Out of interest I searched Jones' twitter account for the names and twitter accounts of Sarah Wilkinson, Craig Murray, Richie Medhurst, Asa Winstanley and Ali Abunimah - ie: the prominent pro-Palestine activists who have been arrested and abused by police in the UK and elsewhere. There was nothing on the first four, and only a grudging expression of 'solidarity' with Abunimah after they had a spat in early Jan over his endorsement of the a/s 'crisis' in Labour:
Possibly he's mentioned them on his youtube channel, but I'd be inclined to view it as him performing a gatekeeping role and knowing what subjects he's allowed to talk about and which ones are verboten.
Some recent views on Ukraine fyi: 'Jan 18 Replying to @CryptoTounsi @Charlie533080 You are a genuinely unhinged person aren’t you? What’s your accusation here, Russia is funding me? I support the arming of Ukraine against Russia’s murderous invasion. Go and ask a Putinist if they think that makes me one of them
Jan 17 Replying to @callumcormie I support arming Ukraine and I see you have returned to my mentions to bore me to death
13 Dec 2024 Replying to @alex_kokcharov I’ve done multiple videos on Ukraine, and no offence, but do you struggle with basic comprehension?
Gaza is a genocide facilitated and armed by the West, and legitimised by our media.
The West is rightly arming Ukraine’s defence, and our media unanimously opposes the invasion - the exact opposite.
My job is to hold my rulers to account for their failures. What exactly do you think I’d be adding on Ukraine which isn’t already covered exactly
13 Dec 2024 Replying to @alex_kokcharov wtf? I’ve repeatedly denounced Russia’s criminal murderous invasion of Ukraine. My government isn’t arming and facilitating that invasion, it’s arming and defending the victim. Notice any difference with Israel and Gaza?
10 Dec 2024 Replying to @ccdunnett @Kittwelve @laylarrrrrrs @geogvma My constant sneering towards Ukrainians, otherwise known as 'supporting Ukraine in its just war of liberation against Russia's war of aggression'
9 Dec 2024 Replying to @TomMadge_Hi @geogvma Because you’re an unhinged and unreasonable zealot? I’ve consistently made clear my position on Ukraine: support its self defence against murderous Russian aggression. If you consider me an opponent then this speaks to your fanaticism and nothing else
9 Feb 2023 Ukraine is fighting a just, defensive war of liberation against a murderous invasion launched by a kleptocratic, chauvinist, far right autocracy.
There’s nothing left wing about allowing nations to be conquered and subjugated by oppressors.
9 Dec 2024 Replying to @geogvma @TomMadge_Hi I mean, I think Ukraine is the victim of a barbaric war of aggression and support its just war of self defence.
I’ve always supported the Palestinian cause, and not a single person who knows me thinks I’m driven by anything other than my beliefs.
I get all the animosity to Jones because of his establishment friendly positions on Ukraine, Syria etc and his role in supporting the fake antisemitism narrative used to undermine Corbyn and the left.
I am willing to believe his moral outrage over Gaza is genuine, though. He has certainly burnt his boats with the Zionist lobby. Whatever his motives, history will prove him right in calling out the Gaza genocide for what it is, while most of the MSM didn't. That's all that matters.
Posted this to draw attention to what I thought a particularly vile and sad war crime, not Jones(nm)
Clio the cat, ? July 1997 - 1 May 2016 Kira the cat, ? ? 2010 - 3 August 2018 Jasper the Ruffian cat ? ? ? - 4 November 2021
No to showing all the other media coverage of the story.
Posted by RaskolnikovX on February 18, 2025, 7:27 pm, in reply to "Er, no what? nm"
Not to mention all the other work he's done on Gaza. Guilty on Corbyn and the rest but he was a "gutless poltroon" anyway, right? This Three or four word condemnation schtick is tediously sanctimonious and when the major tactic of the media is lie by omission having someone with his reach calling the apartheid state out is a good thing. Keep on edge-lording though; we always need an answer to, "Whatever happened to the Judean Popular People's Front?"The corporate media are complicit in the Gaza genocide. Never forget what they did. Never forgive them for it.
Re: No to showing all the other media coverage of the story.
You are easily pleased, several editors have pointed out that he's not to be trusted and yet you want to mollycoddle him. Why?The last working-class hero in England.
Clio the cat, ? July 1997 - 1 May 2016 Kira the cat, ? ? 2010 - 3 August 2018 Jasper the Ruffian cat ? ? ? - 4 November 2021
Re: No to showing all the other media coverage of the story.
I don't and I've explained why his Gazza reporting is a good thing. His past shows he has a lack of principles so remember it and factor it into any analysis of his output. It doesn't have any bearing on his work on Gaza imo.The corporate media are complicit in the Gaza genocide. Never forget what they did. Never forgive them for it.
Re: No to showing all the other media coverage of the story.
.. grudges don't work in the case of his Gaza stance. He's stepped out, clearly against BBC's appalling effort to propagandise, revealing the cracks thereof. We can comeback to his past record later. We have time ..
Re: Spot on ..
Posted by ceemac666 on February 19, 2025, 1:45 am, in reply to "Spot on .."
Sometimes it is forgotten that people can have a "correct" opinion on one subject and be quite wrong on another.I,d say this is common to the majority of us.
Re: Spot on ..
Posted by Keith-264 on February 19, 2025, 3:53 am, in reply to "Spot on .."
"Grudge"? Come off it, this is a matter of principle.The last working-class hero in England.
Clio the cat, ? July 1997 - 1 May 2016 Kira the cat, ? ? 2010 - 3 August 2018 Jasper the Ruffian cat ? ? ? - 4 November 2021
Re: Spot on ..
Posted by t on February 23, 2025, 12:03 am, in reply to "Re: Spot on .."
.. this is a matter of principle.
Naivety galore as in Graucho's maxim: These are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others.
Hence grudge is next on the menu in realpolitik.
Re: Owen Jones...One Of Israel's VILEST War Crimes Yet - Where Is The Media Outrage?
Can't speak for others but i tend to pile onto Jones because of my suspician that he is a bad actor. If that was the case he would need to be 'right' about some things to build up collateral to expend later.
My suspicion is based on the extremely 'unfortunate' timing of his previous analytical lapses. He is having one right now in promoting the Empire in ukraine while being shocked and appalled by it palestine.
I was pleased to see him doing some solid work exposing a bbc mossad unit and was happy to forward it around, but i still don't think his stance on gaza is all that matters.
Palestine Chronicle: '‘Walk or Die’: Israeli Officer Used 80-Year-Old Palestinian as a Human Shield'
...based on the same sources as Jones' video (I read the transcript):
*****
‘Walk or Die’: Israeli Officer Used 80-Year-Old Palestinian as a Human Shield February 16, 2025
Israeli troops tied explosives around an elderly Palestinian’s neck—then shot him and his wife as they tried to flee, according to a report by The Hottest Place in Hell. (photo: screen grab)
By Palestine Chronicle Staff
Israeli soldiers forced an 80-year-old Palestinian man to walk ahead of them with an explosive-laced strap around his neck—then shot him and his wife as they tried to flee.
A senior officer in the Nahal Brigade tied an explosive-laced strap around the neck of an 80-year-old Palestinian man and forced him to walk ahead of soldiers as a human shield for eight hours, according to an investigation by Israeli outlet The Hottest Place in Hell.
The incident reportedly took place in May during an operation by Division 99 in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
According to testimonies from Israeli soldiers present, the officer attached a detonating fuse—connected to an initiating detonator—around the elderly man’s neck as a leash, threatening to blow up his head if he disobeyed orders.
“They explained to him that if he did something wrong or not as we wanted, the person behind him would pull the rope and his head would be severed from his body,” one soldier told the investigative outlet.
“He walked around with us like that for eight hours, even though he was an 80-year-old man and even though he couldn’t escape us. And this was in the knowledge that there was a soldier behind him who could pull the rope at any second—and he would be finished.”
According to the report, the Israeli military refers to this practice as the ‘Mosquito Procedure’, a euphemism for forcing Palestinian civilians to serve as human shields in combat zones. Forced into Danger, Then Shot by Another Unit
According to the investigation, the elderly man and his wife had pleaded with the soldiers to remain in their home, saying they had “nowhere to run” and could not evacuate due to their frailty.
Nevertheless, after long hours of being forced to walk ahead of the soldiers to clear houses, the couple was reportedly ordered to evacuate on foot toward the south.
“The testimony indicates that the soldiers did not inform the forces in the nearby sector that an elderly couple was about to cross the zone on foot,” the report states.
“After a hundred meters, the second battalion saw them, and shot them on the spot. They died like that, in the street.”
Other testimonies cited by the outlet stated that the Israeli army’s open-fire regulations in Gaza stipulate that “any person who moves in the zone after the evacuation deadline for a particular area has ended is considered a terrorist”—even if they are elderly civilians.
Israeli Military Denies the Practice, Soldiers Say Otherwise
The Israeli military has repeatedly denied the systematic use of the Mosquito Procedure, but according to soldiers interviewed by The Hottest Place in Hell, it is a routine practice.
“This is a procedure that has become standard practice in the army,” one soldier said. “They may have done it in other places, but this was an extreme case.”
Another soldier described how the policy operates under unofficial sanction. “It’s something from the battalion commander level and below. It comes down as a regular order, and somewhere at the brigade commander level they deny it completely,” he said.
“When problems start to arise, they shift responsibility down and say not to do it.”
Despite Israel’s Supreme Court banning the use of human shields during the Second Intifada, reports continue to surface of its widespread use in Gaza.
The investigation follows an earlier Haaretz report in August, which revealed similar tactics being deployed.
At the time, the Israeli army responded by stating that its directives “prohibit the use of Gazan civilians captured in the field for military missions that pose a deliberate risk to their lives.”
In response to the latest investigation, the Israeli army spokesperson’s office claimed: “An investigation conducted based on the information provided in the request indicates that the case is not known. As additional details are received, further investigation will be conducted.”
However, the soldiers interviewed say the military’s denials are meaningless. “If you go to any fighter who fought in Gaza—there is no one who will tell you that it doesn’t happen,” one soldier said.
“There is no battalion that can tell you, at least a regular one, that can tell you that we didn’t use this thing,” he added.
on February 17, 2025, 10:34 pm