A Small Island Man

International Agencies Calling Israel’s Gaza Actions “Ethnic Cleansing” It is now abundantly clear that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing. The scale and nature of the destruction, displacement, and deprivation inflicted upon the population leave little room for ambiguity. Whether by design or indifference, these actions risk culminating in the genocide of the Gazan people. Major international bodies and officials who have warned that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to ethnic cleansing: UN Special Rapporteurs & Experts (2024–2025) Said tactics like forced starvation, destruction of homes, and mass displacement "point to ethnic cleansing".  Source: OHCHR, ohchr.org UN Human Rights Chief (Volker Türk) May 2025 Warned of "a push to permanently displace Palestinians" from Gaza, calling it “ethnic cleansing”.  Source: France24, france24.com UN Secretary-General (António Guterres) Feb 2025 Condemned far-right proposals to rese...

 Dear Pippa Heylings, I fear constituents such as myself might be the bane of your political life. Perhaps I have become a character in an Alan Bennett story, a gentleman of letters? That’s a depressing thought. Let me lighten the tone by acknowledging that I believe you are doing a wonderful job as our MP. I genuinely think you are in the role for the right reasons, rather than for personal gain. I don’t feel the need to agree with every decision my political representative makes to maintain that opinion. I had thought there could be no issue as divisive as Brexit to enter my life. And then, the Israeli-Hamas situation erupted. You will be well-informed on this matter. Perhaps, given the deeply divisive nature of the issue and the full extent of your workload, you might be hoping to remain neutral on it. From personal experience, I know that anything you say will draw as much criticism as praise—usually, more criticism, as most are quicker with negative feedback than with positive...

 When someone is afflicted by measles or a minor injury, the expectation, both from the person affected and those around them, is one of remedy and recovery. When someone loses a leg or has an arm amputated, there is no such expectation. Instead, there is an immediate recognition that the future lies in adaptation and acceptance. The loss brings a permanent change to the body, one that calls not for a cure but for learning to live differently. Psychological trauma is to the mind what amputation is to the body. It does not merely wound, it transforms. Trauma manifests not as temporary distress but as a lasting alteration to the structure of the self. It changes how a person perceives, reacts, relates, and exists. This change is not always negative or debilitating, but it is enduring. If we work with this analogy, two important truths emerge: The causes of trauma are often rooted in obviously overwhelming events , such as war, abuse, loss, or violence. However, trauma can also...

I reject the accusation that I am antisemitic or pro-Hamas simply because I have chosen to criticise the current actions of the Israeli government. I am a Jew by heritage, though an atheist now. I laid my parents’ ashes to rest at Hoop Lane Jewish Crematorium in Golders Green, London, where other members of my family also lie. I have close Jewish friends and family members, and my identity is rooted in that heritage. I did not live through the Holocaust, and I have not endured the most extreme forms of antisemitism, but I know what it felt like to be called “Jewboy” at school. I remember the anxiety of leaving the school gates quickly, sometimes running part of the way home to avoid the bullies who targeted me simply for being Jewish. Like most people, I long for peace in the Middle East. Where views may differ is in how we interpret or respond to the events unfolding there. In my view, Israel’s response to the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023 has become profoundly di...

The Holocaust, history’s most systematic and industrialized genocide, was a wound so deep it reshaped Jewish consciousness across generations. It redefined the Jewish experience not only in Europe but across the diaspora. It became a prism through which history, morality, and survival are constantly refracted. And yet, in our modern age, particularly amid the conflict between Israel and Gaza, that same trauma seems to echo in contradictory ways, shaping opposing Jewish responses to suffering, violence, and justice. Some Jews see the legacy of the Holocaust as an unshakable imperative to never allow victimhood again, to be strong, to fight back with overwhelming force, and to ensure the survival of the Jewish people, no matter the moral ambiguity of the means. This mentality, embodied by figures such as Netanyahu and supported by segments of the Israeli political establishment, can justify harsh military action, the siege of Gaza, and what many view as de facto apartheid. For these in...

 George, We had a verbal agreement acknowledging our differences regarding Israel and Gaza and agreed to leave one another at arm’s length. I have honoured this understanding and refrained from interjecting on your posts, many of which I deeply disagree with. However, you persist in commenting on my Facebook threads in relation to this matter, and in so doing have caused offence to me and to some of my friends. You have now escalated things on my thread, going so far as to opine that I am a fool. In general, I leave my own social media stream open to all comments. I believe that it is one's own words that ultimately pass the most accurate judgment on what one writes. However, I would ask that we remain courteous, fact-check our claims, or at the very least provide sources. I personally aspire to a self-imposed code of conduct on social media platforms: https://smallislandman.blogspot.com/2025/06/netiquette-rules-for-social-media.html Let’s try to keep things polite. You continue to...

🇺🇸 The Big Beautiful Bill — or the Big Brutal Betrayal? The Big Beautiful Bill has passed. History will remember it not as a moment of progress, but as a catastrophic turning point in the dismantling of American democracy. Disbelief. Grief. Anger. Voices across the country — including some Republicans — are waking up to the truth:  This bill doesn’t serve the people. It serves the billionaires. But here’s what’s getting far too little attention : 💰 The bill triples the funding for ICE , ballooning its budget to between $100 billion and $170 billion,  making it the largest federal law enforcement agency in the United States. Let that sink in: ICE, whose primary mission is immigration enforcement, now has more power and resources than the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, and the Bureau of Prisons — combined . ⚠️ Why does this matter? Because the Trump administration knows one thing: If the midterms are free and fair , they're finished. They face deadlock , investigations ,...