This was a fabulous meeting to a packed hall. There were moments in both Chris and Richard’s speeches where you could have heard a pin drop and breath was held.
Craig Murray, Richard Medhurst and Chris Hedges talk to a packed hall in Blackburn about Palestine@CraigMurrayOrg @richimedhurst @ChrisLynnHedges https://t.co/PhWlaEKBL1
— Gordon Dimmack (@GordonDimmack) June 15, 2024
[ The speeches begin at the following points:
0:00 Introduction, by Craig Murray
01:42 Chris Hedges
25:04 Richard Medhurst
46:07 Craig Murray
Chris Hedges has also posted a discussion between all three speakers which took place after the main event. ]
That was excellent by Chris Hedges who has a tendency towards verbosity but here was focussed and punchy. I shall return to Richard Medhurst with whom I am very familiar to see if he avoids that frequent YouTube problem of “indignation”, which irritates because things are way beyond “indignation” and into death and destruction and Endgame.
What Chris Hedges failed to note is that Covid Lockdown emboldened the Satanists. They saw compliance by 66% and decided they could get away with anything and ratcheted up their frenzy. If they can carry off genocide and war with Russia it will be full-blown dictatorship in Western countries to follow with whatever Big Brother they can assemble to subjugate the populations.
Pal Greenwood said ” What Chris Hedges failed to note is that Covid Lockdown emboldened the Satanists.”
Satanists?
Who dey?
I can’t answer that but I did read a book called “The Brotherhood of War” several years ago – it was terrible, I should’ve stopped reading and binned it but I’m stubborn. Anyway, it is apparently a first hand account of a mech infantary platoon involved in combat and then the pacification of Iraq. One of the members of the platoon was a Satanist! The book claimed it was a recognised religion in the American Army, maybe even the American Armed Forces! Maybe even had Army “chaplains” to support the Satanist’s amongst the troops! The Satanists were depicted as very “hill-billy”and came from a working class background but they were as good at killing as non-Satanist combat soldiers, though they seemed to have adopted a hebephrenic approach to personal hygiene. This surprised me, as I thought any army would be aware of the Trench Foot, the Crotch Rot and the rest of the conditions that soldiers on active service are prey to.
Will Moon
Afaik Satanism is legal in Europe and the US.
I don’t know what it means for a religion to be “recognized”?
JK: I don’t know what it means for a religion to be “recognized”?
It should be spelled with an ‘s’, obviously, but the meaning is plain enough – a recognised religion is one that is respected by the body (state etc) that recognises it. It then becomes eligible for charitable status, allowed to observe their practices despite these possibly being contrary to rules for the general population, and so forth.
Given official sanction in the laws of the state in question, I would imagine, instantiated as facilities to use for religious purposes, tax breaks etc but I am not an expert in the obtuse machinations of Church-State relations
It is all a bit nebulous. I didn’t realise that Satanists require people to officiate at religious ceremonies and whatnot – silly me! It is just prejudice on my part or is it? Does one have a responsibility to learn a little about Satanism to show respect to Satanists that one might meet when one is out and about? Would I be charged with a hate crime, if in my former ignorance, I made an extremely off-colour and a slanderous remark about the temporality of corrupt priesthoods, thinking Satanists don’t have priests but was, actually, speaking to a keen Satanist who loved and admired the Satanic clergy?
How does one achieve recognition for a new creed? Who gets to decide? I live next door to a Jehovah Witness religious gaff. It is no trouble to me. They can tell I am not convertible by body language alone. I don’t noise them up. Yet I know a remorseful murderer who having paid his debt to society, feels he must pay his debt to the Creator and has joined this organisation and was leafleting on the street the last time I saw him.
I stopped to say hello and listened to a ten minute outpouring containing the most alarming imagery. It was OK for me but maybe not for him. Every time he said the word “lava” or “eternal hellfire” and he said them a lot along with several other key words and phrases, his face spasmed violently and he struggled to retain a grasp of his narrative. It looked a bit like the exploitation of a desperate mind but he’s been at for a good few years yet is still terrified of “lakes of fire”. I suppose you could say he is “living the dream”
Either ‘-ise’ or ‘-ize’ is acceptable in British English, Glenn. In UK published material, there’s a 3:2 ratio favouring the ‘s’ spelling.
Paul Greenwood –
– “What Chris Hedges failed to note is that Covid Lockdown emboldened the Satanists.”
That’s because Chris Hedges is a lot more sensible than you.
– “They saw compliance by 66%…”
You should be wary about making assumptions. I (mostly) complied with lockdown because it was the least bad option the authorities left me to deal with a highly debilitating virus, not because I’m some sort of weak-minded sheeple. I’d much rather have been in New Zealand, Norway, or even China come to that, where authorities took it seriously.
The immune system damage from covid is cumulative. The majority of the global population could have long covid within a handful of years:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/06/debilitating-a-generation-expert-warns-that-long-covid-may-eventually-affect-most-americans.html
– “I take part in a Global Biosecurity Working Group that played a big role in defining the nine-point plan to address the pandemic that Biden used to get elected. But the minute he was elected, he put a hedge fund guy, Jeff Zients, in charge of the pandemic response. Zients decided the best way forward was to convince people that the pandemic wasn’t happening.
– We’ve seen a very troubling memo sent in February 2022 by leaders of Impact Research, one of the top political strategy and polling consultancies for President Joe Biden, on how Democrats should position themselves on COVID. Impact recommended that they should declare it over, claim victory, and keep quiet about ongoing threats and mitigation efforts. You can read the memo on the US House of Representatives web server and see how the report suggests it’d be politically more expedient to convince people the pandemic is not happening than it is to actually address it. And that’s just what the Biden administration has done. They haven’t been following science. They followed the political advice.
– The Biden administration discarded almost all aspects of the nine-point plan that could have halted the pandemic, saved lives — and by the way, done better for the economy than their exclusive reliance on vaccines. They used the CDC, the WHO, and the HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] to amplify the message that the vaccine is all you need and you don’t need to worry about anything else.”
Anybody who is thinking of adding to this covid tangent should post their response in the discussion forum. Continuations of the theme here in the comments section under the article about a public meeting on Gaza will be deleted for being off topic.
I’m glad both were able to come to the UK, and not put off by our terrifying “anti-terror” border “security”.
All the best for your campaign, Craig – God, we need you to win!
That was impressive stuff. Good luck convincing the electorate of Blackburn.
This was very good
I am disconcerted to admit I actually enjoyed it as serious entertainment. I just listened to the audio casually to start. A couple of mins into Mr Hedges most excellent speech and I listened carefully to the rest of the soundtrack. Thanks. Will listen to this several times easily.
I realise that I have never listened to Mr Hedges give a speech, only having listened to him talk informally. He is fine speech maker and the material was strung together in a superior fashion. Richard Medhurst spoke in a very different fashion, a personal approach but again absorbing my interest.
As for Mr Murray’s own performance there were several impressive transitions, easy for the mind to focus on the material and some moments were the candidate just seemed to be flowing – this is when the information is received on the widest bandwidth the listener is capable of, l opine. I imagine a person might benefit from the experience and the candidate is probably very used to public speaking, yet I offer the notion though the form is as it was, today, right now, for whatever reason the content carries significantly more information than is usual – certain concepts and ideas are publicly emergent, that have not been seen for a while.
As I write, I have been listening to MOATS. I sensed Arab Barghouti showed an awareness of what these emergent properties might be – to be young and aware of a burning truth or truths, wider than one’s previous estimations, wider than one’s horizons have ever been – wider than one has ever imagined.
When will Adnan Hussein step down and endorse Craig Murray to avoid splitting the vote?
Why hasn’t he?
Why can any Muslim and supporter of Palestinians stand against Craig Murray?
So sorry for the hurt this has caused to Craig, who announced first and who does not deserve this. All the best with the campaign sir, I hope you win!
Why hasn’t he stepped down ?
As elsewhere, because he is being paid to stand and split the vote, follow the money, cui bono !
I assume that he is standing to split the vote….
Here’s Galloway putting some meat on the bones of the Workers Party.
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2024/06/16/workers-party-labour-manifesto/
Wow. That was powerful. Each one a mine of information and an indictment of the coverage of client ‘mainstream’ media. Where in mass media has there been anything like these passionate, truthful documents of our degenerate times?
This country needs people like Ambassador Murray in Westminster, so I am disturbed to see they are trying to dilute the anti-Labour vote in Blackburn, for reasons that are not difficult to decipher.
We’re on the same line. It’s very clear that Workers do not like Labour, and vice versa Labour doesn’t like Workers. Despite the split votes, as fake muslim candidates are actually being paid by the Israeli lobby, honesty will prevail. Not only will Ambassador Craig Murray take his powerful voice to Westminster, but this is only the first step. Next, as George Galloway has announced, he will find a well-deserved position as Foreign Secretary and thus put an end to these shameful arm sales supporting the current genocide.
Looks like George, and I’d assume also, Craig, are being subjected to Hope not hate’s extensive ground operation activities (he mentions five teams!) : https://x.com/lowles_nick/status/1801940327730708499
HOPE not hate are a charitable trust. There are strict guidelines for political activities which they appear to be possibly in breach of : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/speaking-out-guidance-on-campaigning-and-political-activity-by-charities-cc9/speaking-out-guidance-on-campaigning-and-political-activity-by-charities.
Hope not hate are a very dubious organisation with links to the establishment and big money – They are heavily infested with the zionist lobby. The decline of the UK is directly related to the rise of these sorts of groups.
Yes, its directors include Labour Right Israel lobbyists Ruth Smeeth and Anna Turley.
Hope not hate have been campaigning against far-right parties in UK elections for decades, Goose, but no one seems to mind (apart from people like Paul Golding* of Britain First). Not sure if they’ll be dispatching five teams to each of Basildon & Billericay, Maidstone & Malling, Faversham & Mid Kent, and Doncaster North, where candidates from the British Democratic Party (formed by BNP hardliners over a decade ago now) are standing though; or to Newark, Makerfield, Leigh & Atherton, and Bolton SW, where members of Patriotic Alternative are representing the English Democrats.
* That reminds me: Still need to get in touch with Hope not hate (and Kent Police) to inform them that he stood in last year’s local elections when not eligible due to a previous suspended sentence in Northern Ireland. Jeff Milburn got 10 months (not suspended) for the same offence when he stood in South Tyneside last year, even though – unlike Golding – he can’t have affected the overall result.
Hope Not Hate is just a Labour Right vehicle for weaponising antisemitism against people opposed to neoliberalism and apartheid (and now genocide).
They have no more interest in actual antisemitism than the British MSM or Sir Keir Starmer and Lord Mandelson.
The latter by way of further illustration have installed this character as the Labour candidate in Durham North: a non-Jew who is infamous for antisemitic rants against non-Zionist Jews.
https://x.com/RedCollectiveUK/status/1798443941844640154
Do not hold your breath waiting for a Hope Not Hate ground operation in that constituency.
Just looked it up, and found out that – although it’s partially funded by its own charitable trust, which is a registered charity – Hope not hate is not a charity itself: like Reform UK and (the currently leaderless*) UKIP, it’s a limited company. According to this report, Nope not hate’s Nick Lowles may be exaggerating somewhat their presence in Rochdale:
https://www.thepublica.com/uk-election-2024-undercover-audio-recordings-reveal-deep-links-between-hope-not-hate-and-labour-campaign-against-george-galloway/
* Has a leader of a UK political party that’s ever had representation in the House of Commons ever resigned in the midst of a general election campaign, before Lois Perry did a couple days ago? Don’t think so.
Chris Hedges presentation is a powerful, impassioned statement about the absence of any prospect for a peaceful resolution in Palestine. We can hope for one but he does not see any future for the Israeli state itself, no rational person can imagine a two state solution ever being acceptable to the Palestinians. In his view, one I agree with, the Israeli state has embarked on a path of genocide and in this action is supported and financed by the US and various European states including the UK. The future of Israel is at best bleak. The main party leaders may have arrest warrants issued for them.
Given that we are in the midst of an election we surely have a duty to use our votes to support anyone but the two main parties. Both have come out in support of the mass murderers. None of us want to be accused of complicity in this genocide. Giving the main parties any sort of mandate will allow them to continue business as usual. This is not desirable.
Can you get yourselves interviewed on GB News? It is touted as a right wing outlet but it prides itself on letting everyone have their say. Given that George Galloway hasn’t been invited to a Leaders Debate that might be an angle to pursue. And for you to present your clear and illuminating perspective it might gain some traction if the response of viewers is favourable. We need an independent news outlet even if it gets criticised by everyone who disagrees with what they present.
Good luck Mr Murray. The world needs your wisdom and insight.
I know I did post this suggestion a few pages back, but time is short and getting the word into people’s lives is the priority. GB News is open to offering a range of perspectives on any number of important and relevant issues.
With very few exceptions, ie. Neil Oliver, GB News has become the acceptable opposition to the MSM – it’s not.
It’s infested with disaffected tories, religious nutters, branch covidians and zionists. It’s the ‘not the nine o’clock news’ of the MSM. Very like TCW, they tend to view Palestinian protesters as terrorist supporters.
If Craig could get on Neil Olivers show good, otherwise I’d suggest he avoid them.
I am remembering how Farage had a phone in radio show every afternoon on LBC and had a massive following in the Red Wall area. The day before the election he pulled all his candidates and said “Vote Boris. Get Brexit done” and the Red Wall collapsed and Boris pulled off a stunt, after hiding in a fridge a few days previously.
If Farage is the only Opposition people will see and hear then no doubt he will pull another stunt and get the Tories in again. Get on there with Neil Oliver or debate Farage or get the Greens on there with you to have the alternative Leaders Debate. Condescension won’t win the election, as Starmer may find to our cost
Farage didn’t pull all The Brexit Party’s candidates the day before the election, Alyson, which he couldn’t have done anyway*, as the ballot papers had already been printed and millions of people had already submitted postal votes. What he did do was to enter into an agreement with the Tories, whereby the Brexit Party didn’t stand candidates in seats previously held by them.
* Unless he’d arranged to have all the Brexit Party candidates killed between close of nominations and election day, in which case all the constituency elections would have had to be re-run at a later date without new candidates from the Brexit Party if the party hadn’t nominated any.
You may be right about the details of how the UKIP vote got diverted, and I am only remembering the afternoon phone-ins, which went below the radar of other political parties – and the “Vote for Boris, get Brexit done” quote, which you may recall differently? I am just wondering what kind of stunt he has in mind this time, since he wants to be prime minister to Trump’s presidency. Starmer’s hollow man becomes increasingly vacuous, as his sabotage of Corbyn in 2019, by insisting a second Brexit referendum had to be a core pledge, now seems to have been a key plank in his overthrow and leadership plans. Or do we give him too much credit for such forethought?
Politics is thoroughly skewed this time around by reliance on, or fear of, disturbing the hedge-fund predation which both major parties fail to address.
The billions of stolen Russian assets said to be intended for rebuilding Ukraine, are also destined for such megaliths as Black Rock, which has hoovered up Ukraine’s failing infrastructure ready to profit from the country’s control by NATO and associated corporations.
Bad people do bad things and rule of law needs to be robust enough to openly question the evidence.
Thanks for your reply Alyson. The UKIP vote was largely diverted in the 2017 general election, when it only got 2% under Nutty Nuttall*. By late 2019, with Farage gone, it was a shadow of its former self, only putting up 44 candidates under the acting ‘leadership’ of Pat “We’re not like the other racist parties” Mountain. I think Farage plans to get elected in Clacton (ideally along with a handful of Reform MPs), try to take over the rump of the Tory party, and then install himself as leader to take on Starmzy in 2029. Starmzy’s advocacy of the second referendum in 2019 was mostly about undermining Corbyn, but there’s no doubt he wants closer ties with the EU. The rule of law as regards international law is meaningless if it can’t be enforced.
* To be fair, he was less nutty than most late-era UKIP leaders.
Lapsed Agnostic
Yes that happened.
But now Farage seems to think he is on shaky ground vis grovelling to Trump, so he switched his ‘talents?’ to digesting what may be left of the Tory party after the GE.
I would not put it past him to be negotiating a pre-election deal or post-election deal with Braverman and co.
Therefore he is capable of pulling a similar stunt in order to win over what’s left of the Tory party.
Maybe even the brains of the Tory outfit ( Michael Raver Gove) may make a re-appearance post GE too. Peter Oborne called Gove an Ultra Neo – liberal.
He underestimates his politics – he’s very right wing.
Clare Daly Gone OH deary me
This very Important Too –
Max Blumenthal: The Washington Post Tries Criminalizing Independent Journalism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT87Zxnpguc
I watched the video. It is just great. I have seen no better exposition of what is at stake in Palestine.
Chris Hedges. WOW!
Good article from Chris Hedges on: the impending collapse of the american empire.
“The world as we know it is run by an exclusive class of American racketeers who operate with virtually unlimited weapons and money”
https://www.declassifieduk.org/the-impending-collapse-of-the-american-empire/
There might never be another such meeting again. Chris Hedges and Richard Medhurst were both excellent but nobody can really compare to Craig Murray. His election director with the fancy palestinian baseball cap is right in calling him “the cream of the crop”. That’s why we just can’t wait for facts # 6 & 7.
It tells you a lot that a man of Chris Hedges’ calibre would travel as far off the beaten track as Blackburn to support Craig’s campaign (and prepare a speech of that quality for the occasion.) Richard Medhurst too, a very astute young commentator. As you say, a rare event.
Just came across this article in the Middle East Eye posted a couple of hours ago:
‘Israeli army knew of Hamas’s plans on 7 October, report finds’
Newly revealed document shows the army was even aware of the number of captives the Palestinian group planned to take
The Israeli army and intelligence services had detailed knowledge of Hamas’s plan to attack Israel and take captives weeks before the 7 October attack, a newly surfaced document reveals.
A report by Israel’s Kan News says the report, titled “Detailed End-to-End Raid Training”, was compiled by the Israeli army’s Gaza Division, distributed on 19 September 2023, and was known to top intelligence officials.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-army-knew-hamas-plans-report-finds
Near the end of the article it says the following:
It is believed that flawed perceptions within Israel’s security establishment, as well as possible negligence by senior officials, were the main reasons why the Gaza Division’s warnings were not acted upon.
MEE don’t specify who it’s believed by, and I can only assume that they are reluctant to state the obvious – ie that Netanyahu and his fascist buddies deliberately let the attack go ahead, and did so for a variety of obvious reasons.
I can’t figure out how the above fits with this, which I’m pretty sure I posted on here months ago – ie a passage from a wikipedia entry entitled ‘Hamas-led attack on Israel’, under the sub-heading Israeli intelligence failure:
According to The New York Times, Israeli officials had obtained detailed attack plans more than a year before the attack. The document described operational plans and targets, including the size and location of Israeli forces, and raised questions in Israel about how Hamas learned these details. The document provided a plan that included a large-scale rocket assault before an invasion, drones to knock out the surveillance cameras and automated guns that Israel has stationed along the border, and gunmen invading Israel, including with paragliders. The Times reported, “Hamas followed the blueprint with shocking precision.” According to The Times, the document was widely circulated among Israeli military and intelligence leadership….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israel
Oh, right, AND they supposedly ignored Egypt’s warnings that a big attack by Hamas was imminent as well, AND the warnings by their ‘spotters’ on the border with Gaza during the year or so before the attack.
PS I wonder just how exactly Hamas DID learn such details. And if Israel ever determined how it happened (you’d think it would be a very high priority to do so)?
I’m not aware that they did.
The assumption is that Hamas operates identically to the West. So, we are supposed to believe, for example, that Hamas hired some consultants to produce a report and carried out a cost-benefit analysis, obviously including sections on diversity, inclusion and equality (DIE). Then, unfortunately some low ranker misplaced the report which Israel picked up. Complete and utter bullshit isn’t it?
Whilst Hamas will have a fully functioning infrastructure, I suggest, it is probably nothing like how the West operates. That’s why ‘the men in flip-flops with AK47s’ can match and beat the West!
Just my 2 penn’orth but I think Bin Salman is playing for both sides, and has his own agenda. The attack had the hallmark of Islamic State according to an IDF officer at the time, and more than 400,000 Israelis took to the streets to object to Smotrich’s clearly stated intention to kill every single Palestinian and have only Jewish people from the river to the sea. Israelis were shocked that their police were violent towards their protests, but the protests stopped after October 7th. Protests by 150,000 now demanding a ceasefire are accompanied by demands for a general election, but the US has promised billions in arms to Israel, to finish the job
I am not sure propaganda outlets like the New York Times are that reliable. As for that online encyclopaedia you mention – well, let us just say that on this subject you would have more luck asking the Jolly Green Giant for a reliable summary
They seem to be having difficulty sorting out their attitude to rape and other crimes of violence. The current embarrassing farago surrounding Israel’s claims about sexual violence as reported by this outlet surely give any decent person cause for concern. There should be no confusion about such crimes, certainly no “mis-reporting” or collusion and certainly no going easy on those who do.
Any story from this media outlet I consider deficient in moral content and I will be avoiding it in the future.
As with most of these factually challenged gossip sheets it is owned by some very rich people. If any relevant information is offered to the reader it is only because truth, like lies are part of the toolkit of narrative management employed by this sorry excuse for a news source
Arundhati Roy is apparently being persecuted over Kashmir comments.
Mr Murray mentions Modi in his speech above. I remember Ayoda and the stand-off in 1992. Modi opened the new Hindu temple this year saying a “new era” had begun for India. Back then it was difficult to see the full context of Ayoda, it’s global ramifications. The news I watched at the time was not clear about where Modi’s shtick was taking India but I remember the fanaticism on the streets
The thought Mr Murray offers above, that these misanthropes watch what each other get away with and then grade their eliminatory rhetoric accordingly is an obvious one after it is made but not before – it requires intellectual nerve. Kashmir is a powder keg. I don’t know much about Roy but commenting negatively on India’s policies in Kashmir will not be well received by Modi’s clique.
Unfortunately I have no serious knowledge of India or Pakistan.
I am only aware of the incredible holes in our news reporting.
How e.g. giant protests of Indian farmers were ignored. (Just like farmers in Ukraine protesting against Z were totally ignored here.)
But with India its ignoring a population 4 times the size of Europe.
I wonder is it actually possible to summarize that entire subcontinent under a single president be it Modi or someone else?
I don´t know anything about self-government and community politics there.
But the fact that the US appears to have more access to Indian society than Chinese is not particularly uplifting. Why should Indian oligarchs care more than US oligarchs?
I guess after the election Craig has to do a little teach-in.
I will now turn to a book in my collection which I never found time to read, Perry Anderson´s “Indian ideology”…
To me AG the problem with Modi and the BJ P is the (Hindu) exclusivity of their vision
In the late 1980’s the country started making TV shows based on ancient Sanskrit religious literature eg Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita etc. Modern Hinduism contains several divisions and these TV shows were scripted to emphasise the unity in the Hindu pantheon. Ayoda is mentioned as an important site in the epic literature and the script of the TV show has been accused of having presented this in such a fashion as to fuel the sectarian conflict at Ayoda in 1993 and of course, beyond that to now
Mahabharata is translated as “Great Bharat (India)”, or “the story of the great descendents of Bharata”, or as “The Great Indian Tale” and Bhagavad Gita translates as “The Song of God”. The Ramayana is the story of Prince Rama who is a prince of Ayoda. These are deep Indian cultural themes and deep human themes, discussing concepts like “Just War”, human conduct and the relationship between the Divine and the earthly.
It really all could be seen to fit Stalin talking about writers being “the engineer of human souls”. The original epics are simply that, ancient stories but the modern rewrites for TV helped the BJP fashion an image of India that could motivate the poor Hindu masses and guarantee Modi and his fellow travellers secular power over India’s “democracy”
no wonder I´ve always despised religion
Apparently Noam Chomsky was in such a bad condition that Jacobin had prepared an obituary. Now that has been relabeled “celebration” after NC seems to recover very slowly. Of little surprise considering how things have developed since October in Gaza as well as in Ukraine. If it was up to me he could live another 100 years…