Sir Keir Starmer is a War Criminal

During Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Independent MP Shockat Adam, said: “This week, the Israeli government approved a plan to officially conquer Gaza.”  He added that Minister Smotrich declared yesterday that Gaza would be destroyed and Palestinians will have to leave for third countries.  Adam said: “This comes at the end of the extermination of over 50,000 Palestinian men, women and children and at the same time simultaneous expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.”  

He then asked if the Prime Minister would acknowledge ethnic cleansing Israel is carrying out and end UK military cooperation with Israel, including providing F-35 fighter jet parts.  

“Or will he make Britain complicit in war crimes and be the Prime Minister to answer at The Hague?,” he said.  

In response, Sir Keir Starmer said: “Mr Speaker, most of what he says is simply not right”, before giving a brief statement on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. 

On the PoliticsJOE podcast, presenters fact-checked Adam’s claims and found they were accurate. They also challenged Starmer’s dismissal as disingenuous.

PoliticsJOE presenter Ed Campbell said: “What parts there are incorrect? Like it’s so disingenuous to just lie about this.”

A groundbreaking new report reveals for the first time the extraordinary scale of UK arms exports to Israel using new data from the Israel Tax Authority, and concludes that “it appears that Foreign Secretary David Lammy has misled Parliament and the public about arms shipments to Israel”.  

Former Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP and Zarah Sultana MP are calling on Keir Starmer to launch an investigation into evidence in the report that Ministers have misled Parliament and the public, saying that, if the Ministerial Code has been breached by David Lammy or any other Minister, this is a “resigning matter”. 

The joint report by the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Progressive International and Workers for a Free Palestine reveals a total of over 160,000 military goods exported from the UK to Israel since the war on Gaza began in October 2023. This new evidence of thousands of shipments of military goods, munitions of war, arms, and aircraft parts which have played a pivotal role in Israel’s destruction of Gaza.   comes as Israel’s Cabinet approves Netanyahu’s plans to annex Gaza, which threatens to ethnically cleanse the land, with Minister Smotrich vowing “Gaza will be entirely destroyed”.https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/07/uk-sent-israel-thousands-of-military-items-despite-export-ban-study-finds

Human Rights Watch warns: Countries supplying arms could be complicit in war crimes.Yet British  weapons are still flowing to Israel, violating their own export “ban” and British-maintained jets keep bombing. And Britain is keeping them airborne:

Keir Starmer  time and time again  has refused to see- the connection between Western politicians giving Israel carte blanche after 7 October and the destruction, death and starvation resulting from nearly six months of a genocidal campaign. 

A truly shameful man who is complicit in genocide. Not only did Starmer say in an infamous interview on LBC radio, that Israel ‘has the right’ to withhold power and water from Gaza,  Starmer’s appalling statements,  amounted to endorsing the collective punishment of 2.2 million civilians, a war crime under Article 33 of the Geneva Convention. No government, no army, and no country can ever be above international law..

Starmer has continued to dismiss any criticism of the indiscriminate and disproportionate killing of Palestinians by repeatedly asserting that ‘Israel has a right to defend itself’.and has not only refused to condemn any Israeli actions in Gaza, but has actively supported them by facilitating arms sales and providing logistical backing for the killing of Palestinians thus violated international and criminal law, and became a willing participant in genocide. 

Starmer and Labour under his direction gave Netanyahu cover for genocide  and gave Israel the greenlight to commit one of the greatest crimes of our age. He is a vile committed zionist who has supported Israel massacring hundreds of thousands of people who provided his support diplomatically, logistically and militarily. Starmer is a proven liar and a fraud. As are the corrupt sycophants that surround him.

Human rights experts have said Israel’s actions amount to collective punishment, a war crime under international law. It matters little since Israeli officials have not attempted to hide their intentions. 

After committing genocide with impunity in Gaza, Israel now says it will occupy and besiege the entire Strip. as it pushes for Trump's plan to force 2million Palestinians to leave.  

By refusing to impose sanctions, governments worldwide , including our own  have enabled this. It was never about self defence.  It was always ethnic cleansing. It was always genocide. It was always a land grab.

The situation in Gaza is beyond tragic. For 66 days the Netanyahu government  has blocked all food and  aid from going into Gaza.Thousands upon thousands of children are dead. Entire bloodlines erased. with UK made weapons sold with Keir Starmer and David Lammy's approval. 

At least 52,760 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's genocidal war since October 2023, the the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said today.A ministry statement said that 106 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the enclave in the last 24 hours, while 367 others were injured, taking the number of injuries to 119,264 in the Israeli onslaught. .  “Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added. 

The Israeli army resumed its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on March 18 and has since killed over 2,650 people and injured over 7,200 others despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January. 66 thousand  children suffering severe malnutrition , and  the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world and  2 million displaced, Shame on humanity for allowing this to  happen. The world must not look away.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.  Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.full approval.Netanyahu is not a defender. He’s a butcher. A fascist running from jail who’s building his legacy on mass graves.

The genocide is livestreamed but governments with some degree of influence keep tip toeing around the reality, failing to name the genocide and failing to use their power  to prevent and respond effectively. 

Starmers justifying Israel's collective punishment of two million Palestinians, and Labour's refusals to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, will haunt the party for a long time to come. 

Starmer will go down in history as the British PM a former Human Rights Barristeri ironically who has supported and enabled Israel's Palestine holocaust. We should never ever forgive, him.A shameful stain that will reverberate in the decades to come. Just as they invaded Iraq illegally, Keir Starmer will be known as a genocide  supporter that let little children starve.Shame on this disgusting Labour Government too.I never ever imagined a scenario where a Labour government could be aiding and abetting a genocide It  really is a failure on all sides.

Both Starmer and David Lammy are war criminals with blood on  their hands like Tony Blair before them, helping to kill aid workers, medics, and defenceless civilians, all for a rogue terrorist state thousands of miles away where his wife’s parents live  They both deserve to be standing  in the dock in the Hague, along with Trump and Netanyahu who are undeniably all complicit in the ongoing genocide being conducted in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem by Israel.

Only a full arms embargo will ensure that British made arms are not used to enact Netanyahu’s new plans to annex and “destroy” the Gaza Strip and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their  homeland. We must  demand that our government Stop Arming Israel and keep pressuring Israel to end the Genocide of Palestinians  and  to  never stop protesting, never stop boycotting and never stop campaigning until Palestine is free.

Please take two minutes to email the Foreign Secretary to demand Britain ends all military cooperation and arms trade with Israel, as well as any other trade that aids the illegal occupation of Palestine.

https://palestinecampaign.eaction.online/sanctionIsrael?fbclid=IwY2xjawKJ1AlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBhMFJyMXpabFIzeUlHbTE0AR5jiNp4fYI7Y0GbGsklDz85caVtAklvfSLfJ4KShNpi2sDx48IOrLRx7XAKmA_aem_MQj5sGd6719nEY_HFutvKg

Happy birthday Karl Marx

The German revolutionary socialist, philosopher, economist, political theorist and author  Karl Marx, was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, Germany, into a middle-class family, the son of a lawyer. He attended the University of Bonn and later the University of Berlin, where he studied law, history, and philosophy. It was during his time at the University of Berlin that Marx became involved in radical politics and was exposed to the works of the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who greatly influenced his thinking. 

After completing his education, Marx worked as a journalist for several radical publications, including the Rheinische Zeitung and the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher. His political writings attracted the attention of the Prussian authorities, which led to his expulsion from Germany. He then moved to Paris, where he met Friedrich Engels, who would become his lifelong collaborator. Together with Engels, Marx wrote "The Communist Manifesto" in 1848, a foundational text for the communist movement that called for the overthrow of the capitalist system and the establishment of a classless society. In 1867, Marx published the first volume of "Das Kapital," a critical analysis of capitalism and its effects on society, labor, and the economy. Two more volumes were published posthumously by Engels, based on Marx's notes. 

Karl Marx although was German born,  had to flee Germany and settle in London, living there from 1849. Marx never got the reputation that he deserved in his life, and led a poverty and grief-stricken life. His wife and his eldest daughter died before him, creating a devastating impact on him and his health;  he  died  stateless  on the afternoon of 14 March 1883  aged 64.from a combination of bronchitis and pleurisy, exacerbated by an abscess on his lung.

On Saturday, March 17, 1883 Marx was laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery, North London  arranged for by Friedrich Engels Marx to be buried in Highgate Cemetery. in the family plot  in which his wife Jenny had been buried fifteen months earlier.  They weren’t alone for long as within a week of his death Marx was joined by his five year old grandson. The family’s life long friend and companion (who had started out as a servant) Helene Demuth joined them in 1890 – after helping Frederick Engels put together Marx’s notes that became the second volume of Capital – and then the last of the group to use the plot was Marx’s daughter, Eleanor, who died young in 1898. 

The funeral was poorly attended. Estimates vary, but it’s unlikely more than two-dozen mourners were present. The world had yet to be exposed to the work of the man laid to rest in that small ceremony.  Besides Marx’s two surviving daughters Laura and Eleanor, others  in attendance  were the French socialist leaders Paul Lafargue (Laura’s husband) and Charles Longuet (husband to Marx’s eldest daughter Jenny), Prof Roy Lankaster and Prof Schorlemmer (both revered men of science and members of the Royal Society), the German Socialist leader Wilhelm Liebknecht, G. Lochner (a veteran of the Communist League), another German socialist F. Lessner (sentenced in the 1852 Cologne Communists’ Trial to five years’ hard labour), and writer-editor Gottlieb Lemke. It is possible that Helene Demuth, long the Marx family’s devoted housekeeper and friend, who would be buried alongside the family a few years later, was also in attendance.

The ceremony was simple, with brief words in German, French and English, from the leader of the German Social-Democratic party, Charles Longuet (a son-in-law) and Marx's lifelong friend and comrade Friedrich Engels delivered  the  following  eulogy predicting Marx's work would endure through the ages. :

"On the 14th of March, at a quarter to three in the afternoon, the greatest living thinker ceased to think. He had been left alone for scarcely two minutes, and when we came back we found him in his armchair, peacefully gone to sleep-but forever.

"An immeasurable loss has been sustained both by the militant proletariat of Europe and America, and by historical science, in the death of this man. The gap that has been left by the departure of this mighty spirit will soon enough make itself felt.

"Just as Darwin discovered the law of development of organic nature, so Marx discovered the law of development of human history: the simple fact, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of ideology, that mankind must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, art, religion, etc.; that therefore the production of the immediate material means of subsistence and consequently the degree of economic development attained by a given people or during a given epoch form the foundation upon which the state institutions, the legal conceptions, art, and even the ideas on religion, of the people concerned have been evolved, and in the light of which they must, therefore, be explained, instead of vice versa, as had hitherto been the case.

"But that is not all. Marx also discovered the special law of motion governing the present-day capitalist mode of production and the bourgeois society that this mode of production has created. The discovery of surplus value suddenly threw light on the problem, in trying to solve which all previous investigations, of both bourgeois economists and socialist critics, had been groping in the dark.

"Two such discoveries would be enough for one lifetime. Happy the man to whom it is granted to make even one such discovery. But in every single field which Marx investigated -- and he investigated very many fields, none of them superficially -- in every field, even in that of mathematics, he made independent discoveries.

"Such was the man of science. But this was not even half the man. Science was for Marx a historically dynamic, revolutionary force. However great the joy with which he welcomed a new discovery in some theoretical science whose practical application perhaps it was as yet quite impossible to envisage, he experienced quite another kind of joy when the discovery involved immediate revolutionary changes in industry and in historical development in general. For example, he followed closely the development of the discoveries made in the field of electricity and recently those of Marcel Deprez.

"For Marx was before all else a revolutionist. His real mission in life was to contribute, in one way or another, to the overthrow of capitalist society and of the state institutions which it had brought into being, to contribute to the liberation of the modern proletariat, which he was the first to make conscious of its own position and its needs, conscious of the conditions of its emancipation. Fighting was his element. And he fought with a passion, a tenacity and a success such as few could rival. His work on the first Rheinische Zeitung (1842), the Paris Vorw?rts! (1844), Br?sseler Deutsche Zeitung (1847), the Neue Rheinische Zeitung (1848-49), the New York Tribune (1852-61), and in addition to these a host of militant pamphlets, work in organisations in Paris, Brussels and London, and finally, crowning all, the formation of the great International Working Men's Association -- this was indeed an achievement of which its founder might well have been proud even if he had done nothing else.

"And, consequently, Marx was the best-hated and most calumniated man of his time. Governments, both absolutist and republican, deported him from their territories. Bourgeois, whether conservative or ultra-democratic, vied with one another in heaping slanders upon him. All this he brushed aside as though it were cobweb, ignoring it, answering only when extreme necessity compelled him. And he died beloved, revered and mourned by millions of revolutionary fellow-workers -- from the mines of Siberia to California, in all parts of Europe and America -- and I make bold to say that though he may have had many opponents he had hardly one personal enemy.

"His name will endure through the ages, and so also will his work!"

Once it was all over, the cortege wended its way back to Marx’s Maitland Park home. A few days later, Karl’s name was etched into the simple stone tablet that stood over his wife’s grave. Just five days later, some of these same mourners would be back again in Highgate, this time to bury five-year-old Harry Longuet, the youngest child of Marx’s eldest daughter Jenny who had pre-deceased her father.  The grave was as unremarkable as the burial. Hidden away in a little-known part of the cemetery, 

The following year after his death over 5,000 people gathered, organised by the Communistic Working Men’s Club in London to commemorate the proclamation of the Paris Commune in 1871.

 Far more than a quiet show of respect, this was a full demonstration, with the plan to march, to the beat of a band, to the cemetery and give rousing speeches in German, French and English. But the cemetery directors were nervous, so the police forced the demonstration to stop in some vacant land near the cemetery. The event was peaceful enough, with people listening to the speeches, cheering and heading home. 

In the years that followed, the old grave became a site of pilgrimage. Lenin visited with a group of Bolsheviks in 1903, when they were in London for an early congress. It was known to have baffled visitors who wanted to pay their respects at the grave but found it hard to locate. At a British Socialists’ conference in 1923, a  delegate Charles McLean described his effort to find the grave: ‘only after an hour’s search’ was he ‘able to stand at the foot of the grave’. He spoke of the sad state of the grave, fnce he managed to reach it, how  “an old withered wreath, which appeared to have been lying there for years, and an old flower-pot with a scarlet geranium in bloom, were all that commemorated that great leader”.and that someday ‘there would be international pilgrimages to Highgate Cemetery – just as there were pilgrimages to Mecca by the Moslems’.

Surely a better memorial was needed.  The first response came from the Soviet Union. Feeling that the UK government was derelict in its duty, they proposed in the late 1920s to exhume Marx and bring him to Moscow where he would be remembered with due respect. 115 descendants of Marx signed a petition to add weight to the request. It was refused.  

Due to the popularity of this site and high number of visitors, Marx’s remains were later moved to a public site in the same cemetery where they continue to stay today. The tomb site  and the Marx Grave Trust were established with the  active support of Karl Marx's great grandsons. The Grave Trust owns and maintains the now famous and iconic memorial at the grave of Karl Marx which  was unveiled on March 15, 1956, to  a  large  crowd the day after the anniversary of his death on March 14,  1883. 

The monument was designed by Laurence Bradshaw and was funded by the Communist Party of Great Britain. The party's General Secretary, Harry Pollitt, led the ceremony. Bradshaw, an artist and sculptor, was himself a Party member, had been since the early 1930s. His most famous work was designed “to be a monument not only of a man,” Bradshaw said, “but to a great mind and great philosopher.” He wanted the site to convey “the dynamic force of Marx’s intellect.” Which is probably why he made it so big. 

Since 1974, the bust and headstone have been designated a listed monument, reaching the highest Grade-1 status in 1999 of “exceptional interest.” The Marx Grave Trust wishes to ask all members of the public to respect the tomb of Karl Marx at Highgate Cemetery, London as a place of commemoration and family grave. His grave remains a pilgrimage site for followers from around the world attracting thousands of people each year and his ideas still play an important role in shaping political and cultural discourses in the UK and abroad. A ceremony is still held here annually on the anniversary of his death, to the minute, at 2.30 pm. The Marx Oration started in 1933 and is sponsored by the the Marx Memorial Libraryhttps://www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk/ and respectfully remembers the passing of Karl Marx ,

The Marx Memorial Library has been in its big, classical 1738 building — originally a school for children of Welsh artisans living in poverty since 1933, the 50th anniversary of Karl Marx’s death. The library  specialises in Marxism, the working-class movement, anti-fascism and the Spanish Civil War. It owns a full run of the Daily Worker and the Morning Star.t

Other revolutionaries have since been buried nearby to Karl  Marx. After Claudia Jones founder of Notting Hill Carnival   Black  Trinidadian communist, feminist, journalist and Black activist died at the age of just 49 in 1964, her  ashes  were  fittingly buried to the left of Karl Marx in North London's Highgate cemetery. And the cemetery also provides the final resting place for Dr Yusef Mohamed Dadoo, chairman of the South African Communist party, Saad Saadi Adi, the Iraqi communist leader, and poet and advocate of democracy and human rights in Iraq,

In an  assault, reported to police on February 5 2019  Karl Marx's the grave’s marble plaque was repeatedly smashed with a hammer, damaging it beyond repair. A second attack on the night of February 15 saw the entire monument daubed in bright  red paint with the words “Doctrine of Hate”, “Architect of Genocide” and “Memorial to Bolshevik Holocaust”.

 "It will never be the same again, and will wear  battle scars for the future," said Ian Dugavell  of the friends of Highgate Cemetary Trust of the damage to the plaque  at  the  time ,“Senseless, stupid, Ignorant,” the cemetery said. “Whatever you think about Marx’s legacy, this is not the way to make the point.”  
The graffiti covered inscriptions of Marx’s final words of The Communist Manifesto, “Workers of all lands unite,” and the most famous of Karl Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach, “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point however is to change it.” The contrast between Marx’s messages of hope and the violent smears that covered them could not be more jarring.

“It will never be the same again, and will bear those battle scars for the future,” said Ian Dungavell, chief executive of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust, of the plaque.

Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/news/karl-marx-grave-london-highgate-cemetery-vandalised-hammer/

“It will never be the same again, and will bear those battle scars for the future,” said Ian Dungavell, chief executive of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust, of the plaque.

Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/news/karl-marx-grave-london-highgate-cemetery-vandalised-hammer/

The shameful attack on Marx’s grave in a far right targetted ideological assault  coincided with fascist attacks on the graves of socialist leaders in Spain and on Holocaust memorials and Jewish cemeteries in France, Poland, Lithuania and Greece. 

The monument has been attacked previously, most notably during the 1970s, when vandals damaged the face of the bust and attempted to put a bomb inside it to destroy it. 

After his grave was vandalized tin 2019, the Marx Grave Trust,  decided to monitor it with video cameras installed  hoping to deter vandals from attacking this famous monument, Cameras remain rare in cemeteries, especially around specific graves. Marx’s is the first one to be monitored at Highgate, London’s most-visited burial ground, in a city where video surveillance is almost everywhere.
Grave desecration,  is integral to fascist terrorism. According to Jewish law, “treating a corpse disrespectfully implies a belief that death is final and irreversible.” In other words, treating the dead disrespectfully gives no hope for their resurrection.
Fascists desecrated Jewish graves because it wasn’t enough that those interred were biologically dead; grave desecration meant that the fascists did not think they were dead enough. These attacks against Marx’s grave are meant to prevent Marx from coming back to life — not literally, of course, but in the figurative resurrection of a socialist movement. As Walter Benjamin once put it, not even the dead are safe from fascism; in this case, not even Marx’s grave is safe.
For fascists, Marx’s grave does not represent the site of someone dead, but of something threatening to re emerge. Marxism represents the eternal enemy of the fascist imagination; Marx is not dead, but undead. They fear that Marx is still influencing world history from beyond the grave. Worse, they fear that the socialist movement is resurrecting Marx from the oblivion of the past.
If capitalism is one day overthrown and humanity moves from its pre-history towards real history, then Marx will be more than a ghost; he will be immortalized.
Defacing a beautiful monument in this destructive manner will not change the power of his words. His overwhelming legacy refuses to die. Marx's intellectual influence still so strong, his ideas and thinking have become fundamentals of modern economics and sociology. 

Marx’s legacy remains  pervasive, complex, and often polarizing,  his ideas the subject of much criticism, with detractors arguing that his theories are outdated or have been responsible for the suffering and oppression of millions under communist regimes, but there  is absolutely no evidence that Marx himself would have supported such crimes, and there is no denying his significant impact on the course of human history. 

Marx was in no way a perfect individual,  the life he led could be  seen  as  hypocritical, but  his  influence , which  has extended beyond communist societies, can be compared to that of major religious figures like Jesus or Muhammad,  his  ideas for better or for worse,  have transformed the study of history and sociology, and profoundly affected philosophy, literature, and the arts.

It  is important to  note that nothing has relatively changed even after Marx passed  away on the 14th of March 1883 in London,  the socio-economic inequalities of the cruel capitalist system continue to exist to this day. Marx understood the inherent contradictions and crisis within the capitalist mode of production, emphasising the exploitation of labour and the tendency of capitalism towards economic crisis and inequalities. Marx’s famous prediction regarding the growing monopolization of the economy, and concentration of wealth along with the growing inequality and stagnation of wages ring consistently true.

As the  current crisis of global capitalism so unprecedented, given its magnitude, its global reach,.  combined with the extent of ecological degradation and social deterioration, and the scale of  its violence, our very survival is at risk. I  beleve Marx's works and ideas are more important now than ever  On the anniversary, of Karl Marx's birth lets continue our struggle for a world free of exploitation, injustice, discrimination, inequality  and capitalism. 

From the the streets of Gaza, to every neighbourhood in the world  in every act of resistance,  lets remember Karl Marx, an advocate for the working class who dedicated his whole life to their cause. and  taught us about our responsibility to change the world, Throughout history, change has often seemed impossible. But once it comes, it seems like change was always inevitable.

"Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!" Karl Marx 

Pockets of Unity

In these darkest of times

We release the same heartbeats

In every breath there lies a song 

I believe in a common  purpose

Capitalism is the enemy

The poor are punished 

And the rich are rewarded

May our diversity unite us

Create a richer tapestry

Remember Black lives matter

Palestinian lives matter 

Womens' rights matter

Lbtqi+ rights matter

No human is illegal

No hierarchies of power 

There is no master race

Lets bow to mother nature 

War is hate, Love is love 

It’s hard to fathom sometimes

That some forget tenderness 

The riptide that washes away pain

Share the kindness of solidarity 

Stand against hate and inequality 

Pierce the walls that divide us

Giving love, without demand

On a raft of dreams filled with hope

Rowing along with magical dream

The final frontier of hunanity fails 

When hatred takes us over  

So never ever discriminate

Release your innate goodness

Sowing justice, uprooting division 

A harmony that stirs souls to life, 

An unspoken truth that feels right

In a unsettling strange world

Amidst an attic of nightmares

We can rebuild the world

Rediscover beautiful coexistence 

TillIing the ground, with might

Don't be afraid to be different

In the shadows of emotion 

Keep on plantings seeds . 

Find beauty in simplicity 

Be resilient like a flower

Beyond melancholic forces 

The clouding puzzles of life

Allow peace to grow strong

Let go of puddled emotions 

Fill your soul with Dhikr.

In the stillness of night

May you be filled with peace

Allow dark thoughts that pour

To dissiipate and fade forever

Find the gift of someones smile

The twinkling eyes of peace

Step forward with time 

With pulsating perspiration

Destroy the darkness

The plethora of fear

Like a beacon,,a torch aglow

Brimming with passion 

Beyond shadows mischief

Love with every heartbeat.

Remembering Polish-Jewish painter, printmaker and revolutionary Jankel Adler (26 July 1895 – 25 April 1949)

Polish-Jewish avant  garde painter, printmaker and revolutionary, graphic artist Jankel Adler was born into a large orthodox Jewish family on 26 July  1895 in Tuszyn, near Łódź, Congress Kingdom of Poland, then client state of the Russian Empire (now Poland).  and was the seventh in a family of ten children. 

He studied engraving in Belgrade in 1912, then art in Barmen and Düsseldorf until 1914. During the First World War he was conscripted into the Russian army but returned to Poland in 1918, becoming a founder-member of Young Yiddish, a Łódź-based group of painters and writers dedicated to the expression of their Jewish identity, the first of the many avant-garde artistic groups with which he would be associated. In 1920 he moved to Germany, meeting Marc Chagall in Berlin, then returned briefly to Barmen, before settling two years later in Düsseldorf, where he joined the Young Rhineland circle, became friendly with Otto Dix and helped found the International Exhibition of revolutionary artists in Berlin. 

In the 1920s he joined the activities of left-wing avant-garde groups in Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Berlin. His intense engagement with wall painting during this period influenced his painting technique, which involved scratching patterns into a mixture of oil paint and sand.  

In 1925 Adler's Planetarium frescos were well received and he exhibited widely. Six years later, in 1931, as a Professor at the Düsseldorf Academy, he formed an important friendship with Paul Klee, who had a profound influence on his style.

Jankel Adler  The Artist (1927).

During the 1920s and the early 1930s, his individual artistic manner crystallized, organically combining elements of cubism, primitivism, expressionism, and "Neue Sachlichkeit." At the same time, he often incorporated images of Jews, Jewish inscriptions, and kabbalistic symbols into his compositions by making use of the cards of the mezuzah and fragments of prayers.

Sabbath was made in 1927/28 during the artist's brief period of success in Düsseldorf. At that time he was at the center of a small Jewish art community that probably included Düsseldorf lawyer Joseph Gottlieb. 

Jankel Adler Sabbath, 1927-28

Jankel Adler - The cat breeder, 1925J

 Adler’s political stance could be described as a kind of anarchist communism, from which nothing was further than submission to a Leninist party discipline that was already dominating the KPD the major far-left political party in the Weimar Republic at that time. And before the Reichstag elections in March 1933, he joined fellow  leftist artists and intellectuals, in signing an Urgent Appeal against the rise of fascism and for communism.

His life turned dramatically with Hitler’s rise to power. As a modern artist, a member of radical  groups and especially as a Jew, he faced persecution under Hitler's regime which took power in 1933. In that year, two of his pictures were displayed by the Nazis at the Mannheimer Arts Center as examples of degenerate art, and Adler left Germany, staying in Paris where he regarded his exile consciously as political resistance against the fascist regime in Germany. 

In the years that followed, he made numerous journeys to Poland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Soviet Union. He also spent time in Paris, working at Atelier 17. In 1934 his work was included in the Exhibition of German-Jewish Artists' Work Painting - Sculpture - Architecture , mounted by German refugee art dealer, Carl Braunschweig at the Parsons Gallery, Oxford Street (5-15 June 1934), organised in response to such Nazi discrimination. 

The  Nazis seized 25 of his works from public collections two of his works were displayed at the Mannheimer Arts Center as examples of degenerate art in 1933. nd a number were displayed in the infamous Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibition, mounted by the Nazis in Munich in 1937.

 In the same year, he worked with the printmaker Stanley William Hayter at the experimental workshop Atelier 17 in Paris, also meeting Picasso, who became the second major influence upon his style.     

In 1939,at the age of 45, his long abhorrence of Nazi aggression saw him join the  Polish free Army  which was assembled in France in early 1940, and with them fled the advancing German troops via the Brittany port of St. Nazaire. He arrived in Scotland, penniless and in poor health, and after a brief time in a camp, was discharged soon afterwards. 

He found temporary accommodation with a minister in Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire, about 10 miles east of Glasgow, moving shortly afterwards to the famous port city on the River Clyde, known for its rich industrial and shipbuilding heritage, where he remained until the summer of 1942. 

Once again, he faced the uncertain task of attempting to rebuild his life, career and reputation in a foreign land, this time in a country where he was completely unknown. Adler,  thoughby now an experienced refugee, was nothing if not resilient, and upon arrival set to work with such 'a furious determination',that in the short time remaining to him, he not only completed a large body of new work, but also established himself as a painter of reputation and influence in his third and final host country. and in  Glasgow,  he became  one of a number of other influential refugees escaping Fascist oppression. who enhanced the artistic life of the city. 

He exhibited his work at the New Art Club, established by J D Fergusson and was associated with the Scott Street Art Centre established by David Archer as a meeting place and resource centre.

 rejection of figurative manner and transition to symbolic abstraction. 

A number of his works created in this period treated "Jewish themes" and reflect his understanding of the Holocaust (as in Two Rabbis, 1942; Museum of Modern Art, New York). 

Adler's resilience and creativity found new life in Britain, where he became a key figure in the émigré artistic community. In Glasgow he was befriended by Estonian-Jewish émigré sculptor Benno Schotz, through whom he renewed his friendship with Josef Herman, a fellow Polish artist who had moved to Glasgow in 1940. ‘It was with Jankel that I could share my more intimate fears’, Herman recalled later with gratitude. ‘These were years of fears. Both of us were Yiddish-speaking, we were both from Poland, hence we could look into each other’s faces with understanding. In the company of others we were a conspiracy of two.’

Kindred spirits, they supported each other emotionally, Herman’s presence in Glasgow undoubtedly helped Adler recover his strength and resume activity as an artist.and they  became two of the most influential members of the Glasgow New Art club, founded by J. D. Fergusson 

Adler arrived at a powerful and eloquent final phase in his career. The undertow of tragedy running through these images must have intensified in 1942 when Herman was told, by the Red Cross, that his entire family had been exterminated by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto. 

Herman suffered a total breakdown and, according to his future wife Nini, ‘Jankel Adler stepped in and nursed Josef through those weeks with maternal tenderness. Was it perhaps to heal them both.’

Jankel Adler's 'Orphans' 1941 is a poignant painting which shows Adler and his friend  Josef Herman. 

Adler gifted the work to Herman, who kept it all his life. 

The Estonian-born Jewish sculptor Benno Schotz organised a private exhibition of Adler's work in his own studio in 1941 and Adler also exhibited 24 works at Annans' Gallery in June the same year.

The Mutilated was painted in London  in  1942 during heavy bombing and reflected, he said, his admiration for "the behaviour of Londoners under great stress and suffering, only then could humanity be seen at its best".

 In October 1942 Adler contributed a short article 'Memories of Paul Klee' to Cyril Connolly's Horizon and in December of the same year, Schotz and Herman organised an exhibition of Jewish Art at the Jewish Institute, South Portland Street, in the Gorbals, Glasgow. This included work by Adler, alongside both British Jewish artists including David Bomberg and continental European Jewish artists, many associated with the Ecole de Paris, including Chagall, Modigliani and Soutine, as well as by the curators themselves.    

In 1942 Adler also stayed briefly in the artists' colony in Kirkcudbright in South West Scotland, in order to prepare for his upcoming solo exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in Cork Street, London (June-July 1943), organised by German émigrée art dealer Erica Brausen and with a catalogue introduction by the influential art historian and critic Herbert Read. 

After moving to London, in 1943 he applied for British citizenship, hoping to bring his daughter and mother to live with him, but his application was rejected. Adler shared a house with 'the two Roberts', the painters Colquhoun and MacBryde, whose style he greatly influenced, and their wider circle. 

 Jankel Adler still life 1943

Painted in 1943 during the Second World War, Beginning of the Revolt is an essentially tragic and anarchic view of the human condition that closely relates to No Man's Land of the same year in the collection of the Tate Gallery, London. 

Jankel Adler No Man's Land 

Underpinning Adler’s painting Beginning of the Revolt  is an intensely organized structure and carefully composed response to the turmoil of his time. Here, a raven, symbol of death and sadness, has come to roost among the amputated, mutilated branches of a rootless, dead tree. 

Where there was previously life there is now desolation. The muted palette heightens the ghostly bleakness of the scene, conveying a sense of silent despair.  

The title of the painting, however, suggest resilience and revolt– despair and desolation will not lead to defeat. Death will lead to rebirth and new beginnings.

Jankel Adler Beginning of the Revolt 

In 1944 he participated in a group show in German émigré Jack Bilbo's Modern Art Gallery and also had two solo exhibitions at Gimpel Fils, Studies in Tempera for Kafka's Works by Jankel Adler with Watercolours and Drawings, in spring 1947, followed by a second show in 1948. In the same year, An Artist Seen from One of Many Possible Angles, with illustrations by Adler, was the first publication from Polish-born Francziska and Stefan Themerson's avant-garde Gabberbochus Press.

It was only after the war, in 1945, that he learned bitterly that all eleven of his siblings had been killed by the fascists. In 1945 the collector James (Jimmy) Bomford lent Adler Whitley Cottage, situated on his farm at Aldbourne, near Malborough, in Wiltshire, where the artist spent his final years.

It was there on 25 April 1949 - a day after hearing of the rejection of his application for naturalisation, probably because  had described himself as an ‘anarchist’  and depressed  and frustrated by the process that  at he suffered a heart attack and died  in poverty aged only 53. 

The Marlborough Times reported that ‘he had endeared himself to quite a few who came to know him,and were impressed by his genial disposition and gentle character’. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Bushey, Herts, but his memory lives on. and like all great artists his vision is unique and instantly recognisable.While his achievements during his life deserve full recognition.  

Extensive materials relating to his time in Britain are held in the archives of the National Galleries of Scotland, as well as the Tate Archive. His work is held in UK collections including Aberdeen Art Gallery, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, Pallant House Gallery, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery and Tate Britain, as well as in international collections in Australia, Germany, Israel and the USA. 

Two Figures, 1944, by Jankel Adler 

Starmer's Crocodile Tears for Pope Francis

.Pope Francis, the reform-minded Roman Catholic leader whose papacy marked a number of firsts, has died at 88 the Vatican announced on Easter Monday. 

 “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, said in a statement.  The pontiff had been diminished by a series of health issues in recent years and was using a wheelchair for some of his recent public appearances. In February 2025, he was hospitalized with severe bronchitis and pneumonia in both lungs. 

While I have detached from religion decades ago I still appreciate what it means to those who believe. Pope Francis death today is sad news  amd it’s incredibly symbolic that the Pope passed away  just the day after Easter,  the holiest celebration of resurrection and new life.

Francis  Francis, who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, and was the first Jesuit pope and the first native of Latin America,  whose  liberal views marked a noticeable break from more conservative predecessors 

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is "deeply saddened" to hear of the death of Pope Francis . 

The Prime Minister said he joins "millions around the world in grieving the death of His Holiness Pope Francis". 

He commended the Pope's leadership in a "complex and challenging time for the world and the church", describing it as "often courageous" yet always coming "from a place of deep humility".  He said: "His tireless efforts to promote a world that is fairer for all will leave a lasting legacy. On behalf of the people of the United Kingdom, I share my sincerest condolences to the whole Catholic Church."  

Starmer said Pope Francis was a "pope for the poor, the downtrodden and the forgotten", adding: "He was close to the realities of human fragility, meeting Christians around the world facing war, famine, persecution and poverty. Yet he never lost the faith-fuelled hope of a better world."

Starmer continued: "That hope was at the heart of his papacy. His determination to visibly live out his faith inspired people across the world to see afresh the church's teachings of mercy and charity. With his death, we are reminded once more of his call to care for one another across different faiths, backgrounds, nations and beliefs."

The hypocrisy of Starmer offering this condolences re Pope Francis is astounding,  releasing crocodile tears. A man who proudly declared his atheism suddenly claims to be “grieving” alongside “millions around the world” for a pontiff whose spiritual leadership he doesn’t even subscribe to. Pope Francis stood for the exact opposite of everything Starmer represents.

I am not religious but Pope Francis's legacy is one of peace and the futility of war, a man steantsdfast in his support for Palestinians.A truly global leader  who spoke to and for the dispossessed,  and those long ignored by the Catholic Church.with humility and courage .From a completely irreligious standpoint, he brought a humanity and empathy to the papacy that was much needed.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants, his election in March 2013 was historic on many fronts: he became the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit, and the first to take the name Francis, a deliberate homage to St Francis of Assisi, the saint of humility, peace, and care for the poor. His choice of name was an early signal of the kind of papacy he intended to lead: stripped-back, compassionate, and radical in tone.

He spent his papacy championing the downtrodden. Whether it was washing the feet of Muslim refugees, standing in solidarity with victims of clerical abuse, or urging the world to confront environmental and economic injustice, Francis embodied the Gospel’s call to compassion.

Pope Francis was unafraid to wade into politics, publicly feuding with United States President Donald Trump over immigration and rebuking U.S. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, over apparently instrumentalizing a theological point for migration policy.

He made climate a moral issue.  “The Earth… looks more and more like an immense pile of filth.”  Not metaphor. A wake-up call.  He framed pollution as sin— and Earth care as sacred.

He ripped economic injustice to shreds. “Markets shape destinies instead of serving needs.”  He didn’t just defend the poor. He exposed the system.

A pontiff who broke tradition and described Israel as a terrorist entity and called for a ceasefire right up to his dying day. He had courage,compassion and  was thoughtful and generous.

His final message: a call for a Gaza ceasefire. “This is cruelty. This is not war,” he said after Israel killed 7 children in Jabalia. 

Pope Francis made nightly calls to Christians trapped tim Gaza. during Israel's genocidal campaign. He lamented the “death and destruction” taking place   and called Gaza’s suffering “a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation.” Even prior to this, he called it what it is — a slaughter, a terror, a betrayal of humanity. He spoke for the children bombed,the families destroyed and for the people of Palestine. 

As recently as January 2025, he called the situation in the Gaza Strip “very serious and shameful,” saying in remarks delivered by an aide: “We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians.” 

Humanity has lost a friend in the passing of Pope Francis,his death is terrible for the world's most marginal people.  I can't imagine the Catholic church allowing another Pope like this again, not for a long time. 

He was unique,,truly principled man of the people whose kindness and humanity transcended his faith. He stood up for the weakest against the people who tried to oppress them. and  promoted a world that was fairer.

In direct contrast Starmer is an unlikable, dour, duplicitous, thin-skinned, po-faced, sanctimonious, morally  void,  nauseating hypocrite, devoid of empathy or compassion, the antithesis of fairer. Who has stated Israel had the right to cut power and water in Palestine.Who continues to sell arms and give intelligence to a country committing a genocide. Who is now causing poverty, to the elderly, sick and disabled, through welfare cuts, Who has  torn all humanitarian thought and common decency from  the Labour Party .All  his words spew with insincerity.

The Pope was everything Starmer is not. Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May you  rot in hell Keir Starmer. Much love and solidarity to all  opposing genocide.❤️🙏🏻

A Short History of the Hot Cross Bun .

Image: Emily Duffin

The hot cross bun, a cherished Easter symbol in the UK and worldwide, carries a tale woven through centuries, shrouded in mystique and tradition. While its origins remain clouded in history’s fog, it is said that the journey of the hot cross bun begins in the 14th century at St Albans Abbey. 

According to legend, Brother Thomas Rocliffe, a 14th-century monk, crafted the first spiced bun adorned with a cross to feed the poor on Good Friday, the end of Lent,  giving birth to a tradition that would endure for generations.

While there are  few written records or recipes, and the origins of the hot cross bun are uncertain, some maintain that we can trace its roots to the crossed bread that was made by the ancient Greeks, while ithers suggests that we might better look to the ancient Jewish custom of sharing unleavened bread (made without yeast) at Passover.

 Across many cultures ordinary bread has long been made special, often with the addition of dried fruits or other sweeteners, to mark important festivals.Think of the dried-fruit-studded Panettone at Christmas or the Easter Colomba bread from Italy.

Some historians maintain that the hot cross bun dates back to pre-Christian times when special currant bread was baked in honour of the Saxon goddess of spring  and fertility, Eostre. Eostre was a voluptuous blonde maiden, always depicted surrounded by little birds, bunnies and other baby animals, as well as spring flowers. https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-pagan-roots-of-easter.html

As spring arrived, the pagans would celebrate a month long festival of the transitioning time from winter entering into spring. Cross Buns were baked for the spring festival to celebrate this Goddess. The four quarters of the cross on top of each bun were said to represent the phases of the moon, while the cross itself symbolised rebirth after winter.   

Eaten hot and perhaps dipped in a layer of honey, these sumptuous cakes were fitting for the hopefulness and abundance that comes with the change in seasons.  it is from these Eostre celebrations that we even get the word Easter, and perhaps along with the hot cross bun, the holiday’s association with eggs and the Easter Bunny,

When Christianity became Britain’s main religion, pagan ways were banished – including those of Eostre. Leaders of the Christian faith soon realised they could incorporate the celebrations of Eostre into their own religion, which also featured a celebration of their own at a similar time of year.

 Although the actual reasoning behind the Eostre celebrations wouldn’t be carried over to the Christian ways, the buns the pagans used were. The cross would now symbolise the cross Jesus was crucified upon, and not the four phases of the moon.The spices in hot cross buns are said to represent the spices that were used to embalm Christ after his death. Early Christians also believed the cross kept away evil spirits and helped the dough rise. 

Ancient Egyptians used small round breads topped with crosses to celebrate the gods. Later, Greeks and Romans offered similar sweetened rolls in tribute to Eos, the goddess of the morning, and to Eostre, the goddess of light, who lent her name to the Easter observances. The cross on top symbolized the horns of a sacrificial ox. The English word bun is a derivation of the Greek word for ceremonial cakes and breads, boun. 

In the Middle Ages, home bakers marked their loaves with crosses before baking. They believed the cross would ensure a successful bake, warding off the evil spirits that inhibit the bread from rising. This superstition gradually faded, except for marking Good Friday loaves and hot cross buns, only to be replaced by another one.

This time the loaves and buns were hung from the ceiling like sausages. It was believed that the bread would never mold and would provide protection against evil spirits and illness until the following Good Friday when the loaves and buns would be replaced. 

In the event of illness, a portion of bread could be removed from its string and crushed to a powder, which was incorporated into water for therapeutic effect. During the same period, Jews hung bread and a container of water from the ceiling to ward off cholera. They believed its power was so strong that one loaf in one house would protect the community. 

Spiced buns were banned when the English broke ties with the Catholic Church in the 16th century.People who disobeyed this law could be punished and sent to prison. However, by 1592, Queen Elizabeth I relented and granted permission for commercial bakers to produce the buns for funerals, Christmas, and Easter. They were considered sacred and confiscated from anyone caught baking them at home and then given to the poor.

By the 18th century, English street vendors sold “hot cross buns” on Good Friday. witnessing its rise to prominence in London’s food scene. This period saw the bun becoming a fixture of the capital’s culinary landscape, celebrated in nursery rhymes and literature, symbolising the city’s bustling street life and diverse culinary offerings. In Britain, people exchanged hot cross buns with friends on Good Friday and said, “Half for you and half for me, between us two good luck shall be”.

The hot cross bun’s fame was not confined to the British Isles; it spread across the globe, carried by the winds of colonialism and trade, adapting to new cultures and tastes.

Soon,some  people believed these Good Friday buns had magical powers. Some hung them from kitchen rafters, believing they would never go mouldy. They kept them for protection against evil or illness. If someone felt sick, they crumbled part of an old hot cross bun into water, hoping it would cure them. Others placed buns in their grain stores to keep pests away.  These beliefs might sound odd today, but they were part of daily life for many.  

Who doesn’t love Hot Cross buns? When you smell a fresh batch of these buns, you’re sharing an experience people enjoyed centuries ago. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Saxons, medieval monks and 18th-century street sellers all had their versions of spiced, crossed bread. Each group gave the buns its own meaning, from honouring   pagan gods to celebrating Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

Have  just  had  4 sweet and sticky dough buns, with lashings of butter, and  a few  chilly  flakes,very  filling and tasty.  Happy  Easter/ Pasg  Hapus.Spare a thought for those suffering in Palestine who are denied food, water and safe shelter 

There’s a school playground rhyme about Hot Cross Buns, sung while clapping in time to the rhythm of the words. A childhood favourite for generations. And it goes like this:

“Hot Cross Buns!  Hot Cross Buns!  One and penny, two a penny, 

Hot Cross Buns!  If you haven’t got a daughter,  give them to your sons. 

One a penny, two a penny Hot Cross Buns!”  

Excerpted from The Bread Baker’s Guild “Breadlines”

A Good Friday reminder.

 

A Good Friday reminder, Keir Starmer said Israel was within its rights to deprive desperate Palestinians of food,water,and electricity. A heinous war crime. Now,this man,with as much substance as diahorrea,wishes Happy Easter but stays silent as Palestinian children burn to death. 

Wishing all else a great day, and a wonderful Easter weekend to everyone who celebrates. 

Remember Jesus born in the city of Bethlehem was a Palestinian revolutionary living under an oppressive Roman colonial rule, who was with the marginalized and the oppressed, the shunned and the ignored - was considered a threat because he taught us to love. Not to destroy, murder, mutilate and hate.

We as Muslims, Christians, or non-believers should learn from his justice and love for fairness. We should think that if he were alive today, he would stand with the Palestinian people against injustice, genocide,

Palestine may be occupied, but its spirit is free. The world may try to silence them, but the Palestinian voice echoes louder with every passing day.

Domestic and international public opinion irrefutably supports and stands in incontrovertible solidarity with Palestine. Yet another Easter that the zionists will spoil and desacrate just as they spoiled and desacrated many Ramadans.. We have been crying for Palestine for more than 500 days. The enemies of humanity will never be able to defeat us.

May this Easter bring you peace, joy, and the strength to continue striving for a more just and equitable world. and the promise of new beginnings and a free Palestine, from the rivers to the sea.

Israel’s apartheid will fall. From its ashes, a single state will rise, where all people live in dignity, as they did before 1948 Muslims Jews and  Christians living in peace. 

Blessings to you and your loved ones!

As Liverpool Marks 36 Years Since the Hillsborough Disaster That Killed 97 Fans, The Fight For Justice Contnues

 

April 15 will always remain one of the most sombre days in English football. On this day in 1989, 97 Liverpool  fans went to a game of football and tragically never came back. The terrrible events of that day at Hillsborough remain as heartbreaking now as they were 36 years ago. 
In  Liverpool today hundreds of people came together  earlier at the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield to mark the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster,  at 3.06  the time the FA Cup semi-final  with Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, was halted, that touched so many lives and changed the face of English football forever. At  the  same time  the city's bells tolled 97 times.in tribute to each victim, fwhich  was followed by an instrumental version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. 

The remembrance was be led by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool Richard Kemp, who was be joined by Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool Council.  Similar tributes took place on Sunday (13 April) before Liverpool’s Premier League fixture against West Ham United at Anfield, where both teams laid wreaths at the stadium’s Hillsborough Memorial.

Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk were among those to lay wreaths at the Hillsborough Memorial outside Anfield, joined by the coaches and captains of Liverpool’s women’s, U21s and U18s teams. A period of silence was observed ahead of first-team training at the AXA Training Centre later in the day.  And clubs in the Premier League and beyond showed their support for the Hillsborough families and survivors while honouring the 97.  That saw many of Liverpool’s rivals, including Everton, Man United, Arsenal and Man City, all post tributes on X.

In the run-up and the immediate aftermath of the 3pm kick-off, a crush at the Leppings Lane end of the "neutral" stadium resulted in the worst ever disaster to befall a British sporting event. As well as those killed, hundreds more were injured while thousands suffered emotional and psychological trauma as a result of their experience. 

The families of the victims, who have campaigned tirelessly ever since, say the truth of what happened that day and crucially the role of senior officers within South Yorkshire Police has never been satisfactorily explained.  

Football was blighted by hooliganism in 1989 and this provided the main focus of the policing operation rather than the welfare and safety of the fans. The venue was a poor choice for the occasion. There was a well-known "bottleneck" at the Leppings Lane end caused by the slow old-fashioned turnstiles. Some 38 people had been injured in a crush at the ground in 1981.  

As the excited crowds built up close to kick-off, a senior officer radioed the match commander, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who was overseeing his first major match, asking him to authorise the opening of the exit gates allowing fans to get into the ground without passing through the creaking turnstiles. He agreed. But by this time the number of people inside the "central pens" of the terrace was also beginning to mount dangerously. 

Crucially police did not steward the entering fans into the relatively empty side pens. Instead some 2,000 supporters eager to watch the match piled into the already crammed central area where a perimeter fence guarded against the threat of a pitch invasion.  

Incredibly, as people started to suffocate, the match got under way, and desperate pleas for help were drowned out by the excitement of the game. Fans attempting to climb the anti-hooligan fences were forced back by officers. Limited relief came only when the two narrow gates on to the perimeter track were opened. The game was abandoned after six minutes by which time fans were on the pitch, fashioning stretchers out of hoardings to transport the injured and dying towards medical help. But of the 42 ambulances that were summoned to the ground only three made it on to the pitch. Here paramedics faced chaotic scenes described by one as "bedlam". 

Official medical cover that day was provided by St John Ambulance volunteers.  Few victims received even rudimentary help opening airways. Many of the injured were laid on their backs rather than in the recovery position. There were no doctors to confirm who was dead and who still had a chance of survival as the bodies were left in piles. Only 14 of those who died ever made it to hospital. The remainder were taken to the ground's gymnasium where they were photographed and the images shown to grieving relatives who were denied access to their loved ones.

.Lord Justice Taylor was appointed by Douglas Hurd to conduct a Home Office Inquiry into the disaster, the Inquiry opened on 15th May and made an interim report on 1st August 1989.  Taylor found that hooliganism played no part in the disaster. The real cause was the overcrowding and the failure of police control. The South Yorkshire police had been responsible for the match security at Hillsborough. He castigated senior officers of the South Yorkshire police and commented on the police orchestrated campaign against the Liverpool fans.  

The South Yorkshire Police had form when dealing with ordinary workers and miners during the 1984-85 Miners strike. The South Yorkshire Police really never accepted that their mismanagement of the game had been the primary cause of the disaster. There were numerous oversights and mistakes by Taylor including the failure to question the FA’s decision to use Hillsborough, the Sheffield’s club failure to sort the bottleneck that was Leppings Lane and the medical care administered at the ground in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. However his main findings that the police were responsible were important.  The South Yorkshire Police settled some compensation claims for very low amounts and treated the matter as being closed.

Of the 97 people who died, 37 were teenagers, most still at school, many attending their first ever away football match supporting Liverpool. Seven of the dead were girls and women, including one mother, Inger Shah, whose children Becky and Daniel were teenagers at the time. Twenty-five were fathers; altogether, 58 people lost a parent in the disaster.

Many survivors still struggle to come to terms with the mental and physical wounds of the incident. It's so horrible  to think of going to a match and not returning, never mind it being covered up and being blamed for the tragedy as well. From the onset survivors of Hillsborough  spoke of how they were intimidated and threatened by  police and left feeling traumatised, accused of wasting police time because they did not like their evidence, because it did not fit into their versions of the event. 
The Police, the Conservative Government of the time, the Stadium management and the press, all  colluded to keep us from what actually happened at the tragedy that was Hillsborough, they were lied about, especially  by the police, the scum newspaper, the dead were vilified and labelled,  and demonised. Thatcher's Conservative Government created a culture of impunity, who needed a partisan police force, because they wanted to protect their own self interests Remember too, that 164 police officers lied, 14 of whom were awarded millions of pounds of compensation between them, the Hillsborough familres have not recieved a penny. Also since this terrible occasion some Police Officers were even  promoted to senior positions.

The propaganda pumped out in the first two years after the disaster coloured public opinion. The Scum newspapers ‘The Truth’ headline, falsely pointing the finger at Liverpool fans, set the tone. The coroner’s dismissive verdict was an official endorsement of the lies. The dead, their fellow supporters who tried to save them and the bereaved were dehumanised, demonised and dismissed with the complicity of the state, .the Police, the Conservative Government of the time, the Stadium management and the press,  all  of whom colluded to keep us from what actually happened at the tragedy that was Hillsborough.

 
 Kevin McKenzie editor of the Scum at the time , sanctimonious git supremeo, sanctioned the making up of 'quotes'  he then  repeated the same lies time and time and again, a pathetic , wretched individual who only made  half apologies in order to further his own self interests. Shame , shame, shame.  
Because of this, The S*n, as it is referred to in Liverpool, became an instant target. 36 years on and the paper remains unwelcome in the city, the effect of which has led to big supermarkets and small newsagents all over no longer stocking it. 

Remembrance is thus not only conducted as a vigil for the lives lost, nor the want for it to be rubber stamped in the history books. It is an inherently political act and one which seeks to build solidarity with campaigns fought on similar lines elsewhere. It  is crucial that there is accountability and transparency in public life. 36 years on it is only natural for people to pursue justice. 

97 lives unlawfully stolen. An innocent city vilified.Serving police officers colluded to cover up the truth about their colleagues unlawfully killing 97 innocent football fans..Abuse ongoing and neverending. The evil lying culprits free and clear. And still the brave souls who remain fight the fight for justice! 

Despite those who passed at Hillsborough being found to have been unlawfully killed, only one person has ever been successfully prosecuted relating to the disaster., the stadium safety officer, Graham Mackrell, was fined £6,500.  He failed to ensure there were enough turnstiles to prevent large crowds from building up outside the Leppings Lane end of the ground. There were just seven turnstiles open for over 10,000 supporters.

In 2019, former Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who ordered and subsequently lied about the opening of exit gate C – the gate opposite the tunnel to the overfilled pens – was found not guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. 

Duckenfield, who was match commander at the fatal semi-final, was found to have been grossly negligent by the jury at the 2016 inquest. However, this wasn’t decided a criminal court case and, when he was prosecuted for gross negligence manslaughter, the 2019 jury acquitted him of criminal charges.  In addition, solicitor Peter Metcalf and retired police officers Donald Denton and Alan Foster were accused of altering police statements and helping to cover up police failings. 

Their trials collapsed on a technicality.  Conn explained: “Three police officers were charged with an offence called perverting the course of public justice, through a process of amending the statements of police officers after the disaster.

 I stand with families calling for a full Hillsborough Law to fix our broken justice system. A Hillsborough Law is a package of new laws that aims to ensure other bereaved families do not go through the same painful experiences as those who lost loved ones at the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, on April 15 1989 and who had to fight for years against the lies and obfuscation of the different organs of the state in their pursuit of justice. 

The bill is intended to include a statutory duty of candour on public servants, backed by criminal sanctions, to force them to tell the truth during all forms of public inquiry and criminal investigation.  The package also includes a provision for a parity of legal funding for ordinary people forced to take on large institutions following tragic events, so that bereaved families have access to public funding in the way that those who lost loved ones in Sheffield on that fateful day were not.  

Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly promised - including twice in speeches at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool - that his government, if elected, would bring in a Hillsborough Law in full. The bill was included in his new government's first King's Speech in July last year. The Prime Minister said the new legislation would be ready by April 15 this year, to time with the 36th anniversary of the disaster. That now will not happen.  This is because when those who have campaigned so hard for the Hillsborough Law saw the changes that had been made to the bill by government officials last month, they were appalled, with some of the key measures said to have been watered down to a point where the families and the campaigners could not support it.

Observers of Keir Starmer’s career as the Director of Public Prosecutions could be forgiven for holding suspicions of a man with his track record. From the police killings of Jean Charles de Menezes and Ian Tomlinson to the persecution of Julian Assange, Starmer’s history often shows him siding with powerful interests against victims of injustice. If the Hillsborough Law is abandoned, it will leave no ambiguity about the fact that it is those interests his government serves.

In Margaret Aspinal's  words  whose 18-year-old son James lost his life in the disaster,  a “watered down” version of the law would be “no use” and must be introduced “in all its entirety”.

Keir_Starmer do the right thing and follow through on your promise. It is the bare minimum families deserve.Imagine actually having to fight for a Law that requires the authorities to simply tell  the truth in any and all official investigations, inquests and inquiries.The Hillsborough Law must be passed in full. No compromises. No half-measures. The Government must do the right thing and pass a Hillsborough Law that is fit for purpose. 

Hillsborough's continued relevance has helped to expose other great historical injustices, even when people's capacity for shock regarding the behaviour of those charged with protecting society is diminishing.  From the hacking of a missing murdered schoolgirl's phone, to the surveillance of Stephen Lawrence's family, to the free rein that Jimmy Savile was afforded to abuse a seemingly endless list of vulnerable children, to Orgreave and the Shrewsbury pickets, questions remain about the conduct of some of those whose job it was to protect and serve.

On this raw emotional day my thoughts remain with the survivors and those affected by the tragedy as the city of Liverpool comes together to mark this sad occasion. Never forget the 97 and the  far  too  fight for justice. Today, I  am  also  reminded that the tragedy  of Hillsborough  transcends the boundaries of fandom and club loyalty, and irrespective of our rivalries, we are all human.

One of the most famous Hillsborough photographs was of Liverpool fan Dave Roland sitting alone in the stadium on the day of the tragedy. Dave sadly died of coronavirus in April 2020.

Here is a touching poem by Carol Ann Duffy about the Hillsborough disater.

Poem for the Hillsborough disaster - Carol Ann Duffy

The Cathedral bell, tolled, could never tell;

nor the Liver Birds, mute in their stone spell;

or the Mersey, though seagulls waild, cursed, overhead,

in no language for the slandered dead...

not the raw, red throat of the Kop, keening,

or the cops' words censored of meaning;

not the clock, slow handclapping the coroner's deadline,

or the memo to Thatcher, or the tabloid headline...

but fathers told of their daughters; the names of sons

on the lips of their mothers like prayers; lost ones

honoured for bitter years by orphan, cousin, wife-

not a matter of footbal, but of life.

Over this great city, light after dark;

truth, the sweet silver song of the lark.

Marking the 77th Anniversary of the Deir Yassin Massacre,

 

Today, as the world witnesses Israel's genocide in Gaza, we mark 77 years since Zionist forces committed the Deir Yasin massacre. The military and political developments that preceded and followed it made it a turning point in the 1948 Nakba, ( Catastrophe in Arabic) Israel’s project of ethnic cleansing in Palestine. and a symbol for Zionist plans to uproot and forcibly evict Palestinians from their towns and villages:

More than 750,000 Palestinians, about half of the Arab population  in Palestine at that time, were forced out of their homes and lands during the Nabka and saw Palestinian villages wiped off the map. in places like Yassin, Lydda, Tantura  by the hands of Zionist para-military groups like Haganah, that later formed the core of the Israeli Defense Force, Ergun and the Stern Gang. to establish the state of Israel. 

Events like  this  are at the core of the Palestinan peoples  national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza.  The 1948 founding of Israel was founded with the Nakba, a series of atrocities that ethnically cleansed Palestinians from their homeland. 

During Israel's "war of independence," Palestinians were driven from their homes, never to be allowed to return. Hundreds of towns were razed; villagers were massacred. Their very existence on the land was nearly wiped from history as Israel built new towns over the ruins.  This devastating event is given almost no attention in  history books or by the mainstream news media but is essential in understanding the ongoing violence in Israel-Palestine and the Middle East in general.  

On  the 9th  of April  1948 one month before the State of Israel was declared,. Commanders of  the Ergun (headed by future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin,) and the Stern Gang attacked in the early hours of the morning Deir Yassin, a village at the western entrance of Jerusalem containing 750 Palestinian residents. 

By the time  the villagers realized the intensity of the terrorist attack, hundreds were already dead, the Zionist militia  murdered over 250 - 360 Palestinian villagers in cold blood mainly women, children and the elderly. and wounding  many others. Many of the bodies were tossed  in the village well,  and 159 captured women and children  were paraded  through the Jewish sectors of Jerusalem. Cases of  rape, displacement, mutilation, and destruction were also  documented.

What happened in Deir Yassin prepared the ground for the ethnic cleansing of 70% of the Palestinian people. The same ethnic cleansing that occurred then is unfortunately going on today. In 1948 they used direct massacres, but today they use airstrikes in Gaza and shoot innocent young Palestinians in the West Bank.

Deir Yassin was not an isolated incident; such a heartbreaking tragedy was flagrantly carried out in conjunction with “Plan Dalet.” Based on a policy of ethnic cleansing and terror, “Plan Dalet” was implemented by the Haganah to force Palestinians to flee their homes and to destroy their villages with the deliberate intent of establishing the State of Israel on Palestinian soil.

Deir Yassin was not the only Palestinian town where massacres took place,  nearly 70 others happened during the 1948 Nakba others  included: Balad Al-Sheikh, Saasaa, and Saliha to name but a few. Deir Yassin would become one of those ingrained in the mind of Palestinians forever. 

Then, like now, Israel’s allies allowed it to happen. International law are meaningless unless they apply to everyone. For Palestinians and their supporters, the massacre is a symbol. that marks  their deep sense  of dispossession. It is remembered as the pivotal onset of the 1948 Nabka. Deir Yassin is the "other shoe that fell," sparking over 750,000 to flee from their homes, 80 percent of the population at that time, from their homes so that Israel, a colonialist settler state, could be created on their land.Over two million scattered in a far-flung diaspora today, in what remains at the heart of the Israel/Palestine conflict. 

The village  lay outside of the area assigned by the United Nations to the 'Jewish State'. It had a peaceful reputation, the Deir Yassin villagers had signed a non aggression pact with the leaders of the adjacent Jewish Quarter, Giv'at Shaul and had even refused military personnel from the Arab Liberation Army from using the village as a base.An Israeli psychiatric hospital now lies on the ruins of Deir Yassin, the remainder of which was bulldozed in the 1980s to make way for new settlements  and incorporated as a neighbourhood of Jerusalem. These streets shamefully carry the names of the Irgun militiamen who carried out the massacre.

77 years later the Deir Yassin massacre still remains an important reminder of Israel’s systematic measures of displacement, destruction, dispossession, and dehumanization.In keeping with Simon Wiesenthal's observation that "Hope lives when people remember," the suffering of the Jews has been rightly acknowledged and memorialised. But there are few memorials for Palestinians who died in 1948 and since. .

Their history, in which the massacre at Deir Yassin is a very significant event, has been largely buried and forgotten. And yet, like the descendants of the victims in Armenia (1915-17), in the Soviet Union (1929-53), in Nazi Germany (1933-45), in China (1949-52, 1957-60, and 1966-76), and in Cambodia (1975-79), the descendants of Palestinians want the world to remember what they suffered, what they lost and why they died. The grandchildren of those responsible for the Deir Yassin massacre are now massacring Gazan children, this has always been the true face of Zionism

The calculated efforts by Israel to completely erase the history, narrative and physical presence of the Palestinian people will not be simply ignored or forgotten. It also serves to ask ourselves the question what  turns a victim into an abuser,a bully that keeps blaming its victims? And over the years we've been taught many things, that invasion was not invasion, occupation was not occupation, apartheid was not apartheid,ethnic cleansing was not ethnic cleansing,and that land theft was not land theft and Palestine was not Palestine.

But many years later the Palestinian peoples collective voice can still be heard from the refugee camps of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, to the towns of the West Bank and Gaza, to the ghettos inside the Israeli green line. This determination and resilience has earned them respect and support of an increasing number of people around the world. Despite the humiliation and pain of their  occupation, you can't kill their  indomitable spirit and struggle.

Sadly  however Israel is committing a genocide live-streamed on TVs and still claims to be the victim. and the zionist terrorists mark the anniversary of the savage, genocidal Deir Yassin massacre with yet another savage, genocidal massacre  killing the same number of Palestinians in Shuja'iya in Gaza, after 16 nonstop months of massacres  while the world silently, passively watches.

Ghosts of Deir Yassin - Phil Monsour featuring Rafeef Ziadah-

The writing on the hands are the names of the original villages in Palestine that these people were ethnically cleansed

Ghosts of Deir Yassin

They pretend that it’s forgotten

But somewhere small flowers grow

On the weathered stones of destroyed homes

Somewhere the light’s still in the window

You see that we are rising our day is surely coming

No longer in the shadows

Of the ghosts of Deir Yassin

They change the names on the signs

But it’s in our hearts these words are written

Of the children who don’t know their homes

They will walk the streets from which they are forbidden

You see that we are rising our day is surely coming

No longer in the shadows

Of the ghosts of Deir Yassin