West Supports Zionist Bloodbaths
Now into its second month, Israel’s war on Gaza has left the strip’s northern section in shambles and killed over 14,000 Palestinians, with the majority being women and children. While Israel is launching the attacks on Gaza, several Western powers are also involved in the assault behind the scenes. MintPress News takes a deep dive into the countries sustaining Israel’s war.
Who is sending Israel weapons?
Since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October, several rights groups have initiated legal proceedings regarding arms exports to Israel.
On Nov. 6, Palestinian human rights organizations, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights launched legal action in the Federal Court of Australia to access all arms export permits that have been granted to Israel since Oct.7.
We know that hundreds of permits have been issued in recent years, but the Australian government keeps the basic details secret: what items are being exported, who is making them, what are they used for?,” Rawan Arraf, executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, whose organization is supporting the Palestinian groups’ application, said in a press release.
Australia’s arms exports are shrouded in secrecy and have come under additional scrutiny after a Senate hearing in October found that 52 defense permits were granted to the Israeli government in 2023, with more than 350 being granted since 2017.
On Nov. 13, Palestinians sued United States President Joe Biden for failing to prevent genocide in Gaza and to stop the administration’s military and diplomatic support. Three days later the plaintiffs filed an urgent motion to immediately halt U.S. support for Israel.
“Palestinian children in Gaza are undoubtedly targets as repeated Israeli military offensives destroy their homes, schools, and neighborhoods, as Israeli forces use U.S.-made and funded weapons to kill them and their families with impunity,” Khaled Quzmar, general director at Defense for Children International – Palestine, and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a press release.
Bloomberg revealed a U.S. Defense Department document entitled “Israel Senior Leader” requests, dating to late October, listing the weapons Israel is seeking for its ongoing war on Gaza. According to Bloomberg, the weapons arsenal is already being shipped. The arms are listed below:
- 2,000 Hellfire missiles for Apache attack helicopters manufactured by U.S. weapons firm Lockheed Martin
- 30mm chain gun ammunition for Apache attack helicopters manufactured by U.S. arms corporation General Dynamics
- 57,000 155mm shells for artillery guns
- 400 120mm mortars
- PVS-14 night vision monoculars from U.S. manufacturer Night Vision Devices
- M141 shoulder-fired bunker-busters
- 75 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, manufactured by U.S. firm Oshkosh Defense
- More than 300 Tamir interceptors for Israel’s Iron Dome system, and made by U.S. arms manufacturer Raytheon
As previously reported by MintPress News, photos have shown that U.S.-manufactured weapons containing white phosphorus are being used in Israel’s assault on Gaza. These artillery shells were made by Pine Bluff Arsenal, an army facility based in Arkansas known for supplying white phosphorus ammunition. The U.S. army did not respond to requests verifying if Pine Bluff Arsenal artillery is being used in Gaza.
The U.S. has already sent over several arms shipments since the beginning of the war in October, as shown on the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s social media platforms.
On Telegram and LinkedIn, the Defense Ministry mentioned how its Mission to the U.S. based in New York City helped procure the arms and equipment.
Open-source data has also indicated Western military aircraft and warships in the Eastern Mediterranean region over the last month.
U.S. warships — the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike groups — sailed to the Mediterranean in October to support Israel’s military. The Eisenhower carrier is last known to be in the Red Sea while the U.K.’s navy’s Argus ship is docked in Cyprus.
At least six German Air Force planes have arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport in the last week along with two planes from the British Air Force and aircraft from the Polish Air Force and U.S. Navy.
In the last month, military aircraft from France and Australia have also all traveled to Tel Aviv. Australia’s Defense Department acknowledged its in deployed aircraft to the region in press releases.
A press release from Oct. 27 stated:
The deployment of Australian aircraft and supporting Defence personnel is a precautionary measure to support whole-of-Australian Government contingency planning and delivery of support to Australian citizens and approved foreign nationals, in the region, if required.
The Czech Air Force landed at the Israeli Hatzerim Air Base on Oct. 22. Military aircraft from the U.S. and Italy landed at Israeli Netavim Air Base in the last month. And a U.S. Air Force plane arrived to the Israeli Tel Nof Air Base on Nov. 16.
Several British Air Force planes have traveled to Tel Aviv from the U.K.’s Akrotiri military base in Cyprus in the last week. A plane belonging to arms manufacturer BAE Systems also arrived to the airbase recently.
The aforementioned militaries did not respond to MintPress News’ requests for comment on why their aircraft landed in the region and what kind of cargo or personnel it was transporting. Only Australia’s Defense Department responded, referring MintPress News to its previous press releases on the matter.
While it remains unclear the exact kind and amount of equipment Western governments are sending to Israel during this time, activist groups have deemed these states complicit in Israel’s ongoing war against Gaza.
“Since 2018, Britain has approved arms exports to Israel worth at least £147 million (or roughly $183 million),” the U.K.-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said in a statement to MintPress News. “Because of the nature of Britain’s arms export licensing, the true value is likely to be substantially higher. This includes exports for military aircrafts, helicopters and drones. It also includes components for armored vehicles and bombs.”
“The British government is therefore providing material support for Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip,” PSC said.
According to U.K.-based Campaign Against Arms Trade, British companies provide 15% of the materials for the F35 stealth combat aircraft, which Israel is currently using to bomb Gaza. Suppliers for the F35 stealth fighter jets also include: U.S., Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands, and France.
Lockheed Martin’s MLRS M270 rocket launcher, which was used inside Gaza for the first time since 2006, was built in Europe by an international consortium of companies from France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute provided data on arms sales from Europe to Israel between 2013 to 2022 to EuroNews, showing Italy and Germany had supplied Israel’s military with weapons now being used on the ground in Gaza. It also said Germany had sent more than 1,000 tank engines to Israel. As of Nov. 2, Germany’s government has exported $323 million in arms to Israel — nearly 10 times more than it sent to Israel last year.
During a NATO meeting in Brussels in October, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed that Israel was also requesting munitions for its navy.
“We will discuss with the Israelis how exactly that will now proceed,” Pistorius said, suggesting the weapons pipeline to Israel may increase.
Who is sending troops?
Media reports have suggested that foreign soldiers are assisting in Israel’s current war operations.
Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, revealed that a Spanish mercenary is assisting Israeli forces in Gaza. Pedro Diaz Flores has been pictured there with the Israeli occupation forces. He previously fought in Ukraine, having become involved in the war through the neo-Nazi Azov Brigade.
“So I came for economy, for money. They pay very well, they offer good equipment and the work is calm. It is 3,900 euros [$4,187] per week, complementary missions aside,” Flores told El Mundo.
In October, British newspaper Socialist Worker — along with other publications — received an “advisory notice from the Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee to not publish information related to British special forces operating in the Middle East.
“Reports have started to appear in some publications claiming that UK Special Forces have deployed to sensitive areas of the Middle East and then linking that deployment to hostage rescue/evacuation operations,” the D-notice said.
The Socialist Worker noted how the Daily Mail reported that the U.K.’s Special Air Service is on “standby in Cyprus” to rescue British hostages held captive in Gaza.
Additionally, Palestinians in Gaza have disclosed they’ve encountered soldiers with American flags on their uniforms. In the below video clip from Quds News Network, a Palestinian man tells an Al Jazeera reporter that his brother spoke in English to a male soldier donning an American flag on his uniform while trying to flee the strip. These claims remain unsubstantiated and it’s possible that soldiers with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship are wearing an American flag patch without the Israeli military’s permission.
Forward Observations, a volunteer group founded by former U.S. infantry soldier Derrick Bales, who fought in Afghanistan, has posted footage from Gaza and southern Israel on social media.
In one Instagram post, Forward Observations is seen in Be’eri, a community attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, being guided by members of the Israeli military’s Lotar unit which responded to the violence.
According to Foreign Policy, Forward Observations began as a lifestyle brand selling tactical gear. Then, the group traveled to Ukraine, where it started sourcing medical supplies, gear, and money for Ukrainian soldiers. Bales has been criticized for associating with Vadim Lapaev, a member of the far-right Azov Battalion. He apologized for his connections to Lapaev but said the brigade isn’t as radical as alleged.
Forward Observations did not respond to MintPress News’ inquiries to verify if its personnel are indeed in Israel and what it’s doing there.
U.S. Department of Defense official (DoD), Christopher P. Maier, told The New York Times this month that U.S. special operations forces are stationed in Israel and “actively helping the Israelis” with various efforts including to “identify hostages, including American hostages.”
While Maier declined to tell the Times how many Special Forces are currently in Israel, former Pentagon adviser, Douglas MacGregor, said in a television news interview that 2,000 Marines and 2,000 Special Forces have been deployed to the region. MacGregor also mentioned how U.S. Special Forces embedded with Israeli Special Forces entered the Gaza Strip in October to carry out reconnaissance but were then ambushed and suffered grave casualties.
On the television program Palestine Declassified, British sociologist David Miller told host Chris Williamson, a former U.K. parliament member, that this operation is “an indication that the American soldiers are directly involved in confronting the resistance.”
And a White House photo shared on Instagram and then subsequently deleted shows President Joe Biden meeting with members of the Delta Force during his Oct. 18 visit to Israel. A senior Arab source familiar with the Palestinian groups in Gaza told Middle East Eye — before Israel’s ground invasion — that Palestinians expected Israel to flood Hamas tunnels with a kind of nerve gas or chemical weapon under the supervision of U.S. Delta Force commandos. Israel has begun its ground campaign into Gaza, but there have been no reports of nerve agents being used as of yet.
Despite these reports, the Pentagon told MintPress News “the U.S. has no boots on the ground in Israel.”
So as Western populations continue to flood the streets for Palestine, their governments appear to be supporting the aggressor.
Feature photo | Palestinians search for survivors of the Israeli bombing in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Nov. 22, 2023. Hatem Ali | AP
Jessica Buxbaum is a Jerusalem-based journalist for MintPress News covering Palestine, Israel, and Syria. Her work has been featured in Middle East Eye, The New Arab and Gulf News.
YouTube’s Connections to Pro-Israel Lobby Behind Removal of Lowkey’s Infamous Song: ‘Terrorist’
“It seems Israel’s latest war on Gaza has been seen as an opportunity to clean up political content on the internet and reassert informational dominance. Ultimately, it will not work. As book burners of the past found, when you suppress an idea, you discredit your own arguments against it.” — Lowkey
In a shocking turn of events, YouTube has abruptly taken down the official music video of “Terrorist?”, a chart-topping anthem by activist rapper and MintPress News contributor Lowkey. No rationale was provided, leaving the renowned artist and his record label, Global Faction, bewildered. Yet, when one considers the track poses profound inquiries about the identities of genuine “terrorists” on the global stage, particularly given the dire circumstances surrounding Tel Aviv’s current genocidal campaign in Gaza, the motives become painfully apparent.
“Terrorist?” was first released on Lowkey’s groundbreaking Soundtrack to the Struggle in 2011. Back then, the US and its global vassals were thoroughly ensconced in the “War on Terror.” That ominous period’s devilish narrative held that a constant specter of menacing “Islamist extremists” lurked behind every corner of Western societies. It was a lie justifying the industrial-scale erosion of civil liberties throughout the West and a relentless onslaught of aggressive military “interventions” throughout West Asia and beyond.
The track’s fearless dismantling of Western government’s definition of “terrorism” remains as pertinent and crucial today as it did back then, which surely contributes to its unwavering popularity. When YouTube inexplicably yanked the video, it had amassed a staggering five-and-a-half million views, a testament to the enduring resonance of its message.
In the opening moments of “Terrorist?”, Lowkey thoughtfully recites the Oxford English Dictionary definition of terrorism as “violent or destructive acts, such as bombing, committed by groups to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands.” He then poses a provocative question: “So what’s a terrorist?” From there, Lowkey boldly challenges his audience, pondering whether major arms manufacturer BAE Systems and their “remote-controlled drones” or the improvised “homemade IEDs” present a more profound menace to human society.
In the track’s second verse, Lowkey references CIA and MI6 coups and assassinations during the Cold War, focusing on Chile, Congo, and Iran – just three examples among a great many devastating Western covert actions in the Global South. He acknowledges the vast number of US and British military bases the world over. He suggests this amounts to “terrorism every day.” After all, the term’s definition is “dependent” on “who your nemesis is.”
‘Potential Nightmare’
Considering Lowkey’s extensive track record of unflinching anti-Zionist advocacy, his exploration of the Palestinian struggle in “Terrorist?” is remarkably restrained. In a sardonic touch, he merely points out that “more Israelis die from peanut allergies” than from so-called “terrorism.” He refrains from delving deeper into the subject. However, it is possible even this brief mention was central to the track’s removal by Google.
Since the audacious Palestinian strike against Tel Aviv began on October 7th, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have consistently portrayed themselves as victims of “terrorism” and engaged in a fight against it. Meanwhile, they frequently compare Hamas to ISIS or even worse. In response, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) carry out relentless and indiscriminate carpet bombings of Gaza, destroying housing blocks, schools, and hospitals, producing a tragic human toll running to thousands, including many innocent children.
As Western leaders continue to endorse this grotesque butchery, millions across the globe have risen in solidarity with Palestinians. Many are left wondering how wanton Zionist devastation of the Occupied Territories cannot fall within dictionary definitions of “terrorism.” In truth, Israeli actions align perfectly with widely received comprehension of the term, as articulated by Lowkey in his now-suppressed protest rap: “violent or destructive acts, such as bombing committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands.”
Additional tracks by Lowkey unapologetically denouncing Zionist oppression of the Palestinian people are now in the crosshairs for Spotify. Disturbingly, the music streaming giant appears to be collaborating with Zionist organizations to censor content challenging the status quo. This follows orchestrated efforts to cancel Lowkey’s concerts and appearances at political events in recent years, led by Zionist organizations and their operatives.
As far back as 2011, the far-right and frequently legally challenged Jewish Chronicle referred to Lowkey’s endless capacity for connecting with young audiences as a “potential nightmare” for Zionism. Now, as Western leaders and media outlets rally to endorse, sometimes even preemptively, Israeli atrocities in Gaza without reservation, his platform and ability to influence listeners and viewers is surely even more “nightmarish” than ever before.
As luck would have it, at least from Tel Aviv’s perspective, YouTube long ago welcomed the Anti-Defamation League, a powerful Zionist lobbying group notorious for propagating anti-Palestinian rhetoric, as one of its “trusted flaggers.” Under this program, organizations hold the authority to “report content that infringes upon their community guidelines,” facilitating swift censorship through suppression or even outright removal.
This dark handshake between YouTube and Zionism surely accounts for a baffling “age restriction” imposed on a May 2019 CNN interview with Lowkey regarding that year’s Eurovision Song Contest hosted in Tel Aviv. This restriction, imposed long after the video’s upload, makes the clip unsearchable. Such treatment has also been extended to a February 2022 video from Amnesty International, in which the human rights organization painstakingly elucidates its determination that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians unequivocally meets the criteria for apartheid.
Throughout Israel’s harrowing campaign in Gaza, disturbing Tel Aviv-sponsored cartoon advertisements strategically aimed at children and their parents have loomed large. These clips, which aim to evoke sympathy for Zionists and Zionists, now preface countless YouTube videos, specifically those with a high likelihood of being viewed by younger audiences.
“I was shocked to find out the music video for my song “Terrorist?” was removed by YouTube. In 2019, YouTube placed a warning on the video that it might be offensive, which hurt views as people had to sign in to watch it,” Lowkey tells MintPress. “That was bad enough, especially when there are all types of music videos on the platform with far more violent content.”
“Tall Israeli”
The Anti-Defamation League’s designation as a “trusted flagger” for YouTube closely followed the appointment of veteran hip-hop impresario Lyor Cohen as the streaming platform’s Global Head of Music in September 2016. Cohen was once described as a “tall Israeli who runs the rap industry” by hip-hop luminary Mos Def.
Cohen hails from New York City, where he was born into a family with deep ties to the Zionist terror group Haganeh, notably its infamous Harel Brigade, which played a pivotal role in the tragic 1948 Nakba—his formative years included a residence in Kfar Haim, a Zionist settlement in Palestine named after Haim Arlosoroff. Arlosoroff negotiated financial agreements with Nazi German authorities in the 1930s, facilitating the transfer of German Jews and their assets to Palestine.
Cohen’s career is stained by a troubling history of censoring pro-Palestinian voices. During his tenure with iconic hip-hop label Def Jam in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he controversially decided to dismiss Professor Griff, a Muslim, from the politically charged rap group Public Enemy due to Griff’s outspoken criticism of Israel. More recently, while at Warner Music, Cohen was accused of deliberately obstructing the promotion and release of an album by Lupe Fiasco, an artist known for his unwavering support of the Palestinian struggle.
It is surely no surprise then that YouTube has former Occupation Force soldiers and intelligence operatives within its ranks. For example, the platform’s marketing chief, Riki Drori, once served as a communication officer within the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Meanwhile, Netta Gross has held various high-ranking roles at Google and YouTube since 2012 and served as an IOF satellite officer from 2003 to 2006. Naama Citron, another stalwart at Google and YouTube, presently serves as the latter’s product strategy lead, but her background includes four years as an Israeli intelligence operative, during which she led a “professional research & analysis team of seven soldiers.” Dror Oren, the senior product director at YouTube, boasts a past as a senior IOF analyst from 1994 to 2000.
To put it mildly, YouTube’s upper echelons are teeming with individuals who harbor sympathies for the Zionist cause, individuals who may be more than willing to heed, if not actively endorse, directives pertaining to the removal or suppression of videos. This takes place against the backdrop of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ ominous pursuit of a dreadful “second Nakba” in Gaza.
With Elon Musk putting an end to Twitter’s own “trusted flagger” program, one that included the Anti-Defamation League, it has placed limitations on the Israel lobby’s capacity to control the dissemination of content shedding light on the genocidal facets of Zionism. Consequently, the need to escalate censorship endeavors on other platforms becomes even more pronounced by necessity.
“It seems Israel’s latest war on Gaza has been seen as an opportunity to clean up political content on the internet and reassert informational dominance,” Lowkey concludes. “Ultimately, it will not work. As book burners of the past found, when you suppress an idea, you discredit your own arguments against it.”
Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News
Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist and MintPress News contributor exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. His work has previously appeared in The Cradle, Declassified UK, and Grayzone. Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg.
Watch the MintPress News Documentary Film: Gaza Fights Back
In light of recent events in Gaza, MintPress News brings you our original 2022 documentary, Gaza Fights Back. Filmed on the ground with exclusive access to the Palestinian resistance, the film offers valuable context to the current state of affairs in Gaza.
Filmed during the attack and in the days following the ceasefire, the documentary tells the story of how Gaza’s armed resistance groups outwitted the vastly superior Israeli military and established their ability to intervene against Israeli ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods like Sheikh Jarrah and provocations at the al-Aqsa compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
“The Palestinian military capabilities are not highly sophisticated and destructive, but it becomes so effective when it’s used by Palestinian smart youths who believe in their rights and freedom,” a masked al-Qassam commander says.
The documentary features intimate interviews with survivors, many of whom lost family members in the Israeli bombardment.
Among them is Omar Abu al-Ouf, who lost 22 family members in the bombing of his family’s house in al-Remal, Gaza’s main thoroughfare.
“The first missile came down on us in the street with no prior warning or call,” he recounted.
Among those killed was Omar’s father, Dr. Ayman Abu al-Ouf, one of the most senior physicians in all of Gaza.
Others, like 11-year-old Amal Ramzi Muhammed Nasir, fled amid the bombardment to take shelter in United Nations-run schools.
“We were trying to sleep. At exactly 1 a.m., there were sounds of explosions and airstrikes nearby. The house was shaking due to the intensity of the explosions.”
Having escaped to a school, Nasir and her family returned after the ceasefire to find their homes in ruin.
“We arrived and saw that our neighborhood that housed us our entire lives, our shelter, completely leveled to the ground,” she recalled. “Every single house was damaged and bombed.”
Jawad Mahdi, owner of the al-Jalaa tower, described Israel destroying the place he and his family lived for 25 years:
The building collapsed, and it took 25 years’ worth of memories, a place we lived in for 25 years, with my children, grandchildren, neighbors, and friends. Imagine building a house brick by brick, piece by piece, living in your home with your knowledge and dreams. Suddenly, you find yourself out of this house. An indescribable tragedy – being kicked out of your own home in an instant, a matter of seconds, even a minute, under nonexistent, illogical, and unethical reasons.”
As for future confrontations with the Israeli military, the al-Qassam commander sees them as inevitable as long as the occupation remains: “The Israeli occupation experienced our military capabilities in the last aggression on the Gaza Strip and the whole world saw it. And we still have more important capabilities in the shadow.”
He believes that armed resistance presents a viable path to liberation:
The lessons learned from the last aggression on the Gaza Strip is that Israel is an occupation state that could be defeated. It’s not a firm state that has been depicted by the Israeli Zionist propaganda machine. Palestinians can get their liberation and retrieve their rights and freedom.”
Feature photo | A Palestinian child sits atop the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, May 21, 2021. Khalil Hamra | AP
Dan Cohen is the Washington DC correspondent for Behind The Headlines. He has produced widely distributed video reports and print dispatches from across Israel-Palestine. He tweets at @DanCohen3000.
The Mask Has Fallen: King Charles Supports Israel
The true power to halt Israel’s latest push to fulfill Zionism’s genocidal founding mission may not lie in Washington DC but in London. Specifically, Buckingham Palace reveals Kit Klarenberg.
One of the most extraordinary – yet unremarked upon – developments since Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza began has been the British monarchy’s brazen jettisoning of any pretense of “political neutrality.” Queen Elizabeth II, publicly at least, rigidly refrained from commenting on current affairs or giving the vaguest appearance of taking a particular “side” on any issue throughout her 70-year reign. However, her recently coronated heir has comprehensively consigned that convention to ashes.
Within hours of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood commencing, King Charles viciously condemned Hamas, saying that he was “profoundly distressed” and “appalled” by the “horrors inflicted” by the group and its “barbaric acts of terrorism.” Hamas is not recognized as a terrorist entity by the majority of countries, and even the BBC – which has relentlessly manufactured consent for genocide in Gaza since the violence erupted – rejects the use of that loaded, politicized designation.
During his lengthy spell as Prince of Wales, Charles was an inveterate meddler in the British government’s domestic and foreign policy in ways that were often far from discrete. Yet, he has remained largely silent since quietly becoming King in September 2022, then being formally crowned in May this year. His public statements are, therefore, highly significant and, what’s more, seemingly represent just the tip of a much larger intervention.
The Daily Telegraph has reported that behind the scenes, King Charles is “pushing for peace in the Middle East” using “soft power.” If so, these efforts have so far failed miserably. Israel’s murderous rampage in Gaza has only ratcheted in brutality since it commenced, the death toll rising by hundreds daily as civilian infrastructure is flattened by an inexorable aerial onslaught. Meanwhile, the threat of a full-blown ground invasion ever looms.
As such, it is only reasonable to ask whether Charles’ vision of “peace” in Gaza is, in fact, Palestine completely purged of Palestinians and if he has in any way encouraged the occupation government of Benjamin Netanyahu in its new attempt to recreate the Nakba. As we shall see, the King fully supports Zionism and the ideology’s genocidal objectives, and Britain’s military, intelligence agencies, and government dependably act upon his orders and according to his wishes.
‘A Problem for Palestinians’
Queen Elizabeth II never visited Israel. It was widely speculated that she was advised against doing so by the Foreign Office for fear of Arab boycotts of British goods and oil embargoes, which had crippled the country’s economy in late 1973. Yet, it has been suggested in some quarters that she privately harbored sympathy for the Palestinians and abhorred Zionist violence toward Arabs.
Come January 2020, with her health rapidly declining, Charles took on her official foreign visit responsibilities as de facto British head of state, and among his first ports of call was Israel. It wasn’t the first time he’d traveled to the country. Previously, he privately attended the funerals of former Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. His presence on both occasions was a closely guarded secret.
While on the trip, Charles declared it was his “dearest wish that the future will bring freedom, justice and equality to all Palestinians.” Yet, the details of his prior visits suggest this statement was not sincere. In 2016, while attending the funeral of Peres, he also visited the graves of his grandmother, Princess Alice, and her aunt, Grand Duchess Elisabeth, in a small Christian cemetery on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, near the world’s largest Jewish cemetery.
Both were Christian Zionists, and their desire to be buried on the Mount reflects its significance to the movement. Despite lying in a part of the city claimed by Arabs as East Jerusalem, which is recognized by several countries as Palestine’s capital, it is considered to be among the holiest Jewish sites in the world and cited by Zionists as key proof that the territory comprising Israel as described in the Bible is the exclusive homeland of Jews.
The Jerusalem Post approvingly dubbed Charles’ Christian Zionist sympathies and familial connection to the Mount “a problem for Palestinians,” arguing the King has a clear conception of “who the city and the country belong to” as a result. Meanwhile, the Times of Israel has hailed him as “a friend” to Jewry “with special and historic ties to Israel.”
One such tie was a long-running and extremely close friendship with Britain’s former chief Rabbi and President of United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), Jonathan Sacks. Upon his death in November 2020, Charles praised him as “a leader whose wisdom, scholarship and humanity were without equal”:
It was with the most profound personal sorrow that I heard of the death of Rabbi Lord Sacks. With his passing, the Jewish community, our nation, and the entire world have lost a leader whose wisdom, scholarship and humanity were without equal.”
UJIA is one of Israel’s three national institutions and operates a number of programs to train Jews the world over to advance Zionist interests, starting in primary schools. Sacks was a fervent advocate of a similar Israeli government effort, known as Birthright, under which anyone anywhere in the world aged 18-26 who can prove Jewish heritage is given an all-expenses paid trip to Israel to rub shoulders with Occupation Forces be deluged with Zionist propaganda, and foster a personal connection with the country.
While highly controversial, Sacks considered Birthright “perhaps, the greatest single innovation in Jewish life in the past quarter century” for “strengthening [attendees’] links to the land, the State and the people of Israel.” His attempts to indoctrinate children in Zionism extended to serving on the board of One Voice, an astroturf anti-BDS lobbying group targeting schools.
With friends like Sacks, King Charles undoubtedly feels very strongly about who Jerusalem belongs to.
‘Obedient Servant’
It is an open question whether the monarch’s affinity for Israel in any way accounts for the British government’s abandonment of its historical sympathy for the Arab world and modern-day accommodation with Zionism. A lie universally maintained by the mainstream media is the British monarchy’s powers in the 21st century are purely ceremonial. While the obsequious terminology “His/Her Majesty’s government” may be liberally used still, long gone are the days, it is alleged, when a King or Queen could overrule parliament’s will.
In reality, a little-known procedure known as “Queen’s Consent” means a King or Queen’s acquiescence to prospective laws must be sought by the British government before they can even be put to parliamentary vote. Moreover, under this convention, monarchs are alerted whenever legislation that could affect the royal prerogative or the British Crown’s private interests is in the offing. This stipulation not only produces a pronounced chilling effect on all laws and regulations elected governments draw up but frequently alters their composition in ways large and small.
For example, in February 2021, it was revealed that in the 1970s, Queen Elizabeth II pressured government ministers to amend transparency legislation to conceal her “embarrassing” wealth from the public. As a result, a clause was inserted granting companies used by “heads of state” exemptions from financial disclosures. The true scale of her riches remains unknown, although it has been estimated to run into hundreds of millions of pounds.
“Queen’s Consent” is not the only mechanism of political control in a British royal’s arsenal. In May 2015, over two dozen private communications between then-Prince Charles and British ministers were published after a decade-long legal struggle. Successive governments squandered hundreds of thousands of pounds to keep these letters private. The contents showed that Charles, in flagrant breach of “political neutrality,” had routinely petitioned elected representatives on subjects ranging from the Iraq War to alternative medicines over many years.
In one message, the then-heir to the British throne openly warned a health minister that “chickens will come home to roost” in their department if redevelopment of a hospital – in which the Prince’s architecture charity had an interest – was not accelerated. However, Charles didn’t typically rely on threats. Government officials were usually willing to obsequiously roll over whenever – and however – he ordered them to.
In response to one covert royal intervention, Prime Minister Tony Blair unctuously stated to Charles, “I always value and look forward to your views.” In another, an education secretary sycophantically signed off: “I have the honor to be Your Royal Highness’ most humble and obedient servant.”
The release of these letters prompted speculation Charles would be far more outspoken and overtly meddlesome than his ostensibly taciturn mother upon taking the throne. Until Hamas struck Israel, these tendencies had not hitherto publicly emerged. However, it is somewhat inconceivable that since his coronation, he has not interfered in British politics in some way or other. We have no way of knowing, though, as in 2010, Britain’s Freedom of Information Act was amended to provide an “absolute exemption” on all requests related to the royal family.
The connivances of British royalty are also protected by law throughout the Commonwealth. In 2020, after a four-year-long legal battle, the Australian government released correspondence exposing how Queen Elizabeth II was instrumental in the ouster of Canberra’s radical left-wing premier, Gough Whitlam, in November 1975. The papers showed that then-Prince Charles was a core conspirator in the coup, coordinating directly with Britain’s governor John Kerr – who dismissed the Prime Minister – before, during and after. Six months later, the King-in-waiting wrote to Kerr:
I wanted you to know that I appreciate what you do and admire enormously the way you have performed in your many and varied duties. Please don’t lose heart. What you did last year was right and the courageous thing to do.”
All The King’s Groomers
In October 2021, historians Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac published The Secret Royals, a landmark text tracking the House of Windsor’s relationship with British intelligence over centuries. Completing the work was no easy feat. In its preface, the authors remark, “Writing about spies is challenging; writing about royals is more difficult; and writing about spies and royals has sometimes seemed impossible.”
Nonetheless, the pair pieced together a tantalizing history of the British monarchy’s enduring, intimate adjacency to intelligence. They recorded how Queen Elizabeth I’s reign inaugurated a golden age of spying in Europe as the British Empire came into being while tracing the birth of London’s modern-day espionage agencies to efforts to prevent Queen Victoria’s assassination. Much of the book’s content was hitherto secret.
One can only speculate what future scholars might unearth on King Charles’ bond with MI5, MI6, et al. Nonetheless, what is in the public domain is highly disquieting. As Prince of Wales, the monarch was a formal patron to British intelligence, his personal Charitable Fund routinely funneling vast sums to notorious signals spying agency GCHQ.
In January, King Charles visited GCHQ’s secret Manchester headquarters. There, he “met with teams from across the organization,” including its director and young graduates of the agency’s apprenticeship scheme. In addition to receiving “several” in-person briefings from high-ranking spies, he intruded upon a local primary school class present at the site that day, taking part in a “special lesson.” Unsettling publicity photos depict him beaming broadly while hovering closely over the shoulders of very young children.
For years, GCHQ – Britain’s largest and best-funded spying agency – has run dedicated programs to infiltrate schools, propagandize and groom British youth to become future patriotic cyber warriors, and identify and monitor potential troublemakers in classrooms. The January visit was not the first time King Charles featured centrally in these activities. He was guest of honor at GCHQ’s 100th birthday in 2019, along with many primary school children. A contemporary agency newsletter boastfully reported:
The Prince showed great interest in the project’s goals and spent time chatting with the students that the schools had selected to represent them, in addition to the teachers. After meeting the teachers and students, the Prince went on a tour of some of the more secretive work of NCSC [National Cyber Security Centre] and GCHQ.”
Charles’ very public association with GCHQ’s child grooming efforts tends to suggest this sinister work is conducted at His Majesty’s request, or at least with the King’s explicit blessing. To effectively guide and influence British government policy and action, by definition, requires a perpetual unblinking eye trained on both public and behind-closed-doors developments the world over. The monarch, by definition, has every interest in ensuring future generations of spies are up to the task.
A palpable example of the amazing foresight of British spooks was provided on October 8, 2023, when veteran reporter Robert Peston published a remarkable post on X (formerly Twitter). He had been told by “government and intelligence sources” that Hamas’ strike on Israel would likely evolve into full-blown war in West Asia, “as destabilizing to global security as Putin’s attack on Ukraine.”
Peston’s shadowy sources further warned U.S. President Joe Biden “would neither want [nor] be able to veto” a major retaliation from Netanyahu not merely against Palestinians but also Iran, which they accused of sponsoring Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The journalist duly prophesized:
There is a risk of this crisis spreading well beyond the Middle East because of Putin’s links with Iran, the West’s deep concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and China’s power struggle with America. We are in the early stages of a conflict with ramifications for much of the world.”
For Peston, a thoroughly well-connected establishment hack of some standing to relay these words was highly significant. The timing of this intervention, just one day after Hamas spectacularly swooped upon Israel’s Occupation Forces, likewise. British spies were from the word go somehow certain Operation Al-Aqsa Flood would inevitably lead to something much grander and graver, and felt it incumbent to begin immediately laying public foundations for that imminently impending eventuality.
Five days later, the Royal Navy and British elite special forces units were dispatched to the Mediterranean to “support” Tel Aviv and closely surveil local developments.
While Israel’s long-threatened Gaza ground offensive remains abortive as of October 29, the devastatingly lethal air assault on Palestinians waged ever since, along with multiple airstrikes on Lebanon and Syria, mean that the stage is decisively set for a “conflict with ramifications for much of the world.”
FFurther Reading: https://www.mintpressnews.com/western-countries-aiding-israels-genocide-gaza/286319/ https://www.mintpressnews.com/western-countries-aiding-israels-genocide-gaza/286319/
