Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
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The many ‘truths’ on Syria: How our rivalry has destroyed a country
“The United States has the power to decree the death of nations,” wrote Stephen Kinzer in the Boston Globe. Kinzer’s article was entitled: “The media are misleading the public on Syria.” In his piece, the scholar at a Brown University Institute contested that his country’s media misinformation on Syria is...
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For the love of football: Gaza comes alive in ‘Team Gaza’ documentary
Usama’s face is haunting. He is only 27, yet the palpable anguish evident on his gentle demeanor by far surpasses his years. He only becomes alive when playing football, as a member of the Beach Camp Club. Otherwise, outside the pitch, his life speaks of undying hope and lingering...
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The convoluted discourse: Was the Women’s Boat to Gaza an existential threat?
The Israeli official narrative regarding its conflict with the Palestinians is deliberately confounded because a muddled up discourse is a convenient one. It allows the narrator to pick and choose half-truths at will, in order to create a falsified version of reality. For instance, this is part of what Israeli...
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Israel’s nuclear man: Peres, a brand without substance
Former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres was a very successful brand. He was presented to the world as stately, wise, a relentless advocate of peace, and a sane voice amidst a conflict deemed senseless and unending. Now that he is dead at 93, international media are rife with...
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Ban Ki-moon’s legacy in Palestine: Failure in words and deeds
Ban Ki-moon’s second term as UN secretary-general is ending this December, he was the most ideal man for the job as far as the United States and its allies are concerned. Of course, there will always be other Ban Ki-moons. In fact, the man himself was a modified version of...
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Honouring Alan Kurdi by ending the war in Syria
“A photograph, no matter how emotionally wrenching, can only do so much,” wrote Paul Slovic and Nicole Smith Dahmen in QZ.com. The photograph referenced in their comment was that of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, whose body was washed ashore on some Turkish beach in September 2015. It has been over a year since that tragic...
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The native American, the Palestinian: A spirited fight for justice
Thousands of Native Americans resurrected the fighting spirit of their forefathers as they stood in unprecedented unity to contest an oil company’s desecration of their sacred land in North Dakota. Considering its burdened historical context, this has been one of the most moving events in recent memory. The standoff, involving...
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Is Israel pushing for a Palestinian civil war?
Division within Palestinian society has reached unprecedented levels, becoming a major hurdle on the path of any unified strategy to end Israel’s violent occupation or to rally Palestinians behind a single objective. Newly-appointed Israeli ultra-nationalist Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman understands this too well. His tactic since his ascension to office last May...
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‘Activism’ and its consequences: Syrian refugees are not subjects for a social media gallery
The Italian ‘activist’ was keen on that photo, as if her social media activism career was dependent on it. As if the misery of the poor Syrian child was not palpable enough in his dejected face and his rash-infested skin, she wanted to define a point of absolute misery...
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Punishing the messenger: Israel’s war on NGOs takes a worrying turn
“You deserve to see your loved ones suffer and die. But, maybe, you would be hurt before them,” was part of a threatening message received by a staff member at ‘Al-Mezan’, a Gaza-based human rights group. The photo attached to the email was of the exterior of the activist’s...
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The Obama Doctrine is ravaging the Middle East
Everyone seems to have a theory on how to obliterate Daesh. However, two points are rarely raised: one, concerning the origins of the group and the second, on whether there are genuine intentions to defeat it in the first place. We must boldly address the first to unravel the enigma...
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Divide and Rule: How factionalism in Palestine is killing prospects for freedom
Without unity in politics, it is difficult to envisage unity in purpose, a national liberation project, a unified resistance strategy and the eventual freedom of the Palestinians...
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My Response to Bill Clinton: On (My) Liberty and (Your) America
Donald Trump wants to keep us out of the country altogether. But Bill Clinton, former president and husband of a Democratic presidential nominee, does not mind us staying, as long as we – Muslims – behave ourselves. Welcome to America where racial profiling is the country’s most popular idea, and...
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Farewell to Yarmouk: A Palestinian refugee’s journey from Izmir to Greece
(Based on interviews with Palestinian refugees from Syria.) The refugee camp of Yarmouk was ever present in his being, pulling him in and out of an abyss of persistent fears that urged him to never return. But what was this refugee without Yarmouk, his first haven, his last earth? How could...
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From Nice to the Middle East: The only way to challenge ISIS
I visited Iraq in 1999. At the time, there were no so-called ‘jihadis’ espousing the principles of ‘jihadism’, whatever the interpretation may be. On the outskirts of Baghdad was a military training camp, not for ‘al-Qaeda’, but for ‘Mojahedin-e-Khalq’, an Iranian militant exile group that worked, with foreign funding...
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Being black Palestinian: Solidarity as a welcome pathology
Last year, I wrote an article that made many readers unhappy. As soon as it was published, I began receiving messages of abuse and angry, threatening calls. I hesitated about reporting the threats to the local police in Washington State and, in the end, I resolved to file the unpleasant...
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People above Politics: Political Deal will not Hamper the Turkish-Palestinian Bond
Hyped emotions, and political opportunism aside, the Israel-Turkey normalization deal, signed on June 27 is unfavorable for Palestinians – and for Gazans, in particular. There is much that is being said to blame Turkey or placate the damage of seeing Turkey – which has for years been one of the...
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Searching for a ‘Responsible Adult’: ‘Is Brexit Good for Israel?’
After months of anticipation, the United Kingdom has decided to leave the European Union (EU). Although, the results were fairly close – 51.9% voted to ‘Leave’ vs. 48.1% elected to ‘Remain’ – the consequences of the decision will be far-reaching. Not only will the Brits negotiate their exit from...
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Palestine’s ‘prayer for rain’: How Israel uses water as a weapon of war
Entire communities in the West Bank either have no access to water or have had their water supply reduced almost by half. This alarming development has been taking place for weeks, since Israel’s national water company, “Mekorot”, decided to cut off – or significantly reduce – its water supply to...
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Gaza: Resistance Through Poetry
“(At dawn) … I will resist … (Since) upon the wall there is still a white sheet … And my fingers are yet to (completely) dissolve.” This is a translated verse from Mu’in Bseiso’ “Three Walls of the Torture Chamber”. He was -and remains – one of Gaza’s most influential...
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The Paris Peace Gambit: Everyone Gains except the Palestinians
In their defense, the Israelis seem to have figured out the whole thing and opted out. But the hapless Palestinian leadership, along with their Arab League partners, joined by the French, EU and UN representatives, and even US Secretary of State, John Kerry, decided to play along. However, the French...
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Israel's future is terrifying: Moshe Ya'alon and Israel's disconcerting 'morality'
Israeli society is constantly swerving to the Right and, by doing so, the country’s entire political paradigm is redefined regularly. Israel is now ‘ruled by the most extreme rightwing government in its history’ has grown from being an informed assessment to a dull cliché over the course of only...
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Time to end the ‘hasbara’: Palestinian media and the search for a common story
Merely being in the company of hundreds of Palestinian journalists and other media professionals from all over the world has been an uplifting experience. For many years, Palestinian media has been on the defensive, unable to articulate a coherent message, torn between factions and desperately trying to fend off...
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Roots of the Conflict: Palestine’s Nakba in the Larger Arab ‘Catastrophe’
On May 15th of every year, over the past 68 years, Palestinians have commemorated their collective exile from Palestine. The ethnic cleansing of Palestine to make room for a ‘Jewish homeland’ came at a price of unrelenting violence and perpetual suffering. Palestinians refer to that enduring experience as ‘Nakba’,...