Author: ourbulgarianlife

Israeli Teen Jailed for Refusing To Take Part in Army’s ‘Criminal Attack’ on Gaza https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-rotz-001&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=rotz&param1=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%3D&p=tal+mitnick&type=mdruc23e2fad8884c7e04e98#id=6&vid=ef2a45634f232f9344a22d6f67218a75&action=click December 27, 2023 by Brett Wilkins, a staff writer for U.S.-based news website Common Dreams. “I believe that slaughter cannot solve slaughter,” said 18-year-old Tal Mitnick, who was sentenced last Tuesday to 30 days behind bars for refusing to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces as it wages a genocidal assault on Gaza, a war the teen condemned as “a revenge campaign… not only against Hamas, but against all Palestinian people.” Tal Mitnick, an 18-year-old from Tel Aviv, entered the Tel Hashomer enlistment center with other members of the Mesarvot Network—a group of young conscientious objectors—and announced his refusal to enlist in the IDF, citing the war on Gaza and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. “I believe that slaughter cannot solve slaughter,” he said outside the base. “The criminal attack on Gaza won’t solve the atrocious slaughter that Hamas executed. Violence won’t solve violence. And that is why I refuse.” The 30-day sentence imposed on Mitnick is exceptionally long; Israeli refuseniks are usually first jailed for 7 to 10 days, with the possibility of up to 200 additional days added for unrepentant resisters after their initial release. Numerous observers believe the teen is likely being punished for his outspoken criticism of Israeli government policies and practices. Mitnick expects to be imprisoned for an additional period after he serves out his month behind bars. In a statement shared Tuesday on social media, he slammed “the notion that this land belongs to only one people.” Mitnick wrote: “I refuse to believe that more violence will bring security, I refuse to take part in a war of revenge… We must recognize the fact that after weeks of the ground operation in Gaza, at the end of the day, negotiations, an agreement, brought back the hostages. It was actually military action that caused them to be killed. Because of the criminal lie that ‘there are no innocent civilians in Gaza,’ even hostages waving a white flag shouting in Hebrew were shot to death. I don’t want to imagine how many similar cases there were that were not investigated because the victims were born on the wrong side of the fence.” The path to peace, Mitnick argued, will not come from Israeli or Palestinian politicians, but rather “from us, the sons and daughters of the two nations.” Supporters accompanying Mitnick at Tel Hashomer held signs with slogans like “an eye for an eye and we all go blind” and “there is no military solution.” Last month, Mitnick told Turkish public broadcaster TRT World that “the army that we have in this area is the operational wing of Jewish supremacy in the area and it’s bent on the oppression of the Palestinian people, and I refuse to take part in that oppression and instead fight against it in my activism.” Mitnick said that the first day of the war was “defensive,” but after that, it “turned into a war of aggression against civilians in Gaza.” “I refuse to agree with the idea that killing civilians in Gaza would provide security for anyone,” he said. “It doesn’t bring security to anyone, neither to the people of Gaza nor to the people of Israel. I believe that the only path to security and peace lies in coexistence.” Another Israeli conscientious objector, 19-year-old Ariel Davidov, told TRT World: “I cannot take part in something that is so immoral, so unjust. This is a genocide that has been going on since the beginning of Zionism.” Davidov said that prior to the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948, largely through terrorism and ethnic cleansing, “there was settler colonialism,” and that Zionists—Jews seeking to establish a homeland in Palestine—”wanted to use this land and its people for their own interests.” “However,” he stressed, “this situation cannot continue like this.” Yet another resister, Ella Keidal, said: “I don’t wish to serve an army that is enacting an occupation, an apartheid regime.” “I don’t want to serve in an army that enforces the occupation, implements a racist regime, and plays a role in oppressing the Palestinian people in this exploitation project,” Keidal added. As the teens were speaking to TRT World, a group of Israelis physically and verbally assaulted them, calling them “terrorists” and “Hamas supporters,” forcing the interview to be cut short. The incident underscored the societal scorn and ostracization that Israeli conscientious objectors often face. Teens like Mitnick, Davidov, and Keidal made the decision to become conscientious objectors even before the current war on Gaza. They are part of a group of more than 200 high school students who announced in August that they would refuse to enlist due to Israel’s occupation of Palestine—which includes not just the West Bank and East Jerusalem but also Gaza under international law—and the anti-democratic judicial overhaul spearheaded by the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We truly fear for our own future, and for the future of all who live here. In view of this, we have no choice but to take extreme measures and refuse to serve in the army,” the teens said in a statement published over a month before the Gaza war began. “A government that destroys the judiciary is not a government that we can serve. An army that militarily occupies another people is not an army that we can join.” Earlier this year, 10,000 IDF reservists threatened to refuse service over the judicial overhaul. Hundreds of Israeli Air Force and cyberwarfare reservists went on strike over the legislation. There has been no such act of mass conscientious objection during the current Gaza onslaught, which has left more than 80,000 Palestinians—mostly women, children, and elders—dead, maimed, or missing over 82 days of near-relentless Israeli attacks. Military service is mandatory for most Israelis, including men and women. Exceptions include people with medical or psychological issues, certain criminal convictions, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Arab Muslims and Christians, Druze and Circassian women, and pregnant people and new mothers. The IDF does allow exemptions for some conscientious objectors, but these are almost exclusively granted on religious grounds, not political ideology or principle. from Nell Myers, SLP London Region 29/12/2024

From Code Pink When traditional news becomes a mouthpiece for genocide, it’s no surprise that viewership will fall. The latest Pew Research reports a third of US young adults get their news on TikTok, where sky-rocketing pro-Palestine hashtags are proving that it’s not only the young people’s platform of choice for news but also for global solidarity. According to TikTok’s official blog, this trend continues across platforms. Instagram reported 5.7M total posts tagged #FreePalestine compared to 214K total posts tagged #standwithIsrael. The BDS Movement is Alive and Kicking. Celebrating that German sportswear brand PUMA won’t be renewing its contract with the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes teams based in Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Thanks to this boycott win, U.S. activists are determined to continue disrupting business as usual by holding genocide enablers and apartheid supporters accountable so that all Palestinians can live in peace, justice and equality. from Nell Myers, London Region 28/12/2023

Last week, the UAW became the largest union in the United States to call for a ceasefire, joining with other progressive unions December 05, 2023 by Natalia Marques One of the largest and most militant trade unions in the US, UAW, has recently endorsed the call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Photo: UAW Last week, one of the largest unions in the United States joined the Palestine solidaritymovement in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The United Auto Workers (UAW), with 400,000 active members and 580,000 retired members throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, is the largest union in the US to take this stance thus far. The UAW has joined several labor unions in calling for a ceasefire, chief among them being the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), which helped initiate the call for a ceasefire within labor back in October. Thus far, many unions and union locals have signed onto UE’s call, including the UAW, several teachers unions including the Boston and Chicago Teachers Unions, and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 3000. “We cannot bomb our way to peace,” reads the UE-initiated statement. “It’s the labor movement’s turn to make our voices heard and demand a ceasefire. Together, we can stand for peace, justice, and a better future for working people everywhere.” Some unions, such as the United Educators of San Francisco, have called for not only a ceasefire but an end to US aid to Israel. “UESF affirms that the goal of a ceasefire is to put an end to the killing of innocent civilians and an end to the suffering and trauma of the people of Gaza,” wrote the union in a statement released in November. “Calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine,” as UAW President Shawn Fain put it, may come off as a mild demand compared to the stances taken by trade unions in other countries. Transport unions in Europe have taken action to block weapons shipments to Israel, Indian trade unions have labeled Israeli actions as “genocidal” and have condemned their government’s efforts to Indian workers to Israel, and one of the largest industrial trade union on the African continent, the National Metalworkers Unions of South Africa (NUMSA) defended Palestinians’ right to resist occupation. “When Israel, the oppressor, brutalizes the oppressed, forces them from the land, maims and kills them indiscriminately and robs them of their dignity for decades, it is inevitable that there will be counter-violence from the oppressed. Justice is the only road to peace,” NUMSA wrote on October 13. Break from Democratic Party consensus However, in the context of the United States, the UAW’s stance is remarkable in the sense that it completely breaks from US labor’s decades-long legacy of toeing the line set by the Democratic Party. Not only did the union call for a ceasefire, it announced the creation of “a Divestment and Just Transition working group to study the history of Israel and Palestine, our union’s economic ties to the conflict, and explore how we can have a just transition for US workers from war to peace.” This indicates a willingness in the union’s leadership to begin divesting from Israel. The union’s position also indicates a new willingness from some of the most prominent labor voices to break from the Democratic Party consensus. Unions in the United States have for years faithfully backed the Democrats, who, although being one of the two major parties in the US that veers towards slightly more progressive politics, have failed to back pro-worker policies, such as a USD 15 minimum wage and universal healthcare. Unionized workers were en masse sent to canvas for establishment candidate Joe Biden during the 2020 election season. Now, three years later, it is evident that Biden’s presidency has overseen a vast decline in living standards for US workers, such as a vast decline in life expectancy. The Democratic Party establishment has staunchly condemned the ceasefire demand. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre labeled the calls for a ceasefire coming from progressives within her own party as “repugnant” and “disgraceful.” Instead, Democratic leaders have defended Israel through every massacre that has led to the nearly 16,000 dead in Gaza. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby has refused to call Israel actions “genocide”, saying “Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. Israel’s not trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat.” Meanwhile, several Israeli officials and politicians have openly used genocidal rhetoric in relation to Gaza. Likud member Moshe Feiglin called for the complete destruction of Gaza. “There is one and only solution, which is to completely destroy Gaza before invading it. I mean destruction like what happened in Dresden and Hiroshima, without nuclear weapons,” he said. Several politicians have called for a repetition of the Nakba. Days after October 7, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Palestinians “human animals,” adding that “we will eliminate everything—they will regret it.” The UAW, under the new leadership of the progressive Fain, who won the presidency in 2023 in the first direct election in the union’s history, has in many ways deviated from the established political norm in the US labor movement. The UAW has yet to endorse Biden for the 2024 presidential election, with Fain saying that the union “expects actions, not words.” “Our endorsements are going to be earned. We’ve been very clear about that, no matter what politician,” Fain said, amidst the UAW’s strike battle against the three largest automakers in the country. “I am proud that the UAW International Union is calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine,” said Fain about the UAW joining the movement for a ceasefire. “From opposing fascism in WWII to mobilizing against apartheid South Africa and the CONTRA war, the UAW has consistently stood for justice across the globe.” Natalia Marques Peoples Dispatch 5/12/2023 (from Chris Butler SLP, Yorkshire Region)

Ronnie Kasrils, veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle, and South Africa’s former Minister for Intelligence Services, activist and author, contributed the (slightly abridged) piece below  to the 19 December edition of  The Palestine Chronicle I support the right of all oppressed people to resist, and to resist armed oppression with armed resistance. My principles are universal, they apply in all situations. In the same way, I oppose all forms of racism. Naturally, this includes antisemitism, which is a form of racism. I oppose all forms of racism, support the right of all people living under military occupation to armed resistance and oppose and regret all loss of civilian life. I hold these principles without regard to the race of the oppressor or the oppressed. The 2017 Hamas Charter, which remains current, clearly states it is in conflict “with the Zionist project not with the Jews” and that it “rejects the persecution of any human being or the undermining of his or her rights on nationalist, religious or sectarian grounds.”  It correctly describes the Zionist project as a “racist, aggressive, colonial and expansionist project based on seizing the properties of others” and correctly asserts the right of the victims of Zionism to take up arms against their oppressors but does not, in anyway, call for attacks on Jewish people because they are Jewish people. The Hamas Charter reveals the Palestinian Struggle to be no different to the South African struggle which was waged against the abominations of the Apartheid system and colonial dispossession of land, not against Whites because they were White. My personal view is that there should be a single secular democratic state with rights for all – along the lines of post-apartheid South Africa – in the territory of historical Palestine but the 2017 Hamas charter does not call for the replacement of the Israeli ethno-state with a single inclusive state and clearly accepts a two state solution with a Palestinian state contiguous with the 1967 borders. Right to Resist In an address at a private meeting of approximately 40 trade unionists and activists on 24 November, my words on the success of the military raid on the Israeli Gaza Division undertaken by Hamas on 7 October, were as follows: “They swept on them and they killed them and damn good. I was so pleased and people who supported the resistance applauded, absolutely. If we had been able to spring a surprise on the Boers and knock down a hundred of them, the people would have been rejoicing on the rooftops. It’s the struggle, the armed struggle and in International Law, the occupied people are (justified). It’s accepted International Law that they have the right to that kind of resistance.” In the context of my talk and discussion, I was referring to the Israeli military garrison, cruelly imprisoning the people of Gaza for over sixteen years, having tormented and killed thousands in that period – “mowing the lawn” as the IDF phrase describes massacre after massacre. Palestinians have the same right to armed resistance as black South Africans had under apartheid, and as all oppressed people do. The October 7 raid penetrating  the militarized Gaza border followed 16 years of the brutal Gaza siege and a history of oppression going back to 1967, and indeed all the way back to 1947-48. Supporters of the oppressed will always rejoice in their achievements against the oppressor. At the same time, empathy for any civilian victim is felt. This is felt for civilians who died on October 7. Such rejoicing is no different to the way in which we celebrate military defeats against every oppressive state – from Nazi Germany to Apartheid South Africa – while regretting civilian casualties. Those who wish to say that all celebration of military success is perverse are silent about the fact that the Zionists of what was deemed a Jewish Resistance Movement celebrated foul atrocities committed in the founding of a state on land soaked with the blood and tears of its indigenous Palestinian population. They forget that the IDF and settler militias continuously celebrate their abhorrent undertakings growing more brutal by the day, as seen in the wild settler pogroms on the West Bank, in East Jerusalem as in the Gaza genocide. We may ask who has the true right to celebration, the oppressor or the oppressed? October 7 Operation The  October 7 incursion by Hamas and other resistance groups comprised two elements: The legal and justifiable military operation against the IDF and the illegal taking of civilian captives.   The latter admittedly a breach of international law but an action holding validity in terms of the intention to secure an exchange for detainees, including women and children, held in Israeli prisons without charge, with little chance of fair trial and under appalling conditions. The offer of an exchange of captives was extended by Hamas within 48 hours of the event. With regard to the tragedy of violent civilian deaths, completion of the initial phase of military attack was compromised by the music festival, an obstacle to access to  command centers. The ensuing carnage was exacerbated by the IDF’s chaotic arrival on the scene, which as the shooting of three Israeli hostages by Israeli soldiers on December 25 showed, is far from a model of military efficiency. Increasing witness accounts and information from IDF and Intelligence personnel reveal a need for independent investigation in the interests of equitable apportionment of blame among the IDF, al-Qassam Brigades, other armed groups and the crowd which poured through the breached Gaza fence. Unfortunately, much evidence has been lost or intentionally removed. But we do know that the Resistance fighters were armed with light arms, RPGs and grenades, weapons that could not destroy hundreds of vehicles or demolish buildings. Allegations of depravity committed against women in particular likewise require a measure of explanation. Claims of mass rape and disembowelment, along with accounts of 40 beheaded babies, a baby cooked in an oven, chopping off of limbs and bodies bound together for burning alive have been authoritatively dismissed as simple propaganda. Having suffered the humiliation of a serious military defeat during the initial phase of the incursion, Israel has elected to divert attention to the second phase during which the massacres occurred. However, disclosures to Israeli media reveal the carnage to have ensued by the actions of not only different groups of resistance fighters but particularly those of the IDF, who applied the Hannibal Directive in indiscriminate usage of missiles and shells fired from attack helicopters and tanks. It remains to be seen whether the self-proclaimed ‘most moral army in the world’ finds the modicum of courage required to admit to extensive culpability for the civilian deaths on October 7. Ongoing Genocide Israeli retaliation for the attack was inevitable. But the world has been left aghast at the disproportionate response, the ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing, starvation, collective punishment, relentless bombing, obliteration of civilian infrastructure and residential areas, wilful destruction of hospitals overflowing with wounded who have to be treated under horrific conditions, extermination of healthcare workers and journalists, cold-blooded sniper fire and detention of individuals, hooded and stripped to their underwear, who become disappeared and subject to torture. The unprecedented global objection to the atrocities wrought against the Palestinians indicates the tectonic plates of geopolitics are shifting. In the United States most younger people, including very many younger Jews, no longer support Israel. The Palestinian Struggle is not waged against Zionism because Zionists are Jewish but against Zionism because it is the imposition of a  monstrous dispensation, which Jews of conscience around the world oppose. Israel’s claim to the right of an oppressor to defend itself perpetuates a singularly inhumane dispensation in the form of land seizures, military occupation, settlement expansion, vandalism, violence, expulsion, massacres, surveillance, arbitrary checkpoints, illegal detention, more than 65 discriminatory laws against Palestinians within the 1948 borders, the Apartheid Wall and constant harassment, intimidation and humiliation. As a Jew who grew up in the 1940s, my blood chills at comparative images of Nazi behavior. Anti-Semitism is racism. Zionism is racism. The Israeli state is a structurally and viciously racist state. Those who stand against racism, must simultaneously stand against anti-Semitism, Zionism and the Israeli state. Palestine Chronicle 19/12/2023

https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-rotz-001&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=rotz&param1=ArFaIWVoNqArQGMVInobADAevXFbMnMqQGMVI9RoNqAdQGMVyDMly7IexrFbMnMpQGMVNos3wCoUwV5bDGUNNEU3wCk4NVE9JCoWNVU3vqYTNVA9IaYWNVU9JmoXwVw4ISoVNVM9J6ISvmldJqYTNVE9I6oXNVA4J6k3NVJdIGYUvFQ9JmoXvFI9J6ILNFdcIaUXNEBcGqQANFdcFCk8NoM9IWYWNVRdImk4wVNdISoVwVxdJCk3wVRdJmISvFE9J6IXwVM9IaYXvFI3vCIWwVw3vCoWNVE9IWYTwVRdIWYVvFE9ISIYNVJbFCILNEVbDmk8NUM9J6k4vFQ9ISILNFdbDSk8wVU9ImoVwVA9JCoXwVA4J6ILNFdcJ6k8NFtcFGUWwVM9ImoVwVA9J6ITvFQ9GqUFNFo3wCoUwV5cJqQzNEBcEWUGNF43wHFbMnMbQGMVNGtaMaFaLWBdMbFbMnVoN9IgASQux81cM81bNE0gB6ouy785yDEpzDUuNGAuMWp%3D&p=ICC+must+investigate+Israel%27s+action+for+war+crimes+Times+live+video&type=mdruc23e2fad8884c7e04e98#id=1&vid=599fbe502034197e09cca1c58879e7ef&action=click South Africa has submitted all necessary paperwork to the International Criminal Court (ICC), bringing war crime charges against Israel over its genocidal war in Gaza, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday, according to local outlet Eyewitness News. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 19,667 Palestinians have been killed and 52,586 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children. ‘Genocide’ Last month, President Ramaphosa condemned the Hamas incursion into Israel on October 7 during an emergency virtual BRICS+ meeting, accusing the Palestinian Resistance Movement of violating international law. He asserted, however, that Israel is committing genocide and blamed the raging conflict on the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territory. Ramaphosa had previously called for the ICC to investigate Israel for its actions in the war against Gaza and had filed a request for this probe with a number of other countries. The Israeli war on Gaza has further strained diplomatic relations between the African nation and Israel. Pretoria has long supported the Palestinian struggle for sovereignty, comparing it to South Africa’s own battle against apartheid in the 20th century. Suspended Ties Late last month, the country’s lawmakers endorsed a motion to suspend ties with Israel until Netanyahu commits to a ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory.  Israel recalled its ambassador from Pretoria, citing comments made by South African officials against Tel Aviv as the reason. Pretoria had earlier withdrawn its envoy and diplomatic staff from the country, as had Bolivia, Belize, Bahrain, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Jordan, and Türkiye. On Monday, Ramaphosa reportedly requested that the ICC begin the probe into war crimes against Israel as soon as possible. “Once a case has been referred to them, they need to take it up seriously. So South Africa, as well as a number of other countries, are presenting their full documentation to the ICC,” Eyewitness News quoted the South African president as saying. BRICS Apart from South Africa, Iran, which will officially join the BRICS next month, has urged the bloc to designate the Israeli government and military as terrorist organizations over atrocities against Palestinians. Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu would face war crimes charges at the ICC “as the butcher of Gaza.” Meanwhile, Pretoria has also warned South Africans against joining the Israeli army in the Gaza conflict, citing the risk of violating domestic and international law. “Any person joining the IDF without the necessary permission of the NCACC (National Conventional Arms Control Committee) is breaking the law and can be prosecuted,” the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation said in a statement on Monday. (from The Palestine Chronicle, 19 December 2023)

It is no longer enough to march and hold meetings to protest against the slaughter of the Palestinian people; we need action.  The Socialist Labour Party calls for a boycott of any shop selling goods that come from Israel – an action that was used so effectively against the evil of South African apartheid. We must remember that Palestine including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is occupied by Israel.  On 7 October 2023, Hamas troops broke out of the world’s largest open-air prison and entered land which was taken from Palestine in 1948. It is a matter of regret and sorrow that on 7 October 1400 people died following the Hamas attack – just as the deaths of thousands of Palestinians due to the long decades of Israeli occupation is a matter of regret and sorrow. Israeli social media sources confirm that Israel Defence Force fire accounted for some of these fatalities. Since 7 October, the Socialist Labour Party like so many other organisations throughout the world has been horrified by the carnage perpetrated by the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza and on the West Bank:  nearly 20,000 killed, and this includes three Israeli hostages who were carrying a white flag of surrender and calling out in Hebrew. Israel’s relentless slaughter by bombing and ground troops has shocked nations around the world.  The United Nations Security Council would have voted recently for a ceasefire but for the veto of the United States.  The UN General Assembly, however, DID vote for a ceasefire – by 153 votes, with 23 abstentions and 10 votes against (among them Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom). Of the UN’s 186 member nations, 82.25%  voted for an immediate cease-fire, whilst only 5.4% voted against.  The General Assembly’s morally binding decision should affect the Security Council.  In other words, Ceasefire Now! We not only need a cease fire now, but steps must be taken to bring the leaders of Israel’s fascist government to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face charges  of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression, in accordance with the Rome Statute. Arthur Scargill Socialist Labour Party 18 December 2023

TRIBUTE TO SOUTH DERBYSHIRE MINERS We gather here today to pay tribute to South Derbyshire miners.   We honour those who over the generations  fought to build and sustain  their trade union. In just a few months, we will see the 40th Anniversary of the miners’ strike of 1984/85, a historic struggle which drew support from all around the world, in which the Thatcher Government tried to destroy the National Union of Mineworkers.  In the aftermath of the strike, South Derbyshire was a key battleground. It would be remiss of me, not only as former NUM President but as President of the International Energy and Mineworkers’ Organisation, the IEMO, not to mention how the NUM in South Derbyshire was sustained in that traumatic time. Following the creation of the breakaway UDM in 1985, the NUM faced two challenges in this Area.  First, to compel the National Coal Board to deduct NUM contributions from NUM members to pay to the NUM.  Kevin Richards and other NUM Officials including the Chairman today, Paul Liversuch, who became Area President, did a magnificent job in sustaining the NUM membership. Sources such as Wikipedia state that the NUM South Derbyshire miners (NOT the NUM Area) voted by a split ballot decision to merge with the Leicester breakaway UDM — NOT TRUE.   Over half the South Derbyshire miners who had been members of the South Derbyshire Area continued as an Area of the NUM, electing Kevin Richards as Area Secretary. During this turbulent period, the Area Union had no office – and therefore the IEMO, or the IMO as it was then, purchased 62 Alexandra Road, Swadlincote, for the benefit of the NUM South Derbyshire.   I was proud that the IMO was able to give that support to the NUM membership in this Area. SUPPORT PALESTINE As we meet today to honour mineworkers who went before us, others around the UK and the world are gathering in support of the Palestinian people. I can tell you as President of the IEMO that alongside my political party, the Socialist Labour Party, we have condemned the fascist state of Israel which illegally occupies land which belongs to the various peoples of Palestine. References made by the media to the invasion by Hamas into Israel on 7 October are misleading – in that Gaza, and the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are unlawfully occupied by Israel, and people in an occupied state will campaign and fight for their freedom. The Polish Jews, for example, trapped in the Warsaw Ghetto, broke out and fought against the occupation by the German Nazi Army. The slaughter which Israel is now committing in Gaza, and on the West Bank, has been condemned by the United Nations Security Council with the exception of one vote – the United States. Earlier this week, the UN General Assembly voted by 153 votes for a ceasefire, with 23 abstentions and only 10 votes against:  among those 10 were Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States. It seems the United States has forgotten that when they were occupied by the British they rose up and fought for independence – and were right to do so. The IEMO and Socialist Labour Party have called for a ceasefire in Gaza – which must lead sooner rather than later to the end of Israel’s occupation and the liberation of Palestine. Israel’s leaders should be tried for war crimes and genocide by the International Criminal Court.   Just as the struggle of the miners became an international cause in 1984/85, the struggle of the Palestinians is our struggle too. Arthur Scargill 16 December 2023

The vote of the Security Council supported by 13 of 15 of the permanent members, co-sponsored by 100 countries was vetoed by the USA with the UK abstaining. This vote was  crucial to stop the Genocide which is being inflicted on the Palestinian people in Gaza. It would’ve provided for a Ceasefire;  a permanent one, humanitarian aid, an end to the displacement of 1.9 million Palestinian people and demand the establishment of a Palestinian State.The State of Israel is being granted permission by it’s ally; the USA, to carryon committing Genocide. Today, 75 years after a resolution was  brought forward from the  General Assembly on the Prevention And Punishment Of The Crime Of Genocide, the UN has shown it is powerless to stop Genocide. Kathrine Jones, Socialist Labour Party, Wales. 9/12/2023

From Chris Butler, Yorkshire Region, Socialist Labour Party 1/12/2023

2024 will include the 40th anniversary of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike in which great sacrfices were made to improve the lives of working people. Each year a wreath is laid at the Miners’ Memorial Statue at Swadlincote near Burton in Derbyshire. You are welcome to attend along with National Union of Mineworkers’ leader at the time, Athur Scargill.