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BBC and Guardian editors held private meetings with Israeli General

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https://www.declassifieduk.org/bbc-guardian-editors-private-meetings-with-israeli-general-kohavi

General Aviv Kohavi led the IDF for four years up to January 2023. (Photo Ilan Assayag / Alamy)

DECLASSIFIED UK Exclusive: Former IDF chief of staff met with Britain’s top journalists to promote Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israel’s former top military officer, General Aviv Kohavi held private meetings with the editors of major British news organisations one month after the Gaza bombing began, Declassified can reveal.

The meetings took place with Katherine Viner, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, Richard Burgess, director of news content at the BBC, and Roula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times. 

Further meetings were due to be held with Sky News chairman David Rhodes at the Israeli embassy, and then shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, between 7 and 9 November 2023, according to Kohavi’s itinerary.

By this time, Israeli forces had killed over 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and Israeli officials had made several public statements of genocidal intent. Kohavi had only stepped down from running Israel’s military months earlier. 

During his tenure, he justified attacks on journalists, saying the soldiers who shot reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank “showed courage” and that he had not one “gram of regret” for flattening the Associated Press (AP) office in Gaza.

The information about General Kohavi’s visit comes in documents obtained in Israel under the Freedom of Information Act by lawyer Elad Man and seen by Declassified.

They reveal how Kohavi’s tour of Britain was planned with support from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and Ministry of Defence.

The trip was specifically designed to take advantage of a perceived “reversal in the attitude of Western countries toward Israel [in light of] the severity of the events… of October 7”.

To this end, Kohavi was tasked with cultivating support for Israel as it escalated its brutal military offensive in Gaza.

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Article continues at https://www.declassifieduk.org/bbc-guardian-editors-private-meetings-with-israeli-general-kohavi

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 ReadingBBC and Guardian editors held private meetings with Israeli General

BBC urged not to bow to ‘cynical’ attacks on Gaza documentary

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/bbc-urged-not-bow-cynical-attacks-gaza-documentary

People take part in a pro-Palestine march in central London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, July 6, 2024

THE BBC has been urged not to give in to “cynical” attacks on a documentary on the Israeli invasion of Gaza, which it has pulled from iPlayer after criticism of its child narrator’s father being a Hamas official.

Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone is narrated by 13-year-old Abdullah, whose father is deputy minister of agriculture in Gaza’s Hamas government.

Last week Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she would raise this with the BBC’s director-general and chairman, “particularly around the way in which they sourced the people who were featured in the programme.”

A petition signed by socialist Jews including film-maker Mike Leigh, comedian and writer Alexei Sayle and actor Miriam Margolyes calls on the BBC to resist “censorship.”

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/bbc-urged-not-bow-cynical-attacks-gaza-documentary

dizzy: It’s available at bitorrent sites, may be issues about legality.

Continue ReadingBBC urged not to bow to ‘cynical’ attacks on Gaza documentary

The Chancellor and her expenses before she became an MP

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg75jr5284o

Rachel Reeves has had a difficult start to her ministerial career.

As well as Labour’s new chancellor taking on the challenges of the UK economy, she has faced tricky questions about her past.

They began with scrutiny of her online CV late last year.

On the professional networking site LinkedIn, the Chancellor of the Exchequer claimed to have worked as an economist at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) immediately before becoming an MP.

One of those who challenged it was a retired former colleague, Kev Gillett.

In a public post on LinkedIn, which he asked followers to share, he wrote: “Back in 2009 Rt Hon Rachel Reeves worked 3 levels below me. Just facts. She was a Complaints Support Manager at LBG/HBOS. Not an Economist. #factcheck.”

In fact it emerged that she had worked in a managerial role within the bank’s complaint handling department and her LinkedIn profile was updated to remove the claim.

Thin grey line

Rachel Reeves’s online CV exaggerated how long she spent working at the Bank of England

Thin grey line

Gillett also made another claim about Reeves’s time at the bank from 2006 to 2009, writing that she: “Nearly got sacked due to an expenses scandal where the 3 senior managers were all signing off each others expenses.”

Reeves’s team vigorously denied the allegations.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg75jr5284o

dizzy: I’ve quoted the start of a fairly long article from the BBC by Billy Kenber, Politics investigations correspondent and Phil Kemp, Politics producer. It is the report into their investigation of UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ errors in her reported career history and an expenses fraud investigation at her former employer Halifax Bank of Scotland.

Continue ReadingThe Chancellor and her expenses before she became an MP

Jeremy Corbyn slams Met Police for handling of London Palestine rally

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https://www.thenational.scot/news/24867536.jeremy-corbyn-slams-met-police-handling-london-palestine-rally

FORMER Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has hit out at the Met Police over its handling of a Palestine rally in London on Saturday.

More than 70 demonstrators were arrested on suspicion of breaching protest conditions after reportedly breaking through a police line as they marched from a rally in Whitehall.

It comes after the Met denied putting a “ring of steel” around the BBC as the force prevented plans by protesters to target the broadcaster’s offices.

Police clash with protesters at the rally (Image: Jeff Moore/PA Wire)

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Corbyn, who sits as an independent MP, responded to a post from the Met Police on Twitter/X which said: “The group that forced its way through the police line is now held at the north west corner of Trafalgar Square.

“Anyone in that group should now disperse and leave the area. Anyone remaining in breach of the conditions, or inciting further breaches, will be arrested.”

READ MORE: Man working for Scottish charity suspected to be in Israeli prison

In his response, the former Labour leader said: “This is not an accurate description of events at all.

“I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of the children in Gaza who had been killed.

“This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through. When we reached Trafalgar Square, we informed police that we would go no. further, lay down flowers and disperse.”

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Continue ReadingJeremy Corbyn slams Met Police for handling of London Palestine rally

Gaza ‘humanitarian zone’ struck almost 100 times since May, BBC Verify finds

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2jld7j50eo

The area in Gaza which Israel’s military has told people to go to “for their safety” has been hit by 97 strikes since May, BBC Verify analysis has revealed.

The findings come as negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appear to be nearing a breakthrough. Mediators in Qatar say talks are in their final stages, raising hopes that an agreement could be reached soon.

The “humanitarian zone” was first established by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in October 2023 to protect civilians and keep them out of harms way.

On 6 May 2024, the IDF significantly expanded the zone to include the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

The area – much of which is a strip of land along the Mediterranean sea – is densely populated and is estimated to have over a million people living there according to international humanitarian organisations. Many people are living in tents, with limited infrastructure and limited access to aid.

Local media reports indicate more than 550 people have been killed in the 97 strikes mapped by BBC Verify.

In a statement to BBC Verify, the IDF said it was targeting Hamas fighters operating in the “humanitarian zone” and accused the group of violating international law while “exploiting” civilians as human shields and launching rockets from the area.

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Article continues at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2jld7j50eo

Continue ReadingGaza ‘humanitarian zone’ struck almost 100 times since May, BBC Verify finds