No, sure, that's fine. You go back to what you were doing then.

The Government has responded to a petition to ban arms sales to Israel.

Guess what? They've seen the error of their ways and will no longer be supplying weapons to the only democracy in the Middle East apart from Palestine apartheid state!

Just kidding!

Of course not. Arms sales to Israel are

assessed on a case-by-case basis and conduct in recent conflicts is always taken into account.

and besides

Britain is not a major arms exporter to Israel

and

the UK regularly turns down arms requests from Israel

Not forgetting that

We do not believe that the current situation in the Middle East would be improved by imposing an arms embargo on Israel. Israel has the right to defend itself and faces real security threats. However, we will not grant export licences where there is a clear risk that arms will be used for external aggression or internal repression.

So that's OK, and completely accurate then.

It's the kind of situation Mark Steel might have a go at: 'of course Israel shouldn't be pursuing an aggressive military campaign against civilians and occupying other people's land, but you don't stop that by not giving them weapons. In fact the best way to stop it is to sell them fighter aircraft.'

Cheap, Lazy Humour Predicated on Human Suffering

... is what I aim to deliver - and here's your latest sloppy ladleful!

Since I first heard about Project Natal, my curiousity has been piqued. Just what could it all be about? Well, for the one or two of you who are even further than me behind the curve of the scabbard which the bleeding edge of technology would never deign to be housed in, it's sort of Wii-mote crossed with the eye-toy and a furby: a motion- and voice-sensitive interface for the X-Box 360 released to some fanfare at this year's E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo, you Luddite).

So, that's yer context. Skynet will use it in a few scant years to make unstoppable killing machines with Austrian accents. But until that day, this detail in the Graun's coverage caught my eye:

Not a great deal is known about its origins, but is seems that the system relies on technology from two pioneering Israeli companies working on depth-sensitive cameras, 3DV Systems and Prime Sense. Those systems involve technology originally developed for use on ballistic missiles that has been reworked to make it more palatable for use in people's homes.

... and I thought the Israelis had no problem using this technology on people's homes already!

*bdm tsh*

Eyethangyewladeezangennelmen, I'm 'ere all week.

And to think, just the other day I heard a musical composition in which someone averred in response to a question on the utilisation of aspects of military action, that there were no beneficial results whatsoever!

(Yes, Raffles the Gentleman Thug is my favourite Viz character*. Would you care to raise this assertion as an issue to which some variance may be attached, and would you claim to be of requisite fortitude with which to back up your contrary aspect? You slag.)

Edit:
That reminds me though - I've got a chance to repost this vid! Yay!


*Not actually true. Jack Black is my favourite Viz character. But the opportunity to use pointlessly flowery English arose and by the gods I wasn't going to neglect it!

Lowkey Rather Good

A while ago I had a grand day out in central London. It was just me, some placards, some chants, quite a bit of snow and about 100,000 comrades.

Anyway at the time I remarked on a particularly good rapper who had done a piece without any backing track and got the crowd to shout Free Free Gaza at the end of every verse.

Thanks to a Complex System of Pipes I can post Lowkey's vid of that song here, for me to find again later for you to enjoy.

More Gaza-Related Worthiness. With Added Cyclists!

There's a petition to ask the EU to break off it's trading relations with Israel until they agree to abide by human rights law.

It's being backed by such worthies as Alexei Sayle, Mordechai Vanunu and Clare Short. Yes, really. Anyway, link here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Suspend-EU-Israel-Trade-Agreement

The petition will be physically delivered to the parliament in Brussels by some enthusiastic cyclists. No, really.

Sign it for the oddity alone, why dontcha?

How Brilliant is Roy Chaderton Matos?

I was just catching up with Jews Sans Frontieres and found this link to an article by the Venezuelan ambassador to the Organisation of American States.

Sample:

None shall ever be permitted to use the recurrent crimes against humanity committed by the mediocre and murderous militarist elite of the State of Israel as justification for twisting the just rebellion of the Palestinians and solidarity with them nto anti-Semitic aberrations.

No leftist has the right to forget that the Jews -- historically persecuted, not by the Muslims who for centuries opened their doors for them, but by first the Christian crusaders, then the inquisitors, and finally the Nazis -- have a historical tradition of pioneering solidarity with social rebellions and progressive thought. Never forget such illustrious Jews as Karl Marx, Rosa Luxemburg, Leon Trotsky, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Bob Dylan. Never forget the participation of Jews, even at the cost of their lives, in civil, labor, social, and anti-war struggles in the United States or struggles against the ultra-Catholic military dictatorships in the Southern Cone. Never overlook the fact that, in the United States, against the organized anti-Chavista campaign supported by the "Israel lobby" in that country, American Jewish intellectuals have spoken up: the most famous intellectual in the world, Noam Chomsky, so often cited by President Chávez, and Joseph Stiglitz, a winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, who has supported us in our struggles against the dictatorship of neoliberalism.

Read the whole thing, it's great.

The Chavista government. I think I love them a bit more every day, if that's possible.

You see, in response to Freedman again, I don't think it's the left part of his equation that's the problem here.

Nick Clegg, Israeli Style

Current polls, according to t'Graun, place Avigdor Lieberman's party as 3rd largest in the Knesset after the election.

Have you heard of this guy? Sample quotes:

To Wasil Taha, an Arab Israeli MP, in the Knesset:

"You are a representative of terrorist organisations in the parliament of Israel. It's too bad the Hamas doesn't take care of you. They would do it right. In any other country they would have already indicted you in a military court for treachery."

On Arab Israeli MPs who talk to Hamas:

"The second world war ended with the Nuremberg trials and the execution of the Nazi leadership. Not only them, but also those who collaborated with them. I hope that will also be the fate of the collaborators in this house."

On Israel's Arab minority:

"Israel is under a dual terrorist attack, from within and from without. And terrorism from within is always more dangerous than terrorism from without."

On the two-state solution:

"Israel needs to explain that the demand for a Palestinian state and the refugees' right of return is a cover for radical Islam's attempt to destroy the State of Israel."

Now, as he'll be head of a third party that in the event of a general election that leaves neither of the main parties in direct control, and hence in a position to harness his popularity as a means of gaining influence with the two figures with the largest single shares of the vote, the obvious comparison would be to the Lib Dems. Obviously. I mean, I assume that next year both Cameron and Brown will be seeking to 'ride the Cleggy tiger'.

I wouldn't want to compare this situation to any other place or time. That would be anti-semitic apparently.*

*Once again: I think the best historical analogy for Israel is apartheid South Africa. However, the Israeli government does keep inviting more unfortunate comparisons.

Jonathan Freedland: Pillock

A quite astonishingly patronising pillock at that. Today's CiF fartpiece in the Graun:

As British Jews come under attack, the liberal left must not remain silent
It should be perfectly possible to condemn Israel's brutal
action in Gaza while taking a stand against antisemitism

No shit, really?

To be fair we were just waiting for him to turn up before we got started. I mean, in no way are the people involved in the PSC or Stop The War likely to be involved with the UAF as well. Gods no.

Let's have a look at what he's got to say, shall we (humour me a moment).

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks on September 11 2001 and July 7 2005, a noble impulse seized the British liberal left. Politicians, commentators and activists united to say to their fellow citizens that, no matter how outraged they felt at the loss of civilian life they had just witnessed, they should under no circumstances take out that anger on the Muslim community. Progressive voices insisted that Muslims were not to be branded as guilty by association, just because the killers of 9/11 and 7/7 had been Muslims and had claimed to act in the name of all Muslims.

Yes, some people stated the bleeding obvious. Other people didn't. But tell you what, why don't you get on with the backslapping? I mean, what bad things have the liberal left ever done? They've never tried to justify a manifestly illegal and immoral war or anything after all...

Anyway, back to Jonathan:

Blah blah blah blah bet you can see where this is going blah blah blah

Ah yes, here we are:

It's worth stating the obvious - that Operation Cast Lead is not 9/11 or 7/7, that Israel is not al-Qaida - and noting that the silence has not been absolute. In a very welcome move, a group of leading Muslims wrote an open letter condemning apparent Gaza-related attacks on Jews. Meanwhile, Labour's Denis MacShane, in a passionate article for Progress magazine, urged those on the left not "to turn criticism of Israel into a condemnation of Jews".

The silence has not been absolute? Operation Cast Lead is not 9/11 or 7/7? Well, the death toll was slightly higher for 9/11, I'll grant you that. Although notably the office workers of the WTC had not spent the last 2 years cut off from jobs, food, water, electricity and their own country; neither had they been herded into refugee camps for 50 years. But to suggest that Cast Lead was not as bad as 7/7? There's a word for this: Chauvinism.

And 'silence not absolute'? Seriously? When every demo I've been on has been attended by speakers pointing out that the protests are not anti-semitic and/or 'Jews for Peace'? What, did he take a wrong turn in the TARDIS and end up in a parallel world this morning?

According to the Community Security Trust, the body that monitors anti-Jewish racism, the four weeks after Cast Lead began saw an eightfold increase in antisemitic incidents in Britain compared with the same period a year earlier. It reports 250 incidents - nearly 10 a day - the highest number since it began its work 25 years ago. Among them are attacks on synagogues, including arson, and physical assaults on Jews. One man was set upon in Golders Green, north London, by two men who shouted, "This is for Gaza", as they punched and kicked him to the ground.
Blood-curding graffiti has appeared in Jewish areas across the country, slogans ranging from "Slay the Jewish pigs", and "Kill the Jews", to "Jewish bastardz." Jewish schools have been advised to be on high alert against attack. Most now have security guards on the door; some have a police presence.

Hmm. Leaving aside the Community Security Trust issue, let's mention the unmentionable: it turns out that despite the valiant efforts of the liberal left and their battalions, the last few years haven't been rosy for Muslims in Britan. We even have a new adjective to describe it: Islamophobia. Of course, the liberal left also gave us a new adjective of their own: Islamofascism.

Hmm. Anyway, Jonathan's still bleating:

Blah blah blah I have no sense of my own ridiculousness blah blah blah I get given money for this blah blah blah

At the London events, there were multiple placards deploying what has now become a commonplace image: the Jewish Star of David equated with the swastika. From the podium George Galloway declared: "Today, the Palestinian people in Gaza are the new Warsaw ghetto, and those who are murdering them are the equivalent of those who murdered the Jews in Warsaw in 1943."

You're right! He's a racist! You've got the smoking gun here Jonathan, I can't believe he compared the sealed off Gaza Strip, which Israel controls all access to, enters with their military at a whim, commits massacres at a whim, etc etc, to a ghetto! And there was one of those semi-mythical Star of David/Swastika placards! Oh noes! They probably want to take Ehud Olmert to Nuremburg and hang him in a bunker or something! On no account must the uniqueness of the holocaust be threatened. On no account must people be tempted to draw parallels with previous events. If you do, you might as well be burning down a synagogue, because we all know that the Israeli government and All Teh Jews are not separate people.*

Blah blah Christ this guy can go on blah blah blah blah is he being paid by the word blah blah blah please just make it stop blah blah blah

I know that some will say that even raising this is an attempt to divert attention from the real and larger issue, Israel's brutality in Gaza and the colossal number of civilian deaths that entailed. I won't accept that. Regular readers know that I denounced Cast Lead from the beginning. But I shouldn't have to say that. These two matters are separate. It is perfectly possible to condemn Israel's current conduct and to stand firmly against anti-Jewish prejudice. And it's about time liberals and the left said so.

Oh, good. Jonathan's capable of telling the difference between Teh Jews and Teh Israeli Government. But no one else is, and unless you YES YOU say that you do in a loud voice at all times, day and night, as opposed to what the Palestinian solidarity movement has been doing, i.e. putting it in leaflets, papers, rallies, marches and speeches, then you are personally responsible for any anti-Semitic violence meted out in Britain.

Luckily, Jonathan's decided to save the day now, so let's all get behind him. Actually, thinking about it, he seems like precisely the sort of person I want to go round telling anti-Semitic thugs his position on Operation Cast Lead.

I have to ask, who exactly does he think he's speaking for?

*For the record, as I have said before, I don't think that the Nazis are a good comparison for Israel. I think Apartheid South Africa fits the bill better. But people are bound to draw comparisons between aspects of Nazi treatment of Jews and Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Because sometimes they're unavoidable.

Just in Case Anyone's Missed This - Beeb and DEC

I know I'm well behind the curve here, as you can get the story from any of these excellent news nodes:
Socialist Unity
Septicisle
Enemies of Reason
Lenin's Tomb
Beau Bo d'Or
Stop the War
Tony Benn
and of course weirdly, the BBC.

Anyway, for anyone who did miss - this apart from wondering where you've been living, in a chinese pipe? - here's roughly what's happened:

Palestinians who've had their hospitals, schools, universities and UN aid buildings reduced to rubble, who've suffered the loss of 1,400 of their fellow countrymen, women and children and trying to treat 5,400 wounded. People who've seen their medical workers attacked. People who in their hundreds of thousands have no access to drinking water and food, and most of whom do not have a stable electricity supply, apparently don't constitute 'humans' enough to have their situation called a 'humanitarian crisis'.

The Disasters and Emergency Committee wanted the Beeb to carry adverts launching an appeal for Gaza, and the Beeb said that it wouldn't because it might be seen as biased. The other networks promptly used this as an excuse not to carry it either.

Presumably, in order for the Beeb to carry the ads, Hamas will need to inflict a comparable level of damage on Israel. (Note, comparing population figures for Israel to those in Gaza, I estimate that Hamas would have to kill around 6,500 Israelis and injure 25,000. Current civilian casualties in Israel from Hamas stand at 3. Time to get busy with the rockets I'm afraid, if you want any money for reconstruction!).

It is interesting to note that even the government, who have actually supplied some of the weaponry that made this disaster possible, have criticised the Beeb on this one.

Anyway, please protest to the Beeb about this. 03700 100 222.
Update: or here http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complaints_stage1.shtml

Update updated:
Here's my polite, almost wheedling complaint...

There is no case to answer over issues of 'balance' - this is about the alleviation of human suffering, pure and simple. Indeed the logical corollary of your alleged concern for balance here would be to encourage a proportionate crisis in Israel, given that you are unwilling to support attempts to help the men, women and children who are suffering in Gaza. The deprivation and kiling of Israelis would be the only way to restore 'balance' here, and as I can't believe that is the BBC's policy, I equally can't believe that the BBC will not throw its weight behind the judgement of 13 humanitarian agencies but stand by whilst people die. Please rectify this situation immediately and reverse your decision.

There are other harmful consequences of this decision. Your reluctance to follow the only honourable course of action in this has given other networks pause and further reduced exposure of the DEC's campaign. This is a wrong decision and I refuse to believe that the BBC's management are not aware of it, especially given Mark Thompson's flannelly response to criticism.

I never thought I would see the day when I sided with the Daily Mail and the other private sector rivals who would see the BBC castrated, but this is ludicrous decision with potentially catastrophic consequences for the Palestinian people and I must repeat: please reconsider your decision.

I want to complain regarding the BBC's refusal to carry the DEC's Gaza campaign. Given the suffering of the people in Gaza (84% of the population have no access to a secure supply of food, for example) and the dire state that the recent Israeli onslaught has left the already fragile infrastructure in the Gaza strip, it is clear that this constitutes a humanitarian crisis of the gravest kind.

Updated Update Updated:
I have now received a meaningless boilerplate from the Beeb. Cheers the Beeb. Oh wait, actually, fuck you.

But wait, that means... nooo. Wait. Can it? Yes!

If Palestinians try and feed themselves,

'Israel has warned of renewed military strikes on Gaza if tunnels used for
smuggling in goods from Egypt are reopened by Palestinians.'

But uh-oh,

'some of the tunnels are already back in operation, with fuel being
smuggled in.'

But hang on, I thought

'the three week campaign had achieved all of its objectives. '

But how do we really know? How do we know that Israel has failed?

'TV images on Wednesday showed a truck being filled with petrol, apparently
smuggled in through a tunnel.'

That's right. We know that Israel has not achieved it's objectives because Palestinians are able to get trucks moving in their own country.

Hum.

By way of a postscript, remember: if an elected Palestinian government buys arms, that's smuggling. If the Israeli government buys arms, that's a valuable contribution to the British economy.

Update to PS: what Mark said. Hey, I never said it was an original point or anything...

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Effects of IDF Atrocities, But Were Too Grossed Out to Ask.

One of the IDF's less endearing tactics in the recent slaughter has been the targetting of hospitals, medical workers and ambulance crews.

Tomorrow night, which is to say Bush's Leaving Day, at 7 pm, there is a talk in the David Shaw lecture theatre at the University Medical School about the impact of the attacks on the hospitals, staff and healthcare infrastructure. According to my info, this is 'NOT suitable for children' so take that how you will.

Upcoming Events

This Friday will be a demo in South Shields at a dinner being attended by David Miliband to protest against the British Government's refusal to take action or condemn Israel's aggression and murder in Palestine, and refusal to halt arms sales* to Israel. Meet outside South Tyneside College at 6.30 pm.

There will be a march and demo in Newcastle on Saturday at 12. Start at Civic Centre and move down to Monument.

Update: here's a pretty poster all about it!

This Week's Protests

On Wednesday evening there was one outside the local BBC studios about biased coverage - not a bad crowd (although my reliance on the mobile for pictures is a problem in the dark):






Then there was one at Monument yesterday. A sit-down protest was held that was quite good. There was also music - it was quite lively, really.

A Landmark of Sorts...

Just a quick one today, as real life is impinging on me once more.

'More than 1,000 killed in Gaza'

What we need now is some kind of distraction. If only the taxpayer kept some kind of secret force of clowns who can be called upon to do something stupid and headline-grabbing when our betters are suppporting something palpably evil.

If only.

Main Local Protest

The other event, the big one, is a march that's being planned for this Saturday. We'll be having a bit rally at noon at the Civic Centre, then marching down to the Monument for a mass die-in and closing rally. There should be music, speeches, chanting, the works.

Anyone who can make this, please make the effort to do so. After London last week it's really important to try and keep up the momentum.

[guilt trip]I know it seems like the Israelis are winding down - there were only 12 airstrikes last night, after all, instead of the more usual 40-60 but for some reason the death toll keeps edging upwards.

'910 people have been killed in Gaza so far, of whom 292 were children and 75 were women.'[/guilt trip]

I'll follow up with details later as things are confirmed.

Local Protest - BBC

Continuing my new blogging theme of all Gaza, all the time, there's a couple of local protests in addition to the one a week Friday against Miliband.

First up, there's a protest against the pro-Israel bias in the Beeb's coverage this Thursday, the 15th. There's been a fair bit of interest from some Newcastle Uni students so it's hoped that we can have a march starting from the campus at 5.00. The main demo will be at 5.30 outside the Beeb's offices.