United Kingdom

Hundreds of thousands march in support of Palestinians during a rally in London, November 15, 2023. (Jess Hurd)

UK protests expose wide gulf between gov’t and public on Palestine

Hundreds of thousands in Britain have been mobilizing for a Gaza ceasefire, pushing back against efforts to smear them and restrict their civil liberties.

By Maria Rashed November 29, 2023

A Palestinian man looks over the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim during a protest-tent action against a bill that would annex the settlement bloc to Israel, Al 'Ezariya, West Bank, January 20, 2017. (Anne Paq/Activestills)

‘Don’t raise your voice — you’re not in Britain anymore’

From the Jordan crossing to the Jerusalem checkpoint, my return to Palestine was marred by the daily humiliations of life under Israeli occupation.

By Hamza Yusuf August 29, 2023

Protest against the German Bundestag’s resolution against the Palestinian-led BDS Movement, Berlin, 2019. (Palästina Spricht archives)

IHRA definition is silencing Palestine advocacy across Europe, says report

A European legal center details how the IHRA antisemitism definition has been given 'authoritative power' to target Israel critics in several countries.

By Hebh Jamal June 7, 2023

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Members of the Indian community in Israel celebrate during an event celebrating 25 years of relations between Israel and India, during an official visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tel Aviv, July 5, 2017. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The violent phobias that bind Hindutva and Zionism

Journalist Azad Essa speaks to +972 about the authoritarian ties between India and Israel, and the myths that underlie their expansionist ideologies.

By Em Hilton November 9, 2022

Palestinians attend a Hamas rally marking the 32nd anniversary of its founding in the Nusseirat camp in central Gaza City, Dec. 15, 2019. (Hassan Jedi/Flash90)

Why the UK’s blacklisting of Hamas hurts its own peace policy

A motion to label the entire Hamas movement as 'terrorists' is an attempt to score political points at the cost of a peacemaking strategy for Israel-Palestine.

By Hugh Lovatt November 25, 2021

A young Palestinian boy walks among the debris of a house, which witnesses said was hit in an Israeli air strike, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Aug. 2, 2014. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Why does international support for the ICC stop at Palestine?

By opposing an investigation in the occupied territories, powerful states are contradicting their own positions on the ICC simply to protect a political ally.

By Matt Cannock and Solomon Sacco April 16, 2021

Black Lives Matter protesters in London gather following the police shootings of Philando Castile and Alon Sterling in the United States, July 8, 2016. (Alisdare Hickson/CC BY-NC 2.0)

Yes, the UK also has a white supremacy problem

There is a reason George Floyd's murder resonated with Black British people: we are all too familiar with the UK's institutional racism and police brutality.

By Nadine Batchelor-Hunt June 21, 2020

Illustrative photo of pro-Palestine protesters in London, June 10, 2018. (Alisdare Hickson/ CC BY-SA 2.0)

New anti-Semitism definition denies Palestinians’ right to challenge oppression

Those attacking the UK Labour party for its newly adopted definition of anti-Semitism are contributing to the silencing of Palestinian voices, the potential criminalization of their struggle against racist Israeli policies, and the negation of their demands for freedom and equality. By Laila Naheel and Hussein Samih A furor over a newly adopted definition of…

By +972 Magazine July 26, 2018

Israel Apartheid Week at the University of Texas, Austin. (Monad68/CC/Flickr)

Losing the will to fight Israel Apartheid Week

It’s getting harder and harder for liberal Zionists to reconcile an Israel that legitimizes settler land theft with the values they have been raised to believe the Jewish state stands for. By Ben Reiff I’ve been dreading Israel Apartheid Week since I arrived at university in London – a supposed hot-spot for Israel-Palestine tension on campuses.…

By +972 Magazine February 26, 2017

File photo of Jewish activists taking part in a protest against settler violence, Susya, West Bank. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Backing the Palestinian liberation struggle, as a liberal Zionist

As Diaspora Jews, do we actually talk to Palestinians about their wishes? Do we take the time to support liberal Palestinian activists? Our role is not to fight for what we think Palestinians want but to support them as they push for their liberation themselves. By Jake Cohen When young liberal Zionists arrive on British…

By +972 Magazine November 18, 2016

Holocaust shirt Exeter University

Anti-Semitic, white supremacist slogans at Exeter University event

Even the most off-hand displays of white supremacism and anti-Semitism — perhaps especially off-hand, “normalized” displays — are not only deplorable in their own right, but directly affect conversation on racism, anti-Semitism and Israel-Palestine. Students attending an off-campus Exeter University party on Tuesday were seen sporting t-shirts with anti-Semitic and white supremacist slogans, +972 has learned. Reports of…

By Dimi Reider September 21, 2016

Illustrative photo by Rosie Love / Shutterstock.com

Brexit and the Israel-Palestine problem

More and more people are stuck with each other in this world, even as rejectionists pretend — if only for a minute or two — that we’re not. I wasn’t much of a political junky as a kid, and I was certainly no wunderkind at foreign relations. The Cold War was a fact of life, as solid…

By Dahlia Scheindlin June 28, 2016

File photo of former London Mayor Ken Livingstone of the UK Labour Party. (Viktor Kovalenko / Shutterstock.com)

What the Left can learn about anti-Semitism from Ken Livingstone

Why would the senior Labour member allow himself to be dragged into a debate about the Holocaust while his party is bending over backwards to fend off accusations that it is teeming with anti-Semites? By Gilad Halpern Ken Livingstone may not realize it, but he has done the progressive left a great service. Livingstone, a…

By +972 Magazine May 1, 2016