Gaza

Morning Star: US troops would not be targets if they left a region where they are not welcome

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-us-troops-would-not-be-targets-if-they-left-region-where-they-are-not-welcome

President Joe Biden speaks at South Carolina’s First in the Nation dinner at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., January 27, 2024

THE killing of three US soldiers along the Jordan-Syria border is inseparable from the war in Gaza.

It risks a spiralling Middle East war, a risk heightened by the reflex blaming of Iran and the clamour for revenge driven by hawkish US politicians in an election year.

Attacks on US forces will always be presented in mass media as unprovoked. British politicians too will depict them as acts of illegal terrorism which need to be punished to shore up the “international rules-based order.”

We should therefore be clear: US troops would not be under attack in the Middle East if they were not stationed in the Middle East, often against the wishes of the host countries.

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Stationing your troops in a country against its wishes is not upholding an “international rules-based order” — it is an act of contempt for international law.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-us-troops-would-not-be-targets-if-they-left-region-where-they-are-not-welcome

Continue ReadingMorning Star: US troops would not be targets if they left a region where they are not welcome

Tory MPs jet off to Israel on lobby-funded ‘solidarity trips’ during Gaza bloodshed

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/tory-mps-jet-off-to-israel-lobby-funded-solidarity-trips-during-gaza-bloodshed

Israeli soldiers overlook the Gaza Strip from a tank, as seen from southern Israel, January 19, 2024

NINE Tory MPs have jetted off on “solidarity trips” to Israel since the country began its war on Gaza in October, Declassified UK revealed today.

The MPs received £19,857 in donations from Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) and the European Leadership Network (Elnet), according to the investigative site.

MPs eagerly accepted Israel’s handouts, using the donations to fund “solidarity visits” — while Gaza’s death toll soars past 26,000.

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Six other visits, paid for by the CFI, were made by MPs Stephen Crabb, Michael Ellis, Nicola Richards, Greg Smith, Theresa Villiers and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick.

The group was hosted by Israeli president Isaac Herzog — the man who said that the “entire nation” of Gaza was responsible for Hamas’s attack on Israel. His statement was cited by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as plausible evidence of incitement to genocide.

Mike Cushman from Jewish Voice for Labour said the main purpose of the trips was to “try to bolster support for Israeli genocide.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/tory-mps-jet-off-to-israel-lobby-funded-solidarity-trips-during-gaza-bloodshed

Continue ReadingTory MPs jet off to Israel on lobby-funded ‘solidarity trips’ during Gaza bloodshed

Human rights organisations demand weapons embargo to stop fuelling Gaza crisis

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/human-rights-organisations-demand-weapons-embargo-to-stop-fuelling-gaza-crisis/

‘All states have an obligation to prevent atrocity crimes and promote adherence to norms that protect civilians. The international community is long overdue to live up to these commitments.’

Sixteen leading international human rights and humanitarian organisations have made a joint call to all UN Member States to stop fuelling the crisis in Gaza, to avert further loss of civilian life and humanitarian catastrophe.

The aid coalition includes Oxfam, Amnesty International, and Save the Children. It is demanding an immediate halt on the transfer of weapons, parts and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is a risk they are used to ‘commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.’

The United Nations’ Palestinian Refugee Agency has warned that around 1.7 million people have been displaced within Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry says the Palestinian death toll from the conflict is over 25,700, most of which are women and children. Islamic Relief (IR) said the figures show that 4 percent of the population of Gaza was now dead or injured.

Over 95 percent of Israel’s supply of weapons comes from the US. The UK, Italy and Germany also produce parts which are sold to Israel. The UK is home to Israeli weapon manufacturers, including Elbit Systems, which makes surveillance and armed drones. Both the UK and US administrations have been accused of playing a part in facilitating the destruction of Gaza.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/human-rights-organisations-demand-weapons-embargo-to-stop-fuelling-gaza-crisis/

Continue ReadingHuman rights organisations demand weapons embargo to stop fuelling Gaza crisis

Morning Star: Cutting funds for Palestine — the West’s tantrum over the ICJ ruling

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cutting-funds-palestine-wests-tantrum-over-icj-ruling

Israeli soldiers take up positions near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, December 29, 2023

BRITAIN’S sick decision to suspend funding for Palestinian refugees while they face famine and mass displacement in Gaza shames our country in the eyes of the world.

We will not escape blame simply because, alongside other wealthy countries such as Germany, Italy and Canada, we are falling into line behind the United States, the first to freeze funding for the UN Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA) following allegations that 12 of its 30,000 employees were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

This act of inhuman cruelty further underlines the divide in international politics between the West and the rest. Since Israel’s invasion of Gaza began the gulf between the handful of US allies who facilitate its mass murder of Palestinians and the huge majority of countries which back an immediate ceasefire has yawned ever wider.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini rightly calls this collective punishment. Innocent Palestinians will starve to death because of an unproven Israeli accusation that a tiny number of its staff may have played a role in Hamas’s raid. An accusation UNRWA immediately pledged to investigate, with survivors among the named 12 already sacked.

But the collective punishment of Gaza’s population is nothing new. Over 25,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed as Israel’s merciless bombardment flattens neighbourhoods and its rampaging soldiers shoot their way into hospitals, a collective punishment for Hamas killing over 1,100 Israelis on October 7.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cutting-funds-palestine-wests-tantrum-over-icj-ruling

Dianne Abbott: Just because the US is on a military rampage does not mean Britain must join in

Continue ReadingMorning Star: Cutting funds for Palestine — the West’s tantrum over the ICJ ruling

Funding of Gaza aid halted over Israeli accusations.

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Image of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. UK halts aid to UNWRA in Gaza over Israeli allegations that 12 staff from a total of 13,000 were involved in the 7 October 2024 attack on Israel.
Image of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. UK halts aid to UNWRA in Gaza over Israeli allegations that 12 staff from a total of 13,000 were involved in the 7 October 2024 attack on Israel.

https://news.sky.com/story/un-aid-agency-chief-shocked-as-uk-and-others-pause-funding-over-claims-staff-involved-in-hamas-attack-13058270

The head of the United Nations has promised to hold to account “any UN employee involved in acts of terror” after allegations that some refugee agency staff members were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel.

But Antonio Guterres implored governments to continue supporting the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) after nine countries suspended their funding.

“Any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” Mr Guterres said in a statement.

“The Secretariat is ready to cooperate with a competent authority able to prosecute the individuals in line with the Secretariat’s normal procedures for such cooperation.

“The tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalised. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.”

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https://news.sky.com/story/un-aid-agency-chief-shocked-as-uk-and-others-pause-funding-over-claims-staff-involved-in-hamas-attack-13058270

23.05 GMT I doubt that much happened today to halt this funding since nobody is at work because it’s a Sunday. Hoping that there’s a more reasoned recognition tomorrow of the desperate situation in Gaza.

Continue ReadingFunding of Gaza aid halted over Israeli accusations.