Phyllis Bennis On Israel's Jewish State Law & Trump-Putin Summit

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump struck a little-reported deal agreeable to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The established border of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights will be honored as Syrian forces backed by Hezbollah have as of today routed anti-Assad forces out of the area of Syria that borders Israel.

That added to the boldness of the Netanyahu-led government, which has now voted in the Israeli Parliament on a law that defines Israel as the homeland of Jews with Hebrew as the official language and that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. The law rescinded Arabic as one of Israels official language. The move was met with alarm by Israels Arab population, which says the measure is racist and sidelines them. It was also opposed by J Street, a prominent Jewish lobby in the U.S. and by the American Jewish Committee, which says the law shows that Israel is not democratic.

To give us background and analysis on the Trump-Putin deal as well as the Jewish state law, we are joined by Middle East expert Phyllis Bennis.

And yesterday, July 18, marked the birthday of Nelson Mandela who was born in 1918 in South Africa. It was a public holiday in South Africa and was marked by celebrations, large and small, of Mandelas life. The one most reported was the speech given by former U.S. President Barack Obama given at a stadium before thousands of people. As with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the U.S., there is a struggle going on over the true legacy of Mandela as well as attempts to sanitize him.

Our guest is Coumba Toure, a coordinator of Africans Rising for Peace, Justice and Dignity. She is based in Dakar Senegal.

For our Weekly Earth Watch segment, Oglala Lakota activist, writer and educator Corine Fairbanks joins us. She is a lead organizer for the American Indian Movement in Ohio and a spokesperson for Native American rights. She has been involved in protests against ICE.