One up for Assange!

On Monday WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange won a victory in his ongoing battle against extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States, after the High Court in London granted him permission to appeal.
Permission to appeal was to be granted only if the American government was unable to provide the court with suitable assurances that Assange can rely on the First Amendment (free speech) for protection.
The Americans had to prove that Assange, who is Australian, will not be prejudiced at trial due to his nationality, and will be afforded the same protections as an American citizen.
The American side also had to provide assurance that Assange would not be sentenced to death if convicted.
Assange's legal team criticised the assurances provided by the US government at the hearing, arguing that "based on the principle of the separation of powers, the US court can and will apply U.S. law, whatever the executive may say or do”.
Most of the assurances were "blatantly inadequate," said Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Assange. However, the American assurance on the death penalty was accepted by Assange's legal team.
The lawyer said in written submissions that while the assurance on the death penalty was "an unambiguous executive promise," the other assurances do not give "any reliable promise as to future action".
Assange supporters cheered at the news of the court's ruling. He was not in court on Monday for health reasons, but those present included his wife Stella.
"The judges reached the right decision... as a family we are relieved, but how long can this go on? The United States should read the situation and drop this case now. Now is the moment to do it. Just abandon the shameful attack on journalists, on the press and on the public," Stella told supporters outside the High Court. According to Assange's legal team, it could be months before the new appeal is heard.
The latest move came after the High Court deferred a decision in March on whether Assange could take his case to another appeal hearing.
Assange, 52, is wanted by the Americans for allegedly disclosing national defence information following WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked military documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars a decade ago. These included video footage of an Apache helicopter gunship mowing down journalists and children in the streets of Baghdad in 2007.
Assange has been held in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison since 2019. The UK approved his extradition to the USA in 2022, after a judge had initially blocked it due to concerns over his mental health. Assange and his lawyers have subsequently appealed.
Xinhua

We shall return!

keys -- the symbol of the right to return

by New Worker correspondent

Last weekend over 250,000 demonstrators marched through central London to commemorate the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinian Arabs, three-quarters of Palestinian population, from their homeland in 1947/8, and the subsequent denial of their right to return. For over 76 years, the Zionist entity has denied Palestinian refugees their right to return to their lands, and has entrenched a colonial-settler regime of control that systematically discriminates against Palestinians in all aspects of life. Israel’s current genocide is built on the foundations of this project.
Activists from International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity regularly join the Palestinian protests to highlight the links between Western imperialism’s wars in Israel, Ukraine and Yemen –  the role of NATO countries in all three conflicts sending weapons and money and using sanctions to advance the aims of US-led imperialism. Their placards calling for an end to sending weapons and advisors to Ukraine and Israel, and peace talks in Ukraine, Israel-Gaza and Yemen, received an overwhelmingly positive response from the protestors including clenched fists and victory signs.
Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, later said the march was an astonishing demonstration of solidarity. “After 14 marches calling for an end to all UK complicity in genocide, the movement is still growing in size and strength,” he said. “Hundreds of thousands attended yesterday, from all sections of society”.

Palestine will be free!

Corbyn addresses the crowd

By New Worker correspondent

Demonstrators marched through London last weekend to again call on the Sunak government to end its complicity with Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian Arabs in Gaza. And joining them were supporters of the International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity Campaign who held a static picket along the route, that linked the struggle in the Donbas with the Palestine liberation movement, before going on to the rally in Hyde Park.
Chants of “Stop bombing Gaza! Stop bombing children!” echoed through the heart of the capital as hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Palestinian cause marched from Parliament Square to Hyde Park. Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader was at the front together with other veteran Palestine solidarity campaigners taking part in the 13th national protest since the first was staged last October.
At the rally Sinn Fein leader Michelle O’Neill, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, said “we demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza” and Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador in London,  told the crowd that “Change will come, campus by campus, city by city, country by country. The tide is turning because this is a global movement for change, a global assertion of popular power, of people’s power”.

China condemns Sunak’s slander

by New Worker correspondent

People’s China is urging British politicians to end their belligerent rhetoric and stop stoking up confrontation. They should, instead, focus more on domestic economic and social issues, and act in a way that is truly in the interests of world peace and justice the Chinese Embassy in London said last week following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's criticism of the China-Russia relationship and his listing of China as an “authoritarian state”.
Sunak said the British increase in military spending "is a turning point for European security and a landmark moment in the defence of the United Kingdom". Speaking at the base of the Warsaw Armoured Brigade in Poland, he told a regiment of the Queen's Dragoon Guards that "I want to talk to you about how we equip you to do your duty in an increasingly dangerous world," with Britain and NATO confronting an "axis of authoritarian states" naming Russia, Iran, north Korea, and China.
But Sunak is simply trying to look for excuses to ramp up British military spending through his unwarranted accusations and malicious slander said a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in London noting that China firmly rejects his Cold War rhetoric that incites antagonism and confrontation.
"China is a peace-loving country, and has all along stood on the side of peace and justice," said the spokesperson in response to Sunak's accusation. "We have always promoted peace talks and sought peaceful settlement of international conflicts. We have contributed more than one-third of global economic growth for many years running, and we are a force for international cooperation and stability in the world. These are indisputable facts”.
Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, says Sunak's attack on China is largely just "clout-chasing". "Because of the numerous issues both domestically and internationally that the UK faces, Sunak is worried about the country's status as a major power," he said. "As a result, he is eager to make a statement on China-related issues, as only through this can he demonstrate his supposed political stance".
There is another reason for Sunak's hype. In order to enhance the UK's competitiveness, he must hype geopolitical conflicts, presenting so-called external challenges, including China and Russia as his targets, Cui noted.
In contrast to China, the current UK government seems to be stirring up trouble and heightening tension around the world. 
In Ukraine, it has been providing offensive weapons to one side of the conflict, adding fuel to the fire. Over Gaza it has repeatedly opposed resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire at the UN Security Council.  The UK shows no support for Palestine's application for full UN membership and continues to supply weapons to Israel. Now, the UK lacks morality and has no sense of responsibility when it comes to matters of international peace and justice.
But as relations between China and Europe improve and both sides strengthen high-level exchanges, British politicians who are hyping up anti-China rhetoric are more likely to harm the interests of the UK itself.
"At present, China-Europe relations are on a positive track," Cui noted. "If speculative hyping remarks are allowed to ferment and affect a wider range of China-EU relations, it could in turn serve to help anti-China Western politicians achieve their goals”.

Don’t bank on Barclays!

By Theo Russell
Last Saturday 70 people protested in support of the people of Gaza in Camden Town, north London, marching to Barclays Bank in Tottenham Court Road to call for the bank to end its financing of the Israeli war machine. For the second time the Zionists and their far right (EDL), and fascist (English Patriots, I was told) friends staged a counter-protest and this time outnumbered us about three to one.  Some pro-American Iranian monarchists were with the Zionists waving the old Iranian flag of the hated Shah who fled the country after he was overthrown in 1979. But the Palestine solidarity activists stood their ground and received lots of support from passers by - unlike the other side.
The Zionists almost certainly brought people from far and wide to target the Camden march, while there were eight other pro-Palestine marches in London alone, and 29 more across Britain, from the Isle of Wight to Orkney. It’s hard to believe the Zionists attempting to stage counter-protests in Orkney!
Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip has killed over 33,000 Palestinians, and displaced over 1.9 million – more than 85 per cent of Gaza’s population. Yet our political leaders still refuse to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
Over the past six months the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been leading massive demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinian Arabs in London and supporting local initiatives throughout the country. As Israel’s genocidal assault continues, we can’t stop now. We must keep taking action until the Palestinians achieve freedom.