Author: Mick Hartley

rally in London on Sunday, Ziv Mann-Wineberg told the crowd that after the Manchester terrorist attack, which killed 22 and injured over 1,000, he had “watched the entire country, and the world, offer their support and condolences, united against terror”.

But on October 7, when terrorists “fuelled by the same extremist beliefs”, killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, wounded nearly 5,000 and took around 250 hostages into Gaza, the world responded with “victim blaming, celebration [and] outright denial”.

Mann-Wineberg, from Manchester, added: “So what's the difference? The victims were Jewish. And there seems to be different rules for Jews. It seems to be acceptable to celebrate terror when it is the Jewish people being terrorised.”…

The rally, which was held on Tavistock Square, the site of the 7/7 bus bombing, also heard from British-Palestinian pro-peace activist John Aziz.

Aziz said that his views on the Middle East had led to him being called a “traitor”, receiving death threats and being publicly disowned by a family member….

Aziz’s calls for peace were echoed by campaigner Loay Alshareef from Abu Dhabi. After being welcomed to the stage in Arabic by rally organisers, the 7/10 Human Chain Project, he said: “I want to say to Hamas sympathisers that I am really sorry to disappoint you. If you thought that the enmity between Jews and Arabs was eternal, it is not.”

Calling the fighting in Gaza “an ugly war that Israel didn’t ask for”, he said the war could end “in a second if all the hostages were released and Hamas lays down its weapons”.

Alshareef said that the only disappointment during a “great 10 days” in the UK, had been “the genocidal chant on the Houses of Parliament”, projected by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Joseph Cohen, executive director of the Israel Advocacy Movement, the largest pro-Israel online movement in the UK, said that October 7 had been a direct response to the normalising of relations between Israel and the Arab nations of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

“This terrified the terrorists. Because a world where Jews and Arabs co-exist is a world where Hamas have no purpose. Coexistence is a death blow to their genocidal cult.”

Marjory Collins, January 1943. "New York, New York. Italian-Americans on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Italian grocery store owned by the Ronga brothers on Mulberry Street."

[Photo: Shorpy/Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information]

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) February 25, 2024

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” them and their families from being threatened and intimidated.

How Starmer went about “urging” the Speaker is unknown. But the circumstances were extraordinary enough to prompt a letter from the Clerk of the House, Tom Goldsmith, to the Speaker pointing out that “long-established conventions are not being followed in this case”.

At best this was a subversion of democracy that undermined the integrity of Parliament. At worst it was naked appeasement and a deliberate act of bowing to the mob who were protesting loudly outside and projecting anti-Semitic slogans onto Big Ben. I would like to see a law passed immediately to ban any unauthorised projections onto the buildings of Parliament.

But how has this mob, which includes Islamists and far-Left activists, become so powerful that its actions made MPs afraid to vote with their consciences? Why was the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, so willing to compromise himself and his reputation like this?

The events of Wednesday have certainly changed how I feel about doing my job as an MP. My office overlooks Whitehall and, on Wednesday, I could hear and see the protesters as they marched and grew in number and volume. I’d spoken in the SNP’s ceasefire debate and had stated my opinion that we cannot possibly vote for a ceasefire and leave the remaining Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas. Seeing the baying mob outside made me feel wary of leaving the safety of my office.

I’d also come up against such attempted intimidation in my constituency. Shortly after the Hamas attacks of October 7, I went to my local synagogue to express my sympathies to the Southend Jewish community and to ask if I could do anything to help. I was welcomed warmly and my offer of help was appreciated.

I also have a mosque in my constituency, so a few weeks later I reached out to see if I could do anything to support them, especially in terms of organising humanitarian help for the innocent people of Gaza. I was invited inside and offered a seat before being surrounded by a number of men and one woman. She immediately started shouting, jabbing her finger in my face and demanding to know “how many babies had to die to satisfy my blood lust”. My aide, who was with me, suggested that we leave.

A few days later, there was an anti-war in the Middle East march in Southend with dolls covered in fake blood scattered on the pavement, under people holding placards saying “Anna Firth kills babies”. I was horrified. A police officer stood by and watched but did nothing. When I saw Met Commander Sir Mark Rowley a week later in the Commons, he agreed that this was intimidation and explained that the police do have powers to intervene and stop people inciting violence like this. So why didn’t they?

If this is happening in a fairly centre-Right southern city like Southend, I can only imagine what some of my other Parliamentary colleagues must be going through. Even though I disagree with what Starmer and Sir Lindsay did, I understand the Speaker’s wish to try to protect MPs from threats and violence and I have accepted Sir Lindsay’s apology. But protecting MPs is a job for the police.

I was always taught to stand up to bullies, not to give in, and never, ever to let myself be intimidated. It’s hard, though, when the threat is real and nobody wants to admit where it’s coming from. If you can’t name it, you can’t protect yourself from it.

Jack Delano, April 1942. "Madison, Wisconsin. Members of the University of Wisconsin's Blue Shield Country Life Club visiting the studio of John Stuart Curry, university artist-in-residence. One of the aims of the club is to bring about greater participation in cultural activities among farm people."

[Photo: Shorpy/Jack Delano, U.S. Foreign Information Service]

The painting on the left wall: John Curry's "State Fair":

"Trailblazing". Sometimes it just takes your breath away.

As part of This Girl Can week we're celebrating four inspirational trans women from around the world trailblazing the way in the world of sport. 🏳️‍⚧️

🧵(1/2) For a daily dose of motivation.#ThisGirlCan pic.twitter.com/6p0xjOnZFs

— Goldsmiths SU (@GoldsmithsSU) February 21, 2024

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If only there was a multilateral legal body out there that investigated calls for genocide. https://t.co/fDdTRPMQ1N

— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) February 24, 2024

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international organizations to avoid starvation. Severe maternal malnutrition and mahram restrictions on women preventing them from going anywhere without a male family member exacerbate the situation.

The United Nations warned as early as 2017 that Yemen was facing "the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims," and that "Yemenis are not going hungry, they are being starved." The World Health Organization has noted that Yemen's health system is near collapse; a WHO official said in April 2023 that 540,000 children under five are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition "with a direct risk of death." Doctors and nurses describe children who are "just skin and bones," motionless on hospital beds, their bodies covered with sores, and with barely enough energy to breathe or open their eyes.

We don't hear abou it, no doubt, because Israel can't be blamed.

It has been known for years that the Houthis are stealing aid directly from the mouths of the people of Yemen, and this is ongoing. As of 2018 and 2019, according to a UN World Food Program report as well as media and the Yemen government itself, food aid was being stolen, withheld, and misappropriated by the Houthis. A 2020 Human Rights report also stated that the Houthis were diverting and blocking aid. It is known that the Houthi organization, The Supreme Council for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation, has complete oversight over all humanitarian aid work in territories under most of Yemen.

Meanwhile the idiot crowds on the London anti-Israel marches indulge in pro-Houthi chants..

As the Houthis gain prominence across the Middle East, and now in the West, for their actions against both Israel and the U.S., the left has been touting their "long tradition of solidarity with the Palestinian people" and their role as an anti-imperialist resistance movement. Beginning in December in New York City, protests are featuring crowds chanting "Yemen, Yemen, make us proud, turn another ship around!" and "Hands Off Yemen." Pro-Houthi marches continued, including with a January 12 "Hands Off Yemen" rally outside the Yemen UN Mission in New York. The chant was heard at a 200,000-strong protest in London as well on January 13. Meanwhile, back in Yemen, the Houthis continue to impose their will on the populations under their control – including with death sentences for university students, as well as punishments such as flogging and stoning for "immoral acts," and shaving boys' heads for the crime of sporting "Western hairstyles."

Startlingly original portraits by Kenyan photographer Osborne Macharia, from his series Daughters of the Rift:

[All images © Osborne Macharia]

On Instagram.

More Kenyan photography here and here.

style=”font-size: 11pt”>Dragging a second unwilling employee into the fray, the woman says, while tapping her finger: “This is in support to kill Palestinian kids, this wrapping,”

“I’m just really upset that I got my order, and I got this flag for my wrapping, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s upset and who’s shocked to come to the drive-through and to receive this wrapping.”

She goes on: “I really advise you to go back to your original wrapping and if they’re forcing you to do this, this is gonna be known.

“I’m not trying to be rude to you, I’m just really upset that I see this. So this, you’re giving me a McChicken sandwich supporting the killing of kids, and I hope you don’t feel good about that. I hope, I hope.”

The woman, who filmed the incident and posted it online, added that she want to “make a big deal out of it.

“I was really shocked when I saw that, and it really hurt my feelings seeing that I’m Palestinian, and even if I’m not Palestinian.”…

In a statement, McDonald’s said the wrapper was a “generic one that has been used for years in some McDonald’s restaurants across markets for special orders, limited-edition products, or temporary shortages of designated wrappers,” and none of the colour choices were intended to make any political statements.

Israel derangement syndrome – the new antisemitism.