We stand firmly against injustice in all its forms. Nothing can justify the current war crimes committed by Israel in occupied Palestine. Equally, nothing can excuse the continued support offered by other nations to this apartheid regime. If you believe in human rights, dignity, and justice, then we urge you to boycott this rogue state. Silence is complicity, do what’s right.
After nearly two years of relentless Israeli bombardment, genocide, siege, and starvation in Gaza, much of Israeli society and media appear trapped in a bubble of selective empathy. News outlets and public discourse remain overwhelmingly focused on the pain of Israeli hostages and fallen soldiers, while the unimaginable suffering of millions of Palestinians just across the border is reduced to background noise, if mentioned at all.
This selective moral vision is not accidental. It reflects years of dehumanization and separation, reinforced by a media system that rarely portrays Palestinians as equal human beings. As Gaza endures a humanitarian collapse with entire families wiped out, hospitals destroyed, and children dying from malnutrition, many Israelis consume a narrative centered solely on national trauma and military resilience. The silence about Palestinian lives is not just omission; it is a moral failure.
The phrase “Never again” , born from the world’s vow to prevent atrocities was meant to protect all peoples from mass suffering. Yet, for many observers, it now seems that this universal lesson has been reshaped into a narrow, tribal slogan. The deep historical context of this conflict dating back more than seven decades to the dispossession, ethnic cleansing and killing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces largely erased from mainstream Israeli memory. The violence did not begin on October 7, 2023, nor will it end with another military victory speech.
Real justice requires confronting uncomfortable truths: that the same society demanding empathy for its captives often denies empathy to those it holds captive. True safety for Israelis will never come from the destruction of Gaza, but from a shared recognition of Palestinian humanity and a reckoning with history that has too long been denied.
Until that happens, Israel risks losing not only its moral compass but also the possibility of coexistence and peace.
Palestinians walk past a mural of George Floyd, a black American who died after being restrained by police officers, in Gaza City, Tuesday, June 16, 2020.
(Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto)
Posted inJustice|Comments Off on Echoes of Justice
Background The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when around 130 fighters from the Zionist paramilitary groups Irgun and Lehi killed at least 107 Palestinian Palestinian villagers, including women and children, in Deir Yassin, a village of roughly 600 people near Jerusalem, despite having earlier agreed to a peace pact. The massacre occurred while Jewish militia sought to relieve the blockade of Jerusalem during the civil war that preceded the end of British rule in Palestine.
In Deir Yassin’s silent streets, a tale of sorrow weaves, Where history recalls a haunting, tragic eve. April’s breath held heavy, 1948’s embrace, As shadows cast by conflict darkened this sacred space.
Irgun, Lehi, peace defied, Deir Yassin, where innocence died. Covenant decayed, memories shred, Silence echoes, hearts in dread.
Palestinians in fear, homes betrayed, Arab resolve stirred, intervention displayed. Deir Yassin’s wounds, echoes remain, Hadassah convoy, sorrow’s relentless bane.
78 lives lost, truth exposed, In secrecy’s folds, haunting disclosed. Stories told, illuminate peace’s gains, A history where sorrow refrains.
Background Journalism is in the process of being eradicated in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s refusal to heed calls to protect media personnel. The situation is dire for Palestinian journalists trapped in the enclave, where ten have been killed in the past three days, bringing the total media death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 246.
Gaza's lament resounds, ink stifled in despair, 246 journalists fallen, a grievous share. In the grip of Israeli occupation's test, Pens laid to rest, truth suppressed.
Locked gates of Rafah, a plea to the world, Break the silence, let truth be unfurled. Occupation's weight on storytelling quills, A century's sorrow, the journalistic hills.
International eyes denied, entry's plea, Gaza's stories veiled, yearning to be free. No refuge, no escape, in this perilous dance, Reporters seeking safety, a fleeting chance.
A plea for protection in occupation's grasp, Journalism strives amidst a tumultuous rasp. Beneath the Palestinian sky, resilience thrives, Global voice, break the silence wide.
Blair on July 13, 2023, in London. Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
There was a time when Donald Trump believed the issue of Israel and Palestine could only be solved by Jared Kushner. “If you can’t produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can,” he told his son-in-law on the eve of his first-term inauguration in 2017, before bizarrely appointing the then-36-year-old property developer to lead on the issue.
Now, nine months into his second term, Trump is pinning his hopes for peace in the Middle East on a much more experienced but even more controversial figure: 72-year-old Tony Blair.
Yes, that Tony Blair.
In his 20-point “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict,” released by the White House on Monday, the ninth point jumps out from the text:
“Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair.”
Sorry, what? Putting Tony Blair in charge of any kind of peace effort in the Middle East is like making the arsonist the head firefighter; the burglar the chief detective.
Posted inGaza, Mehdi Hassan, USA|Taggedgaza, Tony Blair|Comments Off on Tony Blair Should Be on Trial for War Crimes, Not Running Gaza
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and three leaders of Hamas, on the grounds of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the prosecutor’s office announced on Monday.
Alongside Gallant and Netanyahu, the Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, its military wing’s commander-in-chief Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, better known as Mohammed Deif, and its political leader Ismail Haniyeh were named in a statement by chief prosecutor Karim Khan.
Gallant and Netanyahu face war crimes and crimes against humanity charges over the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare; wilfully causing great suffering; wilful killing; intentional attacks on a civilian population and extermination, alongside several other charges.
In his statement accompanying the charges, Khan wrote: “My Office submits that the evidence we have collected, including interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses, authenticated video, photo and audio material, satellite imagery and statements from the alleged perpetrator group, shows that Israel has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival.”
He added: “Israel, like all States, has a right to take action to defend its population. That right, however, does not absolve Israel or any State of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law.
The Hamas leaders also face charges related to extermination, murder, the taking of hostages, sexual assault and torture, alongside several more charges.
Regarding the charges, Khan said: “My Office submits there are reasonable grounds to believe that [Sinwar, Deif and Haniyeh] are criminally responsible for the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians in attacks perpetrated by Hamas (in particular its military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades) and other armed groups on 7 October 2023 and the taking of at least 245 hostages.”
“The Nazis also spoke in the name of “morality” even then there was nothing there but good old antisemitism as we have experienced in all generations. Haters of Israel come and go, Israel’s eternity will not lie.” Smotrich said.
“I would like to strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense. Their arrest warrants are the arrest warrants for all of us.” He added.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has also condemned the ICC decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli leaders as “beyond outrageous.”
Diplomatic setback
The arrest warrants sought by Khan will be presented to the judges who sit at the ICC and they will decide whether to grant them.
Monday’s announcement is the most significant diplomatic setback for Israel in decades and comes as it tries desperately to protect its international reputation amidst its devastating war in Gaza.
More than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since Israel began military operations there on 7 October. The majority of those are women and children.
ICC condemns retaliation threats after Israeli arrest warrant reports.
For weeks there has been speculation amongst Israelis that ICC arrest warrants were in the works.
In late April, the Israeli media outlet Ynet reported that Israeli leaders were worried about arrest when travelling to Europe on the basis of secretly issued arrest warrants.
Another Israeli newspaper, Maariv, reported that Netanyahu was “frightened and unusually stressed” about the prospect of the ICC issuing a warrant for his arrest and was seeking US help to pressure the organisation.
Israel has threatened to retaliate against the Palestinian authority should the ICC issue warrants, while Republican members of Congress have threatened Khan directly with sanctions should he proceed with the case.
The state also faces separate charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after South Africa filed a case over the conduct of its war on Gaza
Musicians call on Keir Starmer to accept that genocide is taking place in Gaza in a video projected onto the entrance of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool
