Declassified UK February 2024
Posted: 1st March 2024
February 2024
Hi all,
It’s been another grim month.
As expected, Israel has flagrantly ignored the International Court of Justice’s historic genocide ruling. It has continued to kill around 100 Palestinians each day, blocked humanitarian aid into Gaza, and zero Israeli officials have been punished for their role in the onslaught.
The death toll in Gaza has now exceeded 30,000 – another horrific milestone in one of the worst crimes in recent history. Those Palestinians who have managed to survive Israel’s relentless bombing campaign are now at urgent risk of starvation; babies as young as two months old are already dying of hunger.
In the face of these horrors, our elected officials have continued to cover for Israel’s actions. Last week, the Labour party destroyed the possibility of MPs voting on an immediate, unconditional ceasefire by coercing the speaker of the House of Commons into tabling its watered-down amendment.
Keir Starmer later admitted that he had spoken with Israeli president Isaac Herzog before crafting Labour’s amendment – the same Herzog whose statements were cited by the ICJ as plausible evidence of genocidal intent.
This month, we also saw Julian Assange’s final extradition hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. If the English courts decide to extradite Assange, he faces up to 175 years in a US supermax prison.
It’s hard not to draw a straight line between Assange’s torment and Western complicity in Israeli war crimes. The case against Assange is designed to ensure impunity for precisely the kind of atrocities that the US and UK are currently sponsoring in Gaza.
It was not just Assange on trial this month – it was also the UK judiciary.
Over the course of the two-day extradition hearing, the English judges heard that Assange is being punished for his journalistic activities, that he cannot receive a fair trial in the US, and that the CIA even plotted to kidnap or kill him.
How could the English courts possibly serve Assange up to the country that plotted to assassinate him? Yet, as Declassified has consistently -NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1tacQ2iIrH3yLZBnyvw0ilkuS46DbkboLxyPRZGeFz-9g-k0N5KWaVXZBBNPjZ2SLj8b38HQ5pzEyYyTVuNrJIy6fwh8×2LYu5UjSsv-wwpL3WqQu4FBoFNKPRgS4c7pGr2tRoAwxj-IulfanYkVY-uTa4yHP59l3dPBe7hRostvRY5GNxRDUUA=&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>showed how Dame Victoria Sharp, one of the two judges overseeing the Assange hearing, has close familial links to the British establishment. Her father was a peer in the House of Lords, and her brother is Richard Sharp, the disgraced former chair of the BBC.
Mark and I also revealed that the other judge, Jeremy Johnson, has MI6 and the Ministry of Defence – whose activities WikiLeaks has exposed. How is this not a glaring conflict of interest?
If Assange is extradited, what he faces next is terrifying.
Declassified’s chief investigator Matt Kennard NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1nrD0qiu5foeuy7cSL6_XHrvk6sd987Fnje82fO9m7JwxbOueK7elosGPeNjVxGF5eQkR2k2snds7UTa46Q0rnUaYHLqZDb94_4AVt4cH4GkgZKdI5p2jW8l5l22sQli6svtKuQ3cN37JuoeXP36uCJANi5AsD8FHIBOoM_Pl8We&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>
In an ironic twist of fate, Assange’s hearing took place in the same courthouse, and at the same time, as a public inquiry into SAS war crimes in Afghanistan.
As Richard Norton-Taylor NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1nrD0qiu5foeKwrS11BYR7×6CxaqkvQhX2nLmD9TfecS8saEmpPSLYU5dGHa95vwFOb6uhczYQxmNRGIuDKFu4_U0hQ_QycgNabBUgkT56MTDvjHXAwsp9aIKotlFIO2dNv0V7-9R6_Ko8OfKdf1ifwNWmnPCsiUjmJMWB9O3vIbWitgJo1Ttk=&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>showedhow Britain’s nuclear arsenal failed its second test in eight years, with the missile crash-landing shortly after deployment. “Why must we still pay for these extortionate weapons of mass destruction?”, Hudson asked.
In another episode of ill-conceived British militarism this month, the UK ordered a third and fourth round of airstrikes on Yemen.
The UK government insists that these strikes are solely about protecting international shipping lanes, but it’s clear that they’re also aimed at shielding Israel from the consequences of its ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Israel
We also continued to expose how the UK government is not only shielding Israel from the consequences of its genocide in Gaza – it is also providing material support to it.
Matt NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1n2N8jYX7bNhty19vE9nLWLl8AsKmRihyzU1gX6YLSYLUnRHAKSCJggGMykILco19L7GfLst8xMzWtcSWMssrhuaA__6SAV6DiEOhxgWn6e6jpj3DUTI07oLchQAfrnj2aK2QrHaEVdBzraGCH3DkoRyxCmsA_Oqeg==&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>showed that the Ministry of Defence is hosting six Israeli armed forces personnel and providing “defence-led training courses”, while I ICC has so far done nothing to prosecute Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. What explains the ICC’s inaction?
Tom Coburg ICC’s key funders. Can we trust Khan to fulfil his mandate, or is he compromised?
Meanwhile, we continued to interrogate the pro-Israel bias which pervades our political and media spheres.
I went through the register of interests of all sitting Labour MPs, -NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1q9WXMIumieKsRB43MUf76ZIbUM144DmAvn2DnVq5h3dpGz3tjp_frw3zRluNUARpQ7Gbmn1c664-555W26Y9zSZGgWAKaqBz69×4RrS4JGRumh0xJHkuJcAOby8diobSoadasQm-qkTScdMez1yZisN2GNRr2Yw1XdXtdokO9phec5l02QXiIU=&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>obtained editorial guidelines from French newswire AFP, which instruct journalists to present information that accommodates Israeli government sensitives without requiring similar context for Palestinians.
Antony Lerman, a former IDF soldier who later embraced anti-Zionism, -NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1mwHet3Q_t4ZBgh881Kr9vQ-qwWhUoTFkC23AGMkWpzohP-OXxFsPbbVwxY8JOGcTjPVJZQifythojMNbhM4Cnb-vwuvOF-fbqP5uNljHv95HiwHrbmPCp_nNBmk8XX6FyzLVv3HpsRC&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>
This month, we also stepped up our production of video content on our YouTube channel, which you can follow -NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1mwHet3Q_t4ZXnd8TUV1jQXL6fM-FzOGn41nH8e_EZGHoIzgXaDRCXTpgaOt2WTq8mWHJOw-vGnahdXGdwIoyNCJG6xUcpIic3P6hqXK4W3hEhdGmTWgjHcA0cEAxAMv4dohRvPUmjIsFCXSB86X_AdqqnZrFmAdB3RFXu7IUCx_nmyFx-lG2A=&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>interviewed Matt about Israeli war planes landing in Britain, Antony about his -NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1mwHet3Q_t4ZBOC_Enmxfqxz0q0ydpeVu_5meyMUsi3KXWga7aYMqNLUhol3zIPY2N21DsF5DO738Wdx9EHzyH4SsIacRg-nFN2Azc9KFsl6uL4sBVUvgljDD1tsFhYYFlEosPI66NEW_RK_1Y-e7qZbW5YAsJn-KxWF_AdI4KPZLKGI5GHbk4=&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>cashwithin the Labour party.
Matt and Phil also reported from the Royal Courts of Justice for the Assange hearing, publishing interviews with and speeches from the likes of-NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1mwHet3Q_t4ZDMfCXBTWpjJi2f_b9o_ayuofu3ERIjCRdFyL79TmAxnxTRzRu9vymTMcrcp_i7_DBk56MFY888GiUIf6V71-R5dg_QCwi_u48TcArLEoq61T_DAAA409ZgHLlL4h7dKEnarnG5-Z27LQc1LCop1qHg==&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>Peter Oborne, and NKgbaYMlWRA_pbUXFATBr8uoe6zTYf4CQaRG6yNTALUw1qoSXEp2KBPCp9pM2IYWT8SLrhAD8VvTwlre2b5Eof5RV_Va3j7efwHBuXaR3jcoIuB3E124k6GKiYsOhFjfQvcoeUMmwAgpe41oEsmGUiyI&c=rFlnvmdUXrzCH97DXlxqMV13psBx_FbkHk0K_jTDks5z3-o5hoXAXg==&ch=IH26p9Hl6bni0PHfZDaYbdHskAnL_kQrQchlrmmd7rc0KcFIqAU2rg==”>please give today.
All the best,
John.