The reporting of the recent conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine I have found most disturbing. Not the graphic nature and horrific human costs. As a anti-war individual all my life of course, that does upset me greatly. What I find distressing is the convergence of our political and media class to openly lie to us.
I maintain it should upset everyone the pointless and avoidable deaths in conflicts.War is always down to greed and a failure of diplomacy. Sooner or later diplomacy will settle these disputes. My contention is settle by diplomacy before the killing starts.
What concerns me the most is that there is no difference in the narrative domestically and globally by our political class, commentariat, broadcasters and our mainstream media.It is as if they all got into the same room to agree the lies.
The internet has allowed the public to seek out alternative facts from the narratives spoon fed to us by these charlatans.This is why you are hearing more and more from the ruling elites their desire to censor social media.
This week we have the 80-year commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.The western allies who did not actually liberate the camp will be holding this ceremony in Poland to try and convince the world they and not the Soviets liberated the souls that survived the Nazi holocaust. That our media have nothing to say about the exclusion of the Russians shows they are as dishonest as our politicians in this failed attempt to rewrite history.In a further irony the Russians have been excluded from the ceremony however, the Germans have been invited! Go figure!
All week we have had charlatans like Starmer, Reeves, Rayner, Lammy telling us how it is so important that we should never forget the holocaust and their best ‘never again!’ This from the same people still processing the payments that enabled Israel to carry out a holocaust and genocide in Palestine for the past 15 months. That our politicians, media and commentariat have all yet again come together to have the same narrative regarding Israel is somewhat ‘coincidental’
Apparently the Israelis are the good guys and the Palestinians are the bad guys This slaughter is just Israeli self-defence, not war crimes on an industrial scale and certainly not a genocide! Israelis are hostages.Palestinians are prisoners so goes the propaganda. Hostages are victims being held against their will. Prisoners gives the sense that these are criminals.Subtle but effective propaganda. Be assured daily you are receiving propaganda, not news.
Have you never thought it strange that our political class of all supposed different hues in the west, all our media and all our commentariat reach the same conclusions on everything? Be it Palestine, Ukraine, Iran, North Korea, capitalism, socialism.They all agree ideologically at the same models of good guys versus bad guys, good countries versus bad countries, good elections versus bad elections. They all agree with the neoliberal economic model and never question it. They all disagree with a socialist model of economy. They all constantly question the Chinese and Russian economies and all say the same things about child labour, workers rights, subsidies, etc. While subsidising their own industries preventing workers rights and paying poverty wages and our media commentariat and broadcasters remain silent and worse still play along with the narrative.
This week the news from China on AI Deepseek has caused major panic amongst the western elites. We are likely to see massive falls in US tech stocks very reminiscent of the dotcom financial collapse back in 2000. What the ruling elites and their mouthpieces told us was that AI was terribly complicated and would take $ billions and trillions to deploy has just been delivered by the Chinese for very little. To compound the misery for the US big tech corporations the Chinese have made this open source, free something western capitalism despises!
The colluders only ever disagree over minor issues never over anything fundamental.Good trade unionists like Mike Lynch, Bob Crow, Arthur Scargill, who could not be bought by the establishment are demonised and put in the bad guys category.
Trade Unions make demands, Management make offers, again the use of language is important.Guys like Alan Sugar, Richard Branson held up as role models, shining lights. Men like, Alex Salmond, Jeremy Corbyn , John McDonnell who question the status quo and offer alternatives are demonised as bad and a threat to ‘British values,’ Something that no Brit can actually define!
The fact that the government of the day irrespective of its colour, political bodies, media all share the same information, have the same perspectives means that power never gets held to account.This leaves a gaping hole in the information we receive on a daily basis and means our government gets away with so much. It is why nobody was ever held to account for the banking crash, the Track and Trace missing £37 billion, the overspend that is HS2.
It is why Israel can murder 20,000 Palestinian children and face no consequences. It is why fascists can roam freely in Europe all under the protective umbrella of the US/UK/EU kleptocracies.
It is why you will never betold the truth about Scotland’s wealth and England’s poverty.The Anglos dependence on Scottish largesse, not the other way around!
How do you know the UK Politicians,media and broadcasters are lying to you? Their lips are moving! The latest collective collusion is the concerted attacks on the NHS. It needs to be trashed so that the profiteers can sell it off to US big pharma and Health Insurance companies.
Nobody in the media is talking up for or supporting the idea of treatment free at the point of delivery.The absolute beating heart of the NHS.They will of course, tell tales of delayed ambulances, long waiting times at A&E, delayed operations any negative they can find.
They wont of course, criticise Brexit and mention the flight of so many healthcare workers to the EU as a factor for any NHS problems. They wouldn’t dare say the Union got anything wrong. Undermining the British Union is not allowed, not even the slightest criticism.
Promoting best practises from Scotland, Wales or from the 6 occupied counties of Ireland is strictly forbidden.England must be seen to be the best at everything no matter how insignificant.
This is what makes British propaganda so effective. It is not just Union Jacks on Scottish and Welsh produce it is much more deeply ingrained into our psyche and our society.All our news, views drama, sporting coverage, entertainment, food is propagandised to support the mother England narrative.
Roast Beef good, Haggis and Neeps bad, inferior. EPL best in the world, SPL inferior. Cricket world sport, Shinty inferior bad. English language the world’s leading language, Scots or Gaelic inferior and bad. Unionism good, Independence bad, inferior! The tripartite all say the same. Repeat a lie often enough…
That all these bodies say the exact same things on all matters creates this false parallel world we live in and it distorts the reality.It allows our leaders to escape any scrutiny and continue to steal all our resources unabated.
We can escape this all as early as 2026. However, to do that we need unity of the Scottish people.We need a plan for the Holyrood election.The SNP as the largest Party is not a victory, it is a defeat for Scotland. We need a super majority of committed independinistas and fewer unionists.
We need independence candidates throughout Scotland in constituencies and on the list to be standing on a single line manifesto commitment to take our independence by way of the election victory.
Independents for Independence will contest the Holyrood election on that basis, and we invite other like minded to join us in this endeavour. United we cannot be defeated. Set aside egos and party politics and be as one for Scotland. Nation before party, it is the only way to gain our independence and defeat the colluders!
Excellent post Roddy. It expresses what is happening around us locally, nationally, and internationally, and that which is driving the destruction of our current governance to be replaced by neo – liberal potential fascism.
Scotland must of course be our absolute focus and Julia and I are committed to what is needed.
All fair points raised and explained Roddy. One point about Independents for Independence candidates standing in 2026. The media will blank out everyone in Scotland including any Alba, ISP or others standing in favour of the ‘establishment’ parties (including SNP). Annother set back for Indy 4 Indy candidates is that the Electoral Commision will only allow the description of ‘Independent’ with no further logo or emblem on the ballot papes, a big drawback for people going into the booth to vote. Without the media coverage during the election and plenty of campaign material out there to get the message across it will be a tough battle. We are at the end of Jan and it will take another couple of months (at least} to organise candidates, finance and campaign teams. By the time winter comes back round this year…the election campaign will be only a few months off before the vote in 2026. Can it be done? I hope so, I really do, with all my patriotic love and desire for a FREE and Independent Scotland!
Watch this space
The thing is, it will be of little use for the other independence parties/movements to have candidates in the Central Belt only. Yes, of course, this is where the majority of the population live, but the outlying areas will have an impact on the overall results, so they will need to have an alternative to the SNP for whom to vote or they will stay at home. If the SNP goes for SNP 1 & 2 again, many Unionists will get a seat, not alternatives to the SNP.
I fully agree with you about the deaths of civilians, in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Yemen, in DR Congo, in Sudan and other parts of the world. However, in Ukraine, for example, we are shown the coffins and funerals of combatants, as well as those of civilians, and their names are added to monuments. In Gaza, I have not seen one funeral of a Hamas fighter, although lots of bodies taken away in white sheets and no way of knowing who they were except for the word of the people around the bodies and Al-Jezeera and the other Arab journalists, who state that they were civilians. To suggest that this is very strange is to put it mildly. At the very least, it would show that Hamas is fighting the Israelis on behalf of the Palestinians and, at best, disprove the claim that all those bodies are those of civilians.
All the figures for dead civilians are taken by Hamas and, until very recently, no neutral body was able to verify or question them. Now, two former senior army personnel for the UK and US are stating that the numbers of civilians is much lower than claimed by Hamas; they have also stated that both the British and US armies would have fought no differently from the IDF, in similar circumstances (Afghanistan). I am not claiming that many civilians have not been killed, but, if the Israeli estimates of Hamas fighters killed are even half-right, we should know now how many, roughly, have been killed. Of course, there will be bodies under the rubble, both civilian and Hamas, probably, and they will have to be added to the speculative total. The Israelis have not allowed Western journalists into Gaza because of the bad press the IDF and Israeli government have received in the West, whereas anything that Hamas says is treated as gospel. I really want to see this rectified in the interests of truth, as far as that is possible in war.
The money for much of the English infrastructure projects is coming from Qatar which has been fingered as a supporter and shelterer, of Hamas as much as Iran.
Lorna
Are you not doing exactly what you accuse Hamas of? You suggest we shouldn’t accept Hamas figures because they have every reason to exaggerate the numbers of civilian casualties, while treating as more accurate, figures from Israeli, US and UK sources who have every reason to downplay the casualty numbers. Is it not more likely that both sides have their own axes to grind. However, what can’t be falsified are the pictures of the destruction of the infrastructure in Palestine and Lebanon and the fact that Israelis are limiting civilian aid being distributed. You must accept this is a very unequal conflict. There’s no way Hamas are the equal of the IDF.
I’m not accepting anyone’s figures. I have said we need to wait and see, as we had to do post WW II, and in every war since. However, no I do not accept Hamas figures at face value. Too many anomalies. No separate record of Hamas deaths; no record at all of Hamas deaths; and no funerals of fighters. Also, no figures for natural deaths from illness and old age. Suspicious to say the very least.
The IDF must have killed some Hamas fighters, yet, apart from the leaders, Hamas admits to no deaths. Come on, even the dyed-in-the-wool anti Israel pro Palestinian must see that there is something very odd about that? Did you not also find it odd that the fighters who surrounded those hostages during the releases were spick and span after a year in the tunnels, supposedly?
The IDF soldiers looked weary and dust-covered, much the same as those in Ukraine do. I believe we have been subjected to a propaganda war the likes of which we have not seen since WW II and Goebbels. Do not mistake me: I feel heart sorry for the Palestinian civilians and I do not wish to see them supplanted. I also hope that they get the medical aid they need – which they, a year ago, would have received in Israel. I doubt now that Israel will have them and I also doubt that those who worked in Israel each day will be allowed back in either. There is, also, no longer any hope of joining Gaza and the West Bank via a corridor over Israeli land.
You are entitled to feel sorry for the plight of the Palestinians and I think a lot of the empathy comes from Scots who feel we are in the same boat. Personally, I don’t hold with that argument, but I respect your right to hold it if you choose. I hope the day never comes when we cross the border and murder and rape and mutilate innocent civilians. I know that my viewpoint of the conflict in Gaza is not a popular one, but years of studying the Middle East, its history and conflict, in general, lead me to follow the path of neutrality as far as that is possible, and I believe that Israel has the right to exist.
October 7 was a pivotal moment in the long-drawn-out conflict; it kick-started the retaliation, and determination of the Israelis to crush Hamas, finally. Qatari money is funding the new English projects. Co-incidence? I think not. Saudi, Egypt, the Gulf States, Syria, Jordan will all recognize Israel in due course. Mutual trade will dampen enthusiasm for conflict; that, and the realization that Israel is going nowhere; and, of course, Iranian nuclear ambitions will necessitate Israel’s continued existence as only Israel, in the region, can stop them. Otherwise, we will have a Sunni/Shia bloodbath.
No idea how Trump will try to settle this, but the world will not allow Gaza to be a land grab, and it would just fuel future conflict. The West Bank, ancient Judea and Samaria, both part of the Israelite kingdom, I feel, will be absorbed into Israel Proper and the Palestinians there, if they are averse to that will be sent to Gaza, and there will be an Israeli presence in Gaza for years to come until it is rebuilt. One of the conditions of rebuilding will almost certainly be that Hamas leaves Gaza. Possibly I am entirely wrong. The future of the West hangs in the balance now, along with Israel,’s, and any future Scottish independence will come to nothing because there will be no West recognizable if we don’t get a grip of reality very soon.