David Wearing

@davidwearing.bsky.social

9216 Followers 2355 Following

Assistant Professor in International Relations at the University of Sussex (own views, obviously). Interested in British (and Western) foreign relations in the Middle East and elsewhere, and how they're shaped by legacies of colonialism.

The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024. This finding is based on the role of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant in impeding humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law and their failure to facilitate relief by all means at its disposal. The Chamber found that their conduct led to the disruption of the ability of humanitarian organisations to provide food and other essential goods to the population in need in Gaza. The aforementioned restrictions together with cutting off electricity and reducing fuel supply also had a severe impact on the availability of water in Gaza and the ability of hospitals to provide medical care. ... The Chamber therefore found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.
"New World Order? Venezuela, Greenland, Iran: Geopolitics and the UK". Faiza Shaheen in conversation with Dr David Wearing, Assistant Professor in International Relations at the University of Sussex. Monday 7.30pm, 26th January. Pankhurst Hall, Woodford Memorial Hall, 209 High Road, London E19 2PA
Working with complicit Emirati institutions plays directly into the UAE’s cover and aids in manufacturing consent for its sub-imperialist project in Sudan. Inspired by the legacies of boycotts against South African apartheid, the Israeli occupation, and the role boycott has played in decolonial struggles the world over, we see this tool as the strongest and most strategic weapon we have to pierce this morbid illusion, end the systematic Emirati violence against the Sudanese people, and wrest the region’s political future back from the architects of its demise.
Farage has become the embodiment of the success of such dog-whistle politics. That constant vilification of minorities – non-white faces on a “breaking point” poster; kids who don’t speak English as a first language as a sign of the “cultural smashing” of the UK; claims that immigration has left Britain “unrecognisable” – all are claims plausibly rooted in not racism or xenophobia, but simply a worry about social cohesion and what we can afford. That is why the school claims are so rattling for him: there is no way they can be slipped disingenuously behind an innocent mask of “legitimate concerns”, they are racism pure and nasty
Middle-aged radicalisation sounds almost like a contradiction in terms, a reaction to all the stereotypes about settling comfortably into your rut. Besides, in our own heads, if nowhere else, gen X were always the mild-mannered peacekeepers of the culture wars: not old enough to be deemed reactionary or young enough to be woke, and instead occupying a kind of cheerfully moderate Goldilocks zone in-between. But something seems to have happened to us as we hit the midlife crisis years. Gen Xers are now old enough to start worrying that the world is changing and leaving us behind
How can we better protect Jews from antisemitism after the attack in Manchester? Measures to ensure the safety of Jewish people and buildings are important but insufficient. These must be supplemented by a politics that promotes broad alliances against racism, of which antisemitism is one example, and by the practice of anti-racist solidarity. This will not be easy. There is the distance and suspicion—and sometimes worse—that exists between Muslims and Jews in Britain. The politics of Israel/Palestine will continue to feed these tendencies. Some entrepreneurs of panic and division within and outside both communities seek to capitalise on it. However, Jews and Muslims can create the ground on which to build an alliance that opposes the prejudices that afflict both groups. We should welcome the fact that many Muslim leaders expressed solidarity for Manchester’s Jews—and that Jewish communal bodies condemned the anti-Muslim hate impresario Tommy Robinson (real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), most recently when Israel’s diaspora minister invited him for an official visit.
A report by Dutch police into the disorder during the 2024 Amsterdam match found Maccabi fans had torn a Palestinian flag down from a local building and burned it, shouted: “Fuck you, Palestine,” and vandalised a taxi. Maccabi fans were also taped chanting: “Olé, olé. Let the IDF win, fuck the Arabs.” After the match there were what the Amsterdam mayor called a series of “hit-and-run” assaults on Maccabi fans, which led to five people being taken to hospital. A further 20 to 30 were injured. Sixty-two people were arrested, mainly for public order offences. Four local people were given short jail terms for the violence against Maccabi fans.
Well now, look, let us try and start with a few figures as far as we know them, and I am the first to admit it is not easy to get clear figures from the Home Office about immigration, but there was a committee which looked at it and said that if we went on as we are then by the end of the century there would be four million people of the new Commonwealth or Pakistan here. Now, that is an awful lot and I think it means that people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture and, you know, the British character has done so much for democracy, for law and done so much throughout the world that if there is any fear that it might be swamped people are going to react and be rather hostile to those coming in
New York Times poll: 40 percent of voters said Israel was intentionally killing civilians in Gaza, nearly double the number of voters who agreed with that statement in a 2023 poll
Human Rights Watch: "Mohammed bin Salman’s creation of an entertainment industry has been adopted alongside advancements for women and youth. While extensive and important, these changes have also helped obscure the dramatic curtailing of civil and political rights since he became crown prince in 2017. While the emerging entertainment industry was being lauded internationally, Saudi authorities were simultaneously carrying out waves of arbitrary arrests of dissidents, activists, intellectuals, and royal family members".
The UK Foreign Office makes regular internal assessments of whether there is a serious risk of genocide by Israel in Gaza, but earlier this month said it had not concluded that was currently the case. “Every time we talk about whether it’s humanitarian crisis or whatever words that we use actually feel hollow, because what it’s really about is the screams and pain of a toddler, and that’s what’s really at the heart of this, and that’s what has to end. The war has to be brought to an end,” Cooper said. “I think the reason that there is just such a sense of distress is because everybody can see the horror of what has happened and the fact that it feels like nothing’s being done. It feels like nothing is changing. It feels like everything is just getting worse …
Sultana responded to Corbyn’s message within minutes, saying she had been “frozen out” and subjected to “a sexist boys’ club”. Corbyn allies rejected this claim, saying there were “many women” involved. “The sexism charge is identity politics nonsense,” one said.
Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (R) and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (L) pictured in Tunis yesterday (Picture: EPA)
15:57: Breaking White House confirms it was notified of Israeli strike Bernd Debusmann Jr Reporting from the White House A White House official has confirmed to the BBC that the Trump administration was "notified" about the Israeli strike on Doha before it took place. The attack by Israel on Qatar, a major non-Nato ally for the US, immediately raised questions about the level of US awareness and involvement, particularly given the approximately 10,000 US military personnel that are stationed in the country.
It has been well documented how Israel has targeted hospitals and medical staff, who have been killed, wounded and abducted, on multiple occasions. But the reckless double-tap strike, where the IDF attacks a location for a second time as rescue workers and other civilians arrive, say critics, is an increasingly common tactic. A joint investigation in July by the Israeli +972 Magazine and Local Call reported that the IDF now routinely carried out additional attacks in the area of an initial bombing, sometimes intentionally killing paramedics and others involved in rescue efforts. “If there’s a strike on a senior commander, another one will be carried out afterward to ensure rescue efforts don’t take place,” said one of +972’s sources who it said was present in an Israeli attack planning cell. “First responders, rescue teams – they kill them. They strike again, on top of them.”
Quote: “El Salvador is perhaps a lesson for those in Britain who wish to take back control of their country. Power works, and it is all that matters. State power when used effectively is basically omnipotent. The meritocracy will be established, criminals and corrupt officials will be jailed, immigration will drop to zero, houses will be built, and our citizens will once again feel proud of the country they call home.”
These warnings were even given to senior, well-established youth figures who have spent a long time working in an unpaid capacity for the party. In one case, a young member’s non-Labour employer was contacted by a senior backbench MP, who warned the employer to be “wary” of the student, and to “not trust them” after they were unable to attend an organised study trip to Israel. Others have allegedly been offered secure jobs after graduation if they toe the party line (Labour strongly refutes this claim).
"What would you do if this was your child? Tell David Lammy how you feel" Photo of 4 year old Palestinian girl having her eye removed at Nasser Hospital, July 2025.
"The social breakdown that we are witnessing, the degrading of human beings, is not a byproduct of the harm that Israel is inflicting. That’s the central element of the crime: destroying Palestinian society. The government of Israel shows no indication that it cares in the slightest whether Palestinians live or die. It wants to avoid the stigma of being accused of starvation and genocide, and the GHF is its current alibi. Let’s not be fooled." Alex de Waal is executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University in Massachusetts. He has been a humanitarian worker and written on famine and related issues for 40 years
Jan Eliasson: Dropping food from the air in Gaza is an ineffective sideshow. During my time as UN relief chief we had to stop such aid. Minimal amounts were delivered and chaos and accidents occurred on the ground. All entries into Gaza have to be opened and distribution handed back to UN.
A Kent police spokesperson said: “Under the Terrorism Act it is a criminal offence to carry or display items that may arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation such as Palestine Action.”
Guardian headline: Reeves to say cuts to City red tape will bring trickle-down benefits to households Chancellor to announce raft of deregulation changes as City regulators move to pare back transparency rules
Starmer to 'press forward' with welfare cuts despite rebellion Keir Starmer said he would “press forward” with welfare cuts despite a looming rebellion from Labour MPs. Asked whether he would consider pausing his plans in light of the rebellion, he told reporters in the Netherlands: “We were elected to change what is broken in our country. “The welfare system is broken and that’s why we will press ahead with our reforms. “It’s very important that we do so, because the current system is not working for anybody. “People are trapped in it and I’m not prepared to allow that to happen. So, we will press forward with our reforms.” He added that there was “a clear moral case” for the changes, with 1,000 people per day going onto personal independence payments (Pip).
"pay special advisers more" is both one of the least popular things you could possibly argue in public but unfortunately one of the quickest ways to improve this govt's still pretty chequered performance, sorry but good people don't come cheap https://www.ft.com/content/1b75889e-150a-4261-9210-27dd41ee70e1?emailId=29dc6d80-48b6-4e8c-a6a1-f776bda93d18&segmentId=2f40f9e8-c8d5-af4c-ecdd-78ad0b93926b
Even today, the party remains too focused on personal identity and on Americans’ differences — by race, gender, sexuality and religion — rather than our shared values. On these issues, progressives sometimes adopt a scolding, censorious posture
More immediately, we must speak out about the OfS’s conduct. The regulator warned the University not to speak publicly during the investigation, meaning I was unable to testify to the Lords’ Industry and Regulators Committee Inquiry into the OfS.
Would you ever run for office yourself? Ash Sarkar: We need a white dude with a regional accent. Like a younger, hotter Mick Lynch? Ash Sarkar: Mick Lynch is already hot – how dare you! But yes, you do need someone like that. I’m good at persuading people who are already like me, but the country is full of people who aren’t like me at all. Gender, ethnicity, the way that class is encoded in accent and diction – these things do matter in terms of whether or not people think you are one of them.
Sarkar doesn’t see it like that. “There are obviously things that I’ve shifted on,” she says when we meet. “I definitely had that phase in my early 20s of being, like, [she points around the room] ‘White privilege, white privilege, white privilege.’ You could point at a floor lamp and be like, ‘Neo-colonial ideology.’ In part that’s to do with being an arts and humanities graduate, where you are trained to look at everything as language and narrative and discourse … but this idea that I was somebody who was advancing a narrative around hypersensitivity and saying it’s a good thing, I don’t think really fits the facts.”
The Foreign Office’s handling of these issues is nothing short of a scandal. Officials are bullied into silence. Processes are manipulated to produce politically convenient outcomes. Whistleblowers are stonewalled, isolated and ignored. And all the while, the UK government continues to arm regimes that commit atrocities, hiding behind legal loopholes and public relations spin. I followed every internal procedure available to me to raise my concerns. I engaged the whistleblowing team, wrote to senior officials and even contacted the foreign secretary, David Lammy, directly. At every turn, I was met with delays, obfuscation and outright refusal to engage. It became clear that the system is not designed to hold itself accountable – it is designed to protect itself at all costs.
Edward Said