There have been penalties for those who looked the other way when Epstein was convicted of child sex offences and decided to maintain relationships with the financier — but not for the British ambassador to Washington, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
A painful march to freedom: the triumphant legacy of Palestinian prisoners
By demonstrating that even at your weakest you can still fight back, the resistance behind bars has always been a uniquely powerful part of the overall national liberation movement, explains RAMZY BAROUD
UNBOWED: Imprisoned Palestinian hunger striker Khalil Awawdeh lies in bed at Asaf Harofeh Hospital in Be’er Ya’akov, Israel, August 2022
Labour’s new Treasury unit will ‘challenge unnecessary regulation’ by forcing nominally independent bodies like Ofwat to bend to business demands — exactly what Iain Anderson’s corporate clients wanted, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
DR DYLAN MURPHY looks at a Big Brother Watch report which exposes the government as an enabler of DWP secret spying on benefit claimants
The EU faces a critical choice: will it remain in the shadow of an increasingly unreliable US ally, or will it forge its own path in a multilateral world where co-operation with China is essential, asks MARC VANDEPITTE as leaders meet for the EU-China Summit
A lot of discussion about how the left should currently organise – including debate on whether the Green Party is a useful vehicle for advance – runs the risk of refusing to engage with or learn from the reasons the left was defeated previously, argues KEVIN OVENDEN
For Egypt trade trumps the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, but how long can the country’s ‘misleaders’ – and others in the region – continue their indifference against the popular will of their own people, asks ROGER McKENZIE
“AS soon as I left prison, I went to Nael’s grave. It is adorned with the colours of the Palestinian flag and verses from the Holy Quran. I told my little brother how much I loved and appreciated him, and that, one day, we would meet again in paradise.”
The above is part of a testimony given to me by a former Palestinian prisoner, Jalal Lutfi Saqr. It was published two years ago in the volume These Chains Will Be Broken.
As a Palestinian, born and raised in a refugee camp in Gaza, I was always familiar with the political discourse of, and concerning, political prisoners. My neighbourhood, like every neighbourhood in Gaza, is populated with a large number of former prisoners, or families whose members have experienced imprisonment in the past or present.
However, starting in 2016, my relationship with the subject took on, for the lack of a better term, a more “academic” approach. Since then, and up to now, I have interviewed scores of former prisoners and members of their families.
Some were imprisoned by Israel, others by the Palestinian Authority. I even spoke to prisoners who experienced the brutality of Middle Eastern prisons, from Iraq, to Syria, to Egypt and Lebanon.
A few particularly unlucky ones have endured multiple prison experiences and were tortured by men speaking different languages.
More from this author
RAMZY BAROUD highlights a new report by special rapporteur Francesca Albanese that unflinchingly names and shames the companies that have enabled Israel’s bloody massacre in Gaza
Israel’s genocide in Palestine and wars against its neighbours would be impossible without constant Western support — so we must amplify the brave voices demanding a halt, argues DR RAMZY BAROUD
Fifa must be held to account over its continued support for Israel, writes RAMZY BAROUD
RAMZY BAROUD on how Israel’s narrative collides with military failure
