Tag: Salisbury

Uyghur campaign: letter


Group members publish letter in local paper

August 2026

Two members of the local group have their letter published today (13th) on the Uyghur campaign in the Salisbury Journal:

“DURING  August, the local Amnesty group is taking part in the Uyghur Solidarity Month to highlight the dire human rights situation in that part of China.

“The UN Commissioner for Human Rights said there were credible allegations that the Chinese government had carried out arbitrary detention, torture, forced labour, family separation and severe restrictions on religious and cultural freedoms on a vast scale.   Reading a book in their language is punished and might result in execution.

“Despite these findings, the suffering of the Uyghur people continues while the world looks on. More than a million Uyghurs have been detained and countless families have been torn apart. 

“Survivors describe detention camps where torture, rape, forced labour and coercive birth control measures are carried out by the Chinese. Whether one views this issue through the lens of International law, religious freedom human rights or human dignity, the plight of these people deserves continued public attention. 

“Further background can be found on the Salisbury Amnesty site www.salisburyai.com

Lesley and Peter Curbishley”

The letter was modelled on one suggested by the campaign team which had to be shortened because of the paper’s word limit.

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Obituary: Daphne White


Long standing member of the local group. Born 1933 – died 2026

We are sad to record the death of Daphne White who was a stalwart member of the Salisbury group who died on 19th July. Her funeral was held today 11 August at Salisbury crematorium attended by relatives, friends and former pupils.

Daphne was of the generation who lived their early lives through the war years, years of hardship and making do and mending. An evacuee from Portsmouth came to stay with the family and came to be almost a sister to her. After St Marks Junior School she went to South Wilts Grammar School. She was brought up in a Methodist family and after school, she attended a Methodist Teacher Training college in Scotland. She became a teacher of geography.

She travelled widely despite her dislike of flying working for a while in Cyprus. She returned and taught for a while at Durrington Secondary Modern and then became Deputy Head of Wilton Middle School before retiring.

It was this interest in the world and geography which led her to take an interest in human affairs and thence to become active in Amnesty International, both in the national organisation and with the local group. She took great interest in the plight of others including that of political prisoners. Amnesty became a great passion for her and she was a regular attendee at the monthly group meetings. One prisoner of conscience Daphne worked on was Dr Raul Lombardi who, with his family, came to visit Salisbury following his release. Work with PoCs is a key element of Amnesty’s work. Daphne was the county coordinator for Peru for many years. She is bottom left in the picture (picture credit needed).

We are grateful to the celebrant, Helen George, for this extract from her celebration of Daphne’s life and her work in speaking to those who knew Daphne to describe her life story. Helen can be contacted on helenislageorge@gmail.com. We hope to add to this obituary if further material comes to light including adding a photo. So please view this as a first draft.

She will be missed.

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Israel ‘concealing evidence of genocide’


140th vigil well attended. Need to maintain the spotlight on genocide and war crimes

August 2026

Around 35 turned out this week (8th) and this number swelled at times to over 40 with people stopping for a while. The need is still there with killings going on despite the so-called ceasefire. There were scarcely credible reports of a more permanent ending which almost certainly will come to nought. [UPDATE: Israel rejects Trump’s plan today 9th]. Israel is reported to be engaged in a process of concealing evidence of the genocide.

Destroying the evidence

One event beginning to happen is Israel is now busy trying to clear away the evidence of genocide. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports that around 10 million tonnes of material has been cleared away from Gaza. They report:

“The Israeli forces, along with Israeli civilian contractors, are conducting a wide and organised operation to process and clear the rubble from neighbourhoods and facilities they have destroyed in the Gaza Strip and relocate it from areas under their military control to outside the Strip.

“This is occurring without any official record of the quantities removed or independent oversight, and before international and local investigative committees have had the chance to survey, examine, and document the sites. This risks destroying crucial evidence of genocide and the remains of victims still unaccounted for under the rubble.

“These operations are not part of organised humanitarian efforts to rescue the missing, open roads, or prepare for reconstruction. Instead, Israel is acting unilaterally within closed areas under its military control by demolishing remaining buildings and then crushing, mixing, and transporting the rubble before forensic teams, evidence experts, and unexploded ordnance specialists can examine, document, and preserve the sites, along with the evidence and human remains […]”.

Since thousands of remains of Palestinians lie buried in this rubble, this represents a dreadful and unfeeling extension to the genocidal crimes Israel has already committed. The full story can be read here. A search of this topic was carried out and there is no sign of it being reported in any UK news outlet [accessed 9th].

Mass burial

Last week, a mass burial took place of 112 Palestinians, 40 of whom were children, killed in one of the deadliest strikes which took place since October 7th. An entire apartment block was demolished in November 2023 and 157 people are still missing. Their bodies could not be recovered until now.

No sign of the local MP Mr John Glen who despite the genocide and continuing killings is a ‘proud member’ of the Friends of Israel lobby group along with around 140 other MPs of all major parties.

Photo. Two members standing by a traffic island which attracted a good level of response from motorists. Photo courtesy of Peter Gloyns.

Sources: Euro-Med, Kuwait Times, Eupal, The Canary. No UK media could be found.

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Uyghur solidarity month


Salisbury MP’s activity on this topic is poor

August 2026

It is often suggested we write to MPs on matters of concern and this can achieve something but too often it doesn’t. An MP receives a lot of messages from constituents most of which concern local matters. Indeed, it is a criticism of the system that much of their postbag are issues more properly the concern of local councillors. MPs feel obliged to engage in these matters however, because it is clearly the expectation of their constituents that they should.

Salisbury has two MPs, Mr Danny Kruger (Reform) who represents East Wiltshire which runs down to the northern part of the City, and Mr John Glen (Conservative) who represents the City itself and most of south Wiltshire. Their involvement in Chinese human rights issues is slight.

Mr Kruger asked the prime minister (then Sir Keir Starmer) the following question in February:

“The Prime Minister is very full of the abstract virtue of engaging with China and getting in the room with them. He used to say that Britain should not even sign a trade deal with China because of the persecution of the Uyghur people. Having now got into the room with the Chinese leader, can he tell the House a single thing that he achieved on behalf of the Uyghurs, or indeed on behalf of the security of this country?

“[Starmer] Yes. Engaging is really important for the security of this country. Just for clarity, we did not sign a trade deal on the visit; we simply looked at the ways in which we can open the opportunities for businesses. There were 60 big businesses with us on the visit, and they are absolutely clear about the advantages to them. I would much rather take their view on the advantages than the nonsense that is being spouted on the other side of this House”.

A good question receiving a complete non answer. The prime minister talks vaguely about engagement and then on to talk about the trade talks. He does not answer the Uyghur point at all. In the same session, Jim Shannon (DUP) also asks about, inter alia, the Uyghurs:

[…] what steps forward remain in terms of the Chinese treatment of Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Falun Gong and other religious minorities? Was the Prime Minister able to use diplomatic soft power to bring about the changes required to provide human rights protection, to stop religious persecution and to enable successful trade between the two nations?

“[Starmer] The hon. Gentleman is right to raise these really important issues. I raised them myself during the course of the visit, and I thank him”.

With what result we do not know. Danny Kruger asked again about the Uyghurs in March and a junior minister simply replied that “[the government] continues to engage with the Chinese on human rights and religious freedom”. The results do not look to be that impressive. At least it can be said that Mr. Kruger has tried to raise the matter.

There is one speech by Mr John Glen which mentions the Uyghurs in part of a long speech much of which was devoted to the treatment of Christians. A mention of Uyghurs is as follows:

“[…] It is not a binary question; it is not that we cannot talk about what is happening with the Uyghur Muslims in China while recognising that China is an important economic actor in the world that needs to be respected. We need to find ways of interacting well together and respecting, as far as we can, what common ground exists. It troubles me sometimes that when we have statements in the House, we revert to a binary: “It’s all good or it’s all the opposite.” The hon. Member for North Northumberland [David Smith, Labour] grasps the right way to approach this”.

The full speech can be accessed on the They Work for You website. It is not clear what ‘common ground’ exists with repression, torture and cultural genocide or where we could find it. On the subject of China generally, Mr Kruger has mentioned it 14 times and Mr Glen on no less than 41 occasions. We can conclude that the issue of persecution of Uyghurs is not high on either MP’s concerns. Both are Christians and seem more concerned about how they are treated rather than Muslims. According to They Work for You, Mr Glen ‘generally votes against laws to promote human rights’ and Mr Kruger ‘consistently votes against equality and human rights’.

Overall, both MPs do not seem to concern themselves with human rights issues. They are concerned about problems experienced by Christians and about political issues to do with China with little recognition of the plight of Uyghurs although Mr. Kruger has tried. We were unable to find anything relevant on their websites.

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Good attendance at latest vigil


Nearly 40 showing continued concern

July 2026

Vigil number 138 held this Saturday with just under 40 who came to support. It is amazing that people continue to come and although there are the diehards, new faces come each time. Recognition by passers-by was strong as many at 10 a minute at one stage and over 100 overall. We meet every Saturday in the market square by the Library at 5 pm. All are welcome.

The situation remains grim with 1,123 killed in Gaza since the October ‘cease fire’: cease fire seeming to mean slightly less killing than before. We have already noted the new prime minister, Andy Burnham’s apology for the shameful response by Sir Keir Starmer at the beginning of the conflict which did so much damage to the party and to his reputation. Aseel Baidoun, Deputy Director of Advocacy and Communications at Medical Aid for Palestinians, said:

“Prime Minister Burnham enters Downing Street with an opportunity to chart a new course on the UK’s response to Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory. His acknowledgement that the last administration ‘got it wrong’ on Gaza is a welcome first step. It must now be followed by urgent action to uphold international law and protect Palestinian lives.

“[…] The new Government must match its words with action by suspending arms transfers to Israel, ending trade with illegal settlements, suspending the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement, and taking meaningful steps to ensure accountability for violations of international law.”

We noted in a recent post that the government is actively supporting arms sales with money, insurance and organisation at events such as Farnborough. The government has closed down its monitoring unit in the Foreign Office so will be even less aware of events on the ground.

Israel protest

One piece of good news is that Al Jazeera report that there have been demonstrations in Tel Aviv against settler violence which continues at pace. The UN’s OCHA reports that Fatalities linked to settler attacks in 2026 have already surpassed the total recorded during all of 2025, with 18 Palestinians killed as of 20 July compared with 17 throughout 2025.

About 90 Palestinians were displaced by demolitions and settler attacks during the reporting period, most following a large-scale demolition carried out by Israeli authorities in a Bedouin community in Qalqiliya governorate. Demolitions and settler attacks continued to affect Palestinian homes, water systems, schools and livelihood assets, further undermining access to essential services and community resilience.

We await to see if the new prime minister and new Foreign Secretary who replaces the largely ineffective Yvette Cooper, will bring changes to British policy concerning the region and our approach to the Israeli regime. No sign of the local MP, Mr John Glen who is a proud member of the Conservative Friends of Israel along with around 200 other MPs.

Sources include: UN, Lemkin Institute, Guardian, Al Jazeera, OCHA.

Photo courtesy of Peter Gloyns

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BBC ‘bias’ in Gaza conflict


Report reveals in detail how the BBC has misreported the conflict

July 2026

The BBC is widely trusted. It promotes itself as an independent media organisation dedicated to giving fair balanced news and comments about what is happening in the world. A report by the Centre for Media Monitoring analysed the BBC’s output on the Gaza conflict and found it to be anything but balanced. Indeed it concluded that the ‘BBC is systematically biased against Palestinians in Gaza war coverage‘. They echo conclusions by Peter Oborne in his book Complicit [OR Books, 2025] who was extremely critical of their reporting of the conflict.

Not that these conclusions are new. Tom Mills in his book The BBC: Myth of a Public Service [Verso, 2016] concluded that it has ‘always sided with the elite‘. Despite the constant accusations by right-wing media interests for its left-wing bias, in fact he argues ‘its journalism has overwhelmingly reflected the ideas and interests of elite groups‘.

Gaza coverage

CfMM analysed thousands of BBC pieces as part of its research and came up with 4 main conclusions:

  • Palestinian deaths are treated as less newsworthy. Despite there being 34 times more deaths among Palestinians, the BBC gave Israel deaths 33 times more coverage.
  • BBC used emotive terms 4 times more for Israeli victims, applied ‘massacre’ 18 times more to Israeli casualties, and used ‘murder’ 220 times for Israelis in contrast to once for Palestinians. We have noted that the word ‘hostage’ was applied (correctly) for those seized by Hamas after the October 7th massacre, but the word ‘prisoner’ is used for those seized by Israel and held without trial and tortured. Prisoner implies some kind of due process has taken place which it hasn’t.
  • BBC presenters shut down genocide claims in over 100 documented instances whilst making zero mention of Israeli leaders’ genocidal statements, including Netanyahu’s biblical Amalek reference. The moment an interviewee mentions the G word, a BBC person will immediately interrupt and say that there has been no conclusion to the claims despite the massive evidence to the contrary and blatant statements by Israeli politicians to that effect.
  • The BBC interviewed significantly fewer Palestinians than Israelis (1,085 v 2,350) on TV and radio, while BBC presenters shared the Israeli perspective 11 times more frequently than the Palestinian perspective (2,340 v 217). The interviews themselves are often weak and unchallenging.

The full report is available here.

Reasons

We can only speculate on the reasons for the bias. One is the myth of BBC independence. This much touted merit is not always true. The Board is appointed by Government ministers and the organisation is under constant funding threats. The Charter is up for renewal soon in 2028.

A second aspect is the charge of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is of course to be condemned but it has become a cover for any and all criticism of Israel. When Amnesty and Human Rights Watch published their reports on Israel’s Apartheid policy for example, the immediate and knee-jerk response was the charge of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel. It has led the BBC we would argue to an approach of extreme caution and nervousness.

The policy of balance is also a factor. Balance does not always mean equal. This arose with debates about climate change. A scientist would be interviewed with facts and data followed by a denialist such as Lord Lawson. They received equal coverage even though Lawson was not a scientist and seldom had any evidence to support his views. Viewers were left confused. Scientists gradually refused to be interviewed. The BBC has now stopped doing this (after many protests) although it should be stressed scientists are not always right and should be challenged: but challenged by someone competent.

The tragedy is that there are many Jewish people in the UK who are concerned about the extreme violence and genocide taking place in Gaza and the increasing tide of violence against Palestinians living on the West Bank. On a recent Any Answers programme, two Jewish men phoned in with their views. They did not fit the narrative as expected and the presenter was audibly disconcerted and tried vainly to counter their views. The grim future of Israel is discussed in the Jewish academic Omar Bartov’s book Israel: What Went Wrong? [Fern Press, 2026].

Does it matter?

It matters because the BBC is a trusted source much needed in these days of mis- and disinformation and torrid material being produced by X and other online outlets. Generally, they perform well despite attempts at coercion and control. One has only to spend 10 minutes watching GBNews to witness what low standards mean.

It matters because they have a role in shaping public opinion. People were rightly angry at the seizing of hostages by Hamas and the frequent bulletins about the negotiations to secure their release increased that anger. The almost complete absence of reporting by the BBC of the seizure by Israel of medical staff and their incarceration, torture and sometimes death in an underground prison weakens their claims to be impartial.

It matters because this public opinion shapes political opinion and policies. The almost total failure by the BBC to report the hundreds of RAF overflights for example means a large chunk of British society is unaware of this help and other more covert help by our government for the regime. It means the government can continue selling arms with impunity thus playing a part in increasing the destruction of Gaza. It means the incarceration of those who support the Palestinian cause is made that bit easier because they have been labelled the ‘bad guys’. It means politicians like David Lammy can make provably misleading statements about reducing arms sales without being challenged. [David Lammy left government as this post was being written].

It matters because the distortion of language: for example selective use of words like ‘massacre’ and ‘hostage’ as we have noted above, means trust in the BBC is eroded.

The BBC fails to mention when interviewing various members of parliament, whether they are members of one or other of the Friends of Israel groups nor asks how much they have received for visits to the country. It does not ask them leaving the viewer or listener left in the dark. [To be fair, neither does the BBC nor other broadcasters ask interviewees if they are a member of one or other of the think tanks with their undeclared funding].

The organisation needs to shake off its fear of being called anti-Semitic and provide proper and balanced reports.

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The vigils continue


Vigil number 137 held on July 18th

We continue to hold vigils in Salisbury’s market place on Saturday evening. Last Saturday was the 137th such event. Thinly attended this time but we were briefly joined by 26 Brazilian students which was a delight.

We continue because the situation in the Middle East gets no better. We await how the new prime minister handles the situation in Gaza but he has already apologised for the party’s response and approach to the conflict which was very damaging. Sir Keir Starmer was so desperate to lay the ghost of ‘anti-Semitism’ that his response to Israel’s violence and destruction of the territory was distorted. Now David Lammy has made statements about the mistaken approach but it has to be noted that there was little sign of this up till now. He did not feel the need to resign.

Dr Hussan Abu Safiya

The UN said in a report last month:

“The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel expresses its grave concern at credible reports that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian doctor and Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, has been subjected to continued and severe abuse since his detention by the Israeli authorities in December 2024.

“The Commission calls for the immediate, unconditional and safe release of Dr. Abu Safiya and of all medical personnel held in arbitrary detention by Israel. It also urges the Israeli authorities to provide immediate independent medical care for Dr. Abu Safiya.

“The continued arbitrary detention of Palestinian medical personnel and the severe mistreatment they are subjected to are deplorable and flagrant violations of international law. The actions of the Israeli Prison Service guards towards Palestinian detainees raise grave concerns of violations of international law that likely amount to international crimes. Dr. Abu Safiya’s medical condition is the direct result of these actions. The Commission underscores that persons deprived of liberty are protected against murder, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and sexual violence”.

He is held in an underground prison.

Israeli forces now occupy 65% of the Gaza strip in contravention of Trump’s peace plan. The number of Palestinians killed is 73,770 of whom 20,000 or more are children. The total is likely to be much higher with thousands buried and unaccounted for under rubble. 1,144 have been killed since the ceasefire in October.

Sources: Guardian, BBC, Al Jazeera, Copilot Search, UN,

Image courtesy Peter Gloyns

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Key highlights from July 2026 meeting minutes


Lots of interest in this month’s minutes and newsletter

July 2026

We are pleased to attach our July minutes and newsletter with thanks to several group members for their contributions. There are pieces on the refugee situation which continues to resonate in the British political scene but often with little attention to the facts. Few would know from the media and politicians that the number of boat crossings have declined for example.

As we have pointed out in a previous post, we now report on British human rights following successive government’s introduction of ever more restrictive laws on assembly and protest.

There is a summary of the death penalty noting that the Restore party wants to see the penalty brought back in the UK. This coincided with the conditional pardon offered to Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain.

There is a report on social media statistics noting that views to this site are at significantly higher level than last year but that most come from outside the UK. High numbers from China are a surprise but very welcome.

There is no meeting in August and the next time we meet is on September 10th.

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Will the UK’s attitude to Israel change?


Will the new prime minister really make significant changes?

Vigil #136

July 2026

Questions, questions, which are posed following the near certainty of Andy Burnham becoming the new prime minister of Britain and his stated apologies for the UK’s uncritical support of Israel and its genocidal actions in Gaza. It is one thing to offer Israel support and sympathy after the horrific attack on October 7th but quite another to continue to offer such support while the destruction of Gaza took place including the near total demolition of medical facilities, schools and other public facilities. The deliberate killing of children, over 20,000 so far – not as an accidental consequence of military action but as a matter of stated policy – is unsupportable yet our nation has continued to support it.

We noted in a previous post that Mr Burnham waited until he had the succession in the bag so to speak, before making this announcement and wondered if this was because he was mindful of the huge number of MPs who are members of a Friends of Israel group – 69 of whom are in his own party and over 200 in the House of Commons as a whole – as well as the powerful influence Israeli lobbying has over our media including the BBC. If this is correct, the question becomes will he be able to follow through? If he did not feel comfortable with promising a reset because of fears of a lobbying backlash, how likely is it he can withstand this influence and lobbying once he gets into No 10?

It is to be questioned how an MP and more particularly senior ministers – which includes shockingly, Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and David Lammy – be members and act impartially as a minister. Whom do they serve? A question asked of the Salisbury MP, Mr John Glen a ‘proud’ member of the much larger Conservative Friends of Israel, which he said was unworthy of an answer. Sir Keir’s support which emerged when he made the quite disgraceful comment that Israel was justified in cutting off water and power to Gaza, led in part to his defenestration as prime minister.

Vigil 136

Picture courtesy of Peter Gloyns

About 30 attended the latest vigil on a hot evening. Quite a lot of support and thumbs up signs and passers by taking pictures, One offensive gesture noticed. Recognition was again quite high. No sign of Mr Glen and no mention of the vigil in his weekly column in the Salisbury Journal.

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Death penalty report


Monthly report on the use of the penalty around the world

July 2026.

There is a lot of interest in this month’s report which covers the period mid-June to mid-July 2026 and is preprared by group member Lesley to whom we are grateful for the work in compiling it. There is more content in this report on conferences where the future of the penalty was discussed for example the Ninth World Congress Against the Death Penalty.

Report June July (Word)Download
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