Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Yvonne Ridley
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Espionage is a dirty game that Israel plays with impunity
Ever since British intelligence agencies alleged that Chinese spies are seeking to “covertly interfere” in Britain’s political landscape, a whole host of scare stories bordering on the hysterical have poured forth; it’s “reds under the beds” all over again. The British media, never known to underreact to a good...
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PUMA sportswear is being urged to axe its football sponsorship in apartheid Israel
Europe’s largest sportswear manufacturer, Adidas, has ended its lucrative boot deal with French footballer Kurt Zouma, after the English Premier League player was shown to kick and slap his pet cat in a video clip uploaded by his brother onto social media. The West Ham United defender has since...
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The BBC’s decision to axe the Gaza aid appeal may come back to haunt it
The BBC is facing its biggest crisis in years, including merciless budget cuts, after the British government announced that it is freezing the corporation’s funding for the next two years before abolishing the TV licence fee in 2027. The licence fee is the BBC’s source of income. Having worked for...
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Criminalising journalists for telling the truth is in nobody’s interest
When journalists start to make the news instead of breaking it, there are usually some serious consequences, especially when they work beyond the confines of the mainstream media. An exclusive story generally results in rival publications either ignoring the revelations or trying to discredit them. Why do journalists turn so...
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The pro-Israel lobby sees more Palestinian activists walk free from court
We all know that political lobby groups can be influential, and that those which back the occupation state of Israel are more influential than most in the West. However, it seems that such influence may be on the wane, especially as far as British courts are concerned. Justice has...
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Blair's knighthood is a royal act of treachery against his victims in Iraq and Afghanistan
Tony Blair’s final act as a human wrecking ball could well bring down the British monarchy following the controversial decision by Queen Elizabeth II to award him a knighthood. Not just any old knighthood, you understand; he has been made a member of the Order of the Garter, the...
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An American Tale as yet untold by the Afghans
According to Christians and the post-Christian world in which many of us live, this is the season of peace and goodwill to all. However, I derived little Christmas cheer from an incredible tweet sent by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the United Nations this week. I imagine that the...
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Let’s be honest, Zionist Israel is built on a tissue of lies
Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews, but say anything negative about the political ideology of Zionism or speak in favour of Palestine and the chances are, regardless of your religious beliefs or lack of them, you will end up being accused of anti-Semitism. In...
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Bin Salman has blood on his hands that refuses to be washed away
The French authorities have released Saudi citizen Khalid Aedh Al-Otaibi, who they believed to have been involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but only after his arrest at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport made global headlines. The police thought that they had apprehended one of the dozens...
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Is the pro-Israel lobby lining up Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon for ‘the Corbyn treatment’?
A pro-Israel charm offensive has seen some Scottish government ministers distancing themselves from the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, raising concerns that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is being lined up for “the Corbyn treatment” by the lobby working for benefit of the colonial-occupation state. Sturgeon has come under...
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People power can stop the Uyghur genocide
Boycotts are a powerful weapon in the quest for justice. This is why the Israeli leadership is making so much effort to have the peaceful resistance of the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement outlawed around the world. Israel is scared of what BDS can do without a single...
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Feminists have scored an own goal over Afghanistan's ‘Me Too’ moment
The plight of women in Afghanistan has rarely been out of the media spotlight since the Taliban arrived back in Kabul after taking most towns and cities in their country with little or no resistance in August. Some of the reports in the West, though, have been woefully misleading;...
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Hamas is part of the solution — just ask Mr Blair
A few weeks ago, Boris Johnson addressed 300 of his loyal supporters at an exclusive lunch in a five-star hotel in London’s upmarket Mayfair for a Tory party fundraiser. Many of the so-called great and good paid up to £500 a ticket for the privilege of listening to the...
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The right to protest is as precious as freedom of speech
Student protests on campus are nothing new and trying to deny controversial speakers a platform is not a recent invention. Protestors have, over the years, argued that some speakers pose a threat simply by being allowed to spout their unpalatable opinions. Speaking as someone who has been denied a platform,...
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The Palestinians are fishing for European justice
Had there been any genuine determination in the Arab world to deliver justice to the Palestinian people it would have been done years ago. However, many of the states and their rulers have proven themselves to be both incompetent and impotent when it comes to occupied Palestine. I’ve often said...
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When silence is the best diplomacy
If you poke a stick in a hornets’ nest then the results will become painfully obvious very quickly, which is why I am surprised at the headlines expressing shock at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to expel ten ambassadors from his country. His declaration that the ambassadors from...
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Here lies Colin Powell…
Following his death from Covid-19 earlier this week, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s legacy will be examined by many people for many different reasons. Some will eulogise him as one of America’s top diplomats and presidential advisers. Many more, I suspect, will remember him as the man...
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Sixty years after the Paris Massacre, will the French finally accept that Muslim Lives Matter?
France’s Donald Trump wannabe is leading the country’s Islamophobic charge by promising to ban children from being named Muhammad if he becomes president. The meteoric rise of Eric Zemmour in the polls has sent alarm bells ringing among the country’s five million Muslims as they prepare to mark one...
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Smartphone snitches are welcome in Saudi’s surveillance society
Smartphone technology has revolutionised our lives in many ways that go well beyond telephone calls for the millions who use them. Many of us have become amateur photographers, capturing those special moments which can be uploaded onto social networks within seconds. As is often the case these days, though, there...
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With malice and spite, the US has unleashed a cruel new war on Afghanistan
Tens of thousands of Afghan mothers will quite possibly not be able to wave their children off to school in 2022 because their youngsters will have starved to death in a crisis brought about by the US government’s decision to freeze $9.5 billion of Afghanistan’s reserves held in American...
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Apologies and compensation are simply not good enough for the victims of drone attacks
Palestine Action is, as its name implies, involved in direct action against some of the arms trade’s most deadly production lines, notably Israel’s Elbit Systems. Since it burst onto the scene, quite a few members have been arrested at some of Elbit’s ten known factories and offices in Britain. Elbit...
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Bannockburn’s other battle over the reality of racist Israel
The site of Scotland’s most historic battle is at the centre of a war of words after a schoolgirl’s essay highlighted the injustices faced by Palestinians in the 21st century. Her words were used in an exhibition called General Change: Young People’s Participation in Protest, in which she wrote...
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The media’s weapons of mass deception
Journalism is a powerful weapon, which is why most tyrants and despots like either to control or ban the media. Even in so-called democracies, governments are well aware of the power and influence that the media can have on voters. Critical front pages and commentaries can win or lose...
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What can the Taliban offer the women of Afghanistan?
The hashtag #womensrights has been trending on social media ever since the Taliban swept dramatically into the Afghan capital Kabul in what was an almost bloodless takeover. Aside from anything else, the transition of power was much smoother than that in Washington earlier this year, when the Trump-Biden handover...