Tag: Trump

War, war, war


Hostilities continue with little sign of lasting peace let alone reconciliation

April 2026

There is a ceasefire in Gaza/killings continue; the straight of Hormuz is open/the straight of Hormuz is closed; the Iranians have agreed to hand over their nuclear material/the Iranians will not hand over their nuclear material; there is a ceasefire in southern Lebanon/homes continue to be demolished in southern Lebanon. Welcome to the now you see it, now you don’t world of Middle East warfare.

At one level it is bizarre. Largely stemming from Washington, it seems to represent a desperate desire by the Americans and President Trump to claim some kind of victory for the ill-considered and catastrophic war they were persuaded into by the Israelis. At another level it is a disaster in which death, destruction and human misery is foisted on the peoples of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. The killing is wanton. The pretence that the bombing and killing is directed at terrorists and because innocent people are human shields seems no longer to be the story in town.

In addition to the visible destruction there is the treatment of Palestinians in prisons around Israel which the latest UN report discusses. In exposing this practice, Francesca Albanese has been atrociously treated by the Americans as we discussed in our previous post.

Any Questions? and Danny Kruger

It is disappointing to listen to some of our politicians speaking in support of this continuing violence and carnage in the region as some kind of solution to the problems there. One such is the Reform politician Danny Kruger, the MP For East Wiltshire, a constituency touching on Salisbury. In a BBC radio programme called ‘Any Questions?’ where members of the audience put questions to a panel of – for the most part – politicians, he said in answer to a question on the Pope’s comments about Donald Trump:

“[It is] important that the Americans and Israelis win this war (audience demurs) and it is important the right side comes out on top. The Americans and Israelis were right to recognise that Iran poses and existential threat to its own region and to the safety of the world. One day we are going to have to take on the challenge of defeating the Iranian regime, the most evil regime in the world and I recognise why so many people are appalled at how President Trump conducts himself. […]

“But guys, you’ve got to be on the right side of this conflict. […] Fundamentally, the Iranians are the bad guys in this conflict and it’s really important that their power to develop nuclear weapons and their power to support terrorist organisations around the region – and in this country – [are] degraded. So I really, really hope that the outcome of this conflict is a weaker Iran [no audience applause].” (our italics)

Noticeable in this one-sided approach to the conflict is the absence of balance. No one would claim that the Iranian regime is other than a violent and unpleasant one, but the language of ‘winning’, ‘defeat’ and the desire to see a ‘weaker Iran’ is disappointing to say the least. Since it is Israel which has been engaged in bombing and assassinations, the absence of any mention of their activities – the killing of over 70,000 in Gaza for example, and the current process of demolitions in south Lebanon – is questionable. Is it only Iran posing an ‘existential threat to the region?’. Israel is the only nuclear power after all. One wonders if Mr Kruger has ever read the speeches of Ben Gvir or Bezalel Smotrich? It is especially disappointing to hear a politician like Mr Kruger – someone who regularly espouses his Christian faith and beliefs – to speak in terms of violence as a solution to the problems of the region.

Caterpillar Tractors

On the subject of demolitions, our attention has been drawn to a YouTube post on the activities of the American plant company Caterpillar which provides the armoured machines enabling the demolitions in south Lebanon and Gaza to be carried out. See ‘How Caterpillar profits from the genocide in Gaza and [US citizens] pay for it.‘

124th vigil

Yes, they continue with over 30 yesterday (18 April) with around 40 passing motorists sounding their horns.

No sign though of another local MP, Mr John Glen – nor any mention of them in his weekly column in the Salisbury Journal – who is a ‘proud’ member of Conservatives Friends of Israel the biggest lobby organisation in Parliament. Hundreds of his constituents turned out and have done so for 124 weeks, yet not a word. Along with some Labour ministers like Peter Kyle and David Lammy, they are part of a large contingent of around 150 MPs who promote the interests of Israel in parliament.

Photo courtesy of Peter Gloyns

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UN rapporteur sanctioned by the US


The UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese sanctioned and subject to death threats

April 2026

Francesca Albanese is the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories since 1967. She has documented the extreme violence meted out on the Palestinians by Israel settlers and the IDF and for her pains has been sanctioned by the US President Donald Trump as a ‘specially designated national’. She is the first UN to have received this designation which puts her alongside drug traffickers and dictators. This has had serious consequences for her including the seizure of her Washington apartment and not being able to use a credit card anywhere in the world because they are all processed by American firms. There was considerable lobbying for this to happen.

She has received this treatment because of her reporting on the extreme violence used against Palestinians by Israel and by calling their behaviour genocide.

We are currently witnessing the invasion of southern Lebanon and the demolition of many villages.

In the West Bank, settler violence in 2026 so far, has displaced more Palestinians than in the whole of 2025. Around 1,000 have been killed since 2023 a quarter of whom were children. This is part of a pattern of violent displacement, demolition, evictions and crippling movement and access restrictions. The UN reports that ‘Israeli authorities directed, participated in or enabled settler violence’.

Albanese was interviewed recently in a Guardian piece and expands on her role and the politicians around the world who have been complicit in the violence. She has little time for Sir Keir Starmer and the aid and cover he has given Israel describing him as a ‘monster’ for arguing in 2023 that Israel ‘has the right’ to cut off electricity and gas to Gaza. “You’re not a human rights person at all” she says “if you say such a monstrosity. And the university who gave you your law degree should take it away from you.” [In the subsequent furore Sir Keir claimed he was “questioned by members” and he “made it clear it is not and has never been my view that Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicines. International law must be followed.”]

Exceptionally ruthless physical and psychological abuse

This March, the UN published its latest report on the treatment and torture of hundreds of Palestinians and an extract says:

“In custody, Palestinian captives have been subjected to exceptionally ruthless physical and psychological abuse, on a scale and with an intensity without precedent in the history of Palestine/Israel. Brutal beatings, sexual violence, rape, lethal mistreatment, starvation and the systematic deprivation of the most basic human conditions have inflicted profound and lasting scars on the bodies and minds of tens of thousands of Palestinians and their loved ones. These practices demonstrate that the detention system of Israel has descended into a regime of systemic and widespread humiliation, coercion, and terror, aimed at stripping Palestinians not only of their liberty but of their dignity, identity and even the most basic sense of humanity. Far from isolated excesses, such conduct has been institutionalized within detention structures, politically endorsed by Israeli authorities and publicly justified, or even celebrated, by segments of society”. [para 84]

A report by UN Watch repudiates all of Albanese’s conclusions. The organisation is affiliated to the American Jewish Committee.

Peace of any kind seems a long way off in the region. The bombing and assassinations in Iran, the massive death toll in Gaza, increasing violence in the West Bank and now the invasion of southern Lebanon seems to show a pattern of violence as a kind of first port of call for the nation. Assisted by the US they are immensely powerful militarily and seem to have no real wish to compromise and certainly not recognise a Palestinian state. The tragedy is that it will not bring them the security they so desperately desire. A new generation of people with hatred towards Israel is in the making and will come to haunt them in years to come.

The treatment of Albanese is wholly unjustified and vindictive. Her reports can be criticised and errors pointed out in the normal way. But the death threats to her and her family, the seizing of her apartment and other coercive measures are wholly unacceptable.

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97th vigil


The 97th vigil in Salisbury – peace at last in the region?

October 2025

This vigil, the 97th, took place after ceasefire and hostage release deal was agreed a few days ago. The remaining hostages will be released very soon – maybe tomorrow (Sunday) – and a significant number of Palestinians will be released from Israel jails. The bombing appears to have stopped and thousands are returning to what’s left of their homes in north Gaza. The IDF has pulled back and now occupies less of Gaza than recently.

With the ceasefire underway and negotiations continuing concerning the 20 point plan initiated by the Americans, we wondered, as we said in our last post, whether to continue. A kind of answer was delivered at this vigil when well over 40 attended with a number of new faces, and 29 cars and other vehicles, sounded their horns in recognition.

A video of the vigil is available here produced by Peter Gloyns to whom we are grateful.

Needless to say we wish the process well and hope the negotiations bear fruit. We would like nothing more than to stay home on a Saturday evening. Will it last? The first thing to note is that it was forced on both sides by the Trump administration and their shift in tone followed the bombing of Qatar where they have their major Middle Eastern base.

Peace will last if both sides see it as being in their best interests to do so. It is not clear that is the case and there are extreme positions on each side. Israel has suffered in the conflict with a rising deficit, low growth of around 1% and a large exodus of skilled people. Since the tech sector is a major part of their economy, this is of concern. Foreign direct investment is falling and the shekel is weak. It is close to becoming a pariah state as witnessed at the UN with the hall emptying when Netanyahu arrived to speak. Despite this, the resolve to destroy Hamas and prevent a Palestinian state is a powerful force.

Hamas has been seriously weakened and Iran is not at present able to offer the same level of support to the various terrorist groups in the region.

We will continue with the vigils in the hope that the ceasefire continues. At present there seems no prospect of a Palestinian state.

The Salisbury MP, Mr John Glen, has never appeared at these vigils nor mentioned them in his weekly column in the local paper. He is listed as being a member of the well funded Conservative Friends of Israel group.

Image: The South African

Previous posts:

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Vigil today?


October 2025

With the peace deal in place, we wondered if it was necessary or appropriate to hold a vigil today 11th October. Surely, it might be argued, the fighting has stopped and the IDF has withdrawn from parts of Gaza. Might this be an end to the 2 years of hostilities and some kind of peace can now take place? Can we not be optimistic rather than hold a vigil for a cause which is now history?

Of course we can hope that this is a lasting end to the violence. With President Trump essentially twisting the Israeli government’s arms, there will be a stop to the ceaseless bombing and parking loaded people carriers next to apartment blocks and blowing them up.

But, will it last? Israel has no intention of allowing a Palestinian state. Elements in the Knesset want Gaza to be flattened and its inhabitants to be sent elsewhere. Settlers will continue with their nightly violence and killing of Arab and Palestinians living in the West Bank. Will Trump stay engaged in the coming months to ensure the two sides stay on course? Will Hamas quietly put down their guns and stop sending rockets over to Israel? Aid is to be allowed in but will that continue? And we must keep in mind that Gaza is one vast prison with no port, no boats allowed into the Mediterranean and with no airfield. All access in and out tightly controlled by Israel with queues sometimes lasting hours for no apparent reason. And Gaza is now a wasteland with water treatment plants destroyed, hospitals reduced to rubble, and agricultural land made infertile.

These are huge barriers to be overcome and overcome they might with goodwill. But is there goodwill? Or do the hatreds run too deep?

So while we welcome the ceasefire and hope that it will be sustained if only because of sustained and outside pressure, whether it will last is not at all uncertain.

We will be holding a vigil today, 11th starting at 5pm as usual.

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Lisa Montgomery executed


Lisa Montgomery was executed in the Federal prison of Terre Haute, Indiana today (Wednesday, 13 January 2021) after a long legal struggle to save her from this punishment. The case has caused a major debate in the US partly because Lisa was the first woman to be executed in nearly seven decades. She was executed in a federal prison, not a state one.

There is no doubt that her crime was horrific. But there seems little doubt also that her upbringing, which included being gang raped more than once, contributed to her lack of mental wellbeing and borderline personality disorder. It is unlikely she was aware of what was happening to her. She was the 11th person to be executed at Terre Haute since President Trump resumed federal executions.

The US is the only country in the Americas to retain the death penalty and not all states in the union practise it.

There is no evidence to support the maintenance of this penalty. It does not deter and it brutalises those involved in it. It can make securing convictions harder if juries are unwilling to agree a guilty verdict if there is a risk of execution. It is extremely expensive as we noted in a previous post and it has cost California for example, around $12bn to administer since 1978.  For poor people, unable to employ expensive lawyers, the system is stacked against them.  Mistakes – and there are many – cannot afterwards be rectified.  

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Death penalty in America: CNN interview


This is an interview on CNN of Helen Prejean who is an active campaigner against the death penalty in the USA.  Helen is a Roman Catholic, born in Baton Rouge Louisiana, and was chair of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty up to 1995.  She is the author of a book, Dead Man Walking.

The interview was made because of President Trump’s programme of carrying out a string of Federal executions in the lame duck period before President elect Joe Biden takes over in January.  The number of these is unprecedented.

CNN interview

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President Trump and human rights


June 2019

President Trump is due to leave the UK after a controversial visit in which all the normal diplomatic niceties seem to have been ignored.  Our concern naturally is with human rights and his tenure as president has shown a wilful disregard for the rights of women, minorities and immigrants.  Kate Allen, the Director of Amnesty, has written to the government arguing for a more vigorous line from them.  She said;

Trump has presided over two-and-a-half years of utterly shameful policies.  Locking up child migrants, imposing a discriminatory travel ban, decimating global funding for women’s rights and withdrawing from global human rights bodies – it’s been a roll call of shame under Donald Trump’s presidency.

We need to resist Trump’s trashing of human rights.  Within the Anglo-American relationship, we’d like to see the UK Government being far more vocal about human rights.  Our fear is that the Government’s desperate hunger for post-Brexit trade deals with the USA could mean we end up giving a free pass to the White House as this onslaught against human rights continues.

The full press release can be accessed from this link.

If you have come to this page seeking information about Paul Mason’s talk on 24th, details can be found here.

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Group meeting – July


We have pleasure in attaching the minutes of the July meeting in which we discussed the Death Penalty, the barbeque, the Trump protest and urgent actions.  Thanks to group member Lesley for compiling them.

July minutes (Word)

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Trump protest


Local protest planned

The local group is planning a short demonstration against the visit by Donald Trump to the UK.  It will take place in the market square on 13 July starting at 11am for an hour.  The purpose is to highlight his attitude towards immigrants and the decision to withdraw the USA from the Human Rights Council.

Readers are welcome to join us.

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