Richard Burden

Yep…

The photo on the left is Hiroshima after the nuclear attack 80 yeas ago today. The photo on the right is Gaza City this week, taken by Heidi Levine from a Jordanian aircraft.

A wasteland of rubble, dust and graves: how Gaza looks from the sky The Guardian joins a Jordanian military airdrop for a rare chance to observe a landscape devastated by Israel’s offensive

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

A wasteland of rubble, dust and graves: how Gaza looks from the sky The Guardian joins a Jordanian military airdrop for a rare chance to observe a landscape devastated by Israel’s offensive Seen from the air, Gaza looks like the ruins of an ancient civilisation, brought to light after centuries of darkness. A patchwork of concrete shapes and shattered walls, neighbourhoods scattered with craters, rubble and roads that lead nowhere. The remnants of cities wiped out. But here, there has been no natural disaster and no slow passage of time. Members of Jordan’s military stand among pallets of aid about to be dropped on Gaza. Continue reading...

A wasteland of rubble, dust and graves: how Gaza looks from the sky

The UK must recognise Palestine, but without conditions Recognition neither punishes Israel nor rewards Hamas. Keir Starmer has linked two things that do not belong together

Apologists for Israel’s occupation and its atrocities in Gaza are spreading misinformation about the legality, purpose and effect of recognising the State of Palestine. Here, former UK Consul General in Jerusalem, Sir Vincent Fean, sets the record straight www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/middle...

BPP Response: Recognition with Conditions: Starmer’s Calculated Shift on Palestine - Peace with justice, security and equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians Our charity has long argued for the unconditional recognition of the state of Palestine alongside Israel – an acknowledgment of the inherent right to self-determination of the Palestinian people and a...

britainpalestineproject.org/recognition-...

More than 100 aid agencies say 'mass starvation' spreading across Gaza The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that 33 people had died of starvation in 48 hours.

Nobody will ever be able to claim they did not know the scale of atrocities taking place in Gaza. But while they express “regret” about what is going on, world leaders - including here in the U.K- still refuse to act to stop it. It’s beyond shameful www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0...

Intimidation and double standards: a Labour government should be better than this | Richard Burden I was a Labour MP throughout the Blair and Brown governments. I had my differences with them. Sometimes those differences were so profound that I voted against the government in the House of Commons –...

richardburden.com/2025/07/inti...

Intimidation and double standards: a Labour government should be better than this

https://richardburden.com/2025/07/intimidation-and-double-standards-a-labour-government-should-be-better-than-this/

Israel’s minister celebrates destruction as more Gaza aid seekers targeted Sources at Gaza hospitals say 60 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids on the Strip since dawn.

When we remember past atrocities, we often say “never again.” When are we going to mean it when it comes to atrocities being committed today?
www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

I saw my first dead body aged 8 - it wasn't the last I came to understand that my story could be a powerful tool for peacebuilding.

Compelling, disturbing and moving testimony by @srebrenicauk.bsk.social North East Board Chsir, Smajo Beso OBE

metro.co.uk/2025/07/11/s...

On 30th anniversary of the Bosnian genocide it was a real privilege to be invited to Thurrock to represent @srebrenicauk.bsky.social at the unveiling of the first Srebrenica Memorial stone in England. Remember Yesterday. Act Today. #srebrenica30

YouTube video by Remembering Srebrenica 'White Flower' - a Performance of Remembrance (English & Bosnian with subtitles).

White Flower performed by the Sarajevo National Theatre & Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra & Cardiff Ardwyn Singers/Cantorion Ardwyn Caerdydd. This song gives voice to a victim's soul and a mother’s grief. Written by Elvir Solak.
Watch: youtu.be/rqQNEygrAS0?...
#Srebrenica30

Srebrenica massacre: Lives rebuilt but search for dead goes on - BBC News Ernesa Hajdarevic, who was three at the time of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, still needs answers.

Please join us today to stand with Ernesa, Lejla and all those commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. Birmingham Council House, Birmingham B1 1BB. 12.30pm for 1.00pm start #srebrenica30

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

TODAY (TUESDAY) 12.30pm for 1.00pm start. Birmingham Council House, B1 1BB. West Midlands commemoration of 30 years since the Srebrenica genocide. Testimony from survivors, music, civic leaders’ speeches. Please join us #Srebrenica30

"Don't destroy independent voice" says Healthwatch Birmingham and Solihull - Healthwatch Birmingham Chair Richard Burden responds to government plans to scrap Healthwatch, warning against silencing the independent voice of NHS and social care patients.

healthwatchbirmingham.co.uk/news/healthw...

Don’t destroy independent patients’ voice | Richard Burden On Friday, Ministers announced that they want to scrap Healthwatch, the statutory patients’ and public watchdog for the NHS and social care. This is my response as Chair of Healthwatch Birmingham and ...

Ministers are totally wrong to try to scrap Healthwatch, the independent champion of patients and the public. The way they announced it on Friday adds insult to injury. My response on behalf of Healthwatch Birmingham
and Solihull richardburden.com/2025/06/dont...

Don’t destroy independent patients’ voice

https://richardburden.com/2025/06/dont-destroy-independent-patients-voice/

The Guardian view on Palestine Action: if red paint is terrorism, what isn’t? | Editorial Editorial: Labelling direct action as an act of terror criminalises dissent, chills speech and redefines nuisance as extremism under the banner of national security

This…https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/23/the-guardian-view-on-palestine-action-if-red-paint-is-terrorism-what-isnt

ONE WEEK TO GO:
Join us to mark 30 years since the Srebrenica genocide - including testimony from survivors of 1990s Bosnia
12.30pm Tuesday 1st July, Birmingham Council House B1 1BB
#Srebrenica30 Srebrenica.org.uk

Yes, the Iranian regime is reprehensible. But israel started this war illegally. Last night’s offensive US air strikes are illegal too. Both Netanyahu’s and Trump’s actions replace the rule of law with the rule of “Might is Right.”
We cannot let that be the future of our world.

Following the powerful UK-wide service in St Paul’s Cathedral earlier this week, West Midlands marks 30 years since the Srebrenica genocide at 1.00pm on Tue 1st July in Birmingham’s Council House, B1 1BB. Join us to Remember Yesterday and Act Today #srebrenica30. Photo
@stpaulscathedral.bsky.social

An honour to be part of the team organising the #srebrenica30 memorial service in St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday. Over 1,500 people joined Bosnian presidents and senior UK Govt ministers to hear testimony and music from genocide survivors. Truly humbling Srebrenica.org.uk

Bosnia and Herzegovina to open first UK consulate in Birmingham A ceremony on Sunday will also remember the thousands killed in the Bosnian genocide 30 years ago.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I call on the UK to join the world majority – and recognise the state of Palestine | Husam Zomlot The UN conference on the two-state solution offers an historic opportunity for Britain: to stand against the continued erasure of my people, says Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the United Kin...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

War crimes in Gaza and international complicity | Richard Burden Like millions of other people around the world, I can’t get my head around the enormity of the devastation that Israel has been inflicting on human life in Gaza, week in, week out, since the awful att...

richardburden.com/2025/06/war-...

War crimes in Gaza and international complicity

https://richardburden.com/2025/06/war-crimes-in-gaza-and-international-complicity/

#EidMubarak to all celebrating #EidulAdha2025

A privilege to be at White Armband Day. Very powerful speech by @edvulliamy, who did so much to expose the truth of what Western leaders’ inaction and complicity allowed to go on in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s: Shamefully, inaction amounting to complicity is again in evidence over Gaza today

#WhiteArmbandDay: In May 1992, Serb forces in Prijedor forced Bosniak and Croat civilians to wear white armbands and mark their homes. They were identified, targeted, and sent to camps or killed. This was the beginning of ethnic cleansing. #WeRemember