




Yvette Cooper wrote a newspaper column about Palestine Action despite prosecutors warning it could prejudice criminal proceedings against six activists from the group, it can be revealed.
The then-home secretary wrote the column justifying Palestine Action’s proscription even though the Crown Prosecution Service advised it might unfairly impact a trial concerning a 2024 break-in at an Israeli arms manufacturer’s factory.
After a retrial, four of the defendants were convicted last week in relation to the raid on the Elbit Systems UK site near Bristol. It can now be reported that defence lawyers sought to halt the proceedings for alleged abuse of process, claiming Cooper’s column for the Observer was “an egregious example of contemptuous reporting which directly interferes with the court process”.
The article, on 17 August, said that charges against Palestine Action activists included a “terrorism connection” and also referred to violence, intimidation and “disturbing information” about future attacks.
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Spanish actor Javier Bardem said the Nakba “never ended,” describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” and its policies in the occupied West Bank as “ethnic cleansing and apartheid” in a message marking the anniversary of the 1948 mass displacement of Palestinians, Anadolu reports.
The US social media company X account of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations on Friday shared Bardem’s recorded remarks during a screening for UN representatives of the Palestinian-themed film All That’s Left Of You.
In his message, Bardem stressed that the Palestinian people have long struggled against what he described as Israel’s policies of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
“We understand that the Nakba never ended. It is playing out today in Gaza as genocide and in the West Bank as ethnic cleansing and apartheid,” Bardem said.
READ: Palestinians mark 78th Nakba anniversary amid war, ongoing displacement
The Spanish actor also praised the Palestinians’ century-long “determination to remain on their land and to thrive as a people with a rich culture who deserve to be free and to return home,” describing their struggle against erasure as one defined by extraordinary resilience, courage, and steadfast resolve.
The film, which portrays the trauma and search for hope experienced by three generations of a Palestinian family following the 1948 Nakba, was selected by Jordan as its submission for the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.
Palestinians commemorate May 15 as the “Nakba” (“Great Catastrophe”) following Israel’s declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, and the subsequent forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes.
During the Nakba, Israel expelled nearly 1 million Palestinians from their homes and destroyed 675 Palestinian towns and villages. More than 70 massacres were carried out by Zionist militias, killing over 15,000 Palestinians.
While Israel continues what Palestinians and rights groups describe as genocide in Gaza, Israeli forces have also intensified raids, violence, and repression against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
READ: ‘No to war, and free Palestine’ says Javier Bardem at the Oscars
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Israel is now perceived more negatively than any other country in the world, followed by North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran, according to new global polling published by Nira Data as part of its 2026 democracy and country perception research.
The five most positively perceived countries were Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Sweden and Italy.
The findings place Israel at the bottom of the Global Country Perceptions 2026 ranking, a survey of 46,667 respondents assessing how 129 countries and three international organisations are viewed around the world. The ranking was published alongside Nira Data’s 2026 Democracy Perception Index, which surveyed 94,146 respondents across 98 countries on how citizens experience democracy in their own countries.
The result marks another sign of Israel’s deepening international isolation amid its genocide in Gaza, mass displacement of Palestinians, starvation policies and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank. Israel’s global image has collapsed as human rights organisations, UN experts and international courts have warned of grave violations of international law by the occupation state.
The United States also suffered a dramatic collapse in global standing. Washington is now ranked among the five most negatively perceived countries in the world, below both Russia and China in international favourability. Its net perception score fell from +22 per cent in 2024 to -16 per cent in 2026, a 38-point drop in just two years.
Read: As Israel becomes a global pariah, leaked Meta data reveals soaring costs for its brands
US decline came amid growing anger over President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, including strained relations with NATO allies, aggressive tariffs, threats relating to Greenland, cuts to Ukraine aid and Washington’s role in the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. The survey found that the US is now viewed as a major global threat, behind Russia and Israel.
The wider 2026 Democracy Perception Index describes itself as the world’s largest annual democracy survey. Unlike expert-based democracy rankings, it asks citizens directly how they experience democracy through questions on elections, freedom of speech, political pluralism, civic education, separation of powers, rule of law, government transparency and peaceful transitions.
Read: Israel to spend $730m on propaganda as global image collapses over Gaza genocide
The collapse in Israel’s standing comes as global public opinion has shifted sharply against the occupation state over its assault on Gaza. Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 74 thousand Palestinians, destroyed most of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, displaced nearly the entire population and imposed conditions that UN experts and genocide scholars have described as genocidal.
For the US, the findings point to the steep cost of Washington’s continued military, diplomatic and political support for Israel. While successive US administrations have shielded Israel from accountability at the UN and continued arms transfers despite mounting evidence of war crimes, the survey suggests that global publics increasingly associate American power with impunity, double standards and destabilising wars.
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