Key Takeaways:
- Anti-Israel propagandist Owen Jones put together a hit-piece on Israel that is devoid of any nuance, called “Owen Jones Goes to Palestine.”
- He visits contentious sites in the West Bank and presents his interviewees as credible Palestinian voices — yet some have terror ties, while others push a distorted narrative of history.
- Jones feeds them leading questions and never presses for critical context, such as the fact that security measures and restrictions exist to stop terrorism.
- The result is a piece that whitewashes terror, rewrites history, and seeks to delegitimize Israel’s sovereignty.
Owen Jones describes himself as a “socialist,” an “LGBT rights campaigner,” and a “pro-Palestinian activist.” If that sounds contradictory, that’s because it is. The Guardian columnist — with more than 1.1 million followers on X and hundreds of thousands on YouTube — is more than a little muddled, especially when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Since Israel’s war against Hamas began, Jones’ ignorance and hostility toward the Jewish state has reached a crescendo. He screeches about the imagined “genocide in Gaza,” rails against so-called “Jewish supremacists,” and routinely spreads misinformation to his many followers. On live British television during the first weeks of the war, he falsely claimed Prime Minister Netanyahu had announced the first stone of a new settlement in Gaza. What Netanyahu actually said — clearly, in Hebrew — was that a new settlement had been laid in the “Gaza envelope,” the kibbutzim and towns Hamas had pillaged and burned on October 7. Jones’ version was based on a mistranslation. He does not speak Hebrew.
When Jones watched ‘Bearing Witness,’ the harrowing documentary collated from Hamas terrorists’ bodycams on October 7, he implied the footage wasn’t sufficient evidence of atrocities because it didn’t show the gang rapes of Jewish women — an obscene standard that speaks for itself.
Jones is also openly gay, which makes his latest “documentary” even more baffling. He champions a cause led by factions that outlaw homosexuality in Gaza and where LGBT Palestinians in the West Bank face persecution, arrest, or worse. Israel, by contrast, is the only country in the region where gay rights are legally protected.
His new YouTube mini-documentary, ‘Owen Goes To Palestine,’ is a textbook exercise in confirmation bias: whitewashing terror, erasing context, and presenting propaganda as journalism.
Lifta Village: A Myth of “Erasure”
Jones begins at Lifta, a site routinely described as a Palestinian village “erased in 1948.” His guide is Omar Haramy of the Sabeel Ecumenical Center, a pro-BDS organization that rejects Israel’s legitimacy.
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Jones’ first stop is Lifta Village, often portrayed by the media as a Palestinian village “erased in 1948.” There, he spoke with Omar Haramy of the Sabeel Ecumenical Center – a pro-BDS, anti-Israel group that rejects Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
Here’s the truth… pic.twitter.com/nBZE6MDBaj— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 29, 2025
The reality is starkly different. Lifta sat on the road to Jerusalem, where Arab gunmen frequently attacked Jewish convoys. Its strategic position made it a priority for securing safe passage. Like many Arab villages in 1948, residents fled because Arab leaders encouraged civilians to leave until the Jews were defeated. This mass flight was later rebranded as the “Nakba”—a narrative that conveniently omits Arab aggression and responsibility.
Ramallah: Ignoring Corruption, Ignoring Persecution
In Ramallah, Jones interviews Palestinian-American businessman Sam Bahour, who accuses Israel of “raping” the Palestinian economy. Bahour blames Israel for every obstacle but ignores the elephant in the room: rampant Palestinian Authority corruption.
The PA diverts funds meant for infrastructure and healthcare into its “pay-for-slay” policy—monthly stipends to terrorists and their families. Israel has little choice but to withhold portions of the tax revenues it collects for the PA.
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A visit to Ramallah is rife with lies about the suffering economy. Jones talks to Palestinian-American Sam Bahour, who claims that Israel “rapes” the Palestinian economy and represses it so that the PA has no funds to work with, and that the Palestinians are dependent on… pic.twitter.com/f4rvJyJtHc— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 29, 2025
And beyond the economics, Jones avoids another uncomfortable truth: the Palestinian Authority routinely cracks down on LGBT Palestinians, driving many underground or into exile. This, apparently, does not feature in his concept of “progressive” advocacy. For Jones, “human rights” abuses always mean Israel.
Masafer Yatta: A Legal Case, Not a Land Grab
Jones next heads to Masafer Yatta, popularized by the Oscar-winning film ‘No Other Land.’ He portrays it as a Palestinian community cruelly displaced for IDF training.
But Masafer Yatta is in Area C, under Israeli jurisdiction as laid out in the Oslo Accords. It was not a town but grazing land. The IDF established Training Zone 918 decades ago, with agreements in place for shared use with local Bedouins. Only later did Palestinians from nearby areas begin building illegal outposts, sparking a long-running legal case. Courts have ruled repeatedly in Israel’s favor. This is not “ethnic cleansing”; it is a politicized property dispute.
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Jones moves on to Masafer Yatta – another politicized distortion of a legitimate legal case, and made famous by the Oscar-winning film “No Other Land” this year.Here’s the truth Jones avoided:
▫️ Masafer Yatta isn’t “stolen land” – it’s in an area that includes illegal…— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 29, 2025
Read More: Masafar Yatta & Khan al-Ahmar: Behind the Headlines
Hebron: Peddling the Apartheid Lie
In Hebron, Jones paints a picture of “apartheid.” He claims the city is a “horror film” for Palestinians. The truth? Israel controls roughly 20 percent of the city, the Palestinian Authority the other 80 percent. Restrictions exist only in specific, high-risk areas where Israeli civilians have been repeatedly targeted by terrorists.
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No, there is no *apartheid* in Hebron, despite the gross distortion of facts on the ground. Jones calls the city a “horror film” for Palestinians.The truth:
▫️ Israel controls about 20% of the city, and the PA controls the other 80%.
▫️ Palestinians are only restricted… pic.twitter.com/5CXSDdplU0— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 29, 2025
Jones then interviews Issa Amro, whom the Western press dubs a Palestinian “Martin Luther King.” In reality, Amro has a record of incitement and violence. Jones still presents him as a victim—“kidnapped” by Israel on October 7, of all days—an insult to the more than 1,200 Israelis actually kidnapped, raped, and murdered by Hamas that same day.
Platforming Extremists as “Moderates”
Jones next turns to Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, hailed as a “progressive” Palestinian voice. In reality, Barghouti is a leading advocate of boycotts against Israel, who regularly compares Gaza to Nazi concentration camps and repeats false claims of “genocide.” Far from moderate, he provides Jones with exactly the rhetoric he came to hear.
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Dr. Mustafa Barghouti is labeled “progressive” and Palestinian “left-ish” in the piece. Yet Jones ignores Barghouti’s troubling record while peddling lies about genocide and concentration camps in Gaza. Barghouti:
▫️Is a leading BDS advocate.
▫️Brands Israel “apartheid” while… pic.twitter.com/8Z8A6LQybr— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 29, 2025
Finally, Jones gives airtime to Ubai al-Aboudi, a convicted terror accomplice linked to the PFLP terror group. In Jones’ framing, al-Aboudi becomes a victim of “surveillance” and “experimentation” rather than what he is: someone tied to attempted suicide bombings.
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Finally, PFLP member Ubai al-Aboudi is platformed. Arrested in 2005 for aiding attempted suicide bombers, al-Aboudi works for the Bisan Center for Research and Development, a designated terror group.Jones treats claims of “experimentation” and phone surveillance on… pic.twitter.com/lR8vo2lCI1
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 29, 2025
A Propaganda Tour Disguised as Journalism
From start to finish, ‘Owen Goes to Palestine’ follows a familiar script. Palestinian propagandists are treated as brave truth-tellers. Terror ties are omitted. Israel’s defensive measures are smeared as oppression. Terrorism itself? Erased completely.
Jones presents himself as a progressive truth-teller. But when it comes to the Middle East, his progressivism stops where his ideology starts. He will stand in Ramallah praising men who would criminalize his very existence, while vilifying the only state in the region where he could live freely as himself.
That isn’t just bias — it’s willful blindness. And the fact that he is still given platforms in mainstream outlets like The Guardian is a failure not just of journalistic standards, but of basic moral clarity. Facts matter, even when they don’t suit Owen Jones. It’s time his enablers recognized that.
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