From the river to the sea!

by New Worker correspondent

Hundreds of Palestine Solidarity members from branches across Britain packed into London’s Conway Hall last weekend for their annual general meeting to decide on the direction of our movement for Palestine. We will never stop protesting, lobbying, boycotting & campaigning until Palestine is free.
Meanwhile Scotland other campaigners are demanding that Scotland's regulatory body revoke the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund — highlighting the organisation's role in land dispossession, support for settlement expansion, and the ongoing displacement of Palestinians, and pointing to the precedent set in Canada, where authorities recently revoked JNF's charitable status over concerns about its activities.  Two weeks ago activists from across Scotland marched to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) in Dundee to demand action against the JNF – the oldest fund-raising organisation in the world supporting Israel, dedicated to, among other things, what is described as “land reclamation”.

Boycott Barclays Now!

by New Worker correspondent

Palestinian solidarity campaigners were outside Barclays Bank’s Annual General Meeting in London this week to call out their complicity with Israel's genocide in Gaza while others, inside the hall, disrupted the meeting to protest against the bankrolling of Israeli terror in Palestine.   
Barclays holds over two billion pounds-worth of shares and provides £6.1 billion in loans and underwriting to nine companies whose weapons, components and military technology are being used by Israel in its attacks on Palestinians.
This week, Israel has committed to intensifying its genocide in Gaza by sending yet more troops into the Palestinian enclave. An Israeli government minister has said Gaza is "to be entirely destroyed". We must respond by escalating our campaigning against corporations that enable Israel's atrocities. 
Barclays has an agreement with Israel to act as a 'primary dealer' for its government bonds. This means it directly helps Israel sell bonds to raise money to fund its genocide against the Palestinians. Barclays has underwritten at least £500 million of Israel government bonds since October 2023. 
In addition, Barclays provides investment and loans worth billions to arms companies supplying Israel with the weapons and military technology it uses in its crimes against Palestinians. There must be no business-as-usual for companies like Barclays while they enable Israel's genocide.  

Working for Korean friendship

Kim Song Gi speaking

  by New Worker correspondent

Friends and comrades met last weekend for the annual general meeting of the UK Korean Friendship Association (KFA) at the Chadswell Centre in central London that elected new officers to the committee and heard reports of work over the past year. The KFA Chair Dermot Hudson opened on the need to build solidarity with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) within the labour movement. Theo Russell from the NCP spoke about the Korean war and the shameful role of British imperialism in support of US aggression and honoured guest Kim Song Gi from the DPRK embassy spoke about the historic efforts of the DPRK for the peaceful re-unification of the Korean peninsula.

            The KFA had stepped up its activities, which included regular meetings and protest pickets over the last year, but more needs to be done in London and beyond to build solidarity with the DPRK and support the struggling people of south Korea.