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Category: Protest

  • Youth Demand shut down roads in FIVE cities as its swarm enters a sixth day

    Youth Demand supporters shut down London, Leeds, Manchester, Cambridge, and Exeter in a co-ordinated mass action on Saturday 16 November – closing 13 roads. It was the sixth day of the group’s ‘swarm’ action – that’s seen disruption across England over the climate crisis and the UK government’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    Youth Demand: day six of the swarm

    At 11:00 am Saturday, in a coordinated set of actions spanning London, Manchester, Exeter, Leeds and Cambridge, groups of supporters stepped into city roads holding banners reading ‘YOUTH DEMAND’, ‘YOUTH DEMAND AN END TO GENOCIDE’, ‘STOP ARMING ISRAEL’, ‘YOUTH DEMAND LIBERATION NOW!’, along with Palestinian flags:

    Action taker Bailey, a disabled supporter from Cambridge said:

    We look back in history at atrocities committed by governments and countries and we say “never again”. We praise those who took action for change and liberation. Currently we are living through a historic moment where there are genocides happening and it is up to us to fight back so if it never happens again. I want to be on the right side of history.

    In London, roadblocks lasted for several hours across the West End, starting at Queen Victoria Street.

    Norfolk Road was the first to be blocked in Cambridge, causing traffic tailbacks:

    Manchester saw Deangate disrupted, while in Leeds Woodhouse Lane was the first to be affected by the action. In Exeter, action takers first blocked Iron Bridge and continued to block roads in the city:

    Youth Demand

    Direct action works

    Jazz Dean, 23, a care worker from Manchester is another who took action. They said:

    Direct action works, this is why we’re doing it. We don’t want to be disrupting people’s day but when there is a genocide happening and innocent civilians in Palestine and Lebanon are losing their lives day after day we cannot stand by. Our government is complicit in this genocide. They continue to buy and sell weapons with Israel. We know what those weapons are used for and that is why we need to resist.

    Youth Demand

    Henri, 20, an architecture student from Falmouth taking action in Exeter said:

    We must act, not only for our own future but for that of future generations, our children, our friends and ultimately our world as we know it. Why shouldn’t we stand up for what is morally right regardless of consequences and opinions? We know our actions are ridiculed through the media, but we are left with no choice; the system doesn’t represent us. We must resist.

    Saturday’s action came after a full week of resistance from Youth Demand.

    A week of resistance

    As the Canary has been documenting, the group first took action on Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November. Members laid a Palestinian flag-coloured wreath at the Cenotaph, while also blocking roads and disrupting traffic elsewhere in London and in Manchester.

    At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’.

    At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.

    Also at around 9am, supporters swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester. Then, on Tuesday 12 November the group did similar in Leeds – blocking multiple roads and being threatened with arrest. The group then returned to Manchester on Wednesday 13 November, blocking multiple locations.

    On Thursday 14 November, the group targeted roads in both Leeds and Cambridge – returning to the former for the second time this week. Then on Friday 15 November, London was blocked in multiple locations again – with the group also targeting Exeter.

    Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country”

    You can support Youth Demand here.

    Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Zionists disrupt London’s March for Global Climate Justice amid large turnout for Gaza

    Thousands took to the streets of London on Saturday 16 November, joining a major alliance of climate justice organisations demanding the UK government end its reliance on fossil fuels, commit to paying climate reparations, and end its complicity in the genocide in Gaza. This was for the March for Global Climate Justice. There was a small counter demo of pro-Israel Zionists who carried banners saying ‘stop lying, there is no genocide in Gaza’.

    March for Global Climate Justice

    The March for Global Climate Justice brought together more than 60 organisations, including Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Amnesty International UK, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, War on Want, and Just Stop Oil:

    Demonstrators gathered outside the British Museum and marched to 10 Downing Street via SOCAR. Organisers claim the route exposed corporate and governmental ‘complicity’ in both the climate crisis and the genocide in Gaza.

    Deputy Green Party leader Zack Polanski was one of the politicians supporting the march:

    He said:

    The first thing is, it’s about crisis with humanity. There’s a very obvious link where, if you have fossil fuel companies that don’t care about trashing the planet, then of course they don’t care about funding weapons and funding the military, which are enabling a genocide and killing people.

    And if we’re going to divest away from fossil fuels, oil and gas, as we absolutely should, we should also be divesting away from weapons and the military.

    Banners against BP and SOCAR were out in force:

    March for global climate justice

    The BTC pipeline, co-owned by BP and SOCAR, supplies nearly 30% of Israel’s oil — fueling the military vehicles and jets used in its ongoing war crimes against Palestinians. BP has also been granted gas exploration licences in occupied Palestinian waters by the Israeli Ministry of Energy. BP is a major sponsor of the British Museum.

    Zionists come out to cause trouble

    People were also calling out some countries’ refusal to address Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Specifically, the march focused on those leaders who condemn Israel’s action – but are still supplying it with the energy to fuel its army:

    Predictably, pro-Israeli Zionist showed up to cause trouble:

    The march took place amidst widespread disillusionment amongst activists with the COP process:

    COP-out

    This year’s summit, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, has already faced outrage after the COP29 President was caught promising to broker fossil fuel deals. The failure of political leaders to address the escalating climate crisis and end their complicity in Israel’s genocide has galvanised a global wave of mobilisations – with more than 150 actions taking place on the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice.

    Across Great Britain and Ireland, 25 actions were organised in towns and cities from Manchester to Edinburgh, Dublin to Sheffield under the same demands.

    Angus O’Brien, National Coordinator at the Climate Justice Coalition, said:

    Thousands of us united today in a historic mobilisation on the streets of London, across Great Britain and worldwide to demand an end to the era of fossil fuels and an end to the genocide in Gaza. The issues we face are global, and so is our response. We won’t stop until political leaders divest from war and destruction – and invest in a just, ecological and equitable transition.

    Driven to the brink of collapse

    Tyrone Scott, Senior Movement Building and Activism Officer at War on Want, said:

    Right now, millions of people are facing the worst effects of climate breakdown, predominantly in countries across the Global South. Our global reliance on fossil fuels have driven our climate and ecosystems to the brink of collapse whilst earning trillions for the fossil fuel industry.

    At the same time, these same fossil fuel companies that are profiting from extracting and polluting – driving climate breakdown – are also profiting from funnelling oil to Israel; oil that Israel is then using in its genocide of the Palestinian people. We must end our reliance on fossil fuels, ensure the UK pays its fair share in finance and demand an end to the genocide. There is no climate justice without human rights.

    This woman has been a well-known face at climate and democracy protests for many years:

    Dr Charlie Gardner, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, said:

    Whether it’s the floods that have devastated Spain and dozens of other countries, the record rainfall affecting British farmers, or the fires, droughts and storms ravaging other parts of the world, climate breakdown is here and it’s always the poorest and most vulnerable communities who are hit first and worst. We need to throw everything at ending the fossil fuel age as quickly as possible, and pay our climate debt to poorer nations. As a global community we have to adapt to what’s coming, and take care of each other as we do.

    The only way forward is to tackle this emergency collectively and cooperatively. So it is shocking that, in the short period between their election and COP29, Keir Starmer’s government has already promoted airport expansion, succumbed to the Carbon Capture and Storage snake oil promoted by the oil and gas industry, and continued to support Israel’s war crimes.

    March for global climate justice

    Across the UK and Ireland, there were other protests too:

    A global march for climate justice

    Lauren MacDonald, Lead Campaigner at Stop Rosebank commented:

    Everyday we are witnessing the worsening effects of climate change as they creep closer and closer to home. All this while governments insist on pandering to the demands of mega-polluters in an endless cycle of ignorance that endangers us all.

    Oil money has been linked to violence throughout history – and this is no different now. Even the Rosebank oil field here in the UK will see £253 million in revenue flow towards a company that has been flagged by the UN for human rights violations in Palestine.

    If we want to maintain a liveable climate, and sever the toxic links between fossil fuels and atrocities across the globe, we must do everything we can to make a rapid and fair transition away from oil and gas.

    Joanna Warrington, Campaigner at Fossil Free London, said:

    In gleaming London offices, fossil fuel giants like BP line their pockets while our planet burns and millions suffer. Every day, they stop at nothing to maximize their profits, fueling genocide, corrupting politics and pushing our climate closer to collapse.

    We are marching today to demand that the UK Government breaks free from the grip of mega polluters, stands up to their relentless greed, and stops enabling the violence and destruction they profit from.

    Another world is not just possible – it’s essential, and it starts with holding fossil fuel corporations accountable.

    Around the world, the March for Global Climate Justice took place in multiple cities, too.

    Featured image and additional images via Denise Baker

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Georgian Opposition Politician Throws Black Liquid On Electoral Chief To Protest Vote


    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.

  • Youth Demand blocks multiple roads in London as the swarm enters its fifth day

    On Friday 15 November, supporters of Youth Demand disrupted traffic in both London and Exeter, demanding a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and for the UK government to halt all new oil and gas licences granted since 2021.

    London: swarmed by Youth Demand once again

    In London, action takers blocked Holborn’s Southampton Row, Marble Arch, and finally Kensington High Street in front of the Israeli embassy. The team of Youth Demand supporters held placards reading ‘YOUTH DEMAND AN END TO GENOCIDE’, ‘NOT IN OUR NAME’, and ‘YOUTH DEMAND’, along with Palestinian flags. The first roadblock took place at around 10:30am, and were still ongoing at the time of writing:

    Youth Demand London

    Youth Demand swarmed across the capital – hammering home their messages in the Friday traffic:

    Action takers in Exeter blocked Prince of Wales Road, New North Road, and Heles Road throughout the day, beginning at 12:20pm. They faced resistance from members of the public:

    Elsa from London took action. She said:

    I’m taking action with Youth Demand today because there’s no time to sit and wait for the government. Every day that the UK keeps sending weapons to Israel is a day too long. Too many kid’s lives have been taken. Never again means never again for anybody.

    Hannah Chick from Lewisham was also out swarming. She said:

    My friends in Gaza are all under siege and have been displaced continuously. I cannot sit and allow my government to send weapons to murder my friends.

    Israel openly admits to war crimes in front of the Western world, whilst the West nod in agreement and sign more bombs over. Shame on every single complacent soul.

    This is now the fifth day this week that Youth Demand has taken action.

    Five days of swarming

    As the Canary has been documenting, the group first took action on Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November. Members laid a Palestinian flag-coloured wreath at the Cenotaph, while also blocking roads and disrupting traffic elsewhere in London and in Manchester.

    At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’.

    At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.

    Also at around 9am, supporters swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester. Then, on Tuesday 12 November the group did similar in Leeds – blocking multiple roads and being threatened with arrest. The group then returned to Manchester on Wednesday 13 November, blocking multiple locations.

    On Thursday 14 November, the group targeted roads in both Leeds and Cambridge – returning to the former for the second time this week.

    Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country”

    On Saturday 16 November there is also the Global March for Climate Justice in London. You can read more about that here, and support Youth Demand here.

    Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Three Extinction Rebellion activists given preposterous sentences over EACOP action

    Extinction Rebellion activists ‘The Worley Three’ have been given 320 hours of community service today for causing £6,000 in “damages” for their peaceful protest at the offices of multinational corporation Worley – involved in the controversial, planet-wrecking EACOP project.

    EACOP: not as bad as some fake oil and chalk spray – if you’re the judiciary

    The action involved decorating Worley’s Brentford offices with washable fake oil and chalk spray to spotlight the petroengineering company’s key role in constructing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), a project widely condemned for its devastating environmental and social impacts, and to demand the company sever its ties to the pipeline.

    The sentencing comes on the day that senior figures in the UN climate talks publish an open letter saying that the COP process is no longer fit for purpose and two days after 15 university students in Uganda were remanded to a maximum security prison for peacefully protesting the pipeline outside the Ugandan Parliament.

    Some of them were forced to appear shirtless in front of the magistrate, having lost access to their belongings. Another 20 peaceful Ugandan Stop EACOP demonstrators had their trial adjourned this week to 26 November, in what Human Rights Watch reports is an ongoing crackdown against the project’s critics by the Ugandan government. Meanwhile the beleaguered project has run into fresh funding challenges.

    Sarah Hart, Tom Maidment, and Danielle McHallam were found guilty on 3 October after a chaotic jury trial at Isleworth Crown Court which left the defendants with little opportunity to properly prepare a defence.

    Not fit for purpose

    On the second day of the trial, Judge Hannah Duncan ruled out all defences. The judge then allowed the defendants to speak for ten minutes each before she brought back in the defence of ‘belief in consent’ the following morning.

    Even before any construction has taken place EACOP has been responsible for gross human rights abuses. If it was ever built and operational it would be complicit in locking in irreversible climate change.

    Marijn van de Geer, former company director from West London, and a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said:

    Our legal system is clearly not fit for purpose if it thinks washable paint is more damaging than the displacement of 100,000 people and locking-in irreversible climate change.

    Defendant Sarah Hart, mother of two, aged 42 of Farnborough said:

    We stand in solidarity with the students who have been unjustly imprisoned this week. We undertook this action in support of the affected communities of East Africa who have suffered intimidation, arrest and police brutality for standing up for their rights to land and clean water and a liveable climate. And also because the climate change it would cause threatens us all.

    The temporary damage we caused stands as nothing in comparison to the widespread and irreparable harm this project has already caused to local communities. Worley is complicit in these crimes. Why are the directors and shareholders of Worley not in the dock?

    EACOP: a disaster in the making

    In 2023 Human Rights Watch reported that tens of thousands of people have already lost their lands and livelihoods in preparation for the project. If the pipeline is ever completed, that number will rise to over 100,000 people across East Africa.

    The European Union voted in a special resolution that condemned EACOP for its human rights abuses in Uganda and Tanzania, abuses that included death threats, intimidation and wrongful imprisonment.

    The East African Crude Oil Pipeline, if completed, would increase global CO2 emissions by 379 million tonnes CO2e over its lifetime [8], making our Paris Agreement targets unachievable and making it likely we will pass critical tipping points in the climate system. As UN General Secretary, António Guterres said in 2022 “Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness”.

    Extinction Rebellion will continue to push back

    Former government lawyer Tim Crosland of Defend Our Juries said:

    Finally today there’s high level recognition of what has been obvious for years – the intergovernmental COP process, the formal mechanism for preventing climate catastrophe is failing and unfit for purpose. In the meantime people are being criminalised and penalised simply for refusing to accept death and disaster for themselves and the people they love.

    How do the responsible judges feel about the abuse of the legal system to protect those causing the destruction and to repress those who resist it? Sure, they are ‘just doing their jobs’ and ‘following orders’. But at some level they must know they embody what Hannah Arendt termed ‘the banality of evil.

    Stop EACOP Coalition Campaign Coordinator, Zaki Mamdoo, said:

    We salute and applaud all the brave defenders who continue to challenge those who are driving our collective destruction and the exploitation and displacement of our communities. The criminalisation of activists fighting for the rights and freedoms of oppressed people across the globe is testament to the fact that the political elite remains married to global capital and continues to serve its interests dutifully. We extend our undying solidarity to the brave StopEACOP activists unjustly sentenced today.

    Widespread opposition to EACOP has caused repeated delays and investment uncertainties since the project was initially proposed in 2013. EACOP was designed to transport Uganda’s oil reserves through Tanzania for export to the world market but under pressure from campaigners, 27 commercial banks and 29 major insurance companies have ruled out involvement in the project. As of now no building work has taken place.

    Earlier this month, Extinction Rebellion targeted EACOP insurers Marsh McLennan as part of its Insure Our Survival week of action.

    Featured image via Extinction Rebellion

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Palestine Action just scored ANOTHER victory as ANOTHER company drops Elbit

    Palestine Action has scored another victory against the Israel war machine in the UK – after another company cut ties with genocide enabler Elbit System. However, the victory only came about after some corporate media smeared the group’s campaign against Hydrafeed as being “misinformed”.

    Hydrafeed: bye-bye Elbit, thanks to Palestine Action

    In an email to Palestine Action on 14 November, Hydrafeed announced they’ve cut ties with Israel’s biggest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, and their subsidiaries.

    This victory comes after a sustained direct action campaign by Palestine Action which involved activists abseiling inside Hydrafeed to dismantle their equipment, smashing through the front doors and spraying their premises in blood red paint. To date, no-one has been arrested for these actions.

    At the time, corporate media painted Palestine Action’s assertions about Hydrafeed as being correct. For example, NationalWorld, a huge media company that palms off its state stenography as ‘local news’, wrote that:

    Badly-informed activists have smashed up a factory in MK which they wrongly claim is involved in supplying machinery to a company that allegedly produces Israeli weapons.

    However, the company’s connection to Elbit Systems was confirmed when Palestine Action activists saw and destroyed Hydrafeed’s machinery inside Elbit’s Kent factory, Instro Precision during an action on 17 June. Hydrafeed are a leading supplier of CNC machine tools, which Elbit requires in order to manufacture their weaponry.

    Despite previously denying links with Elbit Systems, Hydrafeed informed Palestine Action that following an investigation, they can confirm that their products were used by the Israeli weapons maker.

    They have now detailed their steps taken “as a direct result of your targeted actions” to ensure they are no longer associated with Elbit Systems. This involved attempting to buy back their equipment, which Instro Precision refused to sell.

    However, the Hydrafeed said:

    Hydrafeed have made it clear to Instro Precision that they are not prepared to provide any sales or services of their products to Instro Precision, their parent company Elbit Systems, or any of Elbit Systems subsidiaries now, or in the future.

    Stopping the Israeli war machine in its tracks

    Palestine Action’s primary target, Elbit Systems, market their weaponry as “battle-tested” or “combat proven”, as they are developed through Israel’s massacres of the Palestinian people. The Israeli arms manufacturer provide 85% of Israel’s military drone fleet and land-based equipment, as well as munitions.

    The group’s direct action strategy involves disrupting companies and institutions which allow Elbit Systems to maintain their lethal operations in Britain. Hydrafeed joins a series of companies, including lobby firm APCO, Shipping giant Kuehne+Nagel and Barclays Bank, which have cut ties with Elbit Systems following a sustained direct action campaign.

    Commenting on the victory, a Palestine Action spokesperson said:

    Through a focused direct action strategy, we are breaking crucial links in Israel’s military supply chain. This has proven that it is within the power of ordinary people to isolate and shut down Israel’s biggest weapons producer. At a time when the genocide is intensifying, it’s the responsibility of all of us to adopt effective tactics to stop Britain’s participation in the ongoing massacres of the Palestinian and Lebanese people.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Introducing ‘anti-COP’: A climate summit for activists who are fed up

    It took Samoan activist Tunaimati’a Jacob Netzler three flights and a bus ride over the course of 24 hours to reach the big climate conference. The plan was to join nearly 200 other campaigners from around 40 countries to discuss the fate of the planet.

    But Netzler wasn’t traveling to Baku, Azerbaijan, for COP29. Instead, he headed to Oaxaca, Mexico, for the Global Meeting for Climate and Life that organizers dubbed an “anti-COP.” The gathering would strike a decidedly different tone than its more formal United Nations counterpart. Luxury hotels and private jets gave way to dormitories and composting toilets that reflected the activists’ aim to create a more egalitarian space.

    “It really brought together people that wouldn’t normally be engaged in the formal COP process,” said Netzler, the Pacífic campaign associate for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. “It brought those in the frontline communities.”

    Last week’s event was a byproduct of the sentiment that, after almost 30 years, COPs are doing too little to address runaway greenhouse gas emissions. Even the former head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which governs the annual meeting, has called the whirlwind events — which attracts everyone from heads of states to oil industry lobbyists — “distracting.”

    Activists gathered in Oaxaca also rallied around a shared feeling of exclusion from the international confab, and concerns that the solutions that come out of it are harming communities. Anti-COP aimed to provide “a space to articulate our struggles and propose concrete alternatives [to the status quo].” The five-day gathering ended with a final statement that outlined the movement’s next steps — including plans for increased coordination amongst participants and a proposal to send caravans of activists to next year’s COP in Brazil.  

    One primary goal of the event was to foster understanding between climate and land-defense movements that have historically worked in relatively separate spheres.

    “There is a lot of hesitation from the Indigenous groups to collaborate with environmentalists because they’re viewed as white movements, or movements that are coming from the Global North,” explained Dianx Cantarey, the global coordinator for Debt for Climate, one of the grassroots organizations that helped host the anti-COP.

    Beyond that, the gathering tackled four major themes: The impacts of clean energy megaprojects on the communities around them, the global water crisis, the ‘commodification of life,’ and forced displacement of Indigenous peoples. It also explicitly repudiated what activists see as governmental inaction in the face of the climate crisis. Participants describe the gathering as both a response and an antidote to COP gatherings, which they say often prioritize money, power, and fossil fuel interests over human life — a point underscored by the fact that Elnur Soltanov, the head of this year’s event, was filmed leveraging the summit to make oil deals. 

    “When you sit in your tenth opening statement [at COP], and it’s all the same, it’s frustrating to think that no other world is possible,”said Xiye Bastida, the executive director of the Re-Earth Initiative, a youth-led nonprofit focused on making the climate movement more accessible and inclusive. She went to Oaxaca because, ”for us, it’s not about the parts per million in the atmosphere, it’s about how our societies have transformed.”

    Bastida, Netzler, and others at the anti-COP have felt marginalized by COP. She described cockroach-infested youth hotels at one year’s conference, and another participant recalled having once been turned away from the Indigenous pavilion. It hasn’t always been that way. At their outset in the 1980s and ’90s, climate negotiations were among the most welcoming and inclusive intergovernmental processes. 

    “Initially, the climate regime was extremely open, permeable, and transparent,” said Dana Fischer, director of American University’s Center for Environment, Community & Equity, who did not attend the anti-COP. But, she said, that began to change around 2009, when Dutch police clashed with, and arrested, hundreds of climate protesters at COP15 in Copenhagen. Since then, civil society has been increasingly sidelined; a phenomenon that has been on particularly stark display at the last three COPS, which have been held in authoritarian states: Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and now Azerbaijan. 

    “There was a narrowing of opportunity for NGO observers and civil society members to participate,” said Fischer. “By the time we got to Egypt … they couldn’t go into the actual hall.”

    As they’ve been squeezed out, advocates have lost trust in COPs, creating what Fischer calls an “interaction effect” that led to the depth of mistrust that gave rise to initiatives like anti-COP. Although this was the group’s second gathering, this year’s was much larger and the first to produce a roadmap for future action.

    Anti-COP participants called for everything from mapping the financial interests behind clean energy megaprojects that impact Indigenous communities to building a database of best, successful land-defense practices and denouncing the election of Donald Trump. There were also more blunt pronouncements, including a declaration that “All COPs Are Bastards!”

    Still, the anti-COP was held a week before the formal COP for a reason: Some of those who gathered in Oaxaca planned to be in Baku. 

    “For me, the space of COP is to read negotiation texts and make sure it includes and defends as many people as possible,” said Bastida, acknowledging that it’s sure to be a draining experience. But, she added: “If I didn’t go to anti-COP, I couldn’t go to a COP knowing that I’m doing my part to include voices that have been missing.”

    This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Introducing ‘anti-COP’: A climate summit for activists who are fed up on Nov 15, 2024.

    This post was originally published on Grist.

  • Fourth day of swarming sees Youth Demand strike in Leeds and Cambridge

    On Thursday 14 November, supporters of Youth Demand disrupted traffic in Leeds and Cambridge, demanding a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and for the UK government to halt all new oil and gas licences granted since 2021.

    Youth Demand: swarming for a fourth day

    At 11:00am, a group of supporters blocked the Headrow/Briggate junction in central Leeds, holding a banner that read ‘YOUTH DEMAND’ along with a Palestine flag:

    Members of the public forcibly removed action takers from the road to drive past.

    The action takers returned to the road, before ending the road block.

    Joe Clark, a 23 year old student from Leeds, took part in the action. He said:

    I’m taking action today because the UK does not value Palestinian life. You cannot pay respects to fallen soldiers whilst simultaneously sending weapons to commit a genocide. We won’t stop until our government is no longer complicit in the tragic hypocrisy.

    At 12:30pm, another group of supporters blocked roads in Cambridge, holding banners that read ‘STOP ARMING ISRAEL’ and ‘YOUTH DEMAND’, as well as Lebanese and Palestinian flags. They started at Victoria Avenue, before moving onto Chesterton Road:

    Will, a 23 year old PhD student from Cambridge took action today, saying:

    I’m taking action because this genocide has gone on for over a year and still the government, no matter the party, is sending weapons to Israel. So long as those in power believe enable murder and occupation, everyone must resist.

    Ordinary protest methods have failed. The political system allows those in power free reign to perpetrate genocide so long as it furthers their interests. The only human thing we can do is bring it to its knees.

    We are blocking roads because direct action is the only realistic way to oppose this genocide. We have to put pressure on the choke points of this system, or genocide, climate collapse and extractivism will remain the status quo.

    A week of action

    As the Canary has been documenting, the group first took action on Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November. Members laid a Palestinian flag-coloured wreath at the Cenotaph, while also blocking roads and disrupting traffic elsewhere in London and in Manchester.

    At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’.

    At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.

    Also at around 9am, supporters swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester. Then, on Tuesday 12 November the group did similar in Leeds – blocking multiple roads and being threatened with arrest. The group then returned to Manchester on Wednesday 13 November, blocking multiple locations.

    Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country”

    You can support the group here.

    Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Saturday is the time to march for global climate justice. Here are the details.

    The following article is a statement from the Climate Justice Coalition

    The March for Climate Justice is on Saturday 16 November. Here’s everything you need to know.

    Why we’re marching for Global Climate Justice

    As world leaders gather for the UN’s COP29 climate negotiations, join us on the streets in London to demand the UK government ends our reliance on fossil fuels, pays up for climate finance – and ends its complicity in Israel’s escalating genocidal violence.

    The climate crisis and genocide in Gaza are inextricably linked and we must put an end to both. Without human rights, there can be no climate justice.

    Record heat in our atmosphere and oceans is driving climate disasters across the globe, with those who’ve done least to cause this crisis suffering most. Global North countries have far exceeded their fair share of the earth’s carrying capacity and are primarily responsible for the climate crisis.

    Against this backdrop, Israel’s deadly assault has killed at least 42,000 Palestinians over the last year and displaced more than 90% of Gaza’s population. Every semblance of decency and humanity has been violated with absolute impunity, despite well-documented war crimes, crimes against humanity and what the ICJ has ruled as a plausible case of genocide.

    At COP29 in November, the UK government will make claims to climate leadership. But these will ring hollow if prime minister Starmer continues to funnel public money into militarism, war and fossil fuel projects.

    The same fossil fuel corporations driving the climate crisis and blocking a just transition are those funnelling Israel the oil it needs for its war machine: all to secure their profits. If we’re to have any hope of a liveable planet, we must divest from war and destruction – and invest in a just, ecological and equitable transition.

    March details:

    A–B march from the British Museum to 10 Downing Street, via the SOCAR office on Strand.

    This demonstration will be liaised with the police and War on Want (on behalf of the Climate Justice Coalition) holds Public Liability Insurance.

    Why the British Museum:

    The British Museum announced a £50 million partnership deal with BP in November 2023. And amidst the ongoing genocide in Palestine, BP has been profiting of the transport and sales of oil to Israel. The British Museum is core to BP’s social licence to operate, allowing it to greenwash its climate and colonial crimes by appearing to be in service of the arts – all while drilling for new oil and gas.

    Why SOCAR:

    SOCAR is Azerbaijan’s national oil company and is expanding exploration and extraction projects alongside foreign oil companies like Eni and ADNOC. COP29’s President Mukhtar Babayev previously held the role of Vice-President for Ecology at SOCAR.

    Who’s behind this call to action:

    The demonstration is being called by an alliance of organisations within the Climate Justice Coalition and beyond, including:

    Climate Justice Coalition, War on Want, Extinction Rebellion, Fossil Free London, Energy Embargo for Palestine. The full list of supporters is here.

    We’re responding to a global call out for a Day of Action to demand climate justice – with actions set to take place across Great Britain and the world on this day. Find out more here.

    Featured image supplied

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Palestine Action activists LOSE appeal over outrageous prison sentences

    Two Palestine Action activists, imprisoned for taking action to disrupt the operations of Thales in Govan, Glasgow, have been refused their appeal for immediate release from HMP Barlinnie. In a 5th November appeal hearing at Edinburgh’s High Court of Justiciary, two judges reduced their 12 months sentences to 10 months.

    Palestine Action Thales 5: no light at the end of the tunnel

    Stuart Bretherton and Calum Lacy have been imprisoned since 20 August 2024 on a 12-month sentence for ‘breach of the peace’, for actions at Thales’ Govan factory in June 2022. They were imprisoned alongside three others, collectively the ‘Thales 5′, who each face sentences between 12 and 14 months.

    The action at Thales sought to disrupt the French arms giant’s operations, targeting the factory due to Thales’ considerable links with Israel’s largest arms firm, Elbit Systems, along with its direct supplies to the Israeli military during an ongoing genocide in Gaza:

    Their imprisonment, superseding Scottish Sentencing Council guidelines against custodial sentences for those under 25 years of age, was issued by sheriff John McCormick to “deter” further actions by others against weapons companies in Scotland.

    Both the original Sheriff and the Judges overseeing the appeal ignored the social work reports, which did not recommend jail as appropriate sentencing in this case.

    Commenting on the imprisonment of the Thales 5, Green MSP Maggie Chapman has stated that “although draconian anti-protest laws have recently been implemented by Westminster, with some appalling effects, these are not applicable to Scotland, so it has been a severe shock to see the sentences passed upon these young activists”:

    Not only are these disproportionate to the nonviolent nature of the actions, and inconsistent with the evidence provided by social work reports in the case, they also contradict the intent of the Scottish Sentencing Council’s guidelines on appropriate sanctions to be imposed upon young people.

    Political prisoners

    Annie Lane, partner of Stuart Bretherton, stated:

    I deeply respect all five of them for the action they took and all Palestine action prisoners and activists in the UK who are refusing to be complicit whilst we witness a genocide in real time on our screens. These activists really are the best of us.

    Stuart and I are expecting and having to go through pregnancy without him has been really difficult. But I think of the all those pregnant or with children living in Palestine under Israeli apartheid and I know what I am experiencing will never be as painful as what they are going through.

    The Thales 5 political prisoners can be supported via a CrowdFunder set up by their family and friends. You can donate to that here.

    Letters of support from members of the public are welcome. You can get details on how to write to them here.

    The Thales 5 are joined by eleven others in Britain and, as of today, four in the United States, all imprisoned for taking direct action in the face of Western complicity in Israel’s genocide, occupation, and apartheid in Palestine.

    In Britain, evidence obtained through disclosures suggest that Israel and Elbit Systems have exerted diplomatic and political pressure upon the British government, seeking greater repression of Palestine Action activists and intervention in their court cases.

    Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Day three of Youth Demand’s swarming – and they’re back in Manchester

    On Wednesday 13 November, supporters of Youth Demand disrupted traffic in Manchester, demanding a two-way arms embargo on Israel and for the UK government to halt all fossil fuel licences granted since 2021.

    Youth Demand day three: Manchester

    At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters blocked Fairfield Street in Manchester, preventing cars from passing while holding banners that read: ‘NEVER AGAIN IS NOW’ and ‘YOUTH DEMAND AN END TO GENOCIDE’, along with Palestine flags:

    Youth Demand

    Shelby Murphy from Manchester took action. She said:

    We are witnessing a Genocide in real time. There should be no business as usual. Disruptive action reminds people of that.

    Then, at 12pm the group went on to block Sackville Street, lighting green and red coloured flares while traffic was at a standstill:

    Manchester

    They then went ahead to block Oxford Road:

    A Youth Demand spokesperson said:

    Every day that Governments like ours fail to act, Israel escalates the genocide they’re committing . They are attempting to close down UNRWA aid operations, not just in Gaza but the West Bank too – top officials are warning this will be devastating. This is murder.

    Day three of the group’s week of action came after several other ‘swarms’.

    Swarming all over England

    As the Canary has been documenting, the group first took action on Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November. Members laid a Palestinian flag-coloured wreath at the Cenotaph, while also blocking roads and disrupting traffic elsewhere in London and in Manchester.

    At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’.

    At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.

    Also at around 9am, supporters swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester.

    Then, on Tuesday 12 November the group did similar in Leeds – blocking multiple roads and being threatened with arrest.

    Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country”

    You can support the group here.

    Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Another FOUR Insulate Britain activists found guilty on trumped-up charges

    Four Insulate Britain supporters were found guilty by a jury at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday 13 November for actions taken during Insulate Britain’s 2021 campaign of nonviolent civil resistance demanding the UK government insulate Britain’s cold and leaky homes. It was a campaign that was later called prescient by a number of commentators.

    However, questions have arisen over just what a judge allowed the Insulate Britain activists to say in court – as one claimed she was not allowed to bring any ‘legal defences’.

    Insulate Britain: another four found guilty on trumped-up charges

    Mair Bain, Victoria Lynch-Staunton, Tam Millar, and Barry Mitchell were on trial before Judge Shorrock for common law public nuisance for participating in actions on 13th September 2021 at junction 14 of M25 and 15th September 2021 at junction 25 of M25:

    Insulate Britain

    These were the first two actions of the campaign:

    The 11-person jury took two hours to reach a unanimous decision after a trial lasting 10 days. Sentencing will be on 18 December.

    Three other defendants – Karen Wildin, Ian Bates, and Peter Morgan – pleaded guilty to the charges before trial.

    The court heard evidence presented by the Insulate Britain defendants relating to the escalating climate crisis as well as recent examples of catastrophic weather events including the 200 deaths and rising from the flooding in Valencia, where bodies are still being found in the mud. They also heard evidence relating to the effectiveness of civil resistance.

    ‘How many pounds of flesh does the state want?’

    In her closing speech Mair Bain said:

    I acted from a place of care and genuine concern.. I believed my actions could help pressure the government into acting to prevent more deaths both from cold, damp homes and from the societal breakdown via a barrage of deadly destructive floods, storms, heatwaves, wildfires and droughts

    The decision to protest, knowing the risk of prosecution, was not made lightly. Despite the risk, I still do not see what I did as a crime.

    I’ve already faced consequences for my actions… How many pounds of flesh does the state want because I dared to draw attention to how the government’s failure is killing people?

    Meanwhile, Insulate Britain activist Victoria Lynch-Staunton said:

    I have not been permitted to bring any legal defences so really you are not getting the whole truth.

    If I was causing such a public nuisance, is not the government creating a huge public nuisance by failing to address the problem. Millions of jobs in home insulation would be created, carbon emissions radically reduced, likewise heating bills and the risk to health.

    I would sincerely request that you put aside preconceived thoughts and opinions as to the action I took and the reason I took it. I am simply trying to slow down mass suffering and bring some kindness, fairness, justice and equality for everyone.

    The erosion of the UK justice system

    Insulate Britain’s claims over legal defences ties into what other climate activists have experienced. As the Canary previously reported, Dr Gail Bradbrook, a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, was tried at Isleworth Crown Court for breaking a window at the Department of Transport, also back in October 2019, to shine a spotlight on the Department’s support for HS2 and Heathrow expansion. Allegedly, the window cost £27.5K to replace.

    In that case the judge, Judge Edmunds, directed the jury that Dr Bradbrook had no defence in law and prohibited her from explaining her motivations to the jury under threat of imprisonment. He also banned her from explaining the principle of jury equity to the jurors and threatened to move to a judge only trial if she breached these cases orders. In that case, the jury found Bradbrook guilty.

    Insulate Britain: 45 trials and counting

    Speaking after the verdict Insulate Britain activist Mair Bain said:

    I have been found guilty of the trumped up charge of public nuisance but the only thing that bothers me is that the people responsible for the thousands of deaths related to cold, damp, poorly insulated homes and from climate breakdown related extreme weather events, heat waves, fires, drought and crop failure are not facing any trial or consequences for the deaths they are causing.

    Victoria Lynch-Staunton said:

    It saddens me that the judiciary would rather prosecute peaceful protectors than face up to the realities of the climate emergency and embrace the common sense and sustainable actions that Insulate Britain demanded.

    In the 22 Insulate Britain jury trials for public nuisance charges to date, four trials have resulted in a hung jury, two trials have resulted in acquittals, thirteen have resulted in a guilty verdict and three have been deferred. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has applied for retrials in the three cases where the jury failed to reach a majority verdict.

    The CPS has chosen to summon a total of 56 supporters to answer at least 201 charges of public nuisance across some 45 jury trials, with additional retrials planned up to June 2025. These trials have been heard across Inner London, Hove, Lewes, Reading, and now Woolwich Crown Courts.

    Featured image and additional images via Insulate Britain

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Two of the most notorious fossil fuel-backing law firms just got called out

    Lawyers and climate crisis campaigners held law firms that represent planet-wrecking companies to account on Wednesday 13 November. They targeted the headquarters of two of the most notorious firms: A&O Shearman and Akin.

    Lawyers against fossil fuels target Akin and A&O Shearman

    Lawyers and allies staged a protest outside the London headquarters of legal firms A&O Shearman and Akin, as their staff arrived this morning:

    Representatives from a coalition of groups including Lawyers are Responsible and Fossil Free London held portraits of people across the world whose homes and lives have been devastated by floods and fires due to climate breakdown:

    Akin A&O Shearman

    Both A&O Shearman and Akin make millions from climate and biodiversity catastrophe by enabling the operations of some of the world’s most polluting and destructive companies.

    A&O Shearman: lawyers for fossil fuels

    A&O Shearman is the result of a merger earlier in 2024 between Allen and Overy and Shearman Sterling. Prior to its merger, Allen and Ovary conducted £89 billion worth of transactional work between 2018 and 2022 according to LS4CA ‘Carbon Circle’ report. A longstanding client of A&O Shearman is Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, which is currently significantly expanding oil and gas production.

    US law firm Akin is well known for its work with the petrochemical industry, boasting on its website that:

    For more than 75 years, Akin has empowered U.S. domestic and international oil & gas leaders to fuel the world.

    Akin’s commitment to the fossil fuel industry is explicit on various pages of the firm’s website. For example, it says:

    Akin is an elite global energy law firm with deep roots in the oil & gas industry. We are extremely well positioned to partner with our clients in creating value and sustainable business models in volatile markets and uncertain political climates.

    The firm also has a huge team of more than 75 lawyers specialising in political lobbying, including for the fossil fuel industry. Akin is a member of the International Energy Trading Association (IETA).

    Akin and the IETA lobbying link

    Global green coalition Kick Big Polluters Out identified the IETA as the biggest fossil fuel lobbyist at last year’s COP 28 in the UAE: the IETA brought 116 people including representatives from Big Polluters Shell, TotalEnergies and Norway’s Equinor.

    Akin also attended COP 28. The IETA’s other members include: Chevron, ExxonMobil, Drax, Eni, Shell, BP, and BNP Paribas to name but a few.  Groups like the IETA frustrate attempts at effective global climate action in favour of the fossil fuel industry, and make a mockery of the COP process.

    Akin received $7.92m from fossil fuel lobbying for the period 2019-2023 according to Law Students for Climate Accountability Climate Scorecard 2024 report.

    Joanna Warrington, campaigner at Fossil Free London said:

    Standing outside London’s top legal firms, justice is nowhere to be seen. Lawyers here are raking in millions by defending the corporations wrecking our planet.

    They’re not just complicit – they’re profiting from climate disaster while the world’s most vulnerable pay the price.

    “Unacceptable”

    Melanie Strickland from Lawyers Are Responsible said:

    It is unacceptable that these firms are enabling climate and ecological breakdown whilst so many people and other living beings are experiencing the effects of this catastrophe right now.

    We lawyers work in a public profession. As lawyers, we are granted professional status on behalf of the public. It is a privilege, and it entails certain responsibilities to uphold the public interest. Yet these firms, A&O Shearman and Akin, operate on the basis of commercialism rather than professionalism, and are aggressively pursuing their clients’ interest at the expense of the planet, our shared home, and everyone else, and massively lining their own pockets in doing so.

    We believe that it is possible for lawyers to be part of the solution and we want our fellow professionals in these firms to be part of the solution.

    Monika Sobiecki from Lawyers Are Responsible said:

    The scientific consensus is clear: to avoid ongoing mass loss of life and other catastrophic harm to human health, and to avert the existential threat to our society, the essential first step is to stop any new fossil fuel projects that expand infrastructure, hence productive capacity, and start to reduce existing fossil fuel infrastructure.

    As lawyers, we all value the Rule of Law in ensuring that we have a fair, stable and prosperous society. In a world devastated by climate chaos, there is a serious risk to the Rule of Law. Yet these firms, by continuing to work with fossil fuel companies, are accelerating us further along the path of climate collapse. That must change.

    Featured image and additional images via Fossil Free London and Lawyers Are Responsible

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Jeremy Clarkson just got schooled by Just Stop Oil over ‘political prisoners’

    Climate campaigners Just Stop Oil have challenged Jeremy Clarkson to learn the truth about the dozens of political prisoners in the UK.

    Jeremy Clarkson: here’s the reality of state repression in 2024

    Last week, Jeremy Clarkson falsely suggested that the government had banned farmers from protesting in London. He also told the S*n:

    Perhaps if I had draped my tractor in a Palestinian flag it would be different. It seems that if you are from Just Stop Oil or protesting about Gaza, you can do what you want.

    But Just Stop Oil highlighted where Clarkson had gone so badly wrong. It insisted that, currently:

    there are a total of 40 ordinary people in prison for nonviolent direct action.

    Indeed, there have been recent protests by the Free Political Prisoners campaign calling for the release of “the 40+ political prisoners from Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil who are currently in prison”. The repression of these non-violent movements shows precisely how they can’t just ‘do what they want’ and get away with it, as Clarkson ignorantly suggested.

    At a time when ethnic cleansing and genocide in Palestine are ongoing, meanwhile, Clarkson also trivialised such horrors to make a typically stupid point. Playing into racist far-right rhetoric, he claimed that the government wanted to “carpet bomb our farmland with new towns for immigrants and net zero wind farms”. He added that, in order to do that, it would “have to ethnically cleanse the countryside of farmers”. Needless to say, that’s bullshit.

    What certainly is true, however, is that police officers have been arresting Jewish people for speaking out against the Gaza genocide and the many crimes of the Israeli apartheid state. They have been intimidating journalists who dare to challenge the pro-genocide propaganda polluting the West’s establishment media system. And they have been arresting climate activists and raiding their homes, as happened recently to Just Stop Oil’s Sam Griffiths:

    As another protester said poignantly after his recent arrest:

    [the] lack of real democracy [in the West] breeds resentment and allows bad actors like Trump to exploit the disquiet to further benefit the billionaire class.

    Stop “the prosecution and jailing of people of conscience”

    Tim Crosland and Paddy Friend from Defend Our Juries recently wrote that:

    we cannot stand by as people are jailed for telling the truth and taking action to stop the genocide in Gaza and the continued extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal.

    They added:

    There is an unavoidable contradiction in government right now between the prosecution and jailing of people of conscience and the civil service code of conduct and international law.  Civil servants cannot be made complicit in breaches of international law and in attacks on the rule of law in this country.

    And they explained that:

    Defend Our Juries, along with 2000 cultural figures and 67,000 members of the public, has written to the Attorney General Richard Hermer, calling for a public meeting with him to discuss the jailing of political prisoners in the UK and the interference in the criminal justice process by industry lobbyists.

    Finally, they insisted:

    The criminal justice system has created an unconscionable situation. We are now in a position in which public employees and citizens are forced to ask ourselves: What did I do as British weapons rained down on people in Gaza and as the burning of Fossil Fuels condemned vast regions of the world and countless human lives to ruin? What did I do when the rule of law was threatened and those trying to defend it were being imprisoned?

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • It’s a big weekend of events – and the Peace and Justice Project wants you to get involved

    The following article is a comment piece from the Peace and Justice Project

    This weekend, our movement gathers to reflect on recent struggles and victories and plan the road ahead. Three events in London the Peace and Justice Project is supporting offer opportunities to come together, learn, and take action against fossil fuel giants, the far-right, and warmongers.

    Stand Up To Racism

    With racism and the far right on the rise, this summit brings together activists, union leaders, and political voices to build a united, anti-fascist resistance. Speakers include Peace and Justice Project founder Jeremy Corbyn MP, NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede, and Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, plus a special Q&A with Diane Abbott MP about her new book A Woman Like Me.

    Let’s keep the momentum from recent mobilisations alive and grow the fight against the far-right. You can book your place here.

    Stand Up to Racism – International Summit
    📅 Saturday, 16th November, 12-5pm
    📍 TUC Congress House, Great Russell Street, Holborn, WC1B 3LS

    Then, a climate march is also happening.

    March for climate justice

    Join the march for climate justice as thousands across the UK and beyond demand an end to fossil fuels, climate debt repayment to the Global South, and justice for Palestinians facing genocide in Gaza. Starting at the BP-sponsored British Museum and ending at parliament, the Peace and Justice Project is proud to be supporting this march as it calls for divestment from polluting industries and investment in a sustainable, equitable future.

    Global Day of Action for Climate Justice
    📅 Saturday, 16th November, from 12 midday
    📍 British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1E 7JW

    Anti-war convention

    Finally, as international crises deepen, this convention hosted by Peace and Justice Project friends at Stop the War Coalition will explore Western support for Israel’s genocide, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the conflict in Sudan, and growing tensions with China.

    Speakers include Jeremy Corbyn MP, Palestinian author Ghada Karmi, PSC Director Ben Jamal, and others. This is a crucial chance to strengthen the anti-war movement and plan our resistance, even more timely with Donald Trump being elected as US president last week. There are a few spaces left, so book your tickets for this important event here.

    Anti-War Convention – Stop the Drive to War
    📅 Sunday, 17th November, 12 – 5pm
    📍 The Atrium, 124-126 Cheshire Street, London E2 6EJ

    Each of these events is an important step forward in building a united movement for peace, justice, and equality. Let’s use these gatherings to re-energise our movement and build for a world for the many, not the few.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Cameroonian journalist Nsoyuka Guy-Bruno Maimo detained, beaten for covering protest

    Dakar, November 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Cameroonian authorities to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for detaining and violently abusing Nsoyuka Guy-Bruno Maimo, a reporter with the privately owned Volcanic Times newspaper, while he covered a demonstration on October 24.

    “The members of Cameroon’s gendarmerie responsible for detaining, beating, and subjecting journalist Nsoyuka Guy-Bruno Maimo to degrading treatment must be held accountable,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program head, in Durban. “The press in Cameroon work in perilous conditions, with the threat of violence and detention hanging over them, and the arrest and abuse of Maimo only reinforces this fear.”

    Gendarmerie officers in Buea, the capital of the Southwest Region, arrested Maimo while he was covering a demonstration by a local women’s group outside the gendarmerie offices and detained him for five days without access to a lawyer or his family, according to the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists.

    Maimo told CPJ that he was released unconditionally on October 29, but that the gendarmes had hit him with their hands and a belt, insulted him, threatened him with imprisonment, and forced him to clean the gendarmeries’ toilets. “Every time I tried to explain, I received more beatings,” he added. CPJ reviewed photos showing cuts on Maimo’s back and his bloodstained shirt.

    During his detention, officers accused Maimo of interfering in the work of the gendarmerie and questioned him about the conflict between separatists in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon and the majority French-speaking government, which has claimed several thousand lives since 2017.

    Maimo told CPJ that he believed that officers had accessed his phone, which was not password-protected. He also suspected that officials had accessed his WhatsApp account, because friends said it appeared to be active during his detention.

    At least five other journalists are currently jailed in Cameroon, with one journalist, Stanislas Désiré Tchoua, released on December 28, 2023, after CPJ’s annual prison census was published. Four of them have been held for years on anti-state charges over their coverage in the Anglophone regions.

    CPJ’s calls to Fenelon Mondo, a member of the gendarmerie’s communications team, and emails and calls to the gendarmerie’s publicly listed number went unanswered.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Youth Demand swarm Leeds – blocking traffic and reminding drivers ‘politics is f*cked’

    On Tuesday 12 November, supporters of Youth Demand disrupted traffic in Leeds – demanding a two-way arms embargo on Israel and for the UK government to halt all new fossil fuel licences granted since 2021.

    Youth Demand ‘swarm’ in Leeds

    At around 11:35am, supporters of Youth Demand took action blocking traffic at Parkinson Steps in Leeds until around midday:

    They could be seen holding Palestinian flags and signs saying “politics is fucked”:

    At around 12:40pm the group re-convened at the Headrow Brigate intersection and disrupted traffic until around 12:50pm:

    Today’s actions are the second day in a week-long run of actions in cities all over the country.

    A Youth Demand spokesperson said:

    Israel has openly admitted to ethnically cleansing Gaza- one of the gravest war crimes under international law. The UN has highlighted that nearly 70% of those who have been killed in Gaza over a 6 month period were women and children.

    Meanwhile, the western media continues to manipulate reality, claiming that the Israeli thugs terrorising the streets of Amsterdam in recent days are in fact the “victims” of violence. All while the UK continues to sell weapons to Israel, despite our Prime Minister being a former ‘human rights’ lawyer, clearly aware that Israel is committing war crimes. We need an arms embargo now.

    Yes, politics is fucked

    Youth Demand’s swarm came after the group also took action on Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November. Members laid a Palestinian flag-coloured wreath at the Cenotaph, while also blocking roads and disrupting traffic elsewhere in London and in Manchester.

    At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’.

    At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.

    Also at around 9am, supporters swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester.

    These type of action will be continuing for the rest of the week, the group said – although it has not disclosed in what locations.

    One of those who took action on 12 November is Joe Clark, who said:

    I’m taking action today because the UK does not value Palestinian life. How can you pay respects to the fallen who died resisting genocide, whilst simultaneously sending weapons to commit a genocide in Gaza?

    We won’t stop until our government is no longer complicit in this tragic hypocrisy.

    Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country. Sign up for the national week of action starting today at https://youthdemand.org”.

    Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Edinburgh got an early-morning wake-up call: STOP ROSEBANK

    On Tuesday 12 November, the legal challenges to the Rosebank oil field brought by Greenpeace and Uplift began being heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. In tandem, people protested outside the court over the Big Oil, climate-wrecking companies involved in the unlawful project. They had a clear message: Stop Rosebank!

    Stop Rosebank

    Stop Rosebank campaigners hosted a rally on the streets of Edinburgh from 8am:

    Stop Rosebank

    The Stop Rosebank demo was outside Scotland’s Court of Session, which will hear legal challenges from campaign groups Uplift and Greenpeace UK seeking to stop the development of the largest untapped North Sea oil field:

    Stop Rosebank

    Banners summed the situation up well:

    There was even a choir to keep people’s spirits up in the cold Scottish weather:

    The hearing is taking place over three days, from 12-15 November. As campaigner Lauren MacDonald summed up, if Uplift and Greenpeace win the case it could be massive:

    You can get involved online by watching the court stream here.

    Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift which coordinated the Stop Rosebank demo commented:

    The previous government should have never approved the huge Rosebank oil field, knowing that this is precisely what is driving the awful changes to our climate we’re seeing around the world. The costs of continuing to drill are now vast and the benefits far too few. This is why we’re in court this week.

    The costs of our changing climate are worsening and ordinary people are picking up the tab, whether that’s communities and councils cleaning up after floods, or UK farmers losing income from record rainfall. On its own, the Rosebank oil field, off the Scottish coast, would create more climate pollution than the 700 million people living in the world’s poorest countries do in a whole year.

    Rosebank is a terrible deal for Britain. It’s mostly oil for export, which would do nothing to lower fuel costs or boost our energy security yet, because of huge tax breaks for new drilling, the UK public would effectively cover almost all of the costs of developing it while the oil companies walk off with the profits. It won’t provide long term security for oil and gas workers either. Even with new fields being approved, jobs supported by the industry have more than halved in the past decade. Workers need clean energy jobs that have a long-term future.

    The UK has a massive opportunity today to shift to clean, homegrown energy. We hope the court rules Rosebank unlawful so that the profiteering of the oil and gas industry ceases to hold us back.

    A climate-wrecking project

    Rosebank, the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea, is 80% owned by Norwegian oil giant, Equinor, with the Israeli owned Ithaca Energy, claiming the rest.

    Despite repeated warnings from climate scientists, the Rosebank oil field was approved by the previous government in 2023. Our new government, elected with more progressive climate policies under its belt, has since conceded that its approval was unlawful.

    Now on their own, Equinor and Ithaca are continuing to do everything they can to drill Rosebank and lock us into dependency on climate wrecking fossil fuels so they can keep raking in profit.

    Uplift and Greenpeace UK have been granted judicial reviews of the decisions made by the Energy Secretary under the previous Conservative government and by the oil and gas regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), to grant consent to the Rosebank project.

    Now, the field’s fossil fuel owners – Norway’s state-backed Equinor and Ithaca Energy – have entered the case as interested parties. They will do everything they can to bring the oil field into production.

    The court will hear arguments that the development of Rosebank is unlawful and consent should be quashed because:

    • It ignores the impact of the emissions from burning Rosebank’s oil and gas.
    • It failed to properly assess the marine impacts of the development.
    • Because of a failure by the regulator to be transparent in its reasoning.

    Stop Rosebank – before it gets any further

    Commenting on the Stop Rosebank campaign, Tommy Sheppard, former SNP MP for Edinburgh East said:

    When I was a kid, we thought the biggest threat to our survival was that the oil and gas would run out. It’s the case today, in fact, that we can’t afford to burn it. So, unless governments are talking to oil and gas companies about how they stop drilling, they shouldn’t be talking to them at all. The biggest deceit is the way these companies can say with a straight face, ‘we agree with phasing out oil and gas, but in order to get there we need to have more of it and develop the biggest field out there. It defies logic and they need to be called out for it.

    Fossil Free London is part of a national coalition of groups and individuals campaigning against the Rosebank oil field and an international coalition of groups campaigning against Equinor’s operations across the globe. Joanna Warrington from the group said:

    Rosebank is a desperate, reckless attempt by oil giants to extract profits from a dying industry. It’s time for Equinor and Ithaca to face the facts that recent legal victories for the climate in UK courts make clear – the sun is setting on new oil infrastructure.

    Court today is about more than just stopping Rosebank —it’s about breaking our dangerous reliance on fossil fuels and, as Spain still struggles in the aftermath of increasingly common devastation, securing a safer future for all.

    Featured image and additional images via Uplift

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The first of numerous Insulate Britain activists on trial have just been spared jail

    Two Insulate Britain supporters were given suspended sentences at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday 12 November for taking part in Insulate Britain’s 2021 campaign of nonviolent civil resistance demanding the UK government insulate Britain’s cold and leaky homes. A campaign that was later called prescient by a number of commentators.

    Insulate Britain: spared jail

    Biff Whipster and Andrew Worlsey, who had each previously entered two guilty pleas in respect of three different actions during the campaign were given sentences of eight months, suspended for one year and ordered to pay costs of £156.

    They had both participated in a roadblock at Junction 14, M25 Poyle Interchange on 27 September 2021. Biff Whipster had also joined a roadblock at Upper Thames Street on 25 October 2021 and Andrew Worsley had joined a roadblock on the M4 near Heathrow on 1 October 2021.

    During the hearing Judge Grout confirmed that he had read a letter that Biff Whipster had sent to the court explaining his reasons for changing his plea. The letter said that Biff had no regrets for taking part in the campaign and that he had viewed taking action with Insulate Britain as:

    a once in a lifetime chance to do the right thing and achieve much more than I would ever be able to do as an individual in the face of this existential crisis engulfing us.

    The judicial system is broken

    Biff wrote that he had joined Insulate Britain:

    After carefully considering the science and the life-ending chaos that will occur on the trajectory we are on; because in the run up to COP26 there was a slim chance such protests could have worked. I considered that if Insulate Britain failed to influence COP26 then I would at least get to speak in court in front of those who work for our judicial system and who therefore, I thought, maintained a critical and pivotal position as our ‘check and balance’ against perverse political leadership.

    Before I set out on this journey I’d trusted that the judicial system would, in due course, turn the spotlight towards the bigger criminals: such as those in Westminster, and the lobbyists, and all those in greed-fuelled, tax dodging, boardrooms up and down the country who are complicit in putting profit ahead of a liveable planet.

    I was naive… I’ve now learned first hand that the law isn’t designed to, and therefore isn’t ‘fit for purpose’ to, protect our futures in the face of this crisis

    Judge Grout asked if Biff had any plans to protest again, to which Biff replied:

    I can’t say in 10 years time, when we’re all fighting for food in supermarkets, what I’ll be doing. Even people in this courtroom might be fighting too… but at this point in time I’m not planning anything.

    Multiple actions in 2021

    52 people joined the action on 27 September 2021 on the M25:

    Many of them face trial in the coming weeks at Woolwich Crown Court.

    Several Insulate Britain activists have already faced trial for the M4 roadblock on 1 October 2021. Steve Pritchard was jailed for five weeks for his part in the action and his refusal to stop taking part in disruptive action, as a matter of conscience:

    The actions on 25 October 2021 involved 61 activists blocking roads at three London locations – Upper Thames Street, Bishopsgate and Limehouse Causeway – and marked the resumption of the campaign after a 10 day break:

    Insulate Britain

    It resulted in 53 arrests.

    Later that day, the then-transport secretary Grant Shapps announced that National Highways had obtained an interim court injunction to ban protest activities that obstruct traffic, under threat of imprisonment and unlimited fines. This was, of course, directed at Insulate Britain.

    Insulate Britain trials continue

    In the 21 Insulate Britain jury trials for public nuisance charges to date, four trials have resulted in a hung jury, two trials have resulted in acquittals, twelve have resulted in a guilty verdict and three have been deferred. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has applied for retrials in the three cases where the jury failed to reach a majority verdict.

    The CPS has chosen to summon a total of 56 supporters to answer at least 201 charges of public nuisance across some 45 jury trials, with additional retrials planned up to June 2025. These trials have been heard across Inner London, Hove, Lewes, Reading, and now Woolwich Crown Courts.

    Featured image and additional images via Insulate Britain

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Two Elbit sites in Bristol blockaded by Palestine Action in just one morning

    On Tuesday 12 November, the direct action network Palestine Action redoubled its efforts to shut down Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company. Members of the group have been blockading the entrances of two Elbit sites in Bristol.

    Palestine Action: two Elbit sites in Bristol shut down

    The activists used lock on devices inside vans to block the gates at both sites, preventing any from entering and damaging Elbit’s ability to develop death-dealing weapons. Locking on is now an offence under the Tory-introduced draconian Public Order Act.

    One of the sites, the facility at Filton, Bristol, is the most recent of Elbit facilities in England, the brand new £35m R&D hub of Israel’s biggest weapons firm. So, Palestine Action shut it down:

    Its June 2023 opening was attended by the UK-Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotevely, and Elbit’s CEO Bezhalel Machlis – who has frequently boasted of the company’s central role in Israel’s military during the ongoing Gaza genocide.

    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.

    “Direct action against Elbit aims to disrupt this: targeting the source of colonial violence and genocide against the Palestinian people, undermining Elbit’s profiteering from Israel’s daily massacres.” said a Palestine Action spokesperson.

    At Filton, it was quite a view from on top of the van:

    Meanwhile, the other site Palestine Action blockaded was Elbit’s headquarters at Aztec West 600:


    This HQ is used by used by Elbit to oversee their logistical, financial, and operational affairs throughout the country, making it a key hub for Israel’s arms trade in Britain. This is the latest in a series of actions undertaken at the site since the start of Palestine Action’s campaign:

    Disrupting colonial violence

    A Palestine Action spokesperson said:

    Sustained direct action against Elbit disrupts the colonial violence and genocide against the Palestinian people. When our government fails to abide by their legal and moral responsibility to prevent genocide, it is the responsibility of ordinary people to take direct action to do so. We will continue to take direct action until Elbit is out of Britain.

    Featured image and additional images via Neil Terry and Palestine Action

    By The Canary

  • Young people blocked London over UK complicity in Sudan’s humanitarian crisis

    Over the weekend youth-led grassroots organisations London for Sudan, Cardiff For Sudan, Manchester For Sudan, Midlands For Sudan, and Madaniya organised nationwide demonstrations across the UK titled “Hands Off Sudan: End Western Complicity and Inaction”. It was over UK and US complicity in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis; one that largely gets ignored by the corporate media.

    Stop UAE fuelling genocide in Sudan

    The marches were a direct response to the the silence, complicity and inaction for the devastating war on civilians in Sudan by regional and international players, such as the UK and US:

    People marched through the streets of London, Cardiff, Manchester, and Nottingham:

    Sudan protest

    At one point, the march in London passed MI6’s headquarters:

    This youth-led coalition released a statement with a full set of demands for the newly-elected Labour Party. Dedicated to the same mission, they are demanding a civilian-led democracy and liberation by advocating for human rights, justice, and the self-determination of all Sudanese people.

    At the marches, Sudanese speakers shared personal stories and highlighted Sudan’s challenges, including ongoing conflicts, disease, targeting of vulnerable groups, instability, and climate crises:

    Cultural and motivational presentations inspired attendees to take immediate action to end the war.

    You can now get involved too. The groups have designed a template letter you can email to your MP – calling on them to take action over the crisis in Sudan. It can be found here.

    Sudan’s crisis: fuelled by the West

    For over 570 days, Sudan’s people have endured unimaginable suffering from the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Described as the gravest humanitarian crises of our time, over 14 million have been displaced, 24.8 million require urgent aid, and 25.6 million face acute hunger.

    Sudan is now among the top four countries for global acute malnutrition (GAM), a man-made famine, while also grappling with multiple disease outbreaks. 

    Sudan is being torn apart in a war fuelled by foreign interests in gold, resources, and Red Sea access, with global powers pulling the strings. All internal and external entities must be condemned, including but not limited to the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Russia – all complicit in fuelling this proxy, counter-revolutionary war.

    As the Western world stands by in silence, media coverage barely scratches the surface. Sudan’s crisis has received minimal attention, highlighting a troubling imbalance in how conflicts are prioritised. This protest demands an end to the apathy, pushing for urgent media attention and genuine international intervention to address the vested interests of global powers sustaining the conflict.

    Sudan is facing an alarming surge in violence In the region of Al-Jazira, over 500 men were killed within 48 hours alone, while more than 130 Sudanese women have been driven to take their lives in mass suicide events to avoid the conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) committed by RSF militia.

    UK and US support is allowed to pass unquestioned

    The UAE’s documented military support for the RSF has largely escaped scrutiny, while the UK’s role remains overlooked.

    Accusations suggest the former Conservative government suppressed criticism of the UAE, with recent reports indicating UK Foreign Office “secret talks” with the RSF, risking the legitimisation of a group responsible for genocide, mass rape, and ethnic cleansing.

    As a key global stakeholder, the penholder for Sudan and president of the UN Security Council, the UK has a crucial responsibility to address this crisis.

    Yet, the current Labour government’s silence has enabled the UAE’s abuses to continue unnoticed, undermining the UK’s own human rights commitments. Similarly, the US continues to shield the UAE from accountability, recently naming it a major defence partner, thereby allowing unchecked operations in conflict zones.

    This deepened alliance with the UAE comes at the cost of countless Sudanese lives.

    You can take action by writing to your MP here.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Youth Demand mark Remembrance Day with nationwide disruption over Israel’s genocide in Gaza

    Direct action campaign group Youth Demand has marked Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November, by reminding us that currently Israel is slaughtering countless people in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. They did it at the Cenotaph and around England.

    Youth Demand Remembrance Day action

    Supporters of Youth Demand laid a wreath at the cenotaph, whilst other groups have been swarming in British cities to call for an end to genocide. Youth Demand are campaigning for a two-way arms embargo on Israel and for the UK government to halt all new oil and gas licences granted since 2021.

    At around 2:30 supporters of Youth Demand laid a wreath at the Cenotaph to, the group said, “commemorate those who fell in battle resisting genocide”, and to call on the government to respect the sacrifice of those who died by ending the support for the ongoing mass murder of Palestinians:

    Youth Demand Remembrance Day Cenotaph

    They could be seen holding a banner which read ‘Lammy Stop Arming Genocide’:

    Cenotaph

    Youth Demand supporters have also been disrupting the traffic in British cities today, in order to call for an immediate arms embargo.

    At 11am, a group of Youth Demand supporters silently blocked the road outside of the Houses of Parliament during the Armistice Day remembrance service. The group could be seen holding signs which read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Over 186,000 Dead’:

    Youth Demand Remembrance Day

    At around 12:10pm the group also occupied the road on Cannon Street until around 12:25pm. The group then moved on and at around 1:10pm they disrupted the road at Moorgate, on the London Wall Road until around 1:30pm.

    Also at around 9am this morning, supporters of Youth Demand swarmed the streets at two locations in Manchester:

    Police issued warnings under Section 50 of the Police Reform Act 2002 and took details of all participants, warning the supporters would be arrested if they attempted to enter the road again:

    The government ‘disgraces veterans’ memory’

    A Youth Demand spokesperson said:

    On this day we remember those who gave their lives fighting a genocide. Yet the government disgraces their memory by continuing to sell UK made weapons to a state guilty of committing genocide and ethnic cleansing.

    The world said ‘never again’ would we allow such atrocities to happen, and yet it is happening again right now to the people of Gaza, whilst the Western political establishment and media continue to misdirect the public about what is transpiring. Regardless of our differences we must come together to demand our political leaders take the basic steps to protect the lives of innocent people, or we will have truly lost our humanity.

    One of those taking action today is Lia-Anjali Lazarus, 20, a languages and politics student from London, who said:

    Never again means never again for anyone. Our government honoring those who fell resisting genocide, whilst also selling arms to a state committing genocide is beyond hypocritical. I feel obliged to take action as it is clear our government will not cut arms ties with Israel without pressure and demand from the general public.

    We are seeing the mass slaughter of Palestinian people and we are seeing killer floods in Spain. These crises are a direct result of our leaders prioritising profit over human lives, be it by selling weapons or continuing to drill for oil and gas. We demand it stops now.

    A genocide is happening right now

    Also taking action in Manchester today is Jazz Dean, a care worker from Manchester, who said:

    We don’t want to be disrupting people’s day, but when there is a genocide happening and innocent civilians are losing their lives day after day we cannot stand by. Direct action works, this is why we’re doing it. Our government is complicit in genocide. They continue to buy and sell weapons with Israel. We know what those weapons are used for and that is why we must act.

    Youth Demand said that “Young people will not accept our politicians supporting the murder of innocent people. This week, young people are taking action in cities all around the country. Sign up for the national week of action starting today at https://youthdemand.org”.

    Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Students just occupied Leicester University in solidarity with Palestine

    Student protesters showed solidarity with Palestine on Saturday 9 November by occupying the engineering building at the University of Leicester. Below you can see some of the images and videos from the occupation, which students passed to the Canary. We understand that the occupation ended when security officers threatened protesters with arrest:

    University of Leicester Palestine

    University of Leicester Palestine

    You can see more from the occupation on the Palestine Society’s Instagram page:

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by UOL PALESTINE SOCIETY 🇵🇸 (@uolpalsoc)

    The University of Leicester students’ demands

    The following are the University of Leicester students’ demands. They said in a letter:

    As students we call on you as our University and our Students’ Union to make these changes. We also demand as our Students’ Union that you help us to pressure the University into acting on these demands as well as show public support for them.

    We also demand that all students protesting the ongoing genocide and your complicity will receive no punishment for their peaceful actions.

    Section 1: Public Statement

    1a) The University of Leicester updates its statement making it clear that the state of Israel must be condemned for the mass killing of civilian Palestinians. Failing this the University should at least alter the statement to list the numbers of casualties and in particular child casualties on both sides.

    1b) The University of Leicester and the UoL students’ union make a public apology acknowledging that the way they handled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine vs how they have handled the genocide of the Palestinian people; was unequal in support and gave the impression to students that they believe that white people’s lives matter more than the lives of Arabs. We understand that this sentiment has already been expressed behind closed doors however we are requesting a public apology.

    1c) The University publicly recognises that all of the 12 higher education facilities in Gaza have been systematically and intentionally destroyed or damaged, in what has been dubbed ‘scholasticide’ [1]. 95 academic staff have been killed, 88,000 students have been deprived of education and 555 were not granted international scholarships. [2]

    1d) The University updates its public statement to include information on the provisional ICJ ruling on genocide noting that all states party to the genocide convention, including the UK, have a duty to implement the orders of the ICJ and prevent genocide.

    1e) Upon the University failing to act on our requests, the Students’ Union put out their own statement that actually reflects the views of students in accordance with what is outlined above.

    1f) The University writes a letter to all Leicester MP’s and the government, including the prime minister and the foreign secretary, calling for an immediate ceasefire, to stop the arms sale to Israel that makes this country complicit in genocide, and the immediate allowance of necessary aid into Gaza.

    Section 2: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

    2a) The University continues to take BDS into account when looking into future investment options.

    2b) The University does not allow companies and brands to advertise themselves on campus that are actively aiding or profiting from the ongoing genocide and apartheid of Palestinians. In particular but not limited to companies that are producing weaponry being used to kill Palestinians e.g. BAE systems, MBDA, Leonardo to name just some.

    2c) Where possible the University removes all brands from campus that are publicly or financially supporting the genocide and apartheid of Palestinians by the state of Israel in particular but not limited to: HP, CocaCola and all of its subsidiaries (SmartWater etc), Pepsi, Starbucks.

    We thank the University for beginning this process with CocaCola and for considering the removal of Starbucks, and HP. However, we still call on you to completely remove these companies, including in vending machines, upon the renewal of their respective leases.

    2d) The University publicly promises to not work with any Israeli universities in the near future that are active and willing participants in the ongoing genocide[3]

    2e) The University uses its claimed influence on Barclays as a large financial institution, to pressure them to divest from arms companies that have regularly been proven to be manufacturing weapons used to commit war crimes, in particular Elbit Systems. If and when Barclays denies this request, the University publicly promises to students, and begins the process of changing banks to a more ethical option, for example Nationwide.

    2f) The University puts pressure on space park Leicester and does anything in its power to cut ties with brands that produce arms that are being used to genocide the Palestinians e.g. Rolls Royce, Airbus and others.

    It must take action

    Section 3: Malcolm Shaw

    3a) The University publicly acknowledges and reprimands Emeritus professor Malcolm Shaw as being in breach of the University’s dignity and respect policy for Islamophobia. Failing this, the University publicly acknowledges that its dignity and respect policy is entirely performative and in reality they do not care if staff members are in breach of it. [4]

    3b) The University and the UoL Students’ Union publicly acknowledges that Malcolm Shaw’s views do not reflect the views of students or other staff.

    Section 4: Supporting Palestine and Education

    4a) The University of Leicester explores collaborative projects with Palestine educational institutions including scholarships, academic fellowships and twinning arrangements with Universities in the occupied territories.

    4b) The University encourages staff and students to educate themselves on both the history and current state of the relationship between Israel and Palestine and the UK’s influence in this.

    4c) The University requires departments to include optional or compulsory ethics modules to teach students about how the companies that they choose to work for as a graduate impact the world around them. This is already employed in many universities in the UK and is especially important but not limited to those subjects that lead into arms manufacturing e.g. Physics and Engineering.

    The Canary will have more updates on the students’ situation at the University of Leicester as it develops.

    Featured image and additional images supplied

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Amsterdam defies Western capitulation to manufactured outrage over Maccabi Tel Aviv’s ass-whipping

    In the Orwellian Western order we’re currently living through, genociders are the victims and people who resist are the terrorists. But after Maccabi Tel Aviv hooligans came face to face with karma in Amsterdam, the gaslighting and hypocrisy of Western elites went into overdrive. Corporate media routinely manufactures consent for fascism on the down-low, but you could clearly see the cogs in propaganda machine at work over the weekend.

    As this happened, the far-right government in the Netherlands tried to ban protests. But hundreds of peaceful protesters came out into the streets of Amsterdam to oppose genocide regardless. Hostile police detained dozens of them for defying the ban.

    One speaker spoke out against the people “who attacked our city, who attacked our people, who chanted ‘death to Arabs’ in our city”, insisting “we do not tolerate this”.

    https://twitter.com/HarrygPettit/status/1855728081098637591

    Maccabi Tel Aviv: listen to the locals in Amsterdam

    Local anti-Zionist Jewish collective Erev Rav was one group that had worried about their safety during Maccabi Tel Aviv hooligans’ stay in Amsterdam. The group has previously condemned attempts to use the Holocaust to normalise genocide against Palestinians. Erev Rav’s Yuval Gal, who is originally from Tel Aviv, said the police should’ve known exactly who Maccabi Tel Aviv hooligans were. He added that:

    The football was a side thing for them. But many of them came to… make a pro-Israel or pro-genocide demonstration in Amsterdam for 3 or 4 days.

    His comments came in an excellent report from independent news outlet Left Laser, among many other comments from local people who felt under attack from the Maccabi TA hooligans:

    Erasmus University Rotterdam researcher and journalist Mariya Nadeem Khan, meanwhile, lamented the West’s manufacturing of a story that was far from reality:

    And here’s what the Western media chose not to prioritise…

    As the Western media and political elites were manufacturing outrage over brawls in Amsterdam that led to no deaths or serious injuries, a UN report came out. The UN Human Rights Office confirmed that, up until September 2024, 44% of the people Israel had killed in Gaza were children. In fact, as Truthout reported:

    The three age categories most represented were children aged between 5 and 9 years old; children between 10 and 14; and babies and toddlers aged 0 to 4.

    The slaughter of thousands of children was not the main story at the weekend, though. Nor was the murder of 15 children in northern Gaza on Sunday alone. Nor was the anti-Palestinian pogrom in the occupied West Bank the previous week, where armed Israeli settlers torched people’s vehicles, homes, and olive trees older than the state of Israel. It was some Israeli hooligans facing resistance to their hateful romp through Amsterdam who received the limelight and sympathy.

    Another story the media was deprioritising was the call from over 500 “scholars and practitioners of international law, international relations, conflict studies, politics and genocide studies” for the UN to unseat Israel from its general assembly as it did with apartheid South Africa in the 1970s. They actually believe the case for suspension is stronger for Israel, considering its longstanding resistance to international accountability.

    And as has become a regular occurrence, Israeli newspaper Haaretz has shown more professional integrity than Western corporate media. Because on Sunday, it accused Benjamin Netanyahu and his occupation forces of “conducting an ethnic cleansing operation” in the north of Gaza. The devastation there was akin to that of a “natural disaster”, but was a “premeditated act of human destruction”.

    As author Assal Rad insisted, these stories and others would not receive the outrage from Western elites that Maccabi Tel Aviv’s comeuppance in Amsterdam did:

    Remembrance must mean stopping fascism forever, or it means nothing

    The Western corporate media ignored (or at best underplayed) the many provocations leading up to the local resistance to Maccabi Tel Aviv hooligans. It minimised their anti-Arab racism, failed to highlight their “culture of genocide” and the deplorable genocidal nature of their chants. And there was no emphasis on FIFA and UEFA consistently ignoring requests to follow through on their own regulations by banning Israeli teams like Maccabi Tel Aviv (in line with their banning of Russian teams).

    The far-right governing coalition in the Netherlands, meanwhile, played along with the ‘poor little Israeli hooligan’ narrative because it fit nicely into their pro-genocide and anti-immigrant agenda.

    In Britain, 11 November marks Remembrance Day. And the only type of remembrance that has any value is one that pushes us to act. Not just to wear a poppy, but to work for a world of peace. To highlight the horrific pointlessness of war – the wanton death and destruction that’s a stain on humanity. To oppose the hateful ideologies that drive us into conflict.

    Political and media elites in the West are marching our countries into a fascist order that glorifies genocide and represses its opponents. If we truly mourn the losses of the past (and present), we must act to stop them from plaguing our future too.

    Featured image via screengrab

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Palestine Action mount more pressure on Allianz over its propping up of genocide

    Palestine Action has once again targeted the offices of Allianz in Belfast – covering them in blood-red paint:

    Allianz Palestine Action

    Allianz: complicit in genocide

    Palestine Action last visited the Belfast site on 7 October, the anniversary of the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as part of a co-ordinated attack against 10 branches of the German company:

    Allianz not only provide Employer’s Liability Insurance to Elbit Systems, but also have substantial investments in the firm.

    It has previously been described as Elbit’s “principle institutional shareholder”, at-one-point owning over 2% of the company. The finance company continues to hold thousands of shares in Elbit Systems Ltd, while its subsidiary ‘Allianz Insurance Products Trust’ provides insurance services for Elbit Systems UK, including employment insurance.

    Western capital has continued to profit from the mass murder of Palestinians. Allianz’ profit books, its returns on its investments, have been bolstered by the hundreds of military technologies which Elbit provides in service of genocide.

    Elbit provides over 85% of Israel’s drones, including the quadcopters used to assassinate countless Palestinian men, women, and children, and has publicly advertised its weaponry as being “battle-tested” on Palestinians. Its business operations are central to Israeli war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, and its technologies uphold the brutal occupation regime.

    Palestine Action: the actions will continue

    Palestine Action has tried writing to Allianz, to ask that they end their relationship with Elbit, which is a direct contradiction of their human rights policy, which supposedly commits the company to “supporting and respecting the protection of international human rights” and “ensuring that Allianz is not complicit in human rights abuses”.

    The letter stated:

    We ask that you do not renew your insurance of Elbit Systems UK, and do not insure the company, or any of its subsidiaries in the future. We also request that you completely divest from Elbit Systems Ltd. If you can confirm that you will cease all dealings with Elbit Systems, we will happily end our campaign against you.

    However, Palestine Action has not received a reply.

    Elbit’s Employers’ Liability Insurance policy with Allianz was due for renewal on 7 November 2024 – the day of Palestine Action’s action. The group hopes that Allianz will take the visit to their Belfast office as a timely reminder that links to Elbit are bad for business, and that they might want to look at the rising cost of their own insurance premiums.

    A spokesperson for Palestine Action said:

    As long as companies aid and abet the Genocide in Gaza, through links to Elbit Systems, there will be no let-up in our actions upon them.

    Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Stop this egregious project: Fossil Free London ‘dies in’ over Rosebank

    Climate crisis activists from Fossil Free London ‘died in’ at the UK parliament over the upcoming legal challenge against the controversial and planet-wrecking Rosebank oil field project.

    As the Canary previously reported, a court in Scotland has given the green-light for legal challenges against the climate-wrecking Rosebank oilfield project in the North Sea.

    The decision potentially paves the way to ending the project for good. Now, campaign groups Uplift and Greenpeace UK are gearing up to take on the fossil fuel titans still trying to force the destructive project through the courts.

    Rosebank judicial reviews

    Campaigners have previously estimated that the enormous Rosebank project – situated off the coast of Shetland in the North Sea – will produce over 500m barrels of oil over its lifetime. This would equate to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries combined.

    In September 2023, the UK’s oil and gas regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), granted the license for Equinor and Ithaca Energy to develop the notorious Rosebank oil and gas field.

    So, in December 2023, Greenpeace and campaign group Uplift launched judicial reviews against the government over Rosebank. Crucially, this sought to overturn the government’s decision to greenlight the Rosebank project.

    Now, the Court of Session in Edinburgh has given them the go-ahead.

    A die-in for the climate crisis’s victims

    So, at 8am on Friday 8 November, campaigners in red dresses staged a ‘die in’ outside the Houses of Parliament in advance of the court case, brought by Greenpeace and Uplift, to challenge the approval of the proposed Rosebank oil field, being heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, 12 – 15 November.

    Placards read “Dying for Labour to Stop Rosebank” and ”Stop new North Sea oil”:

    Rosebank die in

    Activists then died in:

    Campaigner with Fossil Free London , Joanna Warrington said:

    In the wake of hundreds of dead in Valencia and the devastation caused by Hurricane Milton, this UK government must stop this egregious, massive oil field or it has totally lost touch with reality.

    Allowing Equinor to exploit this field would not only ignite more fossil fuels, but set ablaze every person’s basic hope of a secure future. If this government allows Rosebank to be drilled, it would leave an oily black stain on the UK’s environmental legacy; one that could never be erased.

    Featured image and additional images via Fossil Free London

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Cops arrested a Jewish-Israeli professor opposed to Israel’s genocide – but people are not having it

    Haim Bresheeth is a 79-year-old Jewish peace activist. His parents survived the Holocaust. He grew up in Israel, and fighting in two wars for the country turned him into a pacifist. Because he now opposes Israel’s genocide in Gaza and decades-long oppression of Palestinian people, police arrested him last week under the Terrorism Act.

    You can see the speech here at SKWAWKBOX, which the outlet says included factual critiques of Israel’s “colonialism, racism and violence, including the mass murder of civilians”.

    Everyone who stands for peace must stand in solidarity with Bresheeth and other courageous activists – Jewish and non-Jewish – who are facing intimidation for opposing the genocide.

    Demonstrations take place weekly at Swiss Cottage (near the Israeli ambassador’s home in London), usually at 5.30pm, so you can attend or spread the word about these events. This event has been growing in size, and the police would hate it if it grew even more.

    Haim Bresheeth: the British state is “trying to intimidate, to criminalise, and to silence Jews” who oppose genocide

    Haim Bresheeth is an “advanced cancer patient with a serious heart condition”, and he had attended the weekly protest against Israel’s far-right ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, who has previously egged on the genocide in Gaza. Speaking to Al Jazeera, the university professor said:

    They’re trying to intimidate, to criminalise, and to silence Jews with a public profile who are supporting the end of genocide.

    He also argued that:

    There are probably now more Jews supporting Palestine and against the genocide than the other way… And we’re not allowed to speak, because we are criminalised when we speak.

    Sharing footage of his recent arrest, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi insisted:

    Western states cannot sustain support for Israel’s carnage in Gaza unless they compromise democracy and the rights of their citizens.

    Haim Bresheeth previously told the Canary that:

    The Israel lobby is the strongest lobby in this country, and at the moment there’s a very systematic approach that’s trying to demonise those supporting opposition to what’s happening in Palestine.

    He has consistently made clear his support for peace and opposition to Zionism – the colonial nationalist movement behind the disastrous establishment of Israel in 1948.

    We must oppose the systematic police persecution of the anti-genocide movement

    SKWAWKBOX has been doing excellent coverage of the police intimidation of activists. As it reported on 5 November, another activist at the same event as Haim Bresheeth also suffered violent police repression. He explained:

    On Friday 1 November, at IJAN’s weekly picket in Swiss Cottage, I was arrested and charged with an alleged assault. The allegation came from a Zionist instigator that police watched on as he barged about amongst us, using foul language at people, filming and intimidating them.

    Yael Kahn, who is “a Jewish Israeli woman who has been campaigning for Palestine for 51 years”, was also there and complained about the police physically attacking her.

    She had previously gone viral online over another example of police intimidation:

    Age or religion seem to be no barrier for the British police when repressing dissent over the state’s participation in genocide. Below are a couple of other examples:

    The Crispin Flintoff Show has also been doing great work to highlight the repression of anti-genocide campaigners. Flintoff is planning to go to Swiss Cottage on Friday 8 November to interview people there and listen to the speeches. His show will be out on Sunday morning:

    Featured image via screengrab

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Meet Chris, a brain tumor survivor who just camped outside Downing Street for Palestine

    Chris Spencer-Smith, a dedicated activist with the Palestine Solidarity Movement based in Bournemouth, set up camp outside 10 Downing Street on Saturday 2 November to protest the UK government’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

    Chris Spencer-Smith: protesting in a tent outside Downing Street

    Chris Spencer-Smith is a brain tumour survivor. Despite facing health challenges, Chris remains resolute in his demand for the government to cease arms sales to Israel and implement sanctions against the Israeli regime.

    “I am here because silence is complicity,” said Chris. “The UK government must stop arming Israel and take a stand for the rights of Palestinians. We cannot sit idly by while innocent lives are lost. I urge the public to join me in calling for justice and accountability”:

    I want everyone to ask themselves this:

    What if it were your family and your community being relentlessly bombed?

    What if it were your children’s school being attacked?

    What if it were your local hospital being bombed?

    Chris’s protest comes in response to the escalating violence and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He is engaging with the public to raise awareness and pass a strong message: the UK must take immediate action to stop supporting the Israeli occupation and hold those responsible for human rights violations accountable.

    He said in a video that:

    I’ll be undertaking individual action in London for seven days and seven nights which I have branded as Stand Up for Palestine… There’ll be a lot of content, words, clumsily read poems, interviews with the public

    “For me this isn’t about politics or religion, it’s about humanity and justice” Chris noted.

    Mostly support – just not from the state

    However, his actions didn’t go unnoticed to the cops:

    While people were generally supportive, Chris Spencer-Smith did encounter some intimidation and threats from the public – oh, and the government, too:

    He continued his one-man sit in until Wednesday 6 November.

    We should all be a bit more Chris

    As Chris Spencer-Smith posted on X, police had begun harassing him and making threats of arrest. Given the nature of his health, and under threat of arrest, he decided to call it a day. But as he said:

    I achieved what I set out to achieve

    The Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) stands in solidarity with Chris and emphasises the importance of grassroots activism in amplifying voices for justice.

    “Chris’s bravery in the face of adversity inspires us all. His protest highlights the urgent need for the UK to reassess its policies towards Israel and Palestine. We call on the public to support Chris’s efforts and demand a change,” stated a representative from the Palestine Solidarity Movement.

    Featured image via Chris Spencer-Smith

    By Steve Topple

  • We are all Palestine Action: UK’s sharpest activists come together against Zionist lobby

    Palestine Action has been so effective in its recent campaigns that it’s attracted the attentions of the Zionist lobby. Now, some of the sharpest activist groups in the UK have come together to stand firmly behind the actionists.

    The groups write:

    As the genocide has intensified, Palestine Action has also escalated its actions and they have come under frequent attack from the Zionist lobby…

    Following a series of hung juries and acquittals for Palestine Action actionists, there is now evidence emerging of steps being taken to prevent juries acquitting on account of their conscience.

    To date, Palestine Action has 16 political prisoners in Britain, 11 of which have not yet faced trial. Actionists have been subjected to regular dawn raids, police harassment, stops at the airport and smear campaigns.

    What have Palestine Action done?

    Just last week, in a huge victory Barclays divested from Elbit thanks to a long campaign from Palestine Action. Here at the Canary, we reported:

    Initial research published in July 2022 by Campaign Against Arms Trade, War on Want, and Palestine Solidarity Campaign showed the bank held shareholdings worth over £1.5billion in companies complicit with Israeli apartheid. Palestine Action adopted the campaign in October 2023 due to the bank’s investments in Elbit Systems — the group’s primary target.

    Barclays has now sold all of its shareholding in Elbit Systems – Elbit are Israel’s largest weapons company. The kind of direct action Palestine Action have engaged in – consistent pickets, roadblocks, climbing onto buildings to halt operations – are clearly effective.

    In fact, they’re effective enough that, as the group describes above, the Palestine Action activists who carry out this work are now subject to intense pressure from the government, the legal system, and police.

    Who’s supporting the group?

    That’s exactly why this group of activists and organisers are standing together to show that they are in full solidarity with Palestine Action. Each of these groups, whilst from a range of backgrounds, clearly understand the importance of direct action that disrupts – rather than marches that can be ignored:

    • CAGE International are an advocacy organisation that challenge Islamophobic narratives of power, confront egregious state power, as well as research and campaign to dismantle the ongoing impacts of the ‘war on terror’.
    • Sisters uncut are a feminist group that take action for survivors of domestic violence with a storied history of taking action for sex workers, those who’ve experienced abuse, and those facing intersectional oppressions including anti-Blackness, and Zionism.
    • Palestinian Youth Movement are a British chapter of a broader movement, who have come together with other groups across the world to fight for a free Palestine.
    • Parents for Palestine are a UK-based collective of parents and caretakers coming together to call for an end to “the ongoing siege of Gaza”.
    • ELSC are the European Legal Support Center and provide legal support for supporters of Palestine, as well as strategic litigation when useful.
    • Axe Drax take direct action against Drax which is a power station in Yorkshire that burns wood – Drax is the UK’s single largest carbon emitter.
    • Defend Our Juries campaign for a fairer legal system whereby juries are not put under pressure to convict defendants, and to call attention to corporate connections and government dishonesty.
    • Free Political Prisoners is a campaign from Defend Our Juries which is a civil disobedience campaign that looks to defend disruptive actions made with political commentary.
    • Just Stop Oil take direct action to call attention to the climate crisis and to end the use of fossil fuels, with many of their members similarly harassed by police.

    Standing in solidarity

    These groups have come together to say of Palestine Action:

    Every action which disrupts the supply chain of weapons being used in the ongoing genocide is the moral thing to do and worthy of support. Direct action has never been more necessary…

    Palestine Action continues to put their liberty on the line for the liberation of Palestine.

    We stand in full solidarity with Palestine Action and call on all people of conscience to show their support for the group. We are all Palestine Action.

    Organised, state-sanctioned A-to-B marches and demonstrations are an important way for people to express their moral outrage. However, direct action carries much more severe consequences from the legal system.

    In order for movements to be effective, they must centre around goals, rather than any one single person. This latest generation of actionists are exactly what’s needed to hold immoral and unaccountable government’s feet to the fire.

    Everyone at the Canary stands in full solidarity with both the groups listed above, and Palestine Action.

    Featured image via Palestine Action

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • City centre SUV owners just got some home truths from the Tyre Extinguishers

    Outraged Edinburgh residents have taken action, highlighting SUV’s disproportionate role in climate crisis-causing catastrophic weather, like that which has killed over 200 in Valencia.

    Spain: catastrophic events due to the climate crisis

    Spain just experienced its deadliest floods in decades, primarily affecting the eastern region of Valencia. Triggered by a meteorological phenomenon known as DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos), the region received nearly a year’s worth of rainfall within hours, leading to catastrophic flash floods.

    The deluge resulted in the deaths of at least 217 individuals, with the majority of fatalities occurring in Valencia. Many victims were trapped in vehicles, homes, and underground car parks as floodwaters rose rapidly. Rescue operations were hampered by the swift onset of the floods, leaving emergency services struggling to reach those in need.

    The floods caused extensive damage to infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and rail lines, effectively isolating several communities. Thousands of residents were displaced, facing shortages of basic necessities such as clean water and electricity. In response, the Spanish government deployed over 10,000 soldiers and police officers to assist in rescue and relief efforts.

    Public frustration mounted over perceived delays in official warnings and the speed of the government’s response. During a visit to the affected areas, king Felipe VI and prime minister Pedro Sánchez were met with protests from residents expressing their anger and despair.

    SUVs play their part – as do their drivers

    The disaster has reignited discussions about the climate crisis and the need for improved infrastructure to mitigate the effects of extreme weather events. However, it has also sparked outrage over the continued use of highly polluting modes of transport – such as sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

    Protestors defaced SUVs throughout Edinburgh’s New Town, and left windscreens with images of victims like José Castillejo, 28, who died in the Valencia floods, and Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau, two UK children who were killed last year when an out-of-control Land Rover hit their London primary school:

    Activists from group The Tyre Extinguishers were sending a clear message to owners: if SUVs were a country they’d be the fifth biggest world polluter:

    They also, as the group’s name implies, let down people’s tyres:

    SUVs Valencia

    There were over 360m SUVs on world roads in 2023, producing 1bn tonnes of CO2, up 10% on 2022. As a result, global oil consumption rose by 600,000 barrels/day, more than a quarter of total oil demand growth.

    One of the main issues with SUVs is their fuel consumption. SUVs consume approximately 25% more energy than medium-sized cars, which leads to a substantial increase in CO₂ emissions per mile driven.

    Stop SUVs

    With more powerful engines and increased weight, SUVs demand more fuel, and their lower fuel economy translates directly into higher emissions. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the rise of SUVs was the second-largest contributor to the increase in global CO₂ emissions from 2010 to 2018, surpassing emissions from the aviation sector.

    Additionally, SUVs are often marketed as rugged, all-terrain vehicles, but in reality, most are driven primarily in urban settings where their off-road capabilities are unnecessary. This widespread use of large, powerful vehicles in cities contributes to air pollution and road congestion, exacerbating their environmental impact.

    Beyond CO₂ emissions, the manufacturing of SUVs also has a large carbon footprint due to the increased materials needed, particularly steel and aluminum. Heavier vehicles require more energy in production, which amplifies their overall environmental impact.

    Little wonder, then, that the Tyre Extinguishers felt compelled to take action – as people needlessly driving around city centres in off-road vehicles are directly contributing to the climate crisis – and therefore, the deaths the world saw in Valencia.

    Featured image and additional images via the Tyre Extinguishers 

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.