Kristyan Benedict

The UK government has totally failed to stop the Gaza genocide After months of promises, unless Keir Starmer seriously pressures Israel to end the genocide, his statements are totally empty, argues Kristyan Benedict.

My latest in @thenewarab.bsky.social on Keir Starmer’s empty words on Gaza
www.newarab.com/opinion/uk-g...

Amnesty International UK: BANNING PALESTINE ACTION ‘A DISTURBING LEGAL OVERREACH’ BY GOVERNMENT Amnesty International UK: BANNING PALESTINE ACTION ‘A DISTURBING LEGAL OVERREACH’ BY GOVERNMENT

The only way for states to protect Israel’s expansionist apartheid system and its ongoing genocide is to undermine the human rights of its own citizens - all of them. This is the toxic effect of the ideology that drives this violent, racist, colonialism.
www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releas...

Keir Starmer’s one-man counter protest outside the High Court today at the UK arms to Israel case.

Ridiculous - The Danish High Court has ruled that Amnesty International Denmark, Oxfam Denmark, ActionAid Denmark and Al-Haq do not have a legal interest in bringing a case - which focused on the export of weapons parts to Israeli F-35 fighter jets - before the Danish courts. This will be appealed.

Illegal occupation, annexation, and forced displacement can’t be rationalised or ignored for some wider ‘strategic interests’ - such reckless actions will ultimately come back to bite you.

Surely the message to UK & EU politicians is to be totally and consistently opposed to all illegal occupations and annexations - who knows when ignoring, enabling, or normalising such crimes will come back to bite you.

UK must respect Trump's mandate, new ambassador to US Mandelson tells BBC In his first day on the job, Lord Peter Mandelson says

In response to Trump amplifying the Israeli plan to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza, the new UK ambassador to the US (an obsequious clown) says Trump has “some interesting ideas". 

Zero tolerance for genocide?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Trump says Palestinians will have no right of return to Gaza under his plan People will have ‘no alternative’ but to leave territory after destruction left by Israel, US president said in Fox interview

The ‘plan’ to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza (and other parts of their land) was not invented by Herr Trump - it has been the genocidal fantasy of successive apartheid regimes.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Ex-supreme court judge says ‘arguable case’ Israel’s conduct in Gaza is genocidal Lord Sumption says Israel’s actions ‘grossly disproportionate’ and in new book points to suppression of free speech over Palestinian cause

Ex-UK supreme court judge says ‘arguable case’ Israel’s conduct in Gaza is genocidal
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/feb...

The @boardofdeputies.bsky.social is falling over itself in its craven attempt to heap praise on fascist and genocidal leaders while pretending it cares about a “comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

In case you’re confused, here’s a diagram to help you out:

79 States Parties in support of the ICC - Building Trust Today, 79 States Parties have joined the following statement in support of the International Criminal Court...

The UK has signed this statement supporting the International Criminal Court following US sanctions in support of Israeli impunity buildingtrust.si/79-states-pa...

USA: Sanctions Against International Criminal Court Betray International Justice System In response to the executive order announced today by President Trump imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), Agnès Callamard,

In sanctioning the ICC, Trump is saying Israel and the US are above the law.
www.amnestyusa.org/press-releas...

Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency

Trumps executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC - every war lord will love this, starting with Netanyahu.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Trump’s Gaza “Plan” would mean committing every core international crime (Photo: AP) It is hard to keep track of the number of international crimes being proposed in Washington as a response to the destruction of Gaza. There are solid arguments to be made that President…

Trump’s Gaza plan would require committing every core international crime under international law: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression.
justiceinconflict.org/2025/02/06/t...

The fascists feel confident - we shouldn’t dismiss these genocidal plans as crazy fantasies.

He’s definitely not the victim here - if anything, he’s been one of the world ‘leaders’ that has helped enable this genocide.

Black Sabbath: BACK TO THE BEGINNING The original Black Sabbath – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – will play for the first time in 20 years. The band will take to the stage to headline BACK TO THE BEGINNING on Jul...

Wow - was bashing out Paranoid on the kit today as well. Had no idea this was being plotted. www.avfc.co.uk/concerts/bac...

Given the multiple crimes Trump was proposing and their impact, not just on Palestinians, but on international law, and wider global civilian protection mechanisms, his tepid response was insufficient. (The 2SS has long been a slogan backed up with absolutely nothing from successive UK Govs)

It was a pretty tepid response.

It was extremely weak - which was not at all surprising

Israel/OPT: Trump's claim that US will take over Gaza and forcibly deport Palestinians 'outrageous and shameful' Trump’s comments dangerously dehumanises Palestinians, who for the last 16-months have been victims of Israel’s genocide in Gaza

Any plan to forcibly deport Palestinians outside the occupied territory against their will is a war crime, and when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population, it would constitute a crime against humanity.
www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releas...

Caretaker President of Syria met with a delegation of survivors’ associations, families of detainees and missing persons a few days ago in Damascus - it’s progress but clear actions and investment in this file are still needed. On that, progress is still horribly slow.

Amnesty on Trumps Gaza ‘plan’:

“Any plan to forcibly deport Palestinians outside the occupied territory against their will is a war crime, and when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population, it would constitute a crime against humanity.”

I’d also bet on cravenness.

It should be extremely simple for Starmer to publicly oppose Grand Wizard Trumps wildly illegal and inhumane genocidal fantasy about Gaza - there is an opportunity at PMQs today - we’ll see.

Trump says Palestinians have ‘no alternative’ but to leave Gaza President in effect endorses ethnic cleansing of territory before hosting meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu

Trump endorses the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Just a surprise he didn’t scream ‘White Power!’ after his delusional ramble.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Israel/OPT: Genocide 'matter of law and evidence, not opinion' and UK government must ensure accountability Amnesty is calling on the UK government to take urgent and meaningful steps to prevent Israel’s genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza

Marking one-year since the International Court of Justice found plausible risk that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, Amnesty said the UK government’s disregard for its legal obligations to prevent genocide had contributed to Israel’s impunity. 
www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releas...

Unpopular opinion for some, I guess, but if Assad is still in Syria, and is captured, it would be far wiser to ensure he is detained and brought to trial in a credible court to help give his many victims some answers, some level of closure, and most importantly, justice.

Report exposes systematic torture in Syrian detention facilities The UN General Assembly-mandated team investigating serious crimes in Syria released a new report on Friday, documenting systematic torture and abuse across over 100 Government detention facilities.

Another important human rights report was released this week - this one documents systematic torture and abuse across over 100 Assad regime detention facilities.

It’s a key reason the people still resist.
news.un.org/en/story/202...

A lot of individuals and organisations that should know the dangers of genocide denial are either silent or engaged in full on genocide denial right now - simple put, they see Palestinians as subhumans.