Another Ceasefire has Not Ended the War

In Gaza there is a sad inevitability that this current ceasefire will not be the end of the conflict. While the tentative peace lasts the sides are busy negotiating the future, not only of Gaza but also that of the West Bank. Israel has never taken the discussions with Palestine seriously and has always managed to find a way around previous agreements in relation to the illegal occupation of the West Bank and the question of the Settlements which have been a central instrument in the cantonisation of the occupied territories. Israel and its US allies well know that a meaningful peace between Israel and a hypothetical Palestinian state will damage their colonial and strategic ambitions for the territories. Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader of the Palestinian unity government, which is still supported by Hamas, is largely rejected by the people of Palestine as a US-Israeli stooge, and the fact that Operation Protective Edge did not include the invasion and systematic destruction of the West Bank does point in this direction. Since Arafat the US and Israel have been looking for a ‘moderate’ Palestinian who will be happy to accept a dictated peace on Israeli terms, and in Abbas they certainly do seem to have their man. Going on the past record of the State of Israel in using any pretext to invade Gaza in order to exterminate Hamas, it is unlikely that any of the demands of Hamas will be taken into consideration in the current negotiations.

One Last Splash

With the installation of water meters underway and the arrival of our first water charges just over the horizon the charitable Irish have taken to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in a big way. The point of this viral shenanigan is to raise awareness for a serious disease, and raise some much needed funds for research and the treatment of sufferers. As the ‘ALS Challenge’ it has become something of a misnomer on this side of the Atlantic. Where in the States it is for the ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) Association, in the United Kingdom it is to raise awareness of and raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and here in Ireland it’s all about IMNDA (Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association). It all starts when your little cousin, or someone you know, who never usually mails to your Facebook page, posts a video on their own page of them having a bucket of ice water (complete with ice-cubes) tossed over their head. Just prior to their humiliating drenching they make a hostage-style speech letting the world know that they will be donating to the charity – or, controversially enough, to another charity – and then nominate you. Thanks very much Nicola!

A Final Solution for Gaza

Yesterday the Israeli Defence Forces said that it now intended to intensify its campaign in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli child was killed in a Hamas rocket attack in southern Israel. Over the course of the day a number of apartment blocks in the densely populated centre of Gaza City were razed by targeted Israeli missile fire, leaving more than a hundred more civilians dispossessed. Justifying the missile attacks on the city the IDF have claimed that more than sixty Qassam rockets had been launched into Israel, resulting in the death of a child. Over the course of the present outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the elected government of Gaza, Hamas, the Israelis have routinely targeted civilian structures – including apartment blocks, schools, hospitals and mosques – on the pretext that these buildings have been used as Hamas command centres. This is in keeping with Israel’s justification of the targeting of the civilian population of Gaza that Hamas are using the people of Gaza, especially the children, as human shields.

Britain has a long tradition of economic migration. Over the past five hundred years England led the world in the colonial project by resettling people from the British Isles in far-flung parts of the world in the formation of the British Empire. In more recent times Britons have continued to migrate for economic and other […]

Politicians have long known the value of the language of ‘job creation’ and ‘profits’ for winning votes and securing power. Whatever the public perceive to be bad for employment will struggle to find representation in democratic parliaments, and so the political elite will frame election campaigns in the benefit of policy for wealth and job […]

Britain has a long tradition of economic migration. Over the past five hundred years England led the world in the colonial project by resettling people from the British Isles in far-flung parts of the world in the formation of the British Empire. In more recent times Britons have continued to migrate for economic and other […]

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) or simply Ebola has resulted in more than 4,500 deaths in the past months in Western Africa. It is a serious viral disease that claims the lives of over 95% of those infected. Spread by fruit bat hosts, it infects other mammals and humans, but has a smaller R0 (rate of […]

Dispelling the myth of the ‘stingy Scot’ people all over Scotland have come together to kick out against the worst effects of a London driven austerity agenda. Central to the growing desire in Scotland for separation from the United Kingdom has been the idea of addressing the massive levels poverty in the country. Independence campaigners […]

Only in Ireland can we get away with saying that we might have told our Scottish neighbours so. Almost exactly one hundred years ago the whole island of Ireland secured the British promise of Home Rule. This was stalled so that young Irishmen could be sent out to trenches in their droves to fight and […]

Former Chair of Labour Friends of Israel set to Lead Scottish Labour

Those who have followed developments in Scotland over the past number of months will be acutely aware that the independence referendum campaign saw the division of two opinions on the political spectrum. On the one hand the Yes Scotland side of the debate was marked by its resistance to nuclear weapons and involvement in wars […]