Category: Israel and Palestine articles

I saw illegality and complicity with war crimes. That’s why I quit the UK Foreign Office

Ministers and senior officials protected arms deals facilitating death and horror in Gaza and Yemen. I urge my former colleagues to resist them Britain’s system for controlling arms exports is broken, former diplomat claims The Guardian | Mark Smith | 10 February 2025 Tories / Labour – same as each other and same as the USA – corruption at every level – Mark My name is Mark Smith. I am a former diplomat and policy adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). I spent

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US sells arms to Israel, hostages freed

Sydney Morning Herald (The Age) / AP, Reuters | Lolita Baldor & Julia Frankel | 9 February 2025 Doesn’t matter which President is in the White House – murder continues – Mark The Trump administration has approved weapon sales of more than $US7 billion ($11 billion) to Israel, including thousands of bombs, despite a Democratic lawmakers’ request that the sale be paused until he received more information.The massive arms sale came just two days after Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Oval

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The Jewish Council condemns US President Trump’s plan to ‘take over’ Gaza

February 5, 2025 God bless the small number of ‘sane’ Jews left in the world – Mark The Jewish Council of Australia strongly condemns Donald Trump’s suggestion the United States will ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip and move Palestinian people elsewhere. We furthermore condemn the cynical use of humanitarian language by Trump to justify his egregious plan. This language  adds insult to injury given the mounting evidence collected by human rights organisations about Israel’s gross violations of International Humanitarian Law in its 15-months long attack on the

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Israel plans for expected ‘voluntary departures’ of Gaza residents

No Palestinian will voluntarily leave – it will always be under duress – Mark Israel’s defence minister ordered the army on Thursday to prepare for “voluntary” departures from Gaza, after US President Donald Trump proposed moving Palestinians out of the territory. The idea sparked uproar from leaders in the Middle East and beyond, and the Trump administration appeared to walk back some of the suggestions. Hours later, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to formulate a plan for Palestinians to leave

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The Clueless and the Evilby Jonathan Kuttab

Exactly right – Mark This week, as I watched the press conference with President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, I was tempted to slip into total denial. At one level, the proposal to take over the Gaza Strip (by American troops), to “own” and transform it into “the Riviera of the Middle East” while sending its hapless residents to an unknown “better place,” was so bizarre and unrealistic on so many levels that I could not help believing it was mere talk. Akin to the notion

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Action Alert: Urgent Need for Protection of Palestinians as Israel Intensifies Its Genocidal, Colonial Violence in the West Bank, including in Jenin and Tulkarem

This has been going on for many years and hidden during the focus on Gaza but Genocide is Genocide and Murder is Murder and that is the Israel of today – Mark Since 19 January 2025, on the same day as the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect, the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) and Israeli settlers have been intensifying their attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. This included a campaign of mass arrests, such as that carried out in Azzun town, Qalqilya on 20 January, and stringent restrictions on the freedom

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Human Rights Commission considers discrimination complaint against Peter Dutton over Gaza comments

Complaint lists numerous public comments by the Liberal leader, a staunch supporter of Israel, which it alleges show discriminatory behaviour towards Palestinians, Muslims and Jews Something most sensible people already know – the future of all Australians is in serious danger if this man gains power – Mark The Australian Human Rights Commission is considering a complaint that alleges Peter Dutton discriminated against Palestinians and Muslims in public comments after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks and during the subsequent war in Gaza. The complaint, coordinated by the

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‘Outraged’ – Red Cross Slams Israel’s Treatment of Released Palestinian Prisoners

As every true human person knows the treatment of Palestinian prisoners for over 80 years has been many times worse than anything meted out to Israeli prisoners – but its so sad that any human being is a prisoner just to keep an illegal Occupation going – Mark The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed outrage over Israel’s treatment of 32 Palestinian prisoners released as part of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal.  According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, “Red Cross personnel expressed

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