Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald suspended for participating in pro-Gaza protest despite newspaper apology for misreporting his words
Keir Starmer has suspended Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald – for words he didn’t say while participating during a protest in support of the people of Gaza.
The Times reported that McDonald recited the ‘From the river to the sea’ chant – the Palestinian freedom call that supporters of Israel misrepresent as a call for their eradication – during the protest. But this was completely untrue and the paper was quickly forced to apologise for smearing the lawyer MP:
The incompetent-but-petty Starmer spun in circles, first deciding not to punish McDonald, then deciding that he would:
The ‘fast-paced discussions’ appear to have been driven by the suspension of a Tory MP in the interval between the two tweets. In a comment to the Independent, a Starmer spokesperson said that McDonald’s comments – which called for peaceful freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike – were ‘deeply offensive’.
McDonald – who resigned from the front bench in 2021 after Starmer tried to make him argue against a decent pay-rise for struggling workers – remains suspended even though he never said what was claimed – effectively punished for marching and speaking in solidarity with people who are being murdered and ethnically cleansed.
Starmer is as toxic as he is incompetent – and he was already under pressure because of the rebellion of front-bench MPs and others against his refusal to call for a ceasefire, as Skwawkbox exclusively revealed last week.
Starmer’s foul nonsense, while children are being murdered by the hour, received the response it deserved on social media, as hundreds expressed derision and revulsion:
Starmer is the sickest of jokes riding the corpse of the party he has killed as a force for good.
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Once again we see Starver standing by the murderous State of Israel.
At the same time he suspends a decent and honest MP in what appears to be a pique of spite.
Even by Starver’s standards (lack of), it is not a good look.
At best, a clown.
At worst, a supporter of ethnic cleansing and mass murder.
Reply to Johnsco
Starmer said that he is a Zionist “without qualification”. That tells you all you need to know about him.
I’m not sure where this is gonna end up, for reasons too complex to explain, but anyway, I just came across a Telegraph article posted today which is taking the demonisation of protesters one giant step further. Most of it is behind a paywall of course, but the headline and sub-headline are more than enough to get the gist of it. And it’s ugly, really ugly, and fascistic to the core:
A few short step from protests to murderous mob violence
Those who have taken to British streets are creating the environment for hatred to get out of control
Yeah, you see we should all be cheering on the mass murder of thousands of Palestinians and the maiming and crippling of thousands more, and the destruction of their homes and the infrastructure of Gaza and turning it all to rubble, and be creating an environment of peace and love as such, instead of being out on the streets together, calling for a ceasefire and an end to the siege etc in our hundreds of thousands, along with millions more around the world, because it’s creating an environment of hatred, an environment of hatred towards us by the ruling elite(s), otherwise known as The Mob.
After years smearing others Starmer is now smearing himself. The Trilateral Commission just can’t cope with the idea of someone named after Kier Hardie as PM.
The real object was always to smash the Labour Party- there is still a bit of work remaining to break up the old right wing institutional wing. A bit but not much- look at Unite, for example.
Hit the bottom, Starmer
Of what? The Marianas trench? He did that a loooong time ago. Slimeball’s gotta be somewhere near the Earth’s core by now.
As I keep saying, keef is lower than whaleshit there ain’t NO depth he won’t plumb.
(Not sure on the McDonald photo, skwawk – was he rapping the palestine will be free chant?)
I get more worried about a Starmer govt by the day. The one ray of hope is this will prove to be an electorally toxic issue with the British public.
I can’t wait to see the next round of polls of voting intentions…
In addition to the above, on the subject of being electorally toxic, even The Guardian seems to get it.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/30/keir-starmer-labour-israel-gaza
Reply to Timfrom
I too genuinely fear a Starmer government and have done for quite a while. Starmer says he is a Zionist without qualification and when you consider what that means it is terrifying.
If Starmer got into Downing St it would mean having a Prime Minister who had contempt for the United Nations Sec Gen and UN resolutions , who approves of the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands,who thinks its OK to force people out of their homes at gunpoint, who thinks it is fine to confine 2.3 million Palestinians in severely overcrowded conditions in a ghetto called Gaza , issuing them with papers to allow them to exit the ghetto to work in Israel,who approves of the regular denial of basic necessities to them- medical care clean water and sanitation ( all reminisent of the Warsaw ghetto whose inhabitants rose up against their Nazi oppressors exactly 80 years ago) and who ignores the the imprisonment and in some instances the summary execution of young boys for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and who won’t even now call for a ceasefire in Gaza because he asserts that ” Israel has a right to defend itself” although this so called defence involves war crimes and the killing of a Palestinian child every 10 minutes. When you consider all this, Starmers refusal to call for a ceasefire is understandable. He is like Netanyahu, a Zionist.
I posted earlier that in my opinion people are starting to see through the propaganda fed to them about Palestine by the State broadcaster and the MSM. I really hope I am right for if I am wrong we’ll end up with a Zionist fanatic running the country.
What Happened When Palestinians Protested in 2018
Try, ‘Hard Talk’, with Ilan Pappe. 9 years ago!
Starmer and Co know exactly what Andy said, and I have little doubt that the reason they decided to suspend him is so as to infuriate any left-wingers that are hanging in there – and councillors in particular – and induce them to resign from the party.
As for Braverman, she isn’t just demonising the half million or so people who demonstrated in London last weekend, but also the millions demonstrating all around the world, and the millions more who would be if they hadn’t been banned and intimidated from doing so, and the tens – hundreds – of millions more who feel the same way. She is truly TRULY totally evil.
And check out Craig Murray’s speech at the Gaza demo………. in 2009! (2 mins 40 secs)
‘Zionism Is Bullshit’
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2023/10/zionism-is-bullshit-2/
A few days ago I just happened to come across an ‘atrocity’ that I hadn’t come across before – ie that Hamas gouged a man’s eyes out – and just read the headline to the article and saved it, with the intention of posting it on here and a couple of other sites. Anyway, to save looking for it, I thought it would be quicker just to do a search and, as such, the following Daily Mail article came up near the top of the results, which has a whole bunch of other stuff, and is dated October 24th:
”Eyes were gouged out, a woman’s breasts cut off and a daughter had her legs severed’: Horrific details of Hamas massacre emerge as rescue worker recounts how entire families were slaughtered’
Hamas terrorists killed a husband and gouged his eyes out before going on to cut his wife’s breasts off and chop his daughter’s leg off, a rescue worker has revealed as yet more horrific details of the terrorists’ savage attack continue to emerge.
Moshe Melayev told how entire families were slaughtered in their homes by the black-clad terrorists who were wielding assault rifles and grenades as they launched their surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7.
Melayev, of Israel’s National Rescue Unit, said as he walked through kibbutzim close to the Gaza border, he saw the beheaded bodies of victims lying on the floors of their homes where they had hours earlier been drinking their morning coffee.
‘I saw beheaded bodies, I saw body parts,’ Melayev told Fox News. ‘In a house there was a husband and wife and two children.’
‘They killed the husband first, they took his eyes out, I saw the body myself. They cut the breasts of the woman off and they cut the leg off the girl. That’s the family that I saw with my own eyes,’ Melayev added, shaking his head as he recounted the horrors the Hamas terrorists inflicted on hundreds of families on October 7.
Now surely we would have heard of such atrocities before, along with the others, and yet it seems that this guy is the first to mention it, because it’s definitely the first time I’ve heard about them (and I assume the article I came across several days ago was based on what this guy said). And no-where in the article does it explain how he knew that they killed the husband first. Anyway, be sure to check out the links as well.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12666289/Eyes-gouged-womans-breasts-cut-daughter-legs-severed-Horrific-details-Hamas-massacre-emerge-rescue-worker-recounts-entire-families-slaughtered.html
Allan Howard, the problem with all these bullshit propaganda lies is the sheeple believe them, and that is why we are where we are right now.
And I hear it regurgitated every single day of my life from the people that read this shit. When I ask them for proof for the comments they just made they cannot provide any, apart from a Daily Mail headline.
Yes, I know Baz, but it isn’t just the Daily Mail of course. And as Goebbels said: The bigger the lie the more people will believe it, and in THIS particular case….. The bigger AND more atrocious the lies…
I wonder if we’ll here any more about the Egyptian warning that Something Big is about to happen?
And did the Berlin police finish their investigation of Roger Waters?! Talking of which:
https://www.facebook.com/rogerwaters/videos/345589251358731
Reply to Baz
Although I would have previously agreed with you 100% about people believing the propaganda fed to them on daily basis by the state broadcaster and the MSM I think its not happening or at least not happening to the same extent this time.
I think the public are starting to see through the lies and the spin and it is becoming increasingly clear to most people that showing pity and compassion for innocent people terrorised by fanatical Israelis (whose PM quotes the Old Testament as authority for mass murder) is not antisemitism. Its called being a decent human being.
Chopped the legs off? A bit time consuming when one is on a rampage. I means there pillaging and looting, but that’s dawdling.
And I came across the following earlier from October 13th:
Hamas denies involvement in killing and beheading of babies, alleges ‘media bias’
https://www.wionews.com/world/hamas-denies-involvement-in-killing-and-beheading-babies-alleges-media-bias-646306
Reply to Allan Howard
Its about time that all Labour MPs who don’t “Stand with Israel” should resign from Starmer’s front bench and thereby stand up for decency and against war crimes. Labour councillors NEC members etc should also resign from their elected office to show their total disgust at Starmers unqualified support for Zionism even in the face of the murder of children. Otherwise they will all be rightly judged as the sorry bunch of careerists that they are.
Reply to Smartboy…
Yes Smartboy, I agree the MSM propaganda mask is slipping somewhat, especially for the younger generations, but the over eighty yr olds are still using their blinkers and rose tinted specs, in my experience, anyway.
Most of my elderly customers still believe the 40 beheaded babies story……And I’m not joking.
So I just did a search and, as expected, just about the whole of the MSM has covered Andy’s suspension. But I didn’t come across the JC in the search results, so I went on their website and did a search, but there was nothing. Not yet anyway! But I came across the following article by Stephen Pollard from a few days ago. Here’s the headline and the sub-headline and a few passages from it:
‘Shame on you, Sadiq Khan’
When the Jews needed you, you showed you are no friend
Never has it been truer that you find out who your real friends are when you actually need them. And never has a self-proclaimed friend turned out to be less of one than Sadiq Khan.
During his victorious campaign for the London mayoralty in 2016, Khan visited shuls regularly and even started his Ramadan fast at one. He told this paper: “What’s important to me is that we have zero tolerance of antisemitism……”
Well, guess what. Now that we actually need an ally as mayor of one of the world’s greatest cities – now that Jews have been slaughtered in the worst massacre since the Holocaust and antisemitism is rising exponentially – not only has Khan been absent from the fray, he has been worse than useless.
His claims about zero tolerance of antisemitism should embarrass him, when the police’s sole contribution to the two demos in London has been to stand and watch while the streets have seen chants of “From the river to the sea” – a call for the elimination of Jews – as well as calls for jihad and for Muslim armies to rise up, along with signs that would have fitted in at Nuremburg. And all we have heard from Khan has been a few bland statements and the odd social media post, with not a word of outright condemnation of the festival of Jew hate on the streets of his city.
Today, the mayor has issued his most detailed and lengthy statement, in a video. It contains the now pro forma words that every mainstream politician feels obliged to say, that Israel has a right to defend itself, to target those responsible for the terror attack to take action to free the hostages. But all of that is rendered meaningless by the sole purpose of the slogan plastered over the video: “I’m joining calls for a ceasefire”.
As I said, now we learn who our friends are. Not once in his two and a half minute video does he consider it worth uttering the word ‘Hamas’. Not once.
Instead, he demands that the Israelis stop all military action against the terrorist group that butchered 1400 people……
But it’s only dead Jews, so who cares.
Be clear about this. Khan has shown that he is no friend of London’s Jewish community. Indeed, at the very moment when we need an ally – when, as the chief rabbi put it yesterday, we are more concerned about our future and safety than at any point since 1945 – he is demanding that the Jewish state stop defending itself against terror.
Shame on you, Sadiq Khan. Shame on you.
https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/all/shame-on-you-sadiq-khan-1yJDjp4hYyhuyeAVlDnjjL
And No, we can hardly sympathise with Khan (on the left) given how he was more-than-happy to join in the A/S black op smear campaign against Jeremy and us, but Pollard, in effect, is doing to the demonstrators what the Nazis did to the Jews – ie demonising and smearing them.
PS I tried to get on The Times’ website to see how long it was before they amended their Andy McDonald article, but all that came up was a page with details of a Flash Sale, and no way to check anything out. The point being that they obviously knew what Andy said from the outset, and deliberately misinformed their readers, and then, no doubt, added their apology after the vast majority of them had already read it.
PSS And here’s a taster of another recent JC article entitled ‘We are witnessing this war through the horrors on social media’;
Social media has exposed how deeply divisive this conflict is among young people. In some ways, it strengthens existing fault lines. A 30-year-old friend put it in the starkest of terms: “If the Holocaust were to happen now, I don’t think any of my non-Jewish friends would have hidden me. These are friends who have danced at my wedding and eaten at my Friday night dinner table. These people haven’t even condemned the massacres. They certainly wouldn’t risk their life to help me.”
And another one, entitled ‘Urging Israel to ‘use restraint’ is to deny Gazans their only escape from hell’:
Dear Friend,
Thank you for your note saying how sorry you were about the Hamas murders of Israeli civilians. It was emotionally intelligent of you to realise how welcome it would be to hear from you as a non-Jew. It suggests you understand how isolated and scared the community feels at the moment. Hearing from you confirmed my instinct that we are not alone and that was very reassuring.
I wish I could say the same about the rest of your email, no matter how well intentioned it was.
Within a couple of sentences of your condemnation of Hamas and as its terrorist acts (though this wasn’t the phrase you used) you expressed the hope that Israel wouldn’t “seek revenge” and that “all sides should show restraint”. This was as frustrating as the beginning of your message was heart-warming……
But nonetheless I feel it is desperately wrong. Let me explain.
The place to start is with the Free Palestine chant, to be heard all over London accompanied by the message that this should be “from the river to the sea”…….
And this one entitled ‘How Ireland came to be the most anti-Israel country in the Europe’
And there’s another article entitled ‘Mohammed Hadid, father of Gigi and Bella, likens Israel to the Third Reich’, which is worth checking out, for one reason and another.
“The postmodern emphasis on ‘narrative’; and rejection as old fashioned, quaint and uncool all talk of an external reality — independent of our thought processes but in principle accessible by empirical methods — has served, as some prescient souls warned decades ago that it would, thoroughly reactionary ends. If there’s no knowable reality, then all manner of key principles are eroded — such as the distinction between being accused of something, and being found guilty of it!”
Phil Roddis: Steel City Scribblings
This is precisely what “The Rules Based Order” is all about. No innocent until proven guilty. No evidence required to substantiate an allegation. No Due Process whatsoever.
Merely rule by diktat on the whim of sociopaths who think nothing of labeling anyone who does not do their bidding as ‘cockroaches”, ‘fleas;, and”human animals’ and inflicting any punishment which takes their fancy from cancelling/outlawing their target to fully exterminating them. All on the basis whatever trumped up allegations suits them.
Whatever nominal Uniparty rosette they happen to be wearing.
And some people – no names, no pack drill as we used to say – still harbour the delusion that this is ‘democracy’ rather than the autocracy it actually is and insist on pushing such evidence free bullshit as the “only” “viable” option.
I recall seeing a historical documentary some years back on the Battle of the Little Big Horn which referenced an incident in a theatre in one of the Eastern US cities. The news and manner of Custer’s defeat at the other end of the Country had just reached the city and the performance was interrupted to relay the news to the theatre audience. An audience which immediately broke out into a chant of “Exterminate! Exterminate! ‘* towards the indigenous peoples of the North American continent who had the temerity stand up to those who considered themselves a superior and civilised race compared to those considered ‘savages’.
* A phrase which hit our TV screens some ninety years later.
Whatever Braverman or Sunak do the WEF controlled and owned Starmer Junta has no qualms about openly and publicly exceeding it.
There can be no doubts whatsoever that in office this clique of exceptionalist’s who operate on the basis of ‘we make the rules, you obey the orders’ will operate in the same way towards the general public as they do in their own internal kangaroo court processes.
How long before those challenging these bullshit narratives are designated by the political and media classes with the evidence free allegation of “traitors” or worse to justify whatever means they choose to enforce getting their own way?
Whichever way you look the Country, along with the entire Collective West, is run by spoiled and incompetent toddlers who couldn’t be relied upon or trusted to tie their own shoelaces.
They said that from the start that their way to manage the party once known as Labour was just the practice run on how they would run the country when in a position of power. That did fill me with dread.
It’s good to hear of the Jewish Chronicle spitting blood because one of their “trusties” has let them down.
The Germans have a phrase which very aptly fits this situation.
Schadenfreude.
Perhaps some, like Khan, may like to reflect on how they were used to stab Corbyn in the back as part of the great anti-Semitism scam.
Those who were only too-happy to weaponise anti-Semitism as a stick to beat the left may now be equally-happy to associate themselves with the actions of the murderous State of Israel.
It should be clear to everyone that Corbyn’s support for Palestinian rights and his criticisms of the Apartheid State of Israel are 100 per cent validated by current events.
Solidarity with Palestine.
reply to Johnsco
I agree with you and would just add that Jeremy’s support for Palestinian rights and his criticism of the Apartheid state were the reason why he was vilified by the Zionist/ Israel lobby. These people are now showing their true colours and the baselessness of their vicious attacks on Jeremy, their faux fear and outrage , their bigotry and Arabophobia has been well and truly exposed.
Regarding Sadiq Khan I would say that as there is an election for mayor looming and the Muslim population of London is in the region of 1.3 million Khan spoke out to protect his own position not to defend poor innocent Palestinian people under attack from Israel.
If he cared about them he would have , like Jeremy Corbyn ,spoken out long ago about the cruelty and criminal oppression Israel has been inflicting on them for decades. Khan is a disgrace.
Moslems don’t vote as one voice. Many will remain loyal to their political party of their choice.
Decided to bore myself watching the boxhead’s shithouse speech on the conflict….
“Hospitals in Gaza must not be….must be protected”
We heard you, boxhead. We see you.
After the boxhead washed his hands….Now comes the handwringing.
Just fuck off smarmer. Go on. Fuck RIGHT off.
Over 8000 palestininas – dead the overwhelming majority of them non-combatant civilians…and it’s: “(Israel) HAD to act within international law….it HAS to act within international law”
(Followed by his usual “I was a lawyer” bollocks)
But we shouldn’t be making that call”
What a snivelling, simpering bag of SHITE he truly is. Right, the TV’s goin off before I explode several blood vessels.
Toffee, did the Pebble Dashed Semi or the Toolmaking heritage come to the surface ?
Well put Toffee…..
Where is the Goatherder today I wonder ? Any minute now I can hear his whine….Oh But Jeremy Crombly….
WEF-agent Starmer is due to say today “Israel-Hamas ceasefire may risk further violence” according to today’s theGuardian.
He knows full-well that the ABSENCE of a ceasefire will result in death, destruction and the ethnic-cleansing of Palestinians.
I reckon this is a ‘Iraq-Invasion Moment’ for Sir Keir Rodney Starmer. Weapons of Mass Destruction, anyone?
Me, I prefer Peace and Justice.
“We have seen the never-ending cycle of violence erupt again this week in an unprecedented escalation of hostilities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The brutal murder of Israeli civilians by Hamas is heinous and the hostages must be released.
The response by the Israeli government in the absolute bombardment of the Gaza strip – already the world’s largest-open air prison – must be called out for what it is: ethnic cleansing.
We are witnessing the mass-murder of Palestinian civilians by an ally of our government – whom we supply with weapons and international credibility. We call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the blockade of Gaza. And we must be clear – peace will only be achieved by addressing the root cause of conflict – the dispossession of the Palestinian people. – Jeremy Corbyn.
Out of range of the ‘voice in his ear’, Matt Frei had a reasonably good night on Channel 4 News, last night. Then Anja Popp and Krishnan Guru-Murthy – well within range of their ‘voice in their ear’ – sort of spoiled it. Two videos.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1719240138859950410
That Report was followed by an interview with Mustafa Barghouti who’s been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council for 18 years and Nour Odeh, former spokesman to the Palestinian authority.
Worth a listen.
Not sure what’s going on, but if you wind back to 8:30, watch that segment, then skip Danny Dannon – or not – he’s just talking Zionist bol*locks, immediately after him is the next watchable segment, then KG-M.
Apologies!
herzog raising his voice when asked easy enough questions about palestinian multitudes being slaughtered on bbc news just now.
Manifest irritance, while attempting self-exoneration. No contrition whatsoever.
Not buying it. Ever.
The interview with Ben Jemal at the end of that Channel 4 clip provides a classic demonstration of a key problem which is the unashamed single sided reporting of what passes for the Western media.
Throughout it is very obvious that the interviewer is intent on imposing a definition of a phrase to fit The Official Narrative. Constantly interrupting and speaking over the interviewee to insist he accept only one possible definition in order to deliberately prevent listeners and viewers from hearing anything which might bring into question The Official Narrative.
As argued here…..
https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/no-human-being-can-exist/
“Recently, an Australian-Palestinian friend of mine was invited to appear on Australia’s national television network to discuss the situation in and around Gaza.1 His white interviewers posed all the usual questions: Can you defend what we’ve seen from Hamas militants? How has the Palestinian cause been helped by this violence? How can anyone defend the slaughter of young music lovers at a music festival? Do you defend Hamas?
They probably expected a defensive reaction from him, but calmly, in his smooth Australian-accented English, my friend had already turned the interview on its head. “I want to know why I’m here today, and why I haven’t been here for the past year,” he said gently.
By the eve of October 7, he pointed out, Israeli forces had already killed more than two hundred Palestinians in 2023. The siege in Gaza was more than sixteen years old, and Israel had been operating outside international law for seventy-five years. “Normal” in Palestine was a killing a day—yet a killing a day in a decades-old occupation was hardly news; it certainly wasn’t justification for a live interview on a national television network. Palestinians were being given the opportunity to speak now because the Western media suddenly cared, and they cared (“as we should care,” my friend added) because, this time, the victims included Israeli civilians.
In the days after October 7, Australia made a strong show of support for Israel: Parliament and the Sydney Opera House were lit up in the colors of the Israeli flag; the Prime Minister said pro-Palestinian rallies should be called off out of respect for the Israeli dead; the foreign minister was lambasted for saying Israel should endeavor to minimize civilian deaths in Gaza. “Well, what about our lives?” my friend asked.”
What follows this opening paragraph in this article lays out in stark detail the consequences for real people of what the entire political and media class in Britain and the rest of the Collective West are complicit in aiding and abetting in the daily actions and words.
When considering in context those whose every action and word – from Braverman to Starmer along with compliant media talking heads too numerous to list – who enthusiastically excuse the decades old War Crimes of not only this but every other fascist regime; I think back to an observation my maternal grandmother occasionally made. Something about a particular form of punishment being too good for them.
I think Matt Frei had the easier ride, last night. He was, out of range – out of the control – of ‘the voice in his ear’, so had, moreover less, free rein.
KG-M had no such luck. The ‘voice in – his – ear’ may have been non-stop, during his interview with Ben Jamal.
We shall never know.
BREAKING NEWS
Hamas has just announced that they will be “releasing a number of foreign captives in the coming days”
It amazes me that all the hostages have not been killed already by. ferocious Israeli bombing. Isreal’s indiscriminate ethnic-cleansing-attacks would never be blamed though.