Just days after the U.S.-backed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, President Trump has issued new threats against Hamas, saying Thursday the United States would back a military intervention against the group if it fails to uphold the ceasefire agreement. “There is the fear all the time that the war will be renewed,” says Amira Hass, Haaretz correspondent for the…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza, through its Director General Dr. Munir Al-Barsh, announced today shocking details regarding the bodies of martyrs handed over by the Israeli occupation forces, numbering 120 bodies.
Al-Barsh said that medical teams were shocked by the condition of the bodies. He said they showed signs of severe torture, noting that some of the martyrs were bound in chains. Meanwhile, autopsy results showed that a number of them were executed at close range, while others were left to bleed to death without any medical assistance.
He added that medical examinations revealed that the occupation had looted human organs from the bodies of some of the martyrs, including corneas, kidneys, and livers, which is a horrific war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
Al-Barsh explained that the families have only identified six martyrs so far, calling on the families of the missing to go to hospitals and specialised centres within ten days to identify the bodies before they are buried.
The Director-General of the Ministry of Health called for the formation of an independent UN committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the desecration of the bodies of the martyrs, stressing that these crimes reveal an unprecedented level of violations against humanity committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people.
He also pointed out that the occupation forces’ dogs had mauled a large number of bodies that had been recovered from under the rubble, in a scene that reflects the ugliness of Israeli crimes and their systematic targeting of human dignity even after martyrdom.
Al-Barsh concluded his statement by emphasising that the Ministry of Health in Gaza will document all these crimes with medical and legal evidence, in preparation for presenting them to the relevant international bodies, calling on the international community to take urgent action to stop these violations and hold the occupation accountable for its crimes against the martyrs and the entire Palestinian people.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
This post was originally published on Canary.
The Government Media Office revealed in an official statement that the Gaza Strip is facing the largest construction and humanitarian disaster in modern history. The volume of rubble resulting from the war of extermination waged by the Israeli occupation two years ago has exceeded 70 million tons of rubble and waste, including thousands of completely destroyed homes and facilities.
The statement emphasised that the widespread destruction has turned Gaza into an environmental and structural disaster zone. The destruction is invariably hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid and obstructing rescue and relief efforts. It also noted that the Zionist occupation is deliberately preventing the entry of heavy equipment and machinery needed to remove rubble and recover bodies by continuing to close the crossings and preventing the entry of engineering materials and supplies.
The office explained that initial estimates indicate the presence of approximately 20,000 unexploded ordnance left over from the Israeli bombing, including bombs and missiles that require precise engineering treatment before any rubble removal can begin. The statement warned of the imminent danger these explosives pose to the lives of civilians and workers on the ground.
The Gaza Government Media Office also called on the international community to assume its legal and humanitarian responsibilities and pressure the Israeli occupation to urgently open the crossings and enable the relevant authorities to begin immediate rubble removal and reconstruction. It emphasised that any delay in this process would mean the continuation of the disaster and the escalation of health and environmental risks.
The office indicated that government agencies are working on developing a comprehensive national plan for rubble management, which includes identifying areas of accumulation, dealing with hazardous waste, and developing a plan for recycling and temporary storage, ensuring the gradual and efficient return of life to the Gaza Strip.
The statement concluded by emphasising that the massive destruction and the occupation’s responsibility for this disaster require urgent international action, and that continued global silence constitutes complicity in the ongoing crime of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
This post was originally published on Canary.
The Palestine Centre for Prisoner Studies has said that the Palestinian resistance was able to free 87% of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment in occupation prisons as part of the various stages of the Tufan al-Ahrar deal.
The Prisoner Studies Centre added that 3,985 prisoners were freed by the three resistance deals during two years of Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
Statistics from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Studies Centre show that the resistance freed 503 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment out of a total of 580 prisoners who were serving life sentences in Israeli prisons before the exchange deals, many of whom had spent more than 25 years in Israeli prisons.
In addition, 114 women, 297 children and 33 prisoners who were expected to receive life sentences or long prison terms were also freed.
Last Monday, the Israeli occupation released 1,968 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 who had been sentenced to life imprisonment or long prison terms and 1,718 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who had been arrested during the war.
This came in implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that came into effect last Friday, in accordance with US President Trump’s plan to end the war on Gaza.
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement between the resistance and Israel came into effect last Friday afternoon. The agreement is based on a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, which includes a number of provisions, including: an end to the war, a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army, the mutual release of prisoners, and the immediate entry of aid into the Strip.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
This post was originally published on Canary.
A report from the Irish Network of Legal Observers (INLO) has declared that, when stopping peaceful Palestine demonstrators on October 4, the Garda Síochána (Republic of Ireland police) likely was:
…in violation of obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 21) and the European Convention on Human Rights (article 11).
The protesters were attacked on East Wall Road when attempting to march to block Dublin port tunnel. Two days before, anti-genocide activists had succeeded in shutting down that area, causing significant disruption in response to the Irish government’s participation in Zionist mass slaughter. Ireland continues to allow Shannon airport to be used as a stop off point for US military flights, on their way to the illegitimate entity commonly referred to as ‘Israel’. It is also the second largest trading partner with the Zionist regime, and by far the highest per capita.
The gardaí were clearly keen to avoid a repeat of the events 48 hours earlier, as a group of around 150 protesters broke off from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) rally being held in the city centre that day, and made their way towards the port.
The INLO had seven observers present in “high-visibility orange vests” to observe the police response to the group, with the first incident occurring at 14:08. The report describes protesters locking arms and attempting to push through the garda line. The gardaí responded with batons and “pepper spray at short range within one metre”, both a violation of the Garda’s own policies.
Its Incapacitant Spray Policy states that the irritant may only be used:
…when faced with violence or the threat of violence and it is reasonable to believe that such violence or threat of violence may result in injury to themselves or others, including self-harm by an individual.
The observer report asserts that:
No violence or threat of violence was present at the protest and protesters retreated when pepper spray was used. Pepper spray continued to be used as the protesters retreated.
Police are also forbidden from using pepper spray within one metre, except when unavoidable, which the INLO say was not the case on October 4.
The legal observers also note the lack of verbal warning given to those targeted, and the indiscriminate and reckless use of the spray that resulted in INLO members being affected themselves. One even reported being deliberately targeted:
In both my footage and others which was later shared to me, the Garda is clearly shown to be using IS [incapacitant spray] on me despite me visibly being a LO [Legal Observer] that was retreating with the crowd. Given that he paused from spraying the protesters and then me, I believe I was being targeted for having filmed him misusing the IS on protesters in close proximity.
The report goes on to outline how gardaí have an obligation to do precisely the opposite of targeting LO’s – they are required to have protection in much the same way doctors or journalists do at protests.
As for batons, their use is only permitted if it is proportionate, necessary, and provided for by law. The report describes excessive use of force, such as hits directed at around head height and fleeing protesters being struck. Other brutal treatment highlighted includes:
…one protester who had raised his hands to surrender was pushed to the ground and as a result, broke his wrist and when another person was put into a choke hold while being arrested.
This incident occurred during a second confrontation at 15:55. Another shocking case of thuggery was when one man broke through police lines, before being caught by police:
The garda dragged the man to the ground, and sat on his head to subdue him. This effectively placed the protester in a choke hold. Another garda kneeled on the man’s back, while he was handcuffed and face down. The man could be heard saying that he
was bleeding, losing feeling in his hand and indicated that he was in pain.
The report’s findings are extensively corroborated by footage taken that day by activists present. Paul Murphy, a TD for People Before Profit said protesters were:
…subject to gross Garda brutality. The videos are horrific. I can’t think of the last time you had such Garda viciousness and violence against protesters since maybe the Rossport protest.
The Rossport protests in 2005 were in response to five men being imprisoned for interfering with construction of a Shell pipeline.
The INLO report concludes by describing Garda actions as “disproportionate and in violation of their own policies”. It reiterates the likely breach of crucial human rights law such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The UN Human Rights Committee states:
Peaceful assemblies can sometimes be used to pursue contentious ideas or goals. Their
scale or nature can cause disruption, for example of vehicular or pedestrian movement or economic activity. These consequences, whether intended or unintended, do not call into question the protection such assemblies enjoy. To the extent that an event may create such disruptions or risks, these must be managed within the framework of the Covenant.
The brutality of October 4 is simply another reminder that the police aren’t there to protect the law – they are simply the hired thugs paid off by a genocidal political class to ensure their role in mass slaughter can continue unabated. If cops were there to ensure legal frameworks are adhered to, they would be assisting the protesters in disruptive action, as citizens continue to act as the sole upholders of the Genocide Convention ignored by those in power.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
City University London has called the police on students carrying out a peaceful anti-genocide protest. One social media user posted footage of the protest:
Security guards told students that the university had called in police because using an image of University President Anthony Finkelstein supposedly constituted hate speech. However, when they arrived officers made no mention of hate speech and took no issue with the protesters’ materials, telling them instead that they were causing a ‘disruption’.
The social media user also explained that students:
demonstrated against the employment of lecturer Michael Ben-Gad, who they claim served in the IDF. Ben-Gad is an economics professor, and students are demanding his immediate removal.
The Starmer regime is waging war on the protest rights of UK citizens, in order to protect Israel and its interests, with student protest and Jewish anti-genocide activists particularly targeted. Shamefully, many universities are eagerly collaborating.
Starmer’s government has appointed an Israel-funded, genocide-defending campus group to give obligatory ‘training’ to university staff on supposed antisemitism and is implementing legislation to further restrict anti-genocide protest.
Featured image via Instagram
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
A raft of new economic sanctions has been announced for Russia. Yet not a peep from the UK government about any punishment for genocide state Israel.
Announced Wednesday as part of the UK’s Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the sanctions target include oil firms, ports, tech companies, and individuals. The list also includes specific ships.
The ships are part of what is being called the Russian ‘shadow fleet’. Reuters reports:
The new sanctions target 51 ships within the shadow fleet, as well as individuals and entities across sectors including energy and defence.The shadow fleet has increasingly been the target of sanctions from Britain, the United States and the European Union since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.It is a network of older tankers that officials say are used to avoid sanctions on Russian oil.
UK sanctions on Israel have been minimal. When they have been placed they have mostly target settlers in the West Bank. That’s good. But on the whole, they ignore the active genocide in Gaza.
June saw Foreign Secretary David Lammy announce asset freezes and other measures on far-right ministers Bezalel Yoel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir:
In their personal capacity, Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are now sanctioned for their repeated incitement of violence against Palestinian civilians, effective immediately.
In 2024, the UK government froze 30 arms export licences to Israel.
However, it was reported that UK military sales to Israel had increased to a record value in 2025.
Our analysis of Israel Tax Authority customs data finds that Israel imported nearly £1 million worth of UK munitions in the first nine months of the year.
That’s more than double the amount received in any of the previous three years.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been rightly condemned by everyone but a few marginal fantasists. Yet Israel, which is actively carrying out the worst crime of the 21st century, has received a mild rhetorical slap on the wrist while arms sales have INCREASED. The UK’s inability to be even-handed in its approach to international law can only be read as yet another sign of its decay and irrelevance.
Featured image via The Canary
By Joe Glenton
This post was originally published on Canary.
The British public knows little about Britain’s “most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group“. But thanks to a new report, we now have a better picture of how it works.
The Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) lobby group has a dominant position in the Tory party, counting around 80% of its MPs as members. But CFI hides its funding sources from the public.
Fortunately, Declassified UK has been working hard to give us an idea of where it gets its money from. And a new report reveals the backroom billionaire dealings of a prominent Conservative politician in service of Israeli interests.
Declassified got hold of emails shedding light on the behaviour of Stuart Polak. The Israel lobbyist led CFI for 25 years, before entering the House of Lords in late 2015. He has claimed at least £235,000 in expenses as a peer since then.
The emails revealed the Tory lobbyist seeking money from US billionaire Paul Singer and coordinating with top Israeli diplomats. For example, Polak told Israeli diplomat Ido Aharoni in 2015 that:
I have made some real progress in obtaining support for my work for Israel from Paul Singer in NYC.
As Declassified‘s John McEvoy explained:
Singer is a New York-based billionaire hedge fund manager and major donor to Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), a group which raises funds for the Israeli armed forces.
Polak also asked Aharoni to:
consider whether you can arrange for me to be introduced to other Paul Singers.
McEvoy pointed out that:
CFI was the largest donor of free overseas trips for MPs between 2012 and 2022, but has never disclosed who is funding its pro-Israel jaunts and other lobbying exercises.
Journalist Jonathan Cook has previously noted Conservative politicians suggesting the party’s “unconditional backing for Israel derives, at least in part, from the financial leverage exerted by wealthy pro-Israel donors”. And former Tory MP Alan Duncan has raised concerns about CFI, saying in 2024 that it was “doing the bidding” of wanted Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. Duncan added that Polak should not sit in the House of Lords because he is “exercising the interests of another country”. Indeed, as Declassified pointed out:
Of the 40 questions [Polak] has asked since he became a Lord, only seven have not related to Palestine, Israel or the Middle East.
Other emails from the Declassified report suggest that Polak was working very hard to serve Israel’s interests with his lobbying inside the Tory government.
Former UK diplomat Richard Dalton has argued that the increasingly powerful and aggressive Israel lobby “is a very powerful force in our society”, as is the British establishment’s commitment to serving US interests.
The latest Declassified report is yet another revelation that makes it hard to avoid the conclusion that the influence of pro-Israel lobbyists in the Conservative Party, and the Labour Party, has contributed to Britain’s ongoing complicity and participation in Israel’s genocide in Gaza since 2023. And it’s hard to believe the media, parliament, or the general public would allow any other force lobbying for a lawbreaking foreign state to get away with so much.
Featured image via House of Lords/photography by Roger Harris
By Ed Sykes
This post was originally published on Canary.
Late on 16 October, West Midlands Police issued a statement reporting that Maccabi Tel Aviv (MTA) fans would not be allowed to attend an upcoming game against Aston Villa. They cited safety concerns, particularly after the recent riots in Amsterdam. During that particular incident MTA fans tore down Palestine flags, and rampaged through streets shouting “gas Gaza” and “kill the Arabs”. In retaliation, locals fought MTA fans on the streets of Amsterdam. MTA fans were also subject to antisemitic attacks.
At the time, the Amsterdam riots were widely reported and condemned solely as antisemitic in mainstream reporting, particularly in Anglophone media. However, these reports downplayed the Tel Aviv fans’ racist attacks during the riot.
Astonishingly, Keir Starmer has taken the extraordinary step to intervene and condemn the ban on MTA fans in their upcoming game against Aston Villa.
West Midlands Police issued the following statement at
We are committed to delivering fair and impartial policing, while balancing the public’s right to protest with our duty to ensure public safety.
Following a thorough assessment, we have classified the upcoming Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv fixture as high risk.[…]
This decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Amsterdam.
Based on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety.
The decision was made by Birmingham City Council, which chose not to issue a safety certificate for the match. However, West Midlands Police stated that they support the decision to prevent away supporters from attending. Aston Villa also confirmed the statement.
The ‘previous incidents’ that the West Midlands police referred to include the riot in Amsterdam earlier this month. On 7 November, Ajax played Mac Tel Aviv in the Dutch city.
There has been widespread hostility towards Israel’s participation in international sport due to the genocide it’s currently carrying out against Palestine. However, the city’s authorities were reportedly reassured by the fact that Ajax has historically identified as a Jewish team. Nevertheless, the night descended into violent clashes between supporters, pro-Palestinian protesters, taxi drivers, and roving bands of thugs.
The day before the match, Maccabi fans attacked a taxi and a squat displaying Palestinian flags, threatening to kill the people inside. On the day itself, as mentioned earlier, footage shows Mac supporters tearing down Palestinian flags and chanting slogans including “gas Gaza”, “kill the arabs”, and “there are no schools in Gaza, because all the children are dead”.
In the Johan Cruyff Arena, Tel Aviv supporters ignored a moment of silence for flood victims in Spain. Outside the stadium, one local filmed a crowd of MTA fans attacking locals in Amsterdam. Taxi drivers then attacked MTA fans, seeking revenge for the previous day. Footage also appears to show a car running over Israeli fans after mounting the curb.
There was some evidence of co-ordination for the violence – with one chat group reportedly referring to it as a “jew hunt”. British fans present during the violence also reported that “they were looking for Jews not just Israelis.” However, Amsterdam police reported that a distinction was made between Israeli fans and Jewish people in general.
Regarding the decision to prevent Tel Aviv supporters from attending the Aston Villa game, independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr Ayoub Khan stated that:
From the moment that the match was announced, it was clear that there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to fully manage.
However, other politicians were much less welcoming of the decision. 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.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, stated that:
You don’t tackle antisemitism by banning its victims. This decision must be reversed.
Now, it appears that the government is actively intervening to bring in the Tel Aviv supporters. At 12:27 today, BBC News reported that 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.
Like much of the British media in the wake of the Amsterdam riots, UK party leaders chose to focus solely on the violence against Tel Aviv fans, characterising it as wholly antisemitic. They chose to omit mention of the genocidal rhetoric, violence, and property damage carried out by the Maccabi supporters.
This is a microcosm of the way that UK MPs and the mainstream media has portrayed Israel and its citizens in general. They treat violence against Palestinians and their allies as unimportant and ignored. Meanwhile, all opposition to Israel is lumped together with vile antisemitism.
The Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture is high risk. The West Midlands police force is perfectly correct in its assessment there. The Tel Aviv fans have shown that they are perfectly happy perpetrating violence against the cities around them. The fact that Starmer and his fellow party leaders are determined to risk a riot just to show their support for Israel is nothing short of the most craven cowardice.
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
The British government have lost their appeal to stop lawyers challenging a ban on Palestine Action (PA). The non-violent direct action group were proscribed in July. The case is seen by critics as a landmark case for civil liberties.
On Friday, three judges, led by the lady chief justice, upheld Mr Justice Chamberlain’s decision to grant the Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori a judicial review of the group’s proscription under the Terrorism Act”
Huda Ammori herself tweeted:
BREAKING: The government LOST their appeal and failed to stop the legal challenge of the Palestine Action ban.
That means the Judicial Review will go ahead on November 25-27th.
Not only that, but we won TWO MORE grounds to argue the illegality of the ban.
Huge victory.
— Huda Ammori (@HudaAmmori) October 17, 2025
The Home Office had tried to argue the “proper forum”:
for Palestine Action to challenge the ban was the POAC (Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission), which parliament had designated for that purpose, rather than judicial review.
The hearing that will now go ahead is scheduled for three days beginning on 25 November. And, as the Guardian reported, the case is significant because it’s:
…the first time that an organisation banned under anti-terrorism law has been granted a court trial to challenge proscription.
Fellow activist group Defend Our Juries were in buoyant mood following the decision:
“I believe that we will win” – @HudaAmmori
You certainly won today, and in a major way.
Anyone looking to join the Lift The Ban actions in November as we take the campaign across the UK leading up to the judicial review – info here:https://t.co/xHyNnPti3B pic.twitter.com/yE9k0eeJcw
— Defend Our Juries (@DefendourJuries) October 17, 2025
Your Party co-leader Zarah Sultana called it a “huge win”:
I welcome the news that the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has lost her appeal and failed to block the legal challenge to the proscription of Palestine Action.
The Judicial Review will now go ahead on 25-27 November, with two additional grounds to challenge the ban’s legality.…
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) October 17, 2025
The legal detail of the decision was recorded at the court and can be viewed here.
In a statement released via Cryptpad, Huda Ammori attacked the “extreme” ban:
The Court of Appeal has rightly rejected Yvette Cooper’s attempt to block a legal review of her absurdly authoritarian ban — while granting us additional grounds on which to challenge it. This is a landmark victory: not only against one of the most extreme attacks on civil liberties in recent British history, but for the fundamental principle that government ministers can and must be held accountable when they act unlawfully.
Ammori called the government out for their cowardice:
The Government’s effort to avoid judicial scrutiny of its blatantly anti-democratic proscription — branding a protest group as ‘terrorists’ for the first time in British history — has backfired spectacularly, and we now head into the Judicial Review in November with an even stronger legal footing.
Ammori also condemned the arrest over over 2000 people since the proscription came into effect:
Arresting peaceful protesters and those disrupting the arms trade is a dangerous misuse of counter-terror resources, with over 2,000 people having now been arrested — a staggering 3,100% increase in counter-terror arrests. Rather than being used to protect the public, the Terrorism Act is being used as a political tool to silence them.
And, she argued that the proscription of Palestine Action has wide-ranging ramifications:
This ban doesn’t just affect Palestine Action supporters — it casts a chilling shadow over anyone speaking out against Israel’s atrocities and the UK’s complicity in them, and sets a dangerous precedent that can be used against any protest group. It’s time for the Government to listen to the overwhelming and mounting backlash — including from the United Nations, human rights watchdogs and free speech defenders to the former Director of Public Prosecutions, as well as the vast majority of its own Party members and voices across the political spectrum — and lift this widely condemned, utterly Orwellian ban.
The fight continues, but this staggering abuse of counter-terror powers by the genocide-supporting British government must not be allowed to stand.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
This post was originally published on Canary.
Gaza Soup Kitchen (GSK) is a Palestinian NGO that was set up in early 2024 by brothers Hani and Mahmoud Almadhoun, to provide hot meals and clean water to the people of Gaza. The venture has been a lifeline for many thousands enduring extreme food insecurity and famine.
What started as a simple Go Fund Me personal campaign, with one kitchen in Beit Lahia feeding 150 families daily, quickly expanded as hunger grew among the population. Multiple kitchens now serve communities across the Strip, providing up to 3000 individual meals every day, depending on supplies, safety and access to ingredients.
Abe Ajrami is one of five board members of the organisation. He helps with coordinating GSK’s fundraising and decision making on aspects such as safety and location of GSKs operations. Although Ajrami lives in the US, he has family in Northern Gaza, who have been forcibly displaced and are currently living in tents.
Ajrami told the Canary:
We have established ourselves as an honest charity that does good work in Gaza, and people feel that. None of us are paid, even for any of our travel expenses, and we don’t charge the organisation a single penny. People fundraise for us, and individuals and businesses also give us donations.
And Ajrami is clear that if Israel were to ever allow an adequate food supply into Gaza, there would be no need for GSK:
If there was enough affordable food in Gaza, we would not exist. We hope to get to that point, where we are not needed. Gazans are people who were doing OK for themselves, who have dignity, and now they are standing in line to use a bathroom, and standing in line to get water and to have a simple meal. It is sad but, judging by our food parcel registration, it tells you how much there is a need for us.
Unfortunately, there is much, much more to be done:
We are pretty much a drop in the ocean, despite all the things we do.
There are currently 10 soup kitchens operating in the South and Central area of the Strip. Depending on the amount of supplies allowed across the border, each kitchen can cost as much as $1000 a day to run, while the type of food entering Gaza dictates the type of meals cooked by GSK chefs.
Ajrami says:
Gazan people are very creative. Lentil soup has been the hero. It has always been affordable, and is a great source of protein, and doesn’t go bad. So we can buy huge quantities and store it. Lentils are mixed with lots of things, when we can find them. The chefs work with what they have, to create a variety of meals.
Although GSK stopped their operations in the North over a month ago, due to forced evacuations and safety issues, it has still managed to send food parcels to Gaza City. There, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have remained, with food and water very scarce.
According to Ajrami, within minutes of the online registration opening for food parcels, the number of applicants far exceeds the number of parcels available:
We now have a big focus on providing these food parcels to families. The demand is huge, but we do our best to make sure people can get what they need, especially if they are weak or sick.
20 year old Khalid Qadas is one of the more than 60 humanitarian volunteers working with GSK on the ground in Gaza, and is their photographer and spokesperson.
He told the Canary:
Although we are happy that we’ve finished the war- the shelling, the guns, the blood, the death, because we are so tired, Palestinians have lost their children, their homes, their money, their work, and their lives have stopped for the past two years. People have lost everything. They also don’t have enough food. So now the people really need our work, and we try to help everyone in Gaza, any way we can.
Qadas tells me that over 1000 food parcels are made every day for families in need. GSK also cooks and serves food daily for 300-500 families at each of its 10 food points. Medical teams and patients in Gaza’s hospitals are not forgotten, with hot meals delivered by the teams, as well as food parcels- which sometimes even manage to provide baby milk, nappies, fruit, food, and clothes for children. These items are often impossible to find for the population of Gaza but, if available, are usually just too expensive to purchase. GSK tries to buy local, so source their supplies from local farmers wherever possible, and from local markets.
But the organisation does not only provide food for Palestinians. It also buys clean desalinated water, as water is now contaminated and good quality drinking water is extremely rare. Their 10 water tankers then go out to different areas each day, so people are able to fill up their water containers. There is even a medical point which sees high numbers of patients, despite many challenges and lack of supplies. It offers urgent care, consultations, mental health support, and prescriptions to people who would otherwise not be able to access medical attention.
Months after arriving in Gaza, Qadas’ home was bombed, and his father had a stroke. He now lives with the rest of his family in a tent. Although Qadas’ parents are both from Gaza, he was born in the UAE, and had never visited the enclave until three months before the start of this genocide, when he travelled to the Strip to start a medical degree, at Al Aqsa University. This means that unlike other 20 year olds in Gaza, Qadas has been lucky enough not to have experienced any of the six others conflicts with Israel since 2005.
He told me:
This is the first war I have experienced in Gaza. I am volunteering at GSK for eight months now, and still studying online, although I have changed to a nursing degree so I could finish quicker. I arrived here three months before the war, with my sister, and my mother and father. We bought a house in the North of Gaza but it was bombed on the fourth day of the war. We then lived in my grandather’s house but he also ended up losing his home, so now we are in a tent in the South. Two months into the war, my father also had a stroke. We have lost everything.
Qadas’ has volunteered with GSK for the past eight months, and says his work as photographer, moving from site to site and talking with everyone, has taught him so much about Gaza, its people, and about life in general, and he is grateful for this experience.
Qadas also told me:
We are like a family at GSK. I work from 5am until 8pm sometimes, but I love it. To be honest, before this work, I knew nothing about Gaza or its people, but my work as a volunteer with GSK has been so good for me and I’ve learnt so much and now understand much more.
He explains:
All the time, I say I am so sad, I need to go to another country, but Gaza’s people have positive energy. They are still smiling and say tomorrow will be better. I don’t know how they are like this. And you know, from nothing they do everything. for example, we don’t have a shower so he makes a shower. We don’t have a lighter, he makes a lighter. How, I don’t know! People in Gaza say that everything that happens in your life is from God, that God knows what is best for you. I am learning so much from them.
As the ceasefire officially takes effect, a fragile sense of relief has spread across Gaza. But the guarantee of aid is filled with uncertainty. Netanyahu has how announced that only 300 trucks of supplies will be allowed into Gaza, half the number previously agreed upon, because Hamas has, as yet been unable to find all bodies of Israeli prisoners still in Gaza.
Despite the setbacks, Gaza Soup Kitchen (GSK) continues with its tireless work, and will, no doubt, be returning to the North to continue its operations, as conditions allow. The reduced flow of supplies stretches the charity’s resources thin, but volunteers like Qadas remain determined to provide hot meals, water, and essential parcels to thousands of families still struggling to survive.
The road to recovery will be long for those in Gaza. Homes must be rebuilt, loved ones mourned, and dignity restored. Yet, in the face of hardship, the resilience of Gaza’s population endures, and is sustained by the small but vital support of organizations like GSK and the hope of a better tomorrow.
The road to recovery for Gaza’s people will be long. They face the challenge of rebuilding their homes, grieving lost family members, and also reclaiming their dignity. Yet the resilience of Gaza’s population endures, and is sustained by the small but vital support of organizations like GSK, and the hope of a better tomorrow.
Please help Gaza Soup Kitchen with its vital work by donating here.
Featured image via the Canary
By Charlie Jaay
This post was originally published on Canary.
Israeli guards stripped humanitarian activist Greta Thunberg naked and wrote ‘whore Greta’ on her luggage after abducting her, and around four hundred other volunteer crew members, in a criminal attack in international waters on the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying baby food and other vital items to Gaza:
The fascist thugs’ violence toward Thunberg had already become known from other released crew, but the grim details of the appalling abuse are only now coming out.
Among the crimes Israeli guards and troops committed against Thunberg:
Thunberg and others also reported that every time anyone looked up from the ground in the ‘stress positions’ they were forced to maintain on concrete floors, they were knocked to the ground and beaten. Thunberg was also tormented with an Israeli flag:
The flag was placed so that it would touch me. When it fluttered and touched me, they shouted “Don’t touch the flag” and kicked me in the side. After a while·, my hands were put in cable ties, very tight. A bunch of guards lined up to take selfies with me as I sat there.
They take my bag and throw away all the things they interpret as Palestine-related. They take each thing and stare into my eyes and at the same time pick up a knife and slowly cut them apart with it, while ten people take selfies.
You felt like you couldn’t “afford” to cry because you were so dehydrated. It was so hot, like 40 degrees. We kept asking: Can we get water? Can we get water?
In the end, people were screaming. The guards kept walking in front of the bars, laughing and holding up their water bottles. They threw the bottles of water in, in the garbage cans in front of us.
Thunberg also reported the support she received from other abducted volunteers – and the price they paid for it:
I needed to go to the bathroom and asked to. Then I needed to be led through where people were sitting and they saw me. A female member of the Swedish delegation said: “We are with you Greta.”
Then she was taken aside and beaten.
Israel is a terror state and a fascist, ethno-supremacist project. If this is how it will treat Thunberg and other foreign victims, imagine what it is doing every day to Palestinian hostages.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
British sailors could be in line for medals for supporting the Israeli genocide of Gaza. In a story that nearly slipped under the radar, a British minister (with links to military and private intelligence) told parliament of the plans.
On 13 October, Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley asked the Secretary of Defence:
if he will award medals to the crew of the HMS Diamond for their work during the period of November 2023 and July 2024.
But that day it was Labour veterans minister Louise Sandher-Jones who answered:
Medallic recognition for the operational activity undertaken by HMS Diamond during the period November 2023 and July 2024, is under consideration by the Ministry of Defence in accordance with the existing process.
But what was HMS Diamond doing between November 2023 and 2026?
Well, readers. HMS Diamond, a type-45 Royal Navy frigate, was taking on Houthi drones.
The UK Defence Journal says the vessel:
played a key role in international maritime operations following a series of Houthi attacks on commercial and naval vessels transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
In fact:
In December 2023, Diamond shot down a suspected attack drone launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen using its Sea Viper missile system, marking the first time in decades that a Royal Navy ship had engaged an aerial target in combat.
The Journals said:
the ship was credited with downing nine hostile drones and an anti-ship ballistic missile while providing protection to international shipping and allied vessels.
But why were Yemen’s Houthis firing at shipping? Well, a better question might be ‘whose shipping were they firing at?’
As the Canary reported at the time, the Houthis say they were targeting Israeli-owned and genocide-linked shipping in the Red Sea:
Since October 2023, the Houthis have carried out near-daily attacks against Israeli-linked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, as well as targeting Israeli infrastructure, such as air and sea ports. They have stepped up their campaign against the occupation since Israel broke the ceasefire in March, launching dozens of missiles and drones at it.
And why were they firing at said shipping? Well, the Houthis would claim they were trying to stop the Israeli genocide of Palestinians:
These attacks have been successful, with huge impacts on Israel. More than 100 commercial ships in the Red Sea have been targeted, resulting in costly detours and insurance hikes, and Eilat Port has been forced to reduce its operations by 90 percent.
Now the Canary isn’t in the habit of co-signing anyone’s missile strikes. But this really seems like an important detail. One which is absent from the parliamentary exchange above. And from the little coverage of that exchange in the press.
And all in all, the Houthis seem determined to keep harassing shipping despite a ceasefire agreement being in force in Gaza.
The story doesn’t stop there. Labour’s Sandher-Jones deserves attention too. She is one of a group of new ex-military MPs Keir Starmer steered into parliament with some fanfare. Starmer likes nothing more than being photographed close to military things and people.
Before becoming an MP, she served in military intelligence in Afghanistan. And later joined the private intelligence firm Mackenzie Intelligence Services (MIS).
MIS experts have regularly appeared in the media to discuss military and intelligence issues around Iran, Gaza and Syria.
The Canary is unaware of any timescale for medal awards for the sailors who engaged Houthi drones aimed at Israel or genocide-linked shipping. Rest assured, we’ll be keeping an eye out for updates.
Featured image via House of Commons/Roger Harris
By Joe Glenton
This post was originally published on Canary.
Israel has again massively violated its ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, hitting southern Lebanon this evening with more than twenty airstrikes. Palestinian journalist Wissam Nassar published video of some of the strikes:
This is the third time in just the last week that Israel has launched unprovoked attacks on southern Lebanon. Last week it launched an ‘intensive’ series of strikes that killed and wounded civilians. A day earlier, it bombed hundreds of bulldozers and other construction vehicles in six heavy machinery yards in the same area to prevent rebuilding of areas it has destroyed.
The terror state cannot be trusted to keep a single agreement.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
As the ceasefire agreement tentatively holds and Palestinians return to their homes in hopes of rebuilding after Israel’s genocide, Gaza officials estimate that there are massive amounts of rubble and unexploded bombs that stand in the way of their efforts, potentially laying in wait to cause further harm. On Thursday, the Gaza Government Media Office reported that officials estimate that…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
I thought that joy would keep me awake after the ceasefire in Gaza was confirmed in the hours before dawn on October 10, but instead, tears did. I opened my phone to check on my people, only to find sorrow spreading everywhere. After two years of endless war, what poured out of many of us was not joy — it was the grief we had buried too long. There was no true cry of joy around me as there…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
With the implementation of the third phase of the ‘Flood of the Free’ deal, a new group of prisoners from the Gaza Strip regained their freedom after many years of detention in Israeli occupation prisons.
However, the freedom they had eagerly awaited did not come as they had hoped; most of them emerged with exhausted bodies, amputated limbs, chronic illnesses, and deep scars that bear witness to the cruelty of the torture and ill-treatment they were subjected to, especially during the last months prior to their release.
This report documents the most serious violations committed by the occupation authorities against the released prisoners and analyses them in light of international humanitarian law and international human rights law as war crimes and crimes against humanity that are not subject to a statute of limitations.
This report reviews the conditions in which prisoners lived in Israeli prisons, as revealed by a number of those who were released from prison a few days ago.
Based on the testimonies of released prisoners, the Israeli prison administration’s treatment during the period prior to their release was characterised by the following patterns.
Continuous physical torture:
Psychological humiliation and threats:
Inhumane conditions of detention:
Systematic medical neglect
A number of prisoners detailed their experiences in Israel’s prisons. Naji al-Jaafari said:
What I experienced in captivity can only be described as a slow death… starvation, torture, isolation, humiliation… every day felt like a whole year.
Abdul Hamid Alian said:
We slept on iron beds without mattresses, blindfolded all day long, unable to see the light and hearing nothing but screams.
Mahmoud Abu Salah said:
They tied us up at 3 a.m. and threatened to kill my children… Dogs slept on top of us all night long.
Mansour Atef Rayan said:
They forced prisoners to beat each other with their shoes, and those who refused were subjected to group beatings and electric shocks.
Additional testimonies show that some prisoners entered prison on their own two feet and left in wheelchairs as a result of torture and amputation, while others discovered that they had lost their entire families during the war on Gaza, facing a double tragedy of pain and loss.
Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director general of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, said that the released prisoners who arrived at the complex clearly showed signs of torture and ill-treatment, noting that some of them had lost limbs, while others suffered from chronic injuries for which they had received no treatment during their detention.
For its part, the International Solidarity Foundation with Palestinian Prisoners (Tadamon) confirmed that the widespread images of the released prisoners constitute compelling visual evidence of the scale of the grave and systematic violations that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity according to the Geneva Conventions.
The Prisoners’ Media Office explained that what is happening inside prisons constitutes a slow genocide against Palestinian prisoners, carried out away from the eyes of the media and international organisations, under a systematic blackout aimed at concealing crimes and preventing access by international observers and investigators.
The office called on the international community to take urgent action to release all prisoners, especially the sick, those who are older, those held in administrative detention and those forcibly disappeared, considering their continued detention a direct threat to their lives and a flagrant violation of all humanitarian rules.
It also called on the United Nations, the Human Rights Council and the International Committee of the Red Cross to send fact-finding committees to investigate and document these violations as a policy of systematic torture.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
This post was originally published on Canary.
On Monday, October 13, legal representatives for murdered Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi filed complaints and demands for investigation with the International Criminal Court and multiple UN committees and special rapporteurs, Sara Segneri, a partner at Confinium Strategies, announced this week on social media. The requests for investigations were sent to UN Special Rapporteur for…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, along with Epstein-linked Palantir boss Peter Thiel and pro-Israel Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, plan to turn Gaza into a haven for billionaires. They plan to do so with a city of tax-free startups, with scattered server farms for cloud processing and artificial intelligence. That will supplement factories with cheap labour, and simple regulations will also smooth the way for “normalization with Saudi Arabia”, according to Israeli media outlet N12.
The article – which, interestingly, does not seem to appear on the site’s English-search version – says that:
The huge economic project of rebuilding Gaza after the war is already attracting interest from countries, billionaires and former leaders [and] from Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who aspires to establish Al centers in the Strip, to foreign investors looking for enabling regulation.
Experts predict [that] the development initiatives could serve as leverage to promote normalization with Saudi Arabia, also through Kushner’s involvement, but the road there is still fraught with political and security obstacles.
It notes that Ellison is ready to put $350 million into the plan, which is in line with Trump’s notorious and unlawful ‘Gaza riviera‘ ethnic cleansing plan and fascist Israeli ministers’ Gaza ‘real estate bonanza’.
Featured image via Forbes Breaking News/Youtube screenshot
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
Far-right hate groups, including a former Reform UK candidate, have targeted a Muslim journalist in a two-year-long “alarming and sustained campaign” of physical harassment, intimidation, and digital violence.
Mariam Elsayeh has faced physical assaults at pro-Palestine protests, along with a vicious online defamation campaign. This has put her in grave danger and directly attacks press freedom in the UK.
Mariam works for a number of outlets, including Al Jazeera Arabic and ITN. She is also an elected member of the UK’s Ethics Council of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The intimidation began back in October 2023. She recalls being punched in the face and kicked while covering a protest outside the Israeli embassy. Following that incident, her primary alleged stalker, a Reform UK politician and 2024 parliamentary candidate, attempted to intimidate her by photographing her press badge.
Mariam told the Canary:
Initially, I didn’t perceive it as part of an organised campaign; I thought each incident was isolated. It was only later—when the harassment was cynically referred to as a “birthday gift”—that I realised the scale and coordination behind it. That moment made me feel naïve for having underestimated the situation and confirmed that this was not an isolated case.
Since then, the Reform UK politician has allegedly appeared at numerous events she has attended. He also reportedly showed up at a family Eid celebration, which was deeply threatening.
On September 6, 2025, the situation reportedly escalated. According to her account, the Reform UK politician verbally threatened her, saying,
You’re done.
At one point, a Tommy Robinson supporter attempted to pull off her hijab during an NUJ vigil while accusing her of supporting Hamas.
Co-ordinated online attacks have systematically amplified the physical intimidation. After she spoke at two recent NUJ vigils against the murder of Palestinian journalists, she was then attacked on social media, including being called a “terrorist supporter.”
On September 2, 2025, the pro-Israel media watchdog Honest Reporting published an article containing defamatory allegations against Elsayeh. They falsely characterised her as a “rabid anti-Israel social media personality” and an “apologist for terrorism.”
The far-right circulated the article widely, which triggered a further wave of coordinated online hate speech.
Replies on these social networks included direct threats such as:
Don’t worry, we will deal with her in due course.
And calls to:
Deport her and air drop her into one of the 57 barbaric Islamic countries.
Mariam said:
At first, I didn’t even know the individual was linked to the Reform movement. It became clear only after the article was published, when his behaviour escalated to the point of intimidation. My legal team grew concerned that this might involve a diplomatic or political dimension and suggested seeking FCDO guidance, given the potential cross-border nature of the harassment. When colleagues in journalism later helped identify his name and role, it came as a complete shock. Until then, I had assumed it was a personal dispute, not a coordinated act. Still, I am naive again, cause this person’s first show-up to me was with an Israeli influencer.
Shockingly, despite the explicit threats to her safety, none of the implicated tech platforms, including Meta’s Facebook and Threads or X, took action to remove the content. This meant the content remained public and put her in more danger.
On September 6, 2025, a far-right protester shouted that “she should be beheaded”.
Other online attacks include xenophobic and Islamophobic incitement, with calls for her deportation and defamatory accusations labelling her an “odious rat” and “Islamist.”
The police advised that Mariam and her family leave her home due to the extreme threat level. However, this wasn’t possible due to personal circumstances. This meant they inadvertently exposed her family to further abuse.
Mariam told Skyline International for Human Rights:
What truly breaks me is seeing my children pulled into these threats without mercy — growing up between police visits and social care checks. That is not a normal life, and it must never be normalised.
Recently, the situation has escalated. Mariam and her family are now under the protection of the Police Victim and Witness Protection Unit, in coordination with Social Services. Yet, she emphasises that her case is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of suppression.
My story should never distract from the real story.
But it is also part of it: the silencing of voices that challenge the Israeli narrative. That is the real issue.
Mariam told the Canary that, whilst it’s important to recognise how seriously the situation became, focusing on the broader issues is more significant. That is, of course, the intimidation of journalists and trade unionists, which poses a threat to the very foundations of a democratic society.
She continued:
Such experiences can challenge our commitment to public roles and vital journalistic work. I am immensely thankful for the solidarity and support that have enabled me to continue, but it is crucial to recognise how easily others might be discouraged. This understanding underscores the necessity of collective protection and solidarity.
No one working in journalism or representing others through their union should face intimidation while serving the public interest. When one of us is targeted, it impacts the freedom and safety of us all.
She added that it is vital that we address the concerning trends of fascist language and tactics, which are creeping into democratic societies across Europe.
Finally, she said:
This rising hostility often targets Muslims, immigrants, and those who advocate for Palestine or challenge dominant narratives. Recognising these issues is the first step in safeguarding not only individuals but also the democratic values and pluralism that Europe aspires to protect. Together, we can foster understanding and resilience, creating a more inclusive and secure society for everyone.
Feature image via Abdullah Bailey
By HG
This post was originally published on Canary.
Staff at the London School of Economics (LSE) have come out against the instrumentalisation of sexual violence in support of genocide.
The group of highly-regarded experts on the Middle East and gender issues are on a collision course with senior management. Meanwhile, bosses insist an event platforming the controversial Dinah Project will go ahead.
Staff weren’t pulling any punches in their open letter:
LSE senior management has been insisting on the Middle East Centre hosting the event. Centre staff pointed out that the report lacks academic rigor and presents several flawed assertions, and the Centre will now not host or endorse the event
They say the Dinah Project’s claims draws on racist tropes about Arab and Muslim men. And also ignores sexual violence carried out by Israel against Palestinians.
Undoubtedly, the Dinah Project has positioned itself as a champion of alleged sexual violence victims on 7 October. However it’s website says:
While acknowledging the circumstantial nature of this evidence, the team concluded it indicates deliberate sexual violence, including sexually motivated torture and cruel treatment. The team was also convinced that this violence persists against the remaining hostages.
However, entire LSE academic departments have refused to attend the meeting, scheduled for 16 October:
With the unsubstantiated nature of the claims put forward, the severe methodological shortcomings, and the propagandist tone of the report, the Gender department, the Centre for Women, Peace and Security alongside other scholars of sexual and gender-based violence at LSE have also refused to be involved in this event.
The letter continues:
Overall, multiple parties have expressed concerns with the academic inadequacy of the report, and its instrumentalization of sexual violence to manufacture consent for the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Electronic Intifada journalist Asa Winstanley was among the first to raise the alarm:
New: Staff at @LSEnews demand cancellation of secret event tomorrow by Israel's Dinah Project.
Open letter says project is "manufacturing an unsubstantiated narrative of sexual violence to justify the Israeli genocidal campaign against Palestinians" https://t.co/XFcLrkffv7
— Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) October 15, 2025
He warned LSE that it was being used to launder a factually questionable report:
It seems Dinah Project is using the reputation of @LSEnews to launder its discredited report from July. @AliAbunimah and myself read the report: it contains nothing concrete to substantiate its lurid claims about the fabled campaign of "mass rape" on 7 October 2023.
— Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) October 15, 2025
And, Winstanley is not alone in his criticism.
In February 2024, the allegations carried in a notorious New York Times article were questioned by the Intercept.
Investigative reporters Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim spoke to Democracy Now on the issue in March 2024:
In March, the United Nations (UN) called out Israel’s “systematic” use of sexual violence against Palestinians.
The UN said:
Israel has increasingly employed sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination and carried out genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities.
Navi Pillay, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said:
There is no escape from the conclusion that Israel has employed sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians to terrorise them and perpetuate a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination.
At this stage in the Israeli genocide against Palestinians the words “every accusation, a confession” are getting a little tired. But once again we find ourselves having to deploy them.
LSE staff have made their strength of feeling known. And, their expert analysis of the situation makes one thing clear. The claims of sexual violence against Israeli hostages are unsubstantiated, methodologically flawed, and, might we add, politically expedient. However, the sexual abuse and torture of Palestinian hostages has been recorded by independent and verifiable sources. And, it is plainly a central facet of the Zionist attacks on Palestine to use sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
This post was originally published on Canary.
Yesterday, 15 October, court hearings began for the roughly 2,000 people who stand accused of showing support for Palestine Action. The government proscribed the campaign group as a terrorist organisation back in July. The move came after Palestine Action sprayed paint at two military planes in RAF Brize Norton, among other similar demonstrations.
Under UK law, displaying an item showing support for a proscribed organisation is considered a low-level terrorism offence, which can be tried in a Magistrates Court. It carries a sentence of up to six months in prison. So far, 170 people have been charged.
Police have arrested over 2,100 people for their support of Palestine Action since July. Most of them held simple placards reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. Many of the protesters arrested were pensioners.
The Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, Michael O’Flaherty, has already urged the UK to review its protest laws. He criticised both the Palestine Action ban (and subsequent mass arrests) and other recent draconian anti-protest measures.
In September, O’Flaherty wrote in a letter to the home secretary:
I observe that large numbers of arrests have reportedly been made for displaying placards or banners expressing solidarity with the organisation or disagreement with the government’s decision to proscribe it.
I am aware that ‘support’ for a proscribed group is an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000. In this regard I recall that domestic legislation designed to counter ‘terrorism’ or ‘violent extremism’ must not impose any limitations on fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, that are not strictly necessary for the protection of national security and the rights and freedoms of others.
He went on:
Changes following the adoption of the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 continue to allow authorities to impose excessive limits on freedom of assembly and expression, and risk overpolicing.
Following recent court findings that regulations defining serious disruption as ‘more than minor’ disruption are unlawful, I encourage your government to ensure that any arrests or convictions based on these regulations are subject to review.
Furthermore, I would recommend that a comprehensive review of the compliance of the current legislation on the policing of protests with the United Kingdom’s human rights obligations be undertaken.
O’Flaherty wasn’t alone among official critics of the proscription, either. Police Scotland found that Palestine Action’s activities fell far below the level necessary to be considered terrorism. Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called on the government to reverse the proscription. Hell, even MI6 insiders have said that senior figures within the organisation consider it a “distraction from the battle against real terrorist threat”.
Now, UK courts are seeing the sheer extent of the prescription’s folly playing out in real time. Currently, magistrates are planning to try the 2,000 defendants en-masse, across 400 trials. This will use up at least 200 days of the court’s time.
The court’s plan to try five people at a time, at a rate of two trials a day, raises serious questions of fairness. A lawyer for the defence stated that this timetable wouldn’t allow each defendant adequate time to present their case.
72-year-old defendant Deborah Wilde called out the rushed nature of the trials in court:
I don’t think I can get a fair trial on the [time] limit that you have allocated to me. I would like to seek leave to appeal.
District judge Michael Snow rebuffed her:
I’m satisfied that the time is sufficient. I’m not allowing more time for the trial. Your only remedy is the High Court.
As of yesterday, 28 of the defendants had plead ‘not guilty’. Most of them didn’t have a lawyer, and lacked clarity about what was happening to them. Many spoke about their duty to protest genocide, and their objections to the Palestine Action ban.
However, this deplorable situation gets worse still. Prosecutors acknowledged that it would be difficult to set actual trial dates because of the ongoing court case challenging the proscription of Palestine Action.
Magistrates have set the provisional trial dates for March 2026. However, the unknown length and outcome of the legal challenge could push that back much later in the year.
If the prescription is overturned, the charges against Palestine Action’s supporters will most likely be dropped. However, if the ban remains, the cases of the 2,000 in court still promise to be fraught.
As such, three lead cases which began back in September are being used as a testing ground of sorts to answer these legal quandaries. If any of these cases wind up going to the Supreme Court, the trials could be pushed back as far as 2027.
Setting dates for 400 trials and thousands of defendants is already a logistical nightmare. Having to reschedule them, potentially multiple times, would be a colossal waste of the court’s time, the defendants’ time, and public money.
An International Federation for Human Rights study showed that Western governments have “weaponised” counter-terrorism legislation to silence support for Palestine. Coupled with the UK’s vicious anti-protest laws, you have a recipe for the exact kind of farce we’re now seeing.
We get it, if we were complicit in genocide, we wouldn’t want anybody talking about it either. The UK government seems to think it can just arrest its opponents into silence. This is a cowardly intimidation tactic, and what’s more, it isn’t working – the 2,000 people standing up in court over the coming years are testament to that fact.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
Michael O’Flaherty, the most senior human rights official in the EU, has called for changes to Keir Starmer’s ‘lawfare’ war on anti-genocide protest and those opposing Starmer’s decision to proscribe the non-violent direct action protest group Palestine Action. In a letter to Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, O’Flaherty accused his regime of imposing “excessive limits on freedom of assembly and expression” and demanded a “comprehensive” review of all arrests and the laws used against them.
O’Flaherty said:
I observe that large numbers of arrests have reportedly been made for displaying placards or banners expressing solidarity with the organisation or disagreement with the government’s decision to proscribe it.
I am aware that ‘support’ for a proscribed group is an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000. In this regard I recall that domestic legislation designed to counter ‘terrorism’ or ‘violent extremism’ must not impose any limitations on fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, that are not strictly necessary for the protection of national security and the rights and freedoms of others.
Changes following the adoption of the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 continue to allow authorities to impose excessive limits on freedom of assembly and expression, and risk over-policing.
He continued:
Following recent court findings that regulations defining serious disruption as ‘more than minor’ disruption are unlawful, I encourage your government to ensure that any arrests or convictions based on these regulations are subject to review.
Furthermore, I would recommend that a comprehensive review of the compliance of the current legislation on the policing of protests with the United Kingdom’s human rights obligations be undertaken.
Starmer’s burgeoning police state has already arrested thousands of peaceful anti-genocide and anti-proscription demonstrators, most of them older and/or disabled and often with force, while ignoring outright violence and hate from far-right mobs. Unhappy that the principled anti-genocide protesters have been undeterred, Starmer and Mahmood are preparing increased police powers specifically targeted at those protesting against Israel’s mass murder of 700,000 Palestinian civilians — two thirds of them children. This has been part of their war on UK citizens’ rights to protect Israel despite the prominence of Jewish humanitarians in the protests.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Arno Mikkor, Aron Urb
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
Billionaire-funded fascist Tommy Robinson has been given time off from his terrorism trial to visit the world’s foremost terror state: yes, Israel.
This timeline is really getting better by the minute, FFS.
For those who don’t know Robinson – AKA Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – has a long history with the genocide state.
Here’s Lowkey laying it out:
Lowkey EXPOSES Tommy Robinson's Links to Israel @Lowkey0nline pic.twitter.com/3iN4rpbjdc
— Double Down News (@DoubleDownNews) October 15, 2025
Here’s the wee fella arriving at the airport in a country best known for sniping children for sport, bombing hospitals and starving civilians:
Bigot and suspected terrorist Tommy Robinson (real name: Christopher Yaxley-Lenon) lands in Israel to meet his bosses.
He’s greeted by a man convicted for beating his wife to a pulp.
lsraeI is behind so much of the hate and scum on our earth.
pic.twitter.com/hGd2bkPHgd— ADAM (@AdameMedia) October 16, 2025
Can’t imagine why he’d feel at home there…
Robinson recently told reporters he was going on a ‘state visit’ to build “allegiances”, presumably with other complete wetties:
Tommy Robinson is off to Israel tomorrow, but it's not a state visit lol.
He's only been invited because he's a racist who hates Muslims. That's what they have in common. pic.twitter.com/Wk9kNXh9da
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) October 14, 2025
On arrival Robinson said he was jealous that Israel has a leader like the indicted war criminal Netanyahu:
TOMMY ROBINSON IN ISRAEL: “I WISH OUR COUNTRY HAD A LEADER LIKE NETANYAHU”
pic.twitter.com/lkKo5bSuWe
— Khalissee (@Kahlissee) October 15, 2025
Odd really, because there’s a sense if the state of Israel ever came to a sudden halt, Keir Starmer would disappear so far up it’s arse we’d need a surgeon to remove him. The absolute melt.
But isn’t Robinson on trial a minute ago, you may ask?
Well…. yes. But the judge gave him some sort of dispensation to visit Israel.
Middle East Eye explains:
At a hearing in the Westminster Magistrates Court on 13 October, the judge said he would accommodate Robinson’s “travel arrangements” and delay his verdict until 4 November.
The New Statesman explained some of the allegations against him:
Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) faced trial for refusing to supply the Pin to his phone to police while entering the UK last July.
He appeared under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows police to stop people passing through UK ports to determine whether they are involved in terrorism and obliges detainees to provide the Pins for electronic devices.
Robinson was reportedly stopped driving a flash Bentley, true man of the working class. It’s reported he was carrying a large amount of cash in the direction of France. He refused to give up his phone pin, he claims:
…because I didn’t want to give the state my sources of information as a journalist.
I think that’s it for this bizarre story.
No wait, gazillionaire Hitler-saluting sugar daddy Elon Musk is paying Robinson’s legal fees. This place gets weirder by the minute.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
This post was originally published on Canary.
Genocide-denying Israel lobby group ‘UK Lawyers for Israel’ has been described by human rights group CAGE as a key UK “apartheid apologist” and caused widespread outrage recently when its chief executive criticised medical experts for not concluding that Israel’s blockade of food into Gaza was helping reduce Palestinian obesity.
The group is also notorious for using its ‘lawfare’ approach to intimidate a hospital into taking down art by Palestinian children and trying unsuccessfully to have a Palestinian doctor struck off from the UK General Medical Council, while its chief spokeswoman was slammed by a Jewish interlocutor for claiming that discussing Israel’s genocide and starvation blockade are “blood libels” and “propaganda”.
UK Lawyers for Israel is currently under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for alleged “vexatious and baseless” legal threats to silence support for Palestine. Incidentally Natasha Hausdorff, one of its main spokespeople, reportedly screamed at far-right US podcaster Charlie Kirk at an ‘intervention’ about his plan to abandon his support for Israel and for ‘platforming’ right-wing critics of Israel.
Now UK Lawyers for Israel is at it again, this time with a letter to broadcasters Netflix and the BBC that tries to intimidate them out of any participation in an ongoing industry boycott – because of Israel’s genocide in Gaza – of Israeli films and shows.
The boycott has been publicly supported by thousands of Hollywood figures, including ‘A-listers’ like Olivia Colman, Tilda Swinton, Emma Stone, and Joaquin Phoenix.
The letter follows UK Lawyers for Israel’s typical pattern of threatening that the recipients might be breaking equality laws without ever quite saying that they are, since the intention is to intimidate and deter with propositions unlikely to stand up if actually tested in court, for example (emphases added):
[The Equality Act 2010] is the key legislation in the U.K. protecting against racism and discriminatory treatment. If the U.K. television and film industry colludes with acts contrary to this legislation, organisations are themselves likely to be in breach. It also creates a dangerous precedent: one that condones the exclusion of individuals and/or organizations based solely on their nationality, ethnicity, and/or religion.
It also claims that the boycott – which of course is not meant to apply to Palestinians in Israel – is:
selective application — exempting some institutions based on the ethnicity or religion of their members — [which] strongly indicates that [its] operation is based not only on nationality but also on religion and ethnicity.
UK Lawyers for Israel also claim that if that word again] the boycott is found to be in breach of the Equality Act, it might lead to funding and insurance being pulled from productions and therefore:
render a film ineligible for government funding, or trigger clawback of finance already granted [and be] highly likely to be a litigation risk and a notifiable event.
None of the organisations receiving the threatening letter appear to have responded publicly.
Film Workers for Palestine (FWP), the group behind the boycott, described the UK Lawyers for Israel letter as “desperate” and “pitiful” and said nothing would prevent FWP continuing its campaign to “end complicity in Israel’s genocide and apartheid” in Gaza and the West Bank:
We are unimpressed by pro-Israel lobby group UK Lawyers for Israel’s desperate attempt to curtail our signatories’ freedom of expression through its pitiful letter. This kind of intimidation tactic is used so commonly and unethically by UKLFI that a formal complaint was filed with the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority in Britain over ‘a seeming pattern of vexatious and legally baseless correspondence aimed at silencing and intimidating Palestine solidarity efforts.
We will never be deterred from our work to end complicity in Israel’s genocide and apartheid and will continue contributing to a global movement aimed at Palestinians achieving their UN-stipulated rights. It is a legal and moral imperative all should uphold, and we thank our community of artists who stand resolutely for humanity.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
Israel has handed over 45 bodies of Palestinian hostages following their detention, and later death. The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that its medical teams received the bodies from the International Committee of the Red Cross at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis.
The ministry explained that the bodies bore clear signs of torture, abuse, and field executions. Many of the dead were found with traces of handcuffs and blindfolds, indicating that their owners had been subjected to serious violations before their martyrdom.
In this context, the Palestinian Centre for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared issued a statement calling for the completion of the handover of all detained bodies and the complete closure of this painful humanitarian file.
The centre indicated that it is following up on the process of handing over the 45 bodies through the Red Cross to the Nasser complex. They also praised the efforts of the International Committee in facilitating the process. Importantly, they also urged it to continue verifying the identities of the bodies through DNA testing and to ensure that the dignity of the martyrs is preserved and that they are quickly handed over to their families.
The statement added that some of the bodies were delivered intact, while others arrived in the form of remains that raise serious concerns about the circumstances of their death and detention. They wrote:
The Center warned that Israel’s failure to provide an official list of names deepens suspicions of enforced disappearance and manipulation of victims’ records. It called for immediate pressure on Israel to disclose the identities of all victims and the circumstances that led to their deaths.
The statement further urged full transparency regarding all transferred bodies, including the publication of all available information as soon as it is received — such as the victims’ names, details of their deaths, and prompt notification of their families, in respect of their right to truth and dignity.
The Centre also called on the international community, the United Nations, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to pressure Israel to allow the entry of the equipment and machinery necessary to recover the bodies and identify the missing in the destroyed areas.
It stressed that the continued detention of bodies and the denial of families the right to bid farewell to their children is a crime against humanity and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
It emphasised that the human right to a dignified burial does not lapse with the passage of time, and that revealing the truth is part of the justice that the victims and their families deserve.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Al Jazeera English
By Alaa Shamali
This post was originally published on Canary.
Campaigners opposed to ongoing government funding of murderous F-35 fighter jets have burst through security to raid a major conference of Invest NI, the body responsible for pissing away public money on weapons of death for the likes of so-called Israel.
Invest NI had had kept the conference under the radar, with no public advertising of the event. However, activists were able to uncover its existence and protests occurred outside the International Convention Centre venue on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Campaigners distributed leaflets to staff, some of whom were unaware that their employer was participating in a genocide by funnelling money to the likes of Moyola Precision Engineering and Survitec, companies known to make parts for F-35s.
Organisers might have hoped that was the extent of it, but on Wednesday afternoon, when the so-called ‘Regional Economic Development Agency’ was meeting with clients, activists entered the plush Laganside venue. A video posted on the BDS Belfast page shows the interlopers entering the main hall, shouting:
We’re here today to speak on behalf of the people of Palestine. Invest NI are complicit in the genocide in Palestine. The reason they’re complicit is they’re funding companies who are sending parts over to make the F35 jets.
BDS Belfast member Martin Rafferty declared:
When you see the historical pictures of the holocaust and people of that time, you ask yourself: “what would I have done if I was living in that time?” Well, you are living in that time now because there’s a holocaust going on now!
Stoney-faced Invest NI executives are pictured communicating with the demonstrators, as the former admit their awareness of what their funds have been used for. A Judicial Review into the potentially unlawful funding was brought against Invest NI and the Department of the Economy (DoE) by Madden & Finucane solicitors, with a hearing due next week on October 22. The legal team, operating in concert with local activist group Cairde Palestine, hope to compel the government to “claw back” any monies paid out to companies involved in breaking international law, and terminate any ongoing payments.
Invest NI has rendered all Six Counties citizens complicit in genocide by giving around £20 million pounds to four companies involved in the F-35 programme – Electronic Automation Engineers (EAE), Moyola Precision Engineering, RLC (UK), and Survitec. Only last week, new evidence was brought to light by local campaign group Act Now, who uncovered a document from 2021 headed “BAE Systems-Air (Aircraft Business Units) Supplier Quality Approval Letter”. It is addressed to Moyola and outlines that:
…supply of product shall be in accordance with the BAE Systems F-35 Lightning II supplementary quality requirements…
It states the limitation of approval shall be for the “F-35 Lightning II programme only”. Martin Butcher, who is a policy adviser on arms and conflict for Oxfam, has said it is certain parts from the North of Ireland are ending up in Zionist jets used for the pseudo-state’s barbarism in Gaza.
Act Now have previously published a comprehensive report on Invest NI’s support for local development of F-35 parts. In it, there are contradictory statements, as a DoE spokesperson says they have been told by Invest NI that it:
…does not support projects that supply arms to Israel.
However, Invest NI was unable to refute claims from Act Now that it in fact was involved in such matters. The report contrasted the above denial with a statement from Invest NI in which they said:
Invest NI does not hold the information as to whether these companies provide parts for F35s.
The document outlines the tortuous process of email campaigns, Assembly questions and petitions that have been required to get to a point where the authorities concerned have still not admitted wrongdoing. It also highlights the linguistic contortions used by many governments to wriggle away from scrutiny on weapons dealing, as “arms” are only classed here as “finished weapons or munitions”. Likewise, the fact that parts end up in a global pool rather than going directly to ‘Israel’ has been a common method of evasion, allowing governments to claim they don’t send anything directly to the apartheid regime.
A simple way to solve this matter is outlined by BDS Belfast on their statement accompanying the video of Wednesday’s action – cease entirely the production of all weaponry in Ireland. The group said:
Funding of atrocities on the island of Ireland will not be tolerated, and no manufacturing of weapons of mass murder can be allowed to take place here. That counts double for the likes of Invest NI, who are using money that should go to schools and hospitals here, to destroy those facilities in Gaza.
The Belfast Palestine solidarity movement will continue to hold them to account until this ceases.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
Palestinian journalist Motasem Ahmed Dalloul is from Gaza City. He studied International Journalism in London, and works as a Staff Writer for Middle East Monitor. He has lived and worked in Gaza City throughout this genocide, and has paid a heavy price for speaking the truth. But he remains determined to continue reporting about his people’s suffering and the Israeli occupation’s crimes against them:
Motasem Ahmed Dalloul has not left Gaza City in the past two years, although be has been forcibly displaced 13 times. Since his family home was attacked and destroyed in November 2023, he and his family have stayed many places, moving from place to place and fleeing the Israeli ground incursions. They are currently living in a tent.
Near the end of February 2024, an Israeli occupation airstrike targeted his neighbour’s house. Dalloul’s three year old son who was named Abu Baker, and his beloved wife Riham, who was pregnant, were buried under the rubble and killed. Dalloul was heartbroken.
He says:
I lived with her a very nice life, very nice years, full of love and affection. I loved her so much, and she loved me so much. She was very beautiful. My wife was killed while she was very hungry.
According to Dalloul, their dinner consisted of a can of corn, which did nothing to satisfy his wife’s hunger. So at dawn he went to an area in the West of Gaza City where aid organisations sometimes delivered food, to try and find something for his starving wife:
It was difficult for someone like me – I am 45 years old – to go through the crowds of young people and get any kind of aid, but I found the flour bag with someone, and he gave it to me, and I sent this flour back home with my son, Ibrahim.
Ibrahim returned an hour later with the news that an Israeli strike had targeted their neighbour’s house. Dalloul’s wife and three year old son had been killed:
Another son and daughter were wounded.
I rushed to near my wife’s family’s house, and bid farewell to her and my two year old son, Abu Baker. And then I carried the body of my son, and relatives carried her body, and we buried them in a makeshift cemetery, because we couldn’t reach the cemetery where we used to bury our dead.
A day before his wife and son were killed, Dalloul posted this on X:
According to Motasem Ahmed Dalloul, him and his family have constantly suffered from a lack of food, experiencing starvation three times during this genocide. He recalls the first time, when his wife was killed and he was unable to provide for his family, as being especially difficult.
He confides:
One of my children asked me to give him some food one day, and I couldn’t find any, any, anything. I left the house and around an hour later, he followed me and came to the place where I was with my friends, not far from the house, and appealed for something to eat, and I couldn’t find anything.
I started weeping, and hugged him, as I couldn’t afford anything for him to eat. We were hungry.
I myself lost 40 kilogrammes, and went from 158 to 118kg. Even if I was a billionaire, it has been very difficult for me to live because – and it is continuous until now – there is a shortage of food, and I have to pay extremely high prices to get a very little amount of food.
In May, three months after his wife and young son were killed, Dalloul and his other sons returned to the rubble of what once was their home to look for some winter clothes, as there were none available to buy in the markets. Many of his neighbours were also there, witnessing the destruction, and searching through the rubble. Then, all of a sudden, with no warning, shots were fired, and Dalloul’s 21 year old son was killed.
He says:
Suddenly, a sniper or a tank shot at us, and immediately I found my son, Yahya, shot in the head and he fell down. We ran very quickly. Me and the other children and neighbours. We left him on the ground because there was heavy gunfire and we couldn’t return back to that place until after one week. Then we saw his body. The tank had run over it.
His children pray they are killed by the Israeli occupation forces, so they can see their mother againMotasem Ahmed Dalloul says the young children he had with Riham, his second wife, have been highly affected by the deaths of their mother and siblings:
They were very sad, and every time when they asked me, what happened, I tell them they went to paradise. They asked me, where is their mother. I told them, she is in heaven. And they told me they want to go and join her, and see her or meet her. But I tell them we can’t, until the Israeli occupation forces kill us.
So they pray that the Israeli occupation shoots them, so they can go and meet their mother. When my sons were killed, they also asked me if they had gone to the place where their mother exists.
Dalloul says he was feeling happy during the days leading up to the ceasefire, and was celebrating with friends and family, including his son Ibrahim, thinking about what they would do when the ceasefire took effect.
But on the day it was announced by Trump, Ibrahim was not there, and there were no celebrations.
Ibrahim used to help run the family’s supermarket in Gaza City, until it was bombed – just two months after it opened in November 2023, then he then became a street vendor. The Israeli occupation launched an intentional starvation campaign against the people of Gaza City, with the aim of forcibly displacing them Southwards. Both the Zikim crossing and Al Rashid Street in the West of the City were closed, which meant no food was getting into the North of the Strip.
So, according to Dalloul, Ibrahim and his friends insisted on going to the south to bring back some food. But Ibrahim never returned.
Israel killed him the day before the ceasefire:
Dalloul says:
On the first day of the ceasefire, someone told my friends that my son was killed near Al Nabulsi Roundabout, on Al Rashid Street. The next day, we went to bring his body, along with the volunteers and civil defense, and we found him, likely killed two days before. He was engaged and his fiancé was very close to him and loved him very much. She collapsed when she knew that he was dead and killed by the Israeli occupation forces. And it was very, very difficult for all of us, and the killing of all of them has affected me. This is the third son of mine to be killed during the genocide, along with my wife.
The Israeli occupation has repeatedly targeted not only Palestinian journalists but also their families in Gaza, attempting to control the narrative and limit the flow of information to the rest of the world about its many war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Journalists have been threatened, detained, tortured, and killed, while media facilities have been destroyed, and access by foreign journalists to the Strip has been forbidden.
Israel’s systematic targeting of the press is a deliberate strategy to not only silence witnesses, but also to stop criticism of Israeli military actions in Gaza and maintain international support by imposing its untruthful version of events. But this strategy has not only been limited to the genocide in Gaza.
Motasem Ahmed Dalloul has been threatened and told several times by ‘Israeli agents’ to stop reporting during the genocide, and many of these agents and activists have been posting false information online about him. But he says these incidents also occurred before October 2023:
In 2018, when I was covering the Great March of Return, the Israeli occupation army directly threatened me and told me, ‘we will hunt you’. The march was organized every Friday, and the next Friday, I was shot in the chest with an exploding bullet. There was a lot of shrapnel inside my body that affected my lungs, liver, intestines and other organs, and I remained in a coma for several days. This threat was repeated several times during this genocide, and I feel that I might be intentionally targeted.
But Dalloul is not listening to the occupation’s threats, and he does not intend to stop reporting on the crimes inflicted on the population of Gaza. Instead, he believes the first commitment of a journalist is not to their life and safety, but to the truth:
As a journalist, I have a duty towards my family, towards my people, towards my land, towards my country.
I have to expose the lies and the crimes of the Israeli occupation against them, to let the world know that they are liars, they are thieves. They aren’t the real owners of this land, but because they are growing up on the propaganda and lies, the people around the world take them for granted as facts.
If I remain silent, the people will not know that they are liars and thieves, and they are committing massacres against us. So this is the duty of me as a Palestinian, and the duty for me as a journalist. I am obliged to disclose the Israeli lies and Israeli deception and Israeli massacres, and tell the world the truth about our country, about the Palestinians who are the Indigenous inhabitants and residents of this land.
The international community is supporting this rogue state – the state of lies, the state of criminals, the state which was established on the skulls and bones of my grandfathers.
Motasem Ahmed Dalloul has lost a total of 59 family members, including a brother and a sister, nephews, nieces, and cousins who lived in Gaza, but is not waiting for any justice because:
The current world, international community, and the leaders of the great powers are not fair, and they support the Israeli genocide. We’ve not only been attacked, destroyed and massacred by Israeli arms and the Israeli army, but also by American, German, British, French, and other Western arms and weapons, money and also soldiers.
Dalloul says although he is happy there is a ceasefire, the loss of his family and the destruction of Gaza leaves him feeling very sad.
He has lost everything.
He has no home, and he cannot even set up his tent where his house once stood, because of all the rubble, and his neighbourhood is now unrecognisable to him:
I think the Israelis will not return to Gaza, because there is nothing left for them to destroy and attack. Only one street remains undestroyed in Gaza City, everything else is destroyed, so why would the Israeli rogue state come back to the genocide and resume the international isolation and attacks against it, and let the people resume marching and protesting against it. I don’t trust the mediators, or the international community, or Trump, but there is nothing left for Israel to destroy here in Gaza.
Featured image and additional images supplied
By Charlie Jaay
This post was originally published on Canary.
Behind the fight against hate, a trend of repressing dissenting voices is emerging. Titled Criminalisation and Narrative Control: Solidarity with Palestine in the Crosshairs, the report documents how across all the countries studied, the dynamics observed since 7 October 2023 have intensified pre-existing structural trends: the continued shrinking of civic space, the weakening of democratic safeguards, the normalisation of Islamophobia, and the institutionalisation of racial profiling.
Under the guise of maintaining public order, fighting antisemitism, or protecting national security, authorities have resorted to exceptional measures such as bans on demonstrations, arbitrary arrests, repression within academic institutions, media censorship, and legislative threats.
The post FIDH Report: The Repression Of The Solidarity Movement With Palestine appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.
In interviews and a comment article over the weekend, the U.K. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson made clear she plans to exploit the pause in the Gaza genocide to snuff out criticism of Israel’s criminal actions — and, of course, her own government’s collusion in that criminality.
Naturally, the British establishment media have been keen to amplify her message that there will be painful consequences both for individuals who continue protesting against Israeli atrocities and for institutions, such as universities, that mistakenly assume they have a duty to uphold centuries-old freedoms by tolerating such protests.
These protests, let us remember, are fully in line with a ruling last year from the International Court of Justice, the world’s highest court.
The post Freedoms We Took For Granted In Britain appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.
