Palestine

Green reaction to Starmer’s ‘bargaining chip’ on Palestinian statehood

Ellie Chowns, Green Party MP for North Herefordshire. CC image Wikipedia. Reacting to today’s emergency cabinet meeting on Gaza and Keir Stamer’s statement, Green Party MP, Ellie Chowns, the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “What Starmer has said today suggests Palestinian statehood is a bargaining chip, only to be awarded if the Israeli government fails to end the genocide in Gaza and agrees to a range of other conditions such as allowing the UN to restart the supply of aid and ending annexations in the West Bank. “While these conditions are welcome and essential steps towards a ceasefire and a peaceful solution, they must not be an alternative to recognising Palestinian statehood. This is a cynical political gesture ahead of the outcomes of the UN Conference and suggests that if Israel were to comply with the demands, Palestinian statehood would be kicked down the road again, disenfranchising the Palestinian people. “The Green Party calls on Keir Starmer to immediately and unconditionally recognise a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution, just as Labour promised to do in their election manifesto.”

Continue ReadingGreen reaction to Starmer’s ‘bargaining chip’ on Palestinian statehood

No Pride in Genocide challenge Glasgow’s annual event over ties to genocide

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/no-pride-genocide-challenge-glasgows-annual-event-over-ties-genocide  Glasgow Pride CAMPAIGNERS challenged Glasgow’s annual Pride event over the weekend over its sponsorship ties to Israel’s violence against Palestinians.  Hundreds of No Pride in Genocide (NPIG) activists gathered in Kelvingrove Park on Saturday, where the annual Pride march began, forming a “radical bloc” to demand that the event reject companies directly profiting from Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.  Among the event’s sponsors is US financing giant JP Morgan, which holds $22 million (£16.4m) in shares in Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems, as well as $600m (£447m) in Israeli sovereign war bonds.  Last year, NIPG mobilised a similar bloc within the 2024 Pride march, with their numbers making up nearly half the total procession. Despite pressure over the past year, the group say that Glasgow’s Pride organisers have refused to engage directly with them. NPIG accuse organisers of enabling “pinkwashing” — a term used to describe promoting LGBTQ+ inclusivity to deflect from broader human rights abuses. ... Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/no-pride-genocide-challenge-glasgows-annual-event-over-ties-genocide

Continue ReadingNo Pride in Genocide challenge Glasgow’s annual event over ties to genocide

12 countries commit to arms embargo on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza

Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license. Hague Group Summit in Bogotá, Colombia. Photo: Abby Martin In the final document, the signatory countries commit, among other things, to cease arms trade with Israel, review public contracts with that country, and seek accountability for war crimes. Countries of the Global South have expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian people at the Emergency Ministerial Conference on Palestine organized by The Hague Group, which took place on July 15 and 16 in Bogotá, Colombia. The multilateral meeting was attended by representatives from Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Slovenia, Spain, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Regarding the meeting, Colombia’s deputy secretary of state, Mauricio Jaramillo, said: “This conference is being convened by the Hague Group, but it is not an exclusive meeting of this group. Given the urgency of what is happening in the occupied territories, especially in Gaza, where today, for example, we have passed the threshold of 58,000 fatalities, we must commit ourselves to action.” The conference, which was organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa and attended by 30 countries, agreed that: “The era of impunity must end – and that international law must be enforced without fear or favor through immediate domestic policies and legislation – along with a unified call for an immediate ceasefire.” The agreements According to an official press release, the meeting laid out several measures to stop the genocide in Gaza: Prevent the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel. Prevent the transit, docking, and servicing of vessels at any port … in all cases where there is a clear risk of the vessel being used to carry arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel. Prevent the carriage of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel on vessels bearing our flag … and ensure full accountability, including de-flagging, for non-compliance with this prohibition. Commence an urgent review of all public contracts to prevent public institutions and funds from supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory and entrenching its unlawful presence. Comply with obligations to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law, through robust, impartial, and independent investigations and prosecutions at national or international levels, to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes. Support universal jurisdiction mandates, as and where applicable in national legal frameworks and judiciaries, to ensure justice for victims of international crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Although 30 countries attended the meeting, only 12 countries committed to immediately complying with the agreements outlined in the final declaration: Bolivia, Cuba, Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and South Africa. The others expected to…

Continue Reading12 countries commit to arms embargo on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza

Israeli army sends 2 more battalions to West Bank

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Israeli military vehicles patrol on street during a raid on Salam Neighborhood in Nablus, West Bank on May 29, 2025. [Nedal Eshtayah – Anadolu Agency] The Israeli army said Friday it reinforced its forces in the occupied West Bank with two additional military battalions, Anadolu reports. “According to the situation assessment, a decision was made to reinforce two battalions in the Central Command sector,” the army said in a statement, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. The “Central Command sector” refers to the West Bank, said the newspaper. The Israeli army did not clarify the actual number of troops currently on the ground in the occupied West Bank, nor did it disclose the reasons behind the escalatory step of reinforcing forces with two battalions. However, it noted: “Throughout the war, continuous situation assessments are being conducted, and accordingly, the necessary order of battle is determined for fulfilling operational missions in various sectors.” Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, at least 996 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. READ: UN warns Israeli strikes in West Bank escalate damage, hinder return of displaced Palestinians

Continue ReadingIsraeli army sends 2 more battalions to West Bank