Oscar Rickett

London

Journalist slash other. Mostly for Middle East Eye. Also/ previously: the Guardian, openDemocracy, Vice, Africa Confidential, ITN, etc

Articles

Glasshouse Communism

3 weeks ago | znetwork.org | Oscar Rickett

In leafy Chingford, a workers’ co-operative has combined socialist principles with organic horticulture to create a long-lasting hub for community activism and productive labour. Close to Chingford Station in the suburbs of east London and along a path leading into Epping Forest, large iron gates stand at the entrance to Hawkwood Plant Nursery. Rows of fruit and vegetables are planted all around.
Oscar Rickett

3 weeks ago | znetwork.org | Oscar Rickett

In leafy Chingford, a workers’ co-operative has combined socialist principles with organic horticulture to create a long-lasting hub for community activism and…
Gaza genocide: How the hell did this happen, asks Pankaj Mishra

3 weeks ago | middleeasteye.net | Oscar Rickett |Mohamed Hashem

There are photos and videos of dead Palestinian children on social media every day. Having turned Gaza into a wasteland, killing tens of thousands in the process, Israel has this month broken the ceasefire returned to kill more. The end goal is surely ethnic cleansing, the removal of Palestinians from Gaza framed as the removal of Hamas from power. Western countries have aided and abetted this war, arming Israel, providing it with intelligence and covering for it diplomatically and rhetorically.
Glasshouse Communism

3 weeks ago | tribunemag.co.uk | Oscar Rickett

Close to Chingford Station in the suburbs of east London and along a path leading into Epping Forest, large iron gates stand at the entrance to Hawkwood Plant Nursery. Rows of fruit and vegetables are planted all around. Fields replete with raised beds and a forest garden provide the backdrop to a large glasshouse connected to a main building, from where the community food project Organic Lea is run.
Steve Witkoff and Tucker Carlson: Key Middle East points from US envoy interview

1 month ago | middleeasteye.net | Oscar Rickett

In a frank and wide-ranging interview with Tucker Carlson on Saturday, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that negotiations to end Israeli attacks on Gaza were ongoing and that if Hamas “demilitarised” then “maybe they could stay” in the Palestinian enclave and “be involved politically”. “What does Hamas want? I think they want to stay there till the end of time. And they want to rule Gaza,” Witkoff said.
UK enrages Sudanese army government by inviting UAE to London conference

1 month ago | middleeasteye.net | Oscar Rickett

The UK has invited its ally the United Arab Emirates to a London conference on Sudan's war in April, but not the Sudanese army-aligned government, according to a document shared with Middle East Eye on Friday. Neither the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) nor its enemy, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have been invited to the conference, set to take place in the British capital on 15 April.
How Trump's assault on USAID leaves war-torn Sudan exposed

1 month ago | middleeasteye.net | Oscar Rickett

In warehouses across Africa, food shipped from the United States intended for the starving people of war-torn Sudan is sitting rotting, its fate unknown. In Cameroon, Djibouti and elsewhere, rice, wheat, lentils, flour and beans that were on their way to Sudan are being air conditioned to keep from spoiling and sprayed to guard against bugs.
Bahrain detains activist for posts on final day of F1 pre-season testing

1 month ago | middleeasteye.net | Oscar Rickett

Bahraini authorities have arrested a human rights activist and former political prisoner over social media posts, according to the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird). Ali al-Hajee was arrested on 28 February, the final day of pre-season testing for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
'You can't see it. You can't shoot it': Turkey's drones boost Sudanese army against RSF

1 month ago | middleeasteye.net | Ragip Soylu |Oscar Rickett

Turkey supplied several drones to Sudan’s army last year, and they have been used to achieve important advances against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in areas such as Khartoum and el-Obeid, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter told Middle East Eye. Since the civil war in Sudan began in April 2023, Ankara and other regional countries such as Egypt have backed army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the paramilitary RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemeti.
Sudan's army breaks RSF siege on strategic city of el-Obeid

1 month ago | middleeasteye.net | Oscar Rickett

Fighting and exchanges of artillery fire are ongoing in the strategically important Sudanese city of el-Obeid, after Sudan's army broke an almost two-year long Rapid Support Forces (RSF) siege of the capital of North Kordofan state on Sunday. Footage shared online showed celebrations taking place inside the city and a reported 200 supply trucks heading into el-Obeid to relieve it.