Thus far the #bbc has reported that around one hundred "counterdemonstrators" have been arrested. No news of arrests on the main #demonstration so presumably minimal thus far. Interesting!
It appears that the final figure for arrests in #london yesterday was one hundred and twenty six. of these the vast majority appear to have been #FarRight "counterdemonstrators". Nine police were injured presumably also mainly at the hands of the same people!
I have to warn anyone who posts/toots that it tends to be unsafe to make any reference to #lukeakehurst . It appears that he may have acquired an outsize amount of influence within the decision making and disciplinary processes of the #LabourParty It is best to assume that any adverse comments about him or any of the causes he espouses may expose one to complaints, investigation and even sanctions.
@djr@glowrocks Labour employ an ex IDF cyberwarrior Asaf Kaplan, for precisely this job of trawling social media for suitable candidates for suspension/expulsion. The exercise disproportionately targeted Jewish members, more of whom have been suspended/disciplined during Starmer's leadership than at any time in Labour's history. #Labour #antisemitism
For exactly the same reason as I find myself justifying Muslim fears of ethnic cleansing in the light of what has happened in Bosnia and Rakhine and why I am being taken to task currently for suggesting that a second Nakba is a more immediate risk than a second holocaust.
I am also aware that the use of the word genocide can incur penalties in some jurisdictions and within some political organisations.
There are historic genocides which are well established enough for it to be safe to refer to them - notably the holocaust and the earlier genocides of the Herero and Nama peoples.
I should add also that the use of the word occupation is dangerously ambiguous in the case of Israel/Palestine and the slogan "end the occupation!" can mean either a genuine two state solution or the ethnic cleansing of the population of Israel. For this reason I cannot subscribe safely to that either.
I should also refer to the use of coded language which is intended to be understood only by those who may decide to act on it. One example might be the description by #BenjaminNetanyahu of the current conflict as a "second war of independence". Given that the first war of independence was associated with the #nakba and included extensive #ethnic_cleansing this may well be interpreted as encouragement of renewed #ethnic_cleansing - albeit on a basis that was informal and thus readily deniable.
Was looking today at rankings at the back of #theeconomist for a number of relatively rich countries in 2022. The piece I read covered #GDP per head in $ at the prevailing exchange rate, the same adjusted for cost and price differences and the latter adjusted for hours worked. Some #European countries do very much better on the third measure whereas #Asian countries like #Japan and #Korea do much worse.
@djr@ChrisMayLA6 Interesting, but a suggestion: please remove hashtags from the text. Makes it too hard to read, and would be better placed at the end. I believe that works better for people using screen readers too, produces a smoother flow.
Unfortunately a lot of politicians believe that there are a lot of votes in "lazy delay" - just ask yourself when was the last time that the #uk government raised petrol taxation in line with inflation or higher - something that it committed to in the 1990s!
There are also quite a lot of votes among the parents whose children get asthma or whose children are not safe on the street but somehow no one thinks they might be worth mobilising - too many of them poor, urban or not white!
Initial turnout figures for two out of the three #byelections tonight - Uxbridge and South Ruislip 46% and Somerton Frome 44%. No figure yet for Selby and Ainsty. #ukpol
A proposal to allow 12 hour work shifts for women in place of 8 hour ones has been dropped due to pressure from #labour#Unions . This is a consequence of the defeat of the #bjp in May this year. Clearly a link between #secular#democracy and #labourrights in #india. #Tamilnadu likely to follow suit.