In this drone photo, buildings destroyed during two years of Israeli army bombardments are seen in Gaza City, October 15, 2025
CAMPAIGNERS voiced outrage today after the British government hosted a conference to “drive forward private finance efforts for Gaza’s reconstruction.”
The three-day summit began on Monday at London’s Wilton Park and brought together international investors.
Speaking at the opening, Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said that Gaza has “real economic potential” which must be “unlocked.”
He underlined the need to think “creatively to bring in private capital” and touted Britain as being “well placed to help.”
The minister then posted a photo on X of suits sat around the table declaring it time to “seize this moment” and that the conference would “drive forward private finance efforts for Gaza’s reconstruction.”
Campaigners slammed the meeting as “immoral” given Britain’s complicity in enabling Israel’s war crimes.
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A spokesperson from left group Momentum slammed the conference as an example of “blatant profiteering.”
“It is totally immoral to use Israel’s genocide of the people of Gaza, which the government is complicit in, to make money.
“Reconstruction efforts must be determined by the people of Gaza.”
Mike Cushman, membership secretary of Jewish Voice for Liberation (JVL), said: “Gaza is a humanitarian and environmental disaster, not a profit opportunity for get-rich-quick private finance.
“PFI has been neither efficient nor effective in Britain, leaving a vast overhang of debt to be picked up by taxpayers for substandard services; only an inhumane government immersed in a colonialist mentality would try to inflict it on Gaza.
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.Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.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.
Members of the National Guard stand outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2025. (Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach,” said California’s Democratic governor, who sued over the president’s takeover of the state’s National Guard. “We will not let this stand.”
As President Donald Trump deployed U.S. Marines to Los Angeles on Monday in response to protests against immigration raids and the violent arrest of a popular labor leader, California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office announced that he and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over their weekend takeover of the state’s National Guard.
“President Trump’s order calling federalized National Guard troops into Los Angeles—over the objections of the governor and local law enforcement—is unnecessary and counterproductive. It’s also deeply unfair to the members of the National Guard who are hard at work every day protecting our state, preparing for and responding to emergencies, and training so that, if called, they can fight our nation’s wars,” Bonta said in a statement.
“Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion. The president is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends,” he added. “Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the president’s authority under the law—and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”
As of press time, the filing was not yet available, but it was set to be shared on Bonta’s government website.
The Department of Defense is lying to the American people.
The situation became escalated when THEY deployed troops.
Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming conditions.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 9, 2025
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted raids in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday, sparking intense protests. Trump’s memorandum came on Saturday, prompting Newsom’s Sunday letter formally requesting that the president reverse course. The governor also previewed the new lawsuit during a Sunday interview with MSNBC.
“Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority. This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic,” Newsom, who widely seen as a 2028 presidential contender, said Monday.
“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach,” he argued. “This is beyond incompetence—this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand.”
He's reckless. He's immoral. He's taken the illegal and unconstitutional act of federalizing the national guard and he's putting lives at risk.
It's my job to clean up Donald Trump's mess, because he's making it by the hour.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 9, 2025
Trump’s actions and remarks related to the protests against ICE in California have elicited fears of wider repression during his second term.
Criticism continued to mount on Monday, with Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the progressive group Our Revolution, declaring that “this is not law and order—it’s tyranny… When power is concentrated in the hands of a corrupt few, and dissent is met with armed repression, democracy itself is under siege. We must call this what it is: a threat to the republic.”
Before the Marine deployment on Monday, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) said in a statement that “Trump politicizing and weaponizing the National Guard makes us all less safe and less free. His threat to deploy the Marines into the streets of an American city is an illegal and authoritarian escalation.”
Politico reported Monday that the administration ordered about 700 Marines to Los Angeles, and while it is not yet clear what role they will play, “one of the defense officials said they will likely support the 2,000 National Guard troops sent to assist law enforcement.”
Casar tied the recent events in Los Angeles to congressional Republicans’ evolving budget reconciliation package, saying that “Trump’s threats have nothing to do with keeping people safe—it’s about political theater. He’s scapegoating immigrants to distract from the GOP’s real agenda: ripping healthcare away from millions to pay for tax cuts for the ultrarich.”
“We will not be intimidated,” he added. “Progressives are standing up to this administration, including by conducting lawful oversight at ICE detention centers in Los Angeles and across the country. We stand with Angelenos, and we stand with immigrant families everywhere. The president must return command of the National Guard to Gov. Newsom.”
In this drone photo, buildings destroyed during two years of Israeli army bombardments are seen in Gaza City, October 15, 2025
