for suspected

nazi war criminals. an associated press investigation found the payments have continued under a legal loophole through which nazis were persuaded to leave the united states in return for keeping their benefits. surviving recipients of the taxpayer-funded benefits include jakob denzinger, a former auschwitz guard now living in croatia. on monday, white house spokesperson eric shultz said the white house opposes the payments, but he did not outline any plans for ending them. alabama house speaker mike hubbard has been arrested and indicted on 23 charges of corruption. hubbard led a republican takeover of the alabama house in 2010. he is accused of using his position as speaker and his previous post as head of alabama's republican party to funnel business contracts and investments to his own companies. this year is poised to become the hottest on record. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration says 2014 is on pace to either tie or

surpass the current record. last month was the hottest september on record worldwide. before that, both august and the entire summer of 2014 were also the hottest ever recorded. the climate change whistleblower rick piltz has died. piltz resigned from the us global change research program in 2005 and provided documents which revealed how the bush administration was editing government climate reports to downplay the threat of climate change. just days after the story broke in the new york times, philip cooney, the white house official who made the edits, resigned to return to his former job as an oil industry lobbyist. rick piltz later started the climate science watch blog at the government accountability project. this is piltz speaking in a video made by gap. the government accountability project. in the 2005, i started the climate science watch project

watchdog in the federal government on how it is stealing the climate change problem -- on how it is dealing with the climate change problem. uni people on the inside saying, yes, this is what we were told. they all need a watchdog. >> rick piltz died over the weekend after a battle with cancer. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin with the continued fight for the syrian kurdish town of kobani, and the issues it's raised with the country on its border, turkey. after a more than month-long assault, the islamic state appeared on the verge of taking kobani just last week. the u.s. initially appeared indifferent, saying kobani was not a part of its "strategic objective." but as news cameras on the turkish-syrian border showed islamic state fighters assaulting a town in plain sight, the u.s. responded with the most airstrikes of its syria campaign. a resurgent defense by syrian kurdish forces backed by the u.s.-led strikes appears to have

repelled the isis advance for now. and after weeks of u.s. pressure, turkey said monday it will open its border with syria to let iraqi kurdish fighters join the fight. turkish foreign minister mevlut cavu-soglu announced the move on monday. >> we're fully cooperated with the coalition with respect to kobani. we want to eliminate all caps of threats in the region and was to the military and medical aid outfitted by iraq kurdish brothers and airdrop to the united states defending from the perspective. we're facilitating the passage of peshmerga fighters to kobani. further talks are underway on this matter. >> for weeks, the obama administration had been urging turkey to take a more active role against isis. the turkish government has opposed aiding the syrian kurdish pyd, which it considers an extension of longtime foe, the kurdistan workers' party, the pkk. reportedly backed down this weekend under heavy

u.s. pressure. according to al jazeera, president obama told turkish counterpart recep erdogan that the situation in kobani is "desperate." >> the u.s. meanwhile has begun dropping air supplies of weapons and aid to the syrian kurds, a move it had resisted for weeks. that adds a new twist to the shifting alliances that the fight against isis has provoked. the syrian pyd is closely allied to the pkk, a group on the u.s. terrorism list. just last week, turkish warplanes bombed kurdish pkk rebels near the iraqi border. the strikes were the first by turkey against the pkk since a 2012 truce. well to help us sort out this complicated picture we are joined by a guest who has just spent four months in turkey and has been involved in global politics for a lot longer -- since the 1960's. richard falk is professor emeritus of international law at princeton university and research professor in the global studies department at uc santa barbara. he has authored, co-authored, and edited more than 40 books on international law and world

affairs. and he has just completed a six-year term as united nations special rapporteur on palestinian human rights, which we'll talk about in our next segment. richard falk, welcome to democracy now! start off by talking about these latest developments with turkey, syria, and the united states. think it is a very complicated situation in which none of the political actors know quite what to do, what will work, and what they really are trying to achieve. is the whole situation there complicated, in my view them unnecessarily by the refusal to treat the conflict as potentially solvable by diplomacy, rather than relying totally on military power, which is consistently failed in the region. american interventions,

especially the iraqi intervention of 2003, is really the proximate cause of this surge of extremism in the region. and over and over again, we rely on military intervention and refuse to learn the lesson of the 21st century, that wars are not won a weapons alone. they are one primarily in this period by securing a political onlyme that reflects not the equities involved, but also what the people subject to these pressures wish to achieve. self-determination on the ground is a very important to mention a political reality -- dimension

of political reality that washington can't seem to perceive because it has invested so heavily in the military machine and it is so powerful within the bureaucracy, that it is a impossible for our elected leaders to think outside the military box. if iran was brought into this diplomatic framework. it has been excluded, mainly, i think, due to israeli objections to having a rent be a political player -- iran be a political player in the region and that limits the possibility of solving the syrian conflict, which in turn cover makes it thisdifficult to conduct kind of limited war against isis. and turkey is caught in the middle -- >> do you think if iran were included, this could be resolved much more easily? >> you never know. diplomacy is filled with uncertainties and different

kinds of trade-offs, but not to try to solve it that way is really a terrible failure of political imagination. >> you were just in turkey. the u.s. appears to have ass is nota going tod be overthrown. do you see turkey changing their stance and accepting assad will have to be part of a political solution you talk about? >> i think turkey is much more flexible leadership than the american media portrays. it is a much more balance. as hen is not putin presented this autocratic, domineering figure. that is the way turkey wants to perceive him. but there is a very capable prime and mr. -- prime minister who has a very nuanced sense of

the difficulties confronting turkey in shaping the policy. on the one hand, they're trying to solve the problems with turkish kurds, the kurdish minority. on the other hand, the pkk has become more militant in this face, perhaps to increase the bargaining power in this political process of ending the turkish conflict. so this turkish dimension and then there is the extremist isis dimension, which turkey probably is probably responsible for because of its earlier preoccupation with getting the syrian regime, the assad regime, overthrown. the enemy of your enemy has become the sort of operational logic of the region. >> so the turkish warplanes on the firstbels for

time since the 2012 truce, but they also let kurds go over into syria to fight. >> that illustrates this tension between opposing goals. they want the kurds to act against isis, but they of course, don't want the kurds to resume their internal struggle against the turkish central government. for whatever reasons -- it may be internal to the kurdish movement in turkey that they have assumed the more militant posture. and the bombing of the pkk did not come in a vacuum. the pkk was doing things. they were capturing turkish children and they were committing various acts in some of the villages in eastern turkey. so -- everything in that region -- >> the kurds feel immensely impressed in turkey.

>> and they have been. on the other hand, this government has tried more than any -- >> the famous kurdish parliamentarian in prison simply because she spoke kurdish in the parliament. >> but this government is moving beyond that phase of the turkish-kurdish relationship. it has a much more pluralistic sense of what will make turkey stable and successful. erdoga acceptance speechn after he won's a pluralist vision of turkey, which means bringing the a position ofo equality, which goes directly that -- theview ethnic identity of turks should all be turkish. he called the kurds mountain

turks, for instance. and for beta language. it was all part of the state building project that went far too far. >> if you could help us sort out what the u.s. is doing in kobani. it initially appeared the u.s. would not act prevent kobani's fall to the islamic state. speaking earlier this month, secretary of state john kerry suggested protecting kobani is not a strategic u.s. objective. >> as horrific as it is to watch in real time, what is happening in kobani is also important to remember, you have to step back and understand the strategic objective and where we have begun over the course of the last weeks, notwithstanding the crisis in kobani, the original targets of our efforts have been the command-and-control centers, the infrastructure. we're trying to deprive isil of

the overall ability to wage this, not just in kobani, but throughout syria and into iraq. >> john kerry come just a few weeks ago. on monday, secretary of state john kerry said it would be "irresponsible" and "morally very difficult" not to support the kurds fighting the islamic state in kobani. and also to allow kobani to fall. >> let me just say very allies, the to our turks, that we understand fully the fundamentals of their opposition, and hours, to any kind of terrorist group, particularly, the challenges they face in respect to the pkk. we talked with turkish authorities, i did, the president did, to make it very, very clear this is not a shift in policy by the united states. it is a crisis moment, an emergency, where we clearly do

become ato see kobani horrible example of the unwillingness of people to be able to help those fighting isil. >> so you go from, it is not a strategic object of to the most intense bombardment of the u.s. bombing of syria so far. what happened here? >> it is hard to say. it seems to me, the u.s. government felt it could not just banned by is us -- just stand by as a spectator while this humanitarian catastrophe in kobani was unfolding, and probably have recollections of what happened in 1995 when the u.n. peacekeepers watched the massacre occur in did not try to intervene to stop it. so my sense is, they don't have a very clear sense of what the strategic object of czar, and therefore, there is bound to be

inconsistencies in the implementation of it. one of the mistry here, seems to me, is how this isis emerged as such an effective military force after the u.s. failed to train the iraqi military or a decade and spent billions to do that, suddenly, this isis emerges as the most powerful, most effective military operating force in the region. how did this happen? nobody really has given a satisfactory answer. >> you think saudi arabia has something to do with it? >> i think that funding, the saudi arabia's own military capability is very dysfunctional. so what made this military capability so potent so quickly? it is probably has something to do with the politics of the region, where there was such a

dissatisfaction with the shia oppressto impress -- the peoples's in northern iraq, there was a receptivity to isis. they were able to create this liability --st and invulnerability. behind the there's probably a lot of communication. the iraqi prime minister met with iran's president in tehran today. rouhani says iran will continue to provide baghdad with military advisers and weapons. not the keythat is issue. the key issue seems to me to majoriran in as a political player in the region, and see if one can get some kind of compromise in syria. >> were talking to richard falk

you just completed a six or term as united nations special rapporteur on palestinian human rights. he is just back from turkey. we will come back with them to talk about what is happening in israel and the palestinian occupied territories in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. >> we turn now to israel and the occupied territories. on monday, the israeli government made a rare appearance before the united nations human rights committee. each u.n. member state is reviewed every four years for its compliance with the international covenant on civil and political rights. that task was especially significant coming just weeks after israel ended an assault on gaza that killed nearly 2,200 palestinians, including more than 500 children. emi palmor, the director-general of israel's justice ministry, pledged her government's "sincere approach" to the

panel's mandate. >> we decided to bring along the highest-ranking experts on the issues is we're supposed to answer. indeed, you can see, for the first time the director general, myself, is heading the delegation. is deputy attorney general second on the delegation. and the others, as were presented during the session. and we believe this shows our seriousness, the sincere approach of israel to the issues. >> that's emi palmor, head of the israeli delegation to the u.n. human rights committee. but as the session got underway, a key problem emerged -- israel would not be answering for conditions in the west bank and gaza strip, the territory it's occupied for nearly half a century. while israel provided a written report for human rights within its own borders, it did not agree that the covenant applies

to its actions in the occupied territories. in response, two u.n. panelists expressed their frustration. >> the information about the announcement in israel a further expansion of the settlements in the occupied palestinian territories and in east jerusalem, so that was the reason i raised the question. it seemed no attention had been given whatsoever to earlier recommendations. >> of course, they are not responsible for the earlier violations that may of been committed by hamas, but they are responsible for any violations that may be there on responsibility. it is not an issue of legal jurisdiction one way or the other, it is in issue of who has control. >> as it turned out, the assault on gaza did not receive the scrutiny that had been expected. as the jerusalem post reported at day's end, israel's emi

palmor -- "said she was relieved that the delegation had not been extensively quizzed about the idf's military actions in gaza this summer under operation protective edge. israel had imagined that committee members would focus on that issue." well, we are still joined by a legal expert who's just spent six years trying to hold israel to account for its actions in the occupied territories. richard falk has just completed his term as special rapporteur on palestinian human rights for the united nations human rights council. his writings about the israel-palestine issue and his experience as u.n. rapporteur are compiled in the new book, "palestine: the legitimacy of hope," which has just been released today. richard falk is professor emeritus of international law at princeton university and research professor in the global studies department at uc santa barbara. he presented the edward said memorial lecture last night at columbia university.

can you talk about -- well, just that, this latest news on what is happening right now with israel and gaza? >> well, as far as their cooperation with the u.n. is concerned, this report that you just showed your audience is very misleading. they have refused to cooperate with the commission of inquiry within the human rights council appointed to look into the allegations of war crimes associated with the attack on gaza in july and august. and they refused to cooperate with my successor come in indonesian diplomat, who they favored, actually, and they persuaded the president of the human rights council to appoint with the expectation that they would cooperate with him. but as i've said all along, you toy have to be 10% objective

come to the same critical conclusions that i came to in relation to israel's violation of fundamental human rights in the west bank, east jerusalem, and gaza. the three segments of occupied territories. >> what is the conclusion you came to? >> the conclusion is, flagrant violations that are official policy. it is not deviations from the extension of the settlements, but a violation of international she military and law -- international humanitarian law. also the imposition of a regime of collective punishment on the whole civilian population of gaza. and locking that silly population into the combat zone

-- civilian population into the ambat zone during a edge is distinctive atrocity, were women and shopping are not allowed to become refugees and there was no opportunity to be internally displaced person. as horrible as things were for civilians in syria and iraq in recent years, they always had -- the civilian population always could leave the combat zone. here, there are literally locked into the combat zone and only gazanshousands with -- with foreign passports were allowed to leave. that involved 800 people out of over 1.8 million. it is a very extreme situation that is not treated as an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe for geopolitical reasons. the u.s. has a geopolitical veto over what the u.n. can do in relation to a situation of this

kind. we react to kobani, as we spoke earlier, but we ignore what is happening day by day in gaza, particularly, but to a lesser extent, in the west bank. talk about the obstacles you face as you try to raise these issues these past six years as the top u.n. investigator in the territories? >> there were two main cons of obstacles. attacked in ah defamatory way by u.n. watch and zionistry extreme organizations, wherever i went, anywhere in the world, and they would try to prevent me from speaking and mounted a kind of defamatory campaign, called me an anti-semite, leading and was listed as the

third most dangerous anti-semite in the world, which made me feel i must be doing something right in this role. the only two people that were more dangerous than i am a was andsupreme leader of iran the prime minister of turkey, erdogan. >> u.s. ambassador to the united nations samantha power called you as you are leaving your you and post, a relentless -- said -- talked about your relentless anti-israeli bias. >> well, certainly has been a --sistent and tight israeli anti-israeli critical narrative because that is what the reality is. if you take international law seriously, and as i said, your 10% objective, yet to come to these conclusions. that is why this indonesian who was determined to please israel oute told me that -- turned

israel,eady angered because you can't look at these realities without coming to these conclusions unless you're completely somehow blindfold yourself. >> let's talk about what palestinians are trying to do. they have drafted a un security council measure that would impose a three or deadline for israel to end the occupation of the west bank and gaza. last month, palestinian lawmaker dismissed the threat of losing u.s. government support. >> we will be seeking a security council resolution on ending the occupation within that specified must be any solution based on international law. it cannot violate international law.

if the u.s. was to isolate itself as reaction to palestinians and joining the international community, then they're welcome to do that. is not that funding essential to palestinian survival. quite often having the protection of the law is much more important than getting some funding from congress that is conditional. -- she wentn to say on to say, enough is enough. secretary john kerry has asked the pa to delay its u.n. security council bid measure here until after the midterm elections. is the pa distancing itself from the whole u.s. process? >> it is caught between the militancy of its own people and this kind of pragmatic adaptation to the power

situation. dependence onc funding that is controlled by israel and the u.s., and also secured he forces -- the pa security forces have been trained under u.s. authorities. are in a very compromised position. so the palestinian authority leadership, in order to retain some modicum of legitimacy, has to appear to be reflecting the will of the palestinian people. and they have been trying to along,is tightrope all and it becomes more and more difficult. thatecent polls show hamas, even on the west bank, would now when the election is no election was held. and that is not because the shift toward islamic

orientation, but because a mass, for all its problems and failures, resists and is resilient and has maintained the spirit of resistance that is so important to the political morale of the palestinian movement. on the issue of resistance, you talk last night about the importance of defending the right to resist but advocating peaceful resistance. can you talk more about this? don't purport to speak for the palestinians. one of the tragedies of the thestinians, ever since golfer declaration, is that others have decided what is good for palestine. what -- i was probably being descriptive. the palestinians have failed with armed struggle.

they have failed with the arab neighbors try deliberate palestine from israeli control. they failed with the oslo type intergovernmental diplomacy. so what they have tried in the last several years increasingly, is a combination of nonviolent resistance in various forms within the occupied territory, and this growing global solidarity movement that has centered on the bds campaign. i would not judge their desire were there feeling that the only effective form of resistance is to defend themselves violently. that is a decision that i don't think it is appropriate for someone outside the context of

oppression to make. high mass, which is accused of being a terrorist organization, has limited its violence since its political election in 2006 to responding to israeli provocations. it hasn't used violence as a way empowerment ofe a palestinian movement of liberation. in fact, it's politics have been directed toward long-term peaceful coexistence with israel the israel withdraws to 1967 borders. it has offered a 50 year plan of peaceful coexistence. >> we're going to end were you again, notice the title of your book, "palestine: the legitimacy of hope." byhard falk, what you mean legitimacy of hope? is, if you look

at the way in which conflicts have been resolved since the end of world war ii, particularly domination orign foreign rule in a third world decisive factor in the resolution has been gaining the high ground of international morality and international law. and not having -- military superiority has not produced political outcomes favorable to the intervening the more powerful side. so the hope comes from this pattern of gaining legitimacy and what i call the legitimacy war being more significant politically than being able to

control the results on a battlefield. and that is a profound change in the whole structure of power in the world that hasn't been absorbed by either israel or the united states. >> richard falk, thank you for being with us, just completed his term as special rapporteur on palestinian human rights for the united nations human rights . prolific writer, his book "palestine: the legitimacy of hope," has just been released today. richard falk is professor emeritus of international law at princeton university and research professor in the global studies department at uc santa barbara. he presented the edward said memorial lecture last night at columbia university. when we come back, mumia abu-jamal in his own words. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté.

>> we turn now to pennsylvania, where today republican governor tom corbett is set to sign into law a bill critics say will trample the free speech rights of prisoners. last week lawmakers openly said they passed the bill as a way to target one of the state's most well-known prisoners: journalist and former black panther, mumia abu-jamal, who was convicted in 1982 of killing of a philadelphia police officer, but has long maintained his innocence. the bill comes as corbett and other lawmakers face stiff competition as they run for re-election. >> during a late night vote last tuesday, the pennsylvania house unanimously approved the so-called "re-victimization relief act," which authorizes the censoring of public addresses of prisoners or former offenders if judges agree that allowing them to speak would cause "mental anguish" to the victim. the measure was introduced after abu-jamal delivered a pre-taped commencement address for graduating students at vermont's goddard college earlier this month.

the speech was opposed by the widow of daniel faulkner, the police officer whom abu-jamal was convicted of killing. pennsylvania governor tom corbett expressed his support earlier this month for the new law that could prevent similar speeches in the future. >> while law-abiding citizens are entitled to an array of rights from free travel to free speech, convicted felons in prison because they abused and surrendered their rights. and nobody has a right to continually taunt the victims of the roman crimes in the public square. >> the american civil liberties union of pennsylvania has criticized the new pennsylvania measure, calling it "overbroad and vague," and unable to "pass constitutional muster under the first amendment." but that has not stopped governor corbett from saying he will sign it into law this afternoon. >> on monday, mumia abu-jamal spoke with noelle hanrahan about

the passage of the so-called revictimization relief act in what could be one of his final media interviews for some time. >> it is amazing when you think about it because on two fronts, i should say, of course, the first front is constitutional. i mean, this is a blatant, naked violation of article one section seven of the constitution of the commonwealth of pennsylvania. which specifically grants the right of free speech to all commonwealth, and of course, the constitution of the united states, which fairly recently, and this v snopes case phelps case, he caused a great deal of emotional distress to veterans families. this is what he was supreme court said in snyder. they said the first amendment trumps emotional distress.

that is recently. to ones an eight decision. look it up. but what is more important to me is this -- during their discussions, that i've heard about, i don't have access to a computer, members of the general simply a pennsylvania said they did not hear the speech, did not know what the speech was, but in any event, it was for a judge to wasrmine whether it unconstitutional. these are people who took and host of office to protect and thend and uphold pennsylvania constitution and the constitution of the united states blatantly acting unconstitutionally in office. that is one point. here's the second point. this is theoretically reportedly based on emotional distress. think about being a student at goddard college when police by the hundreds, threatening the

students at their graduation with rape commemorative, assault, attacks. these are police writing e-mails, calling on phones, threatening administrators and students. how about their emotional distress? and all they wanted was to hear from one of their alumni. i went to that college. i am a part of the college. i spent years at the college as a student. and graduated,k i am a part of that college forever. and they wanted to hear from me. they called and asked and wrote to me and said they wanted to hear from me. so i think those things should be a part of your considerations. >> that is mumia abu-jamal speaking from prison in a phone interview recorded monday by our of prisonle hanrahan radio, who will talk to in a

moment. this is another clip from their conversation when mumia abu-jamal expresses concern that pennsylvania governor tom corbett was sign the so-called revictimization relief act in order to benefit politically. >> the press ignores prisoners as a rule. most of what happens in prisons are never or rarely reported in the press. i would say this. if you wish, read "life from death row" and this book was written find out years ago. find out how true and accurate it was, how many of the states that began this fallacious our disous massacre/in incarcerating because of their budgets. this bill was signed into law by unconstitutional tom corbett, probably the least popular governor -- republican governor, i might add, in the united states.

[no audio] prison stone exist, right? silence reigns in states all across the united states. .ut i went to court i was forced to go to court by the commonwealth of pennsylvania. and i'm one any case called mumia abu-jamal versus price, which gives me the right to write. now they're trying to take my right away from reading my own writings. how unconstitutional is that?

>> that was mumia abu-jamal and what could be one of his final media interviews for some time, . he was a resident of pennsylvania's death row for 29 years, before his sentence was overturned in 2011. he is an award-winning journalist whose writing from his prison cell has reached a worldwide audience both via his prison radio commentaries, and through his nine books. we hope to have them on with us today. that interview was recorded by noelle hanrahan yesterday. though it was set up, we have not been able to reach him yet. he would have to call us. we're joined in philadelphia by noelle hanrahan, investigative journalist and the founder and producer of prison radio, which has been recording and and distributing mumia abu-jamal's commentaries from prison since 1992 - for more than 20 years. the significance of what we expect governor corbett to do today, noelle hanrahan, and it means not only for mumia abu-jamal, but prisoners around the state? >> this is about mumia abu-jamal , but it is really about all

prisoners and what the journalists have to know from inside prison. our society has this incredible incarceration addiction. we need to know as journalists what is going on inside. so it affects the juvenile lifer who's in pennsylvania. it affects a jailhouse inironment list and lawyer prison in pennsylvania. it affects our ability as a community to get the information that we need to make decisions. as you know around mumia abu-jamal plus case, he is been censored before. he was one of the main was in which the pennsylvania department of corrections shut down prisons to journalists. prisoners cannot have visits by journalists with cameras in increments can only in person visits not even with a paper and pencil. the is another attempt for

fraternal order police and the department of corrections and tom corbett to really silence what we as a community need to know and the information we need to get as journalists and the voices and the first amendment rights of prisoners. >> this bill is framed as one that protects the rights of victims. your response to that? in on the issue of the first amendment, as their plans for legal challenge? >> i think the fraternal order police is motivating this bill. and tom corbett is using it for political advantage. but also, this is not about crime victims. it is really about reframing the near to the fraternal order of police need to reframe. it is shifting the narrative after the wake of ferguson. really pose them as the victims. when we all know many of the people who do with the criminal justice system, hey, one and 46 people in this country are going to do jail time in prison time. one in three black men. it is