On Wednesday we were arrested and held awhile by General Security in Lebanon and told not to report from here until we receive the proper permits. This is a frustrating delay but I hope will soon resolve.
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Obligatory clip: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZG11UBoj-o
Random thought: I wonder how Lebanese custody compares with British.
Cynical thought: as much as I appreciate most of Richie Medhurst’s reporting, this greatly contrasting account of an arrest makes me want to double down on my assessment of his recent melodramatic reaction to his own as that of rather the drama queen, and one who had quite obviously never been arrested before, as so many of the features of the experience that he so indignantly interpreted as evidence of his own especial persecution, were actually just normal standard features of the very experience of getting arrested in London itself, which I gather was never intended to be overly comfortable or fun. No doubt he shouldn’t have been arrested and the fact that he was is part of a very disgusting pattern, but this contrastingly matter of fact account of an arrest really makes me feel vindicated in my previous such assessment of Richie’s recent reaction to his own.
Solemn thought: I wonder how deliberately you were targeted by the authorities for arrest because of who you are, and while you’ve pointed out that they target journalists as a whole, I really hope you don’t get targeted by the most moral army in the world on a personal basis, because I really wouldn’t put it past them to do that. Surely, if you get targeted it will be with more specific awareness of your identity than simply that you are “a journalist,” but in any case, in such an event, you would be most sorely missed. Not sure what you could do to avoid that, so I will not sign off by asking you to “stay safe,” since if that was the point of your endeavours, you would surely not have gone to Beirut in the first place, so instead I may simply bid you good luck.
Has it occurred to you that Craig Murray’s “matter of fact” account of his arrest is because he has been forbidden to report, and therefore is saying the minimum in order to avoid further trouble?
No doubt Craig’s detailed and riveting stories of his life in prison would be regarded by you as equally melodramatic and self-indulgent. After all, he had never been imprisoned before, so what was the big deal? That it is instructive to hear first hand articulate accounts of how the mostly poor and disadvantaged may be routinely treated in this country is clearly of no interest to you.
Your post is grossly insulting to Richard Medhurst, whose account was fascinating and informative. Perhaps a journalist being arrested and detained for hours for no apparent reason except to intimidate him and give an object lesson to his colleagues is routine to you – no doubt you have been arrested yourself so many times that it gets boring. I was glad to hear what he had to say, personally.
Richard Medhurst, a name I should have included in my comment on the last blog. One of the miniscule number of British journalists who will be remembered as having covered the genocide in Gaza with honesty, humanity and outrage. (Precisely the reason of course why the government is targeting him for persecution).
If someone hasn’t had an experience before, then other things being equal their account of it will be just as valid as an account by someone who has been through it 100 times before – and it may in fact contain lessons from which those who’ve been through it 100 times before can learn.
I guess you don’t run many agents, @Yjack 🙂
“administrative detention”
I wonder if Robert Fisk had to go through all these administrative hoops to do his journalistic work from Beirut.
More likely the security services are feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the current difficulties.
I suspect he would have needed the appropriate accreditation. But he went there in 1976, so who knows?
In the year 2003, whilst reporting on the Western invasion of Afghanistan, Robert Fisk was set upon and savagely beaten by refugees fleeing the conflict. From what I read and saw, of photographs, Mr Fisk was lucky to survive the assault. While the Western media portrayed the Afghan public as welcoming the invaders as an army of liberation, the reality would appear to be that vast numbers of the natives, and indeed other venues of neocon adventures, saw the Western forces as having unleashed an avalanche of death and destruction upon their homeland and reserved for them the sort of welcome as Nazi stormtroopers could have expected had they landed at Thanet.
For this sort of reason, Craig needs to fear more than assassination or collateral hurt wreaked by the IDF, equally at home murdering women and children as hostile journalists, but also the very people suffering under the onslaught of this least moral of armies, with the full connivance of many Western powers, certainly including the UK
I believe he was a permanent resident in Beirut so the situation may have been different.
See Fisk’s account of almost being arrested by the UK while reporting from Northern Ireland: https://www.kulturverk.com/interview-with-robert-fisk20170422/
“I started to report about the lies of the British Army. For instance, I found out that they were sending Special Forces across the border to the Republic. We put this story on the front page and I was accused of being an IRA agent by the British Army, who ordered me to withdraw. My editor stood by me. Eventually the special branch came to my house in Northern Ireland demanding that I go to the police station for interrogation. I told I would follow in the car. I got in the car and drove as fast I could to the Irish Republic and stopped in Dublin.
Within two or three hours I was being identified as being ‘a terrorist agent, a liar, a person who should be arrested, who illegally had documents in possession that was the property of Her Majesty’s government.’ This is the literal quote. At one point the number two at the British Embassy in Dublin came to my hotel and said he wanted documents from me. I refused and he left immediately when I going to call the Irish police.”
Best of luck with that, Craig. The Lebanese are not known for the viciousness or indeed competence of their security services.
The people in Lebanon are strong, very strong, and pretty wise in a war zone. They’ve had so much experience.
Do you know Lebanon?
Although there is of course no lack of reasons for Lebanon to check up on westerners. What relations do UK have with Lebanon? I assume majority of the lebanese state authorities/intelligence services/army etc favour the sunni/israel/US axis.
Could the UK have tipped off lebanese authorities about Craig’s visit?
It could well be the Brits who got Craig arrested.
Never trust those b*stards, especially in a country they view as “one of ar colonies”, which is many places.
Given the British military and security presence in the Lebanon, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were involved in the pagers terrorism too.
Who is responsible for keeping the curtain down, not even allowing a reasonable scenario to be published? I don’t believe for one moment that Mossad are such super ninjas that nobody has a clue how they did it. We all know the Zionists can pull on many levers [*], but a guess might be that the Lebanese government are helping to keep the wraps on. (An alternative would be the Iranian government, but that’s less likely. Guessing the items came in from the Med.)
Note
(*) An Israeli lawyer’s spouse surprised many by getting into the last two for the Tory leadership, and who knows, may win tomorrow.
Sorry to hear that, Craig. Lebanon’s security and intelligence apparatus is heavily penetrated by the British, which might explain why.
https://thecradle.co/articles/double-cross-how-lebanons-military-intelligence-spies-for-london
https://thecradle.co/articles/how-britain-infiltrates-lebanons-internal-security-forces
Brilliant investigative work. That deep British influence in the security state frightens me on Craig’s behalf. It feels like he is just offering himself up to them by going there.
As a general rule, never trust anyone who works for the British regime any further than you could imagine throwing him, if you grabbed hold of his collar and waistband at a Buckingham Palace garden party – or while he was watching the cricket at Lord’s – and tried to launch him through the air towards an Old Boys’ event at the boarding school he went to.
@Kit – Do you reckon the Brits played a role in the pagers job?
Brian Red.
Probably.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/israels-lebanon-assault-hungarian-shell-company-linked-to-deadly-pager-blasts/288315/
Well it didn’t take long for them to arrest you – now they know where you are staying etc – one wonder who this information will be passed onto – be careful Craig – safety first always.
Good luck with getting your journalist permits. I just remembered reading in the autobiography of the ex-MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson, that he once persuaded a Captain in Francophone Africa to expedite his passage through a land border by spotting the Army parachute wings on his uniform and saying, ‘Ah, vous etes parachutiste!’ The flattery was effective, and in half an hour Tomlinson had his passport stamped and was waved through, to the irritation of some Germans over whom he had been given priority.
Plenty of decent journalists already in Lebanon. Not entirely certain there is need to travel there to report but then report from there that you can’t report from there.
Agreed. There are currently hundreds of registered and/or would-be journalists in Beirut, so besides getting the precious permits, another real issue is getting a decent hotel room at a reasonable rate.
Meanwhile, on the positive side, Lebanon is one of the few countries that does not have formal extradition treaties with the UK. Something to consider in these troubled times…
And a driver and an intrepreter and security.. there’s a multitude of people endangered by a vanity expedition. Consortium news has journalists on the ground. Can Craig as the new committee member not leave them to it.
a “vanity expedition”?. Craig is a journalist, and he has valuable insights, and he has put himself on the line before to report things and done an excellent job of it. what have you done?
In the current circumstances I imagine the Lebanese authorities would be getting quite jumpy about the possible presence of spies, either from Israel or CIA/MI6. Any English speaking westerner is going to be suspect and posing as a journalist is an obvious cover story.
I’m wondering what Craig hopes to achieve here. He’s not a fit man and has put himself at considerable risk. The Foreign Office has advised British citizens not to travel to Lebanon which means any travel insurance is null and void.
Indeed.
If he decides to report from such a dire place he is aware certain rules of conduct don´t apply any more. Either he takes that risk or he does not. And obviously he believes to raise enough awareness by being present there – enough worth the risk. Of course we don´t have to like that.
Ask his family about it…
It very adequately displays your complete misunderstanding of the whole situation and the general misunderstanding of people who support all these wars that you’re worried about his travel insurance policy T’s & C’s in a war zone.
If Craig suffers another medical emergency he’s on his own. He’s either got to rely on Lebanon’s (probably already overstretched) health service or pay for a medivac flight which ain’t cheap.
He is an incredibly strong and brave person. Imagine if we all just stayed at home hiding under our beds waiting for bad things to happen elsewhere, what kind of world would that be? Let’s all sincerely hope that your shadenfreude predictions do not come true.
I can understand why the authorities are edgy about you reporting. They cannot just trust people anymore: those days have gone. There’s too much money washing about in politics these days, and reporting is politics. I’m sure they will shake your hand and welcome you once they’ve done their checks. Over on the wee ginger dug website a discussion about Trump brought Mr Kavanagh to tell someone who contradicted his erroneous statements about Trump, to say ‘this is my website and I will have the last word in any discussion’. Haha, what a fool; he just shot himself in the foot. Shame. Bright guy too, but you have to let people state their opinions even if they don’t agree with yours. The opposing view wasn’t rude or presented in a horrible way: it was a polite alternative point of view. No wonder there are only a half dozen or so commenters there these days.
The cowardice of USA-UK-AUS-EU continues as they support Israel in the killing of more people in Palestine, and all for oil and oil’s control of global trade. Typically the bullies pick on the wee guys, and if they can, they bully another wee guy to do it for them. Israel would not exist if it were not for USA-UK-AUS-EU, because Israel has committed so many atrocities in the Middle East that their neighbours want revenge.
Well now, Mr. Murray I believe congratulations are in order.
His excellency, Mr. Craig Murray, the writer and former British diplomat has been elected to fill the seat on Consortium News‘ board left open by the death last year of the great John Pilger.
Now an ambassador for peace. I bet you are proud of that and so you should be Sir.
“Craig Murray, a former British ambassador to Uzbekistan who blew the whistle on his government’s tolerance of the Uzbek government’s torture program and paid with his job, has been elected to join Consortium News’ board, taking the place of the legendary journalist John Pilger.
Murray is an author and journalist, who was this year interrogated under Britain’s Terrorism Act for writing articles critical of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This is ludicrously seen by the British government as giving support to Hamas, a proscribed organization.
Under the heading, “Your Man in the Public Gallery,” Murray filed highly entertaining and informative dispatches from the extradition hearings of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.
Murray stood for the House of Commons from Blackburn in the General Election on July 4 but lost. He is in Beirut to cover the war there. ”
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/11/01/craig-murray-takes-john-pilgers-seat-on-cn-board-2/
I couldn’t think of a more worthy human to take John Pilger’s place on that board. Bravo Sir! Bravo to Consortium News for choosing such an apt successor to the great John Pilger.
Consortium News was just the victim of a hacking attack from which it fortunately seems to have recovered.
Yes, it was but that doesn’t change the fact CM has been elected to their board nor the accolade that that is.
Excellent article by Caitlin Johnstone posted a few hours ago:
Vote However You Feel; This Whole Show Is About Feelings Anyway
My one and only position on how Americans should vote is that they should do whatever makes them feel nice, since that’s all US presidential elections are: an emotional pacifier to let the masses feel like they have some meaningful control over their country. It’s about feelings and nothing else.
If voting for Kamala Harris makes you feel nice because it lets you pretend you’re stopping fascism or protecting women and minorities or helping to secure a ceasefire in Gaza or whatever, then go right ahead. That’s what your vote is there for.
If voting for Donald Trump makes you feel nice because it lets you pretend you’re sticking it to the establishment or punishing the Democrats for their misdeeds or ending the wars or whatever, then by all means do so. This whole spectacle is exclusively about feelings.
If voting for a third party makes you feel nice because it lets you pretend there might be some answer in electoral politics or that the empire will ever allow anyone who truly opposes the abuses of capitalism, militarism and imperialism anywhere near power, then get in there and cast that vote. Whatever makes your feely bits feel nice.
Just don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re doing anything other than sucking on an emotional pacifier, because you’re not.
No matter how you vote, Democrats will continue to win approximately half the time, and Republicans will win the other half.
No matter how you vote, the ever-expanding abuses of capitalism and plutocracy will continue making life worse for ordinary Americans.
No matter how you vote, the US war machine will continue inflicting nightmarish mass military violence on people in other countries in order to maintain its globe-spanning empire…..
https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/vote-however-you-feel-this-whole-show-is-about-feelings-anyway-d70918a9f9d3
She does finish on a more optimistic note.
Just checked the Chris Hedges Report on substack, and he posted an article three days ago about a UN report published on Monday:
A United Nations report, published on Monday, lays out in chilling detail the advances made by Israel in Gaza as it seeks to eradicate “the very existence of the Palestinian people in Palestine.” This genocidal project, the report ominously warns, “is now metastasizing to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, who issued the report, titled “Genocide as colonial erasure,” makes an urgent appeal to the international community to impose a full arms embargo and sanctions on Israel until the genocide of Palestinians is halted. She calls on Israel to accept a permanent ceasefire. She demands that Israel, as required by international law and U.N. resolutions, withdraw its military and colonists from Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
At the very least, Israel, unchecked, should be formally recognized as an apartheid state and persistent violator of international law, Albanese states. The U.N. should reactivate the Special Committee Against Apartheid to address the situation in Palestine, and Israel’s membership in the U.N. should be suspended. Short of these interventions, Israel’s goal, Albanese warns, will likely come into fruition…
The months of “relentless shunting of weakened humans from one unsafe area to another — fleeing bombs and bullets, with minimal chances of escape, amid loss, fear and grief, and with little access to shelter, clean water, food and healthcare — have inflicted incalculable harm, especially on children,” the report reads. “The movement of displaced Palestinians resembles the death marches of past genocides, and the Nakba. Forced displacement severs connection with the land, undermining food sovereignty and cultural belonging, and triggering further displacement. Communal bonds are broken, the social fabric shredded and reserves of resilience depleted. Systematic forced displacement contributes to ‘the destruction of the spirit, of the will to live, and of life itself.’”
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/genocidal-scorecard
Yep, and Netanyahu and his fascist buddies (including Biden and Blinken and Starmer et al) know it of course. THAT’s why they’re doing it.
I wonder how much coverage the report got in the MSM?!
Global reportage? Fox News mentioned it (to criticise it – they obviously didn’t get the memo). Thats it.
Albanese writes of ‘atrocities that will scar human history’.
Myself, I think that what will leave the most indelible scar is not even the violence and murder, not even the public exhaltation of the perpetrators; its the silence.
Always appreciate your posts bringing these articles to our attention, Allan.
Sure, but didn’t she get the memo about the “Don’t Vote Fascist” rule?
Also I wonder what an “abuse” of capitalism is. It seems rather trivialising to call capitalism itself, which is a mode of production, an abuse or even a collection of abuses. Would she same the same about slavery?
Or one could ask what about Gaza? Hamas aren’t known for their opposition to capitalism or hierarchy. And they follow a religion created by a slave-owning merchant. Should we write them off as just as bad as the terrorist Zionist entity?
Are we sure Johnstone’s piece wasn’t written by a computer program? She doesn’t even do ultra-leftism well, and a proper ultra-leftist wouldn’t publish at Medium.
Meanwhile Trump has been going crazier and crazier on stage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMgrKGXwCsg (beautiful white skin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9udmHtaDhWo (Hannibal Lecter, and Trump’s uncle)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6FcZAbsj58 (mock-fellating his microphone)
Trump is under heavy pressure for sure. His current schedule must be gruelling for an elderly person. Perhaps he’s getting increasing amounts of chemical assistance, and they’re taking a toll. A James Forrestal plot point may ensue. Or a Dorian Gray one.
If the election gets called with a majority for his opponent of anything up to ~40 seats, he’s going to go absolutely batsh*t – if he doesn’t before.
capitalism eats itself if not very closely regulated, and it buys the regulators. Harris is a fascist, Trump is a fascist. you are apparently one of the people who blame Hamas for Israel’s genocide. or you could be a bot.
Leave the Israel coverage to the West’s mass media journalists. Loads of them have been allowed into Lebanon.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bbc-israel-gaza-letter-tim-davie-bias-palestine-b2636737.html
There is no need for your eyes and voice. The respectable media will keep us as well informed as ever.
Brian c
November 2, 2024 at 08:32
Do you also do sarcasm?
Ingwe
November 3, 2024 at 14:16
Impressive contribution.
(How’s that?)
I suspect the evil American government is pressuring the Lebanese government to mistreat people like you.
It’s definitely something they would do. But on the other hand, they’re incompetent and lazy, so maybe not.
The Lebanese government and military are just sock puppets for the west. They do as they’re told and are prevented from doing anything else.
“The Lebanese government and military are just sock puppets for the west. They do as they’re told and are prevented from doing anything else.”
Including the government’s Amal and Hezbollah members?
I don’t think it’s that simple. (Aside from anything else, who are “the West” in this statement, and how does the definition cope with the role of the French state in the Lebanon?) A guess would be that the number of clans that vie with each other in General Security is smaller than the number represented in the cabinet. Lebanon is all about clans.
Nassim Taleb’s book “The Black Swan”, as well as being generally very insightful into questions of stability and instability, is well worth a read for those interested in the recent history of the Lebanon, which he sometimes calls the Levant. He is from a Lebanese Greek family. The country was thriving until the 1970s when it basically went BANG, and since then the national state has just about survived, but as a major reference for anyone interested in “power sharing”. Taleb doesn’t say much about the Lebanon in the book, but it’s clearly always in his mind as an example of strange things that can happen with stability, or the appearance of a “black swan” as he calls it.
The Lebanese government is neutered. The ‘west’ (USA, UK, EU) has prevented Lebanon from having a sovereign government and from building up an effective military. Talk of clans and tribalism is just evidence of the divide and conquer strategy employed that ensures destabilisation and prevents the construction of effective government. Think Libya. The chaos is not accidental it’s planned that way.
The number of foreign military forces in Lebanon tells you all you need to know, it’s about Israel, Syria and Iran.
I’ve been avoiding watching the news as I really REALLY don’t want to hear anything about the goddam US election, but I just checked out Al Jazeera’s website and:
Israeli attacks kill dozens in Gaza, Lebanon as ceasefire remains elusive
Israeli attacks target a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military has killed dozens more people in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon as it expands its attacks while ceasefire talks appear to be going nowhere.
At least 55 people were killed across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. Fourteen of them were killed in a series of Israeli air strikes and shelling from warships in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp on Friday, medical officials at al-Awda Hospital said.
Abu Mohammed al-Taweel, a witness of the Israeli attacks on Nuseirat, said he saw many people killed after multiple family homes were targeted, with a five-month-old baby among the dead.
“The Israelis are eager to kill Palestinian children and women. There are no resistance fighters in the camp. They hit us without any prior warning,” he told Al Jazeera.
“We are here to die. We are ready to die. I was not killed today, but I will definitely be killed tomorrow. No safe places here in the Gaza Strip. Massacres are being committed everywhere.”
“The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic,” the heads of major United Nations agencies said on Friday. “The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence,” added the joint statement from heads of organisations that form the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
And it’s followed by another article:
Attacks on Lebanon’s Baalbek ‘war crimes’
The Israeli military is steadily expanding its assault on Lebanon, as well.
At least 41 people were killed in Israeli strikes on the Baalbek region in eastern Lebanon on Friday, the regional governor said. Since October last year, at least 2,897 people have been killed and 13,150 wounded in Lebanon by Israeli attacks [most of them in the past few weeks of course].
Multiple evacuation orders were issued on Friday morning to residents of a number of neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut. A series of massive strikes ensued, leaving behind destroyed buildings and Lebanese scrambling to open roads for ambulances to reach casualties….
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/1/israeli-attacks-kill-dozens-in-gaza-lebanon-as-ceasefire-remains-elusive
All this continuing slaughter to maintain the racist tyranny that is the apartheid Israeli state in Palestine, and even grow it, into Northern Gaza, and no doubt eventually Lebanon as well, and not least, keep Netanyahu’s miserable self out of jail. Hamas and Hezbollah are putting up a truly remarkable resistance that is hindering, or even (in Lebanon) stymieing the progress of this genocidal invasion, judging by news reports like the Electronic Intifada, but only American sanctions will put a permanent stop to the carnage. Unless, perhaps, Iran gets more deeply involved, and that seems to have already begun, judging by recent events.
West quickly reached a point where racism, war crimes, apartheid, acts of genocide etc became normalized. Israel could by now drop a small nuclear bomb in Gaza and the west will still back Israel. Nothing will change their attitude and nothing will obviously change the attitude of some 480 million arabs in the region that are as inhumane, indifferent to the suffering.
And Tory just got their new leader a young woman of color – a cunning move, trying to cover up the fact that Tory is party of old, white, racist elitist party. Of course Kemi is a fanatical israel-supporter:
Strong Israel supporter Kemi Badenoch elected new leader of the Conservative Party
https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/strong-israel-supporter-kemi-badenoch-elected-new-leader-of-the-conservative-party/
Bragging about how right-wing she is:
Kemi Badenoch – “I’m not really left-leaning on anything…I always lean right instinctively”
https://conservativehome.com/2017/12/21/interview-kemi-badenoch-im-not-really-left-leaning-on-anything-i-always-lean-right-instinctively/
But why being surprised huh Kemi “do not care”.
Equalities Kemi Badenoch minister under fire for writing she does not ‘care about colonialism’
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/23/kemi-badenoch-equalities-minister-reportedly-wrote-i-dont-care-about-colonialism
Kemi seems to fit the definition of the House Slave term. She will make good friends with Kamala Harris.
I doubt that the election of Kemi Badenoch was a calculated deception, given that it was a popular vote by the rank and file. I don’t support the Tories, but it’s still in my view an event of historical and symbolic importance, like Rishi Sunak’s election and premiership.
My impression of her, is that she’s really arrogant and could easily destroy her leadership with a few ill-judged comments in any given interview.
She, like Jenrick, is very extreme; way to the right of the person they both claim to idolise, Margaret Thatcher.
Speaking on a recent Sky News Trevor Phillips’ show, in which he interviewed the last three remaining candidates: Cleverly, Jenrick and Badenoch, only Cleverly, insisted Israel must act in accordance with international law in Gaza. Both Jenrick and Badenoch argued Netanyahu should be given carte blanche; the UK’s full support for all his and the IDF’s actions.
Jenrick also recently suggested the Star of David should be on display at all ports of entry into the UK, and that there is no place in the UK for anyone who doesn’t support Israel. He even suggested some kind of oath of loyalty to that effect, for new British citizens. How out-of-touch are these people?
I can see little significance whatsoever.
There is an understandable tendency to assume that black persons living in the west have been victims of racial prejudice and their ancestors possibly victims of slavery. But Badenoch came from a wealthy Nigerian family that could afford a chauffeur and her birth was planned to take place in a private clinic in Wimbledon (apparently the same clinic her husband was born in.) Like Sunak, Kwarteng, Cleverley and Braverman these ‘persons of colour’ are just the ‘new boss: same as the old boss.’
We should remember that western slave traders bartered beads and weapons with African tribal leaders in order to acquire the lower status members of the tribe. Maybe not much has changed.
David Warriston
Non-white Home Secretaries have been responsible for the oppressive legislation involving proscription orders against the political wings of Hamas and Hezbollah – the military wings were banned years earlier. Sajid Javid and Priti Patel are both described by Israeli officials in glowing terms as “good friends” of Israel; this, after both introduced banning legislation. Headline from Javid’s time as Home Secretary:
“Israel has asked the UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid to outlaw Hamas and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Channel 7 reported.”
Sajid Javid banned Hezbollah’s political wing in 2018, this was met with praise from Israel.
Patel was fired for undisclosed private meetings with Israeli officials around the time of her proscription order. In 2021, Patel banned Hamas’ political wing. Not sketchy at all, is it.
Many believe Rishi Sunak has contributed to the ongoing carnage in Gaza by throwing that legally vexatious spanner in the works, that was the UK challenge to the ICC arrest warrant process,
So you’re correct, non-whites can show little empathy for those who look more like themselves.
Would you not agree that symbolically it has a tremendous significance? Just look at the media already hype up this “historical” selection of Kemi by Tories.
Same with Kamala Harris. If Democrats would put forward an old white male, he would stand no chance against Trump. Kamala Harris certainly have a chance to beat Trump though.
Jack
It’s certainly been the case for the ideologically threadbare Democrats. As they’ve abandoned their historic defence of civil liberties and dovish foreign policy, just as they’ve shunned fighting economic inequality, They’ve instead found fertile electoral ground promoting cultural wedge issiues: virtue signalling costs nothing and thus doesn’t upset their billionaire Wall Street donors, the MIC, or their celebrity endorsements.
Like New Labour in the UK, US Democrats are a once-leftist, hollowed-out party of gimmicks: the first black person (Obama); the first woman (Harris) the first person of Asian heritage (again Harris, her father was black, her mother Indian). Next, it’ll be the first gay person; then the first transgender… then the first Asian gay person; then the first transgender person of Asian heritage… eventually they’ll run out of ‘diversity’ distractions, irrelevant to real politics. And their vapid supporters will realise they’ve been taken for a ride, and that for all the diversity on display, the actual personnel involved weren’t all that progressive at all.
When the elites can no longer credibly get their establishment white male stooge to push far-right policies, the next step is always to install someone working class, female, of colour, or belonging to a nominally ‘left-wing’ party to confound the critics of the policies and disguise the lack of change. There are numerous examples of this, with Obama after George W Bush, and Truss/Sunak after Johnson the most obvious examples, as well as Starmer (establishment white man but oh-so ‘progressive’ – ha ha!). It happens frequently on a much more local level too at schools and councils. The essential fact is that political leaders are basically PR people for the truly powerful, with the apparent debates between each other little more than window-dressing.
You forgot Lammy that can not see racism or colonialism.
The Guardian just reported that an Israeli naval force landed in the northern Lebanese coastal town of Batroun early on Saturday and captured one person. Since they were reported as holding him in the street, this operation doesn’t look like the exfiltration of an Israeli mole, but rather the capture of someone whom a mole in Hezbollah might have pointed the finger at. So the mole (if there’s only one) knew about the logistics of the pagers and walkie-talkies, the meetings in real time of the previous top brass, and one person with info useful enough to Israel to justify a kidnapping operation from enemy territory, and the fact that he lived in Batroun. There can’t be that many people knowing all those things at once!
This is very brave, Craig. I admire your courage.
On a dull practical note I have wondered for some while whether readers who see a funding request from a writer need to see more than just a reminder that writers need to be paid . They want to see what material effect they might have; £100 gets travel to destroyed site X for a day; £200 gets a week of an interpreter, £300 gets… etc. You get the picture. I seem to recall that Amnesty, DEC, all the big UK charities use this tiered approach; above all, contributors want to see what they are “buying”. I might mention that I’ve traditionally thought that Scot Goes Pop! used to make the same error, but in fact in a recent fundraiser article, there’s lots of “here is what you would get” (see https://www.gofundme.com/f/scot-goes-pop-fundraiser-2024). Plus the external funding site shows that other people are contributing too, which seems to be an important part of donor psychology.
I acknowledge it feels discombulating to bring up the dry topic of funding strategies when you’re risking life and limb within the geography of an ongoing genocide, but ho-hum, all the tricky ethical issues in journalism tend to come down to boring old money in the end.
Talking about racism and the Wests attitude to it here is a glaring example..
“I Was Kicked Out Of A ‘Peace Conference’ For Talking About Palestinians”
Dimitri Lascaris in this video asks the delegates to the 10 point Ukrainian peace conference in Canada if Palestinian lives are worth just as much as Ukrainian ones, he receives no answers from the dozens of delegates walking in. He asks why the Palestinians who are losing many more innocent lives than the Ukrainians should not be armed by concerned leaders of the ‘West’, of course we know the answer, racism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Ev3u9I5UQ
Thanks for the link, yeah just look at all those sour faces walking by his camera. That is the faces of hypocrites alright. Pretend to care about ukrainians, peace, human rights… while actively support and aid a genocide in Gaza. No one of them have the guts to admit their double standard, they do not think in these obvious lines, that is what make them so dangerous. Pretending to be good, noble.
The reason is as you say racism. White christian ukrainians get their support. Brownish arab muslims on the other hand get no support.
It’s not due to racism tho, it’s fear of the US.
Israel have huge propaganda and lobbying efforts operating at the highest levels of most western states, as is well documented. They’ve also got the US political establishment wrapped around their fingers, and the US provides most of the funding for these international orgs (NGOs). The US political establishment can be very vindictive towards Israel’s critics, freezing payments etc. Then there’s the career risks and risks or physical harm from speaking out. Their silence is understandable, and so no, it isn’t a direct result of racism.
When even the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan claims he’s the victim of scurrilous tactics, as he faces calls for investigations about his conduct, and the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese feels the heat, speaking out isn’t an easy decision for those others pay attention to.
Fear of the US stick but also the carrot of loadsamoney.
I made an enquiry with ChatGPT about prosecutable statements.
Q: GIven a proscribed organisation X, give examples of statements of expressed support for X that could lead to prosecution, in the light of historical precedents.
A: Proscription of organizations often involves specific laws that prohibit various forms of support or participation. When discussing a proscribed organization (such as a terrorist group), the following examples of statements may be considered as expressed support and could potentially lead to prosecution based on historical precedents:
1. Glorification of Violence:
“The actions taken by organization X are justified in the fight against oppression.”
“Their attacks are a necessary response to government tyranny.”
2. Promotion of Ideology:
“We need more groups like organization X who are willing to stand up for our beliefs.”
“Organization X is fighting for what is right; we should all support their cause.”
3. Calls to Action:
“Join me in supporting organization X; they need our help to continue their mission.”
“We must rally behind organization X to achieve the justice they seek.”
4. Fundraising Efforts:
“Let’s organize a fundraiser to support the brave members of organization X.”
“I will be donating to organization X to help them continue their essential work.”
5. Public Acknowledgment:
“I believe organization X’s goals are noble, and I stand with them.”
“It is time we recognize the important work that organization X is doing for our community.”
6. Denial of Violence or Crime:
“The violence attributed to organization X is exaggerated, and we need to support them against the false accusations.”
“What organization X does is not terrorism, it’s resistance.”
These statements may draw legal attention based on laws relating to support for proscribed organizations, incitement, or associated offenses. Each country has different thresholds and legal standards regarding what constitutes support for a proscribed group, so the specifics would depend on the relevant legal framework.
The above may help in staying safely within legal limits in the UK, given that we don’t have the same degree of protected freedom of speech as in the United States.
Goofy David Lammy got called out after he went to a food bank, obviously Lammy did of course not realize what an utter hypocrite he look like considering Labour’s support for starving out Gaza.
David Lammy visits a constituency food bank and is confronted by a handful of protesters about the murdered, injured and starving children of Gaza 🇵🇸
Video: https://x.com/BeckettUnite/status/1852606149251543265
Another video: https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/1852464766226190756
It was inappropriate to talk about starving Gazans in the food bank. As I said many times, one of my favourite English expressions is ” you can’t make it up”.
Existence of food bank is disgraceful and they go around proudly. Look how Brits are generous
While ago I didn’t believe there were more food banks
than Mc D.
Well I was wrong.
Democracy in practice, charity replacing government obligations, you will have nothing …
David Lammy was mocked on the latest George Galloway MOATS as being the British version of Idi Amin, complete with uniform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX_O0i_03dM
Be careful George, and you too Jack, a look in Lammy’s fridge could reveal two human heads.
Speaking on Uganda, Israel played an instrumental role in getting Idi Amin to power:
Revealed: how Israel helped Amin to take power
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/revealed-how-israel-helped-amin-to-take-power-100683.html
His first foreign visit as leader was to Israel, where I believe he may have received a medal.
Today is Balfour Day – I wonder if the Zionists, who are committing genocide still celebrate this day – for Palestinians its a day of mourning.
Remembering the Balfour Declaration that welcomed Jewish Europeans to make their home in Palestine, according to the agreement to respect the right to freedom of worship, ownership of land and property – the British issued land and property title deeds to all Palestinians – and to respect equally all ethnic diversity. This was the fundamental basis of the agreement until the terrorists blew up the King David hotel and the embassies and the British Administration upped and left the Palestinian people to their fate. New laws recently introduced by Smotrich, make it illegal for Jews in the West Bank to purchase land or houses from Palestinians. They must take them and kill the occupants. This genocide is unimaginably horrific and is intended to be a complete and irreversible annihilation of a beautiful country and all the people in it.
Jenrick suggesting placing the Star of David over our border control, and Badenoch having a Zionist spouse have just made it crystal clear who controls our government, and it is shameful that our elected representatives dare not acknowledge this openly and honestly. It is just terrible, unforgivable and as weak and spineless as Balfour was when terrorism was the response to British compassion and welcome all those years ago
People also aren’t aware that the Balfour Declaration (first issued on November 2, 1917) wasn’t created with noble intent, or driven by some admirable aim; it was a selfish attempt by the UK to secure permanent access to their empire assets in Asia via the Suez canal. The British Raj – the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, lasted from 1858 to 1947. The British obtained a Mandate for Palestine from the League of Nations in 1922, and the Balfour Declaration was incorporated into it, again, solely with the empire in mind. Britain played a central role in the founding of the League of Nations and we were a strong supporter. The belief in cabinet was that settler colony indebted to Britain would better protect Britain’s interests in the Middle East. The main reasons were thus:
i, Security of the Suez Canal: The British Empire controlled 80% of the shipping that passed through the Suez Canal at the turn of the 20th century. The British wanted to protect the canal from any challenges to their presence in Egypt, whether from Arabs or other foreign powers.
ii, Access to India: The Suez Canal was a vital communication route to British colonial possessions in India.
iii, Maintaining imperial ties: The British were concerned with India as a key referent for Palestine.
Not exactly a belief in the ‘chosen people’, is it.
As a Zionist warship (Sa’ar 5) – sporting an Israeli and Egyptian flag gets a personnel escort through the Suez Canal – the Zionist are carrying out abductions inside the sovereign nation of Lebanon.
“Israeli Special Forces Suspected in Daring Abduction Operation on Lebanon’s Batroun Coast.
Lebanese security forces, including the army and internal security, are investigating a serious incident that occurred at dawn yesterday on Batroun’s coast. A team of over 25 commandos, reportedly equipped with divers and marines, carried out a sea landing and moved armed to a nearby chalet, where they abducted a Lebanese man who was alone at the location. The commandos then transported him back to the shore, departing swiftly by speedboats into open waters. Military sources suspect the operation was likely conducted by Israeli special forces, possibly Shayetet 13 or Sayeret Matkal. It is believed that coordination may have occurred with the German navy, part of the UNIFIL mission, to prevent the Lebanese navy—active in anti-smuggling patrols in the area—from intervening in the operation.”
The incompetence, passivity of the lebanese leaders are striking but not surprising. Their PM even adhere to the propaganda claim that Israel “only” fight Hezbollah, not Lebanon/lebanse people.
Lebanon could urge the UNSC for an emergency meeting, they could call on ICC to investigate Israel mass destruction and mass killing of Lebanon, they could call for a no-fly zone, they could call for arab states for an emergency meeting, they could threat to kick out the useless UNIFIL forces to put pressure on the west, they could do so much to just raise awareness and unite against Israel. But end up doing absolute nothing.
How or perhaps why do we seek to help states that do not seems to have the interest in protecting themselves? Already have 3000 lebanese people been killed. 3000!
Just the other day Amos Hochstein – the israeli-born zionist and the US envoy for the region met the PM of Lebanon.
https://www.newarab.com/news/us-envoy-hochstein-arrives-beirut-tough-israeli-demands
So, that is the same Amos that gave Israel the green-light for the invasion itself – and now he comes to the region trying to “solve” the war he approved! This is the type of people the leadership of Lebanon think is appropriate to invite, meanwhile Lebanon do not want anything to do with Iran.
30th September: “Senior White House figures privately told Israel that the U.S. would support its decision to ramp up military pressure against Hezbollah”
Presidential adviser Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East, told top Israeli officials in recent weeks that the U.S. agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broad strategy to shift Israel’s military focus to the north against Hezbollah in order to convince the group to engage in diplomatic talks to end the conflict, the officials told POLITICO.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/30/us-israel-military-hezbollah-00181797
Yes I just saw that video too from the Suez Canal:
https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/1852671755795436019
I believe the arab leaders treachery and collaboration with Israel is way worse than we imagine. Wikileaks had alot on this issue and the ties have obviously just grown ever since.
Good luck Craig
I can’t see why the Lebanese being bombed by the ziofascist illegal apartheid entity aggressively metastasising murderously next door – wouldn’t be crying out for the maximum attention.
They should be supporting his reporting through transport and security to get the truth out to our deluded public. Especially to the populations of Europe that is made wholly complicit in the destruction and death in the Levant and the Palestinians Holocaust in particular.
After all its the collective imperialist fascist forces of the West supporting the supremacist settler Euro colonialists with direct military materiel intelligence air support and even boots on the ground with the forces of the Entity.
Clearly it’s the Lebanese satraps who have been directed by the U.K. to have Our Man in The Lebanon arrested – requested directly by his ex-colleagues of the FO and the British Embassy no doubt.
Because he would have easily embarrassed the mockingbird presstitutes enjoying their war reporting in total safety from the luxury hotels and cafes of Beirut – content that they will never be bombed or be in any danger on any front lines.
The same lot who spent years ‘reporting’ on Syria and the white helmets fairy tales.
War correspondents – my arse!
The puppet masters at work. Note the last paragraph.
“The US embassy in Lebanon has blocked the establishment of a humanitarian air bridge between Baghdad and Beirut, insisting instead that any humanitarian aid for those displaced by the Israeli war be delivered via Jordan “for inspection first,” according to a report by Lebanese daily Al Akhbar.
Washington reportedly also threatened Lebanon’s national airliner, Middle East Airlines (MEA), with sanctions if its planes were used to transport those wounded by Israel’s terror attack that caused communication devices to explode across the country.
Furthermore, the US embassy in Lebanon receives a “daily manifesto” of all passengers traveling through Beirut airport from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).”
https://thecradle.co/articles/us-embassy-blocks-iraq-lebanon-humanitarian-air-bridge-report
I doubt if the US would be able to enforce transport of humanitarian aid through Jordan. There are lots of other routes which the Americans can’t control.
They, the USA, control Lebanon. Therefore, they control what goes in and out. QED.
The US doesn’t control everything that goes in or out of the Lebanon, e.g. Iranian assistance for Hezbollah coming in, every last box of hash and heroin going out, Turkish and French routes, etc.
Sorry, that is far from right. There’s a long land border, which no-one can close. I presumed you understood the geography of Lebanon.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the reality is wrt humanitarian aid? Currently, the USA has said no, re. above.
Re. drugs, they always get through, it also helps if the CIA controls the trade!
Disturbing read. It is like the Middle East never gained their independence, western powers, Israel still rule everything – and without any real curb or resistance by the arabs themselves (excluding the obvious resistance forces). What is surprising is the lacklustering attitude among the arab population accepting this.
The arab world need a new Arab Spring, a pan-arab movement that root out and purge their state from these western/israeli collaborators that for decades have held their region down.
Also, no wonder US just recently built a gigantic embassy in Lebanon, juist look at the photo in the link, the whole complex are the size of a village! One could only imagine what kind of spying machinations and other anti-lebanese plots going on in those buildings.
A massive new US embassy complex in a tiny Middle East nation is raising eyebrows
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/12/middleeast/massive-us-embassy-middle-east-mime-intl/index.html
This looks like a gated island for a community, bristling with both CIA computers and American comforts. Just one problem though: the pic has no McDonalds. Now what is Trump to do if he’s elected and visits the place? Maybe he’ll order one of the massive computers shipped back to Washington and a McDonalds transplanted there, just for him. ‘You got six? You can make do with five. Put a McDonalds there for when I visit, or somebody’s gonna get fired!’
A good reason for US intelligence and diplomatic staff to support Kamala, perhaps?
No problem, there is already one in Beirut (Google maps: VG9P+5HC, Sin El Fil, Lebanon).
Wherever the yankee running dogs rule there is McD and Starbucks.
That looks like the location of a petrol pump. The street view shows no McD (just tried again). Besides, what about the risk of being attacked when leaving the secure compound?
FFS – just type in McDonald’s in the search bar, or get a teenager to do it for you …
Speaking on Lebanon:
“Irish military intelligence believe pro-Israeli bot networks have been spreading online disinformation about the presence of Irish troops in south Lebanon with the aim of securing the withdrawal of peacekeepers from the region.”
https://x.com/wikileaks/status/1852880170124038643
Already in 1987 Israel deliberately killed an irish peace keeper:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/killing-of-irish-soldier-by-israelis-believed-to-be-deliberate-and-unprovoked-1.3332492
Sickening how west bending over backwards for this regime, no one would get away what Israel is doing right now. No one.
Forty seven Irish peace keepers have been killed in Lebanon since the 1960s, about half by the IDF.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/15/un-peacekeepers-lebanon-lives-on-line-israeli-army
The latest in December 2022.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/15/irish-soldier-killed-lebanon-un-peacekeeping-mission
Not getting enough recognition.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqxw9ny2dyeo
Earlier this month they defied Israeli demands to withdraw.
Fear not Mr Ambassador, powerful interests are tenderly watching over you.
Matthew Miller, Biden-Harris State Department spokesman (aka Smirkula):
“Today, the United States reaffirms its commitment to ending impunity for crimes against journalists. We call on all governments to protect journalists from violence and hold perpetrators of crimes accountable.”
https://x.com/StateDeptSpox/status/1852704056101294549
Will they hold the persecutors of Julian Assange accountable?
Good question…next question.
His administration is behind the murder of hundreds of journalists in Gaza. Remember them?
nope the persecutors include Biden.
Congrats Craig on your appointment to the board of Consortium News – if the late great John Pilger had a say on who should fill his extremely large boots – I’m sure your name would’ve popped up.
Anyway on Gaza.
“There are some 4,000 foreign reporters accredited in Israel to cover the war. They stay in luxury hotels. They go on dog and pony shows orchestrated by the Israeli military. They can, on rare occasions, be escorted by Israeli soldiers on lightning visits to Gaza, where they are shown alleged weapons caches or tunnels the military says are used by Hamas.
They dutifully attend daily press conferences. They are given off-the-record briefings by senior Israeli officials who feed them information that often turns out to be untrue. They are Israel’s unwitting and sometimes witting propagandists, stenographers for the architects of apartheid and genocide, hotel room warriors.”
“Bertolt Brecht acidly called them the spokesmen of the spokesmen.”
“And how many foreign reporters are there in Gaza? None.”
“The Palestinian reporters in Gaza who fill the void often pay with their lives. They are targeted, along with their families, for assassination.”
“At least 134 journalists and media workers in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, have been killed and 69 have been imprisoned, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, marking the deadliest period for journalists since the organization began collecting data in 1992. ”
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/10/31/chris-hedges-israels-war-on-journalism/
Lets see how long it takes the ICJ to spring into action – if does anything meaningful at all.
“South Africa filed 750 pages of “overwhelming” proof that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands on Monday, the deadline for submitting final evidence in the ongoing trial.
South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusi Madonsela delivered the legal document — known as a memorial — to the ICJ headquarters in the Dutch city. Under the court’s rules, the contents of the memorial cannot be made public at this time.
According to a statement from the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the memorial is a “comprehensive presentation of the overwhelming evidence of genocide in Gaza.””
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/10/31/south-africa-files-overwhelming-evidence-of-genocide/
I have no doubt that the claim of genocide will be rejected which will be a colossal win for Israel. ICJ/ICC are just tools of the west.
Why is it that this case against Israel in the end, became a 1 lonely nation standing up against Israel? Where is the energy? Where is the enormous momentum that could have been triggered if nations actually not only joined South Africa but actually provided evidence to the ICJ, making the case more solid? That the west would not support it is clear, but arab, muslim, african states I thought would energize this movement, but no one was interested apparently.
I don’t know, maybe ‘the rest of the world’, the global south, BRICS, whatever, realise that all these organisations: UN, NATO, IMF, WEF, etc. are just tools of the corrupt west and it doesn’t really matter what you do because they are all talking shops aimed at deflecting attention from the hegemons agenda. Maybe, the brave new world is being built somewhere else and we’re being left to carry on killing each other in the futile race to the top of the mound of corpses.