Activist blocakde the entrace to Edinburgh’s Leonardo arms factory, August 18, 2025
ACTIVISTS blockaded Edinburgh’s Leonardo arms factory for a second time in a month today, with two arrested by police under the Terrorism Act.
Shut Down Leonardo blocked its main entrance with a specially adapted van, with one activist locked-on inside and another on the roof, in a bid to bring production inside to a halt.
Other activists smashed jam jars filled with red and green paint in solidarity with the people of Gaza who, thanks to Leonardo’s supply of missile-guidance equipment as well as components for its F-35 jets and Apache attack helicopters, continue to be targeted by the Israeli armed forces.
The Italian-owned arms giant announced earlier this year its profits had boomed by 15.8 per cent to £1.3 billion in 2024-25, with order-book growth of 16.8 per cent.
That growth is driven by both the military build-up across Europe and Nato states over recent years, but also by sales to Israeli’s war machine as it works to reduce Gaza to rubble.
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/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Vote Labour for Genocide.
On Sunday 17 August, campaign group Defend Our Juries levelled a contempt of court complaint against the home secretary Yvette Cooper over an article in the Observer. Notably, this was after she made repeated insinuations that the government proscribed Palestine Action because of violence against people.
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In its letter to Attorney General, Defend Our Juries said of Yvette Cooper and her Observer column:
It is not only disingenuous to present this isolated case as characteristic of Palestine Action, it is a contempt of court that prevents fair trials of those who stand accused. Yvette Cooper’s comments have been widely publicised, such that it would be impossible to find a jury unaffected by them.
We are not naïve regarding the political obstacles to commencing contempt of court proceedings against the Home Secretary.
But if the rule of law means anything, it is that no-one is above the law, most particularly the rich and powerful, such as Elbit Systems UK and Yvette Cooper. It is particularly egregious for a Home Secretary to abuse their office in this way, to present a false and misleading picture of those who face serious criminal charges.
Cooper referred to Israel’s starvation and slaughter of the Palestinian people as “crimes against humanity” in her Observer article. She wrote that:
So anyone who wants to protest against the catastrophic humanitarian situation and crimes against humanity in Gaza, to oppose Israel’s military offensive, or to criticise the actions of any and every government, including our own, has the freedom to do so.
So far as Defend Our Juries are aware, this is the first time the government has formally recognised that Israel is committing crimes against humanity.
This recognition comes with profound consequences in terms of the legal obligations that ensue.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical publication ‘Private Eye’.Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Demonstrators block a road during a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and calling for the Israeli government to reverse its decision to take over Gaza City and other areas in the Gaza Strip, near Jerusalem, Israel, Aug. 17
Thousands strike to ‘save hostages and stop military escalation’ in Gaza
POLICE in Israel blasted protesters with water cannon and made dozens of arrests today as they clamped down on a one-day nationwide strike that disrupted transport and businesses across Israel.
The protests took place as Israel announced its intention to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a widely slammed military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas.
The “day of stoppage” in Israel on Sunday was organised by two groups representing some of the families of hostages and the bereaved.
About 90 municipalities — Tel Aviv Yaffo the largest — three universities, the entire Kibbutzim movement, the lawyers’ bar, numerous high-tech companies, several small unions in the medical, legal and journalism fields and countless private businesses joined the strike.
The police clampdown comes as protesters demand an end to fighting they believe endangers the 20 hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 2023 believed to still be alive in captivity.
Protesters chanted: “We don’t win a war over the bodies of hostages” as they gathered at dozens of points throughout Israel, including outside politicians’ homes, military headquarters and on major highways, where they were sprayed with water cannon as they blocked lanes and lit bonfires.
Among the protesters in Tel Aviv was a woman carrying a photo of an emaciated child from Gaza. Such images were once rare at Israeli demonstrations, but have now begun to appear more often.
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/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Vote Labour for Genocide.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Aid trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies remain stranded at the Rafah Border Crossing on the Egyptian side due to Israeli attacks and closed border crossings, the delivery of aid is limited and delayed in Rafah, Egypt on August 6, 2025. [Mohamed Elshahed – Anadolu Agency]
At least 1,000 trucks per day carrying various forms of aid have to enter the besieged Gaza Strip to meet people’s needs, a local official has said.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence, Mahmoud Basal, said Thursday evening that only about 100 trucks are entering daily, most of which go to commercial traders and do not meet the needs of the market.
Since 2 March, Israel has banned the entry of food, relief, medical aid, goods, and fuel into Gaza, causing a significant deterioration in the humanitarian situation.
Since October 2023, the Israeli occupation army has been committing genocide in Gaza killing and wounding more than 209,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women in addition to more than 9,000 missing.
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/O74hZCKKdpAKeir 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.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, during an interview in Tel Aviv, Israel on 5 December, 2024 [Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich asserted on Thursday that the occupied West Bank is inherently part of Israel, citing a “divine promise” as the basis for his claim.
In a news conference, Smotrich announced the initiation of a project aimed at connecting the Ma’ale Adumim settlement to occupied Jerusalem. He characterised the establishment of a Palestinian state as a threat to Israel; “the only Jewish state in the world.”
Smotrich stated that he has the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding matters related to the West Bank. He noted, “We are confiscating thousands of dunams of land and investing billions to settle one million Jews in the West Bank.”
He emphasised that time has come to apply Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and to permanently dismiss the notion of dividing Israel. “Every Israeli home built in the West Bank represents a declaration of sovereignty, and each neighbourhood strengthens our claim,” he remarked, highlighting plans to double the size of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
In conclusion, Smotrich asserted, “Our future is not dictated by external opinions but by the actions of the Jewish people,” expressing confidence that a significant declaration regarding the imposition of sovereignty over the West Bank is imminent.
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/O74hZCKKdpAKeir 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.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Activist blocakde the entrace to Edinburgh’s Leonardo arms factory, August 18, 2025
