Because the US president insisted that Netanyahu's government make a peace agreement with Hezbollah, hey presto, it did. And so far, a cease-fire is holding. It was nothing to do with the UN, nothing to do with "international law", nor with any other organisation, nor politician.

    The immediate offer by Hamas on Wednesday, to negotiate a similar deal, belies western propaganda. That is, that it was Hamas which had broken up previous negotiations over a cease-fire deal. Actually its only condition today (we are told) is that the IDF leaves Gaza - although of course hostages need to be released by both sides...

    Will Biden/Netanyahu agree? One has to wonder what more they hope to achieve after razing much of this ancient city-state to the ground, killing ~50,000 and wounding ~ 105,000 of its 1.9m inhabitants.

    If this Lebanon deal shows anything, it's that Netanyahu had not "gone rogue" over Gaza. The US was always perfectly capable of getting him to stop this war - and neither was he being manipulated by an "ultra-Zionist" Cabinet. No, US leaders obviously had no real problem with the death and destruction meted out to the Palestinians.

    So it was a bit much to hear how the Lebanon deal would resolve the "desperate" plight of the 70,000 alive, but displaced Israelis (homes still standing!) who are "refugees in their own land"!

    Talk about apartheid racism, and the devaluing of a whole (unrecognised) Palestinian population! Yes, 1.8m displaced Gazans, imprisoned "refugees in their own land" stuck in tents, under fire, semi-starved, are not (were never) considered a priority by Netanyahu's boss in Washington... And by the way, whether the name of the boss is Biden today or Trump tomorrow, makes no difference.

    The workers of this world know exactly what it is to be "second class" citizens in their own land. Which is why, in this conflict, we are firmly on the side of our fellow second class Palestinian (and Lebanese) brothers and sisters.

When Chancellor Rachel Reeves spoke at the Confederation of British Industry annual conference this week, amid bitter complaints by bosses against her increase in their National Insurance Contributions (by just 1.2%!), CBI chairman, Robert Soames, claimed businesses "were being milked as the cash cow™ Yes, 850 "poor" club members, including BP, Barclays, INEOS, Unilever, Siemens, Facebook..!

    These bosses were just as upset over the increase in the minimum wage (to only £12.21/hr!). You'd think they were on the verge of collapse. But of course they're not used to paying their "social" share. So now they say the government is taking money out of workers' pockets, not them! Do they think the working class is stupid and doesn't know who the thieves are in this society?

    Reeves was quick to reassure the bosses, reminding them that the government is preparing a range of measures to help bosses turn the screw on workers. Yes, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall's new White Paper will "get Britain working again™ The assumption being that 7.35 million who are disabled or long-term sick (an understandable increase of 700,000 since the pandemic) - and 870,000 youths who are "NEETs" (not in education, employment or training) "can" actually work, with the right "treatment"... for instance, psychotherapy accompanied by benefit withdrawal!

    But just where exactly are the 8m jobs for all these "rehabilitated" unemployed to take up? Not only are jobs being cut, left, right and centre, but workers who remain are made to work even harder, doing the work of 2 or 3 others and for longer and longer hours!

    The government itself expects this! Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the answer to cutting NHS waiting lists was NHS staff working overtime. Nurses at St Thomas' Hospital went on strike after being stretched beyond their limits in September: many were doing 11-hour shifts 7 days a week!

    At Royal Mail (RM) so many jobs have been cut, that managers are covering duties - but with no clue as to how, and causing accidents on the shopfloor. RM is another company which now claims the NIC increase will "force" it to cut jobs. Never mind that it's cut more than 12,000 jobs over 3 years, with only one aim: to reduce its wage bill and increase shareholders" dividends. And now billionaire multinational Ford is cutting 800 jobs, on top 1,300 cut last year, and Stellantis has just said it's closing Luton's van plant.

    Is it any wonder that a record number of workers are off sick, injured, mentally stressed, when the intensity and speed of work has increased, the working day lengthened, and all that's on offer is a precarious, low-wage, contract? But of course, profits can't be made without exploitation. Nor can they be maintained without the tightening of the screw. Fortunately, the working class knows perfectly well how to use its collective strength to loosen it...