Israel allocates $37M to develop alleged Jewish heritage sites in occupied West Bank amid intensified settlement expansion

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, during an interview in Tel Aviv, Israel on, 5 December 2024 [Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg/ Getty Images]

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Tuesday the allocation of $37 million to develop alleged Jewish heritage sites in the West Bank, amid intensified illegal settlement expansion in the occupied territory, Anadolu reports.

“For the first time in history, 113 million shekels ($37 million) will be allocated to develop more than 70 heritage sites in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said on the US social media company X, using Israel’s biblical term for the West Bank.

Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, did not identify the targeted sites.

In May, the Knesset approved the first reading of a bill to establish the so-called “Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority,” which would place Roman, Byzantine and Crusader-era sites under the authority of Israel’s Heritage Ministry.

READ: Israeli occupiers burn 3 Palestinian vehicles, damage power grid in West Bank

The bill also allows for the confiscation and purchase of real estate related to such sites, prompting the Palestinian Authority to warn that the measure aims to expand Israeli control and deepen illegal settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory.

According to Smotrich, 104 illegal settlements and 160 outposts have been approved in the West Bank since the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in late 2022.

Around 750,000 occupiers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian figures.

UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, states that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have “no legal validity” and constitute a flagrant violation of international law.

​​​​​​​In a landmark advisory opinion in July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

READ: Israeli defense minister backtracks on West Bank commander’s dismissal amid army row

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Keir 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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel's genocide.
Keir 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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.

Continue ReadingIsrael allocates $37M to develop alleged Jewish heritage sites in occupied West Bank amid intensified settlement expansion

Approval of east London datacentre labelled ‘slap in the face’ for local democracy

Spread the love

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/04/brick-lane-redevelopment-approval-datacentre-london

Campaigners Jonathan Moberley and Susanna Kow. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Campaigners decry Angela Rayner’s backing for Brick Lane project that has only 11 affordable homes

A £500m redevelopment of the Truman Brewery estate in Brick Lane, east London, has been approved, clearing the way for the construction of a datacentre, offices and apartments despite opposition from Tower Hamlets council and local campaign groups.

The housing secretary, Angela Rayner, made the decision in a letter issued on her behalf last week by the housing minister Matthew Pennycook, rejecting demands from the council and campaigners for for the site to be used for hundreds of homes instead.

The Save Brick Lane coalition, made up of nine groups opposed to the project, said their “community should not be expected to accept a noisy, energy-intensive development that consumes a significant amount of power”.

One person who works in the area said: “We don’t need it … Brick Lane is the heart of community, there’s already been so much change and adding a datacentre will just be another bad change.”

Of the 44 homes to be built, 11 will be affordable and six will be designated as social homes available to rent. More than 30,000 households are registered as awaiting social housing in Tower Hamlets.

The Save Brick Lane coalition is seeking expert advice on whether Rayner’s decision can be challenged.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/04/brick-lane-redevelopment-approval-datacentre-london

Deputy Labour Party Leader Angela Rayner calls for police to kill and harass innocent people.
Deputy Labour Party Leader Angela Rayner calls for police to kill and harass innocent people. dizzy ” … should not be elected to high office …” ed: Perhaps I shoud have been more precise and said “appointed” instead of elected. I think that the meaning is clear and I certainly didn’t mean for a few months.

Continue ReadingApproval of east London datacentre labelled ‘slap in the face’ for local democracy

Burnham must end Starmer’s criminalisation of peaceful protest

Spread the love

https://greens.scot/news/burnham-must-end-starmer-s-criminalisation-of-peaceful-protest

Palestine flag
Palestine flag

Solidarity with Palestine should never be a crime.

Andy Burnham must urgently dismantle the authoritarian assault on protest rights created by Keir Starmer’s government, the Scottish Greens have said.

The call follows reports that over 100 people outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court were arrested after peacefully expressing opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

It comes less than a week after far-right demonstrators in Glasgow performed Nazi salutes and became involved in violence and intimidation, where 15 arrests were made.

Scottish Greens justice spokesperson Maggie Chapman MSP said: 

“There is something profoundly wrong when people peacefully opposing genocide are immediately surrounded, detained and treated like terrorists, while men performing Nazi salutes during violent far-right disorder can walk away and wait to see whether the police eventually knock on their doors.

“People holding signs and expressing an opinion were arrested en masse. Meanwhile, self-declared Nazis were seemingly allowed to perform fascist salutes in public, intimidate people and cause fear and alarm, and then leave the scene.

“The law must be enforced consistently and proportionately. It cannot be used as an authoritarian weapon against peaceful campaigners while organised fascist thugs spread hatred and intimidation on our streets.

“Keir Starmer did his part in creating this shameful mess by abusing terrorism legislation to criminalise conscience, solidarity and peaceful dissent.”

Maggie added: 

“Protest is not terrorism, and opposing genocide is not a crime.

“This will be one of Andy Burnham’s earliest and most important tests as Prime Minister. He must decide whether he will defend Starmer’s authoritarian legacy or begin undoing it.

“His government should end the prosecutions of peaceful protesters and undertake an urgent review of how counter-terrorism and public-order laws are being used against political dissent.”

https://greens.scot/news/burnham-must-end-starmer-s-criminalisation-of-peaceful-protest

Continue ReadingBurnham must end Starmer’s criminalisation of peaceful protest

DRAFT: Terrorism UK:: Terrorism is defined as attempting to influence the government. It follows that political activists engaging in the democratic process are terrorists

Spread the love
Keir 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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel's genocide.
Keir 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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.

I mentioned a short time ago that I needed to write a piece on terrorism. This is the first published draft, it may well change.

I decided to publish a piece on terrorism while Anne Widdicombe murder featured prominently in the UK press. Anne Widdicombe was a well-known UK politician who like many Reform politicians had transferred her allegiances from the Conservative Party to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party plc. An intolerant bigot, it’s unclear whether she was immigration and justice spokesperson for the Reform party plc when she was violently murdered by a 28 year old man repeatedly wielding a hammer.

The London Metropolitan Police lead on terrorism policing in the UK. An alleged possible terrorism connection allowed the transfer of the investigation from the regional Devon and Cornwall Police force to the Metropolitan police.

Normal people understand terrorism as being about using bombs to kill people indiscriminately. This is actually very difficult to do because – I suggest that by definition you have to be divorced from normal life, mentally ill to do this – and what we find instead is that nutters attack and kill people using knives, etc.

Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.

In UK, terrorism is defined as attempting to influence the government. It follows that political activists engaging in the democratic process are terrorists – including myself wanting government action addressing climate change, disagreeing with fossil fuel exploitation in the North Sea, objecting to and wanting and end to UK’s complicity in Israel’s genocide for colonial expansion. I have a long history of UK police treating me as a suspected terrorist and interfering in my life for my actions as a political activist.

But this is selective of course. Super rich proprietors of newspapers Rupert Murdoch, Lord Rothermere, etc not only attempt to influence the government but no way are these cnuts regarded as terrorists when they are the de-facto the weilders of power. These are cnuts who support Israel’s genocide and deride climate activists as eco-zealots, etc.

As I said earlier, people understand that terrorism is about people indiscriminately killing the public using bombs. This is what Israel is doing with the UK government complicit in it’s actions. This intolerant Fascist government instead accuses people damaging arms factories complicit in genocide, painting military planes, painting banks or retired vicars and other pensioners holding signs with words banned by the government of terrorism.

Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

Continue ReadingDRAFT: Terrorism UK:: Terrorism is defined as attempting to influence the government. It follows that political activists engaging in the democratic process are terrorists