Stephanie O’Boyle

Change Agent - Leadership Coach - Behaviour and Influence - Professional Development - Exec Education - @UniofGalway.

[Stephanie O’Boyle @StephanieOBoyle]

They’ve bombed every hospital, school & university; levelled Gaza; abducted medics, academics; torturing thousands of innocents held illegally. Slaughtered children & now starving survivors. Nothing else matters. EU better start representing citizens. This is insane bullshit.

[Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla]

This is a war crime. It’s all war crimes. Something that none of the normie UK commentators are commenting on

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

I don't know if people understand just how insanely egregious this is.

First of all, 1) not only are NATO spending targets NOT legally binding (nothing in any NATO-related legal text mandates a specific GDP-based threshold for defense spending), but on top of this 2) Spain requested AND RECEIVED an exemption from the 5% target at the 2025 Hague Summit - NATO changed the declaration's language specifically to allow Spain to sign while publicly declaring it would not comply (https://t.co/q3VE2Je3TS)

This means that, legally speaking and according to NATO's own rules, Spain is doubly within its rights: there is no binding obligation to begin with, and Spain was excused from even this non-binding obligation.

That's the first point: Germany's chancellor just endorsed - from the Oval Office - the U.S. punishing a fellow EU nation for refusing to comply with an obligation that doesn't exist in law, under a political pledge Spain was excused from at a NATO summit.

The second point is that this 5% target has nothing to do with "defense", quite the contrary in fact: it is pretty explicitly an imperial tribute to the U.S. that will actually **weaken** European defense.

That was Spain's main argument for refusing to comply: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that "committing to 5% would not make us any safer" because it "would only reinforce our dependence" on the U.S. (https://t.co/QUMDyfvWDP)

That's the insane thing about EU defense spending: in recent years, the more it has spent on defense, the more that spending has flowed to American contractors as opposed to European ones, making the EU defense industry weaker (https://t.co/XHGLW71tX0). Increasing spending to 5% doesn't strengthen European defense: it accelerates exactly this transfer.

All the more insane given the well-documented production backlogs in the U.S. defense industry and its inability to produce at scale: US defense analysts - including from Trump-adjacent think tanks like AEI (https://t.co/c3DobMYpru) - openly acknowledge that European customers would be deprioritized behind U.S. ones in any real conflict.

AND, critically, a defense industry from a country that's increasingly hostile to Europe - explicitly so in its National Security Strategy - and whose weaponry has "kill switches" that allows for remote disabling.

I mean, the sheer madness of it: anyone with an ounce of common sense can see that DOUBLING your defense spending to enrich a foreign arms industry that has kill switches on your weapons, can't meet its own military's needs, and increasingly treats you as an adversary, is not even remotely a defense strategy - it's suicide.

That's why having Merz - in the oval office, sitting next to Trump - endorse economic coercion against the one EU country that's still sane enough to see through this madness is so egregious, and frankly straight-up traitorous.

For those who know Asterix and Obelix, Spain is the "one small village still holding out against the invaders" and Merz is Cassius Ceramix, the self-described "gallo-roman" Gaul village chief who's the incarnation of all sycophants after his tribe were conquered by the Romans.

I'm with Asterix, and all Europeans should be too.

[Jonathan Cook @Jonathan_K_Cook]

Despite being thoroughly discredited, the genocide-shielding group UK Lawyers for Israel still managed to persuade the General Medical Council to pursue a lawfare-style antisemitism complaint against Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah.

The surgeon has incensed Israel's apologists by testifying to the International Criminal Court about Israeli war crimes he witnessed in Gaza.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal threw the case out last year and exonerated Dr Abu-Sittah.

Now the GMC has announced it will appeal the decision to the high court, forcing him to raise £150,000 to defend himself once again.

It's hardly surprising that UKLFI wishes to persecute and impoverish Dr Abu-Sittah for being an upstanding human being.

But it is off-the-charts outrageous that a professional regulatory body like the GMC is colluding in this campaign of harassment on behalf of Israel.

More here: https://t.co/Vjpjz3JTKD

[Diane Abbott @HackneyAbbott]

This is an illegal war of aggression, just as Iraq was.
While Starmer is trying to cover for US-Israeli bombing, the US Pentagon has told Congress that there is no evidence that Iran was about to attack.
Once again it will be civilians in the region who pay the price.

[Daniel Lambert @dlLambo]

Remarkable that over 550 Iranians have been murdered.

Over 200 of them children.

Started in an unprovoked attack by Israel - a nation with illegal nuclear weapons whose leaders are wanted for war crimes.

And the EU is criticising Iran.

[Clash Report @clashreport]

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Iran:

Today more than ever, it is essential to remember that one can be against a hateful regime, as is the case with the Iranian regime, as is the whole of Spanish society, and at the same time be against an unjustified, dangerous military intervention outside of international law.

That one must be against a war initiated without the authorization of the United States Congress or the United Nations Security Council and, as I have said before, one that violates international law.

And that there is always room for a negotiated solution, instead of being dragged along by the devastation of arms as the only possible way out.

Therefore, I would like once again, as we have done since the beginning, to appeal for immediate de-escalation, for full respect for international law in all the conflicts we are unfortunately suffering, and for the urgency of resuming dialogue as soon as possible.

That is where Spain will be, and that is where I believe the whole of the European Union should be.

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez has condemned the US-Israel war on Iran as a breach of international law, emerging as one of the sole Western leaders to denounce the attacks.

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

We warned you: the wholesale destruction of Gaza was not an exception, it was a blueprint to crush anyone who opposes the plutocratic imperialism embodied by US/Israel and their global allies.
Act now: defend int'l law from lawlessness, before the rupture becomes irreversible.

[Prof Aoife M. Foley @AoifeMFoley]

@Muinchille Here you go working on last three days 👇

[Jonathan Mills @Muinchille]

The world needs a crash to take the vast bloat of fairy gold out of the system. Why? Because the massive overpricing of assets is doing far more ongoing economic damage than a crash would. Everyone wants one, no banker wants to take the blame.

Looks like we just got one.

[Daniel Lambert @dlLambo]

The man wanted for War Crimes by the International Criminal Court- and who has just today murdered 108 school kids.....is now hiding in Berlin.

The EU "stands for human rights and international law" they'll tell you.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I am a diplomatic aide in the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

My job is logistics. When two countries that cannot speak to each other need to speak to each other, I book the rooms. I prepare the briefing materials. I make sure the water glasses are the right distance apart. You would be surprised how much of diplomacy is water glasses. Too close and it feels informal. Too far and it feels like a tribunal. I have a chart.

We had a very good month.

Since January, Oman has been mediating indirect talks between the United States and Iran on Iran's nuclear program. The talks were held in Muscat and in Geneva. The Americans would sit in one room. The Iranians would sit in another room. I would walk between them. My Fitbit says I averaged fourteen thousand steps on negotiation days. The hallway between the two rooms at the Royal Opera House conference center is forty-seven meters. I walked it two hundred and twelve times in February. This is good for my cardiovascular health. It was less good for my knees. Both are in the service of peace.

By mid-February, we had something.

Iran agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium. Not reduced stockpiling. Zero. They agreed to down-blend existing stockpiles to the lowest possible level. They agreed to convert them into irreversible fuel. They agreed to full IAEA verification with potential US inspector access. They agreed, in the Foreign Minister's phrase, to "never, ever" possess nuclear material for a bomb. I have worked in diplomacy for seven years. I have never seen a country agree to this many things this quickly. I made a spreadsheet of the concessions. It had fourteen rows. I color-coded it. Green for confirmed. Yellow for pending. By February 21 the spreadsheet was entirely green. I printed it. It is on my desk in Muscat. It is still green.

That phrase took eleven days. "Never, ever." The Iranians initially offered "not seek to." The Americans wanted "will not under any circumstances." We landed on "never, ever" at 2:14 AM on a Tuesday in Muscat. I typed the final version myself. I used Times New Roman because Geneva prefers it. The document was fourteen pages. I was proud of every comma.

Here is what they said, in the order they said it.

February 24: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity." — The Foreign Minister, private briefing to Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors. I prepared the slide deck. Slide 14 was the implementation timeline. Slide 15 was the signing ceremony logistics. I had reserved the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Room XX. It seats four hundred. We discussed pen brands for the signing. The Iranians preferred Montblanc. The Americans had no preference. I ordered twelve Montblanc Meisterstucks at six hundred and thirty dollars each. They arrive on Tuesday.

February 27, 8:30 AM EST: "The deal is within our reach." — The Foreign Minister, CBS Face the Nation. He sat across from Margaret Brennan. He said broad political terms could be agreed "tomorrow" with ninety days for technical implementation in Vienna. He said, and I wrote this line for the briefing card he carried in his breast pocket: "If we just allow diplomacy the space it needs." He praised the American envoys by name. Steve Witkoff. Jared Kushner. He said both had been constructive.

I watched from the Four Seasons Georgetown. The minibar had cashews. I ate the cashews. They were nineteen dollars. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten. But it was a good morning and we were within our reach.

February 27, 2:00 PM EST: Meeting with Vice President Vance, Washington. The Foreign Minister presented our progress. Zero stockpiling. Full verification. Irreversible conversion. "Never, ever." The Vice President used the word "encouraging." His aide took notes on an iPad. The aide did not make eye contact for the last nine minutes of the meeting. I noticed this. Noticing things is the only part of my job that is not water glasses.

February 27, 4:00 PM EST: "Not happy with the pace." — President Trump, to reporters.

Not happy with the pace.

We had achieved zero stockpiling. Full IAEA verification. Irreversible fuel conversion. Inspector access. And the phrase "never, ever," which took eleven days and cost me two hundred and twelve trips down a forty-seven-meter hallway.

Every American president since Carter has failed to get Iran to agree to this. Forty-five years.

Not happy with the pace.

February 27, 9:47 PM EST: The Foreign Minister's flight departs Dulles for Muscat. I am in the seat behind him. He is reviewing Slide 14 on his laptop. The implementation timeline. Vienna technical sessions. The signing ceremony. The pens.

I fall asleep over the Atlantic. I dream about water glasses.

February 28, 6:00 AM GST: I wake up to push notifications.

February 28: "The United States has begun major combat operations in Iran." — President Trump.

Operation Epic Fury. Coordinated airstrikes. The United States and Israel. Tehran. Isfahan. Qom. Karaj. Kermanshah. Nuclear facilities. IRGC bases. Sites near the Supreme Leader's office. Israel called their half Operation Roaring Lion. Someone in both governments spent time choosing these names. Epic Fury. Roaring Lion. I spent eleven days on "never, ever." They spent it on branding. The President said Iran had "rejected American calls to halt its nuclear weapons production."

Rejected.

Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling. Iran had agreed to full verification. Iran had agreed to "never, ever." Iran had agreed to everything in a fourteen-page document that I typed in Times New Roman.

The President said they rejected it.

I do not know which document the President was reading. I know which one I typed.

February 28, 18:45 UTC: Iran internet connectivity: four percent. — NetBlocks, confirmed by Cloudflare. Ninety-six percent of a country went dark. You cannot negotiate with a country at four percent connectivity. You cannot negotiate with a country that is being struck. You cannot negotiate. This is not a political opinion. This is a logistics assessment.

February 28: The governor of Minab reported forty girls killed at an elementary school.

I do not have logistics for that. There is no slide for that. The water glass chart does not cover that.

February 28: Lockheed Martin: up. Northrop Grumman: up. RTX: up. Dow futures: down six hundred and twenty-two points. Gold: five thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars. An analyst at AInvest published a note titled "Iran Strikes: Tactical Plays." The note recommended positions in oil, defense stocks, and gold.

The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten was nineteen dollars. The most expensive pen I have ever ordered was six hundred and thirty dollars. The math suggests I have been working in the wrong industry. Defense stocks do not require water glasses. Defense stocks do not require eleven days. Defense stocks require one morning.

February 28: Israel closed its airspace and its schools. Iran launched retaliatory missiles toward US bases in the Gulf. The Supreme Leader promised a "crushing response." Israel's defense minister declared a permanent state of emergency. Everyone is using words I recognize in an order I do not. I recognize "permanent." I recognize "emergency." I do not recognize them next to each other. In diplomacy, nothing is permanent and everything is an emergency. In war it is the reverse.

February 28: The Foreign Minister has not made a public statement.

The briefing card is still in his breast pocket. It still says "within our reach."

[CIJ_ICJ @CIJ_ICJ]

PRESS RELEASE: The #ICJ delivers its Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory https://t.co/uMXJBTcJq6

[Norman Finkelstein @normfinkelstein]

This is an invaluable project, brilliantly executed.

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

The Israeli army has committed 47 violations of the ceasefire agreement since it came into force in early October. Hamas says Netanyahu is using “flimsy pretexts to disrupt” the ceasefire deal.

🔴 Follow our LIVE coverage: https://t.co/ylgrEv49Ld

[TIMES OF GAZA @Timesofgaza]

Israeli occupation soldiers assaulted two children south of Hebron.

[Ounka @OunkaOnX]

Gideon Levy ,
bravo .👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[GLAN | Global Legal Action Network @GLAN_LAW]

GLAN Legal Co-Lead and case solicitor Gerry Liston said, “This ground-breaking result demonstrates that companies and their senior executives with commercial links to the Israeli settlements face risks of extremely serious criminal consequences..." 2/5

[Dr Rahmeh Aladwan @doctor_rahmeh]

Cleared by a tribunal.
The 'israel' lobby objected.
Now I'm being retried.

This is no longer about my medical licence. It's a public jury:
Who controls our regulators—us or them?

If you stand for free speech and sovereign British institutions, sign here:https://t.co/PCb0Qa8uyJ

[Quds News Network @QudsNen]

NEW | Instagram has removed the verified account of Gaza slain journalist Saleh al-Jafarawi, who had 4.5 million followers.

Archived snapshots of his page on the Wayback Machine, the largest public internet archive, also appear to have been wiped or disabled, raising concerns about digital erasure of Palestinian documentation.

Al-Jafarawi, known for his frontline reporting on the Gaza genocide, had previously faced repeated censorship. He was killed yesterday by an armed group collaborating with Israel.

Observers warn that these developments may signal “a new phase in efforts to erase evidence of Israeli war crimes from the internet.”