Protesters shut down UK arms factory to ‘disrupt Israeli war machine’
Press TV – November 10, 2023
Hundreds of trade union members have blocked the entrance of Britain’s largest weapons maker, calling for an immediate end to arms supplies to Israel amid the regime’s brutal military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Demonstrators gathered outside the gate of the BAE Systems site in Rochester, Kent, on Friday.
They were holding Palestinian flags and chanting slogans like “Stop Arming Israel,” “ceasefire now,” and “How many kids have you killed today?”
One organizer said more than 400 trade unionists were involved in the action at the site.
Union members were calling for “an end to the UK government’s complicity in war crimes being committed in Palestine”, which includes an end to arms sales to the occupying regime and support for an immediate ceasefire.
A teacher and member of the Nation Education Union, who took part in the protest said, “As a teacher, seeing 185 schools and other educational institutions in Gaza bombed is utterly heartbreaking.”
“We’re here today to disrupt the Israeli war machine and take a stand against our government’s complicity and we urge workers across the UK to take similar action in their workplaces and communities,” she added.
The factory, run by BAE Systems, claims it does not directly export equipment to Israel. Activists say the company – which includes the site being blockaded – “provides 15% of the components in the F-35 fighter jets that are currently being used in the bombardment of Gaza.”
The value of components supplied by BAE Systems to Israel could be worth more than £300m since 2016, according to campaigners.
Similar protests were also held outside Israeli-owned factories in Britain.
Two of Israel’s biggest weapons factories, Elbit and Rafael, both have operations in the United Kingdom.
The governments of the UK, the United States and the European Union member states have been providing Israel with weapons and military assistance, since the regime launched its genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip on October 7.
Palestinian officials in the besieged Gaza Strip say the Israeli regime has dropped more than 32,000 tons of explosives on the territory in its ongoing war of aggression.
Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the besieged enclave has now killed and injured more than 40,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Hezbollah’s actions showcase their perseverance to secure victory
Al Mayadeen | November 6, 2023
Benjamin Netanyahu desperately seeks to get the United States involved in a multi-front war, Scott Ritter, a former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer, told Al Mayadeen.
During a panel discussion, Ritter explained that Netanyahu is the only person who wants the Northern Front to open with Lebanon, in order to draw the US into the war his government is leading on Gaza because he realizes that his forces are “not up to the task; they can’t defeat Hamas and Hezbollah at the same time.”
Ritter also pointed to the crucial role that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, is executing regarding the unfolding events. “The key player here is Hassan Nasrallah what he will do and he’s made it clear that he is in the business of escalation management; that he is not willing to precipitously escalate the violence with Israel unless provoked.”
For Ritter, Hezbollah’s actions showcase their perseverance to secure victory against the Israeli occupation.
‘Israel’ has lost the propaganda war
“There was a horrific attack against civilians in Lebanon, a sovereign state, carried out by Israel. Nothing we can say can change that reality But this is not the first time this has taken place nor will it be the last time it takes place. This is the standard Israeli operating procedure, Ritter said.
The former Marine Corps officer highlighted Hezbollah’s awareness and perseverance in responding to such situations, which has exacerbated contradictions between the Israeli and American governments.
“The people of Lebanon, the people of Syria, the people of Iraq, [and] the people of Palestine have suffered under this kind of Israeli behavior for decades now,” Ritter told Al Mayadeen.
He later underlined the key factor that will affect “Israel’s” ability to commit brutal and careless crimes in the region, which is the “unquestioned backing of the United States.”
Ritter underscored “that is no longer as guaranteed as it used to be in the past,” as disparency between the United States and “Israel” grows.
This has been accelerated by “a paradigm shift taking place” where “hundreds of thousands of people were in the streets, demonstrating in support of the Palestinian cause, demonstrating in many in support in Hamas,” Ritter underscored.
The political analyst shed light on the vast protests happening in core US cities, such as New York and Washington, as well as popular protests all across the world as factors that have pushed the Palestinian narrative to the forefront of discussions.
“This has never happened before. This is a historical moment, as President [Joe] Biden likes to say, it is an inflection point on American relations with the Arab world, on American relations with Israel today.”
Sayyed Hassan’s foresight cracks Israeli-US ties
Ritter reiterated that Hezbollah’s approach to the war on Gaza has pushed the Palestinian narrative to the forefront globally. In a scenario where Hezbollah instigates a wider escalation, Ritter believes that “people will stop talking about Palestine. People will stop talking about Israel’s aggression, and they will now focus on a new front that will probably include Iran.”
“This is again why Hassan Nasrallah speaks of perseverance. Perseverance means that you have to struggle through the difficult times to ensure that you are not distracted from the strategic vision,” Ritter explained.
He reiterated that “Hamas is winning this fight. Israel cannot prevail. Israel cannot defeat Hamas on the ground. Israel has lost the propaganda battle globally; they have lost in the United States.”
Red Cross condemns attack on aid convoy in Gaza City
MEMO | November 8, 2023
Humanitarian aid convoy came under attack in Gaza yesterday, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Condemning the strike, the ICRC said it was “deeply troubled that its humanitarian convoy in Gaza City came under fire on Tuesday. The ICRC reminds the parties of their obligation under international humanitarian law to respect and protect humanitarian workers at all times.”
The convoy of five trucks and two ICRC vehicles was carrying lifesaving medical supplies to health facilities, including to Al-Quds Hospital of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, when it was hit. Two trucks were damaged, and a driver was lightly wounded.
“These are not the conditions under which humanitarian personnel can work,” said William Schomburg, the head of the ICRC delegation in Gaza. “We are here to bring urgent assistance to civilians in need. Ensuring that vital assistance can reach medical facilities is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law.”
After the incident the convoy altered its route and reached Al-Shifa hospital where it delivered the medical supplies. Afterward, the ICRC convoy accompanied six ambulances with critically wounded patients to the Rafah crossing.
Israel has intensified its bombing campaign in the northern Gaza Strip and has called on all civilians to leave, saying that those who remain will be assumed to be fighters and therefore targeted. This is in spite of the fact that tens of thousands do not have the means or ability to leave the area and thousands are working as emergency workers supporting their local community, including at Al-Shifa Hospital.
US media say Israel is retaliating. The facts show the opposite

A woman taking part in the women’s march near Israel’s fence imprisoning Gazans on July 3, 2018 is carried on a stretcher
By Alison Weir | If Americans Knew | November 8, 2023
US media reports virtually always say that Israeli violence against Palestinians is “retaliation”. The chronology, however, shows the opposite.
Time after time, US news coverage of the issue begins when Palestinians have committed violence, without noting that this violence was preceded by Israeli violence.
Most recently, US news reports make it appear that the current violence began on October 7th, while failing to mention that Israeli forces had been killing Palestinians regularly in the days, weeks, months, and years before that.


Current news reports also fail to note that October 7th was basically a prison break from what many have accurately described as the world’s largest open air prison, imprisoning over 2 million men, women, and children.
Media reports also neglect to inform Americans that the communities surrounding Gaza are built on stolen Palestinian land, many of the former owners imprisoned in the Gaza ghetto, destitute and desperate.
Media reports also fail to inform Americans that before the October operation, thousands of Gazans had gathered every week for over a year and a half to protest their imprisonment and dispossession – and Israeli forces had shot them, week after week.
Media also fail to inform Americans that it is Israel that regularly initiates the violence after periods of calm, according to an MIT professor’s study on the subject.
This type of news coverage is not new, and has often been found in alternative media as well as legacy media companies.
While the pro-Israel lobby in the US is arguably the most powerful special interest group in the country (it appears that $19 billion may go to Israel this year alone), and while media coverage of the issue is demonstrably slanted toward Israel, there are growing numbers of Americans who are demanding a stop to US support for Israeli crimes.
Until Americans learn the many facts on this issue being obscured by US media, the tragic violence in the region, and the wars fought on Israel’s behalf, will continue, and Americans, too, will continue to die.
Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew, president of the Council for the National Interest, and author of Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel.
Hamas faces off against Israeli troops pushing into ‘heart’ of Gaza City
The Cradle | November 8, 2023
Hamas’ Qassam Brigades continue to confront invading Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, as Tel Aviv claims its forces have reached the “heart” of Gaza City.
The Qassam Brigades announced in a statement on 8 November that since the early morning, its forces destroyed “15 enemy vehicles in several areas in Gaza.”
The statement also announced “the sniping of a soldier in the Al-Tawam area, wounding him directly.”
Resistance fighters also targeted a gathering of soldiers and vehicles south of Gaza City with a Konkurs guided missile, as well as two tanks and an armored troop carrier near the Al-Shati camp in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the group’s Telegram page.
Fierce clashes were reported in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, as well.
The Quds Brigades of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement also targeted several Israeli armored vehicles with mortar fire near the Al-Mashtal hotel in northwestern Gaza.
The Israeli army said on 8 October that two more soldiers were killed inside Gaza. This brings the number of casualties admitted by Israel up to 33 since 27 October, when Tel Aviv announced limited ground operations inside Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army claims that its troops are now deep inside Gaza City.
Israeli forces are operating “in the heart” of Gaza City and are “tightening the noose” around Hamas, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on 7 November.
“Gaza City is surrounded. We are operating within it; we are deepening the pressure on Hamas every hour, every day,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that evening.
The prime minister vowed that there would be no ceasefire until all prisoners inside Gaza were returned to Israel.
The Israeli air force has also continued to launch indiscriminate air strikes across the strip, including in the south, where Tel Aviv has called on civilians to evacuate.
In Khan Younis, Israeli warplanes destroyed two Mosques on 8 November. Several other areas in central and northern Gaza were struck by fighter jets.
Hamas to remain key player in Gaza’s future: Resistance group’s senior official to Netanyahu
Press TV – November 8, 2023
A senior member of Hamas political bureau says the resistance movement will continue to be the key player in the politics and the administration of the Gaza Strip which has been under brutal aggression by the Israeli regime for over a month.
Ghazi Hamad said on Wednesday that claims by US officials about the diminishing role of Hamas in Gaza are in fact a sign they have failed to defeat the group after more than a month of military action.
Hamad told Al Jazeera that despite the claims, Hamas is currently a powerful political and military force in Gaza that still determines the course of action in the territory.
He said efforts by the Israeli regime and the US to redefine the situation in Gaza have failed and they have achieved nothing in the small blockaded territory and have only caused mass killing of civilians and destruction of hospitals and the civilian infrastructure.
The official said restoring order to Gaza is purely a Palestinian issue and Hamas will remain a key part of that process despite the will of the US government and the Israeli regime.
The remarks came after Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that Israel would maintain “overall security responsibility” for Gaza “for an indefinite period” when the war ends.
He, however, did not elaborate on the kind of security mechanism such a plan would involve.
At least 10,569 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli regime launched its military campaign on the territory on October 7.
The aggression started after an operation by Hamas that killed 1,400 settlers and military forces in the Israeli-occupied territories of Palestine near Gaza.
Israel has declared its main ambition from invading Gaza is to eradicate Hamas, which has ruled the territory for the past 15 years.
Military experts say the Hamas operation against Israel dealt a huge blow to the regime’s myth of invincibility and boosted the morale of resistance groups in Gaza and in the wider Palestine.
Why Does US Keep Mum on Arms Supplies to Israel?
By Oleg Burunov – Sputnik – 08.11.2023
The Biden administration remains tight-lipped about “critical” US military equipment being delivered to Tel Aviv amid the ongoing armed conflict between Palestine and Israel.
US claims that transparency about Washington’s weapons delivers to Tel Aviv would endanger Israel’s operational security are misleading, experts have told The Intercept.
William Hartung, a fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and an expert on weapons sales, said: “The notion that it would in any way harm the Israeli military’s operational security to provide more information is a cover story for efforts to reduce information on the types of weapons being supplied to Israel and how they are being used.”
According to him, “the purposeful lack of transparency over what weapons the US is supplying to Israel ‘on a daily basis’ is tied to the larger administration policy of downplaying the extent to which Israel will use those weapons to commit war crimes and kill civilians in Gaza.”
Hartung added that even as the Biden administration supports Israel with “weapons and rhetoric, it is a delicate matter politically to give all the details on US weapons supplied to the Israeli military, some of which will certainly be used in illegal attacks on civilians if the war continues to grind on.”
The Intercept also cited an unnamed retired US Marine general as saying that Washington keeping mum on details on its arms supplies to Tel Aviv can be attributed to the political sensitivity of the Palestine-Israel conflict.
In particular, weapons used in door-to-door urban warfare, which […] result in civilian casualties, are not going to be something the [Biden] administration wants to publicize, the retired officer said.
The remarks come after US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby admitted late last month that the White House is “being careful not to quantify or get into too much detail about what Israel is getting [in terms of military aid]— for their own operational security purposes, of course.”
Although the US Department of Defense at first declined to identify any specific weapons systems supplied to Israel, it finally revealed that these include “precision guided munitions, small diameter bombs, artillery, ammunition, Iron Dome interceptors and other critical equipment.”
The Intercept noted in this vein that, “What ‘other critical equipment’ entails remains a mystery, as do specifics about the quantity of arms being supplied, which the US administration has refused to disclose.”
The US news website also recalled that while the Biden administration “put out a three-page list of arms for Ukraine, information on weapons sent to Israel could fit in one sentence.”
US President Joe Biden earlier requested $14.3 billion in funding for Israel in addition to the over $3 billion in military assistance Washington already provides.
US Lawmaker Slams Pro-Israel Lobby: ‘I Don’t Give a F*** About AIPAC’
Sputnik – 07.11.2023
A congressional lawmaker from Wisconsin recently took the gloves off in an interview with US media about the influence of the Zionist group in Washington politics.
US Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) sharply criticized the influence of the pro-Israel lobby in US politics on Monday, singling out the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
“It’s time to call them out for what they are – a front group for conservative policy here in the US – instead of being afraid of them,” said Pocan in an interview with US media.
“I don’t give a f*** about AIPAC – period. I think they’re a cancerous presence on our democracy and politics in general, and if I can be a surgeon, that’s great.”
The statement represents the latest salvo in an ongoing feud between Pocan and the historically influential lobbying group. Last month, AIPAC accused Pocan and several Democratic members of the US House of “trying to keep Hamas in power” in a post on the X social media platform.
The accusation came after several lawmakers voted against a bill expressing unconditional support for Israel’s military action in Gaza (Pocan was not among them). Nine Democratic lawmakers were joined by US Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in opposing the bill, with Massie stating opposition to the bill’s support for sanctions and implied future commitment of US troops in the conflict.
I condemn the barbaric attack on Israel and I affirm Israel’s right to defend itself.
However, I will not be voting for House Resolution 771 today because:
1) It calls for sanctions on a sovereign country. Sanctions are a prelude to war and hurt the citizens of the country more…
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 25, 2023
Pocan responded on the platform, posting “AIPAC is good at not telling the truth… We just don’t support killing kids, which it seems you do.”
At least 4,100 minors and 10,022 people in total have been killed in Israel’s ongoing attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip over the last month, according to latest figures provided by officials.
Additionally, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed 155 people in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, territory illegally occupied by Israel under international law since 1967.
Pro-Israel lobbying groups like AIPAC have helped make Israel the single largest recipient of US foreign aid since World War II, procuring as much as $3.9 billion in yearly assistance for the country.
Criticizing Israel and the influence of the pro-Israel lobby has proven taboo in US politics. US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of only three Muslim members of US Congress, was denounced as antisemitic after criticizing the influence of Zionist lobbyists in 2019. The incident saw her attract criticism from prominent members of her own party, including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former US President Bill Clinton.
Omar was again castigated after a post on social media criticizing Israel in 2021. Omar shared recordings of a threatening voicemail she received in response to public criticism against her at the time, including threatening messages such as “Muslims are terrorists” and one caller saying he hopes her campaign volunteers “get what’s f***ing coming to you.” Public treatment of Muslim officials such as Omar and fellow Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian member of US Congress, has prompted discussion of the role of Islamophobia and Orientalism in public life.
Orientalism is prejudice against people from the Middle East and Middle Eastern culture. The term was popularized by Palestinian scholar Edward Said in his 1978 book “Orientalism,” which argued that domination of the region is fueled by Western contempt and stereotypical assumptions about the Arab world.
A recent study by researchers at Brown University found that as many as 3.8 million people have been killed amidst US-backed military action in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and other countries in the 21st century. US interference in the region has been ongoing for decades, and includes a CIA-backed coup in Iran in 1953, US funding of Mujahideen forces in Afghanistan since the late 1970s, and continued US military support for Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
NATO ally warns US about ‘tarnished reputation’ – media
RT | November 7, 2023
Türkiye has told the US that its stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict has both tarnished its reputation and put the entire world community in a tough spot, Hurriyet reported on Tuesday.
According to the Turkish daily, Ankara conveyed that message during a meeting between Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, which concerned the current crisis in the Middle East.
The sit-down came amid heightened tensions between Türkiye and Israel, Washington’s key ally in the region, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently accusing the Jewish state of “war crimes” in Gaza and denouncing its ground assault as “an open, vicious massacre.”
Israel maintains that it has no intention of harming the civilian population in the Palestinian enclave, stressing that its main objective is to defeat Hamas, which launched a surprise attack on the country on October 7.
Hurriyet claimed that Fidan and his delegation “clearly explained” to Blinken what was happening in Gaza, and that the US vow to stand by Israel while refusing to call for a ceasefire, was “putting everyone in trouble.”
“You are also putting your own image in trouble because you are seen as the patron of the crimes committed by Israel,” the delegation reportedly said.
Following the meeting, the two sides did not issue a joint statement or hold a joint press conference. Speaking to reporters, however, Blinken said that he had a very “productive” conversation with Fidan, including about the need to “significantly expand humanitarian assistance” to Gaza and avoid escalating the conflict.
His remarks came after US President Joe Biden called for a humanitarian “pause” in hostilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later signaled that his government was open to “little pauses” in the fighting.
After Hamas attacked Israel last month, the latter responded with air and missile strikes on Gaza while announcing a “complete siege” of the enclave. To date, the fighting has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 Palestinians, and more than 1,400 Israelis.
Meanwhile, Politico reported on Monday that a group of low- and mid-level US diplomats had urged the Biden administration to condemn Israel’s bombing of civilians and demand a ceasefire. They reportedly argued that failure to do so “contributes to regional public perceptions that the United States is a biased and dishonest actor.”
Bernie Sanders and the Zionist narrative
By Ramona Wadi | MEMO | November 7, 2023
Whenever politicians appear to distance themselves temporarily from the mainstream narrative on Israel, one would do well to be prudent before deciding where their loyalties truly lie, and let the alignment with Zionism reveal itself in due course.
“I don’t know how you can have a permanent ceasefire with an organisation like Hamas which is dedicated to turmoil and chaos, and destroying the state of Israel,” said US politician Bernie Sanders in an interview with CNN. If there is no ceasefire, how can Sanders argue for a humanitarian pause? And what is humanitarian about a lull that provides temporary relief before Israel embarks on the next phase of its murderous bombing campaign in Gaza? Is it “hope”, which Sanders has the audacity to mention as being the ambiguous construct to be given to the Palestinians by the international community, always within the context of the two-state compromise?
The Zionist narrative, which the world promotes even as calls for a ceasefire increase, forms the premise of Sanders’s comments. In 2021, he penned an op-ed in the New York Times that called for the recognition of Palestinian rights and lives while upholding Israel’s “absolute right to live in peace and security”. Israel’s so-called rights are rooted in its colonial framework; Sanders’s attempt at equivalence between the colonised and the coloniser is evident even in the language used: the humanitarian versus the political.
In 2019, Sanders suggested that the US should curb its military aid to Israel based on its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. “I think it is fair to say that some of that should go right now into humanitarian aid,” Sanders added while speaking at J Street’s national conference.
During a presidential debate in the same year in Atlanta, Sanders embarked on another contradiction: “It is no longer good enough for us to be pro-Israel, I am pro-Israel, but we must treat the Palestinians with the dignity they deserve.” Being pro-Israel is being pro-colonialism, for the simple reason that Israel is a colonial enterprise that thrives upon the dispossession of the Palestinian people.
There is nothing about Israel which is not connected to the Zionist ethnic cleansing of Palestinians known as the 1948 Nakba, the ethnic cleansing that has never ended.
Now that Israel has given the world a view of what the Nakba looks like, this time complete with precision strikes that have killed over 10,000 civilians but failed to take down Hamas, what is Sanders truly advocating? What humanitarian pause does he envisage, for example, given that Israel is dropping bombs on hospitals in Gaza? One hundred Israeli doctors have signed a petition calling for Israel to bomb Al-Shifa Hospital, claiming that it harbours Palestinian resistance groups.
What is humanitarian about the humanitarian pause that Sanders claims to want, when the underlying message is a green light for Israel to destroy Gaza under the pretext of destroying Hamas? Considering the aftermath of the bombing, which Israel is already hinting at, what is Sanders’s stance over Netanyahu’s plans for Israel’s possible physical re-occupation of Gaza “for an indefinite period” under the pretext of the colonial security narrative?
There is no way that Sanders can gloss over Israel’s colonial violence, not even with rhetoric about humanitarian pauses. Besides the fact that Sanders’s statement was too little, too late, it would benefit Palestinians if fewer people jumped on the adulation bandwagon for statements that look at the colonised through a colonial humanitarian lens.

