In finding there is a plausible case against Israel, the International Court of Justice treated with contempt the argument from Israel that the case should be dismissed as it is exercising its right of self-defence. This argument took up over half of Israel’s pleadings. Not only did the court find there is a plausible case of genocide, the court only mentioned self-defence once in its interim ruling – and that was merely to note that Israel had claimed it. Para 41:
That the ICJ has not affirmed Israel’s right to self-defence is perhaps the most important point in this interim order. It is the dog that did not bark. The argument which every western leader has been using is spurned by the ICJ.
Now the ICJ did not repeat that an occupying power has no right of self-defence. It did not need to. It simply ignored Israel’s specious assertion.
It could do that because what it went on to iterate went way beyond any plausible assertion of self-defence. What struck me most about the ICJ ruling was that the Order went into far more detail about the evidence of genocide than it needed to. Its description was stark.
Here Para 46 is crucial
The reason this is so crucial, is that the Court is not saying that South Africa asserts this. The Court is saying these are the facts. It is a finding of fact by the Court. I cannot emphasise too strongly the importance of that description by the court of the state of affairs in Gaza.
The Court then goes on to detail accounts by the United Nations of the factual situation, quoting three different senior officials at length, including Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of UNRWA:
This of course explains why the immediate response to the ICJ ruling was a coordinated attack by Israel and the combined imperialist powers on UNRWA, designed to accelerate the genocide by stopping aid, to provide a propaganda counter-narrative to the ICJ judgment, and to reduce the credibility of UNRWA’s evidence before the court.
The Court works very closely with the UN and is very much an entrenched part of the UN system. It has a particularly close relationship with the UN General Assembly – many of the Court’s cases are based on requests from the UN General Assembly. In a fortnight’s time the Court will be starting its substantive hearings on the legal position in the Occupied Territories of Palestine, at the request of the UNGA. There are five specific references to the UNGA in the Order.
The Court spent a great deal of time outlining the facts of the unfolding genocide in the Gaza Strip. It did not have to do so in nearly so much detail, and far too little attention has been paid to this. I was equally surprised by how much detail the court gave on the evidence of genocidal intent by Israel.
It is especially humiliating for Israel that the Court quoted the Israeli Head of State, the President of Israel himself, as giving clear evidence of genocidal intent, along with two other government ministers.
Again, this is not the Court saying that South Africa has alleged this. It is a finding of fact by the Court. The ICJ has already found to be untrue Israel’s denial in court of incitement to genocide.
Now think of this: the very next day after President Herzog made a genocidal statement, as determined by the International Court of Justice, he was met and offered “full support” by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament.
When you take the detail of what the Court has found to be the actual facts of the case, in death and destruction and in intent, I have no doubt that this is a court which is currently minded to find Israel guilty of genocide once the substantive case comes before the Court.
All of Israel’s arguments were lost. Every one. The substantial effort Israel put into having the case dismissed on procedural grounds was brushed aside. So was self-defence. And in its findings of the facts, the Court plainly found to be untrue the Israeli lies about avoidance of civilian casualties, the responsibility of Hamas for the damage to infrastructure, and the access of relief aid to Gaza.
Those are the facts of what happened.
Do not be confused by the absence of the word “ceasefire” from the Court order. What the Court has ordered is very close to that. It has explicitly ordered the Israeli military to stop killing Palestinians.
That is absolutely clear. And while I accept it is tautologous, in the sense it is ordering Israel to obey a Convention which Israel is already bound to follow, there could be no clearer indication that the Court believes that Israel is not currently obeying it.
So what happens now?
Well, Israel has responded by killing over 180 Palestinian civilians since the Order was given from the International Court of Justice. If that continues, South Africa may return to the Court for more urgent measures even before the ordered monthly report from Israel is due. Algeria has announced it will take the Order to the UN Security Council for enforcement.
I doubt the United States will veto. There has been a schizophrenic reaction from Israel and its supporters to the ICJ Order. On the one hand, the ICJ has been denounced as antisemitic. On the other hand the official narrative has been (incredibly) to claim Israel actually won the case, while minimising the coverage in mainstream media. This has been reinforced by the massive and coordinated attack on UNRWA, to create alternative headlines.
It is difficult to both claim that Israel somehow won, and at the same time seek to block UNSC enforcement of the Order. My suspicion is that there will be a continuing dual track: pretending that there is no genocide and Israel is obeying the “unnecessary” order, while at the same time attacking and ridiculing the ICJ and the wider UN.
No matter what the ICJ said, Israel would not have stopped the genocide; that is the simple truth. The immediate reaction of the US and allies to the Order has been to try to accelerate the genocide by crippling the UN’s aid relief work. I confess I did not expect anything quite that vicious and blatant.
The wheels of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. The ICJ having flagged up a potential genocide so strongly, it may well fall to judges in individual nations to restrain international support for the genocide. As I explained in detail, the Genocide Convention has been incorporated into UK law by the International Criminal Court Act of 2001.
There will, beyond any doubt, have been minutes issued by FCDO legal advisers warning of ministers being at risk of personal liability in UK law for complicity in genocide now, should arms shipments and other military and intelligence cooperation with the Israeli genocide continue. In the US, hearings started already in California on a genocide complicity suit brought against Joe Biden.
Of course I wish this would all work faster. It will not. The UN General Assembly may suspend Israel from the UN. There are other useful actions to be taken. But this is a long slog, not a quick fix, and people like you and I continue to have a vital role, as everybody does, in using the power of the people to wrest control from a vicious political class of killers.
This was a good win. I am pleased that this course for which I advocated and lobbied has worked and increased pressure on the Zionists, and that my judgment that the International Court of Justice is not just a NATO tool like the corrupt International Criminal Court, has been vindicated.
It cannot help the infants killed and maimed last night or those to die in the coming few days. But it is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
————————————————
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Matt Taibbi features a 2-part text on UK-based Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
CCDH told US IRS it was a charity. What Taibbi calls “explosive” documents seem to prove otherwise.
I am not well informed about CCDH. Many here probably are.
Piece 1 is paywalled. It´s by the author and investigator of this entire affair, Paul Holden:
Only intro.
(it has an image with Starmer sitting just a meter away from Corbyn at some event.)
https://www.racket.news/p/uk-files-exclusive-part-2-the-center
From reader´s comments:
“Paul has been investigating and reporting on grand corruption around the world for fifteen years. His most recent book, The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Labour Together and the Crisis of British Democracy, is due to be published by Or Books in Spring 2024.”
Piece 2 is a short editor´s note:
https://www.racket.news/p/editors-note-on-uk-files-part-2
e.g.
“The fate of CCDH should matter, however. As Holden shows, this group — though perenially represented to news consumers using anodyne terms like “online hate watchdog” (CNN), “anti-hate group” (The Verge, Fortune), an “online group that tracks hate speech” (The New York Times) or even just “disinformation researchers” (NPR) — is in fact the partisan project of a think-tank called Labour Together. The CCDH has been a targeting mechanism deployed against Labour’s left-populist faction in the same way that the Center for American Progress has been used by Clinton/Biden Democrats against the intramural challenge from Bernie Sanders.”
If it’s a UK Labour Party op, why have they spelled “Centre” the American way (“Center”)?
I may be missing something here; are they based in the US (hence the IRS declaration)? But in that case, what has an American “charity” got to do with being a UK Labour Party op?
You stated that they’re UK-based, in which case why the need to make any declaration to the IRS?
as I said I don´t know about these things.
I can only assume that by creating a US affiliate the CCDH has access to much more funding via the US and surely ways to channel that to the British home.
Couldn´t find anything in the comments either.
why is virtually no one reporting on the ICJ ruling on UKR vs. RU regarding claims of terrorism pre-2022?
At least I still have not seen anyone.
Well may be tomorrow…
Because it’s too inconvenient (including for some commentators here).
Thankfully a few do mention it, e.g. some guest interviewees on LBC yesterday and today.
would you mind linking some sources to it?
This might not be authoritative scholarship but it´s a quick read and decent summary:
https://karlof1.substack.com/p/international-court-of-justice-rulings
Decisions cited + commentary by the substack author
btw: ICJ seems to have rejected the MH-17 case
Thank you for reporting this Craig. Keep going and keep fighting.
I saw this news late yesterday evening, but I wanted to first figure out what it really was. Because the snippets were contradictory: the Russian side wrote in the spirit of “the court rejected almost all of Ukraine’s claims.” While the BBC wrote something in the style of “The court condemned Russia.”
I downloaded the summary itself, but it takes 117 pages of English text, available here
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/166/166-20240131-jud-01-00-en.pdf
and in addition it contains special terms like ‘clean hands doctrine’ or ‘parens patriae’ and I f**** don’t know what it may mean.
I’d be very much interested to read Mr. Murray’s view on this.
—
@craig Mr. Murray, if you could spend time to read it and give your opinion (and simple language explanation)? May be of interest for you as soon it concerns Crimean Tatars and racial discrimination.
—
So far, today’s news in Russia say (text highlighting is mine)
“After the decision of the ICJ on the claim of Ukraine, Moscow is waiting for an apology from everyone who in the General Assembly accused Moscow …
“Earlier, the President of the ICJ, Joan Donoghue, said that the court rejected most of the claims in Ukraine’s claim against Russia for non-compliance with two conventions in Donbass and Crimea …
“Mantras repeated for years about discrimination against the Crimean Tatars,” oppression of the Crimean Tatar language and destruction of cultural heritage turned out to be lies …
“The ICJ found that Ukraine’s statements that the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics are allegedly “terrorist organizations” are also lies …
“.. this lie formed the basis of Kiev’s decision to launch the so-called “Anti-Terrorist Operation” (ATO) against Donbass. Thus, from the court decision it follows that Kiev made a criminal decision to start wars against Donbass. It was this criminal decision that led to the current situation in Ukraine. The court did not accept the accusations against Russia, the DPR and the LPR about their alleged involvement in the MH-17 disaster or the qualification of Russia as an “aggressor””
The source in Russian
https://ria.ru/20240201/izvineniya-1924706056.html
The source translated via Google Translate
https://ria-ru.translate.goog/20240201/izvineniya-1924706056.html?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
I try to read this in small parts during short breaks in work while the silver is being bleached. Unfamiliar terminology. Unfamiliar procedure. I don’t understand at all how all this is supposed to work there in court and what this or that action means.
What is a judge ad hoc? Any ideas?
Here, page 12:
“Following the resignation of Judge ad hoc Skotnikov on 27 February 2023, the Russian Federation chose Mr Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov to sit as judge ad hoc.”
When there is no judge from the country defending a case already sitting on the ICJ panel, that country can nominate an ‘ad hoc’ judge to sit on the panel and take part in the hearing and judgment on that one case. The same applies to the country bringing the case.
Thanks, Coldish. So, is it a sort of ‘friendly judge’? Or, ‘judge-translator’? Or, ‘a judge familiar with the country’s position and thus able to explain the motives and decisions’? in other words, why is it important to have ‘my’ judge on the panel?
Also, it looks like some intrigue in para 14 on page 16. Any ideas why the government of Quatar might be interested to see ‘the Memorial of Ukraine and the preliminary objections of the Russian Federation’?
What have Quatar to do with all of that???
Both of the states in dispute can appoint ad-hoc judges presumably to monitor the process. This makes sense and if they were to both vote in line with their own state they would cancel each others vote. The Israeli ad-hoc judge in the recent case didn’t always take the Israeli line.
A summary of the Ukraine case against Russia can be found at the UN site:
https://archive.is/PF3Ax
There is a link near the end of that article to the judgement and the judge’s voting including dissenting opinion.
Tatyana, most jargon can easily be deciphered with the aid of a simple Web search. While sources like Wikipedia are grossly prejudiced on some subjects, they are usually accurate about technical matters.
For instance:
https://hallellis.co.uk/clean-hands-law/
https://legaldictionary.net/clean-hands/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parens_patriae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Stonewall
True dat, anything that adverts to the interests of the US boss class is bent beyond recognition, see the article on the “Syrian” black helmets for an example. Other parts of the encyclopaedia are comparatively honest. I quite like dusting off becalmed articles and making them look respectable.
That’s a good read with some great detail – the detail makes one realise the scale of the conflict – The Brazilian Airforce lol
(ps I’m not sure I would describe torpedo boats as “small destroyers”)
Indeed, will moon. The original desgnation of the type of ship that became known as a “destroyer” was “torpedo boat destroyer”. In the age of battleships, innovators such as the French “jeune ecole” proposed using lots of small, very fast torpedo boats to attack the lumbering giants. That looked threatening, so the navies that relied on battleships introduced the “torpedo boat destroyer” to sink the torpedo boats or chase them away.
Eventually the torpedo boat as such became very small and specialised, leaving the destroyer to take over the role of torpedo platform, which they fulfilled very effectively.
Nowadays all the type designations of WW2 are obsolete. There are no battleships or battlecruisers, aircraft carriers are obsolescent liabilities, and there is only slight differentiation (apart from size) between cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and corvettes. They all have the same type of armament: vertical launch cells loaded with ship-to-ship, anti-submarine, or ship-to-air missiles, and one odd little popgun for attacking surface or land targets.
Tatyana, I admire your perseverence in dredging through the ruling. Here is the summary I read in Scheerpost: https:/scheerpost.com/2024/02/02/icj-rules-against-ukraine-on-terrorism-mh17/
I seem to remember Thomas Roeper had an article about Crimea, the Ukraine language, and the Tartars but I can’t find it. It’s not easy to search his site. He was complimentary about Russia’s care for both providing access to the language and looking after the well being of the Tartars. Do you have other information?
Cats are well, and we have lots of snow too! Take care.
What did it say? Any good summary link to share what this ICJ was about?
Ukraine went to court, accusing Russia of sponsoring terrorism and racial discrimination. Any good summary I don’t know where to find, I only trust Mr. Murray. Jack, I’ll be glad if you join and together we ask Mr. Murray to give at least a short comment about this trial.
It seems to hinge on semantics and legalese. Russia supplied arms to the separatists but, as no money was sent, they’re not guilty of funding terrorism.
An earlier ruling by the ICJ also appears to have been blatantly ignored.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2022/729350/EPRS_ATA(2022)729350_EN.pdf
Pears, I remember something related to the interpretation of Nazi symbols tattooed on Ukrainians as ancient Indian symbols. Forgive me for my lack of confidence in your ability to correctly understand the context. With your permission, I’ll keep waiting for Mr. Murray’s possible decision to give his assessment, since I trust his opinion more than yours.
I’m sure Craig would bring some useful insight, but could you not form your own opinion?
Why do I sense in your question a veiled dissatisfaction with my presence here? Maybe because all my previous comments explain my desire to know Mr. Murray’s opinion? Or is it because getting Mr. Murray’s opinion and forming my own are not an ‘either…or’ choice, but rather two parts of the same thing?
In any case, I couldn’t find a logical connection in your question, which is probably why it seems to me just an expression of dissatisfaction, what do you think, Pears?
Well, like, you know, older people may grumble at younger people “Why did you choose this place to listen to your music? Aren’t there places somewhere far from my windows?”
AG, that is an important layer of the standard establishment treatment of anything they don’t want the people to know about.
1. Ignore it completely. Absolutely no media coverage; officials, if questioned, deny all knowledge or, if pinned down, talk in vague generalities and quickly change the subject.
2. Poison the well. Still ignoring the facts, set about blackening the names of anyone who tries to spread the truth. (Mr Assange and Mr Murray have got both barrels of this treatment).
3. Deny everything, change the subject, and bring counter-charges (which in effect continues the tactic of poisoning the well). “What about…?”
YouTube – Battles between PM and Foreign Office | Yes Prime Minister
@2:28
Enjoy.
Oh, I did enjoy it, Squeeth! I owe you one. What a magnificent montage. All the years of “Yes, [Prime] Minister” flashed before my eyes. I even felt a twinge of sympathy for the double-dealing Luke.
Imagine a time when HMG – or even part of it – favoured the Arabs against Israel!
Just came across the following on Novara Media’s youtube channel:
Shocking CNN Report Shows Israel Excavating Graves In Gaza (9mins 22secs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14DaFsTsrt8
The IDF/Israel always have some feeble mendacious excuse for everything they do.
Adding a small rock to the pile of praise already laid at your feet to thank you for your excellent, and often hilarious coverage of this event; the bit about melenchon in your second day at the Hague was delightful, and god knows we all need something to smile at these days. I don’t think I exaggerate when I paraphrase the words of the late great Stalin, and that the rubbish heaped on your name will soon be scattered away by the winds of history.
Best, an enthusiastic reader (and fan!)
“great” Stalin?!
He beat Hitler.
He? My grandfathers would have been quite surprised to hear this. Like the millions who died in the battles against Hitler. In my opinion, it just so happened that Stalin was the leader of the country at the time when Hitler attacked us. And you make it sound like Stalin went to a duel with Hitler.
Until 1941 Stalin was inclined to admire Hitler, his senior by 10 years. He would have loved to have Hitler’s astonishing eloquence and charisma. And Hitler’s remarkable war record must have commanded respect. He fought on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918, when he was almost killed by a British poison gas attack. (Although his commanding officer earned everlasting ridicule by committing to writing his judgment that Hitler, while an excellent soldier, had “absolutely no command potential”).
After 1941… not so much.
Persistent rumour has it that Stalin used Hitler’s skull as a drinking cup – an old Central Asian tradition.
Who invents such nonsense? Stalin’s father was a christian priest, and Stalin himself had a clergy education, so I believe he developed some respect for human remains. In addition, Stalin was an ethnic Georgian, and it’s unlikely that he suddenly began to follow customs from Asia.
Tom, do you know the russian joke?
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin discuss what to do with Hitler when he is caught.
Churchill:
– Hang the bastard!
Roosevelt:
– Electric chair!
Stalin:
– Heat up a poker and shove the cold part of it up his ass.
Churchill and Roosevelt:
– Why the cold end? Maybe you meant the hot one?
Stalin:
– No, the hot one should just be left outside so that you guys can’t pull it out!
TW: “. He would have loved to have Hitler’s astonishing eloquence and charisma. And Hitler’s remarkable war record must have commanded respect. [etc….]”
I’m not sure if I share your admiration for that evil bastard, Tom. His ‘eloquence’ could be just as well described as ‘rabble-rousing’, depending on how much you liked it of course. Hitler’s war record led to him being considered the best General the Allies had, such was his rashness and incompetence – notably opening an Eastern front. And so on.
I’d say Hitler’s doctor was the best general the Allies had, Glenn. This is a (partial) list of the stuff he was prescribing to his (in)famous patient:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Morell#Substances_administered_to_Hitler
Before he began being injected with speedballs (plus meth) on a daily basis, Hitler wasn’t doing too badly in the battles department (mainly because he delegated most things to his generals), and the Germans could have probably held on to Ukraine & Belarus (and maybe the oilfields in Maykop), giving them plenty of lebensraum, had he not gone all out for Stalingrad.
I should say that Dr Morell wasn’t a complete quack – his prescribing of vitamins A, D & B12 was spot on, and was probably what relieved Hitler’s stomach cramps/IBS. All of this reminds me: if you’re not taking them already, or have a complete balanced diet (which includes eating oily fish – or sun-exposed fungi & flaxseed – on a daily basis) and you would like a reasonably healthy old age (nukes-permitting), you need to partake of the following: multivitamin + minerals tablets (1 per day), vitamin D pills (1000 IU or 25 micrograms – 1 per day), omega-3 capsules (1000 milligrams – 1-2 per day), calcium pills (400 milligrams, 1-2 per day). All cheap as chips. You can thank me later – and so can the NHS.
LA: Fascinating, thanks – I had no idea about that
Stalin’s father wasn’t a priest. He was a cobbler.
He was born a serf – a lower social status than any other father of a dictator that I am aware of.
There is the leader of the Haitian slave revolt Toussaint L’Ouverture, who became dictator of Hispaniola after leading the slaves to freedom on that island in 1795. He claimed his father was a”king” in Africa but several sources claim he was a slave born of slaves. He died in prison in France in 1803
His polity evolved into Haiti and in the early years of the 19th century the government of the country borrowed on the international capital markets the sum required to “purchase” the freedom of slaves in the country – to end all claims against them in perpetuity. The debt took 100 years to pay, with the descendants of slave holders receiving reparations until 1905 or thereabouts. Many believe, including recent and current leaders like Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Jimmy Cherizier, that this vile debt doomed the country to a permanent cycle of unrest and indebtedness in what should be a bountiful and productive country
Thanks for your reply, Glenn. You’re very welcome. If anyone’s wondering why Morrell was injecting his Fuhrer with powerful and addictive stimulants, it was because Hitler originally complained of tiredness and low mood (particularly in the mornings), and then became addicted to them – and most people didn’t like saying no to Hitler. I’d say there’s a good chance that his fatigue etc. was due to mild common anaemia caused by him not being able to absorb much of the non-haem iron from his vegetarian diet. Iron pills would probably have prevented this, with the only potential side-effect being mild constipation.
It may not be a good idea to invade Russia; but provided you’re getting sufficient iron, B12 etc. it’s a good idea to go veggie, as in the West they live on average 6–7 years longer than meat-eaters. Probably the biggest factor in this is that vegetarians generally consume less of the amino acid methionine, which in experiments on mice has been shown to affect lifetime considerably, probably mostly due to its interactions with mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Make sure to take choline supplements as well though, as diets low in methionine can affect the liver:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methionine#Restriction
re: outbreak of WWII Stalin vs. the West:
A highly recommended longer commentariat by Canadian historian Michael Jabara Carley (we spoke about him last year) on why there was no anti-Hitler coalition when the war broke out – from the USSR´s POV:
source: H-Net network on Diplomatic History and International Affairs
August 2021
“Fiasco: The Anglo-Franco-Soviet Alliance That Never Was and the Unpublished British White Paper, 1939–1940.”
https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/8127981/authors-response-article-review-1052
It is a response text by him to a review on his study.
***
Whatever Stalin might or might not have said privately. It´s of zero significance for what in fact happened.
And whilst the French lost 600.000 people and the Brits 500.000, USSR between 25 and 30 mio.
Poland, Ukraine, Belarus were partially wiped out in the double digits.
Some odd commentary on Moon of Alabama did make an interesting point: Germany and in part Europe are so engulfed by the Holocaust focus and thus incapabale to recognize brutal facts in Gaza now, because Germans in WWII in fact did on the Continent what Europeans up to then only did abroad.
So it in effect is an exorcism practised.
Whether that makes sense, I am not sure. Regarding the utter hatred of e.g. Bolsheviks especially by the Anglo/American establishment, or the British of Ireland (or not? I know too little about that.).
But the outrage and hysteria in the Western public concerning the war in Ukraine in comparison to what happened abroad and is happening abroad now is that very same psychotic mindset.
(Additionally to that of course an inter-continental division of European and non-European Russians – latter being prone to death and careless about life and “un-civilized”.)
The territories of this civilized European space are regarded as untouchable. Just like with hitting US territory in 9/11. That´s like the worst sin imagineable.
With western leaders focused on committing genocide and Sir Tony and Barack on their altruistic pursuits, the west has assembled its next most formidable figureheads to lead a new anti-Russia task force.
“Sanna Marin, Hillary Clinton, Boris Johnson and Anders Fogh Rasmussen have joined a newly-established International Task Force on Security and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, aimed at bolstering the country’s security position”.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20072351
Nancy Pelosi, Sean Penn and Douglas Murray non-executive consultants
Marin seems to have suffered no real damage to her reputation after her cocaine-fuelled exit from government. She is also on Blair’s “foundation”, with a bumper salary to allow her to continue to enjoy the lifestyle she has become accustomed. No referendum was offered to the population regarding Finland’s accession to NATO – a job well done, now well rewarded, with a life-long stipend.
Penn has been accused of being an asset of intelligence – another case of “he belongs to intelligence”. Murray and Pelosi are surely in the same bracket, completely owned by some clandestine service somewhere, though probably not the FSB, think more CIA/MI6/Mossad.
Welcome to the Hotel Kakistocracy – you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.
“Mirrors on the ceiling
The pink champagne on ice
And she said, ‘We are all just prisoners here
Of our own device’.
And in the master’s chambers
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can’t kill the beast”
— Hotel California, The Eagles
Nancy ‘crocodile skin handbag’ Pelosi 🙂
Nancy “Crocodile Smile” Pelosi
One of the “big beasts” of the Beltway
Talking of Nancy Pelosi, I spotted the following video in the recommends on youtube earlier in which she gets a mention. If you haven’t got the time to check out the whole video, please watch/listen to the first twelve minutes or so:
Lee Camp EXPOSES Paid Actors For Israel (clip) 33mins 25secs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE3XmOVmEgE
Will Moon
Penn is undoubtably a US asset.
“American actor Sean Penn has given his Oscar to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to the capital Kyiv.
Video posted on Mr Zelensky’s Telegram channel also showed the president awarding Penn Ukraine’s Order of Merit.
Penn, who is known for his political activism as much as he is for his films, fled Ukraine in March while filming a documentary about the conflict.
He later said he considered joining Ukrainian forces to fight against Russia.
Kremlin officials previously added Penn, and fellow actor Ben Stiller, to Russia’s “stop list”, meaning they are now banned from entering the country.”
Another American actor helped the US to topple the Sudanese government, it was said that he even paid to have a satellite tasked for the cause.
“Penn, who is known for his political activism as much as he is for his films, fled Ukraine in March while filming a documentary about the conflict.
“He later said he considered joining Ukrainian forces to fight against Russia”.
Pity he didn’t.
“Penn is undoubtably a US asset”.
For some meanings of “asset”.
Nancy and the rest of the Genocide Gang will be celebrating tonight the announcement by UNRWA announcement that it will have to cease operations by the end of the month.
https://twitter.com/UNRWA/status/1753019537144811861
They are getting their wish.
There’s a couple of articles JVL re-posted today that are well worth checking out entitled (by JVL): “Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad” parts 1 & 2, both published by Haaretz. The first one is headlined ‘A New Low: The Israelis Advocating to Starve the People of Gaza’, in which it says the following:
For Israel’s extremists, nothing is off-limits when it comes to Gaza – fighting the delivery of humanitarian aid, re-establishing Jewish settlements, human decency. But it would be a mistake to dismiss them as a fringe movement…..
The humanitarian catastrophe of nearly 2 million displaced Palestinians was at the heart of the ICJ’s ruling, wrote the legal scholar Aeyal Gross. Yet many Israelis are fuming at the order for Israel to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilians (even as Israel is relieved the world court didn’t order a cease-fire). According to Agam Institute surveys, nearly 60 percent of Israeli Jews oppose humanitarian aid – a stable figure over time.
Let me break with analytic artifice: Opposing water, medicine and supplies to the most wretched people on Earth seems grotesque, a new low for Israel or for anyone. Why would anyone do it?
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/a-new-low-the-israelis-advocating-to-starve-the-people-of-gaza/
And the second one is headlined: Israel Held 82-year-old Gaza Woman With Alzheimer’s for Two Months as an ‘Unlawful Combatant’, which tells you all you need to know (but please check out the article anyway).
I have of course read over the months that a big majority of Israelis are fully behind the ‘war’ against ‘Hamas’, but I’d never stopped to think about them being opposed to aid being provided to the people of Gaza. But the thinking behind it is that if they – the Gazans – are starved and denied the basic necessities of life, it will induce Hamas to free the hostages. And they believe that THAT is what led to Hamas freeing many of them during the last week of November. What they don’t seem to understand – or don’t even know – is that Hamas have been saying for a long time that if there is a permanent ceasefire and they get the aid they need they’ll release the hostages. I wonder how many of the hostages have been killed now by the bombardment of Gaza, or even died as a consequence of a lack of food and clean water or medicine.
“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad”.
Damned right! Just in case anyone thought of saying about the Israelis who were taken prisoner of war at the “desert party” on 7 October 2023 that maybe you should expect trouble if you hold a rave just outside the fence of a concentration camp (in this case, the one that’s called Gaza)…remember the not exactly anti-Zionist film called “Zone of Interest”, released last year in the USA, which tells the story of the commander of Auschwitz concentration camp and how he built a family life with his wife, in a nice home with a nice garden, just outside the fence of…you guessed it.
One wonders if the UK government is allowing this to continue knowing fine well the ICJ’s ruling.
“Israeli military aircraft have landed in Glasgow, Birmingham as well as RAF bases in Suffolk and Oxfordshire since 7 October
The Israeli military has landed six flights in Britain since it began its criminal bombing of Gaza in early October, it can be revealed.
The real number is likely to be higher, but the Ministry of Defence (MoD) refused to give any details about Israeli military flights in the UK.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently said it was “plausible” Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The latest information about Israeli military assets using Britain during its campaign may implicate UK ministers in crimes against humanity.”
https://www.declassifieduk.org/exclusive-israeli-military-planes-have-landed-at-four-locations-in-britain-since-7-october/
Revealing that he did not answer the question.
“South African FM Naledi Pandor about meeting w the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC):
“I asked him why he was able to issue an arrest warrant for Mr Putin and is unable to do so for the prime minister of Israel. He … did not answer that question”
O/T.
Y’know I won’t be shocked if he wins it, Kissinger and Obama were both awarded it.
“NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the deputy chairman of the Norwegian Liberal Party, former Norwegian Culture Minister Abid Raja, reported Verdens Gang (VG) on Jan. 31.
“No one has done more for peace and democracy in Europe over the past year than Jens Stoltenberg,” Raja said. “So, it is only natural that the Liberal Party is proposing his candidacy to receive the (Nobel) Peace Prize this year.””
Looks like they’re going to build their own rules based order with blackjack and Nobel Prize winners
regarding the funny events in Kiev now, Mrs. Nuland rushing to Zs help: Mercouris on the Duran has this what I find awkward notion about Nuland FIRST flying to Warsaw and THEN taking the train to Kiev.
This is a joke, right?
Nothing funny, they want to station nukes in Poland
Sorry, TATYANA, I was only referring to the madness in Kiev which brought about contradicting news every day. Which appeared like a soap-opera among war criminals.
TATYANA, this won´t help much but:
“Although the US cannot certify that Russia is in compliance with the New START Treaty, the US does not determine […] that Russia’s noncompliance specified in this report threatens the national security interests of the United States.”
Naturally, speaking about US national security conveniently excludes the European theatre. But I hope some in the administration – for the moment – understand the nature of the risks.
Karaganov on the other hand argues for lowering of the nuclear threshold. The question is in how far are Russian military planning and policy-makers in fact moving into that direction. Karaganov is foremost a propagandist of his personal agenda. He regards “hardball” the only lingo the US understands. In the summer Putin publicly contradicted. I assume to calm everyone down.
And the RU apparatus is huge. The fact that Karaganov is so exposed in our Western media rather signals his limited scope in the Russian expert sphere. I guess he tries to find more coverage by spreading the fear narrative.
I am trying to look more into the Poland issue since I have found no reliable info on WMDs there or being about to be deployed. But maybe something escaped me.
I will post in the forum if I find anything.
TATYANA
No idea if RU media reported – Seymour Hersh has a new, paywalled piece where he states that Zaluzhny was discussing peace plans with RU counterpart Gerasimov in secret. Gerasimov informed his government about this. Zaluzhny did not. Additionally in fall which was reported, Zaluzhny against Zelensky´s wish, worked out plans with RU/US however exclusively military personnel. No SoS no WH no NSC. And no Zelensky.
” awkward notion about Nuland FIRST flying to Warsaw and THEN taking the train to Kiev.
This is a joke, right? ”
There are for pretty obvious reasons no civil flights into Ukraine. It doesn’t help that Kyiv’s airports were put out of action at the start of the invasion. Anyone wanting to get to Kyiv has to fly to Poland and take the train from there.
I just assumed that the deputy SoS of the US would take a special flight in a special plane of the US government or some agency on a special route and that the Russian High Command would be informed by this if they don´t already know it.
This trip is described as an emergency, after all. And if she takes the train how does that work? An entire carriage just for her?
She is probably the most hated US politician in the world after Biden himself. And everyone knows her.
How do you protect someone like that without keeping her in a near 100% safe bubble?
Of course I can be totally wrong.
When Biden went to Kyiv last year it was a ten hour train journey from Poland. Obviously they think it safer.
Interesting.
I think Zelensky has a train e.g.
Of course in WWII there were trains; the directors of the Manhattan Project were ordered to take the train only but that due to lacking reliability of aircraft back then.
Hitler’s train was called “Amerika” until 1943 when it was changed to “Brandenburg”!?
How is a train safer than an aircraft? It’s relatively easy to prevent anyone smuggling explosives onto an aircraft, well just as easy as preventing them smuggling them onto a train and, once the aircraft is in the air, it’s difficult to do anything unless you happen to have a Patriot system handy. A train, however, has to run along hundreds of miles of railway track, any few yards of which could be used to plant an IED.
You secure each section of railway track before the train reaches it.
But true there are optics to travelling by train, unrelated to relative safety.
Not that I necessarily believe Biden did take the train. If something looks better, and something else is safer, they’re quite capable of doing what’s safer and saying they’re doing what looks better.
“looks” is what I thought too – in terms of PR – just like the trains during US elections pre-war.
Have you any idea how long it would take to check every metre of track from Poland to Kiev? If it was being done “section by section” as you suggest, the train would be going at walking pace.
I remember when Dubya had a pub lunch with Blair in Sedgefield in 2003, Bayard. The reason I remember it is because, earlier in the day, I was travelling to work on the bus along part of the route they would take from Blair’s house in Trimdon Colliery, which was about three miles to the north. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of secret service personnel etc on the ground, and they were literally checking every drain, every flowerpot etc that lined the route. To save people a lot of time and effort, Dubya’s helicopter could have just landed on Sedgefield’s playing fields, but presumably that wouldn’t have conveyed the impression of him ‘just dropping in’ on Tony.
I think it because of the potential presence of “manpads”
The CIA shipped Stingers (US manpad) to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 1980’s, several thousand missiles at least. Shortly after the end of the war, the State Department and the Agency operated Stinger buy-back programs driven by the fear of Stingers being deployed against landing airliners
Nuland is hated by large numbers of people in that part of the world, comparisons with Nazi satraps like Kube and Koch are not uncommon. All it would take is one person with a manpad and this deathly ghoul would be no more. Since those Stingers deployed in the eighties and all those other manpads which disappeared after the fall of the Eastern Bloc are available in illegal weapons bazaars the world over, world leaders and their secret services now when a figure is hated as much as Nuland, “lone wolf” attacks are possible. There is probably no hostile security agency willing to risk being caught assassinating her (ie IED on rail track)but there probably thousands of “lone wolves” who if they could get their hands on a manpad would happily blow this amoral war-monger out the sky regardless of the wider consequences such an action might engender.
You don’t need to be a security agency to fill a culvert with ammonium nitrate fertiliser with a home-made radio-controlled detonator. Also fertiliser is a lot easier to get hold of than a MANPAD.
Modern trains are built like tanks, Bayard. When a Virgin Pendolino derailed at nearly 100 mph at Grayrigg in 2007, and plunged down a steep embankment, only one person was killed (an 83-year old woman) – and when an East Coast express collided near head-on with a freight train, at a combined speed of over 140 mph, at Great Heck six years earlier, only 10 people were killed. The train that Biden / Nuland travel on will also probably be armoured.
Conspiracies require conspirators with logistical support. People talk and what should be kept secret isn’t. Do you really think the “Special Services” in Ukraine, both NATO and domestic are unable to detect nascent terrorists with the resources at their disposal? The country is a lock-downed police state at war. Placing a large fertiliser device is, apparently, rather obtrusive – consider McVeigh at the Murrah. Not really applicable to a lone wolf, sitting camouflaged at the end of a Ukrainian runway, awaiting the arrival of the imperial proconsul.
You may have heard of Transnistra – a friend of mine went on a long holiday there twenty years ago – he reported the place was crawling with weapons, everything you could think of, MANPADS included, were available. Probably not the only place with lax law enforcement in that general geopolitical area. A large majority of the many thousands of helicopters brought down in Vietnam, were struck with standard RPG’s, never mind dedicated MANPADs .An aircraft is most vulnerable when taking off and landing.
Ordinary people may hate her, not the game-players of either side. One could blame “Fuck the EU” Nuland” for the death and destruction. If one was affected by the war strongly, one could easily allow grief and anger to produce murderous emotions, intense enough for one to visualise and act out extreme revenge fantasies.
I realise of course that if UNRWA completed its investigation of Israel’s claims and made a statement that it would soon be all over the media, but I thought I’d go on their website just to see if there is anything new in respect of their investigation. There wasn’t, but I came across the following:
Joint Statement by 28 NGOs: UNRWA Cuts Threaten Palestinian Lives in Gaza and Region
31 January 2024
As aid organizations, we are deeply concerned and outraged that some of the largest donors have united to suspend funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main aid provider for millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the region. This comes amid a rapidly worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The suspension of funding by donor states will impact life-saving assistance for over two million civilians, over half of whom are children, who rely on UNRWA aid in Gaza. The population faces starvation, looming famine and an outbreak of disease under Israel’s continued indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate deprivation of aid in Gaza.
We welcome UNRWA’s swift investigation into the alleged involvement of a small number of UN staff members in the October 7th attacks. We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population by some of the very countries that had called for aid in Gaza to be stepped up and for humanitarians to be protected while doing their job. This decision comes as the International Court of Justice ordered immediate and effective action to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
152 UNRWA staff have already been killed and 145 UNRWA facilities damaged by bombardment. UNRWA is the largest humanitarian agency in Gaza and their delivery of humanitarian assistance cannot be replaced by other agencies working in Gaza. If the funding suspensions are not reversed we may see a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza……
https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/norwegian-refugee-council-joint-statement-unrwa-funding-cuts-threaten
This video on Owen Jones’ youtube channel doesn’t quite live up to its title, but it’s very interesting, and worth watching the first 14/15 minutes:
Israel’s Claims Torn Apart By Ex-UN Spokesperson: The Truth About UNRWA (36mins 25secs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_xtBh3eLw
Apparently there’s now a thirteenth UNRWA employee that Israel have claimed was involved in the October 7th attack.
thx
the same tactics was used in the rape allegations.
Alleged Confessions by alleged HAMAS-terrorists. Reporters must believe. Asking question (a.k.a. journalism) amounts to treason.
Zero fact-checking possible. And above all the tiny fact that these confessions are extorted via torture.
Up to this day no German paper ever made this crystal-clear. Either they report the false story with the false evidence. Until they stop reporting it because the NYT is not reporting it or Haaretz retracts the story. Or they just omit the story itself.
It´s sad of course that UNRWA “welcomes the investigation”. On what grounds?
Present the evidence to a judge. And then you can investigate if the judge agrees.
Which however would not happen regarding the source of the evidence. Or worse its purely an invention by Israeli government. Where the practice of scrutiny and background checks has completely broken down and the military (IDF) tells the news media (CNN) what to report a government can do and claim whatever it wishes.
Especially if it has nukes.
p.s. it is interesting that the frm German UNSC diplomat who for 3 years or so has been the director of the NATO-affiliated Munich Security Conference very openly said that Germany is siding with a government comitting war crimes. And that it should “reconsider” its position..
I haven´t read anything more critical from official sources here so far.
Naturally that same frm. “diplomat” will lead us through this coming conference which is about planning WWIII against RU. Which The Munich Security Conference in essence is about. Apparently today diplomacy will only take you this far. But what else is there?
If even these totally inadequate bodies like OSCE et. al. stop talking with RU and are engaged in utter Russiaphobia and hatred against RU.
Who are we supposed to put our hopes in?
The military?
CIA and FSB having a chat during lunch time?
AG: thank you. Could you provide a link to the statement re siding with war criminals (pref. in original language) by the former German UNSC diplomat? Thanks. Coldish.
Sorry Coldish, I have probably exaggerated the verbatim statement. But for me as German it was unfortunately still an exception to hear such a thing.
So I have no idea if it´s relevant to you. The original source interview seems to be in the FINANCIAL TIMES.
German from BERLINER ZEITUNG
31/1/24
https://archive.is/iQQQF
Since I can´t auto-transl. archived texts via simple link, complete here:
“(…)
Head of the Munich Security Conference: “Tougher stance towards Israel”
Diplomat Christoph Heusgen strongly condemns Netanyahu’s policy. Germany has a responsibility to “call a spade a spade”.
The high-ranking German diplomat and head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, has called for a tougher stance towards Israel: “To take a tough line on Israel”. In an interview with the British Financial Times, the long-standing foreign policy advisor to former Chancellor Angela Merkel called for Berlin politicians to speak out clearly when the Netanyahu government breaks international law. He criticized both the resistance to a Palestinian state and the settlement policy in the occupied West Bank.
Both represent a breach of international law; the same applies to the bombing of the Gaza Strip. The Federal Republic of Germany had a responsibility to “call a spade a spade”. Instead, Berlin should make use of its good relations and insist that Israel abide by international law.
The British newspaper also emphasizes that Germany is one of the most loyal defenders of Israel’s right to self-defense. For example, Berlin has resisted calls for an immediate ceasefire and supported Israel before the International Court of Justice when it heard a South African lawsuit alleging genocide by Israel.
On the other hand, the journalists on the other side of the Channel are also reminded of the upcoming Munich Security Conference in mid-February – and the impact of Germany’s Israel policy on relations with the Arab countries and the so-called global South. This large group of countries will be represented in large numbers at the conference – and Heusgen is “out to please them”.
Germany must be able to criticize its ally
The fact that the German government is deviating from its pointedly pro-Israeli stance, at least in nuances, became clear at the beginning of the week at the latest. Foreign Office spokesman Sebastian Fischer described calls for Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip and the expulsion of the Palestinians living there as “completely unacceptable”. He condemned “in the strongest terms” the fact that parts of the Israeli government took part in such conferences. Such statements aggravated the situation and violated international law. “Gaza belongs to the Palestinians,” said Fischer, “and they must be able to decide their own future.”
When asked by the Financial Times about Netanyahu’s rejection of the two-state solution, Heusgen said that he did not know how Israel envisioned the future without a Palestinian state. He interpreted the much-discussed concept of German reasons of state with regard to Israel as a willingness to provide the country with all the necessary weapons to defend itself from its enemies. However, this also means that Germany must be able to criticize its ally.
For Heusgen, who was Germany’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations until 2021, the third security conference under his leadership begins in February. He also knows that he has an albeit unjustified reputation in relation to Israel. In 2019, during his time as Germany’s representative at the UN, the Simon Wiesenthal Center ranked him seventh among the ten most serious cases of anti-Semitic behaviour worldwide. The center, which is named after an Austrian war crimes hunter who died in 2005, is dedicated to the fight against hatred of Jews and defamation on all continents.
How did the accusation of anti-Semitism come about? On behalf of the German government, Heusgen voted in favor of nine UN resolutions critical of Israel in 2019 and 16 in 2018. At the time, Berlin politicians stood in front of their ambassador without any ifs or buts. The Foreign Office emphasized that it was absurd to associate him with anti-Semitism. If a German diplomat in New York took part in votes on resolutions relating to Israel, this was expressly “on the instructions of the Federal Government”.
(…)”
Apparently the same Mr. Heusgen on German state TV demanded a Minsk-3.
No idea what all this is about…
On the other hand NATO/EU are planning a counter ICJ – a temporary court like in the case of Yugoslavia – directed against Mosow.
On such a court:
“(…)
The plans are now taking shape. Most recently, they were advanced at a meeting in Luxembourg on 19 January by representatives of around 40 Western countries and several multinational organizations. The drafts under discussion came from the EU Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS). According to them, a small group of states is to organize a special tribunal; Germany and France, other EU states and EU institutions, the UK and the USA, as well as the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, are named as the core group that is currently involved in the planning and could be considered as the organizer of a tribunal. The special tribunal is to be directed exclusively against persons “suspected or accused of having committed the crime of aggression against Ukraine”. This is to be limited to persons who “actually have control over the political or military actions of the Russian Federation”. It is said that this only applies to a few individuals, in particular President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu. The special tribunal should only be allowed to act at the request of Kiev.
(…)”
But I assume once it has been set up such a body could be kept and directed against any other nation like South Africa, China or Venezuela.
They are showing the world who’s boss and that they don’t care what the UN or anyone else says. Thus we got not only the partial defunding of UNRWA, but also the raid on the hospital in Jenin where Israeli soldiers went in and shot Palestinian patients in their beds.
Where TF is Putin? Why doesn’t he say something? He knows damn well who started and escalated the war with Ukraine.
Oh wait…didn’t jump to the defence of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh, did he? Let’s hope he takes a different attitude if Israel’s little helpers the USA ramp up their bombing of Syria, Jordan, Yemen, and possibly Iran. Quite possibly Israel or their helpers will attack Qatar too. This is about moving the envelope.
Netanyahu, last week: “You don’t hear me thanking Qatar … who are essentially no different from the United Nations or Red Cross, and even more problematic.”
it does appear as if the US is using Israel as a showcase for the rest of the world:
Either you stand with us or not. And if not you are our enemy.
In a world where economic dominance of China and India can only be stopped by WWIII as a short cut you can alternatively create a bipolar planet armed to its teeth. Spreading the Cold War division of Europe across the entire globe this time.
May be figuring that the “other side” will be more affected by climate change than North America and Europe.
“Where TF is Putin? ”
Unlike the Yanks, and the British before them, the Russians don’t see themselves as the World Police.
“May be figuring that the “other side” will be more affected by climate change than North America and Europe.”
I don’t think that the “other side” think that climate change is anything other than natural.
B: “I don’t think that the “other side” think that climate change is anything other than natural.”
Why? Do you think the “other side” is scientifically illiterate or just stupid?
In case it has not been posted here already:
https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/us-court-concludes-israel-s-assault-gaza-plausible-case-genocide
Intro:
That’s big. Liberals love to portray themselves as champions of forensic, professional analysis and verifiable facts. Let’s see if their response to this decision ever advances beyond silence.
Indeed, the liberals should be the “normal ones” but they have sunk as deep as the right-wing extremists – or matter of fact, beyond that – in their support for Israel, thus the liberals belive they do something good – all deludedly self-righteously – the most dangerous of people that always cause the most damage. On top of all this their leader – Biden, is a senile goner. This is like a real-life horror movie being played out in front of us.
This is where I support you, Jack. Such a dangerous type of people who stubbornly repeat that they are right.
Normally, we indicate our position and start a dialogue to come to the most acceptable agreement, because people (and therefore the positions of their states) – surprise! – are different.
Therefore, everyone cannot be right at the same time.
People may have opposing views, middle views, partially overlapping positions, or parallel positions, so the stupidest course of action is to insist on being exclusively right. This is not logical, contrary to common sense, and only leads to hitting a wall, to the collapse of interaction, loss of trust, oh, and loss of trust prevents interaction for a long time to come. So this is a recipe for the worst.
With respect, someone who is socially liberal should, I imagine by definition, be socially aware – which means introspective and thus able to openly acknowledge when they are wrong. Most leaders being portrayed as “liberals” are in fact “neo-liberal” and as to your argument about being more dangerous than far right wing extremists, please don’t tell me that Hitler was a liberal, not a far right wing extremist…
Nota Tory Fanboy
I meant what I said, that liberals believe they have a higher value, believe they stand above right-wing extremists, but they are as bad or even worse when it comes to Gaza proven by their own action and merit. I mean the liberals taking a full support stance in killing kids in the thousands: that is something right-wing extremists would do of course, not liberals – therefore they are the most dangerous because they are so horribly smug and self-righteous.
What’s a liberal?
Ain´t that cool:
“Israel Destroys Belgian Aid Agency Office in Gaza
by Kyle Anzalone | Feb 1, 2024”
“A Belgian official posted photos showing the building housing its aid agency’s offices in Gaza was destroyed by an Israeli air strike on the besieged Palestinian enclave. The building was targeted as Belgium is refusing to cut off assistance to the Palestinian UN aid agency.
Minister of Development Cooperation and Major Cities Policy Caroline Gennez posted photos of the building before and after it was destroyed on X. “The office building of Enabel, the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation, in Gaza, has been bombed and is completely destroyed,” her post explained. “Attacking civilian buildings is and remains totally unacceptable.”
She added that Brussels had summoned Tel Aviv’s ambassador.”
The Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium last month made this poignant comment:
“Germans were on the wrong side of history already once. Will they end up there again?”
Of course it could be of advantage for certain struggles that Brussels is on Belgian soil.
Sometimes all this feels like mediaeval warfare all over again…no rules. Only force counts.
How would the Hungarian affair have played out if the EU parliament were located in Budapest not Brussels? A little skirmish between non-existent EU troops and non-existent Hungarian armed forces?
Gosh, so many possibilities for fiction novelwriters and streamers.
Or to use Dilip Hiro´s historic quote: “We have the Maxim Gun. You don´t.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht__uIDlH18
The link shows Matt Lee of Associated Press at a US State Department Briefing. I’ve seen many instances of him holding the shjlls to account on ‘left’ leaning youtube channels but have never come across any of his reports online.
Does his AP editor shelve his reports? Do they put them out to subscribing media who then ignore them? Is there a site which aggregates them?
One week after ICJ statement: nothing happend…
This is the point of the problem, the whole world waited for the ICJ statement as a redeeming cure > the ICJ statement was read out > and…. no one does anything with.
There needs to be a Plan B, there needs to be follow-ups after follow-ups. As Rashid Khalidi said (
TikTok), there need to be organizing and therefore making sure Israel feel the heat because otherwhise they will go on doing what they are doing, nothing will change unless real action is taken. The onus is, on the arab world now, west is out of the question permanently, if one have not woke up after 12000 deliberately killed kids or after the ICJ statement by genocide might be what is occuring in Gaza, nothing will wake these vile western…creatures up.
“One week after ICJ statement: nothing happend…”
Not quite – the conniving bastards all decided to suspend aid to UNRWA.
On a side note – where I work (NHS), they have a few ‘charity’ boards which usually carry woke BS about inclusivity etc. Recently, they put up a load of laminates about Holocaust memorial day. I put a note on there saying remember the holocaust, but don’t forget about the Palestinians getting murdered right now, also don’t support the Israeli fascist / zionist regime.
An email was sent to everyone about an ‘awful incident’. Someone had put an ‘anti-Semitic’ note on the ‘D&I board’ (presumably Diversity and Inclusivity). They were ‘investigating’ and looking for the individual(s) responsible.
Lol. They had a load of crap on there about how we should all be supporting Ukraine, complete with Ukrainian flags. I put a note up then too, contrasting how the destruction of Gaza received zero coverage on the board.
It seems the propaganda boards, like the MSM, are only allowed to carry their ‘information’.
I commend you for your civil courage Bob – I try to do similar acts whenever I can – people are brainwashed, and there are nothing more dangerous than people believing they are oh-so-free-thinking individuals but in the end only repeat what they heard their talking-head newscaster told them. This is also very aparent when one get in argumentation with these people on the subject, you really find out by the first minute staring at these individuals while they are babbling – that they have no knowledge about the conflict at all even though they are acting cocksure.
Your story by the way reminds me of this equally absurd incident:
Gaza children’s artwork, removed from London hospital
Plates designed by children from Gaza and produced by UK students at hospital school taken down amid legal threats from pro-Israel group
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-gaza-children-artwork-removed-hospital-looks-new-home
We are in a world where the perpetrator want us to remember a genocide against their ethnicity but one must shut up about their acts of genocide commited by themselves in the open. And not only commit as such, they brag about it, celebrate it openly! But do not dare you criticise them!
Never again…atleast for one certain ethnicity – the adage should be read.
Thanks Jack. I remember that story about the children’s artwork and the ‘UK Lawyers for Israel’. How do those scumbag lawyers sleep at night?
When arguing with the brainwashed about the situation, even in the extreme scenario in which ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are removed from the equation altogether, they still lose – just using facts is enough to condemn them as massive liars.
“Never again…atleast for one certain ethnicity – the adage should be read.”
It is a discouraging thing about the human race that so often to suffer injustice and ill-treatment results not in a desire to end the injustice and ill-treatment, but to be the one dealing it out rather than the one on the receiving end.
It’s vanishingly rare for there to be any ‘good’ news to bring to the subject, but here’s one:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68177357
It says, in part:
>>>>
More than 800 serving officials in the US and Europe have signed a statement warning that their own governments’ policies on the Israel-Gaza war could amount to “grave violations of international law”.
The “transatlantic statement”, a copy of which was passed to the BBC, says their administrations risk being complicit in “one of the worst human catastrophes of this century” but that their expert advice has been sidelined.
It is the latest sign of significant levels of dissent within the governments of some of Israel’s key Western allies.
One signatory to the statement, a US government official with more than 25 years’ national security experience, told the BBC of the “continued dismissal” of their concerns.
“The voices of those who understand the region and the dynamics were not listened to,” said the official.
“What’s really different here is we’re not failing to prevent something, we’re actively complicit. That is fundamentally different from any other situation I can recall,” added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The statement is signed by civil servants from the US, the EU and 11 European countries including the UK, France and Germany.
It says Israel has shown “no boundaries” in its military operations in Gaza, “which has resulted in tens of thousands of preventable civilian deaths; and… the deliberate blocking of aid… putting thousands of civilians at risk of starvation and slow death.”
“There is a plausible risk that our governments’ policies are contributing to grave violations of international law, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing or genocide,” it said.
<<<<
The article goes on further than I have quoted above.
A couple of decades ago, Craig Murray spoke to fellow ambassadors and other foreign diplomats about the illegality and immorality of US/UK intelligence officers and agencies being complicit in the use of torture. He was an outlier.
Now, we have 800 outliers! All of 'em prepared to put their names to objections about Western complicity in Genocide being committed by Israel.
Thanks for that link
“There is a plausible risk that our governments’ policies are contributing to grave violations of international law, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing or genocide,” it said.
Risk?
I wonder why people still pussyfooting around the subject though? If you provide 1 public support, 2 political support, 3 physical support by sending arms, ammunition 4 blocking peace efforts/ceaesfire and 5 stopping humanitarian aid – How are you then not complicit already?!
Absurd how the west claim that Belarus is complicit in what Russia is doing in Ukraine…if Belarus is complicit in the war for doing…well exactly what? What on earth are then western active and open support for Israel to be called?? Complicity is not enough to describe the support west give Israel.
on a similar note:
German human rights groups and German state institutions in the “Arab world” with growing resistance (wow that took long, cowards):
“A path of destruction
Germany’s position on the war in the Gaza Strip is causing serious problems for Berlin’s frontline organizations in the Arab world. Human rights activists turn away, 75 percent classify German politics as “negative”.
https://www-german–foreign–policy-com.translate.goog/news/detail/9471?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Of course this resistance only works since the massacre now hurts German interests.
“(…)
TEL AVIV/BERLIN (Own report) – The German stance on the war in the Gaza Strip, including the refusal to call for a permanent ceasefire, is causing serious problems for Berlin’s foreign policy front organizations in the Arab world. All party-affiliated foundations that have branch offices in the region speak of “irritations” among their local partners, are losing formerly loyal employees and are even facing open protests. Human rights activists who are waging tough battles against state repression in the Arab world are withdrawing all cooperation from Berlin, which has previously supported them selectively. “Germany is currently losing allies throughout the Arab world,” an Arab journalist also warned in German media at the beginning of the year. According to surveys, 52 percent of the population in the Arab world viewed German foreign policy as positive at the end of 2020; only 28 percent rated them negatively. Currently only 9 percent are of the opinion that German policy on the war in the Gaza Strip is “positive”; 75 percent call it “negative”. Insiders warn of a “path of devastation.”
(…)”
I assume all these cowards speaking out – diplomats, NGOs, etc. – is also due to the catalytic effect of the ICJ ruling after South Africa´s act of bravery all over the world.
A pretty spineless lot. But the German press is astonishingly immune against such views. Constantly trying to spin realities.
Do as we say or else.
“Belgium refused to cut funding to UNRWA in Gaza.
So Israel responded today by bombing the office of the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation in Gaza.”
With the news coming in tonight to close of a 100 hits by US on Syria and Iraq it prove once again that Israel and it’s western partners could do whatever they want in the region – they play around with the arabs like they are pawns. The whole premise that Iraq, a shia majority nation is still accepting US troops on their soil after all this – unreal treasonous corruption! As have been said before, there must be a reaction sooner or later from the area, from the arab world, how can they approve being humiliated like this? What if an arab country bombed the US like this over and over? Unphantomable and the new US bombings are just the beginning according to the war criminals in the White House.
The enduring humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is leaving an indelible mark on the region, raising concerns about the scant support provided to Palestinians by Arab states. Despite the Arab world’s asserted history of unity and shared values, there is a glaring absence of tangible support for the beleaguered population of Gaza.
The official Arab stance, while sadly unsurprising, has taken an alarming turn. Historical precedents of inadequate support for the Palestinian cause have now shifted to a rejection of the severance of ties with the occupying state. Some reports have even pointed to a trade corridor provided by Arab states to Israel as it grapples with the naval blockade imposed by Yemen’s Houthis.
Ghassan Elkahlout is the director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies and an associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-war-gaza-upended-region-what-comes-next
Obviously Israel and the US only understands resistance, force, no ICJ statements will change their ways. Only force, sanctions, embargos, expulsions will.
Why should the Arabs be the ones to sort out this mess? Israel is a European colony, supported and backed by European countries and their ex-colonies. The responsibility to sort t out falls squarely on the Europeans and their colonial descendants. If you had two neighbours, one of whom was a large and violent extremist with no hair and tattoos and much bigger than you and you saw him, with an even bigger and more violent friend beating up the other, smaller neighbour, would you wade in to try and stop them and what do you think would happen if you did?
I have repeatedly replied to this odd question by you multiple times. Check earlier posts, latest:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2024/01/has-international-law-survived-or-has-the-western-political-class-killed-it/comment-page-2/#comment-1054592
Please Bayard, stop defending the passive Arab leadership. You are doing the Palestinians – and the region at large – a great disfavour with your support for the lack of action by the Arab world.
The Palestinians themselves loathe the Arab leaders. Arab analysts – like the one I used in my post above – are on point. They know what they are talking about. Please believe them; you do not have to take my word for it. At least change your ways for the Palestinians. Ok? If not, you become complicit in the ongoing genocide.
From your linked comment: “I have repeatedly typed down multiple measures the arab leaders could take to stop and/or put the breaks on Israel’s genocide or even take mere symbolic measure but the arab leaders will not even do that. You have yet to explain why the arab leaders you support should not take on these measures. Reply to that question please.”
My reply is as the comment you are replying to, which you choose to ignore. You also choose to ignore my request for you to give a reason why the Arabs should feel responsible for sorting out a mess that is not of their creation. I have replied to your question; please reply to mine or stop posting these bleats. As I’ve said before, it looks Islamophobic.
I don’t feel that the Arabs have any responsibility to do anything apart from give aid to UNRWA. You obviously feel differently about it, but you really don’t need to keep reminding everyone of how you feel every week. If you choose to keep harping on about something that is just your opinion as if it is some eternal verity, then I will choose to keep reminding you that it’s not.
Bayard
No, that was what I replied to. Read it again, read the analogy with the neighbour: it is all there. Why should the Arab leaders act? You simply ignore my replies for some absurd reason.
No, it is not me who feels “differently” about it. It is how the Palestinians, the Arab world, themselves feel about it. The Arab population want their leaders to support the Palestinians beyond words. Do you even read the analysts from the region I linked? Do you even care about the polls from the region – where in Saudi Arabia 96% of the population urge the Arab leaders to cut any ties with Israel? You are complicit in the genocide, just like the passive Arab leadership you support.
Islamophobe?? What are you even talking about? The leaders of the Arab world are, in the majority, secular. You have no clue what is going on in the region, obviously. In fact, you are the one that sounds like an Islamophobe – because the real Islamophobes are of course the Arab leaders. Have you completely missed how the biggest political force for a real leftist and socialist national change for the Arab population, for genuine support for the Palestinians, is coming from the Muslim Brotherhood? They are under threat of jail in the whole Arab world, from the same leaders you support. And, again, do not take my word for it: start reading the links I hand out to you, start reading up on the subject. Show some humility.
Video “HOW CAN THEY ALLOW THIS MASSACRE TO HAPPEN?!”
Heartbroken Palestinian elder sends angry message to Arab leaders at London rally.
https://www.tiktok.com/@analystnews/video/7320287549807709472
Jack
our friend Bayard IMO is trying to say that this is not a war of Arabs/Muslims against Jews and Christians. Your posts make it sound like that.
I know what you mean and it makes sense, but it can easily be interpreted by hasbara as Jews and Christians against Evil (Muslims).
My point is, how many days would it take to mobilise Christians, Hindus, etc. against the Evil? We are already on Israel’s side and we don’t need much propaganda/conviction to obliterate Iran and “Iran-backed forces”.
Did anyone notice this video by Israel TV? Very interesting how the Israeli media manage to show the full horror of Israeli governments policies and actions. Don’t know whether they agree with it and don’t care what the world thinks or if they really are journalists bearing witness for the future. The video is pretty horrific:
https://twitter.com/rmackenz1/status/1753517431828488616
Hope the link works.
The video was picked up by Quds – I don’t know whether or not it is authentic.
Quds is a good legitimate news source. Good also that you try to spread the word on social media to amplify the message; I have an account myself.
It is interesting that the Western MSM does not dare to show their population how gruesomely Israel acts, but Israeli TV show the most heinous stuff they do inside Gaza, not to mention the constant war-criminal calls from various representatives in news shows. They have a free reign to do whatever they want because they know no one will do anything about it, unfortunately.
interesting development
Zelensky just fired Zaluzhnyi. if Ukraine collapses more quickly, then the world will be able to devote more attention to Gaza. I don’t know how Russia’s victory will affect US foreign policy. it is an unstable situation.
If Russia does occupy Ukraine it won’t signify victory or an end to the war, just the conflict entering a new phase of partisan warfare for which Ukraine has been preparing for over two years. The objective will be to wear down the occupation forces until Russia decides it isn’t worth the sacrifice. Needless to say the Ukrainian irregulars will be trained and equipped by NATO.
What if Trump pulls the USA out of NATO? OK that’s tongue in cheek insofar as the US empire isn’t about to break up. The US looks set to bring nuclear weapons back to its bases in Britain, if it hasn’t already done it on the quiet. Europe west of Russia is about to go to absolute f***. It’s clear that Britain, Germany, France, Poland – none of these compradore-administered provinces have anything like an independent foreign policy.
Estonia is desecrating war graves right now. FFS. That is a provocation and will probably be successful. Remember the 2007 cyberattack? This time, there has been a signal from Russia saying not quite that the Estonian government is reinterring the bodies and how that’s unacceptable, but that they’re doing it…without sorting it out with the families. That’s called offering an olive branch but the regime in Esstonia is unlikely to grasp it. They’re more likely to escalate. They’ll do whatever they’re told and like it.
Putin is speaking of self-sufficiency already.
“Welcome to hell,” in the words of Dmitry Utkin.
“The objective will be to wear down the occupation forces until Russia decides it isn’t worth the sacrifice.”
That and US “NATO” airbases in western Ukraine.
Nicolai Petro in his admirably rational analytic and compassionate attitude suggested that judging from his students and his own kids in the long run Ukrainians´ and Russians´ coming generation won´t care much about the current division of their parents. Thus hatred won´t be kept alive. (And “hatred” applies only to a limited segment of the population in Ukraine I would guess.)
Of course you can argue “Korea”.
But I wouldn´t discount his idea. Social realities in the 1950s were different to now.
One just needs to look how fast news about Gaza are spreading. And even in the case of UKR and the unprecedented level of censorship in the West – a lot of people don´t share their governments´ views despite all the measures in place.
Yes, I agree, at the very beginning of the war I expressed the hope that the wars of fathers should not become the lot of children.
Well, Russian news today reports about that court decision with such direct and confident statements:
“The International Court of Justice ruled: Russia is not an aggressor country and does not sponsor terrorism, the DPR and LPR are not terrorist organizations, and Moscow is not responsible for the crash of Boeing 777 flight MH17 in July 2014.”
Sorry for my return to this topic, for me it’s probably personal. I am a self-employed artisan, and with my own hands I take money out of my pocket to pay taxes to my state. I guess I’m just trying to find consolation that I’m not sponsoring terrorism or racial discrimination with my taxes. And being in the propaganda information space of a warring country, I’m probably trying to find a more or less unbiased assessment from an outside observer.
I also think that if this court decision is recognized, then future generations may look at the policies of the current Ukrainian regime with the same attitude as we today have towards Stalin’s policies.
“The International Court of Justice ruled: Russia is not an aggressor country and does not sponsor terrorism, the DPR and LPR are not terrorist organizations, and Moscow is not responsible for the crash of Boeing 777 flight MH17 in July 2014.”
That’s not what the ICJ said at all. They declined to make any ruling about MH17 at all, stating that it was beyond their jurisdiction. They ruled that Russia is an ‘aggressor nation’ back in 2022.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2022/729350/EPRS_ATA(2022)729350_EN.pdf
TATYANA
but please keep in mind that the countless artists like you, who e.g. live in the US, are not to be mixed up with their government, which is the bigges perpetrator of terrorism in the world.
So even, if ICJ ruled differently, and even if RU in fact WAS a major terrorist state (which it is not more than any other major nation) – that would not alter the nature and quality of your integrity.
With paying taxes you pay for countless other services which are benefical to people like yourself.
(Actually most of those who are fighting and killing people in Ukraine are most likely decent people themselves, like in any army in the world. That´s the unsolvable mystery of our species.)
You may well disagree, but I personally never found much sense in the (in)famous “right or wrong, my country.”
I find that propagandistic logic.
Instead I would go for the old-style international solidarity movement, where workers across borders have more in common than workers and land-owners (to put it the old way) of same nationality.
“What if Trump pulls the USA out of NATO?”
He would be shot. Not necessarily from a grassy knoll, but probably by more than one shooter, just like the guy who threatened to prevent The American War in Vietnam from occurring and being expanded.
NATO is The Empire’s sole remaining tool of control of the Northern hemisphere. With widespread de-Dollarisation under way in the East and the South, military control is the sole remaining lever of Power that The Empire still has.
Absolutely agree Ebenezer, the massive military industrial city complex that is keeping the US afloat would not want its biggest cash cow and display window for new weapons, regulated or not, to be taken off the green grass.
“ “What if Trump pulls the USA out of NATO?”
He would be shot. ”
It’s tempting to speculate who, in such a scenario, would be officially blamed for the shooting. Would it be “Muslims”, “Mexicans”, Russia, Iran, North Korea, or a “lone wolf”?
IMHO
The Evil Trump didn’t want to pull out of NATO but the EU countries to pay more.
Are we increasing our defence budget?
you must be getting bored of all these NATO victories.
“If Russia does occupy Ukraine it won’t signify victory or an end to the war, just the conflict entering a new phase of partisan warfare for which Ukraine has been preparing for over two years. The objective will be to wear down the occupation forces until Russia decides it isn’t worth the sacrifice.”
That’s just what the Nazis were saying in May 1945. They were going to retreat to Alpine hideouts and continue the guerilla war. It’s what every defeated nation claims.
It doesn’t look to me that Russia has any intention of taking much more territory than it has already. It would only bring them the sort of headaches you outline and that they already experienced in Afghanistan. Crimea is secured for them which, I reckon, is what it’s been about all along. Their interests nowadays align with their new besties in the East, for whom they’ll likely become hewers of wood, drawers of water and mercenaries. They’ll establish an impermeable frontier to the west like the old Iron Curtain as everyone nowadays knows the ways Western spooks work to destabilise and there’s no point trying to trade with unreliable puppets of Washington. The whole “Russian hordes with snow on their boots” thing is just a NATO line to pry more money and influence out of gullible Western taxpayers.
“If Russia does occupy Ukraine…”
It’s not going to.
Crystal ball or hot tip Bayard?
Don’t know if it’s been posted already but here’s the George Galloway speech in Rochdale.
https://youtu.be/X5g4mZuV06A?si=OkdCLRUsHk7ALBjW
he’s no Keir Starmer.
Can’t resist it, interview of Irish representatives to the European Commission.
https://youtu.be/X4TbkWbEujQ?si=7uZkj3m7n55RN53d
Mick Wallace and Clare Daly are elected members of the European Parliament and are certainly not representatives of the EU comission. That’s not to diminish what they have to say. I’d imagine both of them would not want to be associated with the EU commission and its policy currently.
ET.
Daly is excellent at showing up the EU parliament for what it really is. She gives it Ursula von der Leyen as well. I’ve read that the EU wants to, or will, undermine the Hungarian economy if Viktor Orbán doesn’t sign off on the billions of Euros package for Ukraine; whether or not Orbán has since agreed to (or not) the sign-off I’m not sure, but it shows us clearly that the EU bigwigs are just as corrupt as the rest of them who are pushing the genocide in Palestine.
A bit of good news now, God knows we need it.
Well done Portugal.
“Portugal’s acting government said Friday that it will continue to fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and announced that it will send an additional one million euros.”
RoS. I totally agree with you. I think Clare Daly is great, and being Irish myself I follow what she says and does with admiration. However, I think she’d be rightly pissed off to be considered “a representative of the EU commission”, a body she constantly and intelligently harangues.
Maybe I should change my name to RepublicofIreland. 😁
It’s my understanding that the EU has not actually suspended UNRWA finding as yet. I believe a number of EU member states are working to ensure funding continues.
It is also my view that Ursula VDL and Borrel are the equivalent of civil servants and as such should have no voice independent of what they are told to say by the heads of state meetings – i.e. The European Council.
ET.
Good points – and yes, why not? ‘RepublicofIreland’ sounds good. (And speaking of good: the Irish rugby team did well last night – off to a flyer.)
“Ireland provided @UNRWA €18m in 2023 and will continue our support in 2024”, says Micheal Martin.
Ireland is where Scotland needs to be: an independent nation.
What can we as citizens do to try and stop the genocide? Very little unfortunately but we can write to our MPS and put pressure on them to get things discussed in Parliament. If something is discussed in parliament it produces a historical record and an accountability trail and perhaps may make members of the decision making outfit think twice. We should when writing also ask as to whether the government has sought legal advice on their action and also whether that legal advice should be published. I have done this on those lines with my MP:
“………. my concerns about the much more serious issue, of the possibility genocide of the Gazan population by Israel found by the highest international court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the duty of the UK government as a holder of a permanent seat in the security council, to uphold international law as interpreted by this court. The government should also be accountable to the nation through parliament as this is an issue of conscience which concerns us all and a full debate in parliament would be able to clarify the position and to enquire about the legal basis of the advice offered to the government on this matter.”
“What can we as citizens do to try and stop the genocide? Very little unfortunately but we can write to our MPS and put pressure on them to get things discussed in Parliament. ”
I think a much more productive course of action is to write to your MP or the PPC for the most likely party to win against them and say that you will definitely not vote for them, or anyone else from their party, unless their party takes a stand against the killing. If enough people do this, especially in seats that Labour are hoping to win from the Conservatives, it might have some effect. We are lucky that there is an election this year.
Bayard.
It looks like the mainstream parties at Westminster have already lost the Muslim vote. This coming GE will be a very interesting one.
‘Labour is 30,000 dead Gazans too late’: Muslim campaign aims to disrupt UK politics, by Imran Mulla (Middle East Eye, 31 Jan 2024)
« A new Muslim campaign supporting independent candidates to run in Britain’s general election has slammed the Labour Party’s concern over losing Muslim support as “30,000 dead Gazans too late”.
The Guardian reported on Tuesday that Labour leader Keir Starmer’s office is conducting polling and holding focus groups with British Muslims across the country, amid mounting fears among party officials that many Muslims who have previously supported Labour may not vote for the party because of its support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Contributing to Labour’s fears is a grassroots group called The Muslim Vote (TMV), which has been endorsed by the Muslim Association of Britain, the Muslim Council of Scotland, the Muslim Council of Wales, Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend) – and other Muslim civil society groups.
TMV says it has “thousands” of volunteers ready to support independent local political campaigns in constituencies which have a significant Muslim electorate and members of parliament who failed to vote for a ceasefire. »
It’d be wrong to assume all Muslims will feel the same way. I live in a safe Labour seat and I know much of Labour’s vote is unthinking and tribal – hence why Starmer has been able veer the party off to the right with so little internal protest.
I do think a Corbyn-fronted party could do incredible damage to Starmer-led Labour’s support though. The Muslim population is around 7.0% in England and Wales – a sizeable voting bloc. And a decisive voting bloc, if united, in many London constituencies, e.g, the hideous Blairite, Wes Streeting’s has a Muslim majority. Compare and contrast it to the <0.4% that is the Jewish population in the UK, Self-appointed community representatives MPs have been busily tripping over themselves to placate.
Scots obviously have the SNP, and I think Humza Yousaf has earned himself support with his strong stance, especially when you consider who his opponents are. In England, we really need that mooted Corbyn ‘Peace & Justice’ vehicle. It may sound selfish wanting someone else to do something so demanding. But there really is no one else with the name recognition and legacy support base who’d deliver a mass member outfit in short order.
Yes, Goose, not all Muslims feel the same way but I’d imagine that Starmer’s reluctance to call for a ceasefire has turned many of them away from the current Labour party. In truth we know the current Labour party are virtually no different from the Tory party in policies. And as for the policies that are different, well, we’ll see Starmer roll back on them – if he hasn’t already done so.
As for Jeremy Corbyn, they were forced to run a major smear- and lie-filled campaign against him. They, including many in his party, didn’t want a REAL SOCIALIST at the helm and even possibly in government.
On Yousaf and the SNP, Yousaf has come out and backed a ceasefire and supported the poor oppressed Palestinians – which is the right and proper thing to do. That act is a bright spot in an otherwise mediocre tenure as Scotland’s FM. And let’s not forget that not all SNP politicians could be said to be as open on the Gaza matter. Mossad agent Shia Masot said of Angus Robertson that he was someone that Israel could work with; and several SNP politicians also went on a jaunt to Israeli.
Has the new Sinn Fein FM for Northern Ireland expressed an opinion on Gaza? If she supports a ceasefire, as I expect she does, that’s two FMs for a ceasefire.
Lysias, Yes, she does support a ceasefire. She said that in an interview with Trevor Phillips this AM on Sky.
RoS, without the Scottish seats it has long since lost to the SNP, Labour will face an uphill struggle, even against a Conservative party such as the current one, IMHO. When Jeremy Corbyn was offering a real alternative to Tory rule, which Kier Starmer isn’t, by a long way, he failed to get a majority. Unhappy Labour voters who voted Conservative last time will probably vote Labour this time, but unhappy Conservative voters won’t. Thus the loss of the Muslim vote could be critical.
“amid mounting fears among party officials that many Muslims who have previously supported Labour may not vote for the party because of its support for Israel’s war on Gaza.”
You really would have thought they could have seen that coming.
“RoS, without the Scottish seats it has long since lost to the SNP, Labour will face an uphill struggle, even against a Conservative party such as the current one, IMHO.”
Bayard.
It’s a well-documented myth that Labour needs Scottish seats to win at a GE.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/why-labour-doesnt-need-scotland/
As for the concerted effort by the MSM, Mossad, the UK government, the CIA, and many in Labour, to smear Jeremy Corbyn as anti-Semitic: it was such a deep and prolonged campaign that Labour’s Red Wall collapsed, to such an extent that even mining towns that were economically destroyed by the Tories under Thatcher voted Tory.
From your link: ” In October 1974, for example – which we’ll discover shortly is a significant date – Labour won 41 Scottish seats. That sounds impressive, until you realise that Scotland also voted in 30 non-Labour MPs (16 Tory, 11 SNP, 3 Liberal), meaning that the net contribution of Scotland towards a Labour majority was just 11.”
No it wasn’t. The SNP were never going to form a government in Westminster, nor were the Liberals, it was Labour against the Conservatives, which meant that Scottish Labour contributed 41-16 = 25 seats. Ditto any other general election.
” it was such a deep and prolonged campaign that Labour’s Red Wall collapsed, ”
Coincidence is not causality. Much more likely is that Corbyn’s weak acceptance of the Labour fudge on Brexit ( I wonder whose idea that was?) caused their defeat, with Labour Leavers voting Leave, i.e. Tory and Tory Remainers voting Tory. For too many Labour voters, Brexit trumped party loyalties, whereas for the Tories, the reverse was true.
I am afraid you have all missed the point and went off topic. The topic is how to embarrass the government and the opposition by exposing the lack of willingness to debate this in Parliament. A similar way was used during the Iraq war lead up from which we now know how many voted for war. We want to know how many have voted against the ICJ.
The Tories don’t do embarrassment. Otherwise, it’s a good plan.
It could be seen as hopeless, but one must nonetheless keep the pressure up by whatever means one see fit in one way it is because of the pressure from people like us that for example South Africa took it to the ICJ.
Acts one can do:
• Go to demos or organize them
• Write letter to the editor of your local newspaper
• Write to journalists, politicians etc
• Write to companies etc asking why they do business with Israel
• Raise the issue at your workplace
• Register a Twitter/Facebook account and take the discussion, spread the word
• Wear the Keffiyeh, put up stickers
• Sit-in protests
• Spread, share fliers on the streets
• Call on trade unions to cut any ties with Israel
• Look up where politicians are about to speak to the public and call their support for Israel out
• etc.
Exactly where/when will occur the next street demo in Edinburgh?
I will be there. I just need to know when and exactly where.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240203165526/https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/02/03/further-bombing-in-gaza-will-leave-any-respect-for-humanitarian-law-in-tatters-president-higgins/
I hope the mods will allow me to quote President Michael D. Higgins extensively from the above piece in The Irish Times. It’s an eloquent expression of views which I’m sure most here would agree with.
“President Higgins warned that any further extension of the bombing campaign into what is a densely populated area to which so many have fled “would leave any respect for humanitarian law in tatters”.
“The suggestion that such a development take place and be watched in near silence is a suggestion that removes all morality from any stated position of public concern for the most basic of human rights.”
Will public representatives across the world express their concern for human rights, as Biden and other leaders continue to do, yet remain silent on palastinian civilian deaths and the destruction of Gaza?
“What is at stake now, given the high proportion of loss of life of non-combatants, and particularly of women and children, is the potential emptying-out of the entire space and discourse of human rights and international humanitarian law.
“Such an eschewing of moral considerations is a moment of global crisis that offers a terrible nadir of human concern and must be opposed in order to prevent it being invoked in future conflicts.”
What does “never again” truly mean in the context of what is happening in Gaza?
“As the Irish Government with others have stated, this must include the recognition of a Palestinian State.”
President Higgins said the 30,000 UNRWA staff in the region, including 13,000 in Gaza, must be supported.
“Those countries who have removed their funding from UNRWA must be reminded of the unavoidable consequences their actions are likely to have on this (those?) most vulnerable. This is not a matter on which anyone who believes in the vital need for a humanitarian response can remain silent,” he said.
On 29th February 2024 Rochdale will have a by-election after the death of Tony Lloyd MP, the Muslim population is 19%. George Galloway is contesting this election and Gaza is the main focus on Galloway’s campaign. I hope he wins, or at least receives a substantial vote.
Ah, another vocal statement by the ridiculous lazy, corrupt, indifferent, Arab League. I am sure Israel will shake in fear:
Arab League calls on international community to end Israel’s crimes against Palestinian children
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311761/middle-east
Why call on someone else, when you are right there seeing the crimes being committed right in front of you?
There are close to 500 million Arabs in the region, they encompass a military might many times greater than Israel’s. Start doing something yourself, no? Saudi Arabia itself spends about x3 times as much on their military than Israel do + then you have the backup of another 20+ Arab states. How yella could you get?
Even when Israel have attacked Lebanon, Syria about 1000 times just past months and the lousy “league” have nothing to say of course:
Israel says struck thousands of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, Syria during Gaza war
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2453486/middle-east
Of course, in a possible war with Iran in the future, all these Arab leaders will wake up and utilize their military against Iran along with the US forces, perhaps even Israeli forces.
“Of course, in a possible war with Iran in the future, all these Arab leaders will wake up and utilize their military against Iran along with the US forces, perhaps even Israeli forces.”
I very much doubt that. They might do nothing in the case of such a war, that is plausible. But Israel has succeeded in making itself the enemy of all in the ME. i.e. for Gulfies: if Iran is not a danger, why run to the US to protect you?
“Why call on someone else, when you are right there seeing the crimes being committed right in front of you?”
Because that someone else has caused the crimes to be committed? I am sure if you were standing next to someone who was allowing their dog to savage a child, you wouldn’t consider asking the dog owner to get their dog under control, but rush in to try and drag it away, getting badly bitten in the process. Nor would you think of calling the police and having the dog owner arrested. Perhaps you’d be smarter than that, you’d be shouting at a passer by as to why they didn’t rush in and get bitten and, when they didn’t you’d be calling them “ridiculous lazy, corrupt, indifferent,”.
“Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.” Proverbs 26:17