The people of Jenin Refugee Camp, in the occupied West Bank, have experienced many difficulties and much suffering over the years.The camp was established in 1953, after the Nakba, to house Palestinians expelled from over 50 villages in the Haifa and Nazareth areas by the Israeli occupation.

Jenin Refugee Camp residents endure

Until last year, 17,000 Palestinians lived in the 1 km² Jenin Camp. They endured decades of displacement and military incursions, and one of the highest levels of poverty and unemployment of all those living in the West Bank refugee camps.

Farha Abu AlhaijaI was born and brought up in the camp. She says the situation is now the most difficult it has ever been for the people who lived there. In January 2025, the largest forced displacement in the West Bank since 1967 took place. The criminal ‘Israeli’ regime launched Operation Iron Wall, forcibly displacing 40,000 Palestinians living in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps.

She tells the Canary:

All 17,000 people from Jenin camp have been displaced, along with about 1800 houses completely destroyed. That is around half of the houses that were in Jenin Camp. The other houses are burnt or partially destroyed. The Palestinian Authority (PA) and UNRWA paid six months of their rent for the people, but now it has finished, and the PA cannot pay. So the people have to pay from their own money, but they cannot pay, as they don’t have enough money. No one is helping them, and it is a big problem. Some go out of their houses to stay with. their family, while others have moved into metal or plastic shelters.

82 percent of displaced families in the Northern West Bank are currently living in rented accommodation. This causes a huge financial burden on Palestinians. While living in Jenin Refugee Camp, residents needs were met, and accommodation was free. But those forcibly displaced must now pay rent. In addition, there is an unemployment crisis in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli occupation has not only driven the Palestinian economy to “near total collapse”. It has also, since October 2023, taken away permits allowing work in ‘Israel’ from more than 100,000 Palestinians.

Huge psychological toll on women and children from

According to Abu Alhaijal, these hardships also take a psychological toll on the population, including herself:

It’s very very difficult. All my history, my friends, my family were in this camp. Many people have been killed, many from my family. I wonder what we can do. We want peace for our children, to continue their lives, but there is no hope for people here. We feel we have lost all things.

Abu Alhaijal is also chairperson of Not to Forget Association, an organisation working with women and children of Jenin refugee camp. It was established in the aftermath of the 2002 massacre. 150 Israeli occupation force (IOF) tanks and armoured personnel carriers, along with F16 fighter jets, shelled the camp. No food, water or medical supplies were allowed in, while the dead and injured residents were prevented from leaving the camp or receiving treatment for their injuries. According to Human Rights Watch, 400 people were made homeless, their houses demolished and destroyed by the IOF.

She told me:

After the incursion in Jenin Camp in 2002, it was really the women and children who were most in need, because their psychology was very destroyed. We cared for those who had lost members of their family – at this time the occupation damaged the houses, so many people left the camp. More than 70 were killed, including many children and those with disabilities. Immediately, Not to Forget set up a psycho-social support project, with mothers and their children from Jenin camp.

Although this project was the association’s first programme, it was not the last. Then came the distribution of much needed relief – food, blankets, medicine, and even school materials. But according to Abu Alhaijar the most recent incursion, which displaced the entire population of Jenin Refugee Camp, has been the hardest for those affected.

Not to Forget providing “an emergency response to the tragic situation”

She says:

We are providing an emergency response to the tragic situation the people of Jenin camp have found themselves facing. Some families are unable to pay for rent, electric, water, or medicine. Not To Forget tries to help them, but we cannot do this all the time, as we are also struggling with funding. This is an especially big problem for the people now. We are in Ramadan now, a special time for the Islamic people. They must prepare food, sit the family at the same table, but there’s nothing for the people now.

Snipers prevent anyone accessing Jenin Refugee Camp to see what, if anything, remains of their homes. Those who have entered the camp have been shot and killed, including children. From their office, the Not to Forget team often see burning homes and explosions from the camp area, and hear shooting throughout the day. But they have no idea what is happening there, or what the Israeli occupation is shooting at. And while the association knows that its centres in the camp were destroyed, there have no further details.

Abu Alhaijal says:

It’s a really tragic situation. The children pay the highest price, and the impact of displacement on them is great. They don’t accept the situation they find themselves in. Many times we have gone outside to make a trip. But the children ask if they can go back to the camp instead.

The association’s staff members are now scattered throughout various villages in the area, so travelling to the newly rented centre in Jenin is often difficult. But these psychologists, educators, and teachers continue their essential work with women and children.

All that is needed is for powerful countries to stop supporting the terrorist state of ‘Israel’

Not to Forget projects are numerous and varied. Teenagers benefit from vocational training, such as car maintenance courses. The association has also joined forces with Medical Aid for Palestine, to help Palestinians come to terms with their grief and trauma. Women are taught new skills, not only to give them self confidence but to provide them with a livelihood. Economic empowerment is extremely important, especially during this period of high unemployment. Children also benefit from after school teaching that is currently taking place.

Conditions across the occupied West Bank are dire. Not only has the economy collapsed, and public services become non-functional. Settlers and the IOF also terrorise, displace, and kill Palestinians on a daily basis. Vast amounts of Palestinian land are stolen for the ‘Jewish state’, while more than 10,000 Palestinians are held as political prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons. Silence from the international community gives these Israeli terrorists confidence. They make no attempt to conceal their crimes, which occur in broad daylight, and are carefully planned out to inflict maximum suffering on the Palestinian population.

International support for the people of Palestine is now more important than ever and, according to Abu Alhaijal, change is not as difficult as people imagine.

She told me:

Change would be easy if there was international pressure on Israel. Israel doesn’t work alone. It has the support of the powerful – the US, the Arabic countries and the rest of the world. This world support allows Israel to continue doing whatever it wants. Without this, Israel would be nothing.

Featured images via author

The US and Israel are once again showing their true colonialist colours as they launch unprovoked attacks on Iran.

Make no mistake. The US/Israel war against Iran is a colonial war. Like the genocide in Palestine, the invasion of Iraq and Libya, the incineration of Vietnam and Laos, it is war to subjugate the people of the global South and annihilate their resistance. Colonialism has no…

— Jason Hickel (@jasonhickel) February 28, 2026

Of course, Trump claims the attacks are due to the US not being happy with Iran’s position on the nuclear weapon negotiations. CNN claims the US and Israel have been planning the operation for months and targeted:

Iran’s supreme leader, president and head of the armed forces.

But already, despite their advanced precision weaponry, Israel has attacked two schools.

Whether it’s seizing oil, regime changes, or destroying and preventing the use of nuclear weapons, the US and Israel have been singing from the same hymn sheet for 30 years.

🇮🇱🇺🇸 Their aim goes beyond destroying WMDs, seizing oil, or regime change in #Iran 🇮🇷; they have been pursuing systematic conquest, genocide after genocide, and control of the entire Middle East in pursuit of a so-called “promised empire of Israel” https://t.co/PT56koM2Bi

— Bashir Qaman✍️ (@BashirQaman) February 28, 2026

Iran and the right to self-defence

The reality? The goal is murdering black and brown people and stealing land. Whether it’s for ‘Greater Israel‘ or for the US’s financial interests, it’s one and the same — murder and control the people in the global majority, and get rich in the process.

What the mainstream media is not telling you is that under international law, Iran has the right to self-defence against unprovoked and illegal attacks.

Unfortunately, Zarah Sultana is, so far, the only left-wing MP in the UK to have said that publicly.

Under international law, Iran has the right to defend itself from unprovoked and illegal attacks.

This is US imperialist aggression, plain and simple. https://t.co/oObYj5mSJd

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) February 28, 2026

Jeremy Corbyn stated that the attacks were:

The attacks on Iran by Israel and the United States are illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable.

Peace and diplomacy was possible. Instead, Israel and the United States chose war.

This is the behaviour of rogue states — and they have jeopardised the safety of humankind around…

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) February 28, 2026

But he failed to mention that Iran has the right to self-defence.

As did Zack Polanski, which is disappointing to say the least.

This is an illegal, unprovoked and brutal attack that shows once again that the USA and Israel are rogue states.

The UK must end our cosy relationship with the USA and our ongoing support for Israel. https://t.co/LeAyf8ehPa

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 28, 2026

As did many members of the European Parliament.

The EU condones the US-Israeli illegal and unprovoked war of aggression on Iran.

European failure to stand up for basic principles of international law legitimises rogue state behaviour and endangers lives throughout the world.

Shameful. Dangerous. https://t.co/PPmXAzOto6

— Marc Botenga MEP (@BotengaM) February 28, 2026

When white people are bombed illegally, as we have seen over the last few years in Ukraine, there is an automatic and non-negotiable right to self-defence. No one questions it; the world sends weapons, and random MPs decide to go and fight for the cause.

So why is this different?

I think we all know the answer to that. It’s because so much of the world still sees black and brown people as less than, and it’s fucked up.

Bombing Iran — including children, is in the typical US and Israeli imperial playbook. We’re once again seeing their pattern of colonial conquest play out in real time. But just like Palestine, Iran has the right to self-defence against these unprovoked and illegal attacks.

Feature image via Al Jazeera English/ YouTube

Iran responded this morning to the illegal US-Israel attacks on its facilities and attempts to assassinate its leadership with missile and drone attacks on Israel and on US bases in the region. Tonight, it has announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which runs along a large part of its coastline, to all shipping.

The territorial greed of the US and Israel – and the desire of Donald Trump for a distraction from his Epstein crimes – has put the world on the edge of a global financial meltdown, as well as of outright war.

During the ’12-day war’ of 2025, which saw Iranian retaliation pummel Israel and force back US naval vessels, Iran’s parliament approved the closure of the Strait. It didn’t have to implement it fully – Israel and the US quickly backed down.

Iran’s ability to close the Strait, through which a third of global gas and a quarter of global oil consumption passes, is widely acknowledged. A prolonged closure will mean economic catastrophe impacting billions. All for the sake of a war criminal’s ambitions and an old pervert’s desire to avoid humiliation until he dies.

Featured image via the Canary

Israel has shut down all crossings into and out of Gaza, even for humanitarian workers.

The occupation’s administrative body COGAT claimed the move was a “necessary security adjustment” because of Israel’s attacks on Iran. The blockade will prevent volunteer medics and other humanitarian workers either entering or leaving Gaza while it remains in place. Food and medicine deliveries, already barely a trickle, will be choked off – condemning thousands more Palestinians in Gaza to misery, suffering and death.

The unprovoked Israel-US attacks on Iran are a war crime. The intensified starvation of the people of Gaza is a crime against humanity and a continuation of genocide. While Israel murders in Iran and puts the world in danger, it continues to use disease and famine, as well as bullets, to murder in Gaza.

Featured image via the Canary

Zia Yusuf came out as a fucking dickhead on the day of the Gorton and Denton by-election.

If you needed any more proof of how useless and clueless @ZiaYusufUK is, then….👇 pic.twitter.com/o52NQ5JyDi

— AxoAndy (@AxoAndy) February 26, 2026

After Matt Goodwin and Nigel Farage kicked off about ‘family voting’, Zia seemed to get his wires crossed.

This is either evidence that Reform were engaged in family voting or that Zia is an idiot. https://t.co/ogEB9oyGDQ

— Will (@WillIam87uk) February 27, 2026

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Family voting is when a family member appears to be influencing someone else’s vote, for example, by entering the polling booth with them. The government made it illegal under the Ballot Secrecy Act in 2023.

So was Yusuf endorsing family voting? Or is he just a bit dense? Anyway, he deleted the post, but not before the internet took screenshots.

Zia Yusuf accidentally endorsed family voting in a now deleted post 😂

He was the Chairman of the party and doesn’t even know the voting rules. pic.twitter.com/IDMurvUJgf

— Wolf 🐺 (@WorldByWolf) February 27, 2026

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Remember when we had the choice of chaos with Ed Miliband? Imagine the sheer chaos if voters elected this clown to government.

Reforms Clown Department Fake Home Secretary actually believed a 19 year old had a 93 year old mum after the Reform member made up a line to manipulate support from older people for Reform in Manchester’s Gorton and Denton. https://t.co/bpshw9nvPa

— Thomas Evans @Renewal2030 (@ThomasEvansAdur) February 26, 2026

Can you imagine the chaos this #cult fool would cause if he was anywhere near power. ?🤷‍♂️ https://t.co/2puJtasYMR

— Graham #BringBackBoris 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 (@apple_shwn) February 26, 2026

The pretend shadow home secretary showcasing his competence. 👇#GortonandDentonByElection #GortonDentonByElection #GortonAndDentonhttps://t.co/M6g1EbuCli

— Rick O’Shea (@RickOShea54321) February 27, 2026

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On that note, is Matt Goodwin now the shadow MP for Gorton and Denton? Will he still be fighting for the best interests of locals?

Please, he wouldn’t have done that even if he were elected. Who am I kidding?

Featured image via Times News/YouTube

Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada, has put out a bullshit statement in support of the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran.

My statement on Iran-related hostilities in the Middle East: pic.twitter.com/NcC8Pzq2Ba

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) February 28, 2026

Of course, he completely fails to mention the illegality of the unprovoked strikes. Instead, he spouts bullshit about Iran’s instability and ‘terror’. More like, he’s a racist muppet who disapproves of black and brown people having free will and being able to live their lives away from imperialist control.

Carney is a liberal through and through

Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.

What he also failed to mention was that Iran was attending peace talks. Additionally, Netanyahu has been claiming Iran is ‘days away‘ from nuclear capabilities for over 30 years.

Meanwhile, Israel DOES have nuclear weapons and hasn’t signed up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Israel is the only one that’s been breaking international law and invading multiple countries, all at the same time.

Plus, Carney’s idea of ‘Iran-related hostilities’ is simply the US and Israel’s bullshit, imperialist aggression against Iran.

“Iran-related hostilities” is how Canada’s prime minister describes an imperialist US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran.

Anyone who thought this former Goldman Sachs executive was actually going to challenge US imperialism because of a Davos speech was way too optimistic.

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) February 28, 2026

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‘Imperialist running dog’

It seems like only yesterday the Canadian PM told the US to suck it. In fact, it kind of was – he gave a surprisingly blistering speech in Davos at the end of January.

This guy was just internationally applauded for pointing out the hypocrisy of a “rules based” international order that allowed the powerful to break those rules at will, and here he is engaging in that same exact hypocrisy. https://t.co/kpTWNmWsGQ

— شنشون (@humanprovince) February 28, 2026

During his speech, he called the old “rules-based” order an illusion.

Then, he made a completely unexpected set of remarks. He described the idea that Canada’s ties with the US bring “mutual benefit” as a “lie”.

As the Canary previously reported:

Carney’s remarks came as EU nations started to move troops into Greenland for ‘exercises’ that were really preparations to fight a US invasion. But Canada’s military was also doing the same – Trump has frequently expressed his lust to make Canada a 51st US state, according to Canadian Daily the Globe and Mail.

Of course, Carney is only against the US’s imperialism when it isn’t working in his favour.

In one powerful moment, he noted how:

there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along, to accommodate, to avoid trouble, to hope that compliance will buy safety.

Of course, fighting against the economics of the US’s imperialism only goes so far for a spineless liberal. After all, he was governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, after spending 13 years at Goldman Sachs.

The rich for the rich, and all that.

Carney has now made it abundantly clear that he was only referring to rich, white nations. Obviously, he only meant Canada and Greenland when he stood up to Trump:

When Trump had Greenland and white empire in his crosshairs, liberals were lauding this guy as the man to lead a new world order in defiance of US imperialism. Not two months later this depraved fraud can barely contain his glee as US bombs illegally rain down on Iran https://t.co/xtxI2rrLNZ

— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) February 28, 2026

Month ago people were foaming at the mouth as if anything Carney said mattered, but in practice, Canada remains an imperialists running dog https://t.co/5Ifl3JJHMM

— davide🚩🔻 (@criticofpolecon) February 28, 2026

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A settler colonial conquest

Of course, the statement is about what you’d expect from another settler colonial nation, which is dripping in its own genocidal history. Its complicity with Israel’s genocide undoubtedly does a lot of the heavy lifting with that crappy IsRaEL HaS ThE rIGhT tO DEfeND ITseLF bullshit.

Like the UK, the US, and several other European Zionist muppets, Canada has also been supplying arms, cutting funds to UNRWA, and laying cover for Israel. The Canadian government even grants tax relief to donors funding a notorious Zionist propaganda organisation: NGO Monitor.

But why are we surprised? Carney stood idly by whilst Israel committed genocide for two and a half years, the US kidnapped Venezuela’s president, and he said fuck all about Cuba for weeks. It’s perfectly in tune with his morals that only appear when rich white people might get their feelings hurt.

Featured image via HG

After US and Israel commenced unprovoked strikes on Iran — launched in the middle of what Washington described as “positive negotiations” — the an all-out war has exploded. The strikes across Iran targeted many residential neighbourhoods. An all-female school was hit, killing at least 85. A sports centre was struck, killing at least 20 volleyball players.

Iran responded by pounding Israeli positions and targeting US-linked military assets in Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait — and reportedly beyond.

And now, Tehran has moved to close the Strait of Hormuz.

This did not happen during last year’s 12-day war. Despite enduring heavy blows, Iran fell short of targeting the artery through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. This time, it didn’t shy away.

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow maritime passage through which Gulf oil reaches global markets. It is also one of the most militarised waterways on the planet, with the US Navy stationed primarily in Bahrain and along the western shore. The Iranian navy are stationed on the other side.

US empire runs on oil, and oil runs through Hormuz

Talk of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz is back.

You’ve heard this before but this time feels different.

Here’s a fast, clear thread:
🔹 What the Strait is
🔹 Why it matters
🔹 Who controls what
🔹 How Iran could disrupt it
🔹 What happens if it spirals

1/24🧵👇. pic.twitter.com/MpVuncnNTG

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— GeoInsider (@InsiderGeo) June 22, 2025

To be clear: Iran is not a romantic anti-colonial liberation movement. It is a state actor pursuing its own survival and leverage. But structurally, this move exposes something the empire prefers to keep invisible — its prosperity always depends on compliance from the Global South.

The last time Hormuz was seriously threatened was during the “Tanker War” phase of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, when shipping was attacked by both sides but the strait was never fully shut. In 2011–2012, Tehran threatened closure in response to sanctions. In 2019, it seized tankers amid rising tensions after the US withdrew from the nuclear deal. But it never fully closed the strait.

Even during last year’s short but intense 12 day war, Hormuz remained open. This time appears to be different.

The strait is the most significant oil chokepoint in the world, with around a fifth of global oil output passing through it, and a third of global liquified natural gas.

The economic consequences will be felt immediately, and that is the point. Oil prices will spike. Shipping insurance will surge. Inflation globally will rise. Western consumers will feel it almost instantly.

For the West, war has always been a far away, distant ordeal. Now it will be represented at your local supermarket and petrol station.

That is why this move matters for Iran

More than 2 years of genocide, the disruption in the West was only felt through mass protests on the streets and Palestinian flags hung from windows, and so on. But economic disruption is going to be much harder to ignore.

The straight of Hormuz is closed. Oil tankers are clogged up.

The price of everything is going to skyrocket. You can thank trump and Israel. pic.twitter.com/uMiX8r08vf

— Syrian Girl (@Partisangirl) February 28, 2026

Closing Hormuz hurts everyone — including countries in Asia and the Global South that rely on Gulf energy. That’s true. But it is likely going to shorten the lifespan of this war as the cost of war just became much more expensive.

Featured image via Twitter

At the Al-Anan Stadium in Deir al-Balah, the scene of a football player was anything but ordinary. A 43-year-old player ran with steady steps, confidently demanding the ball, his eyes, accustomed to watching the game since childhood, searching for the opponent’s goal. Mustafa Hassouna was returning to his natural place after more than 100 days spent in prison without charge.

His release from prison was not the end of the story, but rather a new beginning. His body emerged burdened, his memory laden with harsh details, but the desire to return to football remained. For him, the game was not a luxury, but an integral part of his identity, one he refused to relinquish.

Football carves space for return

In the Gaza Ramadan Tournament, organized by the Veterans Sports Association and sponsored by the Al-Fares Al-Shahm Association, Hassouna found his first opportunity to regain his rhythm. He donned the “Veterans of Jabalia” jersey and entered the field as if reliving years gone by, not just months of absence.

It was clear that the hiatus had left its mark, but his experience had not failed him. Short passes, intelligent positioning, and a decisive touch inside the penalty area translated into the third goal against Al-Tarabot’s veterans, in a match that ended 3-0. The moment of scoring wasn’t just an addition to the scoreboard, but a profound personal moment; a restoration of confidence and reassurance for a heart that had been captivated by the green pitch.

The organizing committee chose him as the best player of the match, as if granting him symbolic recognition of his return, not only to the game, but also to the daily life that had been forcibly interrupted.

Sports in the Face of Reality

Hassouna’s story unfolds within a sporting landscape facing unprecedented challenges in Gaza. Stadiums have been damaged, facilities have been rendered unusable, and athletes have found themselves caught between arrest and forced absence from training and competition.

In this climate, football becomes a space for social cohesion and a tool for rebuilding what has been broken. The Ramadan tournament was more than just a sporting event; it was an attempt to keep the flame of sports burning in an environment suffocating with pressure.

Questions of Sports Justice

Amidst this reality, the paradox is stark between the global slogans of sports and the reality experienced by players on the ground. International organizations like FIFA raise the banners of fair play and protecting the game’s values, yet the daily experiences of many athletes in conflict zones raise questions about the effectiveness of these principles when it comes to protecting players and their fundamental rights to practice sports safely.

How can sport remain a bridge between peoples when a player is deprived of his right to train and compete due to detention? And how can the spirit of the game be preserved if the stadiums themselves are vulnerable to destruction?

After the Goal

When the match ended, the most important thing wasn’t the result, but the feeling Hassouna carried with him as he left the field. He had returned to what he loves, even if only through a local tournament, and even after a painful absence.

He wasn’t looking for the limelight or continental titles, but something simpler: to prove to himself that imprisonment hadn’t extinguished his passion, and that the football he’d loved since childhood could still give him meaning.

Thus, between the starting whistle and the final whistle, Mustafa Hassouna wrote a new chapter in his story; a chapter that says that stadiums, no matter how tight the circumstances, remain a space wider than restrictions

Featured image via the Canary