For the record I totally stand by my original comment…

The weaponization of the term antisemitism in defence of Israel has become farcical at this point and shows grave insensitivity to the genuine genocide carried out by an apartheid occupying force.

We’ll leave the role Falter and others of the same ilk played in the intrusion of a foreign state into the democratic process of our nation for another day, as frankly, I feel the focus should be on improving the plight of the Palestinians at this stage.

This is worthy of further investigation…

It is being reported that the individual standing next to Gideon Falter at the demonstration is actually a key member of Israeli President Isaac Herzog's security team.pic.twitter.com/w901PDosCh

— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) April 22, 2024

Whatever the truth of the matter turns out to be, how many people would be in a position to get this degree of political support and media coverage?

Perhaps

‘You’re being openly inflammatory with a political agenda on behalf of an apartheid foreign state’

may have been more appropriate…

And anyway, we all know those aid organizations are far from innocent; look out they invariably get in the way of Israel’s munitions:

?Israel surgically bombs another international humanitarian aid truck

Israel's war crimes manual: commit a crime so insane & egregious, deny & obscure responsibility. Once you get away with it (like always) & the world gets desensitized, do it over & over again on mass scale… pic.twitter.com/0tYpvzMZTW

— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) April 21, 2024

More than 100 killed as Israeli troops open fire on Gazans crowded around aid convoy https://t.co/r3SF1vF4fk pic.twitter.com/6XLnCQhxaE

— The Last Word (@TheLastWord) February 29, 2024

.@JulietteTouma explains that yesterday Israel attacked an UNRWA convoy carrying aid to the north of the Gaza strip. For the third time. pic.twitter.com/mPrMzwHHw6

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 6, 2024

Senior adviser to the Israeli PM tells Sky News 'it is not clear what happened yet' following UNRWA reports that Israeli soldiers fired at an aid convoy returning from northern Gaza.

He adds: "Israel does not target aid convoys" and are 'facilitating' their entrance into Gaza. pic.twitter.com/HsuMsCfWEk

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 29, 2023

"Too often aid workers are being killed in #Gaza"@JulietteTouma tells @BBCNews UNRWA is absolutely devastated by the killing of @WCKitchen humanitarian workers when their convoy was reportedly hit by Israeli Forces.

At @UNRWA alone, 176 of our team members have been killed. pic.twitter.com/qtbstw5mnm

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 2, 2024

The last thing needed is people highlighting that thanks to the blockade this whole situation was going on well before the ‘war’ broke out…

"Gaza has been under blockade for 17yrs… 60% of its inhabitants are already dependent on food aid before this crisis, so before the 7th Oct Gaza received around 100 trucks a day full of assistance…"

Tamara Alrifai from @UNRWA puts one convoy of 20 trucks into perspective pic.twitter.com/m4Dv18axzp

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) October 22, 2023

If it’s in the strategic interests of the allied cause, claims don’t need to be substantiated before being broadcast around the world to skew public opinion in favour of the desired outcome;

Joe Biden has tonight persuaded the US ?? House to vote for $26 billion in aid for Israel ??

Including nearly $14bn in unconditional military aid

Last month the same House voted to ban funding for UNRWA

Joe Biden and the U.S. ?? are accomplices to apartheid and genocide. pic.twitter.com/bsJ1UtZNQ5

— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) April 20, 2024

Shame Colin Furze isn’t more prominent in the art world, else it could easily command 50-100x the price!!

‘Lot number 80085: The Bicycle of Springs’

Medium: Steel, Rubber, Resin

Created by celebrated sculptor Colin Furze, this piece is a whimsical exploration of the traditional bicycle, harnessing the remarkable ability of coiled steel to store and redistribute kinetic energy, it provides a roguish insight into what can occur when the established physics of a bicycle are modified.

Whilst this item does allow interaction, for safety purposes, it’s generally advised as a display piece only

There’s plenty on Declassified UK for all to see

RAF flights to Israel
The MoD also admitted on Tuesday that it has flown close to 50 RAF operated aircraft to Israel since it began bombing Gaza.

The department told parliament: “As of 2 February 2024, a total of 48 RAF operated aircraft have flown to Israel since 7 October 2023.”

It added: “These flights included aircraft used to transport Ministers and senior officials conducting diplomatic engagements with Israel.”

Declassified could find no similar flights in the two months before the Gaza campaign began.

The majority of these flights are vast C-17 and A400 military transport aircraft which have gone from RAF Akrotiri, the sprawling British air base on Cyprus, to Tel Aviv.

The UK government claims the dozens of flights have “provided no lethal or military equipment other than medical supplies to Israel”.

But it is possible the US and Israel are using bases in Britain to move weapons to Israel.

Asked whether the US has used any RAF bases in the UK to transfer weapons to Israel since 7 October 2023, the MoD responded that it “does not comment on Allies’ operations”.

It has the same policy of secrecy about the nature of Israeli military flights in Britain.

Since 7 October, the UK has sent 48 military aircraft to Israel, flown 65 spy missions over Gaza, and at least 9 Israeli military jets have landed in Britain.

Is the @IntlCrimCourt watching?https://t.co/12YhB2PruH

— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) April 20, 2024

Furthermore, let’s not forget that the UK continues to supply arms to Israel…

The Foreign Office refuses to answer whether Israel used UK arms in an airstrike on a playground in the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 11 children.#DCUKParliament pic.twitter.com/y25GgM9UeN

— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) April 18, 2024

I’ve been led to believe most of the bots were hanging out in Edinburgh’s Haymarket last weekend…

Could be worse, your TV license could be funding propaganda…

Oh…

The UK national media have performed spectacularly over Gaza. They’ve kept the public in the dark about every aspect of UK military support for Israel for over 6 months. An amazing service to the state, performing their assigned tasks with no coercion. Impressive and revealing. pic.twitter.com/WwNPBaSMNN

— Mark Curtis (@markcurtis30) April 21, 2024

Could be worse, your TV license could be funding propaganda…

I don’t have experience with any of these particular cranksets, but I’m not a small chap and have yet to break anything from Aliexpress (broke plenty of Shimano Cranks given enough time to wear through them with my heels mind)

The bing bang bosh, jobs a good un solution:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004252261873.html

The all in one 21st Century solution:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005866079643.html

The find your own BB and chainring solution:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005817449612.html

The damn, that’s pretty bling for a nipper solution:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006582746189.html

Recently, I got one with a quick release lockable hitch that you operate by lever and it’s a gamechanger; takes about a minute to fit or remove, including hooking up the electrics, which gives a great deal more flexibility and ease of parking than the previous one which had a bolt on hitch, which not only took time (and the occasional skinned knuckle), but was also a massive faff to align

You want to make sure you also have a tilt mechanism to allow access to the boot and since you mention e bikes, you’re probs best looking at e bike specific racks as they tend to have higher weight capacities and ramps to help with loading.

despite all the PR Israel is just as cack-handed and amateurish in its attempts to play 4D chess as everyone else in the world

Whilst there may be an element of truth in the cack handed and amateurish approach:

Reporter: Netanyahu told Congress in 2002 Iraq was developing nuclear weapons—this was a lie—and wanted regime change in Iran. How can we trust someone who goaded us into war based on lies & how can we be confident he won’t do the same with Iran?

Patel: I’m not sure I understand pic.twitter.com/x8HZ1cc1ah

— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) April 17, 2024

(as an aside, can anyone think of any other global statesman still in power who played a role in the disastrous and illegal invasion of Iraq? …of course, it wasn’t so long ago that Mark Sedwill was the most powerful unelected employee of HM Government, but he’s moved on to pastures new)

Israel does have a vast influence on the global community both in terms of politics and the media and a regular supply of arms subsidized by tax payers outside of their nation; how do they pull this off, despite being recognized as an apartheid state?

where do we stand on the IDF targeting aid convoys and civilians seeking aid?

I assumed that was a rhetorical question. Everybody will be against it.

Glad to hear it, there’s been far too much divide and conquer going on elsewhere!

That said, surprised how tolerant the majority have been on the aid convoy issue…

Seen that quote from Weitz many times, but it has no named source and no other journalist has confirmed or second sourced it.

Hmmm, strange then that an Ex Israeli Prime Minister and an Ex Israeli General have both said basically the same, as can be evidenced earlier in the thread.

However, this is all beginning to go around in circles, with no real progress, so, moving on…

where do we stand on the IDF targeting aid convoys and civilians seeking aid?

So where do we stand on the IDF targeting aid convoys and civilians seeking aid?

So when it comes to Israel funding Hamas, we’re clear that Israel never funded Hamas then…

OK, got it

“Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas,” Netanyahu told his Likud party’s Knesset members in March 2019. “This is part of our strategy"https://t.co/7lTQs9E5Zf

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 9, 2023

Reassuring to know governments are so warm and cuddly…

On that basis, I’m happy to forget the long history of covert arms supply to some very iffy causes, invasion and attrocities committed by Israel’s main supporters!

At this rate, perhaps we could come to appreciate the positive benefits brought to society by apartheid and Israel’s secret nuclear weapons programme, not to mention Israel’s brave stance on keeping do-gooders at bay:

Israel is not party to:

The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)
Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)
Intl Criminal Court (ICC)
Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM)
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

But despite being a heavily armed colonial apartheid nation who continue to violently remove families from their homeland they are thankfully a democracy, promoting freedom

Wait, what?

Research shows terms like 'massacre' and 'slaughter' are only ever used by the New York Times to describe the killing of Israelis, never for the killing of Palestinians.

Now the Intercept has found the NYT memo that specifically bars its journalists, and even interviewees, from…

— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) April 17, 2024

For those reasons despite pledging to respond I very much doubt that Israel will strike directly at Iran again, and any strikes they carry out will be against Hezbollah, with which they are already engaging on a daily basis.

Not forgetting the ongoing Israeli strategy of intercepting aid convoys sent in to alleviate the situation Israel’s policy has created in Gaza

I’ve had parsnip crisps, apple crisps and even beetroot crisps before… there’s even some pea based snacks which come last will and testament time could be considered entry into the crisp family; however, twiglets are not crisps…

Even if they shared genetic material with the crisp bloodline, their quirks are such that for the survival of the species,  much like the royals who displayed too many of the traits of inbreeding, they must be cast aside and hidden from further scrutiny.

They can be fun at parties though, even if just to see how people’s faces contort when they pop one in their mouth by mistake

OK, cool, thanks for your input…

Me: "Do you believe Netanyahu deliberately propped up Hamas in Gaza all these years?"

Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert: "Yes… long before Oct 7th, Netanyahu downgraded the PA & almost inevitably upgraded Hamas."

Full #MehdiUnfiltered interview at Zeteo:https://t.co/lyEjg9lrEA pic.twitter.com/RfvYcwKcgY

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 16, 2024

Now is a good time to invest in the arms trade… business is always good, but with recent developments, it should soon be even better!!

Not forgetting of course that the majority of the big players have had a vast amount of low cost R&D suppressing the Palestinian population with full backing of western counterparts

Now is a good time to invest in the arms trade… business is always good, but with recent developments, it should soon be even better!!

We have to be very weary of Iran’s involvement, they are clearly a threat to the way of life of ordinary western citizens!

Out of interest, does anyone know if figures are available for the number of times Palestinians have made armed incursions into Israeli territory, vs the number of times Israelis have made armed incursions into Palestinian territory?

If something can’t be said better than a former 9/11 truther being interviewed by Ash Sarkar and published to YouTube, then struggle to see how it’s worth the time it’ll take to listen to it.

He’s right of course, 9/11 truthers are over 20 years out of date now… with that kind of timescale that you can successfully restore the reputation of one time war criminals such as Blair or Bush.

Ultimately, 9/11 liars are what we need to ensure the media’s portrayal of world events is adequately balanced

Clearly we need a recruitment drive to bring more people who combine a love of MTB with a concern for humanity and a basic understanding of apartheid

Wonder if the Native Americans were portrayed as Christian hating savages back when they were resisting invasion and occupation…

On which note, had there been an international community and a vast global arms trade, would said *Christian hating savages* have been allowed weapons with which to defend their territory?

Goodness gracious, surely it can’t be a slow attempt to frame all criticism of a heavily armed colonial nation that continues to encroach on the territory of those who dwelled there before the nation was formed as anti semitic.

No no, that would never happen

I’ve done a few days in the Quantocks and it is indeed awesome; couple of days there could even be grafted onto a South Wales FOD Trip (or vice versa)

The IDF drafts Jewish women as well as Jewish men, and the rich as well as the poor

Ah, I see… so Israel’s national policy is to indoctrinate the vast majority of the population into a military mindset from a young age

Yep, that makes sense now

Some interesting comments too:

I am in this video, the boy in the black shirt. It isnt that we havent yet been exposed to the biased opinions of our educators and educational material. We have been part of the corrupting system for the past 16 years of our lives and the fact that we have and still are standing up against it is what differentiates us. This is mostly due to the environment we are in and the fact that we have the opportunity to be exposed to this kind of material.

As a Palestinian it is very touching when Israelis see this conflict for what it really is, and this is when real change will begin to happen when people realize the truth and reality about Israels occupation. Of course we need changing attitudes on the Palestinian side also but that will never happen until the Palestinians have hope in order to free their minds of a hatred of Israel which is manifested through the daily oppression of the Palestinians. We need peace before it is too late.

These kids give me hope for the future. Hard not to feel this way about your country when the curtain gets pulled back and the brutality and manipulation becomes explicit. I have the same problem. Being an American and having learned to read between some lines (not all the lines for sure…I’m far from perfectly informed, or even well informed for that matter) with the help of some “subversive” authors, I have been changed permanently by it. Suffice to say, I don’t sing patriotic songs anymore.

You know when you really, really, really need a wee?

Now, it could be that they ran off to the loo, stuffing the sheet into the lowers in their panicked haste.

You might wanna re-wash your hands before reading the other scenario; they needed a wee so bad, they did it in the lowers; the were holding the QA sheet in their hand by their fly and the sheer ferocity of the piss stream drove the document clean out of their hand and embedded it in the lowers; not wanting to touch it, let alone cause undue attention by trying to dispose of the sodden mess, they just went about their business and filled the remaining volume with oil to disguise their actions.

That certainly didn’t happen… instead, the IDF killed many of their own civilians, perhaps in part due to the policy of sending thousands of poor young men into the meatgrinder of national service

So given that Netanyahu is not beyond question, what questions should we be asking?

Impressed that such reasonable discussion is being had; all too often people try and imply I’m suggesting something more elaborate; both MoreCash and inkster have made reasonable and concise analyses

multiple reports of Israeli intelligence funding Hamas via backchannels

Yep… I stand by that

When it comes to it, the vast majority of people responding to this thread are relying on 2nd hand information; admittedly, I am not Retired Israeli general Shlomo Brom, but his analysis seems perfectly plausible.

Are you suggesting that of all people, Netanyahu is beyond questioning?

If you have issue with the facts presented, it’s probably best taking it up with the Israeli generals and members of the Israeli intelligence services who have put forward these accounts.

Hence Hamas is the perfect vehicle for the Israeli state to justify continued apartheid and collective punishment of the Palestinians, whilst continually sidestepping progress towards a 2 state solution and continuing an aggressive settlement policy

Which leads us to the question;

In what circumstance would multiple reports of Israeli intelligence funding Hamas via backchannels with the full knowledge of Netanyahu not be relevant here?