Once again Tower Hamlets is being targeted by anti-Islam campaigners, this time a revamped and radicalised version of Ukip — the far-right event is now banned by the police, but we’ll be assembling this Saturday to make sure they stay away, says JAYDEE SEAFORTH
Freedom Flotilla to set sail for Gaza
Defying the potential of another deadly Israeli attack on aid workers, activist ships are once more sailing to Gaza to break the siege and deliver relief to starving Palestinians, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
DANGEROUS MISSION: Activists hold a press conference inside a ship of Freedom Flotilla Coalition while it anchors at Tuzla seaport in Istanbul, April 19 2024
URI WELTMANN reports on a day in the life of peace activists from Israel, travelling to help Palestinians in the West Bank harvest their olives under threat from settlers and soldiers
The independent TD’s campaign has put important issues like Irish reunification and military neutrality at the heart of the political conversation, argues SEAN MacBRADAIGH
Italian unions are mobilising against rearmament and for wages and investment – but left blunders still leave the ‘post-fascist’ Italian PM looking likely to keep her job, says NICK WRIGHT
New research into mutations in sperm helps us better understand why they occur, while debunking a few myths in the process, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
CAROL WILCOX argues for the proper implementation of the land value tax, which could see unused plots sold off and landlords priced out of landlordism, potentially resolving the housing and planning crises
A FLOTILLA of four ships including one carrying 5,500 tons of what organisers describe as “desperately needed life-saving aid” is about to set sail for the shores of Gaza. Also on board will be hundreds of civilian observers from 30 countries as well as dozens of reporters.
The Freedom Flotilla, established in 2008, has sent ships to Gaza before, most notoriously in 2010 when one of the boats, the Turkish vessel, Mavi Marmara, was raided by Israeli commandos resulting in the deaths of 10 civilian crew members.
But, says Palestinian-US human rights lawyer Huwaida Arraf, one of the founders of the International Solidarity Movement that established the Freedom Flotilla, today the situation is even more dangerous — and more urgent.
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This time it is joined by famed Amazon union organiser Chris Smalls and the new vessel, the Handala, will carry baby formula for Gaza’s starving children just weeks after Israeli forces abducted the Madleen’s crew in international waters, reports ANA VRACAR
LINDA PENTZ GUNTER reports from London’s massive demonstration, where Iranian flags joined Palestinian banners and protesters warned of the dangers of escalation by the US, only hours before a fresh phase of the war began
Black Americans already understand what genocide looks like, argues the Black Alliance for Peace, who are supporting the complaint, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
