Students start wave of protests over Gaza at UK universities after US crackdown

Demonstrations had been scheduled to take place in at least six universities as war rages on in Gaza

Matt Mathers,Emma Guinness
1
Students joined pro-Palestine protests and encampments at universities in the UK on Wednesday following violent demonstrations at campuses in the US.

Demonstrations took place at several universities including Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds and Newcastle, and others were expected to join them.


The protests came following violent clashes on the University of California campus between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of counter-demonstrators, hours after police stormed Columbia University and arrested dozens of students.

At Goldsmiths University in south London, students have been occupying buildings - including the library - for weeks.

On Tuesday, video shared online showed students holding a rally in a courtyard at the university and chanting “no justice, no peace, if you don’t give us justice then you don’t get no peace”.

Students also occupied the library and demanded to meet with senior management to discuss their protests and the war in Gaza.

“I think a lot of people are really inspired by what’s going on in the US,” Samira, a 24-year-old sociology student and member of Goldsmiths For Palestine, told The Independent.

Students hold a pro-Palestine rally at Goldsmiths ( @goldsmithsforpalestine)

“We feel a duty as students to come out and protest when you’re seeing like, fellow students in the US…smashed up by riots, and all of that, but, yeah…I think people are really inspired.”


Students at the University of Bristol, University of Leeds, and Newcastle University set up tents in demonstrations on Wednesday.

Bristol students said they staged the action “in protest of the university’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians,” while Apartheid Off Campus Newcastle said its demonstration was to “highlight the institution’s investment strategy and its complicity in the Israeli military’s war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Protests were due to take place in at least six universities (Bristol Student Occupation for a Free PalestineApartheid Off Campus Newcastle/)

In the US, police arrested some 35 people at California State Polytechnic University, Humbold yesterday after pro-Palestinian protesters barricaded themselves inside the dean’s office.

The students had been occupying Siemens Hall since 22 April.

Overnight, hundreds of police officers dressed in riot gear stormed Columbia, where campus protesters had occupied Hamilton Hall since Monday.

They later used a SWAT ramp, attached to the roof of a truck, to enter the barricaded building and 109 people were arrested.

A further 173 arrests were made at the City College of New York, where demonstrations have also taken place.

Pro-Palestine protests take over UK universities just days after police stormed US campuses


By James Saunder

GB NEWS
Published: 02/05/2024 - 

Warwick University demonstrators called for people to 'rise up in unison with fellow students all over the world, from Columbia, NYC, to Paris, to Sydney'

Pro-Palestine student protesters have begun establishing camps at UK universities in an attempt to cause the same kind of sit-in disruption seen at American institutions over the last few days and weeks.

Students at top English universities - Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield - have set up tents and marquees, and have hoisted anti-Israel banners and Palestinian flags on buildings and in open spaces.

One of the encampments at a piazza at Warwick University has been in place for almost a week, with student campaign groups claiming Warwick is "continu[ing] to reject our demands to cut ties with genocide", and professing to "rise up in unison with fellow students all over the world, from Columbia, NYC, to Paris, to Sydney".

Many of the demonstrations have called for their universities to cut financial ties with Israel or Israeli companies in light of the country's ongoing military response in Palestine to the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Protesters at Goldsmiths, University of London, have staged sit-ins, while demonstrators at Warwick have established a week-long camp at a campus piazza

At Manchester, protests starting on May 1 have elicited official university responses; while the institution's Chief Operating Officer, Patrick Hackett, said it was "incredibly important that people are able to exercise free speech within the law", he urged protesters not to block access to study and work spaces with exams looming.

While at Goldsmiths, University of London, students established camps overnight at the university library and stuck banners to windows stating "from the river to the sea" and "shut it down for Palestine", claiming they would not leave "until senior management come to face us".

Yesterday's demonstrations followed large-scale "May Day" action across the UK which saw protesters blockade BAE Systems facilities and a government department over their ties to UK arms exports to Israel.

And the university encampments and sit-ins directly mirror those seen at institutions on the other side of the Atlantic; this week, activists camping out at UCLA in Los Angeles, Northeastern University in Boston, and Columbia University in New York have clashed with campus authorities and city police alike.

Australian university students are camping out in support of Gaza. Here’s what you need to know

Daisy Dumas

The Guardian
Tue, 30 April 2024 

The pro-Palestinian student protesters who set up the camp at the University of Sydney want disclosure of and divestment from all university activities that support Israel, as well as a ceasefire and the end of government ties to Israel.

Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Protests in support of Gaza have spread to about 50 US universities and are now in four Australian universities, with students committed to permanently occupying university land until their demands for divestment are met.

What are the Gaza encampment protests?

Columbia University in New York has become the centre of a spate of pro-Palestinian camps in universities across the US. The camps are an extension of protests that have been taking place on campuses since 7 October, with students demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and a complete divestment of university ties to Israel.

Hundreds of US university protesters have been arrested. On Monday Columbia protesters rejected an ultimatum to disband the camp, with university management suspending students in response.

The US demonstrations have triggered allegations of antisemitism amid reports by Jewish students that they have been subjected to threats and slurs. Protest activists in the US, in response, have asserted that the charges of antisemitism have been ramped up in an effort to silence criticism of Israel.

When did the movement start in Australia?

University of Sydney students set up a camp last Tuesday. The camp has consistently had more than 40 and up to about 60 campers each night, with a rally last Wednesday drawing about 200 people. The movement has since spread – the University of Melbourne joined on Thursday, while camps were established on Monday at the University of Queensland and the Australian National University in Canberra. A camp is expected to be set up at Curtin University in Perth on Wednesday. Protesters say the camps will remain until their demands are met.

The movement’s Australian branches have been applauded by US protesters, including those from the New School in New York and from New York University.

Who is protesting?

Students, staff and the broader pro-Palestinian community. One of those is Shovan Bhattarai, 25, who is studying history and is an organiser of the camp at the University of Sydney.

“We see ourselves as part of this global wave,” she said. Bhattarai said genocide and the indiscriminate killing of people was happening, and claimed that was backed by the Australian government and Sydney University.

The camp is serving as a hub for other Sydney universities that do not have their own encampments. A Macquarie University student, Malak Aldabbas, 19, has been visiting on a daily basis. “As a Palestinian, it is my cause, I have to fight for it,” she said. “I can’t stay silent.”

A University of Sydney staff member, Linda Koria, 35, is from Iraq and lost her father in the Iraq war. “As someone who lived through [war], I can’t help but empathise with the Palestinian cause,” she said.

What are protesters demanding?

The students want disclosure of and divestment from all university activities that support Israel, as well as a ceasefire and the end of government ties to the Jewish state.

“We want the University of Sydney to completely cut ties with weapons companies,” Bhattarai said, referencing the university’s “memorandum of understanding” with the French multinational Thales, and links to the US defence contractor Raytheon. “Most blatantly,” she said, the university’s chancellor, Belinda Hutchinson, is one of the directors on Thales’ board.

A high school student, Ewan Polios, 16, began camping at the University of Sydney last week and left when school term began on Tuesday. He said it was “awful” that the university administration considered it normal to have ties to weapons companies supplying to Israel. “I will give up my holidays [to demand an end] to that,” he said.

At the University of Queensland, protesters are demanding the institution close its Boeing Research and Technology Australia Centre and divest from companies with “direct and indirect ties to Israel”, including BAE and Northrop Grumman.

University of Melbourne students are taking aim at the institution’s links to defence companies including Lockheed Martin, which has given $3.5m towards PhD scholarships and research projects since 2016.

ANU students are demanding an end to the university’s investments in BAE, Lockeed Martin and Northrup Grumman amounting to $479,000, and to cut ties with its exchange partner the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

What is happening at the University of Sydney?

About 40 tents sit in the university’s most prominent spot, under the shadow of the historic clock tower, with views of the city. There are also larger communal food and meeting tents. Talks are hosted and sessions have been held in which messages from US camps are read out. The camp is peaceful, with routine checks by campus security.

Many non-protesting students appear to support the camp, with donations of hot meals and cash pouring in. A tent full of food has everything from two-minute noodles to biscuits, popcorn and trays of fruit. Other donations include a shisha pipe, tents, mattresses, camping chairs, tables and waterproof boxes in preparation for bad weather this week. “We’ve been overwhelmed,” Bhattarai said.

Students on campus who were not part of the demonstration supported the protesters’ rights to establish an encampment, despite graduation ceremonies scheduled later in the week.

The president of the Students Representative Council, Harrison Brennan, 21, said the camp was “spectacular” despite being a “highly disruptive action by virtue of how we’re set up”.

“This can be a really long-term thing,” he said. “And I think the university would get a lot of criticism from the broader community who have come out to support us if they were to dare [to] call police [in].”

What is the reaction of Jewish university students?

Some are part of the protests but many are not – and increasing antisemitism is making many avoid campus, according to Zac Morris, the vice-president of the Australian Union of Jewish Students NSW.

He said the University of Sydney encampment was “concerning” because the protests were inspired by the US, where Jews have been violently targeted and the terrorism of 7 October has been praised.

“Jewish students are scared to come to [the University of Sydney] campus,” Morris said.

Even before the encampment, University of Sydney students had received death threats and been advised to stay at home by police, had food thrown at them and doxed, with photos taken and circulated of them, he said. He said university management was in a “difficult” position but had responded “inadequately”.

“It’s really different to what things were like before [7 October],” he said, describing Jewish students who were opting to attend lectures online. “There’s this feeling of having to kind of hide. Things have progressed and are well past the point of what should be acceptable.”

During Tuesday’s encampment rally at the university, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president, Nasser Mashni, said antisemitism had no place in the movement.
How have university administrations reacted?

A University of Sydney spokesperson said the institution was “carefully monitoring the gathering at our quadrangle in line with our crowd management protocols to ensure a safe environment for our community”.

They said any slogans, chants or actions that could be reasonably interpreted as implying support for violence, terrorism or infringing the rights of others or threatening the wellbeing of staff or students would not be tolerated. Graduation ceremonies were expected to go ahead this week as planned.

All four universities said they supported the rights of staff and students to peacefully protest in line with Australian law.

Echoing other universities, the University of Melbourne said it “deplores and actively stands against all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia”.

“The university does not support the exercise of freedom of speech when the speech undermines the capacity of individuals to participate fully in the university, is unlawful, prejudices the fulfilment by the university of its duty to foster the safety and wellbeing of staff and students, or unreasonably disrupts activities or operations of the university,” a spokesperson said.

The University of Queensland vice-chancellor, Prof Deborah Terry, said the university “has robust processes for assessing and managing research partnerships that consider the ethical implications and their alignment with our core values”.

Additional reporting by Andrew Messenger

Inter-Parliamentary Al-Quds platform endorses global boycott against Israel

Declaration backs global boycott movement against Israel and its supporters, calls on parliaments to enact laws that contribute to boycott

Aynur Ekiz and Muhammed Yasin Gungor |

TRT

02.05.2024 - 


ISTANBUL

The closing declaration of the Fifth Conference of the League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds and Palestine, which took place in Istanbul with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Numan Kurtulmus, supported the global boycott movement against Israel.

"Supporting the global boycott movement of Israel and its supporters and calling on parliaments to enact laws that contribute to the global boycott movement," the 27-point declaration said.

The conference took place in Istanbul on April 26-28.

The first article of the declaration strongly condemned the despotic genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation state in the Gaza Strip.

The declaration emphasized that the participants consider the Israeli occupation as the biggest obstacle to peace in the region and that the Zionist ideology is the biggest threat to world peace and its actions that violate all humanitarian values.

The declaration condemned the efforts of the US and some Western countries to support the occupying entity militarily and economically and called for the smooth delivery of sufficient food, drinking water and medical aid to the residents of Gaza.

Here are some of the issues included in the declaration:

- Calling to end this war immediately to spare innocent people, stop the machine of crime and destruction.

- Stressing that the policy of killing and annihilation committed by the Israeli war machine has been an official policy systematically practiced against the Palestinian people since the occupation of Palestine in 1948.

- Highlighting the measures of apartheid committed by Israel, which is the ugliest form of occupation in the world.

- Commending the Palestinian resistance and its extraordinary heroism against the genocidal war, and emphasizing that the Palestinian people’s resistance against the occupation by all means is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and international legislation.

- The participants believe that the Palestinian factions defending their people and land are liberation movements that deserve praise and acclaim for their national role in seeking freedom, liberation and independence, and they reject branding them as terrorism.

- Acclaiming the positions of the countries that stood up against the unjust aggression on Gaza since its beginning, and these are most of the countries in the world led by Türkiye, and the distinguished position of its president in refusing to label the Palestinian resistance movements as terrorism.

- Denouncing the lack of impartiality of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and his visit to Israel while failing to visit the Gaza Strip to inspect the crimes of genocide and demanding him to issue arrest warrants against Israeli criminals involved in the war of genocide.

- Calling for the establishment of an international legal initiative supported by parliamentarians and parliaments that will coordinate the efforts of legal professionals working to prosecute the criminals involved in the genocide war.

- Warning of the new wave of displacement of the Palestinian people from the West Bank and Gaza announced by the Israeli government at the beginning of the war on Gaza.

- Supporting the global boycott movement of Israel and its supporters and calling on parliaments to enact laws that contribute to the global boycott movement in addition to criminalizing dealing and communicating with Israel in all fields.

- Standing firmly in the face of the wave of normalization with Israel, including by some Arab and Islamic countries, and emphasizing that parliamentarians have a decisive role in rejecting normalization by their countries.

- Supporting international activists from various countries of the world who are contributing to efforts to stop the war and lift the unjust siege on Gaza, and inviting parliamentarians to participate in such activities, including the Freedom Flotilla to break the siege.

- Striving diligently to activate the most prominent decision of the conference to establish the global alliance to revive the system of rights, justice, values and rational principles across parliaments, governments and peoples in the face of the alliance of oppression, injustice, tyranny, occupation and racism that supports Israel in its criminal war on the Gaza Strip and to devote the right and support it everywhere in the world, and calling on the Turkish President to take the lead position in this global alliance.

- Contributing to relief efforts and urging parliamentarians and parliaments to provide relief aid to Gaza to confront the danger of famine threatening Palestinians in the Strip.

The closing declaration thanked Türkiye for "their role in supporting the League and hosting its conferences in Türkiye, which contributed to its prestigious global status as an international parliamentary platform defending the Palestinian issue.”

Hasan Turan, chief administrative officer of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye was elected as the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Al-Quds Platform Türkiye, and AK Party Ankara MP Asuman Erdogan was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the platform.

ZIONIST OUTRAGE, OUTRAGEOUS ZIONISM

OPINION
Antisemitism

Entire ‘Squad’, 70 Dems vote against H.R. 6090

Will Sen. Schumer kill the Antisemitism Awareness Act? Probably.

Anti-Israel protesters on the Foggy Bottom campus of George Washington University in downtown Washington, D.C. on April 26, 2024. Photo by Andrew Bernard.

DANIEL GREENFIELD
Daniel Greenfield is an Israeli-born journalist who writes for conservative publications.

(May 2, 2024 / JNS)

First, the actual solutions to what’s happening on campus:

1. Deport foreigners supporting terrorists.

2. Defund the departments responsible for turning campuses into activism hubs.

3. Restore order on campuses using state or federal law enforcement.

Two out of three of those are evergreen and even the third would mostly apply to the BLM riots and other forms of political harassment.

House passes bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act by wide marginMay 1, 2024

Don’t compromise with pro-Hamas students; expel or suspend themMay 1, 2024

Jerusalem awaiting Hamas’s response to hostage-deal proposalMay 2, 2024

The Antisemitism Awareness Act (H.R. 6090) falls far short of that. Despite the false claims on social media, it does little more than allow Jewish students to sue colleges for allowing harassment of Jews under the guise of “anti-Zionism.” It can also help roll back some of the pro-terrorist propaganda in the classroom.

Will it do that?

The actual bill, which few seem to have read, orders the Department of Education to exclusively use the IHRA definition of antisemitism as opposed to using it alongside other definitions. The practical upshot would be force the department to close the “anti-Zionism” loophole, but in reality there’s no particular reason to think that the same bureaucrats ignoring campus antisemitism now will start taking it seriously just because the House passed a bill ordering it to.

Will the Senate even take up and pass the bill? Probably not.

70 Democrats, including the “Squad” and most of the left, voted against it. Sen. Chuck Schumer has indicated he’s not too excited about it. Rep. Nadler being trotted out to attack the bill publicly suggests Schumer is getting cover to kill it.

The Antisemitism Awareness Act is, like a lot of congressional legislation, probably doomed. It does provide grist for antisemites from the left (and now from the right) to spread conspiracy theories. (No, it does not criminalize the Bible. The IHRA definition states that comparing Israel’s fight against Islamic terrorism to Jews killing Jesus is not a political criticism, it’s antisemitism.)

If the bill actually becomes law (and I don’t believe it will), a Trump administration could appoint people who would actually use it as a tool to end some of the abuses by terror-supporting faculty in the classroom.

For now, the vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act has revealed that 70 Democrats are against a bill fighting antisemitism.

That’s what it amounts to, and not much else.

The opinions and facts presented in this article are those of the author, and neither JNS nor its partners assume any responsibility for them.

How humble keffiyeh got woven into fiery Palestinian protests

As pro-Palestinian protests spread like wildfire across campuses in the US, scores of protesters can be seen in keffiyeh, the Bedouin headscarf. Made popular by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, this is how the humble keffiyeh got woven into the tapestry of Palestinian resistance and protests. It has also been a fashion accessory.


A girl with keffiyeh and sign saying, "I stand with Palestine", participates in the pro-Palestine demonstration in Rome, Italy against the war in Gaza. 

(Image: Getty Images)

Sushim Mukul
New Delhi,

May 2, 2024 

When the water sprinklers on the lawns of the Arizona State University in Phoenix were suddenly turned on, protesters occupying the lawns for weeks, chanted slogans accompanied by drumbeats from a plastic bucket. Just one look was enough to tell that the students were pro-Palestinian protesters, because they sported the keffiyeh.

Keffiyeh, the Beduin headscarf that originated around the 7th Century in the Levant region (now Iraq), has seen character transformations. From being worn as protective headgear by shepherds to identity-concealing masks by terrorists in the 80s; from a fashion accessory of the 90s to a mark of the recent pro-Palestinian anger across the world.

The clip of the students at Arizona State University is among the thousands of videos of campus protests and police-students face-off flooding the internet. In the videos, three pieces of cloth used by the pro-Palestinian protestors stand out.

The Palestinian flag, face masks and the keffiyeh.

While the medical masks are used to hide their identities, the distinct black and white chequered scarf, the keffiyeh, is used to reveal their cause.

KEFFIYEH A CONSTANT IN PROTESTS ACROSS CONTINENTS

The minimal yet prominent keffiyeh hasn't just seen patronage on US campuses, thousands have worn the iconic drape at pro-Palestine protests across English, French, Italian, Australian cities and some West Asian cities.

The pro-Palestine protesters even draped a statue of the first American president, George Washington, with a Palestinian flag and wrapped a black-and-white keffiyeh around its neck, on the George Washington University campus.

A similar visual emerged from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia too.

A Palestinian flag and Keffiye wrapped around the statue of George Washington at the George Washington University encampment protest. 

(Image: Getty Images)

The pro-Palestinian campus protests, calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing war in Gaza and demanding the US to stop supporting Israel's attacks in the Palestinian territories, started in American universities and have spread to other continents.

However, the keffiyeh is a constant even across continents. So, what's this piece of cloth, uniting pro-Palestine protests, world over?

WHAT IS THE PALESTINIAN SYMBOL, KEFFIYEH?

Keffiyeh, also known as a hatta, is a traditional Arab drape, mostly used as a headgear or a scarf. Although other communities in the region also put scarves on their heads, the black-and-white chequered keffiyeh is the one from Palestine. It has a distinct design.

Traditionally worn by the Arab nomadic Bedouins during Ottoman rule, the humble cloth made from cotton, with distinct woven patterns in black and white, became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the Arab Revolt of 1936–1939 against the Ottomans.

A worker cuts excess strings at a textile factory producing the keffiyeh in the West Bank city of Hebron. 

(Image: AFP

Initially worn by Palestinian village folk, to signify their rural identity against the urban tarboosh (truncated cone-shaped men's cap), keffiyeh evolved into a powerful symbol of Palestinian nationalism and its resistance against the Turks.

The keffiyeh, continued to be a mark of the Palestinian struggle against Israeli rule too.

YASSER ARAFAT PROPELLED KEFFIYEH TO MAINSTREAM

The keffiyeh was further popularised by the conical-styled fold of Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the face of the Palestinian struggle.

Yasser Arafat addressing the United Nations General Assembly in 1974.

 (Image: Getty)

With the Palestinian flag being banned between 1967 and 1993 in Israel-ruled Palestine, the keffiyeh emerged as a symbol of Palestinian nationalistic identity. It became a national symbol.

Arafat folded his keffiyeh in a way that resembled the Dome of the Rock (in the Al-Aqsa mosque complex) and the 'historic map of Palestine'.

The film, Lawrence of Arabia, based on British archaeologist TE Lawrence's Arabian adventures, popularised the keffiyeh further and brought it to popular culture.

British army officer and archaeologist T E Lawrence, aka 'Lawrence of Arabia', donning Arab dress, including a Keffiyeh in 1918.

 (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

It became a drip in the UK and the US in the 70s and the 80s.

The keffiyeh's resonance spilled out of the Palestinean territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as calls for Palestinian sovereignty became louder. Not just the Palestinian resistance, but keffiyeh, over time, became a symbol of Palestinian solidarity too.

The image of a keffiyeh-sporting Yasser Arafat signing the Oslo Accords with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and US President Bill Clinton on the White House lawn in 1993 made the square piece of cloth even more popular.

HOW IT BECAME COOL TO SPORT KEFFIYEH

Activists and supporters around the world adopted the keffiyeh as a gesture of support to the Palestinian cause. The fashion industry also played its part in spreading the keffiyeh globally.

Hippies made the keffiyeh a cool fashion item in the 80s and 90s. It slowly became a fashion accessory.

The keffiyeh returned to fashion circles in the mid-2000s in the US, Europe, Canada and Australia, with it being worn usually as a scarf around the neck in hipster circles. Bikers too regularly use it.

Several multi-brand outlets like Urban Outfitters and TopShop started selling keffiyeh.

Now, almost all fashion e-tailers sell the keffiyeh online.

With it available at online and offline stores and its long association with the Palestinian movement is what made the humble keffiyeh the go-to piece of cloth for the recent pro-Palestinian protesters.

Keffiyehs have been flying off the shelves since the Israel-Hamas war and the subsequent protests started in October 2023.

A fact worth mentioning here is that the last known keffiyeh factory in Palestine, with a monthly capacity of 5,000 keffiyehs, is struggling to meet the demands of 1,50,000 people who want to have one since the war started, according to a Reuters report.

A CONTROVERSIAL SYMBOL SUBJECT TO INTERPRETATION

However, the keffiyeh's journey as a symbol of Palestinian resistance and solidarity has not been without controversy and criticism.

Firstly, keffiyeh, came to be associated with fidayeens (militants) of the Palestine Liberation Army, who wore it to conceal their identity and also as a badge of nationalistic pride. It gained fame and infamy also due to the association with Leila Khaled, the female face of the Palestinian militancy.

A mural of a keffiyeh-sporting Leila Khaled on a wall near Bethlehem. Leila Khaled (right) was involved with terrorist outfits that hijacked planes for the Palestinian cause. 

The keffiyeh has in some parts been stereotyped as a piece of cloth worn by militants and terrorists.

That was on display when a dummy kept in a North Carolina school for a police drill had a terrorist's face with a keffiyeh pasted on it.

People wearing the keffiyeh during the recent protests have also been heckled and insultingly branded "Keffiyeh Kinderlach" and "Keffiyeh Karen".

The slang "Keffiyeh Kinderlach" is old and used to refer to young left-wing American Jews, often college students, who wore keffiyehs as a political or fashion statement.

Likewise, #KeffiyehKaren, the hashtag which is trending on social media, is being used to refer to the women activists rallying for Palestinians.

Adding fuel to the stereotype fire are recent videos in which protesters in keffiyeh-sporting people are seen rebuking others and behaving aggressively. "You're just a white person, we don't like white people," yelled a woman in keffiyeh at the campus protest in UCLA in Los Angeles.

Such has been the association of pro-Palestinian protesters with the keffiyeh and that people casually sporting the scarf far from protest sites have faced backlash too.

Ashish Prashar was playing with his 18-month-old son at a Brooklyn playground in November when he faced an angry tirade from a woman, according to an NPR report.

The woman asked Prashar if he supported the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. She threw things at Prashar and directed him to immediately vacate the ground with his toddler son.

It is a different matter that Prashar is neither a Palestinian nor an Arab, he is a British-Punjabi.

What made the Indian-origin Briton face abuse in the US was his casual use of the humble keffiyeh, which has now become a powerful symbol.

Despite these criticisms, the keffiyeh continues to be worn by Palestinians and supporters worldwide, as a symbol of Palestinian identity, cultural and national pride, and solidarity with the cause.

There are some who expressed displeasure at the wide use of keffiyeh in the campus protests, irrespective of their faith and Jewish students taking off kippot (Jewish cap) and hiding their Jewish stars (lockets).

"One hears about both Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism on campus, but strangely, while I see students taking off kippot and hiding Jewish stars, everyone, Arab and non-Arab, seems comfortable in a keffiyeh," posted David Wolpe, the American scholar-rabbi.


There is no doubt that the once-humble keffiyeh has become a powerful symbol of Palestinian national identity. It has journeyed from fields to multi-brand stores in cities and been intricately woven into the tapestry of pro-Palestinian protests.

How is the keffiyeh perceived worldwide? One can describe the situation by what James Bond said in Spectre (2015), "Well, it's all a matter of perspective".

Ngcukaitobi and co represented South Africa 'pro bono' in ICJ case against Israel

Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, Tshidiso Ramogale and Lerato Zikalala were the three lawyers briefed by the justice department

02 May 2024 - 
Andisiwe Makinana

Political correspondent

NO CHARGE Many South Africans were impressed with how advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi argued South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Image: Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungisi Louw

At least three of the lawyers who represented South Africa in its proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) did so for free.

Justice minister Ronald Lamola has revealed the senior counsel and two junior counsel briefed by his department handled the matter on a pro bono basis.

TimesLIVE has established advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, Tshidiso Ramogale and Lerato Zikalala were the three briefed by the justice department.

Many South Africans were impressed with how Ngcukaitobi argued the case at the ICJ in January, that Israel was committing genocide against the people of Palestine.

The advocate, specialising in constitutional law, argued Israel’s armed forces had genocidal intent to not only kill the Hamas group but also Palestinians living in Gaza. Ngcukaitobi played videos and quoted comments by Israeli political and defence leaders.

Lamola was responding to written parliamentary questions from the FF Plus’ Corne Mulder and the DA’s Solly Malatsi, who wanted to know the total costs of the proceedings.

Mulder also wanted to know whether third parties sponsored South Africa’s application financially and/or otherwise, the details of the legal team, including foreign attorneys, and the total number of MPs and state officials invited by his department to attend the proceedings.

Lamola said three government departments — the Presidency, international relations and co-operation and justice and constitutional development — had legal representation for the case argued on January 11 and 12.

The department paid R277,083 for the legal team’s travel and its accommodation cost the department R73,420.

He was only able to respond with regard to the counsel and costs falling under his department, he said.

The department paid R277,083 for the legal team’s travel and accommodation cost the department R73,420.

It also paid for Lamola and three officials’ attendance for two days. The cost for Lamola’s travel was R443,442 and the state paid R43,999 for his accommodation.

It paid R1,025,359 for state officials, including Lamola’s VIP protector who is employed by the police and therefore considered an official. Accommodation for state officials was R58,115 and taxpayers paid R34,080 for subsistence allowances for the minister and officials.

He said he was not aware of any third parties sponsoring South Africa.

South Africa's critics have previously claimed the government received funding from Iran to pursue the case. The allegation was also dismissed by international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor in February.

Lamola said South Africa was proud it took the matter to the ICJ.

“As government, South Africa could not sit idly and watch the killing of innocent people in Gaza. South Africa stepped up at the time when thousands of lives, mainly vulnerable women and children, were killed and our efforts drew the world's attention that a genocide is happening in Gaza.”

Several other countries joined in the condemnation of the genocide and pledged support and solidarity with South Africa for its stance.

“This is evidenced by the fact that the ICJ held, by 15 votes to two, that the State of Israel must, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention.

“Moreover, on January 26, the court ruled ‘the present perilous situation demands immediate and effective implementation of those measures’, in response to the Article 75 application of the ICJ, that Israel is bound by the provisional measures order.”

TimesLIVE

Hope Palestine's application for UN membership will be reconsidered, endorsed: India

The US vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council on a Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations last month

PTI

 United Nations 

Published 02.05.24


Representational image.File

India has voiced hope that Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the United Nations, which was blocked by the US last month, will be reconsidered and its endeavour to become a member of the world organisation will get endorsed.

The US vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council on a Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations last month. The 15-nation Council had voted on a draft resolution that would have recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly “that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations.” The resolution got 12 votes in its favour, with Switzerland and the UK abstaining and the US casting its veto. To be adopted, the draft resolution required at least nine Council members voting in its favour, with no vetoes by any of its five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“While we have noted that Palestine’s application for membership at the United Nations was not approved by the Security Council because of the aforesaid veto, I would like to state here at the very outset that in keeping with India's long-standing position, we hope that this would be reconsidered in due course and that Palestine’s endeavour to become a member of the United Nations will get endorsed,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said here.

India was the first non-Arab State to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974. India was also one of the first countries to recognise the State of Palestine in 1988 and in 1996, Delhi opened its Representative Office to the Palestine Authority in Gaza, which later was shifted to Ramallah in 2003.

Currently, Palestine is a “non-member observer state” at the UN, a status granted to it by the General Assembly in 2012. This status allows Palestine to participate in proceedings of the world body but it cannot vote on resolutions. The only other non-member Observer State at the UN is the Holy See, representing the Vatican.

Addressing a General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, Kamboj underlined that India’s leadership has repeatedly emphasised that only a two-state solution achieved through direct and meaningful negotiations between Israel and Palestine on final status issues will deliver an enduring peace.

“India is committed to supporting a two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely in an independent country within secure borders with due regard to the security needs of Israel,” she said.

Kamboj stressed that to arrive at a lasting solution, India would urge all parties to foster conditions conducive to resuming direct peace negotiations at an early date.

On April 2, Palestine sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requesting that its application for full UN membership be considered again. For a State to be granted full UN membership, its application must be approved both by the Security Council and the General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting is required for the State to be admitted as a full member.

Kamboj noted that the latest conflict in Gaza has been ongoing for over six months and the humanitarian crisis that it has triggered has been increasing.

“There is also the potential for growing instability in the region and beyond,” she added.

Underlining India's position on the conflict, Kamboj said the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to a large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children, and a humanitarian crisis, which is simply unacceptable. India has strongly condemned the deaths of civilians in the conflict.

Kamboj said the terror attacks in Israel on October 7 were shocking and deserve “unequivocal condemnation.

“There can be no justification for terrorism and hostage-taking. India has a long-standing and uncompromising position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. And we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” Kamboj said.

India stressed that it is imperative that humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza be scaled up immediately in order to avert a further deterioration in the situation. “We urge all parties to come together in this endeavour,” Kamboj said, adding that India has provided humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine and that it will continue to do so.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing Gaza’s Ministry of Health data, said that from October 7, 2023, till now, at least 34,568 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 77,765 Palestinians injured.

OCHA said that between the afternoons of April 28 and May 1, two Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. According to the Israeli military, 262 soldiers have been killed and 1,602 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel. As of May 1, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld, it said.

Colombia to break diplomatic relations with Israel, President Gustavo Petro says

THE COUNTRY NOT THE UNIVERSITY

By Reuters
Published May 2, 2024 

Supporters of Colombia's President Gustavo Petro attend a march in support of the reforms on health, retirement, employment, and prisons sectors proposed by his government, in Bogota, Colombia May 1, 2024. REUTERS/ Nathalia Angarita


BOGOTA — Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday he will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza.
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Petro has already heavily criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

"Here in front of you, the government of change, of the president of the republic announces that tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the state of Israel...for having a government, for having a president who is genocidal," Petro told cheering crowds in Bogota who marched to mark International Worker's Day and back Petro's social and economic reforms.

Countries cannot be passive in the face of events in Gaza, he added.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Petro of being "antisemitic and full of hate," and claimed Petro's move was a reward to the armed group Hamas, which on Oct. 7 led a deadly attack on Israeli military bases and communities.

Bolivia broke with relations with Israel at the end of October last year while several other countries in Latin America, including Colombia, Chile and Honduras, have recalled their ambassadors. — Reuters

UK

PMQs: Rishi Sunak fact checked yet again for misleading £900 tax cut claim

Those earning less than £26,000 a year will actually be worse off

Hannah Davenport 

Today

Left Foot Forward

The Prime Minister once again made a misleading statement during PMQs in which he claimed the government was cutting taxes by £900 for all working people, leading fact checkers to call him out.

Desperate to distract from the fact Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson oversaw the largest tax rises since World War Two, despite claiming to be the party of low taxes, Sunak has peddled the line that workers are set to be £900 better off soon.

He has previously made the claim on social media and during interviews to promote the government’s 2p cut to national insurance (NI) announced in Jeremy Hunt’s last Budget.

This is despite fact checkers repeatedly chastising the PM over the claim. Following PMQs today when Sunak announced “this week we’re cutting taxes by £900 for everyone in work”, the UK’s leading fact checkers Full Fact were quick to debunk it.

“This isn’t correct, for at least two reasons”, Full Fact responded.

Firstly, fact checkers highlighted that the £900 figure refers specifically to the impact of NI cuts, not taking into account other tax changes such as the online freezes to NI and income tax thresholds. These freezes mean the savings for someone on the average salary (about £35,000) are substantially smaller.

Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that, once all tax changes are factored in, the average worker only stands to save £340 in 2024/25, while those earning less than £26,000 a year will actually be worse off.

Only those earning more than around £50,000 will see overall savings of £900, the think tank found. I guess for Sunak that represents the ‘average’ worker.

The fact checker also highlighted that the £900 figure refers to the combined impact of two reductions in National Insurance, one of which was introduced in April but the other came into effect in January, so the figure reflects the combined four percentage point reduction.

In the longer term, the IFS has estimated that people will end up paying more tax, with the average £35,000 earner seeing a net tax cut of just £140 by 2027/28. The Office Budget Responsibility has predicted an additional 2.7 million will move into the higher tax bracket by 2028.

One X user commented: “Yet again, @RishiSunak lies about tax cuts, despite having been corrected before. Gaslighter extraordinaire.”

Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward

New UK law ends 38 inquests into deaths during Northern Ireland's "Troubles"

Reuters
Wed, 1 May 2024 

High Court judgment in landmark legal challenge to the UK government's Troubles Legacy Act, in Belfast


BELFAST (Reuters) - A total of 38 inquests involving the deaths of more than 70 people during Northern Ireland's "Troubles" will not go ahead after a disputed new British law came into effect on Wednesday, Northern Ireland's Chief Justice's office said.

Victims' families, human rights organisations and all major political parties in Northern Ireland - both British unionist and Irish nationalist - have condemned the law which proposed offering immunity from prosecution for those who cooperate fully with a new investigative body.

Belfast's High Court ruled in February that the offering of conditional amnesties to ex-soldiers and militants was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), but it did not stop the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) body itself being set up.

Its establishment ended previous methods of examining how some of the 3,600 people died in three decades of confrontation between Irish nationalist militants seeking a united Ireland, pro-British "loyalist" paramilitaries and the British security services.

The conflict was largely ended with a 1998 peace deal.

Inquests that were halted included 14 that had already commenced but had not yet produced any findings, and some that were referred by the Attorney General as recently as Tuesday, hours before the cut-off.

The families of victims whose inquests have been stopped can request that the ICRIR body investigate the circumstances of the deaths under a different procedure.

Britain has defended the law, saying prosecutions linked to the events of up to 55 years ago were increasingly unlikely and it is also appealing the High Court's decision on the proposed amnesties.

Britain's Labour Party, clear favourites to win the next UK election due within months, has pledged to repeal and replace the legislation including restoring inquests and the option of civil cases.

The Irish government is mounting a separate legal challenge against Britain at the European Court Of Human Rights over the new law.

(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, writing by Padraic Halpin; editing by Michael Holden)


N.Ireland 'Troubles' families defiant as UK amnesty law kicks in

AFP
Tue, 30 April 2024 

More than 3,500 people in three decades of sectarian violence over British rule in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s (-)


When a coroner's inquest into the unsolved murder of Sean Brown during Northern Ireland's "Troubles" was relaunched last year, his family hoped their long search for justice could bear fruit.

But with a controversial new UK government law in force from Wednesday, their efforts -- and those of other families of victims in the bitter sectarian conflict over British rule -- have hit a roadblock.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 is designed to draw a line under the three decades of unrest, which killed more than 3,500 people, ministers say.

Notably, it will halt inquests, civil cases and criminal prosecutions for crimes related to the conflict and grant immunity to former combatants on all sides.

But relatives of those who lost their lives say it extinguishes any remaining hopes of justice for their loved ones.

Critics include victims' rights groups, all political parties in Northern Ireland, the UN and the EU's Council of Europe.

London has also been sued by the Irish government at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

- 'Hiding secrets' -

According to the UK government, some 1,200 deaths from the Troubles, which ended in a landmark peace deal in 1998, remain under investigation.

In 1997 Sean Brown was abducted by pro-UK loyalist paramilitaries in Bellaghy, 50 miles (80 kilometres) west of Belfast while he was locking the gates of the Wolfe Tones Gaelic sports club.

The 61-year-old father-of-six, who was chairman of the club, was shot minutes later at a nearby village.

His body was later identified by his brother Chris.

"He was just an innocent guy and pillar of the community, he was taken out to intimidate that community," Chris Brown told AFP at the scene.

Decades later, the Brown family are still waiting for information about what actually happened.

Opponents of the new law say its essence is to protect British army and security force veterans who served in Northern Ireland, as well as paramilitaries.

Earlier this year the relaunched Brown inquest was told that more than 25 people, including state agents, were linked by intelligence material to his murder.

"We were completely gobsmacked when we heard that," said Brown's daughter Clare Loughran in the Wolfe Tones clubhouse.

"We had suspected some state involvement all along but to hear it read out in court, we were devastated. Why did so many people want to hurt my Dad?"

That limited release of information came after UK state agencies applied for multiple redactions on sensitive files related to the murder.

The coroner in the case branded the disclosure process by British state agencies as "deplorable and frankly inexcusable".

Niall Murphy, the Brown family's lawyer, showed AFP the released intelligence files at his Belfast office. Most of them were blanked out.

"Every single page, this is the physical method by which the state hides its secrets," said an exasperated Murphy, leafing through one of the dossiers.

"Even the material that is not completely redacted is so heavily redacted as to be completely incomprehensible, it deprives families of access to justice," he said.

The new law is "the act of legislative thugs, abhorrent to the international rule-of-law principle and in clear breach of the European Convention on Human Rights", he added.

- Little faith -

After May 1, all so-called legacy cases will be transferred to a new body -- the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

But families of victims have little faith.

"We don't feel that there will be a true, open and honest look at individual cases from the ICRIR, or that it will be something that families will want to comply with, as the British government for so long seem to have been hiding information and facts from families, from inquests, and from the public," said Loughran.

The main Labour opposition's Northern Ireland spokesman Hilary Benn also questioned the credibility of the ICRIR in the UK parliament last week.

According to the head of the ICRIR, the new body will prove doubters wrong.

It will strive to be "independent and impartial" and dedicated to the pursuit of "the unvarnished truth" for bereaved families, Declan Morgan told the Belfast Telegraph newspaper this week.

Loughran promised that her family would not give up chasing the truth, despite the closure of legal avenues.

"People will say, 'look, why don't you try to move on, the Troubles are over', but we can't, we will keep seeking justice, to respect the memory of victims," she said.


Heaton-Harris says UK-Irish relationship ‘strong enough’ to deal with legacy row

Cillian Sherlock, PA
Mon, 29 April 2024

The relationship between the UK and Ireland is “strong enough to deal with” a dispute over new legacy laws, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has said.

From Wednesday, responsibility for dealing with hundreds of unresolved cases will pass to a new truth recovery agency, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

The Legacy Act includes a limited form of immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences to those who co-operate with the new body.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin (Yui Mok/PA)

The legislation has been opposed by all Northern Ireland political parties as well as victims’ organisations.

The Irish Government has also launched an interstate case against the UK at the European Court of Human Rights.

In addition, a judge at Belfast High Court ruled that the provision for conditional immunity was not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The UK Government is appealing against that finding.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris discussed the row with Ireland’s deputy premier Micheal Martin at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC) in London on Monday.

Mr Martin said he “understands” the UK Government’s concerns about Ireland’s interstate case against new legacy laws.

He said the Irish Government took the decision to take the case “reluctantly”, and added: “Today I heard the British Government’s concerns about the case directly – I understand them.”

Speaking to reporters at the BIIGC, he said: “Equally, I hope that they understand our concerns and our sense of how we got to this point.

“My Government and every Irish government will always defend the central importance of the European Convention of Human Rights to the Good Friday Agreement – the ECHR is integral to the Good Friday Agreement.”

Mr Martin, who is the Irish foreign minister, said Ireland had a “desire to do right by the victims”.

Asked if the Irish Government would co-operate with the the ICRIR, he said Ireland was awaiting the outcome of legal challenges against the laws – which include its own interstate case.

He said: “We intend to have further meetings with victims’ groups in terms of where they see the situation now.

“Our ultimate objective is to do right by the victims and the families of the victims.

“As I meet more and more groups, there are younger generations coming through. So this isn’t going away, so to speak.

“Many of the younger generations of families are very determined to carry on the campaigns and to get resolution, so all of us – and we may have differences in approach – but I think all of us share a genuine desire to do right by the victims and the families of the victims.”

Mr Heaton-Harris told reporters that Ireland and the UK are “bound to” have various political debates.

He added: “But I’d like to think our relationship is strong enough to deal with all of those issues.”

However, the under-secretary of state for Northern Ireland said Ireland’s interstate case was “premature and unnecessary”.

Speaking at the same press conference, Lord Jonathan Caine also denied that the Legacy Act was a “cover-up” and said the ICRIC would provide answers “far more effectively and for many more people” than current mechanisms.

He added: “I would reject completely any suggestion that this is about cover-up because the new body will have access to far more state records than has ever been available to any such body in the past.

Chris Heaton-Harris and Micheal Martin with Lord Caine (Yui Mok/PA)

“What we are trying to do here is deliver as much information and as many answers as possible to those victims and survivors who actually want them and, of course, join this process.

“I’ve never shied away from the fact that there will be some things that emerge that are difficult for the UK Government and the British state.

“There’ll be things emerge which are very difficult for paramilitaries and former paramilitaries as well, but the intention behind this legislation is to allow victims to get more answers, more information against the backdrop where the current mechanisms work for a very small minority of people in Northern Ireland – and the chances this far on of successful criminal prosecutions is going to be vanishingly rare.”

The Northern Ireland Secretary also defended the establishment of the ICRIR as a move in “an important direction”.

Mr Heaton-Harris said the new body would have a “huge budget”.

Mr Martin told reporters there was discussion about a number of legacy issues including the Dublin-Monaghan bombings as well as the killings of Sean Brown and Pat Finucane.

He added that the Irish Government would fully co-operate with the UK’s Omagh bombing inquiry, amid calls for tandem public inquiries in both jurisdictions.


Seamus Dillon and Springhill inquests among hearings winding up ahead of deadline

David Young
Mon, 29 April 2024 

Relatives of those was killed during the Springhill Westrock killings, outside the coroners court at Laganside in Belfast on Monday -Credit:Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Final hearings have been taking place in a series of legacy inquests in Northern Ireland as part of an intensive court schedule ahead of Wednesday’s legislative guillotine.

Coroner investigations into Troubles-related deaths must cease on May 1 under the terms of the Government’s contentious Legacy Act. Cases that are awaiting the delivery of findings, after all the evidence has been heard, can be brought to conclusion after the deadline.

On Monday, final submissions were heard in the inquests for five people killed in shootings involving the British Army in the Springhill/Westrock area of west Belfast in 1972.

Read more: Families of UVF victims outraged as Secretary of State blocks inquest finding

The inquest for Seamus Dillon, a doorman shot dead outside a nightclub in Dungannon in 1997, was wound up with the coroner expressing disappointment at the failure to finish the case before the deadline.

A hearing was also held on Monday for the series of inquests related to claims the RUC operated a shoot-to-kill policy in the early 1980s. The coroner is due to deliver remarks in that case on Tuesday.

Ahead of the deadline, several inquests have already been halted due to the extent of sensitive evidence that has been withheld from the cases.

The coroners in some of those instances have urged the Government to initiate public inquiries, so the material redacted as part of the Public Interest Immunity (PII) process can be properly examined.

In some cases, the Government has initiated legal action to prevent coroners providing summaries – or gists – of the matters subject to PII applications by the security forces.

Former republican prisoner Mr Dillon was gunned down by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) outside the Glengannon Hotel in Dungannon in 1997. The shooting was seen as a revenge attack following the murder of LVF leader Billy Wright in the Maze prison hours earlier.

In the final inquest hearing in the case, coroner Richard Greene said the inquest could not conclude due to a failure to complete the PII deliberation process.

A solicitor for the Dillon family accused the state parties of using the PII process to “run the clock down” ahead of the deadline – a claim denied by counsel for the state.

Mr Greene expressed regret that the inquest had not completed and stressed there remained a need for a human rights compliant probe into the death.

“It is of very great personal and professional disappointment that as corner I have been unable to complete this inquest,” he said.

“The death of Mr Dillon was a brutal and wholly unnecessary murder of a wholly innocent man who was going about his lawful work when he was shot by terrorists.”

Mr Dillon’s widow Martina, who was involved in a recent legal challenge that found aspects of the Legacy Act unlawful, said her fight for truth would continue.

Outside court, she said: “I feel a bit deflated but I intend to fight on. I’ll fight until I get the answers, until I get the truth and justice that my husband is entitled to.”

On Monday morning, families of those killed in the Springhill shootings walked together into court. Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams accompanied them.

Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein's Aisling Reilly outside the coroners court for the Springhill Westrock inquest -Credit:Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Natasha Butler, whose grandfather Paddy Butler was among those killed, said the Legacy Act was denying many families “truth, justice and accountability”.

“We pray for all the families who are getting…truth and justice ripped away,” she said.

Ms Butler added: “Truth and justice will not be denied to the Springhill/Westrock massacre families.”