Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
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Anti-racist solidarity during Euro 2020 should not be ‘controversial’
Another football “controversy” arose when footballers playing in the ongoing UEFA Euro 2020 tournament kneeled down before kick-off in protest against racism, a serious problem that has plagued football stadiums for many years. While some teams and players chose to kneel, others opted not to. Flimsy excuses such as...
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The People v Mahmoud Abbas: are the Palestinian Authority’s days numbered?
Claims that the Palestinian Authority’s days are numbered are now heard frequently. This is especially so following the torture to death on 24 June of a popular Palestinian activist, Nizar Banat, 42, at the hands of PA security goons in Hebron (Al-Khalil). The killing of Banat — or “assassination” as...
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Bennett’s political theatre: The decisive Israeli-Palestinian fight ahead
Many Palestinians believe that the 10-21 May military confrontation between Israel and the Gaza Resistance, along with the simultaneous popular revolt across Palestine, was a game-changer. Israel is doing everything in its power to prove them wrong. Palestinians are justified to hold this viewpoint; after all, their minuscule military capabilities...
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Words alone will not end anti-Muslim terrorism in Canada
The killing of a Muslim family in Ontario, Canada, on 6 June presented another opportunity for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to brand himself as a voice of reason and communal harmony. However, Trudeau’s amiable and reassuring language was designed to veil a sinister reality which has, for many years,...
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‘Putting lipstick on a pig’: Why Washington is fawning over Israel’s new government
When former US President Barack Obama used an old cliché to denigrate his political opponent, the late US Senator John McCain, he triggered a political controversy lasting several days. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” said Obama at a campaign event in 2008....
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Netanyahu may have won America, but he has lost Israel
The now-former Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, is as much American as he is Israeli. While other Israeli leaders have made their strong relationship with Washington a cornerstone of their politics, Netanyahu’s political style was essentially American from the start. He spent many of his formative years in the...
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On ‘conflict’, ‘peace’ and ‘genocide’: Time for new language on Palestine and Israel
On 25 May, famous US actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted an apology for suggesting that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza. “I have reflected and wanted to apologise for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing ‘genocide’,” Ruffalo wrote, adding: “It’s not accurate, it’s inflammatory, disrespectful and...
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The Palestinians have dethroned the King of Israel
How has Benjamin Netanyahu managed to serve as Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister? With a total of 15 years in office, he has surpassed the 12-year mandate of Israel’s founding father, David Ben Gurion. The answer to this question will become particularly critical for future Israeli leaders who hope to...
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Power at any cost: how opportunistic Mansour Abbas joined hands with avowed ‘Arab killers’
We are led to believe that history is being made in Israel following the formation of an ideologically diverse government coalition which, for the first time, includes an Arab party, Ra’am, or the United Arab List. If we are to accept this logic, the leader of Ra’am, Mansour Abbas, is...
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The ‘free market’ is anything but, so what is America’s endgame in China?
Why does the US advocate a free market while doing its utmost to stifle it? The current US-China economic war is a perfect example of this perplexing question. The legacy of Milton Friedman, the founder of America’s modern political economy, was a representation of this very dichotomy: the use, misuse...
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Palestinians are defeating the Oslo culture typified by bumbling Abbas
The political discourse of Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, is similar to that of an ineffectual king who has been isolated in his palace for far too long. The king speaks of prosperity and peace, and counts his innumerable achievements and wealth...
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'Mowing the grass' no more: How Palestinian resistance altered the equation
The ceasefire on 21 May has, for now, brought the Israeli war on Gaza to an end. However, this ceasefire is not permanent, and constant Israeli provocations anywhere in Palestine could reignite the bloody cycle all over again. Moreover, the Israeli siege on Gaza remains in place, as well...
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Despite massive losses, the Palestinians have altered the course of history
The “Palestinian Revolt of 2021” will go down in history as one of the most influential events to have shaped collective thinking irreversibly in and around Palestine. Only two other events can be compared with what has just transpired: the revolt of 1936 and the 1987 First Intifada. The general...
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Unity at last: The Palestinian people have risen
From the outset, some clarification regarding the language used to depict the ongoing violence in occupied Palestine, and also throughout Israel. This is not a ‘conflict’. Neither is it a ‘dispute’ nor ‘sectarian violence’ nor even a war in the traditional sense. It is not a conflict, because Israel is...
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The Zionism Discourse on Palestine Crumbling: Israel is an 'Apartheid State'
While Human Rights Watch’s conclusions carry a significant legal and potentially political weight, the report is hardly an isolated event....
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The untold story of Sheikh Jarrah
There are two separate Sheikh Jarrah stories. One is read about and watched on the news, the other receives little media coverage or due analysis. The obvious story is that of the nightly raids and violence meted out by Israeli police and Jewish extremists against Palestinians in the devastated East...
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Putting people before profit: How Covid-19 is changing our view of development and power
Covid-19 has been a lengthy wake-up call. It is a loud and costly reminder of our lack of preparedness. One of many crucial questions this deadly pandemic is confronting us with pertains to the real definitions of human development, wealth, and power. When militarily powerful and rich countries, like the...
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Award-winning Italian artist Eduardo Castaldo speaks about Palestine
On 1 April, a mural appeared in the Italian city of Naples. It depicts Palestinian workers lining up at an Israeli military checkpoint near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. The mural is called “Welcome to Bethlehem” and quickly became popular in the city and on social media. It...
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The dangerous decision to ‘postpone’ the election is Palestine’s moment of reckoning
The decision on 30 April by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to “postpone” this month’s legislative election, which would have been the first in 15 years, will deepen the political division in occupied Palestine and could, potentially, signal the collapse of the Fatah Movement, at least in its current...
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Bottom-up politics sees grassroots activism behind a pro-Palestine shift in the US
At a recent J Street Conference online, US Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren broke yet another political taboo when they expressed willingness to leverage US military aid as a way of putting pressure on Israel to respect Palestinian human rights. Sanders believes that the US “must be willing...
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Ramadan represents a wake-up call for the aching body of the Muslim world
Islam’s holy fasting month of Ramadan should be a time of spiritual reflection and a reordering of the Ummah’s collective priorities. Unfortunately, in the age of globalisation, unmitigated consumption and a self-centred, individualistic approach to life, our relationship with Ramadan is veering away from its intended goal towards something...
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A Palestinian prayer for Ramadan: May the voices of the oppressed be heard
Covid-19 cases in occupied Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip, have reached record highs, largely due to the arrival of a greatly contagious coronavirus variant which was first identified in Britain. Gaza has always been vulnerable to the deadly pandemic. Under a hermetic Israeli-led blockade since 2006, the densely...
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Recognition of Palestine may be ‘symbolic’, but it is also critical
The recognition of Palestine as a State by the Australian Labor Party on 30 March is a welcome move, although it comes with many caveats. Pro-Palestine activists are justified in questioning the sincerity of the ALP’s stance and whether it is genuinely prepared to adopt this position fully should...
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As Israel rejects the ICC investigation, what are the possible scenarios?
The Israeli government’s position regarding an impending investigation by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes committed in occupied Palestine has finally been declared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It will be made clear that Israel is a country with rule of law that knows how to...
