The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas has called for a worldwide popular mobilization on Sunday, August 3, designating it a Global Day of Solidarity with Gaza, Jerusalem, al-Aqsa Mosque, and Palestinian prisoners. Hamas stressed in its statement the need for continued popular and international movements against the "systematic Zionist aggression, genocide, and starvation against over 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

Hamas emphasized the importance of intensifying demonstrations and sit-ins outside Israeli and U.S. embassies, and those of states supporting the occupation worldwide. The goal, it said, is to halt Israeli aggression against civilians, especially children, women, and the sick.

The call was issued as the crimes of the U.S. and Israeli Zionists increase, causing the ever worsening starvation of the people.

On July 29, Gaza's Health Ministry reported that in a 24-hour period, hospitals in the Gaza Strip received the bodies of at least 113 civilians, as well as 637 people suffering from different injuries. Since the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) resumed their genocidal war on Gaza on March 18, a total of 8,867 people have been killed and 33,829 others have been injured.

Over the past 22 months, since the U.S./Zionist criminals launched their genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 60,332 Palestinians have been martyred as of July 29, including 1,179 aid seekers killed at or near U.S.-organized distribution points, and 147,643 others wounded, including 7,957 aid seekers. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk recently stated that "we can never forget that more than 300 of our own colleagues have been killed by Israel's military action" during that same period.

In the West Bank, at least 190 Palestinians have been martyred and more than 1,500 injured since the start of 2025 due to ongoing Israeli aggression, according to newly released data. Among the martyrs are 36 children who were shot or otherwise killed by the IOF during the same period. The escalation, which began on January 21, has seen thousands of violations committed by the IOF across the West Bank, resulting in the martyrdom of 162 Palestinians since that date alone.

Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) have both issued reports showing that Israeli actions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amount to genocide. They warn that the genocide will not be limited to the Strip, but may extend to other areas.

"An examination of Israel's policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack, leads us to the unequivocal conclusion that Israel is taking coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip," B'Tselem said in a July 28 report.

Truce Talks Terminated

On July 24, U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions, Steve Witkoff, announced that the Trump administration is recalling its Gaza ceasefire negotiation team from Doha, Qatar and terminating any further truce talks. It had become clear that the U.S. and Israel would not be able to achieve at the negotiating table what they have not been able to achieve through siege and genocidal aggression, that is the surrender of the Resistance and the Palestinian people.

Witkoff blamed Hamas for the collapse of the truce talks. Trump put the blame on Iran. Netanyahu blamed everyone and echoed Witkoff's remarks that the U.S. and Israel would seek "alternative options."

On July 27, Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau in Gaza said there is no longer any justification to continue negotiations with Israel. "There is no point in continuing negotiations under the siege, genocide, and starvation of our children and women in the Gaza Strip," al Hayya said. He added that "the immediate and dignified entry of food and medicine to our people is a serious expression of the feasibility of continuing the negotiations."

Al-Hayya added that Hamas had shown "all possible flexibility that did not conflict with the principles of our people" throughout the indirect talks. He said that "clear progress" had been made during the last round of negotiations and that Hamas had accepted key elements proposed by mediators.

"In the last round of negotiations, we agreed with what the mediators offered us regarding the withdrawal, prisoners, and aid," al-Hayya said. Over the course of the last 22 months Hamas has responded to the mediators at every stage and "used all its tools and relationships to stop the aggression against the people of Gaza." Al-Hayya added, "The occupation's withdrawal from the negotiations round is a transparent step aimed at wasting time and causing more genocide."

Israel Declares Annexation Plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly planning to propose a "phased annexation" of parts of the Gaza Strip to the Security and Political Cabinet. Under the plan, Hamas would be given a brief window to accept a ceasefire deal. Should the group refuse, Israel would initiate a step-by-step "annexation of Gaza territory," starting with areas along the Strip's eastern border, the so-called "internal buffer zone" maintained by IOF.

The process would then expand northward, particularly targeting zones near Sderot and Askalan, with the ultimate aim of "annexing Gaza" in its entirety. The proposal is expected to follow Netanyahu's decision to provide very minimal humanitarian aid into Gaza, that in no way ends the starvation and was meant more to humiliate Palestinians and divert from U.S./Israeli crimes.

Other Israeli war criminal Cabinet Ministers are openly calling for annexation of the West Bank and Gaza. On July 28, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Netanyahu to move forward with "annexing" the occupied West Bank, declaring there is "no more appropriate time" to apply full "Israeli sovereignty" over the territory. "We have full support from the U.S. administration -- I say this from knowledge. The sky will not fall," Smotrich stressed. He also called for the "resettlement of Gaza."

Earlier, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu openly stated that Israel is intensifying efforts to erase Gaza, with the aim of forcibly displacing the Palestinian population and replacing them with Israeli settlers. "The government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out," Eliyahu told Kol Barama, a Haredi (strictly orthodox Jewish) radio station, as reported by Israeli media.

(Palestine Chronicle, Palestine information Centre, Middle East Eye, MEMO, Al Mayadeen)

Detained Activists Stand Firm When Handala
Aid Ship Illegally Seized

Israeli Occupation Forces board the Handala in International waters, July 26, 2025

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed the Handala aid ship in international waters on Saturday, July 26 as it approached the coast of the Gaza Strip, after it set sail from Syracuse, Sicily, Italy on July 13. Twenty-one people representing 10 countries were on board, including members of European parliaments, human rights defenders, union leaders, artists and media figures. Christian Smalls, organizer of Amazon Labor Union and the only Black person on board was beaten and choked. All were kidnapped by the IOF and detained in Israel.

The International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza informed that the Handala activists refused to sign documents related to forced deportation and maintained a hunger strike while in detention. Through concerted international efforts, they have all now been released, the last on July 31. This is the third time a ship from the Freedom Flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza has been stopped by the Zionists.

As the IOF prepared to board and communicated with the Handala, Huwaida Arraf, a main organizer of the Freedom Flotilla and human rights attorney from Michigan, defiantly said, "Any blockade that deliberately starves a civilian population is a violation of international law. It is not only that – it is a war crime. You have no legal authority to enforce an unlawful blockade."

"We demand that you stand down. You are responsible for the well being of every civilian on board this vessel. As an occupying power in Gaza, you are responsible for the health and well being of the civilian population there. Not only have you disregarded that obligation, but you are actively exterminating the people. You have engineered a famine. You are deliberately starving civilians and children before the eyes of the world. Our vessel does not constitute any threat to you. We carry only humanitarian aid, and therefore, you have no authority to intercept or otherwise attack our vessel. We demand again that you stand down," Arraf insisted.

Zaher Birawi, the head of the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza and a founding member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, said, "What happened with the Handala ship, when the occupation forces stormed it, took it to the port of Ashdod, and arrested the 21 activists on board, was expected. We have become accustomed to Israel's crimes and its violations of international law. [It] was an act of piracy carried out by the occupation forces in international waters."

"However," Birawi said, "the problem does not lie with the occupying state, whose daily crimes against our Palestinian people we have become accustomed to, but rather with the countries sponsoring it, such as the United States and European countries, which continue to support the occupying state militarily, politically, and financially to cover up its crimes. Indeed, they are considered complicit in these crimes."

On July 31, when the Freedom Flotilla Coalition announced that the final two activists, Christian Smalls of the U.S. and Hatem Aouini of Tunisia were freed from the Israeli Occupation's Givon prison, their statement said the two "were freed via Jordan's King Hussein/Allenby Bridge after five days of unlawful imprisonment in occupied Palestine. Both had been on hunger strike to protest mistreatment. Aouini was received by the Tunisian embassy at the border. Despite repeated requests for assistance, neither the U.S. Consulate nor U.S. Embassy officials met Christian at the border, even after being notified in advance of his arrival details.

"With their release, all 21 volunteers abducted from the Handala in international waters have now been released from Israeli captivity. But more than 10,300 Palestinian political prisoners remain caged in Israeli occupation prisons, at least 320 of them children, held in violation of international law and subjected to horrific forms of abuse and torture. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition's mission to break the blockade on Gaza rests firmly on international law and the right to resist occupation. While Israel continues to starve Palestinians and detain them en masse, we affirm our commitment to freedom, dignity, and justice for all. We will not stop until we break the siege and Palestine is free."

The Handala is named after a character created in 1969 by political cartoonist Naji al-Ali, that has become a national symbol for Palestine and the defiance of its people, and their right to return to their homeland.

(Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Freedom Flotilla Coalition)

250,000-Strong Durham Miners Gala and Meeting in England Stand as One with Palestinian People

Tens of thousands gather at the Big Meeting, showing support for Palestine

This year's Durham Miners' Gala and Big Meeting on July 12 in the northeast of England was remarkable not just because of the huge numbers -- it is estimated that all told some 250,000 people took part including tens of thousands in the Big Meeting -- but also because it struck such a note of optimism and determination for the future. In such desolate times for the people in Britain and the world, such defiance and resilience, particularly of the Palestinian people resisting the U.S./Israeli genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, shows that the peoples' struggles can and will prevail.

This year marked the 139th Gala, held by the Durham Miners' Association almost annually for the past 154 years since 1871. The theme of this year's Gala was, We Are Still Here!

To mark how important the struggles of the peoples together are, the Durham Miners' Gala placed His Excellency Dr. Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, at centre stage. Insightfully, in interviews before the event the Ambassador had said that his favourite thing about Durham was "how history is so important and significant" to the people of the city and beyond. He said that "after all these years, 150 years of a movement, they're still marching, they're still here."

Dr. Husam Zomlot, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the UK speaking at the Big Meeting

The optimistic spirit of the Gala was precisely what was taken up by Dr. Husam Zomlot in his historic speech to the Gala and the Big Meeting. He struck such a chord with the thousands of people there when he said: "Let me say this. We are still there in Palestine and you are still here after all these years in Durham. We are not going anywhere, my friends. We are not going anywhere in our homes and in our land. We carry our history and you carry your history not as a burden but as a torch, a torch lighting our path towards the future, towards freedom, towards justice."

Early in his powerful speech, Dr. Zomlot said to huge applause: "I want to recognize Unite, the union, for their vote yesterday for a full arms embargo on Israel, a ban on trade with the illegal settlements, and cutting all ties and all trade that exists with Israel's violation of international law."

Dr. Zomlot spoke from the heart when he said, "What energy! It's infectious! Miners, unionists, distinguished friends, Marras! [A miners' term of affection for a trusted friend. -- TML Ed. note.]

"[...] I confess to you, my friends, I do sometimes struggle for hope, to see any light in this darkness. But then I see the steadfastness of my people. [...] I see you, I see the millions who march for justice in Palestine all over the world, every week, every day. And I find myself speaking to hundreds of thousands of people, along with inspiring leaders like Jeremy Corbyn. [...]

"I tell you, the people of the UK, the British people have turned this country into the epicentre of solidarity and support for Palestine. [...] I see your passion, I feel your passion, I hear your chants, I feel your energy, and hope is rekindled. I marched with you earlier today. I see in your eyes our shared humanity. [...] Ceasefire Now! [...] Our movement is not only about protesting death; our movement is about life."

At the end of his speech to further huge applause he said, "I learned yesterday that I am the first ever Palestinian to be invited to this platform [...] The fact that I'm here, the fact that this is the first time a Palestinian ambassador is invited, tells you the tide has shifted."

Big Meeting and its speakers standing together for Gaza and all of Palestine

Indeed the tide has shifted against the criminal actions of those in power and their cartel party system and the oligarchs that run Westminster because of the continued resistance of the working class and peoples in Britain to the anti-social offensive expressed in their slogan Enough Is Enough! The tide has been shifted by the resistance of the working class and people to the attacks on their rights and by the heroic opposition to Britain's support for and arming of Israel in their genocide against the Palestinians.

To view a video of the entire speech, click here.

Global Alliance for Palestine Launched
in London, England

Delegates from over 25 countries convened for the inaugural conference of the Global Alliance for Palestine (GAFP) in London, England on July 26. This initiative seeks to transform rising global solidarity for Palestine into coordinated political action.

The gathering brought together grassroots activists, trade unionists, students, parliamentarians, community leaders and academics from across the world -- including many from outside the Arab and Muslim worlds. British MP Jeremy Corbyn is Chair of the Steering Committee.

The conference launched with a call to action from Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a leading Palestinian political figure and a member of the GAFP Steering Committee.

"The brutality unfolding in Gaza demands an unequivocal response from the international community," said Barghouti. "The Global Alliance for Palestine represents a crucial step towards unifying our efforts and ensuring that the calls for justice and an end to the occupation resonate globally."

The conference featured three focused sessions: the first assessed the global state of Palestine solidarity and the challenges it faces; the second explored strategies for converting public mobilization into policy impact; and the third addressed the organizational framework of the Alliance, including plans for interim leadership and future coordination. The day concluded with the adoption of a joint communiqué and a call for a Global Day of Action for Gaza on September 6, to be marked across all time zones.

(MEMO)

People's Conference for Palestine,
August 29-31, Detroit, Michigan

The first People's Conference for Palestine held May 24-26, 2024 in Detroit

The People's Conference for Palestine is being organized for August 29-30 in Detroit, Michigan, home to one of the largest Palestinian communities outside of Palestine. This marks the second year in a row that the conference is being held, with the first one held in May 2024. The announcement for this year's conference brings out:

"Gaza is the compass! This is our guiding principle for the Second Annual People's Conference for Palestine. Gaza keeps our path true: it reminds us of our direction in the struggle and the sacrifices that have been made by the Palestinian people; it exposes the forces that we have to contend with on the path to liberation. For this reason, Zionism and imperialism are waging a continuous genocide on Gaza, and we, the people of the world, will fight at every turn to reject it.

"With Gaza as our guide, people from across North America will come together for a weekend to continue building and strengthening the movement for Palestinian liberation in North America. Join us to strategize, prepare, and utilize the existing skills and capacity of our movement in this next phase of struggle."

In defiance of the many government organized attacks in cities and campuses, youth are in the forefront of organizing for the event. Among the organizers are the Palestinian Youth Movement, National Students for Justice in Palestine (National SJP), U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Al-Awda: The Palestine Right of Return Coalition, Arab Resource Organizing Center (AROC) and others, all standing together, organizing to Stop the U.S./Zionist Genocide and Free Palestine! They join with demonstrators around the world in demanding an Arms Embargo Now and immediate UN organized unlimited humanitarian aid now.

Further advancing the movement for Palestine through coordinated global efforts is a main aim. At the conference, there will be numerous panels and dozens of speakers, including organizers, artists, doctors, journalists and voices from the front lines. They will speak to shared aims and provide critical analysis of the current situation, serving to strengthen resistance and the rebuilding of Gaza.

There will also be work to document U.S./Zionist crimes and develop campaign strategies to oppose the U.S./Zionist genocide.

Cultural performances will celebrate Palestinian heritage through music, poetry and visual arts. Every effort is being made to ensure women and children can participate, including programs for children 6-12 and space for nursing mothers.

Already the organizing for the conference is contributing to the militant spirit and defiance of all those uniting to Stop the U.S./Zionist Genocide and defend the right of the Palestinians to self-determination and liberation. No doubt the conference will do the same as, indeed, Gaza Is the Compass!

For details, to register or endorse, visit: peoplesconferenceforpalestine.org

Hague Group Emergency Summit Call for Actions
to Stop Gaza Genocide

Summit of The Hague Group held in Bogotá, Colombia, July 15-16, 2025

An emergency summit of The Hague Group was held July 15-16 in Bogotá, Colombia. Its aim was to coordinate diplomatic and legal action to counter the "climate of impunity" imposed by the U.S./Zionist aggressors and their NATO supporters, including Canada, in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. The meeting was convened by co-chairs Colombia and South Africa.

The Hague Group was launched January 31 in The Hague, Netherlands with eight founding member states: Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa. Their mission is to uphold the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people.

The Bogotá meeting brought together more than 30 countries from around the world including the founding Hague Group members. Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, attended. She characterized the meeting as "the most significant political development in the past 20 months."

The Hague Group noted: "In the deliberations at the Bogotá conference, all 30 participating states unanimously agreed that the era of impunity must end -- and that international law must be enforced without fear or favour through immediate domestic policies and legislation -- along with a unified call for an immediate ceasefire."

The summit adopted six measures and called on all states to immediately implement them:

1. Prevent the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel.

2. Prevent the transit, docking, and servicing of vessels at any port in all cases where there is a clear risk of the vessel being used to carry arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel.

3. Prevent the carriage of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel on vessels bearing our flag and ensure full accountability, including de-flagging, for non-compliance with this prohibition.

4. Commence an urgent review of all public contracts, to prevent public institutions and funds from supporting Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory and entrenching its unlawful presence.

5. Comply with obligations to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law, through robust, impartial and independent investigations and prosecutions at national or international levels, to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes.

6. Support universal jurisdiction mandates, as and where applicable in national legal frameworks and judiciaries, to ensure justice for victims of international crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Twelve countries announced that they would implement these measures immediately: Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and South Africa. They pledged that through their domestic legal and administrative systems they would break the ties of complicity with Israel's campaign of devastation in Palestine. They have set September 20 as the date by which to achieve these measures, the start of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. They called on other countries to join them.

Türkiye announced on July 29 that it is also taking up the six measures against Israel agreed to by the Hague Group, becoming the latest country to sign on to the commitments since the summit on July 16.

International Criminal Court Asked to
Investigate French President and Cabinet for Complicity in War Crimes

One hundred lawyers have submitted a request to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate French President Emmanuel Macron and French Cabinet ministers for complicity "in the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide" by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

A request to the ICC is the equivalent of a criminal complaint to the court on an alleged crime falling under its jurisdiction.

The lawyers, representing a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Pour la Justice au Proche-Orient (For Justice in the Middle East), note that: "It has been demonstrated that the French executive branch has played a decisive role in providing support to Israel in various forms; and that this support has had a substantial effect on the commission of the crimes in question."

"It has been demonstrated that the French authorities knew that they were (and still are) participating in the commission of the crimes in question, by aiding and abetting the perpetrators. Their knowledge of the consequences of their actions or conduct establishes the mens rea required for personal liability in cases of complicity by aiding and abetting," they added.

A report by a coalition of NGOs in June provided evidence that France has "regularly and continuously" delivered military equipment to Israel by sea and by air since the start of its war on Gaza in October 2023. They include more than 15 million "bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and other munitions of war" worth more than U.S.$8 million, as well as 1,868 "parts and accessories for rocket launchers, grenades, flamethrowers, artillery, military rifles and hunting rifles" worth more than U.S.$2.3 million.

(Middle East Eye)

Opposition to State-Violence Against Support for Palestine

Statement on Violent Crackdown on
Palestinian Protesters in Toronto

– Palestinian Youth Movement –

On Saturday, July 19, at a protest in downtown Toronto calling for an end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza and an arms embargo, the Toronto Police Services unleashed violent force on our community.

Eleven people were arrested, while dozens were shoved to the ground, tackled, punched and pinned under riot gear. Demonstrators were dragged, threatened with arrest, and cornered, not for breaking the law, but for standing against a 21-month genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

This kind of police response has never been about "public safety." This is a political attack against Palestinian organizing that is carried out with intent and intensity.

As millions of people around the world take to the streets for Palestine, those in the halls of power continue to arm and fund Israel while criminalizing those who speak out against it. What happened today is part of a broader campaign of repression: from brutal police assaults to lawfare like the bubble bylaw. These are coordinated efforts to scare the people into silence; to isolate us, exhaust us, and shut down growing public support for Palestinian liberation.

We know one thing is certain: we refuse to be silent because silence is complicity.

While they brutalize us here, Gaza is being starved. Children are being killed. Families are being buried beneath rubble. Entire neighbourhoods are erased. A people is being annihilated, and they expect us to obey the rules of the very system backing it. We will not.

This is not new. This is the same repression faced by every anti-colonial and anti-war movement in this country, from Indigenous land defenders to Black liberation struggles, to those who resisted the war in Vietnam.

The state has always met movements for justice with violence, surveillance, and fear. But our community will not be intimidated. We have faced state violence before. We will continue to organize, speak out and build power until Palestine is free.

We know that our greatest strength is collective. That is why they are trying to divide us, and why we must keep building.

We call on our community and allies to support those targeted, stay in the streets, and deepen our organizing. We call on our community to keep showing up for Palestine.

Our people in Palestine are making the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom, and it is our responsibility to organize to ensure that we build power to end this genocide, no matter the cost.

Every baton swing, every violent charge, every arrest is proof that they fear what we are building.

And we know for a fact that we are not going anywhere.

Challenge to British Government's Attempt at Criminalization Under Anti-Terrorism Laws

The organization Palestine Action is challenging the British government's attempt to criminalize its work to end the U.S./Israeli genocide using anti-terrorism laws.

It is well-known that in those countries associated with the U.S.-led global "war on terrorism" -- of which the UK is a leading participant -- the definition of "terrorism" is vague, arbitrary and self-serving. It is meant to target, isolate and criminalize the progressive forces on a political basis to serve the interests of the ruling circles.

In this case, the British government is trying to cover up its unconscionable complicity in the U.S./Israeli genocidal war in Gaza, which it is providing with arms and the use of its air base in Cyprus to wage their bombing campaign, as well as political support.

The British Parliament voted 385 to 26 on July 2 to proscribe Palestine Action as a "terrorist" organization under the Terrorism Act 2000. Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, asked London's High Court to give the go-ahead for a full legal challenge to the group's proscription.

Proscription makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Supporters of the group are also being criminalized. Since early July, dozens of people have been arrested for holding placards supporting Palestine Action and Ammori's lawyers say those supporting the Palestinian cause have been subject to increased police scrutiny.

On July 30, Judge Martin Chamberlain granted permission for Ammori to bring a judicial review, saying that her case -- that proscription amounted to a disproportionate interference with her and others' right to freedom of expression -- is "reasonably arguable."

The UK government website explains that under the Terrorism Act 2000, "the Home Secretary may proscribe an organization if they believe it is concerned in terrorism, and it is proportionate to do. For the purposes of the act, this means that the organization:

- commits or participates in acts of terrorism
- prepares for terrorism
- promotes or encourages terrorism (including the unlawful glorification of terrorism)
- is otherwise concerned in terrorism."

The UK government's website says, "In considering whether to exercise this discretion [to proscribe an organization], the Home Secretary will take into account other factors, including:

- the nature and scale of an organization's activities
- the specific threat that it poses to the UK
- the specific threat that it poses to British nationals overseas
- the extent of the organization's presence in the UK
- the need to support other members of the international community in the global fight against terrorism."

"The British government deciding that Palestine Action should be proscribed as a "terrorist" organization is insanity, but not quite as insane as the continued support of Israel, an apartheid and genocidal state," a Palestine Action activist told Peoples Dispatch at the time of the vote in British Parliament. The activist added that the goal of this decision goes much further than a single group, saying, "This is about silencing support of Palestine and silencing support of the resistance. Whilst mainstream media and everyone's focus is on this, Israel is still murdering Palestinians daily."

Ahead of the vote, a group of UN experts urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer's administration to reconsider, warning that the terrorism charges cited by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper are misleading and risk setting a dangerous precedent. Rather than addressing genuine acts of terror, the experts argued, the move will impact individuals exercising their rights to free opinion, peaceful assembly, and political participation. "This would have a chilling effect on political protest and advocacy generally in relation to defending human rights in Palestine," the experts wrote.

The Palestinian Youth Movement said of the proscription of Palestine Action, "In coming to this decision, the government has decided that an Israeli arms manufacturer has more rights than a British citizen who cannot abide killing and maiming." Independent MP Zarah Sultana said, "[Palestine Action's] true offence is being audacious enough to expose the blood soaked ties between this government and the genocidal Israeli apartheid state and its war machine." Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn told Drop Site, "As the government criminalizes those engaged in protesting a genocide, it continues to shamefully facilitate the real violence these protestors oppose."

In related news, British activists Chris Nineham of Stop the War Coalition and Ben Jamal from Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) are both to stand trial in what the PSC calls a "political attack designed to suppress solidarity with the Palestinian people." The trial, scheduled for July, has been postponed to February 2026. A joint statement on the Stop the War Coalition website says in part, "The postponement has fundamentally been caused by prosecution attempts -- very late in the day -- to bolster their case, and their refusal to disclose material which could be useful for the defence.

"The trial has now been extended to six days. The fact that it is happening at all, is an attack on everyone who has demonstrated and protested for Palestine over the last twenty months.

"The outcome will be critical for the way policing of protest is conducted in this country.

"The attempt to silence solidarity for the Palestinian people in this country is part of a global effort to isolate the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation. It is not working and will not work."

(With files from People's Dispatch, Reuters, UK Government, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition)

German Activist Acquitted of "Incitement to Hatred"

Quds News Network reported on July 30 that human rights activist Yasemin Acar has been acquitted in a Berlin, Germany court after facing charges of "incitement to hatred" and "using a criminal slogan" for chanting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

Speaking to Quds News Network, Acar said, "Germany has found a way to criminalize and discredit a legitimate struggle for justice by claiming that the chant 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' calls for the erasure of Jewish life. But it is fully aware that this call represents a demand for liberation from Zionism, occupation, and settler colonialism -- freedom for Palestine, from the river to the sea."

The court accepted her detailed defence, which highlighted Germany's political and military role in Palestinian suffering and the genocide in Gaza. Acar added, "True justice will not come from laws that selectively decide who deserves rights and who does not. Nor will it come from courts that define justice based on what serves power."

Acar did receive a fine of 1,800 euros for resistance to enforcement officers, assault and defamation.

Germany is another country deeply complicit in the U.S./Israeli genocidal war on Gaza. It is not using its experience under Nazism to ensure that "Never Again" is genocide committed by anyone, anywhere. Instead, in a cruel irony, it is using what it claims is opposition to anti-Semitism as a pretext to justify state-organized attacks on the broad support for the Palestinian people and condemnation of the U.S./Israeli genocide.

Germany has the largest Palestinian community in Europe, estimated at as many as 300,000. People's Dispatch reported in October 2023, "For years, German authorities have tried to stifle Palestinian activism in the country, viewing it as a nuisance to its explicit policy of 'unconditional support for Israel.'" Then Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the time that Germany "must finally deport on a large scale" residents who do not hold German citizenship and openly protest against Israel.

On June 27, 2024, the German government implemented new conditions for citizenship, where those applying for naturalization are now required to affirm "Israel's right to exist." Germany's Interior Ministry explained the change, saying, "In response to increasing anti-Semitism in Germany, the list of questions in the naturalization test has been expanded. New exam questions have been added on the topics of anti-Semitism, the right of the state of Israel to exist and Jewish life in Germany."

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that the new citizenship requirements are a "commitment to a modern Germany." She added, "Whoever shares our values and makes an effort can now get a German passport more quickly and are not required to give up a part of their identity with the former citizenship." As for those who do not share these "values," Faeser said they will not be able to get a German passport or citizenship.

(With files from Quds News Network, People's Dispatch, CNN)

Canada's Shamelessness Knows No Bounds

Joint Statement on Occupied Palestinian Territories Devoid of Responsibility, Accountability or Action

Global Affairs Canada on July 21 posted the text of a Joint Statement it signed with other foreign ministers of what it calls 26 partners, many of whom are entirely responsible for the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity the U.S. and Zionist Israel are carrying out against the Palestinian people.[1][2] At a time the people of Gaza, after all they have suffered, are being starved to death and shot in cold blood for seeking food, the statement claims to be a "simple, urgent message" that "the war in Gaza must end now." It is shameless and has been denounced as such worldwide.

The signatories to this statement include countries which, like Canada, have armed and supported the illegal Israeli occupation and siege of the occupied Palestinian territories since Israel's founding. In the current genocide being carried out by the U.S. and Zionist forces and the odious crimes they are committing against humanity, these countries have refused to fulfill their obligations under international law in defiance of the ruling of the International Court of Justice. They continue to enable illegal Israeli settlements and occupation, and provide diplomatic support for U.S./Israeli crimes against humanity and negation of the Palestinian people's sovereign right to be.

They posture that their Joint Statement is a "simple" plea. Their calling it a "war" denies it is a genocide for which they accept no responsibility or accountability and they take no immediate action to put an end to these crimes against humanity by Israel, the U.S. and the Genocide 7. Why not join the Hague Group in acting to prevent any shipments of arms and military-related material? Failure to do so shows how empty and meaningless the plea is.

It is utterly condemnable to call "on all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law" as they do in the statement as if there is an equivalence between the Resistance and the forces committing genocide, massacring women and children, destroying hospitals and schools, starving an entire population while sabotaging all attempts to establish peace.

With the U.S. as its indispensable leader, Canada attempts to divert attention from the fact that they themselves are the principle violators and wreckers of international law. Their lack of even a shred of humanity has been on display particularly these last 22 months of genocide against the Palestinian nation and people.

Their hypocrisy was immediately condemned worldwide, especially by the Resistance forces in Palestine and the Middle East.

Al Mayadeen wrote: "Many of the signatories have: opposed ceasefire resolutions at the United Nations; continued weapons sales to 'Israel'; deflected accountability by smearing critics as antisemitic; [and] backed 'Israel's' so-called right to self-defence even as entire neighbourhoods were flattened." It said the expressions of concern in the Joint Statement "ring hollow for many Palestinians and their allies, who have long warned of this unfolding catastrophe while Western powers turned a blind eye."

Most telling, Al Mayadeen said, is the statement's rejection of forced displacement plans, asserting that "proposals to move the Palestinian population into a 'humanitarian city' are completely unacceptable" and violate international law. Yet many of these same states offered no resistance when 'Israel' first floated such ideas or when over 2 million Palestinians were pushed from their homes in southern Gaza under the guise of evacuation."

Al Mayadeen concludes it is countries such as Algeria, Bolivia, South Africa and Malaysia "that have consistently championed Palestinian rights while Western allies stonewalled or equivocated."[3]

In a statement issued on July 22, the leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said, "It is not enough for 25 countries to call for a halt to the war against Gaza. Statements and condemnations do not absolve them of responsibility. What is needed is action, measures to end the massacres and crimes by imposing sanctions on the Israeli entity, isolating it, prosecuting it, and halting all forms of engagement."

Sheikh Naim Qassem also denounced the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Gaza, describing its "excessive savagery, genocide, and starvation" as having "exceeded all human and moral standards." He portrayed the humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian territory as a "mass killing of the starved," accusing international leaders and institutions of complicity through their inaction.[4]

Notes

1. "Joint statement on behalf of 26 partners on the Occupied Palestinian Territories," Global Affairs Canada, July 21, 2025. To read full statement, click here.

2. The foreign ministers of the following countries signed the Joint Statement: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finlnd, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, along with the European Union Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.

3. "After months of backing war crimes, West demands end to Gaza genocide," Al Mayadeen, July 21, 2025.

4. "Hezbollah chief slams global silence on Gaza, calls for boycott of Israel," Press TV, July 22, 2025.

Carney-Anand Press Conference Is a Deflection from Canada's Role in Arming Genocide

– Palestinian Youth Movement –

Yesterday [July 30], Prime Minister Mark Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand held a press conference to announce their intent to recognize a Palestinian State, conditional on demilitarization and Palestinian elections.

This announcement both undermines Palestinian self-determination and is an attempt to sanitize Canada's image while evading accountability for its material support for Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Absent from their statement was any acknowledgement of Canada's continued role in arming Israel's genocide through an uninterrupted flow of weapons from manufacturers in Canada to Israel.

For nearly two years, the Canadian government has responded to public pressure calling for an arms embargo with lies.

In the face of a damning report that shed light on Canada's arms exports to Israel, which was released on July 29, Carney and Anand did not address the 391 military-related shipments to Israel, including nearly half a million bullets shipped to the Zionist entity since the start of the Gaza genocide.

They ignored the shocking evidence that while the Canadian public called for an arms embargo, military cargo destined for Israel was loaded onto passenger planes.

For the past 21 months, millions in Canada have been calling for Israel to be held accountable for its genocide, an end to the flow of weapons, and the right to Palestinian self-determination.

While the Canadian government uses the language of self-determination, Canada imposes on the Palestinian people conditions that would facilitate Israel's colonization of Palestine. While Canada uses the language of international law, it refuses to hold Israel accountable for genocide, instead rewarding it with weapons to continue its mass slaughter and starvation campaign in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank.

Carney and Anand's statement pledged financial support for the Palestinian Authority, a government propped up by Western powers and rejected by the majority of Palestinians. It exists only to maintain security coordination with Israel, not to serve the Palestinian people. Canada's backing of the PA reinforces the colonial strategy of governing Palestinians through a proxy regime.

Yesterday's Liberal announcement is an attempt to deflect the damning truth exposed in the report: Exposing Canadian Military Exports to Israel. But no vague diplomatic jargon or policy will distract us from our struggle to stop the flow of weapons to Israel.

While statements recognizing Palestinian statehood may seem like progress, at this stage of the forced starvation of Gaza, refusing to act on the genocide materially is unacceptable. A real response to genocide should be disarming the perpetrator, Israel.

Stop the exports. End the complicity. We demand a full two-way arms embargo on Israel, now.

(July 31, 2025)

Report Confirms Canada Continues to Export Weapons to Israel in Breach of International Law

Yara Shoufani (centre) speaks at Ottawa press conference July 29, 2025

On July 29, the Arms Embargo Now coalition issued a report based on research done by the Palestinian Youth Movement and World Beyond War which exposes the reality of how Canada has been supplying arms and ammunition to Israel while it carries out a genocide trying to exterminate the Palestinians. The report gives the lie to repeated claims from the Carney Liberals and the previous Trudeau Liberals that Canada has cut off arms exports to Israel.

The report, entitled Exposing Canadian Military Exports to Israel, notes: "Using two complementary methodologies never before applied to track Canadian arms exports -- commercial shipping data tracing direct shipments from Canadian arms manufacturers to Israel through July 2025, and the Israeli Tax Authority (ITA) import data from October 2023 to July 2025 -- this report exposes a vastly different reality than the government claims -- a continuous, massive pipeline of Canadian weapons flowing directly to Israel."

The report contains records of specific shipments of weapons and military components -- built in factories across this country, shipped using Canadian highways, airports, ports and rails, and used in F-35 fighter jets, drones, and bombs that are massacring Palestinians.

The authors of the report underscore that since the U.S./Israeli genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, Gaza's population of more than two million people have been starved, bombarded, displaced, or killed and that Canada, as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and Arms Trade Treaty, is legally obligated to uphold these international laws and stop the genocide, not perpetuate it.

Not only are Canada's weapons exports to Israel illegal under international law, they contravene the sustained demands of Canadians and Quebeckers to end Canada's complicity in the genocide, including economic, military and political support for the U.S./Israeli war on Gaza. The claims by the Carney and Trudeau Liberals to have stopped such arms exports are clearly meant to divert the movement from achieving its aims.

At a press conference held on Parliament Hill, July 29, to release the report, Yara Shoufani of the Palestinian Youth Movement said that since October 7, 2023, Canadian politicians have deliberately lied to Canadians about Canada's role in supplying weapons for Israel to carry out the genocide against Palestinians. She pointed out that despite claims to the contrary, the flow of military equipment to Israel has been uninterrupted and that ammunition and weapons components have even been flown to Israel as cargo on commercial planes carrying civilians, unbeknownst to the passengers.

Shoufani called on the Canadian government to stop misleading Canadians with "vague statements about permit regulations" and implement a two-way arms embargo immediately as a contribution to ending the genocide.

To view the report, click here.

(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)

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