Freedom of speech – War Watch

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Digital media | Donald Trump | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel-Gaza war | Israel–Iran War | Media | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestine | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | UK news | US news | World news

Why is Hasan Piker ‘not conducive to the public good’? Because on Gaza, we punish the witness, not the crime | Arwa Mahdawi
ByArwa Mahdawi June 4, 2026

The UK has banned Piker and Cenk Uygur from entry – but the objectionable things they’ve said are not more dangerous than Israel itselfThis week, the British government banned Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur, two leftwing US commentators with millions of fo…

Read More Why is Hasan Piker ‘not conducive to the public good’? Because on Gaza, we punish the witness, not the crime | Arwa Mahdawi
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Censorship | Donald Trump | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Internet | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Technology | World news

‘This isn’t freedom’: anger, anxiety and tears as Iran’s internet flickers back
ByDeepa Parent May 28, 2026

After 88 days of near-total blackout, first reactions to the return of partial connectivity were not celebratoryAfter 88 days of near-total internet blackout in Iran, long-delayed messages, images and poems flooded phones and social media feeds at abou…

Read More ‘This isn’t freedom’: anger, anxiety and tears as Iran’s internet flickers back
Antisemitism | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Donald Trump | Europe | France | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestine | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | World news

In France, pro-Palestinian solidarity is being silenced and criminalised | Rokhaya Diallo
ByRokhaya Diallo May 22, 2026

The government’s deeply illiberal ‘Yadan bill’ may be dead. But the threat to legitimate protest certainly is notTensions in France over how to respond to a rise in antisemitism have been running high. A government-backed bill that aimed to deal with t…

Read More In France, pro-Palestinian solidarity is being silenced and criminalised | Rokhaya Diallo
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Donald Trump | Education | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Higher education | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Law | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Open University | Palestine | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | UK news | Universities | World news

Worried about freedom of speech? Then what’s happening at the Open University should terrify you | Owen Jones
ByOwen Jones March 2, 2026

The OU has capitulated to a pro-Israel lobby group about the use of the term ‘ancient Palestine’. The wider context is impossible to ignoreThe west is in the midst of the most serious assault on free speech and academic freedom since the heyday of McCa…

Read More Worried about freedom of speech? Then what’s happening at the Open University should terrify you | Owen Jones
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Donald Trump | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nobel peace prize | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Protest | World news

Nobel laureate transferred to prison in northern Iran without warning
ByAFP February 14, 2026

Concern grows over Narges Mohammadi’s health, family says, after reports of ‘life-threatening mistreatment’Iranian authorities have without prior warning transferred Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to a prison in the north of the country as…

Read More Nobel laureate transferred to prison in northern Iran without warning
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Donald Trump | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Protest | World news

Iran sentences Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi to seven more years in prison
ByAssociated Press in Dubai February 8, 2026

Women’s and human rights activist, arrested at a demonstration in December, is said to be on hunger strikeIran has sentenced the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to more than seven more years in prison after she began a hunger strike, her su…

Read More Iran sentences Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi to seven more years in prison
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What does ‘globalise the intifada’ mean, and why does NSW want to ban the chant?
BySarah Basford Canales December 23, 2025

While Chris Minns has labelled the slogan ‘hateful, violent rhetoric’, others view it as an expression of support for Palestinians. Should contested phrases be outlawed?Activist groups to challenge NSW protest laws on free speech grounds as Chris Minns…

Read More What does ‘globalise the intifada’ mean, and why does NSW want to ban the chant?
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Comedy | Culture | Donald Trump | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Saudi Arabia | World news

We know what the comedians got out of the Riyadh comedy festival. What about the Saudi regime? | Jonathan Liew
ByJonathan Liew October 9, 2025

The tawdry event was an ultimately doomed attempt by the Saudi government to buy the kind of authentic grassroots culture it is unwilling to countenance Continue reading…

Read More We know what the comedians got out of the Riyadh comedy festival. What about the Saudi regime? | Jonathan Liew
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Comedy | Culture | Donald Trump | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Saudi Arabia | World news

We know what the comedians got out of the Riyadh comedy festival. What about the Saudi regime? | Jonathan Liew
ByJonathan Liew October 9, 2025

The tawdry event was an ultimately doomed attempt by the Saudi government to buy the kind of authentic grassroots culture it is unwilling to countenance Continue reading…

Read More We know what the comedians got out of the Riyadh comedy festival. What about the Saudi regime? | Jonathan Liew
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Donald Trump | Freedom of speech | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel-Gaza war | Israel–Iran War | Journalist safety | Media | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestine | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Press freedom

Gaza has become journalism’s graveyard. Killing journalists is killing the truth | Anthony Bellanger
ByAnthony Bellanger October 3, 2025

If we accept that reporters die in Gaza, we pave the way for other regimes to consider the murder of journalists a normal instrument of warHistory will only be kind to witnesses. In Gaza, it will remember the name of Anas al-Sharif, a young Al Jazeera …

Read More Gaza has become journalism’s graveyard. Killing journalists is killing the truth | Anthony Bellanger