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Category: israel

  • Barghouti torture exposed: Released detainee reveals Israel’s brutal assault on political prisoner

    A released Palestinian detainee has revealed that Marwan Barghouti has been horrifically tortured by his Israeli captors. Barghouti, the political prisoner held for twenty-four years by the Israeli occupation, was recently honoured with a new mural in London.

    Barghouti’s son Omar posted this morning to his social media this morning, in Arabic, that:

    I woke up to a phone call from a released prisoner this morning. He told me, “Your father was physically abused. They broke his teeth and ribs, cut off part of his ear, and broke his fingers in stages for fun…

    What do I do? Who do I talk to? Who can we turn to? We’re living with this nightmare every day… Oh God, have mercy on me. My father is 66 years old now. Oh God, where will he find the strength?”

    In August, footage emerged showing an emaciated Barghouti, a shadow of his old self, being threatened by Israel’s fascist ‘security’ minister Itamar Ben-Gvir:

    As with most of the myriad examples of the terror state torturing, starving, beating and raping innocent Palestinians it has abducted, the ‘mainstream’ media here in the UK has decided to stay silent.

    The UK’s ‘mainstream’ media has so far ignored the torture of Marwan Barghouti. It has also ignored seven British nationals on hunger strike in British prisons — some for more than 4 weeks. But somehow, it hasn’t ignored the rise of the Labubu.

    So what is it? Are you simply out of touch with the world around you, or are you consciously enabling Israeli terrorism and the Starmer government’s authoritarianism through your silence?
    #FreeMarwan

    Featured image via the New Arab

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • UN Calls for Investigation Into Israeli Killing of 2 Boys Aged 8 and 10 in Gaza

    Israel’s killing of two young Palestinian boys in Gaza for supposedly crossing the Israeli military’s ever-shifting yellow line last week is “horrific” and must be investigated, the UN has said. “It’s hard to see how two boys, eight and 10, can be considered a threat. And there needs to be an investigation and accountability into what happened,” said Stéphane Dujarric…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • London Irish Brigade and Jewish allies stand with Pro-Palestine hunger strikers

    On Thursday, the London Irish Brigade, supported by anti-Zionist Jews, protested outside Downing Street against the Starmer regime and corporate media. They convened in solidarity with pro-Palestine political prisoners — currently on hunger strike — condemning the media’s complicity in ignoring their plight.

    These prisoners have been incarcerated for over a year without trial for opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    They have the backing of pro-Palestine Jewish activists. They told the Canary that the Holocaust against Jews compels them to oppose the genocide of Palestinians.

    Talking to the Canary, organisers from the London Irish Brigade highlighted that as Irish people, they are all too familiar with the reality of occupation and the importance of hunger strikes in bringing about change.

    The London Irish Brigade said:

    We the London Irish Brigade appeal to people to join us opposite Downing St. to show support and solidarity for the six unselfish young Palestine activists on hunger strike in British prisons.

    As Irish people we have have seen before when activists for justice and freedom endure inhumane conditions and have their calls to be treated fairly before the law ignored. In that case, the prisoner must make a decision to accept or take control of their predicament. The hunger strikers have done the latter and they need all the support we can give them.

    ✊ Join us!

    Chiara Contrino sent in photographs:

    Activist photographer ‘Better than Real’ was also in attendance:

    Brigade organiser Frank McGlynn gave a speech:

    In this shared fight, Irish activists, and Jews against genocide, are standing firm with Palestine against oppression, genocide, apartheid and the colonisers’ land theft.

    Featured image via the London Irish Brigade

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Ousman Noor on trial: Zionist lobby seeks to silence free speech

    Anti-Zionist Barrister, Ousman Noor never imagined that speaking truth would place him at odds with his profession. The human rights lawyer is facing charges under the UK Terrorism Act (2000) for speaking out against Israeli occupation and genocidal violence.

    He will now stand trial before the Bar Standards Board, who will determine his future and ability to practice law and the extent to which UK lawyers can freely express themselves without fear of reprisal.

    Freedom of expression on trial

    Noor specialises in refugee and detention law, with a focus on armed conflict and civilian protection. In 2020, he became Government Relations Manager for Campaign to Stop Killer Robots (SKR), as he explains to the Canary:

    I was basically a lobbyist for disarmament, advocating for international law, and explaining its importance.

    Coincidently, on October 7, 2023, when he attended the UN General Assembly in New York witnessing what would eventually upend his career. His colleagues discussed autonomous weapons and disarmament protocols, while the Israeli Ambassador spoke about Palestinians in language Noor recognised as dehumanising. He says:

    The only thing to say in that room at the time was ‘I condemn Hamas.’ Israel was getting all of the global sympathy. Later, there was absolute passivity, or applause, for the announcement that they were going to, as Netanyahu said, turn Gaza into a wasteland.

    A genocide was looming, and the diplomatic space in which he had spent years advocating for international law was silent, so were his colleagues. The indiscriminate bombing had begun. Noor felt compelled to act and told the Canary:

    No one gave a fuck basically. In the end, after crying about the issue, I stood outside the UN and made a genuinely emotional appeal. I called for people to speak out against ethnic cleansing, occupation and apartheid.

    Noor has been fired from his job but refuses to be be intimidated into silence.

    Since these developments, he has been involved in activism on every front, advocating for the rights of Palestinians and even set-up Protect Palestine. The international movement campaigns for an end Israeli occupation through military action and calls for a one-state solution. Commenting on his motivations, he said:

    It became obvious that every judicial and diplomatic mechanism is futile in the face of an unhinged fascist messianic extermination process. The Israelis don’t care about international law. They don’t care about international public opinion. We need to recognise this is fascism, and this is how it works.

    Legal analysis is not a crime

    In the background, Noor is being investigated by the Bar Standards Board. In October 2024, UK Lawyers for Israel lodged a complaint centred on a Tweet he posted from Jordan arguing that it expresses support for a ‘terrorist organisation’.

    The tweet argued that Hezbollah had the legal and moral right to use military force against the Israeli occupation forces. On the same day, the lawyer published a 12-minute in which he qualified his argument with a legal analysis.

    The Bar Standards Board claim that the barrister has brought the profession into disrepute, while citing his alleged support of a terrorist organisation as the basis for this charge. of him. Noor argues that his critique was always directed at Israel’s army for committing human rights abuses. Commenting on the social media post in question, he told the Canary:

    Everyone in international law and in Jordan, where I was living at the time, knows Hezbollah has this right. Obviously the UK doesn’t see it this way. The Zionists started making my tweet go viral, and tagged the police.

    Noor’s legal team argues that the board cannot initiate civil proceedings under the Terrorism Act.

    There is also the question of whether he has brought the profession into disrepute as claimed. He sought the opinion of Dr Ralph Wilde, an international law specialist. He confirms that Noor’s post is compliant with international law and providing legal analysis is what the profession demands.

    UK board in defence of Israel’s army

    Speaking about the board’s response, Noor says:

    They’re just so used to defending Israel, to defending the IDF,  to this idea that a barrister, a Muslim who’s a bit radical needs to be punished. There’s a real psychological aspect to all this. I joined their club, I talk like them, I have the background, I’m in their fraternity. But I’ve now been kicked out, and I’m speaking out publicly. There’s a weird tribal need for them to now try and isolate me.

    The Terrorism Act 2000 grants the police sweeping powers and is being used to erode civil liberties and free speech in opposition to Zionism and Israel’s genocide.

    Political pressure, in Noor’s case, has led to the misuse of terrorism legislation to muzzle, intimidate, and punish a legal professional in the absence of a police investigation. The word ‘terrorist’ has no agreed upon international definition but it is powerful enough to silence a whole country. Noor is prevented from working as preparation for trial is underway. If the prosecution succeeds, he faces a severe financial penalty and the risk of being struck off.

    Noor will be represented by barrister, Franck Magennis, who has been instructed to defend the case in a way that challenges the “racist ideology of Zionism”. Noor wants Zionism to be the focus of the trial. Victory, he told the Canary, is raising awareness of Zionism.

    The root culprit here is Zionism, a political ideology which he says is based on supremacy and extermination.

    When we think of the Zionist lobby, people think of institutions like UK Lawyers for Israel, the Campaign Against Antisemitism, or Labour Friends of Israel. But we need to see it as an ideology that pervades the entire British culture, media, political system, and literature.

    There are heavy stakes at play in this trial. If Noor loses, the trial sets a new precedence — granting regulators the green light to silence professionals speaking out against genocide, even when police are not involved nor interested.

    The solice is very obvious. I have my health, I have my family, I have stability. The mental and spiritual stuff is just in my head ultimately, and that we’re winning on, as well!  What I see is that I have a good life. I’m a barrister. I’m fighting my trial for it, but still I’ve had that privilege. I have a British passport. I have contacts, so I don’t feel sorry for myself. It has been, overall, a very liberating process. But whatever happens, we must win!”

    Ousman Noor’s trial will run from 20 to 21 January 2026 at the Bar Tribunal and Adjudication Service, London. Donate here to support Noor.

    Featured image via Nour Ousman

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Four countries join boycott of Eurovision after Israel cleared to compete

    Eurovision, once a feel-good festival of unity and diversity, is now facing one of the deepest political crises in its 70 year history. Its organisers – the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – disgracefully confirmed that Israel would be allowed to compete in the next iteration of the competition. Four of the tournament’s biggest competitors – Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands – promptly announced they’d be boycotting , Dec 4, ‘Israeli’ broadcaster KAN will be allowed to participate in the 2026 contest in Vienna. There was an immediate backlash.

    Four main Eurovision backers already boycotting Eurovision 2025-more to follow

    The decision to allow a country committing war crimes and crimes against humanity to compete raises serious questions – to say the least. By allowing Israel to compete the EBU have raised serious questions over their moral integrity, and their approach to human rights.

    Now, four of Europe’s biggest public broadcasters have announced they will boycott next year’s event – with more boycotts inevitable.

    Ireland national broadcaster, RTÉ, said it will neither participate in nor broadcast Eurovision 2026. It said:

    participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there.

    According to Spanish state broadcaster RTVE:

    Israel’s presence is untenable…we are talking about a genocide in Gaza.

    Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS announced that participation is no longer:

    compatible with the responsibility we bear as a public broadcaster.

    And, they also drew attention to concerns over press freedom, political interference, and the human rights abuses in Gaza.

    A fourth broadcaster, from Slovenia, RTVSLO, has also confirmed withdrawal. Officials said their decision is a response to public demands:

    The public has been demanding that we say no to the cooperation of any country that is attacking another country. We must follow European standards for peace and understanding.

    Herzog: ‘Israel deserves to be represented on every stage around the world’

    The Israeli occupation’s president, Isaac Herzog, personally lobbied international partners to oppose a vote on ‘Israel’s’ removal. After the EBU’s decision, he posted on X:

    Many believe that by allowing Israel to take part, music is being:

    used as a tool to whitewash crimes against humanity.

    Their inclusion in Eurovision normalises Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians. For years, the presence of Israel as a apartheid, genocidal state in Eurovision has been met with widespread public anger across Europe. This anger reflects deep unease over ‘Israel’s’ unquestioned acceptance into such a high-profile cultural event.

    In 2019 when Tel Aviv hosted the Eurovision Song Contest there were large, pro-Palestine protests outside the venue. Activists called for a boycott of the event to draw attention to ‘Israel’s’ human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories. During that 2019 final, the Icelandic entrants Hatari publicly displayed scarves with Palestinian flag as their televote points were announced. The Icelandic broadcaster RÚV was fined by the EBU.

    Malmö in 2024 saw one of the largest Eurovision-related protests ever recorded. Thousands of anti-Zionist protesters marched through the city demanding ‘Israel’ be excluded. Israeli entries were met with booing, and the contest’s organisers forced a change of lyrics for ‘Israel’s’ submitted song. This was because it was deemed inappropriate for breaching competition rules against political content.

    Protests occurred again in Basel in 2025, where Israeli participation led to mass demonstrations and heavy police presence. Israel’s 2025 entry topped the public vote, finishing second overall, amid allegations that political campaigning had influenced televoting.

    Vote on whether to allow ‘Israel’s’ participation scrapped, changes to rules instead

    On December 4, the EBU scrapped a vote that had been planned around whether ‘Israel’ should be allowed to compete. Instead, it introduced changes to Eurovision rules, which are set to be applied in next year’s contest. This change, clearly aimed at Israel, is a ban on government agencies backing advertising campaigns. This occurred last year, in the case of Israel. The decision to allow the Zionist regime to participate has happened despite systematic violations of international law and a multitude of war crimes. This has drawn accusations of hypocrisy and double standards – expulsion for Europe’s enemies, and tolerance for its allies.

    Russia was expelled immediately after invading Ukraine in 2022, and the EBU removed Belarus in 2021. This came after the union said it had been “monitoring the suppression of media freedom” in the country. Yet when faced with the Israeli regime the EBU has opted for inclusion. This is despite an illegal occupation, and the killing of more than 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza. 257 of these are journalists, as of December 2, 2025. These double standards are deeply unfair- a sign that the lives of Palestinians are less worthy of action than those of Ukrainians.

    Pressure is also mounting on the BBC, with the Green Party demanding the corporation withdraw from Eurovision. It argues that it would be incompatible with the UK’s human-rights obligations and with public service ethics for the BBC to broadcast the event while Israel participates. The BBC’s refusal to take a stand cannot be justified, as it claims to reflect the UK’s “culture and values to the world”. Campaigners have now launched a petition calling for the corporation to boycott the contest.

    Total isolation of ‘Israel’ necessary on world stage

    But, according to the EBU, members:

    will be asked to consider this package of measures and safeguards and decide if they are sufficient to meet their concerns around participation without having a vote on the topic.

    The EBU has confirmed to Swedish broadcaster SVT:

    Only if they believe that the measures are not sufficient will there be a vote on who is allowed to compete”

    Spain’s RTVE has already publicly stated that it does not believe the rule changes for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 go far enough.

    As the Israeli occupation continues its starvation campaign and genocide in Gaza, forcibly displaces whole communities in the West Bank, targets and kills journalists, the idea that Europe can sing its way through a genocide is impossible to justify.

    With withdrawals mounting and public pressure intensifying, the 2026 contest in Vienna risks becoming overshadowed by rubble, displacement, and those demanding accountability. Eurovision once prided itself on unity through music. It must now confront the possibility that, by allowing Israel to participate amid the devastation of Gaza, it may instead become a platform that helps sanitise atrocities.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Microsoft Faces Reckoning For Assisting Israel’s Genocide In Gaza

    Ahead of its annual shareholders meeting on December 5, Microsoft is coming under mounting pressure to reconsider its relationship with the Israeli military, which has used the tech giant’s products to carry out the genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank.

    In an open letter to the company released on Tuesday, December 2, an international coalition of legal aid groups said Microsoft and its executives potentially face legal liability for “aiding and abetting … atrocity crimes” committed by the Israeli military against Palestinian civilians.

    “Over the last few months, it has become exceedingly clear that Microsoft’s services and technologies have been used to violate Palestinian human rights, and shareholders should be aware of just how much this opens up the company to legal liability,” said Eric Sype, U.S. national organizer at 7amleh–The Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, in a statement on December 2.

    The post Microsoft Faces Reckoning For Assisting Israel’s Genocide In Gaza appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Microsoft Faces Reckoning For Assisting Israel’s Genocide In Gaza

    Ahead of its annual shareholders meeting on December 5, Microsoft is coming under mounting pressure to reconsider its relationship with the Israeli military, which has used the tech giant’s products to carry out the genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank.

    In an open letter to the company released on Tuesday, December 2, an international coalition of legal aid groups said Microsoft and its executives potentially face legal liability for “aiding and abetting … atrocity crimes” committed by the Israeli military against Palestinian civilians.

    “Over the last few months, it has become exceedingly clear that Microsoft’s services and technologies have been used to violate Palestinian human rights, and shareholders should be aware of just how much this opens up the company to legal liability,” said Eric Sype, U.S. national organizer at 7amleh–The Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, in a statement on December 2.

    The post Microsoft Faces Reckoning For Assisting Israel’s Genocide In Gaza appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • International Workers Build ‘People’s Embargo’ Against Israeli Genocide

    From the docks of Oakland to the ports of Morocco, from Italian logistics hubs to South African coal mines, an international movement is taking shape to do what governments have refused: Cut off the flow of weapons and fuel sustaining Israel’s assault on Gaza.

    On Nov. 22, labor organizers, Palestinian activists, and anti-war campaigners from six countries gathered online to launch the People’s Embargo for Palestine — a coordinated effort to leverage workers’ power at critical chokepoints in the global military supply chain. The webinar brought together a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle with a new generation of organizers who have notched concrete victories over the past year.

    The post International Workers Build ‘People’s Embargo’ Against Israeli Genocide appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • International Workers Build ‘People’s Embargo’ Against Israeli Genocide

    From the docks of Oakland to the ports of Morocco, from Italian logistics hubs to South African coal mines, an international movement is taking shape to do what governments have refused: Cut off the flow of weapons and fuel sustaining Israel’s assault on Gaza.

    On Nov. 22, labor organizers, Palestinian activists, and anti-war campaigners from six countries gathered online to launch the People’s Embargo for Palestine — a coordinated effort to leverage workers’ power at critical chokepoints in the global military supply chain. The webinar brought together a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle with a new generation of organizers who have notched concrete victories over the past year.

    The post International Workers Build ‘People’s Embargo’ Against Israeli Genocide appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • West Bank Settlers Have Injured More People in 2025 Than Last 2 Years Combined

    Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank have injured over a thousand Palestinians so far this year, the UN reports — nearly more than the tally for the past two years combined. As of November 24, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for the occupied Palestinian territories had recorded 733 Palestinians confirmed injured by Israeli settlers…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Video: Netanyahu says world was ‘brainwashed’ into hating Israel

    Wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu — in an Islamophobic propaganda campaign that appears to be coordinated with the US — has given a speech declaring that Israel is under siege. Who, you may ask? Well from, essentially, the whole world apart from the US according to Netanyahu. This includes China, Iran, and — bizarrely — Qatar. Oh, and Europe for good measure — not because Europe wants to, their leaders are “kindly disposed to Israel”, but they are being forced into it by “Islamist minorities” “aligned with Hamas [and] Iran”, by which he seems to mean the mass popular uprising against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    Because, you know, only ‘Islamists‘ would object to the mass slaughter of Palestinians, mostly kids.

    At the same time, Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to far-right TV station Fox to make a similar claim: “radical Islam” wants the whole world, hates the west — the US especially — and isn’t satisfied with its “own little Caliphate”.

    And for good measure, Israeli-American Council Elan Carr has given a speech in which he appears to say that Israel lobbyists need to kill anti-Zionists, which he put as “do[ing] to our enemies what Israel did to its enemies”, “its enemies” being a list in which he included Gaza and Iran:

    Israel is a terror state and the US is the cause of much evil in the world, primarily through its own imperialism, and greed for territory, resources and control. To recycle Rubio’s words back at him, they apply to the US and its Zionist proxy:

    It’s just not borne out by history. [The US and Israel have] shown that their desire is not simply to occupy one part of the world and be happy with their own little [kingdom]. They want to expand. It is [imperial] in its nature.
    It seeks to expand and control more territories and more people. And [both countries have] designs openly on the West…

    And they are prepared to conduct acts of terrorism. In the case of [the US and Israel], nation-state actions, assassinations, murders, you name it. Whatever it takes for them to gain their influence and ultimately their domination of different cultures and societies.

    That’s a clear and imminent threat to the world.

    Yes, it is. Every accusation these two countries make, is actually a confession.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • “Holidays are coming” in association with Coca-Cola but so is the truth

    “Holidays are coming”, in association with Coca-Cola. But this year an awkward truth is chasing them all the way.

    Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is currently tailing the annual Coca Cola Christmas truck tour across the UK, in a bid to persuade shoppers to boycott Coca-Cola this festive season.

    An ad-van branded as part of PSC’s Don’t Buy Apartheid campaign is joining local PSC activists who are staging protests at truck-stop locations.

    Coca-Cola and land theft

    PSC says its own van’s presence aims to counter the soft-drink giant’s high-profile seasonal advertising. And it’s exposing the truth about Coke’s role in helping Israel sustain its theft and military occupation of Palestinian land.

    Coca-Cola’s exclusive franchisee in Israel, the Central Bottling Company, operates a regional distribution centre and cooling houses in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone. This is an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem.

    In July 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion which found that Israel’s decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territory was unlawful. Also that its “near-complete separation” of people in the occupied West Bank breached international laws concerning racial segregation and apartheid.

    Corporations that are enabling these violations of international law must be held accountable.

    PSC argues that through its operations in the Atatrot Settlement Industrial Zone, Coca-Cola is providing the economic underpinning for Israel’s control of Palestinian land, and fuelling Israel’s escalating violence across the West Bank.

    Seeing past the branding

    Ben Jamal, PSC Director said:

    The Coca-Cola truck purports to symbolise Christmas cheer but behind the festive lights and expensive advertising lies the company’s very real involvement in Israel’s land theft and military occupation.

    By operating facilities in an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem, Coke is giving the green light to Israel’s ongoing military assaults and ethnic cleansing across the West Bank.

    This Christmas, we’re urging the public to look beyond holiday branding and consider the real-world impact of what they buy.

    By boycotting Coca-Cola, we can hit the corporation’s profits and ensure it faces real consequences for enabling Israel’s crimes.

    Choosing apartheid-free options is a simple but powerful act of solidarity with Palestinians.

    PSC’s action and call for a boycott follows criticism already facing Coca-Cola’s 2025 Christmas campaign. This includes recent media coverage of the public backlash against the brand’s AI-generated holiday advert.

    PSC states it hopes to ensure this year’s conversation also includes scrutiny of the human rights impacts of Coca-Cola’s business operations.

    PSC’s Don’t Buy Apartheid Campaign highlights corporate complicity

    PSC is calling on shops, cafés and venues across Britain to stop stocking two product categories:

    Firstly, Israeli agricultural produce, including avocados, peppers, herbs and dates. These commonly come from Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law.

    All of Israel’s settlements have been judged to be unlawful by the world court – the International Court of Justice. They sit on land forcibly taken from Palestinians and rely on resources unlawfully extracted from occupied territory.

    Secondly, Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola’s exclusive franchisee in Israel operates facilities in an Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem.

    This corporate presence contributes to entrenching settlement infrastructure and therefore forms part of Israel’s system of military occupation and apartheid.

    PSC’s call comes amid Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and escalating military assaults, land grabs and settler violence across the occupied West Bank.

    In 2025 alone, Israeli forces have killed over 220 Palestinians in the West Bank. Meanwhile 1,500 Palestinian homes and structures have been demolished to make way for Israel’s expanding illegal settlements.

    The organisation is urging retailers to instead stock what it calls “apartheid-free alternatives”. These include locally sourced or ethically certified soft drinks such as Gaza Cola.

    PSC argues that such boycotts offer people in the UK a meaningful way to support human rights and push global brands like Coca-Cola to act in line with international law.

    Featured image via Palestine Solidarity Campaign

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Israel Is Quietly Expanding Its Occupation of Gaza Under Cover of “Ceasefire”

    I keep asking myself: How can the world believe Israel’s claim that a “ceasefire” is still in place? The occupation has convinced the world that the bloodshed in Gaza has stopped, while in reality families are still being erased from the civil registry in absolute silence. The world is quiet — perhaps simply because something called a “ceasefire” was announced? What the world does not…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Palestinian film-maker tells us about “the power of silent protest”

    Palestinian journalist and film-maker Juman Quneis will be speaking at the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival tonight. And ahead of the event, she told us why she’s come all the way from the occupied West Bank to speak about her film The Loud Silence.

    Juman Quneis: “they chose a different way”

    Juman Quneis was studying in Leeds in 2023 when Israel’s genocide in Gaza escalated, and she chose to make a film about the local Women in Black group – “a loose international network of women calling for peace”. The 29-minute documentary, the festival explains, looks at:

    both the power of silent protest, and the many factors influencing the women involved. They talk very movingly of their varied religious beliefs, the impact of other struggles for justice, and deep personal grief and loss.

    As Quneis told the Canary, the film looks at how Leeds Women in Black gather:

    in the city centre in Leeds every Tuesday, wearing black and standing in silence, holding black cards and signs, reading ‘stop genocide against Gaza’, ‘stop killing children’, ‘stop killing women’.

    Quneis explained the women’s motivation, saying:

    They chose to express their hope and their willing to stop genocide, to stop killing children and women. They chose a different way to say that, to express the grief, the sadness, the sorrow towards victims of war.

    She added:

    They felt like it’s human to take a stance towards what’s going on. And they are trying to do something. They describe it as a small thing, as a few things, towards what’s going on in Palestine. But I feel like it’s a big thing, and it’s an important thing. So I would like that people who watch this film, they believe, as women in black believe, they could do any small thing, but it matters. It has an impact.

    When the women hand leaflets out to the public, Juman Quneis pointed out:

    it educates people about Palestine with very trusted information, taken from international organisations that verify that these figures are right and true.

    ‘Under occupation, nothing is normal’

    Jumam Quneis also highlighted the ongoing horrific situation people are living through in occupied Gaza:

    The situation in Gaza is, I can’t describe it, because people don’t live normally. They don’t have houses, they don’t have streets, they don’t have infrastructure, they don’t have schools, they don’t have hospitals… They live with the minimum of basic needs in their life. Still, now, lots of people are looking for… clean water to drink, and spaces to live in.

    And she added that, while Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is different, it’s also a massive challenge:

    In the West Bank, which is the second part of Palestine, where I live, where I came from, in Ramallah, for example, we have a different challenge. We have the challenge of settlers who are occupying our land, who are depriving us from movement between our cities, from collecting olives, from reaching out to our universities and schools, and also who take over the resources of water and who take the land also.

    So it’s a different challenge, but still, we are, as I told you, under occupation. Nothing is good, nothing is nice, nothing is normal.

    Despite the ongoing suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, however, Juman Quneis’s film is a reminder that any action people around the world can take in solidarity with the Palestinian people matters.

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • ISIS-aligned Israel collaborator Abu Shabab killed

    Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of the ISIS-aligned, Israel-funded criminal gang named after him, has been killed today in Rafah, southern Gaza, according to local journalists and Israeli media. Who killed him is unclear, but while his group’s fighters have been photographed relaxing with their weapons near Israeli troops.

    Some reports claim Shabab was ambushed, while others claim one of his own men shot him.

    The gang murdered well-known Palestinian journalist Saleh al-Jafarawi after the so-called ‘ceasefire’ was declared. Before the ceasefire, Israel used the group to attack aid-seekers near the now-disappeared, so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation bases while blaming it on resistance groups in an attempt to cover its deliberate starvation of the surviving Palestinian population in Gaza. Shabab’s own family disowned him as a result and called for him to be killed.

    After Shabab was shot, Israeli troops evacuated him to Israel’s Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, but doctors declared him dead on arrival. Crowds of Palestinians reportedly flooded streets in Gaza celebrating his death.

    Israeli media described Shabab’s killing as a “bad development for Israel”.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Thailand selects Barak MX air defence system from Israel

    Thailand’s Air Force Logistics Department announced on 20 November that it had selected Israeli company IAI to supply Barak MX air defence systems to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) to help protect its air bases. The value of the contract awarded to IAI for this Military Base Defence Development Project was worth THB3.44 billion […]

    The post Thailand selects Barak MX air defence system from Israel appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • Administrative detention: Israel hunts al-Balboul brothers again

    Mohammed and Mahmoud al-Balboul were again arrested, earlier this month, by Israeli occupation forces (IOF). Over the years, they have been repeatedly detained by the IOF. Although Mahmoud has now been released, his brother Mohammed remains in prison under administrative detention.

    Administrative detention—repeated arrests for the al-Balboul brothers

    On June 9, 2016, Israeli occupation soldiers raided the al-Balboul family home in Bethlehem late at night. They blew down the door and stormed into the house with dogs. They arrested Mohammed and Mahmoud, and detained them under administrative detention. This means the brothers were held without charge or trial, for renewable six-month periods, while the evidence against them was kept secret, even from their lawyers. Mohammed had previously endured 14 months of detention when he was 17. Two of these months were in solitary confinement. This time he received a six-month order, while Mahmoud was given five months.

    By July 4, 2016, the brothers launched an open hunger strike in Ofer and Ramon prisons. They consumed only water and refusing vitamins or salt. This came in solidarity with hungerstriker Bilal Kayed. Kayed had served 14 and a half years, and on the day he was supposed to be released he was sentenced to six months of administrative detention. He then went on hunger strike.

    Prison raids followed, with guards punishing strikers, but the al-Balbouls persisted despite deteriorating health. Mohammed suffered temporary blindness and massive weight loss, Mahmoud was nearly paralysed. The prison authorities denied their mother permission to visit, making their suffering even worse.

    Hunger strike

    The brothers were on hunger strike for more than two months, to protest their administrative detention. Both were eventually hospitalized amid coma risks. Israeli courts gave permission for hospital staff and Israeli occupying authorities to force-feed them, which is considered a form of torture, but the brothers rejected it. The Palestinian Prisoners Society warned of imminent death, highlighting administrative detention’s toll on thousands.​ The brothers’ actions drew solidarity strikes from more than 100 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails.

    On September 21, 2016 the brothers ended their strike after reaching an agreement that secured their release.

    A Palestinian family tormented by the Israeli occupation

    In 2008, undercover occupation forces, disguised as Palestinian civilians, assassinated their father, Ahmad al-Balboul. They ambushed a car carrying al-Balboul and three other Palestinians. The Israeli occupation forces opened fire without warning, killing all four men instantly. They had accused Ahmad of leading the Fateh-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Bethlehem.

    The brothers’ 15-year-old sister Nuran served three months in Israeli occupation prisons, from April 2016, after she was stopped by the IOF at a checkpoint and accused of carrying a knife. Nuran claimed she had no knife, but was arrested after arguing with a female soldier whilst trying to visit Jerusalem with her Aunt.

    The al-Balboul brothers are just two of the many thousands of Palestinians that the occupation locks up in its prisons. No one is spared from this carceral regime, where youths, the elderly, sick and pregnant are imprisoned regardless. More than 450 children, and 53 women are currently detained. Almost 3580 detainees are administrative detainees, held indefinitely without trial. Thousands more have been abducted in Gaza. Neglect, malnutrition and torture of prisoners by Israeli prison authorities are systematic, as confirmed in a new report by Physicians for Human Rights. ‘Israel’ has killed at least 94 Palestinian detainees since October 7, 2023.

    Featured image supplied by author

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Administrative detention: Israel hunts al-Balboul brothers again

    Mohammed and Mahmoud al-Balboul were again arrested, earlier this month, by Israeli occupation forces (IOF). Over the years, they have been repeatedly detained by the IOF. Although Mahmoud has now been released, his brother Mohammed remains in prison under administrative detention.

    Administrative detention—repeated arrests for the al-Balboul brothers

    On June 9, 2016, Israeli occupation soldiers raided the al-Balboul family home in Bethlehem late at night. They blew down the door and stormed into the house with dogs. They arrested Mohammed and Mahmoud, and detained them under administrative detention. This means the brothers were held without charge or trial, for renewable six-month periods, while the evidence against them was kept secret, even from their lawyers. Mohammed had previously endured 14 months of detention when he was 17. Two of these months were in solitary confinement. This time he received a six-month order, while Mahmoud was given five months.

    By July 4, 2016, the brothers launched an open hunger strike in Ofer and Ramon prisons. They consumed only water and refusing vitamins or salt. This came in solidarity with hungerstriker Bilal Kayed. Kayed had served 14 and a half years, and on the day he was supposed to be released he was sentenced to six months of administrative detention. He then went on hunger strike.

    Prison raids followed, with guards punishing strikers, but the al-Balbouls persisted despite deteriorating health. Mohammed suffered temporary blindness and massive weight loss, Mahmoud was nearly paralysed. The prison authorities denied their mother permission to visit, making their suffering even worse.

    Hunger strike

    The brothers were on hunger strike for more than two months, to protest their administrative detention. Both were eventually hospitalized amid coma risks. Israeli courts gave permission for hospital staff and Israeli occupying authorities to force-feed them, which is considered a form of torture, but the brothers rejected it. The Palestinian Prisoners Society warned of imminent death, highlighting administrative detention’s toll on thousands.​ The brothers’ actions drew solidarity strikes from more than 100 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails.

    On September 21, 2016 the brothers ended their strike after reaching an agreement that secured their release.

    A Palestinian family tormented by the Israeli occupation

    In 2008, undercover occupation forces, disguised as Palestinian civilians, assassinated their father, Ahmad al-Balboul. They ambushed a car carrying al-Balboul and three other Palestinians. The Israeli occupation forces opened fire without warning, killing all four men instantly. They had accused Ahmad of leading the Fateh-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Bethlehem.

    The brothers’ 15-year-old sister Nuran served three months in Israeli occupation prisons, from April 2016, after she was stopped by the IOF at a checkpoint and accused of carrying a knife. Nuran claimed she had no knife, but was arrested after arguing with a female soldier whilst trying to visit Jerusalem with her Aunt.

    The al-Balboul brothers are just two of the many thousands of Palestinians that the occupation locks up in its prisons. No one is spared from this carceral regime, where youths, the elderly, sick and pregnant are imprisoned regardless. More than 450 children, and 53 women are currently detained. Almost 3580 detainees are administrative detainees, held indefinitely without trial. Thousands more have been abducted in Gaza. Neglect, malnutrition and torture of prisoners by Israeli prison authorities are systematic, as confirmed in a new report by Physicians for Human Rights. ‘Israel’ has killed at least 94 Palestinian detainees since October 7, 2023.

    Featured image supplied by author

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Gaza amputees: Six thousand lives shattered by war

    On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reveals a painful reality that reflects the scale of the humanitarian disaster left behind by the war, with nearly six thousand cases of amputation recorded over the past two years of aggression, most of them direct injuries caused by continuous bombing. In Gaza, amputees are left to fend for themselves due to the lack of rehab centres and healthcare in general.

    The ministry emphasises that all amputees require complex rehabilitation programmes lasting several years, at a time when Gaza’s dilapidated health system is unable to meet the growing needs, amid the destruction of most specialised centres and equipment.

    In Gaza, amputees are everywhere

    Official figures show that a quarter of amputation cases are children; that is, one in four amputees lost a limb before reaching full adulthood. These young people, who were supposed to live their childhoods in schools and playgrounds, found themselves facing permanent disabilities and physical and psychological challenges beyond their age and capabilities.

    Their suffering does not stop at physical injury, as thousands of wounded people are living under severe psychological and social pressure. Fitting prosthetic limbs requires equipment that is not available, physical therapy requires centres that have either been destroyed or are completely out of service, and psychological support is, according to institutions, virtually non-existent despite the urgent need for it, especially for children who are dealing with the trauma of amputation and the loss of loved ones and homes.

    At the same time, health institutions are documenting thousands of ‘life-changing’ injuries that require long-term care, putting additional pressure on a medical system that is barely able to provide basic services.

    Physical therapy centres are desperately needed

    Health and humanitarian agencies emphasise that the rehabilitation sector in Gaza is in need of a comprehensive rescue plan that includes rebuilding physical therapy centres, providing prosthetic limbs and spare parts, training local staff in the latest rehabilitation techniques, and offering specialised programmes for children that take into account their motor, psychological and educational development.

    According to humanitarian organisations, this is one of the most pressing issues in Gaza today, as it is directly linked to the ability of thousands of wounded people to return to normal life, study, work and reintegrate into a society exhausted by war.

    While amputees face an uncertain future, the provision of rehabilitation and psychosocial support services remains a top priority, no less important than food and medicine, and indeed a fundamental pillar in rebuilding the people of Gaza after one of the most severe ordeals in its history.

    Featured image via UN News

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Clinton Says Young People Oppose Gaza Genocide Due to “Totally Made Up” Videos

    Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has claimed that the ignorance of young people and their consumption of content on social media is responsible for their opposition to Israel and its genocide in Gaza, blaming “made up” propaganda on Tuesday while speaking at a conference held by a far right Israeli publication. In remarks on Tuesday, Clinton said that the sentiments among young…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Video: UK surgeon Abu Sitta facing TENTH legal action from Israel lobby’s UKLFI

    British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta has been repeatedly targeted by UK Israel lobby group ‘UK Lawyers for Israel’ (UKLFI) since the beginning of the occupation’s genocide in Gaza. His ‘offence’? Being outspoken about what he saw as a volunteer doctor in Gaza: Israel’s crimes and the suffering, injury and death of its innocent Palestinian victims.

    UKLFI — which has attacked everything from a display of plates painted by Palestinian children to Netflix — is well known for its attempts to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and solidarity, particularly in the NHS and in the media-cultural sphere. The group recently intimidated a gallery owner into ending a raved-about art show and tried to force Tower Hamlets Council in London to take down Palestinian flags put up by residents in solidarity with Gaza, by claiming that local Jewish residents felt threatened.

    The group, whose sources of funding are opaque, is known to have sought help from Israel’s propaganda ministry. Its chief spokeswoman is among a pro-Israel group alleged to have tried to browbeat US right-winger Charlie Kirk into line before his assassination. Its fellow apartheid apologist group, the so-called ‘Campaign Against Antisemitism’, has been subjected to regulatory action for its political smears, while UKLFI is currently being investigated for vexatious threats.

    Now Abu Sitta is facing yet another such ‘lawfare’ attack from the group — the tenth so far. He told Declassified UK that “The aim is never to win. The aim is financial and mental attrition” to “create a McCarthyite culture of fear”:

    Solidarity with Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta and all those targeted for lawfare by the UK Israel lobby and its collaborators, the Starmer government, which continues to wage war on pro-Palestine speech and on journalists who expose Israel’s crimes.

    Featured image via The New Arab

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Microsoft Faces Reckoning for Assisting Israel’s Genocide in Gaza

    Ahead of its annual shareholders meeting on December 5, Microsoft is coming under mounting pressure to reconsider its relationship with the Israeli military, which has used the tech giant’s products to carry out the genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank. In an open letter to the company released on Tuesday, December 2, an international coalition of legal aid groups said…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Former Lebanese ambassador in danger after US asks him to negotiate with Israel

    Lebanon’s former ambassador to the US Simon Karam’s life insurance premiums must have rocketed, after he was asked by his government to represent it in talks that the Trump regime had asked it to hold with Israel.

    Karam is heading Lebanon’s team of ‘civilian representatives’ meeting Israeli counterparts at the United Nations’ peacekeeping base in Naqoura, southern Lebanon. The talks, which are now underway, form part of the US-brokered 2024 ‘ceasefire’ deal with Israel. But just like its ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza, Israel has never observed it; frequently bombing and shelling those it decides it wants to kill, along with anyone else who happens to be in their vicinity.

    Lebanon and Israel start negotiations

    Being a peace negotiator dealing with Israel is a dangerous business — or for that matter, being anywhere near a peace negotiator dealing with Israel. Earlier this year, the occupation bombed a villa in Qatar’s capital of Doha — US-ally — with the intention of murdering the Hamas peace negotiators it was supposed to be, well, negotiating with. The attack missed its targets who were not in the building, but murdered at least six people in the building unconnected with Hamas — including a Qatari — and maiming others. Like Lebanon’s civilian representatives, the Hamas peace team were there at the request of Donald Trump.

    CCTV footage of the Doha bombing.

    Unlike its Doha failure, Israel succeeded in murdering Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in Iranian capital Tehran. Haniyeh was, until his death, Hamas’s official negotiator responsible for trying to agree a ceasefire with Israel.

    Trying to negotiate with Israel, when it wants what you have, is an extremely risky business — and Israel definitely wants what Lebanon has: Lebanon. The historic West Asian nation is on the menu of Israel’s extremists and a target for Netanyahu’s ‘Greater Israel’ project — and Israeli settlers are already holding real estate sales for land in southern Lebanon.

    A bit like Russian roulette

    The Lebanese team has no guarantee of safety just because the talks are being held in a UN peacekeeper base. Israel has fired repeatedly on blue-helmeted UN troops and has, of course, heavily bombed UN facilities in Gaza. Nor is there safety at home: Israel’s ‘Where’s daddy’ AI-driven targeting system is known to time attacks on its victims just as they arrive home — these included journalists, doctors, other essential workers and, of course, Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer.

    Israel’s ‘civilian representative’ is Uri Resnick of the National Security Council – Israel’s main body for national security coordination, integration, analysis and monitoring, reporting directly to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu claims the talks are “an initial attempt to create a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon”, though he reportedly only agreed to any talks under pressure from the US. He may well see targeting the Lebanese delegation as an easy way out of the ‘talks’.

    Israel launched a wave of terrorist ‘pager’ attacks on Lebanon in autumn last year, murdering and maiming several thousand people including children, then quickly invaded southern Lebanon. Israel failed to hold any territory during the war, but as soon as the ceasefire agreement took effect, it seized 5 points inside of Lebanon. It has now escalated its never-ceased attacks on southern Lebanon and killed civilians in Beirut last month when it targeted a senior Hezbollah militia commander despite the ‘ceasefire.’ The US then reportedly demanded that the Lebanese return an unexploded US-made ‘small diameter gliding bomb’ so that the Russians and Chinese don’t get their hands on the technology.

    Israel and US play ‘bad cop, bad cop’

    Israel is also threatening to launch a renewed invasion if the Lebanese government fails to disarm the Hezbollah resistance, a measure that the militia group is sure to resist. The occupation considers that the ‘ceasefire’ only applies to Lebanese forces and that it considers itself — with US approval — to have the right to attack targets in Lebanon whenever it chooses.

    This one-sidedness is admitted, even boasted of, by Israeli media. The Times of Israel wrote this week that:

    In addition to hundreds of airstrikes amid the ceasefire, the military said, ground troops have conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon, mostly in areas surrounding the five “strategic” border posts, to prevent Hezbollah from restoring its capabilities.

    It is to be hoped that, having put him in the hot seat, the Lebanese government will be putting former ambassador Karam and his family somewhere very secure and very, very secret.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Skwawkbox

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Police slip-up on arrest of Jewish woman opposing genocide was farcical

    A Holocaust survivor’s daughter has just protested against the government’s ban of non-violent anti-genocide group Palestine Action. The police didn’t just arrest her, they also had to let her go again due to a rookie mistake. As she said:

    If my de-arrest does anything, it shows up the ridiculousness of this law, and may it be one tiny contribution towards the downfall of this nasty Starmer Labour government!

    Carolyn Gelenter has taken action against the ban previously. She has also regularly marched in solidarity with Palestine during Israel’s genocide in Gaza, criticising the increasingly hostile behaviour of the police. And on Saturday 22 November, she decided to risk arrest again at the Defend Our Juries ‘Lift the Ban’ protest in Tavistock Square, London.

    If the context wasn’t so serious, what happened next might actually be funny.

    Palestine Action—Police are in a right state

    Explaining her second arrest, Gelenter said:

    This time, the arresting officers were much younger and clearly didn’t know how to lift and even dropped people, myself included (I had so many layers of clothing on that I landed softly!). I was also determined to make sure I had my backpack on my back (as last time they left the pack and I had no glasses, book or keys to get into my flat!).

    But the arresting officer managed to forget my stool (which thankfully one of my friends picked up for me) and, even worse and more to the point, he was having such trouble managing to state why I was being arrested and to figure out how to lift me that he also left my incriminating sign where I had been sitting!

    After a 40-minute drive to the mobile processing unit, police officers took her into a “very long marquee”. And she said:

    There was a senior detective who was checking all the arrests and who approached the officer who had arrested me and asked where my sign was. The officer said he had left it because it was too difficult to carry me and pick up the sign at the same time (I think we really need to train our police officers better!).

    The detective then said: ‘well, what was on the sign?’ The arresting officer said ‘it definitely said the words’, to which the detective replied ‘which words?’ Unfortunately, the arresting officer couldn’t remember the exact wording but he said ‘it’s all on my camera’. ‘Not good enough!’ said the detective, and ‘you need to de-arrest her’.

    At this point, I had to intervene and say ‘I definitely had a sign saying I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action’. But the detective replied that ‘it wasn’t good enough evidence coming from the arrestee’!

    She wonders if the importance of the physical evidence might “be helpful for others’ defence.”

    She added:

    I do wonder whether the police in their own way are trying to sabotage the law that many of them find as much of a waste of time and resources as those being arrested and the wider public do.

    The importance of ‘testing a ridiculous law’

    Gelenter told the Canary:

    The whole point of the Lift the Ban actions was to test this ridiculous law that has created terrorists out of a dedicated, passionate and fed up group of young people who felt so strongly about the genocide in Gaza, and our government’s complicity, that they put their futures on the line.

    They didn’t of course know at the time that the government would proscribe their group ‘Palestine Action’, hence elevating the smashing of arms factories and splashing paint on an RAF fighter jet causing £1,000,000 damage to a crime of terrorism rather than criminal damage.

    She added:

    This week the government, under the guise of freeing up the backlog of court cases for the most serious of crimes, is discussing legislation that will restrict jury trials.

    Given too that the government replaced a sympathetic judge at the Judicial Review of the ruling that proscribed ‘Palestine Action’ with 3 judges — 2 of whom have known links to the Israel lobby; we can only guess the fate of the ‘Palestine Action’ activists.

    This context has encouraged her to keep ‘testing this ridiculous law’ as a historic duty.

    As she explained:

    These actions, I am certain, will be part of our history (like the poll tax riots) and are absolutely key in fighting for the future of our democracy (or for a better one than we have been experiencing under Starmer’s leadership).

    Whether we are able to get the ban lifted and the young people in prison without bail a lighter sentence, who knows? But I for one decided, having been arrested once, I was going to get arrested again when the numbers are becoming crucial.

    She also asserted that people throughout the country can see through the government’s wasteful political repression, saying:

    Every single person I have spoken to, no matter what their political leanings, has thought arresting people for holding a sign was a waste of police resourcing and taxpayers’ money.

    As a Holocaust survivor’s descendant, ‘I cannot be a bystander to genocide and authoritarianism’

    Gelenter also insisted:

    It is difficult to be a bystander when one’s own father had been a survivor of the Holocaust. I cannot be a bystander to the genocide in Gaza, to the escalating violence perpetrated by the IDF in the West Bank and this phoney peace agreement that has not even given lip service to the desires or needs of the Gazans whose lives have been destroyed by our government just as much as by the Israeli state.

    But I also cannot be a bystander to the deliberate dismantling of our democratic institutions. I am not naive and am aware that what is happening now is an acceleration of a process that really began many decades ago.

    Britain under a Starmer government has seen a continuation of austerity disproportionately impacting on poor people, a culture of resentment and blame of immigrants and refugees for the lack of services and cost of living, and now a dismantling of a legal system that at least on paper write everyone as equal, even if not in practice.

    Regardless of her personal story or reasons, of course, Gelenter has been taking an incredibly important stand for democracy and freedom. As have many other brave people around the country.

    History will remember them as heroes.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • ‘Microsoft workers refuse to be complicit in the genocide’

    Around 20,000 people attended tech giant Microsoft’s Ignite conference in San Francisco last month. Current and former tech workers and Microsoft employees with the No Azure for Apartheid movement were also there to disrupt business as usual, and to continue their ongoing protests of Microsoft’s contracts with Israel’s government and its complicity in the war crimes Israel has committed against Palestinians. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Patrick Fort, a Microsoft senior engineer who resigned in protest at the Ignite conference, and Hossam Nasr, a No Azure for Apartheid organizer who was fired by Microsoft.

    Additional links/info:

    Credits:

    • Post-Production: David Hebden
    Transcript

    The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.

    Maximillian Alvarez:

    Around 20,000 people attended Tech Giant Microsoft’s Ignite Conference in San Francisco last month. But current and former tech workers and Microsoft employees with the no Azure for Apartheid movement were also there to disrupt business as usual and to continue their ongoing protests of Microsoft’s contracts with Israel’s government and its complicity in the war crimes that Israel has committed against Palestinians. Here’s a video that was posted from the No Azure for Apartheid Instagram account, which shows the moment that one brave tech worker called out Microsoft’s CEO of commercial business, Judson Altoff, in front of the entire conference. Take a look.

    Patrick Fort:

    Hey, Judson, the point of the children of God is on our hands. Judson, I worked at Microsoft for seven years and I resigned today Microsoft Disappointing Israel genocide, free Palestine, Frank Palestine, Fred Palestine. Microsoft is killing children and the Gaza, Microsoft is enabling the military to kill more children than they have ever killed before. I will not be complicit and genocide. All of you can make the same choice. All of you can make the same choice. None of us have to be a complicit in the US and Israeli genocide. I worked in Microsoft, my friend. I worked there for seven years, and today I quit.

    Maximillian Alvarez:

    I got to speak with two members of the no Azure for Apartheid Coalition while they were on the ground outside Microsoft’s Ignite Conference in San Francisco. I asked them to tell us more about the protests and to break down what they’re demanding now after successfully helping to pressure the company to cut off parts of the Israeli military’s access to its AI and data services in late September. Here’s what they said.

    Patrick Fort:

    My name is Patrick Fort. Until today, I worked as a senior software engineer at Microsoft and I’ve worked there in total for seven years. So I disrupted the keynote at Microsoft Ignite Conference today, specifically when Judson, one of our senior leadership team members was speaking. My disruption today was to raise awareness of how Microsoft is supporting Israel’s genocide and Gaza right now, and to show people that there are Microsoft workers who will not be complicit in that genocide and who will raise their voices and leave. For me, it was important to do the disruption today, to show other workers that we don’t have to be complicit and the money that Microsoft pays us, that we can choose our self-respect as human beings above that. For me personally, it’s very important because to me this is a continuation of the genocide, which is already happening in the United States and now it is part of Israel as well. So those two things are very connected. So for me, it’s very important to show people that it is possible to stand up to that and resist and to not let that go and not be complicit in mass murder. I would just say free Palestine. Israel needs to stop their genocide and they need to find a way to make peace because if they don’t, they will not have peace. Either they’re from Palestinians or from themselves internally.

    Hossam Nasr:

    Hi, my name is Hossam Nasr. I’m an organizer with no Azure for Apartheid, a worker led group of current and former Microsoft workers who are demanding an end to Microsoft’s complicity in Israel’s apartheid and genocide in Palestine. And I’m here today to protest Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft’s biggest conference of the year right here in San Francisco in the Moscone Center to send a message that our protests continue, our disruptions continue until all our mens are met, until Microsoft ends all of its contracts with the Israeli military. Microsoft recently decided to stop selling some cloud and AI services to one unit in the Israeli military unit 8,200. But we are here to send a message that this is not enough, that this partial divestment is too little, too late. We are hoping that we send a message to Microsoft executives that we will continue escalating, disrupting no matter where they are.

    In Seattle, in San Francisco, in the office, in the workplace, and right here in the streets in San Francisco. We are also inviting all Microsoft workers to join our organizing because we know that Microsoft workers refuse to be complicit in the genocide. We did not consent to have our labor be used to facilitate war crimes in Palestine. We know that there is no ethical way to do business with a military that is plausibly accused of genocide, whose leaders are wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. So we’re hoping to send a very strong and clear message today, and we’re hoping that conference goers realize and see Microsoft for what they are. Weapons manufacturer that is supplying digital weapons to the Israeli military to facilitate war crimes, genocide, and apartheid. And we hope that they join us to disrupt this conference and to continue escalating until all the mens are meant, until Palestine is free.

    This post was originally published on The Real News Network.

  • Israel Will Reopen Rafah Border Crossing — Only for Palestinians to Leave

    Israel has announced it will reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in the next few days as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. However, the border will only open in one direction: for Palestinians to exit. Israeli American human rights lawyer Sari Bashi says the move validates fears that Israel’s goal is to “continue the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.” This comes as a coalition…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Hillary Clinton wants to gaslight young people about Israel’s genocide – but she’s too late

    Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton fears the independence of younger generations. And in a vomit-worthy new interview, she has launched a desperate attack on them in defence of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    Zionist neoliberal warhawk Clinton has a track record of trying to gaslight people about the genocide (and the occupation of Palestine more generally). And she’s not letting up. Because she just spoke to billionaire–owned, genocide-denying propaganda outlet Israel Hayom. And she suggested that young people shouldn’t judge Israel’s war crimes without having a full, complex understanding of history and geography:

    Nuance is absolutely important, of course. As is knowing what sources to trust and distrust. But at least half of young US adults have something Clinton seems not to have – a simple belief that mass murder, torture, and theft are wrong. Clinton’s focus, on the other hand, seems to be protecting Israel’s ability to commit such crimes. And that’s exactly what the whole pro-Israel establishment in the US has been desperately scrambling to do in the last two years as it lost control of the narrative about Israel’s genocidal crimes in Gaza.

    Social media in particular has caused a real headache for pro-Israel propagandists. Indeed, prominent lobbyist Jonathan Greenblatt has argued that:

    the next war will be decided based on how Israel and its allies perform online as much as offline.

    And it’s younger generations – over whom traditional corporate propaganda has less control – that powerful genocide-apologists like Greenblatt and Clinton fear the most.

    “It’s too late, we’ve seen the truth, we bear witness”

    In January 2024, Israeli occupation forces murdered six-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza. She had pleaded for help as she sat in a car “alongside the bodies of six of her family members” as they tried to flee an Israeli onslaught. And the story was all over social media. Hillary Clinton would prefer you didn’t focus on that, though.

    But people like Clinton couldn’t control people’s reactions. And Rajab’s tragic ordeal became a symbol of the genocidal Israeli campaign that has killed over 20,000 children since 2023.

    The Hind Rajab Foundation recently named the Israeli soldiers and commanders responsible in a filing to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that “concludes that these acts amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide“. The ICC has also received a request to investigate members of the Democratic Party establishment for its role in fuelling and covering for Israel’s genocide. Because it was a US genocide too, with Washington’s support essential for it to continue, and establishment Democrats happy to give it the green light.

    Clinton’s cold, patronising attempt to say ‘genocide is complex, we’ve got to see it from both sides’ will change nothing, though. Because as Macklemore said in Hind’s Hall:

    …this generation here is about to cut the strings
    You can ban TikTok, take us out the algorithm
    But it’s too late, we’ve seen the truth, we bear witness
    Seen the rubble, the buildings, the mothers and the children
    And all the men that you murdered, and then we see how you spin it

    So screw you, Clinton!

    Free Palestine!

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Guinness World Records reject submissions from Israel

    In a new sign of the widening circle of international isolation facing Israel, Hebrew Channel 12 revealed that Guinness World Records has decided to stop accepting any Israeli applications and to freeze all dealings with Israel.

    The channel reported that an Israeli association working in the field of organ donation had submitted an application to register a record relating to the number of kidney donors in Israel reaching 2,000 over the past few years, but the official response from the organisation was:

    We are not currently processing applications for record registration from Israel.

    Israel boycott escalates

    This decision, which Guinness has not yet officially commented on, arguably reflects a widening wave of global boycott of Israel in the wake of the two-year war in Gaza that began on 8 October 2023, which has been internationally described as ‘genocide’ It led to the deaths of more than 70,000 Palestinians and the injury of about 171,000, most of them children and women.

    The Guinness decision comes as the latest in a series of international measures against Israel, including:

    • An academic boycott after dozens of universities and student unions around the world announced they were withdrawing their cooperation with Israeli institutions.
    • A sports boycott, with the cancellation or suspension of Israeli participation in international events and the refusal to host Israeli teams.
    • A cultural and artistic boycott, with international artists withdrawing and refusing to participate in Israeli-sponsored events.
    • International legal action by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes.

    For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged last September, for the first time, that Israel was entering “a kind of isolation,” calling for “reliance on a more self-sufficient domestic economy,” in a rare admission of the extent of the decline in its international image.

    Political and economic repercussions

    Given they haven’t officially commented yet, it’s uncertain whether Guinness’ decision is a political one. However, clearly, Israel’s isolation on every level, social, cultural, academic, economic is amassing more supporters. If only politicians could wake up and see what the rest of the world can see.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Devastating report lays out exactly how Israel is terrorising Palestine

    The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has issued a blistering report that lays out exactly how Israel has created a terrifying system of torture against Palestine. 50 conclusions and recommendations point to what the world has been seeing broadcast live from Palestinians during the course of Israel’s genocide. Ultimately, CAT concludes that since October 2023 Israel has a:

    de facto State policy of organised and widespread torture and ill-treatment.

    And, that torture is:

    reaching unprecedented levels and carried out with near-total impunity.

    Israel has total impunity in its genocide of Palestine

    CAT’s report was an extraordinary and devastating indictment of the Israeli occupation’s behaviour in the occupied Palestinian territory. It describes a system of abuse so widespread and entrenched that it amounts to a direct assault on basic human dignity.

    The Committee begins by stating that “the disproportionality of the State Party’s response” to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, is “of grave concern”.

    The entire framework of human rights rests on the “equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.” But the Israeli regime, once again, argues the torture convention does not apply to it. However, the UN rejected Israel’s attempt to exempt itself from anti-torture rules in Gaza and the West Bank, stating that the Convention:

    applies to all territory under the jurisdiction of the State Party.

    “Israel’ does not even provide Palestinians with the most basic of legal protections

    The report then looks at the reality on the ground. The Committee paints a grim picture. It notes Palestinians arrested by Israeli occupation forces are not guaranteed the most basic legal protections. People are held without being told their rights in a language they do not understand. Some are pressured to sign papers “in Hebrew, despite not speaking the language”. Access to a lawyer can be blocked for long periods. Meeting a judge can be delayed far “in excess of international standards” . Medical checks, which should detect injuries from abuse, are “frequently cursory”.

    All of these are fundamental safeguards designed to prevent torture. According to the Committee, the Israeli occupation is breaching them all.

    The report is also alarmed by the occupation’s use of administrative detention. Under Israeli military orders, Palestinians can be held for up to six months at a time, without trial or charge, renewable indefinitely. The Committee states that information before it shows “an unprecedentedly widespread use of administrative detention,” including:

    allegations of collective punishment through mass arbitrary detentions and the denial of legal safeguards.

    Apartheid legal system

    Israeli settlers are exempt from administrative detention, even though settlers live in the same territory where Palestinians are subjected to these military orders. This is an apartheid, two-tier legal system. Detainees are routinely held on secret evidence they and their lawyers cannot see. Military judges, the report says, “lack the necessary information” to assess the intelligence used to justify detention. Palestinians are then often moved “to the territory of the State Party (‘Israel’),” violating international humanitarian law.

    There is concern about the extensive allegations of ill-treatment and torture. These include electrocution, sexual and gender-based violence, stress positions, medical negligence and even operations without anaesthetic, all of which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The abnormally high number of Palestinian deaths in custody, since October 7, 2023, are also highlighted. Although autopsies indicate torture, malnutrition, and denial of medical care, there have been virtually no prosecutions.

    CAT also details abuses under the Unlawful Combatants Law, a law ‘Israel’ invokes to arrest large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza. Individuals, including vulnerable people- older persons, disabled people, pregnant people, people with chronic illnesses, and even children – have been detained “on the basis of real or perceived group characteristics,” without meaningful individual review. Many have been completely cut off from the outside world. ‘Israel’ has “refused to acknowledge deprivation of liberty or provide information regarding their fate or whereabouts”. This places detainees:

    effectively outside of the protection of the law – a practice amounting to enforced disappearance.

    Palestinian prisoners have been starved to death by ‘Israel’

    Then the report turns to prison conditions. Prison facilities “remain severely overcrowded.” More than “85 per cent” of all detainees are held on remand or without charges. Even by Israel’s own numbers, very few have actually been convicted of anything. Conditions have “severely deteriorated”. CAT references statements by Israeli occupation’s National Security Minister, Ben-Gvir, as evidence of:

    a deliberate State policy of collective punishment.

    “Security prisoners” are kept in their cells “for up to 23 hours per day,” at times “for days on end”. There are no “adequate hygiene facilities, electricity, running water.” Cells have “poor sanitary conditions,” bad airflow, and sometimes no natural light. Some detainees are kept “in restraints at all times”. Family contact has been cut off. The Committee notes that “all in-person visits” , including those from family and the International Committee of the Red Cross continue to be prohibited, while phone calls face “heavy restrictions”.

    Then there is the food situation. The Israeli occupation’s own High Court ruled that the state had not ensured detainees “have access to adequate nutrition”. Many prisoners:

    have lost excessive amounts of weight, which, in some cases, has contributed to their deaths in custody.

    Some prisoners are forced to share meals or are given food that is simply “inedible”. There have also been many deaths in custody linked to starvation.

    These are all conclusions in a formal UN torture investigation. Taken together, they describes an entire system where Palestinians are detained without charge, without evidence, without lawyers, without sunlight, without family, without proper food, and often without confirmation that they are alive.

    Murderous Israel

    It is a system where Israel still refuses to criminalise torture in line with the Convention, and where the UN finds that even previous recommendations, on medical checks, solitary confinement, administrative detention, and allegations of torture, have seen “no action”.

    These are not isolated failures. They are the direct result of the Zionist regime’s laws, policies, and official decisions. This is the picture of ‘Israel’ that the UN Committee Against Torture has put on record. It is a system of abuse, of “collective punishment”, “enforced disappearance”, and “arbitrary detentions”. This system denies Palestinians any basic safeguards, and is designed by the Israeli regime to create as much suffering as possible. In a system where the crime of torture is not even recognised in law, Palestinians remain trapped in a regime of systematic abuse.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • After Canadian Police Raid Homes, Six Peace Activists Face Charges

    London, Ontario police carried out coordinated pre-dawn raids on November 25 against four homes across southern Ontario, targeting members of the anti-war and Palestinian-solidarity group World Beyond War (WBW). The raids bring to six the number of peace activists charged in relation to a protest of more than 100 people against the Best Defence Conference in London at the end of October, an arms-industry gathering attended by Israeli-linked weapons manufacturers and Canadian military officials.

    The sweeping operation saw officers burst into homes at 6 a.m., frighten children, seize personal electronic devices and haul activists hours away from their communities.

    The post After Canadian Police Raid Homes, Six Peace Activists Face Charges appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.