Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
Fascists don’t speak for Christianity
Far right claims to be ‘standing up for Christian Britain’ are false and aimed at stoking up hate – but Christians must step forward and loudly speak out against them, says SYMON HILL
Windows are smashed as trouble flares during an anti-immigration protest outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, August 4, 2024
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
THIS week I have listened to the most racist speech I have ever heard from a Christian minister in Britain.
As of yesterday, a talk by Canon Phil Harris had been viewed more than 1.8 million times on YouTube. On various social media sites, it has received a string of approving comments from far-right viewers, some of them identifying themselves as Christians.
To be clear: Phil Harris belongs to a breakaway Anglican grouping. He is not ordained in the Church of England or any other major Christian denomination. While I am often critical of the Church of England’s leaders, Harris’s catalogue of misleading myths and unsubstantiated allegations is on a different level.
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SYMON HILL looks at Tommy Robinson’s bid to use Christmas to spread division and hate — and reminds us that’s the opposite of Jesus’s message
LYNNE WALSH reports from the Morning Star’s Race, Sex and Class Liberation conference last weekend, which discussed the dangers of incipient fascism and the spiralling drive to war
In fighting against racism and fascism, it helps to clearly make the case that division and hatred emerge from the elites and those who stand to benefit from a fractured working class, argues DANIEL KEBEDE
Behind headlines of bishops’ resignations and brutal abuse lies the deeper story of class privilege and power, as religious institutions face a stark choice between serving the elite or standing with the oppressed, writes SYMON HILL