Palestine/Israel
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Erasing Palestine: Part Two
UK Lawyers for Israel: The enemy within? An obsessive, multi-faceted erasing entity Here in the UK we have our own homegrown – but substantially supported by Israel and its fellow-travellers – UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). It is committed, to the point of zealotry, to supporting Israel by the particular method of seeking to erase… Continue reading
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Erasing Palestine: Part One of two
In Part One, I look at Israel’s sustained and wide-ranging mission – for mission it is – to erase all and every trace of Palestinian identity, history and presence in the land between the river and the sea. I focus on Israel’s approach to archaeology, education and tourism as three exemplars of Israel’s eliminatory purpose.… Continue reading
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Trump’s Board of Peace: a cracked vessel
On the 17th November 2025, the UN Security Council (UNSC) voted on Resolution 2803 to endorse President Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict. Thirteen states voted in favour, the UK among them, with no votes against. China and Russia abstained. That same resolution included the establishment of a Trump dominated Board of Peace… Continue reading
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Phase two of Trump’s peace plan: A charade is being enacted before our eyes
It is important not to be misled by what we might call the surface activity that Trump’s plan for Gaza has prompted. Surface activity: a charade Beneath the flurry of international activity directed at taking Trump’s plan for Gaza into its second phase, lies another reality. The reality that Israel has not deviated from its… Continue reading
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Brief account of my (and others) court hearing under Terrorism Act 2000
Yesterday, I was one of a number of people who had their plea hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court – that is, to formally plead either ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ – in respect of charges brought under Section13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Statement denied I aimed to make a statement to the court before entering… Continue reading
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Football anyone? Travels in irony
It’s an odd sight, PM Starmer falling over himself to seek additional resources to enable Birmingham police to cope with the ‘high risk’ possibility that were Maccabi football fans allowed to attend their November Europa League game against Aston Villa, violent disorder emanating from the Maccabi fans was a realistic possibility. The ‘high risk’ designation… Continue reading
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Trump’s peace plan. Really?
It’s over one hundred years since the then League of Nations, in 1922, bestowed upon Britain a mandate over Palestine. Much has come to pass in the intervening years, yet the spirit of the Mandate, and its anchor point, the 1917 Balfour Declaration, is with us still, finding expression in Trump’s so-called Gaza peace plan.… Continue reading
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They know what they do
I’ve said it myself: ‘there is one person who can stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the West Bank too, simply by picking up the phone to Netanyahu.’ That is President Trump. But that statement is not entirely correct, for there is another potential force that were it to be so minded has the capacity… Continue reading
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No hindrance placed in their way
Victory is near. So at least must the West Bank Israeli-Jewish settlers’ assess as they consume by fire, bullet and bulldozer Palestinian land, livelihoods – and lives. No hindrance placed in their way. In Gaza, too, the death knell sounds as Israel busies itself with the dirty – but it must be done! – business… Continue reading
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Two-states: solution or chimera?
This seems to me to be axiomatic: It is not possible to construct a viable, and just – note ‘and just’ – independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. The so-called ‘two-state solution’ is no solution at all. I have rehearsed the arguments supporting the propositions above, here and here and here and here, and therefore will… Continue reading
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too