James Wright

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

Recent months of the Hamas kill-&-rape attack against Israeli civilians & Israel's war against Hamas have been marked by so much tragic killing and suffering of civilians, Palestinian & Israeli and the suffering of both populations must be told, all crimes exposed ....
but this time has also been marked by towering displays of moronic almost comical ignorance of history & of even the most recent and well known events in the very same region by the inane, the self-righteous & the bigoted 'expert' hacks and activists online and in the media...
Here yet another example in the great @guardian claims there is no precedent for what is happening in Gaza and ignores the multiple examples of towns and cities in Syria at the hands of #Assad #Russia where civilians ate grass, epidemics raged as Assad and Russians dropped barrel bombs and chemical weaponry while noone wrote such articles in the Guardian. And then there was Darfur in Sudan. There was Congo. There was Anfal by Saddam in Iraq. There was Homs in 1982 when around 40,000 civilians were butchered in two weeks by the Assads in the biggest atrocity in the Middle East. And there is what is happening right now in Sudan - a vast humanitarian crisis, 8 million people displaced, 30,000 killed in a colonial-cultural ethnic war - and as even the UN & BBC have commented completely neglected.
All events in the very same region in recent times. This is v far from denying the coverage of war killing starvation happening in Gaza / Israel; it is about treating people the same, whoever they are, giving equal coverage to people because they are equal. And as for the history, fake history like this from the Guardian is meaningless. It is worth doing a bit of reading about the Middle East.
For now the urgency is to get plentiful aid to the people of Gaza, to get the Israeli hostages back home, to negotiate a ceasefire from both sides, remove Hamas from the equation, end the war and start negotiations to create the truth for the pathway to Two Nations, Two Republics, a safe Israel next door to a Safe Palestine.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

The UK is drifting, unhappy, losing faith in previously respected institutions (like the police), buffeted by extremists (often allowed to run amok), dismayed by decline, angry at the inability of the political class to do anything about it, despairing that the Westminster politico/media bubble pursues an agenda, issues and priorities (look at the obsession with Lee Anderson) which are not most people’s — and had enough of being lectured to by a disconnected, de haut en bas chattering class. Yet we have a Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition incapable of speaking up for the moderate majority, who still have pride in their country and are desperate for strong leadership and guidance through the current morass — plus some hope/sign things will get better — all within the bounds of traditional British tolerance and fair play. This vacuum is dangerous.

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

If it emerges Parliamentary chaos was caused by MPs' fear of a flood of threats of murder by mobs of extremists,then democracy is in peril; it doesnt just concern a faraway war; such pressure can be applied on issues closer to home; MPs & democratic freedoms must be protected now

[Lord Walney @LordWalney]

Hard to reconcile the twin laudable aims here. How does an immediate and permanent ceasefire, which leaves Hamas intact on Israel’s border, lead to a situation where “the horror of October 7 can never happen again?”
This used to be Keir’s argument against a permanent ceasefire

[Bill Kristol @BillKristol]

Major Michael Haley is deployed in Africa with the U.S. Army National Guard. Which Trump cannot comprehend, as the idea of volunteering to serve our country is so far from his experience or imagination.

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

I'm sure he'll ask Putin all about Bucha, murders of Russian journalists, assassination of Litvinenko, poisoning of Skripalis, destruction of Grozny, abduction of Ukrainian children, erasure of Ukrainian language and culture in temporarily occupied regions, Putin's affair with Alina Kabaeva, bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine, Prigozgin's death, SVR/GRU/FSB operations in the West, censorship of Internet in Russia, murder of Nemtsov, imprisonment of Kara-Murza and Evan Gershkovich...

What else?

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

I imagine Harman knows this but is wilfully trying to rewrite history to the many listeners whose memories don’t go back that far

[Tim Montgomerie 🇬🇧 @montie]

Absolutely ridiculous. According to Harriet Harman the Conservatives have had more women leaders because Tory women aren't agents of change like Labour women!!!!
This is rewriting history. Mrs Thatcher couldn't have been much more subversive of the male, consensual 1970s Tory culture.

[Danny Reuben @dannyreuben]

The man in the background used this ball to spin @englandcricket to victory on debut in India. How good is that. Congratulations Tom Hartley.

And the 2nd best bowling on debut for England by a spinner.

7/56 Langeidge v WI 1933
7/62 Hartley today
7/103 Laker v WI 1948

#INDvENG

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

On paper DeSantis should have done better than he did but it’s a real shame that he hasn’t endorsed Haley

[Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantis]

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

- Winston Churchill

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

Imagine if this happened at Westminster

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

The covid inquiry has confirmed that Nicola Sturgeon and other SNP Government officials destroyed WhatsApp messages relating to the management of the pandemic, despite her clear promise to the bereaved families that she was committed to keeping these messages.

[Aviva Klompas @AvivaKlompas]

US Secretary of State Blinken: "What is striking to me is that even as we hear many countries urging an end to this conflict, I hear virtually no one demanding of Hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. This is over tomorrow if Hamas does that.

How can it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor, and only demands made of the victim. It would be good if there was a strong international voice pressing Hamas to do what is necessary to end this."

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

Logical analysis of Chinas frame of mind towards Taiwan. The US will be bystanders of another regional conflict unless it wakes up to the threat in the pacific

[Elbridge Colby @ElbridgeColby]

It’s just not true that the fate of Taiwan will be settled in Ukraine. How do we know? China’s own behavior.

I lay out why.

If we want to defend Taiwan, be straightforward and focus on defending Taiwan. Don’t engage in tortured, triple-bank shot logic.

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

Absolutely. He’s succeeded by saying nothing controversial and having the luxury to commentate, rather than govern

[Tim Montgomerie 🇬🇧 @montie]

Can't really agree with Ayesha on this. I find Starmer a very ordinary, uninspiring and tactical politician who owes 90% of Lab's poll ratings to Tory suicide. And media scrutiny of him is pitiful. From immigration to tax he offers nothingburger policies. He's hiding his true agenda or challenges will remain unmet

[Hillel Neuer @HillelNeuer]

On Ivy League campuses today, if you cried out “All blacks must die,” you'd be suspended & canceled.

If you cried out “All LGBTQ people must die,” you'd be suspended & canceled.

If you cried out “All Jews must die,” the university presidents will need to know about the context.

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

Another awful example of the type of questions Israeli representatives have to field

[Adrian Weale @Edeaulx]

"No, damn you Hamas: we won't do a one-for-one swap, we insist on giving you three murderers for each child you release", said no hostage negotiator ever.

[Deborah Haynes @haynesdeborah]

Listen to what @David_Cameron promises @ZelenskyyUa about how the UK will continue to back Ukraine militarily for "however long it takes" - and then remember that it was his coalition government in 2010 that imposed swingeing cuts on the size, strength and capability of the UK armed forces to close a "£38bln blackhole" in the budget the Tories said was left by Labour.
That balanced budget never credibly materialised. The UK was just left with a much smaller military, much less able to support - let alone conduct - enduring operations at scale...

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

@Edeaulx Agreed but politicians of yesteryear had similar professions. I would say the character and stomach of them to drive change has dropped. Fair easier and safer to pontificate about change rather than action it

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

@Edeaulx It was the same with Patel - she spoke tough but achieved very little in terms of immigration and reducing crime. More broadly across government, ministers seem to prefer to commentate rather than make decisions

[James Wright @James_Wright77]

Great article

[Matthew Syed @matthewsyed]

Israel may destroy Hamas — but then what? Excellent from Max Hastings

https://t.co/ZKcFKdfpvf

[Hillel Neuer @HillelNeuer]

I asked the UN: “Why did you name the Islamic Republic of Iran as Chair of the UN Human Rights Council Social Forum, starting on Nov. 2nd? How can you elevate a regime that beats, blinds, tortures & rapes women who demand their rights? Where is the logic? Where is the morality?”