2023 ended with the sad death on 30 December of John Pilger at the age of 84. Fellow Australian journalist Julian Assange is still in Belmarsh awaiting extradition to the USA, his fate will be finally be decided in February. Many journalists and politicians have belatedly come to his defence and it’s hoped that pressure on the US government will persuade them to drop the charges. He’s already been deprived of liberty, unconvicted, for over a decade and only a handful – including John Pilger, Chris Hedges, Craig Murray and Jeremy Corbyn – have stood by him throughout. The latecomers, it seems to me, are more concerned with their own careers! Craig Murray said that supporters need to know when the plane taking him to the USA will land; I think supporters in the U.K. would like to know when, and from which airport, it’s likely to depart so they could take direct action to stop it taking off as has already been done with threatened deportations to Rwanda. I’ld be up for that if age and lack of mobility didn’t prevent me,

It’s long been my belief that the USA didn’t really want to extradite Julian, it would suit them for him to die in custody in the U.K. Evidence that their star witness had lied and that the CIA had breached client/attorney should be enough for the case to be thrown out of court in a fair trial, if there were any chance of him getting one he wouldn’t still be in Belmarsh 😠 If he’s extradited in February and dies a few months later sycophantic UK politicians can wash their hands like Pontius Pilate!

Julian is not the only journalist to be persecuted for telling the truth, many more have been imprisoned or murdered worldwide. We still remember Shireen Abu Akleh, killed my an Israeli sniper on 11 May 2022. Palestinian journalists, along with their families, are being slaughtered daily since October 7.

120 journalists killed worldwide in 2023, 68% in Gaza war, says International Federation of Journalists https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/120-journalists-killed-worldwide-2023-68-gaza-war-says-international-federation-journalists

Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper, has been shut down for its criticism of the government. Academics in USA who are outspoken about genocide face losing their jobs, and students not permitted to continue their studies. It matters not if they’re Jewish, Congress has declared that anti-Zionism equates to antisemitism – which is in itself antisemitic. Somewhat analogous, albeit on a different topic, is the decision of the U.K. government to legally define Rwanda as a safe place to which asylum seekers can be deported when the High Court has declared that it is not! Of course there’s nothing Tories would like more than to abandon the Rule of Law and the Human Rights Act that allows “lefty lawyers” from allowing government from doing whatever they please in the absence of a parliamentary opposition 😠

Both U.K. and USA have elections next year and the groundswell of public opinion might do what the official opposition has failed to do and hold all parties to account. The popular vote doesn’t decide elections in the USA, it’s the electoral college that counts. There has been a lot of debate on whether a convicted criminal can serve as President and the Supreme Courts in at least two states have declared that Donald Trump to be ineligible. But the lesser of two evils is still evil and I’m afraid that’s the situation our American comrades are faced with.

American socialists are growing in number and they’re making their voices heard. Whether they can effect change there remains to be seen

We have a different voting system here in the U.K. and, although it’s not perfect, it does offer a chance to break away from the prevailing duopoly. Many people, including some socialists, think that we should vote Labour to get the Tories out, but this is a fallacy! Voting Labour is simply voting for a different Tory party when there are many more parties to vote for – 13 in the Selby by-election which I covered in two blogs. That’s too many and, although I don’t agree with strategic voting, I think leftist parties should co-ordinate their efforts in particular constituencies. (If I had voted strategically in Selby by-election, until then a safe Tory seat, it would have meant voting Labour as I always had done previously so not really voting strategically at all. I voted Green this time but Labour won anyway).

Labour are likely to win a General Election by default, Starmer’s doing bugger all to win an election just waiting for Sunak to lose without offering any sort of alternative. We have the chance to deny both major parties a majority by voting for someone else. Even if our preferred candidate doesn’t win we’re expressing disapproval of the status quo and a hung parliament means neither Tory party has a majority and would need support from minority groups – not necessarily a coalition, I don’t see SNP or Greens forming a coalition with either of them but their votes will can sway a decision.

I hesitate to make predictions but I think Greens will retain Brighton Pavilion after Caroline Lucas steps down and will pick up a few more seats, especially in Merseyside where Jo Bird is standing. If Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott, Claudia Webbe and others who have been denied the right to stand as Labour candidates in the the constituencies they’ve represented for decades. Emma Dent-Coad has announced she will stand, a sufficient number of her former constituents have asked her to stand that she feels she doesn’t have a choice.

A hung parliament could force changes in domestic policy, but foreign policy is more difficult as long as we’re tied to Uncle Sam. South Africa has invoked the Genocide Convention against Israel and other nations look like joining the action. USA and UK could be drawn into it and I would hope that our next government will seek a divorce from its sycophantic relationship with the USA. It’s encouraging that Jeremy Corbyn is joining the South African delegation but we need to await Craig Murray’s reporting from The Hague before we raise our hopes too high. My hopes are for the growing tide of opposition in Israel to Netanyahu’s government – not only the young Israelis refusing to serve in the IDF but leading journalists and human rights advocates, including a member of the Knesset.

The USA and Israel need to be made pariahs on the world stage. For decades they have been the only nations opposing UN resolutions to end the US blockade of Cuba! It’s an abomination that any permanent member of UN Security Council can veto any proposition of such universal importance! General Secretary Antonio Gutares, I’m sure, is feeling quite powerless now, but African nations are demanding reform and I hope they’ll prevail.

This is one of the longest blogs I’ve written, most of it in a single session on New Years Eve. I have a lot more to say but events are moving so faster than I can assimilate them so I’ll reserve further comment for another blog.