10.5.24
My review of, and photos from ‘Palestine Vision’, an extraordinary evening of Palestinian music at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill on May 7, taking place to protest against Israel’s inclusion in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which included an electrifying appearance by Palestinian hip-hop legend Tamer Nafar, and a moving set by rising pop star Bashar Murad, who set to music ‘If I Must Die’ by the much-loved poet and academic Refaat Alareer, who was targeted and murdered by Israel in Gaza in December. My video of Bashar’s musical version of Refaat’s poem is included.
6.5.24
In my latest article about Israel’s genocide in Gaza, I provide a re-cap on the last seven months of horror in Gaza, in which over 42,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been murdered by Israel. I also condemn the Israeli regime and the western governments providing unconditional support, but note how unparalleled numbers of people have switched off from largely uncritical mainstream media (with the brave exception of Al Jazeera), and are refusing to conform, through their engagement with what, globally, must be the largest protest movement in human history. I also celebrate the student protests on US campuses, deplore the violent response by many university administrators and the police, and express my hope that, not only will the protests continue, but that students’ call for their universities to divest from organizations complicit in Israel’s genocide will expand to recognize that the genocidal war machine is just part of the capitalist death cult of the third decade of the 21st century, and that what is also needed is wholesale divestment from every aspect of this sick system, which is not only erasing Gaza, but is also committed to making the prospect of life on earth untenable for all of us.
16.4.24
In my latest article about Israel’s genocide in Gaza, I examine a little-discussed aspect of Israel’s actions — the lack of an exit strategy. With no prospect of any other countries accepting the population of the Gaza Strip as refugees, I conclude that Israel’s genocidal actions are actually a “final solution” to the Palestinian “problem”, and that President Biden, who leads the west’s largely unconditional support for Israel, also endorses this approach. Criticizing western leaders for the emptiness of their support of Israel’s “right to defend itself”, I also condemn their refusal to recognize that Israel’s two stated aims — to “destroy” Hamas and to free the hostages seized on October 7 — are either unworkable or self-defeating, and conclude my analysis by comparing how the west’s position on Israel is as dangerous and irresponsible as its failure to take climate collapse seriously, and warn that, by allowing Israel to so blatantly shred international humanitarian law, and by using fake antisemitism claims to suppress dissent and to further stifle protest, they are ensuring that, not only is nowhere in Gaza safe, but nowhere in the west is safe either — not from any external “terrorist” threat, but from our own governments.
5.4.24
In my latest article about Israel’s still-ongoing genocide in Gaza, I reflect on the latest death toll of 41,496 Palestinians, compiled by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, which also indicates that 90% of those killed were civilians, and discuss the latest investigation by +972 Magazine, exposing the existence of an AI program, codenamed “Lavender,” which auto-generated bombing targets with little or no human oversight, contributing immensely to the devastating civilian death toll. I note, however, that the existence of the AI program shouldn’t distract us from the reality that Israel’s aim has always been genocide, as evidenced by bombing raids in which no military target is discernible, through the complete destruction of Gaza’s entire infrastructure, its war on hospitals, its summary executions and enforced disappearances, its incessant use of snipers and quadcopters (often deliberately targeting children), and its use of starvation. I end by noting that unconditional western support for Israel finally seems to be waning, particularly as a result of outrage generated by the killing of six western aid workers (and a Palestinian), which, of course, only demonstrates a fundamental racism in the west. Despite the hypocrisy, however, I conclude that it is worth exerting as much pressure as possible on western politicians and the media to permanently shift their positions and to begin the necessary moves towards finally ending Israel’s 76-year impunity, and, by whatever means, ending its current, and unprecedented genocidal slaughter.
20.3.24
My latest article about Israel’s genocide in Gaza follows the most recent report, by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, that over 40,000 people (mostly civilians) have now been killed by Israel over the last five months. I discuss the latest horrors to be inflicted on the trapped Palestinians of Gaza — deliberate starvation — and assess how, despite so much unconditional support for Israel in the west, an untold number of people are waking up to the fact that Israel is the last European colonial settler project, and that the brutality of the Israelis, their belief in themselves as the “chosen people”, and their horrendous dehumanization of the Palestinians, is all part of the same colonial template that western countries undertook for many centuries, and which in some cases (including the UK and France) involved their engagement in unspeakable brutality as recently as the 1950s, and into the 1960s. With western countries still engaged in desperate attempts to stifle all criticism of Israel, I conclude with a hope that an end to this horrific situation is in sight, that Gaza will be rebuilt and Palestinians given autonomy, that Israel will collapse, and that everyone who has supported this genocide in any way will be permanently ostracized.
8.3.24
Linking to, and discussing my recent interview with Chris Cook of Gorilla Radio, in which we discussed Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, the significance of the recent by-election victory in the UK of George Galloway, the continuing plight of the 16 men still held at Guantánamo who have long been approved for release, the global vigils for the prison’s closure, and the continuing plight of Julian Assange, who is still fighting in the British courts to prevent his extradition to the US to face outrageous and unjustifiable espionage charges relating to WikiLeaks’ publication, in 2010-11, of classified US files leaked by Chelsea Manning. Chris also played ‘Warriors’, my recently released song about Julian and Chelsea, recorded with The Four Fathers.
18.2.24
My latest long read about Israel’s still-ongoing genocide in Gaza, the unimaginable horror of being in Gaza itself, and the permanently unsettling psychic repercussions reverberating around the world, plus a comprehensive overview of how and why it is a genocide, and my shock that so many people are so openly and publicly supportive of what ought to be readily recognized as “the most abysmal darkness, the most startling failure of the human spirit, and the very definition of collective evil”, as I describe it. I also express my disgust at western complicity in the genocide, discuss the huge importance of not allowing Hamas’ attacks on October 7 to be perceived as having taken place in a vacuum, and conclude with the hope that, as Israel prepares to attack the last refuge of Gaza’s displaced population in Rafah, and to push for the permanent expulsion of all the survivors, western indulgence of Israel — especially with complicity in genocide hovering over them via the International Court of Justice — will finally cease and, somehow, bring this otherwise unending slaughter to an end.
1.2.24
My detailed examination of Israel’s dismissive response to the provisional measures imposed on it by the International Court of Justice last week regarding its genocidal intent in Gaza, and, in particular, its shameful targeting of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) with unsubstantiated allegations that a very small number of its staff were involved in the Hamas attacks on October 7. To their shame, over a dozen countries, led by the US, have responded by cutting funding for UNRWA, disregarding the need for actual evidence, and apparently with no consideration that, by cutting off funding to the primary supplier of humanitarian aid in Gaza, they are making themselves directly complicit in the ongoing genocide.
26.1.24
My report on the unprecedented ruling by the International Court of Justice, in response to South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, in which the Court found it plausible that Israel’s actions since October 7 have demonstrated genocidal intent, and ordered Israel not to undertake any further acts that may constitute genocide, to punish senior Israeli officials who have made genocidal statements, to enable the provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, and to report back within a month regarding its compliance with the Court’s ruling.
18.1.24
My latest article about Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which I examine how the widespread and justifiable alarm about Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, elected just over a year ago — and, in particular, the elevation to ministerial positions of two far-right party leaders, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich — gave way instantly to amnesia in the west after the deadly attacks by Hamas militants and other militants on October 7, and absolutely unfettered and unconditional support for Israel’s “right to defend itself,” even though Israel’s leaders immediately began to express genocidal intent. I examine what it exposes about western leaders’ thinly-veiled enthusiasm for settler colonialism, the particular enthusiasm of President Biden for genocide, and the hugely harmful power of Israeli lies — in particular, the 40 beheaded babies lie that has done to much to inspire a horribly widespread genocidal frenzy, both in Israel and the west. I conclude by calling on the millions of opponents of Israel’s genocide to stay strong, not only for the Palestinians themselves, but also to preserve freedom of speech in our own countries, which is being shamefully undermined through the entirely false notion that criticism of Israel is antisemitism.
Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker. Also, photo-journalist (The State of London), and singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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