Tag: Gaza

Gaza Death Toll Passes 40,000: Global Concerns and Peace Talks Update


August 2024

Still they continue and just under 40 attended the Vigil in Salisbury on Saturday 17th August. A grim milestone was reached during the week when the Health Ministry announced the death toll in Gaza has passed 40,000 and shows no sign of ending. The Israeli authorities dispute these figures but the evidence suggests they are an underestimate since many thousands are buried and unaccounted for.

Peace talks are taking place in Doha and are being spoken about optimistically by the Americans at least although Hamas are not in attendance. Today’s reports are less optimistic.

There are signs of patience running out in Western capitals and the new Foreign Secretary David Lammy is in Israel with his French counterpart to try and promote some kind of peace initiative. In a joint article in the Observer (August 18th) it is clear both governments are worried by a regional escalation.

It is not clear whether the UK will cease or reduce arms sales to the country but CAAT reported recently (6 August) that there has been no change in the government’s position. Reports that they were rethinking appear to have been premature. The major supplier is the US which is done on a government to government basis.

There has also been a perceptible change in reporting by the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV with more robust interviews and pointed questioning. On Channel 4 for example, in an interview concerning the mounting settler violence in the West Bank where a large group of them were filmed rampaging through a Palestinian village, Matt Frei used the ‘apartheid’ word at least twice. On Radio 4 where and Israeli official was casting doubt over the death statistics in Gaza, the interviewer noted that independent journalists were not allowed in to the territory: clearly the inference was that if you will not permit independent verification, it is hard for you to complain about the statistics.

What is becoming increasingly apparent is the sympathy and shock felt around the world at the horrific attack on October 7th and the continuing plight of the 100 or so hostages held captive in Gaza is diminishing. Claims that it is Hamas terrorists being targeted and killed are also being questioned in the light of vast numbers of dead women and children.

Pic: Salisbury Amnesty

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Vigil


August 2024

COMPLETED EVENT

The Vigil takes place this evening (August 17th) in Salisbury Market Place starting at 5pm for half an hour. Over 40,000 are now dead in Gaza in what is certain to be an underestimate since many bodies lie unrecovered under the rubble. Reports yesterday of settler violence in the West Bank with cars and property set alight by marauding gangs and a Palestinian man killed. The violence has increased dramatically this year.

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A glimmer of hope …


The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra brings a glimmer of hope to a troubled region

August 2024

The news from the Middle East is uniformly grim with the death toll in Gaza rising remorselessly to over 39,000 with more deaths a day or so ago following a bombing. Violence is emerging in Lebanon which threatens to worsen following the events in Tehran. A peace deal seems as far away as ever. Salisbury people still congregate every Saturday afternoon for a peace vigil.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is a rare glimmer of light in the seemingly never ending gloom of conflict. Founded 25 years ago, and based in Seville, it is an orchestra consisting of both Arab and Israeli players with three desks for Iranians. Founded by Danial Barenboim and Edward Said, it is not a political venture but:

“The Divan is not a love story, and it is not a peace story. It has very flatteringly been described as a project for peace. It isn’t. It’s not going to bring peace, whether you play well or not so well. The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance. A project against the fact that it is absolutely essential for people to get to know the other, to understand what the other thinks and feels, without necessarily agreeing with it. I’m not trying to convert the Arab members of the Divan to the Israeli point of view, and [I’m] not trying to convince the Israelis to the Arab point of view. But I want to—and unfortunately I am alone in this now that Edward died a few years ago—create a platform where the two sides can disagree and not resort to knives.“

Barenboim emphasises the role of dialogue and a feature of recent conflict is to note that there are people on both sides, who recognise the opinions, feelings and rights of the other. The orchestra performed at the Proms last evening (11th August) in a concert consisting of Brahms’s Violin concerto performed by Anne-Sophi Mutter, followed by Schubert’s 9th Symphony ‘the Great’. Looking down on the 80 or so players, could one tell them apart, Arab from Jew? Would one want to? A band of people from two nations tearing themselves apart, sublimely playing two wonderful pieces of music offering a glimmer of hope …

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim accepting applause.

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Vigils continue


August 2024

The 36th Vigil took place again this Saturday, 10 August 2024 with just over 30 in attendance. When these Vigils started we did not imagine they would still be going and would attract continued support. This time we were joined by some passers by.

In that connection it is perhaps interesting to comment on the reaction of people walking past. Around 90 or so people took notice of what we were doing and registered (probably) that we were in support of peace in the region and a few took photos. This was around a quarter of those passing by. Many simply did not notice, hurrying home after work or rushing to catch a bus. Some quickly looked away for reasons we cannot know.

The conflict continues and the death toll stands at over 39,000. There seems to be no credible attempts at present to secure a ceasefire.

The next is on Saturday 17th at 5pm as usual.

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The Vigils continue


August 2024

Here we are in August and we are still holding our weekly vigil in Salisbury market. Over 30 attended during the half hour session and it was all good natured this time. There seems no end to the conflict in Gaza: faint peace hopes were extinguished when the senior Hamas chief, Ismael Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. Some reports refer to a missile strike but later it appeared to have been a bomb placed in the house where he stays in the city, activated from afar. Israel has not claimed responsibility but it is assumed to be by them.

In any event, it has inflamed tensions and together with activity in Lebanon, any prospect of peace looks further away than ever. It is likely after Netanyahu’s rapturous reception in the American Congress last week, he is emboldened to take this kind of action. Retaliation is likely from Iran and so it goes on. Patrick Cockburn writing in the i newspaper (3 August) says that “Israel is getting locked into wars it will not lose – but cannot win”.

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Vigil continues …


Salisbury Vigil still continues and is well supported

July 2024

Ten months since the terrible attack by Hamas and the start of the assault on Gaza and people still turn out on a Saturday to demonstrate their wish for peace. Just under 40 attended today (27 July). This week saw the rapturous reception of Benjamin Netanyahu by most of the Congress and Senate and heard his speech which contained many untruths. Peace in Gaza looks as far off as ever and today were reports of more attacks with 50 dead and around 200 injured. As long as the US supports Israel it does not seem likely that a peace deal is going to happen.

The politics changed in the US this week with President Biden agreeing to stand aside from the election and Kamala Harris looking set to be the presidential candidate. She has a more robust attitude to the conflict so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

The UK position seems to be hardening and the new government does not appear to be stuck on following the US lead and is even thinking of reviewing the sale of arms to Israel.

We will be back in the market square in Salisbury at 5 pm as usual for half and hour.

Butter market, Salisbury

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Change in position over Israel


Labour government withdraws its objection to an International Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu

July 2024

UPDATE: 6 August. There seem to be suggestions that the government has suspended licenses for arms to Israel. The position is not totally clear but firms are getting messages about a ‘suspension’.

The newly elected Labour government has withdrawn the objection to the International Court of Justice issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant it has just been announced. Following the Hamas atrocity on October 7th last year, Israel has waged a series of attacks on Gaza destroying huge parts of the enclave, destroying all but two of the hospitals and leaving over 38,000 dead. Other estimates suggest the death toll is around 186,000 dead if bodies in buildings are included. This suggests the new government will take a tougher line over Israel’s actions than the previous administration. Israel maintains it is going after Hamas targets but the death toll includes large numbers of children suggesting attacks are not sufficiently targeted. The Conservative government argued that the ICJ did not have jurisdiction over Israel.

There are also suggestions – unconfirmed at present – that the new government may be taking a hard look at weapons sales and perhaps limiting the amount or range that can be sold.

A decision by the ICJ to issue a warrant has not been taken yet.

Mr Netanyahu was in Washington this week and received a standing ovation from Congress. In his speech Mr Netanyahu referred several times to the ICJ and suggested some of the claims made by them and others were false. These included the suggestion that Israel was deliberately starving the people of Gaza claiming that it is ‘utter complete nonsense’ and an ‘complete fabrication.’ Unfortunately, according to agencies on the ground it is not. Only a fraction of the aid is allowed to enter and Israel imposes a constant stream of restrictions preventing significant quantities of aid to enter the territory. Since May, only just over 2,000 trucks have been allowed in. His other claims about sufficient warnings given before civilian areas bombed for example have also been refuted by those on the ground.

Nevertheless, Netanyahu continues to enjoy political support in Washington and his reception in the Congress was rapturous. Outside Congress however, there were loud protests.

It is clear that the activities of the IDF in Gaza and the resulting death toll, is causing serious problems in Western capitals. The indiscriminate bombings are in breach of international law. The shock and sympathy which greeted the appalling attack on October 7th is rapidly disappearing as continuous images of bombed hospitals and civilians fleeing the latest bombing attack are aired.

There will be a demonstration in Bournemouth this Sunday 28th July starting at 12:30 in Bournemouth Gardens.

There will be a peace Vigil again today (Saturday) in Salisbury Market place at 5pm for half an hour.

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Vigil


Encouraging vigil this Saturday with several joining us

July 2024

We had to move to the steps of the Library today because of the bad weather. We swelled to around 40 as several people joined us which was encouraging. We had no aggression or individuals shouting this week but by contrast, a number of people giving us the thumbs up and a lot taking photos.

This week saw the International Criminal Court deciding that Israel’s settlement policies and exploitation of resources in the occupied territories were in breach of international law. They say Israel should pay reparations. Israel does not recognise the ICC. There are now over 100 settlements and around 200,000 Israelis living in them.

There are now thought to be 38,700 dead although as we have noted in a previous post, the total dead is thought to be around 186,000 according to the Lancet.

Other news includes the decision by the new Labour government to resume aid to UNWRA to the tune of £32m. UNWRA are the only agency able to offer aid at scale and many countries stopped funding their operations following accusations that some of their staff were active in the October 7th atrocity. It is understood however that the Israeli authorities have not been able to substantiate their claims or provide evidence.

There will be another Vigil next Saturday, 27th at 5pm

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Vigil 32


July 2024

Vigil continues but with a little more aggression shown

We are still carrying on with the Vigil each Saturday and the numbers were back up over 30. This time we had a little aggression towards us with one man claiming that Palestinians were terrorists. A second man kept up a prolonged and loudly delivered series of arguments which included the question why do/did we not hold similar vigils for other conflicts such as Iraq? He disputed the Lancet figures of 186,000 dead although it was not clear that he had read the report (it was found for him).

We shall be back next Saturday at 5pm as usual for half an hour.

Pic: Salisbury Amnesty

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Impactful Lancet Study: Up to 186,000 Dead in Gaza, alarming Figures


Study by the Lancet estimates as many as 186,000 dead in Gaza.

July 2024

The figures previously quoted by many (and reproduced on this site) are of just under 38,000 dead in Gaza. The figures are produced by the Gaza Health Ministry and the way they are reported by British media implies that they are not necessarily true and may be exaggerated. It now appears from this study that they are far from being exaggerated and are a considerable underestimate and that the true figure may be an astonishing, not to say shocking 186,000. Claims that the figures are ‘fabricated’ are implausible and are accepted by the UN, WHO and the Israeli intelligence services.

The Lancet study explains in detail the problems in producing a reliable figure in a war zone. The previous data came from hospitals but with almost all of them destroyed this is no longer reliable. Thousands remain buried in the rubble of destroyed buildings and others are dying for want of medical attention or starvation. About the only agency able to deliver aid is UNWRA and they have been subject to considerable restrictions.

These figures have intensified calls on the (new) government to stop further aid going to Israel. Private Eye (No: 1627 p41) reports the closeness between the (previous) government and the Israel arms firms Elbit which has plants in the UK. They reveal undisclosed meetings between Professor Julia Sutcliffe, appointed by Kemi Badenoch, and the firm in an attempt to encourage them to invest £100m in the UK. The article ends by saying “The enthusiasm of the UK government departments for Elbit not only raises ethical issues – Elbit’s chief executive told investors it was “very much involved” in Gaza and was going to build weapons with “lessons learned from the war” – but also puts extra pressure on the UK not to limit arms exports to Israel of arms purchases from it”. The firm has previously been quoted as saying that drones built in the UK are not being used in Gaza.

Sources: The Lancet, al Jazeera, Private Eye

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