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Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook
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Jonathan Cook, born circa 1965, is a British writer and a freelance journalist formerly based in Nazareth, Israel, who writes about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[2] He writes a regular column for The National of Abu Dhabi and Middle East Eye.[3]

Key Information

Background

[edit]

Cook was born and raised in Buckinghamshire, England, UK. He received a B.A. (Hons) in Philosophy and Politics from Southampton University in 1987, a postgraduate diploma in journalism from Cardiff University in 1989, and an M.A. in Middle Eastern studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies in 2000.[4] Jonathan has Israeli citizenship through marriage to his Israeli Arab wife, Sally Azzam. The couple met in Nazareth where they lived with their two daughters for several years before moving to the UK.[1][5]

Career

[edit]

Journalism

[edit]

Cook was a freelance sub-editor with several national newspapers from 1994 until 1996. He was a staff journalist at The Guardian and The Observer between 1996 and 2001.[4]

Since September 2001, Cook has been a freelance writer based in Nazareth, Israel.[6] Until 2007, he wrote columns for The Guardian.[7][8]

In 2011, Cook received the Martha Gellhorn special award for journalism, "for his work on the Middle East".[9][10] The award citation said Cook's work on Palestine and Israel made him "one of the reliable truth-tellers in the Middle East".[11]

In 2013, Cook questioned that the Ghouta chemical attack was perpetrated by the Syrian government, presenting a "counter-narrative" that the Syrian rebels may have committed the attack.[12] In 2018, after the Douma chemical attack, Cook said that the testimonies of 17 Russian-produced witnesses at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed a report by Robert Fisk that said victims' breathing problem was due to dust and lack of oxygen rather than gas.[13]

Books

[edit]

Cook has written three books. In Blood and Religion (2006), published by Pluto Press, the central thesis is that, "Israel is beginning a long, slow process of ethnic cleansing both of Palestinian non-citizens from parts of the occupied territories that it has long coveted for its expanded Jewish state, and of Palestinian citizens from inside its internationally recognized borders." Cook links this strategy to the Israeli perception of two threats: the physical threat of terrorism and the demographic threat of a Palestinian majority potentialised by high Palestinian birth rates and the continued demand for a Palestinian right of return.[14] The Israeli leadership is also said by Cook to view the idea of a "state for all its citizens" as a threat.[15] Rami George Khouri describes the short book as, "important but disturbing".[14]

In 2008, Cook published Israel and the Clash of Civilizations: Iraq, Iran and the plan to remake the Middle East, published by Pluto Press. Of the book, Antony Loewenstein wrote that, "Cook bravely skewers the mainstream narrative of a Jewish state constantly striving for peace with the Palestinians." According to Lowenstein, Cook argues that Israel "pursues policies that lead to civil war and partition," and that this idea of dissolving many of the nations of the Middle East, shared by the neocons and the Bush administration, was developed by Israel's security establishment in the 1980s.[16] Cook discusses an essay authored by Oded Yinon and published by the World Zionist Organization in 1982 which advocated for Israel's transformation into a regional imperial power via the fragmentation of the Arab world, "into a mosaic of ethnic and confessional groupings that could be more easily manipulated" (p. 107). A review of the book in The Jordan Times called it "well-researched and very readable."[17]

Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair was published in 2008 by Zed Books.[18] Helena Cobban in the Boston Review says Cook argues that to encourage voluntary emigration, Israel has made life unbearable for Palestinians, primarily via "the ever more sophisticated systems of curfews, checkpoints, walls, permits and land grabs."[19]

Selected works

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Books

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  • (2006) Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State. Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-2555-6
  • (2008) Israel and the Clash of Civilizations: Iraq, Iran and the plan to remake the Middle East. Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0-7453-2754-9
  • (2008) Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair. Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-84813-031-9

Chapters in books

[edit]

Notes

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Jonathan Cook

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Jonathan Cook is a British independent and specializing in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He resided in —the largest Arab city in —for 20 years until returning to the in 2021, providing on-the-ground reporting as the only Western based there. Cook previously worked as a staff for and , contributing articles critical of Israeli policies toward and broader dynamics. He has authored three books—Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the (2006), Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (2008), and Disappearing (2008)—which examine 's treatment of its Arab minority and the occupation of Palestinian territories through empirical analysis of policies and events. In 2011, he received the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism, with the citation praising his work for "refusing to tolerate the brutalizing impact of the of on both and Israelis." While his reporting has been lauded by some for highlighting underreported perspectives and challenging institutional biases in coverage favoring , it has faced accusations of one-sidedness and bias from pro-Israel advocacy groups, including claims of endorsing militancy and selectively framing conflicts to minimize Israeli security concerns. Cook now operates independently through his blog, newsletter, and contributions to outlets like , focusing on media and causal explanations of regional power dynamics rooted in first-hand observation rather than official narratives.

Early Life and Education

Family Background and Upbringing

Jonathan Cook was born in 1965. Public details about his and childhood are scarce, with no verifiable information on his parents' identities, professions, or household dynamics. In a 2022 article reflecting on British colonial legacies, Cook noted a distant familial tie to via his maternal great-grandparents, one originating from and the other from , though this pertains to ancestral rather than direct upbringing influences. His early personal life prior to university remains largely undocumented in accessible sources.

Academic Qualifications

Jonathan Cook graduated from the in 1987 with a in and . He then pursued professional training in journalism, earning a from in 1989. Later, to deepen his expertise in a region central to his reporting, Cook completed a degree in with distinction at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in 2000.

Journalism Career

Early Positions in British Media

Cook began his journalism career in the mid-1980s following university, initially freelancing for local publications before securing positions on regional newspapers. He wrote for the Southampton Advertiser, a free local sheet, where he covered council meetings and community issues, gaining experience in routine reporting typical of entry-level roles in British provincial media. This progressed to employment at the Daily Echo, Southampton's evening newspaper, where he handled similar local beats, including interviews with officials who were receptive to press inquiries, reflecting the access often afforded to such outlets. These early roles emphasized practical skills like deadline-driven news gathering amid limited resources, a common pathway for aspiring journalists in the UK during that era. In 1994, Cook transitioned to national media as a staff journalist at , marking his entry into London's corporate press environment. He later moved to the , the Guardian Media Group's Sunday counterpart, continuing there as part of a seven-year tenure split between the two papers until 2001. During this period, his work involved general reporting before focusing on international affairs, particularly the , though specific early assignments at these outlets centered on broader journalistic duties rather than specialized foreign correspondence. This phase represented a standard advancement for British journalists from regional to prestige national titles, providing exposure to editorial hierarchies and higher-stakes storytelling. In 2001, he resigned from his London-based position to relocate to , , shifting toward freelance and on-the-ground coverage.

Relocation to Nazareth and On-the-Ground Reporting

In 2001, Jonathan Cook left his staff position at a British newspaper in and relocated to , , initially on a year's leave to conduct research for a book on the treatment of the country's minority, a population segment frequently overlooked by mainstream Western media. , the largest Arab-majority city within Israel's pre-1967 borders and home to around 77,000 residents as of 2001 (predominantly Muslim and Christian ), provided Cook with direct access to the daily realities of Israel's 1.2 million Arab citizens at the time, who constituted approximately 20% of the population. This move positioned him as the sole Western journalist based in the city, enabling firsthand observation of local events amid the Second Intifada, which erupted in September 2000. From Nazareth, Cook's on-the-ground reporting emphasized the experiences of Palestinian Israelis—often termed "1948 Palestinians" in his work—focusing on issues such as state policies perceived as discriminatory, including land expropriations, restrictions, and communal tensions. His dispatches, published in outlets like and , covered events including the 2006 Nazareth riots triggered by municipal decisions on religious sites, which resulted in three deaths and highlighted fractures between Christian and Muslim communities under what Cook described as Israeli divide-and-rule strategies. He also documented the historical context of 's survival during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, attributing it to the intervention of a local Muslim leader who persuaded surrendering residents to remain rather than flee, contrasting with the depopulation of over 500 other Palestinian villages. Cook's residency facilitated extended investigations into broader Israeli policies toward its Arab minority, culminating in his 2006 book Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the , which drew on interviews and archival research to argue that Israel's self-definition as both Jewish and democratic inherently marginalized non-Jews. Over the subsequent years, he reported on escalating demolitions of unrecognized villages in the , restrictions on family unification for Arab citizens married to Palestinians, and the impact of security measures post-October 2000 clashes, which killed 13 Arab protesters. By living among the community, Cook gained Arabic language proficiency and local networks, allowing coverage of underreported stories like the erosion of Nazareth's pre-1948 multicultural fabric through policies favoring Jewish settlement nearby. Until his departure from Israel in summer 2021 after two decades in , Cook supplemented his with guided political tours of the city and region, educating participants on and historical sites, though he suspended regular tours upon relocating to the . His proximity to villages enabled real-time analysis of events such as the eviction threats in Palestinian communities and ongoing debates over laws, providing a to reporting centered in or Gaza. This base uniquely informed his critiques of institutional biases in Israeli media and , though his emphasis on systemic has drawn accusations of selective framing from pro-Israel observers.

Shift to Independent and Freelance Work

In September 2001, Jonathan Cook resigned from his staff position at , part of the Guardian Media Group, to become a freelance based in , . This relocation coincided with the Second Intifada and enabled him to focus on long-term, immersive reporting from within Israel's Palestinian communities, particularly those in the 1948 territories, which he argued received scant attention from foreign correspondents operating from or . Cook cited frustrations with the limitations of corporate media structures, including editorial oversight and episodic coverage, as factors prompting the change; he drew on personal savings to sustain himself initially while pursuing a book project on Israel's policies toward its Arab citizens. As an independent writer, he expanded his output to include commissions from outlets such as The National (Abu Dhabi), Le Monde diplomatique, CounterPunch, Middle East Eye, and Al-Jazeera, alongside continued freelance pieces for The Guardian and The Observer. This model afforded greater autonomy but required reliance on diverse revenue streams, including book sales and later reader-supported platforms. By the mid-2000s, Cook had launched his personal website, jonathan-cook.net, serving as a hub for original articles, posts, and archival material on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, , and related geopolitical issues. In recent years, he has supplemented this with a newsletter, emphasizing direct subscriber funding to maintain editorial independence amid what he describes as intensifying pressures on dissenting voices from corporate media. His freelance approach has prioritized firsthand observation over institutional affiliations, though it has drawn scrutiny for potentially amplifying unfiltered perspectives on contentious topics.

Published Works

Authored Books

Jonathan Cook has authored three books, all published between 2006 and 2008, focusing on Israel's policies toward and their broader geopolitical implications. These works draw on his on-the-ground reporting from and critique what Cook describes as systemic efforts to marginalize Palestinian populations, including territorial segregation and alignment with Western strategic interests in the .
  • Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the (Pluto Press, 2006): This book examines Israel's policies toward its Palestinian citizens during the Second Intifada (2000–2005), arguing that measures like home demolitions, land expropriations, and citizenship restrictions reveal a shift toward ethnic exclusivity rather than democratic inclusion. Cook contends these actions prioritize Jewish demographic majorities and territorial control, challenging Israel's self-image as a .
  • Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press, 2008): Cook analyzes Israel's role in promoting a narrative of civilizational conflict to justify aggressive regional policies, linking it to U.S. neoconservative agendas for regime change in Iraq and Iran. The book posits that Israel positions itself as a frontline defender of Western interests, benefiting from heightened perceptions of threat to secure military and diplomatic support.
  • Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books, October 2008): Focusing on the occupied territories, this work details mechanisms such as the separation barrier (construction began 2002, over 700 km by 2008), settlement expansion (adding 12,000 units from 2001–2008), and checkpoint systems that fragment space and induce psychological and economic attrition. Cook frames these as deliberate "experiments" to erode viability, supported by data on land confiscations (over 40% of under Israeli control by 2008) and movement restrictions affecting daily life.

Notable Articles and Contributions

Cook's articles have primarily focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, emphasizing Palestinian perspectives and critiquing Israeli policies and Western media coverage. His reporting often draws on direct observations from , Israel's largest Arab city, to highlight , settlement expansion, and abuses. For instance, in "Israel brings Gaza entry restrictions to " published on August 25, 2009, in , he documented Israel's extension of severe travel bans—originally applied in Gaza—to West Bank Palestinians, including family visits and medical access, based on interviews with affected residents and officials; this piece was recognized by as one of the top 25 underreported stories of 2009-10 due to its limited coverage in U.S. and international media. Earlier contributions to mainstream outlets include pieces for , such as "The traps of recognition" (December 2006), which analyzed the challenges faced by Palestinian non-governmental organizations under Israeli military oversight, and "Prime suspects" (November 2006), examining Israeli investigations into Palestinian political figures. These articles underscored systemic barriers to , drawing on field reporting and official documents. His body of work on these themes earned him the 2011 Special Prize for Journalism, with judges citing his "intellectual courage" in exposing ignored aspects of the occupation. In the 2010s and , Cook shifted to independent platforms like , The National, and his newsletter, producing analyses of media distortions in conflict reporting. Notable examples include "How western media helped turn Israel's into ''" (August 26, 2025), which argued that Israel's exclusion of foreign journalists from Gaza and targeting of over 200 Palestinian reporters created information vacuums filled by unverified Israeli claims, supported by data on journalist casualties from the . Similarly, "Once again, is misleading the British public about Gaza" (October 15, 2025) critiqued Middle East editor 's omission of statements on cease-fires, contrasting it with Bowen's reliance on Israeli sources. These pieces have influenced alternative discourse on Gaza, though critics from pro-Israel groups have contested their framing as overly sympathetic to Palestinian militants. Cook's contributions extend to broader critiques of Western , such as articles in on 's role in regional destabilization, including "Israel Kills The Journalists. Western Media Kills The Truth Of in Gaza" (October 27, 2024), which linked the deaths of Palestinian journalists to suppressed narratives of Israeli operations. His freelance output, exceeding hundreds of articles since 2001, has been syndicated across outlets like Al Jazeera and , prioritizing empirical accounts over official narratives.

Recognition and Influence

Awards Received

In 2011, Jonathan Cook was awarded the Special Prize for Journalism, one of three recipients that year alongside , who received the main prize for , and Charles Clover of the for his reporting on . The prize, established in 1999 by the Trust to honor journalism that exposes propaganda and official narratives, recognized Cook specifically for his on-the-ground reporting from on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and broader issues. The award ceremony took place in in June 2011. No other major journalism awards are documented in Cook's career.

Impact on Discourse

Cook's on-the-ground reporting from since 2001 has contributed to alternative narratives challenging mainstream portrayals of the Israel-Palestine conflict, emphasizing structural asymmetries and alleged Israeli state practices such as apartheid and . His articles, often published in outlets like and , have critiqued the deference of international journalists to Israeli military spokespeople, arguing that this dynamic suppresses Palestinian perspectives and enables unverified atrocity claims to dominate coverage. For example, following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and Israel's subsequent Gaza operations, Cook's pieces dissected media amplification of unconfirmed reports like "beheaded babies," positioning them as symptomatic of a broader pattern where Israeli narratives receive uncritical airtime while Palestinian casualties are downplayed. Through his books—such as Blood in the Water (2017), which examines Israel's Gaza —and freelance output, Cook has influenced independent journalism models, advocating for reporters to prioritize direct observation over reliance on official sources. This approach has resonated in activist and dissident circles, fostering skepticism toward corporate media's alignment with state power, particularly in the U.S. and where public broadcasters like the have faced internal complaints over perceived pro-Israel slant. His newsletter, launched amid rising freelance pressures, exemplifies a shift toward reader-supported platforms, allowing sustained of events like the 2021 Sheikh Jarrah evictions without editorial gatekeeping. Cook's interventions have also provoked counter-responses, amplifying debates on journalistic ethics and bias accusations. Pro-Israel commentators, such as those at think tanks monitoring , have labeled his analyses as selective omissions that downplay Palestinian , thereby contributing to polarized where his work garners shares among pro-Palestine advocates but rebuttals from mainstream defenders. Empirical analyses of media coverage, including those referencing Cook's arguments, indicate his role in highlighting disparities—like the disproportionate scrutiny of Palestinian rocket fire versus Israeli airstrikes—but critics contend this reinforces echo chambers rather than bridging divides.

Controversies and Criticisms

Allegations of Anti-Israel Bias

Pro-Israel media monitoring organizations, including the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) and , have repeatedly accused Jonathan Cook of anti-Israel bias, characterizing his journalism as tendentious, one-sided, and reliant on distorted historical narratives that exonerate Palestinian actions while portraying as the sole aggressor. In a May 27, 2003, guest column for the , Cook claimed the 1947 UN partition plan offered 47% of their historic homeland, a figure critics argued ignored the 1922 creation of Transjordan from 80% of the British Mandate Palestine, thereby misrepresenting the context of subsequent divisions. He further described the as entitling to 22% of their homeland in the and Gaza, which CAMERA contended misrepresented the accords' provisions for final-status negotiations rather than fixed borders. Cook's use of terms like being "caged in" was cited as inflammatory language that implied an unqualified right to access , disregarding security concerns stemming from prior violence. A September 2004 International Herald Tribune op-ed by Cook drew sharper criticism for arguing that violence represented the "surest way" for Palestinians to advance their goals, a statement HonestReporting and CAMERA interpreted as an endorsement of terrorism that overlooked over two decades of Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians preceding the Second Intifada. These groups highlighted Cook's freelance contributions to outlets like Egypt's Al-Ahram, which they viewed as platforms amplifying anti-Israel propaganda, as evidence of a pattern where his reporting systematically downplayed Palestinian agency in conflicts, such as the 1948 war, by attributing territorial losses solely to Israeli actions rather than Arab rejection of partition and subsequent invasions. Critics, including independent analysts, have extended these charges to Cook's broader oeuvre, alleging an anti-Israel bias manifested in "terrorism-washing"—privileging Palestinian narratives of victimhood while minimizing the role of groups like in initiating or escalating violence, as seen in his defenses of resistance tactics amid ongoing conflicts. further critiqued Cook's pieces in , such as those framing British foreign policy critiques as pretexts for "hateful Israel bashing," as indicative of ideological slant over balanced analysis. These organizations maintain that such patterns undermine , though Cook has countered by accusing of pro-Israel bias in their own coverage.

Accusations of Downplaying Terrorism

Critics have accused Jonathan Cook of downplaying Palestinian terrorism, particularly by groups like Hamas, through his framing of violent acts as inevitable responses to Israeli policies rather than deliberate targeting of civilians. In a 2004 analysis published in The Guardian, Cook argued that non-violent Palestinian resistance had failed to yield concessions, implying that armed struggle represented the "surest way" to advance Palestinian objectives, a statement that media watchdog HonestReporting interpreted as an endorsement of terrorism. This drew rebukes for minimizing the agency and moral culpability of terrorist actors, with detractors contending it excused attacks on Israeli civilians as strategic necessities born of desperation. More recently, Cook's contributions to legal challenges against the United Kingdom's classification of as a terrorist organization have intensified such accusations. In May 2025, he authored an expert report supporting efforts to de-proscribe 's political wing, asserting that the broad terrorism designation under Britain's Terrorism Act stifles legitimate political discourse and equates resistance with indiscriminate violence. Opponents, including pro-Israel advocacy groups, viewed this as a direct effort to sanitize 's record, which includes suicide bombings, rocket attacks on civilian areas, and the , 2023, assault that killed approximately 1,200 , many in deliberate atrocities. Academic critic Jonathan Michael Feldman has labeled Cook's approach "terrorism-washing," akin to laundering illicit funds, by cyclically attributing Hamas terrorism to Israeli occupation while underemphasizing the group's ideological commitment to jihad and eliminationist goals against Israel as outlined in its founding charter. Feldman argues this narrative absolves terrorists of responsibility, portraying their actions as reactive rather than proactive threats, thereby enabling a form of repressive tolerance for groups designated as terrorists by the U.S., EU, and others. Cook's post-October 7 writings, which questioned media reports of Hamas-committed sexual violence and mass killings, have further fueled claims that he selectively scrutinizes Israeli actions while reflexively contextualizing or doubting Palestinian terrorism to fit an anti-occupation paradigm.

Responses and Defenses

Cook has consistently rejected allegations of anti-Israel bias, arguing that they stem from a of of Israeli state policies with against . In a analysis, he detailed how pro-Israel advocacy groups promoted the (IHRA) definition of antisemitism to equate opposition to Israeli actions—such as settlement expansion or military operations—with antisemitic tropes, thereby misleading international bodies and stifling debate. He maintains that his reporting, grounded in on-the-ground observations from where he resided for nearly two decades, prioritizes verifiable evidence over ideological alignment, including documentation of Palestinian casualties and infrastructure destruction that mainstream outlets underreport. Regarding accusations of , Cook contends that such charges are systematically weaponized by Western elites and pro- lobbies to shield from accountability, rather than addressing genuine prejudice. Drawing on scholar Norman Finkelstein's work, he has described an "antisemitism industry" that prioritizes protecting Israeli actions over Jewish community concerns, citing instances where unsubstantiated claims have purged critics from institutions like the Labour Party or universities. In , he argued that heightened post-October 7 scrutiny of pro-Palestinian voices exemplifies this tactic, where factual reporting on Gaza's is reframed as endorsement of violence, ignoring 's disproportionate responses. On claims of downplaying terrorism, Cook's defenses emphasize contextualizing Palestinian militancy as a reaction to decades of occupation and , rather than inherent ideological extremism. He has critiqued for applying inconsistent standards, amplifying non-state actors' violence while minimizing state-inflicted harm, such as Israel's Gaza operations that have resulted in over 40,000 reported deaths since October 2023 per local health authorities. Supporters, including outlets like , echo this by highlighting his exposure of institutional biases that prioritize Israeli narratives, positioning his work as a corrective to one-sided coverage rather than apologism. Cook rejects binary framings of "" versus "," advocating for scrutiny of power asymmetries based on violations documented by bodies like the UN.

Recent Developments

Return to the United Kingdom

After two decades based in , —where he had been the only Western journalist residing in the city's Palestinian community—Jonathan Cook relocated to the in the summer of 2021. This move ended his long-term on-the-ground reporting from northern , during which he covered topics including the treatment of Israel's Palestinian minority and regional conflicts. Cook's departure coincided with heightened tensions in the region, though he has not publicly detailed specific professional or personal motivations for the relocation. In subsequent reflections, he described the shift as exchanging one challenging environment for another, likening it to moving "out of the frying pan and into the fire" amid Britain's own polarized discourse on Palestine. From the UK, he has continued freelance journalism, contributing to outlets on Middle East affairs and domestic issues, while maintaining focus on Israel-Palestine dynamics without the constraints of his prior Nazareth base.

Ongoing Commentary on Gaza Conflict

Following the Hamas attacks on , 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 and took over 250 hostages, Jonathan Cook has portrayed Israel's subsequent military operations in Gaza as a premeditated rooted in Zionist ideology rather than defensive necessity. He contends that the assault provided a for actions long in planning, including mass displacement and destruction, with Gaza's infrastructure systematically targeted despite international calls for restraint. Cook attributes Palestinian militancy, including the events, to decades of Israeli occupation and , framing it as a rational response to rather than inherent . In his commentary, Cook emphasizes Western complicity, accusing governments like the and of supplying arms, intelligence, and diplomatic cover that sustain the campaign, while suppressing domestic dissent through arrests of protesters and blockades of flotillas. He cites Israeli public opinion polls, such as a May 2025 survey showing 64% of believing no innocent s exist in Gaza and 82% of supporting the expulsion of Gazans, as evidence of widespread enabling atrocities. Cook argues that deradicalization is urgently needed not in Gaza but in the West, whose leaders and publics have normalized mass deaths—estimated by Gaza's health ministry at over 45,000 by mid-2025—through denial and deflection. Cook has repeatedly criticized mainstream media for obscuring these realities, particularly the , which he claims produces coverage skewed toward Israeli narratives, featuring 30 times more victim profiles from and omitting context like the pre-October 2023 occupation in over 99% of reports. In a July 18, 2025, analysis, he described manufactured scandals, such as the 's removal of a Gaza survival guide from iPlayer under lobby pressure, as distractions from the UK's direct role in arming amid the conflict. He has also highlighted a on , noting in May 2025 that counter-terrorism measures target reporters critical of , stifling coverage of Gaza's . By October 2025, marking two years since the escalation, Cook dismissed narratives of ceasefires or peace plans—like Donald Trump's 20-point proposal—as illusions that evade accountability, insisting the conflict's structure persists with retaining control over Gaza's borders and resources. He warns that without confronting Western ideological alignment with 's actions, similar escalations will recur, drawing parallels to historical colonial projects where settler violence was excused as civilizing.

References

  1. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/about/
  2. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/author/jonathan-cook/
  3. https://jonathancook.substack.com/about
  4. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/books/
  5. https://honestreporting.com/tag/jonathan-cook/
  6. https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/jonathan-cook
  7. https://www.nli.org.il/en/a-topic/987007301907305171
  8. https://braveneweurope.com/jonathan-cook-palestine-is-a-loud-echo-of-britains-colonial-past-and-a-warning-of-the-future
  9. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/2008-10-07/intellectual-cleansing-part-2/
  10. https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/report-on-the-chilling-effect-of
  11. https://electronicintifada.net/content/boycotts-bilin-interview-jonathan-cook/8478
  12. https://mondoweiss.net/2011/05/reporting-from-the-perspective-of-1948-a-profile-of-jonathan-cook/
  13. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/24/letter-from-nazareth-the-forgotten-palestinians
  14. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/2012-08-03/welcome-to-nazareth/
  15. https://mondoweiss.net/2016/01/silenced-nazareths-survival/
  16. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-decline-of-israel-interview-with-jonathan-cook/
  17. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/tours/
  18. https://canadatalksisraelpalestine.ca/2021/07/11/to-its-non-jewish-citizens-israel-appears-a-lot-more-jewish-than-democratic-jonathan-cook-tells-ofip-webinar/
  19. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/
  20. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2021-05-10/media-war-independent-journalism/
  21. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/books/blood-and-religion/
  22. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/books/israel-and-the-clash-of-civilisations/
  23. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/books/disappearing-palestine/
  24. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/disappearing-palestine-9781848136496/
  25. https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-brings-gaza-entry-restrictions-west-bank/8399
  26. https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jonathancook
  27. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/martha-gellhorn-award/
  28. https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/how-western-media-helped-turn-israels
  29. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2025-10-15/jeremy-bowen-misleading-public-gaza/
  30. https://www.counterpunch.org/author/jonathan-cook/
  31. https://www.marthagellhorn.com/previous.html
  32. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-war-uk-media-israel-says-goes-what
  33. https://braveneweurope.com/jonathan-cook-how-western-media-helped-turn-israels-genocide-into-fake-news
  34. https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/05/19/we-can-defeat-the-corporate-medias-war-to-snuff-out-independent-journalism/
  35. https://globalteachin.com/uncategorized/repressive-tolerance-of-hamas-is-the-anti-militarism-of-fools-jonathan-cook-and-terrorism-washing
  36. https://jfjfp.com/understanding-the-conflict/8-media-representations-of-the-conflict/
  37. https://www.camera.org/article/cooked-up-charges-against-israel/
  38. https://www.camera.org/article/international-herald-tribune-op-ed-erases-20-plus-years-of-terror/
  39. https://honestreporting.com/iht-and-the-terror-strategy-2/
  40. https://www.camera.org/journalist/jonathan-cook/
  41. https://honestreporting.com/the-independents-foul-play-2/
  42. https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/why-i-wrote-an-expert-report-against
  43. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg89738/html/CHRG-113hhrg89738.htm
  44. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-hamas
  45. https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/how-the-western-media-helped-build/comments
  46. https://mondoweiss.net/2021/04/how-the-ihra-antisemitism-definition-became-a-pro-israel-cudgel/
  47. https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/why-the-media-have-failed-gaza
  48. https://x.com/Jonathan_K_Cook/status/1768263731618717726
  49. https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/exposing-the-weaponisation-of-antisemitism/
  50. https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/how-the-fight-against-antisemitism
  51. https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/new-bbc-documentary-the-road-to-7th/comments
  52. https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/bbc-bias-against-israel-is-a-fantasy/
  53. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/jonathan-cook
  54. https://consortiumnews.com/2025/10/24/jonathan-cook-a-tale-of-two-chants/
  55. https://consortiumnews.com/2025/05/14/jonathan-cook-therouxs-settlers-is-about-us/
  56. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-genocide-two-years-west-deradicalised-never-happens-again
  57. https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/genocide-two-years-on-it-is-the-west
  58. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/2025-07-18/bbc-obscure-uk-israel-genocide/
  59. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2025-05-05/report-chilling-counter-terrorism-journalism/
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