Gaza

Three on trial for peaceful anti-genocide protest at weapons factory

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Original article republished from the Skwawkbox.

‘Hastings three’ pursued criminally next week for General Dynamics protest

Three local men, one of them a pensioner, go on trial next Tuesday, 27 August, at Hastings Magistrates Court on charges of aggravated trespass for taking part in a peaceful demonstration at a local arms factory in February.

The ‘Hastings3’ took part in the cross-community demonstration outside the General Dynamics site on Sidley Little Road on 29 February, supported by representatives of Jewish groups, Quakers, trade union bodies, parent groups and political parties. Demonstrators held placards, sung songs calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and handed out leaflets – but several were roughly arrested and dragged off to police vans.

Laurance Holden, 71, Clem McCullough, 31, and Thomas Delves, 24 will plead not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of a fine of up to £2500 and a jail term of three months.

Hastings & District Palestine Solidarity Campaign chair Katy Colley said:

The pursuit of these men is clearly political and designed to deter peaceful protests. We have been demonstrating at General Dynamics consistently since the genocidal assault on Gaza began 10 months ago to draw attention to the merchants of death in our hometown complicit in these atrocities.

General Dynamics makes all the casings for the bombs being dropped on Gaza – their Hastings sites makes avionic and communication systems for fighter jets and combat vehicles used by the Israeli military.

Over 40,000 men women and children have been brutally slaughtered in what the world court has deemed a ‘plausible genocide’.

There is a clear legal imperative to stop arming Israel, as was underlined this week when British diplomat Mark Smith resigned on this point, saying it was clear to everyone that Israel was “flagrantly and regularly” perpetrating war crimes in plain sight.

And yet our government continues to issue export licenses to companies like General Dynamics, allowing Israel to continue its barbaric and murderous campaign against the trapped civilian population in Gaza.

The Hastings Three are brave, principled people who do not want our town to be complicit in war crimes. They are with the majority. Poll after poll show that most people want an end to arms sales to Israel immediately. We stand with them, the side of the people, the side of the law and the side of justice.

Dozens of supporters are expected to attend a protest rally at the Magistrates court from 9am in support of the three, and a benefit concert is being held in the evening to raise money for people in Gaza as well as money for court costs. 

[S?]imon Hester, Chair of the Hastings & District TUC, said:

Protesting against genocide is not a crime. The Hastings and District Trades Union Council supports the Hastings 3 and demands an immediate end to arms sales to Israel.

Kathy Shapiro of Hastings Jews for Justice added:

Hastings Jews for Justice is outraged that the Hastings 3 are facing trial.

It is General Dynamics that should be on trial, not concerned citizens. As Jews of conscience we will continue to exercise our right and moral obligation to speak out against this criminal complicity until there is an arms embargo of Israel, a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and justice and freedom for Palestinians.’

Leah Levane, Co-Chair of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), said:

The more than 10 months of carnage in Gaza demands a serious response.  The ICJ decision makes stopping arms trading with Israel and obligation and these three people have been arrested for protesting in favor of International Law. 

I am disappointed, to put it mildly, that the Court’s precious and expensive time is being used to try three men whose acts show their commitment to International Law as well as to justice for Palestinians and, of course, peace.’

Original article republished from the Skwawkbox.

Continue ReadingThree on trial for peaceful anti-genocide protest at weapons factory

Labour admits super-rich are propping it up as member numbers collapse again

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Original article republished from the Skwawkbox.

Record fall in membership despite earlier claims of increases from right-wing figures

Labour has admitted it is only kept afloat by the money of the mega-rich, after yet another massive fall in party membership numbers – to a level lower than its peak under Ed Miliband and far below the almost 600,000 when Jeremy Corbyn was leader.

According to its latest official figures, the party suffered a net loss of 37,000 members, 9% of its total, by the end of 2023 compared to a year earlier – the biggest year-on-year loss since 2003 when Labour haemorrhaged members during Tony Blair’s illegal war in Iraq. Even the claimed latest membership of 370,000 is suspect according to party insiders, as Labour under Keir Starmer has long padded its figures by continuing to count lapsed members – and its records were long in chaos after outsourcing led to a massive hack and the freezing of its membership administration systems.

Leading right-wing Labour figures have repeatedly briefed that members were pouring in and numbers were rising, attributing this to Starmer. In fact, given Starmer’s deep personal unpopularity, it makes far more sense to attribute the collapse in membership to him, his support for Israel’s genocide, his cowardly assault on left-wing MPs and members and his dog-whistle red-Tory ‘policies’.

And the party has inadvertently admitted that it is only propped up by donations from the super-rich. Party general secretary David Evans has said that the party losing less than the expected £2.5m during the general election campaign was because of “an increase in high-value donations”. Under Corbyn, large numbers of ordinary people chipped in what they could afford – so many that Labour’s debts, grown huge under previous leaders, were wiped out.

Now, even kept afloat by billionaires – and clearly beholden to them, given Labour’s atrocious announcements penalising the poor since Starmer was ushered into Downing Street by the fascist Reform ‘party’ – Labour is still losing money, just less than it would have without the huge donors wanting payback for their investment.

Original article republished from the Skwawkbox.

Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Continue ReadingLabour admits super-rich are propping it up as member numbers collapse again

Let’s at least name the collaborators with genocide

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Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.

Mass-murdering cnuts. If they collaborate and facilitate genocide aren’t they just as bad as the soldiers actually doing it? Would it happen without them facilitating it? If they’re collaborating with Fascists, aren’t they Fascists themselves?

14/8/24 Mass-murderers of children.

‘Genocide Joe’ Biden

Kamala Harris

Democratic Party

Keir Starmer

David Lammy

Angela Rayner

Rachel Reeves

The UK cabinet

UK Labour Party

Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Continue ReadingLet’s at least name the collaborators with genocide

Democrats propose no change on unflinching support for Israel in national convention

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Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Protesters rally outside of the Democratic National Convention (Photo: Mohamed El-Dirany/PYM)

The Democratic Party’s National Convention convenes to formally nominate candidate for President, with Kamala Harris the likely choice

Following the first day of the Democratic National Convention, which runs from August 19 to 22 in Chicago, delegates voted to approved the 2024 Democratic Party platform. Notably, the platform still reads: “President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are running to finish the job.”

While there are still no concrete policies outlined in the Harris-Walz official campaign website, the 2024 Democratic Party platform can be seen as the first glimpse into what this administration promises to offer to the people of the US. 

Many were waiting to see if the platform would indicate any changes to the Democratic Party’s unconditional support for Israel, given the mass movement for Palestine ongoing in the US since October 7. The document reveals that the Democratic Party policies will not shift in any major way, and it still outlines a plan for continued war on the people of the West Asia region. 

The US in recent weeks has intensified efforts to reach an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance groups in the latest round of ceasefire negotiations in Qatar and Egypt. However, this current push has been widely criticized for continuing to undermine bare minimum red lines from Palestinians. A widening of the current genocidal war on Gaza has become a likely possibility following the assassinations of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader and key negotiator Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Iran. Both Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate.

In their platform, the Democrats show that they still stand outside of international laws and consensus in declaring that the party “opposes any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement,” and that “President Biden and Vice President Harris believe a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States.” 

Palestinian journalist Ali Abunimah points out the irony that the platform begins with a so-called land acknowledgement which is meant to acknowledge the country’s Indigenous people and land, while the Democrats are “arming the genocide of another Indigenous people.”

According to Abunimah, the platform is “completely out of touch with the base of the Democratic Party.” He continues, “this is not a platform that represents Democratic voters,” most of whom support an end to US aid to Israel. 

The Democratic Party machine has shifted their nominee from “Genocide Joe” Biden to Kamala Harris, in an attempt to rebrand their candidate as not being as directly associated with the US arming and enabling of Israel’s genocide. However, the movement for Palestine has continued to put pressure on the party, pointing out that not only has Harris been a crucial figure in the Biden administration as vice president, but the party as a whole continues to play a role in sustaining unshakeable support for Israel.

Protesters march to the Democratic National Convention (Photo: Mohamed El-Dirany/PYM)

This year’s DNC counter-protests have unsurprisingly focused on calling out the party’s significant complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Since October, people across the US have called on their elected officials at all levels and of both mainstream parties to call for a ceasefire and an arms embargo against Israel. And yet, Biden’s administration has done nothing but double down in its support for Israel. Last week on August 14, the Pentagon approved a USD 20 billion weapons sale to Israel. The US Congress not only invited Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to speak in a special joint session on July 24, but also gave him a standing ovation. 

On Monday August 19, the first day of the DNC in Chicago, thousands of people participated in a mass march with grassroots organizations, including CODEPINK, the ANSWER Coalition, American Muslims for Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace. The crowd of protesters even managed to breach the security fence outside of the convention. 

Protester holds up sign outside of DNC (Photo: Mohamed El-Dirany/PYM)

In addition to the mass mobilizations outside the convention, activists have also been disrupting events related to the convention itself to voice their protest to delegates directly. 

A Palestine solidarity activist disrupted a welcome party for Democratic Party delegates in Chicago, hopping onto the stage and shouting into the microphone, “you are funding a genocide! The Harris-Biden administration keeps pumping money to Israel!” before being dragged away by security. 

A protester also confronted former Speaker of the House and leading Democrat Nancy Pelosi at a DNC event on feminism, asking her, “what do you have to say about all of the women in Gaza who have been murdered?” Pelosi avoided the question. 

Harris’ running mate Tim Walz, current Governor of Minnesota, was disrupted by activists with anti-war group CODEPINK at the DNC women’s caucus on Tuesday. Activists shouted “stop killing women in Gaza!” and “arms embargo now!” while Walz’s supporters chanted in response “USA! USA!”

This year’s DNC is also marked by the dozens of delegates representing the around 700,000 people across various states who cast “uncommitted” or protest votes in their respective Democratic Party primaries when Biden was the presumptive nominee. The uncommitted delegates are keeping up the pressure on Harris to change the US’s policy on Israel, and requesting that Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, who volunteered in Gaza, be permitted to address the convention. 

Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingDemocrats propose no change on unflinching support for Israel in national convention