geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. students occupy a columbia building as the war between

israel and hamas spreads to two more campuses. and a look at a university in rwanda working to end inequalities by educating the next generation of health care providers. >> young people need the heart, the brain and hands to practice medicine, in that order. ♪ >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes teams. >> i'm thriving by helping others every day. people who know no bdo -- people who know know bdo.

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to "the newshour." protests took a dramatic turn at columbia university overnight and some pro-palestinian students occupied a building on campus. geoff: occupations have taken place at other campuses, too, in california today. police have arrested 25 protesters at california state polytechnic university who had taken over a building for about a week and take over -- taken over a campus. a similar purchase was underway at portland state university and protesters at the university of north carolina took down a u.s. flag and replaced it with a palestinian one. for its part, columbia said it would expel those occupying its facilities. early this morning, protesters at columbia university linked arms and barricaded the entrance to hamilton hall.

from the inside, activists piled furniture, chained up doors, and smashed windows. the same thing has been occupied by demonstrators in decades past, including over the vietnam war and later against apartheid in south africa. this time, though, protesters unfurled a banner and dedicated the building to a six-year-old who died in the israeli war against hamas. columbia today lucked down the campus to outsiders, limiting access to students living in campus residences and essential employees. the university said today that students occupy young building would be expelled. a white house national ticket -- white house national security spokesperson john kirby told reporters the president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach. that is not an example of peaceful protest. house speaker mike johnson who

met with the columbia university president last week, says she should step down. >> we met with the college president and told her to is it's time for her to resign. if you cannot control that campus -- the first responsibility of an administrator on that campus is the safety and security of their students. >> hundreds have been arrested in protests across the country this past week, many of whom were not students. this morning at the university of north carolina, armed police entered the campus to break up an encampment. but the protests continued in other locations throughout the day. a jewish graduate student at unc , a member of students for justice in palestine. >> we are not fazed. we will continue to push and fight and we will not back down. >> in the nation's capital, and income at george washington university has expanded. >> the original encampment when we were barricaded was mostly just gw, but now we are joined

by students from all the major universities in the city. i will speak for myself -- the only way to get me out of here is to drag me out of here. >> things were quiet today at the university of texas at austin after nearly 80 million people were arrested by police in riot gear. campus protests have popped up internationally as well. students at american university in beirut in lebanon said they were inspired to join in the action. >> there have been encampments all across u.s. universities, not just columbia, where a lot of friends of mine have been at the forefront of the protesting and arrested. their chances of taking exams have been taken away. i definitely think this was inspired by what was happening in the u.s. and a bigger call to action. >> this afternoon, brown university announced it would hold a vote this october on if it will divest in israeli companies. we will have more on the campus unrest later in the program.

stephanie: here are the latest headlines -- israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu vowed again to invade rafah in southern gaza if there was a cease fire hostage release deal or not. this focused to reach an agreement appeared to intensify after a new israeli proposal that came after u.s. secretary of state antony blinken was in jordan. he did not respond directly to netanyahu's warning. >> our focus right now is on getting a cease fire and hostages helped. that is the most urgent thing. it is also i think what is achievable. no more delays. no more excuses. the time to act is now. stephanie: later, secretary blinken arrived in israel.

egyptian reports at a hummus delegation led cease fire talks with hamas today and that the you and will return with a response. the u.s. today refused to order a halt on arms exports to israel nicaragua argued that they were enabling genocide. in new york, former president trump was found in contempt of court today for violating a gag order in his hush money trial. he was fined $9,000 and was warned he could wind up in jail. the ruling came soon after mr. trump entered court. nine violations for making statements about witnesses, jurors, and others in the case. the judge wrote, "if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, the court will impose and incarcerate tory punishment if the violations continue.

in congress, house speaker mike johnson's job appears to be safe after democrats announced today they will oppose efforts to remove him. johnson had come under fire from far right members of his own republican congress after pushing for aid to ukraine. he said moves to declare his post vacant are misguided. >> with the country needs right now is a functioning congress. they need a congress that works well, works together, and does not hamper its own ability to solve this problem. we saw what happened with motion to vacate last time. congress was close to three weeks. no one can afford for that to happen. >> democrats say they will back johnson because it's time to move past what they called republican obstruction. investigators in charlotte, north carolina, spent the day asking how 4 officers were caught off guard killed monday while trying to catch a fugitive. it was the deadliest day for u.s. law enforcement since 2016. laura barron-lopez has a report.

>> the last 24 hours have been heavy on the police department and marshals service, but heavy on our community and heavy on our country. laura: charlotte, north carolina, is grieving one day after a search warrant raid turned into a deadly shootout. >> by the time i could turn in, pow, pow, pow, pow. i heard the gunfire. ambulance, police, everywhere. >> on monday afternoon, a u.s. marshals task force carried out a search warrant for terry clark hughes, jr. fell and wanted for illegally possessing a firearm. as they approached the house, he was opened fire from the second-floor. when he stepped out, officers shot him and pronounced him dead on the scene. 4 officers were shot and killed in exchange. a deputy u.s. marshal and two

veteran officers. the fourth officer died hours later after being rushed to the hospital. 4 other hospitals were injured. >> dangerous assignments are part of the job. but they step up and do it anyway to protect our communities and protect our families. >> it has been more than five years since a u.s. marshal was killed in the line of duty. monday's incident was the deadliest for charlotte's police force in decades. according to the fraternal order of police, 120 officers died on the job in 2023, a decrease of nearly 40% from the year before. 47 of those deaths were by gunshot, but 347 officers were shot, the highest number on record. in a statement, president biden the charlotte officers heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. he also called on congress to ban assault weapons and pass more police funding.

police seized the ar-15 rifle for evidence. additional information is being collected. stephanie: officials said today they are still investigating if a second gunman might have been involved. in london, a man is in custody after slashing passersby and police with a sword and killing a 14-year-old boy. 4 other people were wounded in the incident. officials said the incident was not a terrorist attack. there is word the u.s. drug enforcement agency is ready to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. reports today said the shift would move marijuana out of the schedule one category, which includes heroin and lsd. it would also cite medical uses of cannabis. the united methodist church reversed a series of anti-lgbtq+ policies today. delegates voting in the church's

general conference overwhelmingly deleted mandatory penalties for clergy conducting same-sex marriages. delegates also removed a ban on considering lgbtq+ candidates for ministry. an influential scientific panel, the u.s. preventive services task force, has formalized a new recommendation on breast cancer screening. the group said today that women with average risk should begin regular mammograms at age 40. that reverses the panel's guidance in 2009. it's it screening could wait until age 50. the environmental protection agency finalized a than today on a chemical used in consumer grade paint strippers that is believed to cause cancer. methylene chloride emits a toxic paper and is blamed for at least 88 deaths since 1980. the chemical will continue in some commercial uses with worker protections. still to come, a student -- student journalists discussed the protests on the war in gaza

on their campuses. members of the jerusalem youth chorus bring their hope for peace, justice, and equity in israel to the u.s., and much more. >> this is "the pbs newshour" from wta -- weta studios in washington and in the west from walter cronkite university at arizona state university. amna: the federal supreme court issued a groundbreaking ruling was not ensuring that gender affirming medical care is funded by state funding sources. >> two states sued for protection for gender affirming care. the federal appellate court in richmond, split 8-6 -- order that the state health care plans reinstate coverage for medically necessary services for the treatment of gender dysphoria.

the american medical association and the american academy of pediatrics wrote briefs in support of the trans plaintiffs. it is a win for the trans community but may not be the final word on the issue. for more, i'm joined by selena simmons duffin who covers health policy for npr. as you know, there are numerous court cases around the country about transgender rights and access to gender affirming care. how significant was this ruling, and what are the big takeaways to you? >> i think this is a really significant ruling. the fourth circuit majority opinion was really strong and called discrimination against trans patients on these plans to be "obviously discriminatory." i think the big take away is that insurers have not been able to say they will cover this care for some patients with some diagnoses but not others. if they will be covering things

like sex hormones and vasectomies for some patients, they will have to cover it for trans patients as well, and i do think it is really seen in the trans community as a major win, and it cuts against some of the trends of more litigation and more restrictions that we have seen in statehouses across the country. >> how far-reaching is this ruling? does this mean trans people with state medical plans are now covered for gender affirming care where they could not or were not before? >> actually, in both of these cases, the state plan in north carolina and medicaid in west virginia -- they already had to start covering this care after the district court ruled in the plaintiffs' favor in 2022, so people have been able to bill for this and get coverage for this for the last two years, but the appellate ruling really solidifies that coverage.

as i said, it also signals to other plans in other states across the country that this is coverage that needs to be that -- that this is care that needs to be covered and that trans people are protected under the law. >> we have seen two dozen states pass restrictive laws on gender affirming care, specifically for minors. does this decision apply to minors covered by state medical plans even in states where legislatures have banned care? >> i should say there were plaintiffs in these cases that were minors. for example, in north carolina, there were some members of the plan who joined the case on behalf of their dependent minor child who was transgender, so they were seeking coverage for the care of that child, but i think it is important to differentiate this from some of the other cases around gender affirming care. -- gender affirming care for

minors. this is really about insurance coverage and if insurers can make the distinction that they are going to cover hormones and vasectomies for people with certain conditions but not for people with gender dysphoria. in this case, they said that's not going to fly, and that needs to stop. one thing i also wanted to mention is that in the realm of bands -- pan -- bans across the country, just today in kansas, the statehouse was unable to override the veto of the governor who had vetoed the ban on gender affirming care for youth in that state. advocates are hoping that this does -- even beyond the realm of its actual reach, it does send a signal to different places, to governors come to statehouses, to say, you know, this is not a winning issue, and the courts are starting to fall in their

favor, though it has been a mixed bag in the courts. >> absolutely. in this case, and you quoted it, the majority wrote that when it comes to the state's exclusion of gender affirming care from medical plans, "we hold that these basically -- facially discriminate on the essence of gender identity."'s as they violate the 14th amendment and provisions in the affordable care act there are so many transgender issues in the courts right now. do you see the supreme court taking all this up any time soon? in this case, west virginia's attorney general has already said he is appealing. >> court watchers and policy watchers i talked to really think that the case is going to reach the supreme court at some point and probably soon, but the supreme court has been sending some mixed messages on this. there was a gender affirming care than in idaho that the supreme court allowed to take effect, but then there are other cases, including ones for the

fourth circuit, that was related to transgender students participating in sports that the supreme court declined to take, and that was a win for the transgender plaintiffs in that case. court watchers suggest that it seems like the supreme court is reluctant to jump into the fray, but there has been so much litigation in this area and so many laws being passed that it seems inevitable the supreme court will have to weigh in and give some clarity. >> selena simmons duffin who covers health policy with npr, thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. ♪ amna: student protests over israel's war in gaza and u.s. involvement continue across campuses nationwide. hundreds have been arrested nationwide. even as the school year comes to an end, administrators are struggling with how to respond.

joining us for a view from their campuses are the managing editor of news for the emory wheel at emory university, the student life reporter for the daily californian at uc berkeley, and editor-in-chief and president of the brown daily herald at brown university. welcome to you three. thanks for joining us. spencer, you have said it has been extremely tense on campus at emory. tell me why. what does it look and feel like? >> over the last five days, we have had a series of protests in response to the war in gaza and also in response to the police going to campus on thursday and arresting 20 members of the emory community, including 20 people that are directly students or faculty at the university. amna: when you say it's tense, what does that mean? what does it look and feel like? >> every day, people are on edge

when there are emory police coming to campus. a lot of the student protesters and students for socialism have been affected by the way that the protests were handed on thursday and have been scared of student protests and additionally, i believe a lot of jewish students on campus are uneasy with the content of what has been going on in the protests, with chanting from "from the river to the sea" being used. students have called that antisemitic. amna: what about uc berkeley? you said the encampment began with about 20 tense -- tents or so. how big is it now? and have you seen anything like what -- what spencer describes? >> it has been a growing considerably, and that comes from students from all over campus.

there has actually been very little attention as compared to some of these other schools, but it has been fairly, i guess, reserved, and the encampment right now is at least pretty peaceful. amna: has there been allegations like we heard from spencer about protesters engaging in anti-semitic remarks? >> yeah, like spencer said, there have been similar chants, which i spoke to some students who feel as if that is anti-semitic, but i would like to point out that some of the protesters themselves are jewish. i have spoken to many members of jewish voices for peace who were there and they do not feel speech like that is anti-semitic. it depends who you talk to. amna: meanwhile at brown, we know many protesters across the campus are looking for investment from their university from financial ties to israel. your highest governing body is going to vote on investment --

on divestment. how did that come about, and is that likely? >> absolutely. to answer the first part of your question, while on the surface it does seem that granting of this has popped up alongside with protests popping up across the country, but it has been under consideration for a long time. the president characterized it as a contentious geopolitical issue and as a result of that decision, there has been quite a bit of activism since 2020 which has carried through to now. we have seen a brown success for protesters in a way that had not been seen before. it's hard to say what will happen in october when the brown corporation votes on divestment. so far, the administration has expressed quite a bit of skepticism about divestment, but demonstrators are really optimistic about divestment.

they say it will be important symbolically and it could spark a broader divestment movement across the country. amna: we should point out there were some students who were arrested during a previous sit in after these meetings with university officials. what happened to the charges brought against them? >> definitely. there was 41 students arrested in december in a pro-divestment sitting did not have their charges dropped. that was a demand that these campus protesters that have been going on for roughly one week had. in the final memo from the university, there was no mention of these charges being dropped. amna: this issue does seem to be central to many of the protesters' demands. briefly, what do you know about the possibility of your university or college engaging in that, being able to see that through? >> obviously, that has been one of the key aspects of the encampments, the coalition supporting the encampment is called the uc berkeley divestment coalition and the

goal is complete divestment for the uc system as a whole and uc berkeley specifically from support for israel. the schools say they have no plans for divestment at this time. students say they will not suspend their protests until their goal of divestment has been granted. >> the president of emory has not responded to my emails requesting comment, but a university administration member yesterday accepted a letter of demand from student activists that calls for divestment from both israel and also from atlanta's "cop city," which is a police training facility being built on muskogee land that a lot of citizens have been

concerned with. >> i want to point out, you recently as part of no reporting spent 24 hours inside the encampment. there has been a lot of focus on divestment, but i'm curious what you heard from students you talk to about what brought them out in the first place. what was it that motivated them and what is keeping them there now? >> we were not necessarily inside the encampment. it was more observing, so we were just outside, but we went inside on many occasions and spent a lot of time interviewing people. there is a feeling of community within the encampment where people asked that people feel as though they are trying to gain something great. they feel as if this is a national movement where people from around the country are coming together in support. it is honestly very happy and lively.

they have all sorts of activities planned throughout the day. they have teachings about divestment and about what is happening in gaza. it is a pretty lively attitude, and they have community members from outside the university from the community at large that have been splying materials. it has gotten to the point where the encampment have said they want to stop accepting food donations because they have been getting so many. amna: the rest of the country and parts of the world are paying attention to what is happening on each of your campuses, but you are there. i want to ask you -- what do you make of the way that the national news media has been covering and talking about what you are living through and covering on your campus? >> one thing i want to come in national tv undoing is centering the voices of student journalists. these journalists know the administration on their campuses and other students, especially their demands and the histories

of the activism because they have been covering them for years. i'm really glad that student journalists voices are being deplatformed as national media takes a look at what is going on with these encampments. >> i feel like national media has done a great job at portraying the initial events that happened on emory's campus. on thursday, police arrested people, accusing people of using gas, and it was significant as opposed to how other police forces have handled other encampments, but one thing i would say is that after that initial media coverage, we have not really received as much national attention for the peaceful protests that have been going on in reese -- in recent days f of -- in recent days as other students have on their campuses. i think it has kind of been a little -- i would say quick to judgment almost -- or not he been to judgment, but very over

the top on the days where there is violence and there is brutality by police possibly, but not so much when there is just peaceful protests that have been happening every day since. amna: i want to thank each of you for taking the time to join us and continuing to cover the stories as journalists on your own campuses. thank you to you all. >> thank. >> thank you. >> thank you. geoff: as we just heard brown university announced today, it will vote on divestment this fall, but how difficult would it be for other schools to divest from israel? last week, we heard a perspective arguing that it could be done more readily. tonight, we are hearing another take. we're joined by an assistant professor of education studies at davidson college. thanks so much for being with us. we know that brown university, there corporate board will vote in october on this proposal to

divest from israeli interests. meantime, columbia university, the school president said in her words that columbia will not divest from israel. what is your assessment of these approaches based on what you know about both institutions? >> first, thanks for having me on. as you mentioned, both of these approaches are extraordinarily different. what brown has agreed to do is let the brown corporation vote on effectively a proposal that is based on the 20 that called for the divestment from just 11 companies. those companies would be divested from part of the direct investments of brown university, which accounts for less than 10% of brown's entire endowment. columbia is saying, we are not going to engage in that right now. we need to see what the situation is for the next weeks or months before we even have the discussion, and, candidly, we need to have a graduation. part of why they are even having

the conversation is because of how narrow the approach is. we are seeing students asking from divesting from three different areas -- weapons manufacturers, businesses in israel, and businesses that do business with israel. own is just looking at 11 institutions -- 11 businesses. geoff: how feasible is this? the perspective we heard last night is that it's very doable. it's just a matter of institutions moving their endowments into socially and ethically responsible funds. >> this is a very different situation than esg investing with fossil fuels or even south africa 30 years ago. it's very complicated in terms of how universities invest. the vast majority of university endowment funds are not invested in direct stocks and not running e*trade accounts as endowment managers. they are investing in hedge funds and private equity, and often times, with the vast majority of institutions, they are looking at index funds.

that's a lot of different businesses packaged in these funds, and it's difficult to know at any given time what those businesses are doing. the way i talk or think about it is you may invest in pepsi but not know that pepsi is about to buy sodastream, an israeli company, as they did in 2016. if a manager wanted to completely divest from israel, that would mean once that deal was closed divesting from pepsi as a whole. there are not many funds that have the ability to move that quickly and have the knowledge of how deeply tied companies are to israel. while it is theoretically possible and we have seen divestment from fossil fuels, private prisons and certainly saw divestment from south africa during apartheid, it's not terribly functionally possible. >> does divestment work? does it bring about the kind of changes these companies are calling for jack what does history and the data

show? >> it's a good question. we know divestment works in some cases and not in others in terms of affecting the economy of the place you are trying to divert -- divest from, but really what protest do is put political pressure on those that are the target of those divestments. we are pretty sure that from research that divestment in south africa did not make a big economic impact, which should not be a surprise as universities were not heavily invested in south africa during the apartheid era, but the political pressure, the slow drip of headline after headline after headline announcing different colleges and universities divesting certainly put political pressure on the apartheid regime. we are seeing some evidence that that political pressure through protest is happening tonight. when we hear last week that prime minister netanyahu specifically mentions campus protests in the united states, that lets us know that college students have captured the

attention of key stakeholders for peace. we will see if they can keep it as the semester ends and graduations begin. geoff: should a university invest its endowment in a way that aligns with its values, however defined, or should chasing returns, increasing the value of that fund be the guiding or in some cases sole principal? >> legally, endowment managers have to act as fiduciaries. while certainly they have considered esg funds and other moral or ethical funds, at the end of the day, they are required to be able to justify investment decisions based on short-term or long-term potential gains. because we don't know to what extent there will be a negative or positive return, it's really hard for an endowment manager to even talk about or even think about divesting based on purely

moral imperatives or values imperatives from the institution. we know from my own research and the research of others that divesting from fossil fuels may at worst have an effect on institutions like stanford and dayton and syracuse and may have had a positive effect in many cases, but we just don't have those data get with respect to investments in israel, so it's really hard for endowment managers to even have this choice. at the end of the day they are supposed to, by law, make investment decisions based on risk and potential rewards. geoff: assistant professor of education studies at davidson college, thanks so much for your insight and putting some context around all of this. we appreciate your insight. >> thanks so much for having me. it has been a pleasure. ♪ geoff: sub-saharan africa accounts for about 25% of all disease in the world, yet it has just 3% of the workforce needed

to treat it. there are not enough medical and nursing schools, and many of the continent's graduates are recruited to wealthier countries where health care systems are also understaffed. our special correspondent has a report on one effort to educate african providers who will stay and serve their communities as part of his series agents for change. >> they hiked for nearly an hour, a small group of medical students headed to a village not accessible by car. their professor accompanied them. the teacher today was a woman with little formal schooling. when it comes to health issues in this remote community in northern rwanda, village health workers have the keenest knowledge and training to watch for telltale signs of problems. >> malaria is a big problem here. i am mainly focused on women and babies.

we register all women who are pregnant and all visit them three times during their pregnancy. >> after a quick briefing, they were off to the home of a couple expecting their first child. >> we do not want students to come in and be seated in front of a patient giving them information that is from a textbook. >> this professor says textbook street -- teach how to treat disease. on the other hand, real-world experience teaches how to treat the patient. and why a textbook prescription may not work, for example. >> they may not be taking their medicines. when taking them on an empty stomach, it pains, and they woke up at 4:00 a.m. to be at your hospital at 8:00 a.m. >> on this day, jean use her well-worn illustrated binder to make sure her patient got important information to ensure a safe pregnancy. she emphasized the importance of

taking iron pills and eating a healthy diet, though that is not easy of a small plot of land and daily wage work, when available. >> in such extreme poverty, it's not easy for people to afford meat, but i tell them to get eggs or milk, which they can afford. >> the students will spend a lot of time in village settings. back on campus, they spend the first six months in nonmedical coursework like anthropology and history, before beginning six intense years that lead to degrees in medicine and global health delivery. the university of global health equity was inaugurated in 20. brainchild of the late harvard anthropologist and physician paul farmer. he cofounded the group partners for help which has brought world-class care to some of the world's remotest places. that same philosophy brought this medical school to northern

rwanda. >> all over the world, medical schools are set up in capital cities. >> this thoracic surgeon is dean of the school of medicine. >> this is the opposite of that. it's closer to the community, to be vulnerable, to the poor. >> it began in 2011 with a world-class hospital most cancer patients in this country and many others simply go untreated. take just the example of breast cancer. in high income countries, more than 90% of patients survived five years after their diagnosis. the equivalent figure in sub-saharan africa is 40%. >> i started out in the oncology ward where i was meeting a lot of patients coming in and out.

it's so sad to see how many of them come at late stages and i just left in palliative care. >> that said, this third year student, who is from neighboring tanzania, says every patient, including a woman whose condition is incurable, gets the best available therapy to ease their pain-and-suffering, a mark a departure from practice and philosophy in many low resource settings. >> they would not give her chemo for free and would not even recognize that chemo was useful or worthwhile for her. >> she is among 22 students from nine african countries, 72% of them female, selected each year from nearly 1600 applicants. because it is much needed in rural settings, the exercise is much needed in trauma care. they can actually accurately simulate pain points. the goal is to train doctors who

are also advocates for equitable care. students sign contracts agreeing to work for five years after graduation in an underserved area. in exchange, they get a free ride here. >> young people need the heart, the brain, and the hands -- young people who possess the heart, the brain, and the hands for medical care, in that order, should be given the opportunity. >> you want to hold your throat from the top. >> one concern is how such interactions might influence the aspirations of future doctors, some 5500 physicians from sub-saharan african nations now work in the united states alone. these students resist the lure. >> given the economic and financial realities of our world

today, they get an offer to go to north carolina, harder -- harvard, edinburgh at enormously large salaries. >> yes, absolutely we cannot deny that. every faculty conveys that message, that could -- that god put them in this place for a region. there is some sacrifice this generation has to pay for the betterment of the next generation. >> the university dove -- does have agreements with countries to ensure graduates will receive livable wages. students we spoke to were determined to stay in their home countries. david is from the civil war ravaged west african nation of liberia. >> i would like to work so we can be able to put things in place for people who cannot afford basic medical aid, basic medical care. >> this student says that she is

determined to be part of rebuilding efforts in her native rwanda. >> i don't see anything which is more fulfilling than serving your community. if i'm not going to be part of the solution, who is going to do it? >> jennifer's role model is her mother, a physician who returned to serve in tanzania. >> most of her education she was able to attain abroad, and she always mentioned there is nothing better than home and helping your people. for me, myself, i feel the same way. >> adina admits this university faces tough challenges, counting among other things, funding, but he says -- >> 50 years back, harvard was just a small building. look at it now. i think they had that vision. we probably will not see in our lifetime, but this is a beacon of hope. >> the university of global health equity will graduate its

first cohort of medical and global health practitioners in 2026. geoff: tomorrow, we will look at an effort to improve and sustain agriculture in rwanda at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. amna: amid the ongoing trauma in israel and gaza, singing a different song. the jerusalem youth chorus is trying to do what few others seem to be able to do these days, to see each other as people and enjoy each other through a love of music. jeffrey brown spent a day around the nation's capital with them recently for our arts and culture series "canvas." ♪

>> the jerusalem youth chorus, israelis, palestinians, muslims, and jews. residents of the same city experiencing life and the ongoing war in different ways, disagree about fundamental issues and policies, but singing with and speaking to one another across a great divide. this 17-year-old is a palestinian muslim from east jerusalem. >> i joined for the music. i stayed because it was so much more. >> how is it more? >> we have dialogue. we talk. i think if it were not for this, i would not have interacted with israelis. it offered me that and offered me a space to share my voice. i feel like as a palestinian, we don't have many of those places

where i live. >> this 15-year-old is from a jewish family living in west jerusalem. >> i thought it was only singing. and we kind of got separated into groups and started talking and, like, sharing. at first, it was kind of shocking, but it was so interesting. >> you said shocking at first? >> i don't know, but yeah. >> because? >> it was things i never thought i would hear and people i never thought i would get a chance to talk to. >> it's hard to conceive at this moment of enormous trauma, but here they were in the midst of a north american tour titled "a different song." a mix of high schoolers an older alumni speaking and rehearsing in three languages when we join them. as a project focused on building community through music, traditional training paired with professional facilitator-led

discussions from the personal and political. the group gathers once a week, its members coming from different parts of the city. from the beginning, panel or wondered if anybody would join. >> i knew from some of the research i had done that i should not go to schools and try to recruit singers by telling them that this is going to be some, like, peacemaker program because everyone would laugh me out of the room, but looking at why young people from jerusalem might want to join a program like this. >> you cannot go and overtly say this is about peacemaking? >> no, because they will just be like, get out of here. do you understand that that's insane? but you can say we have this youth program. it's an opportunity to learn to sing, to make friends, to travel the world, to grow your own sense of yourself, to listen to

others. >> one person who took up the call joined as a teen, later studied and practiced law and is now the executive director of the jerusalem youth chorus. a firm believer in its ideals but also someone who lives the realities of the region. >> for me, growing up, i shared with my friends that i'm doing this amazing project. i'm not very loud about what i do. >> you don't tell people, friends? >> i choose where to tell because i have to choose my battles because many people would feel what the youth jerusalem chorus is doing as normalization work, as look how israel is a beautiful country. look how nice we are. israelis and palestinians singing together and life is

flowers, but of course, it is not. one of the things i always say is being the director of the jerusalem youth chorus is the most palestinian thing i can ever be doing. >> because? >> because i use the platform it creates to help the youth in jerusalem develop their own interests as palestinians and understanding the situation. it gives me a platform to humanize palestinians where many palestinians are being dehumanized and -- dehumanized now in jerusalem and all over the world, and because i believe that the circle of violence will never end, and we just need to find those who we can partner with. >> the group traveled across the city talking and singing along the way. their visit coincided with the

solar eclipse. which they watched on the national mall. then, like tourists, they enjoyed ice cream from a truck and visited the national museum of african-american history and culture. as always, they talked of what they had seen and felt, making connections here to the treatment of african-americans, particularly after the civil war during the jim crow era. >> this reminded me of what happened with the ethnic cleansing of the orthodox jews and the holocaust as well as the ethnic cleansing currently happening for those palestinians who don't have an id card. >> some of the black people that live here now have centuries of ancestors living here. it's their heritage. for us, living in israel, it's like a sanctuary. here they do not have it. >> that evening, they shared their traditional ramadan meal. at the american-turkish friendship association in northern virginia.

♪ and watched a performance by adam's feet, a muslim american youth choir. -- adam's beat, and muslim american youth choir. all this while israeli hostages continue to be held by hamas, and the dense and horrific living conditions in gaza mount. it was originally scheduled for the fall but had to be put off due to the escalation of violence. they were determined to pull it off now. >> ultimately what we see now is israelis and palestinians are both losing. the extremists are winning and normal people are losing, and that is not a zero-some game. that is a different type of reality that most people don't want to acknowledge, but ultimately, what we are trying to show and i think what we are

showing is that there is an alternative because we are the alternative. we are like, what we are doing here is actually possible and it is so much better than what is currently happening. >> she says her family was killed on october 7 and several friends were taken hostage. >> i believe the hostages are important to the entire country because they are all our brothers and sisters. it's not something that i hide. people know that this is something that is important to me, and i'm not ashamed. >> dalia spoke a family in the west bank who are unable to leave beyond closed checkpoints, and the personal trauma of watching what is happening in gaza. of the course, her friends, she says this -- >> we do not share the same opinions, and it is not easy to come to this choir and talk about this. it takes a lot of strength and a

lot of courage, but i think we all agree on the fact that the world right now is very, very ugly, and this does not have to be a reality that we live in. we are not going to change, like, how wrong the system is, but we are building peace between individuals. >> for "the pbs newshour" i'm jeffrey brown in washington, d.c. geoff: and there is more online, including a look at a new museum exhibit in st. louis that aims to tell a more complete picture of what happened at the city's 1904 world's fair. that's at pbs.org/newshour. amna: join us tomorrow night for a rare conversation with the top

u.s. commander in the indo pacific region on efforts to counter china. that is "the newshour" tonight. geoff: for all of us here at "the pbs newshour," thanks for joining us and have a good evening. >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- on an american cruise line's journey, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of the maine coast and new england islands. our fleet of small cruise ships explore american landscapes, seaside villages, and historic harbors. where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of "pbs newshour." >> consumer cellular. this is sam. how can i help you? this is pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract.

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and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

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