Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
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The other Russia-West war: Why some African countries are abandoning Paris and joining Moscow
The moment that Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba was ousted by his former military colleague, Captain Ibrahim Traore, pro-coup crowds filled the streets. Some burned French flags; others carried Russian flags. This scene alone represents the current tussle underway throughout the African continent. A few years ago, the discussion regarding the…
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Strangers behind the trees: On the death of Rayyan Suleiman and his fear of monsters
Children of my Gaza refugee camp were rarely afraid of monsters but of Israeli soldiers. This is all that we talked about before going to bed. Unlike imaginary monsters in the closet or under the bed, Israeli soldiers are real, and they could show up any minute – at the…
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Lapid is not serious about a Palestinian state
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid threw a spanner into the works recently when he told the UN General Assembly that, “An agreement with the Palestinians, based on two states for two peoples, is the right thing for Israel’s security, for Israel’s economy and for the future of our children.” Lapid’s…
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‘Well of solutions’ or problems: Why reforming the UN is critical
The 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly was, in many ways, similar to the 76th session and many other previous sessions: at best, a stage for rosy rhetoric that is rarely followed by tangible action or, at worse, a mere opportunity for some world leaders to score political…
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Whose side is the PA on?
The arrest of a couple of prominent Palestinian activists, one of whom was Musab Shtayyeh, by Palestinian Authority police on 20 September was not the first time that the notorious Preventive Security Service (PSS) has arrested someone who is wanted by Israel. The PSS is largely linked to the routine…
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From Exodus to Marvel: A brief history of Hollywood’s justification of Israeli war crimes
The introduction of an Israeli Mossad agent as the latest Marvel movie character crosses the line, even by Hollywood’s poor moral standards. However, the Israeli superhero, Sabra, must be understood within the rational progression of the Israelification of Hollywood, a phenomenon that is surprisingly new. Sabra is a relatively old…
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Will the United Nations finally deliver justice for Palestine?
In his anticipated speech at the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected to, once more, make a passionate plea for the recognition of Palestine as a full member. Abbas’ ‘landmark speech’ would not be the first time that the President of the Palestinian…
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‘Leading from behind’: Is Washington at war with Moscow?
Though Washington insists that it is not interested in a direct military conflict with Moscow, the latter claims that the US is, in fact, directly involved. But who is telling the truth? On 8 September, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared in Kyiv on an unannounced visit. He carried…
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The lesson of Sabra and Shatila is far-reaching
The 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre falls on 16 September. Around 3,000 Palestinian refugees were killed at the hands of Lebanon’s Phalangist militias operating under the command of the Israeli army. Four decades have passed, yet no measure of justice has been received by the survivors of…
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The ‘painful march for freedom’ reveals the triumphant legacy of Palestinian prisoners
“As soon as I left prison, I went to Nael’s grave. It is adorned with the colours of the Palestinian flag and verses from the Holy Qur’an. I told my little brother how much I loved and appreciated him, and that, one day, we would meet again in paradise.” That…
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The road to fascism: How the war in Ukraine is changing Europe
As soon as I landed in Rome, I discovered that I was no longer able to access any Russian media whatsoever. Unfortunately, threats by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Europe should sever all links with “Russia’s propaganda machine” were taken seriously by the Italian government. As a…
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Investigating the victim exposes the depravity of Israeli propaganda
“There was no Massacre in Jenin” was the headline of a Haaretz editorial on 19 April, 2002, one week after Israel ended its deadly onslaught on the besieged Palestinian refugee camp in the northern West Bank. This unwarranted conclusion by the Israeli daily, other Israeli media and, ultimately, numerous western…
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Deliberate misrepresentation: Western media bias makes Israeli war on Palestinians possible
While US and western mainstream and corporate media remain biased in favour of Israel, they often behave as if they are a third, neutral party. This is simply not the case. Take the New York Times coverage of the latest Israeli war on Gaza as an example. Its article on…
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Will the idea of the ‘West’ survive the scourge of the Russia-Ukraine war?
The “West” is not just a term, it is also a concept that acquires new meanings with time. To its advocates, it can be analogous to civilisation and benevolent power; to its detractors, mostly in the “East” and “South”, it is associated with colonialism, unhinged violence and underserved wealth. The…
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Israel’s ‘victory’ celebration was premature: the defining war in Gaza is yet to be fought
For years, Palestinians and Israelis have laboured to redraw the battle lines. The three-day Israeli war on Gaza, starting on 5 August, manifested this reality clearly. Throughout its military operation, Israel underscored the point repeatedly that the war was targeting Islamic Jihad only, not Hamas or any other Palestinian faction.…
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Hamas’ next move is critical: Palestinian resistance faces greatest test yet
Today, Israel assassinated a top Palestinian commander, Ibrahim Nabulsi, in Nablus, along with two other fighters, Islam Sabbouh, and Hussein Taha. This bloody action is intrinsically linked to the bloody events in Gaza over the last few days. One of Israel’s main objectives of the war on Gaza was to demonstrate that Tel Aviv…
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Don’t write off the Arabs yet: Palestine is still an Arab cause
It seemed that it was all but a done deal: Israel was finally managing to bend the Arabs to its will, and Palestine was becoming a marginal issue that no longer defined Israel’s relations with its neighbours. Indeed, normalisation with Israel was, well, normal, and the Arabs, it seemed, had…
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The Intricate Fight for Africa: the Legacy of the Soviet Union vs. Western Colonialism
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent tour in Africa was meant to be a game changer, not only in terms of Russia’s relations with the continent, but in the global power struggle involving the US, Europe, China, India, Turkiye and others. Many media reports and analyses placed Lavrov’s visit to…
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Why resistance matters: Palestinians are challenging Israel’s unilateralism, dominance
Until recently, Israeli politics did not matter to Palestinians. Though the Palestinian people maintained their political agency under the most demoralising conditions, their collective action rarely influenced outcomes in Israel, partly due to the massive discrepancy of power between the two sides. Now that Israelis are embarking on their fifth…
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Washington is the problem, not the solution, so why is Abbas seeking new ‘powerful’ sponsors?
To describe US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Israel and Palestine as a “failure” in terms of activating the dormant “peace process” is to use a misnomer. For this statement to be accurate, Washington would have had to indicate that it had even a nominal desire to push for…
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The war ‘diplomat’: How the West lost the ‘global battle of narratives’
In a blog entry, reflecting on the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Bali, Indonesia, on 7-8 July, the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, seems to have accepted the painful truth that the West is losing what he termed “the global battle of narratives”. “The global battle of…
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The shameful UN ‘List of Shame’: Equating between the Israeli perpetrator and the Palestinian victim
“We regret we failed to protect you.” This was part of a statement issued by United Nations human rights experts on 14 July, urging the Israeli government to release Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra. Only 14 years old at the time of his arrest and torture by Israeli forces, Manasra is…
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As the chaos gets worse, political instability is now the norm in Israel
The collapse of the short-lived Israeli government of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid validates the argument that the political crisis in Israel was not entirely instigated and sustained by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bennett’s coalition government consisted of eight parties, welding together arguably one of the oddest coalitions in…
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The Rise of BRICS: The economic giant that is taking on the West
The G7 summit in Elmau, Germany, June 26-28, and the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, two days later, were practically useless in terms of providing actual solutions to ongoing global crises – the war in Ukraine, the looming famines, climate change and more. But the two events were important, nonetheless,…