Michael Punch

Israel must immediately release the activists it has kidnapped in int'l waters. Persecuting those who oppose Apartheid is part of the crime of Apartheid. Israel won't stop bullying killing and torturing people until it is forced to: Boycott, Divest, Protest, Activate courts now.

@MichaelPTKelly Utter utter bollocks - and reposted by Rachel Moiselle to her vast band of followers - that makes me angry - she herself has repeatedly said that physical violence is not an issue for Irish Jews - thank goodness

Charlotte Church sang From the River to the Sea at a fundraising event for Palestinians and now all the usual people are screaming antisemitism and trying to cancel her. RT if you stand with Charlotte Church and Palestine.

The First Intifada (1987-1993) started as a non-violent programme of protests, strikes, boycotts, refusal to pay taxes, and other acts of civil disobedience. Israeli security forces responded with excessive violence, including using live ammunition against unarmed civilians. Palestinians turned to violence in response. Israeli forces killed 332 Palestinians in the first 13 months and over a thousand over the whole intifada, including 240 children. 100 Israeli civilians were killed and 60 soldiers.

@davidmcw Some background (on historic tax advantages etc.): caficointernational.com/article/irelan…

@davidmcw Ryanair was founded by enterpreneur Michael O'Leary when there was no experience with aircraft in Ireland? Will be news to Guinness Peat Aviation (1975) and the tens of aircraft leasing companies following than.

Morning, this is last Friday's podcast on the disappearance of the Irish entrepreneur. Only 5% of young irish people are backing themselves and going out in their own. Pod is all about why this needs to change. Hope you enjoy it. podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/ire…

@LilLilyRizz It's no longer in Abbey street?

THERES A SCIENTOLOGY BUILDING IN DUBLIN?? Can we all do a speedrun and meet Irish Shannon??

YES. A disgraceful performance by @TrevorPTweets This is the kind of approach @jeremycorbyn was regularly faced with The Establishment is out to keep @ZackPolanski from power by any means Zack did well, despite the appalling interviewer

When Jewish people speak out against genocide, why are our voices dismissed? And smirking while I describe someone Nazi-saluting at me isn’t just disrespectful - it feels deeply antisemitic. youtu.be/7VkfYJgLljE?si…

This week, they came for Zack Polanski. Every interview hostile. Every presenter badgering. The Met Commissioner wrote him a scathing letter. Trevor Phillips piled in. Ed Balls, a Labour politician married to a Cabinet minister, sat across from the Green Party leader and acted like that was normal. They meant to destroy him. Instead, they destroyed their own credibility. Ed Balls is now facing questions about whether he should remain on air. So is the Met Commissioner. So is Trevor Phillips. Zack walked into every room, took every hit, and gave as good as he got. Maya Angelou said it best: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." The media, the establishment, the parties who feel threatened by what he represents, they showed us exactly who they are. And Zack looks braver for every punch they threw.

Phillips' interview with @ZackPolanski is problematic on its own terms but absolutely 🤯 if you know the full, ugly story of @TrevorPTweets and the Labour Party. Buckle up, this is a long and depressing story. Phillips was suspended and put under investigation for alleged Islamophobia by the Labour Party. His suspension was lifted out of the blue - a week before he got his Sunday Politics gig where he would be interviewing Labour pols. Later disclosures show that @ABarrosCurtis played a central role in revisiting the investigation under pressure from unnamed "stakeholders." The story of his suspension being lifted soon leaks to the Guardian. The Labour Party goes mad trying to find the leaker. They end up blaming and suspending two BAME members of staff, neither of whom the Party, in the end, can prove leaked the story. One of the people suspended is the only Muslim person in the Labour Party's disciplinary unit. It is effectively the end of their Labour Party careers. Now the kicker: the Guardian had been leaked the story during the Batley & Spen by-election, which, if Starmer loses, is predicted to led to a leadership challenge. Starmer is under threat in Batley because large numbers of Muslim voters are abandoning the Labour Party. Labour ends up winning by tiny margin, saving Starmer's leadership. But the Guardian holds the story for three weeks. The Guardian only publishes the story two days AFTER the by-election. Would the result have been different if this story was published during a by-election where Islamophobia was a key concern? I don't know. I am absolutely certain that voters in Batley & Spen should have known about this at the time. Now five years later: Alex Barros-Curtis is an MP after a ham-fisted "selection" during 2024 General Election. Trevor Phillips is batting away Polanski talking about his own perspective as a Jewish person. And Starmer and his Party respond to a horrific antisemitic attack by claiming its catalysed by marches against Israeli war crimes, decaying language even as they continue to supply weapons and F-35 parts to Israel even as its killed 800 Gazans since the "ceasefire" and annexing large parts of Lebanon. This whole political and media class needs to get in the bin.

@Sarahjdublin Wonder what the death toll was that day? But sure, the cocktails look class. ‘Vibrant’ and that photo should be the only response any Irish person ever has to her on here. It should follow her to her last day.

How is this not blowing up everywhere? ‘Pro-Israel German politician and commissioner for combatting anti-semitism, was a victim of arson attack that had an inverted red triangle spray-painted on the site. Turns out this arson attack was carried out by his acquaintances, who are involved with a Jewish non-profit’

Apparently we are not supposed even to mention the fact that a Muslim was stabbed because that might "snatch away Jewish people's current trauma". These people are mad.

I see the attention seeking Dún Laoghaire narcissist is now trying to have Patrick Kielty cancelled. A man who has 'actually' experienced prejudice in the most horrific,devastating way. As a teenager he was taken out of class & informed by the headmaster of his father's murder.

They'll arrest your granny for holding up a sign and call her a terrorist, though.

Frontline health workers who developed Long Covid set to have full sick pay restored amid case reviews – The Irish Times share.google/j3Nu5FP6pURzKr…

'How many men were attacked, Winston?' 'Three... 'Three. Yes. And if the BBC says two, how many men were attacked?' 'Three... 'How many, Winston?' 'Three... Two... I don't know...' 'BBC says two. How many, Winston?'

This transcends partisanship: The manner in which Zack Polanski is illustrated here is abjectly antisemitic, and @thetimes should have known better than to publish it. This is disgusting, it is antisemitic, and we should not be afraid to call this out for what it is.

Quick check, will the entire British establishment label this a terror attack? Will the PM release a statement? Will we be getting £25M to protect gay people?