“Iran’s nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security” UK PM, Sir Keir Starmer
Meanwhile, Israel's nuclear programme includes possession of nuclear bombs with a wider programme which involves the genocidal slaughter of the Palestinian people. For Starmer this is not a threat, but is to be supported. As I write this RAF surveillance planes are operating from Cyprus helping the Israelis with this war crime. Like many of you I am in despair, but that is not an option. I can’t do better than quote the following from William Hartung, Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
“The U.S. is always getting in trouble when they think there’s this miracle solution. Iran’s not going to sit on its hands. They’ll respond possibly by killing U.S. troops in the region, then we’ll have escalation from there. It’s reminiscent of the beginning of the Iraq War, when they said, “It’s going to be a cakewalk. It’s not going to cost anything.” Couple trillion dollars, hundreds of thousands of casualties, many U.S. veterans coming home with PTSD, a regime that was sectarian that paved the way for ISIS, it couldn’t have gone worse. And so, this is a different beginning, but the end is uncertain, and I don’t think we want to go there. It’s almost as if Benjamin Netanyahu is running U.S. foreign policy, and Trump is kind of following along. I think taking the stand is infectious ... the more of us that get involved, the better chance we have of turning this thing around. So, we should not let them discourage us. We need to build power to push back against all these horrible things.”
So do whatever you can. In my case, as former director of the Pavarotti Music Centre in war-torn Mostar, I am in contact with those involved with music in Gaza and Palestine. For those of you who don’t know what is happening and don’t know what to do here is Tom Paxton with ‘We didn’t know‘, recorded 60 years ago and sadly still relevant.
