After the entire civilised world has called out Israel's forced “mass starvation” of Palestinians U2 suddenly find their voice, U2 have finally issued a statement and shared a lengthy post on their website clarifying the band members’ individual stances on Israel and Gaza. https://www.u2.com/news/title/on-gaza/ calling for peace in Gaza after two years of genocide, starvation, and the systematic erasure of Palestinian and have finally condemned the Israeli government for starving Gazans as a ‘weapon of war’ and however bad you expected it to be I guarantee you it’s far worse than you can ever bloody imagine.
Bono works his way through pretty much every pro-genocide Israeli talking point while pretending to care about Palestinians. He spends paragraphs on October 7, mentions the word “Hamas” 14 times, falsely claims “Hamas are using starvation as a weapon in the war,” says “Hamas had deliberately positioned themselves under civilian targets, having tunneled their way from school to mosque to hospital,” babbles about the 1988 Hamas charter while ignoring its 2017 revisions, blames the whole thing on Netanyahu, and of course mentions “Israel’s right to exist.” I seriously think he hit every major hasbara talking point. I don’t think he missed a single one. It’s genocide propaganda disguised as humanitarianism.
U2’s statement came on the same day Israel killed prominent Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh in a drone strike on a press tent near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The strike also took the lives of Al Jazeera staff Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, as well as freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi.
After Bono’s statement, perhaps the one that received the most backlash was the statement by Larry Mullen Jr, the drummer of the band. He said that after the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israel's response was expected.
"After those attacks, the total obliteration of Hamas was called for by Israel and its allies and was expected." Many on social media expressed outrage at these words, hinting that Israel’s war on Gaza started well before 7 October 2023.
Despite since the 1980s, U2 being vocal in its support for human rights group Amnesty International and the band and its then manager Paul McGuinness being given Amnesty’s annual “ambassador ofconscience” award in 2005 .
Bono/U2's image as humanitarian activists has been cooked by Gaza, they've been exposed as contemptable hypocrites, rushing of the perform in Kiev for NATO, but silence on genocide, this was a desperate attempt to save themselves, they've only made it worse.
Every member of U2 has up to now been an apologist for the genocide of the Palestinian people and the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank, U2 perform regularly in Israel and have been blind to apartheid. U2 could have made a statement the minute bombs began to level every building and every hospital in Gaza and indiscriminately decimate the civilians in them.
Waiting two years to publish this is pure cover your arse territory and just reveals them to be dreadful hypocrites. Oh well nothing much changed there then, Bono the sanctimonious twat has been completely silent since the Genocide began. Any statements issued after 2023 feel less like conviction and more like empty pretenses. By condemning the October 7 attacks without acknowledging the decades of occupation, apartheid, torture, imprisonment and murder that preceded it U2 have appeared to side with Israel.
U2 and, especially its lead singer Bono have long displayed double standards. Bono has defended and personally benefited from tax exemptions for the super rich, while masquerading as a campaigner against poverty. And despite writing “Bullet the Blue Sky” a protest song against militarism and the arms industry Bono has lavished praise on Shimon Peres, the deceased Israeli politician who helped introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East and who ordered massacres in Lebanon.
Bono has for years made a fortune from Israeli investments. And when U2 live-streamed its North American tour via a trendy new app, the firm behind it was Israeli company Meerkat, who just so happen to supply the Israeli military machine. An Israeli bank also gave him a loan worth $45 million for the purchase of The Clarence, which is co-owned by Bono and The Edge.
Bono and U2 are not credible advocates of human rights and don't have a miniscule of moral brevity, Whenever I hear U2's music , I think of their silence as the genocide took place in Gaza and in the world of fucking execrable liberals who have failed to speak out for two years of a genocide, U2 are truly the most fucking contemptible.
Their fealty to the Genocidal State of Israel is pathetic as are their attempts to remain relevant. Their hollow ‘statement’ is smeared in the blood of all those who’ve been subjected to Israeli terror.
These shills have been dripping in Israeli blood money since day dot. U2 isn’t a rock band of any value just a money-spinning corporation that celebrates its own tax evasion with largesse about human rights and injustice. The U2 Corporation celebrates awards for its services to capitalism and imperialism. Bono is a gutless poser and a fraud who makes me physically sick. In the name of love and humanity, fuck off Bono.
Police in London yesterday arrested over 474 demonstrators at Parliament Square simply for “showing support for Palestine Action.” in a solidarity protest against the Israeli Genocide in Gaza.
The demonstration was organised by Defend Our Juries (DOJ), a protest group that has coordinated challenges to the ban almost every week since the government proscribed the activist group under anti-terror laws on 4 July, following an incident in which members broke into the Royal Air Force Brize Norton base earlier this month and spray-painted two planes they said were "used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East".
The legislation made membership of and support for the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison - the first time a direct action group has been proscribed in the UK as a terrorist group.
Since then, hundreds of people have been arrested at weekly protests by campaign group DOJ which said this week that the protests have "changed the meaning" of an arrest under the Terrorism Act and that it is considered a "badge of honour" within the movement.
The group highlighted that the mass arrests could place strain on a prison system already "on the brinkof collapse" and remains at 97.5 percent capacity, according to an independent review this week. Saturday's protest comes amid mounting pressure on the UK government to lift the controversial ban amid concerns that it could be used to stifle criticism of Israel and the right to protest.
In a post on X, DOJ said that there were "approximately a thousand protesters sat in Parliament Square with signs which read 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action'." "In a collective act of resistance, people are risking their liberty for our civil liberties and for the Palestinian people."
A spokesperson for the group later said: "The fact that unprecedented numbers came out today risking arrest and possible imprisonment shows how repulsed and ashamed people are about our government's ongoing complicity in a livestreamed genocide, and the lengths people are prepared to go to defend this country's ancient liberties."
The protest comes as Israel is set to expand its war on Gaza, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approving a complete occupation of the enclave and a new offensive on Gaza City.
MP John McDonnell, who made his way to Parliament Square after participating in an adjacent protest for Palestine in London, said in a post on X that "it's a disgrace that people are being arrested for upholding our democratic rights".
The other protest, organised by a coalition of groups led by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), saw people on Saturday, marching from Russell Square to the Prime Minister’s Office under the slogan “Stop Starving Gaza.” The Palestine Solidarity Campaign accused Israel of starving Palestinians to death and urged the UK government to act against what it called “genocide.”
Protesters carried Palestinian flags and chanted against Britain’s “complicity.” According to the PSC, "hundreds of thousands" took part in the demonstrations, which saw speeches from Palestinian Journalist Ahmed Alnaouq and Irish actress Denise Gough.
One protester - Claudia Penna-Rojas 27 - told the BBC: "I don't think anyone wants to get arrested, but I'm more concerned with what is happening to people in Palestine right now, and I refuse to be a bystander."
Among those arrested was a 90 year old woman, Moazzam Begg a British survivor of torture who was freed from Guantanamo Bay, Colonel (retired.) Chris Romberg, former British army officer and the son of a holocaust survivor, his Jewish father fled from Austria to the UK, aged 25, to escape the Nazis He served as a military attache at UK embassies in Egypt and Jordan.
He remembers, more than 25 years ago, the Foreign Office advising the government that Israel was committing war crimes in Palestine. And he remembers the government's response: to say nothing committal; the UK would "hide in the EUpack"
Others arrested included NHS workers, Quakers and a blind wheelchair user and a man holding a sign that read “I DON’T support Palestine INaction!” Around half of them (259) were aged 60 and above - including almost 100 people who were in their 70s. All of them good, honest people driven only by their conscience and their compassion for others. Heroes, every single one of them.
Carrying signs supporting action against killing children can now land you 14 years in prison, while killing children in mass carries no prison sentence. The Metropolitan Police bragged that the number of arrests was the largest made by the force on a single day in the last 10 years! Home Secretary Yvette Cooper thanked police for their response. What a waste of money and resources.
Yvette Cooper has previously expressed support for the suffragettes, a safe thing to do 100 years on. But if the Suffragettes were active today, Yvette Cooper would ban them as a terrorist organisation.
Amnesty International UK's chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said in a statement: "The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as terrorists. Instead of criminalising peaceful demonstrators, the government should be focusing on taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel's genocide and ending any risk of UK complicity in it."
Last month, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said that the ban was "disproportionate andunnecessary" and called for the designation to be rescinded, also on July 30, 2025, High Court Judge Mr. Justice Chamberlain ruled that the Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action may breach natural justice and rights to free expression and assembly under Articles 6, 10, and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. While a bid to pause the ban was rejected, the judicial review is ongoing, with a potential ruling not expected until 2026.
Amnesty International warned on Thursday that the mass arrests could break international law, with Amnesty UK Chief Executive Sacha Deshmukh saying: "Arresting people on terrorism offences for peacefully holding a placard flies in the face of international human rights law." "At a time when people are quite rightly outraged by the genocide they see being perpetrated in Gaza, it is more crucial than ever that there is space to peacefully express that outrage."
The immeasurably shameful lack of UK media coverage for these huge, peaceful London marches, or the international marches, or the workers blockading weapons shipments, or the resistance in Israel itself, continues, even as Germany suspends arms shipments over the ruins of Gaza, and former heads of Shin Bet, Mossad and the IDF call on the Israeli government to stop. In response, the Israeli government murdered the entire Al Jazeera press team.
Palestine Action is not an armed group. It has never been responsible for any fatalities and does not pose any risk to the public. Its methods do involve property sabotage, aimed almost exclusively at disrupting the manufacture of weapons by the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems, and its subsidiaries and are part of a long tradition of campaigners taking direct action against companies involved in war and genocide. Their actions may amount to criminal damage, but they are definitively not terrorism.
It's a terrible overreach of the law to proscribe them because of government embarrassment that Palestine Action broke into an RAF base and spray painted two planes that they said were "used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East". a plane. They are opposed to genocide, the government is not. Acts of daring civil disobedience should be applauded.
The attack on Palestine Action spearheads an offensive against opposition to the Gaza genocide and all political and social opposition. Meanwhile Israel has murdered 100,000+ Palestinians, since October 2023 and blown up every hospital in Gaza and is starving 2.3 million Palestinians to death.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its ongoing assault on the enclave.
Palestine Action's are proportionate and on the right side of history. It's absurd to brand them a "terrorist" group. Proscribing Palestine Action is fascist authoritarianism designed to silence all criticism of "Israel" and to protect a lawless, violent, ethno supremacist apartheid State.
I stand in unequivocal support with Palestine Action and am against the outrageous decision by this government to try to proscribe them. I support people who engage in direct action to prevent genocide and war crimes. As the genocide in Gaza continues and Western governments stand complicit it is a farce that activists against the genocide are those being arrested. Netanyahu, Starmer, Trump and the whole Israeli state are the real criminals.
In this moment in time. we must all declare: We are all Palestine Action and not be silent in the face of genocide, occupation, and injustice. Full Arms Embargo and Sanctions on Israel Now. Free Palestine.
On the 6th August 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb called ' Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan which is estimated to have killed 100,000 to 180,000 people out of a population of 350,000. Then three days later, on 9th August 1945 a second atomic bomb called "Fat Man" was dropped on the city of Nagasaki in an act of unspeakable violence which is often neglected in the wake of Hiroshima..The Nagasaki bomb, bigger and more powerful, wiped out whole communities in seconds. killing between 40,000 and 75,000 people that day with another 60,000 seriously injured. Over the next five years, more than 100,000 deaths resulted from the bombing.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both largely civilian towns, meaning there wasn't a strong military reason to drop the atomic bombs over those particular cities. No one was excluded from the horrors of the atomic bomb, a "destroyer of worlds" burnt hotter than the sun. Some people were vaporised upon impact, while others suffered burns and radiation poisoning that would kill them days, weeks or even months later. Others were crushed by debris, burned by unimaginable heat or suffocated by the lack of oxygen.
Many survivors suffered from Leukemia and other cancers like thyroid and lung cancer at higher rates than those not exposed to the bombs. Mothers were more likely to lose their children during pregnancy or shortly after birth. Children exposed to radiation were more likely to have learning disabilities and impaired growth. Leukemia was the first cancer to be observed in children from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In continuing Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission studies on survivors for sixty years and continued by the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, children in comparison with older individuals have developed increased susceptibility to other forms of cancer.
Those that did manage to survive would be traumatised for the rest of their lives. Hibakusha is a term widely used in Japan, that refers to the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it translates as 'explosion effected Survivor of Light. These survivors speak of the deep, unabating grief they felt in the days, months and decades since the attack They have described the shame of being a survivor , many were shunned, feared for unknown damage to their bodies that could affect others. Women were afraid to sign up for healthcare as it would make it public that they were survivors, and no one would marry them. Decades later, some children of survivors, felt obliged to tell the parents of people they wanted to marry that history. others were unable to find jobs, or live any sort of normal life.
They have said that many Hibakusha never speak of the day, instead choosing to suffer in silence. They told what it was like to be suddenly alone in middle age, to lose their parents, spouses, children, and livelihoods in a single instant. In memory of them, we should make sure that the misery and devastation caused by nuclear weapons is never forgotten.
"Please don't make any more like us. We don't want any more hibakusha". This is the prayer of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - also known as "hibakusha".
The US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 civilians, was a barbaric, unjustifiable war crime. As this plaque in the Hiroshima Peace Park explains, there were peace moves afoot but they didn't suit the US cold war agenda.
Even if Japan was not fully innocent, the people of Japan did not deserve to pay the price for their nations wrongdoing, and there was absolutely no moral justification in obliterating these two cities and killing its inhabitants in what was clearly a crime against humanity and murder on an epic scale. Hiroshima and Nagasaki held no strategic importance. Members of Japan's top leadership at the time were involved in peace negotiations. and were already on the brink of surrender
Many believe that these two atrocities were a result of geopolitical posturing at its most barbaric, announcing in a catastrophic display of military capability, of inhumane intention showing America's willingness to use doomsday weapons on civilian populations. The bombings serving as warnings and the fist act of the Cold War against its imperialist rival Russia. A message to the Russians of the power of destruction and technological military capability that the US had managed to develop. Three days later U.S president Harry Truman exulted ; "This is the greatest thing in history! " and gloated that " we are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely."
Then the photos began to emerge, haunting images of burned children with their skin hanging off, of bodies charred and there was Sadaki Sasaki and the 1,000 origami peace cranes she folded before her death at 12 from leukemia ten years after the bomb was dropped on her hometown of Hiroshima. The atom bombs dropped by the US on those Japanese cities served no military purpose, as the Japanese were already suing for peace. President Truman, who ordered the bombs to be dropped, lied to the American people when he said that the atom bombs had saved lives and there were few civilian deaths, The two atomic bombs killed and maimed hundreds and thousands of people. and the effects are still being felt today. The bombs dropped were of a indiscriminate and cruel character beyond comparison with weapons and projectiles of the past. Despite all this Truman never regretted his decision. .
Today as the world commemorates the lives that were lost and the unacceptable devastation caused to people and planet, we still have so much to learn from this picture of indescribable human suffering.
When American troops arrived in Nagasaki and stumbled upon one of the cameramen, from the legendary film company Nippon Eiga Sha, shooting amidst the rubble, they promptly arrested him and confiscated his film. The Americans would halt the entire production in fact. When they let it continue, they did so as producers, paying for the production and thus retaining the right to the film - and the right to keep it concealed for decades.
The atom bombs dropped by the US on those Japanese cities served no military purpose, as the Japanese were already suing for peace. President Truman, who ordered the bombs to be dropped, lied to the American people when he said that the atom bombs had saved lives and there were few civilian deaths, The two atomic bombs killed and maimed hundreds and thousands of people .and the effects are still being felt today.
After seeing the barbarous effect of these weapons, did our political and military leaders decide to rid the world of them. Far from it. Today's nuclear weapons make the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs look like water pistols in comparison, and there are enough of them to destroy not just cities but the whole world.
And who has most of these weapons of mass destruction? The only country to ever use them - the United States. It is unfathomable that it has been 80 years and the United States has not apologized yet for dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact children in the US are still taught that this unspeakable crime was justified.
And now the US, the only country that has used nuclear weapons against a population, provides support for the Israeli bombing of Gaza, which is multiple times worse than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. have bought B61-12 Nuclear Bombs to to be housed at RAF Lakenheath, in Suffolk contravening Article 1 of Non Proliferation Treaty. The lingering humanitarian aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should remind us all of what is at stake and galvanise our action.
Far from protecting Europeans during wartime, these nuclear weapons would contribute to turning Europe into a radioactive wasteland. Despite the significant issues and risks involved in basing these weapons of mass destruction in Europe, neither the US nor the UK government have bothered to inform citizens or parliament that they have been deployed here, marking the first time since 2008 that U.S. nuclear weapons have been stationed on British soil.
Remember the United States of America, the same country that unleashed the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is now complicit in the atrocities in Gaza. History repeats itself when we turn a blind eye to inhumanity.
Today as the world commemorates the lives that were lost and the unacceptable devastation caused to people and planet, we still have so much to learn from this picture of indescribable human suffering. In today’s world, civilians can document mass atrocities in real time, and their experiences are immortalized on social media and in news accounts. From Ukraine to Gaza, there is no denying the reality on the ground. But in 1945, the horrors unleashed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were largely hidden from the outside world.
Eighty years later, thanks to the testimonies shared by those who survived the atomic bombings we have a window into the truth of what happened on those dark August days when weapons of previously unimaginable power destroyed these cities.
Through their tireless testimonies and activism, the “hibakusha” have helped fuel public demand for post-Cold War arms-control treaties that have resulted in significant stockpile reductions in the United States and Russia and helped persuade nuclear-armed countries to stop explosive weapons tests that caused grave harm to the environment and to the service members and civilians involved.
They worked to establish the “nuclear taboo” that has spared the use of nuclear weapons in warfare for eight decades. They delivered millions of petition signatures to the United Nations that have helped bring about norms and treaties to try and reduce nuclear risks.
Again and again, they have proved that progress is possible, and for their decades of work to ensure that no families, no communities, no cities, no country ever again face the unthinkable, the survivors in 2024 were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It wasn’t the first time the prestigious Nobel committee recognized efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Grim descriptions of the immense human suffering caused by the US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80 years ago dominate the discourse around their anniversaries. Every year, these attacks are a stark reminder of the existential threat nuclear weapons pose to humanity. The testimonies of survivors and the footage of the hellish aftermath in the two destroyed cities demonstrate vividly the effects of nuclear weapons like no other event.
The lessons seem clear: If two, by today’s standards, small nuclear weapons can cause such death and destruction, the consequences of the use of any number of the 12,000 nuclear weapons existing today would be catastrophic. The nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki also demonstrate that any use of nuclear weapons would almost inevitably violate basic principles of international law because it would cause unnecessary suffering, indiscriminately kill civilians and very likely would be considered disproportionate. By today’s legal standards, the US nuclear attacks on Japan would be illegal.
Yet, in striking contrast to the ritual of remembrance of the gruesome nuclear bombings on 6 and 9 August 1945, the political discourse around nuclear weapons on most other days of the year has become astoundingly light-hearted and increasingly careless.
Many decision-makers in nuclear weapons states and those allied with them speak about nuclear weapons no differently than about other weapons. They often exaggerate the security benefits of nuclear weapons, while ignoring or downplaying risks associated with their continued existence. Ethical and legal constraints on the possession and proliferation of these horrific weapons rarely get mentioned when nuclear deterrence is discussed.
While dominant voices continue to spread the irrational narrative that nuclear weapons keep us safe, that deterrence will always work, that disarmament is not possible. Nuclear weapons, they say, are a necessary evil in a dangerous world. This has always been an absurd position, and it is unconscionable at a time when the world is closer to a nuclear catastrophe than at any time since the Cold War ‒ with wars raging in regions with nuclear weapons, more countries weighing whether to develop nuclear weapons and new technologies complicating already-complex weapons systems.
Demanding a nuclear-free world isn’t naive. True naivete is believing that weapons designed to annihilate cities will keep us safe. Evil is never necessary. The only way to guarantee that these weapons are never used again is to eliminate them once and for all.
Today Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki has appealed for an end to the wars raging in the world on the 80th anniversary of the US atom bomb attack which destroyed the Japanese city. Shiro Suzuki said in a Peace Declaration at a solemn ceremony to mark the event. "If we continue on this trajectory, we will end up thrusting ourselves into a nuclear war." and called on world leaders to chart a concrete path toward abolishing nuclear weapons,
Suzuki urged countries to stop wars immediately and express concern about nuclear war, He also shared messages from hibakusha atomic bomb survivors and of the cruelty of nuclear weapons by referring to the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, which won last year's Nobel Peace Prize, and a speech by the late former Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Senji Yamaguchi. "Amid the growing threat of nuclear war, we will call on people to act as global citizens, who transcend races and borders, and make peace," He also expressed a determination to pass on the messages of hibakusha to future generations.
"Immediately cease from disputes in which 'force is met with force.' Conflicts around the world are intensifying in a vicious cycle of confrontation and fragmentation."
Mayor Shiro SUZUKI, Nagasaki Peace Declaration
Full text of Nagasaki Peace Declaration on 80th anniversary of atomic bombing
The commemoration in the rebuilt city began with a moment of silence. Nagasaki's twin cathedral bells also rang in unison for the first time since the attack, in a message of peace to the world.
As part of Saturday's ceremony, water offerings were made in a moving and symbolic gesture 80 years ago victims whose skin was burning after the blast had begged for water. Today participants of different generations including a representative of the survivors offered water in a show of respect to those who perished in nuclear fire.
Bomb survivor Hiroshi Nishioka, 93, who was just 3km (1.8 miles) from the spot where it exploded, told the ceremony of the horror he had witnessed. "Even the lucky ones [who were not severely injured] gradually began to bleed from their gums and lose their hair, and one after another they died," he said, as quoted by AFP news agency. "Even though the war was over, the atomic bomb brought invisible terror."
Hiroshi Nishioka was a teenager when the atom bomb landed on Nagasaki
On this poignant anniversary we remember the thousands who were killed in a crime against humanity, as well as the survivors who carried the pain of the past. As we mourn the lives lost at Hiroshima and Nagasaki now is the time for us to redouble our efforts to ensure that such an atrocity does not happen again,
Israel has now dropped enough bombs on Gaza to be the equivalent of the atomic bombs dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 80 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US-backed genocide in Gaza mirrors the same brutality. Over 65,000 tons of bombs-3 times the power of Hiroshima-have razed Gaza. From WWII to today, the US still fuels annihilation and continues to whitewash its crimes against humanity,
Today with a genocide underway in Gaza, war in Ukraine and rising nuclear threats, we must reaffirm, a collective commitment to disarmament and peace and vow to rid our world of nuclear weapons once and for all. Completely ridding the world of nuclear weapons is a humanitarian and moral imperative and it is the only way forward. Governments must be urged to pursue negotiations to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons through a legally binding international agreement.
"Nuclear weapons cannot coexist with human beings. Nuclear weapons were made by humans, and used by humans. So it is also up to the humans to abolish them by our wisdom, public conscience and responsibility. No more Hibakusha! And, no more war!" Masako Wada, Ass. Secretary General, Nihon Hidankyo
People pray in front of the Peace Statue at Nagasaki Peace Park in the city of Nagasaki in October 2024. (Mainichi/Kota Yoshida)
Evidence revealed by Amnesty International suggests that UAVs , pilotless military drones– have been used by the Israeli army to target air strikes in Gaza. A new campaign group, West Wales Against Arms, has launched a public call to end drone testing here in Ceredigion linked to the Israeli military. The group, made up of residents concerned about weapons testing in the region, held its first public meeting at the Guildhall in Cardigan on July 14.
This is an issue that has long polarised my local community. Over the years people have been protesting outside Parc Aberporth against the testing of drones here. The reason being is that Israeli-manufactured drones including the Elbit Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 have been test flown from West Wales Airport since 2012. Both models are widely used by the Israeli military, including in operations over Gaza.
Thales UK fly and maintain their Watchkeeper drones for the MOD from West Wales Airport. Thales is the UK branch of Israeli arms company Elbit Systems Ltd (via a subsidiary company U-TacS) and is also in active partnership with Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI).
Elbit Systems is apartheid Israel's largest arms company. It is privately owned, and provides 80% of the weapons and equipment for Israel's land forces and 85% of the combat drones used by the airforce. The site in Aberporth has been a key location for testing Elbit's Hermes series drones,
Elbit’s Hermes 900 was deployed in Gaza by the IDF in 2014. and Israeli military and industry sources openly attribute the success of these Israeli weapon exports to being ‘combat proven’ in operations against Palestinians that have left many Palestinians dead and are being used in clear breach of what is considered international law.
Elbit Systems are one of the biggest arms companies in the world and the primary supplier of the Watchkeeper drones used by the IDF against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza strip. The company’s headquarters is in Haifa in Israel, their CEO is Bezhalel Machlis who has been at the helm since 2013, overseeing the company as it generated $4.7billion in revenue in 2020.
The Aberporth site has staged trials for the Hermes 900 model drone, the successor to the Hermes 450, one of the most widely used military drones in the world. These drones have been cited by a variety of international Non-Government Organisations for targeting civilians. The Watchkeeper drones are also based on the Hermes models. Elbit Systems boast of the drone’s capacity for surveillance and ‘target acquisition.’
West Wales Airport brands itself as “the UK’s most important test and demonstration area for drones..” but it is important to note that QinetiQ, a major UK defence contractor, runs the MOD Aberporth facility. and develops UAVs (drones) for export to the Israeli military for use in the genocide in Gaza, and the decades long illegal occupation of Palestine and the brutal oppression of Palestinians.
Between 2008 and 2021 QinetiQ received eight export licenses for arms to Israel, including one licence worth more than £14 million .and sends teams abroad with high-tech drones and mock enemy vehicles to run live-fire military training missions.
Elbit Systems have hit the headlines recently due to multiple of their factories and offices being occupied and having production of the lethal drones shut down by Palestine Action, a direct-action focus group that has recently wrongly been proscribed as a terrorist organisation whose primary objective was to shut down Elbit Systems operations in the UK.
West Wales Airport has advertised itself as a ‘privately owned and entirely independent’, however sources have discovered that this claim of independence to be very dubious.
West Wales Airport has been dependent for its development on Welsh Government funding/loans, some funds of which still appear to be current in accounts in 2023. The Welsh Government has also secured funding/loans for West Wales Airport against its freehold title deeds, and land at West Wales Airport was sold, somewhat curiously, by the Welsh Assembly Government to the company in 2009 for the sum of £30,000.
Additionally, Thales UK claims that since 2004 they have invested £12million into West Wales Airport. As of 12 March 2024, Thales UK/MOD have extended their contract with West Wales Airport. The cost of this extension is valued at £6.5 million.
West Wales Airport also brands itself as “the UK’s most important test and demonstration area for drones..” and boast that their teams can deploy “anywhere in the world at short notice” and run mission planning, launches, radar-evading drones, and even simulate missile attacks. This is big business. But it’s also deeply concerning — especially in regions where military action has caused massive civilian casualties.
QinetiQ systems and employees are being used to train Israeli forces during attacks on Gaza. These services may be slipping through UK arms control laws by being classified as “services,” not weapons. QinetiQ is still closely linked to the UK government The question many people are asking is should a British company be profiting from conflict?
In a statement, West Wales Against Arms said: “We are horrified by the genocide in Gaza and do not want West Wales to be part of it. We do not want our skies used to test equipment that helps Israel commit war crimes and kill children.”
Previous Protest at Parc Aberporth
Since October 2023, over 61,000 people have reportedly been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued applications for arrest warrants against senior Israeli and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.
The campaign group’s flyer claims West Wales is becoming increasingly militarised and calls on residents to oppose what it calls “complicity in genocide.”
Ceredigion Palestine Solidarity Campaign recently organised two static protests, at two simultaneous locations, in 18 March. 2024 It was over the Labour-led Welsh government’s complicity in Israel‘s ongoing genocide in Gaza. The details of just how the Labour Party administration is involved are both murky and shocking.
The protest, supported by CND Cymru, called attention to the Welsh Government’s enablement of suppliers and developers of Unmanned Weapons Systems (UAS) to the Israeli military for use in both the genocide in Gaza and the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.
At times, people blocked the road into ParcAberporth technology park: Mock-up coffins were used to visualise the Welsh government’s support for Israel’s war machine. When you realise just why protesters were angry with the Welsh government – you won’t be surprised.
Here’s an up‑to‑date breakdown of Israel’s use of drones in Gaza—how they’re used in surveillance, killing civilians, and destroying property. The information is based on verified reporting and rights group investigations.
1. Precision Drone Strikes on Civilians and Property Modified commercial drones (e.g., DJI Agras and Avata) have been weaponized—used to drop explosives on civilian homes, hospitals, and shelters across Gaza . ‘Human rights groups documented drone attacks that killed entire families, including children and residents running from earlier strikes, such as the El‑Farra family, targeted in their street at night” according to the Middle East Children's Alliance .
A Médecins du Monde office in Deir al‑Balah had been officially marked as safe, yet drone strikes destroyed it, killing at least eight civilians—even though the organization had been “deconflicted” . Local reporting confirms that Israeli drone strikes killed civilians, injuring others near Al‑Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and in Shuja’iyya, warning that drone operations remain active and lethal .
2. Sniper (Quadcopter) Drones for Targeted Shooting Eyewitness accounts describe miniature sniper drones, or quadcopters equipped with guns, allegedly used to shoot civilians in Gaza—including women and children—often in cramped urban spaces .
3. Surveillance, Mapping & Tactical Support Drones are extensively deployed for real-time surveillance, tracking movements and mapping Gaza’s tunnels and neighborhoods. One reported incident revealed a DJI Avata drone monitoring Palestinians being used as human shields in Shujaiya, allowing Israeli forces to clear a school under cover of drone observation
Usage Patterns and Impact
Direct Deaths and Property Destruction
Thousands of civilian deaths—especially children, women, and displaced persons—have been tied to drone-delivered explosive munitions: roadside bombs, suicide drones, and small precision devices Reports show civilian infrastructure, including homes, shelters, hospitals, and school‑turned‑refuges, being destroyed by drones on multiple occasions—even when no military target was identified (e.g., displacement camps and medical offices)
Disproportionate or Intentional Targeting
Amnesty International and other rights groups found strikes on places like the Saint Porphyrius Church and Nuseirat camps killed dozens of civilians (including infants), with drone footage often central to the targeting process—even in highly protected refugee sites DCI-Palestine reported that 37% of casualties during one summer operation were caused by drone attacks alone, indicating a significant share of fatalities attributable to drone weaponry
Summary Overview
In terms of each type of drone and it’s role, function and impact. Armed commercial drones : Carry explosive payloads (e.g. DJI Agras bombs Destroy civilian homes, shelters, hospitals Sniper-style quadcopter drone : Fires small arms at individuals in urban spaces Kill civilians—including women and children, while providing visual intelligence, mapping, and tracking and enabling precision targeting and tactical operations
In summary Drones continue to play a major, direct role in civilian casualties and property destruction across Gaza, many of those killed or displaced were struck while sheltering in homes, camps, or medical facilities. A substantial share of fatalities in certain operations stem from drone strikes, including entire families hit by targeted explosive payloads. Surveillance drones also facilitate operations where civilians are exposed to high risk, including use of forced human shields. While sniper drones shooting single rounds are a newer and more isolated tactic, they nonetheless represent a deliberate weaponization of non-lethal platforms.
It’s clear that drones in the Gaza conflict are far more than surveillance tools. They’re used offensively, to kill, destroy infrastructure, and reinforce military objectives, while frequently hitting civilian targets even in designated safe zones. Evidence suggests the technology is being employed at scale, in ways that disproportionately impact non-combatants.
The Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) has raised concerns about the use of drones in Israeli attacks on Palestinian territories, particularly regarding the impact on children. MECA has reported that children have been directly targeted and killed in drone strikes, both in their homes and while attempting to flee. They highlight that Israeli officials often boast of the precision of drone strikes, suggesting that the targeting of children is deliberate. MECA's work includes providing aid to families in Gaza, including food, medical care, and psychological support. They also focus on projects like educational programs and community development. The organization has also reported on the impact of drone strikes and other attacks on infrastructure like schools and hospitals, and the resulting trauma experienced by children.
The drone has become a part of the everyday life of Gazans. They wake up in the morning to its noise, and it’s the same noise they hear while trying to sleep. It is always there, to the extent that one might even momentarily forget it is there.
Since their first use in 2000, drones have led to the death of hundreds of Palestinians and have injured thousands more. In addition, they have directly negatively impacted Palestinian psychological and social life, as well as causing a grossly negative impact on education.
While in comparison, the Israeli use of drones to target individuals, public premises, academic institutions, and schools are more intensified than its use in any other place by any other army. Most studies do not include the Israeli use of drones against the Palestinians in their surveys. They only refer to the fact that Israel manufactures drones and uses them, while the consequences of using drones day and night in Gaza are understudied and nearly absent in the field of drones’ studies.
In numbers, civilians killed or injured by drones during the frequent Israeli offensives against Gaza are very high. Moreover, drones in Gaza have a different impact on the lives of the people which have not been properly studied. However, the most striking aspect of the Israeli usage of drones in Gaza is how drones are used to intensify the occupation, to make it cheaper and more profitable as well.
UK government contracts with corporations such as Elbit (and its subsidiaries) which are involved in violations of international law must end immediately as must a two-way arms embargo between the UK and Israel. This would see an end to all dealings with Elbit and other Israeli weapons companies, and an end to all licences for UK arms exports to Israel.
Since 2015, the UK has licensed at least £500 million worth of military exports to Israel. Even though the government has suspended a small number of arms licences, there are still hundreds remaining. The use of drones as tested in the skies of West Wales to conduct lethal strikes, causing civilian casualties, and the continuing complicity of the UK, in Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza , must now come to and end.
Thankfully there is growing opposition to drone testing here in West Wales, due to concerns about its use in weapons development, what is happening in Gaza and the potential impact on the local community.
There will be a peaceful vigil this coming Wednesday 6/8/25 from 1pm till 2 pm outside Aberporth MOD to highlight what is happening. It is critical in the global mass movement of solidarity with the Palestinian people that we continue to speak out.
In addition to all this the US military is trying to build a huge 27 dish radar array in Wales and plans to use it to militarily dominate all of space! I also support the PARC Against DARC campaign which has been set up to stop DARC! Pembrokeshire Against the Radar,
This Thursday saw former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s confirming that he and Zara Sultana have launched a new left wing party after weeks of discussions, aimed at taking on the “corporations and billionaires” and their “rigged system”.
In a joint statement announcing plans to form the new party, Corbyn and Sultana vowed to fight injustices such as child poverty, giant corporations making "a fortune from rising bills" and the government saying "there is no money for the poor, but billions for war".
Westminster journalists have described the launch of Jeremy Corbyn’s new party as “chaotic” and “ashambles” in drafts written the day before the launch. Yet over 300,000 people have now signed up in less than 24 hours. Not bad for a political party that hasn't even been officially founded yet! And the reason the party doesn’t have a name year is that the organisers want the name itself to be democratically chosen.
Tentatively dubbed Your Party— it also hopes to challenge Keir Starmer's Labour from the left and unite disaffected progressives under a populist, anti-establishment banner. The launch, which has been months in the making, promises to shake up the landscape ahead of the next general election. But for Corbyn and Sultana, this isn't just about internal Labour disputes. Central to their platform is an unflinching pro-Palestinian stance—a message that stands in sharp contrast to Starmer's especially as Labour faces mounting criticism for its position on Gaza.
'Now, more than ever, we must defend the right to protest against genocide,' Corbyn wrote in Thursday's joint statement. 'We believe in the radical idea that all human life has equal value. That is why we will keep demanding an end to all arms sales to Israel, and for the only path to peace: a free and independent Palestine.'
Sultana added: 'We can't continue down the road of managed decline and broken promises. This is about building a democratic movement that truly speaks for the people.'can't continue down the road of managed decline and broken promises. This is about building a democratic movement that truly speaks for the people.'
The group intends to bring together independent MPs, grassroots campaigners and trade unionists under one umbrella. Of course ‘Westminster journalists’ have given negative reports. The incumbent authoritarians don’t want anyone challenging their capture of the UK legislature. Remember their the same journalists that propagated the anti-Semitism scam! The same journalists that have barely covered the atrocities in Gaza, and more than likely failed to read the launch doc or understand it, probably on purpose and are best ignored.
Jeremy and Zara are honest and principled leaders who speak for millions. Millions who want to tax the rich, end the wars, take on the rich and powerful, redistribute wealth, and build a country that serves people, not billionaires. Here’s the sign-up link, if you’re interested in getting involved, read the launch statement or just staying updated on their progress :https://www.yourparty.uk/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email Polls show the new party is already somewhere between 10% and 20% of the vote and potentially level pegging with Labour.
Neil Kinnock calling the new Left party a 'Farage assistance party' that would 'assist the parties of theright', including Badenoch’s Conservatives and Reform UK is a joke .His party opened the door to Farage in the first place, and there is an easy solution as a failing brand, Labour should step aside.
David Lammy and Keir Starmer will never be able to change the historical record. They drenched the Labour party in the blood of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and it seems to me highly unlikely that most of the 9.7 million who voted Labour in 2024 wanted a government that continues ruinous austerity economics; keeps spreading economic illiteracy; mugs pensioners; economically sanctions disabled people; takes lavish handouts and freebies from their dodgy, mega-rich backers; supports and enables a downright evil civilian starvation programme in Gaza; and eliminates our long-standing British rights to free speech and non-violent protest (in service of the overseas civilian-starvers).
I support a new genuinely militant force that takes them out of power. One that is also against austerity, war, racism and oppression. It's been so funny watching the right, the centralists, and the establishment losing their shit because Jeremy and Zara have formed this new left of centre party. A party that will put the working and precariat class before capitalism and corruption. They can smear, they can panic, all they like but they can’t stop a movement whose time has come.
Our political establishment is a truly craven comprador class whose role is to facilitate the exploitation of ordinary people and will do everything in it's to stop this changing, but slowly and surely for the sake of the next generation we must find the means to bring them down, the establishment parties have failed us, now me must fight for the greater good like our lives depend on it. Westminster and the establishment are panicking, and so they should be, as we the people are coming to take them down.
Personally I believe the so called democratic system of Westminster to be broken and electoral politics seem to be at a dead end in this present time, but it’s still good to have an organised movement for left wing people to coalesce around. Especially if it can remain pure and for the people.
I myself would like to see Scotland, Wales and NI all go our separate ways, and forge a new radical independent autonomous future. So will also remind people here in Wales of a new pro-independence, anti-capitalist organisation called Cymru’n Codi {Cymru Rising) that's also worth taking a look at: https://rising.cymru/2025/06/13/join-us/ a socialist alliance that has been set up to fight around the 2026 Senedd Elections and beyond.
At the end of the day wherever we live we need a radical new direction, putting people first based on justice and human dignity one that brings about hopefully actual, long lasting meaningful change. Bring it on.
Came home earlier to discover Ozzy Osbourne who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019, has passed away at the age of 76, just a few weeks after giving his fans, one of the greatest and most aptly timed goodbyes in music history after playing a farewell concert called Back to theBeginning in his home city of Birmingham, England. He couldn’t stand anymore but still captivated every single person in the audience.
Hey let’s not kid ourselves cats have 9 lives Ozzy must’ve had 20 !! I’m surprised he made it this far but having said that the news of his passing was somewhat unexpected.
Parkinson’s disease charities have praised Ozzy Osbourne for talking about his diagnosis and helping others “feel less alone” in facing the challenges of the condition. Parkinson’s UK said the Black Sabbath frontman “normalised tough conversations”, while Cure Parkinson’s thanked him for “putting a spotlight” on its work.
The proceeds of his final concert which raised over £150 million went to Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorns Children’s Hospice.
I was a huge admirer of the stuff he did with Sabbath and then with blizzard of ozz, but was very disappointed to say the least that he recently signed a letter to stop the BBC from airing a documentary chronicling Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and broke the boycott to perform in Israel in 2010 (Tel Aviv) and 2018 (Rishon LeZion) stating alcohol, not politics, delayed earlier visits .and urged other artists to do the same, he was not Jewish but reportedly developed a strong connection to Judaism and support for Israel probably under the influence of his wife Sharon. He was also a staunch advocate against the BDS movement and was recently among those calling for the end of boycotts against Israeli authors, festivals and literary institutions.
This came after Irish author Sally Rooney, Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen and US writers Percival Everett and Rachel Kushner signed a letter along with others calling for a “mass boycott of Israeli publishers” in response to an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and saying that “Israeli cultural institutions, often working directly with the state, have been crucial in obfuscating, disguising and artwashing” the way Palestinians are treated by Israel.
Despite serious health problems that forced him to cancel subsequent world-tour dates, Israeli promoters said Ozzy’s two shows drew tens of thousands and helped pave the way for other hard-rock acts who later ignored boycott pressure too. All this I believe to be a huge stain on his fine legacy and a far cry from his Black Sabbath days when he released the song “War Pigs”, which condemned leaders who initiate wars for profit.
Ozzy was undeniably talented and was loved by many, but to see a man who co wrote “War Pigs” go on supporting Israel until his death despite any mental or physical condition or outside persuasion I feel is unforgivable and very hard to process because I definitely disagreed with his point of view, and was so sad to see someone I admired, very publicly supporting the oppressors side in this way.
That said, “War Pigs” Pigs, a powerful timeless anti-war/anti-genocide song that is so apposite at this present time, will far outlive the man or his personal views on Israel. I have to acknowledge too that he was no bloody saint, he was after all the prince of darkness.
Either clad in black or bare-chested, the singer was often the target of parents’ groups for his imagery and once caused an uproar for biting the head off a bat. Later, he would reveal himself to be a doddering and sweet father on the reality TV show “The Osbournes.”
Born John Michael Osbourne on December 3 1948 in Aston, Birmingham, he left school at 15 and did odd jobs including factory work, working in a slaughterhouse and spending a short spell in prison for burglary before teaming up with school friend Geezer Butler in several bands. The pair then linked up with the other founder members of Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward, to form what was then called Earth Blues Company – later shortened to Earth – in 1968.
Initially a Mod who loved soul music, according to his biography on the band’s official website, Osbourne crafted his darker image after writing lyrics for a song entitled Black Sabbath after the 1963 Boris Karloff film of the same name.
The name stuck – after they were forced to change it from Earth – and the band went on to sell millions of records over the next decade on the back of sound-defining tracks including Paranoid and War Pigs. A product of their working-class roots and the post-Vietnam War era, the band tackled themes of war, social chaos and the supernatural.
But drug use began to take its toll on Osbourne and his relationship with his fellow band members, and he was eventually fired in 1979. He launched a solo career, enjoying success during the 1980s, before reforming with Sabbath several times – including in 2016 for a final world tour.
As a solo artist, Osbourne released 11 albums, with his debut Blizzard Of Ozz issued in 1980, which featured two of his most revered songs, Crazy Train and Mr Crowley.
The Birmingham-born singer sold more than 100 million records worldwide with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist. In 2014, he was presented with a global icon award at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Osbourne married his first wife Thelma Riley in 1971 and became a stepfather to her son. The couple also had two children but split in 1982 after, he admitted, his rock ‘n roll lifestyle meant he put her “through hell”.
He married Sharon, the daughter of his former Black Sabbath manager Don Arden, in July of that year. The pair had met in the 1970s via her father and she took over managing Osbourne after he was booted from the heavy metal group.
Ozzy and Sharon had three children together: Jack, Kelly and Aimee. The couple became an unlikely hit after starring between 2002 and 2005 in The Osbournes, which also launched the careers of Jack and Kelly, but the pair temporarily split in 2016.
Former X Factor judge Sharon later revealed they had tried marriage counselling to get their relationship back on track – but gave up because it made him angry.
In 2017, during an interview with music magazine Rolling Stone, he joked that the secret to his marriage was “don’t get caught with your mistress”. He is quoted as telling Rolling Stone: “When I was a crazy fucker, I’m lucky she didn’t walk out. Now I’m coming on five years clean and sober, and I’ve realised what a fucking idiot I was. I mean, I’m still nuts, but in control of it a bit more.”
Osbourne added: “When I said, ‘Don’t get caught by your missus,’ I’m not proud of all that shit. I upset my wife and I upset my family and I made a lot of shock and shame. I love my wife, and it made me realise what a fucking idiot I’ve been.”
His dependence on drugs and alcohol had begun in the early 1970s while he was associated with Black Sabbath and worsened as his stardom grew. Even after making tremendous strides as a solo artist, Ozzy’s struggles with addiction persisted for many years, frequently drawing public attention with his erratic behaviors and close encounters with death.
His decades-long battle with addiction kept him in the headlines, but his ultimate pledge to sobriety served as an inspiration to many music enthusiasts. Given the macho posturing generally associated with rock and metal culture, Ozzy’s willingness to put his emotions and vulnerabilities on display was genuinely admirable. His struggles were obviously not without problematic elements, but the sincerity with which he approached them, without glamourising them, was clearly an enduring and endearing element of his personality.
And though I can't forgive him for what I've mentioned earlier, I never quite gave up on him and will not stop listening to my old Black Sabbath LPs to remind myself of who he once was. Black Sabbath’s 1969 self-titled debut LP has been likened to the Big Bang of heavy metal. It came during the height of the Vietnam War and crashed the hippie party, dripping menace and foreboding. The cover of the record was of a spooky figure against a stark landscape. The music was loud, dense and angry, and marked a shift in rock ’n’ roll.
The band’s second album, “Paranoid,” included such classic metal tunes as the aforementioned “War Pigs,” “Iron Man” and “Fairies Wear Boots.” The song “Paranoid” only reached No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 but became in many ways the band’s signature song. Both albums were voted among the top 10 greatest heavy metal albums of all time by readers of Rolling Stone magazine.
I also remember as a heavy metal fan in my teens that Ozzy Osbourne and Sabbath moretheless created heavy metal…and with it, they created a world in which generations of people like me, could feel accepted and welcome…safe and free to be their authentic selves knowing that they won’t ever be alone, that counters the other stuff a bit and am also pretty sure he was guided by Sharon since he wasn’t very cognizant in his final days and his music got me through some pretty shit periods in my life, so call me a hypocrite but Rest in peace, Ozzy.
Sadly War Pigs are still playing their games - may we put them to an end one day. I so wish Ozzy was taking them away with him. Lets remember Ozzy who had a peaceful death in a clean, safe, caring environment, with medicine to help him pass unlike the 20,000 Gazan children who have died aged 0-15 in completely different circumstances.
Someone kindly shared this word with me earlier ,"Weltschmerz" -- lit; “world-pain”; the feeling of sadness at the suffering that surrounds you; the despair produced by the ubiquity of distress and hardship; a weariness at the sheer burden of being.
Like most great words for elusive emotions, this one is German. It’s a portmanteau of welt (“world”) and schmerz (“pain”), and it describes the displeasure we feel when reality doesn’t live up to our ideals and expectations. It’s also distinct from our other downbeat emotions. Unlike angst, which focuses our dissatisfaction inward, or ennui, which makes us listless, weltschmerz can be as rousing as it is troubling. Not only can the world be better, it should be better.
The phrase has its roots in the 1830s. It was first coined by German writer Jean Paul, who used it to describe Lord Byron’s discontent in the novel Selina, and it signifies a sadness about life. “Weltschmerzis the sense both that one is personally inadequate and that one’s personal inadequacy reflects the inadequacy of the world generally,” says Joachim Whaley, a professor of German history and thought at the University of Cambridge. “It is pain suffered simultaneously both in the world and at the state of the world, with the sense that the two are linked.”
As explained by the Encyclopedia Britannica,https://www.britannica.com/art/Weltschmerz the expression sought to define “the prevailing mood of melancholy and pessimism associated with the poets of the Romantic era that arose from their refusal or inability to adjust to those realities of the world that they saw as destructive of their right to subjectivity and personal freedom—a phenomenon thought to typify Romanticism.”
For 19th-century German writers, weltschmerz was an abnormal sensitivity to the evils and ills of the world and the misery of existence
Another word we could use is empathy, pain we can carry as humans, while releasing compassion, whilst angry with state of the world, and the suffering of other people, A soul that carries empathy is a soul that has survived enormous pain. Empathy is trying to understand what another person is feeling. It’s actually seeing the world through another’s eyes.
The other sad things that consume many are greed and apathy. There will never be a shortage of these things. Those devoid of conscience, with no ability to put themselves in another’s shoes. look at our leaders. But we can stop them from spreading by standing up and standing in the way.
However we can never truly know what pain other people are carrying. They may need compassion more than we realize. The world is very fucked up but the kind of love we see now for collective suffering in Gaza has been truly amazing. All the best hope all have a peaceful day.
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