Latest News
Abolishing Democracy in Europe December 14, 2024: - On 4 October I spoke to a meeting of the United European Left group of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Arriving a bit early, I sat through a presentation by a Moldovan judge, Victoria Sanduta, who was formerly the President of the Association of Judges in Moldova. She had recently been dismissed, along with other judges, after investigation by a committee set up by the President to vet judges. She said the "vetting" was openly political, and the purpose was to remove any judges who were not "western oriented" and who might query the process in a…
Costs – Much Less Boring Than You Expect December 12, 2024: - You have probably noticed my frenetic and uncharacteristic appeals for donations across social media. This has been an experiment as to whether genuinely independent reporting from a colonialist war zone is possible, and the answer may be "No". I want to explain the costs to you. Leaving aside for a paragraph or two the costs of cinematographer Niels Ladefoged and myself getting here and living here, let me tell you about the cost just of the 5-minute piece I did from the Syrian/Lebanese border. After obtaining our general permits to report from the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Defence… On the Lebanese/Syrian Border December 11, 2024: - Where reality is very different from what the BBC and CNN are telling you. --------------------------------- My reporting and advocacy work has no source of finance at all other than your contributions to keep us going. We get nothing from any state nor any billionaire. Anybody is welcome to republish and reuse, including in translation. Because some people wish an alternative to PayPal, I have set up new methods of payment including a GoFundMe appeal and a Patreon account. I have now also started a Substack account if you wish to subscribe that way. The content will be the same as…
The End of Pluralism in the Middle East December 6, 2024: - A truly seismic change in the Middle East appears to be happening very fast. At its heart is a devil's bargain - Turkey and the Gulf States accept the annihilation of the Palestinian nation and creation of a Greater Israel, in return for the annihilation of the Shia minorities of Syria and Lebanon and the imposition of Salafism across the Eastern Arab world. This also spells the end for Lebanon and Syria's Christian communities, as witness the tearing down of all Christmas decorations, the smashing of all alcohol and the forced imposition of the veil on women in Aleppo now.… 
Baalbek Before the Fragile Ceasefire December 4, 2024: - This mini-documentary gives much more extensive coverage of our visit to Baalbek just before the ceasefire. The day before we went, sixty civilians had been killed in Israeli bombings throughout the small city. This video captures something of the terror with which the inhabitants had been living for months, and their extraordinary resilience. With thanks to Niels Ladefoged for the filming and editing. All content on this blog is freely available to republish or reproduce, including in translation. We are entirely dependent on your donations and subscriptions. We receive no state, corporate or grant funding. Because some people wish an… 
Lebanon’s Unbalanced Ceasefire Teeters on the Brink November 30, 2024: - Only Israel has opened fire since the start of the "ceasefire", and Israel has done so repeatedly. Nobody has fired back. Israel has for three days in a row attacked alleged Hezbollah rocket sites with bombs or missiles, killing at least four people and probably more. Israel has opened fire on journalists. It has critically wounded two mourners at a funeral. There are numerous reports of Lebanese civilians returning to their homes in the South coming under fire from Israeli troops. This video shows the two people shot by snipers at a funeral. The man is saying that they had… 
Residents Return to Dahiya in Beirut November 28, 2024: - Beirut Residents Return to the Devastated Suburbs Displaced November 26, 2024: - 1.2 million people have been forced from their homes and have become refugees. Each one is an individual human being, and they all had lives before this calamity. In many cases, their homes and all they possess have been destroyed. We met up with some of them, so they can tell you their stories. This is the first of a series of short documentaries we intend to make about Israel's attack on Lebanon -------------------------- We have plans for a serious programme of written and video content to be produced in Lebanon between now and Christmas, but this will depend on…
Four Gentlemen Tour the Bekaa Valley November 25, 2024: - On Thursday evening news came through that we had at long last gained the full list of approvals required to travel to report outside Beirut; we were cleared by the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Defence, and the local authorities. Laith Marouf of Free Palestine TV called me and suggested we go down together on Friday to the southern capital of Nabatieh, which has been enduring heavy bombing. I asked Laith to give me half an hour, and did some quick research. Nabatieh is about 12 miles from the Israeli border and has been devastated by Israeli bombing attacks.… 
The Effects of Israeli Barbarity November 20, 2024: - I could not tell the easy, comforting lie. "No", I told the woman, her traumatised children clinging to her legs, "I can't say you are safe here; not one of us is safe. The Israelis are genocidal. But in Lebanon so far, I don't think they have bombed a school". I was with one of 67 families, with 215 children, living as refugees in a small school at Ain Rumaila in Southern Beirut. The area borders the evacuated suburb of Dahiya which the Israelis are systematically demolishing, and bombings rattle the windows of the school every day. This woman is… USA Tries to Pound Lebanon Into Submission November 17, 2024: - Israel has intensified its air strikes on Lebanon and in particular on Beirut, ahead of a visit on Tuesday or Wednesday by US envoy Hochstein, at which he will press Lebanon to accept a US/Israeli ceasefire plan. This plan is touted as being based on UNSCR 1701, but in fact represents its abnegation. You may have noted that neoliberal politicians and media pundits, who ignore and denigrate every other UN Resolution on the Middle East, are suddenly very enthusiastic about UNSCR 1701. This is because it mandates withdrawal of Hezbollah forces to the north of the river Litani. But it…
Two Weeks In Beirut November 13, 2024: - Apologies, in setting up Patreon as an alternative subscription method some had requested, I accidentally blocked non Patreon subscribers. Fixed now. I have also started a gofundme to cover costs of operating in Beirut. Flying from Rome on a bright Sunday morning, the MEA Airbus was configured for about 300 people. About 20 of us boarded to fly to Beirut. It is a very strange feeling to be on an almost empty commercial airliner, particularly as nearly all of the small number of passengers were in business class, leaving economy class barren. Two Christian priests travelling economy, with impressive beards… Online Media Banned in Lebanon November 10, 2024: - It is illegal to report from Lebanon without prior accreditation by the Ministry of Information. On the day Niels and I arrived in the country, a new rule was introduced by the Ministry specifically excluding online media from accreditation, which is now limited to print newspapers and broadcast TV stations only. All freelance journalists and independent TV production companies are also specifically excluded. The specific instruction from the Ministry of Information states: not: web or digital or online or production house The new policy is given in writing to journalists who apply, by the Press Bureau of the Ministry of…
Beirut Problems November 1, 2024: - On Wednesday we were arrested and held awhile by General Security in Lebanon and told not to report from here until we receive the proper permits. This is a frustrating delay but I hope will soon resolve.
Setting Up In Beirut October 30, 2024: - I apologise for the break, I have been setting up in Beirut to cover the Israeli assault from here. This has been quite a logistic challenge. I am accompanied by Niels Ladefoged, the cinematographer with Wikileaks who was with Julian Assange on his flight to Australia. Readers of this blog know Niels as the cinematographer of Ithaka who was my companion on the month-long tour of Germany I made with that film. We have needed to get to Beirut and then get safe accommodation, and organise internet access, a car and driver, interpreters, etc. I am lucky to have some…
Who Are the Terrorists? October 18, 2024: - I have a confession to make. When a journalist writes this it generally means they will proceed to reveal something they hope will actually show them in a good light or justified in some way. But I have a real confession to make, of something I did that was wrong. Somewhere in the UK, among the papers of a dead loved one which nobody has the heart to throw out, in cardboard boxes in dusty attics or deep in the filing cabinets of Jeremy Corbyn, exist still a few copies of thousands of letters bearing my authentic signature. These letters,… 
The Notional Health Service October 17, 2024: - Today is my 66th birthday, so I am hoping that you will forgive an article that is at core the anecdotal ramblings of an old man. It was inspired by horror at Wes Streeting (I could end the sentence there but I shall continue it) 's plan to give weight loss jabs to the unemployed. The unemployed are more likely to be underweight than the population average, and this attempt to portray the unemployed as lazy couch potatoes is vile in many ways. Its masking as an "investment" in the economy by Big Pharma is chilling. If it goes ahead,… 
The Salisbury Festival of Russophobia Opens Today October 14, 2024: - Today is the grand opening of the Salisbury Festival of Russophobia, otherwise known as the Public Inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, an unfortunate victim of imperialist spy games. Do not be fooled. This is not in any sense a genuine public inquiry, supposed to get at the truth. This is an inquiry like the Hutton Inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly, designed entirely to conceal the truth and further the official narrative. In the Kelly case, the official narrative was that one of the world's leading experts in chemical weapons, with access to instant-action neurotoxins, decided… 
Alex Salmond. Always My Hero. October 13, 2024: - Before Alex Salmond, Scottish Independence was an impossible dream, a romantic aspiration, outside the realm of practical politics. After Alex Salmond, it is the dominant question in Scottish politics and by far the biggest threat to the UK state. I would argue that, with every poll for a decade showing overwhelming support for Independence among the under 30s and support for the UK only in a majority in the over 55s, Alex made Independence inevitable. In Scotland's national story, he deserves a place alongside William Wallace and Robert Bruce. (In my last conversation with Alex, about two weeks ago, he… Simply No Red Lines At All October 11, 2024: - There is literally no act so vile that the UK, US and Germany will not support if perpetrated by the terrorist state of Israel. Yesterday Israel: deliberately attacked UN peacekeepers in three separate bases; bombed residential central Beirut killing and maiming hundreds; abducted, beat up and held an American journalist; slaughtered 30 Palestinian refugees in an UNRWA school; was found by an official UN Commission Report to be guilty of the crime against humanity of "extermination" in Gaza. Any single one of these outrages would be roundly condemned if committed by any country at all except Israel, and would lead…
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