2000 years of Antisemitism do not justify the murder of Palestinians

I attended the Palestine protest in Colchester today. With it being to commemorate The Nakba, I was in two minds about attending. The protest talked about how Jews moved to Palestine during the British mandate in large numbers after the horrors of The Second World War. But, it failed to address the issue that Jews have faced over 2000 years of persecution and were forced out of Palestine/Israel. This included mass murder in York and the expulsion of Jews later. It is because of acts like this that I think the state of Israel should exist.

But the reason I attend the protests is because the oppression of Muslims and Christians in Gaza and The West Bank should not continue. Israel is engaging in a process of Ethnic Cleansing and this should not be funded by the west. The protest was interrupted briefly by one man who left, probably because of his daughter. As he left he shouted about Christianity, but he is probably not aware that it is Israel who is oppressing Christian’s. 

David Baddiel once wrote a book Jews Don't Count but sadly, it appears that for many in the West, Muslims don’t. All lives matter equally, be they Jewish, Muslim, Christian basically any or no religion. But some value the lives of one religion as being more important than others. The big mistake that has been made is in not appealing to the American Christian lobby. If they knew how Israel is evicting Christians from The West Bank, Israel would not be funded. 

EDIT - This video includes an interesting view on Israel. 

Operation Epic Fury and why the UK is acting differently this time

In 2025, Iran was attacked by Israel, the USA joining in afterwards. At the time I commented about how UK bases were not being used in the attacks, notably how bombers had to fly from the USA to bomb Iran. 

This time, thanks to Iran retaliating against other nations, the UK is to allow UK bases to be used by US forces to strike the missiles being used to attack nations other than Israel.  Not allowing full use of UK bases has annoyed Trump and also there are many in the UK who think we should be backing the USA fully. Needless to say, many think that we have gone too far in supporting the USA. 

What both sides do not mention is that Starmer did not allow UK bases to be used to attack Iranian missile sites and launchers when Iran were only retaliating against Israel in 2025. 

To be fair, it should be up to the media to point this out, but either they have not noticed, or do not care.  My views on the media bias against Labour have been posted before and I suspect the media will be happy to let Labour get castigated by both sides again. 

Anyway, if the wag-the-dog theory is true, it has worked. While all the Epstein documents were meant to be released, it is reported that some are missing, notably documents relating to an unsubstantiated claim involving Trump and a 13 year old. 

Labour are doing what they are paid to do

Zack Polanski is coming out fighting, stating what he thinks, but by doing so, ensuring that I am not going to vote Green.  I do agree with many policies of The Green Party.  He has argued that Labour are doing what they are paid to do.  But he is right. 

Labour have reversed the decision by the Tories to challenge the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu. 

When it comes to Israel, I want Labour to do more, but it has taken action against Israel when it comes to trade and our government has told Israel what it is doing is wrong. 

It has been accused of listening to union paymasters when it comes to the minimum wage.  There are numerous other examples, but when Labour is doing what it is paid to do, that is not a bad thing. 

Francesca Albanese and the truth

If anyone has a valid argument, there is no need for them to distort the truth.  And that is what has happened when it comes to Francesca Albanese.

 

Some, have felt that she should not be allowed to say what she wants and have edited her words to distort her message. It is sad that many have decided to play to the saying that the first casualty of war is the truth.  I don't like lies, including those being made by those who are against Israel (as opposed to the current government) or those who are against Palestinians (as opposed to Hamas).   If we are to bring about the just peace envisioned in The Oslo Accords, truth needs to be treasured, not distorted. 

The alleged ceasefire in Gaza

Trump is forming The Board of Peace. Originally thought to be the next step on the ceasefire process in Gaza, Trump has fashioned it to suit his ego.

While peace has not come to Gaza, the alternative, which is the continued war, is far worse.  There are many in Israel who want the war to restart so that Christians and Muslims can be removed from Gaza. I would love a just peace for Palestinians, one that had been agreed many years ago, but sadly this is not going to happen while Trump is in power.

Israel hates Starmer

I met one of my friends on a dog walk with my daughter.  He is someone who is responsible for my job change to what I do now, and while I do not see him as often as I would like, it is always enjoyable to see him.

We have similar views on politics, but I am more centrist than he is.  One issue where we disagree is about Starmer and Israel.  I do not back the appalling ethnic cleansing that Israel is carrying out in The West Bank, and considering the land grab in Gaza, there as well.  But I am aware of the pressure that Starmer is by both sides of the debate to pick one side over the other. 

What may forget is that Benjamin Netanyahu does not like Starmer and has spoken out against him over the recognition of a Palestinian State. Starmer said Netanyahu criticisms over UK export suspension were wrong, and in August 2025, said that Israel’s plans to escalate the "war" in Gaza would ‘only bring more bloodshed’ all of which has not endeared him to the current Israeli leadership. They would prefer it if Kemi Badenioch or Nigel Farage were in charge. Mind you, thanks to Labour, Benjamin Netanyahu cannot come to the UK to meet them for the support they have given his government. 

Like voters in the UK, Starmer has united most of those for and against Israel in the UK in their dislike for him over how he has dealt with the matter. 

Protesting for Gaza in Colchester

Today, our dog and I joined the weekly protest in favour of Gaza in Colchester. When there, different people spoke about matters. I have to disagree with how they view certain events, an example being how they said JD Vance was in favour of the Israeli Knesset voting in favour of the annexation of The West Bank, when he actually spoke out against it. Other issues of contention include Trump having a plan. The the mercurial Trump is best viewed as a pigeon playing chess. He struts around, knocks pieces over, and thanks to the economic and military might of the US, wins. While he has some ideas about the world that he sticks to, this including his insane views on tariffs, immigration, people have tried, and succeeded about changing his view that Gaza should be ethnically cleansed.  The last bit was that Israel just does the will of the USA. There is no doubt the two aid each other a lot, but that forgets how Netanyahu attacked Qatar and we can see that about how he was forced to apologise for it.  But there was a lot to learn from it.  One lady in a wheelchair pointed out how that many of the population in Gaza will be disabled now, something I have to admit, I had forgotten.

I am amazed that the US has forced Israel to slow down the murder of those in Gaza and allow aid in after the release of the living hostages. We saw what happened to the ceasefire deal earlier this year when Israel got what they wanted. I am tempted to attend the demonstration while the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in The West Bank is continuing. 

As for family, our daughter has returned for a few days. She had been to Cheltenham yesterday and this week is meant to be spent reading, so like many at university, she has decided to return to Colchester. It was nice to have the family together around the dinner table. We will be sad when she returns to Bristol on Friday.

The Nobel Peace Prize, Trump and Gaza

Over the last few days, there has been speculation that Trump has ensured that a ceasefire takes place in Gaza so that he can win the peace prize. The idea of this is ludicrous, especially with how he has backed Israel since they broke the last ceasefire this year. Since then starvation has hit Gaza with the murder of those seeking aid after the UN was banned from helping those n Gaza.

What Hamas did on October the 7th was horrific but does not justify what is happening now.

I hope that this peace will last. I suspect that Israel will find an excuse to return to violence once the hostages are released though. 

Saying that, if Trump can force Israel to return to The Oslo Peace Accords, then he will deserve that prize. 

Is Keir Starmer complicit in genocide?

Two years ago, an attack was launched from Gaza that brought about a response from Israel.  The attack was intended to remind Jews in Israel what happened to Jews during the Holocaust.  Images were taken of Israelis being murdered and hostages (though not all of them being Israeli or Jewish) were taken.  Israel responded, initially with the backing of much of the world.  But Israel went too far and openly worked towards the Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza, its actions now being considered by many to be genocide.  

I do not think that there is any justification for the attacks two years ago, just as there was no justification for Israel breaking the ceasefire that had been previously negotiated and would have freed people on both sides.

Other than the production of parts for the F-35, I think that the UK should be offering no aid or support to Israel.  And the F-35 parts being produced can only be justified due to the role of the UK in the production of the fighter.  I think that I understand why Starmer has not cut off all support, I suspect this being that he can try to influence Donald Trump, the only man who can actually force Israel to stop the continued murder of so many Palestinians.  That and doing so may cause Trump to raise his tariffs on the UK. 

While the world is focused on the brutality in Gaza, it is important to remember how Palestinian land is being taken for Living Space (I know the use of this term will open me to accusations of antisemitism) by settlers in The West Bank. Palestinians have been attacked BEFORE the horrors of two years ago, little or no action being taken by the IDF to stop settlers from doing so. 

Do I think that he is complicit in genocide?  No more so than many other world leaders.  But I am fed up of people saying that he is.  There are actions that people can take on this matter, they can report Starmer and if he is guilty, action can be taken against him.  Will people do that?  I doubt it.  

Should Blair be a Middle East peace envoy

There appears to be hope on the horizon for peace in Gaza. I say hope, we had that before until Israel broke the agreement. There is an argument about the suitability of Tony Blair in this, but if he is involved in a just peace, so be it. 

It is a surrender by Hamas if they accept it, considering how the Palestinian Authority wanted to remove them by force in the past, when they had a democratic mandate, it will be an issue for them.  I am this will not stop the horrors in The West Bank. But it is a step to ending the ethnic cleansing in Gaza. 

Palestine Action and Ukraine

Palestine Action is a topic I have posted about before. It is a group that have been banned under terrorism laws, a ban I agree with.  I will first address how Ukraine has noted that a lot of its sabotage appears to be targeting them, before moving onto its other actions.

Palestine action have attacked firms that they claim are aiding Israel, but are in fact aiding Ukraine.  The Leonardo site in Edinburgh has donated equipment to Ukraine and that site was targeted by Palestine Action.  Another company that they have targeted is aiding Ukraine, though the site they attacked may not be doing so.  Also they have attacked RAF Brize Norton, which trains Ukrainian pilots to defend their country, damaging planes not involved in the aid our nation (sadly) offers Israel. and also had plans to target other airfields training Ukrainian pilots.  

Other attacks across Europe have damaged the supply efforts to aid Ukraine, again, this being Palestinian supporters who have accidentally harmed this.

But Palestine action have attacked Jewish businesses.  While they say that this has been linked to supporting Israel, and many consider such action acceptable, most will condemn similar action by the far right to attack hotels where asylum seekers are being held.

I think that Israel is in the wrong with how it treats Palestinians.  I think our government should not be aiding Israel as much as it is.  I think it is right to protest against the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and The West Bank.  I do not think it is right to stand with Palestine Action, especially when there are loads of other groups protesting in support of the people of Palestine.  

Are Labour and Starmer complicit in the horrors of Gaza?

Two wrongs do not make a right.  The atrocious attacks of Hamas do not justify the collective punishment of the population of Gaza through starvation.

Many people, myself included, want our government to do more to solve the crisis in Gaza.  Like it or not, our ability to speak out on this is limited by our need for trade with the USA, but, by not taking a harder line on what is happening, has meant that Trump appears to have listened to Starmer, at least until he got back to the USA and was told something else.  

The UK has taken some actions before and has offered to recognise Palestine.  But while many want the UK to talk about what is happening in Gaza, the UK, along with other nations, is planning to take action to try and limit the huge harm that is taking place. The aid drops will not meet the needs of the population of Gaza, but there is no other way for the UK (and allied nations) to deliver the food and water that Gaza needs.    

Personally, I would rather the UK fed the people in Gaza rather than just said strong words like Ireland and Spain.  Saying that, I would also rather that no strong words were needed and that Israel is sanctioned by the rest of the world until the Christians and Muslims in Gaza and the West Bank are treated properly.

It is a shame however that among the voices calling for restraint by Israel, one of them has referred to space lasers, and no doubt, this will be used by those saying that Israel should have a free hand to deal with the Palestinian problem.

Starmer and Palestine

There is a lot of pressure on Starmer to recognise Palestine. I suspect the reason he has not is trade with the USA.

Since my last post on Israel, the violence against Christians and Muslims is continuing and the crisis with food is worsening. A soldier who was involved in distributing aid with the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has spoken out against the murder of civilians. Macron has stated that he will recognise Palestine as a nation, Starmer is under pressure to do so from his own parliamentary party and Israeli politicians openly discuss ethnic cleansing. 

But, doing so will anger the USA, and thanks to the nightmare of Brexit, the UK needs trade with it more than France does.  Starmer has managed to strike up a surprisingly good relationship with Trump (for now) which may benefit the economy, and if so, economic growth may follow. 

Day two in France and discussing ethnic cleansing in Gaza

We are at the holiday cottage we have rented. It belongs to the parents of a friend of our daughter. It is amazing. The drive was not as bad as yesterday, and while it has rained since we got here, I am hoping for better tomorrow.

During the last two days, I have ensured that my wife sleeps by listening to podcasts. She hates the voice of Jon Sopel. My daughter has listened to some of them yesterday, less so today and this led to an interesting conversation, this being about Gaza. We were listening to The Rest is Politics and there was a discussion about if the horrors in Gaza met the international definition of a genocide. My daughter felt it did, I did not. We had to disagree agreeably about this, much in the same way that Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell had to do.  Like on the podcast, we both agreed that what is happening in Gaza is horrific and should be stopped. I compared the horrors of Gaza to the genocide in Rwanda, what happened to the Rohingya and the evils of the Srebrenica massacre. I stated my view that the actions of Israel meets the criteria of Ethnic Cleansing but does not meet the threshold of genocide. My daughter disagreed with me and I found myself trying to defend Israel of one charge but not another.  While we did discuss it briefly today, notably with the actions in China where we both consider the Uyghurs to be subject to genocide. I will return to the topic of how Israel appears to ending the conflict through ethnic cleaning later this week if I can though. 

We went out for a meal today at a local place, this being called El Rancho Larzac and it was great. My burger was almost as good as that which I ate yesterday, the chips, while amazing, again not as good, but this place is still better than most burger places in the UK. We will hopefully be returning before I leave on Saturday.  You never know, it might not rain, for today, after we arrived here, it rained and rained and rained.  It is meant to rain tomorrow, but it should not be as much. On the way in, we had stopped at a supermarket and loaded up on supplies, my wife being shocked that I bought myself some Frosties! 

Anyway, it is late, so it is time for me to sleep and tomorrow, our plan is to test and recharge! 

I do not think that someone resisting an ICC arrest warrant should be allowed to nominate someone for the Nobel Peace Prize

Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he will nominate Donald Trump for the Nobel peace prize. The man who is wanted by the International Criminal Court has no place in nominating anyone for the award.  He has continued to speak about his plan to "encourage" Palestinians to leave Gaza, which is Ethnic Cleansing. I have listened to The World at One on the radio and someone described the plan as creating concentration camps.  It will be interesting if the BBC is castigated for that as it has been over other matters despite its attempts to try and stay unbiased as the murder of Palestinians continues.  Comparisons will be made to what the Nazi's did, and when it comes to that, Palestinians will not be sent onwards to gas chambers, but the term Concentration Camp can be used to compare the plan to how the British used them during the Boer Wars.

Starmer and supporting the USA when it attacked Iran

People have been complaining that Starmer has either not shown the USA enough support in attacking Iran, or has shown too much.

If Starmer backed the USA striking Iran, he would have allowed them to launch the attacks from Diego Garcia, the joint base in The Indian Ocean. He did not and the attack therefore involved the bombers taking off from the USA. 

When Starmer calls for Iran to negotiate with the USA, he also is stating that he expects the US to engage with Iran if Iran takes up this call. This is a call made by other leaders as well. 

LGB rights

As posted before, I am a transphobe.  At least I am deemed so by many. My children, who are aware of my concerns disagree but I see them flinch if I talk about LGB rights as they want me to include the T.

Like JK Rowling, I think that Transgender people exist. I want them to have many rights protected. I do not believe that people should be murdered just for being Transgender. I agree with the Supreme Court ruling about biological sex, but disagree with some aspects of how it is being interpreted, such as with segregated toilets. I do not think anyone with a penis should be allowed to change in communal areas for women. However, I do not consider a transwoman to be a woman. I accept that they are biologically a man and that they deserve many of the rights of a woman, but not all. Due to my view that Transwomen are transwomen and not men, this puts me on the transphobic side of this debate. That and agreeing that more research needs to be done on children who wish to transition also means that I am guilty of transphobia.

I don’t want to be lumped with people who refuse to respect pronouns (which now includes JK Rowling) or deem transgender individuals as being mentally ill. I do think that more research is needed about treating children with puberty blockers and surgery, but I do not agree with any outright ban which forbids this research. But I accept how many will group me with others because of this.

The attack on Iran by Israel and the USA has divided social media. Many are on one side or the other. As I have posted before, I consider both nations to be vile, Iran being the more reprehensible until Israel overtook them with the mass-murder of civilians in Gaza. 

One aspect of this is with rights for transgender people. Iran, unlike many other Muslim countries, recognises that some people are not going to be binary. Some argue that it is better for transgender people to live in Iran than in the UK. They forget two things. One is the oppression and the death penalty for LGB individuals. The other is the second class status of women and the way the Morality Police ensure that women dress in an appropriate manner.

So, Iran offers people the right to transition to women to be treated equally as other women, who are not treated equally! 

Israel attacking Iran

After the appalling October 7th attacks of 2023, despite concerns that Israel had been annexing land in The West Bank along with killing Palestinians, let alone the way Israel treated Gaza, the nations of Europe offered Israel support as the attacks continued. However, Israel went beyond what was deemed acceptable and the ICC issued arrest warrants for some on both sides.

Any moral high ground that Israel could claim was lost when it unilaterally decided to get the USA to renegotiate the ceasefire which had been agreed, a ceasefire which members of its governing coalition wanted to break anyway. 

So now Israel has attacked Iran, many are picking a side to back. I consider both governments to be vile and while I would have rated Iran as being the most reprehensible before, now it is Israel, but only just. The UK has not offered the level of support that it gave when Iran responded to an Israeli attack on its citizens last year, and for that I am glad. I would like the UK to cease all cooperation with Israel now, other than the manufacture of F35 parts (some of which are used in Israeli fighters). 

It will be interesting to see how the electorate of Israel will judge Benjamin Netanyahu and if they see how he has thrown away most of the goodwill that Israel was given after October the 7th. 

Killing in the name, Jews and Israel.

A few years ago, a politician was slated for saying "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those various self-styled Islamic States or organisations." While I disagree with Jeremy Corbyn about his stance on antisemitism in Labour under his stewardship, his words are right. A young Jewish couple has been shot dead in Washington, with an Israeli minister blaming Keir Starmer, among others, for the attack. The only person to blame for this is the murderer who has attacked them for being Jewish. If any politicians are to be blamed, it is those responsible for the relentless attacks on Gaza, the main one being Benjamin Netanyahu.  

In 2003, Jewish MP Oona King compared Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto, though not all agreed with this stance, that was before Israel has been bombing it to rubble. I have posted about the vile actions of Hamas and how they deliberately triggered Jews about The Holocaust before. But the retaliation of Israel has gone beyond what happened to them, this happening some time ago. 

Israel cannot be trusted to tell the truth. There are two issues which out this beyond doubt. One is the murder of Israeli hostages by the IDF who had a white flag, because it was thought they were Palestinians. If they were, the deaths would not have been investigated, because they were deemed to be terrorists. The only reason this was investigated as because they were Israeli. The other is the assassination of Palestinian paramedics, a story which was only challenged after footage if what happened was found on the corpse of one of the murdered. 

It is right to compare the October the 7th attacks to The Holocaust especially with the way Hamas recorded and broadcast the murders. Is it wrong to do the same when it comes to taking land for Living Space in the West Bank, or the killing of civilians in Gaza now? 

Israel assassinated ambulance workers

For those who are unaware, Israel killed some emergency workers. They claimed that the ambulances were travelling without emergency lights and that some of them were Hamas members. However, one of the dead had recorded the drive, showing that they had their emergency lights on. As they pulled over when they saw the ambulance they had come to get, the Israeli troops waiting until they were out of the vehicles before opening fire in what appears to be a lethal ambush.

While the Israeli Defence Forces will claim to investigate this, we know their willingness to kill Palestinian civilians. Some may remember the hostages who were killed by the IDF trying to surrender, deaths which would not have been noted by the mainstream media in the west if they had been Palestinian.

As you may recall, I understood the desire of Israel to act after the horrors of October the 7th, a day where Hamas recorded the murders in a way reminiscent of the way the Nazi’s recorded The Holocaust. But there was a negotiated ceasefire which Israel decided to break when Hamas did not agree to new terms which were demanded by Israel. Sadly, this is going to continue without consequence for the next few years. Things may improve a bit if a Democrat takes Presidential office in four years, but Israel appears to have a free hand in the murder of Palestinians until then.