UN: slavery was “gravest crime against humanity” (but US opposed & UK abstained)

28th March 2026

The UN (with opposition from the USA and abstension from UK and most other European nations) has voted to recognise slavery as the gravest crime against humanity. Whether this vote will make a real difference remains to be seen but, it certainly seems that those European nations who would have the most to “lose” in terms of paying reparations obviously understood that slavery was a terrible thing that has had long lasting consequences for Africans, their countries and their descendants but were not prepared to consider planning, even over time, for compensation.

US and Israel: which is calling the shots (literally?)

27th March 2026

By Leah Levane

Is the Israel tag wagging the US dog or is it more complicated than that? Jonathan Cook writes here about common interests and also how these common interests such as the disempowering Iran come from different motives and that this can make things difficult for the US and for Israel – as well as for the rest of us, especially the people of Palestine and in Lebanon and Iran.

Cook notes that the power of the lobbies and the alignment of the deep state meant that Obama could not make much progress calling on Israel to stop settler violence and expansion. But is the tide turning?

Lebanese paramedics say attacks on ambulances are always wrong

27th March 2026

By Leah Levane

“We demand all the groups and the parties to protect and respect of our counterparts be they Jewish or gentiles. Paramedic work covers the needs of all human beings of all colours, ethnicities and faiths. We absolutely condemn and will never tolerate this kind of vandalism in any place of the world. We condemn it as much as our persecution by the Israeli enemy. That is constantly terrorizing us and our colleagues. Our religious teaching and ethics would never tolerate such actions.”

Impunity, Israel and Permanent War

26th March 2026

By Leah Levane

The civilian deaths in Iran, if reported at all are always because the enemy used them as “human shields”. “(A)s all human right organizations pointed out, the Gaza genocide has set a shocking new standard of indifference to civilian casualties: All targets are criminalized by association to your favorite Amalek (currently the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC), and we stopped bothering about substantiating this association with actual facts; declaring it so makes it so. In this context, one can watch civilian suffering in Iran with a level of detachment and blame it all on the IRGC”

Imagine if they talked about Jews as they talk about Muslims…

26th March 2026

By Leah Levane

This is an article from the USA and I could take issue with some of the points (eg criticism of Zohran Madani’s foreign policy) but there is much here to make us think. It starts by asking us to imagine that some of the derogatory ways in which Muslims are talked about were used against Jews and our practices. The idea that this is just “those crazy Americans” can be scotched quickly. For example; the Shadow Justice Secretary said that having Muslim prayers in Trafalgar Square (at the annual Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan) was an “act of domination”. His Party Leader, Kemi Badenoch, went further and said that the Ramadan event in central London should not have been allowed to go ahead at all.

Join our 2026 Zoom Liberation Seder – all welcome

25th March 2026

By Mike Cushman

You are invited to come to our seventh annual Zoom Liberation Seder presented by the British Shalom-Salaam Trust (BSST) with the continuing and valued support of Jewish Voice for Liberation and Jews for Justice for Palestinians and in partnership with Na’amod

Israel’s Death Penalty for Palestinians moves closer

25th March 2026

By Leah Levane

Israeli politicians’ proposal to introduce death by hanging for Palestinians only could be approved as early as next week! As the The Guardian also reports “Under the proposals, those sentenced to death would be held in a separate facility with no visits except from authorised personnel, with legal consultations conducted only by video link. Executions would be carried out within 90 days of sentencing.” There would also be no or very limited appeals and this is within a context where convictions in Israel’s military courts (where only Palestinians are tried) is over 99%.

How settlers are seizing more of the West Bank

25th March 2026

By Leah Levane

Settlers are expanding through planning, harassment and violence into new areas of the West Bank, including those areas ostensibly under full or partial Palestinian Authority control. “Since October 7, settlers have worked in tandem with the Israeli army to expel at least 76 entire Palestinian communities, while settlers have simultaneously established 152 new outposts”. (Outposts are illegal even under Israeli law, while all Settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and The Golan Heights) are illegal in international law. Amnesty have argued that Global impunity is fueling Israel’s annexation in the West Bank. Smotrich is clear and makes no secret of the aim to: “…erase the lines, the demarcations, and the letters. We will settle our land in all its parts.”

Israel’s barbarism to Palestinians

25th March 2026

By Leah Levane

Khaled, 11, and his brother Mustafa, 8, lost their parents and two brothers when Israeli Border Police shot them to death during a Ramadan evening outing. First-hand testimony from one of the two survivors of the Bani Odeh family

An activist in Palestine (knowing we may lose)

25th March 2026

By Leah Levane

We are not able to stop the violence and the expulsions. We are like a gossamer sheet, a cobweb, between the settlers and their victims. The police and the army in the territories have sold their souls to the devil and offer no recourse when innocent people are being hurt or killed. The government is totally complicit in these crimes. But we are continuing our protective presence as best we can, taking the risks.

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