Warning: this blog post contains images and descriptions some people may find upsetting – not just pensioners holding provocative cardboard signs, but also reports involving a child allegedly tortured by Israeli forces.
Yesterday 19 people were arrested for holding signs saying “I oppose genocide, and support Palestine Action”, outside New Scotland Yard in London. The MET police made the arrests despite the High Court ruling the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was unlawful, and ordering the proscription be quashed.
Our Government is appealing against the High Court decision, meaning the proscription may stay in place for many more months pending a decision.
Meanwhile, the people of Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and many other areas of the Middle East continue to suffer and die at the hands of Israel and the United States. The Labour Government and many politicians from other parties are complicit in this, in the genocide in Gaza, in Israel’s colonialist expansionist policies, in the bombing and shooting, the starvation, rape, torture and countless human rights abuses and war crimes. The Palestinian people continue to suffer and die, whilst we continue to supply arms and intelligence to the State of Israel.
A few days ago, Jawad Abu Nassar, a 22 month old toddler, was returned to his family allegedly bearing the marks of torture – as reported by Sky News and other news outlets (https://news.sky.com/story/gaza-toddler-released-from-israeli-custody-with-suspected-torture-wounds-13525011). Israeli soldiers allegedly burnt him with cigarettes and inserted a sharp object into his leg, when they took his father into custody accusing him of being a Hamas operative. Whether the father was a Hamas operative or not, the torture of anyone, especially young children is abhorrent and a war crime.
Since the horrific atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th, which can in no way be excused, the State of Israel has murdered an estimated 20,000 children in Gaza according to various sources. Two days ago Unicef reported 121 children have been killed in Lebanon since Israel invaded, with another 370,000 children displaced. These are just the figures for children.
Meanwhile, in Iran, an alleged American missile hit Shajareh Tayyebeh school killing at least 168 people, including about 110 children according to Iranian officials and early reports. The girls’ school was hit by a Tomahawk missile, according to military experts. At time of writing this remains under investigation, but if the US did bomb this school, after using AI to identify targets, then it must constitute a war crime.
Since 07 Oct 2023 over 1500 healthcare workers, that’s doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff, have been killed in Gaza, according to UN and humanitarian reporting. They are still being killed, detained and in some cases allegedly tortured by the IDF. On 23 March the Guardian reported the killing of a volunteer ambulance driver, Abed Elrahman Hamdouna, a father of seven. Since the alleged ceasefire in October 2025 at least 677 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF, and a further 1,800 injured, with Israeli strikes continuing to average around 10 strikes a day, and continuing to shrink the territory Palestinians are allowed in.
This is not a ceasefire. This is the continuing destruction of Gaza. The systemic eradication of Palestinian lives, culture, infrastructure, history and way of life. This is what many experts, legal scholars and human rights organisations have described as genocide, and it is now the subject of international legal proceedings..
Reporters are not safe either. Israel very nearly killed a British Journalist, Steve Sweeney, and his camera man in southern Lebanon a couple of weeks ago. He was reporting on the displacement of over 1 million people due to the Israel invasion, bombing, and drone attacks. He claims the IDF are trying to silence any journalists reporting Israeli war crimes.
Israel was successful in killing three journalists, one of whom they state, with no evidence, was a member of Hezbollah. Ali Shoeib, a well known reporter, was killed in the town of Jezzine alongside reporter Fatima Ftouni and her brother, cameraman Mohamed Ftouni. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists 129 journalists were killed in 2025, a record high. Israel is responsible for two-thirds of these deaths.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank Israeli settlers continue to illegally take Palestinian land, burn their farms and olive groves, to intimidate and murder families. One family, travelling in their car in the town of Tammun were shot at by Israeli forces. The mother, father and two of their children were killed. Two other children survived with minor injuries and no doubt life long trauma. Palestinians report that settler violence is increasing, with more homes being burnt and people killed, whilst soldiers do nothing or actively support settlers. The BBC recently reported on the increasing violence:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c747x00m83vo
The stealing of land from Palestinians, the continuous harassment and murder, is illegal under international law and has been equated to ethnic cleansing. International Genocide scholars have largely agreed what is happening in Gaza equates to genocide. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, and Yoav Galllant, the Minister for Defence, for war crimes including using starvation as a weapon, and the crimes against humanity of murder and persecution.
Many Jewish people around the world are appalled at what the State of Israel is doing, and yet, calling it out, criticising the regime, gets you labelled as being anti-semitic. The conflation of anti-semitism with being against the what the State of Israel is doing to Palestinians, and now Lebanese and Iranian civilians, is a problem. One should be able to criticise a government for war crimes, for genocide, without being labelled a racist or anti-semite.
The issue appears to stem from zionism, the Oxford dictionary definition for which I’ve included below:
1) a movement for (originally) the re-establishment of a Jewish nation in Palestine and (now) the development and protection of Israel. It was established as a political organization in 1897 under Theodor Herzl, and was later led by Chaim Weizmann.
Zionism seems to have morphed from what was originally a valid objective for a Jewish State, into an ideology that now refuses to accept any criticism, and countenances the murder of innocent men, women and children and the theft of their land. From the very beginning the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 by colonial powers was fraught with peril, as it had to involve taking land from Palestinians.
Given historical events and the persecution and murder of Jewish people for centuries it is little wonder that many Israelis feel threatened, however to react with ever increasing levels of violence, and to commit genocide, cannot, in my opinion, be excused. And to criticise their actions in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran is not, in my opinion, anti-semitic. It has been argued that Israel’s actions have increased anti-semitism globally, with more Jewish people being persecuted as a result. Any true anti-semitism, as with any forms of racism, is completely unacceptable and should be called out and resisted at all times. However, are we seeing the classic case of the horrifically abused becoming the abuser, and as a result the endless cycle of violence in the Middle East will continue?
At the Green Party conference this weekend Lubna Speitan, a British-Palestinian artist and activist, raised a motion to class zionism as racism. Due to the actions of a minority taking part in the online conference the motion did not have time for discussion, despite a heart-wrenching speech from Lubna – filibustering and protocols I don’t understand meant this important issue was sidelined.
I am writing this from the comfort of my kitchen, acutely aware of my privilege as a white middle-class male in one of the richest and safest countries in the world. Yet even in the UK we are at risk of being dragged further into conflicts in the Middle East, as Starmer seeks to placate the child-like Trump and his urges. Our right to protest continues to be eroded by this Labour government, as they carry on where the Tories left off making it more and more difficult to protest against genocide without being arrested. And the Palestinians continue to suffer and die, forced into massive tent camps in Gaza which are regularly flooded or afflicted by dust storms – some children, those that have survived to date, may not remember it ever being any different.
There is resistance, from ordinary people like the 19 who were arrested for holding signs opposing genocide outside New Scotland Yard, from the Green Party and other politicians with morals such as Clive Lewis. Around 500,000 people are reported to have marched in London this weekend versus the far right and supporting Palestines right to exist. People around the world, including in the US are demanding change and an end to war and the killing – No Kings rallies across the US this weekend saw around 8 million people protesting versus Trump.
“Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant. But this is America, and power belongs to the people – not to wannabe kings or their billionaire cronies,” organisers said.
Groups like Draw a Smile are raising funds to buy food and supplies for children in the camps in Gaza, working with IIbrahim A Qudeih and his family to bring much needed relief, and a bit of hope and joy. Please consider donating to Draw A Smile via the links below, and following them on social media:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569809867457
Go Fund Me – https://www.gofundme.com/f/7nryrd-draw-a-smile
As I sit here, I wonder how Starmer and his cabinet can continue to support Israel and the US in what they are doing – and have done – in Gaza. I want to know why our foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, thinks it’s right to continue supplying arms and intelligence, and to allow the use of UK bases for actions that result in civilian deaths.
I know Labour and other political parties receive donations from individuals and groups who support Israel. But where is the line? When did they lose their sense of right and wrong? Why do they think it is acceptable to support a regime accused of killing and mistreating children?
I do not excuse the actions of Hamas, nor the Iranian regime, nor any group responsible for violence against civilians. But holding your enemies to account is easy. Holding your allies to account is what actually matters.
I thought Israel was supposed to be better than that. An ally. A “civilised” country.
But then again, perhaps that’s the point.
There’s a famous sketch where two soldiers slowly realise something is wrong. They look at their uniforms, their symbols – the skulls – and one of them finally asks:
“Are we the baddies?”
It’s funny because it’s absurd.
It’s uncomfortable because it isn’t.
Because no one ever thinks they are the villain.
Not governments. Not armies. Not the people who support them.
And yet here we are.
So maybe the question isn’t rhetorical anymore.
Are we?
If you want to join the resistance, check out these pages:
Lift the Ban – https://actionnetwork.org/forms/everyone-day-lift-the-ban-april-11th-2026/
Defend our Juries – https://defendourjuries.net/
Take Back Power: https://takebackpower.net/
Self Propelled 