A UK Socialist's blog

Palestine Action activists arrested on first anniversary of ban

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palestine-action-activists-arrested-first-anniversary-ban

 DETAINED: Reverend Sue Parfitt in the police van

SAVING LIVES is not terrorism, protesters chanted outside Scotland Yard on Sunday as they marked one year since Palestine Action was banned as a terror group.

An 84-year-old retired priest was arrested for showing her support for the proscribed organisation alongside 13 other activists standing against British complicity in Israel’s war crimes.

Protesters gathered outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters in central London chanting slogans and holding banners, following a Court of Appeals ruling last month which found the ban on Palestine Action to be lawful.

…

Sunday’s protest saw 14 protesters including the Reverend Sue Parfitt arrested by police for disobeying the ban.

The retired 84-year-old Anglican priest and former nun was among those who shouted their support for Palestine Action, standing on a soapbox holding on which the words “I oppose genocide” were written.

Leading the campaign against the ban, Defend Our Juries (DOJ) said protesters were arrested under section 12 of the Terrorism Act, “a far more serious charge than the section 13 charge for which those holding signs have previously been arrested.”

A DOJ spokesperson said yesterday’s protest marked “a substantial escalation in their campaign” called “Saving Lives is Not Terrorism.”

…

Reverend Parfitt told the crowd through a megaphone: “So what can I do at my age and my frailty, very little — I do what I can to support the Palestinians.

“One of the best things that I can do is to support the organisation known as Palestine Action because they have been brave enough to smash up the weapons that are producing the genocide.

“So I ask you too to support Palestine Action.”

…

Amnesty International UK marked the one-year anniversary of the ban warning that “treating protest as terrorism leaves the door wide open for governments to suppress protest movements in the future, while clamping down on solidarity with Palestinians right now.”

The human rights organisation highlighted that at least 3,300 people have been arrested “for holding placards” since the proscription.

…

Original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palestine-action-activists-arrested-first-anniversary-ban

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.
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.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
Palestine Action dismantle Elbit equipment, 6 August 2024. (Photo: Handout)
Palestine Action dismantle Elbit equipment, 6 August 2024. (Photo: Handout)
Continue ReadingPalestine Action activists arrested on first anniversary of ban

Red scared: Donald Trump warns communism is the greatest threat US has ever faced in independence day rant

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/red-scared-donald-trump-warns-communism-greatest-threat-us-has-ever-faced-independence-day

 RED FEARS: Donald Trump went on an anti-communist rant for Independence Day

DONALD TRUMP’S “red scare” speech on the 250th anniversary of US independence was simply an attempt to “distract from his failing imperialist regime,” the Communist Party said yesterday.

General secretary Alex Gordon condemned Friday night’s speech by the US president as “straight from the playbook of a modern-day tyrant,” adding that “a spectre of communism is haunting Donald Trump.”

Following election wins by candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Mr Trump’s speech took aim at the progressive politicians pushing back against his wars abroad and violent attacks on immigrants at home.

He said: “There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success.

“Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty.”

Mr Gordon hit back: “A spectre of communism is haunting Donald Trump, just as it haunted popes, tsars, Metternich and Guizot, as Marx and Engels wrote in 1848 in The Communist Manifesto.

“Just as in Trump’s first presidential term, as US capitalism collapses and working-class Americans face unemployment, repossessions, inflation hikes and welfare cuts, so Trump’s rhetoric becomes more deranged and his public appearances are accompanied by paramilitary displays aimed at terrorising his own population.

“Trump’s address at the National Mall in Washington DC, the US black-majority capital city, was accompanied by a mobilisation of uniformed white supremacists.

“These are familiar terror tactics of fascist dictators from Mussolini onwards.”

Historian Kenny Coyle rejected Mr Trump’s claim of “100 million victims of communism.”

He told the Star: “This figure is presented so often by corporate media and mainstream academia as an uncontested fact that the claim is rarely subjected to historical research, commonsense questioning or even basic arithmetical skills. It’s not really a surprise that even Trump the Chump could memorise it.”

…

Read all the rest at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/red-scared-donald-trump-warns-communism-greatest-threat-us-has-ever-faced-independence-day

Keir Starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.
Keir Starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ... unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Continue ReadingRed scared: Donald Trump warns communism is the greatest threat US has ever faced in independence day rant

Netanyahu denies Trump restricted Israeli strikes in Lebanon

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

US President Donald Trump (R) meets with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) at the White House on February 11, in Washington DC, United States. [Avi Ohayon – GPO – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied reports Sunday that the US had restricted Israeli military operations in Lebanon, Anadolu reports.

“I heard it was said in the media that President Trump asked not to act against terror tunnels in Lebanon. This is a legend, fake news. He didn’t say anything to me about it, and I didn’t ask him. We operate according to our considerations,” Netanyahu said during a weekly Cabinet meeting.

His remarks contradicted an earlier report by Israel’s public broadcaster KAN late last month that Israel had provided US officials with detailed intelligence on alleged Hezbollah tunnels in the Ali al-Taher Heights in southern Lebanon in an effort to obtain US approval for military operations in the area.

The report suggested Israel sought a US green light to continue its military activities in Lebanon, contrary to Netanyahu’s assertion that Israeli military decisions are made independently.

Since March 2, 2026, Israeli military operations in Lebanon have killed at least 4,303 people and injured 12,202 others, according to Lebanese authorities, while displacing more than one million.

READ: Israeli army chief threatens Lebanon with ‘swift offensive’ from occupied Beaufort Castle

On June 26, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement under US mediation aimed at ending the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory.

Turning to Gaza, Netanyahu said there would be no reconstruction in the enclave before it is disarmed, a position that departs from the sequencing outlined in US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.

“There will be no reconstruction in Gaza without dismantling and demilitarizing the Strip,” he said in his comments carried by the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

Under the second phase of Trump’s plan, a broader Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and the launch of reconstruction are to proceed in parallel with the beginning of the disarmament of Palestinian factions.

According to the paper, Netanyahu’s remarks came amid reports that Trump’s Board of Peace intends to move ahead with reconstruction in areas under Israeli military control without linking it to the disarmament of Hamas.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 73,000 people and injured over 173,000 injured, in a deadly offensive that has caused widespread destruction affecting 90% of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure, according to official Gaza data.

READ: Trump says Netanyahu asked for meeting at White House

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

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
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/O74hZCKKdpA

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.

Continue ReadingNetanyahu denies Trump restricted Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Israeli army chief threatens Lebanon with ‘swift offensive’ from occupied Beaufort Castle

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

Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Eyal Zamir (C) conducts a field tour with senior commanders of the Israeli army. [Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir on Sunday threatened Lebanon with a “swift offensive” in the event of any violation of an ongoing ceasefire agreement, during a field visit to the occupied Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the Israeli army said Zamir toured forces stationed in the Beaufort area, known in Arabic as Qalaat al-Shaqif, alongside senior military commanders.

During the visit, Zamir called for transitioning to a “swift offensive” if the ceasefire agreement is breached.

The statement quoted him as describing Beaufort Castle as a “strategic point dominating its surroundings” and claimed the area was “full of terrorist infrastructure.”

Ignoring Israel’s near-daily violations of the ceasefire, Zamir also urged the Lebanese army to fulfill its commitments and work to remove Hezbollah fighters from the area.

He further claimed that Hezbollah had built, with Iranian funding and direction, “extensive tunnel systems and underground infrastructure” over decades to threaten northern Israeli settlements.

READ: Israeli army ends Givati Brigade mission in southern Lebanon after 8 months

There was no immediate response from Lebanese authorities on Zamir’s threat or his field visit.

In late May, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that Israeli forces had taken control of Beaufort Castle, in the deepest push into Lebanese territory since 2,000.

Hezbollah, however, said at the time that the site had been “free of any military resistance” when Israeli forces entered it, accusing Israel of occupying the area for propaganda purposes.

Beaufort Castle is one of southern Lebanon’s most prominent strategic landmarks. Israeli forces withdrew from the site in 2000.

The latest threat comes despite a framework agreement signed between Lebanon and Israel on June 26 under US mediation, which aims to end the conflict and address its root causes.

Since March 2, 2026, Israeli military operations in Lebanon have killed at least 4,303 people and injured 12,202 others, according to Lebanese authorities, while displacing more than one million.

READ: Israel’s Ben-Gvir to skip UN police summit in New York amid legal pressure: Reports

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

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
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/O74hZCKKdpA

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.

Continue ReadingIsraeli army chief threatens Lebanon with ‘swift offensive’ from occupied Beaufort Castle

Israeli occupiers burn down restaurant in occupied West Bank

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

The interior of a restaurant is seen heavily damaged after Israeli settlers raided and set fire to the building near An-Najah National University in Nablus, in West Bank, on July 5, 2026. [Nedal Eshtayah – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli occupiers set fire to a restaurant in the occupied West Bank on Sunday after stealing money from there, local sources told Anadolu Agency.

A group of occupiers broke into the restaurant near Al-Zaytouna University, between the towns of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya and Ammuriya, south of Nablus, the sources said.

They smashed its doors, stole money, and set it on fire, completely destroying it, the sources stated, adding that the attack occurred under the protection of the Israeli army.

The sources added that the restaurant served university students, and estimated the losses from the fire at around $300,000.

The interior of a restaurant is seen heavily damaged after Israeli settlers raided and set fire to the building near An-Najah National University in Nablus, in West Bank, on July 5, 2026. [Nedal Eshtayah - Anadolu Agency]
The interior of a restaurant is seen heavily damaged after Israeli settlers raided and set fire to the building near An-Najah National University in Nablus, in West Bank, on July 5, 2026. [Nedal Eshtayah - Anadolu Agency]
The interior of a restaurant is seen heavily damaged after Israeli settlers raided and set fire to the building near An-Najah National University in Nablus, in West Bank, on July 5, 2026. [Nedal Eshtayah - Anadolu Agency]
The interior of a restaurant is seen heavily damaged after Israeli settlers raided and set fire to the building near An-Najah National University in Nablus, in West Bank, on July 5, 2026. [Nedal Eshtayah - Anadolu Agency]

In the central West Bank, Israeli occupiers, accompanied by their livestock, attacked an area surrounding Palestinian homes in the northern part of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the sources said.

Residents confronted the attackers and forced them to retreat, according to sources.

The attack came days after Israeli authorities seized 464.4 dunams of the town’s land under the pretext of “state land” to expand illegal settlement activity in the area, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission had said.

READ: Israeli army closes charity headquarters in occupied West Bank city of Nablus

The Jerusalem Governorate also said an occupier released his sheep among the homes of residents in the Ka’abneh-Kasarat community near the town of Anata, in a “provocative attack” targeting the Bedouin community and its residents.

The occupier deliberately wandered with his sheep among the houses, obstructing the movement of residents and preventing them from entering or leaving the community, the governorate added.

In the southern West Bank, local sources said a group of occupiers stormed the area and surrounded a Palestinian home in the Sha’ab al-Batim area of ​​Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, and cut the electricity supply to the house.

The Masafer Yatta area is witnessing repeated attacks by occupiers targeting residents, their homes, and their property, coinciding with escalating measures aimed at restricting their movement and forcing them to leave their land.

Since October 2023, the West Bank has witnessed an Israeli escalation carried out by the Israeli army and occupiers, killing 1,175 Palestinians, injuring 12,919 others, and leading to the arrest of around 24,000 people, according to official Palestinian data.

READ: Israeli occupiers set fire to 2 mosques, army demolishes Palestinian home in occupied West Bank

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

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
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/O74hZCKKdpA

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.

Continue ReadingIsraeli occupiers burn down restaurant in occupied West Bank