Owen Jones

Britain quietly approves $11.85m arms licence to Israel despite Gaza ban

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Israeli forces carrying weapons, raid Nablus city of West Bank, Palestine on April 23, 2026. [Nedal Eshtayah – Anadolu Agency]

The UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has granted two new licences for the export of military equipment to Israel, including an £8.7 ($11.85) million licence covering “components and technology for targeting equipment”, the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has revealed.

The licences were issued despite the British government’s September 2024 suspension of such exports over fears they would be used in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. CAAT’s analysis of UK export licensing statistics for the fourth quarter of 2025, published on 30 April, found that the UK issued export licences worth £20.5 ($27.9) million in total for transfers to Israel during the quarter.

The most significant of the new approvals was an Open Individual Export Licence for “components and technology for targeting equipment” — a category of export the UK government had publicly suspended eight months earlier, citing the risk of use in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. When questioned about the licence, DBT replied that it “covers items for re-export from Israel, and the Government of Israel is not an end-user or ultimate end-user. This is consistent with our suspension”.

CAAT said the defence rested on a legal fiction. The watchdog warned of the risk of “auto-diversion”: a process by which Israel can fail to retransfer military equipment to its declared destination and instead assign it to an unauthorised end-user, such as the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), for use in Gaza. 

Such a move would constitute a breach of the export licence and a potential criminal offence under UK law. British ministers have previously said they would revoke any licence should “any evidence” emerge that exported equipment had not reached its declared destination, but CAAT noted that the UK government makes no known efforts to verify what happens to its military exports after they leave Britain.

The watchdog’s concerns are not theoretical. In March, an investigation revealed that an Elbit-owned subsidiary in the UK had shipped dozens of drone components, including Watchkeeper engines, to Israel over an 18-month period. 

READ: UK Labour approved more weapons to Israel in three months than Tories did in four years

Israel had failed to retransfer the equipment to Romania as required by the licence, citing force majeure arising from its assault on Gaza. The contract with Romania has still not been fulfilled. Elbit announced it would start delivering the drones only two days after Romania threatened to cancel the contract.

A second new licence covers components for military training aircraft, and related technology, for transfer to France, Greece, Israel and Italy — likely supplied by the US aerospace firm Moog for the M-346 Lead-In Fighter Trainer produced by Italy’s Leonardo. 

The M-346 is used in every phase of advanced and pre-operational training for Israeli pilots before they fly combat missions in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon using F-16 and F-35 jets. Israel has caused massive devastation with F-35 jets across Gaza, Iran and Lebanon. Similar components shipped by Moog from the UK were recently seized by authorities in Belgium, who have since opened a criminal investigation.

CAAT’s Research Coordinator Sam Perlo-Freeman said the new licences exposed the limits of the British government’s stated policy.

“These new export licenses show just how willing the UK is to continue enabling Israel’s genocidal assaults, while staying within the technical rule of a vastly insufficient and ineffective policy towards IDF war crimes,” he said.

“The targeting equipment for which DBT granted a license, for transfer to and re-export by Israel, could easily be used in Gaza. Given Israel’s history of weapons diversion and illicit transfers, and outstanding questions about Elbit drone components failing to arrive in Romania, there remains a grave risk that Israel will auto-divert the targeting equipment to the IDF for use in Palestine.”

Perlo-Freeman explained that the British government was leaning on a system of declarations it has no power to enforce. “DBT is relying on end-user undertakings that hold no legal force in Israel, which the UK government does not check up on and cannot enforce. The exporter is technically in-the-clear, so long as it can’t be shown they knew the end-user undertaking was false.”

READ: ‘Cowardly’ UK court ruling permits F-35 arms exports to Israel despite genocide in Gaza

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Continue ReadingBritain quietly approves $11.85m arms licence to Israel despite Gaza ban

‘Zionism above all’: Telegraph takeover sparks fears over Israel loyalty test

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer in Berlin, Germany on 18 March 2021 [Bernd von Jutrczenka/Pool/Getty Images]

Support for Israel is set to become a virtual purity test for Telegraph journalists after the newspaper’s takeover by German media giant Axel Springer, whose chief executive, Mathias Döpfner, has reportedly described his political credo as “Zionism above all”. 

The acquisition, cleared by UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, puts one of Britain’s most influential newspapers under the control of a company that formally lists support for Israel as one of its core institutional values.

According to details published by Owen Jones, Döpfner wrote to Telegraph staff to say they would operate within Axel Springer’s “Essentials”, a set of principles that the company presents as its editorial compass. 

Among them is a commitment to support “the right of existence of the State of Israel” and to oppose “all forms of antisemitism”, placing Israel second only to freedom, free speech, the rule of law and democracy in the company’s hierarchy of values.

The singling out of Israel for special protection out of 193 UN member states has raised concern. Israel alone is explicitly granted this level of institutional protection in Axel Springer’s declared values, raising immediate questions about how far editorial independence can really extend under the new ownership. 

READ: MEMO Monitoring: Exposing the German media’s pro-Israel bias

Axel Springer insists its “Essentials” create the conditions for “maximum journalistic freedom and intellectual independence”, but critics argue that requiring adherence to a fixed political position on a specific foreign state undermines any claim to neutrality.

Döpfner’s outspoken support for Israel is also likely to deepen concern about whether the Telegraph can cover Palestine fairly under its new owners. The Guardian reported that leaked messages attributed to him using the phrase “Zionism above all”.

Döpfner’s public remarks have also repeatedly blurred the line between support for Palestinians and support for Hamas. In an internal Axel Springer transcript published by the company, he described more than four million social media posts under “Free Palestine” and similar hashtags as “pro-Hamas topics”. 

That framing is likely to deepen concern among journalists and readers alike about how criticism of Israel may be treated at the Telegraph under its new owners.

A Telegraph journalist told Owen Jones that being informed by the incoming owner’s chief executive that support for Israel was effectively a core principle was “more than a little concerning”, adding that it raised questions about “how any reporting from the paper can be considered factual if that is our core principle”.

READ: Anti-Palestinianism is the modern day McCarthyism

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.

Continue Reading‘Zionism above all’: Telegraph takeover sparks fears over Israel loyalty test

Leftist Journalist Owen Jones Vindicated in Libel Case Over BBC’s Biased Coverage of Gaza Genocide

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Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Journalist Owen Jones (right) is seen leaving the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where he was being sued by Raffi Berg for libel, on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

The BBC has long been accused of centering Israel and dismissing the humanity of Palestinians in its coverage of Gaza.

British journalist Owen Jones on Thursday celebrated a UK High Court judge’s ruling in his favor in a libel lawsuit that a BBC editor brought against him—and said that should the editor choose to move forward with his case despite the decision, he was looking forward “to defending my article in court.”

The High Court ruled that Jones was expressing an opinion when he wrote an article for Drop Site News in December 2024 titled “The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza,” in which he spoke to BBC staffers about Middle East online editor Raffi Berg’s influence over the news outlet’s coverage of Israel and Palestine.

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The court also said Jones had expressed his opinion and that of his sources based on concrete examples of Berg’s editorial role and journalism.

Jones’ article described staffers’ allegations that “internal complaints about how the BBC covers Gaza have been repeatedly brushed aside” as Berg “sets the tone” for the outlet’s online coverage of Israel’s onslaught in the exclave, where more than 75,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023 in what’s been called a genocide by top Holocaust scholars and human rights groups.

It noted that the BBC failed to report on Amnesty International’s finding that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and displayed an on-screen chyron reading, “Israel rejects ‘fabricated’ claims of genocide.’”

“Journalists expressed concerns over bias in the shaping of the Middle East index of the BBC news website,” wrote Jones. “Several allege that Berg ‘micromanages’ this section, ensuring that it fails to uphold impartiality.”

The BBC has long been criticized for centering Israel and “dehumanizing” Palestinians, as more than 1,000 artists said in a letter last year when they condemned the network for refusing to air a documentary about the impact of Israel’s attacks on children in Gaza, on the grounds that it featured the child of the exclave’s deputy minister of agriculture—suggesting “that Palestinians holding administrative roles are inherently complicit in violence.”

The article also pointed to Berg’s own history of pro-Israel coverage, including a 2002 story “that presented young [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers as courageous defenders of their country while failing to mention the occupation and settlement of Palestinian land or the widespread allegations of crimes” documented by human rights groups and the US government.

Berg also presented Israeli settlers in the West Bank as “victims seeking ‘a better quality of life’ and did not mention the fact that the settlements have been repeatedly deemed illegal,” and wrote about the Mossad “in glowing terms” in a book he wrote with extensive cooperation from the Israeli intelligence agency.

He also posted a photo on social media showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a copy of Berg’s book on his bookshelf, Jones reported.

Berg’s lawyer said last year that Jones’ reporting attacked Berg’s “professional reputation as a journalist and editor,” and led to death threats.

In order for his case against Jones to proceed, Berg would now need to prove in court that “Jones did not genuinely hold the opinion he expressed in his reporting, or demonstrate that the opinion is not one an honest person could hold on the basis of any fact that existed at the time of its publication,” Middle East Eye reported.

“I am proud to stand by my journalism,” said Jones Thursday.

Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of Peace
Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of Peace
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

Continue ReadingLeftist Journalist Owen Jones Vindicated in Libel Case Over BBC’s Biased Coverage of Gaza Genocide

Owen Jones: I saw how the Greens channelled voters’ anger – and fused it with hope. That’s why they won in Gorton and Denton

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/27/gorton-and-denton-byelection-keir-starmer-labour

…

Labour did not simply lose; it disgraced itself. It has been accused of sending leaflets appearing to come from a tactical voting organisation that did not exist, which “recommended” voting Labour based on “a new prediction”. Labour attacked the Greens for their principled opposition to a failed “war on drugs” that leaves a multibillion-pound trade in the hands of criminal gangs and condemns many addicts to early graves.

…

Labour feared a Green victory would be existential. It is. Gorton and Denton ranked 127th on the Greens’ target list. If Polanski’s party can capture one of Labour’s safest seats, then no Labour MP can feel secure. And it is worse than it looks. Canvassers repeatedly told me they met voters – Muslim and non-Muslim alike – who were frightened into backing Labour to stop Reform. They would have voted Green had they believed victory possible. Next time, those people will.

The Starmer project rested on crushing the left. As a mere frontman for the most reactionary and personally toxic elements in his party, he secured power by assuring members he would preserve the radicalism they had voted for – and then buried it. They assumed they could get away with it, confident much of the media would applaud the destruction of socialists as sober statecraft.

But deceit is all Starmerism had – and events in Gorton and Denton show the vacuity of that. There was no animating vision, no reckoning with a broken economic order. What Starmer’s Labour did not anticipate was the re-emergence of the left beyond Labour’s institutional walls. It was comfortable competing with the Conservatives and Reform, aping their anti-migrant rhetoric. It did not regard the left as a legitimate political force: being devoured by the radical left was never in the script. In the end, its war on the left has consumed it.

Labour now faces a reckoning between a Blairite faction urging further defiance of an estranged electorate and others demanding a frantic pivot to win back disillusioned voters. Even if the leadership desired the latter, the parliamentary party is crowded with too many cynical careerists to make it credible. In my view, Labour cannot be saved: it must be replaced. Gorton and Denton suggests that is possible.

…

See the original article at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/27/gorton-and-denton-byelection-keir-starmer-labour

Continue ReadingOwen Jones: I saw how the Greens channelled voters’ anger – and fused it with hope. That’s why they won in Gorton and Denton

Starmer FINISHED

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Starmer ‘on borrowed time’ after losing Mandelson and McSweeney

Keir Starmer’s reputation will “forever…be associated with the decision to appoint the best friend of the world’s most notorious paedophile” as British ambassador to Washington, the author of a book on the prime minister has said.

Investigative journalist Paul Holden told Declassified that after the resignation of the prime minister’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney: “Keir Starmer is on borrowed time. He’s done. There’s no coming back from this. 

“I mean he was pretty much toast before this because he was so deeply unpopular and there were already moves to remove him. 

“The problem is we now have this political vacuum because the success of the McSweeney-Mandelson-Starmer political project has been to totally take utter control of the commanding heights of the Labour party. It’s bureaucracy but also the cabinet.” 

Holden, who wrote a book about Starmer’s top aide called The Fraud, said “The eight most senior people in cabinet all have links to McSweeney going back years and decades. This entire political project is implicated and tainted by this scandal. 

…

Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves - the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves – the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Continue ReadingStarmer FINISHED