Welcome to Andy Worthington

Linking to and discussing my latest appearance on Gorilla Radio, the weekly radio show from western Canada run by Chris Cook, who has been interviewing me on a regular basis for many years, in which, for 30 minutes, we discussed various aspects of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, following up on my recent article, ‘Ending Israel’s Impunity for Genocide in Gaza, and the Threat to Those, Like Joe Biden, Who Are Most Complicit’, and also following up on recent reports about conditions in Israel’s brutal and fundamentally lawless prisons for Palestinians.

The video of my recent interview with Cathy Vogan and Elizabeth Vos of Consortium News, discussing Guantánamo, my involvement with researching, writing about and campaigning to get the prison closed for the last 18 years, and my involvement with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as a media partner on the release of classified military files from Guantánamo, published in 2011.

My latest long read about Israel’s seemingly unstoppable genocide in Gaza, as displaced civilians are bombed and burnt alive in makeshift tents in Rafah, in an area they were told was a “safe zone,” in which I revisit the lies told by Israel and its western backers in an attempt to justify its actions, and provide a summary of the almost innumerable ways in which, in contrast, Israel, with western support, has, completely unjustifiably, murdered 40,000 civilians and destroyed almost the whole of the Gaza Strip. I also examine the efforts to hold Israel accountable through the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which, on May 24, delivered its third, and most strongly worded ruling this year, but I note how the UN is hobbled by the veto wielded by the five permanent members of the Security Council, including, most notably, the US, and how, problematically, the court has no enforcement mechanism. I also examine the recent, and unexpected announcement by Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), that he intends to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, and conclude that international humanitarian law, established after the Second World War, is now being tested as never before, as those who set it up, and, crucially, included Israel in its group of ‘western’ countries who never thought that the rules would apply to them, are now exposing their colonial supremacist mindset more shockingly than ever before, defending and supporting the most barbaric and inexcusable genocide on behalf of another country, which, they believe, should be above the law. My hope, in conclusion, is that, because so many people are so implacably opposed to allowing Israel’s crimes to go unpunished, Israel itself, and the countries that support it, led by the US, can no longer get away with putting Israel’s demands — reinforced through powerful lobbying groups — before their own citizens’ wishes, and that meaningful change, via the collapse of Zionism, the liberation of Palestine, and the collapse of the western power structures that prioritize Israel over themselves, will have to prevail.

My unapologetic condemnation of the Biden administration for stopping the release from Guantánamo, in October, of eleven men who have long been approved for release. The men were supposed to be resettled in Oman, but the deal was pulled at the last minute, as a result of what NBC News, which broke the story, based on the accounts of four administration officials, called the “political optics after Hamas’ attack on Israel.” These men, all Yemenis, who were unanimously approved for release by high-level US government review processes between 607 and 1,301 days ago — and, in one case, 5,234 days ago — cannot even challenge the outrageous politicized decision to cancel their release, because the decisions taken to free them in the first place were purely administrative, meaning that they are completely outside the US legal system. With no ability to ask a judge to order their release, these men, held for the most part for over 20 years without charge or trial, have no idea if they will ever be freed, as that decision is dependant on the whims of two men in particular — President Biden and Antony Blinken — who wield absolutely power over their lives, just as George W. Bush did when he first opened Guantánamo over 22 years ago.

My response to today’s major victory for Julian Assange in his five-year struggle to prevent his extradition to the US to face espionage charges relating to the publication by WikiLeaks, in 2010 and 2011, of classified US files leaked by Chelsea Manning. In the UK High Court, judges allowed him to appeal on the basis of his right not to be prejudiced against because of his nationality (he is an Australian citizen), and his entitlement to the protections of the US First Amendment. On this latter point, the US government refused to provide adequate assurances that he would be entitled to First Amendment Rights, even though they guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The decision highlights the US government’s shameful efforts to portray Assange as someone other than a journalist and publisher whose publication of files leaked by Chelsea Manning took place alongside some of the world’s most significant newspapers. It is shameful that only Julian Assange has been singled out for punishment, and even more shameful that the Biden administration failed to drop the extradition request, initiated by Donald Trump, despite its devious and unacceptable efforts not only to prevent Assange from having the protection of the First Amendment, but also to portray him as some kind of terrorist.

In my latest article about Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, I reflect on the latest death toll and the scale of the destruction, and invite western readers to reflect on what this scale of death and destruction would mean if over 100,000 bombs had been dropped on comparable areas in the west — half of New York, or a quarter of London — in a seven-month period. I also examine the ceasefire proposal recently agreed to by Hamas, but turned down by Israel, and assess Benjamin Netanyahu’s obsession with invading Rafah as the continuation of what has now become Israel’s sole purpose: the continued eradication of the whole of the Gaza Strip, and the murder of as many Palestinians as possible. I also look at the few hopeful signs that an end could possibly be in sight — increasing anger within Israel that the hostages in Gaza are being sacrificed for Netanyahu’s quenchless thirst for genocide, alarm in military circles in both Israel and the US about the risks of Israel’s actions in Gaza turning into an endless, pointless quagmire, alarm within the Democratic Party that they will lose to Donald Trump in November unless the conflict is brought to an end, and the emerging awareness of what “the day after” would mean in practice — reconstruction efforts that, as the UN Development Programme has estimated, will take until 2040 and cost at least $40bn (£32bn), even if an end to hostilities takes place soon. The alternative, as I point out, is the completely unacceptable realization of the darkest wish of Netanyahu and his ministers — a truly alarming “forever genocide.”

My review of, and photos from ‘Palestine Vision’, an extraordinary evening of Palestinian music at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill on May 7, taking place to protest against Israel’s inclusion in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which included an electrifying appearance by Palestinian hip-hop legend Tamer Nafar, and a moving set by rising pop star Bashar Murad, who set to music ‘If I Must Die’ by the much-loved poet and academic Refaat Alareer, who was targeted and murdered by Israel in Gaza in December. My video of Bashar’s musical version of Refaat’s poem is included.

In my latest article about Israel’s genocide in Gaza, I provide a re-cap on the last seven months of horror in Gaza, in which over 42,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been murdered by Israel. I also condemn the Israeli regime and the western governments providing unconditional support, but note how unparalleled numbers of people have switched off from largely uncritical mainstream media (with the brave exception of Al Jazeera), and are refusing to conform, through their engagement with what, globally, must be the largest protest movement in human history. I also celebrate the student protests on US campuses, deplore the violent response by many university administrators and the police, and express my hope that, not only will the protests continue, but that students’ call for their universities to divest from organizations complicit in Israel’s genocide will expand to recognize that the genocidal war machine is just part of the capitalist death cult of the third decade of the 21st century, and that what is also needed is wholesale divestment from every aspect of this sick system, which is not only erasing Gaza, but is also committed to making the prospect of life on earth untenable for all of us.

Photos from, and my report about the eight vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place across the US and around the world on May 1, 2024, the latest in an ongoing series of monthly coordinated global vigils that began last year. The vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and the next date is June 5.

The video of my hour-long discussion, with Emmy Butlin and other members of the Julian Assange Defence Committee, about the 13th anniversary of the release, by WikiLeaks, of classified military files about the Guantánamo prisoners, leaked, along with other classified documents, by Chelsea Manning. I was a media partner for the release of the files, along with numerous major newspapers from the US, the UK and the EU, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to discuss my Guantánamo work in general, my work on the files released in 2011 and their significance, and also to provide an update about the sad and shameful situation at Guantánamo today, where 30 men are still held.