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Widespread Palestinian Support, Criticism of Israel Displayed at Glastonbury Festival in Britain

Revellers dance as they attend the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton near Glastonbury, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

The legendary Glastonbury Festival that took place over the weekend in Britain included dozens of displays of Palestinian support, from paraphernalia to comments made by performers, and a number of instances that featured condemnation of Israel and false claims about the Jewish state’s military actions during the ongoing Gaza war.

This year’s Glastonbury Festival, which celebrates music and the arts, featured a “Palestine” stall that sold badges, stickers, bracelets, keychains, and magnets that said “Free Palestine,” “Free Gaza,” and “Boycott Israeli Apartheid.” Some of the items depicted the state of Israel being covered entirely by the Palestinian flag, which was widely displayed across the festival grounds besides dozens of Palestinian banners.

GLASTONBURY @glastonbury have allowed a “palestine” stall to sells badges depicting Israel being wiped out entirely and replaced with just the Palestine flag.@emilyeavis you wiped off Star of David’s from the M.Levine sign.

Care to explain this too?

@__jacker__ pic.twitter.com/LswpUK9rRP

— Kosher (@KosherCockney) June 28, 2024

During their set on Friday, the British rock band Idles called for a ceasefire in the ongoing Gaza war and the Irish folk band Lankum Dublin sang to the crowd, “You’ll never take possession of the rocks of Palestine.” Norwegian singer Aurora also dedicated her performance in part to the “children in Palestine.”

British-Albanian pop sensation Dua Lipa, who has a history of expressing pro-Palestinian views and criticizing Israel, headlined the main stage on Friday and walked into the audience during her performance, which many claim was an effort to get a nearby “Glasto for Palestine” flag in the camera shot. A video from Lipa’s performance also showed that some attendees carried LGBTQ rainbow flags with Stars of David and flags in honor of the victims of the Supernova music festival massacre near the singer.

Kudos to the one who waved 3 Nova flags and 1 Jewish Pride Flag right in front of Dua Lipa’s performance at Glastonbury music festival pic.twitter.com/XbxIyXPy8t

— Assaf Chriqui (@AssafChriqui) June 29, 2024

The Irish rap trio Kneecap — who pulled out of this year’s South by Southwest because one of its sponsors, the US Army, had ties to Israel — took to the stage at Glastonbury on Saturday. As part of their set, they displayed on large screens a “Free Palestine” message that falsely claimed “over 20,000 children have been murdered by Israel in 9 months” and that “it is being enabled by the British government.” They got encouraged fans to chant with them “Free, free Palestine.”

Some of the artists that performed at Glastonbury this year also wore Palestinian keffiyehs including Welsh singer Charlotte Church, who sang “free Palestine” multiple times during a performance on Friday when she joined Billy Bragg’s set. Also on Friday, Blur frontman Damon Albarn made a surprise appearance on stage during a performance by the indie band Bombay Bicycle Club and asked the crowd, “Are you pro-Palestine? Do you feel that it’s an unfair war?”

Throughout the five-day festival, which concluded on Sunday, there was no mention or reference on stage to the deadly massacre at the Supernova music festival that took place on Oct. 7 in southern Israel, where more than 300 people were murdered by Hamas terrorists and 40 others were taken as hostages.

Coldplay headlined the main stage at Glastonbury on Saturday and welcomed several surprise guests on stage, including Michael J Fox and Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna. During their set, the band’s lead singer Chris Martin stopped the music at one point and asked the 100,000-strong audience to send love to both Israel and “Palestine.”

“Just raise your hands like this and turn towards the main stage like this. Now, we’re gonna send a big Glastonbury love thing,” he said. “You can send it to anyone: you can send it to your grandmother, you can send it to Israel, you can send it to Palestine, you can send it to Myanmar. You can send it to Ukraine, you can send it to beautiful Russia. You can send it anywhere – you can send it all over the world from Glastonbury.”

He later thanked the crowd “for giving us and me restored faith that most humans can gather together very peacefully with all different flags, all different colors, all different genders, sexualities, ages, everything, and just sing and have a good time and ice cream, there’s no fighting, nothing like that.”

“So thank you for being inspiring to us,” he added. “And hopefully we’re sending all this out into the world all together as a beacon of togetherness in a time when it might seem like that’s impossible. You just proved that it is, so that’s amazing. Thank you.”

The post Widespread Palestinian Support, Criticism of Israel Displayed at Glastonbury Festival in Britain first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville

i24 NewsThe United States has warned the UK and France not to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at a UN conference scheduled for June 17 in New York, the Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.

France and Saudi Arabia will co-host this conference on the two-state solution, with Paris reportedly preparing to unilaterally recognize Palestine. France is also pressuring London to follow this path, according to sources from the British Foreign Office.

French media reports indicate that French authorities believe they have the agreement of the British government. Meanwhile, Arab states are encouraging this move, measuring the success of the conference by the recognitions obtained.

This initiative deeply divides Western allies. If France and the UK were to carry out this recognition, they would become the first G7 nations to take this step, causing a “political earthquake” according to observers, given their historical ties with Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer threatened last week to annex parts of the West Bank if this recognition took place, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy publicly opposes unilateral recognition, stating that London would only recognize a Palestinian state when we know that it is going to happen and that it is in view.

However, pressure is mounting within the Labour Party. MP Uma Kumaran, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the government was elected on a platform that promised to recognize Palestine as a step towards a just and lasting peace. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, believes that there is no legitimate reason for the United States to interfere in a sovereign decision of recognition, while highlighting the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump on this issue.

The post Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack

A small number of Jewish worshipers pray during the priestly blessing, a traditional prayer which usually attracts thousands of worshipers at the Western Wall on the holiday of Passover during 2020, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 12, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.

i24 NewsThe Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police thwarted another Iranian attempt to recruit Israelis, according to a statement on Tuesday, arresting a resident of East Jerusalem for allegedly carrying out missions for the Islamic Republic.

Iranian agents recruited the suspect, who in turn recruited members of his family. He is a resident of the Isawiya neighborhood in his 30s, and is accused of maintaining contact with a hostile foreign entity to harm the state by carrying out a terrorist attack against Jews.

The suspect had already begun perpetrating acts of sabotage and espionage, including collecting intelligence about areas in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and Mahane Yehuda Market. He also hung signs, burned Israeli army uniforms, and more in exchange for payment totaling thousands of shekels.

He was also charged with planning a terror attack in central Israel, including setting fire to a forest, and was told to transfer weapons to terrorist elements in the West Bank.

The suspect’s sought the help of family members, including his mother. A search at his home revealed sums of cash, a spray can used in some of his activities, airsoft guns, suspected illegal drugs, and more.

His indictment is expected to be filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office.

The statement said that the case is yet another example of Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis. “We will continue to coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism and terrorist elements, including those operating outside Israel, while attempting to mobilize local elements in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Shin Bet and Police said.

The post Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt holds a chart showing the development of antisemitic crime, during a press conference on Figures for Politically Motivated Crime in the Country, in Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it.

“Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. “It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional,” he said.

Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said.

The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions.

Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024.

German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totaled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year.

Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies.

The post Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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