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Simon Hooper Profile
Simon Hooper

@simonbhooper

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Journalist at @MiddleEastEye .

London
Joined October 2010
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
8 months
A British man stranded in Rafah has said MI5 offered to help him and his young family to escape from Gaza - but only if he agreed to work for them. He says he turned down the offer. Since then, he says, the Foreign Office has failed to help the family.
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
The Red Crescent says its medics have been prevented by Israeli forces from treating wounded Palestinians attacked at the Damascus Gate. Israeli forces also attacking protesters in Nablus and Sheikh Jarrah
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
Revealed in full for the first time, the secret memo of how Bush and Blair plotted a path to war in Iraq at the US President's Texas ranch in April 2002. An explosive scoop by @davidahearst
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
2 years
An incredible @MiddleEastEye exclusive: For decades the UK government has quietly held land in Jerusalem - known as the 'Orange Plot' - earmarked as the site of a future embassy in Israel. @daniaakkad found out where it is
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Huge scoop from @daniaakkad . Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman six months after the social media giant knew it had been infiltrated by Saudi spies
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
Do Santa Claus impersonators face arrest under Denmark's new face covering ban? Or just niqabis...?
@MiddleEastEye
Middle East Eye
6 years
The new law in Denmark allows police to issue "on-the-spot" fines to people who cover their face in public
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
A former senior MI6 official has told MPs that the UK government is stripping people in Syria of their citizenship ‘without a clear national security justification’. @are_eb reports
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Footage of tonight's protests against Sisi in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Mahala, Mansoura and Damietta #ميدان_التحرير #ارحل_ياسيسي
@MiddleEastEye
Middle East Eye
5 years
BREAKING: Mass protests against President Sisi are breaking out in cities across #Egypt for the first time since the military coup in 2013.
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Egypt's parliamentary speaker compares Sisi to Adolf Hitler: 'Hitler had his mistakes, but what allowed him to expand eastward and westward was that he created a strong infrastructure'
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
Bilal Abdul Kareem has reported fearlessly from opposition-held Syria for many outlets including @MiddleEastEye for many years, never more so than during the final days of the battle of Aleppo in 2016. He must be released to continue his work.
@OGNreports
On the Ground News
4 years
The OGN social media is currently being run from outside of Syria. We will continue to keep you all updated. Bilal and his driver Abu Muhammad are still under arrest by HTS at an unknown location. #Idlib #FreeBilal #FreeTox
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Home Office-backed counter-extremism group waging Twitter campaign against Corbyn
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
Saudi Arabia wants @MiddleEastEye silenced. I can't think of a better endorsement for our journalism and a better argument for its necessity
@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
Very proud of the journalism we do at @MiddleEastEye . 'An attack on free thought': MEE responds to Saudi demands
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
'There is something deeply incompetent at best. Otherwise it is just being vindictive': Moazzam Begg challenges UK government over denial of passport
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Yazidi anti-sexual violence campaigner Nadia Murad via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
A @MiddleEastEye exclusive: American journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem talks for the first time about his six months in a Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham prison in Idlib, the torture he witnessed, and why Abu Mohammad al-Jolani is 'unfit to rule'
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
'Diego Maradona in the desert: On the trail of football's lost legend': Really pleased to be running this piece by @MortenGlinvad , originally in @blzzrd on @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
Seven children whose names tell the story of Syria's war: Moawiya Sayasina, Hamza al-Khateeb, Alan Kurdi, Bana Alabed, Omran Daqneesh, Maya Merhi, Jarah Begum via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Turkey to grant Syrian refugees free passage to Europe. @ragipsoylu reports
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
'It's amazing to see Brother Barack Obama out there acting like he's part of the vanguard when Black Lives Matter emerged under his administration and he helped militarise those police departments': Cornel West talks to @azadessa
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
We sent @azadessa to Minneapolis to tell the story of Ilhan Omar's journey from a childhood in a Kenyan refugee camp to Capitol Hill, as told by some of those who have helped her along the way. He sent us 7,000 words... @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
'He saw a child lying on the ground. Only when he recognised the mobile in his hand did he realise it was his brother': @MahaGaza reports on the senseless deaths of Mahmoud Tulba and Yahya Mazen, two children killed during Israel's assault on Gaza
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Recommended reading for a stormy weekend. The real story of how police gave permission to Jack Letts' parents to send him money and then arrested them on terrorism charges... 1/2
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
'N3', a British man stranded in 'exile' for four years after unlawfully being deprived of his citizenship and then arrested and questioned by police for 10 days on his return, is home with his wife and children after being released without charge
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
'We were shooting old men, young men. I have never seen such lawlessness': Former British soldiers tell @IanCobain how in Basra in 2007 they were told they could shoot anyone holding a mobile phone or carrying a shovel via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
Srebrenica, 25 years on: How genocide denial is adding to survivors' pain. By @OborneTweets and @JanPeterWestad
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
Why did Ofsted head Amanda Spielman endorse school's hijab ban and link to 'cohesion' on 1 February when head teacher had by then admitted policy was a 'huge error of judgment'? via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
The UK government was forced on appeal to return citizenship to two British nationals of Bangladeshi heritage stripped of it on national security grounds so Shamima Begum has good reason to appeal, but the process can take years.
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
Anger within Labour ranks over the recruitment by Keir Starmer's office of a former Israeli military intelligence soldier who served in a unit accused of abuses against Palestinians
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
'The sands of time have steadily been running out for the Saudi regime,' a British diplomat said prior to the 1964 UK-backed coup that toppled King Saud. Fascinating historical perspective on current events by @markcurtis30 @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
Jeremy Corbyn attacked over alleged contact with foreign spy by Richard Dearlove, the former MI6 chief revealed this week to have been sharing secrets with Gaddafi in person via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Saudi Arabia is planning to execute three prominent clerics including Sheikh Salman al-Odah soon after the end of Ramadan, sources tell @davidahearst via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
'Work with us in Syria or get out of the way,' Erdogan told Trump. @ragipsoylu reports on the phone call between the Turkish and American presidents that led to the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
British aid worker tells @MiddleEastEye that government evidence against him in his citizenship case included a statement describing a patch on a jacket he wore on an aid convoy in 2012 as a 'jihadi symbol'. It was the words of the Shahada in Arabic.
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
‘Because of China's money, they don't want to talk about it’: Uighur activists slam Chinese foreign minister's attendance at OIC conference in Pakistan. @Ray_Uddin reports
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
A Palestinian strawberry farmer whose photo was used by the White House to promote Trump's 'deal of the century' says he is 'insulted and angry' and has been used for propaganda. Great reporting from Jenin by @ShazaAbed via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Egyptians are back in Tahrir Square, protesting this time against Sisi and calling for an end to the regime. And an MEE correspondent in Cairo reports that violence and arrests have been used to disperse protesters
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
Uighurs in the US tell @AzadEssa that dozens of their family members are missing as a result of the Chinese government's brutal crackdown in Xinjiang province via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
The Kafkaesque saga of 'N3': A British man stripped of citizenship in 2017 for travelling to Syria has finally returned to the UK after the government conceded it had unlawfully left him stateless
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
'A people under occupation will continue to resist in any way it can': How Stephen Hawking spoke up for Palestinians via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
'It's not that his faith is important, it's that his faith isn't important' @TheRedmenTV : @MiddleEastEye goes to Liverpool to explore Mohamed Salah's extraordinary impact on the city #YNWA
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
'I advise my brothers to resist so they do not die in tents waiting for aid': Syrians in Idlib, who have been on the receiving end of Russian bombs for years, show solidarity with Ukrainians. By @harun_alaswad
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
'It bothers me when he is not properly honoured... they forget that Islam in America as we know it, wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Malcolm': Well worth spending some time on this @azadessa epic, 54 years after Malcolm X's death via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
Gary Lineker hounded on Twitter for sharing video of caged Palestinian children via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Counter-terrorism programmes are violating human rights, UN expert says
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Iraqi intelligence source suggests attack on Saudi oil facilities was carried out by Iranian drones launched from Iraq in retaliation for Saudi-backed Israeli drone strikes targeting Hashd al-Shaabi bases. @davidahearst reports
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
My colleague @suadadalsalhy is an outstanding journalist who has reported fearlessly, fairly and without favour in the highly charged world of Iraqi politics for many years
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
From New York to Afghanistan and Iraq, @IanCobain has been reporting for 20 years on the consequences of the 9/11 attacks and the 'war on terror' unleashed in their wake. For @MiddleEastEye , he has written about what he has learnt along the way.
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
A story I've been investigating for five years: How British police used cash seizures to disrupt Syrian aid convoys and how some charity money raised by Muslim communities may have ended up in government bank accounts via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
One dominates player of the season lists, the other is listed as a suspected terrorist: The contrasting fortunes of Egyptian football's two superstars, Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Aboutrika via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
The British embassy in Abu Dhabi has just launched a journalism award in a country notoriously intolerant of free speech in which it asks entrants to consider 'What can the world learn from the UAE’s model for tolerance?' @are_eb reports for @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
'We're sending you a hundred imams'. How the British government uses pre-prepared hashtags, posters and vigils to shape public opinion after terror attacks in what some call an exercise in 'mind control' by @IanCobain for @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
UK anti-racism activists call for new investigation into death of Somali schoolgirl
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Imran Khan says there must be a 'just settlement, a homeland for Palestinians before Pakistan can recognise Israel', responding to a question from @middleeasteye 's @azadessa in New York
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
8 years
Muslim Brotherhood a 'firewall' against extremism: @davidahearst on a significant shift in UK policy @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
Very proud of the journalism we do at @MiddleEastEye . 'An attack on free thought': MEE responds to Saudi demands
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
The Council of Europe has issued a media freedom alert over @MiddleEastEye journalist @IanCobain being refused accreditation for the DSEI arms fair, classifying it as a 'state threat' that has had a 'chilling effect' on press freedom
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
A great thread on a great story by a great journalist. The FBI visited Saudi dissidents in the US to warn them their lives were in danger after Jamal Khashoggi's murder. @daniaakkad reports
@daniaakkad
Dania Akkad
5 years
NEW: A month after Jamal Khashoggi was killed, FBI agents started visiting Saudi dissidents in the US, warning them of a potential threat to their lives from their own kingdom. Here's the story in some tweets: via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
How Israeli snipers routinely shoot protesters in Gaza in the legs, creating a crippled generation of young Palestinians. By @daniaakkad and @chloejbenoist via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
'Racist': Saudi Aramco accused of humiliating foreign worker amid coronavirus panic
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
Healthcare and hospitals were proud Venezuelan exports at the high watermark of Hugo Chavez's rule. Now the country is turning to Turkey to build its hospitals and schools in return for gold. @ragipsoylu reports via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
Hi @BBCRadio2 , Glad to see my namesake also thriving as a parent and a writer but I'm the Simon Hooper who bores people about Prevent, counter-terrorism and the Middle East for @MiddleEastEye :)
@BBCRadio2
BBC Radio 2
6 years
"Don't worry, being a parent doesn't cost as much as you think it does" @simonbhooper is a man speaking from experience - he shares a house with his wife and four daughters!
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Crowds march against Sisi in cities across Egypt
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
British spies accused in High Court of 'staggering collusion' with Gaddafi's security service in targeting of Libyan exiles, and British government accused of using secret court sessions to conceal their crimes via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
EU training courses taught police in Algeria and Morocco how to run 'sock puppet' accounts, which have been linked to disinformation and propaganda campaigns, and data harvesting and cyber-surveillance techniques
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
British spy agencies knew that 'war on terror' detainees were being rendered and tortured by the CIA and their allies. @Moazzam_Begg writes about why he believes they also played a more active role - and why the whole truth must be told via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
Mogadishu to the moon: Turkey is planning to build a spaceport in Somalia, according to @ragipsoylu 's sources
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
It appears Salah Gosh has resigned as head of Sudan's NISS security agency. Last month @MiddleEastEye revealed Gosh met the head of Mossad in Germany as part of a Saudi-backed plan to install Gosh as Bashir's successor via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
9 years
#DontBombSyria protest shuts down Whitehall.
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
4 years
Jeremy Corbyn says coronavirus has exposed social inequalities and 'the poorest and most vulnerable are dying'. Watch his interview with @MiddleEastEye here
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Who favours the rule of law? A government that blocks an inquiry into its own past complicity in torture and rendition, or those seeking to hold it to account? @Moazzam_Begg responds to Sajid Javid's latest gratuitous attack on @UK_CAGE @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
3 years
SCUS rejects Bilal Abdul Kareem’s bid to overturn dismissal of his case seeking to find out if he’s on a US ‘kill list’. ‘The executive now has the power to kill US citizens and there is nothing they can do about it,’ says one lawyer. With @umaribnfarooq
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
Soviet tanks and fighter jets, Toyota pickups, helicopters from Belarus, drones from China, Iran and the UAE, Chadian and Darfuri militia fighters, and an Irish warship. An epic inventory of Haftar's Libyan National Army by @Arn_Del for @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
Israel arming Myanmar amid ongoing Rohingya crackdown via @MiddleEastEye
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
6 years
Three stories today on @MiddleEastEye which highlight how non-transparent counter-extremism campaigns are influencing and shaping the media we watch and read...
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
2 years
'What did you do, Baba?' How phone spyware gets inside the heads of those targeted. Amazing story by @daniaakkad examining the impact of surveillance software on the lives of Arab dissidents in London.
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
'Facts have not held much sway in a debate driven chiefly by emotion and insinuation': Timely story by @Jonathan_K_Cook debunking some of the claims around Corbyn, Labour and antisemitism
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
8 years
'Political/moral motivation': The 22+ factors used by #Prevent practitioners to assess vulnerability to extremism
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
5 years
A Senegalese innovation lab which made self-diagnosis kits for Ebola is working on one for the coronavirus. @tjAmandla reports from Dakar
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@simonbhooper
Simon Hooper
7 years
'Gwrthryfel Cymreig': What if #Balfour had offered Wales to the Jews as a homeland? via @MiddleEastEye
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