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- [00:15]
Amy Goodman
From New York. This is Democracy Now.
- [00:19]
J.D. Vance
The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf? Can we change relations in the Middle east permanently or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference but is certainly very much something that can't happen.
- [00:33]
Amy Goodman
Vice President J.D. vance and Iranian negotiators met in Switzerland Sunday to formally begin a new round of talks after signing a framework agreement to end the war. We'll speak with Behrouz Gamary Tabrizi. He was on death row at the notorious Evim prison in Iran. And we'll talk to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Spencer Ackerman. His latest piece is headlined Iran's Forever Leverage. Then to London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces he's stepping down.
- [01:10]
Keir Starmer
Every decision I've taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.
- [01:21]
Amy Goodman
We'll speak to Starmer's former mentor, renowned human rights attorney Jeffrey Robertson. We'll talk about the political upheaval and Palestine activists who took on the ilby. His latest piece for the Key is headlined Punishing Protest as Terrorism. And finally, in another victory for right wing forces in Latin America, Colombia has elected Alvarado de la Esprier as its new president.
- [01:57]
Abelardo de la Esprilla
Thank you, Colombia, for that support. Thank you for choosing us. You will not regret it. The homeland miracle will become a reality and we together with you and God's help, will rebuild the homeland and take it to the place of greatness it deserves.
- [02:10]
Amy Goodman
We'll go to Colombia for the latest. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy now, democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar say the U.S. and Iran made, quote, encouraging progress during 18 hours of negotiations in Switzerland, where the two sides agreed to a roadmap towards reaching a final deal within 60 days. Last week, the U.S. and Iran officially signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war in Iran, which President Trump began in late February. Vice President J.D. vance headed the U.S. delegation. Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baker Ali BAF led the Iranian delegation. On Sunday, Vance said the U.S. wants to turn over a new leaf with Iran.
- [03:03]
J.D. Vance
What the president has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran and to extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability, if they are willing to give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country. That is certainly our goal.
- [03:29]
Amy Goodman
The talks took place despite new threats from President Trump. On Sunday, he posted a message online reading, quote, iran must immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder. Three exclamation points. On Saturday, Iran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz again after Israel killed 83 people in Lebanon. On Friday, Israel said it would agree to a new ceasefire in Lebanon. But Israel is refusing to end its occupation of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers Friday. Residents of southern Lebanon have decried the ongoing Israeli attacks. This is Abbas Azedin in the town of Barish where Israel struck a three story building.
- [04:22]
J.D. Vance
There was an airstrike this morning on this house. It was targeted by Israeli warplanes at
- [04:26]
Spencer Ackerman
8:30am People were sleeping inside.
- [04:29]
J.D. Vance
Children. A woman, her two children and her husband and a young civilian. They were all civilians sleeping peacefully in their home. It was supposed to be a ceasefire
- [04:38]
Spencer Ackerman
yesterday from the Israeli enemy.
- [04:40]
Amy Goodman
In other news from Lebanon, the acclaimed conservationist Monahil has died after being wounded in an Israeli strike on her home two weeks ago. The 76 year old spent years trying to protect endangered sea turtles on Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline. Israel is continuing to attack Gaza despite the so called ceasefire. Earlier today, an Israeli drone killed a high school student who was on her way to take a test in Gaza City. On Saturday, Israeli strikes killed at least six people, including two children and Ahmed Wisha, a cameraman with Al Jazeera. Wisha's brother Mohammed also worked for Al Jazeera and was killed in an Israeli strike in April. Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 260 journalists in Gaza, including at least 12 working for Al Jazeera. On Sunday, mourners gathered in Deir El Bala to remember Ahmet Wisha. This is Al Jazeera correspondent Talal Al Aruqi.
- [05:45]
Massoud Pezachian
The Israeli occupation deliberately assassinates journalists largely and directly during its war of extermination in a clear attempt to suppress images, prevent the dissemination of the message, and to conceal the massacres and atrocities committed against the Palestinian people here in the Gaza Strip.
- [06:03]
Amy Goodman
In Britain, Keir Starmers resigned as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party over mounting pressure from within his own party. Starmer spoke earlier today.
- [06:15]
Keir Starmer
The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace. Every decision I've taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.
- [06:49]
Amy Goodman
Starmer's announcement paves the way for Britain to have its seventh leader in 10 years. Former Manchester mayor, newly elected Labour MP Andy Burnham is widely expected to become the next prime minister. We'll have more on this story later in the broadcast. In Colombia, a Trump backed far right lawyer has declared victory in Sunday's presidential runoff to replace Gustavo petro with over 99.9% of the vote counted. Abelardo de la Esprilla has 49.7% of the vote. The leftist senator Ivan Cepeda has 48.7%. Abelardo de la Esprilla is a political novice who rose to prominence representing right wing paramilitary groups. Cepeda is a prominent human rights defender and legislator. His father was assassinated by right wing U S backed paramilitary groups in 1994. Cepeda spoke to supporters on Sunday.
- [07:59]
J.D. Vance
Once the official canvas takes place and its final result is prod and the corresponding verifications have been carried out, we will recognize the official result that emerges from that scrutiny process.
- [08:11]
Amy Goodman
If the election results are confirmed, Colombia would become the latest Latin American country to shift to the right, joining Argentina, El Salvador, Chile, Bolivia and possibly Peru, where Keiko Fujimori appears on track to win the election. Bolivia's right wing President Rodrigo Paz has declared a state of emergency and has deployed the military to end weeks of indigenous and union led protests. Protesters had set up road blockades across the country, calling Papaza's resignation and an end to austerity measures. Former Bolivian President Evo Morales has backed the protest movement.
- [08:53]
Manuel Rosenthal
In my view, this is a rebellion by the indigenous movement against the neoliberal model and against the neo colonial states. As time goes by, the government has moved faster. It has tried to implement it even without authority. In December, it already issued a supreme decree to put the entire neoliberal model in place.
- [09:21]
Amy Goodman
In news from Cuba, lawmakers have passed sweeping economic changes that could lead to the privatization of much of Cuba's socialist economy. The move comes after intense US Pressure and threats by President Trump to take over Cuba. In recent months, the US has blocked nearly all oil shipments from reaching Cuba. This is on top of the US embargo that dates back to the early 60s. Cuba's Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz spoke Thursday.
- [09:54]
Abelardo de la Esprilla
These are proposals to confront the crisis, opening a transformative window that if not implemented now, could bring IRREVERSIBLE political and consequences. But I want to reiterate that these transformations do not represent a departure from the socialist project. On the contrary, they follow the logic of its own development.
- [10:11]
Amy Goodman
In other news from Cuba, former Vice President Maria Valdez Menendez has died at the age of 94. He was a close ally of Fidel and Raul Castro and was a key figure in the Cuban revolution. Sala Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest mosque, has been released from an ICE jail in Indiana after being detained for nearly three months. Sarsour is a Palestinian born community leader. He spoke to supporters on Thursday because
- [10:46]
Manuel Rosenthal
great people like you and people of freedom that stood with justice.
- [10:52]
J.D. Vance
That's why I'm back.
- [10:54]
Amy Goodman
I owe this
- [10:57]
Abelardo de la Esprilla
to my community
- [11:00]
Keir Starmer
to
- [11:00]
Manuel Rosenthal
again people of freedom. Like JVP and other organizations who did
- [11:05]
Amy Goodman
great work standing for justice, Salah Sarsour have lived in the United states for over 30 years. In Newark, New Jersey, a Father's Day vigil was held outside the privately run for profit ICE Jail known as Delaney Hall Sunday. Families and supporters held signs reading, quote, free the Dads, Close the camps, unquote. The vigil was disrupted when a red sports car entering the facility struck a female protester who was waving an upside down US Flag. Demonstrators said they believe the driver of the car was an employee of the Geo Group, that for profit private prison company that operates the ICE jail. Soon after, ICE agents deployed pepper spray and Mace on the crowd. The US State Department has announced it will stop funding HIV and AIDS programs in South Africa, where more than 8 million people live with HIV, the highest number of any country in the world. A State Department official justified the decision by citing, quote, south Africa's failure to make demonstrable progress on policy requests by the administration, unquote. President Trump has falsely claimed there's a white genocide taking place in South Africa. Trump has also overhauled US Asylum policy by pausing all asylum requests from around the world except for white South Africans. And President Trump, without offering any evidence, has claimed vandals are responsible for turning the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool green instead of dark blue. Last week, the Washington Post reported the reflecting pool contained more algae and that at any recorded point in June over the past five years. In addition, a newly painted blue liner has begun to peel. In recent days, authorities have arrested several people for touching parts of the reflecting pool, including David Hearn, a 67 year old former Olympic canoe racer who was arrested, handcuffed and held for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64 mile bike ride. Hearn denied committing vandalism and described his arrest as, quote, arbitrary, capricious prosecution, unquote. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar say the US and Iran made encouraging progress during 18 hours of negotiations in Switzerland, where the two sides agreed to a roadmap towards reaching a final deal within 60 days. Vice President J.D. vance headed the U.S. delegation. Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bakar Ali Baf, led the Iranian delegation. On Sunday, Vance said the U.S. wants to turn over a new leaf with Iran.
- [14:15]
J.D. Vance
What the president has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran and to extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability, if they are willing to give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country. That is certainly our goal.
- [14:43]
Amy Goodman
The talks took place despite new threats from President Trump. On Sunday, Trump posted a message online reading, iran must immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard, just like we did last week, only harder. Three exclamation points. On Saturday, Iran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz after Israel killed 83 people in Lebanon. On Friday, Israel said it would agree to a new ceasefire in Lebanon, but is also refusing to end its occupation of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers Friday. For more on these latest developments, we're joined by two guests. Behrouz Gamare Tabrizi is a fellow at the center for Place, Culture and Politics at the CUNY Graduate Center. He was previously professor and chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. In the 1980s, he was on death row in Iran's notorious Even prison. His latest book, just out this year, is titled the Long War on New Events, Old Questions. And we're joined here in New York by the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Spencer Ackerman, author of Reign of how the 911 era destabilized America and Produced Trump and writes the Forever Wars Newsletter. His latest piece is headlined Iran's Forever Leverage. Let's start with you, Spencer. Your assessment of where the US And Iran have come to in their negotiations.
- [16:13]
Spencer Ackerman
We've reached an astonishing point, a point that reflects how thoroughly the United States has lost this foolhardy war that the US And Israel launched in February. If you'll remember, back then there was never any consideration that Iran would close one of the world's most important economic waterways right now, unlike anything the United States or Israel thought it would achieve in this war. That is the main issue driving absolutely everything else. And it's the main issue that's prompted the United States to essentially give away the store. Unlike the JCPOA, the nuclear deal in 2015 that the Obama administration negotiated with Iran, this memorandum of understanding that the US and Iran have signed to kick off a 60 day period of negotiation negotiations only in some aspects covers the nuclear file. What it mostly does is lay out a roadmap to a regional transformation that would have been astonishing previously to imagine the United States is committing in this document, this signed document to transform its military posture in the Middle east to end all forms of sanctions on Iran. Not in the staggered MANNER that the 2015 accord did, but apparently right now the Iranians can sell oil, make money off of their oil supplies. Right now. And more fundamentally, the US and Iran are now looking toward a new reality in which Iran's power has been demonstrated against what had been not just the reigning superpower in the world, but the driving force of Middle Eastern security.
- [18:05]
Amy Goodman
I want to go to the Iranian President, Massoud Pezachian speaking Sunday.
- [18:15]
Massoud Pezachian
We will not give up our rights to enrichment and they too will be forced to accept it. You all know what the so called President of the United States was saying. He has made a complete 180 degree turn. He was saying that Iran must surrender unconditionally. Iran has no right to do this. It has no right to do that. Then he gave a speech and said that Iran has the right to do this, it has the right to possess this. In other words, he has reversed himself 180 degrees compared to his previous positions and has accepted that they cannot ignore our rights.
- [18:48]
Amy Goodman
That's the Iranian president. Can you talk about the US spin and go further into the details and how what has been accomplished at this point compares to what President Obama accomplished back in 2015.
- [19:04]
Spencer Ackerman
Right. So you heard the Vice President, President talk about how Iran has to transform its behavior, how its proxy support for militias like Hezbollah has to end. That's not actually in the MoU. The memorandum itself really puts the onus on the United States to both end its sanctions, all sorts of sanctions on Iran, secondary sanctions, which basically means the customers, the consumers of Iranian oil have sanctions on them as well. And as well it makes the United States sort of responsible for Israel withdrawing from Lebanon which the Israelis are not agreeing to do at this point. The actual terms itself we should be cautious on. I would not be surprised if what happened. And the reason why this accord is so tilted in the Memorandum of Understanding toward the Iranian position is not only because Iran demonstrates it can withstand the United States in the war, but because the Trump administration needed this agreement so badly to reassure markets, to reassure in particular energy markets and to get that energy flowing that very likely the negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, just needed to give Iran basically the terms of the agreement in order to show that this process would in fact, move forward. But right now, what's ended up is that the terms of this agreement are overwhelmingly tilted toward Iran.
- [20:39]
Amy Goodman
I want to bring Bedouz into this conversation. Behrouz, Gamare Tabrizi, you yourself were held in even prison on death row in Iran. You don't have a lot of sympathy. You didn't for theto, say the least, the Iranian regime, now a professor at cuny, before that at Princeton. But can you talk about how that regime has changed? Who is in power right now, what the US has done in changing that regime?
- [21:14]
Behrouz Gamary Tabrizi
First, thank you for having me again in the program. I think this was a war that was doomed from the beginning, and it was exactly because of a total misunderstanding of the Islamic Republic power structure. And this misunderstanding and ignorance about the power structure in Iran was partially promoted by the Israelis and American intelligence and partially basically put forward by the mass Media in the U.S. the misunderstanding was that you decapitate the state and then it falls apart. And the reality after three or four days of war, basically undermined that kind of understanding. And the second thing, the second misunderstanding was that the relationship between the Iranian people and their state, and it is true that there is large segments of society are opposing the state in Iran, and they've shown their grievances in many different forms, and they were repressed and massacred by the Iranian government. But at the same time, that relationship did not translate into organizing to overthrow the state after the beginning of the war. And we saw that how people rallied around the flag. And despite their opposition to the state, they supported the war efforts that was organized by the Islamic Republic. And the third issue was that miscalculating the Iranian military power. And I want to borrow from Mao Tsetong and his, sorry, his notion of paper tiger. And for many years, Americans thought that Iran is a paper tiger and they're sort of seen formidable, threatening and powerful. And while in actuality they're weak and Ineffectual, but in practice, they showed that not only they were not a paper tiger, but they were willing to withstand these attacks. And in a very twisted way, show that Americans seem like a paper tiger more than Iranians. And last but not least, the Iranians, the Islamic Republic always threatened that if there is a war against them, they're going to turn that into a regional war and force a global war. And the US Administration, President Trump and others, they thought that this is only a meaningless threat. And in practice they did that and showed a particularly surprising resilience and survived this attack. And I think that the way now it's working. And diplomatically, politically, the Islamic Republic focused on creating a rift between Israel and the US And I think the possibly along with their successes in the war front, politically that was one of the most successful projects that they followed. And as we see today, that rift between the US And Israel is deepening. And for the first time we see this kind of political attacks and criticism on Israeli government. That has been quite unprecedented. And the other thing that the Iranians did, they shifted their position on Lebanon from supporting their allies, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon, to defending Lebanese sovereignty. And I think that was also a very successful campaign. And that that's how we see all those points are reflected in this 14 point memorandum of understanding which as Spencer said, this is a document of cap on the American part, because this is actually an unconditional surrender. Because I don't see any parts of this agreement that shows any concession on the Iranian part except their commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, which was a committed commitment they made more than 20 years ago.
- [26:16]
Spencer Ackerman
Spencer Ackerman, Excellent points by Behrouz as always. I would just want to remind everyone, you know, zoom out a little bit. The war in February began as a way supposedly for the United States to extract a stronger position in nuclear negotiations. The United States had launched nuclear negotiations with the Iranians pretextually to bomb them. And now what's happened is the Iranians have not only withstood that, they have fundamentally transformed the United States position in the Middle East. The Iranians have cratered the air bases, destroyed the radar systems that protected those air bases, and have held at risk the energy and other critical infrastructure data center facilities around the Gulf states that hosted the United States military presence made those US Allies in the Gulf think very seriously about whether the United States military umbrella actually defends them to the point that in the Memorandum of Understanding the Iranians have extracted, at least on paper. For now, we'll see how this is implemented a commitment from the United States to move its military posture further away from Iranian territory. What that actually means in practice will have to await. Whether this is, you know, an insincere commitment we'll have to await or whether this is actually, you know, compelled as is, you know, on some level, quite likely, as it's a material reality derivative of the fact that Iran basically destroyed a whole lot of these bases, have now made the US Military posture in Iran not the strength that the United States thought, not the anchor that the United States thought it had in the region, but fundamentally a point of weakness, something that the Iranians can leverage against the US not vice versa. That's a fundamental transformation.
- [28:11]
Amy Goodman
And can you talk about how U. S. Israeli relations are shifting? You have Vance saying recently to the New York Times Times, you're speaking about Israel. You're a country of 9 million people. You can't just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.
- [28:33]
Spencer Ackerman
Yes. Anti Zionist champion JD Vance, of all things, I don't really believe that it's actually sincere. One thing that you always want to look at when you see people on the right criticize Israel is whether they actually support Palestine or not. That's typically the critical distinction here. But more fundamentally, Iran has, in addition to the way that it's turned the American military presence in the Middle east from its strength to a weakness. So it's done with the U. S. Israel alliance. It is placing a wedge between those two allies. Most importantly, the Memorandum of Understanding that the US And Iran signs talks about the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. As Behrouz pointed out, that is a mechanism to say that unless the US There's a major difference of opinion between the US And Israel here, which I'll talk about in a second. But unless the US Compels Israel to cease its devastation of Lebanon.
- [29:29]
Amy Goodman
I mean, on Friday they killed Israel, killed 83 people alone in Lebanon.
- [29:35]
Spencer Ackerman
That's correct. And then what did Iran do? Iran ordered the Strait of Hormuz shut. It is using leverage that previously it never had employed against the United States, let alone the US Israel alliance. I think if there's a weakness in the Memorandum of Understanding in terms of how it places this wedge between Iran and. I'm sorry, between the US And Israel over Lebanon, it's that it doesn't mention Palestine, it doesn't mention Gaza. Israel has killed a thousand Palestinians since the October cease fire. This Memorandum of Understanding is silent on that. So that's really one weak point that we can look at. As a measure of criticism. But now it's basically holding the United States responsible. It's holding the quote, unquote, peace right now, the ceasefire between the US And Iran hostage to the US Ability to reign in Israel. Whether that actually happens is going to depend on, to a great degree on the difference between, you know, Vance's interpretation of this as a proxy for the Trump interpretation of this and the Israeli interpretation of this. The Israeli interpretation is that right now what it's done, the MoU is done, is freeze Israeli military positions in Lebanon in place, the Iranian position, and it's trying to see what the United States will do about this is say no. It means the Israelis have to withdraw from Lebanon and cease bombing it. What we're seeing right now is that Iran has, through its throttling of the Strait of Hormuz, enormous leverage to produce pain on not just the United States, but global markets. And we're going away. How the Iranians will ultimately play that card when it comes to Lebanon fully.
- [31:16]
Amy Goodman
And finally, let me put this question to Behruz Gamare Tabrizi. And that is the response inside Iran of everyday people, many of whom are dissidents. I mean, with the first day, the US Tomahawk missile strike on the girls school in Manab in southern Iran that killed at least something like 175 people, mainly primary school girls. Has this shifted public opinion in Iran? And are now the Iranian, the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps in charge?
- [31:56]
Behrouz Gamary Tabrizi
We actually don't know who exactly is in charge. And Revolutionary Guards always played a key role in political decision making and controlling the country's economy. So that continues to be the case with how much that has changed. We need to wait and see how the post war governance unfolds. The inside the country. Iranians are in a kind of waiting mode to see how, for example, this $300 billion reconstruction fund is going to be appropriated and who is going to be a part of the conversation about its allocation, what projects get priority and how the government is going to create some sort of context to relieve that economic pressure that people are dealing with every day. And every day is becoming harder and harder for people to survive under these hardship, economic hardship. And of course, I think that there are, I mean, Iranians are not in one voice. There are so many different voices, as Spencer mentioned. There are also voices that are skeptical of the fact that the Palestinian question is absent in the, in the memorandum. And also people who are thinking that how can we trust Americans this time because this happened, this is a pattern that they agree on some frame of work they agree on resolving their differences. And in the middle of that, suddenly the US And Israelis change the game and attack Iranians. And I've heard many sort of voices inside the country that whether the government, the state should trust this time that Americans are sincere about turning a page and rethinking their relations with the Iranian government.
- [34:12]
Amy Goodman
30 seconds.
- [34:13]
Spencer Ackerman
Spencer Ackerman, we shouldn't think of this as the end of anything. We shouldn't even necessarily think of it as the beginning of the end. We have is an inauguration of a new period in US Iran, and indeed global relations, because Iran, now that it knows that it can leverage the closure or the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz, will never give that up. Now that they know that the Americans can't transform that equation militarily, we should probably get used to a prolonged period of bombing, retrenchment, closure and so forth. And that's probably going to look like the scope of the new reality going forward, whatever happens with these negotiations.
- [34:50]
Amy Goodman
Well, I want to thank you both for joining us. Spencer Ackerman, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, author of the Forever wars newsletter. His latest piece, iran's Forever Leverage. And thank you so much to Behroz Gamary Tabrizi, fellow at the center for Place, Culture and politics at the CUNY Graduate center, imprisoned in Iran in the 80s at the notorious Evin prison on death row there. His latest book, just the Long War in New Old Questions. He was speaking to us from Camden, Maine. Coming up, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has resigned. We'll talk to his former mentor, the renowned human rights attorney Jeffrey Robertson, about this latest news and the crackdown in the UK On Palestine solidarity. Activists labeled terrorists stay with us.
- [35:44]
Spencer Ackerman
What emerges through the mind
- [35:48]
Keir Starmer
in the garden that you sowed with blood? Cause now our streets will on the flood. It's war time. We lost a chance to stop the flow so many millions of lives ago
- [36:11]
Amy Goodman
and now we'll reap what we don't know. Four Times. Wartime by Pharaoh Father Foster, performing at the Brooklyn Folk Festival. This is Democracy now. Democracynow.org I'm Amy Goodman. We go now to Britain, where Keir Starmers announced his resignation as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party following growing pressure from within the Labour Party to step down. Starmer spoke earlier today.
- [37:04]
Keir Starmer
The chance to change the lives of millions of people for the better. That's what I came into politics six years ago. I inherited a Labour Party that was politically, financially and morally bankrupt. I was told time and time again that my party was finished, that we were consigned to history, that a majority at the general election, let alone a landslide majority, was impossible. But we proved those people wrong because we changed our party, ripping out the poison of anti Semitism, restoring trust on the economy, defence and national security, and becoming a party that once again stood proudly with, not against, our national flag.
- [38:02]
Amy Goodman
Starmer's election as prime minister in 2024 ended more than a decade of Conservative rule in the uk. But during his time in office he's faced mounting opposition over his embrace of austerity measures and a cost of living crisis in Britain, as well as his crackdown on Palestinian solidarity protesters. Starmer's announcement paves the way for Britain to have its seventh leader in 10 years. Former Manchester mayor. Newly elected Labour MP Andy Burnham is widely expected to become the next Prime Minister. However, some leaders of the British left have warned Burnham may do little to shift from starmer's policies. British MP Jeremy Corbyn, who led the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020, said Burnham's quote, basic economic strategy and views seem to me to be accepting too much of the austerity we've had imposed on us, unquote and added in an interview with Sky News that Burnham quote, doesn't appear to be doing anything different internationally, unquote referring to Britain's supply of weapons to Israel for its war on Gaza and beyond. We're joined now in Paris, France by Geoffrey Robertson, renowned human rights lawyer, founding head of Doughty Street Chambers, Europe's largest human rights law practice. He's been widely described as a mentor to Starmer, who worked at the law firm for nearly two decades. Jeffrey Robertson is also a former UN judge who ran the UN war crimes court in Sierra Leone. His most recent book is titled World of War Ilus in Gaza and Beyond. Jeffrey Robertson, before we ask you about Britain's crackdown on Palestine solidarity activists, the so called Elbit 4, we want to get your response to today's announcement by the Prime Minister that he is stepping down.
- [39:59]
Jeffrey Robertson
Well, there is a connection. You know, I advised him over the weekend that if he had the numbers, if he didn't have the numbers, he should do a deal with Burnham, who is the obvious favourite to succeed him because he's a bit more characteristic charismatic than Kier, who's a bit dull for the public taste. But if he didn't have the numbers, he shouldn't resign but rather do a deal with Burnham that he became his foreign minister. Because Keir Starmer, in my view, has been absolutely brilliant as Prime Minister dealing with foreign affairs, most importantly, of course, dealing with Donald Trump. And he has not conceded to Trump, he has not joined in the illegality of the invasion of Iran, as Trump was insisting. He's kept the distance and kept Britain out of the war crime. This is that Trump has tried to pull it into. So for that reason, I hope he stays on in that capacity. But we don't know if he had the numbers. I advised him to make a speech accepting that he made several mistakes, which he has. He has, for example, in relation to the left and the left wing of the left Labour Party, if you like, the beating heart of the party. They don't know or don't accept the need ever for economic austerity, but they have got the heart and soul of what is traditionally the Labour Party. And they were upset by his support for Israel. In particular, they were upset by his prohibition on any protest from Palestine Action, a group that is protests about Israeli attacks on Palestine. And he had been banned and had. Over 3,000 people are now waiting trial for holding up banners saying that they support Palestine Action. So that kind of thing lost in popularity in the Labour Party. It was his attack on the left, his throwing out of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, who led it for several years, and Keir was one of his ministers that just wasn't seen as just so. If he moved a little more to the left and he may well have kept the party on side. But I think he really lost support in the party because he was perceived as too right wing for it and because he was too boring. He lacked charisma. Everyone went around saying this from a party whose most uncharis charismatic leader was Clement Attlee just after the war, had no charisma whatsoever that did the great things that Britain now boasts of, like the National Health Service and so forth. So it's sad that charisma is now a quality for leading the Labour Party, but there it is.
- [44:12]
Amy Goodman
You've been fierce and at criticizing governments like the US and Britain as well for its approach to Israel and Palestine. And you specifically talk about what's happened to Palestine Action. Last week, four Palestine Action activists in Britain were sentenced as terrorists over their involvement in a 2024 protest and raid on a factory operated by one of Israel's largest arms manufacturers, Elbit Sis. In May, the four activists known as the Elbit Four were found guilty of criminal damage for destroying property at the Elbit facility. But unbeknownst to lawyers or the jury, the judge in the case added a terrorism component to the case months earlier. It's the first time a judge has issued terrorism sentencing enhancements on people who are not actually charged with or convicted of terrorism. Their prison sentences range from four to over seven years. They must also legally register to a law enforcement terrorist surveillance system for 15 years following their release from prison. Palestine Action co founder Huda Amaury told Navarro Media in response. This is the first case and therefore the test case for trying to convict activists as terrorists using a manipulated cop court process. So, Jeffrey Robertson, you just wrote a piece for the new magazine the Key headlined Punishing Protest as Terrorism. Can you explain the significance of what happened in this case and put it in the context of your new book, World of War, Ilus and Gaza and Beyond?
- [46:08]
Jeffrey Robertson
Well, it goes like this. For several centuries, Britain's democracy has been affected, influenced, improved by protests. Protests for the vote, the vote for women came about because of quite violent protests and the vote generally. I mean we go back and look at the way protest movements of one sort or another, particularly in America, were actually led by people who were devoted Democrats. And now we have a situation where, thanks to a law passed by the Conservative government, not by labor recently, a few years ago, that sentencing cases where you have quite ordinary crimes that protesters often commit, like criminal damage, usually dealt with by a fine or 18 month sentence if the damage was bad, is now can be coupled by the judge, not the jury. But the judge can, if he decides in his own mind that they're terrorists, make them go to prison for a lot longer, be labeled as terrorists, be discriminated against in prison. All sorts of bad things can happen to these young, usually and sincere, but maybe headstrong protesters because although all they want to do is to change the attitude of the British government which was very slow in complaining about the massive killings in Gaza. That's all they want to do. And yet that is a ground. This judge the other day dealing with four protesters who smashed up a little bit of Elbert, the chrome manufacturers. This judge secretly decided that they were terrorists and so could do all those harsh things to them. And that I think is one matter which needs to be sorted because we have Mr. Vance coming over and telling us how we get things wrong. And this would be a good example of, because it's quite contrary to our idea of justice that anyone should be sent to prison for long periods and have all this discrimination against them when they haven't been convicted by a jury.
- [49:34]
Amy Goodman
I wanted to end by just naming, I just wanted to name the Elbit 4 as they are known and who they Leona Cameo, 30 years old, a nursery school teacher Samuel Corner, 23 years old and Fatima Rajwani, both 21 year old students and Charlotte Head, 30 years old, a domestic abuse caseworker. Jeffrey Robertson, I want to thank you very much for being with us. Renowned human rights lawyer, founding head of the law firm, deputy Howdy Street Chambers most recent piece for the new magazine the Key we will link to called Punishing Protest as Terrorism. His most recent book, World of War, Ilus and Gaza and Beyond. Coming up, we go to Colombia, where a narrow victory in Sunday's runoff presidential election. The right wing millionaire Trump backed candidate Abelardo de la Asprieto has won. Stay with us.
- [50:47]
Behrouz Gamary Tabrizi
Someone's hiding in the bushes with a telephoto lens while their editor assures them the means justifies the end cause we only hunt celebrities. It's all a bit of fun, but Scousers never buy the sun. While the parents of the missing girl cling desperately to hope and a copper takes improper payments in a thick brown
- [51:24]
Manuel Rosenthal
envelope, a nice no.
- [51:26]
Behrouz Gamary Tabrizi
1 in the newsroom asks where's this
- [51:30]
Amy Goodman
headline from Never by the sun by Billy Bragg. This is Democracy now. Democracynow.org I'm Amy Goodman. We end today's show in Colombia where the right wing Trump backed candidate Abelardo de la Espria has clinched a narrow victory in Sunday's runoff presidential election, defeating the leftist senator Ivan Sepeh. An initial ballot count shows de la esprilla received about 49.7% of the vote, while Cepeda, who's an ally of current Colombian President Gustavo Petro, trailed by only some quarter of a million votes. At 48.7%, the results must still be verified with a final review of the ballots. Thousands of people reportedly took to the streets of Bogota and Cali Sunday night, some denouncing us Meddling in the election. Cepeda spoke last night, called on Colombia election officials to scrutinize the initial results during the ballot verification process. He had this message for his supporters.
- [52:34]
J.D. Vance
We extend our most sincere, profound and heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to the 12.7 million Colombians whose support at the polls reinforces our conviction that profound democratic social change in Colombian society is entirely possible.
- [52:49]
Amy Goodman
Ivan Cepeda is a prominent human rights defender who vowed to continue Petro's progressive agenda and to negotiate peace with Colombia's armed groups. His father was assassinated by right wing US backed paramilitary groups in 1994. In contrast, de la Esprilla is a millionaire businessman and lawyer who ran a fear mongering tough fund crime Campaigns promised to build mega prisons inspired by El Salvador's authoritarian presidency. President Nayib Bukele to bomb narcoterrorist camps, quote, unquote, and to abandon Petro's peace efforts. De la Esprilla's reported victory is also a win for US President Trump and his administration, as his administration intervenes across Latin America, waging an intensifying so called war on drugs in which even Colombia's current President Petro has been a target of after he faced false accusations and threats from Trump.
- [53:45]
Jeffrey Robertson
Trump.
- [53:46]
Amy Goodman
Following news of De la Esprier's victory, Trump wrote on social media he won big, unquote, despite threatening to, quote, disembowel the left throughout his campaign. De La Espriella shifted his tone last night while speaking in Colombia.
- [54:09]
Abelardo de la Esprilla
I will govern for all Colombia ambience, for those who voted for me and for those who chose another candidate. There will be no winners or losers. There will be no reprisals, no persecution. Because in a democracy there are no irreconcilable enemies. There are compatriots who think differently.
- [54:25]
Amy Goodman
De La Asprilla refers to himself as the tiger. He's a lawyer and political newcomer. For more we go to Cali, Colombia, where we're joined by Manuel Rosenthal, longtime Colombian physician and actor. He's been exiled several times for his political activities. Dr. Rosenthal is part of the group Pueblos and Camino, or People on the Path. Manuel, protests have taken place in Cali. Please describe what's happening on the ground and how Colombians are responding to the election news.
- [54:59]
Manuel Rosenthal
Well, thank you, Amy. Now the situation is tense, but it's also calm. And it's calm because of the speech, part of which you presented of Ivan Cepeda last night, calling for calm and for. So there were some peaceful mobilizations yesterday, but the situation is tense, has been very tense. But it's calm now and we have to see what happens. Of course, most of us, me included, feel a tremendous hangover after this result. But let me tell you after your introduction what this election is about and was about. And it's beyond Colombia. It's from Colombia. Two projects that are playing, confronting themselves through the electoral process from Colombia, but not only in Colombia. One represented by Ivan Cepeda. Social reform reforms, human rights, progressive government justice and the fight against corruption and crime and for peace. The most decent candidate you can find with the transparent trajectory. On the other hand, Del Espriella clearly represents a criminal approach to politics. Lying propaganda, coordination and collusion with criminal, narco trafficking, restriction of rights and money laundering and how these two projects confront each other electorally and how the criminal project is winning. The context of this of course is what you mentioned, a link between local to regional to national mafias, where drug trafficking, legal and illegal control of territories and resources are producing wealth and transferring it to the north. That in coordination with the Monroe Doctrine, the Shield of the Americas and the US project linked to drug trafficking with the pretext of attacking it while bombing boats in the Caribbean and so on. So this project is now labeled as an outsider project. It's a mafia type project, criminal project from the ground up, taking over a new state and then defeating a progressive institutional, state based democratic process.
- [57:32]
Amy Goodman
Manuel, we just have less than a minute. What does this mean for the peace process?
- [57:38]
Manuel Rosenthal
It's a horrendous perspective. We expect to have military operations and a US intervention within the country. We expect to have have human rights abuses. We expect to have militarization. And it's all for the extraction of resources and the link of drug trafficking to the US government, US interests and global mafia.
- [58:05]
Amy Goodman
Manuel Rosenthal. We're going to continue the discussion and post online@democracynow.org, and also have a conversation in Spanish. And we'll post it online. Manuel Rosenthal's longtime Colombian physician and activist and exiled several times part of Pueblo San Camino or People on the Path. That does it for our show tomorrow, June 23rd at 7:30. The film about Democracy Now, Steal the Story Please will be playing at the IFC here in New York City. It will be. There will be a Q and A after. I'll be with the directors Card, Carl Deal and Tia Lesson. The moderator will be Elliot Page. You can check our website at democracynow. Org that does it for our show. I'm Amy Goodman for another edition of Democracy Now.