Next Wednesday sees the launch of Double Down Newswatch, a new weekly magazine programme that will showcase the best of independent media. Here I explain why it's needed. youtube.com/watch?v=O8OBmdrB…

- @JonathanSGlass was one of the leading figures in the campaign against Jeremy Corbyn. Just in case there is anyone out there who still believes these people were campaigners against racism.

🔴 Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says it has been forced to shut down its Gaza office after 15 years of operation, citing an escalating Israeli campaign of threats and punitive measures against the organization and its staff that intensified after it published a report documenting sexual violence against Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities. Euro-Med said Israeli officials, media platforms, and affiliated actors are waging disinformation and defamation campaigns, alongside making direct and indirect threats, including calls for the “physical assassination” of senior staff members. Euro-Med also said Israeli authorities imposed movement restrictions targeting dozens of staff. The organization described the closure as a precautionary measure rather than a retreat, saying its mission to document human rights violations in Gaza will continue.

Four Britons have been sentenced for their connections to terrorism. Just not these four.

I spent all day in Woolwich Crown Court yesterday for the Filton activists' sentencing hearing with my colleague @daniaakkad. The court heard that the Terrorism Act was never intended to cover direct action protest. It heard that all of the defendants had been cleared of violent intent and sentencing them as terrorists would mark a historic first for charges of criminal damage. It heard that the Suffragettes, who did "a bit of smashing themselves", would have been labelled as terrorists but have now been vindicated by history. It heard the activists' goal was to stop the supply chain of drones and weaponry to Israel as it commits genocide in Gaza. It heard that attaching a terrorism connection to a case without it ever being heard by a jury was unconstitutional and posed a threat to the criminal justice system itself. It heard that the "terrorism connection" has been disproportionately used against minority groups and those advocating for them while not being used for neo-Nazis and white supremacists, including the man who killed Jo Cox MP. It heard that the law has been reinterpreted since the action took place, meaning the activists could have had no idea that what they did could have been caught up in terrorism laws at the time of the protest. It heard that the prosecution submitted key evidence just eight days before the hearing, giving the defence no time to review it or even discuss it with their clients. Despite all of this, Judge Jeremy Johnson, who has already tried to refer the defence's lead barrister for contempt of court and been forced to apologise for it, sentenced the defendants as terrorists. The judgment was handed down within minutes, indicating Judge Johnson had already made his mind up before the hearing had begun. Being in court yesterday felt akin to witnessing a colonial crime: punishing activists with terrorism offences in order to set a precedent that taking direct action to stop a UK-backed genocide will not be tolerated.

My thanks to Terry Edge and Karim Mussilhy for coming in to the Double Down Newswatch studio to talk about the 9th anniversary of the Grenfell Fire - a shocking tale of the decline and degradation of the British state. youtube.com/watch?v=rxsHermv…

Jeremy Johnson - in 50 years time this will be the only 1.39 minutes of your life you'll be remembered for. It'll be played in genocide museums to sum up the complicity and callous brutality of the British state in the face of the slaughter of the Palestinian people - and the courage of those who opposed it.

As @TrevorPTweets scuttles off to take his place at the right hand of disgraced propagandist @bariweiss at CBS, let's recall his enduring contribution to anti-racist discourse in the UK.

Remember what the Filton actionists did They decommissioned the machinery of genocide The moral equivalent of destroying Zyklon B canisters at Auschwitz A British judge is now sentencing them as 'terrorists' for it

🚨BREAKING -- A judge has ruled that four Palestine Action activists will be sentenced with a "terrorism connection". Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, and Charlotte Head appeared in Woolwich Crown Court today after being convicted of criminal damage at an Elbit Systems factory in 2024. Judge Johnson ruled: "I am sure each of the defendant's offence involved serious damage to property, was designed to influence the UK government, to intimidate a section of the public, and was for the purpose of advancing a political or ideological cause". The section of the public referred to by Johnson was employees of and companies linked to Elbit Systems, which he said constitutes a "section of the public". Johnson added: "It follows I am bound by this legislation to find that the offence in each case had a terrorist connection and apply that as an aggravating factor in increasing the seriousness of the offence". This is the first time in British history that terrorism provisions have been used against direct action activists.

How to Distract a Nation: The "Two-Tier Policing" Smoke Screen @pularjs doubledown.news/watch/2026/j…

Meet the new Leader of Lambeth Council! @Martin_Abrams has big plans for the borough... 📖 Opening up the council, listening to resident voices 🏠 Tackling the housing emergency 🌎 Putting climate and social justice at the heart of everything we do 👀 Watch this space

Let's be honest. There is a political hierarchy of racism in this country where shocking attacks on one Community get widespread condemnation and COBRA meetings whilst violent programs and attacks on other communities get next to no response. Shocking

Martin Forde KC speaks to Double Down Newswatch about the racist riots and the backlash following the Henry Nowak verdict. A rare voice of santiy amidst the hysteria. youtube.com/watch?v=tvt8GI0d…

Western media coverage of Gaza was, and is, criminally inept - a powerful denunciation from @jeremyscahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of @DropSiteNews - whose own coverage was a model of what should have been. From @PDeepDive