The deluge of Islamophobia on social media unleashed by supporters of the Gaza genocide has been profoundly shocking. It is one reason I am very sorry that Humza Yousaf was forced out as First Minister of Scotland, as he was a particular target and his ousting will have encouraged the bigots. On Twitter and Facebook I frequently receive comments suggesting that I should go and live in an Islamic country (from people evidently unaware that I have previously), or that I should meet Hamas or the Taliban (from people again unaware that I have previously) who would behead me, or that Muslims wish t ..read more

The leadership of genocide enthusiast Keir Starmer – who is still supporting arms sales to Israel and the “Israeli right to self-defence”, who still refuses to acknowledge one single Israeli war crime – cost the Labour Party dear in Blackburn in the local elections. The result means I am very likely to win the parliamentary seat. The Blackburn Independent Councillors, who resigned from Labour over Gaza and invited me to stand as their parliamentary candidate, were re-elected and took new seats. They did not gain control of the council only because this was an election for just one third of Bla ..read more

The departure of the spectacular “Freedom Flotilla” to Gaza carrying 5,500 tonnes of aid has been postponed (again), because the flag state of the major vessels, Guinea Bissau, has withdrawn their registration. The key question is why the organisers were proceeding with such an unreliable flag state in the first place? In the 2010 Freedom Flotilla, the vessel Mavi Marmara was boarded by Israeli troops and ten aid workers were executed in cold blood. Just days before sailing, the Mavi Marmara had changed its flag from Turkey to the Comoros Islands. On a vessel at sea outside the twelve mile te ..read more

Governments cannot take big decisions extremely quickly except in the most extreme of circumstances. There are mechanisms in all states that consider policy decisions, weigh them up, involve the various departments of the state whose activities are affected by that decision, and arrive at a conclusion, though not necessarily a good one. The decision to stop aid funding to UNRWA was not taken by numerous Western states in a single day. In the UK, several different government ministries had to coordinate. Even within only a single ministry, the FCDO, views would have to be coordinated through wr ..read more

The United States has now, on the face of it, produced the Diplomatic Note giving the two assurances required by the High Court to allow the extradition of Julian Assange to proceed. The assurance that Julian Assange will be allowed to rely on the First Amendment in his defence is a blatantly weak piece of sophistry. You can read my analysis on the High Court judgment of Assange’s right to an appeal here. Let me dispense with the assurance against the death penalty. I am sure it will be accepted by the court. The USA does not need to execute Julian, it can incarcerate him in a tiny concrete to ..read more

I shall be standing for election to Parliament as the member for Blackburn. This unexpected turn of events requires an honest declaration. 1) I am standing because of the Genocide in Gaza. 2) I am standing because of the appalling pro-Genocide stance of the Labour Party and Keir Starmer’s continued support of arms exports to Israel. 3) I am standing because the Blackburn Independent Councillors and the Workers’ Party invited me to. The political class, including both the Labour and Tory parties, has continued to offer wholehearted support for Israel. The Tories are a lost cause, irrelevant in ..read more

I have today the permission of the surgeon to use my right hand for typing for the first time in over three weeks, provided I am careful not to extend the arm. On Saturday I put my arm in a sleeve and managed to remove my sling while making a speech in Blackburn, which I hope to bring you shortly (it was filmed by Consortium News but there is a job to do on sound synchronisation). The ligaments in my shoulder need another three weeks to heal and may require an operation, but my spirits are lifted enormously by being able to use the hand, even though it hurts. I am going today to write an artic ..read more

I can’t type much with my left hand but I wanted to get this out there. It then took me ten hours to upload with a maximum speed here of 0.5mbps. Still more breaking news now. May do a follow-up tomorrow. ———————————————— Forgive me for pointing out that my ability to provide this coverage is entirely dependent on your kind voluntary subscriptions which keep this blog going. This post is free for anybody to reproduce or republish, including in translation. You are still very welcome to read without subscribing. Unlike our adversaries including the Integrity Initiative, the 77th Brigade, Belli ..read more

The latest judgment by the High Court in the Assange case achieved completely the objectives of the UK and US states. Above all, Julian remains in the hell which is Belmarsh maximum security prison. He is now safely there alone and incommunicado, from the authorities’ point of view, for at least several more months. Importantly, the United States has managed to keep him detained without securing his actual appearance in Washington. It is crucial to grasp that the CIA, who are very much controlling the process, do not actually want him to appear there until after their attempt to secure the re ..read more

My run of bad luck with health continues. A week ago I fell, dislocated my shoulder and damaged my knee. I am very strapped up and won’t have the use of my right arm and hand for a minimum of another week. Am working on a post by auto dictation but it’s not easy. The post Injured appeared first on Craig Murray ..read more