Writer, journalist. Winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. Throttled by Bluesky algorithms. https://jonathancook.substack.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mkwxk5bjgs27After the stabbings in Golders Green, we have been thrust back into a deeply flawed debate about antisemitism that relies on misunderstandings of Islam, Zionism and the role of "the West". Here I unpack the four most common fallacies: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/islam-vs-the-west-the-four-biggest03 May 2026 10:35 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkwxk5bjgs27https://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mkvvg7hu622gKeir Starmer says pro-Palestine marches will be allowed but only on certain conditions: * his government's complicity in the slaughter in Gaza is not mentioned * slogans don't use upsetting words like "Israel" or "genocide" * marches take place no more than once a year.03 May 2026 00:25 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkvvg7hu622ghttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mks7mqxvos2qThe genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in Lebanon exhausted the West’s moral legitimacy. Now Iran is slowly exhausting the West’s military primacy. Read my latest here: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/west-bubble-illusion-israel-about-itself-finally-being-burst01 May 2026 13:17 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mks7mqxvos2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mkrwpr3rtc2tWatch Question Time's Fiona Bruce immediately shut down the Green party deputy leader as soon as she challenges the other panellists for linking the marches against genocide with antisemitic attacks.01 May 2026 10:37 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkrwpr3rtc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mkpcdalix22yThe government, police and BBC spent years maliciously conflating criticism of Israeli atrocities with hatred of Jews. Now they cite as proof of that "antisemitism" anyone who takes them at their word – that Jews and Israel are inseparable – and hits out at random Jewish targets. Wash and repeat.30 Apr 2026 09:27 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkpcdalix22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mkajw3oabk23The Guardian reports Slovenia, Ireland and Spain's refusal to broadcast Eurovision over Israel's participation. As background, it notes Russia has been barred for its "full-scale invasion of Ukraine". Why the row about Israel? Not genocide, apparently. It's "the war in Gaza".24 Apr 2026 12:33 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkajw3oabk23https://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mkabz2tg622xFor years, Israel has exposed UK government hypocrisy and lawbreaking by openly using British weapons to commit war crimes and genocide. So the government has come up with an elegant solution: simply shutter the unit dedicated to monitoring such war crimes. 🙈🙉🙊24 Apr 2026 10:11 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkabz2tg622xhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mk6h5qbn2227The real story of Starmer’s political subservience and vulnerability to Peter Mandelson is not being told. For good reason. Because the media itself is deeply implicated in this bigger story, of dirty tricks and illegality. Matthew Alford reads my latest: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/listen-the-real-story-tying-starmer23 Apr 2026 16:38 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk6h5qbn2227https://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mk3uxa3ws223The real story tying Starmer and Mandelson is being buried by a conspiracy of silence. Read my latest here: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/the-real-story-tying-starmer-and22 Apr 2026 16:07 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk3uxa3ws223https://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mjzz4rlq5k25"The tank is perfectly symbolic of the ego, of its hostility, aggression, rejection, hatred." On a visit to a tank museum, David Edwards seeks answers to the question of why war is such a perennial feature of human experience. https://medialens.substack.com/p/a-lefty-progressive-goes-to-the-tank21 Apr 2026 22:16 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjzz4rlq5k25https://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mjwblel6hk2sIsrael completely destroying your home – with all its history, family heirlooms and memories erased – is "bittersweet", reports the Guardian.20 Apr 2026 10:37 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjwblel6hk2shttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mjw5hmm46227I lived for 20 years in Nazareth, the biggest Palestinian Christian community inside Israel. From there, I wrote this piece on how Israel has spent decades slowly eradicating the presence of Palestinian Christians from the birthplace of Christianity: https://www.jonathan-cook.net/2020-06-07/exodus-palestinian-christians/20 Apr 2026 09:23 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjw5hmm46227https://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mjrdisz5622vFrom Jimmy Savile to Peter Mandelson, Sir Keir Starmer has proved he is the most clueless man ever to have entered high office. Here are a few highlights of his long history of career-enhancing ignorance. Matthew Alford reads my latest: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/listen-starmers-go-to-excuse-i-was18 Apr 2026 11:28 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjrdisz5622vhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mjoxaye6us2oFrom Jimmy Savile to Peter Mandelson, Starmer has followed a trajectory of career-enhancing ignorance. He knows far more than he lets on. It's the reason, after all, why he was knighted. Read my latest article here: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/starmers-go-to-excuse-i-was-in-the17 Apr 2026 12:44 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjoxaye6us2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mix2becxbk2sTony Blair’s latest deceit-riddled column vilifies the UK left to justify genocide. Matthew Alford reads my latest: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/listen-blairs-latest-deceit-riddled08 Apr 2026 00:34 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mix2becxbk2shttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3miw7kyv46c2vTony Blair proves there’s no price to be paid for engineering mass slaughter in the service of western empire. Which is why those crimes not only continue, but grow in scale. Read my latest article here: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/blairs-latest-deceit-riddled-column07 Apr 2026 16:36 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3miw7kyv46c2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3miw3uiaha22rTrump: "God bless the Great People of Iran ... I am going to exterminate them tonight." The ravings of a madman with his finger on the nuclear button. God protect us all.07 Apr 2026 15:30 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3miw3uiaha22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mivo655wpk2eThe sort of people who shouldn't have access to a nuclear bomb, according to Trump: "People who are sick of mind. Tough, smart and sick. ... Mentally these are disturbed people. And powerful and rich. If you think I'm going to allow them to have a nuclear weapon..."07 Apr 2026 11:24 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mivo655wpk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3miodardes22iThe perfect image of Israel's depraved occupation: A grey-haired Palestinian man, zip-tied and blindfolded, forced to hold a sign promoting the jewellery business of his Israeli captor. For decades, the Israeli army has been managing a giant land-theft extortion racket.04 Apr 2026 13:20 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3miodardes22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mijt3uprec23Trita Parsi on how Israel is systematically killing off Iran's consensus-makers – the latest is former foreign minister Kamal Kharazi – to make sure Trump has no one to negotiate with.02 Apr 2026 18:21 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mijt3uprec23https://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3miiqym6fmk2vMatthew Alford digs out the PhD thesis, on Lord Byron's poetry, from Birmingham University of Prof Mohammad Marandi. In it, he finds insights into the mind of the man who's become "the most well-known Iranian spokesperson in the Western world". More here: https://drmattalford.substack.com/p/the-forgotten-phd-that-may-explain02 Apr 2026 08:10 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3miiqym6fmk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3migw2sxdr22kThe West's current crime spree in the Middle East: A genocidal campaign of carpet-bombing and starvation in Gaza. A war of aggression on Iran wrecking the global economy. The ethnic cleansing of South Lebanon. It's so overwhelming it's impossible to absorb the scale of it.01 Apr 2026 14:36 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3migw2sxdr22khttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3migjgglzv22oGranny holding a cardboard sign = terrorist. Former al-Qaeda leader wearing a suit = honoured guest of the British government.01 Apr 2026 10:50 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3migjgglzv22ohttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mie2ogcdxk2nIsrael committed genocide in Gaza, mostly likely killing 100,000s of Palestinians. Now the UK and European foreign ministers worry that Israel passing an apartheid death penalty law for Palestinians might "undermine Israel’s commitments with regards to democratic principles".31 Mar 2026 11:20 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mie2ogcdxk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mibl6sejfc2hIsrael is making sure Trump can't find an off-ramp in Iran. Read my latest here: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-making-sure-trump-cannot-find-ramp-iran30 Mar 2026 11:38 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mibl6sejfc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mi4uuufej22pBinary thinking over whether the US or Israel is driving the illegal war on Iran obscures far more than it illuminates. The truth is the dog and the tail are wagging each other. Matthew Alford reads my latest: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/listen-does-the-tail-wag-the-dog28 Mar 2026 14:48 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mi4uuufej22phttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mi2avnxw3c2xBinary thinking in the argument over whether the US or Israel is driving the illegal war on Iran obscures far more than it illuminates. The truth is the dog and the tail are wagging each other. Read my latest here: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/does-the-tail-wag-the-dog-how-both27 Mar 2026 13:45 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mi2avnxw3c2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mhszf3ari22wWesterners are softened up for aggressive, global US militarism – of the kind all too evident in the war on Iran – through the Pentagon’s control over thousands of blockbuster films and TV shows. Matthew Alford reads a 2022 article with renewed relevance: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/replay-how-the-pentagon-dictates24 Mar 2026 16:42 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhszf3ari22whttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mhoqoohggc2uAll day the BBC has aired an Israeli military lie that the UK is not involved in the war on Iran – even as British bases host US bombers attacking Tehran. A patent Israeli falsehood being amplified by the BBC without a trace of pushback.22 Mar 2026 23:56 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhoqoohggc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/jonathan-cook.bsky.social/post/3mhopfuvulk2yThe BBC's Lucy Williamson says Israel is destroying south Lebanon "using Gaza as a model – a blueprint for destruction used again as a path to peace". That's right: genocide as "a path to peace". Orwell would be proud.22 Mar 2026 23:33 +0000at://did:plc:rf3titnx2okrypvnpcnukd4f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhopfuvulk2y