A UK Socialist's blog

Gaza’s Dr Hussam Abu Safiya tortured in Israeli detention

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

The head of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya [QudsNen/X]

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has called for the immediate release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, along with all detained medical personnel held in Israeli custody.

In an urgent appeal, the ministry urged international health and humanitarian organisations, as well as human rights institutions, to intervene and secure the release of Palestinian medics.

It highlighted the harsh conditions suffered by Abu Safiya and his colleagues in Israeli detention.

According to Wafa news agency, a lawyer from the Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights visited him at Ofer Prison yesterday and reported that detainees are subjected to brutal and repressive treatment.

“During the visit, Dr. Abu Safiya detailed the various forms of torture and abuse to which he has been subjected both during his unlawful arrest and throughout his arbitrary detention by Israeli forces and authorities,” Al-Mezan said in a statement.

Highlighting what Abu Safiya was subjected to, his son, Ilyas, said: “My father was subjected to severe mistreatment and torture by the army in the early days of his arrest and was held in solitary confinement for 24 days. After that, he was transferred to Ofer Prison, Room 24, Section 2.”

Abu Safiya said that he has lost approximately 15 kilogrammes, suffers from an enlarged heart muscle and has been denied access to a specialist doctor or proper medical care despite repeated requests to the Israeli prison administration. His son added that he suffers from chronic high blood pressure and is only receiving minimal treatment.

“He is only provided with one meal a day, which is insufficient and of very poor quality,” Ilyas added.

The statement further revealed that upon his initial detention and transfer from Gaza, Abu Safiay was forced to strip, had his hands tied, and he was made to sit on sharp pebbles for nearly five hours.

He also suffered electric shocks and severe beatings to the chest while in Israeli custody, according to his testimony. He spent 25 days in detention at Ofer Prison, including ten days of continuous interrogation, during which he fainted due to suffocation.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health strongly condemned these repeated attacks on medical personnel, calling them grave violations of international law and the protective measures outlined in the Second Protocol of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It urged the international community to intervene immediately to secure the release of detained Palestinian healthcare workers.

Ilyas emphasised that there are no formal charges against Abu Safiya and that all accusations have been dismissed due to a lack of evidence. He expressed hope that his father could be released soon, calling for global pressure to ensure the freedom of all detained healthcare workers.

READ: Turkiye, Indonesia to cooperate on rebuilding Gaza, says Erdogan

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
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
Continue ReadingGaza’s Dr Hussam Abu Safiya tortured in Israeli detention

New Lawsuit Reveals Trump Quietly Fired Head of Office That Protects Whistleblowers

Original article by Eloise Goldsmith republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Then-nominee for Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy Hampton Dellinger is questioned by the Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on July 28, 2021. (Photo: Sen. John Kennedy/YouTube/screen grab)

“This illegal firing undermines the office that investigates whistleblower disclosures of wrongdoing and enforces the law meant to keep partisan politics out of the federal workforce,” wrote one watchdog group.

Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, the head of an independent federal agency that protects whistleblowers, filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday alleging that U.S. President Donald Trump’s “purported” dismissal of him via email on Friday is unlawful and ignores for cause removal protections that Dellinger is entitled to.

Dellinger is one of a number of officials at independent federal agencies that Trump has moved to fire in recent weeks.

According to the complaint, Dellinger received an email from Sergio Gor, director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, on February 7, which read: “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as special counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service[.]”

The complaint lists six defendants, including Gor, Trump, acting Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) Karen Gorman (“upon the purported removal” of Dellinger, according to the complaint), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Chief Operating Officer of the OSC Karl Kanmann, and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought.

Dellinger is requesting that the court declare his firing unlawful and affirm that he is the head of the OSC.

The filing also asks the court to order that “Bessent, Gor, Kammann, and Vought may not place an acting special counsel in plaintiff Hampton Dellinger’s position, or otherwise recognize any other person as special counsel or as the agency head of the Office of Special Counsel.”

The watchdog group Project on Government Oversight called the move against Dellinger “illegal” and wrote on X on Monday that it “undermines the office that investigates whistleblower disclosures of wrongdoing and enforces the law meant to keep partisan politics out of the federal workforce.”

The OSC is both an investigative and prosecutorial agency whose main mission is to protect federal employees from “prohibited personnel practices”—in particular reprisals for whistleblowing. The office is different from the “special counsels” that the U.S. Department of Justice may appoint to prosecute cases in instances where they deem there may be a conflict of interest.

Dellinger was nominated to be the special counsel of the OSC by then-President Joe Biden in 2023 and was confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term that was set to expire in 2029.

The complaint cites federal statute, which mandates that “the special counsel may be removed by the president only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Dellinger’s legal counsel argues that the email from Gor does not accuse Dellinger of “any inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance… nor could it.”

In late January, Trump fired National Labor Relations Board Member Gwynne Wilcox, who has since sued over her dismissal, as well as two Democratic members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Federal Election Commission Commissioner and Chair Ellen Weintraub also said that Trump tried to remove her improperly.

The Trump administration also purged over a dozen inspectors generals who perform oversight duties at various federal agencies.

The filing also argues that the removal of these sorts of civil servants makes the work of the OSC all the more important.

“Congress authorized the OSC with a crucial investigative and oversight role to protect the integrity of the civil service in circumstances such as these,” wrote Dellinger’s lawyers.

“The recent spate of terminations of protected civil service employees under the new presidential administration has created controversies, both about the lawfulness of these actions and about potential retaliation against whistleblowers,” they added.

Original article by Eloise Goldsmith republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Continue ReadingNew Lawsuit Reveals Trump Quietly Fired Head of Office That Protects Whistleblowers

Activists occupy consultancy firm over renewal of Drax subsidies

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/activists-occupy-consultancy-firm-over-renewal-drax-subsidies

Emissions from the Drax plant near Selby on a winter’s day

ACIVISTS occupied the London offices of a lobbyist for Drax power plant today, protesting against the government’s decision to bankroll Britain’s top carbon emitter.

Labour announced yesterday that it will provide subsidies to the wood-burning power plant for at least four more years.

The plant has received billions from taxpayers because it is classed as a source of renewable energy, a claim long disputed by campaigners as it emits the largest amount of carbon in Britain.

Drax has also been fined £25 million by Ofgem for misreporting where its wood is sourced from after a BBC investigation found that it had used wood from environmentally important forests in Canada.

This morning, 20 activists from Axe Drax occupied the offices of 5654 & Company, a corporate affairs consultancy they say lobbies for the power station, with staff forced to leave for the day as a result, according to the campaign group.

Rosie, who only shared her first name, from Axe Drax said: “The decision to back Drax is a disaster for the climate and our energy bills.

“Funding the biggest carbon emitter in the UK in the name of green energy is insane.

“It is time for Labour to dump Drax and their lobbyists, not double down support.

“We are sick of their unaccountable power, while millions of us have our bills hiked.”

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/activists-occupy-consultancy-firm-over-renewal-drax-subsidies

Continue ReadingActivists occupy consultancy firm over renewal of Drax subsidies

‘Workers are  being employed as indentured labour’

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/workers-are-being-employed-as-indentured-labour

Staff on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London, January 18, 2023

Damning report finds migrant workers propping up Britain’s crumbling care system are trapped in awful working conditions

CAMPAIGNERS demanded reform today after a damning report laid bare shocking conditions facing migrant workers propping up Britain’s crumbling care system.

Unison surveyed more than 3,000 people who came to Britain on health and care worker visas to tackle shortages in the sector.

It found that nearly a quarter had paid fees to an employer or an intermediary upfront in return for a job — with dozens handing over more than £20,000.

Many workers, who are from countries including Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Zambia as well as India and the Philippines, were given no shifts when they arrived, or not the number promised.

Around 18 per cent said employers had deducted money from their salaries since arriving, with firms claiming the fees were for expenses such as training and administration.

Pay issues impacted three in 10 migrant care staff, with problems including unpaid travel time between care visits and no sick pay.

More than a quarter were paid below the legal minimum wage of £11.44 an hour.

In one shocking testimony, a worker reported having to sleep on the streets because their employer did not pay them for shadowing other colleagues.

And 9 per cent described the accommodation they were provided with as poor or very poor.

…

Public Services International care organiser Huma Haq said the findings reflect a broader global crisis in care: “The exploitation of migrant care workers in the UK is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a broken system globally where governments have increasingly privatised and underfunded essential care services.

“Governments must step up and take responsibility for providing quality public care services.”

Original article is at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/workers-are-being-employed-as-indentured-labour

Continue Reading‘Workers are  being employed as indentured labour’

Thoughts of the Day 11 February 2025

Keir Starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.
Keir Starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.

I’m writing about someone without naming him or her. It might be worth using these metrics with anyone, see if they’re capable and adjusted?

She is easily manipulated because: She is not able to appreciate anyone else’s perspective and is therefore incapable of empathy. She can’t distinguish her own interests from the interests and responsibilities of her office or position.

The second issue may derive from the first: if you haven’t progressed from – or regressed to – infantile self-interest then there are no responsibilities and interests other than your own. Rich people are taught to only be concerned for themselves.

…

12 Feb 2025

Since writing this yesterday I’ve realised that this might also apply to myself [edit: i.e. “… can’t distinguish her own interests from the interests and responsibilities of her office or position.”] I was appointed to a position without my knowledge or consent in the early 90s. Some would say that I wasn’t appointed and that it was instead a recognition. Soon later I went off grid and disappeared. My attitude is that since I didn’t have an option in it, FU you’re stuck with me and I’ll do as I like which in practice means I had chosen my path and I continue. Seniority appears to apply to this position and to me. I’m surprised that some people respect this position while many others seem to rebel against it and me, use their positions to try to entrap and persecute me. [14/2/25 Not so much now, used to happen so much when Bliar was PM and into late 00s.] Life is interesting and strange and then you die.

Continue ReadingThoughts of the Day 11 February 2025