New Internationalist • 9th November 2023

The UK kids skipping school for Palestine

From school strikes to assembly boycotts, Lydia Noon reports on how children are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.‘There’s one ribbon for each of the children killed in Gaza,’ said Zeinab*, gesturing to a large plastic box of green, white, red and black ribbons in the colours of the Palestinian flag. ‘I hope there’s enough,’ she added quietly. On Friday 3 November, Zeinab’s two children joined around 400 others from across Bristol, southwest England, as part of the city’s School Strike For Pal...

1st December 2020

Iran's #MeToo moment

Iranian women are calling out perpretrators of sexual violence online, in what has been dubbed Iran's #MeToo movement.

30th November 2019

In conversation with... Nonhle Mbtumba

On the day that London’s annual Mines and Money conference holds its Women in Mining Networking Drinks, the frontline defender talks of bribes, death threats and her community’s defiance of its government.

24th October 2019

39 souls: trauma, memory, and rage at the UK's unjust border policies

If we need someone to blame for the state of our country, that fault doesn't lie with 39 bodies in the back of a refrigerated truck. It doesn't lie with those who believed us when we said 'Great Britain'.

New Internationalist • 13th September 2019

How a London arms fair shields the war on Yemen

How a London arms fair shields the war on Yemen At the invitation of the UK government, this week Saudi representatives are buying bombs in London at DSEI, the world’s largest weapons fair, and the state-owned arms company, Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), is exhibiting its equipment to equally unscrupulous regimes. At the same time, a different kind of exhibition is going on: the work of Ahmad Jahaf, Yemeni graphic designer, digital artist and freelance reporter, is being displayed a

openDemocracy • 28th January 2019

Brexit is good news for those in the business of war

Lydia Noon reflects on a busy week for those seeking and profiteering from arms deals, and the hypocrisy of it. While Brits have grown accustomed to turbulence in political fairyland, last week the action has moved from Whitehall to hotels, and the subject matter has been the UK’s future as cheerleader for free trade.

29th December 2018

Major incident due to desperate souls crossing a dangerous channel

Sajid Javid announced a major incident today after another wooden, half-broken boat carrying eight Iranian men making its way to the shores of Dover. In the last two weeks, 220 people have either successfully crossed the channel in a boat or been rescued or intercepted in British waters.

New Internationalist • 10th December 2018

Stansted15: ‘To be found guilty of a terror-related charge is devastating’

Today is Human Rights Day and fifteen migrant rights campaigners, dubbed the Stansted15, have just been found guilty of a terror-related charge by a jury. After a nine-week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court for preventing a chartered immigration removal flight from taking off on 28 March last year, the protesters were convicted of putting the safety of Stansted airport and passengers at risk.

12th November 2018

Defence case draws to a close in Stansted15 deportations trial

Human rights campaigners are in court for blocking a charter flight last March. Lydia Noon reports from Chelmsford Crown Court.

Mondoweiss • 15th May 2018

London stages multiple protests in solidarity with Palestine

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Twitter feed is quiet of news of Palestine, she has not written a heartfelt message or postponed her busy schedule to remember the dead.

Mondoweiss • 9th May 2018

Bedouins outside of Jerusalem wrestle with uncertain future

Two young girls are walking through Abu Nuwar’s rocky and exposed terrain, near a defeated-looking donkey and tattered structures with metal roofs. Spotting me, they ask who I am looking for and give me directions for how to find Abu Imad, a community spokesperson for the Palestinian Bedouin village in the West Bank.

Corporate Occupation • 23rd April 2018

Bedouin community’s fight against demolition rests on imminent court case – corporate occupation

Metres away from a busy highway, Israeli trucks whizzing past, a poster blows in the wind displaying the name of a Bedouin village, Khan al Ahmar. Next to it is a message written in Hebrew about the demolition orders that the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA) have served on the village, part of the Jahalin community.

1st March 2018

The girls of Enghelab Street

Co-written with a woman who lives in Tehran and wishes to remain anonymous.

7th February 2018

In conversation with... Zarifa Adiba

Lydia Noon talks to the Afghan music conductor about changing attitudes and almost meeting Michelle Obama.

openDemocracy • 6th December 2017

Nigel Farage, Aaron Banks, and the ugly face of metals mining

The two leading Brexiteers gave keynote speeches at an exclusive Mines & Money conference in London last week – as communities whose livelihoods, health and environments are being destroyed, protested outside.

Mondoweiss • 6th November 2017

Thousands march to UK parliament calling for justice on Balfour centenary

Olive branches, a huge Palestinian flag carried by eight people, a large cardboard drawing of Lord Arthur Balfour and Theresa May cartoons were some of the creative props displayed during London’s lively march on Saturday, November 4th to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.

Mondoweiss • 7th September 2017

‘Dabke not destruction’: Activists protest Israel’s participation in UK arms fair

As a lorry earmarked for London’s weapons fair approaches, a group of people suddenly hold hands and start Palestinian Dabke dancing in the road. A police officer tries to get everyone to move but inadvertently finds himself in the middle of a circle of dancing activists.

New Internationalist • 1st September 2017

An overdue apology

It's 100 years since Britain declared its support for the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel.

The Ecologist • 2nd August 2017

Cuadrilla 'takes risks' as fracking resistance rolls on

Direct action is a central part of the carnival of resistance against fracking by Cuadrilla in Lancashire. The colourful demonstration was organised by environmental action group Reclaim the Power as the finale of a month of "rolling resistance".

Mondoweiss • 10th July 2017

London’s Palestine Expo defies smear campaign attracting more than 15,000

“No-one will ever silence me, and I will speak my mind,” says 16-year-old Leanne Mohamad, a British-Palestinian activist, to enthusiastic applause at the Palestine Expo.