Archive: palestine

24th October 2023
By: Brian Whitaker
When an explosion caused mass casualties at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza last week it was scarcely surprising that Palestinians — along with many others — assumed Israel was responsible. Israel had already phoned the hospital more than once to demand its evacuation, and a strike the previous… Read more
24th September 2022
By: Brian Whitaker
A British academic whose Twitter account is tagged as "Iran state-affiliated media" was the main author of a report on Islamophobia published this week with funding from the EU's Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme. The academic in question – former professor David Miller – is a director… Read more
3rd July 2021
The Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism is named in memory of a Lebanese-American journalist who died in a car crash while working for Iran's Press TV in 2014. The purpose of the award, according to its website, is to honour non-mainstream journalists who "tell challenging… Read more
2nd July 2020
The Palestinian authorities have declared a total lockdown in the West Bank just five weeks after their previous one was lifted. The decision comes amid a dramatic rise in new Covid-19 infections which has more than doubled the number of known cases in the space of a week. The new lockdown will… Read more
24th June 2020
Until recently Israel and Palestine seemed to have brought their coronavirus epidemics under control but both are now seeing large numbers of new infections. Yesterday Israel reported 430 new cases – its biggest rise for two months. Palestine reported 179 – its highest number since the outbreak… Read more
18th June 2020
Palestinian authorities have reported a surge of coronavirus infections. Seventy-four new cases have been confirmed since Monday, mostly in the West Bank district of Hebron. This comes after several weeks when new cases were averaging less than four a day. CLICK HERE to jump to Middle East… Read more
22nd May 2020
Covid-19 infections in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza have more than doubled over the last few days, rising from 20 to 55. The new cases were discovered among Gaza residents who recently returned from Egypt or Israel, and the Hamas authorities have responded by announcing that no one else will… Read more
4th April 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
In a sudden reversal of policy, Israel's health ministry has announced a cutback in coronavirus testing. The World Health Organisation regards testing as an essential component in the battle against COVID-19 and Israel had been planning to increase testing levels to 10,000 a day by early next week… Read more
10th May 2019
By: Brian Whitaker
"Labour Friends of Palestine" is a Twitter account that purports to be connected with the British Labour party. Its choice of name seems intended to cause confusion with Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East, a genuine organisation which is recognised and supported by more than 100… Read more
8th May 2019
By: Brian Whitaker
A mysterious organisation that calls itself "Labour Friends of Palestine" has started posting tweets in support of Nigel Farage and his Brexit party. It posted two of them on Monday – one from the Brexit party saying "Another fantastic rally in Chester!" ... ... and one from Farage himself saying… Read more