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Lisa Cumming

@lisacumin.bsky.social
1.5K followers 866 following 1.1K posts

Works in & around conflict grappling. (Local peacebuilding • Nonviolence • Peace practice & thinking.) Worries in the valley, dreams on the moors. Personal account.

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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 10h
"Thirteen British universities have discussed how to handle pro-Palestine campus protests with the United Kingdom’s largest weapons manufacturer, including ramping up security at events and coordinating responses to criticism." www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
aljazeera.com
How UK universities briefed BAE Systems on pro-Palestine campus protests
Several universities discussed protests with the weapons maker, raising concerns about influence and academic freedom.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Interested in hopeful, useful stories of people protecting people from federal violence? Betsy Raasch-Gilman, a Quaker activist in Minnesota will sharing her story. Thursday 1 October 7-8.30pm (online). More info & link to register below. www.quaker.org.uk/blog/whistle...
quaker.org.uk
Whistles, not guns: learning from civilian-based defence in Minnesota
Rebecca Bellamy reflects on what we can learn from civil resistance and community solidarity movements in Minnesota and elsewhere
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A Rwandan man living in London has become the first person in the UK to face charges after being accused of taking part in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. news.sky.com/story/bluesk...
news.sky.com
UK brings first charges over 1994 Rwandan genocide
Dr Vincent Brown allegedly directed and incited acts of murder and genocide carried out by others, prosecutors said on Monday.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Really recommend this paper from Petter Törnberg, "It’s Not Polarization; It’s the Radicalization of the Political Right" (July 26). www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
It’s Not Polarization; It’s the Radicalization of the Political Right | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge Core
It’s Not Polarization; It’s the Radicalization of the Political Right
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is not okay. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Lifeboat station in Portsmouth forced to temporarily shut after far-right action
RNLI facility had been targeted by activists trying to stop asylum seekers landing in boats from the Channel
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Rethinking Security @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Our next webinar: Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers. Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result? Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"Peace Works sets out a vision for why and how the UK Government with civil society partners should prioritise conflict prevention as part of an effective and credible foreign policy..." rc-services-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/...
rc-services-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
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Duncan Hames @duncanhames.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
These short films were not meant to be prophetic. The idea was that we should act to protect our democracy before it is too late:
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Match laundering. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Reform receives second £36m donation in two days as crypto investor matches record
Christopher Harborne says he has equalled a donation from Ben Delo - the single largest gift to a UK political party.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Reform has received a pledge of a million pounds of month - up to £36 million if sustained - from Ben Delo, a party donor. Delo had his 2022 conviction for breaching money laundering laws in the USA overturned by President Trump www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
telegraph.co.uk
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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
“You do my dad's legacy and the legacy of all these victims no honor by using this tragedy to spread hate. I've had to grow up and spend the past 25 years seeing people use it to hate on our Muslim brothers and sisters, to hate on people who don't look like them.”
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
"AfD support is highest where foreign nationals are fewest." www.ft.com/content/ef6d...
ft.com
Who is voting for the far-right Alternative for Germany?
AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt reflects national trends — ‘but on steroids’
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Nadine Batchelor-Hunt @nadinebh.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is also worth a read from Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, another great rabbi Glad to see so many Masorti rabbi’s countering the unrepresentative narrative we’ve seen from seen quarters - the community is not a monolith jonathanwittenberg.substack.com/p/be-on-the-...
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I'm heartbroken to share that my colleague and incredible Burundian peacebuilder, Reverend Aloys Ningabira died unexpectedly on Saturday. Any contribution to help with burial costs would be much appreciated: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
justgiving.com
Help raise £1500 to fund a funeral/memorial and support the family – JustGiving Crowdfunding
Iʼm raising money to fund a funeral/memorial and support the family. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.
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Quakers in Britain @quaker.org.uk · 08/09/2026
We welcome today’s announcement of a “new approach” in UK policy towards Israel in response to its violations against the Palestinian people. This marks a fundamental shift. We welcome this change as a long-awaited and positive step towards a broader reset. www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...
quaker.org.uk
Quakers welcome UK’s “new approach” to Israeli occupation of Palestine
Quakers in Britain has welcomed a raft of measures announced by the UK government today as it seeks to reset British policy towards Israel.
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Alex Sobel MP @alexsobel.co.uk · 09/09/2026
Yesterday’s announcement banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements is a significant & welcome step forward, and one I have long advocated for. Yet there is much more to do. We must continue to champion the rights of the Palestinian people and work towards a lasting resolution to this conflict.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This should not be described by the police as "lawful protest" when it is not lawful & not protest
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A reminder: Rabbi Mirvis studied in an illegal West Bank settlement between 1976 and 1978. It is not surprising that for him, today is a dark day. For many many other Jews in the UK, today's statement is long overdue.
Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis on X

Today our Government has chosen to ignore the deep concerns expressed by so many of us. 

The measures announced amount to little more than political flag bearing for mendacious anti-Israel rhetoric and those who harbour a dangerous obsession with the Jewish State. These measures will succeed only in bolstering the very extremism they seek to target. 

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah and at a time when our community is more vulnerable than ever to the wave of extremism that has been building over recent years, these sanctions do nothing to advance the cause of peace. Nor do they make anyone safer – quite the contrary. 

Gesture politics of this kind feeds into an increasingly hostile discourse about Israel, and the cumulative effect of such punitive policies is to further embolden those, at home and abroad, who use hatred as a weapon against Jews.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I'm heartbroken to share that my colleague and incredible Burundian peacebuilder, Reverend Aloys Ningabira died unexpectedly on Saturday. Any contribution to help with burial costs would be much appreciated: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
justgiving.com
Help raise £1500 to fund a funeral/memorial and support the family – JustGiving Crowdfunding
Iʼm raising money to fund a funeral/memorial and support the family. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Concerns are fine to voice, that doesn't mean they are or have to be described as legitimate. Especially, if "legitimate" is only applied to a particular group of concerns about particular groups of people.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A particularly good week to donate to the RNLI & support their mission of saving lives at sea. rnli.org/support-us/g...
rnli.org
Give Money To Charity – Donate And Support the RNLI In Saving Lives At Sea
Donate money to the RNLI and help us save lives at sea. Your donation provides volunteers with the kit, equipment and lifeboats they need to save lives.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"Kent police have serious questions to answer. When they had been given clear information from multiple sources that hundreds of far-right activists were planning to descend on Dover on the following day, why did they fail to act?" hopenothate.org.uk/2026/09/07/e...
hopenothate.org.uk
EXCLUSIVE: Did Kent Police ignore Dover blockade 999 call? – HOPE not hate
HOPE not hate can exclusively reveal that Kent Police were tipped off about the Patriot Platform mobilisation – and seemingly did not act.
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Quakers in Britain @quaker.org.uk · 07/09/2026
"We call on political leaders of every party to condemn this intimidation and violence without qualification, and on the public to reject the politics of blame." Quakers in Britain statement following intimidation and violence in Dover and Portsmouth: www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...
quaker.org.uk
Quakers in Britain statement following intimidation and violence in Dover and Portsmouth
Quakers are calling on political leaders of every party to condemn the intimidation and violence seen in Dover and Portsmouth this weekend.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
2) and 3) are intimately linked, in that the BBC (the organisation that really matters in the modern environment) treats 'claims by rival parties' as the operating frame for how it covers everything. The failure from Labour and the Conservatives to say 'this stuff is bad' is really, really bad.
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HOPE not hate @hopenothate.org.uk · 05/09/2026
🚨 BREAKING: Patriot Platform, a new far right group launched by Tommy Robinson’s right hand man Daniel Thomas (AKA Danny Tommo) has blockaded the port and several roads in Dover. The masked men are from subgroups of PP, including Sussex, Essex, and South East Patriots Here’s all you need to know.
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Content warning: Multiple men violently assault a female protester at Reform's conference at the Birmingham NEC, to the visible delight of Nigel Farage.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Absolutely horrifying violence at Reform's conference. Note the man hitting a young woman over the head & grabbing her face, I really hope she's okay.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
"...activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, reposted a video of the blockade, highlighting a livestream of the protest..." www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Black-clad protesters in balaclavas block road at port of Dover in Kent
Traffic on A20 in and out of port grinds to halt as Kent police say they are in attendance and engaging with group
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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Farage promising to end democracy with a state of emergency, presumably after a convenient fire
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Informative (keep tapping to stay on the thread).
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Thinking of the hospitality, cleaning staff & others having to work at the NEC in Birmingham this weekend. Particularly those at the sharp end of policies proposed over beer & loathing.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Indicted. edition.cnn.com/2026/09/04/e...
edition.cnn.com
Romanian prosecutors indict Andrew Tate for trafficking minors, money laundering | CNN
Romanian prosecutors officially indicted social media influencer Andrew Tate on Friday for trafficking minors, money laundering, sex with a minor and witness tampering and his brother Tristan for comp...
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Maya Angelou's words that when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time is ringing loud in my ears after listening to Tice's interview on #R4Today.
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Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:
channel4news.substack.com
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"It will stop your ears to the powerful when they ask for your faith, and to the wealthy when they ask for your land and your work. Be still and listen to the voices that belong to the stream banks and the trees and the open fields." Wendell Berry (A Poem on Hope)
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
"There appears to be no precedent for a major UK donor who is so entwined with the military." www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Arms and the £5m man: Farage megadonor Christopher Harborne’s military empire
Reform UK denies donor and crypto-billionaire’s global interests in arms and military could present a conflict of interest over its defence spending policy
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported to the United Kingdom, according to a DHS spokesperson
cnn.com
British far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported from the US, DHS says | CNN
British right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was deported Friday to the United Kingdom, according to a spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
'Chris Garrard of the campaign group Culture Unstained said this “seismic shift” came after years of campaigning and growing pressure from educators and schools...' www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...
theguardian.com
London Science Museum cuts links with BP after decades of partnership
Campaigners say ‘seismic shift’ follows years of pressure to sever ties with oil and gas firm
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
"After decades in which senior executives from across the industry have actively undermined and delayed serious climate action, giving them another route for postponing emissions reductions is profoundly dangerous." climateuncensored.com/response-to-...
climateuncensored.com
Response to Open Letter to DESNZ about Rosebank & Jackdaw - Climate Uncensored
Response to a letter from Stephanie Loo, Myles Allen & colleagues to the DESNZ Secretary of State about offsetting continued fossil fuel production with
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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The people who carried out the arson attacks on the Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green, and the Kenton United Synagogue, have now pleaded guilty But it is far from the end of either case. Prosecutors allege that both attacks have a terrorist connection because they targeted Jews, but 🧵
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I (almost) can't bear to check if colleagues in East Africa have seen the latest El Niño scenarios from the Danish Refugee Council. reliefweb.int/report/somal...
reliefweb.int
El Niño to supercharge East Africa flooding - 3 million displaced by end of year in worst-case scenario - Somalia
News and Press Release in English on Somalia and 3 other countries about Agriculture, Disaster Management, Drought, Flood and more; published on 25 Aug 2026 by DRC
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Heartbreaking. Noting, Nepal emitted 0.05% of the world’s CO2 emissions in 2024 (source below). nepalitimes.com/not-if-but-w...
nepalitimes.com
Not if, but when next?
No one could have predicted this disaster would happen when it did, but we all knew it would happen one day.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
"A mix of sustained pressure and diplomatic guarantees is needed to break the logjam and centre Palestinian agency in the strip’s recovery." www.crisisgroup.org/rpt/middle-e...
crisisgroup.org
Hollow Promises: Resetting Gaza’s Ceasefire | International Crisis Group
A July roadmap sponsored by the Board of Peace has failed to overcome obstacles that have mired Gaza’s ceasefire deal ten months on. A mix of sustained pressure and diplomatic guarantees is needed to ...
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Bethan Davies @iceybethan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Updated as the events have gradually become a little clearer through the day. www.antarcticglaciers.org/2026/08/augu... Worst disaster of the year? decade? 50 years? time will tell but the human cost is harrowing.
antarcticglaciers.org
August 2026 Nepal-Tibet floods - AntarcticGlaciers.org
On 26th August 2026, devastating floods hit Nepal and Tibet. At time of writing, 1400 people were missing, and 270 bodies had been recovered, but this toll is sadly expected to rise. The flooding hit ...
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Robert Rohde @rarohde.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Landsat 9 captured very clear images of the Himalayan glacier that collapsed, triggering the catastrophic flash floods in Nepal. Estimating very roughly from these images, it appears that the area that failed may have spanned ~1 km² of ice and rock.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
"Lennon’s American connections may serve, rather than supplant, his domestic political ambitions. What looks like a pivot away from the UK is likely, in practice, a strategy to leverage US resources for UK ends." hopenothate.org.uk/tommy-robins...
hopenothate.org.uk
Tommy Robinson's Digital Empire - Rise of a far-right superstar
Download the full report → Based on the turnout to his rallies in 2025 and 2026 in London, Stephen Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) can still...
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
"Rupert Lowe, the leader of Restore Britain, is on course to earn as much from the social media platform X as he does from his salary as an MP, after surging income from posts that include demands for mass deportations." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Rupert Lowe set to be paid as much for divisive posts on Elon Musk’s X as for being MP
Restore Britain leader paid up to £1,476 an hour by platform, which critics say is financially incentivising inflammatory content
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Breathed in the moors this weekend.
Moorland path through purple heather & billberries, reservoir to the left, moors beyond.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
"...a coalition in Atlanta is building the infrastructure to practice real community safety." wagingnonviolence.org/2026/08/atla...
wagingnonviolence.org
Atlanta offers a model for building sanctuary
By creating “Sanctuary Zones” that refuse to cooperate with ICE or police, a coalition in Atlanta is building the infrastructure to practice real community safety.
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Lisa Cumming @lisacumin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
"Congress has been funding ICE with little oversight. It should urgently inquire into the administration’s plans to purchase the electric shock gloves, their risks, and their potential for abuse." www.hrw.org/news/2026/08...
hrw.org
US ICE to Deploy Dangerous ‘Electric Shock Gloves’
The US Department of Homeland Security published a notice on August 10 outlining its plan to purchase US$10-$20 million worth of electric shock gloves for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) age...
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