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Category: israel

  • The UN Is Failing To Protect Palestine Despite Demands To Take Action

    Margaret Flowers: You left the United Nations on October 28th of 2023, the same month that Palestinians broke out of Gaza, which has been referred to as the world’s largest open-air prison. Can you talk about how that impacted you and your decision to leave the United Nations?

    Craig Mokhiber: 2023 was a particularly disturbing year for the world and also for me. When this new government took control in Palestine and Israel in the beginning of 2023, it immediately announced that the gloves were off and that the country’s policy of incremental genocide that had gone on for decades would be replaced with an expedited form of attacking Palestinians. In the spring, there was a violent upsurge in racially-based attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, including full-scale pogroms in villages like Huwara, by Israeli settlers backed up by Israeli soldiers.

    The post The UN Is Failing To Protect Palestine Despite Demands To Take Action appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Israeli Authorities Have Beaten Greta Thunberg

    Reports are emerging that Israeli authorities have abused activist Greta Thunberg while illegally holding her in detention.

    Greta Thunberg beaten by Israeli authorities

    On Saturday 4 October, the Israeli occupation authorities deported 137 of the kidnapped international solidarity activists who participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the humanitarian siege on Gaza, in the second deportation operation in a matter of days, after returning four Italians to their country on Friday 3 October.

    One of the deported activists who arrived at Istanbul airport on Saturday recounted shocking details of what he described as ‘brutal assaults’ on some activists during their detention

    The post Israeli Authorities Have Beaten Greta Thunberg appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Israel has carried out 93 air strikes on Gaza in just 24 hours

    The Government Media Office in Gaza reported that Israeli occupation forces carried out more than 93 air and artillery strikes over the past 24 hours, targeting densely populated areas and displaced persons throughout the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of 70 civilians, including a large number of women and children, in a new escalation described by the office as ‘a clear crime in the context of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.’

    Gaza: Israeli aggression increasing

    The statement, a copy of which was obtained by the Canary, said that Gaza City was the most affected, with 47 martyrs recorded, while the strikes directly targeted homes and residential neighbourhoods, causing massacres and widespread destruction of property and infrastructure.

    The office noted that this escalation comes at a time of intensified political and diplomatic efforts to stop the war, with US President Donald Trump having earlier called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately halt the war on Gaza, after receiving Hamas’ response to the ceasefire plan, which included the movement’s willingness to hand over all prisoners at once.

    In the same context, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced arrangements for a meeting between Palestinian and Israeli delegations, under US-Egyptian-Qatari auspices, with the aim of negotiating the mechanisms for implementing the terms of the plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip.

    The government media office affirmed that the Israeli occupation bears full responsibility for the continued escalation and civilian casualties, calling on the US administration and the international community to take urgent and serious action to stop the aggression, protect civilians, and provide a safe environment that guarantees a comprehensive ceasefire.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Israel has now trapped half a million people in Gaza City without food or medicine

    The humanitarian disaster in Gaza City continues, with living and health conditions deteriorating at an unprecedented rate, amid warnings from local and international organisations that the situation amounts to international crimes by Israel.

    Gaza City: continued Israeli bombardment

    Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal confirmed that around half a million people currently living in Gaza City are deprived of the most basic necessities of life, without food, water or medicine.

    The Palestinian Civil Defence warned that the continuation of this humanitarian tragedy constitutes an ‘international crime’ that requires urgent action by the international community and human rights institutions to stop the bloodshed and protect civilians from ‘daily killings and extermination.’

    Basal pointed out that the occupation is targeting the essentials of life inside the city ‘with all kinds of weapons.’

    For his part, the spokesperson for the Public Service Hospital in Gaza said that the hospital is facing a ‘difficult humanitarian situation’ due to the acute shortage of medical supplies, noting that only four small hospitals are still operating in the city, despite the harsh conditions that hinder their work in receiving the wounded and sick.

    UNICEF, for its part, confirmed that there is ‘no safe place’ for displaced persons from Gaza City to go, noting that the areas designated by Israel for civilians in the southern Gaza Strip ‘are nothing but places of death.’

    In the same context, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA warned of the danger of Israeli rhetoric describing the approximately 250,000 people trapped in Gaza as terrorists or supporters of terrorism, considering that this ‘suggests plans for widespread massacres.’

    He stressed that continued international tolerance of the crimes committed in the Strip ‘is no longer possible or acceptable.’

    These statements come at a time when Israel continues its violent bombardment of various areas of the Gaza Strip, amid mounting warnings of a complete collapse of the health and humanitarian system, in the absence of any safe corridors for civilian relief or aid delivery.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Tracy-Ann Oberman spouts antisemitism live on Sky News (if you use the IHRA definition of course)

    On Sunday 5 October, EastEnders thespian Tracy-Ann Oberman suggested the ‘Death to the IDF’ chant is antisemitic. As the IDF – or ‘Israeli Defense Force’ – is the military which is enacting the genocide of the Palestinians, this would suggest that criticism of Israel and its actions is antisemitic. The problem with this is that it seems to be a textbook example of antisemitism as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

    This isn’t the only criticism of what she said either:

    The IHRA and Tracy-Ann Oberman

    When Jeremy Corbyn was the Labour leader, MPs and journalists decided it was crucial that Labour adopt the IHRA definitions of antisemitism. The Canary reported on the problems with the IHRA definitions; these problems were also raised by Kenneth Stern – the man who defined them – who said in 2016:

    It is a useful tool for identifying and analyzing antisemitism, and understanding when and how leaders should speak out against it, but was never meant to provide a framework for eviscerating free speech or academic freedom, let alone labelling anyone an antisemite.

    Stern highlighted how some used the definitions to crack down on Palestinians who were opposing Israel’s siege of Gaza (a siege which they’d been perpetrating for over 10 years at that point):

    Some right-wing Jewish groups, and individuals, have tried to overstep the bounds of the clarification by filing Title VI cases arguing that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, educational programs about the occupation of the West Bank, and anti-Israel classroom texts and speakers transgressed the definition and were evidence of a Title VI violation. All the cases lost.

    The IHRA antisemitism indicator which Oberman seems to have violated is this:

    Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

    What seems to be implicit in her statement is that you can’t direct hostility towards Israel or its agents of genocide, because…

    Because what?

    If Jews aren’t collectively responsible for the IDF or their murderous actions, then you can criticise the IDF without implicitly criticising Jewish people. While chanting ‘death to the IDF’ is obviously more than criticism, the same logic applies.

    We should also add that whatever you’re feelings on the chant are, it’s hardly abnormal for people in the West to employ violent rhetoric against foreign invasion forces.

    Oberman’s latest interview could also violate the following IHRA antisemitism indicator, in that you could infer that Oberman is saying criticism of the IDF is antisemitic because all Jewish people are inherently loyal to Israel and its actions:

    Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

    Of course, we could be completely misreading what Oberman said. Given that Philip Proudfoot successfully sued her over defamatory accusations of antisemitism, she has no doubt thought a lot about what she can and cannot get away with:

    Doublespeak

    Despite telling us the IHRA definitions were essential under Corbyn, establishment figures have since insisted it’s okay for them to conflate criticism of Israel with criticism of Jewish people. One of the British media’s top minds actually explained this just yesterday:

    The problem with Hodges’ distinction between ‘criticism’ and ‘actions’ is that people are criticising Israel for its actions – i.e. there is no distinction.

    You may be unsurprised to discover that Hodges denies Israel is committing a genocide even now, and yet he was quick to accuse Russia of the same thing:


    Would you believe that people have also accused Hodges of holding all Palestinians – including their children – collectively responsible for the actions of Hamas?

    We agree that Jewish people shouldn’t collectively be held responsible for the IDF; do our journalists and politicians agree that Palestinians should not be held collectively responsible for Hamas?

    Oh, and collective punishment is a war crime by the way – one which the International Crimnal Court has accused Israel of perpetrating.

    All this is to illustrate the sort of doublespeak which the British media ignores at best and encourages at worst. This is why no one in the media will challenge Oberman, and why the rhetoric against Palestinian people from UK politicians and journalists increasingly matches that of the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu:


    Our establishment is actually incredibly supportive of the idea of collective responsibility, and that’s becoming clearer every day.

    Featured image via Sky News (YouTube)

    By Willem Moore

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The toxic fallout of Israel’s genocide is triggering a surge in congenital disability in Gaza

    Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza has caused devastation far beyond the immediate loss of life, leaving deep and lasting effects on the health and wellbeing of the territory’s youngest generation. Over 80% of those Israel has killed are civilians, and for those who survive, a new crisis is unfolding – medical workers are reporting a sharp increase in Gaza newborns with serious congenital disability.

    Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex sent the Canary the following video:

    A significant increase in congenital disability among newborns

    Abu Salmiya said:

    In the last months, we have observed a significant increase in congenital malformations among newborn children, and there have also been cases of premature births, with many babies weighing less than 1.5 kg. Malformations include nervous system defects, digestive system defects, heart defects, limb deformities- including babies born without arms or legs, and cleft lips. I have never seen such abnormalities in my 25 years of work as a pediatric consultant.

    To find out more about the reasons for these malformations in Gaza’s newborns, the Canary spoke with Dr. Kali Rubaii, a cultural anthropologist, and assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Purdue University, Indiana. Her research looks at the long-lasting impact of conflict and how it shapes people’s lives and environment.

    Part of Rubaii’s research has involved carrying out extensive field work in Fallujah, Iraq, where she has worked for many years. Decades of war and toxic pollution in the region, including the major military campaign launched on Iraq by the UK and US have, today, caused serious health issues in places such as Fallujah, which were heavily bombed.

    Rubaii’s main focus in Fallujah has been heavy metals, and understanding the relationship between the concentration of heavy metals in living bone and tissue of the local community, their exposure history and their birth outcomes. She is doing so to try and understand the long term effects, and the multiple places that the health effects of war are registering.

    Her fieldwork also highlights that these health outcomes cannot be separated from political and social neglect that followed years of war.

    She explained:

    This next generation that is having children in Iraq are very clear about implicating imperial war as part of what’s going on for them, but they are also naming corruption, a lack of infrastructure, and a lack of investment by their government in their health care system, for example.

    Gaza

    The same outcomes unfolding in Gaza

    Rubaii said:

    I was not surprised when I saw Dr Abu Salmiya’s photos. It was like déjà vu. I was so struck by the uncanny resemblances, I was left with this despair that I’d been here on the sidelines, watching 20 years ago the same outcomes unfolding, that are still taking place today in Fallujah. This is like a prophetic horror.

    She explained that the health outcomes of those caught up in war, and those being born today in the wake of military violence, are dependent on a combination of factors:

    There’s more than one factor at play in causing the kind of birth outcomes we are seeing, and they all work together and produce real hardships for people. War is a process that breaks down health care systems and economies. Malnutrition on its own causes severe congenital anomalies, so when combined with these other factors and added to the biochemical effects on the body caused by toxins from weapons, the combination produces what we are seeing in these images.

    In the past two years, Gaza’s 2.1 million population has endured genocide, starvation, and ethnic cleansing. Its health system is now at breaking point. Although the number of patients has surged, the vast majority of hospitals have been severely damaged or destroyed. Pregnant women have been left with limited or no access to care, while the ongoing siege has decimated supplies of medications, medical equipment, and fuel for hospitals. Some pregnant women have been forced to deliver babies in makeshift settings without access to safe surgical or neonatal services.

    Between October 2023 and September 2025, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported 453 deaths linked to the Israeli occupation’s starvation policy. Since famine was declared in August 2025, at least 175 people, including 35 children, have died from starvation. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned famine would spread to central and southern Gaza by September’s end. Currently, 55,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women, and 25,000 infants are suffering acute malnutrition and require urgent nutritional support to survive and avoid long term health consequences.

    Malnutrition and stress affecting birth outcomes

    Malnutrition in pregnancy increases the risks of premature birth, low birth weight, and maternal mortality. Babies born under these conditions face increased chances of developmental delays and lifelong health problems. Psychological stress further compounds the risks.

    According to Rubaii, stress suffered by expectant mothers during pregnancy also plays a crucial role in the overall health of a newborn baby, especially, in terms of its physical and neurological development. She said:

    When we are looking at birth outcomes- the rates of still birth, early birth, miscarriages, it’s widely documented that the actual stress of war- living in fear for your life, under any circumstances, has serious negative birth outcomes. Stress is not something to be underestimated. It has a huge impact.

    Studies show severe stress during pregnancy can also impact foetal development by increasing the risk for certain congenital disability such as cleft lip, heart problems, and can also result in severe impairment of the brain and spine.

    The toxic legacy of war munitions

    When it comes to weapons of war, they are predominantly toxic heavy metals, so can have serious lasting health consequences, inflicting hidden chemical harms as well as physical destruction. Iain Overton, executive director of Action on Armed Violence, explained the components of modern weapons:

    Modern munitions often contain heavy metals because they serve a purpose on the battlefield: dense metals such as lead, copper, tungsten and, historically, depleted uranium provide mass and penetration; antimony hardens lead; aluminium powders boost explosive energy; barium and strontium salts stabilise pyrotechnics; nickel and chromium alloys resist heat and corrosion.

    Rubaii’s research team has found pregnancy to be, what she calls, a “multiplier of force”. In their study, they found that if exposure to uranium or other heavy metals occurs during or after bombardment, but the right care, such as nutrition, vitamins, and healthcare is available, the metals are absorbed directly into the bones, where they do not necessarily cause problems.

    But, during pregnancy, when the baby is being formed and new blood cells are being produced, resources – including these heavy metals – are pulled from the bones and are leeched back into the body. A pregnant woman ends up with higher levels of these toxic metals, and the more pregnancies she has, the higher the concentration of metals in her body.

    Certain vitamins not only have a huge influence on brain and spine development, during pregnancy, and are crucial for foetal development, but are also essential for pregnant women who have high levels of heavy metals in their bones, to prevent their body drawing these metals from their bones into their blood stream.

    A third of the participants in Rubaii’s study in Fallujah were found to have uranium in their bones, while all of them had lead in their bones, at a level 600% higher than similarly aged populations in the US.

    Environmental contamination in Gaza

    According to the Gaza Government Media Office, in the first 23 months of this genocide, the Israeli occupation dropped more than 150,000 tonnes of explosives onto the densely populated enclave. Not only do these weapons release toxic heavy metals into the environment, which cannot be destroyed and will never disappear, but they also spread harmful contaminants found in other materials and structures .

    Doug Weir is director of the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), an organisation that studies the toxic legacy of armed conflict and military activities on the environment. He explained:

    The intensive use of explosive weapons in urban areas can disperse a wide range of pollutants. These include heavy metals and weapons residues, substances from the fabric and contents of buildings, including asbestos, toxic chemicals from damaged industrial and energy infrastructure, and hazardous substances from fires, such as furans and dioxins. Dusts carrying pollutants and smoke can be breathed in, or get into the body through food or water after depositing on soils or water sources. Very little is known about the composition of these pollutant mixtures, which are likely to be highly variable.

    This toxic environmental legacy will continue affecting the health of Gaza’s population for generations to come – including for newborns with congenital disability.

    A global trend: congenital disability in war zones like Gaza

    Gaza’s congenital disability crisis follows a pattern seen repeatedly in war-torn regions worldwide. Medical professionals and affected families in multiple conflict zones report severe increases in birth anomalies nearly every time war strikes.

    Post-war research in Fallujah found a 17-fold increase in congenital disability and a 12-fold increase in childhood cancers since 2004, linked to toxic war remnants.

    During and after the Vietnam War, millions of Vietnamese civilians and American veterans were exposed to Agent Orange, a defoliant contaminated with dioxin. Studies show that exposure resulted in widespread congenital disability, including spina bifida, as well as neurological and developmental disabilities that have affected generations. Elevated dioxin levels persist in blood, milk, and tissue in affected populations, with genetic studies confirming inheritance of increased risk.

    These long-term consequences highlight how war imposes lasting, multigenerational harm on families and societies, especially through toxic environmental exposure.

    Feature image via CBC News/Youtube.

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The three most dangerous men in the West don’t have any answers anymore

    After fifty-odd minutes of painfully listening to Keir Starmer this past week, I suddenly remembered why I cannot stand these leaders’ keynote speeches and I will intentionally avoid the rest of them for whatever remains of this party conference season.

    But seeing as we are already here…

    I think we know what to expect from most Starmer speeches these days.

    Starmer: droning on as always

    A monotonous drone is an absolute certainty. You can bet your life savings his lowly commoner dad with a thing for making tools will get a mention. And if you could bottle up his rhetorical flair you could pitch it to the big pharmaceutical companies as a rival to Valium.

    Keir Starmer has a remarkable habit of giving me the impression that he is desperately searching for a personality update that never actually downloads, if you know what I mean?

    Starmer has always had the delivery of a particularly damp spreadsheet. He could make the most riveting and radical policy point sound like he is reading out the fine print from the terms and conditions of a two-year toaster warranty.

    But that’s enough of his good points.

    What about the speech that had the client journalists swooning and the rest of us grimacing?

    Starmer’s lengthy address was heavy on meaningless rhetoric about “national renewal”, but where on earth were the concrete policies to deliver on that?

    Where was the wealth tax on the super-rich to fund the eradication of child poverty? What about real public ownership of energy and water utilities? Perhaps scrapping the two-child benefit cap was worth a moment of the prime minister’s time?

    Instead, the speech recycled uncomfortably familiar Blair-era vibes and we were left in absolutely no doubt that Keir Starmer’s Labour government has capitulated to the status quo.

    Mimicking Reform is not going to work

    The main attack line from the speech was aimed at Nigel Farage and Reform UK, much to the delight of the liberal media, and the publicity glutton, Farage himself.

    But not one of the fuckers is in possession of the balls to admit that Keir Starmer is the very reason the flat-cap-fash Farage and his band of hard-right wasters are riding high in the polls.

    I knew it was going to be a Starmer stinker the moment the ‘lucky’ delegates got to wave their little flags. This performative patriotism is a betrayal of Labour’s internationalist values, and let’s be honest, utterly cringeworthy.

    Starmer’s people need to realise that aping Reform UK’s cultural nationalism isn’t the vote winner that they think it is.

    Look at the polls, real PM McSweeney.

    You’re utterly fucked.

    Mimicry isn’t going to defeat Farage, and chasing Reform votes is a futile exercise.

    The votes are already out there to be won. The apathetic can sway the result of a general election.

    Engage with them. Offer hope, social justice, and a better kind of politics that serves the 95% of us that aren’t foreign lobbyists or capitalist cronies looking to cash in on our very existence.

    The dithering, contemptible hangdog of a prime minister lurches from one disaster to the next with an alarming ease. I wonder who told Keir Starmer that he would make a great Prime Minister, and what was in it for them?

    Starmer may well have rallied the hall with talk of taking the fight to Reform — the centrists are very easily pleased — but for the rest of us outside of the conference gathering, it was a funeral oration for what Labour once promised to be.

    Starmer’s idea of “renewal” is little more than managed decline dressed as progress, prioritising fiscal restraint and neoliberal tweaks over genuinely transformative and desperately needed investment.

    Blair is back

    Unless I dozed off, mid-speech, I don’t actually remember Gaza getting a single mention. But then why would he? Why would he mention Britain’s horrifying complicity in the Gaza genocide?

    He doesn’t need to now. It doesn’t take much to turn a certain section of the public’s attention away from the gravest and most deadly assault on humanity that we have witnessed this century.

    Many of us have been genuinely traumatised by the horrific spectacle of a live-streamed genocide. The haunting image of a devastated parent holding up the remains of their headless infant child doesn’t just go away.

    To forget that child, to do and say nothing, it just isn’t an option for the real patriots of this hateful and divided little island.

    The Middle East’s favourite war criminal-turned-life-coach, Tony Blair, is back with a plan so absurd we may as well just get Mandelson in on the gig to add some credibility.

    Blair, the man who turned “New Labour” into a synonym for “new imperialism” is yet another Western saviour that has been parachuted in to “fix” what they’ve helped break.

    The architect of the Iraq catastrophe that unleashed hell on the Middle East is now the chief overseer of Palestinian reconstruction?

    Jeffrey Dahmer running a vegan supermarket springs to mind.

    The slithering, wretched shape-shifter cosied up to Bush for oil. Now it’s Trump’s turn, with Gaza as the prize.

    Starmer et al – catastrophic

    According to THEIR surveys, the people of Gaza are crying out for international oversight.

    Do you think these surveys were carried out mid-airstrike? “On a scale of one to house flattened, how much do you fancy a British overlord?”…

    Give me fucking strength.

    Jeremy Corbyn, bless his jam-making heart, nailed it last week:

    Tony Blair’s catastrophic decision to invade Iraq cost thousands upon thousands of lives. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the Middle East, let alone Gaza. It is not up to Blair, Trump or Netanyahu to decide the future of Gaza. That is up to the people of Palestine.

    The road to peace runs through justice, not through the man who bombed it away. Free Palestine from this imperialist pantomime – and keep Blair in history’s darkest dustbin where he belongs.

    Featured image via Rachael Swindon

    By Rachael Swindon

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Cops have now arrested over 2,000 peaceful Defend Our Juries protesters

    The Met police have announced they arrested a total of 488 peaceful sign-holders who took part in the action in Trafalgar Square. The arrests took six and a half hours, with the final arrests at 7.30pm, after the silent vigil began at 1pm. This brings the total number arrested for defying the Palestine Action ban to over 2,000 since it came into effect on 5 July 2025, which Defend Our Juries has called an “extraordinary affront to democracy”.

    Defend Our Juries October protest: mass arrests once more

    Those the Met arrested came from all faiths and none, and included:

    • Elizabeth Morley, 79-year-old Jewish daughter of a Holocaust survivor. This weekend, police arrested her for the third time at a Lift The Ban action.
    • Muhammad Rabbani, managing director of CAGE International which campaigns against the misuse of terror laws.
    • Reverend Sue Parfitt, 83 year old Anglican priest. This was also her third arrest at Lift The Ban actions.

    The police arrested many elderly people and disabled people during the protest. This included a blind man using a mobility cane and two mobility wheelchair users. Everyone held a sign with the same seven words:

    I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.

    The Met operation required not only 70% of their own public order capacity – 1,500 officers – but also an additional 400 officers from forces as far as the North of Ireland. Amnesty International Northern Ireland programme director Patrick Corrigan commented:

    We are repeatedly advised that the PSNI has insufficient numbers of officers. Yet here they are in London helping the Met to arrest pensioners for holding cardboard signs.

    Explaining the strain this is putting on police officers, Police Federation chair Paula Dodds said:

    Enough is enough. We are emotionally and physically exhausted.

    Policing Palestine Action ban protests is a choice, says Defend Our Juries

    Demonstrating that police forces can exercise discretion and common sense when it comes to interpreting the ban on Palestine Action, Devon and Cornwall Police took the decision not to make arrests at a Lift The Ban sign-holding vigil in Truro earlier the same day. Instead the force sent two Police Liaison Officers who described the demo as “lovely and peaceful” and defended people’s right to protest to one passerby who heckled protesters. Other forces in Edinburgh, Derry, Totnes, and Kendal have also chosen to not arrest peaceful protestors holding the same sign at previous actions.

    A spokesperson for Amnesty International said:

    It will never stop being shocking to witness hundreds of peaceful protesters being hauled from the streets into police vans.

    Police chiefs have a choice about how they police protests. These arrests are in breach of the UK’s international human rights obligations and should not be happening. Arresting hundreds of people for peacefully sitting down and holding a sign is not the job of the police and is a waste of their time when they could be out helping people.

    Amnesty has long criticised UK terrorism law for being excessively broad, vaguely worded and a threat to freedom of expression. Police responses to these peaceful protests only further confirm that our concerns are justified.”

    A Defend Our Juries spokesperson said:

    In an extraordinary affront to democracy, over 2,000 people have now been arrested for peacefully defying the ban on Palestine Action — including elderly and disabled people, priests, pensioners, and children of Holocaust survivors, dragged away by police for silently holding a seven-word cardboard sign.

    This disastrous decision by Yvette Cooper and Labour’s Cabinet has led to counter-terrorism resources being diverted to criminalise those trying to save lives in Palestine. The threat this ban posed — not only to free speech but to policing resources — was entirely foreseeable and repeatedly warned against. But in a bid to appease arms manufacturers and lobby groups, the Government made an unprecedented and absurdly authoritarian decision to proscribe a domestic protest group.

    Defend Our Juries was asked by the Met police to postpone the silent vigil due to pressure on its resources. It then emerged that two of the victims in the horrific antisemitic attack on Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester were shot by the police. Police resources should be focused on thoroughly investigating this and on community safety, not spent arresting peaceful protesters holding cardboard signs. Forces in Edinburgh, Derry, Totnes and Kendal have rightly chosen not to arrest protesters holding the exact same signs – which say “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” – showing police forces have that discretion.

    It is the Labour Government which is to blame for this monumental waste of policing and counter-terror resources. Until the Home Secretary sees sense and lifts this anti-democratic ban, police resources should be focused on real threats — not wasted silencing people calling for an end to genocide. Every day, more Palestinians are being slaughtered in Gaza and British citizens have been abducted from the aid flotilla by Israeli forces. This crisis is escalating — and today’s protest opposed both the genocide and the ban on those trying to stop it by taking action against the weapons companies arming this bloodshed.

    Possible to have compassion for the victims of multiple atrocities at the same time

    Responding to prime minister Keir Starmer’s suggestion that the action should not go ahead, Defend Our Juries supporter, Zoe Cohen, who was arrested at the August action, said:

    As a Jewish person born and bred in the North West I’m grieving after the appalling synagogue attack in Manchester and I feel it deeply. I’m also grieving for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been murdered, displaced and starved in Gaza. I think it’s possible for us to be compassionate and open our hearts to victims of multiple atrocities at one time.

    Those who have used the attack on the Jewish community in Manchester to call for today’s vigil to be cancelled, are wrongly conflating the actions of the Israeli state with all Jews. Jewish people around the world are not responsible for Israel’s crimes and there are many Jewish people who do not support the actions of the Israeli state. Cancelling today’s vigil would have perpetuated this dangerous narrative which fuels antisemitism.

    I am one of a significant number of Jewish people who have taken part in these actions because we refuse to stand by while our government enables Israel’s genocide and bans the protest group which seeks to stop that complicity by disrupting arms factories. 53 Palestinians were also killed on Thursday and they have names and stories too. Every life matters. When I was brought up learning about the Holocaust and we said “never again”, I learnt that this means ‘never again’ for anyone.

    The Met could have chosen to prioritise protecting communities and places of worship today rather than arresting peaceful protesters – many elderly and disabled people – for holding a homemade sign. Police in Edinburgh, Derry, Totnes and Kendal’s decision not to arrest people for holding the same sign demonstrating that the police do have that discretion. Blame for the strain on police resources today lies squarely with the Government for its draconian decision to ban a protest group for the first time in British history, which took action to try to preserve human life, not to take life. The Home Secretary can and must put an end to this by lifting the ban. If we do not overturn it, democracy is dead in our country, and if today’s vigil had been cancelled we would have been letting terror win.

    Cops not keeping communities safe

    Labour MP Richard Burgon said:

    Instead of vital police resources being used to keep communities safe, we have the absurd situation where they’re being wasted on arresting peaceful protesters: people simply holding signs and exercising their democratic rights to oppose genocide. This follows the wholly disproportionate and deeply troubling decision to designate Palestine Action – a group that posed no risk to the public – as terrorists. I voted against that decision in Parliament and again call on the Government to immediately overturn it.

    Whilst they were sitting peacefully holding cardboard signs, protesters read out the names one by one of some of the 18,500 Palestinian children the Israeli military has slaughtered.

    An hour before the silent vigil started, a group of people dropped a banner off Westminster Bridge in front of the Houses of Parliament with the words “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. Met police said they arrested six people in connection with this action.

    The proscription of Palestine Action has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. It has led to the chilling effect of freedom of speech in the UK. The unprecedented decision to ban a domestic direct action group was solely based on “serious property damage”. It has taken away resources from dealing with terrorists who pose a genuine threat to the public.

    In a statement on Thursday, Defend Our Juries unreservedly condemned the vicious attack in Manchester and called it “real terrorism”. The Met police asked for the group to postpone the silent protest, due to a lack of police resources. In response, Defend Our Juries urged the police to “choose to:

    prioritise protecting the community, rather than arresting those peacefully holding signs in opposition to the absurd and draconian ban of a domestic direct action group.

    Defend Our Juries said that cancelling a peaceful protest to defend our democracy and oppose violence and oppression would be to “let terror win”.

    Cynically exploiting the Manchester Synagogue attack to silence protest for Palestine

    Zack Polanski, Green Party leader said:

    I think its really problematic if someone is trying to weaponise the attack that happened yesterday to try and silence protest in this country against the genocide. They’re separate issues… we need to be clear what this government is doing.

    During his speech at the Green party conference, he also called for the immediate withdrawal of the Palestine Action proscription. He reiterated his support for Defend Our Juries.

    Jews who regularly take part in pro-Palestine marches released a statement about why they are taking part in the vigil. They expressed their concern at the home secretary:

    cynically exploiting this tragic event to fulfil a long-standing ambition of successive British Governments: to justify a ban on the mass protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    Following Defend Our Juries’ letter to the Met police, on Saturday, the Met police commissioner Mark Rowley rowed back on his claim of limited resources. He said:

    If we have to, we will call in support from forces across the UK to ensure we can arrest all those breaking the law in support of a terrorist group while we also keep communities safe.

    A spokesperson for the Network for Police Monitoring said:

    The actions of Devon and Cornwall Police today exposes the policing priorities of the Metropolitan Police and this government. The protest in Truro shows that it is down to individual police forces to choose where they direct their resources, and the Met is clearly showing that their priority is arresting peaceful pensioners sitting with placards.

    Over the last two days, there has been an ongoing smear campaign to conflate pro-Palestine protests with the horrendous antisemitic actions of the Manchester attacker with politicians and pundits manipulatively and cynically using what happened to try to undermine people protesting a genocide by a far-right Israeli government.

    Feature image supplied.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Second released flotilla activist confirms Israel beat Greta Thunberg

    A second released flotilla activist has confirmed that Israel beat and ritually humiliated 22-year-old climate and human rights activist Greta Thunberg, one of almost five hundred activists kidnapped in international waters by the rogue genocidal regime.

    Greta Thunberg: forced to have the Zionist flag tied to her back

    The woman volunteer corroborated an earlier report that Greta Thunberg was physically beaten and forced to wear an an Israeli flag tied to her back while she was dragged along – then went on to describe the terrible prison conditions all the flotilla hostages were kept in, including being starved and forced to drink toilet water:

    Arab volunteers were also brutally beaten by the ethno-supremacist state, which is trying – unsuccessfully – to deter others from attempting to bring food and medicines to Gaza, which is under Israel’s criminal starvation blockade and constant bombing.

    Plus, as the Canary previously reported Turkish activist Samanur Sonmaz Yaman, a member of the flotilla, recounts details of the occupation’s oppression and abuse of veiled women from the boats:

    Occupation soldiers ripped off our headscarves during our arrest and took them from us, and our non-veiled friends gave us their shirts to cover our heads.

    Adalah, the legal centre that monitors the cases of detainees, said that detention conditions at Ketziot prison in the Negev desert are ‘deteriorating alarmingly,’ amid reports of ill-treatment and violence against some detainees.

    A spokesperson for the organisation said that it is difficult at this stage to provide a comprehensive assessment, but confirmed that the mistreatment primarily affects non-European detainees, especially those whose countries do not have diplomatic missions in Israel.

    Israel: a pariah state

    Such abuse of the volunteers, particularly one so widely known and loved as Greta Thunberg, can only backfire on a racist colony that is already a pariah in the eyes of billions of people for its slaughter of innocents in Gaza and being forced to spend many billions of pounds in a far too late attempt to stem the flow of information about its genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinian civilians.

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • UN says Israel has now forced two million people into an area smaller than Manhattan

    A report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that more than 82% of the Gaza Strip was located within the Zionist entity Israel’s military zone or under evacuation orders or in areas where these situations overlapped, as of 17 September 2025.

    According to the report, these developments have led to the crowding of nearly two million people into an area of no more than 18%, which is only 65 square kilometres of the Strip’s total area, causing a sharp deterioration in humanitarian conditions. This is an area smaller than Manhattan, and about half the size of the City of London.

    “No safe space in Gaza” thanks to Israel

    The UN office stressed that Israel’s genocide meant ‘there is no safe place in Gaza,’ noting that restrictions on movement and ongoing military operations are hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need.

    International relief organisations warn that Israel’s continuation of the current situation portends a large-scale humanitarian disaster amid declining basic services and shortages of food and medical supplies.

    These developments come amid ongoing tensions since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in October 2023, which has caused widespread destruction of infrastructure and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of residents. The UN says that most of the population depends on humanitarian aid to survive, while the sector faces a near-total collapse of its health system and public services.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • VIDEO: LBC’s Shelagh Fogarty sneers at people protesting a genocide

    On Saturday 4 October, as thousands took to the streets to protest against Israel’s mass slaughter of almost 700,000 innocent Palestinians in Gaza and the UK government’s continued collusion in its crimes, LBC’s sneering presenter Shelagh Fogarty dismissed the protests as “teenage foot-stamping” and told protesters to “just…grow up”.

    LBC: platforming rabid Zionists again

    Israel’s victims include almost half a million children, according to leading medical and statistical experts. Campaigner Majid Freeman wanted to know how someone could watch children being slaughtered and still mock those trying to stop it as if their objection is nothing but immaturity:

    The foul and apparently Zionist Fogarty has form for disgusting on-air behaviour regarding Gaza. Earlier this year she swore at a caller who insisted, after Fogarty regurgitated Israeli genocide denial, that:

    the top human rights lawyers in the world also describe it as a genocide.

    Indeed they do, as do academic experts on genocide and the United Nations.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • People Across Asia And Latin America Mobilize In Support Of Gaza Flotilla

    Protests broke out in various countries in Asia on Thursday, October 2, following the Israeli attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) on Wednesday and the abduction of hundreds of activists.

    The GSF, consisting of over 40 ships with hundreds of activists onboard, was heading towards the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza in order to break the Israeli siege and deliver crucial humanitarian aid to its people forced to starve by Israel.

    The ships were attacked by the Israeli forces on the night of October 1, an attack which continued until October 3, when they were scores of miles away from the Gaza coast. Israeli forces abducted the activists and seized the aid the ships were carrying for the people of Gaza.

    The post People Across Asia And Latin America Mobilize In Support Of Gaza Flotilla appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Italy Paralyzed As Hundreds Of Thousands Protest In Solidarity With Gaza

    Hundreds of thousands flooded Italy’s streets on 3 October as part of a general strike organized to protest Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the kidnapping of hundreds of activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla.

    “After what I saw with the flotilla, I thought I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. It’s the first time I go to these kind of demonstrations,” Mario Mascetti told Reuters after attending the protest in Rome.
    The CGIL and USB trade unions organized the demonstrations, which took place in more than 100 cities on the same day Israeli forces intercepted the last of the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels.

    Organizers said the illegal seizure marked the capture of all 42 boats in the flotilla, each carrying humanitarian aid and international volunteers determined to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

    The post Italy Paralyzed As Hundreds Of Thousands Protest In Solidarity With Gaza appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Hamas Just Accepted Trump’s ‘Peace’ Plan

    The response of Hamas to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “peace” plan to end the war in Gaza came in late on Friday. It sparked immediate and conflicting reactions.

    Five days after the U.S. president first announced his plan, the Palestinian movement gave its answer in a statement announcing that Hamas announced its “approval for the release of all hostages — living and dead – according to the exchange formula included in President Trump’s proposal.” Hamas added that it was ready to enter talks “to discuss the details.”

    In a move practically unheard of by a U.S. president, Trump shared Hamas’s statement on his account on Truth Social:

    “Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting peace,” Trump said, adding that “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the hostages out safely and quickly!”

    The post Hamas Just Accepted Trump’s ‘Peace’ Plan appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Hedges Report: NPC Australia Caves To Israel Lobby, Cancels Talk

    I was scheduled to give a talk at the National Press Club of Australia on Oct. 20 called “The Betrayal of Palestinian Journalists.” It was to focus on the amplification of Israeli lies in the press, which most reporters know are lies, betraying Palestinian colleagues who are slandered, targeted and killed by Israel. But, perhaps inadvertently proving my point, the chief executive of the press club, Maurice Reilly, cancelled the event.

    The announcement of my talk disappeared from the web site. Reilly said “that in the interest of balancing out our program we will withdraw our offer.” The Israeli Ambassador, retired Lt. Colonel Amir Maimon, who spent 14 years in the Israeli military, is reportedly being considered to speak.

    The post Hedges Report: NPC Australia Caves To Israel Lobby, Cancels Talk appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Influencers Are Being Paid $7K Per Post to Boost Pro-Israel Social Media Content

    In a meeting dedicated to harnessing pro-Israel media energy on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to a cohort of Israel’s influencers. “We have to fight back. How do we fight back? Our influencers. I think you should also talk to them if you have a chance, to that community, they are very important.” Being paid by Israel to post on social media is also very lucrative.

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Hamas Accepts Trump’s Gaza Plan as Netanyahu Pushes Back

    The response of Hamas to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “peace” plan to end the war in Gaza came in late on Friday. It sparked immediate and conflicting reactions. Five days after the U.S. president first announced his plan, the Palestinian movement gave its answer in a statement announcing that Hamas announced its “approval for the release of all hostages — living and dead — according to the…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • BREAKING: Israeli authorities have beaten Greta Thunberg, made her kiss Zionist flag

    Reports are emerging that Israeli authorities have abused activist Greta Thunberg while illegally holding her in detention.

    Greta Thunberg beaten by Israeli authorities

    On Saturday 4 October, the Israeli occupation authorities deported 137 of the kidnapped international solidarity activists who participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the humanitarian siege on Gaza, in the second deportation operation in a matter of days, after returning four Italians to their country on Friday 3 October.

    One of the deported activists who arrived at Istanbul airport on Saturday recounted shocking details of what he described as ‘brutal assaults’ on some activists during their detention, telling reporters:

    They dragged little Greta (Thunberg) by her hair in front of our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her as a warning to others.

    She’s still a little kid. They made her suffer.

    Separately, the Guardian reported that an email to Swedish authorities said Greta Thunberg was suffering from:

    dehydration. She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food. She also stated that she had developed rashes which she suspects were caused by bedbugs. She spoke of harsh treatment and said she had been sitting for long periods on hard surfaces.

    Meanwhile, other released activists spoke of similar degrading treatment.

    Turkish activist Samanur Sonmaz Yaman, a member of the flotilla, recounts details of the occupation’s oppression and abuse of veiled women from the boats:

    Occupation soldiers ripped off our headscarves during our arrest and took them from us, and our non-veiled friends gave us their shirts to cover our heads.

    Adalah, the legal centre that monitors the cases of detainees, said that detention conditions at Ketziot prison in the Negev desert are ‘deteriorating alarmingly,’ amid reports of ill-treatment and violence against some detainees.

    A spokesperson for the organisation said that it is difficult at this stage to provide a comprehensive assessment, but confirmed that the mistreatment primarily affects non-European detainees, especially those whose countries do not have diplomatic missions in Israel.

    Ongoing Israeli violence

    This incident is the latest chapter in the confrontation between Israel and the international solidarity flotillas that recently set sail in an attempt to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than 18 years, amid growing international warnings about targeting solidarity activists and civil society activists, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Strip, which is suffering from famine and shortages of medicine and fuel.

    Israel intercepted 40 ships in the Global Solidarity Flotilla that set sail to reach Gaza to break the blockade and deliver humanitarian aid amid the ongoing war of extermination on Gaza, which is now entering its third year.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Israel deports 137 activists from Global Sumud Flotilla, 321 remain kidnapped

    On Saturday 4 October, the Israeli occupation authorities deported 137 of the kidnapped international solidarity activists who participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the humanitarian siege on Gaza, in the second deportation operation in a matter of days, after returning four Italians to their country on Friday 3 October.

    Flotilla kidnappees released – or some of them have

    According to press sources, a plane carrying the deportees landed in Istanbul on Saturday afternoon with nine British nationals, while four other British citizens remain in detention by the Israeli authorities.

    The list of deportees included 36 Turks, 23 Malaysians, 26 Italians, 6 Algerians, 10 Tunisians, 7 Libyans, 4 Moroccans, 2 Kuwaitis, 2 Jordanians, 9 Swiss, as well as one person each from Mauritania, the United States and Bahrain.

    According to press sources, 321 people remain in Israeli detention centres, including dozens of Arab, Asian and European nationals.

    Adalah, the legal centre that monitors the cases of detainees, said that detention conditions at Ketziot prison in the Negev desert are ‘deteriorating alarmingly,’ amid reports of ill-treatment and violence against some detainees.

    A spokesperson for the organisation said that it is difficult at this stage to provide a comprehensive assessment, but confirmed that the mistreatment primarily affects non-European detainees, especially those whose countries do not have diplomatic missions in Israel.

    This incident is the latest chapter in the confrontation between Israel and the international solidarity flotillas that recently set sail in an attempt to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than 18 years, amid growing international warnings about targeting solidarity activists and civil society activists, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Strip, which is suffering from famine and shortages of medicine and fuel.

    Israel intercepted 40 ships in the Global Solidarity Flotilla that set sail to reach Gaza to break the blockade and deliver humanitarian aid amid the ongoing war of extermination on Gaza, which is now entering its third year.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Double standards from FIFA, as Infantino says it cannot suspend Israel’s membership

    FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that the football organisation ‘does not have the power to solve geopolitical problems,’ at a time when calls are growing to suspend Israel’s membership against the backdrop of the war in Gaza. Yet it seems FIFA thought it could previously – because it suspended Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

    Infantino’s response over Israel exposes FIFA’s double standards

    At the start of a closed meeting of the FIFA Council, Infantino referred to the ‘current situation in Gaza,’ stressing that the power of football lies in its ability to ‘unite people in a divided world,’ sending a ‘message of peace and unity.’

    He added:

    FIFA cannot resolve geopolitical conflicts, but it can and must continue to promote football and its educational, cultural and humanitarian values.

    The statement did not refer to Israel or its football association, despite growing calls for its national team to be excluded from competitions, including the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

    Last week, three independent UN experts called on FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel’s membership, warning that what is happening in Gaza amounts to ‘genocide’ and stressing that sports institutions ‘should not turn a blind eye to gross human rights violations.’

    In the same context, Liz Clavines, president of the Norwegian Football Association, revealed that she is seeking to impose sanctions on Israel ahead of the upcoming match between her country’s national team and its Israeli counterpart on 11 October in the World Cup qualifiers.

    She said in a podcast:

    Personally, I believe that if Russia has been banned, Israel should also be banned.

    It is worth noting that in February 2022, FIFA and UEFA made a quick decision to ban the Russian national team and Russian clubs from participating in international tournaments following the invasion of Ukraine. This sanction remains in place today, sparking controversy over double standards in dealing with political and humanitarian crises.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Israel ignores Trump’s call to halt the genocide – as it continues to bomb Gaza

    On Saturday 4 October, the Gaza Strip witnessed a new round of intense Israeli bombing targeting several areas from the north to the south of the Strip, leaving dozens dead and wounded, at a time when international calls are mounting for an end to the Israeli attacks that have been ongoing for two full years.

    Israel continues its aggression against besieged civilians in Gaza despite the US president’s demand to stop the bombing after Hamas responded to his plan to end the war.

    Continuous bombing and evacuation warnings in Gaza

    Medical sources said that Israeli bombing has killed at least 16 people since dawn, including 15 in Gaza City, while dozens more were wounded by air strikes and artillery fire that hit the Tuffah, Al-Nasr and Al-Lababidi neighbourhoods in the city, as well as areas in Khan Yunis in the south of the Strip.

    Reports indicate that Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets on the area surrounding Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza, calling on residents to evacuate to the south, while the Israeli army warned via the ‘X’ platform against returning to areas north of the Gaza Valley, considering them a ‘dangerous combat zone.’

    According to field correspondents, the pace of the raids slowed in the early hours of the morning before picking up again this morning, while artillery shelling continued on scattered areas in Gaza City and the centre of the Strip.

    Eyewitnesses reported that the temporary lull in shelling prompted some residents to leave their shelters and head to the markets, especially in the Nuseirat camp, but the renewed shelling forced them to return to their shelters amid a state of fear and confusion.

    Widespread demolition, destruction, and death

    Local sources reported that Israeli forces carried out new demolitions of residential buildings in several neighbourhoods of Gaza City, as part of the ongoing campaign of destruction targeting infrastructure and civilian areas.

    Civil defence spokesman Major Mahmoud Basal described last night’s bombing of the city as ‘insane,’ stressing that rescue crews are having difficulty reaching the targeted sites due to the continued bombing and the collapse of roads.

    According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israeli bombing on Friday resulted in the martyrdom of 63 Palestinians, including 38 in Gaza City alone, bringing the toll of the aggression since 7 October 2023 to 67,074 martyrs and 169,430 wounded.

    Israel’s victims of hunger and starvation

    In a parallel context, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the death of two children in the past 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, bringing the number of hunger victims to 459, including 154 children.

    It also reported that six people were killed and 40 others wounded by Israeli fire while attempting to obtain food aid in the north of the Strip.

    It should be noted that Gaza City was officially declared a famine zone on 22 August, amid the continuing total blockade and the prevention of humanitarian aid from entering.

    Despite repeated international and Arab calls to stop the aggression, Israel continues its intensive military operations in the Strip, citing what it calls ‘eliminating threats,’ while human rights organisations describe the humanitarian situation in Gaza as an ‘unprecedented disaster’ that threatens the complete collapse of the health and humanitarian system.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Cops outnumbered as Defend Our Juries returns to central London

    Around 1,000 people sat on Trafalgar Square on Saturday 4 October, with handwritten signs that say “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” in what is the biggest ever defiance of the ban on Palestine Action. They were, of course, out with Defend Our Juries.

    Whilst they were sitting peacefully holding cardboard signs, the names of 18,500 Palestinian children slaughtered by Israel were read out, one by one. Due to the lengthy and growing list of killed Palestinian children, it is unlikely all of their names will be read out by the end of the vigil.

    However, once again the cops were on hand to enforce the Zionist UK state’s authoritarian agenda – with mass arrests and heavy-handedness witnessed by the Canary once more.

    Defend Our Juries out once again

    The Canary’s on-the-ground team were there during the sit in at Trafalgar Square. From 1pm there were already well over 1,000 people at the demo:

    Accordingly, the police presence was large – but seemingly not as big as on previous Defend Out Juries protests:

    Despite once again the preposterous nature of of the policing of what are peaceful demonstrators, cops began arresting people almost immediately:

    Defend Our Juries said of this:

    Over 1,000 people, including the elderly, vicars, children of holocaust survivors, peace activists and more, are each peacefully and silently holding a sign which says “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.

    If the police make the political decision to arrest them, they will face charges under the Terrorism Act, a risk they’re willing to take in order to protect our democracy and oppose the escalating Gaza genocide. We hope the police make the sensible and correct decision to not arrest peaceful protestors and instead dedicate their resources to protecting the community.

    Indeed – the Canary witnessed multiple older people being carried off once again:

    Cops were forcibly dragging older people up off the floor:

    In one case, an older man appeared to be unwell – possibly due to the actions of the police – as they were having to put him into the recovery position:

    But it was clear the police were stretched.

    Earlier, chair of the Police Federation Paul Dodds admitted this, saying:

    Enough is enough.

    Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being drawn in to facilitate these relentless protests. There aren’t enough of us… What are the politicians and senior police officers going to do about it?

    You could of course, not join the police in the first place Mr Dodds.

    However, for many cops they seem to enjoy it – or at least, think they’re in a Hollywood movie:

    Meanwhile, Zionist agitators were present:

    Overall, the Canary once again witnessed heavy handedness, overreach, and unnecessary use of powers by the cops – who are all complicit in the UK state’s support for Israel’s genocide.

    Widespread criticism

    The proscription of Palestine Action has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum, and has led to the chilling effect of freedom of speech in Britain. The unprecedented decision to ban a domestic direct action group was solely based on “serious property damage”, taking away resources from dealing with terrorists who pose a genuine threat to the public.

    Defend Our Juries unreservedly condemned the vicious attack in Manchester and called it “real terrorism”. The Met police asked for the silent protest to be postponed, due to a lack of police resources. In response, Defend Our Juries urged the police to “choose to prioritise protecting the community, rather than arresting those peacefully holding signs in opposition to the absurd and draconian ban of a domestic direct action group.”

    Police have the discretion not to arrest people taking part in today’s silent vigil, as other forces in Edinburgh, Derry, Totnes, and Kendal have chosen to not arrest peaceful protestors holding the same sign saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

    Defend Our Juries said that cancelling a peaceful protest to defend our democracy and oppose violence and oppression would be to “let terror win”.

    Zack Polanski previously said of this:

    I think its really problematic if someone is trying to weaponise the attack that happened yesterday to try and silence protest in this country against the genocide. They’re separate issues… we need to be clear what this government is doing.

    During his speech at the Green Party conference, he also called for the immediate withdrawal of the Palestine Action proscription and reiterated his support for Defend Our Juries.

    The wrong kind of Jews supporting Defend Our Juries

    Jews who regularly take part in pro-Palestine marches released a statement about why they are taking part in today’s vigil. They expressed their concern at the Home Secretary “cynically exploiting this tragic event to fulfil a long-standing ambition of successive British Governments: to justify a ban on the mass protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza”.

    Responding to Keir Starmer’s suggestion that the action should not go ahead, Defend Our Juries supporter Zoe Cohen, who was arrested at the August action, said:

    As a Jewish person born and bred in the North West I’m grieving after the appalling synagogue attack in Manchester and I feel it deeply. I’m also grieving for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been murdered, displaced and starved in Gaza. I think it’s possible for us to be compassionate and open our hearts to victims of multiple atrocities at one time.

    Those who have used the attack on the Jewish community in Manchester to call for today’s vigil to be cancelled, are wrongly conflating the actions of the Israeli state with all Jews. Jewish people around the world are not responsible for Israel’s crimes and there are many Jewish people who do not support the actions of the Israeli state. Cancelling today’s vigil would have perpetuated this dangerous narrative which fuels antisemitism.

    I am one of a significant number of Jewish people who have taken part in these actions because we refuse to stand by while our government enables Israel’s genocide and bans the protest group which seeks to stop that complicity by disrupting arms factories. 53 Palestinians were also killed on Thursday and they have names and stories too. Every life matters. When I was brought up learning about the Holocaust and we said “never again”, I learnt that this means “never again” for anyone.

    This is getting ridiculous

    A spokesperson from Defend Our Juries said:

    The huge political misstep made by Yvette Cooper and the Labour cabinet, has led to counter-terrorism resources being wasted on criminalising those who seek to save lives in Palestine, rather than focusing on those who seek to take lives. The danger of the proscription not only to our rights to free speech and protest, but to the safety of the public at large, was completely foreseeable and forewarned. Yet, in order to appease the weapons industry and lobby groups, the unprecedented, dangerous and unforgivable decision was made to proscribe a domestic direct action group.

    The genocide is continuing to escalate in Gaza, with dozens of Palestinians slaughtered every single day, and British citizens being recently kidnapped from the flotilla whilst trying to bring aid into Gaza. The situation has never been more urgent, and today’s silent protest seeks to oppose genocide and the ban of Palestine Action, a group which targeted the weapons industry to save lives in Palestine.

    Featured image and videos via the Canary

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Jewish Bloc for Palestine issues statement on Heaton Park synagogue attack

    The Jewish Bloc for Palestine has issued the statement below expressing their sorrow at the killings and injuries at Heaton Park this week and their condolences for the families of the victims of the attack on the Manchester synagogue.

    Jewish Bloc for Palestine statement

    The group also welcomes the support from the local community, including many Muslim people and organisations – and also anger at those who have weaponised the atrocity to argue that those who stand for justice for Palestinians are a danger to Jews, which the group considers divisive and dangerous, saying that the community should be allowed to mourn and that connections across communities in Manchester must be strengthened and not weakened.

    The group said it:

    is horrified and sickened by the murderous attack on the Manchester synagogue yesterday. We send our condolences and love to the families of the victims and all members of the congregation. Nobody should lose their life for where or when they choose to pray.

    We were devastated by the news that the Greater Manchester Police operation was responsible for the death of one congregation member and the injury of others, as well as the death of the attacker.

    It is appalling that shul goers who called the police for help ended up dead at their hands. We stand in solidarity with the families of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz.

    In the immediate aftermath of an attack like this we mourn the victims and offer our support to a community reeling in shock, whether the attack be at a synagogue, school, mosque or nightclub. We are deeply moved by the widespread expressions of sympathy and solidarity we have received from our comrades and friends in the Palestine solidarity movement and a range of Muslim organisations and are grateful for the support they have offered.

    We were shocked when, less than 24 hours after the attack, a relatively new Home Secretary went onto the airwaves to weaponise the fear and grief of our community by resurrecting a slur: that those protesting for Palestine represent a danger to Jews. She is cynically exploiting this tragic event to fulfil a long-standing ambition of successive British Governments: to justify a ban on the mass protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    We are distressed that some of our communal leaders, including the Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue, have also tried to exploit our grief and fear in order to suppress and silence those organising for Palestine.

    Antisemitism, lslamophobia, and violent bigotry are on the rise. We will not speculate on the motives of the attacker but we all recognise and condemn the increase in antisemitic conspiracy theories across social media, as well as the dog-whist le phrases now appearing in the speeches of mainstream politicians.

    We are a diverse group of British Jews. Some are secular and some were in synagogues yesterday. Many have links to families and friends who will have attended Heaton Park synagogue yesterday. We will be marching again next Saturday and will continue to take to the streets until we see an end to t his genocide and until Palestine is free. We will continue to strengthen our links of solidarity and mutual support with Muslims and other communities targeted by racism. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • VIDEO: Buttigieg repeats known-false Israeli propaganda of babies in ovens

    Former US presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg gave an interview to US Channel 5 this week about Israel and Palestine. Within the first minute, he had regurgitated the known-false Israeli propaganda claim that Palestinian fighters cooked babies in ovens:

    Buttigieg’s claim, like the claims of beheaded babies and rapes by Palestinian fighters, has been known to be a lie since early 2024 at the latest. Yet Western politicians continue to repeat the lies just as assiduously as they hide the long-known fact that Israel killed many, and probably most, of the Israeli citizens who died on 7 October 2023.

    The western genocide-enabling machine is a hungry one.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • VIDEO: Osasuna fans bring La Liga match to halt with anti-genocide protest

    Osasuna ‘ultra’ fans raised Palestinian flags and banners and brought their team’s game to a halt by throwing tennis balls onto the pitch in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israel’s genocide. Soon after, they were joined by other fans, of both teams, across the entire stadium, chanting ‘Palestina Aurrera’ – ‘Forward Palestine’.

    The Spanish ‘Liga’ – like sport generally – is seeing increasing protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Today, Basque football club Athletic Club Bilbao will pay tribute to Israel’s almost 700,000 Palestinian victims in their match against Mallorca.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Starmer just made an antisemitic attempt to stop the Gaza protests

    Keir Starmer has this morning tried to guilt opponents of Israel’s genocide into not attending marches around the country protesting against the genocide and against Israel’s criminal attacks on humanitarian aid vessels trying to bring food to Gaza, claiming that the protests will ‘stoke tension’:

    Starmer: profoundly antisemitic

    Starmer’s statement is profoundly antisemitic – it suggests that all Jewish people support Israel’s mass slaughter of almost 700,000 Palestinian civilians and its crimes of starvation, torture, maiming and forced displacement.

    As author Assal Rad commented this morning, a protest against genocide only ‘stokes tension’ if you support the genocide:

    Yet again, to support Israel Starmer paints British Jewish people as supportive of a murderous, genocidal, far-right regime – and ignores the many thousands of Jewish people who abhor Israel, its crimes, its arrogance, and its apartheid theft of the Palestinian homeland.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Video: football manager Guardiola calls for mass march against Israel’s genocide

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has made a video for Celebrities for Palestine calling on the people of Barcelona – where he spent the majority of his playing career and started his success as a manager – to flood the streets of the city today in protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza:

    As a Manchester manager Guardiola is not listening to the UK Israel lobby, which has tried to have protests against the genocide cancelled after an attack on a (pro-IDF) synagogue. Today’s London march must also be massive.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Israel Is Committing Genocide In The Gaza Strip

    7 October 2025 will mark the second anniversary of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. The World Health Organisation’s data page on Palestinian casualties, regularly updated using figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry and UN agencies, shows that around 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the last two years – 30 out of every 1,000 people who were living in Gaza (these numbers, however may be too low, as the ministry has often admitted that it has no capacity to keep up with the flow of death and does not know how many people are buried beneath the tonnes of rubble).

    The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, calculates that 50,000 Palestinian children have been killed or injured.

    The post Israel Is Committing Genocide In The Gaza Strip appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Journalists And Healthcare Workers Sail To Challenge Israel’s Siege

    A boat carrying dozens of international journalists and medical professionals from 25 countries has set sail for Gaza as part of the latest mission organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) to break Israel‘s illegal siege. The vessel, Conscience, bombed by Israel off the coast of Malta in May 2025, has returned to serve as a vehicle for medics and media determined to reach their colleagues in besieged Gaza.

    For nearly two years, Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza, creating one of the most severe and sustained press blackouts in modern history. During this time, Israeli forces have targeted Palestinian journalists, killing over 270 and imprisoning countless more since October 2023.

    The post Journalists And Healthcare Workers Sail To Challenge Israel’s Siege appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Global Sumud Flotilla Vows To Keep Sailing ‘Until Gaza Is Free’

    Contact has been lost with all but two of the over 40 vessels participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla’s humanitarian mission to break the siege on Gaza, organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

    As of this writing, the flotilla’s live tracker showed that 19 vessels were presumed intercepted by Israeli marine forces in international waters, while an additional 21 were confirmed to be intercepted, and three were reported to still be sailing. One of them, the Mikono Al-Bireh vessel, appeared to be in Palestinian waters a few miles away from the coast of Gaza, while the Marinette appeared further away in international waters. Both have lost contact.

    The flotilla’s “motherships,” which provide legal observation, appeared to have sailed north away from Gaza’s coast.

    The post Global Sumud Flotilla Vows To Keep Sailing ‘Until Gaza Is Free’ appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.