Corporate Greed And Right-wing Governments.

       Turkish companies, like companies everywhere, rub their hands with greed driven glee, as their government moves ever more to the right, they jump in and try to crush any workers organisation that they consider might impede their ever increasing exploitation of the workforce.



 This appeal from IUF:

       Union members at the Turkish Sütas dairy company are fighting for their rights against mass intimidation by management including dismissals, criminal complaints to the prosecution office, police raids on the union offices and the dumping of 13 tons of liquid manure on the sit-in area across the factory gate where the dismissed workers were picketing.

       The IUF-affiliated Tobacco, Drink, Food and Allied workers Union, TEKGIDA-Is, began organizing workers at Sütas dairy company in 2012. The company responded with mass dismissals targeting union members between October 2012 and August 2014, leaving 83 workers and their families without income. Many workers are harassed and compelled to resign from their union membership by threats and calls to their families. To break the workers' picket management poured 13 tons of liquid manure on the area.
     You can support their struggle for union rights and recognition. CLICK HERE to send a message to Sütas management calling on the company to reinstate the 83 dismissed union members, stop harassing the workers who want to join the union and recognize TEKGIDA-Is.

     And if you have not yet had the opportunity to do so, please take a moment to support the German Food Workers and their members' fight for a first collective agreement with the transnational catering and retail giant Autogrill - CLICK HERE!

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The 9/11 Anniversary.

      In a couple of days it will be the anniversary of 9/11, an event that resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people, an event that should make the international community drag the American state to the International Court of Justice. A horrific event for which America should be held to account. If you are confused by my statement, you are probably thinking of 9/11, 2001 where a handful of crazy nut cases brought down the twin towers in New York, killing almost 3,000 innocent people. I am of course talking about 9/11 1973, a bloody event that was organised, funded and supported to the hilt by the American state. The military coup in Chile by General Pinochet, which resulted in the death of a freely elected president, burning of books, thousands of "disappearances", thousands more executions, and years of brutal repression, all with the blessing of Dr. Henry Kissinger, America's fascist strategist, and the full backing of the American state apparatus. 

 

From Mickey Z:

“Make the economy scream…”
       When the 1970 Chilean presidential election rolled around, Salvador Allende was still a major player and, despite another wave of U.S.-funded propaganda, he was elected president of South America’s longest functioning democracy on Sept. 4, 1970.
        However, he had a new and powerful enemy: Dr. Henry Kissinger.
The 40 Committee was formed with Kissinger as chair. The goal was not only to save Chile from its irresponsible populace but to yet again stave off the Red Tide™.
      “Chile is a fairly big place, with a lot of natural resources,” explains Noam Chomsky, “but the United States wasn’t going to collapse if Chile became independent. Why were we so concerned about it? According to Kissinger, Chile was a ‘virus’ that would ‘infect’ the region.”
       At a Sept. 15, 1970, meeting called to halt the spread of infection, Kissinger and President Nixon told CIA Director Richard Helms it would be necessary to “make the [Chilean] economy scream.” While allocating at least $10 million to assist in sabotaging Allende’s presidency, outright assassination was also considered a serious and welcome option.

Read the full article HERE:

      So, when our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, start spouting there usual platitudes on 9/11, and our pompous parasitic politicians, wax lyrically on the horrible event in New York, remind them of that even more brutal and blood event, perpetrated by America on the people of Chile some 28 years earlier.  It was a longer lasting and more savage 9/11, than the one in New York.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Workers Know Your History, The Bevin Boys.

      “The Bevin Boys” are a little known group of young men who were conscripted during the second world war, but didn't wear a uniform.
           At the start of WW2, the government were keen to get as many young men into the forces as possible, so conscription was enforced. They did realise that certain industries were essential to the “war effort” and so those working in those industries were exempt from conscription. However they were so dim they didn't list coal mining as one of those industries, they failed to realise that without coal the other industries would grind to a halt. So they scooped up all the young miners into the forces, then it dawned on them that the coal output was falling. By 1943, the country was running out of coal to keep the factories in full production, the mining work force was sadly depleted and those miners left in the pits miners were old school, strike prone and ageing.
         In December 1943, Ernest Bevin, the minister for labour, devised a ballot scheme, known as the Bevin Ballot Scheme, whereby men aged between 18 and 25, when they registered for National service, could be picked by lottery to work in the mines, they were known as "Bevin Boys". 48,000 young men found themselves working down the coal mines, irrespective of their ambitions, training or experience.

        This of course this meant that the young men were usually billeted in camps, of Nissen huts near the mines, freezing in winter and stifling hot in summer. When Bevin was asked whether young recruits could have a psychological examination to see if they were temperamentally suited to coal mining, his reply was a simple one word reply, “No”.
        Bevin Boys throughout the war, were unfairly seen by many of the public as conscription dodgers, deserters or conscientious objectors. They were labelled cowards and had white feathers given to them or stuck on their clothing. As they were billeted within mining communities, many of whose sons were in the services, they were also seen as likely to stay on and steal their sons jobs. If a Bevin Boy was killed in a mining accident his family received no compensation and those invalided out had no pension. Some were not demobilised until 1948 because the country was still short of coal. Their treatment on most occasions was deplorable. But that is how the state works when it finds the need, in this system, people serve the state, it is never the state serving the people.

From The Telegraph:

     The alternative was prison. "Some Bevin Boys did choose prison," he said. "It was a complete change of life. We worked in the depth of the earth in cramped, damp conditions. Travelling on leave, we were not even allowed a cup of tea on the train because we had no uniform. Some Bevin Boys were much abused because it was thought we had run away from the Services."
     Some of the men were psychologically scarred by their experiences. Maurice Sheppard, of Durham, recalled: "In 11 months in the mines I lost three stone in weight. I was sent home to see a specialist and diagnosed with 'inward claustrophobia'."
      He was given a special boot allowance because his boots rotted away so quickly in the wet pit, and his digs were so damp that his clothes acquired a green mould.

Read the full article HERE:

        The scheme also affected apprentices, who could be conscripted during their apprenticeship or having completed their apprenticeship at their chosen trade, could find themselves down a coal mine, with no guarantee that they could return to their trade. This sparked the 1943/44 apprentices strike.

From Marxist.com

The reaction of the young apprentices quite astonished everybody. Everyone was completely taken by surprise when they found that, in fact, these young apprentices, who may have been young in years, were quite old in their experience of the class struggle. Because it was their fathers and relatives who worked down the mines and they were fully aware in fact of the kind of work that was done there. A surprising figure, which was actually revealed by the industrial reporter of the Daily Express, was that during the first year of working down the mines, approximately one third of young workers were actually maimed or killed and it was pointed out that it was more dangerous and you were more likely to be actually injured or killed during your time in the mines then it was if you were in the armed forces.

Read the full article HERE:

       The strike did eventually break up but what did come out of it was that no apprentice would be conscripted during their apprenticeship. 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

   

Mass Production, Or Self Sufficiency?

       Is our way of life acceptable, or is it a means of our own demise? How do we sort out the mess we have created? We should remember that spaceship Earth has no escape capsule. Mass production, or co-operation and self sufficiency?

Industrial Civilization, Meat Production and Consumption from αδάμαστο on Vimeo.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Society Of Lies, More Lies, And Damned Lies.

      Most informed people in this society know it is a society of lies, more lies, and damned lies. That's how the system works, sleight of hand, fiddled figures, smoke and mirrors and wild propaganda. If the truth were told, the whole pack of cards would come crumbling down, people just would not accept the fact that  all the wealth we produce is shovelled into the coffers of the corporations and their merry band of pampered parasitic managers. 

       There are those who say the system is broken, far from it, it is doing what it is meant to do, syphon wealth upwards. One reason this robbing, plundering system survives, is the fact that the majority seem to accept the illusion that it can do the opposite.

Our Lords And Masters. (apologies to the hogs)

This from The Void:

      The body established to lie on behalf of the fraud ridden welfare-to-work industry have launched a new campaign on the back of a report so breath-takingly dishonest it would make Iain Duncan Smith blush.
     According to the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), the floundering Work Programme has been a huge success and is set to add £18 billion to the economy.  This is based on a report which ERSA commisioned from a consultancy company called Europe Economics who have mangled the figures in an attempt to hoodwink the DWP into giving Work Programme providers like A4e and G4S even more tax payer’s cash.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Enslave The Unemployed, Hide The Homeless.

       How does Cameron and Osborne, the Financial Mafia's two UK hit-men, help the most vulnerable in our community? Well they are trying workfare, where people work for free, to be honest, this is more an attempt help their corporate buddies and to legalise slavery. Then there is "sanctioning" this is where they take the poorest in the community and remove whatever little income they have, making the individual destitute. However these policies tend to cause another symbol of a country's poverty to appear, begging. To our pompous privileged Oxbridge parasites, begging sends out the wrong message, it exposes their claim of growth and prosperity as myth. So how can they help those unfortunate individuals who find themselves sitting in all weathers begging to survive? Well according to the powers that be,

"Begging will not be tolerated in the City of Westminster or any other London borough. Wherever possible people begging will be arrested and ASBOs sought where appropriate."  Problem solved, poverty eradicated. Or more accurately, imprisoned, moved on to another area, hidden from the affluent centres. We must keep the centres of consumption nice and pleasant, for the more affluent and of course those lucrative tourists. 

     The article in the The Huffington Post has an array of photos of people sleeping rough in London in numbers that are an affront to any civilized country, and an indictment of this system of rule by the financial Mafia. The system will not sort out the reason for sleeping rough, it will merely intimidate, threaten, harass, move on. Push them deeper into the darker recesses of this corrupt system, and when out of sight, they can display their myth to the world, that we are a very affluent society. 

 

     We are a very rich country, a country overflowing with wealth and resources, every penny of which was created by the ordinary people of this country. However it has been purloined, plundered and stolen, and now lies in the hands of those who sweep the poor under the carpet, while implementing policies that create more poor. It doesn't have to be this way.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

    

My Country Is The World.

      The world is my country, humanity my family. One world, one big village, one large family, all equal under the sun, no gods, no masters. Thanks Janice for this one.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Be True To Yourself.

       Our pompous parasite class of privileged millionaires, and their mouthpiece, that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, continue their attempt to glorify and justify, the imperialist bloody land grab of 1914/18 with a biased phoney history. We will have distorted documentaries, plays and ceremonies, about how it was all justified, in an attempt to defend democracy. Of how we were the honourable side, and the other side were a despicable sub-human species. The reality was, those sent by the UK imperialists, to do the killing were bus drivers, farm labourers, office workers, shop assistants, plumbers, engineers etc., who they were sent to kill, were, bus drivers, farm labourers, office workers, shop assistants, plumbers, engineers, etc.. None of whom had ever known democracy in their entire life, all of whom, on both sides, were struggle to create a democracy, something the Imperialists could not tolerate.

     Prior to the Imperial slaughter of 1914/18, the UK, like the rest of Europe, was in turmoil, here in the UK from 1900 to 1914, the country was racked by a continual series of strikes that were noted for their militancy and refusal to follow union leaders dictates.

Troops paraded in the streets of Liverpool in an attempt to intimidate workers, 1911.

        This militancy shook the British capitalist state to its foundations and forced the Liberal government of Herbert Henry Asquith to increasingly turn to military means in an attempt to halt the strikes. While the most famous examples of Government militancy was the despatching of two warships up the River Mersey following the 1911 strike of seamen there are also plenty of other examples such as the use of troops during the rail strike of 1911 in an attempt to keep scab trains operating. This period saw workers militancy break out of the boundaries of bourgeois legality and begin to start to develop towards a more critical consciousness which questioned the very basis of capitalist rule.

      This then was the democracy that existed in the UK prior to the 1914/18 imperial bloody greed fest. Today we are still struggling to create that democracy, and today like then, it is the capitalist class that stands in our way. If only once again, the workers would create that 1911 critical consciousness, and that breaking out of the bourgeois legality.
       When we hear our lords and masters talk of war as a solution to their problems, we would do well to remember the words of Eugene V. Debs, as he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and stripped of his citizenship, in that "Land of the Free", the good ol' US of A, for speaking out against that all encompassing 1914/18 imperialist slaughter.

      “They have always taught and trained you to believe it to be your patriotic duty to go to war and to have yourselves slaughtered at their command. But in all the history of the world you, the people, have never had a voice in declaring war, and strange as it certainly appears, no war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people … Do not worry over the charge of treason to your masters, but be concerned about the treason that involves yourselves. Be true to yourself and you cannot be a traitor to any good cause on earth.”

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

No Human Can Be Illegal.

     For three days now some refugees have been protesting against their treatment, by staying on the roof of a hostel in Berlin, from which they were to be evicted.

          A call for solidarity and the latest from Contra Info:

 

       On the 28th of August there was an evening demo from Frankfurter Tor with around 500 people. cops tried to break it two times. they beat up people. one arrest was confirmed. the demo was crumbling after the arab group (antiimperialist communist group, which also organised the ‘revolutionary may 1st demo’) announced that the cops attempt to storm the hostel roof. people with bicycles left and rushed to the junction in Gürtelstraße. it caused an alarm also at the junction where protesters were because nobody, apart from the arab group, had heard anything about it.
        At around 9.30pm, after the demo arrived at the location, same as usual, speeches, slogans, marginalised political groups presenting their banners, etc. there was lot of free food, which people also took well, but soon afterwards they started leaving again, and before midnight only few people remained. a sign of solidarity was expressed by a neighbour who made kind of a laser show beaming the slogan “no human being is illegal” on his balcony. he later came down when he saw that refugees who tried to get some sleep at the junction had not enough blankets, and went through the barriers giving them two thick ones. then, when he wanted to pass through the barriers, the cops hindered him and prompted him to show his ID, which he had not on him. they made a fuss until his wife shouted: “could you let my husband inside again?…” they let him pass but he was forced to get inside home, get his ID, go down again and show it to the cops. meanwhile the refugees on the roof started continuously drumming (probably on pots), gave light signals and also shouted from the rooftop. protesters replied by shouting back slogans, blowing whistles and there was also one megaphone. but soon cops disallowed all of that.
     Also, a couple of nazis showed up. comrades recognized at least four. three of them appeared in the middle of the road in the Scharnweberstraße standing there and shouting a nazi slogan, while one passed by in a car, but was recognized too late. for sure, there were far more of them who went unrecognized (the protest is directly at the border of their stronghold district Lichtenberg).
    During the 29th and the 30th of August, the situation remained relatively unchanged. authorities still starve refugee protesters on the hostel roof in Gürtelstraße, and support of demonstrators is still low.
      There’s a call for a demo tomorrow, Sunday the 31st at 5pm in Warschauer Straße, Friedrichshain.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

When Is It Right To Buy A Person?

An appeal from Walk Free:

      Andy Hall could face 7 years in prison for doing something you and I do everyday -- talking about modern slavery.

         Andy Hall is a British campaigner with a special focus on the rights of migrant workers. Two years ago, on behalf of Finnwatch, he undertook an investigation into Natural Fruit, part of NatGroup, a Thai company that processes pineapples and supplies retailers around the world. Finnwatch's final report paints a picture suggesting modern slavery: "...passports and work permits confiscated; compulsory and excessive overtime; fines and unclear deductions from wages; debt bondage and violence by guards and superiors."1

      Instead of focusing on addressing these serious allegations, Natural Fruit decided to try and silence Andy with lawsuits. They have pursued civil and criminal charges and now Andy could face a prison sentence and $10 million in legal damages for his investigations.

       Are you as outraged as we are? Now is your chance to join the call for justice. Stand with Andy Hall: demand that Natural Fruit drop all charges against him and thoroughly investigate and take action to ensure there is no modern slavery or exploitation in their business.

        Now is a crucial time in Andy’s prosecution. In just three days his trial will begin. Although Natural Fruit’s behaviour is deeply disturbing it proves that the company cares about its public image. By coming together over the next few days, with activists all around the world that are standing in solidarity with Andy, we can show Natural Fruit’s senior management what we think about these excessive and intimidating charges.

        If this case proceeds and Natural Fruit are successful this would not only be a grave miscarriage of justice for Andy. This process could set a dangerous precedent for other companies in Thailand that might take a similar approach when allegations are raised of modern slavery in their supply chains. This threatens the work of anti-slavery campaigners but also workers in Thailand who might be too afraid to come forward and report abuse.

     Andy Hall is one of us -- please join the growing global outcry over his prosecution and fight for the rights of anti-slavery campaigners and their efforts to end worker exploitation.

      Demand justice for Andy and workers vulnerable to exploitation and modern slavery in Thailand now.

In solidarity,

The whole Walk Free team

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

As We See It.

Plain truth in plain language.

Post by John Couzin.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Perpetrator As Victim.

     As the anger against Israeli actions in Gaza reaches a crescendo, we should never forget that it is a state and its apparatus that perpetrates these brutal crimes. Within Israel there are those, little heard Jews, who call for a just peace. Even although it receives strong support, our anger must always be against the State of Israel, not the entire Israeli population. Just as we in this country at times can't stop our government from such adventures as Iraq and elsewhere, so it is in other states. All who call for peace, freedom and justice, must raise their voice as a unified chorus.

This from The Star:

 

     As a Jewish youngster growing up in Budapest, an infant survivor of the Nazi genocide, I was for years haunted by a question resounding in my brain with such force that sometimes my head would spin: “How was it possible? How could the world have let such horrors happen?”

It was a naïve question, that of a child. I know better now: such is reality. Whether in Vietnam or Rwanda or Syria, humanity stands by either complicitly or unconsciously or helplessly, as it always does. In Gaza today we find ways of justifying the bombing of hospitals, the annihilation of families at dinner, the killing of pre-adolescents playing soccer on a beach.

     In Israel-Palestine the powerful party has succeeded in painting itself as the victim, while the ones being killed and maimed become the perpetrators. “They don’t care about life,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, abetted by the Obamas and Harpers of this world, “we do.” Netanyahu, you who with surgical precision slaughter innocents, the young and the old, you who have cruelly blockaded Gaza for years, starving it of necessities, you who deprive Palestinians of more and more of their land, their water, their crops, their trees — you care about life?

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

It's Insane To Call It Democracy.

       I find it fascinating how the wrong meaning of a word can come into normal use. Take the word "democracy", ask anybody in the street what "democracy" means and they'll probably give a fairly accurate definition, then ask them if we live in a "democracy" and you'll be surprised how many say "yes". Of course our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, continually  reinforce this misuse by their constantly referring to the "Western Democracies". The UK version of "democracy" is one where there are seats of power, and practically all those seats of power are filled from a small pool of rich pampered parasites, and most of them come through that elitist sausage factory known as "Oxbridge". Once the rich pampered parasites are processed through the Oxbridge sausage factory, they then spend a few years playing with their pals, and are then slotted into a position of power, over a section of the country that they nothing about. That my friends is UK "democracy".

       Only around 7% of the UK population attend private fee paying schools, yet many of the UK's judges, journalists, public officials, armed forces chiefs, media executives, are all privately educated before heading to the finishing process at the Oxbridge sausage factory. A report by Social Mobility and Child Poverty Group, concluded that Britain's elite is still  "formed on the playing fields of independent schools" and "finished in Oxbridge's dreaming spires". 

 

      Other figures from the report state that 71% of senior judges, 62% of senior armed forces officers, 55% of government permanent secretaries, 53% of senior diplomats, 45% of public body chairpersons, 44% of The Sunday Times Rich List, 43%  of newspaper columnists, as well as 26% of BBC executives were all privately educated. All that power lying in the hands of a group drawn from a very small 7% privileged bunch, and they call that "democracy".

      Another statement from the report says:  "Our research shows it is entirely possible for politicians to rely on advisors to advise, civil servants to devise policy solutions, and journalists to report on their actions having all studied the same courses at the same universities, having read the same books, heard the same lectures and even being taught by the same tutors."

     Where do we the ordinary people come in on this, when those making the decisions that shape our lives, have no experience of the world in which we the ordinary people live. 

      This ties in with another finding, that as all the countries in the world develop towards being more equal, the divide between rich and poor within each country is getting wider. This model of "democracy" means that the elitists in each country look after their own class, strengthen their power and grow their wealth at the expense of the vast majority of the world's population. How long can this privileged bunch of parasites continue to suck the wealth from the majority into their private coffers, before that majority steeped in ever deepening deprivation, rebel, and change things to a proper "democracy"? 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

What Is TTIP?

     What is TTIP? Well if it is being discussed and developed in secret, behind closed doors, between transnational corporations and governments, you can rest assured it will not be for the benefit of the ordinary people. It will in fact, shred what little protection we have against the ruthless drive for profit by those transnational corporations.

An appeal from 38 degrees:

      Three days and counting: on Saturday, 38 Degrees members in Glasgow North East are meeting up to spread the word about a sinister EU-US trade deal called TTIP. [1]

       The deal is huge, and almost no one knows about it. [2] And that’s exactly what the powerful interests behind it want. So a whopping 8,018 38 Degrees members are volunteering in almost every constituency in the UK on Saturday. They’ll be talking to their neighbours and ramping up the pressure just before MPs come back from their summer holidays.

       Here’s how you can help. Every volunteer, like John who live near you, is getting a pack of materials in the post - leaflets, posters, badges. Each pack costs just £3.27. They’re as cheap as they can be, but they aren’t free.

     Could you help cover the cost of a pack or two? For £6.54, you could pay for 200 leaflets: that’s up to 200 more people who’ll know how dangerous this behind-closed-doors deal is. Not bad for £6.54.

Please click here to chip in now:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/TTIP-chip-in

      38 Degrees is funded entirely by people like you. [3] Not by big business, or by political parties. That means we’re free to hold anyone and everyone to account: including those behind TTIP (who are desperately hoping ordinary people don’t get involved).

      Saturday’s day of action against this sinister trade deal will echo across the country. 8,000 ordinary people will be hitting the streets to talk to their neighbours. That’s people power in action.

       Can you help it happen by chipping in to fund a couple of packs of materials today? Please click here to make a secure donation:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/TTIP-chip-in

Here’s to Saturday,

Susannah, Nat, Megan, Barney, Blanche and the 38 Degrees team

NOTES
      [1] Are you free on Saturday to join in? Click here:
http://ttipaction.38degrees.org.uk
       [2] TTIP - the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - is currently being negotiated between the US and the EU. If it goes through without any changes, it’ll make privatisation of services like the NHS and National Rail irreversible. It’ll also allow big corporations to sue our government if they make changes to the law which affect businesses' profits - like raising the minimum wage.
The Independent: British sovereignty ‘at risk’ from EU-US trade deal: UK in danger of surrendering judicial independence to multinational corporations, warn activists:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-sovereignty-at-risk-from-euus-trade-deal-uk-in-danger-of-surrendering-judicial-independence-to-multinational-corporations-warn-activists-9057318.html
       [3] You can read our donations policy, and see a copy of our audited accounts, here:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/pages/donations-to-38-degrees 

 Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Hold Israel Accountable.

        So Israel has agreed to open the border of Gaza to let in humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials, how generous. What about normal legal trade, freedom of travel to and from Gaza? I suppose now that they have conceded to the most basic minimum, that will be that. No reparations for 50 days of horrendous, brutal destruction and over reaction, more than 2,000 dead, with more than 70% civilians, including approximately 500 children, 17,000 Palestinian homes destroyed and 25% of the people of Gaza now displaced. Then there is the matter of 40% of Gaza's infrastructure destroyed, schools, hospitals, power station and water works, leading to no sewage disposal, and little or no electricity, for what?

     The cease fire should not be the end of the matter, Israel must be held responsible for its policy of genocide, its ruthless destruction, its continual stealing of Palestinian land, and its imprisonment of the Palestinian people. Of course the American administration, by its words and deeds, is complicit in this on going slaughter and destruction. Recently US Congress passed a resolution backing Israel's actions, and voted to send more money for arms for the Israeli state, while at the same time sending jet fuel, grenade rounds and artillery. Meanwhile Secretary of State, John Kerry, referred to Israel's actions as, " appropriate and legitimate."

       Of course the UK government is also in on the money from bloodshed, as we continue to supply Israel with all manner of equipment to assist them in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

     The British government will not block companies exporting arms to Israel, despite previous warnings that arms licenses would be rescinded if fighting in the Middle East continued.

     Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas being broken on Tuesday, a government spokesperson said the licenses have not been suspended.

      “We said we would suspend licenses if there was a significant resumption of hostilities,” a government spokesperson said.

Business as usual: UK arms factories 'profit' from Palestinian bloodshed

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