This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Over 40 prominent UK legal scholars have condemned the actions of the Met Police in relation to Saturday 18 January’s Palestine March in London in a letter to the home secretary. They have called the Met’s approach to policing “an abuse of police powers” and called on the government repeal repressive legislation and defend the right to protest as a cornerstone of democracy.
It comes as news has broken of the Met Police boss schmoozing with the pro-Zionist organisation the British Board of Deputies AFTER Saturday’s march
Met Police: getting it from all angles
Events on Saturday at the national Palestine protest have drawn a wave of criticism from across the political and social spectrum towards the Metropolitan Police.
The Met reneged on a previous agreement to allow a march from BBC Portland Place to Whitehall, a route taken several times before. It then sought to impose a route the pro-Israel Board of Deputies publicly claimed that it had proposed to the police.
This was rejected by the Palestine Coalition organising group. Finally, the Met banned any alternative march route allowing only a rally in Whitehall.
On the day there was a massive police presence, with police obstructing the gathering for the rally in many respects. There was an unusually high number of arrests of protestors.
The chief steward who organises the demonstrations for the Palestine Coalition in discussion with police was violently arrested on the day, and with the director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, subsequently charged with offences under the Public Order Act.
Schmoozing with the Board of Deputies
It has emerged that the day after the protest the Met Police chief Mark Rowley addressed a meeting of the Board of Deputies in which he boasted he had “used conditions on the protests more than we ever have done before”, and that his team imposed “sharper and stronger conditions” on the organisers of the demonstration.
As Middle East Eye reported;
The day after the rally, on Sunday, Rowley gave a speech at an event held by the pro-Israel Board of Deputies of British Jews, where he said that “the powers to condition protests are quite limited – we’ve used conditions on the protests more than we ever have done before in terms of times, constraints, routes”.
“We have to take into account the Human Rights Act, that’s what the law says, and of course the rights of all communities, the rights of protesters and freedom of speech, etc,” Rowley said.
The Board of Deputies supported Israel’s war on Gaza and slammed the Labour government for imposing a partial arms embargo on Israel in September.
It was also one of the groups that reportedly urged the Met to ban the pro-Palestine march’s original route.
Dr. Paul O’Connell, Reader in Law, SOAS University of London said:
This letter is signed by over 40 leading lawyers and academics. People who, in one capacity or another, have worked on issues related to human rights and the rule of law for decades. It shows, in no uncertain terms, that these experts have the gravest of concerns about the policing of the PSC demonstration on 18 January 2025, and more generally about the assault on the right to protest in Britain.
Freedom to assemble and protest is the very lifeblood of a democratic society. If people protesting the commission of a genocide in Gaza are not safe to do so, then it bodes ill for individual freedom and democratic life in Britain in the twenty-first century.
The Home Secretary, and anyone else in a position of authority, has an obligation to act now, to make sure that the law and police tactics in Britain protect and facilitate the right to protest, as required by regional and international human rights treaties that Britain is a party to.
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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The following is a statement from Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has allowed the Met Police to charge him with public order offences after the pro-Palestine rally on Saturday 18 January.
As the Canary has been documenting, cops have been fabricating events that day – accusing people of pushing through the police line onto Trafalgar Square. Prominent politicians, including Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, and Zack Polanski – along with countless members of the public – dispute the Met’s claims, saying police gave them permission to pass.
Predictably, the Zionist lobby seems to have been involved – with notorious pro-Israel group Campaign Against Antisemitism already in contact with the Met:
During and after Saturday’s disorder in central London, a significant number of arrests have been made by @MetPoliceUK.
Charges have been brought against various individuals, including the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Ben Jamal, shown here leading chanting in… pic.twitter.com/z3RWFQVVz2
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) January 20, 2025
The Canary stands in solidarity with Jamal and all those arrested and charged – and against the lying, genocide-apologists at the Met Police.
Jamal’s statement reads as follows:
Yesterday I voluntarily attended an interview with the Metropolitan Police, to address allegations that I led, and incited others to join, a procession which forced its way through a Police line at the top of Whitehall, thereby breaching conditions imposed upon our protest.
Within two hours of the interview concluding, Police officers turned up at my front door to inform me that charges were being brought against me.
I am due in Court to face these charges on February 21st 2025, and will of course vigorously contest them.
What we saw on Saturday was a huge assault on the right to freedom of assembly and to protest. The anti-protest laws introduced under the last Conservative government are an affront to democracy and Saturday provided the clearest examples of the willingness of Keir Starmer’s Government to use them to suppress the Palestine solidarity movement, and the core freedoms of all of us.
The facts of what happened on Saturday are laid out clearly in the statement made by the Palestine Coalition, backed by the wide body of video evidence PSC has posted online.
It seems clear that the political intention was to create scenes of mass disorder which could be used to justify the Home Secretary intervening to ban all future marches. Despite this attempt, there were not scenes of mass disorder. This was due to the extraordinary and determined discipline of those who came to protest, even in the face of such provocation.
I thank everyone who attended and send solidarity to all those unjustly arrested, some of whom, including my comrade Chris Nineham of the Stop the War Coalition, are now also facing charges.
Ben Jamal and the Met Police
What the political establishment also seeks is to distract attention from their complicity in the genocide that they have green-lighted for the last 15 months. Those of us who have protested peacefully, in unprecedented numbers, against genocide and for a ceasefire, came on Saturday to mark that ceasefire and to share with the Palestinian people their feelings of relief that it has finally arrived, their trepidation regarding the likelihood of Israel renewing its brutal assault upon them, their grief for the family members slaughtered in the last 15 months, and their celebration, even as they return to their destroyed homes that, as they have done for generations, they have prevailed.
The state wishes to silence our movement. It will not succeed. We will not stop protesting and campaigning until every brick in the wall of apartheid that imprisons and oppresses the Palestinian people is torn down, until Palestinians in exile are free to return to their homes and on every inch of their historic homeland, from the river to the sea, are finally able to live in freedom with justice.
Onwards together.
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Ahead of President elect-Donald Trump’s second inauguration, thousands of people rallied in Washington, D.C., on Saturday at the People’s March to oppose his policies on immigration, abortion, LGBTQ rights, the climate crisis and more. We air voices of resistance from the protest. “All of us deserve to feel like human beings, and all of us deserve to have our rights respected,” said Hope Giselle…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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Activists from Shut The System have cut fiber optic cables to offices of hundreds of insurance companies, in a new form of non-violent direct action. They call on insurance companies to immediately end all underwriting for fossil fuel expansion and demand robust transition plans from fossil fuel clients.
Shut The System: shut the Wi-Fi down
The action has caused huge levels of disruption with hours of work lost for insurance providers. These include three of the world’s largest fossil fuel insurers, AXA, W.R. Berkely, AIG and more than 400 agents at Lloyd’s of London and London’s iconic Walkie Talkie tower:
The group shut the following insurers down:
London:- Lloyd’s of London, comprising 402 brokers and 55 managing agents
- 20 Fenchurch Street (the Walkie Talkie building), the office of Ascot, Hardy, Kiln, Lancashire Syndicate, Tokio Marine, Markel, Ariel Re
- Talbot AIG, one of the world’s worst fossil fuel insurers, which shares an office with RWE, the German energy company targeted by protesters against one of Germany’s largest coal mines – 60 Threadneedle Street
- 52 Lime Street – WR Berkley, Chaucer, two of the world’s worst fossil fuel insurers
- Chubb – 100 Leadenhall street
- AIG – Fenchurch Street
Birmingham:
- AIG, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel insurers – 60 Church street
Sheffield:
- Markel, insuring coal, oil and gas – Ecclesall Road South
Leeds:
- AXA, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel insurers – 21 Queen street
Shut The System took action against these companies due to their critical role underpinning the fossil fuel economy through underwriting contracts and investments. The sector is simultaneously withdrawing coverage from climate-affected regions and raising premiums for households due to extreme-weather related events.
Insuring for the planet wreckers
A Shut The System activist said:
If these powerful companies don’t make public statements that they will stop driving fossil fuel expansion and destroying life on Earth, then we have no choice but to stop them ourselves. We will not give up until insurance companies take responsible action.
In recent years, the insurance sector has felt escalating pressure from environmental campaigners resulting in a string of breakthroughs. The insurer, Probitas, ruled out insuring West Cumbria Coal Mine and East African Crude Oil Pipeline after activists sprayed paint over their offices; and Zurich introduced new fossil fuel exclusion policies following negotiations with protesters.
The group took action on the day that climate science-denier Donald Trump is inaugurated into the White House for a second term, following his scathing remarks about the UK’s energy policies, saying the UK should ‘get rid of windmills’.
The growing urgency for the insurance industry to take the lead in addressing the climate crisis comes as we exceed the 1.5C critical threshold for global warming faster than many climate scientists predicted. This comes amidst of some of the worst wildfires ever seen in Los Angeles and severe flooding in the UK forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.
Featured image and additional images via Shut The System
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Historic examples in countries such as Portugal and Greece show how military defeats can catalyze democratic transitions by exposing the incompetence of authoritarian regimes. After the recent change in Syria, I thought that this piece with its focus on HRDs deserves wider attention:
The Stimson Center published this anonymously on January 9, 2025 as the author is a Tehran-based analyst who has requested anonymity out of legitimate concern. The writer is known to appropriate staff, has a track record of reliable analysis, and is in a position to provide an otherwise unavailable perspective.
While the world focuses on regional turmoil, Iran is undergoing significant transformation domestically, albeit at a slow pace.
At the heart of this evolution is a surprisingly robust society-based reform movement that is actively challenging the existing power structure, leading to a noticeable weakening of the regime. This emerging dynamic holds the potential to produce a system more representative of wishes of the Iranian population than the theocracy/flawed democracy in place for the past 46 years.
Fundamental reform of the existing constitution, along with empowering civil society, can lead to more democracy provided that Iranians do not get caught up in radical movements and wars. The implications of such changes could extend beyond Iran’s borders to neighboring Arab states. Historian Robert D. Kaplan has argued that Iran serves as the Middle East’s geopolitical pivot point, and that nothing could change the region as profoundly as the emergence of a more liberal regime in Iran.
Iranian people have paid a high price in pursuit of democracy. One metric is the number of political prisoners. While it is difficult to give an accurate estimate, human rights organizations have estimated that hundreds of Iranians are being held on vague national security charges and denied due process. Conditions in Iranian prisons are abysmal, with reports of poor healthcare, abuse, and medical neglect. High-profile cases have drawn international condemnation, but the government shows little willingness to address these systematic abuses. The continued detention and mistreatment of political prisoners remains a major concern, reflecting the Islamic Republic’s intolerance of dissent and disregard for fundamental civil liberties.
Yet despite the repression, protests continue and at an accelerated pace. They include the “Bloody November” 2019 protests sparked by fuel price increases, the popular reaction to the U.S. assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January 2020 and the accidental Iranian downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane that followed, and the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement of 2022 against enforced veiling These developments, coupled with recent military defeats of Iran and its non-state partners, have dampened the Islamic Republic’s regional power while undercutting its domestic legitimacy, which had rested on electoral and ideological pillars.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the devastating Israel response, the region has witnessed repeated and dramatic setbacks for Iran and its partners in Gaza, Lebanon and most recently in Syria. Historic examples in countries such as Portugal and Greece show how military defeats can catalyze democratic transitions by exposing the incompetence of authoritarian regimes. In Iran, the ongoing erosion of both electoral and ideological legitimacy may compel the regime to seek a more democratic approach to governance.
The path toward society-based reform in Iran is centered on strengthening civil society. Other strategies – such as seeking change through foreign intervention as advocated by some in the diaspora – would not produce a better outcome.
The society-based reform movement in Iran encompasses various grassroots efforts aimed at addressing social, political, and economic issues. Reformists emphasize grassroots engagement and building connections with the public. Key aspects include empowering local communities, promoting decentralized decision-making, rebuilding trust between citizens and political entities, and encouraging participatory decision-making. The movement prioritizes social issues and adopts a long-term vision for sustainable development.
The challenges to change remain significant. The regime continues to arrest and otherwise repress activists and economic constraints limit participation. Many Iranians are disillusioned and society is fragmented by cultural barriers. Despite these obstacles, society-based reform aims to facilitate meaningful change by leveraging the strengths and voices of local communities.
The reform movement in Iran has deep historical roots, predating the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911, which created the first elected parliament in the Middle East. The oil nationalization movement in the early 1950s was another significant turning point, leading to widespread social mobilization and civil society involvement, including the emergence of political organizations, intellectual activism, popular protests, and women’s participation. While then Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh is often credited with initiating nationalization, his true achievement lay in strengthening civil society, establishing an independent Bar Association, labor unions, and implementing reforms that favored peasants and small businesses.
Mossadegh was deposed in 1953 in a CIA-led coup which restored the monarchy and led to severe repression of civil society. The Shah’s regime viewed civil society organizations as threats, leading to political repression, media censorship, and the targeting of student and labor movements. This suppression dismantled the civil society infrastructure, contributing to widespread discontent and ultimately the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
The theocracy ushered in a new era of repression but that eased following the election of reformist President Mohammad Khatami in 1997. Iran’s reform movement split at the time into two factions: society-centered intellectuals and a power-centered left within the regime. Differences in approach emerged during 2001 presidential elections as well as the 2009 Green Movement against the fraud-tainted re-election of then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Since the 2022 protests, however, reformists who once favored participating in elections and government have shifted toward embracing society-based efforts. Azar Mansouri of the Iran Reform Front noted this change, emphasizing the need for unity among reformists and the importance of community-centered reforms given government-imposed limits on reformist participation in officially sanctioned politics. Former president Khatami and theorist Mahmoud Mir-Lohi have also highlighted that the movement is transitioning from an “election-centered” to a “society-centered” focus, aiming to reconnect with citizens and address societal needs.
This movement is characterized by a range of actors who include those working on:
- Human Rights. Numerous organizations and activists, some with external links,are dedicated to promoting freedom of speech, press freedom, and the rights of minorities and marginalized groups as well as opposing arbitrary detention, torture, and the death penalty. The groups include HRANA, the Center for Human Rights in Iran and Defenders of Human Rights in Iran.
- Women’s Rights. Women’s rights activists are at the forefront of the reform movement, challenging discriminatory laws and advocating for gender equality. Activists such as Nasrin Sotoudeh, Narges Mohammadi, Parvin Ardalan and Sepideh Gholian promote the right of women to choose whether to wear the hijab and have garnered significant attention and support both domestically and internationally. These activists have paid a high price for their beliefs and many are in prison serving long terms although Mohammadi, a 2023 Nobel peace prize laureate, was recently allowed home for a brief period after undergoing medical treatment.
- Student Activism. Iranian students have a long history of political activism, often taking a leading role in protests and reform movements. Student organizations suchas the Independent Student Union advocate for educational reform, political freedom, and social justice.
- Labor Movements. Workers’ rights groups have organized to demand better working conditions, fair wages, and labor protections. During the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement, 14 unions formed a coalition to push for new labor laws as part of a broader reform agenda. The Haft-Tappeh Sugar Cane Company union succeeded in ousting the director of the company, returning laid-off workers and encouraging formation of more independent unions.
- Environmental Activism. Civil society groups are increasingly focused on environmental issues, advocating for sustainable development and government accountability regarding natural resource management and combating water scarcity and pollution.
- Social Media and Digital Activism. Social media has empowered activists to organize, share information, and mobilize more effectively despite government attempts to suppress or filter access to the internet.
Various other initiatives promote civic awareness and participation. One such entity, www.karzar.net has initiated hundreds of big and small campaigns on a wide range of issues, most recently opposing a new law meant to enforce veiling. In reaction to widespread public rejection of the law, the government of President Masoud Pezeshkian paused its implementation in December.
Despite facing significant challenges, the society-based reform movement remains a vital factor in Iran’s political landscape. The example set by the fall of the repressive Assad regime in Syria may embolden the Iranian public to demand reforms and increase international pressure on Iran to embrace democratic changes.
This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.
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The UK’s Stop Trump Coalition has released a statement on the day of Donald Trump’s second inauguration – 20 January – pledging to “mobilise in our thousands and our millions”. It has been signed by more than a thousand grassroots campaigners, trade unionists, climate activists and others.
Unfortunately, the original Trump baby blimp – whose images were shared around the world – may not feature. It currently resides in the Museum of London
Stop Trump is back
The Coalition organised some of the biggest protests in British history in response to the president’s state visits in 2017 and 2018. Back in July 2018, more than 250,000 people turned out in London for a Stop Trump protest:
As BBC News reported at the time:
Rather than a red carpet, there was a sea of people, as two large marches took place – one led by Women’s March London and another by the Stop Trump Coalition.
The crowds had strong messages for the president – from their problems with his policies to hair styling tips.
They were determined to make their voices heard, or at least create a lot of noise to make their point – that they did not want President Trump in the country.
Now, the Stop Trump coalition is re-grouping – and protests are expected in London and across the world today as Trump is sworn in.
Zoe Gardner, a spokesperson for the Stop Trump Coalition, said:
In the coming weeks, we are likely to witness appalling attacks on migrants and minorities in America – just as we saw with the racist ‘Muslim ban’ in the opening days of the first Trump administration in 2017.
It is essential that there is a broad, democratic coalition which can bring together the opposition to Trumpism – and to the new far right here in the UK.
That means mobilising in big numbers, but it also means working to network and strengthen movements on climate, anti-racism, migrants’ rights, feminism, LGBT rights and other touchstone issues, alongside the trade union movement and the left.
We will look to respond to the Trump administration’s first policies and to bring together the resistance to the politics of bigotry and division in the US and around the world.
Symptoms of the failure of our political and economic system
The statement, which has been signed by more than a thousand people, reads:
“The second inauguration is a dark moment. The far right is on the march, with a common agenda of right-wing nationalism, racism, sexism, LGBT-phobia, climate denialism, union-busting, authoritarianism, and elite impunity. They represent the interests of a wealthy elite who use bigotry and dishonesty to divide us against each other. No matter Trump’s claims, illegal occupations and crimes against humanity continue – whether perpetrated by Israel in Palestine or by Russia in Ukraine.
“We are not shocked by this situation. Trump and Musk – and Farage and Badenoch – are symptoms of the failure of our political and economic system. Free market economics and austerity laid the ground. By failing to challenge the far right on immigration and other key issues, and instead mirroring their rhetoric and narratives, Starmer – like Macron, Harris and Scholz – is handing victory to the far right.
“During Trump’s first presidency, the Stop Trump Coalition helped organise some of the biggest demonstrations in British history against his state visits. There are millions of people in the UK who want to fight back against the far right, stop runaway climate change, and stand for just peace across the world. There will be mass opposition to political cooperation with the Trump administration, and to any trade deal that threatens our NHS or food standards.
“Fighting back means mobilising in our thousands and in our millions – but it must also mean a more fundamental effort to unite and strengthen movements dedicated to social and environmental justice, working class organisation, and universal human and civil rights. We pledge ourselves to that work, and to building a resistance to Trump and the politics he represents.”
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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On Monday 20 January, Keir Starmer’s own council is set to decide whether to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s genocide and the illegal occupation of Palestine, after thousands of residents demand action.
Starmer: feeling the heat in Camden
Over 4,000 locals in prime minister Starmer’s own constituency have signed a petition demanding Camden Council divest from companies complicit in human rights abuses and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Led by Camden Friends of Palestine, the petition calls for transparency and divestment from companies such as BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and RTX: arms manufacturers that supply weapons to Israel.
A series of shocking Freedom of Information (FOI) requests exposed that Camden Pension Fund is currently investing millions of pounds in funds connected to these companies. Despite repeated attempts by the council to avoid scrutiny – canceling meetings, closing the public gallery, refusing deputations, and even involving police – this petition has forced Camden Council to hold a crucial debate and vote on divestment on Monday 20 January.
A Camden resident and spokesperson for Camden Friends of Palestine said:
Camden council has repeatedly ignored the wishes of its communities, actively sidestepping demands for ethical investment. This petition will make Starmer’s own council confront the question of divestment face on, for the whole of Camden to see.
There is clearly a huge groundswell of support for divestment from these companies that are currently supplying weapons to Israel. The council must end its complicity now.
Any other option but divestment would mean councillors prioritising a career in Starmer’s Labour party over the communities they represent, opposition to genocide and international law.
Dominated by the right wing of Labour
Presenting the petition to the councillors will be two Camden residents: Lubaba Khalid, a Palestinian resident, and Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos. Both are vocal in their stance against the British government’s complicity in genocide and will be representing the 4,000 local residents who signed the petition calling for divestment.
It is widely considered that Camden Council is dominated by Starmer’s wing of the Labour Party.
In the 2024 summer election, several councillors from Camden Council were rewarded with MP seats by the Labour Party. These include former council leader Georgia Gould, who became an MP, along with Danny Beales and Lloyd Hatton, both of whom also transitioned from local politics to parliament.
This demonstrates Camden’s importance as a key political power base for Starmer’s Labour.
Camden is represented by two MPs, one of whom is the PM who’s constituency covers more 60% of the wards in the Camden Council. Starmer’s majority was significantly reduced in the 2024 summer election – down from 22,766 in 2019 to just 11,572.
This sharp decline highlights growing discontent in the constituency, in large part due to his position on Palestine and his support for the apartheid state of Israel.
Awkward for Starmer?
The decision the council faces follows the likes of Waltham Forest who committed to arms trade divestment amid pressure from Palestine activists.
Local residents and activists will gather outside Camden Town Hall on Monday 20 January to show their support for divestment and urge councillors to vote in favour of the community led presentation:
TOMORROW EVENING: Join us, @camden_psc and @camdenabudis outside Camden Town Hall to demand @CamdenCouncil listen to the 4,000 people who signed our petition: 
DISCLOSE AND DIVEST THE PENSION FUND FROM APARTHEID & GENOCIDE
6pm, Mon 20 Jan
Judd St, WC1H 9JE pic.twitter.com/P81Bmi4laV— Camden Friends of Palestine (@CamdenPalestine) January 19, 2025
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Three Youth Demand supporters defied Met Police restrictions on the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) demonstration on Saturday 18 January by standing outside the BBC with signs. Youth Demand are calling for a two-way arms embargo on Israel and for the new UK government to halt all new oil and gas licences granted since 2021.
Youth Demand: not letting the BBC get away with it
At around 4:00pm, the three were arrested under Section 14 of the Public Order Act after marching to the BBC and standing on the pavement with signs, defying the conditions imposed on the protest by the Met. One Youth Demand supporter was holding a sign saying “Can I protest here?”, another held a completely blank sign:
YOUTH DEMAND SUPPORTERS ARRESTED FOR BLANK SIGN OUTSIDE BBCYoung people refuse to comply with @metpoliceuk and accept conditions imposed by a genocidal state. A ceasefire agreement is nowhere near Palestinian liberation.
Hear our 2025 Plan: https://t.co/P1UdgzixMy pic.twitter.com/MFXOtssYAi
— Youth Demand (@youth_demand) January 19, 2025
A Youth Demand spokesperson said:
The BBC heralds itself as an institution built on truth, but it has treated genocide like a matter of opinion. We see the BBCs previous and ongoing complicity in the destruction of Palestine, and we recognise that when our institutions fail us it is down to the people to tell the truth
We will not comply with the repressive conditions imposed by the Met police in order to silence dissent and protect the interests of a genocidal state. Our government is complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people and we refuse to stand by and watch it happen. On February 1st, we will announce our plan to take resistance to a whole new level.
Our spineless politicians have armed Israel for 15 months and now want us to go home and forget about Gaza, but we will not forget their crimes. It’s time for all of us to escalate our resistance and to fight for nothing less than full liberation.
On Wednesday 15 January the genocidal Israeli regime finally submitted to international pressure and agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza.
On the same day, the PSC called for “defiance” of the Met Police ban on their demo at the BBC and said they would not go back on their commitment to hold march in support of the Palestinian people, and against Israel’s genocide.
After negotiations with the police, the PSC finally agreed to the demand of a static assembly at Whitehall, not the BBC.
Meanwhile, since agreeing to a ceasefire Israeli Defense Forces have continued to drop bombs, killing over 100 Palestinians.
Youth Demand summed up by saying:
A ceasefire agreement is nowhere near Palestinian liberation. This ludicrous display of repression proves that the government believes we are a threat. So in 2025, we go big.
On Saturday 1 February, the group is holding a launch event for 2025’s actions. All the details are here.
You can join Youth Demand here.
Featured image supplied
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell have been interviewed under caution by the Met Police. It was over the force’s alleged lies about events at the pro-Palestine march on Saturday 18 January. Meanwhile, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has hit back at the Met – accusing the police of falsifying events.
Corbyn and McDonnell: questioned under caution
BBC News reportedly found out that:
MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have agreed to be interviewed under caution by police following a pro-Palestinian rally in central London on Saturday, the BBC understands.
The former Labour leader, 75, and former shadow chancellor, 73, will voluntarily attend a police station in the capital as the Metropolitan Police investigates what it says was a coordinated effort by organisers to breach conditions imposed on the event.
They will be interviewed on Sunday afternoon.
Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell to be interviewed under caution by police after London pro-Palestinian rally, the BBC understands https://t.co/EHllgrKSkG
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) January 19, 2025
Sky News were ahead of the rest of the corporate media – ‘doorstopping’ the two MPs after they were interviewed:
Spoke to Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell as they left a police station, following reports they were interviewed under caution after yesterday’s pro-Palestine rally
@SkyNews https://t.co/MJPgIyF5xw pic.twitter.com/kTuR5aENFX— Josh Gafson (@JoshGafson1) January 19, 2025
This evocative image also now bears further relevance:
You think Corbyn being arrested will do one iota of damage to peoples opinions of him? think again fascist pigs. https://t.co/9XroqVJaeW pic.twitter.com/cv8yylof0J
— Tobias T (@TobiasTaylor) January 19, 2025
The Met Police are liars
As the Canary previously reported, people at the march are saying that no one forced their way through the police line. People are claiming that the police agreed to it.
Corbyn’s response to the Met was:
This is not an accurate description of events at all.
I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed.
This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through.
When we reached Trafalgar Square, we informed police that we would go no further, lay down flowers and disperse.
At that point, the Chief Steward, Chris Nineham was arrested. We then turned back and dispersed.
I urge the police to release all bodycam footage and retract its misleading account of events.
So, people on X hit back at the cops interviewing Corbyn and McDonnell:
48 people are still in custody and MPs are being questioned by police for participating in peaceful protest. A real line has been crossed here. This need to be fought be everyone who believes in free speech. https://t.co/sqvOJwAjL6
— Nick Dearden (@nickdearden75) January 19, 2025
The right to protest is under serious threat. In truth, it has been for some time – firstly under the Tory government before July 2024 & now under Starmer’s Labour government. We have to resist this authoritarian clampdown on our democratic rights & freedom of assembly. https://t.co/ng168ZHj0L
— People's Assembly (@pplsassembly) January 19, 2025
Meanwhile, the PSC has issued the following statement about the Met Police’s actions on 18 January.
PSC statement
The Metropolitan Police has promoted a misleading narrative about the events in Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, claiming that a peaceful delegation pushed through police lines in an attempt to justify their repressive actions on Saturday 18 January. This could not be further from the truth.
On Saturday 18 January, we organised a rally on Whitehall to call for a permanent end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Despite our long-standing record of peaceful demonstrations, the police, under political pressure from pro-Israel groups, banned our planned march to the BBC. In response, we announced plans for a rally and a peaceful protest against this anti-democratic ban.
Ahead of the rally, we publicly called on the police to rescind the restrictions they had imposed and allow our march to go ahead. We had also made clear that if they refused to do so we would hold a rally and protest against the ban as part of that rally. The police were fully aware of these statements and our intentions.
On the day, we were confronted with extremely heavy-handed and aggressive policing. With less than 24 hours’ notice, the police had imposed a series of complex restrictions preventing people from assembling at various points on Whitehall at various times of the day – notably an area at the centre of Whitehall from which rally participants were excluded for part of the day to allow space for a children’s marching band to proceed up and down.
As a result, a number of people were arrested without warning, on flimsy pretexts including simply for inadvertently standing in this central area at the wrong time. We understand that a total of 77 people were arrested on the day, 66 of them for alleged violations of these orders.
Corbyn and McDonnell: on the right side of history
At the end of the rally, it was announced from the stage that, as an act of protest against the police ban, a delegation of organisers and rally speakers – including an 87-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor, politicians including MPs, and prominent cultural figures – would walk silently and peacefully towards the BBC.
It was clearly stated that the delegation expected to be stopped by the police and that no attempt would be made to push through police lines – the delegation would simply leave the flowers they were carrying at the feet of the police and disperse in an orderly and dignified manner. They anticipated being stopped at the line of police that had been constructed at the top of Whitehall.
When the delegation reached this police line, they were not stopped as expected but were instead invited to proceed into Trafalgar Square by the police who said, ‘please filter through.’ When the delegation reached the other end of the square, they encountered a line of police which prevented them from going any further.
They formally requested that the delegation – a maximum of 25 people – be allowed to proceed. The police officer in charge said he would need to ‘pass this up the line for a decision.’ While the delegation was awaiting that response, the police violently and for no apparent reason arrested the chief steward of the rally, Chris Nineham.
An outrage
At this point, the delegation laid their flowers as they had said they would do and dispersed, and Ben Jamal and Ismail Patel used a megaphone to call on the crowd that had gathered around them to do the same, which people then did. At no stage was there any organised breach of the conditions imposed by the police. There is a large amount of video evidence confirming all of these events.
This is a direct assault on freedom of assembly and democracy. The police’s actions, including their false statements after the event, are deeply troubling. We demand the immediate release of all those arrested and remain resolute in our campaign for freedom and justice for the Palestinian people.
Featured image via the Canary
By Steve Topple
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Some of the Palestine Action activists from the so-called Filton 18 appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday 17 January over an action at a weapons factory that supplies genocidal Israel. Of course, they entered not guilty to the charges the state was brining against them – and they also received huge support from crowds waiting outside.
The Filton 18: ‘not guilty’ say supporters and the activists
In a hearing at the Old Bailey, nine of the ‘Filton 18’ political prisoners have entered ‘not guilty’ pleas on all charges put before them, while supporters amassed in solidarity outside of the court. They were called to court to plea to charges after an action in August 2024 at the Filton, Bristol site of Israel’s largest weapons company Elbit Systems.
Outside of the hearing, supporters of the Palestine Action activists gathered outside in solidarity:
Protesters stand outside the Old Bailey demanding justice for the Filton 18. Eighteen activists are currently being held on remand following a Palestine Action action at Elbit System’s Filton facility in Bristol in August 2024. The activists were arrested under the Terrorism Act that allowed the police special measures including keeping those arrested to be held in solitary confinement for up to a week. Their charges are not terrorist related and they have been accused of causing over £1million in damages when they smashed in to the Elbit Systems facility and brought the factory to a standstill. Palestinian flags were waved:
While people rallied:
Predictably, the Met Police were in attendance:
Supporters waved off members of the Filton 18 as they left the hearing:
All 18 face charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage, with some of the 18 additionally facing charges of violent disorder. Six activists were arrested on site for an action that saw them breach the site using a modified van, before dismantling weapons of genocide inside, including ‘quadcopter’ drone models.
12 further people were later arrested and remanded to prison for their alleged involvement. Police have justified their continued detention by alleging that their actions have a ‘terrorism connection’.
The rest of the 18 are expected to enter not guilty pleas later this year.
A spokesperson for Palestine Action said:
We refuse to bow to this continued police intimidation and harassment. It is Elbit, Israel’s largest weapons company, that is the guilty party: those resisting the UK’s complicity in genocide are not.
Palestine Action: outrageous abuse of powers by police and CPS
The activists have been returned to prison by the judge and are currently awaiting appeal hearings for bail which have been thus-far rejected. Of the 18, 10 have spent over five months in prison since August, with an additional eight detained since November.
At the hearing, the judge confirmed that their case shall be seen with the 18 split across three trial dates, the first taking place in November 2025, the second in May 2026 and the final date is currently unknown.
An additional date is yet to be set in March of this year, when the defence will seek to challenge and dismiss the application of a “terror connection” in this case.
Amnesty International has stated that the Filton 18 case demonstrates “terrorism powers being misused” to “circumvent normal legal protections, such as justifying holding people in excessively-lengthy pre-charge detention”.
The #Filton18 political prisoners have been subjected to arbitrary and repressive treatment while inside prison – including the withholding of phone calls and mail, prohibitions on communicating with other prisoners, and denials of religious practices and medical privacy.
Featured image and additional images via Martin Pope
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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On Saturday 18 January, Britons once again took to the streets to show their support for the people of Palestine. As is unfortunately common in Britain, the peaceful march was beset by what some have described as “fascist” police violence. The Met Police also arrested 77 people, with former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn criticising their excuse for doing so:
This is not an accurate description of events at all.
I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed.
This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through.
When we… https://t.co/6CQe8w9Nmo
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 18, 2025
‘Force’ against the force?
Corbyn’s response to the Met Police in full reads:
This is not an accurate description of events at all.
I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed.
This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through.
When we reached Trafalgar Square, we informed police that we would go no further, lay down flowers and disperse.
At that point, the Chief Steward, Chris Nineham was arrested. We then turned back and dispersed.
I urge the police to release all bodycam footage and retract its misleading account of events.
Corbyn’s former shadow chancellor also commented on the situation:
I spoke at demo & was part of a procession of speakers aiming to go to BBC to lay flowers commemorating the death of Palestinian children. We did not force our way thru, the police allowed us to go thru & when stopped in Trafalgar Square we laid our flowers down & dispersed.1/3 https://t.co/iw5XTn7TWP
— John McDonnell (@johnmcdonnellMP) January 18, 2025
According to the National, an internal police investigation is now under way. The outlet also carries the following response from the Met:
We have policed more than 20 national protests organised by the PSC since October 2023.
This is the highest number of arrests we have seen, in response to the most significant escalation in criminality.
We could not have been clearer about the conditions in place. Protesters were to remain in Whitehall with no march towards the BBC.
Our relationship with protest organisers has to be based on trust and good faith. If they say they will act responsibly and lawfully we need to be able to know those are genuine assurances.
That is why it was so deeply disappointing to see a deliberate effort, involving organisers of the demonstration, to breach the conditions and attempt to march out of Whitehall.
Officers responded bravely and decisively, ensuring they got no further than Trafalgar Square and certainly nowhere near their target.
I am quite confident this was a coordinated breach with the intention being to reach the BBC at Portland Place in defiance of the conditions. There is video footage of one of the organisers clearly inciting the crowd to join a march and one of the organisations involved has released a statement this evening confirming as much.
At the same time as the group was attempting to force its way past police lines, camera crews were seen arriving in Portland Place. It is unlikely that the timing was simply a coincidence.
We are in possession of footage from officers’ body worn cameras, from CCTV and from social media. We know who was involved in leading the movement of so many people through police lines. Investigations are now underway and we will make every effort to bring prosecutions against those we identify.
Speaking on the arrested Chris Nineham, Corbyn said:
Chris Nineham has organised anti-war demonstrations for over 25 years.
Today, he was arrested whilst arranging for flowers to be laid in memory of children who had been killed in Gaza.
His arrest is an affront to the democratic rights of us all — he must be released now.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 18, 2025
‘Just the beginning’ says Corbyn
Earlier this week, the world received the news that there would be a ceasefire between the invading Israel and the invaded Gaza. Speaking on this at the march, Corbyn said:
A ceasefire is just the beginning. We will not rest until Palestine is free. pic.twitter.com/C3TeEFSXst
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 18, 2025
Corbyn also made it clear what more there is to be done:
"We're demonstrating our continued and everlasting support for the people of Palestine. The ceasefire will save some lives, but over 100 have died since it was announced. We're here demanding our govt stop arms to Israel." @jeremycorbyn#StopArmingIsrael pic.twitter.com/FkqOOCmimt
— Stop the War (@STWuk) January 18, 2025
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDC) movement released an article responding to the ceasefire:
(1) From ceasefire to ceasing the genocide
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition in Palestinian society that is leading the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, welcomes the news of a ceasefire agreement with immense relief. A ceasefire, however, is only the most important first step to end the genocide against the 2.3 million Palestinians in the illegally occupied and besieged Gaza Strip. Without massive pressure, it may constitute a continuation of a less visible form of genocide that Israel and the US hope will provoke less regional and global outrage, boycotts and sanctions.
After all, Israel’s genocide, armed, funded and shielded from accountability by the colonial West, intentionally reduced the illegally occupied Gaza Strip into an unlivable territory by destroying life-sustaining conditions designed to cause continued mass loss of Palestinian lives and spread of infectious diseases as well as famine or food insecurity for years to come, while attempting to force as many Palestinians as possible into exile. According to UN human rights experts, this genocide has included “domicide, urbicide, scholasticide, medicide, cultural genocide and, more recently, ecocide.” The devastating effects of all these crimes, as well as the Israeli-induced starvation, will continue to kill thousands more Palestinians due to the immense carnage and Israel’s wilful destruction of life-sustaining conditions across Gaza.
Only massive global pressure, especially in the form of BDS, can truly contribute to ending Israel’s genocide and support the Palestinian struggle to dismantle Israeli apartheid.
The full article presents their plan for continuing to apply pressure to Israel and the Western powers which support them.
Campaign Against the Arms Trade also made a statement about the ceasefire (written before it was fully agreed by both sides). Their statement makes it clear that while this is a positive development, the many decades of oppression that the Palestinians have suffered show us we shouldn’t turn our eyes away now:
We welcome the news of a potential ceasefire in Gaza- anything that could bring an end to the horrors inflicted on Palestinian people is a ray of hope.
However, the promised ceasefire has not yet been agreed, let alone tested, and there is no guarantee that the planned ‘second phase’ of the agreement, leading to a permanent end to the current war, will be sealed. Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, with the full complicity of the US and UK governments. Even in the best case scenario, Palestinian people in Gaza are facing a humanitarian catastrophe and environmental devastation. Homes and infrastructure are in ruins, hospitals and healthcare destroyed and people are facing starvation and disease. The genocide will continue, even without dropping bombs, unless Palestinian people are given full access to aid and the resources to rebuild.
Israel has shown it has utter contempt for international humanitarian law (IHL). Even our government admits that it assesses Israel is not committed to complying with IHL. Even if there is a ceasefire, it is still breaching IHL in its actions in the occupied territories. Even if the bombs stop dropping, Israel will be breaching IHL if it does not allow aid into Gaza.
While a ceasefire would be positive progress, the conflict will not be resolved while Israel and its allies deny the humanity and rights of the Palestinian people. Recognising the state of Palestine is the only path to a just peace, the only path to realising the rights and autonomy of Palestinians.
Now is the time to keep up the pressure. Israel is still committing genocide with the full complicity of our government. We need to keep demanding a full two-way arms embargo. A genuine, long-lasting peace can only be achieved when we stop the flow of arms sales.
Now is the time to make sure our government knows that a ceasefire doesn’t mean it is business as usual for arms dealers. It must not reinstate the few licenses it suspended.
Now is the time to keep standing with the Palestinian people.
Alleged police violence
Footage from the march showed thousands of people coming together to peacefully show support for Palestinians:
100 strong bloc now on the move to join London demo for Gaza & Palestine pic.twitter.com/1Ju6kMuD6G— Brighton PSC (@BrightonPSC) January 18, 2025
Despite the @metpoliceuk’s shameful efforts to thwart our peaceful, democratic national demo for #Palestine in #London today, we have turned out in our masses and show we will always stand with Palestine.
https://t.co/gTbGo31K6t pic.twitter.com/1GdNIC0rEj— Brent & Harrow PSC (@BrentHarrowPSC) January 18, 2025
Another HUGE demo in London for peace in #Palestine, and we haven’t even got going yet.
Check out the coppers behind the wall filming us all
pic.twitter.com/dJRdPLv1QU— Dr Louise Raw (@LouiseRawAuthor) November 25, 2023
Palestine march in London stages sit down in face of police repression #freepalestine pic.twitter.com/caJeRR2dCk— Socialist Worker (@socialistworker) January 18, 2025
However, some footage shows there was violence. It’s alleged that the police instigated this due to a protester filming their actions, which is what the following video appears to show:
several peaceful #Palestine protesters assaulted and arrested by fascist met police for doing nothing but filming #London pic.twitter.com/uqFmr7P7IL
— vmins wedding planner⁷ SEEING HOBI (@vmin4ams) January 18, 2025
If the police officers had a legitimate reason for arresting this person, it’s not made clear in the video. Instead they demand that marchers questioning their actions “go away” and that they’ll be “locked up”.
Networks of violence and oppression
On the same day that the Met arrested 77 marchers, Declassified published the following article:
Senior Metropolitan Police officers, including commissioner Mark Rowley, have spoken at an Israeli think tank linked to its military and intelligence service, Mossad, Declassified has found
https://t.co/jgM1YE5yvD— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) January 18, 2025
The piece highlights the well-established links between British/American police forces and Israel, and these links shouldn’t come as a surprise. America and its followers support Israel because it suits American interests, and Israel in turn does what it can to support the control that Western governments have over their citizens.
In other words, you shouldn’t be surprised when the British establishment comes down heavy on peaceful protesters who are siding with the victims of a genocide. It’s all the same system; it’s all the same violence; we’re just spared from the worst of it over here.
For now, anyway.
But that won’t hold true forever if the people in charge can get away with increasingly depraved acts of mass violence.
Featured image via Eye on Palestine / Wikimedia (Chatham House)
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Ten months before the 2024 election, high-profile news outlets were already sounding the alarm: If Trump were to win another term, widespread fatigue, despair and activist burnout would probably minimize resistance.
Exhaustion and burnout are real phenomena that pose a significant challenge to political movements (Psychology Today, 6/24/20). But articles that focus on feelings of burnout, and exclude or downplay questions of changes in strategy amid shifting conditions, often have the effect—and occasionally the goal—of making everyday people seem and feel less powerful than they are.
A year ago, Politico‘s Michael Schaffer (1/26/24) was predicting that a Trump victory might “be met with avoidance, listlessness and apathy.”
Politico writer Michael Schaffer (1/26/24) noted a year ago that the shock of Trump’s 2016 victory “sparked a burst of activity that profoundly altered Washington”:
Donations to progressive advocacy groups soared. Traffic to political media spiked. Protests filled the calendar…. But now, as a second Trump term becomes an increasingly real possibility, there’s no consensus that anything similar would happen in January 2025.
While acknowledging that the post-2016 burst of activity had profoundly altered Washington, Politico warned Trump opponents that pioneering new strategies would only get them so far, since passivity in the face of a second Trump term “has as much to do with psychology as it does with the tactics or organizational skill of the activist class.”
Humans “respond to a sudden threat with a fight-or-flight instinct,” Schaffer observed, and for many, “the string of jolts that accompanied the first Trump months of 2017—the Muslim ban, the firing of James Comey, Charlottesville—spurred an impulse to fight.” The same was unlikely to be true of a second Trump win, he speculated, because for many it would amount to proof that fighting back “wasn’t enough,” and could “just as easily be met with avoidance, listlessness and apathy.”
Good journalists don’t pretend an energetic and cohesive resistance exists when it does not. But presenting opposition to authoritarians like Trump as pointless, ineffectual and doomed is journalistically irresponsible and historically illiterate, particularly when it’s clear that the initial backlash to Trump had an effect (New York Times, 12/18/17).
‘A weary shrug’
After the election, Politico again predicted a muted response to Trump’s second term. A Politico EU story (11/13/24) characterized the 2024 Trump resistance as “flaccid” (“Toto, we’re not in 2016 anymore,” read the subhead), and proclaimed that while Trump’s 2016 win had “sparked a global revolt,” his recent triumph has been “met with a weary shrug.”
The outlet suggested that Trump’s latest win had been inevitable—
part of a broader, inexorable rightward trend on both sides of the Atlantic, leaving a dejected liberal left to helplessly scratch their heads as the fickle tide of political history turns against them.
Which might leave anti-Trump readers wondering: Don’t humans have a role to play in turning history’s tide?
After the election, Politico‘s Schaffer (11/15/24) presented the exodus from the far-right X (formerly Twitter) as a sign that “the post-election progressive ferment that in 2016 gave us the resistance is going to be a lot quieter this time.”
A couple of days later, Schaffer (Politico, 11/15/24) wrote a column headlined “The Resistance Is Not Coming to Save You. It’s Tuning Out.” Noting a decline in critical coverage of Trump, Schaffer wrote that for a nation
wondering whether the return of Trump will drive an immediate return of the public fury and journalistic energy triggered by his first win, it makes for an early hint that the answer will be: Nope.
Where Trump’s first victory “triggered Blue America’s fight instinct,” he added, “the aftermath of this year’s win is looking a lot more like flight.” The question of why so many Americans are now in “fight or flight” mode went largely unexamined. Schaffer’s main takeaway was that Blue America cannot credibly blame a “feckless pre-election press” for “bungl[ing] the coverage” of the race this time around, as if alarmist corporate media coverage of crime, immigration, the economy and transgender issues didn’t contribute to Trump’s narrow victory in 2024.
He also faulted the initial resistance to Trump for being “organized around issues of identity,” citing as examples the 2017 Women’s March, the backlash to the Muslim ban, the 2017 counter-protest against a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and the 2020 racial justice protests. But the fact that the Women’s March drew people of all genders, most participants in the 2020 racial justice protests were white, and Black Lives Matter may have been the largest protest movement in US history suggests that many Americans find issues of “identity” galvanizing rather than alienating.
And it is likelier that direct threats to people’s lives—say, those posed by mass deportations and abortion bans—will inspire more re-engagement than vague appeals to issues like preserving democracy.
Reformulated opposition
Truthout (11/16/24): “As we step out of our grieving and look ahead, there are reasons to believe that a new social movement cycle to confront Trumpism can emerge.”
It’s true that while Trump’s 2016 victory came as a horrific shock to millions, in part because Hillary Clinton was widely expected to win, the outcome of the 2024 election was less surprising, since no candidate seemed assured of victory. But torpor is just one aspect of an unfolding story; opposition to Trump’s agenda is not muted so much as it is being reformulated in response to changing conditions.
Thousands continue to protest Israel’s ongoing genocide, despite elite media outlets’ and universities’ war on free speech and student protesters. Two days after the 2024 election, more than 100,000 people joined a call organized by a coalition of 200 progressive groups, including the Working Families Party, Indivisible, United We Dream and Movement for Black Lives Action, and thousands signed up for follow-up actions.
As it did in and after 2016, Trump’s recent election has spurred thousands to join organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America, to which I belong. Public support for organized labor remains extremely high—70% of Americans approve of labor unions—and the US continues to experience an uptick in militant labor actions, including recent strikes at major companies like Starbucks and Amazon. Finally, many organizers are focused on developing strategies to combat Trump policies, like mass deportations, as soon as he attempts to impose them.
‘Get somebody else to do it’
“How Powerful Leaders Crush Dissent, Demobilizing Millions,” might have been a more appropriate headline for this New York Times piece (11/20/24).
The New York Times has also been obsessed with the allegedly neutered 2024 resistance. “In 2017, [anti-Trump voters] donned pink hats to march on Washington, registering their fury with Donald J. Trump by the hundreds of thousands,” reporter Katie Glueck (2/19/24) wrote, adding, “This year, [they] are grappling with another powerful sentiment: exhaustion.”
Weeks after the election, the paper published “‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue” (11/20/24). The subhead read, “Donald J. Trump’s grass-roots opponents search for a new playbook as they reckon with how little they accomplished during his first term.”
In the piece itself, reporter Katie Benner offered a balance of voices of both the exhausted and the motivated, accompanied by a fairly nuanced assessment of the situation facing the anti-Trump resistance, describing “a sharp global reversal in the power of mass action” that may be partly due to governments’ authoritarian drift and declining willingness to change course in response to public pressure. But the paper’s headline writers erased that nuance and the role of repression, leaving only a sense that activists are personally failing. As headlines go, “How Powerful Leaders Crush Dissent, Demobilizing Millions” might have been more accurate.
In December, New York Times columnist and Trump critic Charles Blow (12/18/24) offered weary progressives absolution: “Temporarily Disconnected From Politics? Feel No Guilt About It.” Though he cautioned that it would be “a mistake for anyone to confuse a temporary disconnection for a permanent acquiescence,” he suggested that there were, at the moment, few ways to fight back.
After all, Blow wrote, “there is very little that average citizens can do about the way the administration takes shape”—seeming to forget that cabinet members must be confirmed by the Senate, which is an elected representative body. Even efforts to counter Trump’s agenda led by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), he noted, are “largely beyond the involvement of average citizens.” (That would probably be news to the ACLU, which is often seeking volunteers, and always seeking donations.)
Even columnists like Blow, who has called Trump an “aberration and abomination,” are apparently more interested in chronicling progressive fatigue than in contending with two troubling shifts noted by the New York Times: a global decline in the power of mass action, and self-proclaimed champion of democracy President Joe Biden’s refusal to respond to the majority of Americans who oppose Israel’s war.
When large groups of Americans cannot sway their leaders via forceful dissent, mass action or electoral campaigns—when participating in politics feels, and often is, useless—some degree of disengagement is inevitable.
‘In no mood to organize’
The Washington Post (11/10/24) presented the mood of today’s activists: “I’m feeling like I want to curl up in the fetal position.”
The Washington Post (11/10/24), under the headline, “A ‘Resistance’ Raced to Fight Trump’s First Term. Will It Rise Again?” noted in its subhead that some who had been a part of that resistance were “exhausted and feeling hopeless,” and “say they need a break.” The piece described an activist, who’d been “shocked into action” by Trump’s 2016 victory, as “in no mood to organize” in 2024. Although many had been “jolted” into opposing Trump in 2016, today’s resistance leaders “must contend with a swirl of other feelings: exhaustion, dejection, burnout.”
Yet despite their exhaustion, ordinary people around the country and world are still organizing, because they know how much worse things can get if they don’t—and because it’s their bodies, families and communities on the line. Having seen how hard it is to make change, even when a policy or cause has majority popular support, it’s no wonder that some are taking a short- to long-term break from politics.
It’s not the public but elite journalists, chastened by their tarnished reputation and their contributions to Trump’s rise, who have shrunk from challenging the powerful, whether those in power are genocide-supporting Democrats like Biden, or planet-betraying authoritarians like Trump.
This post was originally published on FAIR.
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The following article is a comment piece from Palestine Solidarity Campaign and its partner organisations.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators will gather in London on Saturday as they have done throughout the 15 months of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This will be the eve of the ceasefire that Palestinians and their supporters around the world have desperately sought as Israel carried out a barbaric assault on Gaza with catastrophic results. Ending the bombing is only the start. Israel’s siege on Gaza must be lifted immediately to enable the flow of vital humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies.
The ceasefire must be permanent.
The genocidal onslaught in Gaza is rooted in decades of oppression – ethnic cleansing, settler-colonisation, military occupation and apartheid against the Palestinian people between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean sea. It has been enabled by decades of support for Israel from UK governments, corporations and institutions. For all these reasons and more, we will continue our campaigns and demonstrations such as that tomorrow in London.
Palestine: we will still march
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and its Coalition partners have organised 22 major demonstrations since October 2023, working with the police authorities. The marches have been overwhelmingly peaceful and well-ordered as the police themselves have accepted. However, this protest has suffered from heavy handed police obstruction using powers under the Public Order Act that erode our democratic rights.
The Met Police originally agreed the route of the march, BBC Portland Place to Whitehall, in November 2024, but have this month reneged on their undertaking on the grounds that it would cause disruption to a synagogue which is not on the route of the march and despite the fact that there has not been a single documented case of threat or incident at a synagogue in relation to the national Palestine marches that have taken place over the last 15 months.
The Met Police
Hundreds of political, social and cultural figures have voiced their support for the right to demonstrate in support of Palestine after substantial evidence emerged that the BBC is failing to uphold its own editorial guidelines in the reporting of Israel’s actions – including MPs, trade unions leaders, civil society leaders, actors, musicians and artists. A letter organised by the Jewish bloc which attends in support of every Palestine March has attracted more than 900 signatures by members of the Jewish community calling on the Met to reverse its ban. A group of Holocaust survivors and their descendants have also written a public letter in support of a march.
Over the past week the Met Police have imposed a series of repressive conditions to prevent us marching and have even attempted to impose a route that the Board of Deputies announced they had suggested to the police. This has been firmly rejected by the Palestine Coalition – it is an affront that pro-Israel groups can attempt to decide where we can or cannot march.
Despite intensive efforts to reach a compromise with the Met, it has so far refused to accept or offer a reasonable solution. However, we will assemble on Whitehall on Saturday at noon. We reiterate our call on the police to lift their repressive conditions and allow us to march. If they continue to refuse to do so and prevent us from marching, we will be rallying in Whitehall to protest.
Israel’s genocide isn’t over
Ben Jamal, PSC Director, said :
Israel’s genocide has not ended. Even now, while we await a ceasefire, Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza are dying from bombardment, and suffering from lack of medical care, food and shelter. We demand a permanent ceasefire, an end to the siege of Gaza and the immediate provision of massive humanitarian aid.
It is absolutely legitimate and necessary for us in the UK to be holding our government to account for it’s military, diplomatic and economic support of Israel, which continues to be investigated by the world courts for war crimes and crimes against humanity. But this protest has been marred by political policing which is an attack on our fundamental democratic rights. The Met has seemingly accepted and acted upon the arguments of pro-Israel groups that seek to delegitimise our protest as antisemitic or a threat to Jewish people. This is a gross distortion of the truth. There is not a single instance of our marches posing any threat to synagogues or Jewish individuals. Indeed, we count a large, self-organised Jewish bloc as some of our most indefatigable supporters.
The Met’s approach has been confrontational, heavy-handed and intransigent. Their use of powers under the Public Order Act has been based on flimsy grounds and arbitrarily applied, which erodes the right of peaceful protest that is fundamental in a democracy. Despite this, our protest tomorrow will go ahead – we call on all those who seek justice for Palestine to stand with us.
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Huge crowds are expected next week at the trial of the “Hastings Three”, who were charged nearly a year ago for their part in protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The Hastings Three: up in court
NHS worker Clem McCulloch, 33, artist Thomas Delves, 25, and retired train driver Laurie Holden, 72, were arrested at General Dynamics arms factory on February 29 last year during a peaceful protest organized by the Hastings & District Palestine Solidarity Campaign (HDPSC) and supported by a coalition of community groups including Jewish groups, social justice and climate justice groups, parent groups, and political parties.
All three will plead not guilty to charges of aggravated trespass when they come before a district judge at Brighton Magistrates Court on Wednesday 22 January.
The charge carries a maximum tariff of a three-month jail term and £2,500 fine.
They are expected to be joined by a large number of supporters as local groups across the county – including Brighton Stop the War, University of Sussex Friends of Palestine and Brighton and Hove Palestine Solidarity Campaign (BHPSC) – have called a ‘solidarity rally’ in support of the three men.
Ahead of the trial, BHPSC’s executive committee released a statement:
BHPSC is a sister PSC branch to Hastings & District PSC, and have followed the case of the #Hastings3 with great interest – not least because we in Brighton know too well the indignation caused locally by having an arms factory based in our city – an arms factory (like General Dynamics in Hastings) that is deeply complicit in the ongoing genocide being perpetrated by Israel upon the people of Gaza.
The statement went on:
The executive committee of BHPSC sends our solidarity to the three defendants whose case will be heard here in Brighton on the 22nd of January.
Our many local members and supporters will be outside the court in large numbers on the 22nd to voice our support for our Hastings comrades, who are on trial for doing nothing more than exercising their right to peaceful non-violent protest.
Compared with the appalling crimes against humanity being facilitated by the General Dynamics factory in Hastings and other weapons manufacturers in the UK, the actions of the #Hastings3 register as expressions of conscience rather than crimes.
General Dynamics: complicit in genocide
General Dynamics is the fifth largest global arms manufacturer and is responsible for all the MK80 bombs being dropped on Gaza.
Laurie Holden, from Burwash, said:
It is appalling that ordinary people like myself are in the dock instead of General Dynamics, which is making a killing from genocide. This will be the sixth time our case has come before the court, representing a disgusting waste of taxpayer’s money. Meanwhile, General Dynamics made $3.3 billion profit in 2023.
“The Hastings Three are not guilty” said Grace Lally, twinning officer for the Hastings & District PSC:
General Dynamics is guilty of profiting from war crimes and genocide. Two thousand pound bombs made by General Dynamics have been dropped on families sheltering in tents in the so-called safe zone of Al Mawasi, where our friends live and our community has deep connections. Nothing can justify this.
General Dynamics has come under sustained pressure from concerned locals for its part in Israel’s 15-month campaign in Gaza.
Hastings & District PSC has led more than a dozen actions to the two arms factory sites in Hastings since November 2023, including die-ins, marches, pickets and a 48-hour peace camp and the sites have also been subject to regular and spontaneous ‘pop up’ protests.
Supporting the Hastings Three
Mum-of-one Olivia Cavanagh said:
We don’t want this weapons manufacturer here in our town, making money from slaughtering innocent Palestinians, making us complicit in war crimes.
A legal fighting fund for the three men has raised nearly £5,000 but still has some way to go to cover all their legal costs.
“The outrageous and expensive pursuit of the #Hastings3 does not stand in isolation but forms part of a nationwide clamp down on peaceful protest” said Katy Colley, HDPSC Chair:
Our friends are good men of conscience who, like the rest of us, cannot bear to see the wholesale destruction and annihilation we are witnessing in Gaza. The majority in this country stand against genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid. For fifteen months, people up and down the country have protested the UK’s complicity in the worst crime of our time, demanding that the UK stops arming Israel. Yet our government refuses to listen and those who speak out are smeared, defamed and persecuted.
There are now over 46,000 confirmed dead in Gaza – mostly women and children – though a report this month in the Lancet estimated the real death toll to be at least 40% higher with the number of deaths in the first nine months alone estimated to be over 64,000.
A year ago, the International Court of Justice put Israel in the dock for acts of genocide and last month, reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Medecins Sans Frontieres all concluded that Israel is guilty of carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza.
The rally at Brighton Magistrates Court begins at 9.30pm and donations to the legal fighting fund can be made here.
Featured image via Emily Lister
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Two Just Stop Oil supporters who sprayed Heathrow departure boards with orange paint during the Oil Kills, international uprising to end fossil fuels last July have won a temporary reprieve as their jury failed to reach a majority decision.
Just Stop Oil: legal shenanigans
Phoebe Plummer and Jane Touil were appearing before judge Duncan at Isleworth Crown Court accused of criminal damage over £5,000 for their action on 30 July 2024 to demand a fossil fuel treaty to end oil and gas by 2030.
The trial, which lasted nine days, ended when the jury failed to reach a majority decision.
The judge has scheduled a retrial for May 2026.
Phoebe was remanded for 58 days and Jane for 14 days following the action in which the pair used fire extinguishers to spray water-based paint at the departure boards in the terminal. The Crown alleged that the Just Stop Oil action caused £8,000 worth of damages.
Phoebe is currently serving a two year prison sentence for criminal damage for throwing soup on a Van Gogh painting in October 2022. They were sentenced by Judge Hehir at South Crown Court on 27 September 2024, a sentence that is now being challenged in an appeal scheduled for 29-30 January 2025.
During the trial, Judge Duncan ruled out the defence of necessity, saying this did not extend to civil disobedience and what she called the Just Stop Oil defendants’ “honestly held opinions” about climate change.
Jane Touil responded that:
It is not accurate to say that I am acting on my beliefs. It [the climate crisis] is not ‘a cause’. This is physics, an objective reality. I can see that everything is at risk. We only do the right thing if we know what’s going on.
Phoebe was not allowed to be present in court to make their closing speech as during the course of the trial, the heating system in the holding cells at Isleworth Crown court, contracted to the private company Serco broke down and no one currently in custody could be produced in court.
‘Following the law and doing the right thing are not the same thing’
A Just Stop Oil supporter who was present throughout the trial said that:
Phoebe and Jane had all their substantial defences removed, a severely mismanaged prosecution, logistical nightmares and a jury that was told to completely disregard their motivations. This is absolutely huge!
In her closing speech Phoebe Plummer said:
I have struggled with not being able to talk about the climate crisis – hearing it being called irrelevant feels inhumane and dishonest. The prosecution says I’m ‘committed to breaking the law’; my only commitment is to act in line with my conscience.
They say ‘I do what I like without thinking about the law’. I don’t think following the law and doing the right thing are always the same thing.
I cannot be a bystander to suffering where I see it. Nonviolence means being honest and living in line with the truth. I need to tell the truth about what I see. I act in a way that I think will be effective in saving life. When a doctor breaks a rib while doing CPR the doctor’s intent is still obviously saving life not causing grievous bodily harm, the context always matters.
Featured image supplied
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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British director of Human Rights Watch attacks ‘dangerous hypocrisy’ of government
Britain’s crackdown on climate protest is setting “a dangerous precedent” around the world and undermining democratic rights, the UK director of Human Rights Watch has said.
Yasmine Ahmed accused the Labour government of hypocrisy over its claims to be committed to human rights and international law.
Continue reading…This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.
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On Friday 17 January, the Palestine Action #Filton18 political prisoners will appear at the Old Bailey, London, to enter their pleas for the first time since their arrest.
Palestine Action: #Filton18 in court
They are expected to plead ‘not guilty’ to charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and, for some, violent disorder, after an August action against Israel’s Elbit Systems research hub in Filton, Bristol.
The action saw activists enter the site, operated by Israel’s largest weapons company, and dismantle the weapons of war inside – including the Elbit ‘quadcopter’ models used for targeted killings of children in Gaza.
Ten of the #Filton18 have been imprisoned since their arrest in August 2024, with a further eight arrested and imprisoned since November, all of them subjected to abuse of ‘Counter Terror’ powers by the British State.
The Crown Prosecution Service are alleging that the charges faced have a ‘terrorism connection’. Amnesty International has stated that the Filton case demonstrates “terrorism powers being misused” to “circumvent normal legal protections, such as justifying holding people in excessively-lengthy pre-charge detention”.
The #Filton18 political prisoners have been subjected to arbitrary and repressive treatment while inside prison – including the withholding of phone calls and mail, prohibitions on communicating with other prisoners, and denials of religious practices and medical privacy.
‘Battle-tested’
Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company, is deeply complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza – providing over 85% of Israel’s armed drones, along with a wide range of munitions, armaments, and military equipment, all of which it markets internationally as having been “battle-tested” on Palestinians.
From Britain, the subsidiary ‘Elbit Systems UK’ is a major exporter to Israel of military drone components, along with arms including weapons sights. The Filton weapons hub was opened in July 2023, with Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotevely in attendance praising the site for the “very best of Israeli technology”, alongside Elbit’s CEO Bezalel Machlis.
If you want to show support for the #Filton18, be at the Old Bailey, City of London, EC4M 7EH on Friday 17 January at 9:30am.
Support Palestine Action here.
Featured image via Guy Smallman
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Local campaigners have uncovered a previously-missed company that is actually now one of the biggest UK arms exporters to Israel – therefore, complicit in its genocide. Meet G&H Artemis.
G&H Artemis: supplying arms to genocidal Israel
On Monday 13 January, campaigners across the south west stopped business at Gooch and Housego’s (G&H) Artemis site in Plymouth:
The action marks the start of a new campaign – Shut Down G&H – committed to shutting down a company that’s deeply complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza:
According to research by Campaign Against Arms Trade, G&H, with the acquisition of Phoenix Optical Technologies last year, is now the largest recipient of single issue arms export licenses to Israel between October 2021 and May 2023.
G&H Artemis export a range of military equipment to Israel, including components for head up/down displays for military aircraft. G&H Artemis provide optical and laser technology for head up displays.
On the ground, activists reported that many of the workers couldn’t gain entry to the factory due to the disruption.
A spokesperson for Shut Down G&H said “this act of resistance was inspired by the growing awareness that G&H is directly implicated in the murder of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is unconscionable. As the local community, we are taking action to reject our city’s complicity in Israel’s genocide and display our unequivocal solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian life, freedom, and self-determination”:
Today’s action is only the start. G&H have offices across the South West. We can and we must shut them down!
Slipping under the radar
The Canary asked G&H Artemis for comment – but the company declined to provide us with one.
Campaign Against Arms Trade’s media coordinator, Emily Apple, said:
It’s great to see this campaign being launched today. For too long G&H has got away with slipping under the radar. It should be a household name. Everyone should know this company is complicit in and profiting from Israel’s genocide.
In only imposing a partial arms suspension, this government has made it clear that it will continue to prioritise arms dealers’ profits over Palestinian lives and international law. It’s therefore down to ordinary people across the country to take action and say no to the genocide profiteers on their doorsteps.
Featured image and additional images supplied
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Fossil Free London staged a protest outside Shell’s global HQ, the Shell Centre, on Southbank on Wednesday 15 January, in protest over the role fossil fuel corporations like Shell’s have in exacerbating the climate crisis.
Shell: fuelling the climate crisis – and the LA wildfires
Dressed in red and orange, signs read “It’s not a tragedy, it’s a crime”, chanting “Shell did this”:
A London firefighter joined the crowd, holding a placard saying “Big oil makes our job harder”:
Shell continues to drill for new fossil fuels, making fires like the ones we are seeing in LA much more likely. In March 2024, Shell defied climate experts and rolled back their green targets, pledging to keep oil production steady until 2030.
Wildfires across Los Angeles have now killed at least 24 people, and burned down more than 12,000 homes and businesses. Scientists warn these fires are driven in intensity by heat and drought; both conditions are directly linked to and made increasingly common by the climate crisis.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that emissions from fossil fuels are the biggest cause of climate change. Fossil fuel corporations have been aware of climate change and its effects as early as 1977, but continued to expand oil and gas production.
It’s their responsibility
Joanna Warrington, who attended the protest with Fossil Free London, said:
LA is on fire, and it’s big oil that sparked the match and fanned the flames. Corporations like Shell have known for decades the disasters their fossil fuels would cause, but spent billions delaying climate action and funding misinformation to protect their business interests. As devastating events like these become more commonplace, its vital blame is put on the oily bosses who profit whilst our homes burn.
Andy Warren, a London firefighter, said:
Firefighters know that the increasingly frequent and destructive wildfires we face are the responsibility of the fossil fuel industry and its disregard for human life. These companies have known about the effects of their profiteering for decades and it is high time they were taken into public ownership and their profits used to fund a just green transition. No fire service in the world will be a match for the disasters that come if we carry on as we are.
Featured image and additional images via Fossil Free London
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Students remain on the frontline of resistance against institutional complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In Leicester, five students are set to go on hunger strike following their university’s harsh repression of anti-genocide protests. In Birmingham, meanwhile, students and others are calling for their university to protect the right to protest amid controversial disciplinary proceedings.
Hunger strike at Leicester university
According to a press release from Leicester Action for Palestine, five University of Leicester students will start a hunger strike on Wednesday 15 January “over the university’s complicity in genocide”. The statement says:
This act of protest follows severe repression from the University, who had 11 people arrested in November for allegedly occupying the Attenborough tower, and is inspired by the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners who have hunger struck in the past, as well as our comrades at the Swansea encampment who went on strike for over a week, securing £5 million of divestment from Barclays bank in the process.
They want the university to “stop banking with Barclays bank”, “disclose and divest” from companies complicit in the Gaza genocide, and to “demilitarise” the campus by cutting “ties with arms companies currently aiding and profiting off of the genocide”. Regarding the latter, the statement explains that:
this includes the 7 and a half million pound research deal with Rolls Royce and Siemens through the school of engineering. Rolls Royce help to produce the F-35’s Israel is using to drop bombs on children and Siemens provided key infrastructure to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Updates on the hunger strike will appear on @leicsaction4pal on Instagram.
Controversial disciplinary proceedings at Birmingham university
Student-staff coalition BhamLiberatedZone, meanwhile, released a press release explaining how the University of Birmingham is:
under fire for disciplining two students involved in protests against the university’s financial ties to companies allegedly complicit in human rights violations in Palestine.
The “coalition of students, staff, alumni, and public supporters” wants the university to drop disciplinary investigations and “to protect students’ rights to protest”.
The coalition calls Antonia Listrat and Mariyah Ali’s treatment “a deeply prejudiced, management-driven disciplinary process”. It asserts:
The university has accused them of intimidation and participating in unauthorized protests, but activists argue these allegations are exaggerated, rooted in anti-Palestinian racism, and part of a broader effort to suppress pro-Palestinian activism on campus.
Their protest demanded the university’s:
divestment from over £76 million in investments and partnerships with companies allegedly tied to the genocide of Palestinian people.
But as the statement says:
The students have highlighted a pattern of alleged Islamophobia and racial prejudice, including the labelling of Palestinian flags as “threatening” and the removal of such flags from campus, as well as harassment of students wearing Palestine badges. They argue such actions demonstrate systemic repression of pro-Palestinian activism under the guise of maintaining campus safety.
The “prolonged process”, meanwhile, “has caused significant stress and harm to the students’ wellbeing, reflecting a punitive approach to silencing dissent”.
Campaigners want the university:
to drop the disciplinary actions, respect free speech, and address growing calls for divestment and ethical investment practices.
Featured image supplied
By Ed Sykes
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Palestine Action targeted the new London premises of an Elbit Director’s consultancy firm, Eagle Strategic Consulting Limited, on Tuesday 14 January. However, at the same time in Bristol cops were ‘visiting’ the venue where a group meeting is being held in Bristol. Coincidence?
Palestine Action: smashing the genocide enablers
Palestine Action activists shattered the windows and sprayed the company’s new London address in red paint to symbolise the company’s continued complicity in Palestinian bloodshed:
BREAKING: Palestine Action target the new London address of an Elbit director's weapons consultancy firm.
Eagle Strategic is owned by Richard Applegate, the former chairman and current 'Head of Strategy & New Business' for the British division of Israel's biggest arms firm. pic.twitter.com/0zpdx4Jdu0
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) January 14, 2025
Eagle Strategic acts as a consultancy firm for weapons manufacturers and is wholly owned by Richard Applegate, the former Chairman and current ‘head of strategy and new business’ for Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems UK. This is the second time his lobbying company have been targeted by the direct action network, with Palestine Action shattering windows and spray painting the building of the Dorset premises in March 2024.
Applegate has a long history of lobbying for the Israeli arms company, previously boasting about pulling off a covert political lobbying campaign which secured a £500m from the MOD, by ensuring his “fingerprints weren’t over any of it”. He was caught by journalists admitting that he had applied pressure by “infecting” the system at “every level”.
According to Israeli media, Elbit provides up to 80% of the Israeli military’s land based military equipment and 85% of its military drones. It supplies vast numbers of munitions and missiles – including the ‘Iron Sting’ recently developed and deployed for the first time in the 2023-2024 Genocide in Gaza, along with wide categories of surveillance technologies, targeting systems, and innumerate other armaments.
Cops trying to disrupt legitimate assembly
Meanwhile, as Palestine Action posted, cops visited Head First Bristol; a venue that is hosting a meeting of the group:
BREAKING: The police visited the venue of a scheduled Palestine Action talk and attempted to question the venue on their affiliation to our direct action group.
As ever, we refuse to be intimidated and look forward to the event tonight organised by Bristol Transformed.
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) January 14, 2025
Called “Smashing the genocide-industrial complex“, the meeting will look at what activists can learn “about effective direct action from the courageous efforts of Palestine Action?”. No wonder the cops weren’t happy.
The venue and the group refused to be intimidated, however, and the meeting is due to go ahead as planned.
A Palestine Action spokesperson said:
We remain committed to targeting all firms and associations which enable Israel’s weapons trade to continue fuelling genocide. There is no space for war criminals on our streets and those responsible for mass murder must be held accountable. Applegate can’t hide behind his consulting firm and changing its premise doesn’t change a thing. We’ve hit Eagle Strategic before, we’ll hit them again and we’ll keep taking action until we’ve shut down Elbit Systems for good.
Featured image via screengrab
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Coalition partners are today issuing a statement that reaffirms their determination to lead a protest at BBC headquarters in central London despite the efforts of the Met Police to prevent a March for Palestine which it previously agreed to in November 2024.
March for Palestine: the Met under fire
Over the weekend a flurry of public figures have criticised the decision by the Met to use conditions under the Public Order Act to prevent the protest at the BBC on Portland Place, on the grounds that this would cause disruption to a synagogue which is not on the route of the march and despite the fact that there has not been a single documented case of threat or incident at a synagogue in relation to the national Palestine marches that have taken place over the last 15 months of the Gaza genocide.
Hundreds of political, social and cultural figures have voiced their support for the right to demonstrate in support of Palestine after substantial evidence emerged that the BBC is failing to uphold its own editorial guidelines in the reporting of Israel’s actions – including MPs, trade union leaders, civil society leaders, actors, musicians and artists.
A letter organised by the Jewish bloc which attends in support of every Palestine March has attracted more than 800 signatures by members of the Jewish community calling on the Met to reverse its ban. A group of Holocaust survivors and their descendants have also written a public letter in support of the march.
PSC are calling on all those who support an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as well as everyone who believes in the democratic right to protest, to join them in London at 12 noon on Saturday 18 January for the March for Palestine.
It’s still on
The March for Palestine will assemble in Whitehall, which will allow people to form up in massive numbers in an orderly fashion, and then they will march towards the BBC. Organisers have written today to the Met Police seeking a meeting and asking them to work with them to ensure the march can proceed peacefully and finish with a protest outside the BBC.
The groups call upon the Met to drop any restrictions which would prevent this.
Ben Jamal, PSC Director, said:
Hundreds of thousands of people wish to continue to protest at our Government’s ongoing complicity with Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, which reports this week suggested may have killed tens of thousands more than the suggested figure of 46,000. They also wish to protest at the complicity of the BBC which has failed to report the facts of this genocide, as revealed in recent investigations.
There are no legitimate grounds for the Police to impede our proposal to march from Whitehall to the BBC, finishing with a rally outside its HQ. We call upon the Met Police to make clear they will drop any conditions which will deny the right to protest as planned.
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Palestine Action Scotland targeted the offices of military parts manufacturer Parker Hannifin at its Glasgow production facility overnight on Monday 13 January, damaging the building and covering it in red paint, which it said was ‘symbolic of the Palestinian blood on the hands of the company’.
The building on Seaford Road South, which Parker Hannifin describes as a ‘state-of-the-art production facility’ for its Parker Prädifa technology division, had multiple windows smashed during the nighttime action.
Its walls and signage, as well as the interior of the building, were sprayed with red paint:
Palestine Action: targeting Leonardo’s supply chain
A Palestine Action Scotland spokesperson said the activists who carried out the direct action did so because Parker Hannifin is a supplier to Leonardo and other major weapons companies that make military products used by Israel’s forces in its attacks on Gaza.
Leonardo has extensive ties to the Israeli state and makes parts for Apache helicopters and targeting systems for F-35 fighter jets, which have been used by Israel to drop 2000lb bombs on Gaza, destroying homes and civilian infrastructure, and killing tens of thousands of civilians. Leonardo’s site in Edinburgh has been targeted and shut down by activists multiple times since Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza intensified in October 2023.
Parker Hannifin itself has been involved in the design, development, testing and production of the F-35. Its fuel systems and components are used for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It provides systems for military helicopters and drones to companies including Leonardo Helicopters. Its products are designed to meet specialist military-ready specifications for use in missiles, ordnance and aircraft, as well as use in flight control systems, jet engines and landing gear.
The action was the first time that activists in Scotland have targeted Parker Hannifin for its links to the destruction of Gaza, which is described as genocide in a case brought to the International Court of Justice by South Africa and 11 other countries. An investigation by Amnesty International has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
‘Sickened’
Palestine Action Scotland’s spokesperson said:
We are sickened that the continuing genocide is made possible by companies based in Scotland that are happy to profit by designing, making and selling products that result in the mass murder of Palestinian people in Gaza.
Every company that chooses to be part of the supply chain to Israel’s military, including Parker Hannifin, shares responsibility for and profits from the shredding of children’s bodies in Gaza, and we will not rest until they cut all their connections to that chain of brutality.
By carrying out this action, we intervened directly to disrupt the flow of technology that enables the ongoing genocide. Parker Hannifin has blood on its hands and will remain a target until it cuts its ties to complicit companies including Leonardo and stops supplying essential parts and materials without which apartheid Israel’s weapons could not cause the horrors being committed every day against the Palestinian people.
In taking this action, we have been inspired by and acted in solidarity with our friends and comrades in Gaza and throughout all of Palestine, from river to sea. We look forward to celebrating the liberation of Palestine with you in the near future.
Featured image via Palestine Action Scotland
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Thirteen Holocaust survivors and survivor descendants have just signed a joint letter protesting against the Met Police’s plans to prevent the next Palestine march from gathering outside the BBC headquarters on 18 January.
Palestine protest: it is not antisemitic
As survivors of the Jewish genocide, or descendants of such survivors, the 13 say they are in despair at the UK government’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. This is especially the case when this same government intends to commemorate other genocides – including that of the group’s Jewish relatives – on Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January.
How any politician can commemorate past genocides while openly supporting an ongoing genocide is something future historians will study with horror and disbelief. But this just makes it all the more important for those of us who oppose all genocides to continue to protest.
Naturally, the government and other supporters of Israeli crimes want to discredit and suppress our protests. Having run out of other arguments, they can only resort to claims that people’s demonstrations are somehow antisemitic.
As survivors and survivor descendants, the 13 individuals say they take antisemitism extremely seriously. Consequently, they would always make sure of their facts before accusing anyone of antisemitism. Unfortunately, many supporters of Israel are rarely so careful and they routinely accuse anyone they disagree with of antisemitism without any evidence.
Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos spoke at a Palestine rally in Hyde Park in April:
Holocaust survivor and peace protestor Stephen Kapos: pic.twitter.com/z4JoMSZ3x8
— Greg Herriett (@greg_herriett) April 27, 2024
Note the respect with which the crowd listens to Stephen. This is not the sort of crowd that would ever chant the horrible phrase ‘genocide of Jews’ – yet this is the sort of completely unsubstantiated claim that the right-wing press are resorting too in order to have Palestine demos banned.
The 13 also took part in a previous Palestine demo near the BBC headquarters on 18 May:
Here's a literal Jewish Holocaust survivor saying that Gove is full of shit on this. pic.twitter.com/Fmn7nAuFsc
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) May 21, 2024
The BBC also broadcast interviews with them there on that day and their journalists will have witnessed the overwhelmingly warm reception from the crowd.
The letter
The letter from the 13 reads in full as follows:
The Metropolitan police intend to ban the 18 January Palestine march from the area around the BBC headquarters in Portland Place in London. Their excuse is that Jewish attendees at a synagogue that is well away from the march route will suffer ‘disruption’ of their religious worship.
We are writing as Jewish Holocaust survivors, and descendants of survivors, to protest against this clear attempt to dissuade people from opposing the Gaza genocide. Along with thousands of other openly Jewish protesters, we have attended numerous Palestine demos in London and have received nothing but support and warmth from our fellow demonstrators. To suggest that the 18 January march is a threat to Jews, or is in any way antisemitic, is simply a fabrication in order to restrict everyone’s right to protest.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Kapos (survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary)
Agnes Kory (survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary)
Haim Bresheeth (son of two survivors of Auschwitz)
Mark Etkind (son of a survivor of the Lodz ghetto and Buchenwald)
Aurora Yaakov (daughter of survivor of Dachau & Kaufering camps)
Yosefa Loshitzky (daughter of survivors of the Holocaust in Poland)
Miranda Pinch (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia)
Ursula Blumenthal (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Germany)
Peter Kapos (son of a Holocaust survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary)
Peter Hall (son of a survivor of the Holocaust in Austria)
Sonja Linden (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Germany)
Chris Romberg (son of a survivor of the Holocaust in Austria)
Beatrice Hoffman (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Germany)
Featured image supplied
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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Two Just Stop Oil supporters have painted Charles Darwin’s grave to demand that the UK government works with others to phase out the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by 2030.
Just Stop Oil Darwin stunt
At around 9:30am on Monday 13 January, two Just Stop Oil supporters entered Westminster Abbey and proceeded to use spray chalk to write ‘1.5 Is Dead’ on Charles Darwin’s grave:
This was referencing the news that the world has exceeded the ‘safe’ 1.5 degree warming limit agreed by world leaders in Paris in 2015.
The supporters could be heard saying “2024 was the hottest year on record. We have passed the 1.5 degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe. Millions are being displaced, California is on fire and we have lost three quarters of all wildlife since the 1970’s. Darwin would be turning in his grave to know we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction. The government’s plans will take us to over 3 degrees of warming. This will destroy everything we love. World leaders must stop burning oil, gas and coal by 2030”:
One of those taking action was Alyson Lee who said:
Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, we have already exceeded the so-called safe temperature rise of 1.5 degrees, and are heading for over 3 degrees of warming. This rapidly accelerating crisis means huge parts of the world will become unable to support life, resulting in millions of refugees, social collapse and extinction for countless species.”
Despite lots of fine words from international leaders, emissions are still rising. Without real action, words are useless, you cannot negotiate with the laws of physics. We need mass civil disobedience now, join us on the streets and help us reclaim parliament this April.
Also taking action was Di Bligh who stated:
Darwin once said- ‘It is not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available and works cooperatively against common threats.
Last year was the hottest since modern humans evolved. If we do not work together to reign in the corporations and billionaires driving us beyond our means, humanity will not be able to adapt to what is coming. We are on course to lose everything, and politicians are doing nowhere near enough to prevent it. How many will we have to bury as a result of climate breakdown and who will be left to mourn them?
Global chaos
Just Stop Oil’s action came as the death toll rises to 24 in California, as fires continue to rip across the state. The fires have been driven by climate breakdown after decades of drought, followed by rapid swings between extreme wet and dry conditions in the past two years. This has created large areas of ‘tinder dry’ vegetation, creating the perfect conditions for uncontrollable wildfires.
Meanwhile, the Copernicus Climate Change Service has confirmed that 2024 was the first year on record with a global average temperature exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. All continents except Australasia and Antarctica experienced their hottest year on record, with 11 months of the year exceeding the 1.5°C level. All ten of the hottest years on record have fallen within the last decade.
Just Stop Oil will be stepping into action again this April. To join a talk or sign up for action register at juststopoil.org
Featured image and additional images via Jamie Lowe
By The Canary
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A vigil to mark unjustly imprisoned Just Stop Oil activist Gaie Delap’s 78th birthday was held outside Eastwood Park Prison on Friday 10th January. It came after she was sent back to prison – despite having served her sentence – because of failures of the criminal justice system.
Gaie Delap: an outrage and injustice
The vigil for Gaie a peaceful and dignified Quaker-led occasion accompanied by family and friends:
https://x.com/JustStop_Oil/status/1878396377899655427
It is now three weeks since Gaie was arrested and returned to prison following systemic failings in the management of her home detention curfew. These include evidence of deceit on the part of Serco EMS who manage tagging arrangements on behalf of the Ministry of Justice (see our New Year’s statement).
Gaie’s brother, Mick, who visited her last Friday said:
Despite her outrage, tempered with resignation, she tries to stay strong. She knows about the vigil. She is overwhelmed with the messages of support she has received. The best birthday present for her would be that common sense and justice prevail and lead to her re-release.
Lily Pridie, her daughter, had this message for her mother:
Please stay strong and keep your spirits up. We are so proud of you. Thousands of people are supporting you. Let’s hope that something positive comes out as a result of this awful situation.
One of the organisers of the vigil Jo Flanagan said:
The vigil will be supported by dozens of singers from the Climate Choir Movement which started in Bristol. Several of the organisers of this movement are Quakers and know Gaie personally and attend the same Quaker Meeting House in Bristol including the two co- founders. Many of the principles on which the choir it is founded align with Quaker values including peacefully singing ‘truth to power’ and standing up against injustice.
Close friend Mike Campbell added:
Gaie makes it clear too that this is not just about her situation. There are other countless women who are impacted by tagging failures. She told us about a woman released late and then recalled because there was no available bus to get home in time for their curfew. She also witnesses daily the impact of imprisonment on other women, those with mental health problems, addiction issues, mothers separated from their children. Like Gaie, these are women who should not be in prison.
Another birthday present for Gaie arrived early. This was in the form of a song called Eastwood Park Blues, written and performed by the Blue House Buoys, with a call to Shabana Mahmood, the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Timpson, Prisons Minister to ‘free Gaie Delap’. “Dearest Gaie, we shower you with love”, said a spokesperson for group.
‘You should not be in prison on your birthday’
Carla Denyer, Green MP for Bristol Central, said “My heart goes out to Gaie who is spending her 78th birthday behind bars – all because the private company responsible for fitting electronic tags couldn’t find one the right size for her. I know her friends and family are desperate to see her come home. Gaie has not broken bail conditions, neither is she a threat to the public. I find it beyond belief that a solution cannot be found to get Gaie home”:
As Gaie’s MP I have tried everything I can to challenge the decision to send her back to prison – including writing to the prisons minister Lord Timpson and the probation service – and I will continue to push for her release.
Hannah Greer, of the Good Law Project who are crowdfunding for Gaie’s legal fees, said:
You should not be in prison on your birthday. On behalf of the hundreds of supporters whose generosity has so far raised over £20,000 you have our continued support and we send birthday greetings.
Melanie Jameson from Quakers in Criminal Justice who are upholding Gaie on her birthday said “With prisons overflowing, this is no place for peaceful climate protesters. In Gaie’s case, we are appalled that Serco’s failings have led to her recall”.
You can support Just Stop Oil here.
Featured image supplied
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
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UK chancellor becomes first holder of her office to make an official visit to China in a decade
Rachel Reeves has said the UK “must engage confidently with China”, as she arrived in Beijing amid market turbulence at home.
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had demanded the chancellor call off her China trip after the value of the pound plummeted to its lowest level in a year. But ministers argue that improved relations with the world’s second-largest economy will help boost growth, and that under the Conservatives the UK lagged behind the US and EU when it came to high-level engagement with Beijing.
Continue reading…This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.
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Cross-party MPs and peers, trade union general secretaries, cultural figures and celebrities, writers, journalists, health workers and civil society organisations and activists have condemned police attempts to stop an agreed Protest for Palestine taking place at the BBC on Saturday 18 January.
Met Police slammed over pro-Palestine march restrictions
In a statement issued today (10 January) by the six organisations behind the national Palestine marches, and supported by at least 150 high profile individuals and organisations, including Liberty, Amnesty International UK, and Greenpeace, the Metropolitan Police are accused of misusing public order powers to shield the BBC from democratic scrutiny.
Among those to have signed the statement are musician Brian Eno, singer-songwriter Charlotte Church, actors Mark Rylance, Khalid Abdalla, Nadia Sawalha and Juliet Stevenson, author Susan Abulhawa, economist Yanis Varoufakis, Akiko Hart, the director of Liberty and Asad Rehman, executive director, War on Want, along with several leading health workers, including London Hospital A&E doctor Dr Andrew Myerson.
Labour, Independent, Green, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein and SNP MPs have signed, while trade union leaders include PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch, the NEU’s Daniel Kebede and FBU leader Matt Wrack.
The route of the march was agreed by the Met in November. They have now reneged on that agreement, citing possible disruption to a synagogue, which is not on the route of the march.
Making the point about the preciousness of the rights to freedom of speech and protest the statement concludes:
It is not acceptable in a democratic society that, in the face of an ongoing genocide in Gaza, people should be barred from protesting at the BBC. We call on the police to drop their objections and allow the protest to go ahead as planned.
Statement on police barring 18 January march from the BBC
We strongly condemn police attempts to stop an agreed march for Palestine from protesting at the BBC on 18 January.
The route for the march was confirmed with the Police nearly two months ago and, as agreed with them, was publicly announced on 30 November. This route, beginning at the BBC, has only been used twice in the last 15 months of demonstrations and not since February 2024. With just over a week to go, the Metropolitan Police is reneging on the agreement and has stated its intention to prevent the protest from going ahead as planned.
The BBC is a major institution – it is a publicly-funded state broadcaster and is rightly accountable to the public. The police should not be misusing public order powers to shield the BBC from democratic scrutiny.
The excuse offered by the police is that the march could cause disruption to a nearby synagogue which is not even on the march route. As the Met Police have acknowledged, there has not been a single incident of any threat to a synagogue attached to any of the marches. Any suggestion that pro-Palestine marches are somehow hostile to Jewish people ignores the fact that Jewish people have been joining the marches in their thousands.
The rights to protest and free speech are precious. It is not acceptable in a democratic society that, in the face of an ongoing genocide in Gaza, people should be barred from protesting at the BBC. We call on the police to drop their objections and allow the protest to go ahead as planned.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestinian Forum in Britain
Friends of Al-Aqsa
Stop the War Coalition
Muslim Association of Britain
Campaign for Nuclear DisarmamentFeatured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
