- Post author:dizzy
- Post published:12 November 2024
- Post category:Fascism/human rights violations/Israel/Keir Starmer/Palestine/politics/Zionism
- Post comments:0 Comments
Journalism is not a crime – Tell that to the British state
https://www.declassifieduk.org/journalism-is-not-a-crime-tell-that-to-the-british-state/
Why are no national news outlets covering the crackdown on pro-Palestinian journalists in Britain?
“Journalism is the lifeblood of democracy” proclaimed prime minister Keir Starmer in a comment piece for the Guardian at the end of October. “Just because journalists are brave does not mean they should ever suffer intimidation”, he wrote.
Yet 11 days before his article was published, officers from the counter-terrorism unit of the Metropolitan Police raided the home of Asa Winstanley, a well-known pro-Palestinian journalist with the Electronic Intifada, and seized his devices under provisions of the UK’s Terrorism Act.
Winstanley was presented with a letter indicating that the raid was part of ‘Operation Incessantness’, a counter-terror initiative about which little is known.
This is not the first use of anti-terror laws to try to silence pro-Palestinian voices in recent months.
It follows the detention at Heathrow Airport of Richard Medhurst and the arrest of Sarah Wilkinson in August 2024, both of whom are independent journalists prominently associated with reporting Israel’s war on Palestinians.
The attacks on journalists are part of a wider pattern of harassment of pro-Palestine activists.
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In response to these outrageous infringements of journalists’ ability to do their jobs, Declassified UK noted back in September that “they are part of a sinister development that has serious implications for civil liberties and freedom of speech, yet it has been ignored by the mainstream media”.
This continues to be the case. Not a single national news outlet in the UK has reported on the policing of British pro-Palestinian journalists. Not one of them has thought to investigate what ‘Operation Incessantness’ might mean for press freedom.
Not one of them has reflected on the precedent set by the use of anti-terror laws for reporting on Gaza.
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https://www.declassifieduk.org/journalism-is-not-a-crime-tell-that-to-the-british-state/
dizzy: Bloggers are journalists and journalists are bloggers. Restrictions are applied to this blog contrary to human rights principles. Comments are not permitted, stats are manipulated. I finally managed to connect to Google Analytics and it told me I had 8 page views on one day, 14 on the following day – at least it’s obviously total BS.
I assume that UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is responsible for this but it could be Germany since this blog is hosted in Germany. I have no idea tbh because I’ve never been told and never been given the opportunity to challenge it.
On the plus side, I think that the Fascist human rights violators may also be paying for my hosting. If I’m reaching a far wider audience than acknowledged, somebody is paying for that bandwidth. Somebody is also paying to hide my name. I used to pay for it – about £20 a year – but decided that I couldn’t afford it one year. My name appeared on the DNS record but was hidden within about 20 minutes.
SNP vow to ‘sabotage’ Labour’s ‘watered-down’ House of Lords reforms
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/snp-vow-sabotage-labours-watered-down-house-lords-reforms
THE SNP has vowed to “sabotage” Labour’s “watered-down” House of Lords reforms with a deluge of amendments.
Labour’s House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, aiming to exclude the last remaining 92 hereditary peers from the legislature, faces its third reading in the House of Commons today.
But SNP MP Pete Wishart has tabled amendments ranging from abolishing the institution altogether to making peers’ £342 daily allowance liable for income tax.
Pointing to the “egregious example” of £18,808 paid to private healthcare tycoon Lord Hameed of Hampstead last year, despite him playing no role and failing to vote even once, Mr Wishart argues that taxing the £20 million paid out in allowances last year could generate over £9m — enough to restore Winter Fuel Payments to more than 22,000 pensioners in Scotland.
Urging Scottish Labour MPs to “at least” back him on taxing allowances, Mr Wishart commented: “That’s the only viable option for anyone who believes in democracy.
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“The Labour Party has repeatedly broken its promise to abolish the House of Lords for more than a century and, frankly, this embarrassingly limited Bill is 114 years too little, too late.
“The undemocratic House of Lords is an archaic institution of the kind you’d find in a banana republic and it’s second only in size to the Congress of China costing taxpayers more than £200m a year.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/snp-vow-sabotage-labours-watered-down-house-lords-reforms
All governments must end complicity with genocide, say Scottish Greens
THE Scottish Greens used the Armistice Day commemorations today to call on all governments to end their complicity in the Gaza genocide.
The party’s co-leader Patrick Harvie challenged the SNP Scottish government to stop subsidising arms manufacturers, and the Labour government to end all arms sales to Israel as its military continues its bloody assault in Gaza.
Mr Harvie said: “After the horrors of October 7, the last 400 days have seen some of the worst war crimes of this century carried out against the people of Gaza.
“By arming and supporting Israel, the UK has made itself utterly complicit in the destruction.
“How can [Prime Minister Sir] Keir Starmer and his colleagues look at a humanitarian emergency on that scale and decide to continue the arms sales?
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Starmer spy flights over Gaza risk complicity in Israeli torture
It appears that this video was released between 1 and 2 months ago.
Keir Starmer’s 100 spy flights over Gaza in support of Israel
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Britain’s Labour government has ordered 100 spy flights over Gaza to aid Israeli intelligence, it can be revealed.
This amounts to an average of more than one a day since Keir Starmer became prime minister on July 5.
Starmer’s administration suspended 30 arms export licences for Israel last month, citing “a clear risk” the weapons might be used in a “serious violation” of international law.
But the spy flights, which began in December under the previous Conservative government, have continued apace.
Although the Ministry of Defence (MoD) refused to give details, Declassified independently found the flights departing from Akrotiri – Britain’s sprawling air base on Cyprus – to fly over Gaza on Starmer’s watch.
During Labour’s first full month in office, in August, the Royal Air Force (RAF) flew 42 flights over the devastated Palestinian territory.
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