Welcome to Andy Worthington

Promoting an important date in Guantánamo’s calendar: December 6, when the prison will have been open for 8,000 days. Please join me in marking this terrible milestone by taking a photo with the 8,000 days poster via the Close Guantánamo campaign, and, if possible, joining one of the dozen or so monthly coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo, which take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and which, on December 6, happen to coincide with 8,000 days of the prison’s existence.

My report about the inspiring visit to the Houses of Parliament last week by former Guantánamo prisoner Mansoor Adayfi, where he was welcomed by Chris Law MP, the co-chair of the recently established All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Closure of the Guantánamo Detention Facility.

My analysis of how Israel is engaged in a ‘war on hospitals’ in Gaza. This is prohibited under international humanitarian law, because hospitals are protected facilities, which cannot be attacked, or prevented from performing their medical functions. In Gaza, however, Israel has been both attacking hospitals, and preventing them from functioning, claiming, without presenting any credible evidence, that they are being used as a front for military activities. Israel’s intent, as I see it, is to make Gaza uninhabitable, and to facilitate its dream of the total ethnic cleansing of its 2.3 million inhabitants, even though that seems like an empty hope, as well as being a crime against humanity, related to Israel’s genocidal intent in Gaza.

My interview about Israel’s war on Gaza with Andy Bungay of Riverside Radio, a community radio station in London, in which we discussed how Israel is engaged in a genocide, my horror at the killing of Palestinian civilians in such huge numbers, and the disgraceful and unacceptable support for Israel in the countries of the west.

I look at the “complete siege” of Gaza — of water, food, fuel and medical supplies — focusing in particular on the truly alarming plight of the premature babies in Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, whose incubators no longer work because all fuel supplies for electricity have run out. The siege was imposed 38 days ago, and has generally gained less attention than the relentless bombing, although its impact is truly devastating, and particularly with reference to Israel’s repeated attacks on hospitals, and the plight of the babies, which, as I describe it, “may well end up being the defining focal point for the true horror” of Israel’s attacks.

Linking to and discussing my recent interview with Chris Cook on his Gorilla Radio show in Victoria, Canada, in which we discussed Guantánamo, the coordinated monthly vigils for its closure, which I initiated earlier this year, the ongoing assault by Israel on the civilian population of Gaza, and the global outpouring of support for the Palestinians.

Promoting ‘The Legacy of the War on Terror: Guantánamo Bay’, an inspiring panel discussion about Guantánamo, taking place in SOAS in London on Tuesday November 21, featuring myself, and former prisoners Moazzam Begg and Mansoor Adayfi.

As the death toll in Gaza, over the last 32 days, reaches 10,569 people, including 4,324 children and babies and 2,823 women, I assess whether this constitutes a genocide, with reference to the Genocide Convention of 1948. I also look back on Israel’s 75-year history, and its constant conflict with, and suppression of the Palestinians, to establish a context for the increasing savagery of its attacks, especially since Gaza was sealed off and turned into an “open air prison” 17 years ago, and particularly, over the last 32 days, since the deadly attacks by Hamas militants on October 7. I also castigate western leaders for their failure to recognize the severity of Israel’s assault, and the possibility that they might be held complicit, and also examine the peril to humanity of having so many armchair genocide supporters amongst us.

Photos from, and my report about the ten coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on November 1, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco, Mexico City, Copenhagen, Detroit, Minneapolis, Cobleskill, NY and Los Angeles. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men (out of the 30 still imprisoned) who have been approved for release but are still held — as of November 1, between 404 and 5,031 days since the US authorities first decided that they no longer wanted to hold them.

An update on the Gaza crisis, as the number of Palestinian civilians killed in Israeli bombing raids since October 7 surpasses the number of Muslims murdered in the Srebrenica Massacre in 1995, which was later judged to have been a genocide. And yet, as I note, western leaders still almost entirely defend Israel’s actions, and refuse to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, leading me to wonder if they are not aware that one day they will be judged as having been complicit in a genocide. I also examine whether Israel has a plan beyond all this indiscriminate slaughter, and note recent suggestions that what they are hoping to achieve — even though it seems impossible — is the expulsion of all of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants to the Sinai Peninsula, which, even if feasible, would constitute the most monstrous act of forced displacement (another war crime) since the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were displaced.