Happy Friday!
Pro-war, anti-Netanyahu: that has been the Israeli liberal conundrum in a terrible year. This is generally my issue with Israelis of all political stripes, they just don’t see the Palestinians as human beings and so they can’t see that all they are doing is making themselves more unsafe. Israel is currently bombing the Lebanon to ‘defeat’ Hezbollah, the organisation formed when Israel invaded the Lebanon in the 1980’s. There is a pattern, but Israeli can’t see it.
Israel is high on its own propaganda, always the victim and never the perpetrator. Every bad thing done by Israel is explainable and understandable or accidental, everything done by the Palestinians is wicked. The Israeli army is the ‘most moral army in the world’, (if you ignore what it’s doing in the West Bank, or the rape of Palestinians, or anything the UN and human rights organisations say). De-escalation through escalation. Nothing can justify the violence of 7th October but everything Israel does is justified by 7th October.
To my shame, my government is supportive of this nonsense, calling for a ceasefire but providing arms. In the US, it’s the same.
The only way to stop this, to stop Israel is to stop supplying them with arms. During the Suez crisis, the US got the UK to withdraw by threatening it’s economy. Stick not carrot.
I wish you could see the living nightmare in Palestine. But how much more must we see before something is done? All of this but especially this….
“It did not start with the tragedy of 7 October. And it will not end, not only for Palestinians, but also for those Israelis who have been corrupted by entitlement and impunity. Until those who have the power to determine who deserves to live in safety and dignity understand that you cannot deny those rights to Palestinians and expect them to underwrite peace and stability by submitting to their fate as subhuman, this will not end.”
A year marked by trauma and grief – and questions about what it means to be Jewish in Britain.
BBC cancels Boris Johnson interview after Laura Kuenssberg message gaffe – I’m always reluctant to ascribe political motive to journalists, but Laura Kuenssberg is one of the BBC journalists, I do find to be very pro Tory. This just seems accidentally done on purpose.
Christmas Caracas: early festivities are no joke as Maduro tightens grip
The ultimate gambler? How Denise Coates became Britain’s richest woman.
Paul and Jack were murdered by their abusive father. Why had the family courts granted him contact?
Family of deceased tenant refused entry to property containing life’s work. Really? What a terrible thing to do. There are a couple of issues, firstly the rule, you should be working with the family to get the flat cleared and handed back so you can let it out again, not making a family apply for probate. Second, this is the discrimination that people without money suffer, because if the house was owned, they could get all the access to it they needed without probate. But also, write a will, even if you don’t have money, write a will!
‘The truth is that I’m named after a Baywatch character’: readers on their unusual names
From beer to books: 16 subscription services to save you time and money
Nic Dempsey 