Fresh headache for Keir Starmer as pro-Gaza professor launches campaign against top Labour MP

Exclusive: The former head of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is running against shadow veterans minister Steve McCabe in Birmingham Selly Oak, which has a significant Muslim population

Archie Mitchell

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a fresh headache over Gaza just days after pro-Palestinian candidates cost Labour tens of thousands of votes at the local elections.

The former head of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is running against shadow veterans minister Steve McCabe in Birmingham Selly Oak, which has a significant Muslim population.

Kamel Hawwash, who is a Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Birmingham, is standing against the veteran MP, who is also the chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.

Professor Hawwash said Keir Starmer’s comments on LBC were ‘beyond the pale’

He is standing under the banner of Reliance, a group which will field a slew of candidates across the country at the next general election.

Professor Hawwash, who is a British Palestinian, quit the Labour Party in October after Sir Keir appeared to back Israel withholding food and water from civilians in the Gaza Strip.

At the time, he accused the Labour leader of having “blind support for Israel whatever it does” and “throwing Palestinians under a bus”.

Launching his campaign for the Birmingham seat, Professor Hawwash said: “Keir Starmer’s comments condoning Israel’s collective punishment of Gazans were beyond the pale. His unequivocal support for Netanyahu in the months since - which has seen more than 35,000 Gazans murdered - 70 per cent of which are women and children - has been horrifying to witness and he must be held accountable.

“Starmer continues to ignore the daily atrocities and puff his chest out as a proud Zionist.”

Steve McCabe has a 12,414 majority in Birmingham Selly Oak ( )

Professor Hawwash also attacked Mr McCabe, who has held the seat since 2010 and was previously the MP for Birmingham Hall Green.

He said: “Steve McCabe has repeatedly failed to stand up for the views of his constituents over the past two decades, from voting for the illegal war in Iraq, to abstaining on the welfare bill, to now speaking out unwaveringly for a pariah state committing daily atrocities. He has repeatedly refused to meet constituents to address their concerns on these issues.”

Polls show Mr McCabe is on course for a comfortable victory in the seat, where he currently has a 12,414 majority. But there are fears pro-Palestine voters could rebel at the election, costing Labour its majorities in seats around the UK.

Professor Hawwash’s campaign launch comes days after the local elections saw Labour make historic gains across the country, including winning the York and North Yorkshire mayoral election.

But the party also lost tens of thousands of votes to pro-Palestine candidates including independent Akhmed Yakoob in the West Midlands, who came close to denying Labour victory in the contest.

Labour lost its majority, held for 13 years, in Oldham, which had already been whittled down due to defections last month over the party’s approach on Gaza, and lost council seats to independents in Blackburn with Darwen and Bradford.

The party also failed to regain control of Oxford after a string of prominent defections over its messaging on the Middle East crisis, and in a similar blow, lost control of Oldham Council in Greater Manchester to independents.

Sir Keir said he was determined to win back the trust of those who had snubbed his party in the local elections as a result of his approach to the ongoing conflict.

He added: “I say directly to those who may have voted Labour in the past, but felt on this occasion they couldn’t, that across the West Midlands we are a proud and diverse community.

Sir Keir Starmer has come under pressure over his stance on the conflict in Gaza (PA Wire)

“I have heard you. I have listened. And I am determined to meet your concerns and to gain your respect and trust again in the future.”

A key issue for voters dissatisfied with Sir Keir’s handling of the conflict is his apparent initial support for Israel withholding humanitarian aid from Gaza.

Asked on LBC on October 11 if cutting off power and water was an appropriate response, Sir Keir replied: "I think that Israel does have that right. It is an ongoing situation.

"Obviously everything should be done within international law, but I don’t want to step away from the core principles that Israel has a right to defend herself and Hamas bears responsibility for the terrorist acts."

But he later rowed back the remarks amid concerns within the party that it has angered voters, particularly those in Muslim communities.

Despite his attempts to clarify the remarks, the clip of Sir Keir on LBC is still widely shared by those attacking the party’s approach to the Middle East.

Reliance is planning to field several more candidates in vulnerable areas for the Labour Party in the general election, expected this autumn.

It is in the application process to become a political party and is expected to have completed it by the time voters go to the polls.

A campaign group called The Muslim Vote is also piling pressure on Labour over the issue and has issued a list of 18 demands to Sir Keir to win back support lost over the war in Gaza.

The group, which aims to organise voters against MPs who did not back a ceasefire in the conflict, wants Sir Keir to apologise for “greenlighting a genocide” and not supporting an SNP-led ceasefire vote last November.

Other demands include a promise to sanction companies operating in occupied Palestinian territories, place a travel ban on Israeli politicians who have “prosecuted this war” and to ensure insurance quotes are not higher for people named Muhammad.

End complicity and stop Israel’s war on Gaza, UK lawmaker urges government

‘I want the UK government to be putting pressure on the Israeli government and all parties to achieve a cease-fire,’ Labour Party’s Zarah Sultana tells Anadolu

Burak Bir and Zuhal Demirci |09.05.2024 -

‘I want the UK government to be putting pressure on the Israeli government and all parties to achieve a cease-fire,’ Labour Party’s Zarah Sultana tells Anadolu
‘Importantly, whether the UK is complicit arms sales, that needs to end too,’ says Sultana

LONDON

Labour Party lawmaker Zarah Sultana has reiterated her call for the British government to end arms sales to Israel and exert more pressure for an immediate halt to its devastating war on Gaza.

“I want the UK government to be putting pressure on the Israeli government and all parties to achieve a cease-fire,” Sultana told Anadolu at a rally in London.

“We know that there are negotiations constantly ongoing. It is for our government to use every means necessary … to pursue that aim for a cease-fire and for aid to be able to flow freely into Gaza, which we know is not happening.”

The situation in the Gaza Strip is “absolutely horrifying” after “seven months of war crimes on war crimes,” she said.

“Neighborhoods flattened, schools and universities completely destroyed, over 40,000 people killed, disproportionately women and children,” she said.

“Famine has already set in Gaza and that’s incredibly, incredibly concerning.”

Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its assault on Gaza, which has killed and wounded tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced millions more, leaving them facing famine and acute shortages of medical aid and other essentials.

Israeli attacks have also laid waste to large swaths of the besieged enclave, devastating everything from housing to medical facilities, educational institutes, and all sorts of civic infrastructure.

On Israel’s invasion of the southern Gaza region of Rafah, Sultana emphasized the dire need for an immediate cease-fire and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid, as well as the release of Israeli hostages.

“Importantly, whether the UK is complicit (with) arms sales, that needs to end too. That is our message to our government,” she asserted.

Israel’s evacuation order and military operation in Rafah, an area packed with 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, has been met with a chorus of criticism from across the world, including its Western allies.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also recently said that the UK has been “very consistent that we are … deeply concerned about the prospect of a military incursion into Rafah, given the number of civilians sheltering there and the importance of that crossing for aid.”

However, Sultana stressed that Sunak and his government need to do more, adding that like many around the world, she is “absolutely heartbroken” to see the harrowing images of Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.

“I just wish it would stop, and what I’m doing as a parliamentarian in the UK is doing everything to put pressure on my government to make it stop. That’s what we all have to do,” she said.

SCOTLAND

Palestine and climate activists confront Barclays at chaotic shareholder meeting


Protesters outside the Barclays AGM in Glasgow (PA)

By Lucinda Cameron and Rebecca Speare-Cole, PAToday

Barclays faced a tense annual shareholder meeting as pro-Palestinian and climate activists accused the board of choosing “profit over people and planet”.

Chairman Nigel Higgins was repeatedly interrupted as the meeting kicked off at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow on Thursday.

The UK’s biggest bank has recently come under fire for its links to defence firms that produce equipment used by the Israeli Defence Force for its attacks on the Gaza strip.

Barclays board of directors have the choice to be on the right side of history but again and again and again they choose profit over people and planetElle Genny, Tipping Point UK

It has also been facing pressure from shareholder activists this year over its financing of fracking.

Ahead of the meeting, dozens of protesters held a demonstration outside the AGM as they urged the bank to divest.

Two figures dressed as the Grim Reaper stood watch over lines of child-sized coffins alongside a sign reading: “Bankrolling genocide”.

The black-clad “oil slick” silent performers from Extinction Rebellion were among those taking part, along with the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Christian Climate Action, Fuel Poverty Action, Scottish Friends of Palestine and Biofuelwatch.

Protesters listened to speeches and chanted “Barclays divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” as well as the pro-Palestinian “from the river to the sea” chant.

Jen Newall, a former climate scientist and now eco-strategist from Extinction Rebellion (XR) Scotland, said: “I’m speaking at this demonstration today to remind people of their power and their agency – encourage anyone who banks with or has shares with Barclays to look deep within and consider if they can really accept contributing to these issues by supporting Barclays and their awful track record.”



A demonstrator dressed as the Grim Reaper, as protesters gather outside the Barclays AGM at the SEC in Glasgow (Lucinda Cameron/PA)

Elle Glenny, a protester from Tipping Point UK told the crowd: “Barclays board of directors have the choice to be on the right side of history but again and again and again they choose profit over people and planet.”

Inside the meeting, protesters immediately disrupted Mr Higgins’ opening remarks, standing up on chairs and shouting: “Blood on your hands” and “stop funding big oil”.


Security staff removed protesters from the room one-by-one as chief executive C S Venkatakrishnan spoke over the commotion about the company’s three-year plan to improve performance.

As the meeting moved onto shareholder questions, the board was asked about what action it has taken to end its financial ties to Elbit Systems, a firm supplying a range of weaponry to Israel.

Mr Higgins said he wanted to “put the record straight” about Barclays’ alleged investment in defence firms.

“The short answer is we don’t,” he said, explaining that clients of its wealth business may own shares but the bank itself is not an investor and only has a corporate banking relationship with Elbit’s independently-operated UK business.




Demonstrators outside the Barclays AGM at the SEC in Glasgow (Lucinda Cameron/PA)

Challenged on how indirect relationships do not “abrogate Barclays ethical responsibilities”, Mr Higgins replied: “We see defence as a vital sector that needs to be funded and we fund it in line with our policies and the strictures of our governance.”

Most questions focused on climate action, such as whether the board would commit to clean energy funding targets or end its financing of biomass firm Drax.

It comes after Barclays amended its climate change statement in February, pledging to no longer finance new fossil fuel projects and restrict its financing of “pureplay” companies.

But members of ShareAction, which campaigns for responsible investment, challenged the board about the exemption for pureplay firms working on short-term extraction projects, such as US fracking companies.

The charity coordinated a group of 24 investors, including Nest and the Church of England Pension Board, to pressure bank on tightening fossil fuel finance restrictions.

It also shared testimonials about issues with water quality from residents in New Freeport, Pennsylvania, where Barclay’s fracking client EQT Corporation operates.

In response, Mr Higgins said the bank’s strategy is to focus on activities that do not lock in long-term fossil fuel infrastructure.

“Investment is still required in short-cycle, short-lead time fossil fuel resources and that’s where we put fracking,” he said.

“The scope of our fracking policies are subject to enhanced due diligence to assess the environmental and societal impacts”.

Mr Higgins added that the bank does not think that restricting funding for US fracking companies “is consistent with supporting an orderly and affordable energy transition”.

A Barclays spokesperson added: “We recognise the importance of meeting current energy needs, while financing the scaling of the clean energy system of tomorrow to ensure energy is secure, affordable and reliable.”

On its website, the bank also said it recognises the profound human suffering caused by the conflict in Gaza.

Thousands join Gaza war protest against Israel's Eurovision participation

Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Eurovision 2024 host city Malmo on Thursday to protest Israel's participation in the song contest ahead of this year's second semi-final.


Issued on: 09/05/2024 - 18:52

Protesters hold a banner with the words "No To Genocide" in Swedish during a Pro-Palestinian rally in Malmo, Sweden, on May 9, 2024. © Martin Meissner, AP

Some 100,000 visitors have gathered in the southern Swedish city for the annual kitsch-fest, which is taking place amid protests and boycotts over the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

"Young people are leading the way and showing the world how we should react to this," Thunberg, 21, said, wrapped in a keffiyeh, the traditional scarf that has become a symbol for Palestinian resistance.

Metal barricades and large concrete blocks have been put up around Malmo Arena, which is hosting the competition.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg attends a rally in Malmo in protest against Israel's Eurovision participation on May 9, 2024. © Johan Nilsson, AFP

Police are guarding the venue and visitors need to pass through metal detectors before entering the arena. Bags are being checked and visitors are only allowed to bring in small purses.

Israeli contestant Eden Golan, 20, will perform her song "Hurricane" in the second semi-final later on Thursday.

A large crowd of protesters gathered on Malmo's central square Stortorget, some 7 kilometres (4.35 miles) from the competition venue, waiving Palestinian flags and shouting "boycott Israel".

Swedish authorities have heightened security and are bracing for possible unrest, and there was a significant police presence in the square, live footage showed.

Protester Kasia Wiatrowska, from Malmo, wore a green T-shirt with the words "Libre Palestine" on the back.

"I do like Eurovision," Wiatrowska said. "We all love music. But this year music is dividing people, and I don’t like that," she added.
'Hypocrisy and double standards'

Police estimate that about 5,000 people attended the demonstration.

"Overall, it's calm, we've turned away a few people," a police spokesperson told Reuters.

Another protester, Palestinian Amar, who only gave one name, said: "I'm here today because I see the hypocrisy and double standards around the world."

"We are against what's happening in Gaza right now. But I also want people to understand that we don’t hate Jews," he added.

A pro-Israel demonstration is also scheduled for Thursday at 1600 GMT.

There is high security around the delegations from all the countries, according to Malmo police. "We're keeping a bit of an extra eye on Israel of course, because of the situation," Lotta Svensson, a police incident commander, told Reuters on Sunday.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the event, has resisted calls for Israel to be excluded but asked the country to modify the lyrics of its original song "October Rain", which appeared to reference the Hamas attack.

Israeli contestant Golan says she hopes her performance will help to unite people.

"It's a super important moment for us, especially this year," she told Reuters in an interview this week. "I feel honoured to have the opportunity to be the voice of my country."

Thursday's semi-final is due to begin at 1900 GMT and will also feature contestants from Malta, Albania, Greece, the Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, Latvia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia and Norway.

(Reuters)

01:34

 

Palestine and Climate Activists Are Joining Forces at UK University Encampments

‘There’s something very powerful in these groups being connected.’

by Clare Hymer
9 May 2024

The pro-Palestine student encampment at the University of Manchester. Andy Barton/Reuters

Students are staging ongoing encampments at British universities demanding they end their complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Inspired by encampments at more than 80 US campuses, these protests are an escalation in pro-Palestine action from students around the world.

In Britain, they also mark a new phase of coalition-building between Palestine and climate activists.

Across the country, students from Palestine and climate campaigns are working together to highlight the links between Israel’s genocide and the climate crisis, and universities’ role in both the arms and fossil fuel industries – as well as sharing lessons in how to hold occupations.

At the University of Leeds, the current student encampment on the campus lawn follows seven months of action against the university over Palestine, including a two-week indoor occupation of the main university building in March to demand the university to cut ties with arms manufacturers and Israeli universities.

Faye, a 20-year-old student from the Palestine society at Leeds, told Novara Media it was coordination with climate campaigners that allowed their protests to scale. Like the other student protesters featured in this article, Faye spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by university management.

“We started out with a very small coalition [of student groups],” she said. “But it was when we started collaborating with the environmental societies that we were able to actually begin planning, mobilising and escalating with some real numbers.”

For Faye, joining forces with environmental groups also made sense for political reasons.

“The colonialism that perpetuates Israel’s occupation is also perpetuating the exploitation of the environment,” she said, noting that in late October, Israel awarded 12 licences to fossil fuel giants to explore for gas off Gaza’s coastline.

“Arms companies and fossil fuel companies are all exploiting vulnerable people for their own gain.”

Both the indoor occupation in March and the ongoing encampment were organised by a coalition that included Student Rebellion Leeds – a campaign group with a dual focus on climate and the arms trade.

Fox, a 20-year-old activist from Student Rebellion says the pro-Palestine occupations at Leeds have had access to invaluable knowledge and experience from climate campaigners.

“One of this coalition’s demands is [for the university] to cut ties with BAE systems,” they said, referencing the contracts and partnerships that Leeds and many other universities have with the UK’s biggest weapons manufacturer, which makes arms destined for Gaza.

“We [Student Rebellion] have campaigned on this exact demand for the last year: opposing the presence of BAE and other fossil fuel and arms companies on campus.”

At Leeds, there were practical lessons to be learned from climate campaigners, too. Student Rebellion occupied the same university building as the Palestine protesters only a year ago, and so were able to advise on how the university might respond and how to handle campus security.

The group also passed on resources developed by activists across the UK. This included a spreadsheet titled “Learning From Previous Occupations”, including information on different types of security guards and what they are and aren’t allowed to do, and a “safer spaces” policy inspired by feminist direct action group Sisters Uncut.

Leeds isn’t the only encampment to have been organised in coalition with climate groups.

The camp at the University of Manchester – one of the biggest in the UK – was organised by a wide coalition of student groups including Youth Demand – a new Just Stop Oil offshoot which campaigns for a two-way arms embargo on Israel and an end to new oil and gas drilling.

Meanwhile, at Newcastle University, the 40-strong Palestine encampment has “relied heavily” on student climate activists, including those linked to Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, according to James, a 20-year-old student and Palestine campaigner.

These aren’t the only student encampments at which Palestine and climate activists are organising together. At the University of Ghent in Belgium, student groups are occupying a university building with demands on both Gaza and the climate crisis, arguing that “supporting Palestine is a climate issue within itself”.

Not everyone agrees. John Woodcock, AKA Lord Walney – the government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption – has suggested groups like Youth Demand are opportunists for attempting to merge climate demands with those of Palestinian liberation.​

“I think it shows a level of cynicism from these environmental campaigners who have been, I think, frustrated that their actions in blocking roads have not been getting the publicity that they hope that it would because of the dominance of the Gaza protests in recent months,” he told GB News last month. Woodcock also happens to be an arms-trade lobbyist.

For student Palestine activists, however, the coalitions being built with climate activists and other parts of the movement are only a strength.

“There’s something very powerful in these groups being connected now,” said Sue, a 22-year-old student from Manchester encampment. “That could allow for escalation nationally.”


Clare Hymer is a commissioning editor at Novara Media.

Fury in Israel at US arms delay as minister claims ‘Hamas loves Biden’

Suspension of military aid could be 'preview' of White House response to upcoming report on Gaza war crimes, says ex-US official

US President Joe Biden has come under fire after saying the US would not supply weapons for an invasion of Rafah (Photo: AFP / via Getty Images)

By Kieron Monks
May 9, 2024 

Furious Israeli officials have accused Joe Biden of being on the side of Hamas in a widespread backlash after the President said the US would not supply arms for an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s finance minister from the far-right Jewish Power party, posted “Hamas loves Biden” using a heart emoji.

“The US forbids Israel from defeating Hamas,” said MP Galit Distel-Atbaryan of the governing Likud party. “They chose a side. And it’s not our side.”


Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said Mr Biden’s decision gave “hope” to Israel’s enemies and suggested Jewish people in the US could refuse to vote for him in the November election.

The president told CNN on Wednesday night that the US would not supply weapons for a major offensive in the city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million people are sheltering, the majority in makeshift camps after being displaced from other areas.

“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah … I’m not supplying the weapons,” Mr Biden said in his strongest statement yet against Israel’s plans for an assault on the city, which advanced this week through air and artillery strikes and the capture of the border crossing with Egypt.


US officials said a delivery of a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel has been “paused” because of the risk to civilians in Gaza, having sent more than 100 shipments of military aid to Israel during the war. Washington will continue to supply military aid for defensive purposes such as Israel’s Iron Dome system.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared to respond by posting a video of himself making a speech that concludes: “If Israel is forced to stand alone – Israel will stand alone.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, of the centrist Yesh Atid party, said the situation represented a “massive failure” by Mr Netanyahu and urged him to “fire Ben Gvir today”.

Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East analyst at think tank Chatham House, told i the US policy shift was “a long time coming”.

“Biden and the rest of the foreign policy-makers in Washington have been warning Israel that if it continues to behave in a certain way, there will be consequences,” he said. “We saw that with sanctions imposed on settlers, and now banning some types of weapons.”

“The US has shown tolerance beyond the call of duty and is still saying there is ‘ironclad’ commitment to Israel’s security, but Rafah is a step too far because you have 1.5 million people, 600,000 children, many of them, sick, injured, and malnourished.”

Palestinians in Rafah camps pack up their possessions to flee the city (Photo: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu/Getty)

Current and former Israeli officials suggested the policy shift could impair Israel’s war against Hamas, as well as conflicts with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran across the region, and new suppliers would be required.

Professor Kobi Michael, a military analyst at Israeli think-tanks the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, suggested the impact could be felt outside Gaza.

“I assume that it will not affect the plans regarding the Gaza Strip, since this early morning we are back in the northern parts of Gaza and we are continuing attacking Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in Rafah,” he said. “The situation will be much more complicated with regard to Hezbollah.”

Read Next

First aid shipment to US-built pier in Gaza sets sail from CyprusRead More

UN officials confirmed Israeli attacks on Rafah were ongoing on Thursday and said that Israel’s control of the border crossing was worsening the humanitarian crisis.

“The continued closure of Rafah Crossing, where a daily average of 48 trucks and 166,000 litres of diesel entered Gaza between 1 and 5 May, essentially chokes off the entry of life-saving aid into Gaza and the fuel necessary for sustaining humanitarian operations and all life-critical sectors in Gaza,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Mr Biden’s statement was criticised by representatives of both major US parties. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson accused the president of a “senior moment” that he said undercut previous assurances that aid to Israel would not be interrupted.

Ritchie Torres, a Democrat Congressman, said: “America cannot claim that its commitment to Israel is ‘iron-clad’ and then proceed to withhold aid from Israel.”

Michael Mulroy, a former senior defence department official and foreign policy analyst, suggested the move may be linked to an imminent US government report on whether Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, which could force a wider suspension of military aid to comply with US law.

“I think it may be related to the coming Rafah offensive tied to the State Department report on Israel’s actions in Gaza expected to be delivered to Congress this week,” he said. “I imagine the White House already knows what is in the report.

“I don’t want to predict the conclusions but pausing shipments of some type of munitions may be a preview.”

UK won’t follow US in halting arms to Israel if it invades Rafah

Britain, unlike the US, is not a ‘massive state supplier for weapons to Israel,’ says Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

David Cameron said he would stick “very closely” to the U.K.’s “rigorous” arms exports procedure.

 | Pool photo by Benjamin Cremel via Getty Images

MAY 9, 2024 
BY DAN BLOOM


LONDON — The U.K. is not copying a White House pledge to stop some arms exports to Israel if a full invasion of Rafah goes ahead, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Thursday.

President Joe Biden warned Wednesday night that the U.S. will not supply “weapons that have been used historically” if the country presses on with a full assault on the densely-populated town in the Southern Gaza Strip.

Speaking after an address in London Thursday, Cameron said Britain “would not support some major operation in Rafah unless there was a very clear plan for how to protect people and save lives ... We have not seen that plan, so in these circumstances we would not support a major operation in Rafah.”

But he said there is a “very fundamental difference” between arms shipments from the U.S. and the U.K., where the government grants individual licenses to companies wanting to export arms overseas.

“The U.S. is a massive state supplier for weapons to Israel," he said. "We do not have a U.K. government supply of weapons to Israel. We have a number of licenses, and I think our defense exports to Israel are responsible for significantly less than one percent of their total. That is a big difference.”

The foreign secretary said he would stick “very closely” to the U.K.’s “rigorous” arms exports procedure.

It takes around six weeks to update the U.K.’s evidence on whether Israel is violating international humanitarian law, two U.K. officials — granted anonymity to discuss the process — confirmed to POLITICO. This is the basis on which arms exports would be suspended. But that means the U.K. could still be making a decision by the time any Rafah invasion has been completed.

Cameron has faced pressure from some MPs, including in his own party, to suspend arms exports to Israel. Israeli forces looked poised to conduct more operations in Rafah, home to some 1.7 million people — despite warnings from allies not to do so.

Asked if Biden was wrong to set conditions, the U.K.'s top diplomat replied: “They are involved deeply in strategic and tactical conversations that the Israelis are having about how they prosecute this conflict. We have influence, we have agency, we have very frank conversations with the Israelis, but we’re not in that same position.”

Cameron insisted the U.K. and its allies are "making some progress” on promises by Israel to increase aid to Gaza, including being “quite close to getting a temporary harbor up and running." He also said Hamas must release more than 100 Israeli hostages it has held since its October 7 attacks on Israel.
Europe defense call

Cameron, a former British prime minister, spoke at the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Center after what had been billed as his first major speech since returning to government in November.

He used the address to chide European allies who “seem unwilling to invest [in defense] even as war rages on our continent,” and urged NATO allies to set a “new benchmark” of spending 2.5 percent of GDP on defense ahead of a summit to mark the 75th anniversary of NATO on July 9-11.

The U.K. has pledged to hit 2.5 percent by 2030. The opposition Labour Party has refused to copy the pledge, saying the government has not spelt out how it will be funded.

Cameron said “security is definitely on the ballot paper” at the U.K. general election, expected this autumn.

“From Talinn to Warsaw, from Prague to Bucharest, a chill has once more descended across the European continent, with those nations closest to Russia seeing what is happening in Ukraine and wondering if they will be next," he said. “This is a world more dangerous, more volatile, more confrontational than most of us have ever known. We need to face up to that fact and act accordingly — not in a year or two, not in a few months, but now.”

Cameron, who quit as PM in 2016 after losing a referendum bid to keep the U.K. in the European Union, said: “Yes, I supported remaining in the EU, but I am now laser-like focused on ensuring Britain and the EU have the best possible relationship — not as members, but as friends, neighbors and partners.”

On Britain's wider push to seal post-Brexit trade talks, he added: “We’re not going to sign a free trade deal just for the sugar rush of the press release. You only get one chance to do these things properly.”

Cameron renews call for Israel to produce ‘clear plan’ to protect lives in Rafah

The UK would not support a major assault by Israel on Rafah unless there were steps taken to protect civilians, Lord Cameron said.


FOREIGN SECRETARY LORD CAMERON SAID THE UK COULD NOT SUPPORT A MAJOR ISRAELI OFFENSIVE ON RAFAH WITHOUT A PLAN TO PROTECT CIVILIAN LIVES (STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA)

PA WIRE
DAVID HUGHES

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said the UK could not support a major Israeli offensive on Rafah without a plan to protect civilian lives.

US President Joe Biden has warned Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu that the supply of weapons from Washington could be halted if the heavily-populated southern Gaza city was attacked

Lord Cameron said the UK was in a different situation because the Government did not supply weapons directly, but said arms export licences would continue to be measured against the risk of international humanitarian law being broken.

Answering questions following a speech in London, he said: “There’s a very fundamental difference between the US situation and the UK situation.

“The US is a massive state supplier of weapons to Israel. We do not have a UK Government supply of weapons to Israel, we have a number of licences, and I think our defence exports to Israel are responsible for significantly less than 1% of their total. That is a big difference.

“On Rafah, we are clear that we would not support some major operation in Rafah unless there was a very clear plan for how to protect people and save lives, and all the rest of it.

“We have not seen that plan, so in the circumstances we will not support a major operation in Rafah.”

He added: “When it comes to our own arms sales we have a rigorous process that the Foreign Secretary is involved in, the Trade Secretary too, in making sure – crucially – that when we consider export licences, that we must make sure they’re not going to contribute to a serious violation of international humanitarian law.


“That is the key test and that’s the thing that we apply.”

Argentine labour unions launch mass general strike in fierce challenge to Javier Milei’s government

ISABEL DEBRE
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A man walks past parked buses in Buenos Aires, during a general strike called by the General Confederation of Labor, on May 9.

LUIS ROBAYO/GETTY IMAGES
Argentina’s biggest trade unions mounted one of their fiercest challenges to the libertarian government of President Javier Milei, staging a mass general strike on Thursday that led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and halted key bus, rail and subway lines. Main avenues and streets, as well as major transportation terminals were left eerily empty.

The 24-hour strike against Milei’s contentious austerity measures and deregulation push threatened to bring the nation of 46 million to a standstill as banks, businesses and state agencies closed in protest.

Most teachers couldn’t make it to school and parents kept their kids at home. Trash collectors walked off the job – as did health workers, except for those in emergency rooms.

The government said transport service disruptions would prevent some 6.6 million people from making it to work. That was apparent during the morning rush-hour Thursday as few cars could be seen on streets typically snarled with traffic. Garbage was already piling up on deserted sidewalks.

The country’s largest union, known by its acronym CGT, said it was staging the strike alongside other labour syndicates “in defence of democracy, labour rights and a living wage.”

Argentina’s powerful unions – backed by Argentina’s left-leaning Peronist parties that have dominated national politics for decades – have led the pushback to Milei’s policies on the streets and in the courts in recent months.

“We are facing a government that promotes the elimination of labour and social rights,” the unions said, seeking to portray Thursday’s strike as an explosion of public outrage over Milei’s free-market policies that have disproportionately affected poor and middle classes.

The government downplayed the disruption as a cynical ploy by its left-wing political opponents.

“They want to keep Argentina on a path of servitude,” said presidential spokesperson Manual Adorni of the union leaders, accusing them of “extorting Argentines to try to return to power.”

Milei posted a photo on Instagram Thursday holding up a soccer jersey emblazoned with the words “I DON’T STOP” in bold.

The escalation comes a week after Milei scored his first legislative victory, pushing the omnibus bill at the centre of his economic overhaul through the lower house of Congress after being forced to withdraw a more sweeping version earlier this year. The state overhaul bill and proposed tax packages are now being debated in the opposition-dominated Senate.

Thursday’s action marked the second nationwide strike since Milei came to power last December, slashing spending, laying off government workers, and freezing all public works projects in a bid to rescue Argentina from its worst financial crisis in two decades. He has also devalued the local currency, stabilizing the peso but also causing prices to soar. Argentina’s annual inflation rate now nears 300 per cent – considered the highest in the world, outpacing even crisis-stricken Lebanon.

For weeks, raucous demonstrations gripped Buenos Aires, the country’s capital – in sharp contrast to the silence prevailing on the streets Thursday.

Argentina’s main airport warned travellers of disruptions and to check in with their airlines as more than 100 departing flights and 100 arriving flights were cancelled by 5.am. The country’s flagship carrier, Aerolineas, announced it had cancelled some 200 domestic and regional flights and rescheduled over a dozen international flights.

 

PODCASTS

Crazy Town 87. 

Escaping Capitalism: 

How to Replace the “Logic” 

of Psychopaths, Pharma Bros, 

and Private Prisons

By Asher Miller, Rob Dietz, Jason Bradford, 

originally published by Resilience.org

May 8, 2024

Listen on your favorite appSee all episodes

Show Notes

Capitalism ruins SO many things, from key sectors like college sports all the way down to novelties like people’s health and the environment. Jason, Rob, and Asher rely on their keen insight and otherworldly investigative talents to somehow unearth a few flaws of capitalism. But rather than wallow in the world of profiteering and privatization, they explore the solidarity economy and other alternatives to the “greed is good” way of running things.

Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.

Sources/Links/Notes:

• Wikipedia page “Nike and the University of Oregon”
• Joshua Hunt book: University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education.
• Erik Olin Wright, How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First Century, Verso 2019.
• Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty First Century, Harvard University Press 2014.
• Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers.
• Jeffrey Sachs, “Twentieth-Century Political Economy: A Brief History of Global Capitalism,” Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 15, No. 4.
• Summary of End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act
• David Bollier, The Commoner’s Catalog for Changemaking
• Lobbying to defeat bills that prohibit private prisons
• More lobbying in support of private prisons
• Incredible drug price increase after hedge fund manager acquires it
• Annual report of Weaver Street Market
• Donnie Maclurcan’s explanation of not-for-profit enterprises
• Ranking of the world’s happiest countries
• Boston Ujima Project
• Alfie Kohn,  No Contest: The Case Against Competition, Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
• B Corps and B Lab
• Definition of the solidarity economy from the New Economy Coalition

Asher Miller

Asher became the Executive Director of Post Carbon Institute in October 2008, after having served as the manager of our former Relocalization Network program. He’s worked in the nonprofit sector since 1996 in various capacities. Prior to joining Post Carbon Institute, Asher founded Climate Changers, an organization that inspires people to reduce their impact on the climate by focusing on simple and achievable actions anyone can take.

AUSTRALIA

Sydney council’s ban on same-sex parenting books in local libraries causes uproar


Cumberland city council says ban prompted by parents’ complaints

MYOB

Maroosha Muzaffar
May 7,2024

A Sydney council has voted to ban same-sex parenting books from local libraries, sparking discrimination and censorship concerns.

The decision has drawn criticism from the New South Wales government as well as several advocacy groups which argue that libraries should be inclusive spaces.

The Cumberland city council in western Sydney convened last week to discuss a new plan for its eight libraries. Councillor Steve Christou, a former mayor of the town, introduced an amendment urging the council to swiftly remove same-sex parenting books and materials from its library services.

He reportedly cited public complaints about the books to push for their removal. Mr Christou also displayed a book titled Same-Sex Parents by Holly Duhig and claimed that it had distressed parents due to its placement in the children’s section of the library.

The council’s decision, which reportedly could impact its funding, has prompted discussions about representing diverse families in library collections.

Speaking at the council meeting, Mr Christou said they were “going to make it clear tonight” that “these kind of books, same-sex parents books, don’t find their way to our kids”.

“Our kids shouldn’t be sexualised,” he said.

“This community is a very religious community, a very family-orientated community. They don’t want such controversial issues going against their beliefs indoctrinated to their libraries. This is not Marrickville or Newtown, this is Cumberland city council.”

Mr Christou claimed that he had proposed the amendment to protect the children. “Hands off our kids,” he said.

Same-Sex Parents, published in 2018, explores the experiences of children with same-sex parents and is part of a series designed to help children navigate the “difficult realities in today’s world”, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The book is recommended for children aged five to seven.

One chapter states that “people may be unkind” to children from a same-sex family.

“Most people are very supportive of same-sex families,” it reads. “A small number of people might treat people from same-sex families unfairly. This is not OK. All loving families are good.”

“Remember, as long as you are happy, it doesn’t matter what other people think.”

Cumberland mayor Lisa Lake said she was “appalled” and “saddened” by the move. She noted that the content of the book, as with others in the series, was “age appropriate” and did not include any sexual content.

“I think it’s a serious issue about censorship,” she was quoted as saying by ABC News. “It’s important that information is available to anyone who wants to look at that information.”

“We work really hard at council to foster a spirit of inclusion and talk about everybody feeling welcome,” the mayor added, according to Guardian Australia. “As long as parents are loving families that’s what’s important.”

Australian arts minister John Graham emphasised that it should be up to readers to choose which books they pick from the shelves. “When civilisations turn to book burning books or banning books it is a very bad sign,” he said.

“That is equally true for local councils.”

“We are examining the consequences this decision may have for the council continuing to receive library funding from the NSW government,” he added.

The council’s decision, meanwhile, is being challenged by a senior citizen resident of Cumberland. “Here in Western Sydney, we welcome people of different backgrounds, beliefs and cultures,” Caroline Staples said. “We don’t ban people or families. Our diversity is part of what makes living in our area so special. We are better than this motion.”

“The council motion has made me fear for the safety of the rainbow families in our community and the future cohesion of our community. It crosses a dangerous line,” she added.

Equality Australia Legal Director Ghassan Kassisieh said: “Children in rainbow families are cherished and loved. Councillors who say otherwise fuel bigotry that makes their lives harder, not easier.”

He continued: “This book is part of an age-appropriate series about different types of families, some of which may have two mums or two dads. The attempt to erase these families from library shelves is disgraceful, as is any suggestion they are anything other than loving and nurturing environments for kids.

“If you don’t want to borrow the book, you don’t have to, but don’t deny others the chance to access books that reflect modern family life in Australia in 2024.”

An Australian Art Museum Is Installing a Toilet to Keep Its ‘Ladies Lounge’ Off Limits to Men

Kirsha Kaechele—an American artist in Tasmania, photographed outside the state supreme court in May—plans to appeal a tribunal ruling that orders her women-only art exhibit in the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) to allow the entry of men.

Jesse Hunniford/MONA

BY CHAD DE GUZMAN
MAY 8, 2024

TIME

An Australian modern art museum featured a lavish, green velvet-ordained room—for women’s use only—to make a statement about discrimination. Then it got accused of being discriminatory.

After a male ticket-payer last year complained of being denied entry to the Ladies Lounge, which opened in 2020, a local tribunal last month ordered the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania to make the space accessible to all.

But the exhibit artist and curator, Kirsha Kaechele, who is married to MONA’s founder and owner, has vowed to fight the order, which she calls the “verdick,” saying she plans to challenge the ruling before the state supreme court and, in the interim, pursue a workaround to ensure the Ladies Lounge remains off limits for men—except for male butlers who serve guests refreshments.

“Men need to be discriminated against,” Kaechele said in a post on Instagram on Tuesday, adding that she believes, with a few tweaks, the Ladies Lounge could qualify for various exemptions to Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act. “The Ladies Lounge will become a toilet, a church and a school,” she told local newspaper the Mercury.

The Ladies Lounge in the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania.Courtesy of Jesse Hunniford/MONA

One loophole Kaechele says she’s planning to exploit is installing a toilet in the gallery, which holds some of the museum’s most high-profile artworks, including a Picasso. “It would be the Ladies Room, in fact, under this new designation,” Kaechele said in a blog post this week on the museum’s website. She explained that the toilet could be, while technically functional, a piece of art, such as Fontaine by Marcel Duchamp, a urinal that she says she’s in talks to potentially borrow from the Centre Pompidou.


“Bringing this iconic art object from Paris for display in the Ladies Lounge would reignite the debate: what is art? The inevitable controversy would serve as an excellent art history lesson for a new generation, introducing one of the most important moments in twentieth-century culture—the origins of conceptual art—to a wider, non-art audience. In this sense, the Ladies Lounge would effectively become an educational institution,” Kaechele explains, adding that doing so would then satisfy another exemption.

(Kaechele told the Mercury on Tuesday that a toilet is on the way, to be installed within 45 days, but MONA tells TIME that it is not Fontaine. While the Ladies Lounge was closed this week until further notice, Kaechele told the Mercury that its key artworks will be temporarily moved to the women’s restroom to ensure uninterrupted viewing.)


Lastly, Kaechele says she could transform the Ladies Lounge into a religious institution, to satisfy another exemption. “The Lounge would be a safe space for women to come together and learn about the Bible and ask questions,” she said in the blog post, noting that she’s not Christian and likes to “poke fun” at Christianity.

Overall, Kaechele insists the legal challenge has only enhanced the exhibit, which was meant to evoke “in men the lived experience of women forbidden from entering certain spaces throughout history,” the museum said in a press release on Tuesday.


“Thanks to the ruling, we have no choice but to open ourselves to a whole range of enriching experiences—spiritual, educational …” Kaechele said in MONA’s blog. “To discover fascinating new possibilities, and to become better.”

“Ladies love the Lounge—a space away from men—and given what we have been through for the last several millennia, we need it!” she added in the press release. “We deserve both equal rights and reparations, in the form of unequal rights, or chivalry—for at least 300 years.”