Anna Stavrianakis

Headline: BBC under pressure to pull Sally Rooney dramas over vow to fund Palestine Action

Headline: Tory minister Robert Jenrick pictured with former Nazi terror chief at far right protest.

Perhaps, one day, schoolkids will study this squalid little chapter in British terror-panic history. When they do, I hope these two headlines from today are printed side by side, with clear annotation of which individual faced more outrage and condemnation.

The three best ideas I’ve had for how to organise my book have come when I’m 1) not sitting at the computer and 2) physically moving. Apparently the body isn’t just a receptacle for the brain.

Greek people blocking Israelis from leaving a cruise ship in Syros, Greece.
People support Palestine governments support genocide

We have had a report saying two women walking up to a protest today at BAe Samlesbury were stopped by Lancashire Police and advised to remove their t-shirts that say 'Free Palestine', as it may "breach the proscription order".

And so it begins.

Home Office staff concerned about ‘absurd’ Palestine Action ban, says senior civil servant Anonymous source describes ‘tense atmosphere’ after Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe protest group

OK @pcsunion.bsky.social members in the Home Office, let's go! "Are they really going to prosecute as terrorists everyone who expresses support for Palestine Action’s work to disrupt the flow of arms to Israel as it commits war crimes?" Time to get organised! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

High Court grants urgent hearing for Palestine Action legal challenge to threatened proscription The High Court has granted an urgent hearing for Palestine Action’s legal challenge to threatened proscription. In a hearing which has just concluded at the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr […]

not so fast, Yvette - palestineaction.org/urgent-heari...

My students would get a “see me - your concepts are muddled, your evidence doesn’t stand up and your reasoning is faulty”

Just so we’re clear: UK arming Israel’s genocide is legal but trying to stop it is a terrorist offence and now the BBC is equating the IDF with all Jewish people and accusing artists of anti semitism.

Today is a bad day for justice and with the likely proscription of Palestine Action later this week, represents a real narrowing of democratic politics in the UK. But our friends in Palestine are doing what they can to survive, and we continue to stand with them /end

I read the F-35 programme as showing the brittleness of UK power and its utter inability to exercise any leverage with the USA - hold off with your "British values" and "UK influence", please /

3) the court accepted the secret evidence of the govt about the risks to the F35 programme and that stopping parts to Israel would require leaving the F35 prog. The public has NO sight of the detail of this argument and we're asked to take politicians at face value /

2) deference to the executive - the SoS Business & Trade and Defence are accountable to Parliament and the electorate, so they should make decisions, not the courts - but what to do if Parliament has been useless and protest is being criminalised? /

Terrible day for justice: the High Court has ruled against Al Haq in the judicial review of UK arms exports to Israel. 3 main types of reasoning: 1) that some of the issues are non-justiciable ie can't be adjudicated in a UK court of law. So what is the point of export controls?/

High Court ruling expected in UK arms to Israel challenge Judgement anticipated on Monday morning 20 months after rights groups filed case to stop UK arms exports to Israel

Get online at 10:30 to see if UK arms sales to Israel are deemed legal or not by the High Court: www.middleeasteye.net/news/high-co... - link for where to see the news in the article

Palestine Action ban: what will it mean in practice?

Our guide covers what won't be allowed after the ban comes into force. Counter-terror powers are used in an overtly racist & Islamophobic way- the policing situation is likely to be unstable once it's in force.

netpol.org/2025/06/26/p...

Monstrous Anger of the Guns 'Equips readers with the information they need to resist the lies that feed humanity's urge to commit suicide. Read it!' Yanis Varoufakis 'Devastating tes...

You have 48 hours to get your free e-copy of Monstrous Anger of the Guns, the @shadowworldinv1.bsky.social book about how the arms trade is ruining the world and what we can do about it! www.plutobooks.com/978074535036...

Trump nearly doubled U.S. civilian casualty toll in Yemen | Airwars The Trump administration killed almost as many civilians in Yemen in 52 days as the previous 23 years of U.S. action

1/ NEW: Airwars finds Operation Rough Rider nearly doubled U.S. civilian casualty toll in Yemen

trump-yemen.airwars.org/operation-ro...

I now read all contributions to the latest special issue of Public Anthropologist "On Speaking Out: Refusing Complicity with Genocide" (open access). Every single one of them is worth your time!

brill.com/view/journal...

Oh hey Christian Turner i also have some recommendations. Seeing as “It is the political director’s job to engage with a range of voices across multiple issues to ensure informed policy making” I am sure your staff will be in touch for an appointment asap

Syria after Assad: why many Syrian refugees aren’t returning home Syrian refugees must be able to decide what’s next for them as pressures mount for their return.

“The dream of returning home or simply the possibility to end a decade of exile is suddenly within reach. But this dream now comes with existential, practical and legal questions.”

Charlotte Al-Khalili and @melissagatter.bsky.social for @theconversation.com.
theconversation.com/syria-after-...

Why the UK refuses to do the one thing that could stop Israel's 'intolerable' war on Gaza Despite harsh words from Lammy, the government has taken the narrowest possible approach to arms restrictions

Don't let the UK govt's confected outrage distract you from the key thing it could do to stop the carnage in Palestine: halt all military collaboration with and arms sales to/from Israel - thanks to @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social for hosting my piece - www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/uk-r...

'I just don't buy it.'

Professor Anna Stavrianakis of @shadowworldinv1.bsky.social criticizes the UK government's position that it can't track parts for its F-35 programme with Israel.

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Join us June 13th with @jeremycorbyn.bsky.social @ahmedalnaouq.bsky.social @franceskalbs.bsky.social @andrewfeinstein.bsky.social @tninstitute.bsky.social to discuss how we can break the downward spiral of militarisation, skyrocketing arms exports, and unaccountability for war crimes & genocide. 1/2

Every day I learn something new about the casual brutality of Israel's assault on Palestinians. Today it's that Israel is the first air force to use F-35 fighter jets in "beast mode", allowing it to carry more & heavier bombs. I can just imagine the dudes coming up with the name.

Today I'm mostly drafting an op-ed piece about arms sales to Israel. Will share a link once it's up. But for now, leaving here that it was initially pitched to the Guardian and the Independent but apparently it's not a theme they are looking for at the moment. Cos, you know, nothing to see here...

BBC reports that "UK suspends Israel trade talks and summons ambassador over 'intolerable' Gaza offensive" - I look forward to a forthcoming announcement of an immediate suspension of all arms export licences, which would materially halt Israel's offensive

LABOUR APPROVED MORE WEAPONS TO ISRAEL IN THREE MONTHS THAN THE PREVIOUS THREE YEARS COMBINED. The Labour government approved £127.6 million in military licences between October-December 2024 - totalling more than 2020-2023 combined.

CAAT - New figures reveal massive increase in UK arms exports to Israel as government defends F-35 exemption in court Our government is complicit in the death of every Palestinian child. Our government is complicit in genocide.

Just the Labour govt licensing more arms to Israel October to December 2024 than the Tories did in 2020-2023 combined... Mostly military radars, components, software, targeting equipment - and granted after the announcement of a temporary arms suspension on 2 Sept 2024: caat.org.uk/news/new-fig...

I’m sorry to hear this news Matt. What a beautiful cat, and what a charmed life to have found you. And I sort of can’t believe nobody has asked: are your other cats also named after Greek liberation figures??

Over 700 (!!) faculty and staff in Swedish higher education & research have declared their conscientious objection to collaborate with Israeli institutions complicit in illegal occupation, apartheid, genocide, and other violations of international law.

Ps: ppl can still sign!!