Hilary Dunn retweeted
Lovely profile of the fabulous @Hanifkureishi still as naughty and anarchic as ever (despite being now tetraplegic)
thetimes.com/article/7c6b8fe…
Hilary Dunn retweeted
Romesh and Bash BOTH giving to refugee charities made me cry. What a fucking gorgeous thing, and a reminder that so much of the noise about boats and general hatred isn’t the typical thing. It’s just a small percentage of loud idiots. #celebritytraitors
Hilary Dunn retweeted
True British heroes
Tom and @jocelynhurndall
Never forget his name
In times to come he will be revered like Oskar Schindler
A very short life but angels never die
I want to tell you a story that says so much about the world we're living in today.
It's a story of extraordinary courage, compassion, unimaginable loss, and a family's relentless fight for justice.
But above all, it's a story about humanity.
His name was Tom Hurndall.
In April 2003, Tom was a 21-year-old British photography student volunteering in Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement, documenting the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
On April 11th, in Rafah, he saw Palestinian children exposed to gunfire. Rather than turning away, Tom helped them reach safety.
He was wearing a fluorescent vest, clearly identifying himself as an international volunteer.
An IDF soldier shot him in the head.
Tom spent nine months in a coma before dying in January 2004, aged just 22.
What followed was an extraordinary battle for justice, led by his parents, Jocelyn and Anthony.
The Israeli military's initial account was challenged. His family fought relentlessly to expose what had happened.
Eventually, the soldier responsible was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison. He served just six.
A British inquest concluded that Tom had been deliberately and unlawfully killed, but no senior Israeli commander has been convicted in connection with his death.
More than two decades later, the questions raised by Tom's killing remain devastatingly relevant.
What happened to Tom cannot be separated from what has happened to countless Palestinians.
The killing of civilians. The destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. The displacement of communities. The obstruction of humanitarian aid. Children whose lives have been shattered by cruelty and occupation.
These aren't simply unavoidable consequences of military operations.
UN investigators have documented war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israeli forces, and concluded that genocide has been committed in Gaza.
And through it all, the international community has failed. Failed to protect innocent lives, uphold international law and to hold those responsible to account.
Tom died protecting children from violence the world continues to witness today.
More than two decades have passed. Generations of Palestinian children have grown up amid occupation, displacement and fear.
How many more innocent lives must be destroyed before those responsible are held accountable?
And then there's Tom's mother, Jocelyn.
Having endured the unimaginable loss of her son, Jocelyn began a relentless fight for justice. Not just for Tom, but for Palestinian families who have suffered devastating losses, without accountability or recognition.
She has also dedicated years to supporting Palestinian education and opportunities for young people.
Her son lost his life protecting Palestinian children. She has spent so much of her own life defending their rights, dignity and futures.
In his short life, Tom demonstrated more courage, compassion and humanity than many manage in a thousand lifetimes. And through Jocelyn's determination, those values live on.
Tom's story is not simply a tragedy from 2003.
It is a reminder of the human cost of occupation, and the courage of those who refuse to look away.
Tom saw children in danger. He recognised their humanity. He acted. And he paid with his life.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
That's why Gaza is about so much more than Gaza itself. It's about whether human rights and international law mean anything if we allow them to be ignored when it is politically convenient.
Never be silent in the face of injustice. Never accept that another person's life matters less because of where they were born.
Remember Tom. Honour his courage. And never stop standing up for those he died trying to protect. ❤️
@jocelynhurndall
#GazaGenocide #FreePalestine
Hilary Dunn retweeted
I want to tell you a story that says so much about the world we're living in today.
It's a story of extraordinary courage, compassion, unimaginable loss, and a family's relentless fight for justice.
But above all, it's a story about humanity.
His name was Tom Hurndall.
In April 2003, Tom was a 21-year-old British photography student volunteering in Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement, documenting the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
On April 11th, in Rafah, he saw Palestinian children exposed to gunfire. Rather than turning away, Tom helped them reach safety.
He was wearing a fluorescent vest, clearly identifying himself as an international volunteer.
An IDF soldier shot him in the head.
Tom spent nine months in a coma before dying in January 2004, aged just 22.
What followed was an extraordinary battle for justice, led by his parents, Jocelyn and Anthony.
The Israeli military's initial account was challenged. His family fought relentlessly to expose what had happened.
Eventually, the soldier responsible was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison. He served just six.
A British inquest concluded that Tom had been deliberately and unlawfully killed, but no senior Israeli commander has been convicted in connection with his death.
More than two decades later, the questions raised by Tom's killing remain devastatingly relevant.
What happened to Tom cannot be separated from what has happened to countless Palestinians.
The killing of civilians. The destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. The displacement of communities. The obstruction of humanitarian aid. Children whose lives have been shattered by cruelty and occupation.
These aren't simply unavoidable consequences of military operations.
UN investigators have documented war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israeli forces, and concluded that genocide has been committed in Gaza.
And through it all, the international community has failed. Failed to protect innocent lives, uphold international law and to hold those responsible to account.
Tom died protecting children from violence the world continues to witness today.
More than two decades have passed. Generations of Palestinian children have grown up amid occupation, displacement and fear.
How many more innocent lives must be destroyed before those responsible are held accountable?
And then there's Tom's mother, Jocelyn.
Having endured the unimaginable loss of her son, Jocelyn began a relentless fight for justice. Not just for Tom, but for Palestinian families who have suffered devastating losses, without accountability or recognition.
She has also dedicated years to supporting Palestinian education and opportunities for young people.
Her son lost his life protecting Palestinian children. She has spent so much of her own life defending their rights, dignity and futures.
In his short life, Tom demonstrated more courage, compassion and humanity than many manage in a thousand lifetimes. And through Jocelyn's determination, those values live on.
Tom's story is not simply a tragedy from 2003.
It is a reminder of the human cost of occupation, and the courage of those who refuse to look away.
Tom saw children in danger. He recognised their humanity. He acted. And he paid with his life.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
That's why Gaza is about so much more than Gaza itself. It's about whether human rights and international law mean anything if we allow them to be ignored when it is politically convenient.
Never be silent in the face of injustice. Never accept that another person's life matters less because of where they were born.
Remember Tom. Honour his courage. And never stop standing up for those he died trying to protect. ❤️
@jocelynhurndall
#GazaGenocide #FreePalestine
Hilary Dunn retweeted
Tonight! Be there if you can!
📣 LONDON TONIGHT 📣
Don't miss this evening. Speakers: French MP Jérôme Legavre Belgian Workers' Party leader Peter Mertens, Zarah Sultana MP Greek dockers' leader Giorgos Gogos, StW’s @JohnWRees, Yasmine Adam…
⏰ 6.30pm
📍 Brunei Gallery, SOAS
🎟 shorturl.at/MtTG4
@thetrainline my train cancelled can’t get to Wales for cousin 70th. Can get refund for outward but not return journey even though I can’t return as can’t get there. Disabled passenger #disabledtwitter very poor all my access arrangements won’t work - help?
Hilary Dunn retweeted
Bren was the first ever BBC Young Short Story of the Year winner. He has a novel out in Welsh. He's 26. And he wrote this poem.
Hilary Dunn retweeted
There is a tidy version of John Healey. St Peter's School, York. Christ's College, Cambridge. Twenty nine years in Parliament. Now the Chancellor, signing the cheques, setting the budget, deciding what you are allowed to keep.
There is another version. It is not tidy.
In 1997 he took a Rotherham seat. For the sixteen years that followed, in the streets he represented and the schools he walked past, fourteen hundred girls were being passed around by men the state had quietly decided not to notice. Some of them twelve. One was doused in petrol and told to burn if she talked.
He was their MP. He had a seat, a voice, a vote, and the standing to make a noise. He made none.
In 2012 the Times finally broke it and demanded an inquiry. His own website still carries the verdict. He had an open mind. He was "not convinced this would help the abused girls."
Not convinced. Fourteen hundred of them. One of the few men in the country who could have forced the truth out, and he wanted more time.
Then he sued the woman who said so.
A UKIP MEP, Jane Collins, accused him and two colleagues of knowing and doing nothing. They took her to court and won. Fifty four thousand pounds each. Healey pocketed his. He did not give it to the girls. He kept it. He had been called out for inaction and he turned it into income.
The pattern held. Forty thousand pounds from two donors whose addresses the register lists only as "private," while he lectured Farage on secret money. His own council tax, on his own second home, unpaid, an administrative error, and he meant to claim the fifteen hundred back from you while his party took the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners.
Then, in June, he resigned as Defence Secretary with a letter that buried Keir Starmer. Six weeks later Starmer was gone. Burnham moved in. And Burnham made Healey Chancellor.
The knife went in. The chair was warm. The reward was the Treasury.
Now he wants to tax the banks, because a war abroad has emptied the purse and the IMF has told him to cut spending instead. He has run out of other people's money and he is going through the City's sofa cushions.
Meanwhile the legacy gathers dust. The Child Trust Fund, his idea, one point six billion pounds of children's own money left to rot in forgotten accounts while the City takes a hundred million a year in fees. Housing, where he decided families renting rather than owning was "a good thing." A children's charity he vouched for, whose founder was later convicted of child sexual abuse. In Rotherham. Of course.
The girl who was twelve is thirty seven now. She lives with it every day.
He was not convinced her rape was worth an inquiry.
And now he decides how much of your money you keep.
That is the Chancellor.
Hilary Dunn retweeted
OPEN LETTER: Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist. Her books must be available to the public. Their withdrawal from sale, on the basis of ill-conceived and draconian anti terror legislation, is an affront to basic principles of free speech and expression so long taken for granted in this country. We categorically reject censorship - whether direct or indirect - and urge the government to change course, amending the legislation which has led us to this point of repressive absurdity.
Hilary Dunn retweeted
This now means, as a result of Labour diktat from London, that Reform will control Havant council, rather than a coalition of Labour, the Greens and Lib Dems.
🟢 New: Havant Green Group is the latest to say they won’t be asking the party leadership to reject the ZIR motion.
Group leader Netty Shepard says she recognises that the wording of the motion is “problematic for some and is creating division and fear” but the accusation that the motion is anti-semitic is unfounded. She also says it was a democratic vote so she can’t ask the leadership to do something that “is not in their power”.
In a letter to the Havant Labour leader she said: “As a group we welcomed Andy Burnham's call for a different kind of politics, one based on problem solving, not point scoring. It would be truly ironic if the Labour Party National Executive Committee insist that you leave this coalition over a political point that the Green Group in Havant have no control over.
“I believe we have more in common than divides us and I ask you to continue to work with Havant Greens. We value you as colleagues and I believe you value us too.”
Hilary Dunn retweeted
We’ve been blown away by the response to my interview with @BBCSport & @KatieFalkingham , thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read and engage with it ❤️ millions of views across multiple platforms really is immense.
We have since written to @andyburnham , calling on the @UKLabour government to fund research into this horrific illness. I know there’s so much more we could say, but with limited capacity, we’ve tried to focus on the lack of funding, resources in the NHS and how much it’s actually costing the government.
As you can see on the slides, it has been drastically underfunded compared to other illnesses and it is currently costing the UK Government far more than it would cost to fund research. ME is most often a post-viral illness. Therefore, since the start of the Covid pandemic, we’ve seen cases increase drastically and they will continue to increase. We need funding into research urgently. With estimates of people with ME being around 1.35 million, this is a lot of lives destroyed.
I’ve had thousands of messages on multiple platforms since sharing my story so please bear with me ❤️
Thanks to @ThereForME_UK and @wecrunchme for the stats.
Hilary Dunn retweeted
Whichever way you look at it and whatever your thoughts on @ZackPolanski ..he has done tremendously well this morning on #bbclaurak
He was grilled - He spoke calmly and explained his thoughts so well
"What's controversial is that 75,000 Palestinians have been murdered in the last few years, including more child amputees in modern history"
Hilary Dunn retweeted
There are few more revolting sights than a careless, over-paid Murdoch hack smearing a principled writer who is bravely opposing the brutal slaughter of innocent civilians, many of them children
Hilary Dunn retweeted
To mark the end of #babylossawarenessweek, please light a candle at 7pm for our beautiful children no longer with us.
I am lighting two for my Alexander and Isabelle. Thanks to everyone who helps keep their memory shining bright 💜 #waveoflight
Hilary Dunn retweeted
This is so powerful.
Labour are still arming a genocide.
We'll take no moral lectures from them when we're a party that are pushing for equal human rights for all.
Hilary Dunn retweeted
The most insane thing in all of this is someone can buy Sally Rooney’s books in an Israeli bookshop but not a British one.
Don’t you find that a bit nutty @andyburnham ?!
Hilary Dunn retweeted
With her lonely stand for Palestine, Sally Rooney has exposed the contemporary literary world as a nest of cowards and careerists
Where are all the Doris Lessings, Harold Pinters, John Bergers, Graham Greenes, Samuel Becketts that once raised their voices against war and injustice?
Rooney stands almost alone
Hilary Dunn retweeted
An incredible speech.
The Jewish leader of Lambeth council denounces Labour’s weaponisation of antisemitism.
Conflating the evil of antisemitism with opposing Israel’s crimes has to stop
Hilary Dunn retweeted
8.5 months under investigation? 22 months & counting in my case. And nothing to do with medicine, don’t even have a licence.
Several of us in the same boat- @Rehiana1980 @NadimHCr @EllenKriesels @naj_khaiessa @drtamara_ali @RoghiehDehghan
@HCWsAC
Should we chat?