Diane Abbott is the the longest-serving female MP but lost the Labour whip in 2023 and again in July this year for her comments on racism. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Archive
Exclusive: Contenders teed up for future contest, which MP says seems ‘to pre-empt results of investigation’
Moves to find a successor to Diane Abbott in the parliamentary seat she has represented since 1987 are under way, prompting concern that her fate has been decided before an investigation into her latest suspension has concluded.
Figures on Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) have spoken to potential contenders, teeing them up for a future contest in her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, and giving them informal advice on how to prepare, according to a party source.
Abbott was suspended from the party in July for repeating that Jewish people do not experience racism in the same way as Black people[*1], a statement that had earned her a previous suspension in April 2023.
Labour said there would be no discussion of potential successor as an investigation was ongoing. The party said there had been no discussions about alternative candidates at any NEC meetings and no proposals put to NEC members about a selection process.
Abbott said: “It does seem to be rather pre-empting the results of the investigation.”
*1 I suggest that it shouldn’t be reduced to “Jewish people do not experience racism in the same way as Black people.” While that is how it’s perceived and dealt with by the Zionist Labour party, it’s more about there being different forms and consequent experiences of racism and not addressing Jewish people specifically.
“Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.
“I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism. I don’t know why people would say that.”
Parachutes drop supplies into the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, August 12, 2025
Gaza’s collective sumud has proven more powerful than one of the world’s best-equipped militaries, but the change in international attitudes isn’t happening fast enough to save a starving population from Western-backed genocide, argues RAMZY BAROUD
THE consequences of the Israeli genocide in Gaza will be dire. An event of this degree of barbarity, sustained by an international conspiracy of moral inertia and silence, will not be relegated to history as just another “conflict” or a mere tragedy.
The Gaza genocide is a catalyst for major events to come. Israel and its benefactors are acutely aware of this historical reality. This is precisely why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a race against time, desperately trying to ensure his country remains relevant, if not standing, in the coming era. He pursues this through territorial expansion in Syria, relentless aggression against Lebanon and, of course, the desire to annex all occupied Palestinian territories.
But history cannot be controlled with such precision. However clever he may think he is, Netanyahu has already lost the ability to influence the outcome. He has been unable to set a clear agenda in Gaza, let alone achieve any strategic goals in a 365-square-kilometre expanse of destroyed concrete and ashes. Gazans have proven that collective sumud can defeat one of the most well-equipped modern armies.
Indeed, history itself has taught us that changes of great magnitude are inevitable. The true heartbreak is that this change is not happening fast enough to save a starving population, and the growing pro-Palestinian sentiment is not expanding at the rate needed to achieve a decisive political outcome.
…
History does not take its cues from Israel or Western powers. Gaza will indeed result in the kind of global shifts that will affect us all, far beyond the Middle East. For now, however, it is most urgent that we use our collective will and action to influence one single historical event: ending the genocide and the famine in Gaza.
The rest will be left to history, and to those who wish to be relevant when the world changes again.
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the editor of the Palestine Chronicle (www.palestinechronicle.com).
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Protesters hold placards as JD Vance drives by, Ayrshire, Scotland August 14, 2025
US VICE-president JD Vance has arrived in Ayrshire to the sound of rattling pots and a reminder of the millions being starved by the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
The protest on Wednesday formed part of ongoing action by Mothers Against Genocide, which answered the call of journalist in Gaza, Bisan Owda, for people to bang pots and pans.
Protesters are carrying out the pot banging each day at 6pm at more than 20 locations across Scotland to draw attention to the forced starvation of the people of Gaza by the Israeli regime.
But as protesters gathered outside the gates of the private Carnell Estate to greet Mr Vance, they were met by dozens of uniformed police.
A gaggle of undercover cops were also present, working in concert with US secret service personnel who roamed the public roads in golf buggies.
Initial efforts by police to move the protesters on to a “designated protest area” on a roundabout a mile away to “ensure safety” were refused, as was a later request to move from the verge in which they had gathered and on to a nearby side road.
The vice-president’s motorcade set out on the 10-mile journey from Prestwick Airport to Carnell, while police formed a cordon in front of the protesters.
But this did little to quiet the din of pots and pans, or the chants of “JD Vance, USA, how many kids did you kill today?!”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Protesters in New York City protest genocide in Gaza (Photo: Wyatt Souers)
Amid Israel’s starvation of Gaza, a broad coalition of pro-Palestine groups are planning a march of thousands through the streets of New York City
On Saturday, August 16, demonstrators are set to march in protest of Israel’s starvation of Gaza in a “Mass March for Humanity” through the streets of New York City. Over 200 organizations have endorsed, coming from an array of diverse backgrounds including the Palestinian diaspora, pro-Palestine solidarity groups, labor unions, anti-war groups, faith groups, and others. Buses are set to travel from across the northeastern United States, including from Baltimore, Boston, Burlington, New Hampshire, Philadelphia, Providence and Washington, DC.
Endorsing organizations include, but are not limited to, the Palestinian Youth Movement, the People’s Forum, the ANSWER Coalition, the Arab American Association of New York, the Palestinian American Organizations Network, American Muslims for Palestine, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Democratic Socialists of America, SEIU Local 509, Jewish Voice for Peace, CODEPINK, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Green Party of the United States, Healthcare Workers For Palestine, the National Women’s Studies Association, and Doctors Against Genocide.
Doctors take a stand against mass death
“Genocide will never stop without global intervention,” Dr. Nidal Jboor, the cofounder of Doctors Against Genocide, told Peoples Dispatch. In May of this year, Jboor was arrested while sitting in a US congressional building holding a sign that read “Let the children eat. Let the children live,” while Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
“We cannot abandon the victims to the mercy of their killers. Humanity must rise, mobilize, and save the starved population of Gaza – because governments will not act unless we force them to through relentless, unyielding pressure,” said Jboor.
Members of Doctors Against Genocide, along with over 100 medical professionals across the globe who have volunteered in Gaza have signed onto a letter in solidarity with Palestinian medical workers.
“We refuse to remain silent while our colleagues are being starved, and shot by Israel,” the letter reads. “Palestinian health workers are collapsing from hunger while performing surgeries, operating without basic medical supplies, and enduring relentless attacks on hospitals, clinics, and ambulances.”
The letter demands urgent protection for Palestinian civilians and healthcare workers, an end to attacks on medical facilities, the lifting of Israel’s blockade to allow full humanitarian access, an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and accountability for those responsible for violence and abuses in Gaza.
Journalists’ contingent to denounce Israel’s targeting of Palestinian journalists
The recent assassination of six Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif on Sunday, August 10, has fueled a surge of outrage. On Saturday, journalists and media workers will join the demonstration to denounce the attacks on their colleagues in Gaza.
Among these journalists include a group of writers organized by Writers Against the War on Gaza, a group that has been active since the first weeks of the genocide in October of 2023. WAWOG’s organizing hit the ground running with bold, targeted action against mainstream media outlets, including blocking a shipment of the New York Times newspaper at its printing plant in Queens, New York in March of 2024.
According to Nicki Kattoura, a member of WAWOG, “there is no press freedom if Palestinian journalists are being killed.”
“Israel is targeting Palestinian journalists because they are threatened by the exposure of their war crimes,” says Kattoura. “But we also find, this is not the whole story, politically, although it may be, and also feels true, psychologically.”
“One thing that we can say with certainty is that Israel is killing Palestinian journalists because they are Palestinian. The Zionist entity’s clear stated intent is to exterminate the Palestinian people,” Kattoura continued. “And I would say the killing of Hossam Shabat or Anas Al-Sharif is as much about breaking the Palestinian spirit, because they are the beloved voices of the Palestinian people, as it is about ethnically cleansing the Gaza Strip.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Cuban President Fidel Castro. Photo: Cuba Sí
On the 99th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth, we remember the revolutionary government’s support for Palestine, especially its condemnation of the genocide of the Palestinian people.
In a famous speech, Fidel Castro, the supreme leader of the Cuban Revolution, stated that medical, civil, and military support for the Angolan people was provided without expectation of any material reward. He pointed out that this way of thinking exposes an imperialist ideology, according to which one country supports another, always expecting to benefit materially in some way. “Revolutionaries expect nothing, which means that revolutionaries must devote themselves totally to a cause, to their ideas, to their noble goals, without expecting anything in return.”
This was the same principle that Fidel applied in supporting the Palestinian people’s struggle almost from the beginning of the revolutionary process he led since 1959. It is no coincidence that one of the most renowned Palestinian leaders, Yasser Arafat, visited the Caribbean Island eight times, on the personal invitation of Castro.
On October 12, 1979, at the United Nations Assembly, Fidel denounced before the world Israel’s process of territorial expansion, supported by the United States, at the expense of Palestinian territory. “The basis for a just peace in the region begins with Israel’s total and unconditional withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories and for the Palestinian people, the return of all their occupied territories and the restoration of their inalienable national rights, including the right of return to their homeland, self-determination, and the establishment of an independent state in Palestine, following General Assembly Resolution 3236,” Fidel said.
Castro acknowledged that this expansion was achieved through the killing of Palestinians, thus becoming one of the first world leaders to speak of “genocide” against the Palestinian people: “We repudiate with all our strength the ruthless persecution and genocide that Nazism unleashed against the Jewish people in its time. But I can think of nothing more similar in our contemporary history than the eviction, persecution, and genocide that imperialism and Zionism are carrying out today against the Palestinian people. Stripped of their lands, expelled from their homeland, scattered throughout the world, persecuted and murdered, the heroic Palestinians are an impressive example of self-sacrifice and patriotism, and they are the living symbol of the greatest crime of our time.”
Fidel also recognized that there are geopolitical interests that do not want peace to be established in the Middle East: “Can anyone be surprised that the Conference (of the Non-Aligned Movement) was forced, for reasons that do not stem from any political prejudice but from an objective analysis of the facts, to point out that US policy plays a fundamental role in preventing the establishment of a just and comprehensive peace in the region, by aligning itself with Israel, supporting it, and working to obtain partial solutions favorable to Zionist objectives and guaranteeing the fruits of Israeli aggression at the expense of the Arab people of Palestine and the entire Arab nation?”
“More than just rhetorical support, it was tangible support”
As historians point out, Fidel’s support for Palestine was not purely rhetorical, but also diplomatic. In 1974, Arafat arrived in Cuba and was received with the honors of a head of state, even though Palestine was not yet “officially” recognized as a state. Fidel’s message was clear: Palestine should be recognized by the international community as a state, and Arafat as its leader. In addition, Arafat was awarded the Playa Girón National Order, Cuba’s highest recognition for citizens “who have excelled in the struggle against imperialism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism, or who have done great deeds for peace and progress of mankind”.
The relationship between Cuban revolutionaries and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) dates to the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. In 1959, Raúl Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara traveled to the Gaza Strip, disobeying the doctrine of hemispheric alignment whereby all Latin American countries, except for Cuba, supported Israel.
Thus, in 1964, thanks to Che Guevara’s tremendous efforts, Cuba recognized the PLO as soon as it was founded, becoming one of the first countries to do so. But its support went beyond official documents, according to Mansour Tahboub, former acting director of the Arafat Foundation: “Cuba has always been a strong supporter of Palestinians in all realms: political, military, vocational training. The Cubans trained Palestinian cadres, and Fidel himself was a staunch advocate of the Palestinian quest for freedom and independence.”
The truth is that one of the core principles of Castro’s administration was to support anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist struggles, wherever they took place. In a 1977 interview with French Weekly, Fidel stated: “The Palestinian movements have shown their ability to resist imperialist … aggression … [The Palestinian cause] will prevail sooner or later despite the betrayal by Arab reactionaries, imperialist maneuvers and Israeli aggression.”
That is why Cuba, along with Nicaragua, were the only two Latin American countries to condemn Israel’s actions after the Six-Day War. In 1973, Cuba severed diplomatic relations with Israel following the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Algeria.
According to Abdel Majeed Sweilim, professor of political science at Al Quds University, the PLO also benefited from the relationship between Cubans and Palestinians, thanks to the political training of Palestinians on Cuban soil.
Today, despite the economic blockade imposed by the United States, which causes a perpetual economic crisis on the Caribbean Island, the Cuban government has reserved funding in the form of academic scholarships so that each year, 150 Palestinians can study medicine, engineering, and other professions at Cuban universities.
In his final years, Fidel continued to support the Palestinian cause. Thus, after resigning from his political posts, Castro signed an international manifesto in support of Palestine in 2014, which demanded Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, as well as respect for the resolutions passed by the United Nations regarding the conflict.
Arafat’s recognition of Cuban support
These and other measures have led countless Palestinians to see the revolutionary government of Cuba as an unwavering ally. Arafat himself acknowledged this when he stated: “I consider, Your Excellency President Fidel Castro, this demonstration of firmness and unwavering friendship that has taken place in Havana, as a strong and effective message from a beloved world leader who enjoys great international prestige among all the peoples and countries of the world, to mobilize them quickly to put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli occupation of their homeland, and the intensification of military, economic, and financial actions and blockades against our cities, villages, towns, farms, and water wells, and the closure of international border crossings by land, air, and water.”
In addition, the historic leader of the PLO said: “Every Palestinian today holds in their heart and conscience this glorious image of Your Excellency with the Palestinian hatta on your shoulders, which is irrefutable evidence of the justice of our cause and the magnitude of the injustice committed by the Israeli aggressors against our people. Have full confidence, Your Excellency President Castro, so beloved by our people and by all peoples, that our people, as resilient as the Palestinian mountains, take from your position and example, which makes us proud, more courage and determination to continue the struggle, the resistance, and the Intifada to remove the Israeli occupiers from our country, Palestine.”
In this way, Cuba continues to unreservedly support the demands for sovereignty, self-determination, and peace made by the Palestinian people in the face of the previous and most recent attacks by the Israeli government on their territory. This support, since 1959, is not given with the expectation of anything in return, but because of the anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist principles that guide the Cuban Revolution and that Fidel helped to establish as principles of the Cuban state itself.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Parachutes drop supplies into the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, August 12, 2025
