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Palestinian academic wins significant victory against UK university over leaked confidential details

MEMO | October 16, 2024

Prominent Palestinian academic, activist and artist Shahd Abusalama has won a significant victory and reached a settlement agreement with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) for an undisclosed sum, including payment of 100 per cent of her legal costs. This brings an end to Dr Abusalama’s long-running legal battle in which she alleged that the university shared confidential and derogatory information about her with third parties, including politicians and the Jewish Chronicle, a community newspaper which is in crisis following the publication of fabricated stories justifying Israel’s war against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Abusalama was born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp in the besieged Gaza Strip. In January 2022, she was appointed as a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University and, almost immediately, she faced a campaign of defamation and silencing from pro-Israel, right-wing organisations protesting against her employment. SHU subjected Dr Abusalama to multiple investigations but she was cleared of all wrongdoing in an independent report by Akua Reindorf KC. Nevertheless, the parties agreed to part ways in October 2022 in a confidential agreement.

However, according to court documents submitted on Abusalama’s behalf, between August and November 2022 SHU was preparing briefings against her to various third parties, including Members of Parliament, government ministers and the media. This information led to a damaging article published by the Jewish Chronicle on 8 November 2022, which included comments from the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Richard Calvert, in a breach of the confidential agreement. However, the university withheld the fact that Dr Abusalama had already been exonerated by Ms Reindorf’s independent report. The Jewish Chronicle article claimed, and the university denied, that senior SHU officials had reached out to the outlet specifically to discuss Dr Abusalama’s case.

The leaked details, which included information about Dr Abusalama’s departure from SHU, were revealed in the piece alongside details of the university’s new campus in the £8 billion Brent Cross development in London.

“This case is fundamentally about the right to challenge Israel’s longstanding domination of the Palestinian people without fear of reprisal from those in positions of power,” explained Shahd Abusalama. “At a time when I thought I was agreeing to part ways with Sheffield Hallam University amicably, I now know that it was suppressing the report which exonerated me, and smearing me to disreputable outlets that legitimate Israel’s genocide of my people.”

The end of this case, she added, represents one less injustice to endure during a Western-backed Israeli genocide which has led to the displacement of her family, the burning of the family home and the killing, maiming and starvation of the Palestinian people.

“This victory is not just personal. It is a victory against attempts to silence advocates for justice in Palestine, including through the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, a tool designed to protect Israel rather than combat anti-Jewish bigotry. Although the University has failed to admit its wrongdoing verbally, its latest actions speak louder than its lack of words, in particular its agreement to pay my legal costs, usually only payable by an unsuccessful party. My case highlights the multifaceted racisms and structural vulnerability that Palestinians are subjected to in Britain on a daily basis. But it also highlights that if we organise collectively and fight back, we can win.”

Dr Abusalama was represented by Liana Wood at Leigh Day who instructed Michael Sprack. She was also supported by the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC). Her victory follows [release of] a court judgement this week that anti-Zionist comments are protected by equality law in the case of Professor David Miller, who was sacked from the University of Bristol after being accused of making anti-Semitic comments when, in fact, he is a staunch critic of the Zionist state of Israel, not the Jewish people.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , , | Leave a comment

Pathetic Europeans green-light Israel to continue war crimes

By Finian Cunningham | Strategic Culture Foundation | October 15, 2024

It’s almost hilarious if it wasn’t so damnable. The Israeli regime is attacking United Nations peacekeepers and all the pathetic European governments can muster is a mealy-mouthed plea “that these attacks must stop immediately.”

Some 15 members of the UN’s Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have been injured so far after the Orwellian-named Israeli Defense Forces attacked their bases. There are credible reports of IDF tanks deliberately crashing into a UNIFIL base, a watchtower being blown up by Israeli artillery, and chemical weapons fired at peacekeepers.

UNIFIL is deployed in Southern Lebanon under a United Nations Security Council resolution to uphold a peace deal brokered after the 2006 war with Israel. Israel’s invasion of Lebanon last month and the ongoing bombardment of the entire country is a gross violation of the UNSC resolution 1701.

Troops from 16 European nations participate in the UNIFIL peacekeeping operation, with France, Italy, and Spain providing the largest contingencies.

The European Union issued a statement: “The EU condemns all attacks against UN missions. It expresses particularly grave concern regarding the attacks by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which left several peacekeepers wounded. Such attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute a grave violation of international law and are totally unacceptable.”

It added: “We are also deeply concerned by Hezbollah’s continued launch of rockets into Israel that has to stop, and by IDF strikes in densely populated areas of Lebanon, causing a heavy toll on civilians and the displacement of many. We urge all parties to respect International Humanitarian Law, in all circumstances.”

Note how the European governments sneakily hedge and qualify the condemnation of the Israeli regime and insinuate that Hezbollah is also involved in “all attacks against UN missions.”

The European response to Israeli attacks on its UN troops is pathetically craven. The empty bluster about “grave concern” is nothing but a green light for Israel to continue its war crimes.

Ironically, the European NATO armchair generals like to invoke the “appeasement” argument when they talk about how important it is to stand up to Russia over Ukraine. That argument is completely baseless in the case of Russia and Ukraine. However, it is entirely appropriate regarding Israel and genocide in Gaza and Lebanon, where the Europeans are the most contemptible appeasers.

In the same week that the Israeli regime attacked UN peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon, it blew up a UN-run school for refugees in Gaza killing dozens, and it incinerated women and children sheltering in tents outside a UN-supported hospital.

The Israeli genocide in Gaza, now extended to Lebanon, has absolute contempt for the UN and international law. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has even been declared persona non grata by the Israeli regime.

Israel’s psychopathic prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has the gall to tell the UN to get its peacekeepers out of Southern Lebanon, “out of harm’s way.” With twisted logic, he claims that Hezbollah is using the UNIFIL troops as “human shields.” This is the same perverse logic that Netanyahu’s fascist regime has used to justify the murder of over 42,000 Palestinians who were described as human shields for Hamas.

As a sign of protest, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has urged the European Union to suspend a free trade agreement with Israel. Sanchez’s call will be ignored. Just like French president Emmanuel Macron’s call to halt weapons exports to Israel was ignored.

Meanwhile, this week, the European Union imposed trade sanctions on Iran over dubious allegations that it has supplied ballistic missiles and drones to Russia for the conflict in Ukraine. Iran and Russia have strenuously denied the allegation. But the EU has no hesitation in imposing the sanctions.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | 2 Comments

The Zionist lobby wins, but the U.S. loses

Deployment of American troops into the Middle East shows how the pro-Israel lobby profoundly influences American foreign policy

By Lucas Leiroz | Strategic Culture Foundation | October 15, 2024

The U.S. has apparently made the decision to intervene directly in the large-scale conflict currently taking place in the Middle East. According to recent reports, American military units, including auxiliary groups and special forces, are being sent to Israel to more effectively support Tel Aviv’s forces in their land-to-air operations.

The main reason for the U.S. intervention is to support the IDF in air defense operations, and there is an official statement that there is no intention to use U.S. troops on direct combat lines. However, these claims have no practical credibility, since what we are seeing in the Middle East is a progressive escalation.

Previously, direct American assistance was limited to the naval front. Now, specialized troops are already operating air defense systems on “Israeli” soil. Soon, it is quite possible that there will be direct American combat involvement both in Gaza and on the border with Lebanon, since Washington clearly does not have the ability to impose limits on Israel.

The arrival of American troops in Israel at this time is highly significant because the Zionist occupation is going through one of the most difficult moments in its recent history. Israel failed to achieve any of its strategic objectives with the genocidal operation in the Gaza Strip, having killed thousands of civilians, but failed to defeat Hamas and free the prisoners of war. Now, after suffering a humiliation during the recent Iranian attack on Zionist military and strategic bases, Israel is carrying out a disastrous invasion of Lebanon, where it suffers from Hezbollah’s high qualification in guerrilla and attrition warfare – in addition to Israeli cities being increasingly easy targets for the Shiite militia’s missiles and drones.

It is fair to say that Israel is facing more difficulties now than at any other time in its military history. Tel Aviv is exhausting its defense and intelligence resources without achieving any meaningful objective, falling into a trap from which it will certainly not escape without profound changes in its state structure – if not its actual ceasing of existence as a state.

It would be naive to think that Pentagon strategists are unaware of this type of situation. Despite American propaganda encouraging Israel, senior American defense officials certainly know that entering Israel is strategic suicide for the United States, which is why the Pentagon’s recent decision seems even more irrational. However, it is important to understand that not all decisions made by a state are based on strategic sense and rationality, and that several factors influence it, such as historical and ideological ties and, above all, the stimulus of various lobbies.

Contrary to what many experts say, the reality of U.S.-Israeli ties cannot be understood by taking Washington as the main agent of relations. Israel seems to have much more influence on American politics than Washington has in Tel Aviv. It is no coincidence that, despite Democrats and Republicans disagreeing on many issues, they continue to agree on Israel, with support for Zionism being absolute among all American politicians.

In fact, what the decision to send American military personnel to Israeli soil reveals is that it is the Zionist lobby that really controls the main strategic decisions of the United States. Joe Biden and his main allies have made it clear several times that they are not willing to directly support Israel in a major regional war in the Middle East. With elections coming up and major domestic problems in the United States, all Washington wants to do is to resolve its own issues and avoid military engagement. However, American decision-makers do not seem to have enough strength to neutralize the influence of the Zionist lobby, giving in on several important issues, even though all strategic sense advises something different to be done.

In the end, it is possible to say that once again the Zionist lobby has won the American political game. It remains to be seen how long the U.S. will be able to resist the pressure from this same lobby for [increased] direct intervention.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Corruption, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , | 1 Comment

More on Israeli Atrocities

Attacking UN peacekeepers is a dangerous policy

By Philip Giraldi • Unz Review • October 15, 2024

That Israel is now attacking United Nations peacekeepers in south Lebanon might well be decisive in turning its few remaining “friends” against it. Spain, France, Ireland and Italy, all of which contribute to the peacekeepers force (UNIFIL), and which continued to look the other way when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his band of war criminals committed atrocity after atrocity against Arabs, are now finding themselves mortified when European soldiers are being attacked and wounded by cannon fire from snipers and Israeli tanks. In one incident, Israeli armored vehicles smashed their way through the gate of a UNIFIL base, allegedly using chemical weapons that injured 15 UN soldiers. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is urging Europeans to cut off all trade and especially weapons sales with Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron declared an embargo on selling weapons to Israel and called for an immediate cease fire while several prime ministers have all expressed their “outrage” at the Israeli actions. Even the occupied-by-Israel UK declared itself to be “appalled.” Giorgia Meloni of Italy observed that two bases manned by Italian soldiers had been hit. Her Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto called the attack on the UNIFIL bases “totally unacceptable,” elaborating that “This was not a mistake and not an accident. It could constitute a war crime and represents a very serious violation of international military law.” He might have also added that since it was a gross violation of the UN Charter countries including permanent Security Council members China and Russia are demanding a full investigation of what took place.

As usual, Israel portrayed itself as the innocent victim surrounded by evil neighbors. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the UN chief to remove the UN peacekeepers who are now deployed in southern Lebanon. He claimed, without providing any evidence, that UNIFIL was serving as a “human shield to Hezbollah terrorists… This endangers both [those in UNIFIL] and the lives of our soldiers… Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately.” The reality is, of course, that anyone encountering armed Israelis is automatically in “harm’s way,” ask any Palestinian. The Israeli armed forces, having already killed scores of UN workers during their 13-month siege of Gaza, appear set to double down and take on UN peacekeeping forces on their mission to expand the war to Syria and Iran. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has thus far refused to remove UNIFIL.

Regarding UNIFIL, the United States characteristically played its usual game of protecting Israel and throwing in a couple of misrepresentations of fact while saying nothing substantive. A National Security Council spokesman said that the White House is “deeply concerned” by reports Israel fired on the UN peacekeeper headquarters and bases in south Lebanon. “We understand Israel is conducting targeted operations near the Blue Line to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure that could be used to threaten Israeli citizens. While they undertake these operations, it is critical that they not threaten UN peacekeepers’ safety and security.” It was an all too rare expression of the reality that the United States is being dragged into a war in which it has no real interests by a ruthless client state that has been able to buy or coerce nearly all Congressmen into cheering and singing its song while also controlling much of the relevant bureaucracy and the White House itself. It is also being reported that a beefed up CIA station at the US Embassy in Beirut is collecting information on Hezbollah that is passed on to Israel to assist in its targeting.

It is not the first attack by Israel on United Nations personnel and it will probably not be the last as the Israel Occupation Force (IOF) has been de facto waging war against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza over the past year, targeting and killing its personnel and denying or blocking its largely humanitarian mission. And the United Nations is also a target more generally speaking. At his most recent visit to the UN in New York, the monstrous Netanyahu exhibited a new low even for him, shouting to a nearly empty General Assembly room that the UN has become a “swamp of antisemitic bile,” again playing his favorite tune that Israel is always the victim. And the US has played a role in that campaign, denying any funding to the UNRWA and other international human rights bodies while also attacking the UN’s broader mission which has been to prevent wars of choice like what is occurring in what was once Palestine.

Inevitably, however, the Zionist fanatics in power in Washington are still motivated to ride the Israeli horse no matter who Netanyahu marks for death, leading to strident calls in Congress, mostly coming from Christian Zionist Republicans, to defund or even leave the United Nations completely. Given Donald Trump’s total fealty to Israel, it is something he just might consider doing if he is reelected. And the threats from individual congressmen to kill UN officials as well as justices and their families who serve on the international courts are all part of what one is hearing.

One particularly charming threat comes from a Jewish former White House advisor Matthew Brodsky, who has lived and studied in Israel. Brodsky recommended in a tweet on X that Israel should attack Irish peacekeepers in South Lebanon, suggesting what kind of advice the White House and Congress are accustomed to receive regarding Israel and Palestine from their overwhelmingly Jewish foreign policy team, which consists of nearly all confirmed Zionists, including President Biden, and also includes a number of dual nationals who hold Israeli citizenship. Brodsky’s background includes briefing members of Congress, the Department of State, Department of Defense and the National Security Council on Iran, Syria and Palestinian-Israeli issues. Brodsky is currently a Senior Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy and a former Director of Policy at the Jewish Policy Center. He wrote that: “Israel should carpet bomb the Irish area and then drop napalm over it.” The tweet included a map showing the deployment of Ireland’s peacekeeping force in Southern Lebanon, presumably to help guide the Israeli pilots.

There is considerable evidence that Brodsky is far from alone in expressing his complete loyalty to Israel no matter what crimes it commits. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also Jewish and possibly a dual national, has been acting as Israel’s lawyer, complete with lies about Israeli behavior to cover-up war crimes like the deliberate starving of the Gazan people that equates to genocide. And he is joined in the Middle East by Amos Hochstein, Joe Biden’s personal roving ambassador to the region, who reportedly connived at Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon. And clearly there is a long tradition of asserting Jewish supremacism within the upper levels of the US government. Last year Stuart Seldowitz, a former US State Department official, was filmed in New York City threatening an ethnic Egyptian halal food street vendor, calling him a terrorist. Seldowitz was recorded saying that the death of 4,000 Palestinian children “wasn’t enough”, highlighting legitimate concerns about anti-Palestinian sentiment among some former US officials. Seldowitz worked for former State Secretary Madeline Albright, who in a shocking interview once justified the killing of 500,000 Iraqi children, stating her view that the killings were “worth it”.

So where do we go from here. Sometimes recognizing that we have a problem can be the first step in coming up with a solution. To my mind, the rot started with President Harry Truman, who sold out to Jewish money and media power in the 1948 creation of the state of Israel, which real statesmen like Secretary of State George Marshall warned against. Some would put the betrayal earlier, with the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913. In any event, it is now counter to actual US interests to be so totally subservient to Israeli priorities. A good first step would be to require the constituent groups that make up the Israel Lobby to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, which would require them to reveal their sources of income and their connections to Israel. It would also prohibit them from interfering in US politics. In addition, it does not make sense to send American Ambassadors and Emissaries to Israel who are far more loyal to Israel than to the United States, as the last several have been. Nor does it make sense to have a Jewish/Zionist Secretary of State backed up by a largely Jewish staff and White House cabinet to carry out diplomacy in the Middle East. Diplomacy is precisely what Blinken has not been doing and if he had any decency, which he does not, he would in any event recuse himself from involvement with anything having to do with Israel.

The unconditional ironclad pledge to defend a nation carrying out a genocide while simultaneously seeking to go to war with all its neighbors is a formula for initiating World War III, which will kill millions of people. Indeed, Biden, who has been discussing with Netanyahu how to attack Iran, has now deployed to Israel a $1.15 billion Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to be manned by 100 American soldiers on the ground in Israel. The Washington Post is reporting that Israel has decided to attack military sites in Iran before the US election. This is just what Netanyahu wants as he will initiate a new conflict with Iran, Iran will retaliate, possibly killing US military based inside Israel, and bingo the US will be at war. In truth, the world needs less of a rabid dog Jewish state calling the shots as well as less of a corrupted and befuddled America dedicated to protecting the ravening beast. International lawyer John Whitbeck has described the current reality best: “By their venality, cowardice, moral bankruptcy and near-treason, the American political class is flushing a once great country down history’s toilet, and the Global West, if it does not liberate itself from domination by the Israeli-American Empire, risks a similar fate.”

Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sacked Bristol professor case: UK judge says anti-Zionist views ‘worthy of respect’

Press TV – October 16, 2024

An employment tribunal in the UK has concluded that holding the belief that Israel’s actions against Palestinians amount to apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide are “worthy of respect in a democratic society.”

In February, a UK judge ruled in a landmark decision that David Miller, the producer of Press TV’s ‘Palestine Declassified’ show, who was fired from the University of Bristol in 2021 for anti-Zionist views, was unfairly dismissed and subjected to discrimination.

This week, the tribunal published its 120-page judgement, which sets out why Miller’s views were protected under anti-discrimination laws.

“Although many would vehemently and cogently disagree with [Miller]’s analysis of politics and history, others have the same or similar beliefs,” Judge Rohan Pirani said in the judgement.

“We find that he has established that [the criteria] have been met and that his belief amounted to a philosophical belief.”

Miller was dismissed in 2021 after accusing Israel of wanting to “impose [its] will all over the world.”

Following his dismissal, he launched employment tribunal proceedings claiming unfair dismissal, breach of contract and discrimination or victimization on grounds of religion or belief.

At his hearing, he made clear that anti-Zionism was not the same as anti-Semitism, and was not a “racist set of ideas.” He also described Gaza as an “open air prison.”

He said that Zionism was “ideologically bound to lead to the practices of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide in pursuit of territorial control and expansion.”

Zillur Rahman, who represented Miller, called it a “landmark case” which “marks a pivotal moment in the history of our country for those who believe in upholding the rights of Palestinians.”

The judgement noted that Miller had expertise on the subject of Zionism.

On the academic’s anti-Zionism beliefs, Pirani said, “We conclude that they have played a significant role in his life for many years. We are satisfied that they are genuinely held.”

“He is and was a committed anti-Zionist and his views on this topic have played a significant role in his life for many years.”

The panel said his beliefs were “worthy of respect in a democratic society, [are] not incompatible with human dignity and [do] not conflict with the fundamental rights of others.”

“[Miller]’s opposition to Zionism is not opposition to the idea of Jewish self-determination … but rather, as he defines it, to the exclusive realization of Jewish rights to self-determination within a land that is home to a very substantial non-Jewish population,” Pirani added.

The judgement was criticized in February by the London-based Union of Jewish Students (UJS), a body representing university Jewish societies and Jewish students.

“UJS believes this may set a dangerous precedent about what can be lawfully said on campus about Jewish students and the societies at the center of their social life. This will ultimately make Jewish students less safe,” it said.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , , | Leave a comment

THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT’S NOVICHOK TRIAL REVEALS A TOXIC SHOCK

By John Helmer | Dances With Bears | October 14, 2024

In the first day of public hearings directed by retired judge Anthony Hughes – titled Lord Hughes of Ombersley – the evidence compiled over six years by the police, secret services, CCTV records, and witnesses is that Novichok, identified as one of the world’s fastest acting nerve poisons, was sprayed on the front door-handle of Sergei Skripal’s house in order to kill him by direct contact.

“As each of them touched the front door-handle on  the way out of the house, that they were poisoned with Novichok,” reported the judge’s chief counsel, Andrew O’Connor KC. “It was this door handle that was the source or,  in their [police] term, the ground zero of the Novichok  contamination”, (O’Connor page 19, line 13, page 24, line 6).

In the official narrative, it then took at least two and a half hours to act on the alleged Russian assassination targets, Sergei and Yulia Skripal, as they sat on a bench in the centre of Salisbury town after drinking at a local pub and then eating at a restaurant. That was between 1:30 pm and 4 pm on March 4, 2018. Between the prosecution’s alleged murder weapon and the attempted murder, 120 to 150 minutes had elapsed. Click to follow  — O’Connor page 20-21.

This contrasts with the official narrative of the Novichok poisoning of Dawn Sturgess on June 30, 2018, that between contact with the poison and her fatal heart attack the elapsed interval was “between about 9.30 and 10 o’clock that  morning” — less than 30 minutes. Follow at https://docs.google.com/viewer?docex=1&url=https://dsiweb-prod.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/Transcript-14-October-2024.pdf, line 24.

The evidence of the two assassins – Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov — charged  with attempted murder of the Skripals  includes “plentiful evidence of their movements  and actions and we will review it in detail during the  coming hearings. The evidence is complex and of course the detail matters. For today’s purposes, I propose simply to outline the effect of the CCTV evidence regarding Petrov and Boshirov’s movements in the course of their two visits to Salisbury.”

In the summary presented to Hughes’ courtroom for the first time of CCTV imagery, there is no evidence at all that the assassins came close to the Skripal house, neither on their first walking tour of the town on March 3, nor on the following fateful day, March 4.

“Of course the detail matters” – but there is no fresh evidence of how close or how far the alleged assassins came to the Skripal house. All that is now alleged in the photographic and map displays presented during the hearing is that “both Petrov and Boshirov and the Skripals are in very much the same area at very much the same time. One has to aim off course because two of them are on foot and then there’s the car. But it does seem at least possible that Boshirov and Petrov may even have been in the vicinity of Sergei Skripal’s house at the time that the Skripals were leaving.”

For the inquiry team and its police and government sources, O’Connor admitted the CCTV evidence for the allegation that Boshirov and Petrov sprayed their poison on the Skripal door-handle is missing. “They were then lost from the view of CCTV cameras  for 31 minutes before they re-emerged at the junction of the High Street and Bridge Street — that’s the blue  marking to the right that you can see there – and  walked back towards the station. You will hear evidence, sir, as to where they might have been and what they might have done during that  31-minute period.”

The closest the official evidence against the Russians can place them to the Skripal door-handle is at a street roundabout where Wilton Road and Devizes Road intersect.

The roundabout is at lower right of the map – source: https://dsiweb-prod.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/
According to the map scale, the distance from the roundabout to the Skripal house is about 700 metres as the crow flies. To reach it on foot is a distance of about 1 kilometre.

“It is about half a mile from the roundabout, is Christie Miller Road  where Sergei Skripal’s house was located.” O’Connor said; click to read at page 43, line 3.  Half a mile, or 800 metres, is beyond the range of all known lethal poison spray technologies, even Russian.

To connect the assassins to their murder act the summary British evidence is revealed in four phrases – “at least possible”, “may even have been”, “might have been”, and “might have done”. By the British legal and courtroom standards of “beyond reasonable doubt” and “balance of probabilities”, these admissions reveal the trial of the Russian Novichok is based on speculation which a judge would be required to order the jury to disregard as inadmissible.

The counsel to the Inquiry then read out a Russian Embassy statement: “‘It has never been explained how it was possible for the Skripals to lose consciousness simultaneously several hours after coming into contact with the nerve agent, despite them being persons of different age, gender and body constitution.’ Then again in the final paragraph: ‘It has never been explained why not a single  person providing first aid and further medical assistance to the Skripals ever developed any signs or symptoms of nerve agent poisoning, even if the nature of the poisoning was not known at least for two days.’”

For the time being, O’Conner told his judge, “So we will carefully explore all the issues that have been raised with the witnesses who are called to give evidence in the coming weeks.”

Follow the hearings in their improbable detail at the Sturgess Inquiry website.

For the only book of the case evidence tested at the British legal standards, click here.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Deception, Russophobia | | Leave a comment

EU’s ‘arm-twisting’ making Serbia turn to BRICS – Kremlin

RT | October 16, 2024

BRICS is a more welcoming and member-oriented group than the European Union, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, commenting on the possibility that Serbia could seek to join the economic bloc.

His comments came after Belgrade said that instead of EU membership, it would explore the option of joining BRICS, which is currently chaired by Russia.

“Serbia has been having its arm twisted. They [the EU] always lay down conditions for cooperation and demand certain actions,” Peskov told the Mayak radio station. “We are certain that Serbia will make decisions that are most beneficial to its people,” he added.

The Balkan country applied to join the EU in 2009 and has been a candidate for membership since 2012. In an interview on Sunday, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin accused Brussels of moving the goalposts for accession, most recently by linking Belgrade’s membership to severing relations with Moscow.

“BRICS does not impose any conditions on anyone. It’s based on mutual respect and the readiness to address concerns and interests of members. No one there says ‘either, or.’ That’s why [the group] is so attractive to a raft of countries,” Peskov stated.

Another long-time EU hopeful, Türkiye, officially applied to join BRICS in September, becoming the first NATO state to do so.

Azerbaijan, Algeria, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Palestine, DR Congo, Gabon, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Kuwait, Senegal, Cuba, Belarus, and Bolivia are among the other nations that have expressed their wish to join BRICS.

The Russian city of Kazan will host the annual BRICS Summit later this month. A Serbian delegation will attend, along with others from a raft of countries, including members Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September that the current BRICS states had agreed to discuss granting partner status to some aspiring members and to potentially approve some of the bids during the Kazan summit from October 22 to 24.

If agreed upon, partner status will become a new form of partial BRICS membership, intended to act as a gradual transition toward full integration into the group.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , , | Leave a comment

Zelensky presents ‘victory plan’

RT | October 16, 2024

Vladimir Zelensky presented his much-hyped “victory plan” to the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday, suggesting it could help bring the conflict with Russia to a close as early as next year. However, he stressed that this outcome is possible only if Kiev rules out any compromises with Russia and receives full support from the West.

In his speech, Zelensky lamented that “victory has become an inconvenient word” for some people, adding, however, that he was certain that his “victory plan” would help end the conflict. “This plan can be implemented. It depends on the partners. I emphasize: on partners. It doesn’t exactly depend on Russia,” Zelensky said, accusing Moscow of not wanting peace.

“If you start moving with this idea, with this particular victory plan…, there may be a deal to end the war no later than next year,” he added, rejecting a freeze of the conflict and any “trade” of territories.

Zelensky said the plan consists of eight points, three of which are classified. First and foremost, the Ukrainian leader demanded that Kiev receive an invitation to immediately join NATO, a move the bloc has been reluctant to entertain, citing fears of being dragged into the conflict with Russia.

Second, he also stressed the need to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities, including by lifting Western restrictions on the use of foreign-made long-range weapons for strikes against Russia, and also called for continued incursions into the neighboring country’s territory.

For the third point, Zelensky proposed to the West that Ukraine “deploy a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package on its own land” to keep Russia at bay.

Fourth, he suggested that Ukraine sign with its backers “a special agreement on the joint protection of available critical resources” on its territory. These resources “will strengthen… either Russia and its allies, or Ukraine and the democratic world,” he said.

Finally, Zelensky said Ukraine could share its real-life battlefield experience with the West to “strengthen NATO’s defense and ensure security in Europe.”

Prior to Zelensky’s speech, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that his plan was just another facet of the US-dictated policy of fighting Russia “to the last Ukrainian.” Peace, he added, can only be achieved if Kiev understands “the futility of the current policy and the need to sober up and realize the reasons that led to the conflict over Ukraine.”

President Vladimir Putin has said that one of the main reasons for the conflict was Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO and Kiev’s “genocide” of the people in Donbass, which is now part of Russia.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , | 1 Comment

ICC ignores the Kiev regime’s kidnapping of at least 1000 civilians in Kursk region

By Drago Bosnic | October 16, 2024

It’s been over two months since the Kiev regime launched its incursion into the Kursk oblast (region). The area was previously limited only to cross-border skirmishes, artillery duels and occasional sabotage operations, which was why the Russian military deployed Rosgvardiya, particularly the “Akhmat” special forces mostly composed of personnel from Chechnya. These units were not equipped to handle army-sized invading forces and it took some time for the regular military to move in and prevent further advances by the Neo-Nazi junta troops. Expectedly, as PR “victories” are the most important segment of the latter’s strategy, this was heavily (ab)used to sow discord within Russia, with the Kiev regime trying to present Chechens as “TikTok soldiers”. However, war propaganda was the least of the Neo-Nazi junta’s crimes in the occupied parts of this Russian region.

Namely, the invading force committed gruesome atrocities against Russian civilians, while Nazi-style treatment of the local population is a common practice. This is yet another proof that “nomen est omen” is not just a simple saying. While militarily unjustified, the Kiev regime still went ahead with the incursion. Generals were against it, thinking it was a waste of the Neo-Nazi junta’s increasingly scarce resources. Other high-ranking officials also strongly opposed the move, seeing it as nothing more than Zelensky’s risky (geo)political gambit. This includes former top commander General Valery Zaluzhny, currently holding the largely ceremonial role of ambassador to the UK. The mainstream propaganda machine’s reaction was mixed, with some reporting it as risky, while others continued the usual “Ukraine is winning” narrative, insisting that the incursion “embarrassed” Russia.

CNN ran stories about Moscow’s supposed “inability” to push back the Neo-Nazi junta forces, quoting the latter’s field commanders who claimed that “Russian advances are mostly happening on the flanks of our foothold” and that “they’re only making incremental gains, but lose them to counterattacks”. However, even the mainstream propaganda machine was forced to admit this wasn’t the case, as the Russian military made fast and steady advances in recent weeks, leading to serious breakthroughs. There’s even a strong possibility that the Kiev regime forces in the area could soon be encircled. The Russian advance has been so fast in some areas that not even NATO personnel were able to flee, with Moscow’s forces neutralizing some Americans fighting for the Neo-Nazi junta. The Russian military also has foreign fighters (particularly Serbs), although they’re volunteers.

However, as Moscow’s forces keep advancing, they’re finding evidence of war crimes by the Kiev regime. Perhaps the most concerning is the disappearance of around 1000 locals. The Kremlin has issued a formal accusation that the Neo-Nazi junta forces kidnapped 1,000 residents of the Kursk region. Russian authorities confirmed this after the relatives of the missing locals pleaded with the government to help find them.

“I’ve received messages regarding more than 1,000 such people from relatives trying to find them. We know nothing about their fate. This is a gross violation of their rights and international norms of treatment of civilians,” presidential human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said on October 14, adding: “I think it would be useful to remind you that the forced removal of civilians from their places of permanent residence is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention. And the world community should probably give this a proper assessment.”

However, the so-called “international community” (a rather pathetic euphemism for a NATO-occupied fraction of the actual world) is busy with prosecuting (or persecuting, to be precise) President Vladimir Putin for evacuating kids from an active warzone. In fact, enemy combatants who waged war on the people of Donbass for years (including as part of Neo-Nazi units) were actually allowed to go to Russia and take their kids (although this too was used for anti-Russian propaganda).

So far, Moscow had to evacuate over 112,000 residents displaced by the Kiev regime forces. However, based on footage posted on social media, some civilians remained, mostly elderly people. The Neo-Nazi junta keeps insisting that the locals in occupied areas are treated “humanely”. Still, evidence on the ground suggests otherwise. There were instances where civilians were shot in cars by the Neo-Nazi junta forces, while first reports about kidnappings appeared just days after the Kursk oblast incursion was launched. What’s probably even more disturbing is the direct involvement of the US-led political West, which not only supported the PR attack, but also took part in its planning. Namely, leaked documents show that several high-ranking American officials and at least one Washington DC-based think tank directly contributed to drawing up plans for the Kiev regime’s attack.

This includes former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, whose email was hacked, revealing “peculiar” papers on the Kursk oblast incursion. Along with former US ambassador to Uzbekistan and Ukraine John Herbst, McFaul was invited to take part in a wargame organized by the Atlantic Council, a rabidly warmongering think tank with close ties to the Pentagon and the plutocratic oligarchy in Washington DC. This highly controversial gathering took place back in February, while the wargaming itself focused precisely on an incursion such as the one launched in Russia’s Kursk oblast. This makes the US and NATO directly responsible for the gruesome atrocities and war crimes committed by the Neo-Nazi junta. It’s only a matter of time before this fact is confirmed legally, obviously by a Russian court, as actual justice cannot be expected from glorified NGOs posing as courts, such as the infamous ICC.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.

October 16, 2024 Posted by | War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

Government responds to al-Aqsa hospital attack by sanctioning… Iran

Who else would we sanction?

By Laura and Normal Island News | October 15, 2024

So I’ve just had an emergency meeting with the BBC and Sir Keir Starmer’s team at Downing Street to coordinate our response to the Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa hospital that was so shocking, it has been described as the defining moment of Joe Biden’s presidency.

After carefully reviewing footage of hospital patients on IVs being melted in their tents, we’ve come to the conclusion… it’s totally fine.

Totally. Fucking. Fine.

It’s so fine, in fact, that Starmer wheeled out Emily Thornberry to do the TV rounds and remind everyone that war crimes have been committed by “both sides”, those sides being Iran and Hezbollah. Thornberry didn’t even name Israel, confusingly implying Iran and Hezbollah are at war with each other.

Apparently, Israel is just an innocent victim cowering in the middle, wondering why the other sides won’t stop doing genocide. Poor Israel.

David Lammy was so upset by the situation, he quickly imposed sanctions on Iran, and I’m unclear if this means he’s siding with Hezbollah now. I’ve no idea what our story is because I was scrolling through Instagram during our meeting, so fuck it, I’ll just make something up and hope you’re too stupid to notice the inconsistencies. Let’s be honest, you normally are…

Yesterday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launched rockets at people who were in hospital beds in tents because Iran had already bombed the hospital in self-defence, and the remains of the hospital didn’t have enough room for the injured…

Hang on, I’m being told bombing hospitals doesn’t count as “self-defence” when Iran does it so this must have been a brutal act of aggression.

Horrifyingly, we saw figures writhing in the flames as innocent civilians on life support machines were burned alive. Those people had already been bombed once, only to be taken to the least safe place in Gaza – the hospital – to be bombed again.

A young boy screamed helplessly from the side-lines as he watched his father being incinerated. If that boy expresses anger when he grows up, we will probably call him a terrorist, but today, we’re feigning sympathy because we’re nice.

A powerful image was captured when a 19-year-old reached his hand out of the flames in desperation as his life left his body. This moment tore out the heart of everyone who witnessed it, apart from the people in government who just shrugged.

The young man was called Sha’ban. You will be surprised to hear Sha’ban was a human being with hopes and dreams just like you. He was a handsome young man with a gentle face that didn’t resemble the stereotype of the snarling Palestinian savage who deserves everything they get. He was a kind and intelligent boy whose mother was extremely proud of him, and she was burnt alive at his side for the Greater Israel project. We might have spent the last year convincing you Palestinians can’t feel human emotion, or even pain, but that might have been a lie.

Thankfully, you’re allowed to care about Palestinians being brutally killed today because I’m pretending Iran sent the rocket, and everything Iran does is bad. This massacre couldn’t possibly have been done by Israel because everything Israel does is good, and not even I, with all my powers of propaganda, could pretend this massacre was a good thing.

Unfortunately, I’ve still got half of this report to get through, and I’ve no idea how to handle this, so let me just light a cigarette… Alright, I’ve gathered myself. Let’s race through this thing and then maybe I’ll take up drugs.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has sensibly threatened the Secretary-General of the United Nations, explaining he will hold him personally accountable if he does not remove all UNIFIL troops from Lebanon. This is despite the Secretary-General being powerless to act because it would be a decision for the UN Security Council.

You will be outraged to hear UNIFIL troops keep getting in the way of the IDF’s bullets, bombs, and chemical weapons, something the IDF would never want to happen. The stupid fucking peacekeepers even managed to inhale Israel’s white phosphorus.

Even worse, the UNIFIL presence at the border is stopping Netanyahu from turning southern Lebanon into Gaza part two. The IDF has therefore raided several UINIFIL bases and destroyed one of them because we’re pretending Hezbollah was using those bases, just like Hamas was hiding under hospitals in Gaza. It doesn’t matter if it’s not true, the point is Netanyahu is ready to declare war on UNIFIL. Declaring war on the United Nations is the type of thing a totally normal nation would do.

Please understand Israel can do whatever it wants because it’s a nation in mourning after four of its children were slaughtered by Hezbollah while planning a nice day out with their assault rifles. Those children might have been grown adults who’d spent the last year committing war crimes, but we consider them more precious than middle-aged brown woman, Hind Rajab.

Personally, I find it so much easier to empathise with Israelis because their skin tone is slightly closer to mine. Even my nemesis at Sky, Kay Burley, appears to feel the same and we hate each other. This explains why Kay couldn’t hide her pain as she reported a drone attack took the lives of Israel’s child soldiers, shortly after the IDF had carpet-bombed civilians in Beirut. No matter our politics in the mainstream media, we’re in agreement that Israelis are the real victims here

October 16, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , | 1 Comment

An on-the-ground look at Israel’s ‘Dahiya doctrine’

Dimitri Lascaris | October 13, 2024

The “Dahiya doctrine” is an illegal, Israeli military strategy involving the large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure, or ‘domicide’.

The doctrine’s goal (which invariably fails to materialize) is to pressure governments and resistance groups to submit to Israel’s aggression.

The doctrine was first championed by former Israeli Chief of General Staff Gadi Eizenkot.

Eizenkot is currently a Minister without portfolio in Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right regime.

Dimitri Lascaris is currently in Beirut, Lebanon. In this report, he examines the effects of the ‘Dayiha doctine’ in the very city from which the doctrine derives its name.

Today (October 13, 2024), Lascaris visited a neighbourhood in Dahiya which Israel bombed several days ago.

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October 16, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Video, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment