Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
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Israel’s true objectives in Gaza and why it will fail
Never in its history of war and military occupation has Israel been so incapable of developing a coherent plan for its future and the future of its victims. Even a quick glance at headlines in international media reveals the depth of the Israeli dilemma. While Tel Aviv continues to carry…
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Abbas ‘postponed’ democracy – So, who speaks on behalf of the Palestinian people?
In April 2021, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree postponing parliamentary and presidential elections, which were scheduled to take place in May and July respectively. The then-85-year-old Palestinian leader justified his unwarranted decision as a result of a “dispute” with Israel over the vote of Palestinians living in the occupied…
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Cartography of genocide: Why Netanyahu erased Palestine from the map
When asked why his latest map had erased the whole of the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retorted with the most detestable answer. “I didn’t include the Dead Sea. It’s not shown on the map. I didn’t show the Jordan River. It’s not on this map. I didn’t…
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Zionism vs Zionism: Ben-Gvir and the acceleration of the collapse of Israel
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir vowed on 26 August to build a synagogue inside the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, the Muslim holy site known as Al-Haram Al-Sharif. As a representation of Israel’s powerful religious Zionist class in the government and society at large, Ben-Gvir has been candid regarding his…
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Gaza’s children are the principal victims of Israel’s genocide
The Israeli war on Gaza is a war on Palestinian children. This was as true on 7 October as it is today. On 17 August, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a seven-day ceasefire to allow children in Gaza to be vaccinated against polio. “I am appealing to all parties…
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Erdan’s war on the UN: The brutal wish of a failed Israeli diplomat
Departing Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, has clearly had an unpleasant experience at the world’s largest international institution. In an interview published in the Israeli newspaper Maariv on 20 August, the disgruntled envoy said that, “The UN building should be closed and wiped off from the face…
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Prolonging the genocide is a smokescreen for Israel’s other war in the West Bank
Promises of “absolute victory” in Gaza are nothing but “gibberish”, according to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant’s comments were not meant to be public, but somehow were leaked and published by Israeli media on 12 August. The explanation of why Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing a losing war in Gaza…
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Partners in genocide: Israel is slaughtering Palestinians with western arms
While many are earnestly pointing at the devastation of war, the rampant human rights violations and the deliberate relegation of international and humanitarian law, there are those who see war from an entirely different perspective: profits. For the merchants of war, the collective pain and misery of whole nations is…
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Restoring fear, that’s why Israeli soldiers use rape as a weapon of war
Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News on 25 October that, “Muslims are not afraid of us any more.” It might sound odd that Feiglin saw the element of fear as critical to Israel’s well-being, if not its very survival. In fact, the fear element is linked directly…
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Zionism on the brink: The Gaza war beyond Netanyahu
The idea that Israel’s war on Gaza is essentially waged and sustained by and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dominated political analyses on the subject for some time. The notion is often kept alive by public opinion inside Israel. Most polls produced since the start of the Israeli…
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It’s both criminal and desperate; that’s why Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh
Israel’s assassination of the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on 31 July is part of Tel Aviv’s search for a wider regional conflict. It is a criminal act that reeks of desperation. Almost immediately after the start of the Gaza war on 7 October, Israel…
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When ‘prophets’ become memes: The rise and fall of Benjamin Netanyahu
Great orators in history would not have been recognised as such if their words carried no value. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is neither a great orator, nor did his speech before a joint session of Congress on 24 July have actual worth. It was an expression of his desperation,…
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‘Beijing Declaration’ on Palestine – Can Chinese diplomacy replace the US?
Chinese diplomacy has done it again. By hosting a historic signing of a unity agreement between 14 Palestinian political parties in Beijing on 23 July, China has, once more, shown its ability to play a global role as a peace broker. For years, China has attempted to play a role…
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‘Watering down’ genocide: No more moral compromises on Palestine, please
Why are many amongst us still tiptoeing around language when it comes to the horrific Israeli genocide in Gaza? Layers of censorship imposed on Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices in corporate and social media seem to have blurred the judgment of some. They continue to speak of a “conflict”, calling on…
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What’s behind Israel’s war against UNRWA?
Targeting a school during a war could be justified as, or at least argued, to have been a mistake. But striking over 120 schools, and killing and wounding thousands of civilians sheltering inside, can only be intentional, with each attack a horrific war crime in its own right. Between 7…
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Dear West, your ‘age of monsters’ has begun
Antonio Gramsci was not a professional philosopher. His intellect was refreshingly situated within an inherent bias towards the common people, the “subaltern” classes, particularly the working class. He argued that all people are essentially intellectuals, in the sense that all people possess the intellectual faculties for rational thinking and deduction,…
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When support for Israel is a liability: Is Gaza changing the West?
Much has been written about the political earthquakes in Britain and France, the first resulting in the crushing defeat of the Conservative Party and the latter in the overpowering of the far right by a largely leftist coalition. These, though, were not the only important outcomes of the 4 July…
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Rekindling the old love affair: Can Trump save Netanyahu?
Many political analysts believe that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is buying time in Gaza and Lebanon with the hope that Donald Trump returns to the White House, following the next November elections. Whether this is the case or not, Trump, this time around, is unlikely to influence the outcomes…
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Sharon revisited: Netanyahu’s ultimate aim in Gaza and why it will fail
Israel never learns from its mistakes. What Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is trying to implement in Gaza is but a poor copy of previous strategies that were used in the past by other Israeli leaders. If these strategies had succeeded, Israel would not be in this position in the…
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On aid and war: How Israel has used starvation to subdue the Palestinians
Humanitarian aid should never be politicised though, quite often, the very survival of nations is used as political bargaining chips. Sadly, Gaza remains a prime example. Even before the current war, the Gaza Strip suffered under a 17-year hermetic blockade, which has rendered the impoverished area virtually ‘unlivable’. That very…
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The Altalena Affair: Is Israel heading towards a civil war?
Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on 18 June, “There will be no civil war [in Israel],” he might be wrong. Netanyahu’s statement was made in the context of the growing popular protests in Israel, especially following the long-anticipated resignations of several War Cabinet Ministers, including Benny Gantz and…
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Armed vs. peaceful resistance – What you need to know about Muqawama in Gaza
The word Muqawama in Palestinian lexicon does not need elaboration beyond the immediate meaning it generates among ordinary Palestinians. Only recently, and specifically after the Oslo peace accords and the sudden infusion of western-funded NGOs, did such terms as ‘peaceful resistance’ and ‘non-violent resistance’ begin to emerge within some circles…
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Growing up in Nuseirat – Where massacres become routine
I clearly remember my first day at an UNRWA school in a refugee camp in Gaza. I was five years of age. It felt like my life was over. The distance from Block 5 of the Nuseirat Refugee Camp to the New Camp – located within the municipal boundaries of…
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Does Israel hold all the cards in Gaza?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often criticised for failing to produce a vision for the “day after” the end of the Gaza war. Some of the criticism emanates from Israel’s traditional Western allies, who are wary of Netanyahu’s personal and political agendas, which are fixated on delaying his corruption…