This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.
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This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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On Monday 18 November, two members of the Palestine Action Thales Five were released from prison in Scotland, having been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in August. They will serve the remainder of their sentences in the community.
Palestine Action Thales activists: free at last
The two women were part of a Palestine Action team who, in June 2022, occupied the Thales weapons factory in Govan, Glasgow, shutting it down, and costing the French arms giant more than £1 million.
This was Palestine Action’s debut action in Scotland. The action at Thales sought to disrupt the French arms giant’s operations, targeting the factory due to Thales’ considerable links with Israel’s largest arms firm, Elbit Systems, along with its direct supplies to the Israeli military during an ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Thales is one of the world’s biggest weapons manufacturers, producing missile systems, armoured vehicles, and drones, as well as working in partnership with Elbit Systems, Israel’s own largest weapons firm.
While the two former prisoners are still subject to restrictions, including having to wear an electronic tag, despite Israeli interference in Scotland’s judicial system they have been freed after three months behind bars.
Palestine Action said it was overjoyed to see the release of the two women, including life-long activist Eva Simmons, and it says it retains hope that the three remaining Thales 5 prisoners will be released soon.
The fight continues
They include Stuart Bretherton and Calum Lacy, who recently challenged their imprisonment in court, as well as Sumaya Javaid. As the Canary previously reported, Bretherton and Lacy were refused their appeal for immediate release from HMP Barlinnie. In a 5 November appeal hearing at Edinburgh’s High Court of Justiciary, two judges reduced their 12 months sentences to 10 months.
In total, there are now 14 Palestine Action prisoners in Britain, with five more globally, all having taken direct action in response to Western complicity in Israel’s Genocide, occupation, and Apartheid in Palestine.
A Palestine Action spokesperson said:
We are pleased to see the release of these two brave women, who with our other comrades, opened the Scottish front against the weapons manufacturers who enable Israeli Genocide. While the British government actively assists in the slaughter, and too many people turn a blind eye, they acted with courage, and remained steadfast. We welcome them back as heroes.
Featured image via Palestine Action
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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A Special Committee from the United Nations (UN) has released a report that investigates Israel’s contravention of human rights in Palestine. As with anything that lays bare Israel’s war crimes, mainstream media here in the West haven’t bothered to report on it. The only reporting has come from outlets that have consistently held Israel to account – Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, and Al Mayadeen.
So, what is exactly in this report that means the cowards in British media refuse to report on it?
Israel enacting “collective punishment”
The Special Committee is formed of representatives from three UN member states – Malaysia, Senegal, and Sri Lanka. As Israel would not allow the committee access to what it called “the occupied territories.” Instead they visited the occupied Syrian Golan and did also:
conduct its annual consultations in Geneva and undertook a visit to Amman, and met with government officials, United Nations organizations and mechanisms, representatives of civil society organizations, youth representatives, human rights defenders, and Palestinian families.
At its core, they found what many Palestinians have had to document on social media:
The Special Committee is gravely alarmed that Gaza has become unliveable for Palestinians and has echoed the repeated warnings by the Secretary-General that nothing could justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and that it was time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.
Apart from anything else, the report sets out in great detail the depth of Israeli depravity in its ongoing siege of Palestine. Whilst many people around the world will have seen such details from social media posts and Middle East journalists, this report is a signal for the corrupt and cowardly in the West who refuse to see what is plain before their eyes.
UN Special Committee found censorship of many kinds
The reports authors found that Israel was targeting “identifiable journalists” in what they called a “deliberate strategy” for “unlawful attacks.” The Knesset has enacted the supposedly temporary closure of “foreign broadcasters deemed to be harming the State [Israel].” That’s included Al Jazeera, whose own media workers have been killed by Israel.
The report reads:
The Committee is deeply concerned that these restrictive measures and attacks on journalists severely limit press freedom and Palestinians’ right to information and expression, while also raising concerns about unlawful and discriminatory online surveillance of Palestinians.
However, Israel’s government has also mobilised to restrict online discourse about Palestine:
Yet, more than 92 per cent of the 21,000 social media content removal requests submitted by the Government of Israel for allegedly inciting violence and terrorism in the 50 days following 7 October, were approved and taken down by Meta and TikTok.
This compliance from the likes of Meta and TikTok to government censorship is yet another sign, were it needed, that Western conceptualisations of freedom of speech are shaped entirely by Western interests. Coupled with the reticence of Western media to report on Israeli war crimes, what unfolds is total impunity for Israel and sanctioned death for Palestinians.
Death tech
The UN Special Committee also detailed Israel’s use of artificial intelligence in how it targets civilians. The report reads:
The Special Committee is deeply alarmed by the unprecedented destruction of civilian infrastructure and high death toll in Gaza, which raise serious concerns about the use by Israel of artificial intelligence in directing its military campaign. Credible media reports indicate that the Israeli military lowered the criteria for selecting targets while increasing their previously accepted ratio of civilian to combatant casualties.
This means Israel have the technology to avoid civilian deaths, but instead use it to cause avoidable civilian deaths.
These directives reportedly enabled the military to use artificial intelligence systems (which rely on mass surveillance to process large volumes of data), to rapidly generate tens of thousands of targets, as well as to track targets to their homes, particularly at night when families shelter together.
Israel is only able to acquire and use such sophisticated technology because of the support of the US. As Al-Jazeera reported:
Amid this AI-assisted genocide, Big Tech in the United States is quietly continuing business as usual with Israel. Intel has announced a $25bn investment in a chip plant located in Israel, while Microsoft has launched a new Azure cloud region in the country.
None of this should come as a surprise. For decades, Silicon Valley has been supporting the Israeli apartheid regime, supplying the advanced technology and investment needed to power its economy and occupy Palestine.
Israel has not only the weight of Western media, but Western governments, tech giants, and more at their side. That tells us everything it does is a choice – it’s not self-defence, it’s not a liberating mission, it’s deliberate ethnic cleansing aimed at the total destruction of Palestinian lives, society, and culture.
Food as a weapon of warfare
To further compound their findings, the UN special Committee report includes a section on Israel’s use of “starvation as a method of war:”
At the beginning of 2023, Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory, including its 17-year blockade by sea, land and air of the Gaza Strip, had already caused widespread food insecurity across the occupied territory, with 80 per cent of Gaza’s residents largely dependent on humanitarian aid.
This is one of the few moments in the report where the authors acknowledge Israel’s long-term sustained attempts to cause widespread Palestinian death. These attempts have, of course, intensified over the last year:
In May, the Commission of Inquiry concluded that through its “total siege”, Israel had weaponized the withholding of life-sustaining necessities, including humanitarian assistance, for strategic and political gains, which constituted collective punishment and reprisal against the civilian population, both in direct violation of international humanitarian law.
Just days ago, when Palestinians were receiving some much-needed aid Israeli soldiers burnt down the building where the aid was housed. Israeli civilians have ransacked aid trucks headed for Palestine. Not for their own benefits, but to further starve Palestinians. The BBC called these people “protesters” and reported:
According to reports in Israeli media, the Tzav 9 activist group were responsible for organising the protest.
Israeli media reports describe it as a right-wing group which is seeking to halt humanitarian aid transfers into Gaza while Israeli hostages are held there.
The now-infamous flour massacre involved Israeli troops firing on Palestinians desperate for food. Food aid workers from World Central Kitchen were deliberately targeted and killed by the Israelis. This is all purposeful starvation as a method of war. Coupled with the UN committees findings on the decimation of Palestine’s natural resources – agricultural land and fishing facilities – Palestinians are both being starved in the present moment, and future generations will certainly struggle to feed themselves.
UN Special Committee: propping up coloniality
However useful the findings of the UN Special Committee report are, they are bookended by a typically colonial attitude towards Israel and Palestine. The report begins with a brief account of the 7 October attack. Such a choice is one that removes historical context for the attack, and erases decades of Israeli settler colonialism.
The report provides many recommendations for the General Assembly and for Israel itself, but before doing so concludes with the following:
The Special Committee also notes with concern the impact of the war on Israelis, who are still grappling with the trauma of survivors and the “collective psychological burden” brought on by the hostage crisis. In particular, the Special Committee is deeply worried about the psychological impact on young Israeli soldiers who are carrying out military orders and will have to live with the consequences of their actions long after the current conflict ends.
This removal of agency from Israeli soldiers is typical of moves towards empire and colonialism which present safety in the form of domination of others, whilst coddling oppressors.
To have an investigation into a series of war crimes Israel is currently committing with impunity conclude with concern for the mental health of Israeli soldiers is a gesture towards the geopolitical power of Israel.
The report outlines the manner in which Israel is committing settler colonialism. But, in refusing to call it settler colonialism, and in the failure to include a lens on coloniality the report only paints half the picture.
Not much more can be expected of a committee associated with the UN. It is, however, a sharp reminder that whilst such a report can be useful to those standing in solidarity with Palestine, it is up to us to ensure that we see the bigger picture of corporate connections, corrupt governments, and colonial tactics.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Al Jazeera English
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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5 Mins Read
Israeli startup SuperMeat has revealed how it can cut production costs of its cultivated chicken to under $12 per pound, on par with conventional poultry.
Just shy of its nine-year anniversary, Israeli food tech startup SuperMeat has made several breakthroughs to make its cultivated chicken at the same price as conventional versions.
In a 23-page report released last week, the company detailed how a combination of a highly stable cell line, a fully controlled animal-free media formulation, and rapid differentiation protocols have helped it achieve production costs of $11.8 per lb without depreciation (and $13.4 per lb with depreciation) at a 25,000-litre scale.
These costs are competitive with premium poultry products in the US, a key inflexion point for the startup as it gears itself towards a launch stateside.
“Current sentiment around cultivated meat includes scepticism regarding its scalability and market readiness, with concerns that cultivated meat may be more hype than a viable alternative,” said SuperMeat co-founder and CEO Ido Savir. “Our new report provides proof that with the right technology, there is a commercially viable path to market.”
The breakthroughs enabling SuperMeat to lower production costs
Courtesy: SuperMeat One of the earliest players in the cultivated meat sector, SuperMeat’s chicken comprises muscle and fat derived from animal cells. It begins its process by growing cell culture in a seeding bioreactor until it reaches high density, before being transferred to an expansion bioreactor.
The startup’s robust cell line – which has “strong self-renewal capabilities” – allows it to reach densities of 80 million cells per ml in just nine days. In a continuous production process, 30-50% of the culture is then transferred to differentiation bioreactors daily for 45 days, where the mass matures into muscle and fat tissue.
“Our lines originated from single-cell clones of embryonic stem cells. SuperMeat refined its ability to closely monitor and select the ideal clones, enabling the production process to rely on resilient clones that can achieve very high densities, and maintain these densities while they keep cycling,” explained CTO Yuval Levy-Peretz.
The muscle is produced in four days and fat in just 24 hours, and the use of embryonic stem cells nearly doubles the weight of these cells, slashing costs by over 40%. These tissues are crucial for delivering the nutritional profile, taste and texture people associate with conventional chicken, but with more efficient pricing when manufactured at scale.
The other breakthrough concerns cell feed, which makes up more than half of the cost of cultivated meat. SuperMeat has developed a high-throughput system that allows it to replace expensive animal-derived ingredients like serum and albumin with more affordable alternatives, resulting in media costs of under 50 cents per litre.
After six days in culture, the cells begin independently producing essential growth factors, enabling the startup to reduce the reduced feeding regimen of only 1.5 vessel volumes per day, which makes the entire process more efficient and cost-effective.
Price parity for cultivated meat front and centre
Once the muscle and fat tissues mature, the meat mass is harvested daily in the form of ground chicken that’s ready to be cooked. SuperMeat’s process requires minimal space and resources and produces three pounds of meat (the same as the yield from one chicken) in just two days, compared to the 42 days it takes to raise and process a chicken.
But when scaled to an industrial facility, it is expected to manufacture 6.7 million pounds (or three million kgs) of cultivated chicken annually – equivalent to around 2.7 million chickens – with 80% less land required. “These breakthroughs deliver the efficiency and yield required to achieve the cost parity of 100% cultivated meat at scale, bringing commercial cultivated meat production within reach,” said co-founder and communications chief Shir Friedman.
Cost is one of the most significant barriers preventing companies from reaching scales large enough to sell cultivated meat, and consumers from buying it once it’s on the market. McKinsey suggests that it’ll take until at least 2030 for these proteins to reach price parity with conventional meat, and that’s despite companies having brought down costs by 99% in less than a decade.
“We see a tremendous opportunity for affordable cultivated chicken meat that supplies the same delicious taste and nutrition as premium chicken, which is a path for consumer and market acceptance and long-term adoption,” said Savir.
The race to make cultivated meat more affordable has been heating up this year. Rehovot-based startup Believer Meats has described how its continuous process can potentially produce cultivated chicken for $6 per lb at scale, while fellow Israeli firm Forsea Foods has reached what it claims is an industry-leading cell density of 300 million cells per ml, making its cultivated unagi cheaper than conventional eel.
Another Israeli company, Ever After Foods, has developed a bioreactor platform that offers a 90% reduction in cultivated meat prices for its B2B clients. And pet food producers Meatly and BioCraft Pet Nutrition have drastically reduced the prices of their culture media.
Courtesy: SuperMeat It’s also important to note that SuperMeat’s techno-economical analysis centred around cultivated chicken made just from muscle and fat, but most cultivated meat products currently on the market feature a blend of animal cells and plant-based ingredients.
For example, Good Meat’s chicken – the only cultivated meat currently found in supermarkets – has a retail price equivalent to over $20 per pound, but cultivated cells only make up 3% of the product. This demonstrates the potential for SuperMeat to further reduce prices when it eventually enters the market.
The post Israeli Cultivated Meat Pioneer Reveals How It Can Produce Chicken At $12 Per Pound appeared first on Green Queen.
This post was originally published on Green Queen.
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Advocates for Palestinian rights are criticizing the Biden administration after it announced that it is issuing sanctions against settler groups and individuals responsible for carrying out violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank — but is not meting out any punishment for the top Israeli officials who are organizing and funding the settler attacks. On Monday…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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Israeli forces are carrying out field executions of civilians in north Gaza and causing dozens to die under the rubble as Israel carries out its horrific all-out siege of the region, a rights group has reported. According to a report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israeli forces are “terrorizing” civilians in north Gaza, forcing them to evacuate their homes and killing Palestinians on…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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The Independent Alliance of MPs has just written to Labour Party prime minister Keir Starmer, imploring him to “stop enabling genocide”. This was in response to his refusal last week to call Israel’s actions in occupied Gaza a genocide. His denial went against what genocide experts and international organisations have said; and it stood in stark contrast with the other times in the past when he wasn’t afraid to use the word genocide.
Starmer’s “blatant disregard for international law”
The Independent Alliance of MPs letter mentions last week’s report from the UN’s Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices, which insisted that “Israel’s warfare methods in Gaza [have been] consistent with genocide, including use of starvation as weapon of war”. It also points to UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s report on Israel’s “settler colonial genocide” in Gaza.
In light of these damning words and others, Jeremy Corbyn, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Iqbal Mohamed stressed that Starmer’s:
flippant denial of genocide egregiously downplays the suffering of Palestinians and shows blatant disregard for international law.
They also asked Starmer whether he has “received any legal advice over the definition of genocide”. And they insisted that:
If the government is relying on its own definition, we ask that you share this definition and explain why the horrors in Gaza do not qualify.
Additionally, they sought to uncover what the government has been “doing to fulfil its obligations, under the Genocide Convention, to prevent genocide”, if it thought UN officials were “undermining the seriousness of the term genocide”, and how it would advise Palestinians to “describe the mass slaughter of their people”.
Independent Alliance of MPs: “stop enabling genocide”
In their conclusion, the Independent Alliance of MPs suggested that Starmer’s genocide denialism may be “rooted in the knowledge that, if you accepted the true scale of what is happening, you would be admitting your government’s ongoing complicity in crimes against humanity”. And they called on the government to “stop enabling genocide, end all arms sales to Israel, and start treating Palestinians as human beings with equal worth”.
Letter to the Prime Minister: pic.twitter.com/FEa0xGMxXk
— Shockat Adam MP (@ShockatAdam) November 18, 2024
Featured image via the Canary
By Ed Sykes
This post was originally published on Canary.
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CONTENT WARNING: this article includes accounts of torture and sexual violence that readers may find distressing
Dr Adnan Al-Bursh was among the best-trained medical professionals in occupied Gaza. He was well-known and well-loved. But Israel’s occupation forces (IOF) detained him, without charging him for any crimes. And within months, they had tortured him to death.
A new Sky News report has shared accounts revealing details of his brutal murder. But the BBC (along with other mainstream media outlets) seems to think they are not worth sharing.
Israel’s murder of Adnan Al-Bursh
As Israel was destroying Gaza in December 2023, Adnan Al-Bursh was working in Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza. As fellow doctor Mohammad Obeid recounted to Sky News, the hospital’s director informed “all males aged between 14 and 65” that they would have to leave. The IOF had “told him that if all men do not come down… they will destroy the Awda Hospital with all the women and children in it”. They duly left the building.
Without any charges, the IOF abducted him. They took him to the notorious Sde Teiman military base in Israel, where video footage of IOF soldiers gang-raping a prisoner caused uproar in August 2024. A fellow inmate at Sde Teiman, Dr Khalid Hamouda, told Sky News that “at least a quarter” of the people in the torture camp at the time were probably medical professionals. The IOF had already beaten Al-Bursh badly by the time he arrived, Hamouda said. “He was unable to even go to the toilet alone.”
The IOF claims to have passed “responsibility” for Adnan Al-Bursh over to the Israeli Prison Service just a week later. His captors would take him to Ofer Prison near Jerusalem in April. And that’s where he died.
In a deposition, a fellow prisoner explained:
In mid-April 2024, Dr Adnan Al-Bursh arrived at Section 23 in Ofer Prison. The prison guards brought Dr Adnan Al-Bursh into the section in a deplorable state. He had clearly been assaulted with injuries around his body. He was naked in the lower part of his body…
The prison guards threw him in the middle of the yard and left him there. Dr Adnan Al-Bursh was unable to stand up.
Israel has systematically attacked Gaza’s healthcare system, and systematically tortured prisoners
In October, the BBC reported on a UN ‘commission of inquiry’ that had criticised Israel for its “concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system”. The IOF had “deliberately killed, detained and tortured medical personnel”, according to the report. And it was children who had “borne the brunt” of this callous campaign. Human Rights Watch has also documented the arbitrary detention of healthcare workers from Gaza, having interviewed eight professionals whom the IOF had abducted without charge. Allegations of mistreatment in captivity include “rape and sexual abuse“.
In August, meanwhile, Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem had released a report documenting systematic “sexual abuse, starvation and assault” at prisons across Israel. It had interviewed 55 Palestinian prisoners whom Israel had held since 7 October. B’Tselem spokesperson Shai Parnes explained:
As we gathered the testimonies, we realised that every witness account was almost identical, no matter what their age, gender or location was. There’s no doubt. This kind of abuse is systematic.
Almost all of those B’Tselem interviewed were released without charges.
The report reveals:
a network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates as a matter of policy. Facilities in which every inmate is deliberately subjected to harsh, relentless pain and suffering operate as de-facto torture camps.
And it seems that Adnan Al-Bursh was one of the people who lost his life as a result of this systematic torture machine.
After 7 October 2023, Israeli propaganda highlighted allegations of sexual violence on that day. But as numerous sources have highlighted since, there is little to no evidence of such violence, any such actions were unlikely to have been ‘part of the plan’, and we can’t justify calling any such actions ‘widespread’ or ‘systematic’.
Where is the BBC‘s report?
Sky News has faced criticism recently for its pro-Israel editorial decisions, along with other corporate media outlets. There is clearly a lot of pressure on journalists to minimise, underplay, or ignore the brutality of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Indeed, it often seems like mainstream outlets are competing among themselves to be the least worst. And with its important report about Adnan Al-Bursh, Sky News showed that it probably isn’t the worst right now.
The BBC, meanwhile, often shows its priorities via omission. Because it shared the initial news in May about Al-Bursh’s death in captivity. But at the time of writing, it seems to have remained silent on the Sky News revelations about the details of his murder. And this simply adds more evidence to allegations of clear pro-Israel bias in its coverage.
UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese called Western media outlets failing to report on this ‘racist’. She said:
The racism of Western media who are not covering this, and Western politicians who are not denouncing this, together with the thousand other testimonies and allegations of rape and other forms of mistreatment and torture that Palestinians have suffered in Israeli jails, is absolutely sickening.
By Ed Sykes
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Youth Demand supporters shut down London, Leeds, Manchester, Cambridge, and Exeter in a co-ordinated mass action on Saturday 16 November – closing 13 roads. It was the sixth day of the group’s ‘swarm’ action – that’s seen disruption across England over the climate crisis and the UK government’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Youth Demand: day six of the swarm
At 11:00 am Saturday, in a coordinated set of actions spanning London, Manchester, Exeter, Leeds and Cambridge, groups of supporters stepped into city roads holding banners reading ‘YOUTH DEMAND’, ‘YOUTH DEMAND AN END TO GENOCIDE’, ‘STOP ARMING ISRAEL’, ‘YOUTH DEMAND LIBERATION NOW!’, along with Palestinian flags:
Action taker Bailey, a disabled supporter from Cambridge said:
We look back in history at atrocities committed by governments and countries and we say “never again”. We praise those who took action for change and liberation. Currently we are living through a historic moment where there are genocides happening and it is up to us to fight back so if it never happens again. I want to be on the right side of history.
In London, roadblocks lasted for several hours across the West End, starting at Queen Victoria Street.
Norfolk Road was the first to be blocked in Cambridge, causing traffic tailbacks:
Manchester saw Deangate disrupted, while in Leeds Woodhouse Lane was the first to be affected by the action. In Exeter, action takers first blocked Iron Bridge and continued to block roads in the city:
Direct action works
Jazz Dean, 23, a care worker from Manchester is another who took action. They said:
Direct action works, this is why we’re doing it. We don’t want to be disrupting people’s day but when there is a genocide happening and innocent civilians in Palestine and Lebanon are losing their lives day after day we cannot stand by. Our government is complicit in this genocide. They continue to buy and sell weapons with Israel. We know what those weapons are used for and that is why we need to resist.
Henri, 20, an architecture student from Falmouth taking action in Exeter said:
We must act, not only for our own future but for that of future generations, our children, our friends and ultimately our world as we know it. Why shouldn’t we stand up for what is morally right regardless of consequences and opinions? We know our actions are ridiculed through the media, but we are left with no choice; the system doesn’t represent us. We must resist.
Saturday’s action came after a full week of resistance from Youth Demand.
A week of resistance
As the Canary has been documenting, the group first took action on Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November. Members laid a Palestinian flag-coloured wreath at the Cenotaph, while also blocking roads and disrupting traffic elsewhere in London and in Manchester.
At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’.
At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.
Also at around 9am, supporters swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester. Then, on Tuesday 12 November the group did similar in Leeds – blocking multiple roads and being threatened with arrest. The group then returned to Manchester on Wednesday 13 November, blocking multiple locations.
On Thursday 14 November, the group targeted roads in both Leeds and Cambridge – returning to the former for the second time this week. Then on Friday 15 November, London was blocked in multiple locations again – with the group also targeting Exeter.
Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country”
You can support Youth Demand here.
Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Thousands took to the streets of London on Saturday 16 November, joining a major alliance of climate justice organisations demanding the UK government end its reliance on fossil fuels, commit to paying climate reparations, and end its complicity in the genocide in Gaza. This was for the March for Global Climate Justice. There was a small counter demo of pro-Israel Zionists who carried banners saying ‘stop lying, there is no genocide in Gaza’.
March for Global Climate Justice
The March for Global Climate Justice brought together more than 60 organisations, including Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Amnesty International UK, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, War on Want, and Just Stop Oil:
Demonstrators gathered outside the British Museum and marched to 10 Downing Street via SOCAR. Organisers claim the route exposed corporate and governmental ‘complicity’ in both the climate crisis and the genocide in Gaza.
Deputy Green Party leader Zack Polanski was one of the politicians supporting the march:
He said:
The first thing is, it’s about crisis with humanity. There’s a very obvious link where, if you have fossil fuel companies that don’t care about trashing the planet, then of course they don’t care about funding weapons and funding the military, which are enabling a genocide and killing people.
And if we’re going to divest away from fossil fuels, oil and gas, as we absolutely should, we should also be divesting away from weapons and the military.
Banners against BP and SOCAR were out in force:
The BTC pipeline, co-owned by BP and SOCAR, supplies nearly 30% of Israel’s oil — fueling the military vehicles and jets used in its ongoing war crimes against Palestinians. BP has also been granted gas exploration licences in occupied Palestinian waters by the Israeli Ministry of Energy. BP is a major sponsor of the British Museum.
Zionists come out to cause trouble
People were also calling out some countries’ refusal to address Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Specifically, the march focused on those leaders who condemn Israel’s action – but are still supplying it with the energy to fuel its army:
Predictably, pro-Israeli Zionist showed up to cause trouble:
The march took place amidst widespread disillusionment amongst activists with the COP process:
COP-out
This year’s summit, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, has already faced outrage after the COP29 President was caught promising to broker fossil fuel deals. The failure of political leaders to address the escalating climate crisis and end their complicity in Israel’s genocide has galvanised a global wave of mobilisations – with more than 150 actions taking place on the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice.
Across Great Britain and Ireland, 25 actions were organised in towns and cities from Manchester to Edinburgh, Dublin to Sheffield under the same demands.
Angus O’Brien, National Coordinator at the Climate Justice Coalition, said:
Thousands of us united today in a historic mobilisation on the streets of London, across Great Britain and worldwide to demand an end to the era of fossil fuels and an end to the genocide in Gaza. The issues we face are global, and so is our response. We won’t stop until political leaders divest from war and destruction – and invest in a just, ecological and equitable transition.
Driven to the brink of collapse
Tyrone Scott, Senior Movement Building and Activism Officer at War on Want, said:
Right now, millions of people are facing the worst effects of climate breakdown, predominantly in countries across the Global South. Our global reliance on fossil fuels have driven our climate and ecosystems to the brink of collapse whilst earning trillions for the fossil fuel industry.
At the same time, these same fossil fuel companies that are profiting from extracting and polluting – driving climate breakdown – are also profiting from funnelling oil to Israel; oil that Israel is then using in its genocide of the Palestinian people. We must end our reliance on fossil fuels, ensure the UK pays its fair share in finance and demand an end to the genocide. There is no climate justice without human rights.
This woman has been a well-known face at climate and democracy protests for many years:
Dr Charlie Gardner, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, said:
Whether it’s the floods that have devastated Spain and dozens of other countries, the record rainfall affecting British farmers, or the fires, droughts and storms ravaging other parts of the world, climate breakdown is here and it’s always the poorest and most vulnerable communities who are hit first and worst. We need to throw everything at ending the fossil fuel age as quickly as possible, and pay our climate debt to poorer nations. As a global community we have to adapt to what’s coming, and take care of each other as we do.
The only way forward is to tackle this emergency collectively and cooperatively. So it is shocking that, in the short period between their election and COP29, Keir Starmer’s government has already promoted airport expansion, succumbed to the Carbon Capture and Storage snake oil promoted by the oil and gas industry, and continued to support Israel’s war crimes.
Across the UK and Ireland, there were other protests too:
Thanks to everyone for attending our demo today in Dublin. We had amazing speeches from @ailbhes, Johnny from @IrishDocsEnv, Pádraig from @saveloughneagh_ , Dearbhla from @fossiltreaty, Ellen from @TCD_Envirosoc, @Westyeddy from @love_leitrim, & @RubyFree8 pic.twitter.com/jxU82JWGhs
— Climate Justice Coalition Ireland (@ClimatJusticIE) November 16, 2024
Hundreds marching for climate justice in Newcastle today. pic.twitter.com/iRjEW5BptO
— Climate Action Newcastle (@ClimateNCL) November 16, 2024
In Birmingham today climate justice activists united with Palestine solidarity activists to target Barclays, demand global climate justice and to say #EndFossilFuels #StopArmingIsrael #EndTheGenocide #BoycottBarclays @PSCupdates @CJ_Coalition #COP29 pic.twitter.com/SDvHSgI2np
— Birmingham Climate Justice Coalition (@BrumCJC) November 16, 2024
A global march for climate justice
Lauren MacDonald, Lead Campaigner at Stop Rosebank commented:
Everyday we are witnessing the worsening effects of climate change as they creep closer and closer to home. All this while governments insist on pandering to the demands of mega-polluters in an endless cycle of ignorance that endangers us all.
Oil money has been linked to violence throughout history – and this is no different now. Even the Rosebank oil field here in the UK will see £253 million in revenue flow towards a company that has been flagged by the UN for human rights violations in Palestine.
If we want to maintain a liveable climate, and sever the toxic links between fossil fuels and atrocities across the globe, we must do everything we can to make a rapid and fair transition away from oil and gas.
Joanna Warrington, Campaigner at Fossil Free London, said:
In gleaming London offices, fossil fuel giants like BP line their pockets while our planet burns and millions suffer. Every day, they stop at nothing to maximize their profits, fueling genocide, corrupting politics and pushing our climate closer to collapse.
We are marching today to demand that the UK Government breaks free from the grip of mega polluters, stands up to their relentless greed, and stops enabling the violence and destruction they profit from.
Another world is not just possible – it’s essential, and it starts with holding fossil fuel corporations accountable.
Around the world, the March for Global Climate Justice took place in multiple cities, too.
Featured image and additional images via Denise Baker
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Ben & Jerry’s has filed a lawsuit against Unilever, claiming its parent company “threatened to dismantle its board and sue its members” if the brand spoke out in support of Palestine, CNN reported. In the recent lawsuit, Ben & Jerry’s claims that Unilever has breached the terms of a 2022 settlement. The popular ice cream brand previously sued the consumer goods company for breaching its 2000…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is backing a bid by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) to block a massive weapons transfer to Israel by the Biden administration, citing violations of U.S. law in backing Israel’s assault on Gaza. Warren said in a statement on Thursday that she is supporting a joint resolution of disapproval brought forth by Sanders to block the sale of weapons to Israel.
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) is reiterating her call for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to resign after the Biden administration said there is no reason to suspend weapons transfers to Israel, despite evidence that the transfers are violating U.S. human rights law. In a speech on the House floor this week, Tlaib slammed the Biden administration for its decision this week not to withdraw…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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In the acclaimed new book Gaza Faces History, historian Enzo Traverso challenges Western attitudes toward Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza by reckoning with the larger historical context of the Holocaust and the Nakba. Traverso details how memorializing the Holocaust became a sort of “civil religion” that honored human rights and the values of Western liberal democracies after the Second World…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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On Friday 15 November, supporters of Youth Demand disrupted traffic in both London and Exeter, demanding a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and for the UK government to halt all new oil and gas licences granted since 2021.
London: swarmed by Youth Demand once again
In London, action takers blocked Holborn’s Southampton Row, Marble Arch, and finally Kensington High Street in front of the Israeli embassy. The team of Youth Demand supporters held placards reading ‘YOUTH DEMAND AN END TO GENOCIDE’, ‘NOT IN OUR NAME’, and ‘YOUTH DEMAND’, along with Palestinian flags. The first roadblock took place at around 10:30am, and were still ongoing at the time of writing:
Youth Demand swarmed across the capital – hammering home their messages in the Friday traffic:
BREAKING: MARBLE ARCH, HOLBORN, ISRAELI EMBASSY, MORE ROADS BLOCKED IN LONDONOn the 5th day of action, young people continue to disrupt, because the UK continues to sell weapons to Israel.
Shut it down for Palestine with us at https://t.co/q6BMSNfHP2 pic.twitter.com/NQsUBg0Pkx
— Youth Demand (@youth_demand) November 15, 2024
Action takers in Exeter blocked Prince of Wales Road, New North Road, and Heles Road throughout the day, beginning at 12:20pm. They faced resistance from members of the public:
Elsa from London took action. She said:
I’m taking action with Youth Demand today because there’s no time to sit and wait for the government. Every day that the UK keeps sending weapons to Israel is a day too long. Too many kid’s lives have been taken. Never again means never again for anybody.
Hannah Chick from Lewisham was also out swarming. She said:
My friends in Gaza are all under siege and have been displaced continuously. I cannot sit and allow my government to send weapons to murder my friends.
Israel openly admits to war crimes in front of the Western world, whilst the West nod in agreement and sign more bombs over. Shame on every single complacent soul.
This is now the fifth day this week that Youth Demand has taken action.
Five days of swarming
As the Canary has been documenting, the group first took action on Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November. Members laid a Palestinian flag-coloured wreath at the Cenotaph, while also blocking roads and disrupting traffic elsewhere in London and in Manchester.
At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’.
At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.
Also at around 9am, supporters swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester. Then, on Tuesday 12 November the group did similar in Leeds – blocking multiple roads and being threatened with arrest. The group then returned to Manchester on Wednesday 13 November, blocking multiple locations.
On Thursday 14 November, the group targeted roads in both Leeds and Cambridge – returning to the former for the second time this week.Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country”
On Saturday 16 November there is also the Global March for Climate Justice in London. You can read more about that here, and support Youth Demand here.
Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand
By Steve Topple
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Just days after Israeli football hooligans’ racist romp in Amsterdam, they took part in violence in Paris too. Not to shy away from where their support lied, some of the thugs were even wearing tees with the IDF logo on them.
Israeli football hooligans rampage in France
Israel played France in a match with low attendance, partly due to some boycotts of the game relating to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Some brought up the word pogrom ironically, in relation to the ridiculous Western framing of the violence in Amsterdam, to refer to Israeli fans’ actions.
New pogrom just dropped https://t.co/wt2McVXHXv
— Eyup Lovely (@eyuplovely) November 14, 2024
The violence happened despite a large police mobilisation in Paris. And with one Israeli genocide apologist praising the police, officers faced accusations of actually arresting the victims of Israeli violence rather than the apparent perpetrators.
Another video where French fans explain to the police, with video for proof, that the Israel supporters started the fight and that they arrested the French victims.https://t.co/yU8TYJSi6w
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) November 15, 2024
Reportedly, French authorities banned anything Palestinian from the match. However, in a now-expected case of double standards, Israeli thugs could parade the IDF logo around without recourse:
JUST IN:
The Mainstream media now continues once again with the victimization of the Israeli hooligans who beat a woman at the stadium in ParisThe 24-hour news channel BFMTV has just interviewed an Israeli supporter wearing a t-shirt of the ISRAELI ARMED FORCES “IDF”.… pic.twitter.com/nxv9VuAf6N
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) November 14, 2024
Amsterdam propaganda enabled this
As in Amsterdam, it looked like Israeli football hooligans had been preparing for violence before the game.
Violent far-right Zionist org Betar posts, then deletes, photos of members in Paris armed with clubs for #NationsLeague match between France and Israel. @FIFAcom's failure to #BanIsrael over its #GazaGenocide, apartheid regime and violent racist fans, only brings more violence. pic.twitter.com/mlXAQ1REO6
— PACBI – BDS movement (@PACBI) November 14, 2024
Entrepreneur Arnaud Bertrand insisted that Israeli violence in France was an:
Absolutely perfect illustration of what we enable with the way the media and the Western political class framed what happened in Amsterdam.
Absolutely perfect illustration of what we enable with the way the media and the Western political class framed what happened in Amsterdam.
There was a football match between Israel and France yesterday and this
happened at the beginning of the match: a horde of Israeli… pic.twitter.com/tFvTxNZgJj— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) November 15, 2024
A week after the events in Amsterdam, the reality of what happened is clear for most people who don’t consume establishment propaganda. Filmmaker Richard Sanders, for example, brilliantly summed up the awfulness of the Western media coverage of the violence involving Maccabi Tel Aviv hooligans:
EXPOSED: What REALLY Happened in Amsterdam @pularjs pic.twitter.com/wrXwwC6WXz
— Double Down News (@DoubleDownNews) November 15, 2024
As the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement explained on 14 November:
Israel has killed 344 Palestinian footballers… with FIFA’s complicity
It added:
Palestinians are calling for peaceful disruption of FIFA matches until it ends complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.
The right thing to do during a genocide would be for FIFA to ban the perpetrator’s teams. And we must continue to demand action until FIFA listens.
Featured image via screengrab
By Ed Sykes
This post was originally published on Canary.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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In the acclaimed new book Gaza Faces History, historian Enzo Traverso challenges Western attitudes toward Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza by reckoning with the larger historical context of the Holocaust and the Nakba. Traverso details how memorializing the Holocaust became a sort of “civil religion” that honored human rights and the values of Western liberal democracies after the Second World War. However, in recent decades, Traverso warns, “the memory of the Holocaust experienced a paradoxical metamorphosis, and it was weaponized by Israel and by most Western powers in order to become a policy of an unconditional support of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.” Witnessing this distortion of history, “I was shocked by the way in which many words, many concepts had been abused and misunderstood,” says Traverso. “Now we are facing a paradoxical situation in which the perpetrator is Hamas and the Palestinians, and the victims are the Israelis. And this is a reversal of reality.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Palestine Action has scored another victory against the Israel war machine in the UK – after another company cut ties with genocide enabler Elbit System. However, the victory only came about after some corporate media smeared the group’s campaign against Hydrafeed as being “misinformed”.
Hydrafeed: bye-bye Elbit, thanks to Palestine Action
In an email to Palestine Action on 14 November, Hydrafeed announced they’ve cut ties with Israel’s biggest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, and their subsidiaries.
This victory comes after a sustained direct action campaign by Palestine Action which involved activists abseiling inside Hydrafeed to dismantle their equipment, smashing through the front doors and spraying their premises in blood red paint. To date, no-one has been arrested for these actions.
At the time, corporate media painted Palestine Action’s assertions about Hydrafeed as being correct. For example, NationalWorld, a huge media company that palms off its state stenography as ‘local news’, wrote that:
Badly-informed activists have smashed up a factory in MK which they wrongly claim is involved in supplying machinery to a company that allegedly produces Israeli weapons.
However, the company’s connection to Elbit Systems was confirmed when Palestine Action activists saw and destroyed Hydrafeed’s machinery inside Elbit’s Kent factory, Instro Precision during an action on 17 June. Hydrafeed are a leading supplier of CNC machine tools, which Elbit requires in order to manufacture their weaponry.
Despite previously denying links with Elbit Systems, Hydrafeed informed Palestine Action that following an investigation, they can confirm that their products were used by the Israeli weapons maker.
They have now detailed their steps taken “as a direct result of your targeted actions” to ensure they are no longer associated with Elbit Systems. This involved attempting to buy back their equipment, which Instro Precision refused to sell.
However, the Hydrafeed said:
Hydrafeed have made it clear to Instro Precision that they are not prepared to provide any sales or services of their products to Instro Precision, their parent company Elbit Systems, or any of Elbit Systems subsidiaries now, or in the future.
Stopping the Israeli war machine in its tracks
Palestine Action’s primary target, Elbit Systems, market their weaponry as “battle-tested” or “combat proven”, as they are developed through Israel’s massacres of the Palestinian people. The Israeli arms manufacturer provide 85% of Israel’s military drone fleet and land-based equipment, as well as munitions.
The group’s direct action strategy involves disrupting companies and institutions which allow Elbit Systems to maintain their lethal operations in Britain. Hydrafeed joins a series of companies, including lobby firm APCO, Shipping giant Kuehne+Nagel and Barclays Bank, which have cut ties with Elbit Systems following a sustained direct action campaign.
Commenting on the victory, a Palestine Action spokesperson said:
Through a focused direct action strategy, we are breaking crucial links in Israel’s military supply chain. This has proven that it is within the power of ordinary people to isolate and shut down Israel’s biggest weapons producer. At a time when the genocide is intensifying, it’s the responsibility of all of us to adopt effective tactics to stop Britain’s participation in the ongoing massacres of the Palestinian and Lebanese people.
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Yuval Abraham is a Jewish filmmaker and journalist who is “the son of Holocaust survivors“. Because he has criticised Israel’s crimes, he has faced cynical accusations of antisemitism in Germany. But the co-director of No Other Land, a documentary about the ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank, is not pulling his punches. And he’s shaming German genocide apologists in the process.
No Other Land
After “Berlin’s official city portal” described No Other Land as having “antisemitic tendencies”, he tweeted:
It pains me to see how, after murdering most of my family in the holocaust, you empty the word antisemitism of meaning to silence critics of Israel’s occupation in the West Bank (the topic of our film) and legitimize violence against Palestinians. I feel unsafe and unwelcome in Berlin of 2024 as a left-wing Israeli and will take legal action.
Speaking at a showing of the film, meanwhile, he said:
antisemitism… carries so much weight for me as a Jewish person. I grew up with the stories of my family being murdered in the Holocaust. My grandmother was born in a concentration camp. And to hear the way you are weaponising this word to silence criticism of Israel’s occupation… Hundreds of people are being killed [in Gaza] every day, and to hear you use the deaths of my own family to legitimise this and to accuse me of antisemitism… it’s so shameful and so wrong and so unjust. And history is knocking on Germany’s door again and you’re failing.
Standing ovation in Berlin as Yuval Abraham speaks of Germany’s “shameful” abuse of the term antisemitism and its own historical responsibility https://t.co/XQkJwBLJKw pic.twitter.com/8qkWMFN7md
— James Jackson (@derJamesJackson) November 12, 2024
After Abraham’s comments, the Berlin portal backtracked, saying:
An earlier version of the text stated that this film “exhibits anti-Semitic tendencies”. This assessment was incorrect and inadmissible. It has therefore been removed. Berlin.de apologizes for this error.
“Can genocidal societies ever transform away from their genocidal pasts?”
Before Israel’s current genocide in Gaza, Germany was its second-biggest arms supplier. A firm ally of Israel, Germany has kept the weapons flowing despite the apartheid state’s war crimes.
Following the European country’s smearing of Abraham’s work No Other Land, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention said:
The German state and German elites have clearly learned nothing from their history. They continue to persecute Jews without so much as a moment of hesitation if it serves their raison d’etat. Now they have added Palestinians as new victims of German genocide — Palestinians who inherited the consequences of Germany’s crimes!
This raises serious questions about what should be done with serial genocide states. Can genocidal societies ever transform away from their genocidal pasts?
And this wasn’t even the first time German figures had targeted Abraham.
When he spoke at Berlin film festival Berlinale upon receiving its best documentary award for No Other Land, Abraham criticised apartheid and called for a ceasefire in Gaza. A number of German politicians responded by claiming his speech was antisemitic. As a result, he received death threats while others intimidated his family members in Israel. Abraham reacted by insisting:
Germany is weaponising a term that was designed to protect Jews, not only to silence Palestinians but also to silence Jews and Israelis who are critical of the occupation and use the word apartheid. This is also dangerous because it devalues the term antisemitism.
Our film “No Other Land” on occupied Masafer Yatta’s brutal expulsion won best documentary in Berlinale. Israel’s channel 11 aired this 30 second segment from my speech, insanely called it “anti semitic” – and I’ve been receiving death threats since. I stand behind every word. pic.twitter.com/2burPfZeKO
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) February 25, 2024
Featured image via screengrab
By Ed Sykes
This post was originally published on Canary.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists and 51 other non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement on Thursday, November 14, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon.
The statement said Israel had attacked protected persons, including journalists, health workers, peacekeepers, and emergency responders, and called on the international community to “condemn and demand an immediate end to attacks on protected persons and sites in Lebanon.”
The statement noted the indiscriminate and widespread killing of journalists and other civilians. CPJ has documented the death, displacement, assaults, obstructions, detentions, and unsafe conditions for journalists in Lebanon. It is critical that all parties to conflict respect international law, which is central to enabling journalists to report and work on the conflict safely.The statement also highlighted the IDF’s October 25, 2024, airstrike on a compound housing 18 journalists in southern Lebanon. The attack, which Lebanon’s Minister of Information referred to as “an assassination,” killed two journalists and a media worker and injured at least three others.
Read the full statement here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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A UN special committee has found that Israel’s tactics of starvation and mass civilian slaughter in Gaza are “consistent with genocide,” in one of the strongest worded reports by a UN group yet on the Israeli siege. The 27-page report documented the first nine months of Israel’s assault and was prepared by a UN committee established in 1968 to investigate Israeli human rights practices in the…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Wednesday his intention to bring a floor vote on resolutions aimed at blocking a series of proposed arms sales to the Israeli government as it wages a war on Palestinians in Gaza that is the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case. In September, Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced half a dozen joint resolutions of disapproval — which were…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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On Friday 8 November, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee issued a grave alert: northern Gaza now faces a “worst-case scenario” for famine, driven by escalating violence, Israel’s mass displacement orders, a halt to commercial supplies, and a breakdown of social support systems. Immediate action is critical to prevent famine conditions.
Famine in northern Gaza: imminent
“Without an immediate end to the siege and the provision of safe, unrestricted humanitarian access, alongside a steady flow of food supplies through all available crossings, our food parcels can only meet a fraction of the urgent needs” said Natalia Anguera, Head of Operations for the Middle East at Action Against Hunger.
“We urge the international community to understand that declaring a famine goes far beyond indicating extreme hunger. It means that lives are already being lost”.
Since early October 2024, following displacement orders in parts of northern Gaza, over 71,000 people have fled to Gaza City. An estimated 100,000 people remain trapped in the besieged north. According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of aid trucks entering Gaza has fallen to its lowest level since October 2023. Up to 80% of northern marketplaces have been damaged or destroyed, further limiting access to food and essential supplies.
In the last two weeks, Action Against Hunger has distributed over 1,000 dry food parcels to displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, many from Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia. “Gaza has become entirely dependent on what comes from outside, especially in the north and Gaza City” one displaced resident said:
There’s nothing here. No vegetables, no meat, no chicken, no fruit.
Action Against Hunger
Action Against Hunger continues to work across Gaza, delivering essential nutrition programs, emergency assistance, and clean water to those in need. Since the onset of the current conflict, we have supported over one million people with these vital services.
After more than a year of relentless Israeli violence and suffering, particularly in northern Gaza, the international community must act to protect humanitarian access, enforce a lasting ceasefire, ensure the release of hostages, and end the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
Featured image via Action Against Hunger
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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On Thursday 14 November, supporters of Youth Demand disrupted traffic in Leeds and Cambridge, demanding a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and for the UK government to halt all new oil and gas licences granted since 2021.
Youth Demand: swarming for a fourth day
At 11:00am, a group of supporters blocked the Headrow/Briggate junction in central Leeds, holding a banner that read ‘YOUTH DEMAND’ along with a Palestine flag:
Members of the public forcibly removed action takers from the road to drive past.
SWARM DAY FOUR: MAJOR ROAD BLOCKED IN LEEDSAs Israel continues to bomb refugee tents, the UK has sent over 200 spy planes to Gaza in support of Israel. We have war criminals in government.
Take action now: https://t.co/q6BMSNfHP2 pic.twitter.com/ULsrAMLjXZ
— Youth Demand (@youth_demand) November 14, 2024
The action takers returned to the road, before ending the road block.
Joe Clark, a 23 year old student from Leeds, took part in the action. He said:
I’m taking action today because the UK does not value Palestinian life. You cannot pay respects to fallen soldiers whilst simultaneously sending weapons to commit a genocide. We won’t stop until our government is no longer complicit in the tragic hypocrisy.
At 12:30pm, another group of supporters blocked roads in Cambridge, holding banners that read ‘STOP ARMING ISRAEL’ and ‘YOUTH DEMAND’, as well as Lebanese and Palestinian flags. They started at Victoria Avenue, before moving onto Chesterton Road:
Will, a 23 year old PhD student from Cambridge took action today, saying:
I’m taking action because this genocide has gone on for over a year and still the government, no matter the party, is sending weapons to Israel. So long as those in power believe enable murder and occupation, everyone must resist.
Ordinary protest methods have failed. The political system allows those in power free reign to perpetrate genocide so long as it furthers their interests. The only human thing we can do is bring it to its knees.
We are blocking roads because direct action is the only realistic way to oppose this genocide. We have to put pressure on the choke points of this system, or genocide, climate collapse and extractivism will remain the status quo.
A week of action
As the Canary has been documenting, the group first took action on Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November. Members laid a Palestinian flag-coloured wreath at the Cenotaph, while also blocking roads and disrupting traffic elsewhere in London and in Manchester.
At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’.
At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.
Also at around 9am, supporters swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester. Then, on Tuesday 12 November the group did similar in Leeds – blocking multiple roads and being threatened with arrest. The group then returned to Manchester on Wednesday 13 November, blocking multiple locations.
Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country”
You can support the group here.
Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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British surgeon Nizam Mamode spent some time working at Nasser Hospital in Gaza. And testifying in parliament this week, he explained how Israel’s drones would come and shoot at children and other civilians after airstrikes. The BBC, however, ran with the title “Gaza surgeon describes drones targeting children”. It could have simply added the word “Israeli” before the word “drones”, but it chose not to.
Whose drones are targeting children? pic.twitter.com/TwJsXN0bG7
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) November 14, 2024
This is just the latest example of the BBC‘s clear pro-Israel bias during the apartheid state’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The BBC has consistently echoed Israeli propaganda, seeking to minimise or undermine the veracity of statistics relating to the number of deaths in Gaza, by emphasising regularly that the occupied territory’s health ministry is “Hamas-run“. Calling Mamode a “Gaza surgeon” in the headline rather than a ‘British surgeon’ or ‘former NHS surgeon’, meanwhile, has a similar impact. Because in the end, most people never read beyond headlines.
“The drones would come down and pick off civilians, children”
Mamode told the International Development Committee that:
a bomb would drop, maybe on a crowded, tented area, and then the drones would come down
Then, he continued:
The drones would come down and pick off civilians, children
Acclaimed British surgeon Nizam Mamode, who recently returned from a period of working at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, testified in front of the UK Parliament on the current state of healthcare in Gaza.
Mamode said that Israeli quadcopters would arrive at the scene of airstrikes in… pic.twitter.com/npFDRuEYKl— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) November 12, 2024
He also stressed that:
This is not an occasional thing. This was day after day after day operating on children who would say, ‘I was lying on the ground after a bomb dropped and this quadcopter came down and hovered over me and shot me’.
BBC complicity in genocide
Many establishment journalists over time have been complicit in manufacturing consent for genocide and other crimes. And some have even faced convictions for their roles. It’s unfortunately uncommon. But it happens, and should happen more often.
The BBC knows how to be clear. For example, this week another headline from the state broadcaster read “Ukrainian girl killed by Russian drone as attacks surge”. When it’s an official cause the British state is supportive of, there’s no problem. When it’s an cause the British state opposes, like holding the war criminals in apartheid Israel to account, the BBC treads timidly.
So when it wants to, or is allowed to, the BBC can clearly name the perpetrator. In fact, even in the article in question about Nizam Mamode’s testimony, the broadcaster was clear in the article itself. It said “A retired surgeon who volunteered at a hospital in Gaza has told MPs that Israeli drones would target children who were lying injured after bombings”. It simply chose not to attribute blame to Israel in its headline.
These choices make a difference. And all licence-fee payers in Britain should demand better.
Featured image via screengrab
By Ed Sykes
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Report also refers to Israel ‘using starvation as a weapon of war’ and running ‘apartheid system’ in West Bank
A UN special committee has said that Israeli policies and practices in Gaza are “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”.
The committee, set up in 1968 to monitor the Israeli occupation, also said in its annual report that there were serious concerns that Israel was “using starvation as a weapon of war” in the 13-month-old conflict, and was running an “apartheid system” in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Continue reading…This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.