Gaza

[Pat 0]

Incredible listening to the news and calls for Israel to restrict the violence being perpetrated on Gaza alongside reports of six hundred civilians killed, 102,000 people displaced, 85 hits on hospitals, schools bombed. It's not exactly an equal playing field and no questions seem to be being asked about what Gaza is attempting to resist.

[Pat 0]

On BBC news Navi Pillay, United Nations, condemned indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militants Hamas. She also calls for investigation into international law being violated, amounting to war crimes by Israel. She spoke of the civilians being killed in areas where there was not one military person present.

There has been massive protests in Paris and concerns are being raised about anti-semitism as the protests resulted in violence.

[tig 0]

how the world turns a blind eye to genocide because theyre allies to the perpetrators is absolutely sickening.

that *********** cameron actively supporting them is disguising to say the very least

(i added the *** myself, i wont add my real thoughts on what should happen to the zionists or cameron for the sake of decency but lets just say they wouldnt be in the same room as me for long)

how they can carry on and expect people not to utterly hate them is just unrealistic however i wouldnt blame any jewish people....cameron speaks for me as much as these right wing zionists speak for the jewish people, many of whom are as disgusted as us about israels actions

[Pat 0]

how the world turns a blind eye to genocide because theyre allies to the perpetrators is absolutely sickening.

that *********** cameron actively supporting them is disguising to say the very least

(i added the *** myself, i wont add my real thoughts on what should happen to the zionists or cameron for the sake of decency but lets just say they wouldnt be in the same room as me for long)

how they can carry on and expect people not to utterly hate them is just unrealistic however i wouldnt blame any jewish people....cameron speaks for me as much as these right wing zionists speak for the jewish people, many of whom are as disgusted as us about israels actions

You're right, tig. It is the fault of the politicians and at the base of it is usually greed and, in some instances, racism.

Hanan Ashari, asks who has Israel the right to defend itself and the systematic propaganda blaming the victims. http://mycatbirdseat.com/2014/07/plos-hanan-ashrawi-deliberate-massacre-in-gaza/

[McGowan 0]

Hi Pat, I have been to the protests in Glasgow. 2,000 people at the first and 7,000 at the second. I don't know if the BBC even reported the thousands outside their headquarters shouting peacefully about media bias. The people in Gaza have endured bias against them for years. People in Palestinian areas have their water re-routed to Israeli homes and have their communities cut in half by an illegal wall that Israel refuses to take down. The siege of Gaza has been on for years. People have to read about what is happening and why. They should not believe all they read in the Press. More bad news from Israel is a wonderful book to start with Ashby McGowan

[Pat 0]

I was at the recent protest too, Ashby. The issue of BBC bias has been much in the news recently – not least of all with regard to Gaza and also the Referendum. My heart goes out to the people in Gaza and the news makes me sick. BBC serves the propoganda put out by the Government.

Thanks for the heads up on the book.

Recently I was privileged to attend the launch of the book A Bird Is Not A Stone with poetry by Palestinian, English and Scottish Poets. It was very humbling. Liz Lochhead, our National Makar spent time in Palestine and contributed to the book. She is a very vocal supporter of the people of Palestine.

[Veronica 0]

Killing innocent people. It all seems very blatant as the world watches. Makes you sick.

[Pat 0]

Killing innocent people. It all seems very blatant as the world watches. Makes you sick.

This makes me particularly sick, CL. (Cameron supporting the right of Israel to 'defend' itself. Very understandable. Britain are making a fortune selling arms to Israel – top of the list of all their global customers.)

Country▲▼ Value▲▼ Items▲▼ Filter

Israel £7,996,089,855 2486

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United Arab Emirates £5,744,060,415 4033

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Saudi Arabia £5,734,579,783 3956

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United States of America £4,031,623,311 9452

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France £3,463,332,102 5321

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China £2,982,670,613 5204

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Malaysia £1,935,559,552 3245

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Taiwan £1,756,912,345 2202

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Iran £1,537,572,620 1628

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Hong Kong Special Administrative Region £1,395,465,168 1336

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Austria £984,062,606 964

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Japan £937,007,142 1471

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Oman £927,505,633 4407

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Korea, South £799,939,595 4411

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Singapore £773,721,027 4578

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South Africa £703,263,821 4944

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India £656,334,276 8385

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Netherlands £490,052,834 2663

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Brazil £462,992,238 2856

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Germany £461,621,599 5299

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Russia £456,423,824 1500

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Italy £391,901,996 4431

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Turkey £376,447,215 3811

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Libya £335,207,730 713

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Algeria £307,157,736 454

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Indonesia £291,164,702 1657

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Nigeria £258,882,638 1029

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Canada £257,884,380 3418

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Pakistan £227,229,768 1977

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Spain £224,446,362 3025

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Australia £204,113,983 3121

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Kazakhstan £172,858,656 290

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Norway £164,434,064 1873

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Trinidad and Tobago £148,680,916 436

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Denmark £145,259,875 1765

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Jordan £144,724,574 1177

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Thailand £134,216,840 1673

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Sweden £131,475,058 2703

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Egypt £127,198,634 1333

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Ireland £113,819,066 953

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Kenya £102,399,083 971

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Mauritius £94,706,829 1253

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Kuwait £90,050,581 1403

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Iraq £86,283,903 902

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Afghanistan £83,889,734 779

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Czech Republic £82,201,950 1036

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Switzerland £77,445,500 1899

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Bahrain £72,049,166 1126

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Venezuela £68,192,070 251

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Belgium £64,102,062 1772

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Tanzania £63,778,139 607

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Mexico £61,525,061 702

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Vietnam £60,805,022 590

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Chile £59,368,803 1154

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Sri Lanka £56,476,269 1179

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Maldives £56,244,245 808

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Peru £56,160,052 609

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Morocco £55,416,645 596

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Angola £55,108,486 502

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Poland £55,024,018 1407

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Qatar £52,248,795 1146

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Argentina £51,574,644 557

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Azerbaijan £48,109,620 224

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Ukraine £43,356,642 479

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Lebanon £43,339,301 292

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Colombia £38,728,918 444

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Zimbabwe £38,723,435 127

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Sudan £36,663,754 179

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Portugal £36,292,253 1113

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Lithuania £35,078,287 518

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Croatia £34,261,643 551

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Congo, Democratic Republic of £33,467,869 164

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Madagascar £30,280,671 516

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Ghana £29,772,849 333

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Bangladesh £27,063,440 474

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Continental Shelf: United Kingdom sector £26,462,490 260

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Serbia £25,756,387 478

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Cayman Islands £24,996,337 32

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Greece £24,130,715 1264

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Finland £22,297,796 1380

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Romania £22,246,932 740

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Uruguay £22,115,542 282

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Philippines £21,126,249 459

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Tunisia £20,403,225 278

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New Zealand £19,608,418 2275

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Channel Islands £19,378,643 631

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Luxembourg £18,620,314 645

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Uganda £17,268,523 242

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Ivory Coast £17,232,289 162

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Brunei £16,452,509 816

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French Overseas Territory £15,272,380 61

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Slovakia £14,917,491 600

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Botswana £14,331,886 306

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Macao £14,229,408 128

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Cyprus £13,640,721 530

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Comoros £13,534,701 183

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Djibouti £13,482,308 533

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Continental Shelf Danish Sector £13,207,861 18

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Continental Shelf Netherlands Sector £13,200,000 17

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Somalia £12,885,881 240

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Hungary £11,438,913 585

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Latvia £11,326,679 483

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Georgia £11,320,335 236

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Equatorial Guinea £11,279,867 87

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Senegal £10,772,440 172

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Mozambique £9,934,262 339

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Bosnia and Herzegovina £9,344,698 169

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Paraguay £9,243,636 173

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Namibia £8,966,180 276

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Slovenia £8,964,936 562

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Uzbekistan £8,928,436 95

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Belarus £8,636,084 77

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Chad £8,627,932 116

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Estonia £8,289,961 505

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Turkmenistan £8,206,658 134

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Bulgaria £7,823,216 579

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Yemen £7,063,648 98

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Jamaica £7,021,422 94

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Benin £7,003,111 141

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Iceland £6,050,078 438

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Syria £5,836,724 111

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Bahamas £5,800,995 56

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Ecuador £5,773,387 447

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Sudan, South £5,672,991 58

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Togo £5,485,849 138

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Albania £5,436,329 164

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Zambia £5,363,872 258

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Mauritania £4,450,873 123

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Cameroon £4,349,557 190

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Panama £4,325,579 103

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Macedonia £4,263,269 153

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Falkland Islands £4,104,493 184

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Malta £3,917,448 653

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Sierra Leone £3,823,638 133

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Burma £3,695,927 55

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Greenland £3,561,424 83

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Monaco £3,283,712 40

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Dominican Republic £3,137,566 120

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Seychelles £2,977,868 273

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Republic of Congo £2,919,140 184

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Gambia £2,756,787 71

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Lesotho £2,740,698 107

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Mali £2,457,703 70

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Ethiopia £2,234,101 134

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Armenia £2,174,167 77

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Mongolia £1,873,853 72

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Faroe Islands £1,759,302 35

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Gibraltar £1,689,603 249

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Continental Shelf Norwegian Sector £1,625,524 11

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American Samoa £1,600,400 2

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Swaziland £1,594,761 95

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Burundi £1,414,700 106

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Laos £1,257,679 65

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Guinea, Republic of £1,162,253 86

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Gabon £1,147,931 141

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Guam £1,129,732 8

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Kosovo £1,121,454 71

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Eritrea £968,684 26

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Barbados £680,728 100

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Liberia £663,023 80

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Montenegro £660,855 67

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Burkina Faso £625,782 72

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Bermuda £585,495 110

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Netherlands Antilles £535,594 52

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Guyana £475,657 131

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Malawi £370,877 82

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Costa Rica £341,815 49

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United Kingdom £319,776 129

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Niger £316,985 52

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Nepal £296,601 77

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Surinam £277,890 119

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Kyrgyzstan £272,043 54

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Antigua and Barbuda £256,385 53

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Continental Shelf £238,944 1

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Papua New Guinea £211,876 91

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Liechtenstein £195,328 57

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Moldova, Republic of £191,751 77

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Puerto Rico £172,327 166

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Rwanda £172,308 75

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Cambodia £154,810 125

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El Salvador £151,223 39

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Aruba £139,924 24

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British Virgin Islands £121,186 13

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Guatemala £120,621 84

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Sao Tome and Principe £115,000 19

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Cape Verde £102,584 87

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Cuba £89,600 14

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Bolivia £83,500 64

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Solomon Islands £76,618 39

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Belize £73,077 49

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Central African Republic £66,850 41

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St Lucia £64,825 38

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Fiji £61,192 36

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St Helena £58,068 39

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St Vincent (including the Grenadines) £38,291 30

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Haiti £34,745 102

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Andorra £34,168 31

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Antarctica £33,313 27

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Cook Islands £28,800 8

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Sarawak £22,000 2

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East Timor £17,944 44

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Tonga £17,817 37

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Dominica £14,365 31

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Mayotte (Grand Terre and Pamanzi) £13,986 8

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Svelbard Archipelago £10,270 2

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Guinea-Bissau £9,896 43

off ⇒

Honduras £9,161 63

off ⇒

Korea, North £8,340 5

off ⇒

Montserrat £5,541 6

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San Marino £4,500 5

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Grenada £4,230 36

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Tajikistan £2,964 47

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Nicaragua £2,175 28

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British Antarctic Territory £1,930 1

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Turks and Caicos Islands £1,355 4

off ⇒

Aland Islands £535 1

off ⇒

Bhutan £85 3

off ⇒

Non Specific Country £0 61

off ⇒

Northern Marianas Islands £0 29

off ⇒

Australian Antarctic Territory £0 1

off ⇒

Vanuatu £0 6

off ⇒

Vessel, Platform in International Waters £0 149

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Samoa £0 8

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United States Minor Outlying Islands £0 2

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St Christopher and Nevis £0 25

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Azores £0 8

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Isle Of Man £0 7

http://www.caat.org.uk/resources/export-licences/region

[samscafeamericain 0]

I was in Gran Canaria lasxt week. Our television consumption came via Fox News (boke) or ITV. I was genuinely shocked at how completely blatant the lies and propaganda pro-Isreal is. John Kerry dared to stand up and say israel is under constant siege??

[harper 0]

The whole situation is a complete no brainer. The world sits back and rings its hands at the injustice of it all but no one can broker a palatable solution for both sides. Protests and righteous outrage seem ineffective and once again, the UN seems powerless. It's dismal and sadly, it will continue until... - well, that's the question, what will change the situation?

[Pat 0]

It is unbelievable. Navi Pilley Un Human Rights called for investigation of war crimes. Twenty nine countries voted in favour, United States was the sole veto vote but seventeen countries abstained – that included the UK, Ireland, Austria, Italy, Germany and France.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/who-voted-and-who-didn-t-for-un-investigation-of-potential-war-crimes-in-gaza-20140723

What is up with these people. Seems to me that their interest in the dollar exceeds their understanding of morals.

[harper 0]

That's an approach but I am not sure it really helps, tbh. The situation is not clear cut, the militants in Gaza have muddied the water enough to be held culpable of their own atrocities and the process would take years, while the current grievances fester and erupt into violence.

I am not sure what the point of having the UN if it can't actually do anything other than organise committees. "Urging" ceasefires and peace talks isn't quite cutting it. Surely, they should be a peace force that can open/man these borders to get aid through at the very least.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48357#.U9YWHct0w3E

[Pat 0]

You're right about the UN, harper. They seem to be pretty toothless. The Palestines have supported the call for the investigation of war crimes, although they were also under investigation. The instances regarding the attacks by Israel on hospitals and schools that were cited by Navi Pilley seemed fairly clear cut. It is shocking that the UK, Ireland and other countries decided to abstain from this vote.

Jon Snow is out on his own:

[harper 0]

Seems to me there needs to be a peace agreement they can both live with and until something is in place, tensions will continue to flair up and overspill into these mini wars. The request for a war crimes investigations seems like a distraction, at a time when urgent action needs to be taken to stabilise the situation, IMV. Egypt seems to be leading the way with a proposal for a non conditional crease fire agreement. Obama seems to have got himself caught up in demanding a crease fire, fraught with conditions and appeasing the folks back home.

I should but I don't find the Jon Snow report convincing, maybe it is media reporting fatigue. As he acknowledges, if it weren't for the Israeli defence system, courtesy of America, he could have been reporting similar causalities. The disproportionality of the situation is what most people find utterly appalling. Both sides have a grievance but only one has an army and an arsenal. Surely, if both sides really want to safeguard their people then they have to cease and desist and get round a table for peace and reconciliation talks, where historical grievances and injustices can be addressed and resolved - it is the only way forward.

Can the UK really have a credible voice in he middle east? Other than condemning the atrocities on both sides and offering to broker peace talks, I am not sure, Jon Snow says the world can't stand back and watch these atrocities but it can and it does because the situation is complex. He is not saying anything that people don't already know.

[samscafeamericain 0]

[harper 0]

Hand ringing and satire.... if only solving wars were as simple as telling folk to stop doing something.

Good to see Ms Wark taking the Israeli advisor to task ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/28/kirsty-wark-subjects-dore-gold-to-a-testy-newsnight-interview-over-the-deaths-of-gazan-children_n_5628748.html

[Pat 0]

Yes, saw that interview on Newsnight last night. He was a mighty cool customer. Kirsty Wark did well.

It's been reported that Salmond is pushing Cameron on the issue of Gaza:

"Mr Salmond urged David Cameron to show equal determination in the UK Government's approach to the situation in Gaza as it has shown in regard to the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash in Ukraine.

He called on the UK Government to make a stronger and more urgent response to the crisis in Gaza.

He also urged it to support a UN investigation following the statement by Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, about the failure to distinguish between civilians and combatants."

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/politics/salmond-demands-action-on-gaza-1.491841

[lynnski 0]

Yup, the book Ashby mentions is a good one, as is it's predecessor Bad News from Israel. Written by one of my Uni lecturers, Greg Philo, and another member of the Glasgow Media Group, Mike Berry. They are experts in the fields of mass media and bias, and reporting techniques. The language used is mostly painting Palestine/Hamas as the aggressors, with quotes such as 'Israel retaliated to Hamas' latest rocket attacks', Israeli troops fire on Gaza after civilian deaths... etc etc. The majority of times, Israel take action first, but are seen as the 'poor victims' of terrorism. What people tend to forget is that Israel is an occupying force subjugating a population that they wish to see wiped off the map.

http://www.glasgowmediagroup.org/bad-news-from-israel

You can read some excerpts from the book here:

http://www.glasgowmediagroup.org/downloads/17-war-and-conflict

[harper 0]

There are many books, sites and sources that point to media bias, depending on what position you want to defend. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, this has been a long standing problem that no one seems to be ready to tackle head on. Until Israel is held to account and HAMAS stops playing into the conflict, nothing will change. Do we really need any more descriptions of the problem or do we need action?

[Pat 0]

We definitely need action as the situation just grows worse and worse. I think that in the face of Cameron, Obama and the others who are not taking action then individuals can boycott Israeli goods, keep up the demos and put pressure on their MPs. It's good that Chile and Brazil have taken sanctions. I hope many more will follow.

[samscafeamericain 0]

Gaza is the world's biggest concentration camp.

[samscafeamericain 0]

Gaza is the world's biggest concentration camp.

[harper 0]

Knowing that and repeating that doesn't change anything....

Neither does having a peace envoy, apparently...

http://stopwar.org.uk/news/let-s-party-says-middle-east-peace-envoy-tony-blair-as-israel-carpet-bombs-gaza#.U9gWCct0w3E

[Pat 0]

I've never heard of a worse choice for a Peace Envoy than Blair.

[samscafeamericain 0]

Just in case you wonder why Hamas came into being

From the Guardian

Wednesday 24 November 2004 00.02 GMT

An Israeli army officer who repeatedly shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old.
The officer, identified by the army only as Captain R, was charged this week with illegal use of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and other relatively minor infractions after emptying all 10 bullets from his gun's magazine into Iman al-Hams when she walked into a "security area" on the edge of Rafah refugee camp last month.

A tape recording of radio exchanges between soldiers involved in the incident, played on Israeli television, contradicts the army's account of the events and appears to show that the captain shot the girl in cold blood.

The official account claimed that Iman was shot as she walked towards an army post with her schoolbag because soldiers feared she was carrying a bomb.

But the tape recording of the radio conversation between soldiers at the scene reveals that, from the beginning, she was identified as a child and at no point was a bomb spoken about nor was she described as a threat. Iman was also at least 100 yards from any soldier.

Instead, the tape shows that the soldiers swiftly identified her as a "girl of about 10" who was "scared to death".

The tape also reveals that the soldiers said Iman was headed eastwards, away from the army post and back into the refugee camp, when she was shot.

At that point, Captain R took the unusual decision to leave the post in pursuit of the girl. He shot her dead and then "confirmed the kill" by emptying his magazine into her body.

The tape recording is of a three-way conversation between the army watchtower, the army post's operations room and the captain, who was a company commander.

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The soldier in the watchtower radioed his colleagues after he saw Iman: "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward."

Operations room: "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"

Watchtower: "A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."

A few minutes later, Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.

The watchtower: "I think that one of the positions took her out."

The company commander then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.

Captain R: "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."

Witnesses described how the captain shot Iman twice in the head, walked away, turned back and fired a stream of bullets into her body. Doctors at Rafah's hospital said she had been shot at least 17 times.

On the tape, the company commander then "clarifies" why he killed Iman: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."

The army's original account of the killing said that the soldiers only identified Iman as a child after she was first shot. But the tape shows that they were aware just how young the small, slight girl was before any shots were fired.

The case came to light after soldiers under the command of Captain R went to an Israeli newspaper to accuse the army of covering up the circumstances of the killing.

A subsequent investigation by the officer responsible for the Gaza strip, Major General Dan Harel, concluded that the captain had "not acted unethically".

However, the military police launched an investigation, which resulted in charges against the unit commander.

Iman's parents have accused the army of whitewashing the affair by filing minor charges against Captain R. They want him prosecuted for murder.