demonstration – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

‘We are appalled by the deteriorating trajectory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem’: UK statement at the UN Security Council

MORE FINE WORDS – BUT THE SLAUGHTER GOES ON

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Chargé d’Affaires to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East:

The United Kingdom strongly supports the important work of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee, and we welcome the constructive discussion that recently took place in Brussels.

Colleagues, as we’ve heard today, the region faces another period of crisis. But we must not be distracted from seizing this historic opportunity to implement the 20 Point Plan for Gaza, endorsed by this Council in resolution 2803, and map a pathway to realising a two state solution.

Sir Tony’s briefing set out how we can do that.

I will make three points.

First, it is vital that all parties fulfil their commitments, respect the ceasefire, and engage constructively to implement phase two of President Trump’s 20 Point Peace Plan.

We need a stable and phased security transition. This must include the demilitarisation of Hamas and other armed groups, deployment of the International Stabilisation Force alongside a Palestinian-led police force, and the withdrawal of the IDF.

The United Kingdom has been clear that Hamas can have no future in the governance of Gaza. We urge them to engage constructively with demilitarisation talks, which, as we’ve heard, are taking place right now.

We also need the right transitional governance arrangements in place.

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority must work together to deliver for the Palestinian people’s immediate needs and support early recovery and reconstruction efforts.

Second, President, the humanitarian situation in Palestine remains grave.

The World Food Programme has warned that whilst famine has not returned to Gaza, the food and nutrition situation remains deeply concerning.

The UN reports that in the first quarter of this year, aid into Gaza from the UN and its humanitarian partners declined by 37 per cent compared to the previous 3 months.

This is not meeting the targets defined in the 20 Point Plan.

And the Government of Israel’s de-registration measures for international NGOs continue to constrict the humanitarian space for critical assistance.

This is unacceptable.

The UN, including UNRWA, and other humanitarian partners, must be able to operate unimpeded, with unrestricted entry and functioning crossings.

Israel must allow much-needed medical equipment, shelter items, and fuel in to support essential and lifesaving services.

And third, we are appalled by the deteriorating trajectory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Violence, including extremely troubling reports of sexual and gender-based violence, forced displacement, and illegal evictions, is surging.

According to OCHA, Israeli forces and settlers killed 33 Palestinians and injured 790 others in the first few months of this year alone.

And last week, two Palestinians, Jihad Abu Naim and Aws al-Naasan, were shot and killed by an Israeli settler in a school.

Aws was just 14 years old.

We deplore such egregious acts of settler violence.

The Israeli Government has rightly condemned this violence and launched an investigation.

But accountability for previous incidents has been severely lacking.

Condemnation alone is not enough; it must be translated into concrete steps to prevent attacks against Palestinians, ensure protection of civilians in line with International Law and ensure accountability where crimes have been committed.

We are also witnessing an unprecedented pace of illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, as well as severe Israeli economic restrictions.

These must stop.

These actions undermine the 20 Point Plan and the very viability of the two state solution.

Mr President, we stand at a historic juncture. We urge the parties to show courage, engage in good faith on the peace plan, and seize this opportunity for the benefit of Palestinians, Israelis, and the whole region.

NOTE: Despite these latest words and months of hand-wringing, the slaughter continues unchecked and the UK continues to supply weapons support to Israel.

More than 100 pro-Palestine activists staged a blockade outside Leonardo, an arms factory with links to Israel, at Crewe Toll yesterday – Ed.

F-35-A5-leaflet-PRINT-v2 Download

XR Scotland and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest at BlackRock

Extinction Rebellion Scotland, Christian Climate Action and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign held a noisy Earth Day protest outside BlackRock offices in Edinburgh yesterday.

BlackRock is the world’s largest investment asset manager using the immense power of its algorithms and wealth to fund three crimes against life and humanity: AI, fossil fuels, war and genocide. The protest demanded that BlackRock stops using its power to crush humanity, and stops funding death by algorithm.

The protest included drummers from the Rhythms of Resistance network and Discobedience dancers.

Three corpses dressed in shrouds labelled with the words: BlackRock Funds Climate Violence, War and Genocide, AI Terror. Protest in Harmony, a radical activist singing group, sung songs of protest and an original work of art was created for the protest.

Activists held a giant banner saying BlackRock CRUSHING EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE and some held placards drawing attention to the fact that BlackRock’s wealth and algorithms fund climate violence, genocide and Big Tech. Larry Finkenstein, the alter ego of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, also made an appearance.

Alex Cochrane, website manager, from XR Scotland said: “We are protesting on Earth Day because BlackRock is funding climate breakdown with its investments into fossil fuel companies and major polluters.

“They are a company prepared to lie, greenwash and crush us all under the weight of climate catastrophe just so their shares can get some returns.

“They have captured finance and become too big to fail – we will all suffer from this, including the staff of BlackRock. Climate breakdown will destroy our way of life and their way of business.”

A spokesman from Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: “BlackRock uses its financial might directly against the Palestinian people.

“As the UN special report on ‘the economy of genocide’ by Albanese details, BlackRock’s vast investments in Elbit Systems, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and others add up to a ‘joint criminal enterprise’ where there is a direct line between BlackRock’s profits and genocide.”

Levi Clark, support worker, from XR Scotland said: “Young families in Scotland like mine are struggling as BlackRock’s AI investment platform Aladdin, the algorithmic engine of the global financial system, drives historically unprecedented inequality.

“There have never been more billionaires, yet ordinary people everywhere are facing hardship. BlackRock funds Palantir which is using AI technology to devastate human rights. We need to wrestle back control of this technology’s future for the benefit of all humanity.”

PICTURES: Mike Spring and Nathaniel Wyvern

Tomorrow: Free Palestine Prisoners

SCOTTISH NATIONAL DEMO

EDINBURGH

Stay Ignited. Come United. Show the Zionists/Epsteins of today your power in numbers!

Sat 18th April

1pm

Foot of the mound – March to the Scottish Parliament

GLASGOW FOLKS

Travel Information

Trains leaving from Glasgow Queen St. – Edinburgh Waverley

11:30AM -> 12:22PM

11:45AM -> 12:35PM

12:00PM -> 12:49PM

Journey time 50 Mins

#freethemall

#israelisaterrorstate

#fromtherivertotheseapalestinewillbefree

HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!

The US is rogue, openly violating international law and the independence of foreign countries. Starmer meekly goes along with whatever Trump wants.

This is a threat to peace and democracy everywhere.

Join the national demo against US aggression!

11am, Saturday 10th, Edinburgh

Disabled activists lay siege to Scottish Secretary’s constituency office

Disability rights campaigners held a protest outside Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray’s constituency office in 31 Minto Street on Saturday. The event was organised to protest against proposed cuts to disability benefits.

Speakers attended from local community groups such as Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty, ‘Crips Against Cuts’ Edinburgh, and local disability rights groups and charities.

Ian Murray was criticised for cutting benefits while receiving an income at taxpayer expense. One attendee broke down in tears describing the effect the proposed cuts to disability benefits would have on their life.

Speakers were followed by live music and an open discussion about how to stop the cuts.

One protester was dressed as the Grim Reaper to emphasise the life-threatening impact of proposed cuts.

The protest was organised by the Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty and the Austerity Resistance Forum.

A member of the forum commented: ”The Austerity Resistance Forum is a political group based in the local community, and on regular assemblies.

“We are sick of years of failed and disastrous austerity policies which are tearing up working class communities. A crumbling NHS, a sky-high cost of living, and social desperation are the direct result of endless government cuts”.

Speeches and statements

John McArdle Co-founder of the Scotland-based grassroots Black Triangle spoke at the demonstration: “The message we need to send to Labour MP’s is that if you vote for this bill we will see you off. You will lose your seat. We’ve done the research. We know that in most constituencies there are more disabled people than the parliamentary majority of those MP’s.

“They are treading on very, very thin political ice, and the only thing they understand is hard political power. Brothers and Sisters, we have that power!

“The message we send to Ian Murray today, and to every Scottish Labour MP who was elected in the new intake is that if you attack us, if you starve us, if you try and kill us – we will shut you down!”

Following the protest, he added: “We have read the ‘Riot Act’ to the PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party] now. We have done our homework and the whole community is on our side: if you vote for these cuts, if you continue your betrayal of us; if you remove our support and try to starve us, make us homeless and ultimately kill us, we and our allies will ensure that your constituency majorities will be wiped out and that the Labour Party ceases to be a political force here in Scotland, Wales or the United Kingdom generally.

“We will take you down with our ship. You know it.”

A speaker from a local disability charity also made a speech at the event: “I’ve worked with disabled people now for eighteen years, and this is the worst attack that we’ve seen ..even worse than the cuts under the coalition government … we’re going to see absolute destitution occurring.

“It’s already happening. In Scotland seventy five percent of food bank users are disabled people or their families. [Audience members shout “shame on scotland”] It is an absolute shame, but it’s also a shame on society, wider society, in the UK… I consider myself a disabled person now… I have stage four cancer.

But, I’m above the age where I’ll lose benefits. It really does mean a lot to disabled people that we have allies in the movement that are prepared to take action…You can tell the amount of support that the public has for this issue by the amount of cars that are honking their horns as they pass… We will win eventually. I’m absolutely certain of that. Thank you very much. [Cheering and clapping].”

A local resident with Parkinson’s disease also spoke, while physically shaking: “There are a lot of elements of Parkinson’s disease which are not included in the measurements for assessing disability.

“Like me, without medication I sleep about four hours a night and day after day, week after week, that’s really hard. They way they cut it, it’s just so arbitrary. If you can tell from my voice, I’m American. I’ve been here twenty years, my life is here.

“But I’ve been getting some close reports with what’s been going on with the Trump Administration, which is in power partly because the democrats did not support the people enough and gave rise to populism. [Applause and drums] I think that is going to happen here. I just want to thank every single one of you for showing up today [tears], for making this issue viable.

“Please continue to do so. Thank you.” [Applause and drums].

Climate campaigners stage “Love Trees, Axe Drax” protest

Climate justice campaigners from groups including Extinction Rebellion Edinburgh, Biofuelwatch, Fuel Poverty Action, Stop Burning Trees, Protest in Harmony and Parents for Future Scotland have staged a musical and dance demonstration in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh as part of a UK-wide mobilisation for Drax’s AGM which is taking place in London today.

Drax is the UK’s single largest carbon emitter and the world’s biggest tree burner.

The ‘Love Trees, Axe Drax’ protest featured speeches, dancing by the Scotland Tree Gees to ‘Staying Alive’ by the Bee Gees as well as singing led by Protest in Harmony, including Drax-themed lyrics to ‘Hit the Road Drax’ and ‘Money Money Money’ by Abba.

The Edinburgh demonstration is part of a wider online and in-person mobilisation for Drax’s AGM today, with other protests happening in York, Liverpool and outside the AGM in London to call for an end to Drax’s tree-burning subsidies.

In 2024, Drax received £869 million in green subsidies from UK energy bills, whilst making nearly £1.1 billion in profit and giving its CEO, Will Gardiner, a salary of nearly £3m.

In February this year, the Government announced plans to use UK energy bills to extend Drax’s renewable subsidies until 2031, contrary to the advice of the Climate Change Committee [4], and with no obligation for the company to capture any of the carbon dioxide it emits.

Sally Clark from Biofuelwatch said: ‘There is nothing green or sustainable about Drax’s tree burning, climate-wrecking emissions and harm to communities and wildlife. The Government needs to reconsider its catastrophic plans to grant huge new tree-burning subsidies for Drax.

‘If we are to keep global temperature rises below 1.5 degrees and ensure a liveable future for all, we need to protect and restore the world’s forests, not allow big polluters like Drax to log and burn them.’

Cathy Allen from Extinction Rebellion Edinburgh said: ‘It is shocking that Drax is receiving billions in renewable subsidies from our energy bills to burn trees and pollute communities around the world.

“This is the opposite of green energy and the government’s plans to waste even more of our money on new subsidies for Drax will be a disaster for the planet if they go ahead.

‘If the Government is serious about climate leadership, it should invest in real solutions like warm homes and wind and solar power, not send our futures up in smoke with even more money for Drax’s climate-wrecking tree burning.’

Drax has repeatedly been accused of driving ‘environmental racism’ by communities in the Southern US living near Drax’s pellet mills, which emit harmful pollutants linked to asthma, cancer and pulmonary health issues.

Earlier this month, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality refused Drax’s permit application to expand air pollution at its wood pellet mill in Gloster, Mississippi due to public health concerns and following multiple fines for Drax over air pollution violations.

Merry Dickinson, Lead Campaigner for the Stop Burning Trees Coalition said: ‘Today, Drax is gathering with its shareholders to discuss the profits it’s made from ripping off bill payers, burning forests and polluting communities abroad. Drax’s profits are built off scamming bill payers, destroying vital forests and polluting Black and low income communities in the US.

‘It is a disgrace that the Government has just granted Drax more of our money to continue polluting our planet. We will not stand by and allow Drax’s destruction to go unchecked. The future is in real green energy and green jobs, not Drax’s dirty tree burning and pollution.’

Stuart Bretherton from Fuel Poverty Action said: ‘To stick further costs onto our energy bills, to continue subsidising record breaking profits from Drax’s destroying and burning of vital forests, is criminal.

“It’s not hard to find the solutions that could reduce bills and boost energy security without betraying our climate targets and harming communities here and abroad.

“This government should be looking at why the unit price of electricity is still tied to that of gas, forcing us to pay far more to heat our homes this way even though renewable electricity is much cheaper to produce.

“And why are we paying out huge sums of public money for wind and solar farms to switch off during the highest periods of production, when this excess clean energy could power our homes for next to nothing, literally for free?”

Last week, a new report by the Public Accounts Committee raised concerns that wood-burning companies like Drax are ‘marking their own homework’ when it comes to meeting sustainability standards.

BBC Panorama investigations have found that Drax is continuing to log primary forests in British Columbia in Canada and the company has failed more than once to report that it is sourcing wood to burn from previously untouched forests in Canada.

Time To Divest!

PROTEST TONIGHT at 6pm HAYMARKET SQUARE

Join us at 6pm tonight for a demonstration outside the offices of the Lothian Pension Fund Committee at 9 Haymarket Square.

Let’s make the councillors who sit on the LPF feel the pressure for divestment that is building globally.

Unite CEC branch: Budget Demo

The City of Edinburgh Council will decide its budget for financial year 2025 to 2026 at the Full Council Meeting next Thursday – 20th February 2025.

A demo will take place outside the City Chambers on the High Street from 8.30am to 9.30am on the day.

The council budget debate starts at 10am and is also broadcast live on the City of Edinburgh Council webcast site

Our branch will send a deputation to the meeting to speak on behalf of our branch members.

Look at the council budget papers on the council website for more details on what is being planned

More voices speak out against devastating EIJB funding cuts

EDINBURGH INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD PLANS TO END £4.5 million GRANTS TO 63 COMUNITY PROJECTS

SCOTTISH COUNCIL of VOLUNTARY ORGANIATIONS (SCVO)

SCVO response to proposal by Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board to remove grant-funding from voluntary organisations:

Letter to Councillor Cammy Day, Leader of City of Edinburgh Council,

Professor John Connaghan OBE, Chair of NHS Lothian

cc Pat Togher, Chief Officer EIJB

Proposal by Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board to remove grant-funding from voluntary organisations

I am writing to add SCVO’s voice to the protests regarding the IJB’s proposal to withdraw funding in-year from charities and community groups. 37 of our members are impacted by this decision.

The intention outlined in the board paper to take a more strategic and collaborative approach in the future has been totally undermined by the impact of reneging on this year’s grant funding.

Trust is a fragile thing, and it will take a long time to rebuild any sense that the council and the health board have an understanding of, or respect for, the voluntary organisations that do so much to support our communities.

When you look to build your strategic partnership in 2025, many of them simply won’t be there because they will have gone out of business.

Far from saving money, this will generate significant costs to public services as people fall through the cracks, and the additional millions of pounds voluntary organisations bring in from trusts and foundations or the private sector through match funding and other fundraising activities will disappear. A truly strategic approach would be looking to maximise that income-generation, not cut it off.

It appears that over 100 people who were already in a precarious enough position will lose their jobs. And the discretionary effort of hundreds more volunteers will be lost.

It is evident that when money is tight, which I recognise it is, the council and the health board have retrenched and focused on short-term savings rather than the public good.

The table in the board paper which illustrates where the money could be “better spent” says it all – to the IJB, acute services matter more than prevention or early intervention. As well as being short-sighted ethically and financially, it flies in the face of all the evidence around what communities need and the rhetoric around person-centred services and prevention.

I would urge you to intervene and stop the IJB making a decision everyone involved will regret.

Yours sincerely,

Anna Fowlie
Chief Executive, SCVO

BIG HEARTS: “The value the charity sector brings to our local communities should never be in doubt.”

VOLUNTARY HEALTH SCOTLAND:

VHS Chief Executive @MistryTej has commented on the recent cuts being proposed by Edinburgh IJB.

What will it take for recognition of the crucial work the third sector are doing to reduce health inequalities?

#WEAREVITAL

VOLUNTEER EDINBURGH:

Along with the rest of the sector we are extremely concerned by the proposed early cessation of EIJB grant funding to 64 voluntary sector organisations. As well as the loss of important services and the associated job losses, this will impact volunteering.

Volunteers are at the heart of the affected organisations, contributing 206,000 hours of support to people in the community worth over £2m. These volunteering opportunities are not only a lifeline to people they help support.

They also enable local people to be active in their communities, build confidence, develop skills, reduce isolation – all of which contribute to better health outcomes for volunteers themselves.

The impact of the loss of these volunteering opportunities cannot be understated.

LIVING RENT:

64 charities are at the risk of closure due to £4.5 million worth of proposed cuts. This will have devastating effects for tenants, for workers and for communities across Edinburgh.

Let’s defend our community centres, services & jobs.

Join us to say NO to Labour-led cuts!

SCOTT ARTHUR MP:

I have today (Wednesday) written to the Cheif (sic) Officer of the EIJB opposing the proposed cuts to the third sector in my constituency – I expressed my concerns in the strongest possible terms.

I support @cllrcammyday fully in his call for fair funding for Edinburgh.