14 h. ago Two Labour MPs denied entry to Israel speak out in powerful Commons moment

Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were forced to abort their visit to the occupied West Bank over the weekend after being detained and denied entry into Israel

Politics

35 h. ago Britain expresses outrage after Israel prevents 2 lawmakers from visiting the occupied West Bank

Britain has expressed outrage after Israeli authorities prevented two lawmakers from entering the country in order to visit the occupied West Bank

Politics

6 d. ago Kemi Badenoch warns free speech is at risk in Britain as the Tory leader backs the US in row over silent protests outside abortion clinics

The Tory leader said Britain 'should not be persecuting people for expressing themselves' over abortion rights.

Events

6 d. ago US officials challenge Ofcom’s risk to free speech caused by online safety laws

Exclusive: State department said to have raised concerns over whether new online safety act infringes on freedom of expressionUS state department officials have challenged Britain’s communications regulator over the impact on freedom of expression created by new online safety laws, the Guardian understands.A group of officials from the state department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) recently met with Ofcom in London. It is understood that they raised the issue of the new online safety act and how it risked infringing free speech. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago US officials challenge Ofcom over risk to free speech caused by online safety laws

Exclusive: State department said to have raised concerns over whether new act infringes on freedom of expressionUS state department officials have challenged Britain’s communications regulator over the impact on freedom of expression created by new online safety laws, the Guardian understands.A group of officials from the state department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) recently met Ofcom in London. It is understood that they raised the issue of the new online safety act and how it risked infringing free speech. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago US State Department raises concerns over free speech in the UK in rare intervention

The US State Department lashed out at Britain, citing concerns about ‘freedom of expression’ in the UK

Politics

6 d. ago Former top judge condemns ‘unjustifiable interference’ by Trump over UK free speech

Lord Sumption, the former head of the UK Supreme Court, has lashed out after it was revealed the US State Department had attacked Britain, citing concerns about ‘freedom of expression’ in the UK

Politics

9 d. ago Inside Israel’s ‘torture’ jails where Palestinians held without charge tell of brutal treatment

A special investigation by Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew reveals allegations of brutal treatment of Palestinians in Israeli facilities including rape, torture, medical neglect and death. Israel rejects all accusations of wrong-doing

Politics

1 week ago Video obtained by AP shows settler assault on small Palestinian village with rare clarity

Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the southern Israeli-occupied West Bank

Events

1 week ago ‘This is no isolated event’: attack on Palestinian director brings rising settler violence into focus

Activists fear unprecedented levels of violence, with the apparent backing of Israeli authorities, part of drive to force Palestinians out of the West BankIt was around 6pm, just after its Palestinian residents had finished their daily Ramadan fast, dozens of masked Israeli settlers, armed with batons, knives and assault rifles, entered the West Bank village of Susiya in the rural Masafer Yatta area of the south Hebron hills. Among them were a group of Israeli soldiers who escorted the settlers into the village where Hamdan Ballal, one of the four directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, lives.About three weeks after appearing on stage at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles to accept the Oscar, Ballal has become the victim of the very violence shown in his film. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago From the Oscars to Israeli detention: the attack on No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal – podcast

What does the attack on an Oscar-winning Palestinian director say about the situation in the West Bank today? Adrian Horton and Lorenzo Tondo reportEarlier this month, No Other Land won the Oscar for best documentary feature. The film chronicles the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta as it resists being driven off its land by settler violence and the demolitions of the Israeli military. The film’s two protagonists, Palestinian film-maker Basel Adra and Israeli film-maker Yuval Abraham, gave speeches when they accepted their award.Yuval Abraham: “We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago It took an Oscar winner’s ordeal for the west to see the truth of settler violence. This is how to stop it | Ofer Cassif

I have spent years fighting this reign of terror in the West Bank – and Hamdan Ballal’s treatment is typical of itDr Ofer Cassif is a member of the Knesset, representing the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) since 2019Imagine a group of a dozen armed men storming your village at nightfall. They assault you and your neighbours, throw stones at your house, beat you. If you try to defend yourself, or document the violence, they attack you. When the military arrive, they detain you. Some of them join in with the violence. This harrowing scene is not a story from Tsarist Russia or Jim Crow America. Last Monday, this was exactly what occurred in the Palestinian village of Susya in the occupied West Bank.The attackers who arrived in Susya were neither Cossacks nor Klansmen but Jewish-Israeli settlers accompanied by soldiers. Indeed, when the attacks commenced, three Palestinians were seized by the Israeli military, detained, and then subjected to police interrogation. Such v...

Economics

1 week ago It took an Oscar winner’s ordeal for the world to see the truth of settler violence. This is how to stop it | Ofer Cassif

I have spent years fighting this reign of terror in the West Bank – and Hamdan Ballal’s treatment is typical of itDr Ofer Cassif is a member of the Knesset, representing the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) since 2019Imagine a group of a dozen armed men storming your village at nightfall. They assault you and your neighbours, throw stones at your house, beat you. If you try to defend yourself, or document the violence, they attack you. When the military arrive, they detain you. Some of them join in with the violence. This harrowing scene is not a story from Tsarist Russia or Jim Crow America. Last Monday, this was exactly what occurred in the Palestinian village of Susya in the occupied West Bank.The attackers who arrived in Susya were neither Cossacks nor Klansmen but Jewish-Israeli settlers accompanied by soldiers. Indeed, when the attacks commenced, three Palestinians were seized by the Israeli military, detained, and then subjected to police interrogation. Such v...

Economics

1 week ago ‘I thought I was going to die’: director Hamdan Ballal recounts attack by settlers in West Bank

Exclusive: Filmmaker who won an Oscar earlier this month says Israeli settlers were aided by IDF soldiers who beat him with their riflesDuring an attack on Oscar-winning Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal on Monday, Israeli settlers were aided by two Israel Defense Forces soldiers who beat him with the butt of their rifles outside his home and threatened to kill him, the film-maker has said.In an interview with the Guardian, Ballal, one of the four directors of the film No Other Land, which documented the destruction of villages in the West Bank and won best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards, recounted how two Israeli soldiers first encircled him while a settler was assaulting him, before violently striking him on the head and threatening to shoot him. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago ‘It was revenge for our movie’: Oscar winner says soldiers helped settlers attack him in West Bank

Hamdan Ballal says Israeli soldiers beat him with their rifle butts and threatened to kill himThe Oscar-winning Palestinian film director Hamdan Ballal has said that during an attack on him Israeli settlers were aided by two Israeli soldiers who beat him with the butt of their rifles outside his home and threatened to kill him.In an interview with the Guardian, Ballal, one of the four directors of the film No Other Land, which documented the destruction of villages in the West Bank and won best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards, recounted how on Monday two Israeli soldiers first encircled him while a settler was assaulting him, before violently striking him on the head and threatening to shoot him. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Wes Streeting brands Israel's attacks on the West Bank 'unjustifiable' and demands end to settler violence

Wes Streeting said he felt “powerless” as he spoke about Israeli violence against the Palestinian people

Events

1 week ago Channel 4 'disturbed' as director Hamdan Ballal attacked and detained

Hamdan Ballal is one of four filmmakers who directed No Other Land, about the disputed West Bank, which won the Oscar for best documentary feature film earlier this month

Events

1 week ago ‘Like a punishment’: witnesses describe Israeli settler attack on No Other Land director

Activists from Center for Jewish Nonviolence say Israeli police ‘did not intervene’ in attack on Hamdan BallalIt was shortly after Palestinian residents had finished their daily Ramadan fast that dozens of masked Israeli settlers entered the West Bank village of Susiya, according to witnesses.Some of the settlers were armed with batons, others had knives and one of them was holding an M-16 rifle, the witnesses told the Guardian. Among them were a group of Israeli soldiers who escorted the settlers inside the village. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago West Pilton Bank: Reports of fire arm discharged in Edinburgh property as police close off area

"We understand this incident will be very worrying for the people living in this community.”

Events

2 w. ago 'Gun shot' through Edinburgh flat window as huge police presence remains at scene

Officers rushed to West Pilton Bank after receiving reports of a gun being set off at 7.55am on Monday morning.

Events