Boycott Barclays Bank!

by New Worker correspondent

Palestinian rights campaigners have plastered tube trains in London to make sure that tennis fans travelling to Wimbledon this week know the truth about Barclays, the tournament’s sponsor. Campaign poster ads are going up across the London Underground faster than the authorities can take them down. And the message is ‘Boycott Barclays’! 
A number of British companies have seedy and nefarious financial ties with Zionist Israel. The ongoing genocide in Palestine has intensified calls for an immediate ceasefire and sparked an international campaign supporting Palestinians in their fight against oppression. Campaigners have been raising awareness on the economic ties a vast number of UK institutions have with companies that are providing Israel with the military and technological equipment to facilitate its oppressive regime. Barclays is one of them.
Barclays Bank is bankrolling Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. Barclays provides investment and loans worth more than eight billion pounds to arms companies supplying Israel with weapons used in its genocide in Gaza, and military assaults across the West Bank. Barclays took over Tesco Bank on 1st November 2024 so campaigners are calling on all Tesco Bank customers to shut their accounts as part of the boycott of Barclays. 
The Boycott Barclays campaign began in 1969 when the bank was exposed as a major investor in racist, apartheid South Africa. In recent years the focus has been on the bank’s colossal investments in Zionist Israel. 
 It works. Recently, data revealed that the bank has stopped underwriting Israeli government bonds under pressure from our boycott and protests.  
We must continue our campaigning to force the bank to permanently and publicly withdraw as a primary dealer of Israeli government bonds, and to divest from all companies arming Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.
The Boycott Barclays campaign want as many people as possible to close their account on a single day, to send a clear message to the bank that its complicity in Israeli apartheid has a cost – it will lose a sizeable number of its customers who stand with Palestine, and this will have a greater impact if it is on a single day.
So if you’re still a Barclays or Tesco Bank customer, join the next mass account closure day on Thursday 30th July!

Defend Mark Bonnick!

by New Worker correspondent

 Mark Bonnick, the Arsenal kitman who had worked for the club for 22 years, was sacked for posting on social media in support of Palestine. He broke no FA rules. Arsenal's own appeal decision admitted his posts were never found to be antisemitic. They fired him anyway, because Zionists complained and the media picked it up. Mark, who is now working as a labourer on a construction site, is taking the club to a tribunal to try and get his job back. 
Arsenal has denied that it suspended Bonnick for antisemitism, instead claiming it was because he brought the club “into disrepute”. Bonnick maintains that the club discriminated against him due to his anti-Zionist beliefs. “Israel is an apartheid state,” he told Novara Media last year. “I was sacked not for misconduct, but for expressing grief and outrage over genocide”. 
Arsenal fans are rallying behind Mark and have organised a petition calling on the club to reinstate him, apologise, and compensate him for unfair dismissal. They say "on Christmas Eve 2024 Arsenal Football Club sacked Mark Bonnick, their kitman of 22 years, for posting on social media in support of Palestine.
“His dismissal followed a coordinated online smear campaign by pro-Israel accounts falsely accusing him of antisemitism.
“Arsenal's own appeal decision admitted the club had never found his posts to be antisemitic. The FA told Arsenal he had broken none of their rules. They fired him anyway, on the grounds that the media coverage had damaged the club's reputation.
Mark Bonnick broke no rules. He was targeted by a smear campaign, abandoned by the club he gave his life to, and left to work on a building site weeks before what should have been his retirement.
“This is the same club that publicly backed Black Lives Matter. That showed solidarity with Ukraine. That wraps itself in the language of equality and inclusion, then hands a dedicated employee his notice on Christmas Eve because pro-Israel accounts complained.
“And it goes deeper than just one worker. Arsenal sit second in War on Want's league table of complicity in Israel's genocide. Four of Arsenal's sponsors, Google/Alphabet, Meta, Coca-Cola and Expedia, are involved in Israel's atrocities. Senior executives of Deel, whose logo appears on Arsenal's shirts, have given supplies to Israel's armed forces during the genocide.
“A club that profits from sponsors embedded in Israel's military machine, then fires a man for opposing that machine, is not making a neutral employment decision. It is making a political one, on the wrong side".

Corbyn censures court over arms exports to Israel

protest outside Redbridge town hall in Ilford

by Ed Newman

Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the Labour Party who now heads the Independent Alliance in the House of Commons, has strongly censured the High Court for rejecting the challenge brought by rights groups, which sought to halt the export of British-made F-35 warplane parts to Israel. 
“A truly shameful decision. It remains a moral disgrace that this government allows the supply of parts to F-35 jets, used to kill Palestinian men, women and children. This isn’t over.  We will not give up until we have ended the UK’s complicity in genocide" Corbyn said.
London’s high court ruled on Monday that Britain’s decision to allow the export of the F-35 components to Israel, despite accepting they could be used in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza, was lawful.
"Under our constitution that acutely sensitive and political issue is a matter for the executive which is democratically accountable to Parliament and ultimately to the electorate, not for the courts," the ruling said.
Oxfam presented powerful evidence linking the transfer of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel to the vast death and destruction in Gaza, a lawyer for the charity said.
“The evidence that Oxfam submitted demonstrated an obvious and worsening pattern of attacks by Israel on objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including critical water and sanitation infrastructure,” said Carolin Ott, a solicitor at the law firm Leigh Day, which represented the charity.
“Coupled with the severe restrictions on humanitarian aid into Gaza, this has worsened the already dire humanitarian situation, and Oxfam provided powerful evidence to the court on the significant civilian harm that has resulted. My client is disappointed that the court has not properly grappled with these matters.”
Labour MP Richard Burgon said the ruling had made it "very clear" that the matter was one for the government and parliament, and called for an immediate vote in parliament if the government continued to export the parts.
"Let's end the passing of the buck. Let's end the saying it's for the courts to decide. The government needs to take moral responsibility now and decide whether or not it wants to continue complicity in genocide," Burgon said.
"If it makes the wrong decision, it won't necessarily be the courts that they need to be scared of in terms of judgment. It will be the judgment of people, the judgment of history, but mostly importantly, the judgment of the Palestinian people who deserve self-determination."
Glan and Al-Haq, and the three British human rights campaigns which are parties to the case, argued that under the Arms Trade Treaty and the Genocide Convention, the UK, as a state party to both, is obligated to stop sending the parts and that, by failing to follow its obligations, is threatening the rule of law globally.
Al Haq, the Palestinian human rights group which brought the legal challenge along with the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan), said on Monday that the court had failed to meet its demands, but that the groups had "achieved a partial suspension of UK arms to Israel, exposed [government] complicity in war crimes and rallied public support. This is a breakthrough & just a start. We fight on for justice".
Yasmine Ahmed, the director of Human Rights Watch, one of three British human rights groups which intervened in the case, said she and others were "incredibly disappointed" by the ruling.
“Judicial deference to the executive in this case has left the Palestinians in Gaza without access to the protections of international law, despite the government and the court acknowledging that there is a serious risk that UK equipment might be used to facilitate or carry out atrocities against them," Ahmed said.
“The atrocities we are witnessing in Gaza are precisely because governments don’t think the rules should apply to them. This perception of impunity, which has been reinforced by the government’s unwillingness to suspend arms licensing, has led to unimaginable horrors and atrocities being carried out on Palestinians”.
The UK-made F-35 components make up 15 per cent of every F-35, one of the world's most sophisticated warplanes Israel has used extensively in its campaign of genocide in Gaza and its aggression against Lebanon. Israel has massacred more than 56,500 people in Gaza since October 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Radio Havana Cuba

Palestine – we will not be silenced!

By New Worker correspondent

Palestine Solidarity Campaign activists marched once again last Saturday from Camden Town to Barclays Bank in Tottenham Court Road, where the Barclays branch has been forced to close on Saturdays after weeks of protests.
Luca Salice from the Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign urged the activists to join the national Gaza protest two days after the General Election, saying "It's very important that we tell the new government that we are here, that we are in solidarity with the Palestinians, that we are against genocide, that we are against the slaughter if children, of women, the destruction of schools, hospitals, universities and places of worship."
Sabi Sagal, a British Jew with family in Israel, said "I'm old enough to remember the Nakba in 1948, I was ten years old, and we were lied to. The Zionists put out the false narrative that the Arab armies had invaded Palestine to drive the Jews into the sea. The reality was the opposite – it was the Zionists who drove out three quarters of the Palestinian people into the desert. It was an Israeli professor, Benny Morant, who finally told the truth when he said ‘Yes, we drove the Palestinians out, we had to do so, otherwise we wouldn't have the state of Israel’. He was honest, he was an honest Zionist. What the Israelis are doing now is to complete the ethnic cleansing begun in 1948.
"We often hear the term Apartheid used in relation to Israel, but in fact Israel is much worse than Apartheid South Africa. But it's very important that we're protesting outside Barclays, it was when Barclays Bank was forced to withdraw their investments from South Africa that the Apartheid regime fell in the early 90s. Let's do the same again now, let's force Barclays to withdraw its financial support for Israel, and let's end all the arms that enable Israel to kill and murder Palestinians in their thousands".
Jonathan Fluxman, a health worker from South Africa, pointed out that "even if there are not many of us here today, it's still important that we're here outside Barclays, because all of these people around us can see and hear us."
The Camden protest was one of seven across London and 28 across Britain last Saturday, as far apart as Plymouth and the Orkney Islands. These weekly protests have now been taking place for 38 weeks. Palestine campaigners did not expect, or want, this campaign to be needed after so long. 
Until recently frenzied efforts were being made by government ministers and the media to label these actions as "pro-terrorist", and the police came under intense pressure to close them down.  But in the last few months the political establishment and mass media have tried a new tactic, erecting a 'wall of silence'  on the protest movement in an attempt to suffocate it. But there is no sign of the numbers taking to the streets for an end to the genocide in Gaza going down.
As one of the slogans coined during this incredible protest movement which millions have joined in Britain says: "We are the people – We won't be silenced!"

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.

Boycott Israel!

 

by New Worker correspondent

Around 120 people turned out despite the cold, wind and rain last Saturday in Camden, north London, in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians. This was just one of dozens of local protests across Britain with the focus on Barclays Bank as a major financial supporter of the Zionist state. These protests took place against the background of a reactionary campaign, to which prime minister Rishi Sunak has now given his backing, to claim that the pro-Palestinian protestors were seeking “mob rule” and threatening the “democratic” system in Britain. The Government, deeply embarrassed at the growing opposition to Israeli aggression that has swept the country, is now putting pressure on the police to crack down on protesters. On this occasion there was a brief standoff when police asked everyone to move to the other side of the road but eventually the stewards agreed and the situation remained calm.

Stop the Slaughter! Stop the War!

by New Worker correspondent

London comrades joined tens of thousands of people who marched through the heart of the capital on Saturday 16 December for another weekend of protests, calling for an immediate end to Israel’s assault on Gaza and condemning the Sunak government for again failing to vote in favour of a ceasefire  at the United Nations.
Over a hundred thousand demonstrators took part in the London protest, the sixth since the war began, to send a clear message to the Establishment that the majority of the population want a ceasefire and that the movement in support of the Palestinians is growing in strength. 
Thousands upon thousands of people in London and throughout the country have shown their opposition to the indiscriminate attacks on civilians which have claimed the lives of at least 17,000 Palestinians, including more than 7,000 children. Thousands more are missing presumed dead under the rubble of their own homes.
This has been one of the largest, sustained political campaigns in British history. The determination to keep protesting for an end to the suffering in Gaza is remarkable and the pressure on British politicians who have sided with Israel will not go away. Ben Jamal from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: “We are witnessing unrelenting horror in Gaza. Palestinians have been bombed, displaced, deprived of food, water, fuel, electricity and health services for 62 days and counting. The amount of destruction has been compared to that of German cities in World War Two, except it’s happened in a far shorter time. The scale of this catastrophe is so great that in a rare move, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, urging the UN Security Council to act.
“A permanent ceasefire must be the starting point to address the underlying causes of the situation, including decades of Israeli military occupation and a system of oppression against the Palestinian people that is considered internationally to meet the legal definition of apartheid. The British government must end its complicity in Israel’s crimes, starting by joining the call for the killing of civilians to stop completely.
“We will continue to march, demonstrate, and organise to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and justice for the Palestinian people”.

Solidarity with Palestine grips London!

 by Dermot Hudson

On Saturday 28 October over 500,000 people marched through London in support of the Palestinian people and to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. It was an amazing event that showed that Londoners are not fooled by the constant flood of Zionist and anti-Palestinian propaganda from the mainstream media including the tabloids and TV talk shows. It was undoubtedly the biggest demonstration in London since the 2003 protest against the Iraq War.The centre of London turned into a veritable sea of red , black ,white and green !
    It was also a good turnout given the fact that the march was heavily policed with 'cop copters' noisily whirling overhead and riot police in paramilitary style clothes as well as police horsemen hanging around. The police imposed a 'Section 60' order giving them powers of stop and search.
Some media outlets tried to say that there were only 100,000 on the demonstration but it took over twp hours for the marchers to just cover a short distance. People were still arriving at Parliament square at 3pm. Afterwards trains , tubes and buses were packed with people who had been on the march , all talking about the need for a ceasefire.
    Parliament Square was packed to the brim with marchers who attended a rally which was addressed by Jeremy Corbyn , Mick Lynch of the RMT, Zarah Sultana MP and others. The speakers brought home the horrific nature of the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the oppression of the innocent Palestinian people by the Zionist Israelis . Mick Lynch brought solidarity of the trade union movement to the rally and added his voice to the calls for a ceasefire.

Stand by the people of Gaza!

by New Worker correspondent

Over 300,000 people marched in solidarity with Gaza on the  streets of  London on Saturday 21 October  – making it by far the biggest ever demonstration for Palestine in British history. In fact according to police estimates it was the tenth largest march in British history on any issue.
The demonstrators marched through the heart of the capital down Park Lane, via Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square to reach Whitehall and Parliament Square. 
Labour Party branches have been banned from discussing the conflict and elected representatives "strongly advised" not to attend pro-Palestine demonstrations. But many Labour supporters ignored the call and joined the protest.
Sir Keir Starmer seemed to suggest that Israel had “the right” to withhold energy and water from Gaza when speaking on LBC London radio last week. But angry voices from Labour’s rank-and-file have provoked a back-lash against the Zionists, especially amongst the Muslim community,. 
A number of Labour councillors have resigned over what they described as Starmer’s “horrifying” comments that were “endorsing a war crime”. Labour has now lost control of Oxford City Council after the eight Labour councillors resigned the whip in protest. Twenty councillors more across the country have followed threatening to bring down Labour administrations of two more councils.
Starmer now claims what he meant to say was that Israel has the right to defend itself and retrieve the around 200 hostages being held “within international law”.
Meanwhile Palestine Action campaigners chanted “Labour Party, blood on your hands” and “no more money for Israel’s crimes” during a protest outside the party’s London headquarters over its stance on Israel and Gaza while other targetted Labour MP’s offices throughout the country.
London Palestine Action activist, Alia Malak, told the media that “the atrocities in Gaza are taking place with the direct support of the UK government, a position which Labour has supported.
“It is absolutely urgent that Labour changes its position and joins calls for an immediate ceasefire now and an end to the arms trade with Israel.”
“Both the UK Government and the Labour opposition have offered unwavering support for Israel’s bombing campaign in the name of ‘Israel’s right to self-defence’”.
Now a petition has been launched in support of a London a London Tube driver who has been suspended for leading a Palestine chant over the train’s speaker system during the big demo in London. Over 760,000 people have signed the petition calling on Transport for London (TfL) to reconsider disciplinary action. 
The driver chanted ‘free, free’ several times over the system while Tube passengers shouted back ‘Palestine!’. He then told passengers to “keep all those people in your prayers”
 and “hope you all have a pleasant day, look after yourselves” to the cheers and applause of the passengers – mostly demonstrators getting out at Marble Arch.
The petition says “[The driver’s] actions were an expression of his personal feelings about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and a plea for peace.
“Unfortunately, this act of empathy and solidarity has put his job at risk, as it has allegedly violated company guidelines or policies.
“It is vital to uphold the principles of freedom of expression, compassion, and empathy for people enduring conflict, irrespective of personal beliefs or affiliations.”
An Israeli embassy official said "it is deeply troubling to see such intolerance on London's tubes. Transport for London’s public transport should be a place of safety and inclusivity for all". But as maverick London Labour MP  Diane Abbott put it “would this have happened if he was chanting ‘Free Ukraine’?”