By Left To Burn

First, it was the Sukkot War. Then, it was the Iron Swords War. Now it’s the War of Redemption. No name has stuck to the conflict that erupted on 7 October 2023, which the Trump Administration and the majority of the world’s media have declared is now over. William Noah Glucroft and Joel Schalit discuss failures to brand the war in Gaza, and how it reflects the savagery of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

By Left To Burn

Award-winning Afghan filmmaker, producer and director, Roya Sadat, opened the Brussels International Women’s Film Festival 2025 with her latest film, Sima’s Song. She spoke with Battleground publisher Natalie Sarkic-Todd about her own story, her filmmaking career and the importance of women’s voices. Sadat founded the International Women’s Film Festival in Herat, Afghanistan, now a Taliban stronghold, and currently lives in Seattle.

By Left To Burn

Gaza is everywhere. Few Jewish holidays highlighted its presence more than Yom Kippur this year, when Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, carried out a car ramming and stabbing attack at a Manchester synagogue. William Noah Glucroft and Joel Schalit deconstruct the violence and the international battlefield of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

By Left To Burn

If only it were about trauma. But, Bibi being Bibi, the premier can’t help himself. Endlessly mining the 11 September attacks to cover for his 7 October failings, Netanyahu turns Israel into America, granting himself the military power he lacks without Washington’s help. In today’s show, William Noah Glucroft and Joel Schalit examine Bibi’s political rhetoric and its impact on Jewish geography, bemoaning the consequences of living within an imaginary American bubble.

By Left To Burn

It’s all about framing. In the lead-up to the second anniversary of 7 October, William Noah Glucroft and Joel Schalit break down the major themes of the Gaza War, their significance for Israelis and Palestinians, and the conflict’s impact on European politics. Doubtless, they’ll have some additional items to discuss on October 8th. Today, the series kicks off with a conversation about Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans for a Super Sparta, Jewish identity and hummus in Berlin.

By Left To Burn

In the fourth edition of Gaza War Blues, Battleground Editor-in-Chief Joel Schalit and journalist William Noah Glucroft discuss the European Union’s reluctance to restrain Israel, despite mounting evidence of genocide, and how this reflects the bloc’s drift rightwards. Is this the populist EU everyone feared in the lead-up to the 2024 European elections, or a reflection of its impotence? Schalit and Glucroft say both. Centrist parties have adopted far-right policies on immigration and the environment; however, bureaucratic sclerosis prevails.

By Left To Burn

You can’t control everybody. In today’s show, Editor-in-Chief Joel Schalit speaks with longtime contributor Wieland Hoban about his civil society organisation, Jüdische Stimme (Jewish Voice), being labelled as extremist by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and what it says about government efforts to define Jewish politics after the Holocaust.

In the third edition of Gaza War Blues, Battleground Editor-in-Chief Joel Schalit and journalist William Noah Glucroft return to the Mideast conflict, and why the European Commission failed to follow through on its threat to suspend its 2001 Association Agreement with Israel. It’s not a new story. For Schalit and Glucroft, the pendulum inevitably swings back to the United States and Brussels’ lack of independence from Washington. Not just in security affairs, but in foreign policy matters, too.

Fleet Street used to be a world unto itself. Nowadays, it's a playground for lawyers and the professional services class. The hacks are long gone, but the media industry continues to define the national conversation. In this episode of Left To Burn, Josh White talks to media critic Mic Wright about his new book Breaking: How the Media Works, When It Does and Why It Doesn't. Wright paints an unflattering portrait of the British media, its culture and its history.

In the second edition of Left To Burn’s series on the European Union and the Gaza War, William Noah Glucroft and Joel Schalit discuss the EU’s support for Israel and how it cemented an increasingly unpopular Netanyahu government’s grip on power. As Jewish journalists, Schalit and Glucroft hope for the best but expect the worst, and lament a crisis that could have been contained by better Western leadership.

Please support The Battleground. Make a donation to help us produce more innovative podcasts and field recording albums.