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Should the West be Suspicious of Islam? My full Oxford Union speech.
13:59
Jonathan Sacerdoti
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Writer, broadcaster, commentator
jonsac.substack.com
jonsac.substack.com
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For a thousand years Jews lived under Islamic rule. Professor Paul B. Fenton has spent his career reading what the documents from those centuries actually say.
79:02
BREAKING: An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome has been diverted to a French military airbase following a bomb threat, while three Ryanair flights bound for Bulgaria have also received threats today, amid a growing wave of similar incidents across Europe.
The Aer Lingus aircraft, carrying 151 passengers and six crew, landed at Évreux military airbase in Normandy, where French military bomb-disposal teams were deployed to inspect it. All those aboard were reported safe.
Three Ryanair flights travelling to Sofia from London, Madrid and Copenhagen were also targeted today. The London flight was diverted to Plovdiv, while the other two landed in Sofia.
The latest alerts follow an extraordinary series of similar incidents earlier this week. On Tuesday alone, seven flights were affected, including services from Heathrow to Warsaw, Copenhagen to Warsaw, Manchester to Murcia, Dublin and Lisbon to Rome, and Dublin and Bergamo to Sofia.
On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest under Hungarian fighter escort. On 18 October, an Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna was diverted to Sofia following another bomb threat, with Bulgarian fighter jets deployed.
The threats have forced emergency landings, military interceptions, runway closures and extensive security operations across several countries. No explosives were found in the earlier incidents.
The disruption has also extended beyond aviation. On Tuesday, the Israeli-operated cruise ship Crown Iris was evacuated at the Greek island of Syros following a telephone bomb threat. Its 940 passengers and 597 crew were taken off the vessel while security teams searched it. Nothing suspicious was found.
The growing pattern raises questions about whether Europe is facing a coordinated campaign of disruption rather than unrelated hoaxes. Different airlines, countries and routes have been targeted, repeatedly forcing costly security responses and the deployment of military resources.
Authorities have not identified those responsible or established any connection between the incidents. There is currently no evidence publicly attributing them to a particular state or organisation.
The Aer Lingus aircraft, carrying 151 passengers and six crew, landed at Évreux military airbase in Normandy, where French military bomb-disposal teams were deployed to inspect it. All those aboard were reported safe.
Three Ryanair flights travelling to Sofia from London, Madrid and Copenhagen were also targeted today. The London flight was diverted to Plovdiv, while the other two landed in Sofia.
The latest alerts follow an extraordinary series of similar incidents earlier this week. On Tuesday alone, seven flights were affected, including services from Heathrow to Warsaw, Copenhagen to Warsaw, Manchester to Murcia, Dublin and Lisbon to Rome, and Dublin and Bergamo to Sofia.
On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest under Hungarian fighter escort. On 18 October, an Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna was diverted to Sofia following another bomb threat, with Bulgarian fighter jets deployed.
The threats have forced emergency landings, military interceptions, runway closures and extensive security operations across several countries. No explosives were found in the earlier incidents.
The disruption has also extended beyond aviation. On Tuesday, the Israeli-operated cruise ship Crown Iris was evacuated at the Greek island of Syros following a telephone bomb threat. Its 940 passengers and 597 crew were taken off the vessel while security teams searched it. Nothing suspicious was found.
The growing pattern raises questions about whether Europe is facing a coordinated campaign of disruption rather than unrelated hoaxes. Different airlines, countries and routes have been targeted, repeatedly forcing costly security responses and the deployment of military resources.
Authorities have not identified those responsible or established any connection between the incidents. There is currently no evidence publicly attributing them to a particular state or organisation.
Iran has declared Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force “terrorist organisations” and designated MI6 a “hostile group” — as British authorities confront a growing pattern of alleged Iranian operations inside the UK.
5:24
BREAKING: Iran has declared Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force “terrorist organisations” and designated MI6 a “hostile group”.
Under the new measures, the Royal Navy and RAF are now formally treated as terrorist organisations under Iranian legislation, while MI6 falls within an Iranian law covering espionage and cooperation with states Tehran considers hostile.
The latest escalation comes as two men face prosecution over an alleged Iranian intelligence operation targeting RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire base used by the US Air Force. All this came just days after Foreign Secretary Edward Miliband met Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in New York on 24 September, shaking his hand and posing for a photograph together at the UN General Assembly.
The new measures announced today by Iran’s Foreign Ministry today, follow a decision by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council and took effect immediately.
Iran says it is retaliating against Britain for bringing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under the State Threats Act in July, and for what Tehran claims was UK assistance to US and Israeli military operations against Iran, including access to British-controlled bases and logistical facilities.
It is an extraordinary inversion of reality from the brutal Islamic regime whose Revolutionary Guards have been responsible for decades for sponsoring terrorism and destabilising activity abroad.
Meanwhile, Craig and Lindsay Foreman, a British couple in their 50s from from East Sussex, have been imprisoned in Iran for nearly two years, since January 2025. He is a carpenter and she is a psychologist/life coach. They are now serving 10-year sentences for espionage – charges they deny. Their appeal was rejected, and they remain in custody.
Their family met Foreign Secretary Edward Miliband on 27 October and is pressing Britain to go further, including formally declaring their detention arbitrary, granting diplomatic protection and considering action at the International Court of Justice.
Under the new measures, the Royal Navy and RAF are now formally treated as terrorist organisations under Iranian legislation, while MI6 falls within an Iranian law covering espionage and cooperation with states Tehran considers hostile.
The latest escalation comes as two men face prosecution over an alleged Iranian intelligence operation targeting RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire base used by the US Air Force. All this came just days after Foreign Secretary Edward Miliband met Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in New York on 24 September, shaking his hand and posing for a photograph together at the UN General Assembly.
The new measures announced today by Iran’s Foreign Ministry today, follow a decision by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council and took effect immediately.
Iran says it is retaliating against Britain for bringing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under the State Threats Act in July, and for what Tehran claims was UK assistance to US and Israeli military operations against Iran, including access to British-controlled bases and logistical facilities.
It is an extraordinary inversion of reality from the brutal Islamic regime whose Revolutionary Guards have been responsible for decades for sponsoring terrorism and destabilising activity abroad.
Meanwhile, Craig and Lindsay Foreman, a British couple in their 50s from from East Sussex, have been imprisoned in Iran for nearly two years, since January 2025. He is a carpenter and she is a psychologist/life coach. They are now serving 10-year sentences for espionage – charges they deny. Their appeal was rejected, and they remain in custody.
Their family met Foreign Secretary Edward Miliband on 27 October and is pressing Britain to go further, including formally declaring their detention arbitrary, granting diplomatic protection and considering action at the International Court of Justice.
