Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
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The Veiled Danger of the ‘Dead’ Oslo Accords
Yossi Beilin is back. This unrepentant Israeli ‘peacemaker’ is like the mythical phoenix, continually resurrecting from its ashes. In a recent article in Al-Monitor, Beilin wrote in support of the idea of a confederation between Israel and Palestine. A confederation “could prevent the need to evacuate settlers and allow those interested to...
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What Lies Beneath: The US-Israeli Plot to ‘Save’ Gaza
Israel wants to change the rules of the game entirely. With unconditional support from the Trump Administration, Tel Aviv sees a golden opportunity to redefine what has, for decades, constituted the legal and political foundation for the so-called ‘Palestinian-Israeli conflict.’ While US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy has, thus far,...
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When Illness is a ‘Death Sentence’: The Victimization of Gaza Women
Hanan al-Khoudari resorted to Facebook in a cry for help when Israeli authorities rejected her request to accompany her three-year-old son, Louay, to his chemotherapy treatment in East Jerusalem. The boy is suffering from an ‘aggressive soft tissue sarcoma’. Israeli authorities then justified their decision based on a vague claim...
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Gaza without cancer medicine as Haley blames Arabs for Washington’s sins
On Sunday, August 12, news from Gaza was distressing: The Ministry of Health announced that it would no longer be able to treat cancer patients in the Israel-besieged Strip. “Colon and lung cancer, as well as lymphoma patients, cannot be provided with the necessary therapy now,” said Dr Mohammed Abu...
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Mission accomplished: Why solidarity boats to Gaza succeed despite failing to break the siege
When Mike Treen, the national director of the Unite Union in New Zealand, arrived at the airport in the capital, Auckland, on 1 August, a group of people were anxiously waiting for him at the terminal with Palestinian flags and flowers. They hugged him, chanted for Palestinian freedom and...
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Mahmoud Abbas: Stop Exploiting Ahed Tamimi for Personal Gain
The father of 11-year-old, Abdul Rahman Nofal contacted me, asking for help. His son was shot in the leg during Gaza’s ‘Great March of Return’ protests. The Strip’s dilapidated health care system could not save the little boy’s leg, as it was later amputated. His father, Yamen, himself a young man from...
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A common Enemy: Why Israel is embracing fascism in Europe
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Israel on 19 July where he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. Orban’s visit would have not required much pause except that the Hungarian leader has been repeatedly branded for his often racist, anti-Semitic remarks. So why is Orban wining and dining with the leaders...
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Jewish Nation-state Law: Why Israel Was Never a Democracy
The head of the Arab Joint List Alliance at the Israeli Knesset (Parliament), Aymen Odeh, described the passing of the racist Jewish Nation-state Law as “the death of our democracy.” Did Odeh truly believe that, prior to this law, he had lived in a true democracy? 70 years of Israeli Jewish supremacy, genocide,...
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The Massacre of Inn Din: How Rohingya Are Lynched and Held Responsible
“In my four years as High Commissioner, I have heard many preposterous claims. That claim is almost in its own category of absurdity. Have you no shame, sir, have you no shame? We are not fools.” These were some of the remarks made by outgoing United Nations High Commissioner for...
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Europe’s Iron Curtain: The Refugee Crisis is about to Worsen
A recent European Council summit in Brussels was meant to articulate a united policy on the burgeoning refugees and migrant crisis. Instead, it served to highlight the bitter divisions among various European countries. Considering the gravity of the matter, Europe’s self-serving policies are set to worsen an already tragic...
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‘Deal of the Century’ is not new and the PA leadership is not a victim
Donald Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ will fail. Palestinians will not exchange their 70-year long struggle for freedom for Jared Kushner’s cash; nor will Israel accept even if there is a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank. The order of that anticipated failure is likely to go something like...
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Did Israel inspire Trump's family separation policy?
This past May, the United States Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, announced the government’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy at US border crossings. It was a matter of weeks before the new policy began yielding tragic outcomes. Those attempting to unlawfully cross into the US were subject to federal criminal prosecution, while their children...
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Stop the wars to end the refugee crisis
Europe is facing its most significant refugee crisis since World War Two. All attempts at resolving the issue have failed, mostly because those charged with doing so have ignored the root causes of the problem. Furthermore, on 11 June, Italy’s new Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, blocked the Aquarius rescue ship...
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The international community should not stand by as Israel abuses Palestinians
What is taking place in Palestine is not a ‘conflict’. We readily utilise the term but, in fact, the word ‘conflict’ is misleading. It equates oppressed Palestinians with Israel, a military power that stands in violation of numerous United Nations Resolutions. It is these ambiguous terminologies that allow the likes...
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Palestine is not occupied, it is colonised
June 5 2018 marks the 51st anniversary of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. But, unlike the massive popular mobilisation that preceded the anniversary of the Nakba – the catastrophic destruction of Palestine in 1948 – on 15 May the anniversary of the occupation is hardly generating equal mobilisation. The unsurprising death of the...
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8 things I learned about Palestine while touring 8 Western nations
On 20 February, I embarked on a global book tour that has, thus far, taken me to eight nations. The main theme of all my talks in various cultural, academic and media platforms was the pressing need to refocus the discussion on Palestine on the struggle, aspirations and history...
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Decoding the US Embassy move to Jerusalem: Why Trump did it
Two important truths have to be restated in order to understand the context of the US government’s decision to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which officially took place on 14 May. First, the precarious relationship between the US government and international law. Historically, the US has used...
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Israel’s premature celebration: Gazans have crossed the fear barrier
60 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on May 15, simply for protesting and demanding their Right of Return as guaranteed by international law. 50 more were killed since March 30, the start of the ‘Great March of Return’, which marks Land Day. Nearly 10,000 have been wounded and maimed in between...
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My home is Beit Daras: our lingering Nakba
When Google Earth was launched in 2001, I rushed immediately to locate a village that no longer exists on a map, which now delineates a whole different reality. Although I was born and raised in a Gaza refugee camp, and then moved to and lived in the United States,...
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An affront to history: Giro d’Italia’s ‘sport-washing’ of Israel Apartheid
For the first time since its inception in 1909, the legendary Italian cycling race, Giro d’Italia kicked off outside Europe and, strangely enough, from the city of Jerusalem on 4 May. The inherent contradictions in that decision are inescapable. Italy is a country that has experienced a ruthless forging occupation...
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Eclipsing Factionalism: The missing story from the Gaza protests
The Gaza border protests must be understood in the context of the Israeli Occupation, the siege and the long-delayed ‘Right of Return’ for Palestinian refugees. However, they should also be appreciated in a parallel context: Palestine’s own factionalism and infighting. Factionalism in Palestinian society is a deep-rooted ailment that has, for...
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Gazan Gandhis: Gaza bleeds alone as ‘Liberals’ and ‘Progressives’ go mute
Three more Palestinians were killed and 611 wounded last Friday, when tens of thousands of Gazans continued their largely non-violent protests at the Gaza-Israel border. Yet as the casualty count keeps climbing – nearly 45 dead and over 5,500 wounded – the deafening silence also continues. Tellingly, many of those...
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The Ghost of Herut: Einstein on Israel, 70 Years Ago
Albert Einstein, along with other Jewish luminaries, including Hannah Arendt, published a letter in the New York Times on December 4, 1948. That was only a few months after Israel had declared its independence and as hundreds of Palestinian villages were being actively demolished after their inhabitants were expelled. The letter denounced...
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Media cover-up: Shielding Israel is a matter of policy
The term ‘media bias’ does not do justice to the western corporate media’s relationship with Israel and Palestine. The relationship is, indeed, far more profound than mere partiality. It is not ignorance, either. It is a calculated and long-term campaign, aimed at guarding Israel and demonizing Palestinians. The current disgraceful coverage of...
