Day: July 20, 2025
Groups say having access to funds cut off raise fears of wider attempt to silence voices speaking out about Gaza
At least two grassroots pro-Palestine organisations in the UK have had their bank accounts frozen, raising fears about a wider attempt to silence voices speaking out about Gaza.
Greater Manchester Friends for Palestine (GMFP) and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which both organise peaceful protests and vigils, have had access to their funds cut off indefinitely by Virgin Money and Unit Trust bank respectively. The Guardian understands a local PSC branch in England has also had its bank account frozen but was unable to confirm it directly.
US defense secretary reverted to Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, but the men they honor aren’t role models
Since Donald Trump returned to office this year, his secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has ripped the new names off a series of US army bases and brought back their old traitorous Confederate names.
His actions have angered Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress, prompting a rare rebuke of the Trump administration by the Republican-controlled Congress last Tuesday. The GOP-led House of Representatives Armed Services Committee voted on 15 July to block Hegseth from renaming the bases after Confederates. Two Republicans voted with the Democrats on the committee to pass the measure, which was an amendment to the Pentagon’s budget bill.
