Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
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Hussein Munther has died, but the ‘Voice of the Palestinian Revolution’ lives on
Whenever Israeli soldiers stormed our neighbourhood in a Gaza refugee camp, we would rush to hide the few VHS tapes of the band Al-Asheqeen that we had. Being caught in possession of such revolutionary material would be enough to earn us a severe beating, arrest and a heavy fine....
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Tel Aviv’s losing brands: Israeli ‘coup’ and the death of false democracy
From its very onset, Israel has constructed a brand for itself, a powerful gimmick that was predicated on two main pillars: democracy and stability. The main target audience for this brand has been powerful Western states that wielded disproportionate political, economic and military powers. These Western governments, along with...
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Epidemic or revolution: the other side of the West Africa upheaval
What if the “epidemic of coups” in West and Central Africa is not that at all, but a direct outcome of outright revolutionary movements, similar to the anti-colonial movements that liberated most African nations from the yoke of Western colonialism throughout the 20th century? Whether this is the case...
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Humiliation vs. self-respect: the untold story of the abuse of Palestinian women in Hebron
The humiliation of Palestinian women by Israeli soldiers in the occupied city of Al-Khalil (Hebron) on 10 July was not the first such episode. Sadly, it will not be the last. Indeed, the stripping of five women in front of their children, parading them naked around their family home...
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Israel’s twisted logic makes the murder of Palestinian children a matter of state policy
Israel murders Palestinian children as a matter of state policy. This claim can be demonstrated easily and is supported by the latest findings of a Human Rights Watch report. The question is: why? When the police or army shoot a child anywhere in the world, it can usually be...
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‘Bread and circuses’: Musk, Zuckerberg and the art of distraction
“Panem et circenses”, said the Romans – Bread and circuses. This maxim served the Romans well. In times of crisis and whenever they needed a distraction from military defeats or political infighting at the highest levels, they simply entertained the masses. Caroline Wazir wrote an article for The Atlantic...
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A ‘terrorist onslaught’? This is why Netanyahu, Gallant blame Iran for West Bank violence
Despite their complicated and often uneasy relationship, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, agree on one thing: Iran is behind Israel’s security problem. The socio-economic polarization in Israel, the country’s political and judicial crises, the ongoing settlers’ pogroms in the West Bank, the repeated...
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When the torturer is the ‘saviour’, can BRICS and the Global South help us to escape Western hegemony?
At the zenith of the mass protests in Egypt on 25 January 2011, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms based in the West appeared to be the most essential tools for the Egyptian Revolution. Although some observers later contested the descriptions “Twitter Revolution” or “Social Media Revolution”, one...
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Friend or foe? Russia’s West Jerusalem Consulate is very worrying
Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, a global cold war has also kicked in. As a strong ally of Washington and the home of a massive constituency of Russian, Ukrainian and East European Jews, it was only natural that Tel Aviv would be at the heart of the...
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Is the Western media perception of Africa racist?
Racism goes beyond the use of certain words or discrimination in everyday life. It is also about political perceptions, intellectual depictions and collective relationships. Consider, for example, the way that Africa is currently being portrayed in the news. From a political viewpoint, Africa is seen as a singular entity,...
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Palestinians welcome China new Middle East role, but it is not mediation they need
It is feasible for China to continue playing an important role in mediating Middle East conflicts. In fact, it already has. In the case of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, however, mediation is hardly the issue. Even before Beijing successfully managed to achieve reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran...
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The uncomfortable truth about Ain Al-Hilweh, the capital of Palestinian ‘shatat’ and agony
The Ain Al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon is known as the “capital of Palestinian shatat”. The term might not stir many emotions among those who do not fully understand, let alone experience the harrowing existence of ethnic cleansing and perpetual exile, and the tremendous violence which followed. ‘Shatat’...
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Balancing act is over: Israel protests are not about democracy, but ideology
The late Israeli commentator, Uri Avnery, wrote, “I am increasingly worried that the Israeli-Palestinian struggle … is assuming a more and more religious character.” At first glance, the statement may seem baffling. If Israel is a ‘Jewish State’ that serves as a ‘homeland’ for all Jewish people, everywhere, does...
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Asia’s ‘strategic autonomy’: How the new era could shape our collective identities
In a recent speech, China’s highest-ranking diplomat Wang Yi spoke of a “united Asia” and its need to develop a “strategic autonomy”. In principle, Wang was not wrong; after all, a stable and prosperous Asia would benefit the region’s peoples and deny Western meddlers the chance to exploit historical...
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US and Israel: Is the ‘unbreakable bond’ finally breaking?
Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, added nothing of great value in his speech at the United States Congress on 19 July. His was the typical language. He spoke of a ‘sacred bond’, touted the shared experience between both nations as “unique in scope and quality”, and celebrated the great, common...
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What does solidarity mean in the new era in Palestine?
It is a new era in Palestine. It is taking shape before our very eyes, through the blood, tears and sacrifices of a brave generation that is fighting on two fronts: against the Israeli military occupation on the one hand, and collaborating Palestinians masquerading as a “leadership” on the...
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The Resistance vs. the Palestinian Authority: Will Abbas lead Palestinians to civil war?
This is the perfect opportunity for Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, to exit the stage. But he will not. Abbas’ brief visit to the devastated Jenin refugee camp in the northern Occupied West Bank on 12 July demonstrated the absurdity and danger of the PA and its 87-year-old leader....
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Jenin is just the start: Did Palestinians finally bury the ghosts of the past?
The deadly Israeli invasion of Jenin on 3 July was not a surprise. Also, unsurprising is the fact that the killing of 12 Palestinians, wounding of 120 more and the destruction of nearly 80 per cent of the Jenin Refugee Camp’s homes and infrastructure will not make an iota...
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From ICC to ‘sportswashing’: The West’s self-serving narratives must be combated
In March, the South African Communist Party (SACP) denounced what it described as the “imperialist bias” of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The denunciation of the ICC as a “supranational institution at the service of imperialist states” came two days after the Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for...
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Burning of the Quran and the counter-offensive: Why the West is panicking
Desecrating, then burning the Holy Quran in Sweden has, once again, raised a political storm of condemnation, but also of justification, if not outright approval. Such acts are protected by law, top Swedish and EU officials have declared. But why are the rights of those who oppose western agendas,...
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Netanyahu’s remarks should prompt a major paradigm shift in occupied Palestine
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is known to be against the establishment of a Palestinian state, but now he has made it clear that he wants to go even further. “We need to eliminate aspirations for a state,” he told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee...
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The armed revolt: Why Israel cannot crush the Resistance in Palestine
Numbers can be dehumanising. However, when placed in their proper context, they help to illuminate wider issues and answer urgent questions, such as why is Occupied Palestine at the threshold of a major revolt. And why Israel cannot crush Palestinian resistance no matter how hard, or violently, it tries....
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The extraordinary Palestinians of Jenin will not surrender
A large Israeli military force raided the northern Palestinian town and refugee camp of Jenin on 19 June, from multiple directions. Not only did the raid fail, though, but it also backfired. Moreover, it also created a precedent in Israel’s decades-long war on the ever-rebellious Palestinian region. Israel killed...
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The beloved ‘Cavaliere’: Berlusconi’s death will not resolve Italy's democracy problem
“Berlusconi is there because others have failed.” These words by Italian columnist Massimo Franco were made to the Washington Post in 2018, shortly before the Italian elections. They sum up the story of Italy’s modern politics. Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s adored but also loathed longest-serving prime minister died on 12 June. His party, Forza Italia,...