Former journalist, son of ‘queue jumping’ immigrant. Socialist. Green 💚
North East
Joined March 2009
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The most uplifting and inspiring video I’ve seen from Gaza.
You can steal their land, kill their people and destroy their homes.
And they dance on the rubble to show you can’t steal their spirit and culture. #dabke
Follow joy._.team.2024 on Instagram.
Robert Schopen retweeted
Labour's 2024 Manifesto said that it was 'discriminatory' to have different minimum wage rates for younger and older workers. They pledged to abolish 'discriminatory age bands.' Healey has reneged - and Labour has now broken another promise. Stupid, short-sighted stuff.
Labour now briefing young people won't get the same minimum wage uplift.
Even Starmer didn't break this pledge. Workers rights mean same rights, pay & conditions, same rate for the same job.
What does this Labour government have against young people?
inews.co.uk/news/politics/mi…
Robert Schopen retweeted
“People are demanding action on rents, the cost of the climate emergency and about how we can bring people's bills down and yet what we're about to see is just the same old.”
Hannah Spencer on the government's approach to Wednesday's Budget, speaking at the Cost of Living rally.
Robert Schopen retweeted
Today Israeli authorities barred me and other European elected representatives from entering the West Bank to meet Palestinian students and civil society leaders, as part of a @ProgIntl delegation.
We knew that by crossing into the occupied Palestinian territories, we risked being detained, interrogated and turned away by Israeli authorities. And that, alas, is exactly what happened.
For more than eight hours, we were held, interrogated and made to feel as though we had done something wrong simply by attempting to enter.
The simple truth is we had done nothing wrong. We went to show our support for the Palestinian people and highlight the terrible injustice and violence being perpetrated against them. We want to ensure that people back home do not look away from the reality of what is happening.
Ultimately, we went to show solidarity. But we left with an even greater determination to speak out. We will not be silenced, and we will not look away. None of us should.
Robert Schopen retweeted
I have literally spent the last month trekking around Jordan interviewing elderly Nakba survivors and hearing their harrowing stories- and just completed a three hour video interview on Saturday night. No one I talked to left before multiple neighbours or family members had been shot and killed. Few of them had any weapons of any sort to protect themselves and if they did they were ancient Turkish muskets. Their opponents were armed with modern, newly-imported Czech rifles and many had been trained and drilled by the British. It became simply suicidal to remain, though many old people tried to so. The guy I interviewed on Saturday fled with his mother after their village was bombed. Their father remained and was loaded onto a truck to Gaza, at gunpoint, by the Haganah. Many of the family members that remained in Gaza have been killed in the last two years
Robert Schopen retweeted
Labour now briefing young people won't get the same minimum wage uplift.
Even Starmer didn't break this pledge. Workers rights mean same rights, pay & conditions, same rate for the same job.
What does this Labour government have against young people?
inews.co.uk/news/politics/mi…
Robert Schopen retweeted
"Q. How democratic is the Israeli vote – and who is being disenfranchised?
A: About 15 million people live in areas under Israeli control. Just over 7 million Jewish Israelis and 1.7 million Palestinian citizens of Israel live within the country’s pre-1967 borders, known as the “green line”, and have full voting rights.
In the occupied West Bank, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers can vote. They live among 3.1 million Palestinians who are subject to military rule and do not have the right to vote.
In occupied East Jerusalem more than 230,000 Israelis with voting rights live among 350,000 Palestinians who cannot vote.
Two million Palestinians in Gaza, who live under Israeli military occupation, according to the international court of justice, also have no vote."
theguardian.com/world/2026/o…
Robert Schopen retweeted
It is beyond ridiculous that this man is still a life peer and retains the Labour whip.
Robert Schopen retweeted
I have been detained by Israeli security forces all day. Along with with MPs @labourlewis, @larabirdsnp, MSP Kate Nevans, former MP @SamTarry and campaigners from across the world, we were turned back because they don’t want anyone seeing their ethnic cleansing.
Robert Schopen retweeted
Believe me that I don't exaggerate when I say this: I am thankful to be alive and hear these words said where Western audiences can hear them. This monologue is as revolutionary and meaningful as Rosa Park' refusal to move to the black people section of a bus, 71 years ago in Montgomery, Alabama.
Lubna Speitan seals her place in the chronicles of the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and dignity - now followed and supported by billions of people around the world.
I waited so long, so eagerly, to hear these transformative words; all of humanity did. EVery schoolboy and schoolgirl in the world need to know this
Watch this.
Lubna Speitan, author of the Greens4Palestine motion “Zionism is racism”, spells out the central obscenity of our age – the grotesque inversion whereby the victims of ethnic cleansing, Apartheid and genocide must constantly fend off accusations from their tormentors that it is they who are the racists.
“We as Palestinians are being silenced and gaslit and vilified [as we] witness the annihilation, the cold-blooded murder of our families, of our people… our children burnt with phosphorus, having to endure amputations with no anaesthetic, having their limbs torn and shredded, their bodies burnt by phosphorus, being starved to death … And to have to sit here … and try to bury my feelings so I can eloquently and diplomatically shield my anger, my rage, my anguish that every Palestinian is feeling, is an insult.” /1
Robert Schopen retweeted
"Israel Has Committed Genocidal Acts in Gaza Since Cease-Fire, U.N. Human Rights Panel Says" nytimes.com/2026/10/26/world…
Robert Schopen retweeted
"Carpet bomb them all".
Speaking to The Guardian at an event ahead of Israel’s elections, a young Israeli woman called for Palestinians to be forcibly displaced from the Gaza Strip, saying they should be killed if they cannot be removed.
Robert Schopen retweeted
So proud of my brave and brilliant friend Ben Moser
“I think that at a time of genocide, you can either sit on the sidelines and exempt yourself from criticism,” he said, “or you can, as they say in Brazil, give your face to be beaten.”
theguardian.com/world/2026/o…
Robert Schopen retweeted
This is extraordinary detail on how the 250 MP candidates on the Student List were chosen in Serbia. They are now projected to win about 140 of 250 seats. Incredible outbreak of direct, participatory democracy to product a Parliament of doctors, scientists, artists and activists.
Sırbistan'da öğrenciler doğrudan demokrasi yöntemini seçim siyasetine taşıdılar.
Liderlere dayalı, yukarıdan aşağıya bir örgütlenme yerine, herkesin söz alabildiği öğrenci genel kurulları (plenum) oluşturdular. Kararlar tartışılarak, mümkün olduğunca uzlaşmayla alındı.
Bu yöntemi üniversitelerin dışına da taşıdılar. Mahallelerde, kentlerde ve köylerde yurttaş meclisleri (zborovi) kuruldu. İnsanlar kendi sorunlarını tartışmak, çözüm önermek ve birlikte karar almak için toplandı.
250 kişilik milletvekili aday listesini de şöyle oluşturdular:
1- Önce 250 adaylık kontenjanı, öğrenci sayılarına göre altı üniversite kenti arasında paylaştırdılar. Belgrad'ın listeye hâkim olmaması için diğer kentlerin de üst sıralarda temsil edilmesini sağladılar. Ardından her kentin kontenjanını fakülteler arasında dağıttılar.
2- Ülke genelinde 80'den fazla fakültede öğrenci genel kurulları toplandı. Öğrenciler kendileri aday olmadı ama her biri aday önerebildi ve neden o kişiyi önerdiğini açıkladı. İsimler tartışıldı, önce uzlaşma arandı, gerektiğinde oylama yapıldı.
3- Mevcut siyasi kadrolara kapıyı kapattılar. İktidar partilerinin mevcut ve eski üyelerini, iktidar adına görev yapmış siyasetçileri ve bürokratları, muhalefet partilerinin üst düzey yöneticilerini aday göstermediler. Böylece hem iktidardan hem de yerleşik muhalefetten bağımsız bir liste oluşturdular.
4- Fakülteler birbirlerinin adaylarını da denetledi. Önerilen bütün isimler ortak bir listede toplandı ve tüm fakültelerin incelemesine açıldı. İtirazlar öğrenci kurullarında tartışıldı. Adayın elenmesi için kurulların yarısından fazlasının veto etmesi gerekiyordu. Tek bir fakültenin itirazı yeterli değildi.
5- Elenen veya çekilen adayların yerine yedekler getirildi. Böylece profesörlerin, doktorların, bilim insanlarının, işçilerin, sanatçıların ve aktivistlerin yer aldığı 250 kişilik liste ortaya çıktı.
Robert Schopen retweeted
I've been revisiting @UKLabour's 2024 manifesto, and some of the commitments are extraordinary given where we are today...
- Defend the international rule of law.
- Uphold international law in Gaza.
- Recognise Palestinian statehood as an inalienable right.
- Reject new oil and gas exploration because it worsens the climate crisis.
These weren't demands from protesters.
THEY WERE LABOUR'S OWN PROMISES!
The government shouldn't need reminding what the principles are. It already wrote them down and commited to them!
The question is why those principles become negotiable the moment defending them carries a political cost.
@andyburnham @ZackPolanski
Robert Schopen retweeted
This week's Budget must tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Tax the super-rich. End austerity.
ALT Green Party quote graphic featuring a black-and-white photograph of Zack Polanski, Leader of the Green Party, against the backdrop of 10 Downing Street. The headline reads: “BUDGET NEEDS TO TAX THE SUPER RICH AND END AUSTERITY.” A speech bubble contains the following quote from Zack Polanski: “Andy Burnham has a choice when he delivers his Budget this week. All over Britain, kids are going hungry and public services are on their knees. It doesn’t have to be this way. We need to tax the super rich and end austerity.” The Green Party logo and electoral imprint appear at the bottom of the graphic.
Robert Schopen retweeted
One of the highlights of my time in Jordan was visiting UNWRA archives and examining the index cards and other records of the 750,000 Palestinians kicked off their land at the Nakba in 1948. They used to be kept in Gaza and were airlifted out at the beginning of the genocide- Israel has destroyed all the archives that remained. They form the best evidence for some form of reparations in the future and are now being scanned and digitalised
غزة ومنعطف التاريخ: الشرق الأوسط قبل وبعد النهضة (أرض) تنظّم زيارة للمؤرخ ويليام دالريمبل إلى أرشيف الأونروا وحواراً رفيع المستوى حول فلسطين
Gaza and the Turning of History: The Middle East Before and After ARDD Organizes William Dalrymple’s Visit to UNRWA Archives and High-Level Dialogue on Palestine
نظّمت منظمة النهضة العربية للديمقراطية والتنمية (أرض)، من خلال مركز النهضة الاستراتيجي، وتحت عنوان «غزة ومنعطف التاريخ: الشرق الأوسط قبل وبعد»، زيارة إلى أرشيف الصور والأفلام التابع لوكالة الأمم المتحدة لإغاثة وتشغيل اللاجئين الفلسطينيين (الأونروا)، بمشاركة المؤرخ والكاتب البريطاني البارز ويليام دالريمبل، إلى جانب لقاء عمل حواري رفيع المستوى جمع دبلوماسيين وأكاديميين وصنّاع سياسات وخبراء إقليميين، لمناقشة التطورات في غزة وفلسطين ضمن التحولات التاريخية والسياسية الأوسع التي يشهدها الشرق الأوسط.
وخلال الزيارة إلى أرشيف الأونروا، التي نُظّمت بالتعاون مع الوكالة، اطّلع دالريمبل على سجلات ووثائق تاريخية توثّق تهجير الفلسطينيين وتجارب اللاجئين وذاكرتهم الجماعية منذ عام 1948. ويُعدّ هذا الأرشيف، المدرج ضمن برنامج ذاكرة العالم التابع لليونسكو، مرجعاً تاريخياً مهماً يبرز ضرورة الحفاظ على التاريخ الفلسطيني والهوية الوطنية وتجارب أجيال متعاقبة من اللاجئين. للمزيد: ardd-jo.org/news/%d8%ba%d8%b…
The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), through its Renaissance Strategic Center (RSC), organised, under the theme “Gaza and the Turning of History: The Middle East Before and After,” a visit to the UNRWA Photo and Film Archives with renowned British historian and author William Dalrymple, alongside a high-level working lunch bringing together diplomats, academics, policymakers, and regional experts to reflect on Gaza and Palestine within the broader historical and political transformations shaping the Middle East.
During the visit to the UNRWA Archives, facilitated in cooperation with UNRWA, Dalrymple explored historical records documenting Palestinian displacement, refugee experiences, and collective memory since 1948. Recognized by UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme, the archives underscore the importance of preserving Palestinian history, identity, and the experiences of generations of refugees.
for more: renaissancestrategiccenter.c…
Robert Schopen retweeted
This Israeli military strategy, referred to as the Dahiya doctrine, was developed by Gadi Eisenkot, the ex-general who is seen in Israel as the alternative to Netanyahu. Google it.
It involves using massive, disproportionate force and targeting civilian infrastructure to pressure hostile governments or non-state groups.
This massive, disproportional force against innocent civilians, as in Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere, will continue as long as the U.S., Germany, UK and other external powers that arm and finance Israel allow it.
@IndJewishVoices @jvplive @NaamodUK
Robert Schopen retweeted
My family are from Jerusalem. They live under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and can’t return to the towns they originate from.
But the political correspondent at The Spectator can enter and travel without restrictions.
Is there a word for this?
Robert Schopen retweeted
We’ve seen this script before.
This Labour government won’t take action for the people who so desperately need change right now.
Robert Schopen retweeted
Mike Tapp: 'Zionism isn't ethnic cleansing!'
Shehab Khan: 'So why can a Jewish guy in London get Israeli citizenship but a displaced Palestinian can't?'
Mike Tapp: '...I didn't know that. That doesn't sound equal to me.'
The absolute intellectual collapse. He spent whole time defending the ideology, only to admit he doesn't know how it actually works on the ground