261025 NEWSLETTER

Jackdaw, Film Reviews, and Palestine resistance

This week, the government gave the go-ahead for drilling at the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea. It came as little surprise, but it’s still devastating for the environmental campaigners who’ve spent years raising awareness of the catastrophic consequences of new oil and gas projects.

However Mr Bouncy Burnham would like to spin it, the project won’t provide energy security or lower your bills this winter, and analysts don’t expect it to make much difference to bills in the future either. One thing’s for sure – Shell and Equinor, the companies behind Jackdaw, stand to make some money. And those promised new jobs? Just 27 jobs will be sustained, as the oil and gas industry becomes increasingly remotely operated.

Campaigners are still holding their breath over the decision on the Rosebank oil field, which could make the UK’s already shaky climate commitments look even more ridiculous.

Fittingly, this week Real Media attended a private screening of director Rich Felgate’s new film, We, The Hated, which follows four everyday citizens who turned to civil disobedience as part of Just Stop Oil. They include Phoebe Plummer, one of the two activists who threw tomato soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers (which wasn’t damaged) in 2022. A major theme of the film is the media giants’ constant vilification of JSO’s tactics, often claiming the group was ‘losing support’ while largely ignoring the cause itself and the impact of climate collapse around the world. The deadly flash floods that hit Nepal’s Rasuwa district in August is just one example, with countless other climate-related deaths around the world going unreported.

Rather than simply piecing together an archive of protests and publicity stunts, filmmaker Rich Felgate has made something much more personal – an insider story centred on his relationship with JSO co-founder Indigo Rumbelow, who received a 30-month prison sentence last May for ‘conspiracy to commit public nuisance’.

It’s difficult not to feel inspired by the individuals who were so moved by climate injustice that they felt they have no alternative but to rebel. We, The Hated goes on general release in the UK on 2 November. Read our full review here.

Alongside our review of We, The Hated, we also reviewed NAZA.

This investigative documentary examines civilian casualties from Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the systems behind the targeted killings of Palestinians. Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, NAZA explores the human cost of these operations.

The word NAZA comes from the Hebrew nezek agavi, meaning “collateral damage”. A NAZA number, the number of innocent victims expected to be killed, is assigned to drone and bomb strikes against alleged Hamas operatives in Gaza. The figures are sobering, often reaching dozens and sometimes hundreds, raising serious questions about Israel’s claims that it seeks to minimise civilian casualties.

The five activists are accused of causing around €1 million in damage at an Elbit Systems factory in Germany. Over nearly two dozen sessions, Judge Kathrin Lauchstädt has refused to hear evidence of Elbit’s complicity in war crimes in Gaza, disregarding the defendants’ stated motives, including expert testimony about the factory’s alleged links to Israeli military technology used in Gaza. Real Media livestreamed a press conference featuring the Ulm 5’s legal team and expert Dr Shir Hever, who has studied Elbit Systems’ structures, financing and technology for nearly two decades.

Defence lawyer Düsberg has since accused the court of bias after it ruled Dr Hever’s evidence about the TDL laboratory irrelevant without hearing his testimony. The defence is calling for the judges to recuse themselves, arguing that relevant evidence about the activists’ motives and Germany’s obligations under international law is being excluded.

250,000 MARCHED IN LONDON FOR PEACE IN GAZA

On the third anniversary of the genocide in Gaza, people around the world stood, marched and chanted in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Real Media filmed interviews at the mass demonstration in London, with Farah Jamaluddin asking those taking part what brought them out, as well as their views on the Greens’ Zionism motion, Ed Miliband’s sanctions and the repression of pro-Palestine views.

The prosecution has concluded its case, and the defence is due to begin on Monday 26 October.

Real Media is covering the trial, with contributions from journalist Betty Dempsey. This week’s updates have just been added on our website..

Friday 20 November, students and young people across Europe and beyond will strike, protest and organise assemblies and rallies against war and militarism. Stop the War Coalition UK is supporting UK student strikers.

Saturday 5 December outside BBC Broadcasting House, London.

Organised by Pull the Plug, the march challenges Big Tech’s control of AI in the UK.