genocide

US and UK escalate aggression on Yemen as Signal scandal unfolds

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

US aircraft launched 41 airstrikes early Friday morning across Yemen. Photo: Al Manar news

The last couple of weeks saw an unprecedent escalation by the Western coalition against Yemen, after Ansar Allah resumed Red Sea operations in retaliation for Israel’s renewed genocide and aid ban in Gaza.

For nearly two weeks, the US has conducted daily airstrikes on Yemen. The UK also took part in the heavy, non-stop aggression in different areas across Yemen. 

In the early hours of Friday, March 28, US fighter jets hit more than 40 locations in the Arab country including the capital Sana’a, Saada, Marib, Al-Jawf, and Hodeidah governorates. The airstrikes reportedly left several people across the country injured. 

On Thursday, March 27, at least two people were killed and two others wounded in a series of US airstrikes that targeted the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

The aggression was launched one day after the US launched 15 airstrikes on the southern and northeastern regions of Sanaa, in addition to the vicinity of Sanaa International Airport. The US and the UK targeted the Saada governorate in northwestern Yemen with dozens of airstrikes on the same day as well.

The western coalition had already intensified its airstrikes against Yemen for several days before Wednesday, March 26. Dozens of people, including women and children, were reported killed in the fierce aerial campaign. 

US national security exposed after Signal chat on Yemen’s aggression plan leaked 

A huge scandal has rocked the Trump administration after internal national security deliberations related to the US plans to strike Yemen were mistakenly leaked through the Signal messaging application, on Monday, March 24. 

Contents of the Signal chat were published in The Atlantic after its Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was seemingly inadvertently added to the chat by US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

Goldberg disclosed the content of the chat, which was considered a huge breach of data security via a story published by The Atlantic. The journalist revealed that he knew that the US was planning to bomb different targets belonging to Ansar Allah across Yemen on March 15, two hours before the first airstrike was launched.  

Goldberg elaborated that he became aware of the plan once the US Secretary of Defense Pete Hesgeth texted him the information at 11:44 am. Goldberg said that “the plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.”

The breach has provoked criticism and raised questions about the accountability in Trump’s cabinet as it has not only revealed sensitive details related to military-operations, but also what was perceived as institutional dishonesty inside the Trump administration. 

Downplaying the seriousness of the leak, Trump called the incident a “witch hunt” while speaking to reporters at the Oval Office. The US President instead focused on the success of the US airstrikes in Yemen. The White House also said that the leaked information shared via the commercial messaging application was not classified.

The Democrats slammed the Trump administration calling on the officials involved to resign. Meanwhile, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee issued a bipartisan call for an expedited investigation into the breach.

Progressive movements and commentators have noted that amid the scandal, the attacks on Yemen themselves and their legality seem to be an afterthought for the Democrats who have instead focused their criticisms on the security violations of the officials’ communication.

Der Spiegel exposes new data security breach of Trump’s top officials 

While the Trump administration is trying to dismiss the embarrassing scandal, German news website Der Spiegel reported on Thursday, March 27 that it found the contact data of Trump’s most important security advisers via hacked data dumps and commercial providers. 

The leaked data included password details for Mike Waltz, Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, in addition to mobile phone numbers and email addresses. 

The website pointed out that these phone numbers and email addresses are apparently still in use, some of which are linked to accounts on social media networks like Instagram and LinkedIn.

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

Continue ReadingUS and UK escalate aggression on Yemen as Signal scandal unfolds

Morning Star Editorial: Yet more anti-protest laws: a bid to crush the peace movement

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-yet-more-anti-protest-laws-bid-crush-peace-movement

People take part in a national demonstration for Gaza from Russell Square to Whitehall in London, June 8, 2024

MORE police power to block demonstrations and jail organisers have nothing to do with protecting worshippers and everything to do with suppressing protest rights.

Government amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill will see individuals who breach police conditions imposed on protests fined up to £2,500 and demo organisers facing jail sentences.

This shores up repressive measures already deployed by the police to shut down Britain’s huge Palestine solidarity movement. The Met cited the existence of synagogues “near” planned protest routes to deny them permission on January 18, and again on March 15.

In neither case were the synagogues on the route. In the latter the two cited were over 10 minutes’ walk away. In the centre of London or other cities, such sweeping effective exclusion zones could be used to ban almost any proposed route.

…

This is rather a political move intended to shield Israel and its ally, the British state, from criticism over occupation, war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Palestine. It is cheered on by highly partisan bodies such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which claims the protests cause “serious and unacceptable disruption to our communal life,” without specifying how.

The fact that marches may upset people who support or identify with the state of Israel is not intimidation. It is a disgraceful sleight of hand, and a serious threat to the right to free speech and assembly, to pretend it is.

The Starmer government decided in January to crush the mass protest movement where the Tories had tried and failed.

…

Unions and many MPs have begun to revolt at the government’s anti-working-class economic agenda. That needs to be extended to its assault on democratic rights.

As for the Palestine marches: Israel’s renewed war on Gaza makes them as important as ever, and it is their size which has so far prevented their suppression. We stay on the streets.

Original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-yet-more-anti-protest-laws-bid-crush-peace-movement

Keir Starmer confirms that his government is cnutier than Suella Braverman on killing the right to protest.
Keir Starmer confirms that his government is cnutier than Suella Braverman on killing the right to protest.
Continue ReadingMorning Star Editorial: Yet more anti-protest laws: a bid to crush the peace movement

Nine arrested in police crackdown on Youth Demand

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A Youth Demand welcome talk and a number of houses were raided last night and this morning. Nine people, including one attending their first meeting and a journalist were arrested.

Over 30 Metropolitan Police officers raided the Youth Demand Welcome Talk at the Quaker Meeting House in Westminster at 7.30p.m. yesterday. Six arrests were made including one attending their first ever welcome talk and a journalist. Three people were released in the early hours of the morning while three remain in custody. Police said that the arrests were for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

In a separate incident at around 8:00a.m. this morning Youth Demand supporter Eddie Whittingham​ was arrested at his house in Exeter but was released without charge. Two other supporters were arrested at unknown locations. The situation is ongoing.

The Welcome Talk is an opportunity to share information about the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank and about the mass killing that is being imposed on vulnerable people across the globe as a result of the accelerating climate crisis. It is also an opportunity to share plans for non-violent civil resistance actions to take place in April.

One of those arrested last night and released this morning was Ella Grace-Taylor, 20, an actor musician student said:

“At this point, it couldn’t be clearer that we are in a police state. Our politicians will stand by as police engage in mass arrests and imprisonment of anyone who speaks out against the government for being responsible for genocide. By arming Israel and refusing to call what is happening a genocide, they are perpetrating mass slaughter.  Hundreds of children were killed in Palestine in the last week. We won’t stop saying it. We won’t be intimidated.”

A Youth Demand spokesperson said:

“It’s clear that the government sees Youth Demand as a threat. They know that we are right.  There are thousands of young people who are horrified by what the government is doing to facilitate genocide and who know that they have been betrayed as their future is fucked. We will not be silenced. Young people all over the country are coming together to shut London down day after day throughout April. Sign up for action at youthdemand.org “

Youth Demand campaign on the climate crisis and Israeli genocide.

Continue ReadingNine arrested in police crackdown on Youth Demand

Britain sent over 500 spy flights to Gaza

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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

https://www.declassifieduk.org/britain-sent-over-500-spy-flights-to-gaza/

Declassified UK Exclusive: New study reveals the scale of British intelligence gathering above Gaza, raising fears of complicity in Israeli war crimes

The Royal Air Force (RAF) has conducted at least 518 surveillance flights around Gaza since December 2023, an investigation by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) for Declassified UK has found.

The flights, carried out by 14 Squadron’s Shadow R1 aircraft from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, have been shrouded in secrecy, raising concerns about whether British intelligence has played a role in Israeli military operations that have resulted in mass civilian casualties in Gaza.

These revelations come as Israel faces allegations of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC), with warrants issued for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant. 

The UK government insists that the flights are purely for hostage recovery, but the lack of transparency has done little to allay suspicions that the intelligence gathered may be facilitating Israeli attacks.

Surveillance sorties continued during and after the ceasefire, despite Israel’s renewed bombing of Gaza killing hundreds of children. 

Over 500 missions in 15 months

AOAV’s analysis of flight-tracking data shows that between 3 December 2023 and 27 March 2025, the RAF carried out at least 518 Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) flights over or close to Gaza’s airspace.

Both Labour and Conservative governments have enacted the policy, with at least 215 flights taking place during Keir Starmer’s tenure as prime minister and 303 under Rishi Sunak’s administration.

The frequency of flights remained high throughout 2024, with some months seeing as many as 49 sorties. The missions have typically lasted up to six hours, with the longest flight recorded at seven hours and four minutes.

…

Article continues at https://www.declassifieduk.org/britain-sent-over-500-spy-flights-to-gaza/

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 ReadingBritain sent over 500 spy flights to Gaza

Defiant in the face of smears & intimidation

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The government wants to silence protest, but who can stand by during a genocide and do nothing?

Original article by by Terina Hine

The Labour government has been making it increasingly difficult to organise the National Palestine marches, now they are using the draconian Public Order Act in an attempt to intimidate us. 

It’s a truism to say governments don’t like protest, and after 18 months of Palestine demonstrations ours is making its distaste for mass mobilisation abundantly clear. It’s using the Met police as its enforcer and the BBC as its propaganda tool.

Smearing protesters as anti-semitic hate marchers failed to have any impact on the size or frequency of the demonstrations, so the government has resorted to the using the Public Order Act against the march organisers and is placing ever more restrictive exclusion orders on the protests. 

Negotiations between organisers and the police have become increasingly arduous as time after time conditions are changed at late notice, restrictions are imposed for no justifiable reason other than to deter and confuse protesters and make organising more difficult. And now the police have charged and questioned under caution various members of the movement’s leadership, alongside some of its high profile supporters.

In this Orwellian world, 87 year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor, Stephen Kapos, was called in for questioning by the Met. Refusing to be cowed Kapos made clear that it is vital for us all to continue to protest for Palestine and speak out against our own government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide.

Khalid Abdalla, actor and activist, was also called in by the Met for questioning. In a statement made as he approached Charring Cross police station in central London he said he was both ‘incredibly sad’ but also ‘proud’ to attend his police interview. Sad because of what it says about the British state’s intension to subjugate the movement, proud to be on the right side of history. 

Alex Kenny, Chair of StW, Lindsey German, StW Convenor, Andrew Murray,  StW Deputy President and Sophie Bolt, General Secretary of CND, were all interviewed under caution this week. 

Chris Nineham (StW) and Ben Jamal, Director of PSC have been charged under the Public Order Act and are awaiting trial. 

The police hope that through a duel process of intimidating the movement’s leaders and imposing large restriction zones London marches will become confined to ever smaller areas and routes, especially on Saturdays, when it is becoming almost impossible to march through the centre of the city.

Heavily lobbied by Israeli zionists, including the Chief Rabbi, organisers have been told that protesters cannot march in the vicinity of a synagogue on Saturdays, regardless than there has been no reported incidents of intimidation at synagogues or indeed of Jewish people on the marches, and regardless that thousands of marchers themselves are Jewish. When the march organisers requested to also meet with Mark Rowley, the head of the Met Police, they were met with silence.

The police have even suggested we stop marching altogether, saying the marches have been going on too long. No acknowledgement that it’s the war on Gaza that has been going on for too long, or that it’s time for the genocide to stop.

Democratic governments are expected to facilitate demonstrations, whether they like it or not. Demonstrating is how our rights are won, and in this country we have a long and proud history of demonstrations. The right to protest is a fundamental part of living in a democracy. When opposition to government policy is significant, protest poses a challenge to the ruling elite, and the bigger the protest the bigger that challenge. 

…

The next national demonstration is on 17 May, Nakba Day, Central London at 12 noon. The 12 April is a National Day of Demonstrations for Palestine, when towns and villages around the country will be protesting the genocide – get organising!

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 ReadingDefiant in the face of smears & intimidation