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The Battleground

@battlegroundeu.bsky.social
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Narratives Matter in Critical Times thebattleground.eu > thebattleground.substack.com The Battleground is a non-profit media to counter false narratives and propaganda that are eroding trust in politics and the media.

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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 9h
Robert Kraft's campaign against Antisemitism is reshaping what can be said in public life. But it's ordinary Jews, not billionaires, who will bear the consequences. Ari Paul, on the class dynamics at play, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Silencing Macklemore Won't Make Jews Safer
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
What happens to Israeli journalists who tell the truth about Gaza? Ask filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who now face calls to revoke their citizenship over their award-winning documentary NAZA. Ari Paul on the Netanyahu government's backlash, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
The NAZA Affair: A Test Case for Press Freedom in Israel
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Borders returned; the world rearmed. And we barely noticed. The last decade shattered the global order, bringing new walls, new alliances, and new fractures. Then COVID hit, drowning out the conversation before we could process the shift. Heather Alonsdottir on the lost 2010s for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
The Architecture of Innocence
Ten Years After the Summer of 2016
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Empire never really ended — it just changed shape. Its fingerprints are everywhere— who we see on screen, who gets a passport, who gets watched and who doesn't. Iolanda Cuomo, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
What Colonialism Left Behind
In The Long Shadow of Empire, by Angelo Boccato
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Unification won't be the finish line. It'll be the starting gun. Irish unity, if it comes, will only deserve the name if British communities in the north can stay British within it — and if the people celebrating get more than a new flag to march under. John Foster, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Ireland After Unification
Why the South Must Respect the British North
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The EU wants to break its dependence on the US for aerial defence — and is turning to Israel to do it. Given Washington’s growing hostility, the logic is clear. But closer military cooperation with Israel creates an entirely different set of problems. Mitchell Plitnick, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Ursula von der Leyen’s Faustian Bargain
Brussels Turns to Israeli Weaponry
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
British Jewish leaders acknowledge settler violence — yet fight sanctions on settlements. Why? Blaming settlers, instead of Israeli policy, is safer. Some warn even this step could be branded antisemitic. Are settlements really fringe, or mainstream Israeli politics? Ari Paul, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
The Double Standard Protecting Jewish Settlers
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Viktor Orbán may have driven Central European University out of Hungary—but he couldn’t erase what happened within its walls. Heather Alonsdottir explores CEU’s lasting legacy, the generation it transformed, and why education remains one of the most powerful antidotes to fascism.
thebattleground.eu
My Budapest is Gone
The Scene of a Novel
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The UK just sanctioned Jewish settlements — and the Israeli government is furious. But strip away the diplomatic drama, and the sanctions are more bark than bite. On this week's Globalists podcast, Josh White and Mitchell Plitnick unpack the real story: criticising Israel is now a political win.
thebattleground.substack.com
Britain's Israel Sanctions
All Bark, No Bite?
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
When domination feels worth it — if you get a cut of the power. How Germany's antifascist consensus collapsed, and what it reveals about late capitalism's mix of real fear and the pull of revenge. John Foster, on Alternative für Deutschland’s victory in Sachsen-Anhalt, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Germans Against Liberal Democracy
Alternative für Deutschland Wins
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The terrorists won — just not the way you think. 25 years later, it's time to face what 9/11 actually taught us about America's response. Mitchell Plitnick, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
The Terrorists Won
11 September Turns 25
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Protecting Jews means protecting everyone vulnerable — that's what an enlightened society does. Which is why Jews should be on the front lines, defending every marginalised group under attack. Ari Paul, on the assault on woke and DEI, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Woke DEI Is Bad—Except When It Comes to Antisemitism
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The Ferret proves you don't need big resources to do big journalism — just the will to actually chase the truth. Josh White on Scotland's scrappiest, sharpest newsroom, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Participatory Public Interest Journalism
The Ferret Rewrites the Rulebook
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Britain's borders won't last forever. John Foster traces the long road to Irish reunification — and why even Labour is quietly admitting it's not "if," but "when."
thebattleground.eu
The Long Road to Irish Reunification
Brown Says What Burnham Won't
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
A decade on, Brexit has left the UK poorer and more authoritarian. Heather Allansdottir says Iceland's EU referendum shows exactly what Britain got wrong — and why participatory democracy is the only way back.
thebattleground.eu
Iceland’s Vote, Britain's Mirror
Lessons for a Post-Brexit Nation
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The world once knew how to punish genocide. Ratko Mladić's death in a Hague cell is a badly needed reminder. So why is Israel cosying up to Serbia and Republika Srpska? Ari Paul, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Serbia and Israel's Alliance is Even Worse Than it Looks
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
thebattleground.eu
Inequality is Bad for Your Health
Always a paramedic nearby. Brixton Market, London.
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Tommy Robinson was here #Gaza #streetphotography
thebattleground.eu
The Only Democracies in the Middle East
Axis of imperialism. Golders Green, London.
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
It wasn't supposed to go this well. As July drew to a close, The Battleground reached its highest-ever monthly readership, thanks to a brilliant editorial team firing on all cylinders. Joel Schalit, from Torino.
thebattleground.eu
Good News From The Battleground
Letter From the Editor
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
A Hebrew-speaking beggar outside a Jewish bakery. A city I grew up in, which I thought I already knew. Finishing the London volume of a five-book street photography series, captured in one unforgettable trip. Joel Schalit, for The Battleground. [Link in comments]
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The Ceuta migrant crisis became a Rorschach test for conspiracy: "Muslim invasion" fantasies on one side, Israeli/American subterfuge theories on the other. Josh White & Mitchell Plitnick examine claims Morocco engineered it — and argue the left needs more than a defensive crouch.
thebattleground.substack.com
Populist Hybrid Warfare
Migration as a Political Weapon
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Giorgia Meloni's gambit against Pedro Sánchez has blown up in her face. She went looking for proof that the European left was finished — instead she found a government that understood exactly what was at stake in refusing to fold. John Foster, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
How Migration Became Meloni's Undoing
Racism, Populism and the Politics of Blame
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Antiwar movements aren't what they used to be. The Vietnam and Iraq wars each drew record numbers of demonstrators — but the recent U.S.-Israeli military action against Iran has sparked no comparable mobilisation. What gives? Ari Paul, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
In Search of the American Antiwar Movement
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Hip-hop, hardcore, grime and drone. Joel Schalit, with this week's playlist, for The Battleground newsletter. [Link in comments]
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Why do prosperous, educated democracies increasingly struggle to sustain faith in democracy? The far right has grasped this with alarming clarity and outflanked the socialist left. John Foster, on the rise of nationalist identity politics, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Far-Right Identity Politics
Why the Left Failed
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
The EU's response to Spain's migrant crisis was more than shameful — it was a warning sign. Europe's political consensus is drifting back toward impulses history has already judged harshly. William Noah Glucroft, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Ceuta Shattered the EU Dream
Euroscepticism in an Age of Fascist Creep
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Paradise Metal refuses the flattening gaze that turns unfamiliar traditions into exotic curiosities. Father Dionysios Tabakis's debut channels a lineage of sacred sounds—from Ravi Shankar to Sister Rosetta Tharpe—refracted through the lens of Greek Orthodoxy. Charlie Bertsch, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Greek Orthodox Psychedelia
Paradise Metal, by Father Dionysios Tabakis
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
It feels like only yesterday Israel advocates claimed criticism of the Israeli government was welcomed because Israelis did it themselves. That changed after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Netanyahu, wanted by the ICC, should face justice. Ari Paul, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Netanyahu Über Alles
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
PinkNews, once synonymous with a more inclusive and tolerant Britain, is in trouble. Its struggles reflect both the economic pressures on alternative media and the costs of chasing the political centre while alienating its queer base. Josh White, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Decline of the Queer Centre
The PinkNews Story
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Has Andy Burnham’s new government marked a real break with the neoliberal status quo? In this edition of Globalists, Josh White and Mitchell Plitnick examine its early moves, progressive prospects, and the opportunities—and limitations—of the leadership change.
thebattleground.substack.com
Burnham's Big Test
Keep the Pressure on Labour
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Between grievance and terrorism lies a struggle over interpretation. Berlin's Pride parade attack became proof of immigration's dangers to the far right, and prejudice's dangers to the liberal centre. What made the attack significant is that it fit neither story. John Foster, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Beyond the Border
German Liberalism in Crisis
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Ron Kampeas says Israel isn't committing genocide in Gaza. The evidence says otherwise — and the veteran journalist's denial deserves scrutiny. Mitchell Plitnick, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
The War Over Genocide
Israelis, Americans and Gaza
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Jack Hazan and David Mingay's 1980 film Rude Boy explores the contradictions of punk by following The Clash. It resists the celebratory approach of most music documentaries, offering an ambivalent portrait of both the band and the movement it helped define. Charlie Bertsch, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
The Limitations of Punk
Rude Boy, Directed by Jack Hazan and David Mingay
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Anti-leftism is a politics of superiority. The left is targeted not only because it challenges the existing order, but because those who identify with it are cast as socially, culturally and politically inferior. Ari Paul, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Trump, the Left, and the Politics of State Terror
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
The war in Ukraine has reached a pivotal moment. On this week’s Globalists, Josh White and Mitchell Plitnick discuss what Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s dismissal of military head Mykhailo Fedorov means for the conflict and why a negotiated peace remains as distant as ever despite Donald Trump’s promises.
thebattleground.substack.com
The Russian Front
Ukrainian Turmoil Threatens War Gains
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
The West offers Ukraine military support and market integration. Missing is democratic control over political institutions. Solidarity must mean more than neoliberal fantasies—it must defend Ukrainians' power to shape the social content of independence. John Foster, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
When War Never Ends
The Making of Ukraine's Garrison State
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Although the Epstein Files could inspire a war on human trafficking, fixation on their exceptional contents threatens to do the opposite. Standing up for the survivors in the Files shouldn’t mean treating them differently from those who don't make headlines. Charlie Bertsch, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
No Fairy Tale Villain
Demystifying Jeffrey Epstein
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
It was the best Battleground event yet. If you couldn’t make it, we recorded it for you. On 7 July, The Battleground launched Josh White's new e-book, Tories Are Dead, and Outsidergrad, Duncan Simpson and Joel Schalit’s collaborative field recordings LP, at MayDay Rooms, on Fleet Street.
thebattleground.substack.com
The Battleground in London
Live at MayDay Rooms, Part I
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
In March 2025, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian born in Syria, was abducted by federal agents and disappeared while his wife was pregnant. Threatened with deportation, the Columbia University student was accused of criticising the Israeli government. Now he wants justice. Ari Paul for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Mahmoud Khalil is Fighting for Us All
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
If Andy Burnham’s Northern populism is to succeed, he’ll need to pivot sharply from Keir Starmer’s neoliberal approach. Anything less than radical change will just offset the far-right challenge for another few years. Josh White, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Andy Burnham's Make-or-Break Moment
Turn Labour Left—or Else
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
The War on Terror has a new name. If the pundits are to be believed, it’s the New Forever War. In this week’s Globalists, Josh White and Mitchell Plitnick unpack the conflict's complexities and explain why, despite Iran’s battlefield success, Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump won’t stop fighting.
thebattleground.substack.com
The New Forever War
Iranian Ceasefire Over
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
The Trump Administration’s war on the International Court of Justice has ramifications that extend far beyond The Hague. In such a world, The Hague is not really the target. It’s Constitutionalism they’re after. John Foster, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Power Without Justification
Donald Trump Against the ICJ
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
When Palestinians try to take their case to international courts, the US cuts aid and sanctions global legal bodies. When Palestinians engage in non-violent campaigning, they’re prosecuted or face other penalties. Palestinians are left with no alternatives. Mitchell Plitnick, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Israeli and Palestinian Violence
American Double Standards
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The Times of London’s decline feels different from that of other British newspapers. The collapse of British centrism has left many mainstream media unable to recognise post-Brexit society and its far-right politics. Josh White, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Relic of a Bygone Age
The Story of The Times
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
As Israel's once-sacrosanct standing in US politics fades, establishment Jewish pundits like Nicholas Lemann seem increasingly at sea. The rest of us know how to build a humanistic Jewish politics that fights for equality in Palestine and beyond. Ari Paul, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
What’s a Jew to Do? Nicholas Lemann Gets the Blues
Ruthless Cosmopolitan
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
When it comes to street photography, Brussels has few peers. Nine new shots from Battleground editor-in-chief Joel Schalit's book-in-progress: thebattleground.eu/photo/
thebattleground.eu
Socialist Unrealism
Redistributing the furniture, Brussels 1000.
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Reposted by The Battleground
Mitchell Plitnick @mjplitnick.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
In this week’s Globalists, Josh White and Mitchell Plitnick unpack the rise of Zohran Mamdani in New York and Zack Polanski in Britain. One is redefining leftist politics within the Democratic Party; the other is mounting a challenge to Labour from the left. thebattleground.eu/podcast/the-...
thebattleground.eu
The Mamdani-Polanski Experience
Capturing the Zeitgeist
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Why do liberal parties seem more alarmed by victories on their left flank than defeats by the right? That world has ended. The institutions built to govern it, however, remain. John Foster, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
Afraid of Their Own Voters
Why Liberal Parties Move Right
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
On 4 July, the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary. This landmark has been met with noticeably less enthusiasm than the bicentennial. It mirrors America’s decline as a global power and the disillusionment of those who once saw it as a democracy. Mitchell Plitnick, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
More Democracy, Less Oligarchs
America at 250
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The Battleground @battlegroundeu.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
arlo Ginzburg transformed our understanding of both the past and the future..His landmark work, The Cheese and the Worms, inspires us to look for what gets filtered out of the historical record. Charlie Bertsch, on the late Italian historian, for The Battleground.
thebattleground.eu
The Human Factor
Carlo Ginzburg, 1939-2026
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