Unions and community organizations demonstrated at the Port of Oakland on Dec. 18 as part of an ongoing campaign to demand an embargo on the shipment of weapons to Israel from both the city’s sea port and air port (OAK).
The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), in coordination with The People’s Embargo for Palestine (PEP), released a report titled “Exposing Oakland’s Military Cargo Shipments to Israel” last August. They were horrified to discover that Oakland, California, a city with a progressive history of solidarity with Palestine, had become one of the most frequent departure points for shipping F-35 bomber components to Israel.
This Hanukkah, colonial Zionist settlers from the Nachala movement broke through the Gaza border, and raised the ‘Israeli’ occupation flags. They said the move was a symbolic first step towards establishing a settlement in Gaza.
בימי הגלות החשוכים ימי קושי וצער ארצינו חיכתה לרגע הזה! אנחנו זוכים להתחבר למכבים!
צפו ברגעים המרגשים והמרוממים בהם הדגל שב להיות מונף בארצינו שלנו, במקומות מהם גורשנו, אנחנו שבים ומניפים את הדגל כצעד ראשון להקמת ההתיישבות על חולותיה הזהובים של עזה.
Nachala movement settlers calling for reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza
The two groups of illegal settlers who broke through the barrier into Gaza, were from the Nachala settler movement. They raised Israeli flags near two former illegal Jewish settlements, and called for the reestablishment of Jewish communities in the enclave.
In 2005, all 21 settlements in Gaza were dismantled and, within a week, the Israeli occupation forces and roughly 8000 illegal settlers were removed from the Strip. This ended a 38 year continuous military presence in the enclave. The ‘Israeli’ government offered compensation to settlers once they left Gaza. Once the settlements were evacuated, they were demolished, and all military installations were removed.
The Israeli occupation’s unilateral Disengagement Plan, was mainly due to security challenges, economic costs, and international pressure. It involved no peace negotiations with the Palestinians, and was instead intended to “freeze the peace process” indefinitely. It also allowed Israel to consolidate its hold on larger, strategically important settlement blocs in the West Bank.
Aim is to settle two million Jews in occupied Palestine
The Nachala movement’s objective is to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, by building new Jewish settlements in both Gaza and the West Bank. It says it aims to encourage and help the Israeli occupation government with its pledge to settle two million Jews in the occupied territory.
Far-right Daniela Weiss, who is sanctioned by the UK, is co-founder and chairwoman of the Nachala organisation. At a rally on the Gaza border, Weiss told supporters the flag-raising would mark the “beginning of a new era- an era in which we return to Gaza.”
She said “Not Indonesians, not Turks, not Egyptians, not any country – only the people of Israel will rule in Gaza”.
דווקא בימים האלה צריך לומר בקול ברור את מה שברור מאליו – עזה שייכת לעם ישראל. וחייבים כבר עכשיו להתחיל ולהתיישב בעזה. זו דרישה צודקת ונכונה הזוכה לתמיכה משמעותית מרוב גדול של הציבור במדינת ישראל.
At the same time, Bezalel Smotrich, colonial terrorist and finance minister, has approved a plan for a huge new settlement. He posted on X ‘Israel’ will establish a new colonial city of “tens of thousands of housing units”, in occupied East Jerusalem.
Smotrich claimed:
This is another step in promoting de facto sovereignty in the area, and stopping the idea of establishing an Arab state (in the West Bank).
Resettlement of Gaza and settlement building in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal under international law
This plan is a dangerous escalation in the settlement and annexation project, and will continue the Judaisation of Jerusalem. This means establishing Jerusalem as a predominantly Jewish capital, at the expense of Palestinian identity.
Calls to resettle Gaza and built yet more settlements, are not only about stealing Palestinian land. They are also about ethnically cleansing the Palestinian population. They stand in direct violation of international law and highlight the urgent need to hold the occupation to account.
Featured image and additional images via the Canary
Five weeks after being interviewed by the BBC, Israeli anti-Zionist lawyer Ben Marmarelli says he has been told the “public service broadcaster” will not be using any part of the interview.
BBC claim Marmarelli’s interview not used due to “reasons of duration”. The real reason is censorship.
Marmarelli is an outspoken critic of the Israeli occupation’s rape and torture of Palestinian political prisoners. The BBC were running a story about Palestinian prisoner abuse, and although they had testimonies from two Palestinian former prisoners they also wanted to speak with Marmarelli, so filmed an interview with him.
The BBC have now told Marmarelli they did not have enough time to use any of his interview, without forfeiting some of the testimony from the Palestinians. This is obviously not true. The BBC would not waste time with interviews if they did not intend to use them. They would also take timing into account while filming, and would be unlikely to make errors in this area:
I can’t believe it. But my main concern was that they would present a false image of what I said. I don’t trust the BBC, and I know they will edit any voice that’s for Palestine. That’s why I secretly recorded our interview.
The Canary is publishing the interview in full:
Marmarelli: “Western media is very much afraid of the Zionists”
In a recent interview with the Canary, Marmarelli described the systematic abuse of Palestinian political prisoners by the Israeli regime, and the threats faced by himself for speaking out. After posting a viral video on social media describing this abuse, in November, he had a string of interviews with public broadcasters and leading newspapers in France, the Netherlands, Italy, and the UK. More than a month later they are telling him they are still working on the interview, still editing.
Marmarelli says:
And the British cut my interview off completely! We can see how the Western media is very much afraid of the Zionists, and scared of publishing anything that wont be seen favourably by them. The Zionists have teams of lawyers, and lobby groups everywhere around the world, including the UK. They will attack the BBC on every story that is remotely not in favour of Israel, and will say the BBC is antisemitic.
In contrast to Western media, Turkey’s Anadolu Ajansı, and Doha’s Al Jazeera, published their interview with Marmarelli almost immediately, so he knows this is a deliberate act of political censorship. Western media function as an extension of state power, protecting Israel from accountability while silencing those who expose its crimes. In his view, the refusal to publish his testimony reflects the deep entanglement of media institutions with the same governments, military interests, and economic systems that enable Israel’s abuses.
Western media’s complicity in ‘Israel’s’ crimes
He says:
Israel, along with the UK, Italy, France, the Netherlands- the EU- are all part of this global capitalist system of Western colonialism, imperialism and domination. This system is of course led by the US. All these countries buy weapons and have military connections with Israel. Israel’s crimes are British crimes as well, and Western media are accomplices in these Western crimes.
‘Israel’ consistently ranks within the top 10 largest arms exporters globally. In 2024, the Israeli occupation’s Defense Ministry made a record $15 bnon weapons exports. This figure is up 13% from the previous year. European countries were the largest purchasers. They accounting for almost 55% of sales in 2024 – up nearly 20% from 2023.
Marmarelli makes clear he told the BBC his thoughts about them, but they were still keen for an interview:
I told them in advance I don’t like the BBC, because it is pro-genocide and pro-apartheid, and I don’t think they are a professional news organisation.
He argues the broadcaster is deliberately avoiding calling what is happening in Gaza a genocide. This goes against the consensus of all leading human rights organisations, and an independent UN Commission of Inquiry.
BBC’s pro-Israel bias
Everyone knows what Israel’s been doing for the past 26 months, it’s no secret. It’s a genocide, it’s apartheid, it’s colonialism. But the BBC are deliberately not calling it a genocide. They are biased in favour of Israel, even though Israel is the criminal, the one committing the genocide, and operating an apartheid regime.
An anonymous journalist from the BBC confirmed to Declassified UK that the use of the word genocide is effectively banned. They said “any contributor who uses this word is immediately shut down.”
In 2025 120 journalists from the BBC, and more than 300 media industry figures anonymously signed a letter to the BBC’s director general. They accused the broadcaster of acting as a “mouthpiece for Israel” and whitewashing Israeli war crimes. The letter claims the editorial approach consistently favours Israeli occupation narratives. And content creators face censorship in the name of impartiality- even whilst a genocide is being committed.
Claims the BBC is systematically biased against Palestinians, is backed up a study from the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM). Their report, titled BBC on Gaza- Israel: One story double standards, analysed over 35,000 pieces of BBC content between October 7, 2023 and October 6, 2024.
BBC believes Israeli deaths worth 33 times more than those of Palestinians
Israeli deaths received 33 times more coverage per fatality in BBC online articles. This is despite a casualty ratio of around 34 Palestinian deaths to every 1 Israeli death during the study period.
CfMM also found emotive terms such as “massacre,” “murder,” and “atrocities” were used much more often for Israeli victims. For example, “murder” was used 220 times for Israeli deaths, compared to once for Palestinian deaths.
The report claimed the BBC interviewed more than double the number of Israelis on TV and radio, compared to Palestinians. Israeli perspectives were also shared 11 times more frequently by presenters than Palestinian ones.
There is also a lack of historical and legal context in BBC reporting on Israel- Palestine. CfMM found that only 0.5% of articles referenced Israel’s almost 60 year occupation, or its blockade, when reporting on the October 7 attacks, which were referenced in 40% of online coverage.
The BBC’s decision to drop Marmarelli’s interview without a credible explanation underscores the censorship he describes. At a time when evidence of abuse is widely documented, excluding an expert critical voice is less an issue of timing and more an act of editorial avoidance. Although Marmarelli’s testimony will circulate anyway, what lingers is further damage to the BBC’s credibility.
Content warning: this article contains discussion of rape and sexual violence that some readers may find upsetting
Documented Palestinian testimonies reveal the use of sexual violence, including rape, as a systematic means of torture inside Israeli prisons, in one of the most serious violations suffered by Palestinian prisoners since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, amid widespread international silence and accusations of political collusion that provides cover for the continuation of these crimes.
In exclusive testimonies published byMiddle East Eye, two former Palestinian prisoners gave shocking accounts of sexual assault and physical and psychological torture inside Israeli detention centres. The prisoners emphasised that what they experienced cannot be classified as isolated incidents, but rather part of a systematic policy practised against prisoners, especially during the initial phase of detention, known among detainees as the ‘welcome party’.
Palestinian journalist: they raped me after a medical examination
Palestinian journalist Sami al-Sayegh, 44, from Tulkarm, said he was physically abused in the Israeli Megiddo prison after his arrest in February 2024, during a campaign of raids carried out by the occupation army in the West Bank following the war on Gaza. Al-Sayegh explained that he was held in administrative detention for 16 months without charge or trial.
He noted that a few days after his arrest, he was transferred to a clinic inside the prison, where he could hear the screams of prisoners being tortured in neighbouring rooms. According to his testimony, the prison doctor gave him a quick examination before the guards were asked to take him away. He was then blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to a closed room where, according to his account, he was beaten, insulted, threatened and sexually assaulted while a number of guards watched and laughed.
Al-Sayegh added that one of the guards threatened to attack members of his family, saying that what was happening ‘would affect all journalists.’ He said he felt his life was at stake, suggesting that the incident had been documented after he heard one guard ask another to stop filming.
‘Welcome party’: systematic torture upon entering prison
According to Al-Sayegh, prisoners call the pattern of violent torture that many detainees are subjected to upon their arrival in Israeli prisons a ‘welcome party,’ which includes severe beatings, humiliation, and sexual assault. He said that what he experienced was only a small part of what he heard from prisoners from the Gaza Strip, emphasising that the level of violence had reached unprecedented levels. He also stressed that most of these violations are committed by prison guards, and not only during interrogation.
In another testimony, a former Palestinian prisoner from the West Bank, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that occupation soldiers sexually assaulted him using a dog inside a prison. He explained that the guards broke into his cell at dawn, tied him up along with a number of other prisoners, and then took him to a place away from the surveillance cameras, where he was beaten and stripped of his clothes before the assault was carried out.
He added that the soldiers assaulted him again when he screamed, before leaving him for hours in the prison yard in harsh conditions. He said that the moment was indescribable, emphasising that the sexual assault was part of a wider system of torture.
The prisoner noted that violations inside prisons also include deliberate starvation, deprivation of water, medical neglect, severe overcrowding, and the spread of untreated diseases. He noted that prisoners received very limited amounts of food, not exceeding about 700 grams per day, without basic nutrients, which led to a deterioration in their health.
Direct accusations and political cover for Israeli prisons
Al-Asir pointed out that violations inside prisons also include deliberate starvation, deprivation of water, medical negligence, severe overcrowding, and the spread of untreated diseases. He noted that prisoners were given very limited amounts of food, not exceeding about 700 grams per day, without basic nutritional elements, which led to a serious deterioration in their health.
The prisoner confirmed that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Ofer Prison in July 2024, coinciding with the storming of prisoners’ cells by guards who assaulted them with batons. He said he saw Ben-Gvir directing the guards and laughing, describing the scene as akin to direct supervision of torture.
These testimonies are consistent with UN investigations and reports accusing Israel of using sexual violence as a ‘weapon of war’ aimed at subjugating Palestinians and destroying their social fabric. The Israeli organisation B’Tselem has also described prisons as a ‘network of torture camps,’ documenting cases of rape and sexual assault committed by soldiers and guards against Palestinian prisoners, in the absence of accountability and the continuation of violations.
In an interview for his new Avatar sequel, James Cameron showed his understanding of why people in Palestine, Ukraine, and Sudan are standing up to their oppressors like Israel:
Given that the Avatar films are explicitly anti-imperialist, it’s not surprising Cameron would think like this.
James Cameron: “it’s existential”
In the video above, the host asks:
You capture all-out war in this movie. Good guys are killing bad guys. They’re each killing each other. They’re each killing each other’s animals and creatures. And yet I feel like when we see the sort of suffering, we only see the pain, mostly see the pain inflicted on the good guys. As if you’re trying to make sure we don’t empathize with the bad guys. Can you talk about how fighting for what’s right, and walking that line, requires that sort of portrayal?
Cameron responds:
It’s a fine line, right? Because we go down, we go into Tulkun culture and they say, you know, killing only leads to more killing, an endless expanding spiral, right? And that’s the world we live in right now. That’s what we’ve seen. We’ve seen it in Gaza. We’ve seen it in Sudan. We’ve seen it in Ukraine.
And you know, you’re doing an action movie. People are going to fight, right? But are you fighting for a just cause? Are you fighting for what you believe in? Are you fighting from a place of hatred or revenge?
There are some fights that are righteous. And total annihilation is a reason to fight. It’s existential.
Cameron and his friends George Lucas have made similar comments in the past:
James Cameron: "In Star Wars the good guys are the rebels, they're using asymmetric warfare against a highly organized empire, I think we call those guys terrorists today."
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has chosen to maintain its insurance and sponsorship agreement with Allianz, despite the company being part of so-called Israel’s economy of genocide, outlined in a landmark UN report. The GAA is the main administrator of traditional Irish sports such as Gaelic football and hurling, with over 2,200 clubs registered as members.
Gaelic Athletic Association
The sporting body had assigned a review of the deal with the German financial services monstrosity to its Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC). The Gaelic Athletic Association set up the EIC in the wake of pressure from members demanding that the association drop Allianz, citing its appearance in a report by the brilliant UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. In that report, entitled From economy of occupation to economy of genocide, Albanese outlined how Allianz have been ploughing money into the illegitimate Zionist pseudo-state, saying:
Global insurance companies, including Allianz and AXA, also invest large sums in shares and bonds implicated in the occupation and genocide, partly as capital reserves for policyholder claims but primarily to generate returns. Allianz holds at least $7.3 billion and AXA, despite some divestment decisions, still invests at least $4.09 billion in tracked companies named in this report.
She went on to detail how they fund the high-risk work of companies that operate as part of ‘Israel’s’ ongoing land theft project, enabling them to continue their criminality knowing they have an insurance behemoth at their back:
Their insurance policies also underwrite the risks other companies necessarily take when operating in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, thus enabling the commission of human rights abuses and “de-risking” their operational environment.
GAA’s ‘Ethics and Integrity’ Commission doesn’t understand its own name
Nonetheless, the authors of the Ethics and Integrity Commission report determined that the genocide funding company should be kept. A Gaelic Athletic Association statement gives the reasons, including:
If the GAA was to terminate its contracts with Allianz it would be impossible to secure an alternative insurer that would not have similar links.
The unilateral termination of the contract with Allianz plc by the GAA could expose the Association to legal consequences apart from loss of sponsorship.
The GAA is ethically and legally bound to honour its contracts and a failure to do so has the potential to damage its reputation and undermine its ability to do business with commercial entities.
Allianz plc has no involvement with the IDF or corporate entities involved in the war in Gaza. Any such relationship is with a ‘sibling or cousin company’.
Now, this might be linguistic pedantry, but one might think an ‘Ethics and Integrity’ Commission might want to focus on – just as a starting point – ethics and integrity. Instead, the reasons cited focus on the practicalities of securing alternative insurance, legal consequences and potential reputation damage. The moments where they get close to honouring their own name still manage to find a means of falling short.
In terms of alternate insurance providers, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement do not have a policy of finding a perfect, spotless option when dealing with complicity companies. An emphasis is placed on avoiding the primary targets of the movement, and other companies that egregiously fail, as Albanese’s report proves Allianz do.
That Allianz supposedly have “no involvement with the IDF” is a red herring; again the UN findings are clear on Allianz’s criminality. The fact that the GAA report refers to “the war in Gaza” rather than the Zionist holocaust in Gaza, tells the reader all they need to know about the useless commission’s starting point for examining these issues.
It was important to give the GAA an opportunity to show us where they stand. The content, tone and utter lack of human empathy in the press release is telling. The GAA executive has adopted a ‘business as usual’ approach in a time of genocide.
The ethics that the Executive concerned itself with was not the genocide rather, the ethics of ending a commercial contract. It is now up to the grassroots of the GAA to make their position known at Congress.
They concluded by saying:
Given the history and values of the GAA, it should adopt a human rights based approach in its commercial dealings. This requires contracts to be screened for human rights violations in times of conflict.
System change is vital and we remain dedicated to our aim. We have faith in the great goodness and decency of the people of our Association.
The Gaelic Athletic Association has historically characterised itself as not being politically neutral. It has claimed to act as a vessel for the preservation of Irish culture, and as a vehicle for anti-imperialism.
This pretence now appears to have evaporated. Business concerns now appear to trump doing the bare minimum during a modern-day holocaust. As musician Nodlaig Ní Bhrollaigh put it:
For the GAA, it’s ‘business as usual’ – the banality of evil.
A group of around 30 protesters gathered outside the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s (PCI) Assembly Buildings Conference Centre, calling for the church to take action against so-called Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. The demonstration was staged to coincide with a Special General Assembly at the opulent Belfast premises on Thursday December 18, held to discuss a separate but arguably related matter – the fallout from “failures in safeguarding“.
This is essentially a nice way of saying the PCI did virtually nothing to protect those in its care from predatory paedos.
Those demonstrating highlighted the church’s failure to protect the children in Gaza, where the Zionist regime has killed at least 20,000 innocent young people – probably far more. The PCI has been essentially silent on this modern-day holocaust.
A scan of their X feed shows two mentions of Gaza in the last two years, and none of Palestine. Even these references to the mass slaughter frame the matter in misleading “both sides” terms, describing the “suffering in Gaza and Israel“. They compound this by mischaracterising the Zionist mass murder campaign as “war in the Gaza Strip“, as they “hope” for an end to the violence.
Presbyterian Church failing to be the good Samaritan
The church was holding an all-Ireland assembly to discuss their child protection failings. We reminded them of their failure to stand up for the children of Gaza. In the parable of the good Samaritan it was the Priest and the Levite who walked by on the other side. In our present day it’s ministers and elders.
We implore Presbyterian Church of Ireland- and indeed all Christians – to stand for humanity and justice, as Jesus asks us. What good is your faith for if you say nothing while entire families scream under the rubble?
Act likes Christians today! Don’t just worship, don’t just speak the word!
Another said:
They [‘Israelis’] are abusing children and killing them. They have many 1000s of Palestinians locked up being tortured every single day. Why do our lives matter more? Why do we get to live? Where is the justice for the people of Palestine?
There was limited engagement from PCI members entering the building. One man said he had helped Palestinian families around Belfast. Others gave thumbs up, though more common were glares or an attempt to ignore the protest entirely.
Protesters made it clear the issue wasn’t with individuals, but with PCI as a “corporate body”. They stressed that some individual Presbyterian churches had done good work for Palestine.
PCI failed to safeguard children in its care, and ignores the murder of those in Gaza
At the General Assembly meeting, head of the PCI Rev Dr Richard Murray issued an apology for the victims of those harmed as a result of the church’s failure to protect them. He said:
It’s necessary that we gather together in this special General Assembly to grieve and lament for those who have been hurt and harmed – and for their families who have to pick up the pieces.
There will be things these good people have to live with for the rest of their lives. And to them we say sorry, that you have been hurt or harmed, or both, by our failings.
The meeting heard various proposals to prevent people once again being subjected to sexual abuse. These included the setting up of a new safeguarding department and what the BBC describes as an “independent, external review of safeguarding.”
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is currently carrying out a criminal investigation as a result of the PCI’s disclosure in November that it had failed on safeguarding. The probe will:
…seek to establish victims of offending and their perpetrators, and if criminal offences have been committed by those responsible for safeguarding.
…three charges of inciting two different children under the age of 13 into sexual activity.
As horrifying as that is, the Zionist pseudo-state has subjected the children of Gaza to even worse. All churches must do more to speak out on their behalf, or continue to prove protesters right when they say:
Christian response to genocide – walking by on the other side!
The Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) has announced the launch of a new solidarity campaign calling for the release of Dr Hossam Abu Safiya and all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli occupation prisons. The campaign will take the form of a calm, symbolic action titled the “Red Ribbons Campaign”, to be held on Saturday 20 December at Oxford Circus in central London, at 1:00 pm.
The Forum explained that the event is neither a demonstration nor a protest march, but a silent, peaceful act of solidarity. Participants will hang red ribbons and display specially designed posters carrying clear demands for freedom and justice, conveying a humanitarian message to British and international public opinion about the suffering of Palestinian prisoners.
The sight of a cloud-covered sky signaling the threat of chilling rain has become a nightmare for thousands of displaced families in Gaza — particularly those who have set up their tents along the beach, as the sea level rises due to heavy rainfall. Families have been desperately trying to protect themselves from drowning by building sand barriers around their tents using shovels…
Western establishments’ fear of the phrase “Globalise the intifada” has little to do with any danger supposedly posed to Jewish populations from its use.
The threat is posed by the slogan’s central idea, not by some specific target.
“Globalise the intifada!” is the modern equivalent of “Power to the people!” – a slogan long used by anti-colonial movements, by revolutionary socialist parties, by the ANC in its fight against South African apartheid, and by the Black Panthers in their struggle against white supremacy in the US.
The emblematic anti-colonial struggle of our times is in Palestine. It is hardly surprising that any emerging, popular mass movement against oppressive, unaccountable, increasingly anti-democratic Western elites should look to the language of that struggle.
“Intifada” refers to “shaking off” a system of oppression.
We can all see where Israel’s ethnic supremacist agenda has led for the Palestinians: to military occupation, apartheid, and genocide.
Many of us sense, too, that this is where our own societies are heading. The ultimate destination of the technological developments – from smartphones to social media – that have atomised and pacified us over the past two decades is absolute control over our lives through surveillance, facial recognition, and more militarised and robotic policing, and our ever-greater redundancy and powerlessness in the face of artificial intelligence and greater mechanisation.
These technologies have been tested and refined for at least a quarter of a century in the Palestinian territories illegally occupied and ruled by Israel.
Why is Israel viewed as so essential to Western elites that they are willing to be seen openly backing its genocide in Gaza? Because Israel is creating a vision of the near-future, it is developing the template for how they deal with surplus sections of western populations in a world of diminishing resources and an ever-more hostile climate.
And all the better for our rulers, any resistance on our part to the Palestinians’ enslavement and slow extermination – and to our own growing servitude and abuse – can be characterised as antisemitism. In outsourcing this project to Israel, Western establishments have devised the ultimate cover story.
Every time some deluded group or individual falls for this ploy and blames Jews collectively for what Israel and its patrons are really responsible for, the noose tightens a little more around the neck of those trying to liberate our minds before the confinement of our bodies becomes permanent.
While we are being demonised as racists, the technology and strategies used today against Palestinians will become the walls of tomorrow’s prisons for us.
“Globalise the intifada” isn’t a call for harming Jews, though Western establishments would love you to think it is. It’s a call for showing solidarity with Palestinians before it is too late for them, and for us. It is about throwing sand in the cogs of a machinery of oppression before it grows too powerful to be confronted.
Over decades, the Palestinians have moved between peaceful and violent intifadas, and found neither has won them greater freedom. That is not because intifada is necessarily the wrong path to liberation and justice. It is because the forces ranged against them have been insurmountable.
That is why we, at the heart of the imperial hub, must show them solidarity – and why we need to learn from their experience before we run out of time to act for ourselves.
When news broke of the Bondi Beach shooting, those of us in the global Palestine solidarity movement knew immediately what was coming. We’ve seen this pattern: when liberation movements challenge state power and when genocide is named and resisted, states seize on any incident, any tragedy, to justify criminalizing that resistance. Since October 2023, as Israel has carried out genocide in Gaza…
Medical professionals in the UK have warned that eight Palestine Action activists held in British prisons are at “imminent risk of death,” with concerns raised publicly during a press conference in south London on 18 December. Emergency physician and University College London lecturer Dr. James Smith said the detainees’ condition has sharply deteriorated and told reporters that “the hunger strikers are dying.”
Smith said accounts from inside the prison system point to “substandard monitoring and treatment.”
“It is my view, as an NHS doctor, that the complexity of the hunger strikers’ care needs must now be managed with regular specialist input if not continuous monitoring in hospital,” he said.
A group of protesters have shut down the entrance to a factory belonging to Elbit Systems. The halt of Israel’s weapons supplier is one of the key demands of the anti-genocide activists. Eight prisoners, all being held on remand for allegedly taking action in solidarity with Palestine, have been on open ended hunger strike since the 2 November in British prisons. This is the biggest coordinated prison hunger strike in UK prisons since the 1981 H-block strike in the North of Ireland. Six of the hunger strikers have been hospitalised so far. Despite the enormity of the strike, the media coverage has been minimal, and the government fails to respond.
For 38 weeks straight, racial justice protesters have been gathering outside a Target in Washington, D.C. to call out the company for suspending its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, aligning itself with the Trump administration’s attacks on DEI.
To put additional pressure on the company, those advocates have been calling for “Target fasts,” in which people completely abstain from purchasing anything from Target.
The boycott began in February, following Target’s suspension of DEI efforts, and was initiated by Until Freedom, a nonprofit organization dedicated to community activism and rapid response.
Netanyahu has approved ‘Israel’s’ largest energy deal ever — a $35 billion gas export deal with Egypt. He said the deal “greatly strengthens Israel’s position as a regional energy superpower and contributes to regional stability”. But it raises serious questions about Egyptian complicity, responsibility, and the prioritisation of profit over Palestinian life. This is a long-term economic partnership with a government accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, at a time when legal obligations should take precedence over commercial interests.
Egypt’s 15-year energy deal with the occupation
Under the agreement, gas from Israel’s offshore Leviathan field will be exported to Egypt over roughly 15-years, with Egypt acting as a regional processing and export hub. While the gas is extracted from waters internationally recognised as under ‘Israeli’ control, the deal is inseparable from the broader reality of ‘Israel’s’ occupation of Palestinian territory and its systematic abuse of Palestinian rights, including the deliberate strangulation of Gaza’s economy and infrastructure.
‘Israel’s’ energy boom has unfolded alongside a crippling blockade of Gaza, repeated military assaults, and policies that have left Palestinians without reliable access to electricity, fuel, or economic self-sufficiency. Gaza’s power shortages are the result of deliberate political decisions, and are a tool of control and colonisation. While hospitals, water desalination plants, and sewage systems have repeatedly been pushed to the brink of collapse, the occupation is able to expand its role as a regional energy exporter.
Egypt — Deal ‘purely commercial’
Although Egypt insists the gas deal is ‘purely commercial‘, this claim cannot be justified when viewed against international legal obligations. Under the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, states must not only stop genocide when it is being committed, but also take all reasonable steps to prevent it. Entering into long-term economic agreements that strengthen the economy of the genocidal state of Israel is clearly at odds with this responsibility.
By locking itself into decades of gas purchases, Egypt is not just buying energy. It is also helping to normalise relations with a criminal state. It is also stabilising and legitimising an economy that underwrites military capacity, settlement expansion, and an occupation widely recognised by human rights organisations as apartheid. Economic cooperation with ‘Israel’ sends a message that genocide is no barrier to business as usual.
Multinational energy companies operating in Israel’s gas sector are also deeply complicit. U.S.-based Chevron runs the Leviathan and Tamar offshore fields. BritishBP holds exploration licences in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone alongside Azerbaijan’s SOCAR. And Israeli occupation firms such as NewMed Energy also profit from extraction, transport, and export infrastructure that underpins ‘Israel’s’ economy.
Gas from these fields is used for ‘Israel’s’ domestic supply. But it is also exported abroad, in deals such as this $35 billion deal supplying Egypt. These lock in decades of revenue, strengthening the economy of the apartheid Israeli state, and its military capacity and occupation. These companies continue to benefit financially but remain insulated from the consequences of Israel’s policies on the ground. This raises serious questions of complicity and corporate responsibility.
‘Energy security’
Western governments have provided the diplomatic and political cover that allows these deals to proceed. Europe and the United States repeatedly invoke “energy security” to justify deepening ties with ‘Israel’s’ gas sector, even as they pretend to acknowledge the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. This selective application of international law undermines the legitimacy of the global legal framework these states claim to uphold. Energy dependence is treated as an overriding concern, while Palestinian lives are thought of as expendable.
The Egypt gas deal is part of a broader pattern in which ‘Israel’ is economically rewarded even as it maintains its system of occupation, blockade, and collective punishment. Gas revenues strengthen the zionist entity’s standing with the rest of the world, and increases its bargaining power. This is happening whilst Palestinians are denied control over their borders, resources, and basic economic development.
The Israeli regime’s gas strategy
In October 2023, the Israeli occupation granted offshore gas exploration licences off Gaza’s coast, to six Israeli and international companies. This was in violation of international law. Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights warned these energy companies that involvement in these licences could amount to war crimes.
So, ‘Israel’s’ gas strategy is not limited to commercially uncontested waters. It is expanding in ways that further entrench Palestinian dispossession. And is increasingly becoming another arena in which occupation is normalised and monetised.
The Israel–Egypt gas deal is a political choice that prioritises stability and profit over international law and human rights. Egypt, Western governments, and multinational corporations all bear responsibility for the consequences of this choice.
It rewards occupation, entrenches inequality, and financially supports a state accused of the worst crimes under international law. Participation in ‘Israeli’ gas exports strengthens a system that denies Palestinians control over their lives, their economy, and their future. Egypt’s claim that this is just a commercial deal is untrue. Economic ties and energy infrastructure are propping up ‘Israel’s’ regime of ethnic cleansing and control, and governments and corporations are choosing profit and gas over international law, humanity, and Palestinian life.
The BBC has shown its true colours over an article which correctly explained the context of ‘globalise the intifada’. After receiving backlash from the Israel lobby, the BBC edited the article to align with Tel Aviv’s talking points.
Incredible. The BBC gets the context right – for once – and then proceeds to panic and correct it. No news organisation has ever wrecked its reputation over one story the way it has over the last two years. https://t.co/rFkDqe38Er
The term intifada came into popular use during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987.
It was a largely unarmed and popular uprising that continued until the early 1990s. The intifada also saw the development of groups outside the control of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) — notably Hamas.
The second Intifada began in September 2000 after a controversial visit by Ariel Sharon, then opposition leader, to a holy site in Jerusalem. It is sometimes referred to as “al-Aqsa intifada” after the al-Aqsa Mosque in the Haram al-Sharif site, known to Jews as Temple Mount.
However, the BBC‘s brief truth-telling stint was not going to last.
It was then replaced with:
The term intifada came into popular use during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987.
Some have described the term as a call for violence against Jewish people.
Others have said it is a call for peaceful resistance to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and actions in Gaza.
Of course, the powers that be do not want an Arabic phrase associated with words like “popular” or “unarmed”. It wouldn’t fit their narrative.
Uh oh, it looks like a bit of history might have just been Berg’d at the BBC. Don’t want people associating “intifada” with ‘unarmed’ or ‘popular’ it seems.
Note also the load bearing “Some” in 2nd para of the correction. Who? Why? Berg’d.
The Israel lobby has made it clear it will do whatever it takes to remove any semblance of a positive narrative when it comes to Palestine or the Palestinian people.
Ah … life moves fast but not as fast as the frenzied feeding of the Israel lobby as it mass attacks to expunge any positive mention and memory of Palestine from our media and news platforms via the useful tools who edit and host them. pic.twitter.com/wnUGji3Ycu
Globalise the intifada distorted with Tel Aviv’s talking points
The BBC’s original article included a very rare explanation of the emergence of Hamas — which of course, the corporate media almost always fails to include.
Fromaccnt – BBC has since removed even ‘largely unarmed’ as well as *any* context for Hamas emergence.
I don’t want this racist org to survive as a news outlet tbh -if liberals can excuse its omissions & lies pls don’t expect support from those objecting to racist propaganda https://t.co/hv7fJckN4Npic.twitter.com/qAAYxw5ghP
So much for an ‘impartial broadcaster’. Impartial would involve doing a tiny bit of actual journalism — instead of copying and pasting press releases straight from Mossad’s PR list.
What the powers that be do not want people to know is that calling for intifada is literally calling for the end to the occupation, apartheid, and genocide in Palestine.
In the context of Palestine, intifada literally means *to shake off* the Israeli occupation. Calling for intifada, or for globalising the intifada is a call to end occupation, to end apartheid, to stop genocide. The Met is criminalising speech that aligns with international law. https://t.co/DQfhM6FfCS
The First Intifada began in December 1987. International communities had already condemned Israel for being excessively violent.
Yes — some Israelis were killed. But that is against a backdrop of Israeli forces killing over 1,000 Palestinians.
And let’s not forget that people living under occupation have a right to armed resistance under international law.
The rule of law gives people the right to rise up against their oppressors. Intifada – beautiful noble Arabic – is exactly the right word. https://t.co/1n5yPZIjXh
The BBC doesn’t quite go there, but the first intifada was non-violent (civil disobedience and boycotts) *but* was met with shocking levels of military (and settler) violence and collective punishment by the IOF, which is when Hamas and other groups emerged. https://t.co/bnquYrp3wZ
Now, the Met Police is effectively criminalising something that is legal under international law.
The BBC has changed its story on today’s arrests of pro-Palestine chants of intifada because it described the 1st intifada as “largely unarmed” and this is clearly not acceptable to pro-Israel historians who police the BBC’s news output pic.twitter.com/m3d1B1S1Vt
The BBC has been playing this game for years. Changing the script and rewriting the narrative. This time it’s globalise the intifada.
But what should we expect when forces like UK Lawyers for Israel are throwing their weight around, and zionist millionaires are funding our politicians? Add in some fake antisemitism claims, and the truth really doesn’t stand a chance.
The BBC needs to either grow a pair, or drop the ‘impartial public broadcaster’ bullshit — because it is clear who is pulling the strings.
There have already been signs that the government’s new ‘foreign interference’ probe will ignore meddling on behalf of Israel. And the election of a pro-Israel lobby figures as co-chair of a new parliamentary group makes that seem a near certainty.
Unsurprisingly, Woodcock used his advisory role to call for harsh consequences against civilians who took direct action against companies complicit in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and beyond. He eventually lost his job, but kept pushing hard for a crackdown on free speech, particularly on the settler-colonial occupation of Palestine.
In short, Woodcock and Timothy together make up exactly the kind of team you would not want to put in charge of looking into foreign interference in British politics. Because impartiality and balance are not words that either of them understand. Yet here we are.
At dawn, the border does not announce itself with gunfire, but with silence.
The state retreats, as Israel advances into Dahiya
A farmer from southern Lebanon, in Dahiya, points to the land his family has cultivated for generations. He says he no longer knows where Lebanon ends. A new surveillance tower watches over the fields. Its roving cameras prying on the people tending to their land. Israeli patrols now tread new routes that did not exist a year ago.
In Beirut, officials speak of restored control and post-ceasefire stability but on the ground the frontier is shifting without resistance. The war is not being fought with guns. It is being waged through infrastructure, the bureaucratic apparatus, and the retreat of the Lebanese state. If state control was supposed to bring international legitimacy and deterrence, why then is Israel advancing?
Who controls Lebanon’s southern border
In the months following a ceasefire that promised to restore state authority, the community in the south are no closer to peace. The official Lebanese position is that the army is the sole legitimate security force south of the Litani River. Even so, this has not stopped Israeli military incursions into Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities say they coordinate with so-called “friendly states” — primarily the US and France — but its diplomatic appeals have ended in vain. Belligerent to the laws of international law, Israel continues to inch deeper into Lebanese territory as the international community stands back, mouth agape. Beirut insists that the Lebanese Army now “controls” the south. The reality on the ground suggests otherwise.
Undeterred Israel pushes deeper into southern Lebanon
Despite reassurances from Beirutm, UN peacekeepers have reported that Israeli forces control the buffer zonesl, blocking civilian and military access. Their posturing violates the terms of the ceasefire agreement whose promise to restore “full Lebanese control” remains unfulfilled.
Israeli War Minister Israel Katz has stated that Israel will maintain these positions “indefinitely”. The UN interim force in Lebanon has documented frequent violations along the Blue Line — the demarcation drawn by the UN in 2000 after Lebanon’s liberation ended 18 years of Israeli occupation.
UN winds down peacekeeping mission — But can Beirut go it alone?
Notwithstanding these repeated violations, the UN is winding down its historical peacekeeping mission. By the end of 2026, the Lebanese state will shoulder these security responsibilities alone. Given its limited military capacity and diplomatic leverage, its ability to do so is tenuous at best. With near daily raids and incursions, the palpable fear on the ground is that Israel will exploit the security vacuum the UN’s withdrawal is anticipated to create.
Local residents and officials report that Israel’s fortified positions restrict access to traditional farmland, which these Lebanese army is unable to challenge.
The Lebanese Army patrols, observes, and documents violations but is incapable of preventing incursions, dismantling newly built Israeli infrastructure, or reclaiming farmland. This is due to limited defensive capabilities and political constraints, namely pressure from the US, Lebanon’s primary military backer.
This pressure determines how the army operates and the limits of its powers.
All talk and no bite
Local officials describe a chain of command that focuses on documentation not action, while leaders in the capital shy away from difficult conversations to avoid escalation for the sake of stability. This results in the hollowing of sovereignty, existing in name only for the peace of mind of Lebanon’s international partners.
Lebanon’s reliance on international legitimacy, once seen as its protection, has shown its limits. No pressure from Lebanon’s so-called allies has pressured Israel to change its behavior. In reality, Lebanon’s failure to add has emboldened Israel and an unspoken acceptance of border violations and incursions.
History shows that borders aren’t just redrawn by treaties but by habits entrenched over time. Surveillance towers become permanent, access restrictions become accepted, and exceptional emergency orders set the stage for future negotiations.
Analysts warn that these changes may cultivate a new status quo, which Lebanon may be forced to accept. Historically speaking, such shifts have been accompanied by occupation, displacement, massacres, and military rule, often sustained by international consent, particularly from the US — Israel’s trusted ally.
In this way, today’s silence is an investment that fosters a weaker state and future in Lebanon.
The International Criminal Court and human rights groups on Thursday condemned new US sanctions on two more of the tribunal’s judges, which brought the total number of sanctioned ICC jurists to 11 amid the Trump administration’s escalating campaign of retaliation against people and institutions seeking to hold Israel and the United States accountable for their alleged crimes. “Today…
The 18 national campaigns of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla coalition (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, International Campaign to Break the Siege, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, United States) met in Dublin, Ireland December 5-7, 2025 to plan for many more vessels to sail to challenge the illegal Israel naval blockade and the genocide of Gaza.
Israel continues to break the ceasefire in Gaza and has escalated the vicious attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their land in the West Bank.
New York-based Irene Cho and Boston-based Trudi Frost, who were arrested by Israeli forces last Friday, remain in custody at the Givon prison after Israeli courts have summarily denied all their appeals while refusing to examine the evidence proving they have committed no offense. They are expected to be deported later tonight from Ben Gurion airport.
Cho and Frost were arrested on Friday, December 12, in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyer while staying with the Abu Hamam family, which is threatened with forced displacement by military and settler violence.
Israeli company under the control of extremist minister Bezalel Smotrich
Declassified UK reports that its investigation into the APPG showed it had taken:
£1,499 from RUK Advanced Systems Ltd, which is part of the Israeli state-owned defence giant, Rafael.
And it notes that company records show this company was under the control of:
the Israeli government’s Ministry of Finance, which is led by far-right politician Bezalel Smotrich who is sanctioned by Britain for inciting “extremist violence” against Palestinians.
The Israel lobbyfunds a massive chunk of the UK’s top-level politicians, from the Conservatives to Labour. And if any probe into foreign interference is to be truly meaningful, it must pay attention to this.
Lobbyists for unscrupulous regimes and corporations are severely undermining our democratic rights and freedoms. And getting their influence out of parliament must be a priority.
The government’s Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has announced what it calls an “Urgent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics“. Un-but-ought-to-be-remarkably, the announcement does not contain a single mention of the biggest ‘foreign financial interferer’ in UK politics — Israel — even once. Instead, it refers only to the “shocking case of former [Brexit/Reform] MEP Nathan Gill”, who has been jailed for fourteen years for taking bribes to say good things about… Russia.
The MHCLG announcement also refers to the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA)’s new guidance on:
how members of Parliament and their staff can protect themselves from foreign states and its proxies in relation to espionage and foreign interference.
Anybody see Israel?
Equally un-but-ought-to-be-remarkably, this document also makes ZERO mentions of Israel. It mentions China (7 times), Russia (6 times); it mentions Iran, Ukraine and even Australia. But not even once for the biggest foreign financial interferer — who, not incidentally, is also known to blackmail, threaten and coerce its targets if bundles of cash don’t do the trick.
And Israel’s agents haven’t yet found a tactic they wouldn’t stoop to. Israel’s agents threatened to kill Diab Abou Jahjah, chair of the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), and his entire family if the HRF wouldn’t stop its legal pursuit of Israeli war criminals.
The list goes on
And so on and so on and so on. It would be a very long list to even scratch the surface, even leaving aside Israel’s notorious readiness to conduct ‘false flag’ attacks on others — and even itself — to achieve its aims. But none of it — none of it — makes Steve Reed or his boss Keir Starmer interested in including Israel in Reed’s ‘review’, let alone conducting the full criminal into Israel. This includes its bought, paid-for or blackmailed stooges in the UK establishment.
To paraphrase the late, great Caroline Aherne:
But what, Steve, first persuaded you never to shine a spotlight on your Israel friends and donors?
It’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma if ever there was one.
Remember Maccabi Tel Aviv? They’re that Israeli football club whose fans Keir Starmer and a host of UK politicians insisted we should allow to attend a match in Birmingham, in spite of a police assessment deeming them a high risk of violence.
Maccabi fan-ban
UEFA’s control, ethics and disciplinary body (CEDB) made the decision to issue the fine. It stated that the penalty was a consequence of their fans’ conduct at an 11 December Europa League game against Stuttgart.
The disciplinary body also slapped the club with a suspended one-match away ban for its fans, calling their behaviour “racist and discriminatory”. In particular, Maccabi fans chanted anti-Arab slogans on the streets of Germany at their Stuttgart match.
As such, Maccabi won’t be permitted to sell tickets to their own fans for their ‘next’ UEFA away match. However, this aspect of the sanction is suspended for a two-year probationary period.
We know we’ve got a long road ahead. There are elements in the club that are not in line with our values, our morals, and we do expend a lot of energy and have been for many, many years in trying to… eradicate that.
Maccabi’s history of violent racism
That ‘long road ahead’ is going to be very long indeed. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have a long and storied history of deeply racist hooliganism behind them.
Just last month, at a match in Amsterdam, Maccabi fans chanted “kill the arabs” and “gas Gaza”, brawled in the streets, and ripped down Palestinian flags.
Then, just last week, police in Germany launched an investigation into Maccabi fans. One fan allegedly made a provocative Nazi salute at an officer, and another group repeatedly set off fireworks. The Anadolu Agency also reported that:
Police said they were investigating hateful, offensive slogans chanted by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in close coordination with the public prosecutor’s office.
Social media footage showed some fans singing songs with lyrics such as “There are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left,” along with other chants containing hateful and violent language against Palestinians.
The team’s own fan site, Maccabipedia, lists a popular chant named ‘The Rape Song’. Its lyrics don’t bear translating or repeating. Suffice it to say that it names the opposing team as “Arab whores”, and makes lurid sexual and violent threats.
Charming stuff.
Aston Villa match ban
Which brings us on to the ban of the Maccabi fans in Birmingham. Leaked UK police intelligence from the run-up to the Aston Villa game ban revealed yet more of the same on the way.
As Skwawkbox reported, police sources who leaked the intel stated that:
• Large numbers of extremist Maccabi fans proven to be violent and racist would be travelling to the Villa game
• Dutch police told the UK that Maccabi fans were the cause of riots in Amsterdam around a Maccabi fixture there in 2024
• Maccabi fans had gone looking in Amsterdam for Muslims to attack, despite the deployment of thousands of Dutch police – which then led to reprisal attacks
• Some Jewish people in Birmingham wanted the Maccabi thugs banned from the match, as ascertained from a community assessment
• Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group made the decision to ban the Maccabi fans. It came after an intelligence assessment was conducted by West Midlands police, shared with the national UK football policing unit.
• The UK’s football policing unit endorsed the local force’s decision.
Starmer and co.
In spite of all that, numerous UK politicians tried to portray the fans as innocent victims of antisemitism. Accordingly, they fought tooth and nail to reverse the ban on the Maccabi supporters. Prime minister Keir Starmer said:
This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.
Likewise, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch posted that Starmer should:
Guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country.
If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go.
The government even tried to step in at one point to force local authorities to lift the ban. A Downing Street spokesperson stated:
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is meeting officials to discuss what more can be done to try and find a way through to resolve this, and what more can be done to allow fans to attend the game safely.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, spoke to the local council this morning, and the Home Office is urgently working to support police to try and find a way through this.
Somebody needs to fetch Keir Starmer. They need to find Lisa Nandy, Kemi Badenoch, Ed Davey and every other politician and talking head who went to bat for the Maccabi fans.
It would be absolutely thrilling to find out if they plan to call out UEFA authorities for issuing the club a fine. We could ask whether they plan to issue complaints to Stuttgart, Amsterdam and Israeli authorities for their discriminatory treatment of those poor little hooligans.
Or, better yet, they could apologise to everyone they accused of antisemitism for opposing fans who are well known for their violent racism.
The German Press Council has reprimanded the German newspapers (Bild and Welt) for professional misconduct. It found that in their coverage of events in the Gaza Strip they had adopted Israeli narratives without verifying their accuracy.
German papers caught pedalling Israeli falsehoods
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Council explained that it investigated a report published by Bild on its website. The report was about the killing of Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif of Al Jazeera TV following an Israeli attack. Bild quoted an Israeli army claim that al-Sharif was ‘the leader of a Hamas cell,’ presenting it in the headline as if it were a proven fact, without supporting evidence.
The Press Council considered this approach to be a clear violation of the duty of investigation and accuracy in journalism. It was also a serious violation of the journalist’s personal dignity. This warranted imposing a reprimand on the newspaper.
The Council also decided to reprimand the newspaper ‘Welt’ for publishing unconfirmed information. This related to images of malnourished children in the Gaza Strip, violating the ethical standards of the journalism profession.
Repeat offenders
The Bild and Welt newspapers belong to the German Axel Springer media group. According to the German Press Council, which monitors the media’s compliance with professional codes of conduct, Bild ranks at the top for the number of reprimands issued against it.
The Council noted several reasons for reprimanding Bild. These included sensationalist journalism, violation of personal rights and breach of the principle of accuracy. There was also disregard for the presumption of innocence, use of discriminatory expressions, and publication of information that did not correspond to reality.
It is worth noting that the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip broke out on 8 October 2023 and lasted for about two years. Consequently, it resulted in more than 70,000 deaths and over 171,000 injuries. The majority of the victims were children and women. There was also widespread destruction of infrastructure, which the United Nations estimated would cost approximately USD 70 billion to rebuild.
Despite these grim realities, Bild and Welt have amplified Israeli falsehoods, fuelling disproportionate media coverage and the sidelining of Palestinian grief — a grief still widely ignored in a world inured to Palestinian suffering.
The United Nations, alongside 200 relief organisations, are warning of an imminent collapse in humanitarian operations in Gaza. They cite ongoing obstacles and restrictions imposed by Israel, describing these as ‘arbitrary and politicised’ and obstructive to lifesaving efforts.
Israel declares war on aid groups in Gaza
Dozens of international aid organisations are at risk of losing their legal registration. Their licenses will expire on 31 December. They will be given a 60-day window to cease operations during this period. This carries serious repercussions for the local population that depend on the delivery of essential services by aid groups.
In a joint statement published by the UN office for humanitarian affairs, international aid organisations stressed that their de-registration would have a ‘catastrophic’ impact. It would affect the availability of vital services, including support to field hospitals and health care centres in Gaza. Aid organisations play a key role in providing shelter, water and sanitation services. They also treat malnutrition in children and clear mines and war remnants.
Israel weaponises bureaucratic power to block aid
The statement explained that although some organisations have registered under a new system, obstacles remain. This new system came into effect last March. It has also delayed and held vital items in limbo, including foodstuff, medical, shelter and hygiene supplies worth millions of dollars. Consequently, those in need continue to go without these vital resources in Gaza.
The UN and relief organisations warned that they would not be able to fill the gap the absence of international organisations would create. They stressed the importance of the existing humanitarian response mechanisms and the absence for an alternative amidst a humanitarian disaster which requires immediacy — without further delays.
Humanitarian aid should not be conditional
These aid groups have defended the necessity of humanitarian aid, which they say is essential for Gaza:
not a political choice and should not be conditional.
These warnings come amid a significant decline in the number of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip. Israel has denied these trucks access. These retributive actions are a stark violation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. This punishment affects innocent people who have survived a two-year genocide.
Israel has again slaughtered dozens of civilians in mass bombing attacks across southern Lebanon. They bombed eastern Lebanon’s border with southern Syria, which is now largely occupied by the coloniser’s military.
Human Rights Watch has also released a report this week. The report documents Israel’s systematic destruction of Lebanon’s reconstruction equipment. It highlights the targeting of factories and machinery essential for rebuilding homes in southern Lebanon.
Sa’ar even went so far as to claim that Lebanese militia’s attacks on Israel in the last year had been “without any reason”.
He seemingly forgot the repeated bombing attacks killing Lebanese civilians. Moreover, he ignored the thousands murdered and maimed, which were set in motion following the walkie talkies pager attack in September 2024.
Bombing for peace
Sa’ar also claimed that Israel only wants “peace and normalization” with Lebanon. He added that the “very minor border disputes” which exist can be easily resolved. This presumably includes Israeli groups selling off Lebanese land to US Zionists.
The attitude of “we’re bombing you and might invade again because we want to be friends” is Sa’ar interpretation of logical thinking.
If an Israeli minister is speaking, he’s lying — unless they’re admitting to more killings to satisfy their territorial greed — though even that would be half the truth.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will buy Israel’s notorious arms firm Elbit Systems. The $2.3bn deal will be the second largest in Israel history. Israel and UAE are accused of carrying out genocide in Gaza and Sudan respectively. The new deal draws them close together than ever.
Elbit, whose facilities in the UK and Europe are frequently targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters, manufactures some of Israel’s most advanced military equipment, including unmanned systems and airborne sensors.
They already have various deals in place. The buy-out is just the latest move. For instance, the UAE has also bought Elbit’s “advanced aircraft protection systems”:
These systems rely on advanced laser technology to disable the sensors of surface-to-air missiles launched at aircraft. They will be manufactured inside the UAE as part of a joint project that has received approval from the Israeli government.
It is a long-term plan. The new deal will:
be implemented over eight years and is considered the second-largest arms deal in Israeli history.
UAE and Israel are key US allies. They get a long leash and political cover from Washington. The Abraham Accords are at the centre of it all.
UAE and Elbit aligned in slaughter
The UAE signed the Abraham Accords in 2020, normalising relations with Israel. The agreement pledges the pair will:
chart together a new path to unlock the vast potential of their countries and of the region.
But there’s more.
UAE and Israeli arms industries are already intertwined. As New Arabsaid:
Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries both have representative offices in Abu Dhabi. The UAE has also invested in Third Eye, an Israeli company which develops anti-drone technology.
Israel is already on trial for genocide. In fact, Israel just lost an ICC appeal to stop its own leaders being investigated for crimes against humanity.
Israel and UAE are very alike in principle: amoral, Western-funded and backed genocidaires. Ultimately, these violent regimes seem made for each other. And it comes as no surprise that UAE would look at a firm like Elbit, a global leader in arms and repressive technologies, and think they wouldn’t mind a bit of that for themselves. Israel and the UAE are playing high-power politics.
For them, Sudanese and Gazan civilians are grist to the mill of regional and global ambition.
In utterly typical fashion, politicians and the mainstream media in the UK and across the world have immediately moved to link the appalling antisemitic terror attack at Bondi beach in Australia to anti-Zionist protests.
In particular, pro-Israel commentators across the world have united in condemning the Bondi attack as an expression of a ‘globalised intifada’. This is nothing short of a flagrant attempt to conflate anti-Zionist sentiment with antisemitic violence.
Bondi beach
On 14 December, Australia bore witness to one of the most heinous mass shootings in its history. Two gunmen on a bridge overlooking Bondi Beach opened fire on a Jewish festival festival celebrating the first day of Hanukkah.
Between them, the gunmen killed 15 people. Police forces then shot one of the suspects dead at the scene. Australian police have claimed that the antisemitic terror attack was inspired by ISIL/ISIS.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahualmost immediately sought to capitalise on the Australian tragedy. He sought to connect the attack to the fact that Australia has recently recognised the state of Palestine.
In a televised interview, Australian PM Anthony Albanese was interrogated on whether he thought there was:
any link between that recognition and the massacre in Bondi.
However, he soundly rejected the comparison:
No, I don’t. Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognises a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East.
However, this didn’t stop journalists and politicians around the world trying to connect anti-Zionist action and antisemitic terrorism. In particular, a notably prominent number of commentators chose to connect the Bondi attack to the phrase “globalise the intifada”.
Desperate comparisons
All of this is in spite of the fact that there is no evidence of the Bondi shooters using the word ‘intifada’. Nonetheless, independent journalists Caitlin Johnstone and Tim Foley did fantastic work collating examples of the very direct links between the two conjured up by pro-Israeli commentators.
What on earth do you think globalise the intifada means? And can’t people see the link between that kind of rhetoric and attacks on Jewish people as Jewish people? Because that’s what really struck at the heart of Jewish people in our country today — an attack on Jewish people organising around Hannukah, coming together as Jewish people.” ~
For those who’ve been marching these past few years demanding to ‘globalise the intifada’ this is a barbarous anti-Semitic consequence of their pro-Islamist stupidity.” ~
Palestinian propaganda has globalized the intifada
The Intifada
Johnstone and Foley’s list goes on and on. For context, ‘intifada’ means ‘uprising’ or ‘rebellion’ in Arabic. It’s the name given to two Palestinian uprisings against Israeli repression. The first occurred in the late 1980s:
The First Intifada was a largely spontaneous series of Palestinian demonstrations, nonviolent actions like mass boycotts, civil disobedience, Palestinians refusing to work jobs in Israel, and attacks (using rocks, Molotov cocktails, and occasionally firearms) on Israelis.
The Israeli military response – which included a government policy of breaking the bones of protestors – led to high fatalities. According to the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, BTselem, Israeli forces killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and injured more than 130,000 in the First intifada. Tens of thousands more were imprisoned and many were routinely tortured.
The second Intifada – commonly referred to by Palestinians as al-Aqsa Intifada – began after then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon sparked the uprising when he stormed al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem with more than 1,000 heavily armed police and soldiers on September 28, 2000.
The move sparked widespread outrage among Palestinians who had just marked the anniversary of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, for which Sharon was found responsible for failing to stop the bloodshed, following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
When people talk of the second Intifada, they often talk of Palestinian suicide bombings. However, Al Jazeera reported that:
observers say it was not until more than a month of Palestinians enduring lethal military attacks that some resorted to self-sacrificing violence.
At least 4,973 Palestinians were killed over the course of the Second Intifada. Among them were 1,262 children, 274 women and 32 medical personnel, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
To decry the terrorist assault on Bondi beach as a manifestation of a globalised intifada is nothing short of a heinous smear.
It is a smear against anti-Zionist protesters across the world who use the phrase ‘globalise the intifada’ as a call to action against Israel’s genocide. That action is non-violent, and often carried out by anti-Zionist Jewish protestors. And yet still, it is conflated with terrorism at every turn.
It is a smear against the Jewish Australians who were murdered. They had nothing to do with Israel or its genocide of the Palestinian people.
And last, it is a smear against the Palestinian people themselves, whose actions in defence of their own lands and rights are dismissed as hatred of the Jewish people.
Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Intifada is not antisemitism. It is a call to resist the occupation of Palestinian lands and the genocide of the Palestinian people.
There would be no need the globalise the intifada were it not that the world has made itself complicit with Israel’s genocide.
(@T_Nachala) 
accnt – BBC has since removed even ‘largely unarmed’ as well as *any* context for Hamas emergence.
(@FisunGuner) 