@brianwhitaker.bsky.social
Journalist, former Middle East editor of the Guardian newspaper. Author of 'Arabs Without God: Atheism and Freedom of Belief in the Middle East', plus several other books about the region. Website: al-bab.com
Satellite Imagery Reveals Strikes on Iranian Police Stations www.bellingcat.com/news/middle-...
OK. Green smoke. Coloured smoke grenades have existed for decades. They are for signalling purposes. They are not meant for riot control purposes. As with any smoke, they are irritating, but they are not meant for that purpose, so use as "riot control" agents is an off-label usage.
Grok also suggests Hebrew has unique characteristics that make Hebrew posts on X appear more inflammatory than they really are when auto-translated.
Grok has a particular objection to translating figurative language, e.g. "iron fist" (in Hebrew) should not be translated into English as "iron fist".
Anyone who does translation work should take a look at Grok's posts about Hebrew (x.com/search?q=gro...). Grok (Elon?) has ideas about good/bad translation that strike me as pretty weird.
3/3 The chatbot, Grok, has been busy on X trying to persuade sceptical X users that this was a brilliant idea, but it now seems to have been abandoned.
2/3 This wasn’t due to a bug in the system but the result of a policy decision not to translate Hebrew-language posts that artificial intelligence had classified as “inflammatory”. Meanwhile, Hebrew posts deemed to be “neutral” were unaffected.
1/3 In the last few days something odd has been happening with posts on X in Hebrew. Non-Hebrew speakers would click “translate” and, for some posts, would get a translation. Other posts, though, would trigger a message saying “Hebrew is not currently supported for translation”.
6/6 Among other things, UKLFI claims Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is lawful and that Jewish settlements there are legitimate. It objects to talk of apartheid as strongly as it objects to talk of genocide.
5/6 UKLFI insists there is no evidence of genocide and portrays the allegations as a backdoor way of stirring up antisemitism. It describes them as an example of “Holocaust Inversion”.
4/6 One of its targets is a series of posters by Médecins Sans Frontières which mention genocide. UKLFI claims they are "insulting" and illegal under two sections of the Public Order Act.
3/6 Since the beginning of July it has taken up at least ten separate cases of distress among Israel's supporters – some of them upset by seeing the word “genocide”, others by the sight of Palestinian flags.
2/6 UKLFI is providing legal support for people claiming to be distressed – not by the terrible situation in Gaza but by public condemnations of it. al-bab.com/blog/2025/08...
6/6 Among other things, UKLFI claims Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is lawful and that Jewish settlements there are legitimate. It objects to talk of apartheid as strongly as it objects to talk of genocide.
5/6 UKLFI insists there is no evidence of genocide and portrays the allegations as a backdoor way of stirring up antisemitism. It describes them as an example of “Holocaust Inversion”.
4/6 One of its targets is a series of posters by Médecins Sans Frontières which mention genocide. UKLFI claims they are "insulting" and illegal under two sections of the Public Order Act.
3/6 Since the beginning of July it has taken up at least ten separate cases of distress among Israel's supporters – some of them upset by seeing the word “genocide”, others by the sight of Palestinian flags.
🧵1/6 UKLFI, the pro-Israel organisation whose chief executive claimed the Gaza war could increase the life expectancy of Palestinians by reducing obesity rates, has come up with another grotesque idea ...
Re Zelenskyy's attire: In WW2 Winston Churchill wore a one-piece "siren suit" for meetings with Roosevelt (at the White House), Eisenhower and Stalin.
At least 365 people have been arrested at a demonstration in London in support of proscribed group Palestine Action, police say. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
1/4 Activists campaigning against Britain’s military presence in Northern Ireland faced surveillance and prosecution during the 1970s. liverpoolpeopleshistory.org/2025/01/07/s...
It seems very likely Bob Vylan will be prosecuted, if only to make an example of them. Worth noting, though, that it's the sort of case where juries sometimes turn bolshie and deliver the "wrong" verdict.
@liverpoolph.bsky.social
@liverpoolph.bsky.social
If the atrocity denialists at @UKLFI really think:
"promoting the idea that Israel has committed a genocide is likely to stir up religious hatred against Jews, contrary to Section 18 of the Public Order Act 1986"
then they are welcome to report me.
Pro-Israel lawyers target climate activists over Gaza (10 January 2025) al-bab.com/blog/2025/01...
Harassment claim by pro-Israel lawfare group ‘wholly without merit’ (5 December 2024) al-bab.com/blog/2024/12...
Pro-Israel campaigners get references to genocide removed from art exhibition
(19 September 2024) al-bab.com/blog/2024/09...
Cultural genocide: the battle to suppress Palestinian voices
(17 September 2024) al-bab.com/blog/2024/09...