A new €2 handling fee will be introduced on parcels ordered from outside the European Union from November.
This is on top of the €3 charge that was introduced in July.
A NEW HANDLING fee to be imposed from November on parcels ordered from outside the European Union will likely apply to each item within a package, a customs compliance expert has warned.
The new fee, which is designed to cover costs associated with customs processing, will likely be €2, but the exact details haven’t been released yet.
The fee will be on top of the €3 customs charge which has applied to every unique item in orders worth €150 or less coming from outside the EU since 1 July, a charge imposed in a bid to improve EU security and level the playing field for businesses.
Customs compliance expert Brian Murphy told The Journal that it’s “very likely” the new handling fee will also be placed on individual items in the parcel.
“That fee is going to be on top of the customs €3 fee. So, it could double the charges again, potentially, and that’s very real and coming in very soon,” he said.
If the handling fee applies per unique item in a package, the cost of each item would increase by around €5 in total after the €3 customs fee is also applied.
Murphy said the €3 fee was just one of a number of changes coming over the next 18 months as part of an overall EU customs reform plan.
“It’s the largest shake-up of EU customs since 1968, and e-commerce parcels are a particular target of this plan,” he said.
“The future of e-commerce imports into the European Union is changing dramatically. It’s not just tariffs or duty anymore.”
Murphy said changes around classification of the product, packaging rules, deforestation rules and forced labour checks will all converge over the next 18 months to make imports of e-commerce goods “more complex and more costly”.
He previously said that despite the positive intention of the €3 fee, it disproportionately impacts online shoppers in Ireland, largely due to our e-commerce reliance on the UK.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance, Pearse Doherty, said news of the new handling fee will “come as another nasty shock to shoppers in Ireland”.
“These fees put all the burden and responsibility on ordinary people and member state’s postal services, while letting online giants like Shein and Temu off the hook,” Doherty said in a statement.
“Instead of holding these corporations to account, the EU is dumping all the responsibility on ordinary people by applying badly designed taxes on individual items.”
A new €2 handling fee will be introduced on parcels ordered from outside the European Union from November.
This is on top of the €3 charge that was introduced in July.
A NEW HANDLING fee to be imposed from November on parcels ordered from outside the European Union will likely apply to each item within a package, a customs compliance expert has warned.
The new fee, which is designed to cover costs associated with customs processing, will likely be €2, but the exact details haven’t been released yet.
The fee will be on top of the €3 customs charge which has applied to every unique item in orders worth €150 or less coming from outside the EU since 1 July, a charge imposed in a bid to improve EU security and level the playing field for businesses.
Customs compliance expert Brian Murphy told The Journal that it’s “very likely” the new handling fee will also be placed on individual items in the parcel.
“That fee is going to be on top of the customs €3 fee. So, it could double the charges again, potentially, and that’s very real and coming in very soon,” he said.
If the handling fee applies per unique item in a package, the cost of each item would increase by around €5 in total after the €3 customs fee is also applied.
Murphy said the €3 fee was just one of a number of changes coming over the next 18 months as part of an overall EU customs reform plan.
“It’s the largest shake-up of EU customs since 1968, and e-commerce parcels are a particular target of this plan,” he said.
“The future of e-commerce imports into the European Union is changing dramatically. It’s not just tariffs or duty anymore.”
Murphy said changes around classification of the product, packaging rules, deforestation rules and forced labour checks will all converge over the next 18 months to make imports of e-commerce goods “more complex and more costly”.
He previously said that despite the positive intention of the €3 fee, it disproportionately impacts online shoppers in Ireland, largely due to our e-commerce reliance on the UK.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance, Pearse Doherty, said news of the new handling fee will “come as another nasty shock to shoppers in Ireland”.
“These fees put all the burden and responsibility on ordinary people and member state’s postal services, while letting online giants like Shein and Temu off the hook,” Doherty said in a statement.
“Instead of holding these corporations to account, the EU is dumping all the responsibility on ordinary people by applying badly designed taxes on individual items.”
A new €2 handling fee will be introduced on parcels ordered from outside the European Union from November.
This is on top of the €3 charge that was introduced in July.
A NEW HANDLING fee to be imposed from November on parcels ordered from outside the European Union will likely apply to each item within a package, a customs compliance expert has warned.
The new fee, which is designed to cover costs associated with customs processing, will likely be €2, but the exact details haven’t been released yet.
The fee will be on top of the €3 customs charge which has applied to every unique item in orders worth €150 or less coming from outside the EU since 1 July, a charge imposed in a bid to improve EU security and level the playing field for businesses.
Customs compliance expert Brian Murphy told The Journal that it’s “very likely” the new handling fee will also be placed on individual items in the parcel.
“That fee is going to be on top of the customs €3 fee. So, it could double the charges again, potentially, and that’s very real and coming in very soon,” he said.
If the handling fee applies per unique item in a package, the cost of each item would increase by around €5 in total after the €3 customs fee is also applied.
Murphy said the €3 fee was just one of a number of changes coming over the next 18 months as part of an overall EU customs reform plan.
“It’s the largest shake-up of EU customs since 1968, and e-commerce parcels are a particular target of this plan,” he said.
“The future of e-commerce imports into the European Union is changing dramatically. It’s not just tariffs or duty anymore.”
Murphy said changes around classification of the product, packaging rules, deforestation rules and forced labour checks will all converge over the next 18 months to make imports of e-commerce goods “more complex and more costly”.
He previously said that despite the positive intention of the €3 fee, it disproportionately impacts online shoppers in Ireland, largely due to our e-commerce reliance on the UK.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance, Pearse Doherty, said news of the new handling fee will “come as another nasty shock to shoppers in Ireland”.
“These fees put all the burden and responsibility on ordinary people and member state’s postal services, while letting online giants like Shein and Temu off the hook,” Doherty said in a statement.
“Instead of holding these corporations to account, the EU is dumping all the responsibility on ordinary people by applying badly designed taxes on individual items.”
I have 4 two week old chicks that are fond of pecking the ground and scraping it, and sleeping. Sometimes they will have the odd noise making break, but should I put something into the brooder with them? For example I was thinking of putting an old broom handle sawn off, in with them to perch on, but a quick search on duckduckgo suggests maybe to put in a branch and possibly a mirror and a small pile of dirt from the garden...
I am a little confused, as I thought that those sort of things (not including the mirror) might carry harmful things for them, do I need to clean the branches first? - I don't even want to ask about the garden dirt...
Can I throw a branch in with 2 week old chicks, or do I need to clean it first - and how? Or am I possibly over thinking that I need to much more careful than I actually need to be.
Flotilla organisers connect the protest movement in Albania to the Palestinian cause as part of a wider struggle against land dispossession
A flamingo sculpture with a Palestinian keffiyeh and an Albanian flag during a demonstration in support of the Albanian protest movement in Tirana, 17 June 2026 (Antonio Muco/Palestina e Lire)
From the Italian port of Brindisi, activists from Italy’s Albanian diaspora and from Global Sumud Flotilla Italy will set sail for Albania on 20 August, travelling across the Adriatic to join the Flamingo Revolution, the protest movement against luxury developments backed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The mission is organised by the Italian-Albanian collective Mesdhe (“Mediterranean” in Albanian) and the Albanian pro-Palestine collective Palestina e Lire (“Free Palestine” in Albanian), together with the Italian branch of the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international civil society initiative aimed at breaking Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to the enclave.
It will link the two Adriatic shores with a three‑boat flotilla at a moment when activists in Albania are challenging the privatisation of protected land and the growing influence of foreign investors over the country.
The action was launched on social media on 8 August, and the choice of date and departure point in Brindisi, in the southern region of Puglia, is deeply symbolic for the organisers.
In the 1990s, Puglia became the arrival point for one of the largest mass migrations in recent European history, following the collapse of Albania’s communist regime. On 8 August 1991, the merchant ship Vlora docked in Bari, Puglia’s administrative centre, carrying an estimated 20,000 Albanians in a single journey.
The episode led to one of the most extensive and rapid repatriation operations in Italian history, with more than 17,400 Albanians deported. Migrants in Bari’s Stadio della Vittoria were left without adequate food, water or medical care, hundreds were hospitalised for dehydration, and clashes with police culminated in officers firing shots at refugees trying to escape.
That year, tens of thousands more Albanians arrived across southern Italy by sea, particularly in Puglia.
‘The same corruption that forced so many to leave [in 1991] is today selling off our coasts, islands, lagoons and future’
Mesdhe, flotilla organiser group
Now, activists from the Italian-Albanian community say they want to make the journey in reverse.
“In 2026, while the Albanian people have been in revolt for 68 days, from Bari we want to leave for Vlora as an organised diaspora,” Mesdhe said in a statement.
“Because the same corruption that forced so many to leave [in 1991] is today selling off our coasts, islands, lagoons and future.”
The activists will travel towards Vlora, where protests have formed around the so-called “Flamingo Revolution”, a protest opposing controversial luxury tourism developments along Albania’s southern coast.
At the centre of the dispute is Sazan, a former military island where Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, is backing plans for a luxury resort valued at around $1.4bn. A separate development linked to Kushner and his partners is planned near Zvernec, within the protected Vjosa-Narta landscape.
“The Flamingo Revolution is named after the Narta lagoon, where they want to build a resort,” said the Mesdhe collective and Global Sumud Flotilla Italy on social media. “It is not simply a tourist destination. It is a living ecosystem, home to more than 200 species of migratory birds, including pink flamingos, as well as communities that have lived there for generations.”
‘We want to come back’
For activists, the cause also resonates with the history of migration between the two countries.
“I am part of the Albanian diaspora in Italy. And our memory is also made of the sea,” Clara Osma, an Italian-Albanian activist with Mesdhe and Palestina e Lire who organised the mission, told Middle East Eye.
“It is the memory of the ships of the 1990s, of the stadiums where Albanians were locked up when they arrived, of deportations and the first systems of administrative detention.”
“The diaspora preserves that history,” she said. “And this is where, for me, memory meets what is happening today with the Flamingo Revolution and why we decided to sail.
“Because 30 years later, we see another generation of Albanians asking, essentially, for the right to stay, and we want to come back.”
For Enton Nazeraj, an Italian-Albanian artist taking part in the mobilisation, the protests have also provided a way of reconnecting with an identity that he says had been fragmented by migration.
“As the son of immigrants, I feel at home within the revolution. That is why I am taking part in this action. In the revolution I found my identity,” he told MEE.
“As a Puglian, I see the Albanian community, which is the community I grew up with,” said Tony La Piccirella, a Global Sumud Flotilla activist organising the mission. “I was born just before the arrival of the Vlora, so I have never known a Puglia without an Albanian presence.
“They are precisely the friends I grew up with.”
A common struggle
The organisers see the campaign as a protest against land and luxury tourism across the Mediterranean - including in southern Italy.
In Puglia, environmental groups and local activists have opposed a planned Four Seasons resort near Ostuni, a project involving the Israeli real-estate company Omnam.
‘The fact that a piece of the Albanian diaspora is returning in support of the Flamingo Revolution, using boats born from solidarity with Palestine, is very powerful’
Tony La Piccirella, organiser
The $115m development plan has faced legal challenges from environmental organisations, while the Puglia regional government has joined the legal proceedings against it, in a case echoing the disputed resort project near Tavolara in Sardinia, opposed on environmental grounds.
Italian-Albanian and Global Sumud Flotilla activists say these struggles are connected to the broader question of who controls Mediterranean land and resources.
“From Puglia, we see what is happening in Albania and recognise something very close to us,” La Piccirella told MEE.
“Touristification and resortisation are already transforming our territory. We want to connect these struggles.”
The activists also frame the journey through Palestine as part of a global struggle against the dispossession of peoples.
“The same people who finance the oppression of the Palestinian people, planning to build a tourist hub on the rubble of Gaza, are the ones who aim to bury the ecosystems of Sazan Island under a luxury resort,” Mesdhe said in the launch statement.
Kushner has played a controversial role in post-war Gaza reconstruction projects, promoting a $25bn plan to redevelop the enclave as a commercial and technology hub. Critics argue the project would facilitate population displacement and erase Palestinian culture.
Dua Lipa backs Albania’s ‘Flamingo Revolution’ against Kushner-backed resort
La Piccirella said the three boats used for the mission were recovered after being damaged and abandoned following Israeli forces’ attacks on the Global Sumud Flotilla in spring, during which activists were captured.
For La Piccirella, their reuse in the journey to Albania gives the boats an additional meaning: vessels of international solidarity, linking the Palestinian cause with the Albanian protest movement.
“The fact that a piece of the Albanian diaspora is returning in support of the Flamingo Revolution, using boats born from solidarity with Palestine, is very powerful,” La Piccirella added.
For Mesdhe, the journey is ultimately about reversing a historic movement across the Adriatic.
“We are returning not as tourists or investors, but as a diaspora organised around the right of people to remain on their land,” the collective said.
Flotilla organisers connect the protest movement in Albania to the Palestinian cause as part of a wider struggle against land dispossession
A flamingo sculpture with a Palestinian keffiyeh and an Albanian flag during a demonstration in support of the Albanian protest movement in Tirana, 17 June 2026 (Antonio Muco/Palestina e Lire)
From the Italian port of Brindisi, activists from Italy’s Albanian diaspora and from Global Sumud Flotilla Italy will set sail for Albania on 20 August, travelling across the Adriatic to join the Flamingo Revolution, the protest movement against luxury developments backed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The mission is organised by the Italian-Albanian collective Mesdhe (“Mediterranean” in Albanian) and the Albanian pro-Palestine collective Palestina e Lire (“Free Palestine” in Albanian), together with the Italian branch of the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international civil society initiative aimed at breaking Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to the enclave.
It will link the two Adriatic shores with a three‑boat flotilla at a moment when activists in Albania are challenging the privatisation of protected land and the growing influence of foreign investors over the country.
The action was launched on social media on 8 August, and the choice of date and departure point in Brindisi, in the southern region of Puglia, is deeply symbolic for the organisers.
In the 1990s, Puglia became the arrival point for one of the largest mass migrations in recent European history, following the collapse of Albania’s communist regime. On 8 August 1991, the merchant ship Vlora docked in Bari, Puglia’s administrative centre, carrying an estimated 20,000 Albanians in a single journey.
The episode led to one of the most extensive and rapid repatriation operations in Italian history, with more than 17,400 Albanians deported. Migrants in Bari’s Stadio della Vittoria were left without adequate food, water or medical care, hundreds were hospitalised for dehydration, and clashes with police culminated in officers firing shots at refugees trying to escape.
That year, tens of thousands more Albanians arrived across southern Italy by sea, particularly in Puglia.
‘The same corruption that forced so many to leave [in 1991] is today selling off our coasts, islands, lagoons and future’
Mesdhe, flotilla organiser group
Now, activists from the Italian-Albanian community say they want to make the journey in reverse.
“In 2026, while the Albanian people have been in revolt for 68 days, from Bari we want to leave for Vlora as an organised diaspora,” Mesdhe said in a statement.
“Because the same corruption that forced so many to leave [in 1991] is today selling off our coasts, islands, lagoons and future.”
The activists will travel towards Vlora, where protests have formed around the so-called “Flamingo Revolution”, a protest opposing controversial luxury tourism developments along Albania’s southern coast.
At the centre of the dispute is Sazan, a former military island where Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, is backing plans for a luxury resort valued at around $1.4bn. A separate development linked to Kushner and his partners is planned near Zvernec, within the protected Vjosa-Narta landscape.
“The Flamingo Revolution is named after the Narta lagoon, where they want to build a resort,” said the Mesdhe collective and Global Sumud Flotilla Italy on social media. “It is not simply a tourist destination. It is a living ecosystem, home to more than 200 species of migratory birds, including pink flamingos, as well as communities that have lived there for generations.”
‘We want to come back’
For activists, the cause also resonates with the history of migration between the two countries.
“I am part of the Albanian diaspora in Italy. And our memory is also made of the sea,” Clara Osma, an Italian-Albanian activist with Mesdhe and Palestina e Lire who organised the mission, told Middle East Eye.
“It is the memory of the ships of the 1990s, of the stadiums where Albanians were locked up when they arrived, of deportations and the first systems of administrative detention.”
“The diaspora preserves that history,” she said. “And this is where, for me, memory meets what is happening today with the Flamingo Revolution and why we decided to sail.
“Because 30 years later, we see another generation of Albanians asking, essentially, for the right to stay, and we want to come back.”
For Enton Nazeraj, an Italian-Albanian artist taking part in the mobilisation, the protests have also provided a way of reconnecting with an identity that he says had been fragmented by migration.
“As the son of immigrants, I feel at home within the revolution. That is why I am taking part in this action. In the revolution I found my identity,” he told MEE.
“As a Puglian, I see the Albanian community, which is the community I grew up with,” said Tony La Piccirella, a Global Sumud Flotilla activist organising the mission. “I was born just before the arrival of the Vlora, so I have never known a Puglia without an Albanian presence.
“They are precisely the friends I grew up with.”
A common struggle
The organisers see the campaign as a protest against land and luxury tourism across the Mediterranean - including in southern Italy.
In Puglia, environmental groups and local activists have opposed a planned Four Seasons resort near Ostuni, a project involving the Israeli real-estate company Omnam.
‘The fact that a piece of the Albanian diaspora is returning in support of the Flamingo Revolution, using boats born from solidarity with Palestine, is very powerful’
Tony La Piccirella, organiser
The $115m development plan has faced legal challenges from environmental organisations, while the Puglia regional government has joined the legal proceedings against it, in a case echoing the disputed resort project near Tavolara in Sardinia, opposed on environmental grounds.
Italian-Albanian and Global Sumud Flotilla activists say these struggles are connected to the broader question of who controls Mediterranean land and resources.
“From Puglia, we see what is happening in Albania and recognise something very close to us,” La Piccirella told MEE.
“Touristification and resortisation are already transforming our territory. We want to connect these struggles.”
The activists also frame the journey through Palestine as part of a global struggle against the dispossession of peoples.
“The same people who finance the oppression of the Palestinian people, planning to build a tourist hub on the rubble of Gaza, are the ones who aim to bury the ecosystems of Sazan Island under a luxury resort,” Mesdhe said in the launch statement.
Kushner has played a controversial role in post-war Gaza reconstruction projects, promoting a $25bn plan to redevelop the enclave as a commercial and technology hub. Critics argue the project would facilitate population displacement and erase Palestinian culture.
Dua Lipa backs Albania’s ‘Flamingo Revolution’ against Kushner-backed resort
La Piccirella said the three boats used for the mission were recovered after being damaged and abandoned following Israeli forces’ attacks on the Global Sumud Flotilla in spring, during which activists were captured.
For La Piccirella, their reuse in the journey to Albania gives the boats an additional meaning: vessels of international solidarity, linking the Palestinian cause with the Albanian protest movement.
“The fact that a piece of the Albanian diaspora is returning in support of the Flamingo Revolution, using boats born from solidarity with Palestine, is very powerful,” La Piccirella added.
For Mesdhe, the journey is ultimately about reversing a historic movement across the Adriatic.
“We are returning not as tourists or investors, but as a diaspora organised around the right of people to remain on their land,” the collective said.
Concrete Blonde Everybody Knows. 1990 single charting at #20 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in September 1990. A cover version of the Leonard Cohen song, featured on the soundtrack to 'Pump Up the Volume'.
Compulsory purchase order of house could make it finest in north Dublin
A GEORGIAN mansion in Dublin that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula and is mentioned in James Joyce’s Ulysses is to be assessed for dereliction, after lying vacant for almost 30 years.
It comes as local representatives make renewed calls for the compulsory purchase order (CPO) of the house, to bring it back into State ownership and make it the ‘jewel in the crown in the northside’.
RISE AND FALL: Aldborough House, top, and in its heyday, below, was built by Edward Stratford, above
Aldborough House, the second-largest private city townhouse in Dublin after Leinster House, has stood on Portland Row in the north inner city since the end of the 18th century.
Across 200 years it served as a residence, a school, an army barracks, and the offices of various State bodies.
But the house has lain vacant since 1999, with only minimal restoration work carried out since it was bought by developers in 2014 – despite the owners receiving tens of thousands in State grants.
Councillor Nial Ring asked Dublin City Council (DCC) last month for a comprehensive update on the property, and requested that it be inspected with a view to placing it on the Derelict Sites Register. This would subject owners to a levy of 7 per cent of the property’s market value, with interest of 1.25 per cent per month on unpaid levies, and would allow DCC to take steps to CPO the property.
DCC told Cllr Ring that its Derelict Sites Office ‘will arrange for an inspection of the property to be carried out and determine [the] next steps under the statutory processes’.
He also asked how much the current developers – Reliance Investments Ltd, an Isle of Man-registered company linked to Pat O’Donnell – have received in grants to restore the property, and whether there is any mechanism for clawing back grants if a private owner ‘accepts State funds to stabilise a protected structure but continues to leave it vacant and decaying’.
DCC did not respond to this aspect, but documents seen by the
Irish Mail on Sunday show the developer has received well over €100,000 in funding from both the Department of Heritage and DCC since 2014. The current owners had been granted planning permission to develop the premises as offices, but that expired in 2023.
Cllr Ring told the MoS: ‘It’s an iconic building and could be a fabulous building, and without being parochial, if this were on the south side, something would have been done with it by now.’
The former lord mayor of Dublin continued: ‘There were suggestions a few years ago the HSE were going to take it over as a nursing home. There was a suggestion that the gardaí might use it for a headquarters. There were all sorts of suggestions going around, all of which the locals were delighted to hear that something would be done. But unfortunately nothing’s been done.’
Dublin Central TD Marie Sherlock said the mansion ‘should be the jewel in the crown in the north side’.
The Labour TD told the MoS: ‘It is one of the most splendid Georgian mansions in the city, and yet it is this big, hulking, derelict presence on Portland Row. We can’t demolish it because it’s a protected structure – nor should anybody want to – so we should be doing something with it.’
‘We can’t let it crumble because of its history and what it could become.’
Architect Rob Cross, who comprehensively tracks dereliction in Ireland on his website, derelictsites.com, visited the site recently.
He told the MoS: ‘This is what happens when the State gives away to the private sector. The State should jump in and CPO it and you could have some culture there, because it is a fine building’.
Firefighters sprayed water to help the locals in the Albanian city of Gramsh beat the heat as temperatures soared up to 38 C on Monday. Fire trucks drove through the streets spraying water, creating a refreshing mist that helped cool down the town and offered relief to residents enduring the intense summer temperatures.
I thought this was worth preserving, even though many on here probably no longer need it, others might. I still found a lot of it helpful.
I stumbled across this thread searching for something about wero, and noticed that many thought that the link in it was a great explanation as it also included Piefed and Mbin, but when I went to view it, I noticed it is no longer viewable, with:
🚫 Post is awaiting moderator approval.
As the alternative post.
So I am linking to the OP using Unddit and copy/pasting the entire post in the hope that it will benefit others in the future. The original post was by u/BlazeAlt who is no doubt a user here, but I haven't seen this explainer elsewhere, nor an updated one much available.
The OP was titled:
Lemmy as an alternative to Reddit, using European-owned servers
Hello everyone,
This sub seems to get some traction in the last few days, which seems like a good opportunity to present Lemmy, an open-source alternative to Reddit.
What is Lemmy in one sentence?
That was the very easy version. No need to understand federation, servers, or any technical jargon.
But as we are European, the servers question should be quite familiar to us. Lemmy works like email: you use a provider to get access to the service, providers are operated by different people, but still allow everyone to use the same service. Think about email providers like mailbox.org, posteo, Soverin, Tuta mail, Infomaniak, Mailo etc.
Servers as analogy to countries
Lemmy works the same. You access the same content but via different servers. Most of the servers on Lemmy are operated by European volunteers, sometimes in a non-profit.
A list of links, with most active users first
🇪🇪 Estonia: https://lemm.ee/
🇩🇪🇦🇹🇨🇭Germany, Austria and Switzerland: https://feddit.org/ and https://discuss.tchncs.de/
🇫🇮Finland: https://sopuli.xyz/
🇫🇷🇧🇪🇨🇭France, Belgium, Switzerland: https://jlai.lu/
🇬🇧UK: https://feddit.uk/
🇳🇱Netherlands: https://feddit.nl/
🇮🇹Italy: https://feddit.it/
🇩🇰Denmark: https://feddit.dk/
🇵🇱 Poland: https://szmer.info/
🇸🇪Sweden: https://feddit.nu/
🇵🇹Portugal: https://lemmy.pt/
Catalonia and Basque country: https://lemmy.cat/ and https://lemmy.eus/
🇧🇬Bulgaria: https://feddit.bg/
Can all servers access the same content? Yes! See for instance, the Europe community hosted on feddit.org: [email protected]:
You don't have to, as all the content is available from every server. However, there is an added value to use a server you share a language or country feed: the Local feed. This is a feed that shows you communities hosted on that server. Compare for instance
The Local feeds are different, and are in different languages.
What are the strenghts of such system compared to a centralized site like Reddit?
Nobody can own the entire platform. If a server admin goes power tripping, people will switch servers, move the communities elsewhere, and leave that server. Same if a mod goes power tripping. It's billionnaire proof.
Everyone can start their own server and join the network. Admins are people you can relate to, they are not an American CEO only aiming at extract profit from you.
As the platform is open source, a lot of mobile apps and interfaces are being developed (more on that later).
Lemmy is not the only technology working on that platform, other project like Mbin or Piefed work too: https://fedia.io/m/[email protected] and https://piefed.social/c/[email protected]
However, those are stil a bit less mature than Lemmy, so for instance if you want to use mobile apps a lot, Lemmy is still a better choice.
On top of that, every Lemmy server is managed by different people. You can see regular criticism of lemmy.ml (the server managed by the Lemmy devs) on threads such as this: https://lemm.ee/post/33872586 or even dedicated communities like https://lemm.ee/c/[email protected]
That shows that even the Lemmy devs are not protected from criticism.
What if my server goes down?
Most of the instances listed above have been around since July 2023 and the API fiasco. The cost to host an instance is quite low (can go as low as 0.03€ per user per month https://feddit.org/post/2600584) and admins may ask for small donations if needed.
Can I switch servers?
Lemmy has a built-in feature to export and import your subscriptions and block lists from the account settings. Switching to a new account takes a few minutes. You can keep the same username and avatar if you want people to recognize you from your previous account. As there is no karma system, you're not losing anything.
What interfaces and applications are available?
For mobile apps, there is an extensive list on https://www.lemmyapps.com/, including former Reddit clients like Sync and Boost, but also new ones like Voyager, Thunder, Summit, Arctic, Jerboa all actively developed.
There isn't enough content
That's a classic chicken-and-egg problem. Lemmy currently has 48k monthly active users , which is quite a lot compared to centralized alternatives like Discuit (less than 220 commenters ). Of course, with such a userbase, you can only sustain so many niche topics.
Quite a few people on Lemmy use both Lemmy and Reddit at the same time. Lemmy because we believe in the platform, Reddit for the specific niche content.
Several communities have the same name, it's confusing, active communities are hard to find
Reddit has a similar issue: you have /r/games as the main gaming community, but there is also /r/Gaming, /r/videogames /r/gamers, etc.
How does someone know what the main community is, whatever the platform? Looking at the number of subscribers and active members.
There was the example of "patientgamers": if you search for that topic in the search bar, the most active one is definitely https://lemm.ee/c/[email protected] with 1130 users per month.
To find active communities: https://lemm.ee/c/[email protected] There are regular threads with active communities on topic such as gardening, movies, board games, anime, science, etc.
There is too much political content
You can block entire servers and specific communities in your account settings.
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I bought eggs on the 5th or 6th of July, they arrived on the 10th and I put them straight into the incubator.
1 x Welsummer
1 x French Copper Maran
2 x Buff pekin
2 x millifeur pekin
I thought I was due to remove the rolling tray yesterday, I was out first thing in the morning, and when I got back around 9:30am I noticed that one of the eggs had hatched. I think a Pekin.
I was unsure what to do, so about 15 minutes later I noticed it's foot was caught under the rolling tray plastic thing, so I opened the humidifier (with clean hands etc) and removed the tray.
A few hours later and I noticed that one of the larger eggs (the French copper or the wellsummer) had started to break. This was roughly 6:30pm, but may have been earlier.
This morning I noticed that, that egg hadn't really moved, and the hole was on the bottom.
So I read about stuck eggs.. And that's when I found out about not opening the incubator for a sudden drop in humidity.
I panicked. I think I waited about 20 minutes (reading that timing is everything) and I decided to try and see if I could help the egg.
I followed the instructions from HERE, but it think I may have been too late.
But now I have opened the incubator 2 more times (once to take it out and once to put it back).
Will the other eggs hatch, or have I likely destroyed any chance that they have?
I'm kicking myself hard here. but hopefully the one that did hatch could still have at least one other buddy.
I have a friend who has a six year old who's birthday is coming up, as it is the six year old is constantly asking the mother for her phone to use to plays spotify songs or whatever. So they are looking for some/any easy to use alternatives, and he (the father) doesn't want to get his son sucked into any eco system (I don't believe he even agrees with him having access to her phone, but that's another story), if he can avoid it, as he is also slowly working on his own opt out project.
Are there any relatively cheap devices alternative to the amazon dot echo that may be more applicable to a child than home-assistant?
The child has a lenovo tablet (I don't know anything else about the tablet), but I guess too bulky to use as a carry around option or like echo dot type device (which they seem set on).
Even if there are any kid/privacy safe devices in existence?
Singer found fame after starring in The Commitments and with his band The Frames
Glen Hansard won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly. Photograph: Mikolaj Rotkowski
Oscar winner Glen Hansard, who found fame after starring in The Commitments and with his band The Frames, has been killed in a motorcycle crash in Co Dublin.
Hansard (56) died following a single-vehicle crash at the Strawberry Beds, Lucan, just before 4.30am.
According to a brief Garda statement, which did not name Hansard, the incident took place on a stretch of Lower Road, between Tinkers Hill and Rugged Lane.
“The motorcyclist, a man in his 50s, was treated at the scene but was pronounced deceased a short time later,” the Garda said.
“The scene has been preserved for examination by Garda forensic collision investigators. Local traffic diversions are currently in place.”
Gardaí at the scene of the crash at Lower Road, Strawberry Beds, Lucan, Co Dublin. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Photos
Hansard’s management issued a statement on Wednesday confirming his death.
“With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard who passed away, in the early hours of this morning, following a road traffic accident in Dublin.
“Glen’s family is deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy at this extremely difficult time,” the statement said.
“The family is grateful for the support they have received and wishes to thank the emergency services who attended the scene.
“As this matter remains the subject of an active Garda investigation, no further comment will be made at this time.”
The musician and actor, a married father of one, split his time between his home in Kildare and Helsinki, where his wife, poet Maire Saaritsa, is from. The couple have a son.
Hansard played Outspan Foster in The Commitments, the 1991 Alan Parker film based on Roddy Doyle’s first novel, while pursuing a career in music, at first with The Frames, then as part of the duo Swell Season, and also as a solo artist.
He won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly, which he wrote with Markéta Irglová, his Swell Season partner. It featured in the movie Once.
Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard of Swell Season perform during the 2025 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Photograph: Douglas Mason/Getty Images
Hansard was from Ballymun, north Dublin and began performing with The Frames in his teenage years in the 1980s.
“Well, I grew up in Ballymun,” he told The Irish Times in an interview earlier this year. “I don’t make a big song and dance about it, but I grew up witnessing hardship among friends, family.
“Ballymun gets a bad rap, but it was an incredible community. There was a great sense of meitheal. My mother didn’t have any money, but she had a great sense of community.”
Singer found fame after starring in The Commitments and with his band The Frames
Glen Hansard won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly. Photograph: Mikolaj Rotkowski
Oscar winner Glen Hansard, who found fame after starring in The Commitments and with his band The Frames, has been killed in a motorcycle crash in Co Dublin.
Hansard (56) died following a single-vehicle crash at the Strawberry Beds, Lucan, just before 4.30am.
According to a brief Garda statement, which did not name Hansard, the incident took place on a stretch of Lower Road, between Tinkers Hill and Rugged Lane.
“The motorcyclist, a man in his 50s, was treated at the scene but was pronounced deceased a short time later,” the Garda said.
“The scene has been preserved for examination by Garda forensic collision investigators. Local traffic diversions are currently in place.”
Gardaí at the scene of the crash at Lower Road, Strawberry Beds, Lucan, Co Dublin. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Photos
Hansard’s management issued a statement on Wednesday confirming his death.
“With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard who passed away, in the early hours of this morning, following a road traffic accident in Dublin.
“Glen’s family is deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy at this extremely difficult time,” the statement said.
“The family is grateful for the support they have received and wishes to thank the emergency services who attended the scene.
“As this matter remains the subject of an active Garda investigation, no further comment will be made at this time.”
The musician and actor, a married father of one, split his time between his home in Kildare and Helsinki, where his wife, poet Maire Saaritsa, is from. The couple have a son.
Hansard played Outspan Foster in The Commitments, the 1991 Alan Parker film based on Roddy Doyle’s first novel, while pursuing a career in music, at first with The Frames, then as part of the duo Swell Season, and also as a solo artist.
He won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly, which he wrote with Markéta Irglová, his Swell Season partner. It featured in the movie Once.
Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard of Swell Season perform during the 2025 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Photograph: Douglas Mason/Getty Images
Hansard was from Ballymun, north Dublin and began performing with The Frames in his teenage years in the 1980s.
“Well, I grew up in Ballymun,” he told The Irish Times in an interview earlier this year. “I don’t make a big song and dance about it, but I grew up witnessing hardship among friends, family.
“Ballymun gets a bad rap, but it was an incredible community. There was a great sense of meitheal. My mother didn’t have any money, but she had a great sense of community.”
Singer found fame after starring in The Commitments and with his band The Frames
Glen Hansard won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly. Photograph: Mikolaj Rotkowski
Oscar winner Glen Hansard, who found fame after starring in The Commitments and with his band The Frames, has been killed in a motorcycle crash in Co Dublin.
Hansard (56) died following a single-vehicle crash at the Strawberry Beds, Lucan, just before 4.30am.
According to a brief Garda statement, which did not name Hansard, the incident took place on a stretch of Lower Road, between Tinkers Hill and Rugged Lane.
“The motorcyclist, a man in his 50s, was treated at the scene but was pronounced deceased a short time later,” the Garda said.
“The scene has been preserved for examination by Garda forensic collision investigators. Local traffic diversions are currently in place.”
Gardaí at the scene of the crash at Lower Road, Strawberry Beds, Lucan, Co Dublin. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Photos
Hansard’s management issued a statement on Wednesday confirming his death.
“With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard who passed away, in the early hours of this morning, following a road traffic accident in Dublin.
“Glen’s family is deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy at this extremely difficult time,” the statement said.
“The family is grateful for the support they have received and wishes to thank the emergency services who attended the scene.
“As this matter remains the subject of an active Garda investigation, no further comment will be made at this time.”
The musician and actor, a married father of one, split his time between his home in Kildare and Helsinki, where his wife, poet Maire Saaritsa, is from. The couple have a son.
Hansard played Outspan Foster in The Commitments, the 1991 Alan Parker film based on Roddy Doyle’s first novel, while pursuing a career in music, at first with The Frames, then as part of the duo Swell Season, and also as a solo artist.
He won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly, which he wrote with Markéta Irglová, his Swell Season partner. It featured in the movie Once.
Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard of Swell Season perform during the 2025 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Photograph: Douglas Mason/Getty Images
Hansard was from Ballymun, north Dublin and began performing with The Frames in his teenage years in the 1980s.
“Well, I grew up in Ballymun,” he told The Irish Times in an interview earlier this year. “I don’t make a big song and dance about it, but I grew up witnessing hardship among friends, family.
“Ballymun gets a bad rap, but it was an incredible community. There was a great sense of meitheal. My mother didn’t have any money, but she had a great sense of community.”
Fifa’s president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors under a scheme that could potentially earn him tens of millions of pounds, sources have told The Times.
The plan would lead to a company being formed to control Fifa’s top men’s and women’s competitions, the World Cup and Club World Cup. It could lead to pressure for both events to be further expanded or played more regularly than the present once every four years.
Two sources with knowledge of the discussions said that figures close to the Donald Trump administration have been consulted about the plan. Other sources said that Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, is seen as the main potential investor along with the bank JP Morgan.
Each of Fifa’s 211 member associations would also be given a stake, perhaps worth about $20million (£15million), which they could retain or sell to raise income for themselves. Sources claim Infantino, 56, would be lined up to run the company as a commissioner once his final presidential term expires — he is set to be re-elected unopposed until 2031.
Sources say figures close to the Trump administration have been consulted about the plan, which could mean Infantino, left, becomes the “commissioner” of a new company
Fifa did not respond when asked to comment.
Fifa is a not-for-profit organisation effectively owned by the 211 associations that make up its membership. As an association of associations, it enjoys a tax-free status in Switzerland where it is based. Its revenue for the 2022-26 cycle is expected to be $15billion, the majority of which comes from TV rights, sponsorship, ticket and hospitality sales from the men’s World Cup this summer.
It means the tournament would be hugely attractive to private investors with the potential for growth by expanding it or holding it more frequently. Infantino said earlier this month that a South American proposal to expand the World Cup to 64 teams would “definitely” be looked at. The number of competing nations was increased from 32 to 48 for this year’s finals in North America.
Other senior figures in football, however, regard the plan as being a potential “nuclear bomb” for the game.
Under the blueprint, which has been discussed among senior Fifa figures and potential investors who have been obliged to sign non-disclosure agreements, Fifa would own a majority stake in the company, private investors would buy 20-30 per cent initially — for multibillions of dollars — and Fifa’s 211 members would each have a small stake as well, totalling about 20 per cent.
Potential investors have talked internally about “buying Fifa”, say sources.
The plan to give individual shares to the 211 members is seen as a way of securing its approval by Fifa’s Congress and Council — for smaller associations the shares would be worth several times their annual revenue — even if there is strong opposition from some areas of football.
Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, has been cited as the main potential investor
Sources said some non-binding agreements setting out the terms of the arrangement have already been signed.
Infantino’s role could be to become the “commissioner” or chief executive of the new company, once his last presidential term expires in 2031. The salary for that position has not been confirmed but figures close to the plan are said to see it on a par with the NFL, whose chief commissioner earns about $64million a year. That is ten times as much as Infantino’s earnings for the most recent financial year in salary and bonuses.
Fifa would retain power over international football including, significantly, the international match calendar after 2030, but its decisions would have huge influence over the fortunes of the new company.
For example, if Fifa expanded the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams, or held the competition more regularly than every four years, that would inevitably boost the financial value of the company as it would mean vastly increased revenues.
It is not the first time that Infantino has tried to involve private investors and political allies in investing in Fifa’s competitions. In 2018, a $25billon deal with the Japanese bank Softbank, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, for a new Club World Cup and global Nations League failed to achieve the necessary support. Infantino had reportedly eyed the chairmanship of the organisation that would have been set up to administer that arrangement.
The New York Times reported in June that Fifa officials previously discussed with the former US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin an investment in a streaming service called Fifa +, though nothing materialised and the venture was put on hold.
This summer’s World Cup, won by Spain, was the first to include 48 teams
Infantino has had links with Jared Kushner dating back to before 2018 when the financier was heavily involved in the United States’ successful bid for the 2026 World Cup, but sources in the US said it was seen as being politically more sensitive for his brother Joshua to be the lead potential investor.
If the new venture does go ahead, there are concerns that private investors would put pressure on the men’s World Cup to be staged in countries where commercial success can be maximised. There are also worries that there could be similar pressure for the Club World Cup to be hosted in the Gulf in order to boost its revenues. This would mean interrupting the European domestic leagues, as with the 2022 Qatar World Cup, because it is too hot to hold the tournament during a Gulf summer.
One senior football figure described the plan as “potentially much worse than the European Super League” as it would impact all parts of football across the world.
Fifa’s president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors under a scheme that could potentially earn him tens of millions of pounds, sources have told The Times.
The plan would lead to a company being formed to control Fifa’s top men’s and women’s competitions, the World Cup and Club World Cup. It could lead to pressure for both events to be further expanded or played more regularly than the present once every four years.
Two sources with knowledge of the discussions said that figures close to the Donald Trump administration have been consulted about the plan. Other sources said that Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, is seen as the main potential investor along with the bank JP Morgan.
Each of Fifa’s 211 member associations would also be given a stake, perhaps worth about $20million (£15million), which they could retain or sell to raise income for themselves. Sources claim Infantino, 56, would be lined up to run the company as a commissioner once his final presidential term expires — he is set to be re-elected unopposed until 2031.
Sources say figures close to the Trump administration have been consulted about the plan, which could mean Infantino, left, becomes the “commissioner” of a new company
Fifa did not respond when asked to comment.
Fifa is a not-for-profit organisation effectively owned by the 211 associations that make up its membership. As an association of associations, it enjoys a tax-free status in Switzerland where it is based. Its revenue for the 2022-26 cycle is expected to be $15billion, the majority of which comes from TV rights, sponsorship, ticket and hospitality sales from the men’s World Cup this summer.
It means the tournament would be hugely attractive to private investors with the potential for growth by expanding it or holding it more frequently. Infantino said earlier this month that a South American proposal to expand the World Cup to 64 teams would “definitely” be looked at. The number of competing nations was increased from 32 to 48 for this year’s finals in North America.
Other senior figures in football, however, regard the plan as being a potential “nuclear bomb” for the game.
Under the blueprint, which has been discussed among senior Fifa figures and potential investors who have been obliged to sign non-disclosure agreements, Fifa would own a majority stake in the company, private investors would buy 20-30 per cent initially — for multibillions of dollars — and Fifa’s 211 members would each have a small stake as well, totalling about 20 per cent.
Potential investors have talked internally about “buying Fifa”, say sources.
The plan to give individual shares to the 211 members is seen as a way of securing its approval by Fifa’s Congress and Council — for smaller associations the shares would be worth several times their annual revenue — even if there is strong opposition from some areas of football.
Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, has been cited as the main potential investor
Sources said some non-binding agreements setting out the terms of the arrangement have already been signed.
Infantino’s role could be to become the “commissioner” or chief executive of the new company, once his last presidential term expires in 2031. The salary for that position has not been confirmed but figures close to the plan are said to see it on a par with the NFL, whose chief commissioner earns about $64million a year. That is ten times as much as Infantino’s earnings for the most recent financial year in salary and bonuses.
Fifa would retain power over international football including, significantly, the international match calendar after 2030, but its decisions would have huge influence over the fortunes of the new company.
For example, if Fifa expanded the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams, or held the competition more regularly than every four years, that would inevitably boost the financial value of the company as it would mean vastly increased revenues.
It is not the first time that Infantino has tried to involve private investors and political allies in investing in Fifa’s competitions. In 2018, a $25billon deal with the Japanese bank Softbank, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, for a new Club World Cup and global Nations League failed to achieve the necessary support. Infantino had reportedly eyed the chairmanship of the organisation that would have been set up to administer that arrangement.
The New York Times reported in June that Fifa officials previously discussed with the former US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin an investment in a streaming service called Fifa +, though nothing materialised and the venture was put on hold.
This summer’s World Cup, won by Spain, was the first to include 48 teams
Infantino has had links with Jared Kushner dating back to before 2018 when the financier was heavily involved in the United States’ successful bid for the 2026 World Cup, but sources in the US said it was seen as being politically more sensitive for his brother Joshua to be the lead potential investor.
If the new venture does go ahead, there are concerns that private investors would put pressure on the men’s World Cup to be staged in countries where commercial success can be maximised. There are also worries that there could be similar pressure for the Club World Cup to be hosted in the Gulf in order to boost its revenues. This would mean interrupting the European domestic leagues, as with the 2022 Qatar World Cup, because it is too hot to hold the tournament during a Gulf summer.
One senior football figure described the plan as “potentially much worse than the European Super League” as it would impact all parts of football across the world.
Culture Club singer sings ‘I stand with the Jews / I don’t feel brave, I just need to behave like a human’, in song defending Israel’s response to Hamas attack
Boy George performs on stage in Hamburg this month. Photograph: Tristar Media/Getty Images
Boy George has released a new song entitled We Will Dance Again, which voices support for Israel’s military action in Palestine.
Posted on X and Instagram with the Hebrew title עוד נרקוד alongside its English translation, the song features a pop-reggae backing. The opening lyrics are: “You say genocide, I say war / When you’re attacked, that’s what the army’s for / Does it get ugly? You bet it does / When I know you wanna kill every last one of us.”
Boy George cites the attack by Hamas at the Nova music festival in October 2023, saying the civilians killed there were “murder[ed] … for the crime of dancing”. A total of 344 civilians and 34 security personnel were killed and 44 people were taken hostage.
The overall Palestinian death toll since the war started is more than 73,000.
The title phrase We Will Dance Again, repeated for the song’s chorus, has been used by Israelis to express hope and solidarity in the wake of the 7 October attack, and was used as the title of an acclaimed documentary about it.
Elsewhere in the chorus, Boy George asserts: “There will be no war / But if you’re ever confused / I stand with the Jews / I don’t feel brave, I just need to behave like a human.”
He also criticises the pro-Palestinian movement, including musicians who have condemned Israel: “You condemn the Jews, with selective memory / Musicians holding flags, mouthing like sheep / Propaganda fuelled by the internet feels so weak.” Musicians who have supported Palestine include Stormzy, Damon Albarn, Clairo and Brian Eno, the latter of whom conceived an all-star charity single, Lullaby, which vied for Christmas No 1 in 2025.
Boy George, who is not Jewish, has recently voiced support for Jewish communities. In an interview with the Telegraph, when discussing his admiration for Jewish peers in the 1980s during his time fronting Culture Club, he said: “Over the years it’s been a really personal thing. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have compassion for Palestinians, it doesn’t mean that I agree with what’s going on in Israel, but I am always going to defend the people that I love. I have a lot of Jewish friends and there would never be a situation where I’d turn my back on them.”
He also voiced his support after the knife attack in Golders Green in April which left two Jewish men injured, saying: “We need to make our Jewish community know we support them.”
His new song marks an intensification of his support for Israel, having said earlier in the year that he didn’t have an opinion on the country.
Boy George with San Marino contestant Senhit at the Eurovision song contest in Vienna in May. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP
Speaking ahead of an appearance with San Marino for their Eurovision song contest entry (which didn’t reach the contest’s final), he was questioned about the boycott of Eurovision from countries opposing Israel’s inclusion in the contest. “I have many Jewish friends, whom I’ve known since I was 15 or 16 years old,” he replied. “Are people asking me, as someone with principles, to turn my back on my Jewish friends? That is not going to happen – it will never happen. From the beginning of my career, I wore the Star of David … I feel very connected to the Jewish people. I’m not necessarily connected to Israel. I don’t really have an opinion on that. But the mission of music is to unite people.”
His characterisation of Israel’s action against Palestine as a legitimate military response rather than genocide runs counter to a United Nations inquiry, which stated in 2025 that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry called the report “distorted and false”. Last month, another independent UN inquiry found that Israel was continuing to commit genocide by targeting children. That report was dubbed a “libellous sham” by Israel.
Boy George was one of the most flamboyant and recognisable pop stars of the 1980s, with Culture Club scoring four UK Top 10 albums including 1983’s chart-topping Colour By Numbers. Hit singles include Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? and Karma Chameleon, which were both hugely successful in the US as well as UK, and have endured as staples on oldies radio.
The band also had a hit with an anti-war track, The War Song, which reached UK No 2 in 1984 and featured the chorus: “War is stupid and people are stupid / And love means nothing in some strange quarters.”
Culture Club singer sings ‘I stand with the Jews / I don’t feel brave, I just need to behave like a human’, in song defending Israel’s response to Hamas attack
Boy George performs on stage in Hamburg this month. Photograph: Tristar Media/Getty Images
Boy George has released a new song entitled We Will Dance Again, which voices support for Israel’s military action in Palestine.
Posted on X and Instagram with the Hebrew title עוד נרקוד alongside its English translation, the song features a pop-reggae backing. The opening lyrics are: “You say genocide, I say war / When you’re attacked, that’s what the army’s for / Does it get ugly? You bet it does / When I know you wanna kill every last one of us.”
Boy George cites the attack by Hamas at the Nova music festival in October 2023, saying the civilians killed there were “murder[ed] … for the crime of dancing”. A total of 344 civilians and 34 security personnel were killed and 44 people were taken hostage.
The overall Palestinian death toll since the war started is more than 73,000.
The title phrase We Will Dance Again, repeated for the song’s chorus, has been used by Israelis to express hope and solidarity in the wake of the 7 October attack, and was used as the title of an acclaimed documentary about it.
Elsewhere in the chorus, Boy George asserts: “There will be no war / But if you’re ever confused / I stand with the Jews / I don’t feel brave, I just need to behave like a human.”
He also criticises the pro-Palestinian movement, including musicians who have condemned Israel: “You condemn the Jews, with selective memory / Musicians holding flags, mouthing like sheep / Propaganda fuelled by the internet feels so weak.” Musicians who have supported Palestine include Stormzy, Damon Albarn, Clairo and Brian Eno, the latter of whom conceived an all-star charity single, Lullaby, which vied for Christmas No 1 in 2025.
Boy George, who is not Jewish, has recently voiced support for Jewish communities. In an interview with the Telegraph, when discussing his admiration for Jewish peers in the 1980s during his time fronting Culture Club, he said: “Over the years it’s been a really personal thing. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have compassion for Palestinians, it doesn’t mean that I agree with what’s going on in Israel, but I am always going to defend the people that I love. I have a lot of Jewish friends and there would never be a situation where I’d turn my back on them.”
He also voiced his support after the knife attack in Golders Green in April which left two Jewish men injured, saying: “We need to make our Jewish community know we support them.”
His new song marks an intensification of his support for Israel, having said earlier in the year that he didn’t have an opinion on the country.
Boy George with San Marino contestant Senhit at the Eurovision song contest in Vienna in May. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP
Speaking ahead of an appearance with San Marino for their Eurovision song contest entry (which didn’t reach the contest’s final), he was questioned about the boycott of Eurovision from countries opposing Israel’s inclusion in the contest. “I have many Jewish friends, whom I’ve known since I was 15 or 16 years old,” he replied. “Are people asking me, as someone with principles, to turn my back on my Jewish friends? That is not going to happen – it will never happen. From the beginning of my career, I wore the Star of David … I feel very connected to the Jewish people. I’m not necessarily connected to Israel. I don’t really have an opinion on that. But the mission of music is to unite people.”
His characterisation of Israel’s action against Palestine as a legitimate military response rather than genocide runs counter to a United Nations inquiry, which stated in 2025 that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry called the report “distorted and false”. Last month, another independent UN inquiry found that Israel was continuing to commit genocide by targeting children. That report was dubbed a “libellous sham” by Israel.
Boy George was one of the most flamboyant and recognisable pop stars of the 1980s, with Culture Club scoring four UK Top 10 albums including 1983’s chart-topping Colour By Numbers. Hit singles include Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? and Karma Chameleon, which were both hugely successful in the US as well as UK, and have endured as staples on oldies radio.
The band also had a hit with an anti-war track, The War Song, which reached UK No 2 in 1984 and featured the chorus: “War is stupid and people are stupid / And love means nothing in some strange quarters.”
https://www.thejournal.ie/new-eu-parcel-handling-fee-7134685-Aug2026/Open linkView original on feddit.uk
