The absurdity and horror of life in a time of genocide in Gaza
My plate sickening me, revolting me.
I eat my lunch while the TV shows children with their brains blown out. I open social media on holiday and am confronted with the reality of genocide.
Human beings are being pounded with bombs, starved and then shot as they scrabble for food at aid stations. We're witnessing live-streamed genocide. This is hell.
I don't want to look away. I must look, because to not look is to not know, and we must know.
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I am not, I hope, a stupid man, or someone incapable of processing their emotions, but I don't know how to fit what I see, read and hear into the plodding reality of my day-to-day life.
I'm not sure what it says about my humanity that I can look at pictures of a land levelled to ash, then get in my car and go shopping.
There's an absurd horror to how we all - everyone and every government across the west - is responding to what's happening in Gaza and being done to the Palestinian people.
That sense of absurdity clashing up against horror reaches from the level of the lone individual - how a plate of food can accuse me like an indictment - to the level of a society or nation.
I watched the British satirist John Oliver on television this week feel compelled to prove to his viewers repeatedly - mounting evidence upon evidence - that Israel is starving the people of Gaza.
Why must he be made to do this? Can't we all see what's happening with our own eyes? Do we require proof recounted endlessly?
Britain arrests hundreds of ordinary men and women as terrorists for daring to hold signs reading: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.'
These people are the conscience of our country. Many are elderly, respected in their communities.
It isn't an act of terrorism to speak out against genocide. It isn't an act of terrorism to defend an organisation which protests genocide. It isn't an act of terrorism to spray-paint planes in protest against genocide.
If Palestine Action members break laws of trespass or criminal damage, then charge them with that. Don't make terrorists out of protestors. Don't tell ordinary citizens they're terrorist sympathisers.
Palestine Action at Trump Turnberry (Image: Milo Chandler)
As protestors were dragged away by police, Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to increase the attack on Gaza. Dear God, what does that even mean? How can you increase what's already beyond bearing?
More than 50,000 children have been killed in Gaza. Yet only now is the British government preparing to 'urgently accelerate' efforts to bring around 100 badly injured children here for medical treatment.
Isn't this madness? Isn't it all madness?
Amid this absurdity in the face of unspeakable horror, Israel stands accused of crimes including genocide.
The World Health Organisation says starvation in Gaza is 'man-made'. Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières concluded that Israel is conducting genocide.
Israeli groups B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights say the country's conduct constitutes genocide. Israel is being investigated for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, says 'humanity is failing in Gaza … It should really shock our collective conscience … It will haunt us'.
Lord Sumption, a former UK Supreme Court Justice, said: 'Genocide is a question of intent. It means killing, maiming or imposing intolerable conditions on a national or ethnic group with intent to destroy them in whole or in part.
'Statements by Netanyahu and his ministers suggest that the object of current operations is to force the Arab population of Gaza to leave by killing and starving them if they stay. These things make genocide the most plausible explanation for what is now happening.'
The UN committee investigating 'Israeli practices affecting the human rights' of Palestinians said 'Israel's warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide'.
In the wake of the Hamas October 7 atrocities which began this monstrous period of history, Netanyahu said: 'You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.' The quotation refers to God commanding the destruction of the Amalekites.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: 'We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.' Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel had 'returned Khan Yunis to the Stone Age'.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari boasted Gaza would be turned into a 'city of tents'. Politicians have variously called for 'erasing all of Gaza from the face of the earth' and 'crushing and flattening Gaza'.
The former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel is 'committing war crimes'. He added: 'What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians. It's the result of government policy - knowingly, evilly, maliciously, irresponsibly dictated.'
Israel's government denies the accusations against it, as do many of its supporters around the world and here at home.
One could go on: recounting the blood, the deaths, the accusations, the rebuttals. The absurd horror.
All I can see is mountains of dead. All I can see is once sensible people and governments standing in the shadow of crimes which history will never forget, too dumbfounded or scared or self-interested to act or speak up.
Why can't we just say what we see? We saw that Hamas committed monstrous acts and we rightly raised our voices in revulsion because our shared humanity demanded that response.
Since then monstrous acts have been committed by Israel and our shared humanity demands we respond with outrage.
Our shared humanity doesn't demand that we arrest those who speak in defence of the weakest. It demands that the hostages be freed, and it demands that the Palestinian people be freed with them.
Neil Mackay is the Herald's Writer-at-Large. He's a multi-award winning investigative journalist, author of both fiction and non-fiction, and a filmmaker and broadcaster. He specialises in intelligence, security, crime, social affairs, cultural commentary, and foreign and domestic politics
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The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
King and Queen to honour veterans on 80th anniversary of VJ Day
Charles, patron of the RBL, Camilla, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will attend the event which honours British, Commonwealth and Allied veterans who served in the Far East theatres of war including Myanmar and the Pacific and Indian Ocean territories. Ahead of the service, the King, in an pre-recorded audio address to the nation, will vow that the sacrifice of heroes who fought and died in the campaigns 'shall never be forgotten'. He will reflect on the horrors experienced by prisoners of war and innocent civilians of occupied lands in the region 'whose suffering reminds us that war's true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life'. Charles will describe how the collaboration of countries demonstrated 'in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear but the arms you link'. The King recording his audio message at Clarence House earlier this month (Aaron Chown/PA) Around 1,500 guests at the national commemoration will hear first-hand testimony from veterans who experienced conflict in the Far East before the war ended when atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan's surrender and VJ Day on August 15 1945. The service will begin with a national two-minute silence and include flypasts by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster – with military bagpipers playing at dawn in the Far East section of the Arboretum. The Prime Minister held a special reception at Downing Street for veterans on Thursday, at which he described the Government as one of 'service'. He added: 'I sat on this terrace this very morning with President Zelensky, who is fighting for the same values as we were fighting for. 'And so when we say never forget, we must pass on the stories of those who have gone before us.' On 15 August, we will mark VJ Day 80 with a National Commemorative Event at the @Nat_Mem_Arb. Please join us for the national two-minute silence, and help us pay tribute to all those who fought and died during WW2 in the Far East. Find out more ⬇️ — Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) July 15, 2025 During Thursday's garden party, veteran Stanley Elliss, aged 103, and his daughter, could be seen showing the Prime Minister pictures he had taken during the war. Sir Keir said: 'Eighty years since our victory in the Second World War, we pay our respects to the many who fought, were captured, and made the ultimate sacrifice in the Far East. 'Our country owes a great debt to those who fought for a better future, so we could have the freedoms and the life we enjoy today. We must honour that sacrifice with every new generation.' Many of the veterans at the Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, have never told their story before registering with the RBL to be part of commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory Over Japan. Veterans attending the event on Friday served in the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, with roles ranging from those deployed on submarines, minesweepers and destroyers, to a Spitfire pilot and a combat cameraman. The oldest veterans are Yavar Abbas and Owen Filer, aged 105, and other attendees include two of the last surviving Chindits – Charlie Richards, 104, and Sid Machin, 101 – who served in the elite Special Forces unit known for their deep jungle warfare tactics as part of Operation Thursday. Mr Richards, from Northamptonshire – who served in the 7th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, spent months behind enemy lines ambushing Japanese supplies and communications, all while pulling along reluctant mules and heavy equipment. Second World War veteran Yavar Abbas, 105, served in the Army with the 11th Sikh Regiment (Royal British Legion/Private Collection/PA) The 104-year-old said: 'I am so proud to attend the RBL's national event, and I think it will be a really poignant moment for those of us left. 'I want to represent all those who saw action in the Far East and remember those who never made it home, including my best friend and comrade, Son Johnson, who was killed in action in Burma. It will be such a special day for me and my family.' Joseph Hammond, 100, whose testimony will be shared during the service, will be watching the live broadcast from his home in Ghana 3,000 miles away. Mr Hammond fought in Burma in the 82nd Division in brutal conditions near the Irrawaddy River and suffered a serious eye injury and remained in hospital until the war ended. In 2020, he walked 14 miles over seven days to raise £500,000 for frontline workers and veterans during the Covid pandemic. Mr Hammond said: 'Why should such a thing happen? Man killing his fellow man. Humanity, destroying humanity. Never allow your country to go that way. It's no good. I know how it feels, so I have to advise everybody to keep away from war. Let us continue to enjoy our peace.' Charlie Richards, 104, is attending the RBL's VJ 80 service of remembrance on Friday (Royal British Legion/Private Collection/PA) The service will be broadcast live on BBC One from 11.30am and will be hosted by actress and author Celia Imrie. Ms Imrie said: 'It is an honour to be hosting this momentous occasion with The Royal British Legion, to pay tribute to these courageous and inspiring veterans who are able to join us at the National Memorial Arboretum on VJ Day, and to remember those who never made it home.' Mark Atkinson, Director General of the Royal British Legion, said: 'It is an enormous privilege for the RBL to be leading the nation on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day with our service of remembrance at National Memorial Arboretum broadcast live on BBC One. 'Victory over Japan would not have been possible without the diverse contribution of Allied Forces from Britain, the Commonwealth and beyond, and this is one of our last chances to thank veterans who fought in the Far East and Pacific for their service and sacrifice. 'Their contribution brought an end to the Second World War and this is a moment for the country to come together and commemorate this momentous anniversary and pay tribute to their courage and bravery.' Around five million men and women served in the British Armed Forces during the Second World War, with millions more mobilised from countries including pre-partition India, Australia, Canada, and across the Commonwealth including African and Caribbean nations. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: 'We must never forget this vital part of our national story. By coming together to hear the stories of our brave VJ Day veterans first-hand, we can ensure that the legacy of our British Armed Forces and those from across the Commonwealth is passed on to future generations.' From 9pm on Friday evening, hundreds of buildings across the country will be lit up to mark VJ 80, including Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, Tower42, The Shard, Blackpool Tower, Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Durham Cathedral, Cardiff Castle, the Cenotaph, the Kranji War Memorial in Singapore and the White Cliffs of Dover.
Western Telegraph
an hour ago
- Western Telegraph
King and Queen to honour veterans on 80th anniversary of VJ Day
Royal British Legion (RBL) guests of honour at a service of remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum on Friday include 33 veterans aged from 96 to 105 who served in the Far East and Pacific. Charles, patron of the RBL, Camilla, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will attend the event which honours British, Commonwealth and Allied veterans who served in the Far East theatres of war including Myanmar and the Pacific and Indian Ocean territories. Ahead of the service, the King, in an pre-recorded audio address to the nation, will vow that the sacrifice of heroes who fought and died in the campaigns 'shall never be forgotten'. He will reflect on the horrors experienced by prisoners of war and innocent civilians of occupied lands in the region 'whose suffering reminds us that war's true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life'. Charles will describe how the collaboration of countries demonstrated 'in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear but the arms you link'. The King recording his audio message at Clarence House earlier this month (Aaron Chown/PA) Around 1,500 guests at the national commemoration will hear first-hand testimony from veterans who experienced conflict in the Far East before the war ended when atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan's surrender and VJ Day on August 15 1945. The service will begin with a national two-minute silence and include flypasts by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster – with military bagpipers playing at dawn in the Far East section of the Arboretum. The Prime Minister held a special reception at Downing Street for veterans on Thursday, at which he described the Government as one of 'service'. He added: 'I sat on this terrace this very morning with President Zelensky, who is fighting for the same values as we were fighting for. 'And so when we say never forget, we must pass on the stories of those who have gone before us.' On 15 August, we will mark VJ Day 80 with a National Commemorative Event at the @Nat_Mem_Arb. Please join us for the national two-minute silence, and help us pay tribute to all those who fought and died during WW2 in the Far East. Find out more ⬇️ — Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) July 15, 2025 During Thursday's garden party, veteran Stanley Elliss, aged 103, and his daughter, could be seen showing the Prime Minister pictures he had taken during the war. Sir Keir said: 'Eighty years since our victory in the Second World War, we pay our respects to the many who fought, were captured, and made the ultimate sacrifice in the Far East. 'Our country owes a great debt to those who fought for a better future, so we could have the freedoms and the life we enjoy today. We must honour that sacrifice with every new generation.' Many of the veterans at the Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, have never told their story before registering with the RBL to be part of commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory Over Japan. Veterans attending the event on Friday served in the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, with roles ranging from those deployed on submarines, minesweepers and destroyers, to a Spitfire pilot and a combat cameraman. The oldest veterans are Yavar Abbas and Owen Filer, aged 105, and other attendees include two of the last surviving Chindits – Charlie Richards, 104, and Sid Machin, 101 – who served in the elite Special Forces unit known for their deep jungle warfare tactics as part of Operation Thursday. Mr Richards, from Northamptonshire – who served in the 7th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, spent months behind enemy lines ambushing Japanese supplies and communications, all while pulling along reluctant mules and heavy equipment. Second World War veteran Yavar Abbas, 105, served in the Army with the 11th Sikh Regiment (Royal British Legion/Private Collection/PA) The 104-year-old said: 'I am so proud to attend the RBL's national event, and I think it will be a really poignant moment for those of us left. 'I want to represent all those who saw action in the Far East and remember those who never made it home, including my best friend and comrade, Son Johnson, who was killed in action in Burma. It will be such a special day for me and my family.' Joseph Hammond, 100, whose testimony will be shared during the service, will be watching the live broadcast from his home in Ghana 3,000 miles away. Mr Hammond fought in Burma in the 82nd Division in brutal conditions near the Irrawaddy River and suffered a serious eye injury and remained in hospital until the war ended. In 2020, he walked 14 miles over seven days to raise £500,000 for frontline workers and veterans during the Covid pandemic. Mr Hammond said: 'Why should such a thing happen? Man killing his fellow man. Humanity, destroying humanity. Never allow your country to go that way. It's no good. I know how it feels, so I have to advise everybody to keep away from war. Let us continue to enjoy our peace.' Charlie Richards, 104, is attending the RBL's VJ 80 service of remembrance on Friday (Royal British Legion/Private Collection/PA) The service will be broadcast live on BBC One from 11.30am and will be hosted by actress and author Celia Imrie. Ms Imrie said: 'It is an honour to be hosting this momentous occasion with The Royal British Legion, to pay tribute to these courageous and inspiring veterans who are able to join us at the National Memorial Arboretum on VJ Day, and to remember those who never made it home.' Mark Atkinson, Director General of the Royal British Legion, said: 'It is an enormous privilege for the RBL to be leading the nation on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day with our service of remembrance at National Memorial Arboretum broadcast live on BBC One. 'Victory over Japan would not have been possible without the diverse contribution of Allied Forces from Britain, the Commonwealth and beyond, and this is one of our last chances to thank veterans who fought in the Far East and Pacific for their service and sacrifice. 'Their contribution brought an end to the Second World War and this is a moment for the country to come together and commemorate this momentous anniversary and pay tribute to their courage and bravery.' Around five million men and women served in the British Armed Forces during the Second World War, with millions more mobilised from countries including pre-partition India, Australia, Canada, and across the Commonwealth including African and Caribbean nations. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: 'We must never forget this vital part of our national story. By coming together to hear the stories of our brave VJ Day veterans first-hand, we can ensure that the legacy of our British Armed Forces and those from across the Commonwealth is passed on to future generations.' From 9pm on Friday evening, hundreds of buildings across the country will be lit up to mark VJ 80, including Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, Tower42, The Shard, Blackpool Tower, Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Durham Cathedral, Cardiff Castle, the Cenotaph, the Kranji War Memorial in Singapore and the White Cliffs of Dover.
STV News
3 hours ago
- STV News
Israel announces West Bank settlement that will 'bury' idea of Palestinian state
Israel is developing plans to build thousands of new housing units in the occupied West Bank, in a move that would 'permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state', Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said. The E1 settlement project, which seeks to connect Jerusalem to the settlement of Maale Adumim and essentially split the West Bank in two, would effectively make it impossible to create a future Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. The announcement comes as an increasing number of countries, including the UK, France and Canada, are announcing they would recognise a Palestinian state from September. Smotrich presented the advances in the project as Israel's response to those announcements. The project has been in the works for two decades, but progress has been frozen due to strong international opposition. Smitroch announced on Thursday that approval for 3,401 new houses was currently pending, with final approval expected next week. An area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says housing units will be built. / Credit: AP He was speaking at press conference held at a planned construction site. 'They will talk about a Palestinian dream, and we will continue to build a Jewish reality,' Smotrich said. 'This reality is what will permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise.' He has repeatedly lobbied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the occupied West Bank and apply Israeli sovereignty to the entire territory. Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. Palestinian officials were quick to criticise the plans. In a statement, the presidency of the Palestinian National Council described them as a 'systemic plan to steal land, Judaize it, and impose biblical and Talmudic facts on the conflict'. Palestinian Speaker Rawhi Fattouh said the 'colonial plan falls within the policy of creeping annexation' of the West Bank, which is accompanied by settler violence against Palestinians. Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now described the E1 plan as 'deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution'. All petitions to stop the construction were rejected by the planning committee on August 6. Palestinians in the West Bank Israel's plans for construction in the West Bank are contributing to increasingly difficult circumstances for Palestinians living in the West Bank as much of the focus is instead on Gaza, around 40 kilometres away from the occupied territory. Attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have increased since October 7, 2023, while evictions from towns and an increased number of checkpoints have made life harder for those living there. More than 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future state. Would this be legal? Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. But during the first Trump administration, the State Department reversed longstanding US policy and ruled settlements were 'not inconsistent' with international law. The Biden administration left this new policy in place. Could other countries take in displaced Palestinians? Prime Minister Netanyahu has said there are talks underway with a number of countries about taking in Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza. South Sudan, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Libya and Indonesia are all involved in those talks, according to a senior Israeli official who spoke to ITV News' American partner CNN. In exchange for taking in some of Gaza's population of more than two million people, the official said the countries are looking for 'significant financial and international compensation'. But the countries have not individually confirmed what part they could play. On Wednesday, South Sudan rejected a report that it was in discussions about the resettlement of Palestinians, saying in a statement the reports were 'baseless and do not reflect the official position' of the country. Somaliland also said there were no such talks earlier in the year. Last week Indonesia said it was ready to take in 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza for treatment but that they would return to Gaza once they recovered. Netanyahu has never given a detailed vision of what will happen to Gaza after the war but has repeatedly advocated for resettling displaced Palestinians in other countries, particularly after President Donald Trump floated the idea in January. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
