How Israeli embassy staff shooting could impact Gaza war
The shooting of a couple who worked for the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC has sent shockwaves around the world, while in Gaza the UN says thousands of men, women and children are in danger of severe starvation after an 11-week aid blockade.
For this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to The Economist's Israel Correspondent Anshel Pfeffer and Palestinian journalist Nour Odeh.
They discuss the shooting of Israeli embassy staff in DC, growing condemnation of Netanyahu by Western leaders and mounting international calls to recognise a Palestinian state.
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The National
an hour ago
- The National
Scotland is giving this essential art the platform it has been denied
Although many hundreds – including some very big names – signed, several notable artistic directors of buildings I have worked in chose not to respond. Meanwhile, in Scotland, the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival has proudly programmed Ahmed Masoud's exceptionally powerful short play, The Florist Of Rafah, which is part of Cutting The Tightrope, a collection of pieces by 14 eminent playwrights that explore the art's and society's unprecedented censorship of Palestine. Cutting The Tightrope's journey from London to Scotland is a story of rags to riches. In May 2024, these short political plays went on in the small studio at the Arcola Theatre in East London as a totally unfunded rapid response piece. Put together in a fortnight, they were staged against the backdrop of Israel's decision to hold 2.3 million people hostage by closing their borders, while threatening to cross Joe Biden's 'red line' with a ground invasion of Rafah – an ancient city which a year later barely exists. Meanwhile, the Charity Commission's clause of 'political neutrality' had been so weaponised by Israeli lobby groups that Arts Council England (ACE) – an organisation that is supposed to protect artistic freedom – updated its policy guidelines to warn that anyone in a regularly funded arts organisation making 'political statements' could cause 'reputational damage' and therefore 'breach funding agreements'. READ MORE: 'Joy, celebration and warmth' of Palestinian art to be showcased at Edinburgh Fringe Although subsequently retracted, a FOI request revealed the statement had been made immediately after a meeting between ACE and the UK Government about Israel/Palestine and the message was clear: speak out and your organisation may lose government funding. The National Theatre, which had projected the Ukrainian flag on its building's expansive white wall, now chose to say nothing at all. Although Cutting The Tightrope's first run garnered rave reviews, and instantly sold out with long waiting lists, ACE still rejected a small bid made to transfer the show to the Arcola's main house. Its reason was revealing. It ticked the box that claimed other shows were 'more likely to make a difference', despite ours being the only show about the genocide playing to packed audiences, who yearned a creative space to unleash their grief and rage and find much-needed solidarity. I wonder what ACE now makes of our being selected by the International Festival to showcase the best of British theatre to an international audience. The very silence adopted by ACE and major English theatres to preserve their position has simultaneously made them even more irrelevant. By obeying the command to look the other way, they have lost the devotion of artists brave enough to speak out, imaginative enough to think outside the box and collaborative enough to together create phenomenally ambitious work against all odds. Aghast, these artists stepped into the void and used their talents to protest, creating work enormous in its necessity, bravery, emotional weight, urgency and impact – thereby attracting in droves the new young and truly diverse audience the theatre so needs to survive. After 19 months, an unstoppable new art movement has been forming across disciplines: a movement of rebellion. Like Dadaism emerging from the ruins of world war, this urgent movement is born from the ruins of Western values, placing solidarity, integrity and the artist's voice at its core. And where have these radical artists – penalised or ignored in most of the UK – found a platform? Scotland. Take Gaza Biennale – Jinnaah UK whose importance in celebrating, supporting and documenting more than 50 artists in Palestine confronting genocide cannot be overstated. Until recently, the current and lost artworks of these artists – who by facing erasure must surely be the most critical and precious of our time – were relegated to being projected by GB-JUK on to the walls of cultural institutions in London. In Scotland, however, three of their artists are currently being proudly displayed along the Edinburgh Pavilion. In one of Cutting The Tightrope's short plays, Dare Not Speak, a murdered girl, Hind, ends the play with a premonition that she will haunt the dreams of an artistic director. Sometimes I wonder, when watching the play, if there will soon be any artistic directors left to haunt, if mainstream English theatres continue to limp so feebly behind the politics of the day. Cutting the Tightrope will run from August 14 to 17 at the Edinburgh International Festival
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Scottish Government urges Chancellor to drop cuts in spending review
Finance Secretary Shona Robison urged the UK Government to abandon some of its 'damaging policies' such as cuts to welfare support for disabled people, to scrap the two-child benefit cap and to reinstate a universal Winter Fuel Payment, ahead of the review on June 11. She said the Scottish Government had not yet been provided with 'clarity' on spending priorities. READ MORE: Man arrested after Glasgow city centre incident which saw several roads shut She asked the Chancellor to award funding for the Acorn carbon capture project and to ensure Scotland receives a share of GB Energy funding that matches its contribution to UK clean energy goals. Robison (above) said: 'The UK spending review is an opportunity for the UK Government to abandon some of its damaging policies such as cuts to welfare support for disabled people, to scrap the two-child benefit cap and to reinstate a universal winter fuel payment. 'We are also aware of the huge impact of the increase in employer's national insurance, not least on public services. I hope UK ministers will use the spending review to fully-fund the costs of this tax hike on jobs to vital public services like the NHS. READ MORE: 'Joy, celebration and warmth' of Palestinian art to be showcased at Edinburgh Fringe 'The UK Government should also use the spending review to empower the devolved administrations with more flexible fiscal rules that can enable investment in public services. 'We need an end to spending that bypasses devolution so we can direct funds to best meet local needs. 'We called on UK ministers to involve us at an early stage of this process, but since they've refused to provide us with any clarity on their spending priorities it's clear that its business as usual for Westminster. 'We continue to call on the Treasury to use the spending review to change course, providing the funding we need to deliver for the people of Scotland.'
Belfast Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Thousands of demonstrators march through Rome to call for end to war in Gaza
Protesters held a banner reading 'Stop the massacre, stop complicity!' at the start of the march, which moved peacefully through the centre of Rome amid a massive display of rainbow, Palestinian and political party flags. The protest attracted a diverse crowd from across the country, including many families with children. According to organisers, up to 300,000 people participated in the rally organised by the leftist opposition to ask the government for a clear position on the conflict in Gaza. 'This is an an enormous popular response to say enough to the massacre of Palestinians and the crimes of (Israeli leader Benjamin) Netanyahu's government,' the leader of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, told reporters at the march. 'There is another Italy that doesn't remain silent as the Meloni government does,' she said, referring to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Ms Meloni was recently pushed by the opposition to publicly condemn Mr Netanyahu's offensive in Gaza, but many observers considered her criticism too timid. '(The Italian government) is not reacting despite an abnormal massacre, despite an absolutely cruel and inappropriate reaction. The (Italian) government remains silent,' said Nadin Unali, a Tunisian demonstrator at the march. Earlier this week, the Italian premier urged Israel to immediately halt its military campaign in Gaza, saying its attacks had grown disproportionately and should be brought to an end to protect civilians. Israel faces mounting international criticism for its offensive and pressure to let aid into Gaza during a humanitarian crisis. Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, with experts warning that many of its two million residents are at high risk of famine. The war broke out on October 7 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 hostages. They are still holding 56 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive. Since then, Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians in its military campaign, primarily women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures.
