Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
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Israel and the West’s war on itself: The true meaning of ICC arrest warrants
The arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are a diplomatic disaster for Israel, reported the Economist, a “hard stigma” for the Israeli leader, wrote the Guardian, and a “major blow”, said others. But a term that...
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‘Genocide’ vs ‘Bigger Genocide’ in Gaza: Time to decolonise our minds
“Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well,” wrote Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth (1961). What the iconic anti-colonial philosopher and psychiatrist was essentially arguing is that the mind must be decolonised...
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No more 'deals’: what Palestinians want and will fight to achieve
A major problem in American thinking about the Middle East is the utter rejection of the notion that Palestinian rights are fundamental, if at all relevant, to the coveted peace and stability of the region. Long before Donald Trump’s first “Deal of the Century” was revealed officially on 28...
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A nation in denial: Why Israel’s defeat is imminent
The paradoxical phrase “running away forward” is one of the most apt descriptions that illustrates the state of affairs in Israel right now. It seems that everything that the Zionist state has done in the past year or so is a mere attempt to deny, distract from or escape...
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End of empathy: Did the Gaza genocide render the UN irrelevant?
Francesca Albanese did not mince her words. In a strongly worded speech at the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee on 29 October, the UN Special Rapporteur deviated from the typical line of other UN officials. She directed her statements to those in attendance. “Is it possible that after 42,000...
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Voting against genocide: How Gaza defeated the Democratic establishment
Arab and Muslim American voters did not remove Democrats from office, nor did they cost Kamala Harris the Oval Office. They merely sent a strong message that Palestine matters, not only to Arabs and Muslims but to many Americans as well. The ones who cost the Democrats the elections are...
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By criminalising UNRWA, Israel is delegitimising the United Nations
The Israeli Knesset passed a second reading of two bills on 28 October that effectively ban the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from carrying out “any activity” in Israel and occupied Palestine. Simply put, the decision is catastrophic, because UNRWA is the main international body...
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Political interests in the age of genocide: Is Europe abandoning Israel?
On 14 October, Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, who continues to speak tirelessly against Russia and its war with Ukraine, went as far as providing a roundabout justification for the Israeli genocide in Gaza. “When Hamas terrorists hide behind people, behind schools … civilian places lose their protected status...
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‘Gaza is ours, forever’ - Israel’s extremists have a plan for the day after the genocide
Under the slogan ‘Gaza is Ours, Forever’, a large number of Israeli extremists and right-wing politicians met in the settlement of Be’eri, near the Gaza border region, on 20-21 October. The group represented the who’s who in the Israeli right, far right and ultranationalists. They included Israeli Ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir,...
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The long history of Palestine: Why Palestinians are winning the legitimacy war
Oddly, it was Israeli historian Benny Morris who got it right, when he offered a candid prediction of the future of his country and its war with the Palestinians. “The Palestinians look at everything from a broad, long-term perspective,” he said in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in...
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Israel’s Biblical wars of ‘self-defence’: The myth of the ‘seven war fronts’
Israeli officials keep repeating that the occupation state is having to fight on multiple fronts. The truth is that Israel chooses to fight on multiple fronts. The two claims are fundamentally different. Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went as far as saying that his country is fighting on seven...
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My sister was the 166th doctor to be murdered in Gaza
“Your lives will continue. With new events and new faces. They are the faces of your children, who will fill your homes with noise and laughter.” These were the last words written by my sister in a text message to one of her daughters. Dr Soma Baroud was murdered on 9...
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No matter the cost: Things that the Israeli genocide in Gaza taught us about Palestine and the world
The past year of the relentless Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, and bloody raids and violence in the West Bank, has been viewed largely in terms of the horrific humanitarian outcomes: the unequalled killing of tens of thousands of children, women and men; the obliteration of Gaza;...
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After a year of genocide and despite the unbelievable pain, Palestinians emerge stronger
No one expected that one year would be enough to recalibrate the Palestinian cause as the world’s most pressing issue, and that millions of people across the globe would, once again, rally for Palestinian freedom. The past twelve months have witnessed an Israeli genocide in Gaza and unprecedented violence...
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Words kill: Why Israel gets away with murder in Gaza and Lebanon
The official Israeli army version of why it targeted civilian areas during the intense and deadly bombardment of southern Lebanon on 20 September is that the Lebanese are hiding long-range missile launchers in their homes. This official explanation was meant to justify the killing of 492 people and the...
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The war of legitimacy: how the ICJ and UNGA challenged decades of Israel, US arrogance
Two historic events regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestine took place on 19 July and 18 September. The first was a most comprehensive “advisory opinion” by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which reiterated that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is illegal and must come to an immediate end....
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The African Union must act to stop Israel recruiting asylum seekers to kill Palestinians in Gaza
If you visit the Mahal website, a pop-up reminder — “Apply online” — keeps appearing. It is as if the repeated beep is a reminder of the state of emergency, if not outright panic, in the Israeli military. Mahal is one of several recruitment agencies that aim to entice...
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Israel’s true objectives in Gaza and why it will fail
Never in its history of war and military occupation has Israel been so incapable of developing a coherent plan for its future and the future of its victims. Even a quick glance at headlines in international media reveals the depth of the Israeli dilemma. While Tel Aviv continues to carry...
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Abbas ‘postponed’ democracy - So, who speaks on behalf of the Palestinian people?
In April 2021, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree postponing parliamentary and presidential elections, which were scheduled to take place in May and July respectively. The then-85-year-old Palestinian leader justified his unwarranted decision as a result of a “dispute” with Israel over the vote of Palestinians living in the occupied...
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Cartography of genocide: Why Netanyahu erased Palestine from the map
When asked why his latest map had erased the whole of the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retorted with the most detestable answer. “I didn’t include the Dead Sea. It’s not shown on the map. I didn’t show the Jordan River. It’s not on this map. I...
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Zionism vs Zionism: Ben-Gvir and the acceleration of the collapse of Israel
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir vowed on 26 August to build a synagogue inside the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, the Muslim holy site known as Al-Haram Al-Sharif. As a representation of Israel’s powerful religious Zionist class in the government and society at large, Ben-Gvir has been candid regarding...
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Gaza’s children are the principal victims of Israel’s genocide
The Israeli war on Gaza is a war on Palestinian children. This was as true on 7 October as it is today. On 17 August, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a seven-day ceasefire to allow children in Gaza to be vaccinated against polio. “I am appealing to all parties...
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Erdan’s war on the UN: The brutal wish of a failed Israeli diplomat
Departing Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, has clearly had an unpleasant experience at the world’s largest international institution. In an interview published in the Israeli newspaper Maariv on 20 August, the disgruntled envoy said that, “The UN building should be closed and wiped off from the...
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A strategic shift: Will Palestinian groups return to ‘martyrdom attacks’ inside Israel?
Yesterday, the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad warned Israel that they plan to return to ‘martyrdom attacks’ inside Israel. “The Brigades affirm that martyrdom operations within the occupied territories will return to the forefront as long as the massacres by the occupation, the displacement of civilians...
