Tomorrow’s National Demonstration for Palestine is part of a Global Day of Action to mark the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, the act of mass ethnic cleansing undertaken by Zionist forces to establish the state of Israel which saw over 750,000 Palestinians expelled and over 500 Palestinian towns and villages destroyed. Reflecting on the anniversary of the Nakba, Lindsey German, wrote earlier this week:
“The world is becoming a much more dangerous place, and Netanyahu’s war is helping to make it so. While Britain, the US and EU states are nervous at his attack on Rafah, and don’t want it to happen, but will not stop it because Israel is a key ally in the Middle East.
So on the anniversary of the Nakba, we find Israel, a nuclear state, acting with greater impunity than ever, and with its right-wing politicians wanting a total war not just against Gaza but in the whole of the Middle East.
We also find the Palestinian people continuing to resist and to demand justice, backed by a solidarity movement which is only growing stronger as Israel is forever branded a pariah state.”
Above is the route for the tomorrow’s march. The start point will be slightly different from marches from the BBC in the past, beginning on Mortimer St. Please use the following underground stations: Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus.
Hundreds of thousands are predicted to march in what is the 14th national march since October, calling for a ceasefire to end the genocide in Gaza. Click here to find transport from your area. See you on the streets tomorrow!
More Speakers Added! Why War, Peace & Palestine Are Trade Union Issues
We’re super excited to announce that the inspirational Chris Smalls from the Amazon Labour Union in the US is coming over in-person to be part of our 2024 Trade Union Conference! Also joining our excellent line-up will be Suzan Abdul Salaam from the New Union of Jerusalem (online), Emma Rose (NEU President) and Jim Kelly (Unite London & Eastern – Personal Capacity).
We’re looking forward to an excellent conference focused on building the anti-war movement in the workplace. Make sure to get your branch to support the conference and send a delegation.
Speakers Previously Announced:
Jo Grady, UCU Gen Sec // Eddie Dempsey, RMT Assistant Gen Sec // Riccardo LaTorre, FBU National Officer // Mohammed Shafiq, Chair of PCS Black Members Committee // Sean Vernell, UCU Exec // Andrew Feinstein, Shadow World // Lindsey German, StWC Convenor // Andrew Murray, StWC Vice President
We are joining calls for a mass demonstration outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Monday (20 May) from 8.30am as the monumental decision is handed down. A decision is expected on the day and should extradition be allowed moves to initiate his transfer the US could be taken immediately.
Stella Assange will be at court along with WikiLeaks’ Kristinn Hrafnsson and our team to make sure that we provide comprehensive coverage of this historic decision. Julian must be allowed to resume his life with his young family who have been robbed of their father simply for his commitment to standing up for the public’s right to know.
This came this afternoon, and while I don’t agree with absolutely everything the Coalition say, I believe they are fundamentally correct here. I don’t doubt that there are also elements in the Iranian regime and military who would also like to see a war between themselves and Israel. They no doubt genuinely wish to erase Israel from the Middle East, as well as feeling that a war would unite the Iranian people in a spirit of patriotic fervour against an outside threat and would stop the spread of nasty ideas like secularism, feminism and democracy. But such a war would cause further destabilisation in the Middle East. There would be more chaos, death and destruction as well as the displacement of hundreds of thousands of refugees. Many of these would head to Europe to exacerbate the tensions over mass migration and asylum seekers here. The Israelis would have no problem with this, as one of their plans is to remove the residents of Gaza to refugee camps in the Negev before moving them on to the west. And another conflict in the Middle East has behind it the spectre of nuclear war.
‘StWC Statement: Stop the Spread of War in the Middle East
The Stop the War Coalition has been warning over the last months that Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, on the West Bank, on Lebanon and in Syria and Iraq, risk regional war. In the last few days that war has come closer. We call on all sides to show restraint and to stop this terrifying slide to wider conflict.
The Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel was a response to a series of attacks on Iranian personnel including most seriously the bombing of the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on 1 April, which killed several people including senior military commanders and which, under international law, represented an attack on Iranian territory.
That deliberately provocative attack was not condemned by the US, the UK or the UN Security Council. The Iranian leadership has said, if it had been, they would have felt no need to retaliate.
US, British and French forces have been actively involved in countering the Iranian drone and missile attacks. We demand that Israel does not launch further attacks on Iranian forces and start another cycle of escalation.
We also continue to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to UK arms sales to Israel. The evidence of war crimes carried out during the assault on Gaza is irrefutable. At least an important component of the Israeli leadership is actively seeking a more general war in the Middle East, and they wish to draw the US and its allies in to support it.
Opposing the logic of war and escalation means calling for an end to Western imperialist intervention in the region. There must be an end to Western support for Israel as it carries out genocide against the people of Gaza and tries to widen the conflict and a lasting settlement for a sovereign and free Palestine.
We’ve seen Israel-critical Jews smeared as anti-Semites by the official Jewish organisations in this country, like the Chief Rabbinate, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the United Synagogue and that rag the Jewish Chronicle. These foul lies have been picked up by Stalin Starmer and used to purge the Labour party of dissenting Jewish voices and the gentiles who supported them. Incredibly principled people like Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, Jackie Walker, Tony Greenstein and so many, many others. About 3/5 or 4/5 of the people purged from Labour for anti-Semitism were Jews. In addition to this, there is the media blackout on the military aid Britain seems to be giving to Israel. Mike carried a report on his site last week about nine Israeli planes landing in Britain. Private Eye in its ‘Letter From…’ column a few fortnights ago reported that British airbases in Cyprus were being used by American planes en route to the Middle East. Mike asked whether ordinary Brits had been asked about Britain being involved in the Gaza genocide. Well, no, we weren’t, and anyone who does will be accused of anti-Semitism and, if Muslim, an Islamist and fanatical supporter of Hamas. Even if they’re just going by John Lennon’s words in another grotty war: ‘All we are saying is, ‘Give peace a chance’. It’d be great to see that translated into Hebrew and Arabic.
But this story from Middle East Eye shows that anti-Zionist Jews in Germany now seem to be suffering the thin end of the wedge of corporate/state persecution. And let’s be clear here – German Jews have every right to be critical of Israel. Before the Second World War Zionism was a minor movement in European Jewry. Most Jews wanted to stick to the homelands of their birth and fight to be accepted as fellow citizens, not to migrate to a country they’d never seen, to displace people who’d never harmed them, and who belonged to a religion many Jews believed had treated them better than Christianity. The Jewish groups the Nazis really feared were the German Jewish ex-servicemen’s association. These were courageous men who had fought for their country, and who patriotism was indisputable. They couldn’t convincingly claim that Jews had betrayed Germany in front of old soldiers with war wounds and the medals to match.
And the Zionists were quite prepared to sacrifice European Jewish lives if it served their purpose. David Ben Gurion said that he didn’t care if the Nazis exterminated half the Jews in Europe, if the other half went to Israel. And then there was Rudolf Kasztner, the head of the Hungarian Zionists, who made a deal to send Jewish Hungarians to the death camps if some could go instead to Israel. As for the trial of that abomination Erich Eichner, the nascent Israeli state also followed other western countries in recruiting Gestapo agents for their intelligence services during the Cold War. For more information, please go over to Tony’s blog and start reading. It all comes from respectable historical sources and is minutely documented.
Israel gets very strong support from Germany, no doubt motivated from guilt over the Holocaust. Germany was the no. 1 holiday destination for young Israelis because of how well they were treated. But this positive attitude shouldn’t exempt Israel from justified criticism nor permit the persecution of German Jews who do not share this attitude to Israel.
‘A state-owned bank in Germany has frozen the account of a Jewish anti-Zionist organisation and demanded the group disclose a list of all its members. Judische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost, or Jewish Voice for Just Peace in the Middle East, announced on Tuesday that its account with Berliner Sparkasse was frozen on 26 March with immediate effect. “In 2024, Jewish money is once again being confiscated by a German bank: Berliner Sparkasse freezes Jewish Voice account,” Jewish Voice said in a statement on its social media platforms. The group received a letter from the bank informing it that a full list of all members, including adresses, tax documentation, income statements and other internal documents, needed to be submitted to Berliner Sparkasse by 5 April to “update customer data”. “It’s a very creepy letter. You’d think they are working together with the state criminal police bureau,” Wieland Hoban, chairman of Jewish Voice, told MEE.’
One of the features of the decolonisation movement that most bothers me is how close its rhetoric comes to that of murderous racism. A few years ago there was controversy in the American right-wing media and internet about various academics and publishers who made jokes about wanting a White genocide. One man, the publisher behind Blacklicious Books, was actually serious. He was filmed at a Black conference urging the mass murder of Whites, or else Whites would murder Blacks. And the right has claimed for a long time now that there is a White genocide currently going on in South Africa with the invasion of White farms and the murders and rapes of the farmers, their family and womenfolk. Elon Musk caused a storm of controversy a few weeks ago by claiming that the White genocide was a reality, and more recently there have been anxieties about the veteran ANC politician, Julius Malema, singing old party songs about killing Boers.
There is a considerable amount of online literature denying that such a genocide is actually occurring, and I don’t doubt it’s correct. However, I did find an article in the Mauritius Times by Nita Nicooree-Mercier from 2018, ‘Ethnic Cleansing – What Future for Whites in South Africa’, which examines this issue as well as reporting violence against other ethnic groups, including South Asians. It also states than in 1991 there was an abortive plan, ‘Operation Rainy Day’, by the Communist Party to stage such a massacre. The passage reads:
‘In the early 1990s, the apparently new phenomenon mentioned in a Time magazine article regarding young African National Congress (ANC) supporters killing white people, and leaving a note behind ‘We kill only Whites’, sounded like random acts perpetrated by angry black men.
But over the years, along with politically-motivated people violent rival gangs not only perpetrate violence against other gangs but make white men their prime target.
The building of a “Rainbow Nation” dreamt by Nelson Madela, a myth of successful black leadership anticipated by Leftists and liberal international media, and promoted by the media coverage of the Obama couple as a future great achievement, has been going down the tube over the years.
Yet, many clung to the myth and refused to let it die. ‘Disgrace’, a 2010 film based on the novel written by South African Nobel Prize winner J. M. Coetzee in 1999, a story taking place on a white-owned farm, looks like a premonitory sign of the fate of whites today.
“Already during Mandela’s rule, the South African Communist Party planned to carry out large-scale attacks on whites after Mandela’s death. Between 1991 and 2001, more than 800,000 white South Africans moved overseas, mainly to Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
However, the large-scale plan for anti-white pogroms called ‘Operation Rainy Day’ with thousands of black men transported to Johannesburg to take over fuel points, kill whites and stage a political coup, did not happen.
Nonetheless, the toll on white lives started to increase dramatically…” Already during Mandela’s rule, the South African Communist Party planned to carry out large-scale attacks on whites after Mandela’s death. Between 1991 and 2001, more than 800,000 white South Africans moved overseas, mainly to Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
However, the large-scale plan for anti-white pogroms called ‘Operation Rainy Day’ with thousands of black men transported to Johannesburg to take over fuel points, kill whites and stage a political coup, did not happen.
Nonetheless, the toll on white lives started to increase dramatically. President Mbeki’s condemnation of racially-motivated crimes cut little ice. Recent videos tell a grim story of white farmers. Men and their children are hacked to death, and their wives raped and tortured.
In the course of time, while the younger generation of whites migrate to English-speaking countries, mainly Britain, their parents stay behind. 75-year old women are shown with signs of torture on their bodies, others are killed and their bodies dumped in woodlands.
Searching for their relatives’ bodies in the middle of the night with the help of policemen has become a regular happening in white communities. Old couples travelling in their cars are randomly stopped by gangs and killed on the spot.
Their story is generally ignored by the mainstream media who have been geared to portray only non-whites as victims in many countries. Reports on the plight of whites come from their own initiative to inform the world about their plight. Camera videos show groups of young armed black men sneaking into white-owned farms in the middle of the night.
Colonisation and apartheid, even during the 1976 uprising in Soweto, resulted in fewer killings in the black population, compared to the alarming high figure of white victims in the post-apartheid period since the ANC government took over.
The Mandela rule failed to cope with widespread lack of education, unemployment, squalor and increasing poverty which ended up hitting even whites. As early as the 2000s, rising xenophobia targeted foreign nationals.
Migrants from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other countries are terrorized as well. They settled in South Africa with an entrepreneurial spirit and set up trades.
Shops are routinely destroyed, shop owners murdered, and businesses shut. Most of the attacks are perpetrated by South African Zulus. Prevalent and vicious gang members kidnapped and threatened Asian businessmen for ransom.
Middle-Easterners and Indians are not liked either. Things got worse for whites during President Zuma’s rule. Labour policies shut whites out of the labour pool.
The economic freedom fighters’ credo of land redistribution that would address racial disparities in land ownership seems to follow Zimbabwean’s line of brutal confiscation, with no clear long-term strategy involving skilled farm work and technical know-how to maintain productivity.’
As far as I can see, the demands for land redistribution haven’t been implemented, even though there are still demands for it. If it was carried into practice as described here, it’s certain that the same would happen in South Africa as happened when Mugabe did it in Zimbabwe: production would collapse and economic decline and starvation follow.
While there isn’t a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide, the fact that the Communist Party was preparing one as well as the violence towards Whites, migrants from other parts of Africa, Asia and India makes such predictions all too plausible. And I don’t know what the South African government is going or can do to end this continued racial violence against ethnic minorities in the country.
There was some kind of upset in parliament Wednesday night. From what I gather the SNP tabled a motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Labour party tabled an amendment, which some people say the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, was bullied or tricked into upholding, and the SNP walked out. There have therefore been demands for Hoyle’s resignation, while Labour has been accused by the anti-Islam right of cowardice for supposedly caving in to ‘Islamist’ demands. There was indeed a demonstration outside parliament, and while I don’t doubt that Islamist firebrands were out there, it was a demonstration in support of Gaza and the Palestinians, not a demand for sharia law. But you wouldn’t think that by some of the ludicrous videos put up by GB News. Patrick Christys, a particularly horrible right-wing sprog, has called for sharia law to be banned in Britain. Well, sharia law has no legal standing. I haven’t noticed people having their hands amputated for theft, or being whipped for other offences as prescribed by Islamic law. If they were, the people involved would be arrested for assault of various degrees of severity, and hopefully convicted and imprisoned. But that’s another issue. From what I’ve read of the amendment, not only does it call for a ceasefire, but it also demands a halt to the construction of Israeli settlement and a two-state solution to the problem. Corbyn, I feel, would also have demanded a halt to the expansion of Israeli settlements. Which is ironic, as according to Starmer and his faction, he was a terrible anti-Semite and threat to Jews. I think, however, that most pro-Palestine activists feel that a two-state solution is unworkable and that what should happen is that the Palestinians should be integrated as genuinely full and equal citizens of Israel.
Here’s what Karen Smyth said:
‘Dear David,
On Wednesday, Parliament resolved to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, agreeing the text of the Labour amendment to the Scottish National Party motion without a division.
Like all of us, I have watched the events of the last five months in the Middle East with horror and sadness at the abominable loss of life. I know members of Bristol South Labour Party are extremely concerned by the continuing conflict.
This Labour amendment was much stronger than the original motion brought by the SNP, which failed to address violence elsewhere in Palestine and the need for a massive, unimpeded relief effort in Gaza. Not only did our motion definitively call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, it also called for an end to settlement expansion and violence in the West Bank. In addition, it re-stated long-standing Labour policy on a two-state solution.
It was gravely disappointing and saddening to see this important decision by Parliament being overlooked due to events in the chamber that night.
The fighting must come to an end. The UK must now work with our international partners to bring about that immediate ceasefire, and provide a credible plan to end this conflict. Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people alongside a safe and secure Israel.
Please see below for the full text of Labour’s amendment.
Yours sincerely,
Karin Smyth
Labour amendment in full
“That this House believes that an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences and therefore must not take place; notes the intolerable loss of Palestinian life, the majority being women and children; condemns the terrorism of Hamas who continue to hold hostages; supports Australia, Canada and New Zealand’s calls for Hamas to release and return all hostages and for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which means an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides, noting that Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence and that Israelis have the right to the assurance that the horror of 7 October 2023 cannot happen again; therefore supports diplomatic mediation efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire; demands that rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief is provided in Gaza; further demands an end to settlement expansion and violence; urges Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures; calls for the UN Security Council to meet urgently; and urges all international partners to work together to establish a diplomatic process to deliver the peace of a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state, including working with international partners to recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to rather than outcome of that process, because statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.“
Alexei Navalny has just died in a Russian prison colony in the Arctic Circle. The fiercest opponent of Putin’s regime has been poisoned, imprisoned and has now died. We can’t remain silent: let’s turn this atrocity into a worldwide cry of hope against tyranny. Sign this letter now in memory of Alexei Navalny.
Today, millions of us are weeping with your family and mourning your memory.
Your courage is what dictators fear most, the courage that all dictators fear most, the courage that inspires people to rise up against tyranny.
And for that, you paid a high price: first poisoning, then imprisonment and now death.
Our world is holding its breath as wars rage in Ukraine and the Middle East. Facing these dark times, your legacy will give us strength. We will not look away while our democracies fade.
With unwavering determination,Julian, Mo, Nate, Chris and the entire Avaaz team***
Navalny was one of the most courageous pro-democracy activists of our time, and his brave stance against tyranny and authoritarianism can serve as an inspiration for people all across the world. However, signing this letter does not mean that we agree with all of Navalny’s views – and Avaaz firmly opposes any discriminatory comments he made in the past.
‘In-person Dayschool: A World To Win – Socialist Solutions for the Crisis
Saturday 17 February. 11am-4.30pm. In-person. Central London. Places are strictly limited – register today here.
The permanent crises we face here & globally show the need to renew & build a fighting, class-struggle left, putting forward socialist solutions for justice at home & peace around the world. To this end, we are sharing some session details for our #AWorldToWin in-person dayschool in Central London on February 17.
Global capitalism in crisis – what’s the socialist economic alternative? Roundtable facilitated by John McDonnell with economists Ozlem Oneran & Michael Roberts.
How Can there be Peace and Justice for Palestine? Rvyka Barnard, Palestine Solidarity Campaign; MIsh Rahman, Momentum & Jess Barnard.
Beat back the ruling-class offensive – Renewing & strengthening the fightback. Holly Turner, NHS Workers Say No; Sarah Woolley, BFAWU; Aisha Malik-Smith,YL Disabled Members’ Officer & Richard Burgon.
A world to win – closing rally for global peace & justice. Kate Hudson, CND; Heidi Chow, Debt Justice; Rodrigo Toneto, Brazilian Workers’ Party & Mairéad Farrell, Sinn Fein.
Hosted by Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas with the support of Socialist Future in Young Labour & Labour Students. Media partner – Labour Outlook.
ALSO COMING UP: 1) No cuts – Tax the Rich – Invest in our Future!
Online event. Mon. Mar. 4, 18.30. Register here // RT here
John McDonnell MP // Richard Burgon MP // Sarah Woolley (BFAWU) // ZIta Holbourne (BARAC) // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC & more.
Just before Sunak & Hunt’s 2024 Budget, join us to discuss how we renew resistance to austerity & popularise left economic alternatives to never-ending cuts.
Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas & Labour Assembly Against Austerity. Free event but solidarity donations key to streaming & hosting costs. If you can, please donate £20 or what you can afford here.
2) REGISTER: The Bloody History of UK & US Imperialism in Palestine & the Middle East
Online Forum. Thurs. Feb. 22, 18.30. Register here // Share & invite here // RT here
The complicity of the US & UK with Israel’s war crimes in Gaza –as Jeremy Corbyn pointed out was so exposed by the ICJ ruling – has opened the eyes of millions to the nature of imperialism, whilst both countries have also started new bombings on Yemen. Join us for an in-depth forum on how this is part of a long & bloody imperial history that must be opposed. With
Bernard Regan – Palestine Solidarity Campaign EC member & author, The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine
Sami Ramadani – Iraqi Democrats against Occupation, Sociology lecturer & decades-long campaigner against war & sanctions in the Middle East.
Kate Hudson – General Secretary of CND, Officer of the Stop the War Coalition & author, Breaking the South Slav Dream: The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia.
With plenty of times for questions & discussion
Hosted by Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas & media partner Labour Outlook. Part of the Socialist Ideas series. Free event but solidarity donations essential to streaming & hosting costs. If you can, please donate £20 or what you can afford to the costs of streaming and hosting the event here.
3) COMING UP: Women for Palestine
Online rally. Tuesday March 5. 18.30. Register here // Share & invite here // RT here.
With live-links from Palestine, plus: Apsana Begum MP // Beth Winter MP // Louise Regan, NEU // Ryvka Barnard, Palestine Solidarity Campaign // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC member // Hilary Schan, Momentum // Siân Errington, Arise Festival // Rachel Garnham, CLPD // Baroness Christine Blower & more tba.
As part of events in the run-up to International Women’s Day 2024 join us at this online event in solidarity with Palestine. #CeasefireNow #FreePalestine
Hosted by Labour & Palestine. Kindly streamed by Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas. Free event but solidarity donations crucial to hosting & streaming costs. If you can, please donate £20 or what you can afford here.‘
Online rally. Tuesday March 5. 18.30. Register here // Share & invite here // RT here.
With live-links from Palestine, plus: Apsana Begum MP // Beth Winter MP // Louise Regan, NEU // Ryvka Barnard, Palestine Solidarity Campaign // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC member // Hilary Schan, Momentum // Siân Errington, Arise Festival // Rachel Garnham, CLPD // Baroness Christine Blower & more tba.
As part of events in the run-up to International Women’s Day 2024 join us at this online event in solidarity with Palestine. #CeasefireNow #FreePalestine
Hosted by Labour & Palestine. Kindly streamed by Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas. Free event but solidarity donations crucial to hosting & streaming costs. If you can, please donate £20 or what you can afford here.‘
There’s also another event on British and American imperialism and the Middle East.
‘EVENT OF INTEREST: The Bloody History of UK & US Imperialism in Palestine & the Middle East
Online Forum. Thurs. Feb. 22, 18.30. Register here // Share & invite here // RT here
An in-depth forum with:
Bernard Regan – Palestine Solidarity Campaign EC member & author, The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine
Sami Ramadani – Iraqi Democrats against Occupation, Sociology lecturer & decades-long campaigner against war & sanctions in the Middle East.
Kate Hudson – General Secretary of CND, Officer of the Stop the War Coalition & author, Breaking the South Slav Dream: The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia.
Hosted by Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas & media partner Labour Outlook. Please contact the organisers directly with any queries.‘
This is a bit late, I’m afraid, but it might still be useful to people.
‘Newsletter – 19/01/23
🇵🇸 Keep Up The Pressure ✊
Thousands of people up and down the country, in our towns and our cities, will be taking action this weekend (Sat 20/Sun 21) to demand that Israel stops bombing Gaza and for a full and permanent ceasefire. They will also call for an end to the UK and US bombing campaign on Yemen.
At least 40 events, from Birmingham to Brighton, Newcastle to Nottingham, Sheffield to Southampton and many more, along with several areas of London. They include a march and rally in Birmingham, where former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, rapper and activist Lowkey and StWC’s John Rees are among the speakers.
Several demonstrations have been organised in London boroughs, including Acton, Lewisham, Lambeth and Southwark, and through east London. And at Twickenham Stadium in west London, peace campaigners will be leafleting in protest at the armoured vehicles fair being held there.
Chris Nineham, StWC vice chair said: “The local and regional actions strengthen the national movement and it is really important that they keep happening, that our voices are heard not just in Parliament and Downing Street, but in our town and city halls, in town squares, and by our local elected representatives. Our message to them this weekend will be: if you don’t call for a ceasefire, you won’t get our vote.”
As well as causing almost unimaginable horror for the Palestinians, Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza is destabilising the whole of the Middle East. Israeli politicians are themselves saying they are fighting wars on seven fronts. The UK and the US have started attacking Yemen. The risk of a war drawing in the whole of the Middle East is growing daily.
Next Sunday’s Anti-War Convention will bring together key activists and experts to assess the grave situation and discuss how we can strengthen the movement in support of the Palestinians and against a wider war.
Speakers include Daniel Kebede (NEU Gen Sec), writer and academic Ghada Kharmi, StWC’s John Rees, Claudia Webbe MP, Richard Boyd-Barrett (Irish TD), Andrew Feinstein (Shadow World) and more to be announced.
We had over 400 people join us for our discussion on why Palestine is a Trade Union issue on Wednesday. Our thanks to a brilliant line-up of speakers who gave us plenty of food for thought and action – watch it back and share above.
Together with the much improved Trade Union Bloc turn-out at the most recent national demonstration it appears there is a fresh momentum behind the trade union Palestine solidarity movement and it’s vital we build on that.
The best possible opportunity for doing that is on the 7th Feb when StWC and CND are calling on all those in work, college or university to #StandWithGaza by organising a walkout, lunchtime or early morning protest (or other collective action) calling for our government to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
This week the NEU Exec has committed to building for the day and sending guidance to all its members on actions they can take. They join the UCU in doing so and we hope other unions will follow suit. Every collective act, big or small, sends a message to those who are suffering in Gaza that we are with them and puts pressure on our government to call on the Israeli government to stop bombing Gaza. Get organised in your workplace and #StandWithGaza on 7th Feb!
Please email plans, questions or suggestions for the day to office@stopwar.org.uk
The right hate Owen Jones with a passion. He came under a barrage of abuse and criticism a week or so ago for expressing perfectly reasonable criticisms of the Israeli film about Hamas terrorism and atrocities. As different people around the world, including presenters on Sky News, have caught Israeli officials lying again and again, his scepticism wasn’t unreasonable. But the right forbids any criticism of Israel and its barbarous treatment of the Palestinians, persecution that forms the background to the atrocity committed by Hamas that began the present war in Gaza.
This video comes from 38 Degrees and their channel on YouTube. It’s a clip from an appearance on Sky News by Jones, in which he lists Murdoch’s biased coverage and his pushing of bigotry and war. He starts by stating that Murdoch owns 174 newspapers around the world. And twenty years ago, in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, all of those newspapers pushed for the invasion. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of dead and the destabilisation of the Middle East. And yet we are supposed to have an independent, free press with good, responsible journalism.
Then Jones goes back to the ’80s and recalls the horrors of the AIDS epidemic and the way the disease ravaged the bodies of the young gay men stricken with it. But that didn’t stop Murdoch’s papers pushing anti-gay hate. Then there’s Fox News, and the way it pushed stupid conspiracy theories about Obama, as well as the Murdoch media’s racism and islamophobia. All this prepared the way for the Trump presidency, and Trump talked to Murdoch every day when he was in office.
He concludes that Murdoch isn’t just media magnate. He’s an unelected politician, who is using his power to influence and manipulate global affairs.
Jones is absolutely right. That’s exactly what Murdoch is. There’s a book about the man, which was reviewed in the conspiracy magazine Lobster a few years ago. The book argued that Murdoch had a consistent set of very right-wing policies he was determined to promote, including the privatisation of the NHS. As for the quality of his journalism, when Murdoch took over papers in Sydney, Australia, and New York, the hacks went on strike objecting to the lowering of their papers’ standards which they knew would come.
The man himself is supposed to be perfectly genial, but his views and his papers are poison and his influence on global politics – in America, Australia, Britain and other democracies – is utterly malign, as Jones points out.
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