Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
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‘New Middle East’: This is Netanyahu’s real goal in the region
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persistently declares his ambition to “change the face of the Middle East”. Yet, his repeated assertions seem to clash with the unfolding reality on the ground. Netanyahu’s opportunistic relationship with language is now proving detrimental to his country. The Israeli leader undoubtedly grasps fundamental...
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The real winners: The strategic fallout of the Israel-Iran War
On 24 June, US President Donald Trump announced a truce between Israel and Iran following nearly two weeks of open warfare. Israel began the war, launching a surprise offensive on 13 June, with airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, missile installations, and senior military and scientific personnel, in addition to...
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Sumud: The unyielding heart of the Palestinian cause in Gaza
The profound and unrelenting struggles endured by Palestinians should, by any rational expectation, have irrevocably concluded the Palestinian cause. Yet, the struggle for freedom in Palestine is at its zenith. How is one to explain this? Attempts aimed at the erasure of Palestine, the Palestinian people, and their cause...
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Who’s steering the ship? Navigating America’s conflicted approach in the Middle East
US foreign policy in the Middle East appears to be adrift, no longer guided by fixed strategies or clear goals. Instead, a chaotic process, akin to political decentralization, is underway. While the Trump administration contributed significantly to this disarray, the ensuing bedlam was arguably inevitable. This situation arises when...
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Red card for genocide: Why FIFA must be held to account
Fans worldwide are unequivocally challenging FIFA’s continued support for Israel, organizing with unprecedented unity for Palestine. Unlike previous actions, this mobilization is now notably well-coordinated, widespread, and consistent. Long gone are the days when much of the sports solidarity emerged from the fanbase of clubs like Celtic, Deportivo Palestino,...
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Gaza’s ‘humanitarian’ façade: A deceptive ploy unraveled
Just one day before the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operating officially inside the Gaza Strip, its executive director, Jake Wood, resigned. The text of his resignation statement underscored what many had already suspected: GHF is not a humanitarian endeavor, but the latest scam by Israeli Prime Minister...
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Global Backlash: How the World Could Shift Israel’s Gaza Strategy
The decision resonated as shocking for all sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose entire war strategy hinges on the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, unilaterally decided on May 19 to allow “immediate” food entry to the famine-stricken Strip. Of course, Netanyahu still maneuvered. Instead of permitting at least...
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Netanyahu’s endgame: Isolation and the shattered illusion of power
There was a time when Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to have all the cards. The Palestinian Authority was largely passive, the occupied West Bank was relatively calm, Israel’s diplomatic reach was expanding, and the United States seemed ready to bend international law to accommodate Israel’s desire for complete control over...
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Gaza’s graveyard of illusions: How Israel’s narrative collides with military failure
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a skilled salesperson, though the product he peddles is deeply flawed. His current challenge is to convince himself, his people, the region and the world that – despite significant setbacks – he is winning the strategic war against his adversaries. Former Israeli national...
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Unveiling Nasser’s secrets: Arabs, Palestine and crucial timing
For my father’s generation, Gamal Abdel Nasser wasn’t just another Arab leader; he set the standard by which all others have been measured, and none have quite reached it. For the Arab masses, and Palestinians in particular, Nasser was an icon. His heroic image, in the eyes of Palestinians,...
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Screaming soldiers and open revolt: How one video unmasked Israel’s internal power struggle
An apparently strange choice was made by a correspondent from Israel’s Channel 12 when, on 22 April, he decided to release one of the most humiliating videos of a relatively large number of Israeli soldiers coming under attack by a single Palestinian fighter. As soldiers screamed and stumbled down...
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Deporting dissent: The dangerous precedent set by the persecution of pro-Palestine activists
“Rights are granted to those who align with power,” Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, eloquently wrote from his cell. This poignant statement came soon after a judge ruled that the government had met the legal threshold to deport the young activist on the nebulous ground of “foreign...
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The myth of conquest: Why Gaza will never be subdued by Israel
To conquer a place is to fundamentally subdue its population. This must be clearly differentiated from ‘occupation’, a specific legal term that governs the relationship between a foreign “occupying power” and the occupied nation under international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention. When Israeli forces were ultimately compelled to...
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French contradictions: Macron’s Palestine play – too little, too late?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vehement opposition to a Palestinian state aligns perfectly with a long-standing Zionist ideology that has consistently viewed the establishment of a Palestinian state as a direct threat to Israel’s very foundation as a settler colonial project. Thus, the mere existence of a Palestinian state...
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Below the radar: Is the Trump-Netanyahu ‘unthinkable’ about to happen?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest trip to Washington was no ordinary visit. The consensus among Israeli analysts, barring a few remaining loyalists, is that Netanyahu was not invited; he was summoned by US President Donald Trump. All of the evidence supports this assertion. Netanyahu rarely travels to the...
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Netanyahu’s Shin Bet scandal: Who holds the power?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Eli Sharvit as the new chief of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, only to quickly retract the nomination, all within just 24 hours. This episode highlights the lack of coherence in Netanyahu’s leadership, reinforcing the perception that decisions at the highest levels...
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Breaking the silence on Palestinian armed struggle: A call for legal clarity
On 22 February, 2024, China’s Ambassador to The Hague, Zhang Jun, uttered the unexpected. His testimony, like that of a number of others, was meant to help the International Court of Justice (ICJ) formulate a critical and long-overdue legal opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestine....
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Is civil war on the horizon? The Ashkenazi-Sephardic conflict and Israel’s future
The phrase “civil war” is one of the most dominant terms used by Israeli politicians today. What began as simply a warning from Israeli President Isaac Herzog is now an accepted possibility for much of Israel’s mainstream political society. “ Netanyahu is ready to sacrifice everything...
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War, doublethink and the struggle for survival: the geopolitics of the Gaza Genocide
In a genocidal war that has spiralled into a struggle for political survival, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and the global powers supporting him continue to sacrifice Palestinian lives for political gain. The sordid career of Israel’s extreme far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, epitomises this tragic reality....
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The hidden hand: Arab governments and the perpetuation of Israeli brutality
Explaining Arab political failure to challenge Israel through traditional analysis — such as disunity, general weakness and a failure to prioritise Palestine — does not capture the full picture. The idea that Israel is brutalising Palestinians simply because the Arabs are too weak to challenge the Benjamin Netanyahu government...
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Shifting allegiances: The role of Palestine in US domestic and foreign policy
It is crucial for any US administration to recognise that, regardless of political agendas, the views of the American public regarding the situation in Palestine and Israel are undergoing a significant shift. A critical mass of opinion is forming rapidly, and this change is becoming undeniable. Paradoxically, while Islamophobia...
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Authentic people’s history and the Palestinian experience: Beyond colonial narratives
My journey into the realm of people’s history began during my teenage years when I first read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. This initial exposure sparked my curiosity about how history is constructed, and it led me to delve deeper into historiography, in particular the...
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Beyond Western hegemony: A call for Middle Eastern media autonomy
The website of a certain pan-Arab media organisation seems to be fixated on translating, commenting or briefing its audience on everything that US and Israeli officials say about the Middle East. Every threat made by US President Donald Trump, every tweet by an American official, however insignificant or inconsequential,...
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The Monkey’s Tail: How Netanyahu’s ambitions expose Israel’s vulnerabilities
There’s a timeless Chinese proverb which warns: “The higher the monkey climbs, the more he shows his tail.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, seems to heed neither the lessons of history nor the wisdom of such folk sayings. By leading a vilification campaign against Egypt, the Israeli leader...