In This Episode
Pod Save the UK teamed up with Amnesty International UK for a powerful live recording to raise awareness and support to end the genocide in Gaza.
Nish and Coco are joined by Palestinian journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, Gaza Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera, who shares first-hand experiences of reporting under unimaginable circumstances in Gaza and the deadly toll on journalists.
Comedians and activists Jen Brister and Alexei Sayle join the stage to reflect on the importance of speaking truth to power in a time of immense crisis and a dangerous escalation in the criminalisation of dissent.
It’s an urgent and timely discussion that delves beyond the headlines, exploring the personal stories of those that have lived through the genocide in Gaza. It highlights the devastating realities and the glimmers of resilience and solidarity that persist and the urgent need to raise our collective voices to demand an end to the genocide.
The conversation is book-ended with live performances from internationally acclaimed Palestinian musician Adnan Joubran, who brings the spirit and sounds of Palestine to life through his playing.
USEFUL LINKS
Sign Amnesty International’s petition to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza!
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/demand-immediate-and-permanent-ceasefire-psuk
Donate here to support Amnesty’s work on the ground in Gaza
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/giving/donate/help-protect-civilians-gaza-POD
Come to our next live show w/ Zarah Sultana and Bimini Bon-Boulash – this Sunday!
https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/comedy/pod-save-the-uk/
GUESTS
Wael Al-Dahdouh
Jen Brister
Alexei Sayle
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TRANSCRIPT
[AD]
Nish Kumar Hi everyone, this is Pod Save the UK, I’m Nish Kumar.
Coco Khan And I’m Coco Khan and Nish, we’re backstage just about to begin a very special live recording of our Stop the Genocide special in partnership with Amnesty International.
Nish Kumar In this episode, we are joined by some very special guests who have used their platform to speak out about the genocide that’s happening in Gaza. Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh, will share his first-hand experience of reporting on the crisis, and comedians and activists Jen Brista and Alexi Sale will help us channel our anger into something more productive.
Coco Khan And we need to give you a content warning. This podcast contains discussions of genocide, violence and loss of life in Gaza. The content may be deeply distressing.
Nish Kumar Thank you so much for listening and watching, and if you can, please consider making a donation to Amnesty International to support their work to end the genocide. You can find a link on how to do so in the show notes. To kick things off, in a PSUK first, we have a very special musical act, Palestinian musician Adnan Jabran.
*Music Plays*
Coco Khan Hello, hello everyone, good evening, I’m Coco Khan.
Nish Kumar And I’m Nish Kamar, and thank you so much for joining us on this very special evening for one of the most important causes of our time. Israel’s actions following Hamas’ attacks on the 7th of October 2023 have brought Gaza’s population to the brink of collapse. Just last week, it was reported that 63,000 Palestinians have been killed, 83% of whom are civilians, according to the Israeli military’s own statistics.
Coco Khan Starvation has been used as a weapon of war. We’ve heard disturbing stories of hundreds of Palestinians killed and thousands injured at aid distribution sites. Viewed from above, Gaza is unrecognizable with entire neighborhoods flattened and homes reduced to dust and rubble.
Nish Kumar It’s hard to say what the definition of a normal war is, but I think we can all safely say this is far from it. The world’s leading experts and organizations, including Amnesty International, our partner for the evening, are calling Israel’s actions a genocide. But despite the growing evidence of the atrocities that Israel has wrought on the people of Gaza, governments around the world have remained passive, or worse, complicit. And it’s also been the most deadly conflict for journalists ever recorded. According to the United Nations, 247 journalists. Have lost their lives in the line of duty and our first guest this evening is a Palestinian journalist who has reported on this devastation first hand.
Coco Khan Yes, Wael Al-Dahdouh is the Gaza Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera. He’s also become one of the most famous Palestinian faces in this crisis since the beginning of the conflict. He’s appeared live day and night on screens across the world providing critical coverage when to date no foreign journalist has been authorized to work in the Gaza Strip. This is vital work, I think we can all agree and it’s become increasingly dangerous and tragic. In October 2023, YL was live on air. At the moment he learned that his wife, two children and grandson had been killed in an Israeli airstrike along with 10 other relatives. Over 20 family members were injured and his house was later destroyed. Despite this, just hours after burying his family, he was back reporting.
Nish Kumar His tenacity in the face of unimaginable loss became a global story. Murals of Wael in his helmet and flak jacket have appeared in Syria, London, and Dublin. Then, in December 2023, Wael himself was wounded in an Israeli drone strike. And a month later, his eldest son, 27-year-old Hamza, who was also a journalist for Al Jazeera, was killed by an Israeli Drone. Shortly after this, Wael made the decision to leave Gaza and join his family in Doha, Qatar.
Coco Khan Wael continues to speak out and call for an end to the genocide. For his courageous and tireless work last year, he was awarded the US National Press Club’s Freedom Award. It’s the highest honor for press freedom to be awarded by the organization. So listen, please join me in a round of applause for this man.
Nish Kumar This is obviously a very special evening for us, for a number of reasons. It’s also going to be a slightly different format from our regular shows, while as an Arabic speaker. So we’re also very fortunate to be joined by Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq, who’s the principal interpreter at Al Jazeera, and will be facilitating the conversation between us. A big round of applause for Muwafaq as well, please.
Coco Khan I’m just gonna open up by telling you how I feel right now. I have goosebumps. For people who are listening to this on the podcast, we had a standing ovation for this brilliant man. I am a journalist myself. I get the updates from my union, the National Union of Journalists, who tell you the updated number of journalists killed. And at some point, the number gets so high, you don’t even know what to do with that number, how to process it. And now here I am sat next to a man who has flown the flag. For journalism, it’s an absolute honor. Now I know that as journalists, it is not about us, it’s about the story, but please can I just ask you, how are you?
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Thank you very much for the invitation and thank you all, ladies and gentlemen, for honoring us by attending this event. Alhamdulillah, the Lord of the Worlds. And in answer to your question, how am I? This is how am. This is the condition I’m in. But thankfully, I’m grateful to God that I survived through the close encounter with death. Even if I make it with a hand which is not restored to full functionality, it’s still a blessing from God with the treatment I’m under currently, both in Qatar, in Doha, in Germany, and in Italy. I’m hoping to restore some function to my hand, if not 100%, but whatever I get, I’m grateful.
Nish Kumar For the last two decades, you’ve lived and breathed as a journalist in Gaza, and this is one of a string of crises that you’ve been covering there. Can you give us a snapshot or a sense of what it’s like on a day-to-day basis to try and do your job as a journalists whilst also constantly facing a threat to your life?
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq I come from Gaza, and for those who do not know Gaza is a small strip of land, a small pocket between Egypt and the occupation Israel.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq It’s between seven to between 7 to 14 kilometers in width. In this area, about 2 million people live. And it’s, for all intents and purposes, a big prison or concentration camp because we have two gateways or crossings, one in Beit Hanun and one in Rafah with Egypt. Chip. But the Israeli occupation only allows what is even less than the bare minimum that human beings need. They calculate what we each need by way of how many calories a day. And even that is not allowed through. So I leave it to your imagination to imagine what life can be like under these conditions.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq That was before the war. War is war, with all the killing and maiming, destruction, pain, suffering, forced evacuations, displacement. Suffering at individual levels, family levels, and that of course has compounded the already very bad situation people had to endure before the war, and the war brought its own calamities of course and exacerbated the situation to levels which have been unprecedented in the history of Gaza Strip.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq All wars are bad, they are all painful and difficult to go through, but this one is even worse because it’s been different than all the conflicts I have covered in my professional life. In a nutshell, this war has been most difficult, in fact, more difficult than any other war we have previously experienced in Gaza.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq What does it mean if they start by first closing these border crossings, cutting off water and electricity, banning foreign journalists and reporters from being there to convey to the world what’s happening, then they end up by bombing and destroying houses, regardless of the number of occupants who happen to be inside the house while the bombing continued.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Of course, it’s difficult, difficult beyond belief and beyond description. The amount of suffering we have never known and we’ve become accustomed to war and conflict. A little while ago, I was speaking to a relative of mine whom I’ve always considered to be as solid as a mountain, steadfast, resilient, very strong person. I asked him how was the situation there. He said two words, please let them use a nuclear bomb and finish us all. We cannot bear this anymore.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq One always finds it difficult to describe a situation like that. In fact, if you search all the dictionaries, you’ll find it difficult to come up with the right vocabulary to describe an event of this magnitude.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq What the Israelis are doing on top of all the war crimes, all the actions which run contrary to international norms, international humanitarian law. They’re depriving journalists, international journalists that is, from being there to cover the story. And we have to endure all of this suffering on our own and go through all this pain without the eyes of the world. Being able to watch what’s happening.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq You ask about war, war means suffering. War means death. War means children being mutilated, killed every day. 63,000 Palestinians were martyred, 160,000 of theirabouts injured, mutilated. And 2 thirds of the victims are, in fact, civilians. Until yesterday, the number of journalists killed was 247. Today, another colleague joined them, and it’s 248. You ask me about war, what can I say about war? This is war. The war is the loss, and the loss of everything, in short. In a nutshell, war is about loss, about losing everything you value in your life.
Coco Khan The numbers you described are so scary and you know as a journalist you want to tell the story of how people died so that we can learn how to live kindly fairly it’s insurmountable and you yourself have suffered such great loss how do you do it knowing that every report might be last report?
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Unfortunately, this is our life.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq This is the side we have chosen. This is a job and the mission and duty we have selected for ourselves out of love, respect and devotion.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq At the personal level, I was born and brought up in Gaza City, which is the middle part of Gaza.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq My childhood dream was to be a doctor and help poor people, but the occupation deprived me of this opportunity.
Wael al-Dahdouh *Speaking in Arabic*
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq So I started believing in the message, in the mission of journalism and journalism.
Wael al-Dahdouh On that day, I realized that this profession has a human message.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq And my dream has changed into another profession, a profession which also is about loving and caring for people, caring for their pains, for their ambitions, for their deprivations, for all the calamities they face, all the suffering, all these huge amounts of people who are there facing these situations day and night. And I thought to myself, maybe. Through the profession of journalism, I can help them and care for them and do what I couldn’t do being a doctor.
Wael al-Dahdouh I truly believe that it is possible to achieve much for people
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Many people actually blamed me for this choice. They said, why on earth should we choose a profession like this? You’re risking your own life. We are under occupation. Can’t you see what they are doing to our people? But for me, it was my way of caring, of showing the support and solidarity, and to side with the people. So that’s out of deep conviction I decided. To follow this path in my life.
Wael al-Dahdouh I used to realize that it is the profession of hard work, and in the Gaza Strip, it becomes…
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq I’ve always known it’s a profession which carries on with a huge amount of responsibility and trouble. Troublesome.
Wael al-Dahdouh Of the least.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq But nonetheless, I thought to myself, I have to do this. I have have to rise up to the challenge, take everything in my stride, and do for my people what I couldn’t do otherwise. It was my way of showing them how much I loved and cared for.
Wael al-Dahdouh I did, I tried, I died, and my family too.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Although I am very grateful for my own family who really supported me and shared my belief in this profession and they supported me all the way. Oh all the way through but for me being not only a journalist but the chief of the Al Jazeera bureau it meant being away from home many times so they suffered first through me not being there with them with my family and caring for my family and all that but they ultimately paid the ultimate price when they lost their lives for this profession. I think.
Wael al-Dahdouh That this model is what the Israeli occupation fears, especially
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq I’m convinced that the Israelis do not want this kind of an example to be there, this kind of a role model for others, someone who believes in conveying the truth, serving the truth. Telling the world what’s happening. For this reason, they steadfastly targeted me on three different occasions, and personally myself, my family, and my family. Not to allow someone like me, a journalist, who can speak the truth to be there, to convey to the world what’s happening and what they’re doing. It’s an attempt to cover up for their crimes in occupied Gaza.
Nish Kumar And that’s definitely consistent with the fact that they haven’t allowed foreign journalists in. There is a pattern that seems to be emerging of preventing scrutiny. Now you’re both here and we’re so grateful that you are here. Is there a message that you would like to convey to world leaders? I mean, obviously, particularly the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and our Foreign Secretary David Lammy. You know, you, you do this job, you’ve given up so much for it. And you’re here now in this country, what would your message be for Stammer and Lammy?
Wael al-Dahdouh If I had a message, I would have said that the world…
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq If I have a message for them, it will simply be that not only people in the UK or America or Western Europe, in fact in the entire world, we are all standing face to face with a test, a moral test, a legal test, an ethical test, political test, call it what you like, but we are there all standing vis-à-vis this reality. Which requires from all of us to stand up to the occasion and do our bit for humanity.
Wael al-Dahdouh There is a people who is hiding, who is exposed to the invasion.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq There are people who are being killed, slaughtered, genocide is being committed. Entire families are wiped out from the civil register. People are forced to be displaced on daily basis. Their memories are wiped up. Their existence is uprooted. The history, there is an attempt to wipe out the entire history of the people of a land It’s been there for thousands of years. The entire humanity has been, is going through this test, but unfortunately, it has failed miserably. They’re not doing what they should do vis-a-vis this kind of a crime, which should make all of us ashamed of it.
Wael al-Dahdouh We should all…
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Keep our eyes.
Wael al-Dahdouh How will it
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq wide open. We are faced with a reality. It’s no good everybody falling short of their responsibilities. People are simply following, they’re toeing the line of certain propaganda, certain narratives without challenging them, without doing anything to hold Israel accountable. Israel is getting With this kind of impunity, they will carry on. And I know there have been some statements, some shyly-made statements, condemning, or not even condemning. Just… Saying something bad about the situation, but that on its own is not enough. We all need to do something. We should have a clear conscience, not just feeling this amount of guilt, but yet doing nothing about it. When I was targeted, first our office was targeted. Then I was targetted, then my family was targeted then my son was killed. Of course, there were some statements here and there. But nobody did enough to put an end to that, to pressurize Israel, to make them feel that they cannot get away with this. Enough should be enough, and we have to draw the line somewhere.
Wael al-Dahdouh I want to say something, did the world see how the Nasr al-Khan hospital was bombed?
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Draw your attention to the incident when they bombed a hospital in Khan Younes, a Nasr hospital.
Wael al-Dahdouh Naniwaashreena
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq They targeted the first, first they targeted the hospital with journalists and other civilians inside. Few minutes later when people rushed to provide some sort of first aid to them, they responded A few minutes later, it was two more tank rounds.
Wael al-Dahdouh حتى ينقذو
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Ultimately, 22 people were massacred that day, six of them are journalists. So how can anybody not see that? And if they do see that, what can they say to their children tomorrow?
Wael al-Dahdouh Restfully
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq not knowing this kind of
Wael al-Dahdouh Massacres taking place almost on daily basis in Gaza.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq What happened to one of our colleagues, his name is Ahmad Mansour, he was in a live broadcast. He was in the tent, a simple tent made up of cloth which is not good enough to protect anyone from the heat of the sun or a bit of rain or whatever. He was directly targeted and before the eyes of the world his body was melting.
Speaker 7 Melting, actually dissolving.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq And nobody could come to his aid. The following day many people in the world just carried on their daily usual business without even thinking twice about it. And this kind of scenes killed us and impacted us even more than the Israeli bullets and bombs which were actually murdering ourselves and our families.
Coco Khan I want to ask you about international journalists and what we can be doing, because you hear these stories. You know, you are our colleagues and we believe in this mission of journalism or we wouldn’t be doing it. What can Western journalists be doing to better support their Palestinian colleagues? I also need to mention that, you know, newsrooms like the BBC have been accused of systematic bias. Israeli deaths have been given 33 times more BBC coverage. Emotive terms like atrocity and massacre are used four times more often for Israeli victims. I’m sure we all recall that horrible time where the media tried to force anyone they interviewed into answering the question, do you condemn Hamas? You hear that and you think what are journalists in the UK who want to stop this genocide? What can we do? But we must do something. What would your one piece of advice to them be?
Wael al-Dahdouh In fact, there is a lot that each person does, each one of us does.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq That can be done by all of us.
Wael al-Dahdouh I’ve been
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq At the individual level, collectively, first of all we must start to think how can we get out of this comfort zone, this state of capitulation, surrender to the normality of life, thinking everything is okay and can be okay. We all bear responsibility. We all have to do something, not for our sakes, not for ourselves, but for the entire community of journalists, in fact, the entire world community everywhere, we are all duty bound to think about the others and what can we do and try and get rid of this kind of attitude. Which made us surrender to these narratives which have been dictated to us over generations by now.
Wael al-Dahdouh Realize that we need to renew concepts, and maybe we won’t.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq From the journalists and people of Gaza that what we need, not just people doing a job and getting paid for it, we want people, journalists, who feel they belong to not a profession.
Wael al-Dahdouh What about
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq They belong to a message, to a mission. We belong to humanity. Humanity needs us. We are paying with our lives, the lives of our families, for these concepts. And we want everyone to rethink them. To revisit these things that we’ve all become accustomed to over the years, that we need to send a wake-up call. All of us need to know about this, change this kind of attitude, start thinking of journalism as a mission, as a message, not just a job we do, and that’s the end of that.
Wael al-Dahdouh It is necessary to preserve the survival of the people and to change the people’s conviction.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq People need to understand that. They have to change their attitudes. They have reconsider. We’re talking about people. We need to believe in the humanity of this cause. We need believe in justness of this. These are people with legitimate rights and it’s up to all of us. They are paying with their lives for a message to reach us. When we receive that message, we should respond. To it in a way which is worthy of respecting the dignity of the people who paid for it with their lives.
Wael al-Dahdouh And, of course, change, the change of convictions, is the beginning of the journey of change in all societies and in all historical borders.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq Throughout history and in every society, change begins with changing your attitude towards anything. And then that should be followed by your actions. And this is a lesson that history teaches us all.
Wael al-Dahdouh But of course, there is a series of steps that can be done through which they can be coordinated with these people.
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq There is a number of things, a series of things that we can all do, each from their own standpoint of view, their own position, the syndicate they work for, the journal they work, whatever. If we all can start doing something, practical steps to pressurize politicians, parliamentarians, governments, so that the Israeli narrative is shaken, is challenged. So that they realize that what they are doing is not acceptable. The people in this land, in Gaza, need everyone’s solidarity. They need everyone’s support. There are steps which may sound small and simple, but they can be very impactful. For example, if we switch off our electricity one day in solidarity. With the people whose electricity is being cut off. If we boycott, for example, the internet for one day because the people of Gaza are deprived from the internet. If we hold vigils outside government buildings, offices, et cetera, et cetera, and use events to remind people of the suffering of the children, devote certain activities and designate them to show the suffering of the children in Gaza. All of these things together and collectively will have an impact. Israel must be made to realize that what they’re doing is not unnoticeable. People of the world are beginning to take note and they’ll hold them accountable. And this kind of solidarity will be the beginning, maybe a long journey, but nonetheless. It will be a starting point, a departure point towards something which we can achieve ultimately.
Coco Khan Well, that is a wonderful, hopeful note to end on. So thank you so much for your time. Wael al Dado, thank you for joining us here tonight. And can we have a round of applause for Muwafaq, our translator? Couldn’t have done it without him.
Nish Kumar Thank you so much. We’re now going to have some more music from the wonderful Adnan Joubran. Adnan is a Palestinian musician and the following track was released a few months ago and it’s an ode to the pain and longs for the end of this ongoing nightmare. This is called Before and After. Thank you so much.
Adnan Joubran Good evening. I’m not used to talk a lot. Neither be alone as well on stage. But it is very important for me to be here amongst you in this very important event. Thanks to Amnesty International to really put humanity on stage, journalism. For me, it’s a big honor to be here on this stage and share it with one of the biggest journalism icons, Mr. Wael al-Dahdouh, the hero of journalism, who miraculously survived. And it is odd that these days we miraculously survive. We were told in all the stories and all the movies that the heroes never die. There’s always a happy ending, but these days they’re actually teaching us and forcing us to learn that You can become a hero after your death. We don’t want to be heroes. We want to live normal. And that’s why I created this. Before and after. Where we can hear some sound from Gaza, before the war. That probably some of them, or most of them don’t exist anymore. Neither the birds, neither the prayers, neither the horses, but actually we keep. For after this war to rebuild everything as it was before and after.
*Music playing*
Coco Khan Hey, Coco and Nish here. We very much hope you’re enjoying this special episode, and we’ve got a couple of small requests for you.
Nish Kumar Please do sign Amnesty International’s petition to demand an immediate restart of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Your voice can make a real difference.
Coco Khan Amnesty International was the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization, working tirelessly to expose human rights abuses, hold power to account and campaign for a fairer, safer world. Their work is so important.
Nish Kumar Please find a link to the petition in our show notes and it’s here that we hand out our proverbial caps to invite you to donate towards Amnesty’s work.
Coco Khan Do please consider making a donation if you can, and if you’re in London this weekend, you can come along for the second of our live shows where we’ll be joined by two very special people, progressive Paragon parliamentarian Zarah Sultana and the incredible Bimini Bom Bulash. Together we’ll mapping out the future of the left. Come down and ask some questions of Bim and Zara, there’s a link for tickets in our show notes.
Nish Kumar We are so excited for it. After the break, we’ll be back with comedians Jen Brister and Alexi Sale.
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Nish Kumar Okay, now faced with increased pressure from a public horrified by images and footage of Palestinians being starved to death by Israel, the UK government stance on Gaza has shifted somewhat. In July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK will recognize the Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes substantial steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza. But without immediate action to end British arms exports to Israel and sanctions on the Israeli state as a whole, not just on a handful of individuals, there clearly will be no end to this genocide.
Coco Khan It’s fair to say there’s something of a moral void here that’s been left by the UK government and sorry to say the media too and certainly sections of the press. Nonetheless, some high profile figures are using their platform to speak out and bravely give voice to our frustration, our grief, our bewilderment, our rage. Our next guests, Jen Brister and Alexei Sayle are two people who do just that.
Nish Kumar Jen Brister is a critically acclaimed stand-up comedian and writer, she’s been on TV shows like the BBC’s Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, as well as many Radio 4 comedy shows. Jen has also been incredibly outspoken about the genocide in Gaza and she has set up All Our Relations, a non-profit that supports 21 families and four community-led aid projects in the territory.
Coco Khan And Alexei Sayle is a comedian, a writer, an actor. He is the most influential performer to emerge from the 1980s comedy scene. He was voted the 18th greatest standup comic of all time by Channel 4 in 2007. Alexei’s been a constant voice on Gaza. And in December, 2023, his alternative, alternative Christmas message, which explained why he was marching with the Jewish block on pro-Palestine demonstrations went viral.
Nish Kumar Thank you so much, please welcome to the stage the incredible Alexei Sayle and Jen Brister! This is the comedy bit.
Jen Brister This is what we’ve all been waiting for.
Nish Kumar Get ready for things to get hilarious.
Jen Brister Get the laughs out quick.
Coco Khan When they told me that this bit was gonna happen, I just had this moment. I was like, so wait, hang on a minute. I’m gonna be on stage with three comedians.
Jen Brister I know, is there anything worse?
Coco Khan You know what I mean? Like, oh, look, here, Coco, herd some cats. Let’s do some live cat herding. But, you know, it’s good to have two comedians on stage with more backbone than Keir Starmer.
Jen Brister Oh god, that wouldn’t be hard, would it? What an absolute flabby piece of shit that guy is.
Audience laughter.
Alexei Sayle Absolute turd yeah i actually i played i only met him once i played against him in a charity football match oh i hope you took him out the knees
Jen Brister We’ve started, we’ve started as we mean to go on, just to be clear.
Nish Kumar Sometimes people come on the show and they ask us if it’s okay to swear, and you two just jump straight fucking in. I like that. I like the energy. Obviously, we’ve just been listening to Wael and Marfak, extremely powerful. What are your sort of initial reactions to hearing what was said earlier?
Jen Brister What is really frustrating about when you’re, as an activist, which I appear to be now, which is hilarious because I am quite a self-involved narcissist, but this is what’s happened. A comedian? A self- involved narcissist? I’ll never hear of this, Jen. I want to go back to talking about myself, but apparently I can’t.
Alexei Sayle By the way, I was 17th best comedian, if we’re…
Jen Brister Literally we talked about that, that was the first thing we talked about backstage. I think hearing from YL was really powerful, because what I find the most absolutely appalling and disgusting thing about not only what is happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza right now, is the lack of platforming Palestinian voices, is that we are not going, you know, when we talk about there are no Journalists in Gaza. There are. Well, there were. You know, and now there’s 238 less Palestinian journalists. But why are we not platforming their voices? Why hasn’t the BBC at any point gone to, and now we’re gonna speak to a journalist in Gaza right now, please tell us what’s happening. The idea that we need Western journalists to tell us that there’s a genocide is a joke. We’ve never needed a single Western journalist in Gaza, actually, because we’ve had hundreds of Palestinian journalists telling us, documenting their own genocide, for us to see. And I think it’s really important, albeit 22 months into this horrific genocide. That we are platforming, guards and voices, and also, you know, there’s an ethnic cleansing happening, it’s a free-for-all of settlers taking over Palestinian land in the West Bank, and we’re not talking about that either, so I found it incredibly moving, actually, and I think it’s fantastic that he’s here and that he is on the pod and that you guys got a chance to talk to him. I was, yeah, I was very moved.
Nish Kumar You’ve both been very outspoken advocates for Palestine and Gaza in the United Kingdom. How did you kind of come into this? Alexei, I think we met about 15 years ago at a Palestine benefit. I mean, and that was, and you were already a couple of decades into speaking out about it.
Alexei Sayle Well, you know, my parents were both members of the Communist Party and there was obviously a lot wrong with communism, as it turned out, as my mother used to say, you can’t make an omelet without murdering 40 million people but…um, it didn’t really work out that kind of top-down Marxism, but nevertheless, one of the things that they did give me was a impulse to always identify with the oppressed, and I can’t think that there are, there are no more multiply oppressed people than the Palestinians. They’re oppressed by the fucking Israelis and their ethno-fascist ideology. They’re oppressed by their own leadership in a way that… Corrupt quizlings of the PA in the West Bank. They’re oppressed by the United States, they’re oppressed the stinking leadership of the other Arab nations who wave their hands in kind of, you know, disbelief but do absolutely nothing. And they’re are oppressed by us. And you’re even told in the Western media that you’re not oppressed, that you not starving, that you don’t fucking exist as a people. And that is, you now, I mean, I will always identify. With that oppression.
Nish Kumar Jen, can you tell us a bit about all our relations, because it’s an incredible charity, and I hope people are aware of it already in the room and listening to the pod, but tell us little bit about the work you guys have been doing.
Jen Brister Well, officially we’re not allowed to refer to ourselves as a charity. The work we do is charitable, obviously, but we’re a non-profit because we haven’t got charity status yet. But basically, just in a nutshell, it started because I was just, you know, doom-scrolling on my phone. Because I’d been quite outspoken about what was happening, I was being inundated by lots of Palestinian people in Gaza. Saying, please, can you help me? Is there any way you can help me, I’ve got my family, my son is injured, we’re hungry, blah, blah blah. And I was like, oh my God, I’m so overwhelmed with all of this. And I just started to notice that there are other people that were advocating for families. And obviously, there are some absolute assholes out there that are taking advantage of this, and so there are scams that are going. And so you do have to. You know, be wary of those and be careful that you are supporting a genuine person in Gaza and not some Turkish bloke in Istanbul. Which did happen to me. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.
Nish Kumar That felt too specific. You didn’t feel like you’d arbitrarily picked a nation there, Jen.
Jen Brister 53 years old. It doesn’t matter. We’ve moved on Not a 12 year old girl. Anyway, it doesn’t Yeah, so I I got I got some chatting to She had was advocating for these families and she had verified them and they were all legit and I was like Is there any way that I can help you help them because I’ve got this platform and maybe we can raise money for them That way and at that point You could still Evacuate if you had a lot of money through an Egyptian company, a very corrupt Egyptian company that was getting people to pay like 5,000 pounds, $5,000 to evacuate, which obviously is an obscene amount of money when you’re displaced and you’ve got nothing. Anyway, so we got together and she said, yeah, I’ve got this idea to set up this nonprofit to support five families. And I went, oh great, I’ll help you. And then it became 10 families, and then it become 15, and then became 21. And then, when… The blockade was in full force and they were literally allowing like just enough food for people to like not even survive but some people were going to die we were like oh my god so then we set up these um mutual aid projects and all of the mutual aid projects that we’ve run are run by members of the families that we’re already supporting and they are the ones that said to us we can’t eat and watch other people starve so can you help us so then i was like okay so now we’ve got to raise even more money So now we’re running, yeah, I think you said it, four different mutual aid projects, and food distribution that goes out to communities, and then we have two static food kitchens, one in Al Mawassi in Kanyunas and one in Nusraq camp. And they are horrendously expensive. I think the thing to, one thing I always want to make really clear about what is happening in Gaza is not that just that people are being starved, not just that are displaced. Not just that they’ve lost their futures and their homes, not just that their children don’t have education, not just they live in fear and have anxiety. But on top of all of that, they have everything, like every opportunity for them where something could help them is taken away from them. So the opportunity to buy food is now exponential prices plus 40% commission on every time you try to withdraw money, because there are no banks, so you have to get your money on the black market. So if we’re giving money to people, if we want to give someone $100, we have to give them $200 because commission went up to 50% at one point. If you now, I’m dealing with like, for example, a young woman who’s been displaced, she was in her apartment up until last week, and she was the red zone, and I said to her in Gaza City, she said, I want, I am not gonna leave because this is my home. And I was like, I think you need to get out of there. So finally I persuaded her to get it out of that. Two days later, they bombed her home. She’s now, hasn’t got a home. Now, she hasn’t got a home, she’s got three children, her husband was already murdered. She’s got no money. She’s gotta get out of the red zone. To get out the red spot zone, you need transportation. Transportation’s gonna cost you between three to $400 plus commission. Then you need to buy a tent. There aren’t any tents. If you find a tent, $1,000. Once you’ve got a tent and you’ve got the money to travel, then when you get down, it’s so overpopulated, so densely populated, people are renting land. For you to put your tent up at $400 a month. And when they talk about aid coming in, there’s no aid. Because aid suggests that you’re being helped. There is no aid, I’ve never ever seen the cruelty and the layers of the layers of cruelty that have been inflicted on Palestinian people in Gaza goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen. And on top of that to be sold back aid, you have to buy the aid that is allowed in. It’s just- Unbelievable. So when you’re running mutual aid projects or when you are running or when you’re trying to support people in Gaza, you’re dealing with these layers and layers and layers of cruelty that make it harder and harder and harder for you to support People. So you get to a point where they want you to give up. They want you, they don’t want people like me helping people in Gaza. So they make it as difficult as possible. And at every single turn. It becomes more and more expensive, and it becomes harder and harder to support people. But we keep going, and we keep relying on individual donations. I’m sorry I’ve gone on a bit, but I just feel like it’s really important to understand just how hard it is for people to exist, okay? To exist, not to live, that’s not, there’s no life, no one’s got a life there, but just to exist. How impossible the occupation have made it. And And that’s why we, you know, all our relations exists and that’s where we keep going. But Jesus Christ, it’s horrendous.
Coco Khan I wanted to ask, actually maybe all three of you, because we were talking about Wael’s amazing interview and one of the things he said, I mean, there’s many, but one of things that really got me in the heart when he talked about like, don’t be dedicated to an organization, be dedicated the message. In a way that could be for anyone, no matter what organization or what job you’re in. If you’re committed to this message of free Palestine, what can you do in your own world? And all of you guys have done it. I guess my question is, what would you say to people who say, Couldn’t you be doing comedy? Rather than doing this? And secondly, how do you deal with the criticism of bringing these politics into your work?
Jen Brister Mind your own fucking business I don’t tell me what to do with my you know I don’t go around telling you how to photocopy whatever the fuck you’re doing in your office don’t come at me and tell me what to doing my jobs and also by the way if you are if you’re ever confused as to why stand-up comedians are stand- up comedians is we’re doing this job so that no one can ever tell us what to do so if you’ll confuse as to what I’m doing this and why don’t give a What do you think? Then this is why, babe, okay? Also,
Nish Kumar we’d be doing this in your office. So, if you don’t like it, be fucking glad we’ve got an outlet. Yeah, exactly. Alexi, you must have been told to stick to the comedy for a bit.
Alexei Sayle Yeah, they tried to the Zionists tried to stop my desert island disks in 2021 what? Fucking shitbag Tory MP called Matthew offered who’s since lost his seat said that I didn’t have enabled Antisemitism and yeah, he tried he wrote to the BBC and said, you know, they should pull my desert Island disks I was about to you know Cross that line into being a national fucking treasure. And at the very moment, that’s the true fucking nastiness and cruelty of the fucking Zionists is they wanted to stop me becoming a national center. They will do anything. The hashtag I stand with Alexei Seil trended at number one on Twitter for three or four days and the BBC, God bless them, you know, allowed it to go ahead. And, um, but fuck they’ll, you know, they’re, they… You never know where they’re going to come at you, you know, really.
Nish Kumar We, in your alternative, alternative Christmas message, we mentioned, you know, it was about Palestine and it was something, it is clearly something that’s very important to you. Why was it important to use that specific time of year and that specific moment?
Alexei Sayle Yeah, I was very offended by Stephen Fry, you know that he was doing the blah blah blah.
Nish Kumar It feels like we’re also seeing some beefs at the 80s comedy scene resurface.
Alexei Sayle But I was really offended by his alternative Christmas message, I stand with the Jewish people. Which was the people who ran the film company that put out that message had met at Zionist training camp. And it was clearly, it was a message to say, don’t look there, look here. That the real suffering is going on with Jewish people, with these false accusations of antisemitism, with these hate marches, you know, with these… So, it was saying that the real suffering is happening because people are demonstrating against the genocide. And I was so offended by this, that I just very quickly got together and did that. I mean, I was talking before about the great date, being a comic in the 80s when there was only three channels and money fell out of the skies and …
Nish Kumar Yes, Jen and I were really fascinated to hear about that era.
Alexei Sayle To hear about that era the money i got for doing fucking marxist shit on bbc too because people couldn’t watch anything else they had to fucking watch me they had to watch my bollocks because there was nothing else i mean the internet is you know it’s what has shown us this genocide this holocaust without it you know whatever it whatever it’s done to the wage rates for- 70 year old comedians, but it’s um Having been a lefty in that in you know, the 60s and the 70s, you know If you wanted to get your message out, you had to like either use this thing called the gestetna Which was kind of like a barrel organ that produced marxism like oh, you had to have your paper printed, then you had stand outside the fucking station going, socialist paper, and then you’d most likely get punched in the face. And you’d sell about 20 copies or something. Now, you know, whatever, I mean, our message can get out to millions and millions of people and that’s an amazing thing. And we wouldn’t be having this show, we wouldn’t have the knowledge that we have without the internet.
Nish Kumar Hi, Nish and Coco here. This event is all about calling for an end to the genocide and reminding us that altogether we collectively have power. So, we’ve got a small ask for you, dear listeners.
Coco Khan Linked in our show notes, you’ll find Amnesty International’s petition to demand an immediate restart of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Please do sign it. Your voice can make a real difference.
Nish Kumar Amnesty International is the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization, working tirelessly to expose human rights abuses, hold power to account and campaign for a fairer, safer world. Their work is so important, and so for all you lovely listeners who are experiencing this event for free, we’d encourage you to make a donation.
Coco Khan Sign the petition and if you can, please do consider making a donation. And I guess there is one other ask. If you want to support us doing more of these live events, come and join us this Sunday.
Nish Kumar Yes, we’ll be joined by the incredible Zarah Sultana and Bimini Bond Bulash and it’s going to be fabulous.
Coco Khan Nish, I love this for you! Fabulousness for you, I love it!
Nish Kumar It didn’t sound or feel right coming out of my mouth.
Coco Khan After the break, we’ll be back with more from Jen and Alexi.
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Nish Kumar I want to talk briefly about the protest because it’s worth us dwelling on that because we constantly talk on this show about what can we do, we want to suggest positive actions that people can do and you know protest is an important part of a functional democracy. Now listen, this morning five organizers from Defend Our Juries have had their homes raided and were arrested.
Coco Khan Yeah, so for regular listeners to the podcast, you might remember one of our guests, Tim Crosland. He was on the show a few weeks ago. So Defend Our Juries have been organizing peaceful demonstrations against the prescription of Palestine action. Today, five people associated with them have been arrested and charged under section 12 of the Terrorism Act, which says that a person commits an offense if they invite support or arrange events in support of a terrorist organization. And it’s actually a more serious charge than section 13. Which is what most of the Palestine Action protesters have been charged under. So these five people risk being imprisoned for up to 14 years.
Nish Kumar Regular listeners to the show will be familiar with the tone of me reading something that has been pre-written by an attorney.
*Audience laughter*
Nish Kumar We’re going to once again reference the legal advice that we have received when Palestine Action was first prescribed because it’s worth every single one of us remembering you do not need to sympathize with Palestine Action’s aims to believe that its prescription sets a chilling precedent and undermines democracy. People are being arrested. Sally Rooney, I think. Is on a watch list. I think if you’ve ever cried or been sexually aroused by the TV show Normal People, the government is now in your emails. I don’t have a more articulate way of asking you to this question. What the fuck is going on?
Coco Khan And also does it make you worried about your own activism?
Jen Brister I think probably it should but it doesn’t. It really doesn’t, I find it laughable. I mean like I just don’t, the very idea was that Yvette Cooper said well we know things that you that you couldn’t possibly know about about these pensioners and they’re an absolute scourge on society.
Nish Kumar There is no one more of a threat to society than retired priests, I think.
Jen Brister I mean, we all know that blind men in wheelchairs are an absolute nightmare. It’s gonna get thrown out. I feel quite positive about that. I mean, legally, they don’t have a leg to stand on. And I would hope that our legal system isn’t going to prop up authoritarian reactionary policies that have no grounding and aren’t even representative of the British people or what the British want. I mean it’s absolutely batshit. When I saw them being arrested this morning, I was like, am I in some sort of dystopian parallel universe? And the very idea… I know British people, we’re not like the French, we’re like, oh, this is baguette, it’s too expensive, I’m gonna go on a march. But we do, for example, I don’t know. They seem upset about a lot of things, but quite rightly, what I love about the French is that when they fail something, they’re like I’m going to fucking do something about it. But I think, I really feel like for the first time in my life that British people are like, I think this isn’t okay. I think it’s a general. Think it’s important that we all remember when we’re feeling like depressed and we’re like oh my god is that the majority of British people think this is completely fucked up and do not approve of what the government are doing and they do not have our they don’t have they don’t have the authority to do it and they don’t have the support to continue with it and I think we’re going to see more and more you know future marches and a future protests we’re gonna see that the demonstrations get bigger, that we’re gonna see that people, whatever you believe about this prescription that the British government have introduced, that people are gonna stand against that. And so I’m not scared. I feel morally, I feel I have a great deal of moral clarity about what we’re all doing here in this room, even all of you here this evening, sitting and just paying money to come here to. To find out more and to do more and be more connected and to work together as a collective is that we’re not going to stand for this shit. We’re just not going too. The Labour government have bitten off way more than they can chew, and they’re going to see that they’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake.
Alexei Sayle It is an example of how the Israel lobby, specifically in the arms industry, corrodes our democracy, I think, because Yvette Cooper, for example, has taken over 200,000 pounds off the Israel Lobby. And it really, you know, it has definitely silenced people. I’ll give you an example, also, Palestine Action. So this is my, I carry my money clip and cards. There’s actually 10 pounds there.
Nish Kumar For listeners of the podcast, Alexis Hale has done what I can only describe as the most South Asian uncle move of all time, in that he sort of brandished a wad of cards and paper money.
Alexei Sayle There’s usually a lot more money than that, than I earned in the 80s, but erm… It’s only a tenner, which is a bit pathetic, but in the middle of my cards, I’ve got the number of a fucking lawyer. Written in Tyab Alley, Bindman’s, 07375806, et cetera. I’ve also downloaded all the stuff on my computer because I don’t know how to use the cloud. So I’ve downloaded all my stuff on computer to a kind of memory stick that I bought in Ryman’s and I’ve hidden it somewhere but I don’t know where I’ve hid it. I’ve hit net. If anybody finds like a cheap yellow Memory stick it’s mine But that’s it look fucking I’m carrying around the name of a fucking lawyer cuz
Nish Kumar That’s unprecedented for you, right, Alexi? This is not something you’ve had to think about before, surely?
Alexei Sayle No, I mean, it’s because, you know, obviously, you know, I think that the ban is ridiculous and atrocious and, you know, in the past I’ve had people from Palestine actually on my podcast. And so I have to think about that, that I have to fucking carry a scrap of paper around with me. I mean that’s not going to bribe any coppers, is it? It’s a tenor in it for you if you let me go.
Nish Kumar I think cost of living has pushed bribes through the roof and that’s actually quite an under discussed element of the recent inflation crisis is the amount of money it now takes to bribe a policeman.
Alexei Sayle I could offer them my freedom pass, cause that is…
Jen Brister That’s worth something. That’s worth a lot.
Alexei Sayle That’s worth the bundle. Yeah, so somebody, the tactical, from a special branch, if, yeah, I’ll offer them me freedom pass. I think that’s probably the best thing I could do. But it’s, I’m in a part of living through a genocide and all the other shit trying to go on with your day-to-day life. Our democracy has been so corroded by these fucking people like Stammer and Lammy and you’ve had.
Coco Khan No, but I know what you mean, that feeling of this isn’t normal, guys, this is not normal. When hearing about all the mass arrests around Palestine Action and what was it, over half of them were over 60?
Nish Kumar 90?
Jen Brister What? Half of them are over 90?
Nish Kumar I think that figure might not be correct. If they’re arresting people who are over the age of 90, I mean, come on. I’ve always believed, and I do think you should get to do one crime every decade you age after 70. I think 70 theft, I think 80s most fraud, legal. And if you get to 90, I do you should be able to murder someone. I do that. I do, they also have to be over 90. So it’s also a way of dealing with overpopulation. Like if you think about it. And how are the lawyers feeling about that one?
Coco Khan I honestly thought you were gonna say, and if you’re 90, terrorism. That’s honestly what I thought you are going to say. And I could feel my, oh God, here comes the home office. You know, but that feeling of, you know, this is not normal, it follows me around all the time. And it’s quite maddening. I heard an interview with Yvette Cooper recently, just talking about how many flags she has. She’s like, I’ve got a coaster, it’s got a flag, I’ve go bunting, it why are you bunting up, Yvette? All the time, it was really-
Nish Kumar Oh, listen, the entire front bench seemed to have spent the last 48 hours rubbing one out in public over the fucking flag. Christ alive. I’m not sure what’s going on. But in terms of like, as you know, we were always talking about what can we do, what can we, do people will often listen to this podcast and feel powerless. Given the prescription of Palestine action and the actions that have been taken against protest that has been happening for the last couple of years. Kind of the entire lifespan of this podcast, one of our first episodes, we talked to Paul Powersland who’s a lawyer, who warned that if the laws that were being passed at the time weren’t repealed, it constituted a real genuine threat to our civil liberties and our rights of protest. So it feels like for the entire life span that we’ve been doing this in the last couple of years, this has been bubbling under and now we’re seeing the kind of real time consequences of that. And but what I want to ask both of you, you know, as we sort of move towards wrapping this up. How do you guys, what would you guys say to a particularly. Young people who are listening to this and who are kind of coming of age in terms of their political awareness and how they and are probably incredibly moved by the things that they’re seeing on their phones and the images coming out of Gaza but are also you know hearing the threats made against people who were protesting against the action. What are your messages for the younger people who uh are trying to stand against what’s happening in Gaza?
Jen Brister Well, I mean, I think if you know, there’s loads of ways that we can stand with the people of Gaza and and that that that really won’t affect your civil liberties. And I think the number one is think about what you’re buying. I mean I just don’t understand why every single person in the country isn’t boycotting McDonald’s and Starbucks and Coca-Cola and Colgate and Oral-B and all the other fucking. You know, soda stream. Why stop? I mean, literally, I walked past McDonald’s on the high street. I’m like, what are you considering in there? What? Get the fuck out of there. Get out. That’s actually quite just.
Nish Kumar That’s actually quite just good advice in general.
Jen Brister Yeah, I mean like that’s actually true actually across the board. I mean this week
Nish Kumar This week’s show is brought to you by Burger King.
Jen Brister You can’t go to Burger King either. That’s born the boycott list. I mean, I think, look, the boycot list is long, right? And so, you know, I always say to people, people are like, I’m overwhelmed by the boycotted list. I’m like, okay, well, if you can’t, no one’s expecting you to do everything, but there are some key ones on there that we can all do. Get off Amazon. Why are you buying anything from Amazon? Boycott Amazon. Boycott Coca-Cola. Boycott McDonald’s. These are the ones that are just the basic basic thing if our government is not going to sanction those psychopathic pricks Then what we can do is we can boycott companies that are financing and funding Israel. Okay, so get boycotting now immediately
Alexei Sayle There’s an early episode of The Simpsons where a therapist says to Homer that the Chinese word for crisis and the Chinese word for opportunity are the same and Homer goes, woo-hoo, crisis-tunity! That’s it. And this is a Christ’s opportunity. I think that the only way that what the Arab Spring showed us is that the the demonstrations are not of themselves going to change society and what we need is politics is to seize political power and I hope that when Jeremy has finally stopped talking to absolutely fucking everybody in the country that your party or whatever it’s going to be called is going to I mean I think this political movement in which I think a million people have now. Sign on for is again a crisis. Unity has come out of this horror because people have seen that our system, this late capitalism is broken and it needs to be changed and put in season political power is the only way to to do it.
Coco Khan Okay, let’s, you know, seize control, seize power. That can seem quite, oh, God, what? I can’t even, my hair’s dirty and I’m not ready. You know, like it seems quite big. But when you think about it. We have the numbers. We really do. I mean, old school, having a fight in the playground, more of us are Martin than there is of yours. When you count all the people, not just in this room, not us four up here, but people across the globe see what is happening and are outraged and disgusted. And yes, power is concentrated in the hands of certain institutions and governments and so on. But we are just more of them.
Jen Brister Yeah and that is really important to remember there’s more of us than there are of them and if we can just get the fucking left to come on everybody let’s just stop infighting it’s what we do Jen stop having intellectual arguments about who is the most you know puritanically pure let’s let what i would love to see and and i know that this is probably in some in some you know circles a bit controversial But if we’re going to keep Farage out, the left need to work together. We have to find a way to communicate with each other, to stop the infighting, to keep those absolute nut jobs out. And the thing is, the reality is with the first-past-the-post system, reform could win a majority with less than 35% of the vote, which is absolutely mental. So there is more of us, but we have to be clever about it. We have to work together and we have to start like today. Do you know what I mean? We haven’t got time to waste.
Coco Khan I’m still just laughing about this idea that Jeremy Corbyn, one by one, is talking to everybody. He’s like, hello. People always say that, they’re like, well, if you change one mind, you’ve done a great thing. He’s, like, oh, that’s my philosophy. One mind a day.
Alexei Sayle It does need to get a move on but I mean I think there is an understanding I think with the people I’ve talked to that it can’t be just the Labour Party 2.0 that it also has to be a truly democratic party and that is part of the battle that’s going on at the moment that it has to be one member one vote and power has to come from the bottom up you know I think it’s an In Corbyn’s first government and Corbyns Sultana’s first government, but I’m not going to be the arts. It’s going to defense.
Coco Khan Okay.
Alexei Sayle Because I’m mad about weapons.
Coco Khan In the spirit of Christ’s attunity, we actually have Zarah Sultana on our show next.
Jen Brister Oh, amazing.
Coco Khan Please do come along if you fancy it. It’s a live show on Sunday in this very venue. So we’ll be sure to ask her about all of her plans and whether you’ll be making Minister of Defense, of course, crucial, even though you don’t have a wallet, which… our final note. Jen and Alexei. Thank you so much for joining us and thank you to everyone here.
Massive round of applause Alexei Sayle and Jen Brister, and I’d like to welcome back Wael Al-Dahdouh to the stage.
Wael al-Dahdouh This is a message to…
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq All of you ladies and gentlemen, to all our colleagues, to the community of journalists everywhere. It’s a message from the journalists in Gaza and the people of Gaza for all of you and all of us together to do what we can to save whoever remains of people in Gaza, journalists in Gaza, women and children in Gaza to launch an appeal. Directed to governments, people, parliamentarians, anybody who can do anything about the situation. The situation is dire, we need you all. So please join this campaign and join this appeal for the sake of whatever remains of life and people in Gaza.
Coco Khan To fellow journalists, unions and press associations, to parliaments, students, officials and intellectuals, to every free person and every conscience. We appeal to your humanity, ethics and professionalism. Rise to save the people of Gaza and to protect journalists, the messengers of truth who are being slaughtered in a way humanity has never witnessed before. Act now to provide them with protection, to hold the perpetrators accountable as international laws and conventions demand. And to press for entry into Gaza so you may stand beside them as witnesses to the genocide being carried out against them and against humanity itself. Much is demanded of you. Oh God. Much is demand of you, much can be done and we are waiting for much from you.
Wael al-Dahdouh In the name of stop and kill the journalists at the end
Muwafaq Faeq Tawfiq The message is entitled, Stop Killing Journalists. It’s signed by Wa’il with the hand which paid the ultimate price in a war zone. And he ended it by saying, we expect a lot from you. It is a situation which really expects a lot form all of us. Thank you.
Nish Kumar Thank you so much to all of you for joining us this evening. Please give a massive round of applause to everyone you see on this stage.
