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Tag: Amnesty International UK

  • Palestine Action activists arrested on first anniversary of ban

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    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)

  • Campaigners and union reps demand NHS ‘cease all contracts with Palantir’

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-and-union-reps-demand-nhs-cease-all-contracts-palantir

     NHS staff blockade the entrance to NHS England’s headquarters in central London demanding the cancellation of its contract with Palantir, which campaign groups say supplies advanced technology to Israel’s military, April 3, 2024

    US tech giant granted ‘unlimited access’ to patients’ data

    HEALTH union reps, public ownership campaigners and Amnesty International UK demanded the NHS “cease all contracts with Palantir” today after the US tech company was granted “unlimited access” to patients’ data.

    Health Secretary Wes Streeting was urged to reconsider a “staggering decision” to grant external staff from firms including Palantir access to patients’ identifiable data while working on its flagship platform.

    An NHS England internal briefing note published today by the Financial Times said it would create an “admin” role which “permits unlimited access to non-NHS England staff” to the National Data Integration Tenant (NDIT) and identifiable patient data within it.

    The NDIT is a part of a larger tool made to aggregate disparate NHS data into a single system called the Federated Data System, which earned Palantir a £330 million government contract in 2023.

    As well as the controversial US tech firm, access to patients’ data could be given to any other outside firm contracted to work on the Federated Data System.

    Previously, access to sensitive information required individuals working on the NDIT to apply for permission for specific data sets, the FT reported.

    All-round access was initially meant to be reserved for NHS England employees with security clearance.

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-and-union-reps-demand-nhs-cease-all-contracts-palantir

    Related: Palantir to be granted ‘unlimited access’ to NHS patient data

  • ‘Draconian crackdown on our rights’

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/draconian-crackdown-our-rights

     Elizabeth Tower, part of the Palace of Westminster, is seen between two Metropolitan Police officers in Parliament Square, London

    More than 45 civil society groups oppose plans to give police sweeping new powers

    MORE than 45 civil society groups including the TUC and Palestine Solidarity Campaign today opposed “extreme” and “dangerous” government plans to give police sweeping new powers to restrict protests in England and Wales.

    Greenpeace, Amnesty International UK, Liberty, Quakers in Britain and unions also denounced the “draconian crackdown on our rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”

    Police will be required to consider the “cumulative impact” of repeated protests in the same area when imposing conditions on demonstrations under an amendment in the Crime and Policing Bill introduced in the House of Lords.

    The size of an area is not specified and police would not be required to take into account whether the protests are for the same cause or involve the same people, the statement warned.

    “Although government statements make clear these powers have been brought forward in response to the mass national marches for Palestinian rights, the impact of this change of law would be wide-ranging,” it said.

    “An anti-racist march could be blocked from Whitehall because of a previous farmers’ protest, or a Pride march restricted because a far-right demonstration was recently held in the same town.

    “Clamping down on peaceful protests will not protect anyone’s rights or safety, and we reject cynical attempts by government to present this repressive proposal as protection for vulnerable groups.”

    It said that the Suffragette and anti-apartheid movements in South Africa all relied on the “cumulative” impact of protests in an area.

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/draconian-crackdown-our-rights

    Image of the original Fascists Mussolini and Hitler.
    The original Fascists Mussolini and Hitler

  • ‘Show some humanity before it is too late,’ Lammy told as Palestine Action hunger striker rushed to hospital

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/show-some-humanity-it-too-late-lammy-told-palestine-action-hunger-striker-rushed-hospital

     Shut The System activists cover Justice Secretary David Lammy’s office in graffiti

    Activists graffiti the 8 hunger strikers’ demands across the Deputy PM’s north London office 

    A PALESTINE ACTION hunger striker was rushed to hospital some 24 hours after she reported needing urgent medical attention on her 46th day without food at HMP Bronzefield today.

    Supporters including Zarah Sultana MP, doctors and trade unionists demanded immediate hospitalisation and independent medical assessment for 20-year-old Qesser Zuhrah for more than 12 hours before she was transferred out of the site by ambulance.

    The Your Party MP said that Ms Zuhrah had been “refused an ambulance by the prison. She is critically ill and at immediate risk of dying.”

    Online footage showed protesters chanting “let the doctor go” as a man was arrested around the time an ambulance left the scene at about 2.30pm.

    Ms Zuhrah has been on remand at HMP Bronzefield awaiting trial over an August 2024 break-in at an Israeli defence firm near Bristol by the direct action group. 

    She is among dozens of Palestine Action activists who have been detained well over the six-month custody threshold after it was proscribed in July.

    Ms Zuhrah was reportedly unable to stand and began suffering “severe” pain that required urgent medical attention from Tuesday afternoon. 

    Campaigners for her and other hunger strikers said that repeated calls for emergency care were made, but “prison staff have so far refused entry to ambulances and delayed treatment overnight.”

    The demonstration was held outside the prison from 1.20am and the demands of the eight hunger strikers were graffitied across Mr Lammy’s north London office by Shut the System Activists.

    The statement included a call for an end to media censorship, immediate bail, the right to a fair trial, the de-proscription of Palestine Action and to close all sites of Israel’s main arms supplier, Elbit Systems.

    South East Coast Ambulance Service said that it did not comment on individual cases, and referred queries to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which was contacted for comment.

    PM Sir Keir Starmer was meanwhile accused of “a lack of humanity toward people at serious risk of death” by Jeremy Corbyn MP.

    The former Labour leader asked him if the MoJ would meet lawyers for the hunger strikers in the Commons.

    Mr Corbyn told Sir Keir that “these are all prisoners on remand, they’re not convicted of anything. A further prisoner has been taken to hospital, as have others. 

    “Many people are very concerned about the regular breaches of prison conditions and prison rules in respect of these hunger strikers. 

    …

    Diane Abbott, Zarah Sultana, Ayoub Khan, John McDonnell and Lord Hendy KC were among those who signed the open letter telling Mr Lammy to take “responsibility and show some humanity before it is too late.”

    Mr Lammy’s office was targeted by protesters from Shut The System today, who graffitied their demands in red on the north London building.

    …

    Amnesty International UK’s Kerry Moscogiuri said: “This cruel misuse of terrorism legislation is a shameful moment for the UK government.

    “It must urgently do everything in its power to bring an end to this terrible situation.”

    …

    Original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/show-some-humanity-it-too-late-lammy-told-palestine-action-hunger-striker-rushed-hospital

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

  • ‘We cannot allow the immense, unfathomable suffering of the Palestinian people to be ignored for a minute longer’

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/we-cannot-allow-immense-unfathomable-suffering-palestinian-people-be-ignored-minute-longer

    Palestinians run for cover during an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise building in Gaza City, September 5, 2025

    Britain’s involvement in the Gaza genocide condemned by Amnesty International

    BRITAIN’S involvement in the Gaza genocide was condemned in a new report by Amnesty International UK, which today highlighted 15 companies profiting from and fuelling Israel’s mass atrocities.

    The government is enabling mass atrocities through defence contracts, public-sector deals, supply chains and failures to comply with its legal obligations, said the NGO.

    Amnesty released its 20-page report on the first anniversary of a UN general assembly resolution demanding that Israel end its unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territory within 12 months of its adoption. 

    The NGO’s secretary-general Agnes Callamard said: “Human dignity is not a commodity. While Palestinian mothers in Gaza are left to watch their children waste away from starvation under Israel’s genocide, arms companies and others continue to reap substantial profits.

    “Israel’s prolonged unlawful occupation and decades of apartheid have required in-depth and sustained support to Israel through economic relations and trade.

    “Amnesty calls on its members and supporters the world over to demand an immediate end to the political economy underpinning Israel’s international crimes.”

    …

    Famous names, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Florence Pugh, Damon Albarn and Paloma Faith, gathered for a sold-out charity concert raising funds for humanitarian efforts in Palestine at London’s Wembley Arena on Tuesday.

    Normal People author Sally Rooney today confirmed that she has been unable to travel to Britain to accept a Sky Arts award for literature for her new book, as she can “no longer safely enter the UK without facing arrest” due to her expressed support for Palestine Action.

    Original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/we-cannot-allow-immense-unfathomable-suffering-palestinian-people-be-ignored-minute-longer

    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 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’.
    Vote Labour for Genocide.
    Vote Labour for Genocide.