Happy Easter/ Eostre!

🎨 David Stribbling

Happy Easter Easter /Eostre!  

Spring/April/  is the time of the equinox and the time of celebration of the ancient spring fertility festival honoring the goddess Eostre (Ostara, Oestera). 

This celebration, of pagan origin, pays tribute to the renewal of the Earth, the rebirth of life after the dead of winter. Eostre is the pagan fertility goddess of humans and crops.  

The traditional colors of the festival are green, yellow and purple. The symbols used are hares and eggs, representing fertility (because we all know that bunnies breed like, well, rabbits) and new life. 

Legend has it that Eostre mated with the solar god of the spring equinox and nine months later, at Yule/winter solstice, gave birth to a man/god child.  

The association between Eostre and Easter is complex, with some arguing that Easter traditions like eggs and the Easter bunny are rooted in her worship.

For obvious reasons, eggs have been a symbol of fertility for many cultures since antiquity. The egg is literally new life, so what better representation of the spring, when the time of winter, scarcity and darkness had ended. Eggs, like many traditions that were tied to the fertility of the earth and cycles of the season, became associated with Easter as pagan traditions were absorbed.

Easter Eggs or painted eggs are a Middle Ages tradition which is borne out of the Lenten fast. Since people were fasting, eggs weren't being eaten and were stored up until Easter Sunday. During this time, people began to decorate them to give to children. They were often painted red to symbolise the blood of Jesus, and the shell used to represent the empty tomb of the resurrection.

Chocolate eggs first appeared in the 17th century in France in the court of Louis XIV based on this tradition and in 1725, solid chocolate eggs were produced. The first chocolate Easter egg appeared in Britain in 1873 and then in 1875, Cadbury’s created the modern Easter egg we know today.

In Ukraine, Pysanka eggs historically honored the sun god father of Eostre's child until Christianity came to Ukraine. Eostre is the namesake of the female fertility hormone estrogen.  Her name and festival rituals have been appropriated by Christianity for the church's rebirth-after-death story.   

I've had Christians become quite upset when I've mentioned that many of the Easter symbols and rituals they hold dear have been co-opted from ancient pagan fertility rites. 

Brightly colored eggs, egg hunts themselves, bunnies as bearers of said eggs, the colors, the stories of rebirth after the dead of winter — all are taken from Eostre legends and rituals.  

In reality, Christianity should be embarrassed that it has needed to embellish its Easter tradition by appropriating pagan symbols and rituals for its own use. This cultural appropriation is similar in deed but smaller in scale than the appropriation of pagan Yule traditions (decoration of an evergreen tree in the home, mistletoe, holly, wreath garlands, candle, bells and stars) and calling them Christmas.  Regardless, cultural appropriation is wrong, whatever your motivation.

Symbolic of rebirth, and the quiet turning of the seasons, the Easter Bunny has long delighted children and kindled wonder. In a neo-pagan tale, Eostre, once came upon an injured bird caught in a bitter spring snowstorm.  

Moved by compassion, she transformed the bird into a hare, swift and warm, so it might survive the cold and bound free once more.  Yet magic leaves its mark… and the hare kept the bird’s ancient gift...the ability to lay eggs. 

Each spring, in gratitude to Eostre, it would decorate these eggs in bright colours, leaving them as symbols of life and the promise of warmer days to come....to the delight of generations of children.  

Wishing a happy Easter /Eostre  to everyone who celebrates!  Whether you’ve been  gathering with family and friends, soaking up a bit of spring sunshine, or simply enjoying a peaceful moment – hope  the  day  has  bought  you  much joy and renewal.

Never give up hope that things will get better, even if they look dark for us us now. Hope lives as long as folk fight for justice, democracy and compassion against the global rise of the greedy and the racist right.

Che Guevara's Farewell Letters

Che Guevara  born Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna (Spanish: Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna), was born in Rosario, República Argentina , into a middle-class family in Argentina on 14 May  in 1928 and trained as a doctor, but became radicalised by the poverty and hunger he witnessed in South America. 

In 1955, he met Fidel Castro and participated in the preparations for the "Granma" expedition; in November 1956, he went to Cuba; in 1956, he participated in armed struggles in places like the Sierra Maestra in Cuba; in December 1958, he commanded troops in the attack on Santa Clara; in January 1959, he entered Havana; in June 1959, he was commissioned by the Cuban government to visit various countries; in June 1961, he signed an economic agreement with the Soviet Union; in August 1962, he led a Cuban party and government delegation on a visit to Moscow; in May 1963, he was appointed a member of the Central Committee, the Political Bureau, and the Secretariat of the party.. 

In  1965, Che Guevara sat down and wrote letters he hoped his children might one day understand. He was 37 years old and preparing to leave Cuba,. 

To his parents, he wrote with the tenderness of a son who had spent much of his life far from home. But the most personal letter was written to his children -Hilda, Aleida, Camilo, Celia, and Ernesto. In it, he tried to compress a father’s advice into a few final pages. 

“Know that your father was a man who acted according to what he believed in,” he wrote, “and there is no doubt about his sincerity and loyalty to his convictions.” He urged them to study hard. To read deeply. To never accept injustice. 

“Above all,” he wrote, “always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world.” 

Two years later, on October 9, 1967, Che Guevara was captured by Bolivian forces in the village of La Higuera and executed at the age of 39. His children eventually received the letter. History has never agreed on what to make of him. 

His story resists simplicity. What remains certain is that he lived—and died—according to absolute conviction. In the final hours before leaving for a war he would not survive, he was thinking about his children. Not about fame. Not about legacy. But about what values he hoped they would carry forward. “Study and read diligently,” he wrote. “Remember that an individual has no value alone.” Stand for something. Learn everything you can. Never be indifferent to suffering. Whether one sees him as hero or villain, the letter still raises questions that outlive the man who wrote it: What do we leave behind for the next generation? What beliefs are worth sacrifice? And when we are gone, what part of us will remain?"

His farewell to Fidel Castro  written in 1965, before leaving Cuba to continue the revolutionary struggle abroad  explains   how he is stepping away from all his official positions and even renouncing his Cuban citizenship, not out of disappointment, but out of a profound sense of duty. He writes that Cuba has already given him everything, and that he cannot remain in safety while other nations are still fighting against oppression.  

The letter reflects his deep loyalty to Fidel and the Cuban Revolution, as well as his belief in international revolution rather than remaining in power. Che openly accepts the possibility of failure, imprisonment, or death, presenting his departure as a moral obligation rather than a personal choice. 

The farewell later became one of the most iconic texts associated with his legacy as a committed, self-sacrificing revolutionary.

Farewell letter from Che to Fidel Castro 

Year of Agriculture 

Havana, April 1, 1965. 

Fidel:  At this moment I remember many things: when I met you in Maria Antonia's house, when you proposed I come along, all the tensions involved in the preparations. One day they came by and asked who should be notified in case of death, and the real possibility of it struck us all. Later we knew it was true, that in a revolution one wins or dies (if it is a real one). Many comrades fell along the way to victory.  

Today everything has a less dramatic tone, because we are more mature, but the event repeats itself. I feel that I have fulfilled the part of my duty that tied me to the Cuban revolution in its territory, and I say farewell to you, to the comrades, to your people, who now are mine.  I formally resign my positions in the leadership of the party, my post as minister, my rank of commander, and my Cuban citizenship. Nothing legal binds me to Cuba. The only ties are of another nature — those that cannot be broken as can appointments to posts.  

Reviewing my past life, I believe I have worked with sufficient integrity and dedication to consolidate the revolutionary triumph. My only serious failing was not having had more confidence in you from the first moments in the Sierra Maestra, and not having understood quickly enough your qualities as a leader and a revolutionary.  

I have lived magnificent days, and at your side I felt the pride of belonging to our people in the brilliant yet sad days of the Caribbean [Missile] crisis. Seldom has a statesman been more brilliant as you were in those days. I am also proud of having followed you without hesitation, of having identified with your way of thinking and of seeing and appraising dangers and principles.  

Other nations of the world summon my modest efforts of assistance. I can do that which is denied you due to your responsibility as the head of Cuba, and the time has come for us to part.  You should know that I do so with a mixture of joy and sorrow. I leave here the purest of my hopes as a builder and the dearest of those I hold dear. And I leave a people who received me as a son. That wounds a part of my spirit. I carry to new battlefronts the faith that you taught me, the revolutionary spirit of my people, the feeling of fulfilling the most sacred of duties: to fight against imperialism wherever it may be. This is a source of strength, and more than heals the deepest of wounds.  

I state once more that I free Cuba from all responsibility, except that which stems from its example. If my final hour finds me under other skies, my last thought will be of this people and especially of you. I am grateful for your teaching and your example, to which I shall try to be faithful up to the final consequences of my acts.  

I have always been identified with the foreign policy of our revolution, and I continue to be. Wherever I am, I will feel the responsibility of being a Cuban revolutionary, and I shall behave as such. I am not sorry that I leave nothing material to my wife and children; I am happy it is that way. I ask nothing for them, as the state will provide them with enough to live on and receive an education.  I would have many things to say to you and to our people, but I feel they are unnecessary. Words cannot express what I would like them to, and there is no point in scribbling pages.  

Ernesto Che Guevara

Che would continue revolutionary campaigns abroad, first in Africa to  the  Congo to support the rebellion there, and finally to Bolivia where with a small, committed group he initiated a revolutionary movement, but was captured and executed by Bolivian and US military forces on 9 October 1967. 

In July 1997, his remains were discovered; in October, the Council of State of Cuba issued a notice designating the period from the 11th to the 17th of that month as a national period of mourning, and his remains were interred at the Che Guevara Square in Santa Clara. 

After his death, Che Guevara's portrait became a ubiquitous symbol of counterculture, an icon of global popular culture, as well as a hero of Third World communist revolutionary movements and a symbol of the Western Leftist Movement. Time magazine selected him as one of the 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century. 

The Cuban-American sociologist Samuel Farber praised Che Guevara as “an honest and committed revolutionary.” But he also criticized him for not fully embracing democracy.  

 Guevara remains  though  a national hero in Cuba. His picture is on the 3 peso banknote. School children start each morning by   though  saying, “We will be like Che.” In his home country of Argentina, high schools are named after him. Many Che museums exist, and a 12-foot bronze statue of him was unveiled in his birth city, Rosario, in 2008. Some Bolivian farmers even see him as “Saint Ernesto” and pray to him for help.  

However, Guevara is hated by many in the Cuban exile and Cuban American community in the United States. They see him as “the butcher of La Cabaña.” Despite these strong feelings, a famous black-and-white image of Che’s face, created by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick, has become a widely sold image. It is found on T-shirts, hats, and other items. This is ironic because Guevara disliked consumer culture

We  should  not  forget   the fact  that  Cuba before the revolution was a horror show. Bankrolled by the Mafia, US intelligence and wealthy US businessmen, dictator Fulgencio Batista's reign of terror knew no bounds. The bodies of hundreds of political prisoners showed signs of severe torture. Anyone suspected of opposing the government could be rounded up, imprisoned, tortured or even executed in the street.  Batista's Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activites, which carried out the torture and extrajudicial killings, was trained by the CIA ,

At the same time the US government was carrying out a program of political repression against suspected communists in the US in which labor organizers, journalists and members of the Hollywood elite were targeted, leaving their careers and lives in ruin.  

The American Mafia in Cuba, led by Meyer Lanksy, Lucky Luciano and Santo Trafficante, Jr., paid Batista to kill, torture and intimidate any suspected Cuban dissenters - with the goal of keeping Havana "safe" and quiet so their empire of drug trafficking, human trafficking and gambling could continue unabated.  

The belief that pre-revolution Cuba was anything but a deadly despotic hellhole run by gangsters is a cute story but nowhere is it based in reality. Make no mistake, when the capitalists say they want to "free" Cuba from the revolutionary government, this is what they have in mind.

It  is amazing how the media can tell you all about human rights abuses in Iran, but when the US is causing people on ventilators to die in Cuba, there is radio silence. Apparently, human rights only matter when we need an excuse to start a war.  Keep  the  revolutionary memory of  Che  alive  and  hands of  Cuba,

Palestinian Land Day 2026

30th March, is the day when Palestinians commemorate Land Day, also known as Yom al-Ard. marking  over 50 years of Palestinian land confiscation and dispossession,  a day of significance for Palestinian citizens and the Palestinian diaspora everywhere. 

This important day in Palestinian history commemorates the Palestinians sense of belonging to a people, to a cause and a country, to stand united against racial oppression and rules of apartheid,and the discriminatory practices of the Israeli government, giving continual potency to the Palestinians cause , its quest for justice and Palestinian rights, and its resistance to injustice,who never cease to fight for their land while holding passionately to their history and identity. 

It is the right of return, recognised in the United Nations Resolution 194, that drives Palestinians to continue with the commemoration of Land Day - regardless of their geographical location.The day is commemorated  annually by Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and further afield in refugee camps and among the Palestinian diaspora worldwide, with demonstrations, marches and by planting olive and fruit trees, as a symbol of their resilience to daily occupation.

Despite attempts to suppress Palestinian political movements, Land Day has remained a unifying symbol of resistance for Palestinian citizens in their fight for land, identity, and rights.While Israeli settler colonial expansionism does not rest, neither does Palestinian perseverance. Land Day continues to be poignantly relevant as Israel continues to confiscate land, expand their colonies, and continue to build their illegal settlements in flagrant violation of all international conventions, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.  

Land  Day has been a day of resistance of Palestinians worldwide since 1976 when on March 30, 1976, Palestinian citizens of Israel launched a general strike and mass demonstrations to protest the state’s expropriation of thousands of acres of Palestinian-owned land in the Galilee. The Israeli state responded with a massive military and police mobilization, resulting in the killing of six unarmed protesters and the wounding of hundreds more.  

The immediate catalyst for the strike was the Israeli government’s “Area 9” plan, a policy aimed at the “Judaization of the Galilee.” This involved the seizure of approximately 5,000 acres of land between the Palestinian towns of Sakhnin, Arraba and Deir Hanna.   

The Labor-led government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin designated the area a closed military zone to facilitate the construction of exclusively Jewish settlements and industrial parks.This was a continuation of the “Present Absentee” legal framework used since 1948 to seize property from Palestinians who remained within the state’s borders but were displaced from their home villages.  

The general strike of March 30 saw near-total participation across Palestinian communities in Israel. The construction and agricultural sectors were the most heavily impacted, as thousands of Palestinian laborers refused to report to work in Israeli cities. In Nazareth, the largest Palestinian city in Israel, shops remained shuttered and schools were closed. The strike also saw significant support from Palestinian students at Hebrew University and the University of Haifa.  

On the eve of the protest, the Rabin government declared all demonstrations illegal and imposed a strict curfew on the Galilee region. Thousands of soldiers and Border Police units, supported by armored personnel carriers and tanks, were moved into position.  

On March 30, in the village of Rafat al-Zuhairi, security forces opened fire on a crowd that gathered in defiance of the curfew. In Sakhnin and Arraba, protesters met the advancing armored columns with stones and burning tires. By the end of the day, six Palestinians—Raja Abu Raya, Khader Khalaila, Khadija Qasem, Kheir Yasin, Mohsen Taha, and Raafat al-Zuhairi—had been shot and killed.  

At the same time the Israeli state was suppressing its own Palestinian citizens, it was deeply involved in the Lebanese civil war. The Rabin government was providing millions of dollars in clandestine military aid, training, and intelligence to the fascist-sectarian Phalangist militias in Lebanon. This alliance was aimed at crushing the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its Lebanese leftist allies, who were using Lebanon as a base for operations after being driven out of Jordan in 1970.

Every year since, Palestinian communities in Israel and the occupied territories have gathered to commemorate these events,remember those fallen, highlight Israels ongoing seizure of Palestinian land, and to reaffirm their connection to the land and their struggle for justice, standing united against oppression..Land Day became a symbol of land and collective identity, Land serves as the collective memory of belonging and the right to remain.  

The  day has also become a symbol of sumud (steadfastness) and the deep, unbreakable bond between a people and their land. It is not only a day of mourning, but also one of dignity and unity. Across generations, Palestinians continue to honor their roots, their olive trees, and the land that carries their history, identity, and hope. Land Day reminds the world: Palestine  is not just a place, it is memory, resistance, and a living promise that cannot be erased.

Before 1976, controlling Palestinian land with the least Palestinian people took the form of the mass forcible displacement and dispossession of 85 per cent of the indigenous Palestinian people during the Nakba of 1948.

In the immediate aftermath of the establishment of the state of Israel, Israel  placed the 160,000 remaining Palestinian citizens of Israel under an 18-year “structure of exception into its everyday system of governance, placing them outside the law by racializing their presence as a threat.

The military rule was a tool to dominate and contain the Palestinians and above that to displace and massively dispossess their land. For example, the discriminatory Absentees’ Property Law of 1950, made the properties of the Palestinian refugees to whom Israel had denied the right of return, as well as those who remained in Israel as internally displaced persons, eligible for confiscation and possession by the state.  

After committing another wave of displacement and dispossession in 1967, and being in control of the Palestinian people as a whole and the whole territory of Palestine, Israel would transfer its military rule and land expropriation policies to the occupied territory and design a discriminating coercive environment that would drive ongoing Palestinian displacement, transfer in more and more illegal settlers, while condensing Palestinians in an open-air prison in the Gaza Strip and in Bantustans in the West Bank. 

Land Day is a day that unites everyone around one idea: land is not just soil—it is belonging, dignity, and collective memory. As a supporter of the Palestinian struggle for freedom   and justice I will continue to join other people of conscience in supporting the global led Boycott, Divestment and sanction (BDS)  campaign, intensifying our collective efforts to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people.

Respecting today the Palestinians inside Israel, the Israeli-Occupied Territories of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza, and those in exile, who mark Land Day and view it as an assertion of the Palestinians' right to return to their homeland.

Land Day is also the 8th anniversary of the Great March of Return, a massive march led by Palestinians in Gaza towards the lands from which they were ethnically cleansed, that lay mere kilometers away, but blocked by the colonial fence. Despite the march including elderly and children, and being a peaceful march, the IOF killed 230 Palestinians, and deliberately injured and maimed over 36,000. The popular support for the liberation struggle is embodied in the Great March of Return.

Today we have seen the most explicit and brutal expression of the systems of oppression in Palestine. It is not a new escalation rather a continuous reality of occupation, apartheid, and settler colonial violence. 

In Jerusalem, Palestinian people have still been subject to a regime of displacement and genocide. The ongoing expulsions in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah, and the systematic demolition of homes, are part of a deliberate strategy to fragment and remove the Palestinian presence. 

The closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan represents not only a restriction of religious freedom, but an attack on collective life, memory, and identity.  

As Palestinians mark the 50th anniversary of Land Day, Israeli land confiscations and forced displacements continue across the West Bank and Gaza. Thousands of dunams seized, homes destroyed, and communities uprooted reflect the ongoing struggle to defend Palestinian land and identity.

In the West Bank, military raids, arrests, settler violence, and the expansion of settlements intensify fragmentation and dispossession. Movement restrictions and land confiscation are tools of control that suffocate daily life and deny the possibility of stability.  

In Gaza, the ongoing blockade and repeated military assaults have produced a catastrophic humanitarian reality and every aspect of life has been shattered. Entire communities are destroyed, and access to food, water, healthcare, and electricity is systematically denied.

In Gaza land still exists but access is increasingly denied, Near the Yellow Line families see land they cannot reach, Land becomes divided by forced separation and occupation’s restrictions.  

What is unfolding is not only a crisis, but a deliberate policy of collective punishment. Across Palestine, checkpoints, surveillance, and military presence structure everyday life. 

Children grow up under occupation, learning fear as a condition of existence, yet they remain children,  still holding onto their innocence and the fragile spirit of childhood. Despite the depths of hardship, the laughter of children in Gaza is a testament to daily steadfastness in the face of blockade and displacement. Even in the harshest conditions, life insists on being heard.

Meanwhile amid the conflict with Iran, settler rampages and deadly incidents have surged in the West Bank. To contain the escalation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) redeployed a battalion from Lebanon to the West Bank. Such a step came amid increasing international pressure on the Israeli government, including from AIPAC-backed US lawmakers who called for zero tolerance for settler violence.

Even so, the IDF’s ongoing engagement in regional conflicts, along with expansionist Israeli government rhetoric, could further worsen settler-driven violence. From 1 March to 23 March, at least seven Palestinians were shot and killed by settlers. Following one of the shootings, another Palestinian died after inhaling tear gas fired by the IDF. This marks the highest number of fatalities during settler incidents in a month , reached only once before, in October 2023 

We should denounce the Israeli occupation and the ongoing colonization of Palestinian land, as well as the genocide in Gaza and all forms of collective punishment imposed on the Palestinian peoplem while strongly condemnng imperialist interventions, foreign military presence, and the expansion of war across the region, alongside the use of sanctions and embargoes as tools of domination and control.   

We must reaffirm that peace cannot be built through militarization, occupation, or imperialist intervention.  Peace can only emerge from the struggles of peoples and from self-determination. Despite Israel's genocide and apartheid, Palestinians will never give up their  refugees' right to return to their  ancestral lands. 

Land Day is a reminder of the Palestinians’ struggle against Israel’s apartheid and the cost of the persistence of impunity for violations by Israel. Palestinians are entitled to live on their lands, without discrimination, oppression and  uprooting. 

The 1976 Land Day strike  inspired the following powerful poem by Tawfiq Zayyad, Palestinian poet, writer, scholar and politician, that continues to resonate across the Palestinian generations. 

Here we will stay - Tawfiq Zayyad ( 7/5/ 29 - 5/7/ 94)  

In Lidda, in Ramla, in the Galilee, 

we shall remain like a wall upon your chest, 

and in your throat like a shrad of glass, 

a cactus thron, 

and in your eyes

a sandstorm. 

We shall remain

a wall upon your chest, 

clean dishes in your restaurants,

serve drinks in your bars, 

sweep the floors of your kitchens 

to snatch a bite for our children 

from your blue fangs. 

Here we shall stay,

sing our songs, 

take to the angry streets, 

fill prisons with dignity. 

In Lidda, in Ramla, in the galilee, 

we shall remain, guard the shade of the fig 

and olive trees, 

ferment rebellion in our children 

as yeast in the dough.

Link to poem by Mahmoud Darwish on the same theme :-   https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/to-our-land-mahmoud-darwish-13309.html

Today, on Land Day, the soil of Palestine speaks. It remembers every footprint, every olive tree, every life rooted in its memory. Today, we remember that land is not a commodity; it is life itself.

The international community must go beyond solidarity and  demand an end to the occupation and defend the self-determination of the Palestinian people, as recognized by the International Court of Justice and the United Nations General Assembly,  and   to  demand our  governments ends its complicity in Israel’s settler-colonialism and apartheid,  and to  stop arming Israel, and ban all trade with illegal Israeli settlements on stolen land. 

Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must be reunified under the Palestinian Authority. Failing this would mean that a future Palestinian state becomes an illusion. From  the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! 

Land Day - 1976-1986 Sliman Mansour 

Land Day  - 1985 Abdel Rahman Al Muzain

Paul Robeson’s Proud Valley

 

The film Proud Valley starring the legendary  Paul Robeson  was premiered on 25th March 1940. Earlier on 25th February 1940, "The Proud Valley" became the first film to have its première on radio, when the BBC broadcasted a 60-minute version.

The film was written by Herbert Marshall and his wife, Alfredda Brilliant, who were both associated with the Left-Wing Unity Theatre, and with a script from Welsh writer  and ex-miner  Jack Jones was filmed on location in the South Wales coalfield and realistically  portrays the hardship of an industrial community when representations of both the working class and ethnic communities were often broadly-drawn caricatures.

It tells  the story of a good natured and generous charismatic African-American  sailor called David Goliath, who arrives in the mining community of Blaendy in the  Rhondda Valley, Wales in 1938 in the aftermath of the 1926 general strike and the Great Depression who after finding work down the pits as a stoker wins the respect of the local Welsh people through his singing. 

Carousing his fellow workers with the song All Through the Night, he captures the attention of Dick Parry (Simon Lack) and his son Emlyn (Edward Chapman) whose dream is to win the national Welsh choir contest. He becomes a hero who sacrifices his own life, in utterly heartbreaking scenes, to save fellow miners in an underground accident.  

Robeson later remarked that, of all his films, this was his favourite, it enabled Robeson to express his socialist beliefs and portray the struggles of the Welsh working class  and both deepened his relationship with the Welsh working class and forged for all time their love for him.https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/08/paul-robeson-941898-23176-and-people-of.html

The Welsh actors in the supporting cast, notably Rachel Thomas, Charles Williams and Jack Jones previously mentioned , give the film its authenticity. The setting of the film is realistic too. Some location work took place in te Rhondda Valley and working class life and death isn't glamourised.

The film was a politically radical story too even by today’s standards, tackling the difficult issue of coal pit closures – one that continued to resonate throughout the British coalfields throughout the century and made the film relevent to generations of mineworkers who faced the similar closure programmes decades on.

It was noteably sympathetic towards the plight of the miners, and also the crucial role that the coal industry played in mobilizing the populace for the coming war, which broke out as the film was reaching its final weeks of shooting. The producers even re-worked the ending to reflect this.

It also dealt bluntly with racism – At one point in the movie a group of workers complain about David’s (Robeson’ character) position in the mine and in the choir. “This fellow brought a black man to work down the pit…” “Well?!?” booms a voice from off-camera. “What about it?” In a close-up you see Robeson hang his head and stoop his shoulders, showing his emotional pain at the slight. But in the singing there’s a complete solidarity amongst the men which echoes the theme of the movie.

The film shows how the solidarity of the workplace overcomes the miners’ suspicion about a dark-skinned stranger. “Aren’t we all black down that pit?” asks one of the men.

“It’s from the miners in Wales,” Robeson explained, “[that] I first understood the struggle of Negro and white together.”

Following a deadly explosion, the pits are closed, leaving the villagers out of work and struggling to make ends meet. Wanting to help the community that welcomed him so generously, David rouses a group of activists to march to London in the hope of reopening the mine in time to serve the nation at the outbreak of war.

In taking on this role he was fulfilling the promise that emerged in his early days as an actor in the West End of London where he starred in the production of Show Boat at the Drury Lane Theater back in 1928.

It was there that he met a group of unemployed miners who had marched to London to draw attention to the hardship and suffering endured by thousands of miners and their families in South Wales. He was drawn by their singing and began a friendship with the Welsh miners that endured for decades. In the next ten years he’d donate money to and visit the Talygarn Miners’ Rest Home and would sing in various towns including Cardiff, Neath and Swansea – once, in Caernarvon, he appeared the day after 266 miners lost their lives in nearby Gresford. https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/09/gresford-colliery-disaster.html 

In 1938, he famously sang at the the Welsh International Brigades Memorial at Mountain Ash to commemorate the 33 Welshmen who had died in the Spain civil war, telling the audience “I am here because I know that these fellows fought not only for me but for the whole world. I feel it is my duty to be here.”

The film Proud Valley may to some seem to be overtly sentimental and about the past, and may be about an industry that has all but come to its end in the United Kingdom, but is still easy to relate to, so moving and poignant. It is about community, and the spirit of a man who fought for the people who welcomed him in with open arms. 

The Proud Valley  remains a fitting tribute to Paul Robeson who is revered as the finest Black actor of the era, who remains endowed with both integrity and honour. As the son of a former slave, he appreciated the capacity of music to liberate the soul from the back-breaking and heart- breaking toils of manual Labour. It was this knowledge that connected him, intuitively and politically with the Welsh miner. He supported them during their greatest struggles and they never forgot him as he faced persecution in McCarthy's America, when he was denied a passport by US authorities and actively campaigned in his support. 

Paul Robeson to me remains a mighty Goliath of a man, s quintessential everyman whose heroic  life continues to inspire the people of Wales and the world, remembered for his commitment to the liberation of people across the globe.

As the Manic Street Preachers insist in ' Let Robeson Sing'; 

A voice: so pure-a vision so clear

I've gotta learn to live like you

Learn to sing like you

Here are links to two earlier posts in the great man,

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2021/09/let-robeson-sing-manic-street-preachers.html

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/01/paul-robeson-941896-2311976-hero.html

The film is available to watch here: 

https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-the-proud-valley-1940-online

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh! / Happy St Patricks Day !

On St. Patrick’s Day, we celebrate not only Irish culture , history, traditions  and diaspora, recognising the huge contribution  the  Irish people have made to the world  country over generations. with  their shared spirit of solidarity that unites communities worldwide. Ireland might  be a small nation - a minority - but have always punched above our weight.  Irish hearts beat strong across the world. 

The day isn’t just about green beer and parades. Irish President Catherine Connolly has used her first St. Patrick’s Day message to highlight how the story of Saint Patrick symbolises the “resilience and courage” of migrants and warn against the “normalisation of war.” 

She urged Irish people to respond with "hospitality and kindness" to victims of conflict and displacement, noting Ireland’s own historical experience of famine and forced emigration.

While not naming the US or Israel explicitly, this was seen as a rebuke of the Irish government after ministers avoided stating that the bombing campaign on Iran broke international law.  

In her St Patrick’s Day message on Monday, Ms Connolly said the young man who would become Saint Patrick was trafficked across the Irish Sea from Britain in the fifth century.  

She said he later returned to Ireland as a missionary, “giving voice and his life to fostering an awareness of the consequences of slavery”. 

 “The story of Patrick’s life serves as a reminder of the resilience and courage of migrants, the invaluable contributions that they have made, and continue to make, to the countries they now call home, sometimes even in the face of great adversity,” she said.  

“Patrick’s story speaks not only to the Ireland of the 5th century, but to the millions still subjected to trafficking, forced labour and displacement today. 

“As we recall the life of Patrick, we invoke his spirit and acknowledge our shared responsibilities as global citizens.  “We stand in solidarity with those who find themselves in vulnerable and dangerous circumstances.  “Patrick’s story invites us to respond with hospitality and kindness to those suffering the consequences of war and displacement, those fleeing their countries because of persecution or violence.  “The normalisation of war can never be accepted. Now, more than ever, we must renew our commitment to peace and diplomacy in line with the principles of international law as set out in the United Nations charter.”  She emphasised Ireland’s position as a neutral country and a post-colonial society, meant it can offer “a valuable perspective on the challenges facing our world”.

Although it’s often hidden in the official celebrations, Ireland has a long history of solidarity with people around the world fighting to be free from colonialism. 

This is especially true of the Palestinian struggle to end Israeli occupation and genocide. Irish freedom fighters have long pointed out the parallels between the two struggles, like heroic hunger strikes by political prisoners and massacres of protesters by occupation soldiers.  

May Saint Patrick bless and help our Palestinian brothers and sisters on his blessed day of remembrance and in their hours of vital need. Sláinte, Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone/Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibhI ☘️

Poem for my Father Dr Derek Ernest Rendle ( 12/8/1932 - 6/3/2026)

 

It is time to say goodbye to my father 

This dear, gentle, respected compassionate soul,

Who over  many long  years listened and understood

A beautiful individual with a golden heart,

Many will not forget all the love he shared

The reassuring soothing sound of his voice,

Honest individual who gave meaning to lives

Doctor, gardener, craftsman, empathetic friend,

Offered remedies that got us through the days

With daily prescriptions of thoughtful kindness,

Dutiful, conscious, an intelligence of immense depth

Working class son of Shipwright from Plymouth,

Made a home in Wales, given a warm welcome

Ablaze with dedication, carrying a socialist faith,

Trusted and truly respected by everyone he knew

Keeping hope alive, protecting and saving lives,

When we were tired, weary and in much pain

Derek would make sure he went the extra mile,

Though pain of loss and sadness now permeate air

Memories lift us, thoughts now of rare human being,

We honour and remember his warm hearted disposition

All the challenges and obstacles he helped us overcome,

Thanks Dr Rendle for devotion to duty, for all loving care

Remembering too that not all heroes wear a cape,

Now forever dancing through the oceans of time

Will be Nimbus in the sunrise, Cirrus in daylight, 

Like his beloved NHS, treasured  and appreciated 

May this magnificent spirit, rest in peace and strength.

International Women's Day : Give To Gain.

 

Celebrated on March 8 every year, International Women's Day is a day dedicated to honoring the achievements of women throughout history and all across the globe, and is typically a day for women from all different backgrounds and cultures to band together to fight for gender parity and  women's rights.

Often abbreviated to IWD, the day has grown since its inception and now sees significant activity worldwide, sparking debates, rallies, campaigns, celebrations and more. As well as celebrating the achievements of women and girls around the world, the day is also an important reminder of the work that is still yet to be done in pursuit of achieving gender equality. 

International Women’s Day is a time for reflection of how far women have come, advocacy for what is still needed, and action to continue breaking down barriers. With over a century of history, IWD is a growing movement centered around unity and strength. 

International Women’s Day  which  was officially adopted by the United Nations in 1975, has a rich history dating back 108 years, at the beginning of the 20th Century women across Europe and America were finding their voice. That wanted and demanded decent jobs, better pay, and the right to vote or hold public offices, for their emancipation. 

Today is a good day to remind ourselves of the revolutionary roots of International Women’s Day (IWD).  The IWD was first organised by women who strived to dismantle liberal/imperialist/lean-in/girl boss feminism, not reinforce it. .It was out  of this air of dissatisfaction that International Women's Day was born. 

At the beginning of the 20th Century women across Europe and America were finding their voice. That wanted and demanded decent jobs, better pay, and the right to vote or hold public offices, for their emancipation. It was out  of this air of dissatisfaction that International Women's Day was born.
In 1909, the United States labour movement and the push for women’s suffrage were both gaining steam. Russian refugee, labor organiser, and journalist Theresa Malkiel served on the women’s committee of the Socialist Party of America. Envisioning a more active role for women within the movement, she declared February 23, 1909 “National Woman’s Day.” New York socialists celebrated with a meeting of about 2,000 people in Manhattan.
“The very first observation of our national Woman’s Day,” recalled activist Meta L,Stern three years later, “proved so successful that Woman’s Day became generally accepted as an annual Socialist holiday.” Along with May Day, she explained, the day stood “for new hopes and new ideals; the abolition of wage slavery and sex slavery; the coming of a freer, better and happier manhood and womanhood.”

In 1910 at the Second International,  a world wide socialist  congress, German Socialist  Clara Zetkin https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/07/happy-birthday-clara-zetkin-571857.html proclaimed International Women's day to commemorate the US demonstrators ( garment workers who had marched and picketed  demanding improved working conditions  and a 8 hour day)  whose ranks were broken up by the police, and honour working women the world over  and called for 8 March to become a global day of action for women’s rights. 
 Originally called National Woman’s Day, the monumental annual celebration spread across the world (officially celebrated in 1911), but it was Russia who unknowingly set the March 8 trend and helped spark a revolution. When tens of thousands of women converged in Petrograd, Russia to mark the holiday—as well as demand an end to World War I and protest food shortages—the demonstrations  turned into a massive strike. Within hours, 100,000 workers, including men, walked out on their jobs to join the demonstrators.
The movement grew to as many as 150,000 striking workers within a few days. Eventually, even the Russian army joined the marchers, withdrawing their support from the Tsar Nicholas. It was the beginning of the Russian Revolution.
After World War II, the holiday picked up steam, and lost many of its associations with socialism and radical politics. As the women’s liberation movement swept around the world in the 1970s, the United Nations designated 1975 International Women's Year and celebrated the holiday for the first time. Two years later in 1977,  designated March 8 International Women’s Day, and, in 1996, began to adopt an annual theme for every year. The first theme was "Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future." 

The International Women’s Day (IWD) 2026 theme, Give To Gain, calls for a mindset rooted in generosity, collaboration and shared progress.  Give To Gain highlights the power of reciprocity: when individuals, organisations and communities invest in women, opportunities expand, systems strengthen and societies thrive. Giving is not a loss.  it is intentional multiplication. When women have access to health and rights, the benefits extend far beyond individuals, families are healthier, health systems are stronger, economies grow and societies become more just and sustainable. 

IWD is a day to celebrate the social, political and other acheivements of women. A day to recognise the oppression that still  flourishes, caused by both capitalism and patriarchy. An  unfortunate and undeniable reality for the majority of women today.The  fight for womens rights might looks a little different today, but our sisters are still facing discrimination and injustices across the globe.
In recent times, issues of women's political influence and economic equality have been joined by broader struggles against, racism, war, violence, environmental destruction, and other forms of oppression for peace and social justice  and is now often spread into  a whole week of activities.
Time to celebrate the gains  women have made and to  keep on calling for the changes that are still very much needed. Women are still not equally represented in business or politics, girls facing sexual objectification from an early age,  girls told  to shrink themselves make themselves smaller. Women still forced to flee domestic abuse.
Today as I observe International Womens Day, I stand up for all women still trapped by injustices, still suffering from abuse, at the end of the day I believe the women's struggle is a struggle for the freedom of all people, recuperating the fair value of people over things. I recognise the practice and theory of mutual support that women have laid, that are the foundations of social change that we must keep building. 

Women who recognised the tactical necessity of standing and working together, lest they be destroyed individually, women who put to shame the ridiculous notion of  a 'women's place. Their struggle is ours too. I acknowledge all those  who have been persecuted, jailed, tortured, simply for being a woman. Especially those who are among the most vulnerable in this present moment of time - the refugees. 
Let us also celebrate the  powerful women who've fought dictatorship, risked their lives to fight climate change and led mass movements for justice across the world. Let's ,celebrate the strength, courage, and achievements of women everywhere  and  not  let their contributions go unnoticed today and every day.
I'm so shattered for the families in Iran, in Lebanon, in Gaza, the Congo, Sudan, the Ukraine, and yes, the USA. It's a horrifying thing to watch the worst of men take out their rage and insecurity on the world. 

Women are the quiet pillars of humanity. They carry life, nurture hope, and stand firm even when the world tries to break them. Through history, women have endured unimaginable trials, wars, oppression, displacement, and injustice, yet they continue to rise with dignity, resilience, and compassion.  

Today, my thoughts go especially to the brave women of Palestine, and particularly to the women of Gaza. Mothers who hold their children close through nights filled with fear.  Sisters who refuse to let despair silence their voices. Daughters who grow up surrounded by hardship yet still dream of a future filled with freedom and peace. Their courage is not loud or celebrated enough, but it is extraordinary.  Every day they show the world what true resilience looks like.  

Don't forget how much they have suffered and endured. Don't forget the fear, hunger, cold, and sorrow they  have lived through. These women carry the weight of loss, the pain of separation, and the uncertainty of tomorrow, yet they continue to care for their families, protect their communities, and preserve their culture and identity. In the midst of devastation, their resilience shines through: organizing aid, comforting the grieving, and defying despair with every breath.. 

We must also honor the countless women around the world who stand in solidarity with Palestine.  Women who raise their voices, who march, who speak truth when silence would be easier. Women who refuse to accept injustice and who believe deeply in the dignity and rights of every human being.  Their support, courage, and compassion remind us that humanity is still alive.  

Behind every struggle for justice, there are women who sacrifice quietly. Women who endure sleepless nights, tears, and fears so that the next generation might one day live in peace.Their sacrifices may not always be seen, but they shape the future of our world. To every woman who resists oppression, who nurtures love in times of darkness, who stands up for justice even when the cost is high, today we honor you.

Despite strides made by the international women’s rights movement – and union campaigns for women’s rights – over many years, protests will be staged across the world today against injustice, abuse, discrimination, violence and harassment targeted at women and girls,calling for gender equality, an end to gender-based violence and occupational segregation.The fight for real equality continues. 

Authoritarian practices are accelerating across the world, and women’s rights are among the first to be targeted - and the hardest hit.  his is not a coincidence or an unintended consequence of political change. It is a deliberate strategy.   

The authoritarian way to enforce that control is by regulating women’s lives and the lives of those who don’t conform to rigid gender norms. By restricting participation in public life, policing behaviour and expression, and punishing dissent, authorities send a message about who belongs and who is expected to remain silent.  

Attacks on women reach far beyond individual lives.When women are targeted, communities lose leaders and advocates, civic spaces shrink and human rights protections weaken. History has also shown us that when control over gender is allowed to take root, broader repression soon follows.  

And yet, in the face of these attacks, women continue to resist. They lead movements, organize protests, document abuses, support their communities, and refuse to accept the erosion of their rights. This resistance is not symbolic. It is essential to the defense of human rights, and often it comes at a great personal risk. 

Today  on  International Women’s Day remember the  day was born from the struggle of revolutionary socialist women like Clara Zetkin: fighting for bread, peace, and the dignity of the working class. It is a day for radical solidarity.

On International Women’s Day, let's reaffirm that the struggle for gender justice is inseparable from the struggle against colonialism, racism, and systems of domination. Solidarity to .the women of  of the world, to my sisters nearer home and to all the comrades who are still fiercely opting to break every chain.

To every woman chasing  dreams, breaking barriers, lifting others, rising above challenges, and inspiring change…you are seen, loved, and appreciated. Keep shining and  keep rising in 2026 and beyond.  Heddwch/Peace. 

Here is a link to the Socialist Roots of International Women's Day

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-socialist-roots-of-international.html

Trump and Netanyahu’s attack on Iran is an illegal act of aggression that must be opposed.

 

After weeks of threats, over the weekend, on 28 February 2028 Donald Trump, who declares himself to be the Chair of a “Board of Peace”, joined with his friend Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel who is accused of committing genocide in Gaza, to begin an unprovoked and illegal war against Iran while diplomatic efforts were still in progress aimed at preventing such a war. killing Iran's supreme leader and top military leaders, prompting authorities to retaliate with strikes on Israel and US bases across the Gulf.

It is perhaps not surprising. Trump has recently sent a large military force to the Middle East so one might have suspect he had been planning to attack the country all that time.It remains to be seen whether these strikes will be fairly limited, or are the opening of an extended conflict. Whatever happens, though, one thing is clear – that this use of force by the US and Israel is manifestly illegal. It is as plain a violation of the prohibition on the use of force in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter as one could possibly have.

Donald Trump did NOT seek Congressional approval for this operation, and completely bypassed congress to launch these attacks. The attacks are also manifestly illegal under international law. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.  

There was no imminent threat to justify starting a war with Iran. Instead, Donald Trump chose the path of  aggression and more chaos. Attacking a country during active negotiations is a violation of the principle of "good faith" under Article 2(2) of the UN Charter.   

Donald Trump said the attacks were intended to end Iran's nuclear weapons programme and bring about regime change and urged Iranians to "take over your government", while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the goal was to "remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran".  Forcible regime change violates the foundational principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention under the UN Charter.

It shouldn’t matter what your opinion is on the Iranian government, Trump and Netanyahu’s attack on Iran is an illegal act of aggression .Their actions are no different from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine or Rwandan president Paul Kagame’s invasion of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Many people have opined that Donald Trump’s main motivation for attacking Iran is to distract attention away from the Epstein files, and the fact he’s mentioned tens of thousands of times in the documents that have been released so far.  

The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran represent a further erosion of the international legal order. Israel and the United States launched Operation Shield of Judah and Operation Epic Fury while diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Tehran were actively underway on Iran's nuclear programme.  Just two days earlier, the most intense round of US-Iran talks concluded in Geneva, with both sides agreeing to continue. Trump indicated he would give negotiators more time. Then came the bombs.  Israel said the strikes were "preventive", meaning they were to prevent Iran from developing a capacity to be a threat. But preventive war has no legal basis under international law. 

The UN Security Council did not authorise any military action, meaning the sole lawful pathway for the use of force for self-defence was never pursued.  Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

Central to the current crisis is that it was Trump who ended the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, which had regional support for controlling Iran's nuclear program. The US director of national intelligence testified in March 2025 that Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons, which the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency affirmed.  

US intelligence also reportedly indicated it would take three years for Iran to build a nuclear weapon. Moreover, US and Israeli strikes on Iran last year had put the programme back by months.Trump claimed Iran's nuclear programme had been obliterated.  

Regime change by force is unlawful Trump said the attacks were intended to end Iran's nuclear weapons programme and bring about regime change. Trump urged Iranians to "take over your government", while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the goal was to "remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran".  Forcible regime change violates the foundational principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention under the UN Charter. 

The strikes targeted Iran's supreme leader, president, and military chief of staff, as well as military infrastructure. Deliberately targeting heads of state also crosses a threshold that distinguishes military operations from acts of aggression. Attacking heads of state is illegal under New York Convention, for obvious reasons of stability. 

With the death of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the power vacuum will only increase the hardship on the ground for Iranians. In addition, promises to return the shah - Iran's previous monarch - have not considered the authoritarian implications of such rule. 

One of the most absurd things about these attacks is the way the US and their vassal states are attempting to reverse-reality by casting Iran as the aggressor. Mike Waltz even attempted to lecture the United Nations about Iran’s "unprovoked and indiscriminate" response to the US-Israeli assault on their country!  

As Caitlin Johnson said: Only the United States could bomb a country, kill its leader, massacre its children, declare the intention to destroy its military and topple its government, and then call that country's retaliation against US military bases "unprovoked". 

It’s outlandish that they seem to imagine people are dumb enough to accept their utterly backwards version of events. After years of promising he would not conduct military operations aimed at regime change, Donald Trump has launched the second regime-change operation in two months. His reckless actions prove that his administration cannot be trusted.

Attacking a country during ongoing negotiations is a low blow, even for the United States, and it’s certain to further undermine the US’s international reputation. 

Donald Trump has already proven the US’s unreliability by imposing tariffs on trade partners despite assurances that he wouldn’t, and now he’s demonstrated that negotiation with the US is essentially pointless, because they’ll just pretend to be negotiating in good faith, then do whatever they want.  Netanyahu has spent three decades attempting to goad US Presidents into attacking Iran with lurid claims about their nuclear programme (Israel is the only country in the middle east to actually have nuclear weapons). It turns out that Donald Trump was the only one stupid enough to actually do it.  

Keir Starmer’s response to the situation has been absolutely lamentable. The man is supposed to be a  human  rights lawyer, but not only does he refuse to call out the illegality of the US/Israeli attacks, he’s actually seeking to draw the UK into the conflict by giving Trump permission to use British RAF bases to launch their attacks!   

Allowing British bases to be used in an illegal war of aggression is a catastrophic and historic mistake.  Britain has been dragged into another war because our Prime Minister would rather appease Donald Trump than stand up for international law.Yet again, proof that Starmer has zero integrity! He knows he is joining an illegal war of aggression, the blood of any British service personnel killed and anyone they murder will be on his hands! 

Starmer has put British lives at risk in order to participate in Trump's illegal attack on Iran. No debate. No vote in parliament .When he stood for leader, he denounced "unquestionably blindly following the Americans". He said he'd legislate so the Commons voted on military action. The biggest conman in UK political history. 

Britain joining the illegal war on Iran will not benefit a single bus driver,  a single teacher, a single nurse, a single care worker, a single business owner, a  single farmer in Britain . It will only benefit billionaires around the world. Iran is NOT Britain's war.

These attacks are yet another demonstration that the so-called rules-based international order is over.  Israel can carry out a live streamed genocide in front of the entire world for two years, and countries like the US and UK don’t just refuse to stop it, they actively support it.  

Donald Trump openly fantasises about annexing Canada and Greenland. And  the US kidnaps Venezuela’s leader and assassinates Iran’s, in complete violation of international law.  It’s not just that the US and Israel seem to think they can do whatever they want by force now, it’s the fact that it renders all the western leaders’ criticisms of Putin and Russia over the Ukraine war utterly hypocritical. 

If cowardly western leaders like Starmer, Merz, and Macron are willing to turn a blind eye to lawlessness; genocide; war-crimes; military expansionism; kidnap; and extrajudicial assassinations, why should anyone take any of their criticism of Russia’s behaviour seriously? 

The illegal assault on Iran has already taken a disastrous human toll. U.S. and Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 165 young Iranians in   a attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, most of them little girls between the ages of seven and twelve. It's an indisputable war crime that  has been largely ignored or sanitized by the genocidal western media and its typical racism and dehumanization towards people of color, exposes the real objectives of this aggression by two rogue nuclear powers. 

This atrocity is proof that the whole story about attacking Iran to liberate the Iranian people from their oppressive leaders is absolute nonsense. If anything, massacrering a load of children  in their school  alongside their teachers is likely to harden the resolve of Iranians to stand up to violent US imperialism.  

Just imagine if it had been the other way around and a hostile state had attacked a school in the United States or Israel. There would be wall-to-wall outrage, but because the victims are little Muslim girls, most of the depraved western media class are studiously looking in the other direction. 

The first wave of strikes also  ended up killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but that’s not the victory it might sound like. Khamenei was an 86 year old man, and his reputation is now cemented as a martyr.  

Iran has multiple lines of succession, and the idea that taking out the old man at the top would topple the regime is extremely fanciful. 

Bombings and assassinations may well destabilize an unpopular and weakened regime. But it is highly unlikely that Washington can then fly in Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah of Iran, to establish a new monarchy. In a political vacuum, power goes to those with the guns. You don't liberate people by carpet bombing them.

The Revolutionary Guards, with 200,000 members and an estimated one million in associated militias, are most likely to seize control now that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is reportedly dead. They could be even worse for Iranians than the clerical regime. 

The most baffling thing about Europe’s support for regime change in Iran is that it contradicts its own interests. One of the biggest impacts this needless and unlawful war is likely to deliver is an intensification of the "cost of living crisis"  

The price of crude oil has already surged after Iran’s announcement of their closure of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, which carries about one fifth of the world’s oil supply.  

Higher oil prices mean higher energy prices; higher petrol and diesel prices; and higher transportation costs. All of which amounts to increased inflation. 

Oil isn’t the only commodity to pass through the Strait of Hormuz either, with one third of the world’s fertilizer supply passing through the narrow 3km wide tanker shipping lane.  

If inflation does begin to erode people’s spending power again, the blame lies squarely with Donald Trump, Israel, and the United States’ pathetic vassal states like the UK.  

If Trump and the Israelis succeed in collapsing the Iranian government and provoking civil war in Iran, there will be millions of refugees. Iran already accounts for a significant proportion of refugees coming to Europe, and deliberate destabilisation there is likely to increase the flow many times over. 

This makes Nigel Farage’s giddy support for the US/Israeli attacks particularly incoherent. If he’s so against middle eastern refugees coming to Europe, why is he so keen on the destabilisation of Iran, and the inevitable consequence of even more Muslim refugees? 

Refugees from Iran aren’t the only ones to consider though. Tens of thousands of tax-dodgers in places like Qatar and the UAE are expecting the UK government to pick up the bill for rescuing them from the conflict zone. They fled to their dodgy middle east tax havens because they didn’t want to pay tax in the UK, and now they expect the UK government to pay the cost of their repatriation. The entitlement is absolutely staggering.  

We’ve seen the diabolical consequences of "regime change" play out time and again in the middle east.  The illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 killed hundreds of thousands, created millions of refugees, and turned the country into the world’s largest terrorism breeding ground.  

Regime change in Libya turned the country to chaos and delivered deadly blowback to the UK when a Libyan-trained Islamist fanatic carried out the Manchester Arena atrocity in 2017.  

Regime change in Syria has handed the country over to ISIS. The Islamist fanatics who were Western-funded allies in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation; enemies when they bombed the World Trade Centre in 1993; allies again when they were fighting against Serbia in the late 90s; enemies again when they carried out the September 11th attacks; and now allies again now that the US helped them take over Damascus! 

Doing the same thing over and again is the definition of insanity, so anyone supporting this deliberate destabilisation strategy must be either insane, or actually enthusiastic about all the death; instability; refugees; economic chaos; Islamist extremism; and blowback.

Netanyahu just said in a new video that he has been “yearning” for war with Iran for 40 years… and with his friend Donald Trump, he finally has it.  This also explains his “days away from nuclear weapons” rhetoric for 40 years. Netanyahu very clearly controls Trump.

Israel wanted war with Iran, now Israeli’s are calling on the UN to stop Iran retaliating  Zionists got exactly what they wanted, and no amount of tears by Israeli politicians live on TV will change the world’s view on Israel.  

There's zero chance that Iran will surrender to the USA  In the same that many Americans are brainwashed and will support their tyrannical Government no matter what because 'America is the best country on Earth'  Iranians will resist it because they know it is one of the worst. Iran has the right to defend itself.

There are many other possible broader consequences, including sustained missile and drone strikes on Israel and US Arab allies, terror attacks on US interests around the world, possible cyber attacks, and even Iran racing to process its stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium into a workable nuclear device.  Trump’s declared aim of regime change makes this an existential war for Iran’s leaders. Nothing is off the table.  The war is unpredictable, and death and destruction are coming without any serious deliberations in Congress or consultation with allies. It is the impulsive decision of one deranged  man. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the heads of UN agencies have condemned Saturday’s joint Israeli and US attacks on Iran and the Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel and the Gulf Regions.  Mr. Guterres declared that the military escalation in the region undermines international peace and security, and recalled that all Member States must “respect their obligations under international law, including the Charter of the United Nations,” which prohibits “the threat of the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” He called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation and warned that a failure to do so risks a wider regional conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.

There has been no harsher critic to U.S. military action in Iran than Pope Leo XIV:  “War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading.  The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined.   “Peace is no longer sought as a gift and a desirable good in itself, or in the pursuit of the establishment of the ordered universe willed by God, with a more perfect form of justice among men and women.”  “Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion.  “This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence.”

Russia and China have  also criticised the US-Israeli actions and urged an immediate end to military operations and a return to diplomatic negotiations. The international legal order is now in free-fall. When powerful states conduct illegal wars under the guise of prevention, weaponise diplomacy as cover, and openly pursue regime change, the "rules-based order" is literally dead. 

 Trump did not go through months of arguments and manipulation of intelligence to convince Americans to go to war. He didn’t even pretend to mobilize democratic support. Instead, Trump went to war on a whim, solely on his order, alone and imperial.  This is not how democracies go to war. It is how dictatorships do. And we know it cannot end well.

 Trump and his aides have in recent days and hours claimed, without credible evidence, that Iran had restarted its nuclear program, had enough available nuclear material to build a bomb within days and was developing long-range missiles that could "soon" be capable of hitting the United States. All three of these claims are false.  

This is the second time in less than a year that the United States and Israel, both nuclear-armed states, have launched attacks on Iran in the midst of ongoing U.S.-Iranian negotiations regarding Tehran's nuclear program.  

As the Omani Foreign Minister and mediator of the talks reported just hours before Trump's attacks on Feb. 28, the U.S.-Iranian negotiations were very serious and making significant progress toward an effective, verifiable, lasting deal that could have blocked Iran's capabilities to build nuclear weapons.  The United States could have and should have negotiated in good faith with Iran to arrive at effective solutions that address concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and stockpiles of enriched uranium, including by securing the return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors who were ejected from Iran following the June 2025 U.S.-Israeli attacks. 

The return of the inspectors will be further delayed in the midst of a potentially drawn-out conflict. Without effective monitoring, the whereabouts and security of Iran's nuclear material will now become even more uncertain.  

Although Iran's current leadership is repressive and the Iranian people deserve to choose their own government, war is not the answer. There is no lawful justification for it. Diplomacy was possible. Peace was possible. Instead, Israel and the United States chose war.  It’s not a pre-emptive strike.This is the behaviour of rogue states.

You literally  will find  it  hard  to  find a mainstream news website in the west that will headline this US-Israeli attack on Iran as an illegal war of aggression under international law. I know we shouldn't expect anything else but the propaganda is still kind of unbelievable

The U.S. Congress and responsible states around the world have a solemn moral and legal duty to oppose this rogue aggression, beginning with emergency legislation and international mediation to stop further hostilities by all sides.

If Congress fails to act, the message to the president will be clear: He is empowered to use the military whenever he would like, however he would like, regardless of the Constitution’s demands. There is no telling where such unbridled power will lead in the hands of a president who has openly contemplated military action against multiple countries.

Operation Epic Fury is what Trump and his band of terrorists are calling the attack on Iran. We will witness an Epic Shit Show where more people including children will certainly die at the hands of the US and Israel.  

Let me be clear this is a crime by both terrorist states. The United States is not the victim, Israel is not the victim. They are the perpetrators, they started an illegal war of aggression against Iran under false pretences. A reminder that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, while Benjamin Netanyahu is being sought by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes. Both are proven and habitual liars.

The world must unite to hold the Israeli and US perpetrators accountable for these war crimes. Otherwise we are all complicit in the destruction of international law.

Trump is NOT "defending American people" by striking Iran. Trump is putting the American people at a much higher risk of terrorism and placing the world on the brink of World War III. 

Make no mistake. The US/Israel war against Iran is a colonial war. Like the genocide in Palestine, the invasion of Iraq and Libya, the incineration of Vietnam and Laos, it is war to subjugate the people of the global South and annihilate their resistance. Colonialism has no place in humanity and it must be defeated.

Meanwhile Israel has closed off Gaza entirely, using its own attacks on Iran as an excuse to seal off an entire population from receiving food and medical aid. Genocide in Gaza continues because the international community allows Israel to maintain an illegal blockade and siege on Gaza.

US and Israeli illegal strikes on Iran have nothing to do with nuclear threats and everything to do with regime change. I  stand in solidarity with people in Iran, Lebanon and across the region who are bearing the cost of this violence.  

We   must speak out, to oppose UK involvement, and to demand de-escalation, diplomatic negotiation, and a pathway to peace. With grave risks of a devastating war across the Middle East, if you're able to, join the national demonstration in central London. 

https://cnduk.org/events/hands-off-iran-stop-trumps-wars-national-demonstration/?link_id=7&can_id=dc3a87c4b00455c28953a76b1b992301&source=email-take-action-against-growing-nuclear-risks&email_referrer=email_3123095&email_subject=take-action-against-growing-nuclear-risks

And please sign the following  petition to stop using UK military bases for strikes on Iran? 

https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/Do-not-allow-the-USA-to-use-British-military-bases-for-strikes-on-Iran?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blast146474&submit=true&has_regular_donation=false

The graves of the 165 schoolgirls and teachers massacred in the Israeli-American attack on an Iranian elementary school. This image will be engraved in our memories for generations.