The right to demonstrate against genocide – a statement from Jeremy Corbyn MP
https://www.facebook.com/JeremyCorbynMP/posts/1366999734791557
Israel pays influencers up to $7,000 per post to occupy information space
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
As global public opinion shifts decisively against Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, the occupation state is intensifying efforts to dominate the information space through a network of paid influencers, algorithm manipulation, AI content framing and covert media partnerships. Recent revelations from filings under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act expose a sprawling Israeli propaganda campaign designed to distort public discourse, especially among younger audiences, and deflect mounting accusations of genocide.
At the centre of this campaign is a covert influence operation, exposed in documents filed under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its contractor Bridges Partners, has reportedly paid up to $7,000 per post for influencers to publish pro-Israel content on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
According to Responsible Statecraft, the “Influencer Campaign” was budgeted at $900,000 to cover 75–90 posts between June and September 2024. The content is being produced under an initiative called the “Esther Project.”
The name bears resemblance to a separate initiative by the right-wing US think tank, the Heritage Foundation, which launched its own “Project Esther” in October 2024. The Heritage campaign aims to identify and counter what it describes as “antisemitic” rhetoric on US campuses and in public discourse—an effort that critics say equates legitimate criticism of Israel with support for terrorism.
According to Responsible Statecraft, while the two projects are not officially connected, they appear to share ideological aims: conflating Palestinian solidarity and criticism of Israe with extremism in order to delegitimise dissent.
The wider strategy involves not only the dissemination of pro-Israel content but also direct efforts to alter the architecture of information platforms themselves.
WATCH: MEMO Monitoring: Is Israel losing control of images emerging from Gaza?
A $6 million contract was awarded by the Israeli government to a firm named Clock Tower X LLC, whose leadership includes Brad Parscale, former campaign manager for Donald Trump. The contract focuses on disseminating pro-Israel messaging to Gen Z audiences across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms. The firm aims to reach at least 50 million impressions monthly.
Significantly, the Clock Tower contract includes efforts to influence how artificial intelligence tools—such as ChatGPT—respond to questions about Israel and Palestine. The firm plans to launch a network of pro-Israel websites and populate them with content designed to shape how AI models “frame” certain topics. Because tools like ChatGPT learn by drawing on vast amounts of publicly available text from the internet, flooding the web with specific narratives can alter how these models answer sensitive questions.
In practical terms, this means that if someone asks ChatGPT a question about Israeli policies or the situation in Gaza, the AI might be more likely to echo pro-Israel talking points—not because they are factually correct, but because the internet has been strategically seeded with that perspective.
Clock Tower is also using advanced software such as MarketBrew AI—a tool designed to reverse-engineer search engine algorithms—to ensure pro-Israel narratives appear higher in Google and Bing search results. This approach, known as predictive search engine optimisation (SEO), helps push critical or dissenting perspectives further down the rankings, making them less visible to the average reader.
In a related move, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison—reportedly the single largest private donor to the Israeli military—is expected to play a major role in the acquisition of TikTok. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly backed the bid, saying it “could be consequential.”
The entire operation comes as Israel faces growing international condemnation over its ongoing military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians—most of them women and children—since October 2023. Recent polling shows that only 9 per cent of Americans aged 18-34 support Israel’s actions, with broader public opinion also shifting.
In remarks to Israeli influencers last week, Netanyahu acknowledged that the digital space is now “the most important” front in Israel’s efforts to justify its war. “You can’t fight today with swords, that doesn’t work very well,” he said. “The most important [weapons] are the social media.”
READ: Israel’s influence on Big Tech: Silencing pro-Palestine media
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Kemi Badenoch vows to repeal Climate Change Act
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/02/kemi-badenoch-vows-to-repeal-climate-change-act
Tory leader says she would replace it with ‘cheap energy’ strategy, ending decades-long consensus on climate
Kemi Badenoch has vowed to repeal the Climate Change Act if the Conservatives win the next election, doing away with controls on greenhouse gas emissions and dismantling what has been the cornerstone of green and energy policy for successive governments.
The Conservative party leader was already committed to scrapping the UK’s net zero target but repeal of the Climate Change Act would go much further. It would remove the need to meet “carbon budgets” – ceilings, set for five-year periods, on the amount of greenhouse gas that can be emitted – and disband the Climate Change Committee, the watchdog that advises on how policies affect the UK’s carbon footprint.
Badenoch said: “Under my leadership we will scrap those failed targets. Our priority now is growth, cheaper energy, and protecting the natural landscapes we all love.”
Under the landmark legislation, which was passed with the almost unanimous support of the Conservative party under David Cameron in 2008, carbon budgets are set for many years beyond the current government’s remit. This in effect binds future governments to adhering to climate policies, though it does not specify what those policies should be.
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/02/kemi-badenoch-vows-to-repeal-climate-change-act
Thames Water creditors ask for up to 15 years’ leniency from river pollution rules
Lenders say a ‘full return to legal, regulatory and environmental compliance’ under new rescue plan would not be completed until at least 2035-2040
Thames Water may not fully comply with rules on pollution of England’s waterways for as long as 15 years, according to a new plan by creditors who are scrambling to avoid the utility being forced into government administration.
The creditors who in effect own Thames Water have said they will commit to paying fines for pollution, as well as writing off more of their loans and investing more in the company, in new proposals published on Thursday.
However, the creditors also said that “a full return to legal, regulatory and environmental compliance” under their plan would not be completed until at least the 2035-2040 period, raising the prospect of sewage levels above legal limits in some places for at least a decade. They will argue for further leniency on fines from the regulator, Ofwat, during that period, and that it will be impossible for the company to make upgrades across London and south-east England more quickly because of the scale of the work needed after years of neglect.
The group of financial institutions, under the new London & Valley Water holding company, has been locked in talks with Ofwat since May over acceptable terms for the hugely complex restructuring of Britain’s biggest water company.
Thames Water has been crippled by huge debts built up over two decades by owners who have been criticised for paying out dividends without investing enough in its leaking pipes and malfunctioning treatment works. That contributed to widespread public outrage over the level of sewage in Britain’s rivers and seas.
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/02/thames-water-lenders-submit-new-rescue-plan-to-stave-off-collapse
Big problem with conference passing the genocide motion is we know ‘Labour’ will ignore it
