Goodbye 2023

 

As we say goodbye to 2023 I give my voice to the children of Gaza, and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire now.

Israel's Christmas gift to the Palestinians

 

Israel made it clear what it's Christmas gifts for Palestinians was, you even had the President signing some of the gifts. This Christmas Israel raided parts of the West Bank, Jenin, Nablus and even Bethlehem! They bombed a 600 year old monastery in South Lebanon, none of these places are ruled / governed by Hamas, the ones Israel claims to be at war with. They also bombed Jabaliya refugee camp, for the fifth time. Massacred 100 people at Maghazi camp, killed 160 babies, and announced plans to occupy Egypt's Rafah border. 

On top of that you had the IDF murder 2 Palestinian Christian women inside the Holy Family (Catholic compound) parish in Gaza. An IDF soldier shot dead an elderly woman, Nahida Khalil Anton, and then shot dead her daughter, Samar Anton, who rushed to try to save her mother. Seven more people were wounded trying to protect each other in the church. The IDF just entered the compound situated in Northern Gaza, without warning and with no notification and just started shooting people in cold blood! The Pope condemned the attack by the IDF and called it terrorism. 

The IDF had also targeted the convent in the compound by firing tank missiles at it. They destroyed the compounds generator and fuel supplies, which resulted in a fire which destroyed solar panels and water tanks, that were needed for the community. The home is now uninhabitable and 54 disabled people are now displaced, some will die because they needed respirators. There was around 600 people taking shelter there, many of them went there after the Greek orthodox church was bombed, the 3rd oldest church in the world, killing 18, of which 9 were children. 

Most people didn't realise there was a Christian community in Gaza. They believed the lies Israel told them, they claimed Hamas kicked out the Christians, that was a lie, there are several hundred. The numbers have been declining but that's due to Israel, not Hamas. Why do you think the Christian and Muslim communities in other parts of Palestine are speaking out for them?  

While Americans and Europeans, my lot, are singing about love, forgiveness and peace, celebrating the birth of Jesus, in a land far away. They're sending bombs and supporting war, which is death and destruction in the very same part of the world that Jesus was born. They are supporting the murder of the babies and children who are of the same ethnicity as Jesus himself was! Even the Pope called for a ceasefire, and called the children of Gaza, "the little Jesuses of today". 

On hearing of the attack on the Gaza Catholic church by the IDF, the Archbishop of Westminster said he was 'heart broken', he went on to say, "The attack by the IDF gives a picture of a seemingly deliberate and callous killing by the IDF soldiers of innocent civilians, an elderly woman and her daughter. The killing has to stop, it can never be justified".

Gaza's children have been through too much, seen too much. Let them be children. Don't Palestinian children have the right to be children? We know that most of the people who are silent are sellouts, they're more concerned with their popularity. They are spineless and weak, and most of the people who are speaking out for Israel are sellouts too, as most of them have been paid. They've become the modern day Judas Iscariot's of today. They've taken their 30 pieces of silver and turned a blind eye to the slaughter of innocent people, they're enabling Israel to kill thousands of 'little Jesuses'. 

If you believe in God, you believe He is everywhere, all knowing, all seeing. But where does He dwell? How do you hear His call to you? I believe with my whole heart that you will find God dwelling with the poor, the oppressed, the victims, the dying, the diseased, the lonely, the grieving. You won't find him dwelling with the corrupt politicians, or the multimillionaires, or the celebrities or influencers. And you can hear him calling out to you everyday in the cries of the poor, the oppressed, the lonely etc...etc....Your test is to answer His call!

Christmas 2023 - A sombre time

 

For Christians Christmas is a time for celebrating the birth of Jesus, it's not his birthday, just the date they use to celebrate his birth. Christians see it as a time for sharing with others, giving gifts and working for peace and good harmony.

Sadly the very place where Jesus was born, where he grew up, where he preached and taught people to be good, is the very place where thousands of people are being murdered and slaughtered. This is supposed to be a time of peace, love and happiness, but how can we be happy seeing beautiful innocent children being brutally murdered in their thousands, how can we celebrate love with such evil in the world. Seeing children crying because they've been left orphans, seeing children's whole bodies shaking because they're suffering from shock. How can we celebrate or be happy when we're watching mother's crying over the bodies of their dead children? How can we celebrate when fathers are digging the rubble of their family home trying to reach their children. Even the animals in the Zoo have gone crazy from the constant carpet bombing.

This Christmas is not a time to celebrate, it is a time to reflect. If you're a Christian, you need to ask yourself what would Jesus do? How would he handle this? Remember that Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers", he also said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". Seeing this mass slaughter of innocence, I believe Jesus would be telling us to fight to stop the killings. We have a moral duty to not only protect the children, but to protect every single man, woman and child in Gaza, and in all of Palestine. We also have to remember and pray for others in need to. Like in Sudan, Yemen, the Congo, Ukraine, Myanmar. We should be fighting for justice, peace and equality for everyone.

This is a very sombre Christmas for me. I am deeply saddened, upset and worried about my Palestinian friends, who are suffering so much, but I wish them and all of you peace and love, and all the people who have been killed we will never forget you, we will honour your memory. Peace to everyone, including the departed souls. Christmas 2023.

Happy birthday Khaled and Reem

 Today is the shared birthday of Khaled and Reem. There are no words to say, Khaled described Reem as, "The soul of my soul", Reem would have turned 4 years old today. Khaled thanked everyone who prayed for or cried for Reem. This man is full of love, even with a broken heart he thanked people. Today is their day. Rest in peace Reem, and we call for a permanent ceasefire, so no more innocent people have to die.

Strike for Gaza

 Ceasefire now!

We call for a full ceasefire for the children

 

No child should have to live through a war, or a brutal attack like Israel is currently doing in Gaza. No child should have to have the acronym, 'WCNSF', which stands for, wounded child no surviving family'. This is happening everyday in Gaza. And to all the people who are supporting Israel, thinking you have to be nice to the Jews because of what happened in the Holocaust, never forget that in the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Nazi's were murdering around 127 children per day, and today in the Gaza strip concentration camp Israel is murdering 178 children per day, and the UK MP's voted against calling for a ceasefire. Shame on them, and shame on everyone else who isn't calling for a ceasefire. Stop the killing of children, demand a ceasefire now!

Remembrance Sunday - Gaza

 Yesterday was Armistice Day and today is Remembrance Sunday. Armistice Day is about ceasefire, and Remembrance Sunday is about remembering the dead from the wars, especially the Great War and the Second World war. Yesterday during Armistice Day there was a protest march for Palestine, calling for a ceasefire, and the British government along with the right wing mainstream media have done all they can to get it cancelled, but they failed, so instead they've been drumming up hate. 

The democratically unelected British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has labelled the Pro-Palestinian marches as provocative and disrespectful. And the bat sh*t crazy Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has called them hate marches! So the British government thinks it's hateful and disrespectful to be calling for a ceasefire, and calling for peace, and trying to stop more children getting murdered in their beds. 

The right wing British mainstream media have been agreeing, saying the marches are full of hate and anti-Semitism, because people are chanting, 'from the river to the sea', and shouting 'Allah hu Akbar', and if anyone shouts out 'Jihad' they risk being arrested. This is ridiculous, shouting from the river to the sea' doesn't contain any hate or threat, it's just like saying, from the Tawe to the Thames (they're 2  rivers in the UK), Allahu Akbar is an everyday saying in Islam, praising God, and Jihad just means, striving to do one's best within Islam, like calling out for peace to protect your brothers and sisters in Palestine. 

The British government and media have drummed up so much hate, you have the far right thugs and football hooligans planning on attending, to attack the Pro-Palestinian demonstrators. I hope everyone will be safe. The most disrespectful thing is Israel having a war & not having a ceasefire on such sacred days.  The people who are being remembered liberated the Jews from the concentration camps. And the far right thugs don't seem to understand that the fallen soldiers of the wars were fighting for freedom and fighting against fascism, the very thing the Palestinians are fighting today. The British government & right wing mainstream media are a disgrace

My letter to the Welsh government

I am writing to you regarding the situation in Gaza / Palestine, and the need for an immediate ceasefire. As I write this letter the death toll stands at over 7,000, with almost 3,000 children slaughtered. There are over 15,000 people injured, again many of these are children. This is obscene. This is a genocide that we are witnessing. The Srebrenica genocide took the lives of 8 372 people. The death toll numbers in Gaza are fastly reaching the same, they may well have passed it already, because despite President Biden saying he doesn't believe the numbers, these death and injury numbers are reported directly from the hospitals to the administration in the West Bank. 

I don't know if you're able to do anything from the Welsh Senedd  (assembly), but I have absolutely no faith in the main part of the Labour party, and I know a lot of people who feel the same, especially after hearing Keir Starmer saying it is perfectly fine to cut off over 2 million people's electricity, water, food, medicine and fuel. These are war crimes, and he knows this. Additionally he called, 'Collective punishment' of over 2 million people fine, and went as far as calling it, 'Self defence'. This too is a war crime. Israel has used cluster bombs, white phosphorus bombs, sent people from the north of Gaza to the south, telling them it's safe there, then bombed them in the south. Israel has bombed civilians leaving the north. They have tried to force over 1 million people out of their homes, openly trying to force them out of Gaza into Sinai, which is in Egypt. Israel has also killed 57 UN workers, killed 32 journalists. They even targeted the family of an Al-Jazeera journalist. Israel also targeted, and killed, the family of the head surgeon at the Indonesia hospital, why would they target and kill the family of a doctor? Israel have bombed schools, market, mosques, churches: they completely destroyed 11 mosques and churches, including the Greek orthodox church, which was the third oldest church in the world, plus Israel knew it was sheltering civilians inside it.

On top of all the above Israel have been bombing hospitals, including the Al-Ahli hospital, which it later denied after huge public outrage, although they proudly promoted doing it online, before the world wide outrage. The so-called evidence they produced has been proven to be unreliable, false, but Israel and the IDF have a history of lying to the media. Additionally Hamas, or any other group in Gaza, has never had a rocket powerful enough to flatten a building. Israel says that a third of all rockets fired into Israel miss, and land in Gaza. That would mean that for every 1,000 rockets fired, around 333 land inside Gaza, and not once over the many years of firing rockets, has one of their rockets caused that much death and destruction inside Gaza, and don't forget, Gaza doesn't have an Iron dome protecting it.

Israel only allowed 20 trucks of aid into Gaza. That was for over 2 million people. There was only enough bottled drinking water for 22,000 people for one day. They didn't allow any aid into the north of Gaza, and they bombed some of the aid. Flour was sent to a bakery to feed the civilians of the Nuseirat refugee camp, and Israel bombed the bakery there, the only one they have. They're trying to starve the people. This is clearly collective punishment. On top of all that Israel is now telling all the civilians of the north, if they don't leave they'll be classed as terrorists. They're even calling the noryh of Gaza the, 'battlefield'. This area is a housing area!

All the above are violations of international laws and war crimes. Keir Starmer knows this, isn't he a human rights lawyer? Obviously you have to condemn what Hamas did, because killing, kidnapping or hurting of civilians is wrong, but what the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guferres said was correct. Hamas didn't do this act for no reason. There has been an illegal blockade in the Gaza strip for over 15 years. Israel controls the borders of Gaza. They decide what comes in and out, including the amount of water they get. The amount of food, fuel, even medicines. There have been many people who have died because they've needed specialist medical treatment, the treatment is available in the West Bank, but Israel has refused them permission to travel to the West Bank, so they needlessly die. Some people call Gaza an open air prison, but prisoners have rights. They get food, medicine, they even get let out. This isn't the case for most Gazans, so Gaza is more like a concentration camp.

Israel regularly bombs Gaza, before Hamas' attack on October 7th, Israel had killed over 200 Palestinians this year alone, around 40 of them were children. You have all these Western countries rushing to fully support Israel, while it commits a public genocide, but where were these leaders when Hamas and Palestinians had done non violent acts. Hamas agreed to hold an election in Gaza, even though they knew they wouldn't have won a majority, and power would have most likely been shared between Hamas and the ruling administration in the West Bank, but Israel and the USA wouldn't allow Gaza to have an election. If they hate Hamas so much why didn't they allow an election to happen, this would have resulted in Hamas losing some of it's grip and power in Gaza?

Where were the world leaders and politicians voices when the Palestinians in Gaza held peaceful marches, trying to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza, and the right of return for refugees? These peaceful marches started on 30th March 2018, and lasted for over a year. Every week the Palestinians would peacefully march, this was called, 'The great march of return' demonstrations. The IDF would fire tear gas into the crowds, and snipers would shoot the Palestinians with live rounds; they didn't just shoot, kill and injure the demonstrators, they also shot and killed medics, photo journalists. Most of the international media and world leaders ignored this. What do the Palestinians have to do to get noticed, and be treated like human beings? 

Everyone will say they're supporting Israel because of the hostages, but that is a lie. Israel doesn't care about the hostages, if they did they wouldn't be carpet bombing Gaza. Israel is putting all of the hostages in greater danger. I think Israel is deliberately trying to kill the hostages so they can blame Hamas

Israel has a history of targeting Palestinian children. When Israel went to war Sith Gaza on September 27th, 2008, they dropped 100 tonnes of bombs in Gaza on day one, but they decided to start the bombing of Gaza 11:25am, that is the time when the morning school shift and afternoon shift change, so at 11:25, all the children are out on the streets. In another war when they knew the children were out they dropped White Phosphorus bombs at the children. And they call themselves the most moral army in the world. 

Gaza is a tiny strip of land, it's roughly 26 miles by 6 miles, and over 2 million people live there. Gaza is the most densely populated area in the world. The people cannot leave. Gaza is not a country, it has no army, no navy, no air force, it has no seaport, no airport. It doesn't control any of its air space or sea space, and it doesn't control any of its borders. Gaza has borders with Israel and Egypt. The Egyptian border is called the Rafah crossing, it is mostly closed. Due to Gaza being such a densely populated area, you should NEVER drop any bombs, because it's impossible to not hit any civilians. That's why they say Hamas are using human shields, but in actual fact it is Israel who are using civilian targets. The people of Gaza are human targets for Israel. 

There are no words to describe the current living conditions inside Gaza right now. There is no clean water, people are being forced to drink dirty contaminated water, or sea water. There is very little food, people are queuing for up to 12 hours to get bread, and some times they get none. People are going hungry. There is no fuel, so there is no electricity, unless people have solar power, but most don't. Due to the lack of fuel people are dying in the hospitals, people are also dying in the hospitals because of lack of medicines or the electricity needed to power the medical equipment. There is also the problem with the air quality due to all the bombs, and all the dust from the buildings getting destroyed. There is also the problem of the smell of rotting bodies; the stench is terrible due to the dead bodies trapped under the rubble. The flies are also out of control. The children are starting to get ill, runny noses, coughs, fevers. They have no running water to clean themselves properly. No working toilets due to no fuel and no clean water. And one of the saddest things I heard, was that they can hear the screams of children and adults trapped under the rubble of their homes. They're screaming for help but they can't get to them because the rescuers are the civilians; and they're sleep deprived, hungry, thirsty, grieving and traumatized, plus they don't have the equipment needed or the fuel. The people of Gaza have been let down by the West, and let down by humanity.

Israel and its supporters like to say things like, 'Israel has the right to defend itself', but you cannot be defending yourself after the event. And self defence can only be used with reasonable force. There is nothing reasonable about what's happening in Gaza. The other thing people like to say is, 'Hamas is using human shields', this is just to blame Hamas for the huge death toll of civilians. The real reason for saying things like, 'Israel is defending itself', and 'They use human shields', is to dehumanize the Palestinians, to make them sound like backward crazed animals, who are ruthless savages, primitives, subhuman. Each time someone says one of those sayings, they are taking part in a psychological game of dehumanizing Palestinians and inciting hate for Palestinians and Arabs. This act is antisemitic because Arabs are Semites. 

If this so-called war was just about Hamas and Gaza, why are the Palestinians in the West Bank getting raided, attacked and arrested in such large numbers too? Over 100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7th? They're even beating and arresting Palestinians for doing social media posts on Gaza. This is not the actions of a democracy, it's the actions of a fascist government. Israel have bombed a mosque in the West Bank, they're destroying Palestinian roads, bulldozing houses, damaging and sabotaging the water supply, this is collective punishment for all Palestinians. The other worrying thing is, the right wing Israeli government are arming the Israeli settlers, apparently the US President sent thousands of machine guns for them, the settlers are well known for attacking the Palestinians. 

This whole situation is getting out of hand, the whole Middle East is a ticking time bomb. This is so serious it could even lead to a third world war! What would happen if Russia and Iran joined in, maybe even China. NATO could never take on 2 or 3 super powers. In a little over 2 weeks Israel have dropped over 12,000 tonnes of bombs over Gaza, that is an equivalent to an atomic bomb. That is roughly the same size bomb that was dropped over Hiroshima. And still they're bombing the most densely populated area in the world.

Even if this doesn't start a bigger war, it will have consequences for us, especially after our leaders and shadow cabinet politicians openly supported this genocide in Gaza. This is a breeding ground for religious extremists. These politicians are playing with our safety too. Has everyone forgotten that Tony Blair's reputation never recovered after backing America and going to war, which resulted in a huge amount of innocent people getting killed? We also had the 7/7 suicide bombings because of it. We do not want that to happen, that's why we need our representatives to call for a ceasefire. We need peacemakers not warmongers. 

I have read that our non democratically elected Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's family business, 'Infoysy', has significant business interests in Israel, if this is found out to be true, it would be hugely embarrassing and awkward for him and the Conservative party because it would be a huge conflict of interest. The UK and all the Western leaders who have supported what is going on, has completely lost the moral high ground with the Russia / Ukraine war. This will apply if Keir Starmer wins the next General election, but I know many Labour supporters who are saying they will not vote for him because of what he's said. 

Hearing senior Labour MP's like Keir Starmer, Emily Thornberry and David Lammy support war crimes and genocide, will leave a stain on the reputation of the Labour party for many generations to come. Will Welsh Labour speak out and call for a full ceasefir, not a humanitarian pause. No matter what you call it a pause is just as inhumane, they're saying, they'll feed them up, patch them up, then let them be bombed and slaughtered again. We need to call for a ceasefire and release of all hostages before this gets more out of hand. Israel is not defending itself, and its not at war, it is attacking, and Hamas is not using human shields, these sayings are used to dehumanize Palestinians and create more hate for them and Arabs, which also causes hate to raise for Jewish people too. What you would call real antisemitism. Both Jewish and Muslim people have the right to live in safety, with no hate. 

I will finish my long letter with a message from Hamza, he is a Palestinian living in Gaza, he is my friend, and he doesn't like or support Hamas, he has been vocal about this for years, but he lives in northern Gaza with his family. Because he lives in the north, Israel is clashing him and his family as terrorists, his children are both under 5 years of age, and they've been classed as terrorists! How does he protect his family? Maybe you have a message for him?

Something else to keep in mind, apparently it has been reported that there are huge oil and natural gas resources in Gaza and the West Bank, it is worth billions. This was only discovered a few years ago in a UNCTAD study.

One of the many sad things about this attack by Israel, is when you read about the children who have been murdered by Israel. You read their short life stories, full of dreams and goals; lots of them wanted to learn English, so they could tell the world about their situation. These children just wanted to be accepted and loved, like all children do. The children of Gaza understand that they are not valued, they're not seen as good, they understand they're seen as less than other children, and all they wanted to do was show the western world they are not bad. They wanted to spread peace and love, but they'll never get the chance. Maybe you could show these children that they are loved, they are valued, and their lives do matter. This oppression and colonialism is modern day slavery. The Palestinians are not free, they are chained to Israel. They are slaves and we must set them free. Please call for a full ceasefire, and put more pressure on the Labour party to change their policy. No one wants to have their names linked to genocide and war crimes.

IAM Hamza from the darkenss palce in world( Gaza) .  The largest central prison in the world.  The number of prisoners here is more than two million people.  There is no food, water, electricity, or medicine available.  Everyone here is breathing with difficulty from the lack of oxygen due to the continuous bombing of Gaza. There is dust and dirt flying all over the place.  Our children are crying from fear of Israeli bombing and lack of food.  Where there is no ultimate life.  At night when the barbaric and indiscriminate Israeli bombing begins.  My wife, my children, and I gather together and hope that if we are bombed, none of us will live, so that none of us will be alone. I hope that the war will end and that the world will stand with us because we are victims of barbaric wars.  And that the leaders of the Israeli occupation be brought to the International Criminal Court for committing genocide against the Palestinians. I hope that our children will live in peace and tranquility.  I hope they live like the children of the world.

 

Ceasefire NOW

Please sign the petition calling for a ceasefir. Here in the West, the leaders who are shamefully calling this genocide 'Self defence', will not be remembered well in the history books. This disgraceful and truly shameful act will stain their names for generations to come. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but the Palestinians and their supporters, will NEVER forget.

Israel has dropped over 12,000 tonnes of explosives over Gaza. That's the equivalent of an atomic bomb! Yes people, let that sink in. They've dropped the equivalent of an atomic bomb in Gaza, which is a tiny strip of land. That is the same size bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima! Please do what you can to stop this madness. We need a ceasefire now!!!https://chng.it/JKHP2jW4DQ?fbclid=IwAR2aLA9o40CKP_jeCRczOKz2JHB9aXPpoJk-Zk37ovvCOd_sGqRX6E29AbU

 

Career news for Leesa Lee Dark

We have some good news to share. During lockdown Leesa Lee got involved with a group of musicians who were performing classical songs for people who were alone and struggling during the lockdown period. These recordings were called, 'living room concerts'. These concerts were then sent out to people who were isolated and alone at home. Some of the singers who got involved with this project have been chosen to get some of their songs played on European radio stations during August and September. Leesa Lee is one of the singers who have been chosen, so if you like listening to classical music radio stations, you may get to hear some of Leesa Lee's songs she sang for people during the lockdown period. If you get to hear them, we hope you enjoy them ❤❤
 

R. I. P Pope Benedict XVI

Rest in peace Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, also known as Pope Benedict XVI (16TH. Unfortunately former Pope Benedict XVI didn't make it into 2023, he died on the 31st December, at the age of 95. Pope Benedict XVI was the first German Pope in 1,000 years, and the first Pope to resign in 600 years.

Pope Benedict XVI took over from Pope John-Paul II.. This is a fascinating part of the Roman Catholic church history, as Pope John-Paul II, became Pope in the year of the 3 Pope's. After one Pope died, there was another Pope, but he died suddenly, only being Pope for a few months, then Pope John-Paul II was elected Pope, and he was Polish and grew up under communism rule and was around during the war. Then Pope Benedict XVI was also around in the Second World War, and he was German, and as a German child, he was in the Hitler youth group. Those 2 Pope's were linked to the war, but not in a bad way. It's like they were meant to be Pope's. It's as if God was trying to tell us something.

I know that they were controversial figurs, due to different issues, but I believe Pope Benedict XVI was a good honourable man, who admitted he'd made mistakes over the years, like how he handled the sex abuse cases in the church, but many organizations got things wrong, and we all have made mistakes throughout our lives; But I'd like to honour him, and pray for his soul. May he rest in peace. ❤