The IDF wanted to invade Lebanon but 300 Irish soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were ordered by the IDF to step aside and let the IDF get on with their job of invading Lebanon. They were accused simultaneously of not doing their job of of keeping the peace, and for cowardice for standing their ground and telling the IDF to fuck off!

An Israeli respondent to one of my tweets could be forgiven for thinking I’m Irish but for nowt else, they complained about Ireland remaining neutral in WWII. Neutrality is not permitted in the Zionist ideology, you’re either for or against, if them’s the choices I’m against!

Consider these slogans and decide which you agree with.

• The friend of my friend is my friend.
• The friend of my enemy is my enemy
• The enemy of my friend is my enemy
• The enemy of my enemy is my friend

I personally disagree with all of them but it’s quite permissible to disagree with a friend and occasionally agree with someone whose opinions are usually anathema to you. The tragedy is that the world is so divided that it it’s dangerous for those who stand for peace to oppose the warmongers!

“Do you condemn Hamas?”

This is a loaded question where the only acceptable is “Yes, but…” Even the most outspoken opponents of Israeli terrorism hesitate to say “No”. I can understand this, they need to moderate their language to avoid censorship and get the message across that any ‘attrocities’ committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 cannot are minor compared to those committed by the IDF both before and after that date.

The best journalists refuse to condemn Hamas, but won’t come right out and say it. You are my audience and I’m not trying to persuade those who refuse to listen, so it’s up to me to say it for them: I refuse to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah for resisting the terrorism inflicted on Palestinians for my entire life – I was in the womb when Israel was born!. My advice to anyone asked this question is to reply “Do you condemn IDF?” That question is never asked in the mainstream because anyone who gives an honest answer will never be invited on a certain programs again. I don’t understand why they would want to 🤔 I watched Julia Hartley-Brewer’s ‘interview’ with Chris Williamson and fail to understand why Chris was there. I expect he wondered too, it wasn’t an interview but a rant 😠

I’m as likely to be invited onto one of these shows as I am to be elected to parliament, but my reputation as a straight-talking Yorkshireman is more important. I will not condemn Hamas while failing to condemn the police who raided Sarah Wilkinson’s home and subjected to what can only be described as torture!

I’ve been blocked by a couple of former police officers that I considered friends because I said that police violence can’t be justified by saying “it’s Home Office approved”, when the Home Secretary is a psychopath!

Starmer’s 100 Days

I was getting tired of Labour MPs bragging about what they have achieved in 100 days, Starmer and Lammy have joined Streeting as a trio of MPs I’ve blocked. Of the 6 MPs who have blocked me (5 Labour + Nadine Dories) only one is still an MP, two are now Conservative Lords 🙄 But I’m equally disgusted with Conservatives complaining about Labour taking so long to repair the damage they’ve inflicted on us for 14 years 🙄 Starmer promised changed, there’s one change I want to see from both parties:

Starmer didn’t take long to suspend 7 MPs for voting against keeping the 2-child benefit cap and there seems little prospect of the whip being restored if they stick to their guns. I’ve criticised them as flinching before the whip, I hope they’ll belatedly do what they should have done before – resign from Labour and reinforce the Independent Alliance. They’re currently sitting as Independents and won’t face another election for 5 years so they have nothing to lose. I can acknowledge the argument for retaining a critical voice within the Labour Party, Starmer has surrounded himself with yes men (and women) and will not countenance dissent!

I think the time is coming for unions to disaffiliate from Labour but I’m not so sure we’re there yet. Labour’s industrial relations policy gives unions some of what they wanted but is still slanted towards business, if unions can’t hold Labour to account there’s no point in being affiliated. I want to be clear that I think unions should disaffiliate but the timing is up to members to decide. On a personal note I resigned from Unite Community when Sharon Graham and haven’t found another that I can join, although I encourage everyone to join a union if they can.

I’ve been waiting since before the election for a Petitions Committee to be appointed so I could start a petition instead of merely promoting them. A chairman was elected unopposed on 9 September but it’s still not possible to start a petition – which confirms my opinion that government don’t really care what we have to say, they just pretend they do 😠 My next blog, in all likelihood, will be an updated version of a blog I wrote 2-3 years ago explaining why it’s such an important issue – having a new petition to share would have made it unnecessary! I’m increasing the number of petitions I post but reducing the frequency, it’s getting to a point where it will take a fortnight to cycle through them all.

Where next for me?

My Lakota name Mani Isna La literally translates He Walks Alone, and I have always walked my own path although I find companions to walk beside me for part of the way. Our paths may occasionally diverge but we have a common destination. It distresses me when a comrade disappears from my radar, even more so when a dear friend blocks me because of a misunderstanding 🙁 I’m trying to find my own voice rather than amplifying other people’s voices.

Regular followers won’t be surprised to learn that I’m pissed off with Twitter/X and I’m searching for an alternative, largely because comrades are blocked while Zionists get a free pass to say what they want. The latest change to Twitter/X is that accounts you block can still see your tweets but can’t respond, which means you’re merely muting them which we could do already 😠

One thing I’ve considered is locking my main account @mikecoulson48 and unlocking @mikesherburn48 for personal stuff like my #ff tweets. Existing followers would still receive and reply to my tweets and I’m not really bothered about getting new followers. The downside is that you wouldn’t be able to RT.

I’m finding that the most obnoxious replies to my tweets are frequently hidden from me, which saves me the trouble of blocking them, but pro-Israeli tweets aren’t censored in the way that pro-Palestine tweets are. Notifications of new followers are also frequently hidden from me.

I’ve opened accounts on Bluesky and Threads, after giving up on Mastodon, but haven’t got started yet. I reactivated my Facebook account after several years absence, only to have it suspended a couple of weeks later. I must’ve posted something “antisemitic” but I wasn’t told why. No matter, I didn’t bother going through the rigmarole of appealing my suspension.

This may be my last blog on WordPress, although I have some earlier ones that I intend posting, I’m considering switching to Substack. There’s plenty of discussion that I can engage in and use my own voice without fear or favour! I also want to learn how to set up a zoom meeting, which will give me more opportunity to collaborate with others. And when I’ve done all that, I might find time to play some music 😀