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People, holding flags and banners, gather to demand sanctions against Israel during pro-Palestinian protest and march through the city’s streets in Melbourne, Australia on August 24, 2025. [Recep Sakar – Anadolu Agency]
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has today, 24 December, issued a statement condemning the government decision to invite Israeli President to the country.
“This decision represents a grave moral failure and a direct insult to the hundreds of thousands of Australians who have spent more than two years protesting Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians and demanding accountability under international law;” the statement read.
APAN said, “President Herzog is not a symbolic or ceremonial figure. As Israel’s Head of State throughout its genocidal assault on Gaza, he has made public statements widely condemned as genocidal intent, including asserting that an “entire nation” bears responsibility and that “there are no innocent civilians in Gaza” – language that legitimises collective punishment and mass civilian killing.”
It would be recalled that President Herzog was named in proceedings before the International Court of Justice for his incendiary remarks. He has also openly rejected Palestinian self-determination, declaring that a two-state solution would be a “reward to terrorists.”
APAN expressed concerns that Australians may be prevented from protesting Herzog’s visit and face criminal charges — “a dangerous escalation that erodes democratic freedoms to shield a visiting foreign leader from accountability.”
APAN concluded its statement asserting that “Australia must not welcome those who are active participants and proponents of Israel’s genocide and not reward war crimes with diplomatic invitations, nor suppress dissent to shield them from scrutiny.”
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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/O74hZCKKdpAKeir 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.
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UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on November 19, 2025. [Dursun Aydemir – Anadolu Agency]
A member of the European Parliament (MEP), Matjaz Nemec, publicly presented on Tuesday the nomination of UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, and Gaza-based doctors for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, following its official submission to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Anadolu reports.
The nomination was signed by nearly 300 eligible proposers from 33 countries, including Brazil, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, according to a statement shared by Nemec on US social media company X.
Nemec said the nomination “is an expression of respect for the courage, efforts, and perseverance of individuals who defend fundamental human values in the most difficult circumstances” and “represents a contribution to peace that transcends political divisions.”
He highlighted Albanese’s work in upholding international law and human rights, noting that she continues her mission despite facing “strong political pressure” and sanctions from Israel and the United States.
“Francesca Albanese holds up a mirror to us all and is firmly committed to international law and the foundations we built in response to the greatest massacre in human history – World War II,” he said.
The nomination also includes Gaza-based doctors, such as Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and Dr. Sara Al-Saqqa, who risk their lives amid armed conflict to carry out medical duties.
Nemec said: “With the health infrastructure completely destroyed and the acute shortage of basic necessities, they realize the values of humanity, solidarity and peace every day by saving lives and adhering to medical ethics, and they more than deserve this kind of award.”
The lawmaker emphasized that the global campaign for the nomination calls on the international community and political leaders worldwide to respect international law, human rights, and human dignity under all circumstances.
Since Oct. 10, the Israeli army has committed hundreds of ceasefire violations, killing at least 391 Palestinians and injuring 1,063 others, according to the latest figures by the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel has killed more than 70,600 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,100 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.
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/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas 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.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.
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Police teams take security measures in the area where a terrorist attack, which targeted the Jewish community on the first night of Hanukkah (Chanukkah), occurred at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia on December 14, 2025. [Claudio Galdames Alarcon – Anadolu Agency]
Pro-Israel social media influencers have been caught spreading false information about the identity of the man who disarmed a shooter during a deadly attack in Bondi Beach, Australia, falsely claiming that the hero was Christian, despite confirmation that he is a Syrian Muslim named Ahmed Al-Ahmed.
The fabrication appears to have been designed to prevent a Muslim being credited with an act of extraordinary courage. Ahmed Al-Ahmed, who confronted and disarmed the attacker with his bare hands, was initially described in media reports as a fruit stall owner in the shopping centre.
Among those peddling the lie was Laura Loomer, a far-right commentator and pro-Israel activist who posted: “The media keeps saying the man who disarmed the Muslim terrorist in Australia today is also a Muslim who owns a fruit stand. Credible reports suggest the man is actually a Lebanese or Coptic Christian. Don’t fall for the propaganda.”
The media keeps saying the man who disarmed the Muslim terrorist in Australia today is also a Muslim who owns a fruit stand.
Credible reports suggest the man is actually a Lebanese or Coptic Christian. Don’t fall for the propaganda.
Another pro-Israel social media figure, Eyal Yakoby, similarly posted: “BREAKING: The hero who disarmed one of the shooters in Australia is reportedly a Maronite Christian. A true hero.”
BREAKING: The hero who disarmed one of the shooters in Australia is reportedly a Maronite Christian.
Both claims were false. Ahmed Al-Ahmed’s cousin, Mustafa Al-Ahmed, confirmed to Australian outlets that Ahmed is a practising Muslim from the city of Idlib, Syria. Community members and friends also corroborated his identity.
Social media users have pointed out that the refusal by pro-Israel influencers to accept that a Muslim man could be a selfless hero reflects the deeply ingrained Islamophobia that underpins much of pro-Israel discourse. Rather than recognising the bravery of a Muslim man who risked his life to save Jews, they attempted to rewrite his identity to align with their ideological agenda, which consistently vilifies Muslims.
Some pointed out that the disinformation campaign highlights how Islamophobic rhetoric is quickly weaponised. Rather than celebrating a Muslim hero who put himself in harm’s way to protect others, influencers with large followings used their platforms to erase his identity and falsely assign it to a Christian.
Observers have also pointed to a pattern whereby Muslim acts of heroism are downplayed, denied or co-opted, while Muslim perpetrators are amplified to reinforce racist stereotypes. The incident in Bondi is now being cited as a textbook example of digital erasure in service of anti-Muslim narratives.
Ahmed Al-Ahmed has not yet spoken publicly but is reportedly recovering from injuries sustained during the attack. Community leaders have called for him to be honoured for his bravery.
While the mainstream media has now corrected the record, critics note that Loomer and Yakoby’s posts remain live and continue to be shared.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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/O74hZCKKdpAKeir 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.
An activist from the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion holds up a sign reading “Oil Kills” as police officers remove him from the premises of DNB Bank during a protest in Oslo, Norway on August 21, 2025. (Photo by Javad Parsa/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
“Requiring governments to assess the global climate consequences of oil and gas combustion before approving new fossil projects is common sense, and long overdue,” said one campaigner.
Although the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday sided with the Norwegian government over six young adults and a pair of climate groups, the plaintiffs still welcomed the tribunal’s ruling as “a major step forward,” in the words of Frode Pleym, head of GreenpeaceNorway.
The case stems from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy granting 10 exploration licenses to 13 companies for fossil fuel production in the Arctic Barents Sea in 2016. The plaintiffs argued that doing so violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, or the right to respect for private and family life.
The court unanimously held that “there had been no violation” of Article 8, but it also affirmed that the government must conduct a full environmental impact assessment, including greenhouse gas emissions from combustion, for any new petroleum production.
“It’s a relief to see the court recognize what science has told us for years—that new oil and gas fields threaten our most basic human rights,” Pleym said in a statement. “Requiring governments to assess the global climate consequences of oil and gas combustion before approving new fossil projects is common sense, and long overdue.”
Young Friends of the Earth Norway, which sued alongside Greenpeace and the six individuals, also praised the ruling as progress.
“This decision is a quantum leap for climate accountability,” said the group’s leader, Sigrid Hoddevik Losnegård. “The government can no longer continue its oil and gas policy as if climate change doesn’t exist. This judgment will have ripple effects far beyond Norway.”
I can think of at least seven ways fossil fuel producers could wiggle out of this, but still: holy shit this is huge.
The plaintiffs noted in a joint statement that the ruling “builds on” recent decisions from the International Court of Justice and the UK Supreme Court. The ICJ said in a landmark advisory opinion in July that countries have a legal obligation to take cooperative action to address the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency. At the time, Danilo Garrido, legal counsel at Greenpeace International, hailed the development as “the start of a new era of climate accountability at a global level.”
That decision came roughly a year after the UK’s top court ruled that Surrey authorities’ approval of the Horse Hill drilling project “was unlawful” because they didn’t consider “emissions that will occur when the oil produced is burnt as fuel,” as required by law. Friends of the Earth UK called the ruling “a heavy blow for the fossil fuel industry” that could impact other projects.
The European court’s Tuesday decision came less than two weeks away from the start of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil. In preparation for COP30, the UN on Tuesday released a report warning that governments’ climate plans would reduce fossil fuel emissions by just 10% by 2035 compared to 2019 levels, far short of what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature rise this century to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.
As Oil Change Internationalpointed out in a June report, Norway and three other wealthy nations—Australia, Canada, and the United States—account for the majority of planned oil and gas expansion over the next decade. This month, the group commissioned a poll that found a majority of Norwegians believe their country should either stop exploring for new oil and gas or slow down the pace.
“The data show that Norwegians increasingly want political leadership that aligns the country’s oil policy with its climate goals,” Oil Change’s North Sea campaign manager, Silje Lundberg, said Monday. “People are calling time on endless oil expansion—it’s the government that’s stuck in the past. The public clearly wants a plan to phase down oil and gas and deliver real climate leadership, not more empty talk from ministers protecting the industry.”
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
The UK government is about to host a summit with the International Energy Agency (IEA) on the future of energy security. It does so as the world grapples with war, geopolitical realignments and trade barriers, against a backdrop of accelerating climate upheavals. One of the expected outcomes of this summit is a new, agreed definition of what constitutes energy security in the 21st century.
Common understandings of energy security have focused on making supplies reliable and affordable, with less attention paid to ensuring sources of energy are sustainable and less volatile over the medium- and long-term. This neglect compromises our collective security.
The IEA’s 31 member countries and 13 associates include most of the world’s most powerful states. Its influence means that this new definition of energy security will be used to inform government policies and investment decisions around the world. Given the cost of energy infrastructure, and the lengthy time it takes to build these projects, this definition is set to shape our future, economically and climatically.
But there is a very real risk that this definition will open the door to further investments into fossil fuel production under the guise of energy security.
International Energy Agency (IEA) member and ‘association member’ countries. IEA, CC BY-SA
After Russia invaded Ukraine, governments rushed to cut their reliance on Russian fossil fuels. This caused major disruptions as prices spiked and millions were pushed into energy poverty.
Europe alone spent an extra €517–€831 billion (£444–£713 billion) on energy in 2021 and 2022, even though some imports from Russia continued through so-called “shadow fleets”. Some argued that high fossil fuel prices only embolden leaders like Putin and help fund their conflicts.
Governments responded with “energy nativism”, as they sought to secure as much energy as possible for their citizens at whatever cost. This typically meant boosting renewables and bulk buying oil and gas. In the UK’s case, it also meant the previous government issuing hundreds of new licenses to drill for oil and gas to “increase energy security” – licenses the current government says it will honour).
Shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) were also redirected from poorer countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh towards the highest bidders in Europe and Asia. This raises the question of who exactly is becoming more energy secure and at what cost.
Meanwhile, large fossil fuel exporters like Qatar, the US and Australia ramped up production. A US official even referred to its gas exports as “molecules of freedom”. Australia has exported so much natural gas it may have to buy its own gas back from Japan at market price.
The sheer volume of investment in new oil and gas infrastructure like offshore rigs or LNG terminals, combined with long build times, has locked in higher fossil fuel production and pushed emissions to record levels. This poses significant risks for both exporters and importers, especially as future demand is uncertain and energy markets remain volatile.
Fossil fuels remain dominant
More fundamentally, continued reliance on fossil fuels is making humanity less secure. The vast majority of emissions still come from burning coal, oil or gas. Preventing climate catastrophe therefore requires us to phase out fossil fuels as fast as possible – with wealthy nations leading the charge. In their place, we’ll have to generate energy from renewable sources that do not replicate the volatility of globally traded fossil fuels.
Yet despite some progressive policies, fossil fuels remain dominant across the global economy. Investment in oil and gas today is almost double the level it must fall below if the world is to reach net zero by 2050, according to the IEA’s own modelling.
The pursuit of energy security has boosted renewables, but adding additional clean energy isn’t enough – it must ultimately displace fossil fuels entirely. This will require a whole-economy shift. That means cutting production of fossil fuels while also reducing demand, stabilising prices and building out clean energy fast enough to support the electrification of transport, industry and heating.
But supply chains for batteries, solar panels and other key technologies are vulnerable. Delays and shortages could mean electricity prices spike, sparking social unrest. This is yet another risk of getting energy security wrong: if inflationary pressures drive the immiseration of the general public, governments and their energy plans will be short lived.
The definition of energy security that comes out of the IEA summit should reflect the fact we’re now in a world of constant crises. True energy security means charting a path towards a world that is more socially, economically and environmentally secure. This means developing a well-managed global plan to phase out fossil fuels.
