Biden, Blinken & Austin Accused of Complicity in Israeli War Crimes in Gaza; ICC Urged to Investigate
DAWN, a D.C.-based nonprofit organization that supports democracy and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, is asking the International Criminal Court to investigate former President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for possible complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, citing the $17.9 billion worth of U.S. weapons transfers to Israel overseen by the Biden administration. “The bombs that Israel has used to destroy schools, hospitals and homes in Gaza were American bombs that they provided. Israel’s campaign of murder and persecution was carried out with political support that they ensured,” says Reed Brody, a longtime war crimes lawyer and a board member at DAWN. Biden, Blinken and Austin were not only “aware of what was being done with their ammunition,” but also “tried to stifle criticism” of their policies. Furthermore, says Brody, U.S. complicity in Israeli war crimes could extend into the Trump
administration. He suggests that the ICC prosecutor “would be well within his rights” to open a probe into Trump following the administration’s sanctions on the ICC in response to arrest warrants issued against Israeli officials.
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/25/dawn_icc_blinken_austin_biden_palestine
Headlines for February 24, 2025
Center-Right CDU Wins German Election; Neo-Nazi AfD Comes in Second, Doubling Its Support, Europe Shows Ukraine Support on 3rd Anniversary of Russian Invasion Amid Growing Rift with U.S., Israeli Tanks Enter Occupied West Bank, Soldiers Kill 2 Palestinian Children in Mounting Assault, Gaza Ceasefire Remains Precarious as Israel Reneges on Exchange of Captives, Trump Team Purges Military Leadership, Lawyers, “Cruel and Disrespectful”: Union Slams Musk Email to Gov’t Staff; Workers Told to Ignore Request, “See You in Court”: Maine Gov. Janet Mills Defiant as She Refuses to Enforce Trump’s Anti-Trans EO, Trump Names Right-Wing Podcaster and Loyalist Dan Bongino as Deputy Director of the FBI, Constituents Confront Elected Officials over “Tyranny in the White House” at Local Town Halls, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers Members to Sue DOJ After Being Freed by Trump, DOJ Drops Probe into Elon Musk’s SpaceX; SEC to Drop Lawsuit Against Coinbase, U.S. Transfers More Immigrants to Guantánamo, UNSC Calls
for Rwanda to Halt M23 Support, Withdraw from DRC, Where 7,000 Have Been Killed Since Jan., Sudan’s Military Claims Strategic Gains as RSF Signs Deal for Parallel Gov’t, Hundreds of Thousands Gather for Beirut Funeral of Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah, Slain by Israel, Free Speech on Trial as Energy Transfer Takes Greenpeace to Court over DAPL Protests, Students Launch Week of Actions After Barnard Expels 2 Students over Protest for Palestine, AP Sues Trump Officials After White House Cuts Off Reporters’ Access, Yosemite Park Workers Hang Upside-Down U.S. Flag to Protest Layoffs, Drilling Plans
Conservatives Win German Election, But Far-Right "Nazi-Curious" AfD Places Second in Historic Rise
Friedrich Merz is poised to become the next German chancellor after his conservative Christian Democratic Union placed first in Sunday’s key election. Social scientist David Bebnowski, speaking from Berlin, tells *Democracy Now!* that Merz is likely to join with the diminished SPD of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz for another “grand coalition” of establishment parties, which has ruled Germany for much of the last couple decades. He also comments on the alarming rise of the “Nazi-curious” AfD party, which was endorsed by Elon Musk and made significant gains in the election, winning the second-most votes. “The AfD is a party that is definitely part of the extreme right in Germany,” Bebnowski says.
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/24/germany_election_cdu_merz_afd_linke
Israel Sends Tanks into West Bank Amid "De Facto Annexation" of Palestinian Lands: Mariam Barghouti
Israel has sent tanks into the occupied West Bank for the first time in 20 years, as the Israeli military escalates its offensive that has already displaced 40,000 Palestinians. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Palestinians living in the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps will not be allowed to return to their homes. On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the occupied West Bank and was photographed holding a meeting inside a Palestinian home that had been seized by the Israeli military. On Saturday, Israeli forces fatally shot two Palestinian children — one 12, the other 13 — in separate incidents. “What we are seeing is an intensified campaign aimed at annexation of the West Bank,” says Mariam Barghouti, Palestinian writer and journalist based in Ramallah.
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/24/israel_west_bank_mariam_barghouti
The Injustice of Justice: Keith LaMar Speaks from Ohio Death Row as Movement Grows to Save His Life
We speak with death row inmate Keith LaMar live from the Ohio State Penitentiary, after the release of *The Injustice of Justice*, a short film about his case that just won the grand prize for best animated short film at the Golden State Film Festival. “I had to find out the hard way that in order for my life to be mine, that I had to stand up and claim it,” says LaMar, who has always maintained his innocence. LaMar was sentenced to death for participating in the murder of five fellow prisoners during a 1993 prison uprising. His trial was held in a remote Ohio community before an all-white jury. On January 13, 2027, the state intends to execute him, after subjecting him to three decades in solitary confinement. LaMar’s lawyer, Keegan Stephan, says his legal team has “discovered a lot of new evidence supporting Keith’s innocence” that should necessitate new legal avenues for LaMar to overturn the conviction.
Headlines for February 21, 2025
White House Insists Ukraine Hand Over $500 Billion in Mineral Wealth and Stop Criticizing Trump, Russian Forces Advance on Dnipropetrovsk, Bomb Kherson Apartment Complex, Israel Drops Leaflets on Gaza Threatening to “Impose Forced Displacement Upon You”, Israeli Leaders Cast Doubt on Ceasefire Deal, Saying Body Returned from Gaza Was Not Shiri Bibas, Netanyahu to Escalate West Bank Attacks After Buses Explode in Tel Aviv, U.S. Sanctions Rwandan Official and Militia Leader Tied to M23 Atrocities in DRC, Mexico Warns U.S. Against Violations of Sovereignty as Trump Designates Cartels as Terrorist Groups, Venezuela Refutes U.S. Claims That Deportees from Guantánamo Prison Camp Were Gang Members, Trump Cancels Deportation Protections for Half-Million Haitian Immigrants , Judge Orders Trump Admin to Comply with Previous Order on Frozen Funds, Balks at Contempt Charges, Judge Declines to Halt Trump Administration’s Mass Firings of Federal Workers, CDC Report on Bird Flu Spreading Between
Humans and Cats Was Delayed by Health Communications Pause, At CPAC, Elon Musk Wields Prop Chainsaw to Celebrate DOGE Cuts, “I Cannot Imagine a Worse Choice”: Kash Patel Confirmed as FBI Director Over Democrats’ Objections, Senate Approves $340B Budget Blueprint to Expand Military, Fund Mass Deportations, Senators Advance Pro Wrestling Mogul Linda McMahon’s Nomination for Education Secretary, Gov. Hochul Declines to Remove Eric Adams as NYC Mayor , Luigi Mangione to Face Murder and Terror Charges as Trial Opens over Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Vatican Officials Say Pope Francis’s Health Is Improving, Won’t Rule Out Resignation, Friday Marks 60th Anniversary of Assassination of Malcolm X
"Will Universities Surrender or Resist?" Scholar Slams Trump's Threat to Defund Universities over DEI
The Trump administration has issued a two-week ultimatum for schools and universities across the United States to end all programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion — DEI — or risk losing federal funding. The Department of Education has already canceled some $600 million in grants for teacher training on race, social justice and other topics as part of its crusade against “woke” policies. This comes as President Donald Trump has said he wants to abolish the agency and tapped major Trump donor and former professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon to carry out that goal; she is expected to be confirmed by the Senate with little or no Republican opposition. Education scholar Julian Vasquez Heilig, who teaches at Western Michigan University, says Trump’s moves are part of “an attempt to privatize education” in the United States, with DEI used as a wedge to accomplish a larger restructuring of social structures. “Higher education hasn’t faced a crisis like this since
potentially McCarthyism.”
"Erasing History" from the U.S. to Germany: "Wars Are Won by Teachers," Says Yale Prof. Jason Stanley
As the Trump administration attempts to dismantle higher education in the United States by redefining discrimination in schools, fighting so-called woke ideology, attacking diversity, equity and inclusion programs, gutting the Department of Education, and threatening funding for research and higher education, we speak with Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley, whose latest book is *Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future*. He says Trump’s assault on education is part of the authoritarian playbook since “universities are centers for defending democracy.” He also urges university presidents to speak out more forcefully. “It used to be that our presidents were supposed to speak out in favor of democratic values. Now university presidents are being told, 'Oh, you have to preserve your institutions.' Guess what: Universities are core democratic institutions.”
"Gum Up the Works": David Sirota's Advice to Democrats on Reversing Trump's Power Grab
We discuss the first month of President Donald Trump’s second term in office — and the response from the Democratic Party — with journalist David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of *The Lever*. He notes that despite Republicans holding all three branches of the federal government, Trump has mainly used executive orders and other decrees to impose his will instead of using legislation. “They’re trying to create a precedent that presidents cannot be constrained at all,” he says of the party’s strategy. He also faults Democrats for failing to effectively oppose the administration. “What is the Democratic Party for? What does it support? What does it advocate for? There’s not really much of an answer right now.”
Headlines for February 20, 2025
Trump Calls Ukrainian President Zelensky a “Dictator” in Error-Riddled Social Media Tirade, Israeli Forces Storm U.N.-Run Schools and Raze Homes Amid Deadly West Bank Raids , Hamas Returns Bodies of Israeli Hostages Including Israeli Peace Activist Oded Lifschitz, New Israeli Law Expands Visa Restrictions on BDS Supporters and Critics of War Crimes, Five Israeli Soldiers Indicted for Torturing Palestinian Prisoner at Military Base, Israeli Media Broadcasts Video of Palestinian Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya in Shackles, U.S. Deports Asylum Seekers, Including Children, to Detention Camp in Panama Jungle, White House Celebrates Deportation Flights with ”ASMR” Video of Asylum Seekers in Shackles, Texas Observer Links ICE Prosecutor to White Supremacist Social Media Account, 11-Year-Old Texas Girl Dies by Suicide After Bullies Threaten to Call ICE on Her Parents, ”LONG LIVE THE KING!”: Trump’s Claims Power of Monarch in Bid to Halt NY Congestion Pricing, Trump Executive Order Claims Power Over
Independent Regulatory Agencies , IRS to Fire 6,700 as Elon Musk’s DOGE Seeks Access to Sensitive Taxpayer Records, International Rescue Committee Lays Off Thousands of Workers Amid Trump’s Spending Freeze, Federal Workers and Supporters Rally in Dozens of Cities to Stop Trump’s Mass Firings, Pentagon to Shift $50 Billion in Funds, Targeting “So-Called Climate Change” and “Woke Programs”, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces Declares Breakaway Government, M23 Fighters Expand Offensive, Advance on More Cities in Eastern DRC , New York Calls Up National Guard as Prison Guards Hold Wildcat Strike
"Grand Theft Government": Federal Workers Send SOS over Musk-Led Mass Firings, Service Cuts
Amid the indiscriminate dismantling of the federal government by the Trump administration’s Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, federal workers, thousands of whom could lose their jobs, are fighting back. “All of us do something not only essential, but also mandated by Congress,” says union organizer and Army Corps of Engineers employee Chris Dols. Dols is part of a growing movement of federal workers and their allies staging mass protests to [Save Our Services][1] and warning of the long-term consequences of these extreme cuts to the bureaucracy. “They’re trying to immiserate the working class, and they’re doing it through the federal workforce,” says Dols, who is also a national coordinator with the Federal Unionists Network. “It’s about gutting the services that create a safety net in this country, because the more miserable we are, the easier it is for them to exploit us.” He calls on the larger public to join the worker-led movement resisting these radical cuts.
“The whole public sphere is at stake.”
[1]: go.workersfiremusk.com
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/20/doge_federal_workers_protest_usda
"Crack-Up Capitalism": Historian Quinn Slobodian on Trump, Musk & the Movement to "Shatter" the State
Who are the minds behind DOGE, and what do they really believe? Historian Quinn Slobodian says three strains of conservatism have converged to form the second Trump administration’s anti-democratic coalition: finance-backed corporate interests previously friendly to the Democratic Party, Christian conservative think tanks who have long advocated for the end of the administrative state, and the online-driven movement of reactionary extremists who traffic in white supremacist and neo-Nazi rhetoric. Meanwhile, says Slobodian, “Trump is a person who doesn’t believe in much, but he believes in money,” leaving him willing to enact the political visions of these three pro-capitalist projects. Slobodian, an expert in German history, also discusses the connections between the Trump sphere and Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, supported by Musk and Vice President JD Vance.
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/20/quinn_slobodian_maga_doge_capitalism
"Congolese Are Paying the Price" for Western Demand for Minerals & Support for Rwanda's Paul Kagame
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 insurgents, who have already taken two key cities in the mineral-rich eastern part of the country, is triggering panic. Reports of the surge describe widespread looting, killings, attacks on aid and mass displacement. Thousands of people have fled to neighboring Burundi over the last few days as the U.N. accused M23 of killing children and attacking hospitals. Our guest Kambale Musavuli, a Congolese author and human rights advocate, speaks to us from Ghana about Western countries’ ongoing demand for Congo’s minerals and their complicity in the deadly violence. Industrial nations as well as celebrated musicians and sports teams from the West have refused to cancel agreements and appearances with Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame, explains Musavuli, “clearly telling us that the lives of the millions of Congolese do not matter.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/20/democratic_republic_congo_m23_rwanda
Headlines for February 19, 2025
Zelensky Claps Back After Trump Blames Ukraine for Russia’s 2022 Invasion, Federal Judge Won’t Order Temporary Injunction Against DOGE’s Mass Firings, Data Access , White House Claims Elon Musk Is Not in Charge of DOGE, Senate Confirms Billionaire Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary, Advances Kash Patel for FBI Chief, Top U.S. Prosecutor Resigns over “Politically Driven” Request to Investigate Biden Climate Grants, Head of FDA’s Food Division Resigns to Protest Mass Firings, RFK Jr. Says He’ll “Investigate” Childhood Vaccine Schedule, Contradicting Senate Testimony, WaPo: Trump Administration Reverses Plan to End Free COVID Test Program, USDA Seeks to Rehire Fired Staffers Who Worked on H5N1 Avian Flu, Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier Walks Free After Five Decades Behind Bars, Hamas to Accelerate Release of Israeli Hostages in Bid to Cement Gaza Ceasefire, Israeli Minister Calls for Forcible Mass Expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, Residents Return to Villages in Southern Lebanon
Left Devastated by Israeli Bombardment, Brazilian Prosecutors Formally Charge Jair Bolsonaro over Attempted Coup, CIA Expands Drone Flights Over Mexico, Eric Adams to Appear in Federal Court as Judge Weighs DOJ Request to Drop Corruption Charges, Kansas Bans Gender-Affirming Care for Youth as GOP Lawmakers Override Governor’s Veto, Missouri Restores Abortion Access After Court Blocks Discriminatory Licensure Requirements
"I Am Finally Free!": Indigenous Leader Leonard Peltier Released After Nearly 50 Years Imprisoned
We speak with NDN Collective founder and CEO Nick Tilsen, who was with Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier as he was released from a federal prison in Florida Monday after nearly half a century behind bars, and returned home with him to North Dakota. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers, and many activists have noted inconsistencies in his trial. In the final days of his presidency, former President Joe Biden granted Peltier clemency, commuting his life sentence. Peltier will remain on house arrest in the Turtle Mountain community in North Dakota. “Today I am finally free! They may have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit!” Peltier told supporters once he was released. “Thank you to all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom.” Tilsen said it was “absolute pure joy” seeing him out of prison. “The release of Leonard Peltier is something that touches all of us, because all of us see a little bit of ourselves in
Leonard Peltier.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/19/leonard_peltier_release_return_home
Family Torn Apart as Mother & 2 Children Deported After Arizona Traffic Stop, 2 Other Kids Left Behind
An undocumented Venezuelan mother and two of her children were deported to Mexico earlier this month — just hours after a minor traffic stop, reports John Washington, who has covered the case for the Tucson-based independent outlet *Arizona Luminaria*. Arizona Public Safety troopers claimed the mother was driving under the speed limit. The mother, whom *Democracy Now!* is not identifying at the request of the family, described being handcuffed in front of her children, aged 6 and 9. The troopers called Border Patrol agents, who apprehended the woman and her two children and later turned them over to Mexican immigration officials in the border city of Nogales before they were put on a bus and driven about 2,000 miles away to the southern Mexican state of Tabasco. The woman suffered a “night of interrogation,” says Washington. The woman’s family was unable to reach the mother for days, until she was finally able to call her family letting them know of her whereabouts. Her two other
children, who are 8 and 14 years old, are still in Tucson. We also speak with immigrant rights activist Greisa Martínez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream Action, who says Democrats share the blame for harmful immigration policies now reaching new heights under the Trump administration. “We need a true opposition power and party,” she says.
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/19/arizona_venezuelan_mother_deported_traffic_stop
GOP Pushes Drastic Cuts to Medicaid & Food Aid While Proposing Tax Cuts for Rich
A new study projects as many as 20 million people could lose Medicaid coverage under a Republican congressional bill to cut the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion match rate. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found the bill includes tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses, paired with cuts on the programs that support low-income Americans. “There is a direct link between their desire to extend very expensive tax cuts for very wealthy people and the cuts they are putting on the table that will take health coverage and food assistance away from people that struggle to afford the basics,” says Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/19/gop_budget_plan_medicaid_cuts
To Fight the Trump/Musk Purge, Federal Workers Hold Nationwide Day of Action to "Save Our Services"
Today federal workers nationwide are calling for support for a “Save Our Services Day of Action” mobilizing nationwide in opposition to Elon Musk’s efforts to dismantle government agencies through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Workers plan to protest outside of federal buildings and Tesla dealerships to show support for the work of federal agencies. “It’s not just about federal workers,” says Eric Blanc, author and assistant professor of labor studies at Rutgers University. “If they take out the federal unions, that’s our best block right now against Trump’s authoritarian power grab.” This comes as Musk has gained access to the sensitive information of millions of Americans, all the while laying off government workers en masse. The layoffs have affected the FAA, NIH, IRS and more.
http://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/19/federal_workers_strike_action_trump_layoffs
Headlines for February 18, 2025
U.S. & Russia Hold Talks in Saudi Arabia on Ukraine & More, European Leaders Hold Emergency Meeting in Paris Amid Growing Rift with U.S., U.N. Accuses Israel of Violating Ceasefire by Not Fully Leaving South Lebanon, Gaza: Israel Has Killed 132 Since Start of Ceasefire a Month Ago, Israeli Troops Killed 80-Year-Old Man in Gaza After Troops Used Him as Human Shield, Israel Seeks to Build Nearly 1,000 Settler Homes; 45,000 Palestinians Displaced in West Bank, Four NYC Deputy Mayors Resign as Eric Adams Scandal Grows, “Not My President’s Day”: Thousands Protest Trump & Musk Across All 50 States, FDA Purge Included Workers Reviewing Elon Musk’s Neuralink Brain Implant Company, Plane Crashes on Runway in Toronto as U.S. Fires Hundreds of Workers at FAA, Head of Social Security Resigns After Musk Team Sought Access to Personal Information About Millions, Study: 20 Million People Could Lose Medicaid Coverage Under House Bill, Trump Taps “Stop the Steal” Organizer to Be U.S. Attorney in D.C.,
Three Venezuelans Deported After Suing Trump to Block Transfer to Guantánamo, Venezuelan Mother & 2 Children Deported to Mexico Hours After Traffic Stop in Arizona, Pope Francis Remains Hospitalized, Sudan: 200 Killed in RSF Attack as U.N. Warns of Dire Humanitarian Crisis, Jailed Ugandan Opposition Leader Kizza Besigye to Face Civil Trial, Argentine President Milei Faces Impeachment Calls over Cryptocurrency, Elon Musk Calls for Jailing Staff at “60 Minutes”, Washington Post Refuses to Run Ad Critical of Elon Musk, Indigenous Leader Leonard Peltier Released After Nearly 50 Years in Prison
"A Victory for Putin"? Jeffrey Sachs & Matt Duss Debate U.S.-Russia Talks to End Ukraine War
Top diplomats from the United States and Russia met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine and improving relations between Washington and Moscow. The Riyadh summit represents a monumental shift in U.S. policy after the Biden administration led an international effort to isolate Russia over its invasion and gave tens of billions in military aid to Kyiv. Participants included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to attend and has said he won’t recognize a peace deal negotiated without his country. European leaders have also been sidelined. For more on these developments, we host a discussion between economist Jeffrey Sachs and foreign policy analyst Matt Duss.
“This is a war that never should have happened,” says Sachs, who faults “U.S. provocations” like the expansion of NATO for laying the groundwork for Russia’s invasion in 2022. In holding these talks directly with Russia, “the Trump administration, for the first time, is telling the truth about the fundamental causes of this war,” adds Sachs.
Duss says that while the U.S. has played a major role in the conflict, “Vladimir Putin is the one who chose to invade Ukraine.” He also emphasizes that Ukrainians themselves have agency and have been key players in events since the end of the Cold War, including their current defense against Russia. “It’s not just a story of unending U.S. villainy.”