“It’s a genocide”: Celebrities for Palestine project video onto Starmer’s conference venue
Value of UK arms imported by Israel ‘reached record high in June’
The value of UK arms imported by Israel reached a record high in June this year, exclusive FactCheck analysis of Israeli customs data shows.
The UK government announced in September 2024 that it was suspending 29 licences to export arms to Israel which it believed “might be used in serious violations of International Humanitarian Law”. Some 350 licences remain active, of which over 160 are listed as “military”.
The UK government said at the time that it was blocking the sale of “items used in the current conflict in Gaza which go to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]”.
Our analysis of Israel Tax Authority figures shows munitions worth around £400,000 arriving from the UK and passing through Israeli customs in June 2025 – the highest amount in a single month since available records began more than three years ago.
The exact nature of the items isn’t specified in the records, but they were listed under a category that includes bombs, grenades, torpedoes, missiles and mines. It isn’t possible to identify the end user of the munitions from these statistics.
Our findings come after a UN Commission of Inquiry said there were “reasonable grounds to conclude” that Israel is committing four acts of genocide in Gaza, namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberate destruction, and preventing births.
The Commission said other countries must “employ all means reasonably available to them to prevent the commission of genocide in the Gaza Strip” and stop arms sales to Israel where there is reason to believe they’ll be used in genocide.
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Thousands march to denounce Netanyahu at UNGA: “Everywhere you go, you will be met with empty rooms”
Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Protesters marched to the UN headquarters in New York, where they were joined by Colombia President Gustavo Petro
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly, thousands of pro-Palestine protesters marched only a few blocks away to demand his arrest. Demonstrators first rallied in Times Square, hearing from a variety of speakers from organizations across the pro-Palestine and anti-war movement, then the crowd marched west to the UN headquarters.
Netanyahu gave his second UNGA address since the beginning of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza on the morning of September 26.
“Netanyahu is inside the UN right now. Having just spoken to a mostly empty room about Israel’s war on Gaza,” said Palestinian Youth Movement organizer Nidaa Lafi. “Rest assured Netanyahu, everywhere you go, you will be met with empty rooms.”
Over 100 diplomats from over 50 countries walked out of the UN General Assembly while Netanyahu spoke. The Israeli Prime Minister vowed to “finish the job” in Gaza, where over – including over – Palestinians have already been killed by Israeli forces.
Netanyahu also said the recognition of a Palestinian state would be “insane”, and akin to “giving al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11. At the present moment, 157 out of 193 UN member states recognize Palestine as an independent state.
In an unprecedented operation, Israeli forces broadcast Netanyahu’s speech via loudspeakers within the Gaza Strip. In a step further, Netanyahu’s office claimed that the Israeli military had taken control of the phones of Gaza residents “and Hamas members” to broadcast the speech – though no evidence has thus far supported this claim.
“It’s clear more than ever that the interests of the Palestinian people are one and the same with American workers,” Nadya Tannous of the Palestinian Youth Movement told Peoples Dispatch. “Everyday human beings who want to see our tax dollars sent towards our infrastructure, our education, our healthcare, our children, rather than being sent in the billions to weapons for the state of Israel.”
“Our fates are all tied together as a global working class,” Navruz, a member of the United Auto Workers, told Peoples Dispatch while he was marching in New York City. “We’re all morally compelled. We’re seeing unions in Europe threaten to sh ut down ports, we see the power that workers have, and we need to be organizing in our workplaces, organizing with our coworkers to stop the genocide.”
When the crowd of thousands of demonstrators arrived at the United Nations headquarters, they were joined by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, days after delivering a scathing rebuke of Israel’s actions in Gaza at the UNGA.
“What is happening in Gaza is genocide. There is no other way to put it: it is an attempt to wipe out the Palestinian people,” Petro declared before the assembled crowd of protesters, standing alongside Pink Floyd musician and activist Roger Waters. Petro urged the people of the US to “disobey the order of Trump” and to instead “obey the order of humanity.”
Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Massive Berlin protest exposes widening split between the people and government on Palestine and Gaza genocide
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Mass Berlin demo illustrates growing divide between public and government position on genocide in Gaza.
Germany’s biggest demonstration to date in solidarity with Palestine brought more than 100,000 people into the streets of Berlin on Saturday, September 27. Initiated by a wide coalition of organizations – including Palestinian groups, peace and health associations, climate activists, and artists – the protest demanded an end to German-Israeli military cooperation and repression of solidarity movements, as well as support for Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
“We are taking to the streets to demand an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza and to stand up for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, freedom, and dignity,” Basem Said of the Palestinian community in Berlin said of the protest’s demands.
Read more: Thousands march to denounce Netanyahu at UNGA: “Everywhere you go, you will be met with empty rooms”
“While everyone can see the mass atrocities being committed by the Israeli army in Gaza, the German government denies the systematic violence,” the organizers wrote in their call. Framed this way, the march explicitly challenged the principle of Staatsräson, Germany’s self-declared “reason of state” tying much of its political identity to support for Israel.
The demonstration comes as the divide between public and governmental positions on this issue widens. Recent polling shows that a majority of Germans – 62% – believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. That figure rises to nearly 80% among supporters of the left party Die Linke and over 70% among those of the Greens and the Social Democrats. Yet the government continues to deepen ties with Israel even as other European administrations have made minor concessions under pressure from mass mobilizations, such as symbolic recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly’s high-level week.
Similar behavior continued in the days leading up to the protest. On September 25, for example, German Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche met with her Israeli counterpart, emphasizing the “unique, deep and multi-layered nature” of the cooperation between the two countries. “Israel’s economy is not only resilient but globally recognized for its cutting-edge technology, entrepreneurial spirit and vibrant start-up economy,” Reiche was quoted saying. By that date, Israel had killed at least 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza, with hundreds of thousands more suffering starvation and violent displacement.
“The German government continues to hold on to its cause and support the Israeli government,” said Dr. Khaled Hamad, one of the signatories of the initiative Together for Gaza (Zusammen für Gaza). “German involvement in the genocide against the Palestinians must be stopped, and double standards ended.”
Read more: “Elbit Out!” Activists launch campaign to expel arms company from Romania
The organizers and supporters of Saturday’s events were diverse. Coordinators of the central event included the Palestinian community in Germany, eye4palestine, Amnesty International Germany, and medico international, joined by Fridays for Future groups, the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Crisis Network, and Germans Against Genocide. They were echoed by journalists, writers, and left-wing political activists who launched the call for the demonstration. In total, dozens of organizations and initiatives participated in the preparation under the umbrellas of All Eyes on Gaza and Together for Gaza.
Demonstrations are expected to continue across Europe throughout October. In Germany, a peace protest is scheduled for the coming weekend, coinciding with German Unity Day. In Spain, Italy, Romania, Croatia, and other countries, actions in the following days will denounce government complicity after two years of genocide in Gaza and renew demands to end all ties with the occupation regime.
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
BREAKING: Government under pressure as Labour members vote to accept Israel committing genocide in Gaza
Israel has repeatedly denied this and called a recent UN commission of inquiry report “distorted and false”.
Labour Party members have voted to accept that a genocide is taking place in Gaza by Israel – putting pressure on the government to also do so.
Members voted to approve an emergency motion at Labour’s conference to accept the findings of the UN commission of inquiry, which nearly two weeks ago concluded Israel “has committed genocide”.
Israel has repeatedly denied this and called the report “distorted and false”.
The vote will place further pressure on the government after Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers have refused to declare a genocide is taking place.
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dizzy: Keir Starmer’s UK government has actively participated in and been extremely supportive of Israel’s Gaza genocide.
