Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ramzy Baroud
-
Losing ‘Deterrence’: How Palestinian, Arab Resistance changed rules of war with Israel
When Israel launched a war against the Gaza Strip in August 2022, it declared that its target was the Islamic Jihad only. Indeed, neither Hamas nor the other Gaza-based groups engaged directly in the fighting. The war then raised more questions than answers. Israel rarely distinguishes between one Palestinian group…
-
The rise of the South: can BRICS weaken the dominance of the World Bank and IMF?
Who would have expected that the BRICS nations could rise and become the potential rival of the G7 countries, the World Bank and the IMF combined? That once seemingly distant possibility now has real prospects which could change the equilibrium of world politics. BRICS — an acronym for Brazil, Russia,…
-
In its quest for religious war, Israel is uniting Arabs and Muslims around Palestine
By ordering a brutal attack against Palestinian worshippers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque on the 14th day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew very well that the Palestinians would retaliate. Netanyahu’s motive should be obvious. He wanted to divert attention from the mass protests that…
-
The price of solidarity: Palestine, Indonesia and the ‘human rights’ dilemma
When I shared the news on social media that Indonesia had refused to host the Israeli team at the Under-20 FIFA World Cup scheduled from 20 May 20 to 11 June in Indonesian cities, some readers were unimpressed. Although any news related to Palestine and Israel often generates two sharply…
-
Lying about lying: Why we must revisit the definition of ‘fake news’
The phrase “fake news” continues to be deployed routinely in US politics. In a polarised political atmosphere, both Republicans and Democrats distrust media organisations affiliated with opposing parties. This means that most of what is uttered or written by CNN is “fake news” for Republicans, and much of what appears…
-
Selective outrage in Palestine: the problem is not just Smotrich, but Zionism
By his own admission, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is a “fascist homophobe”. This declaration, which he made on 16 January, should be enough to illustrate and emphasise the violent nature of the latest political coalition concocted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December. Although Smotrich is not the only…
-
Xi’s ‘Chilling’ Remarks: A Multipolar World Offers Challenges and Opportunities to the Middle East and Africa
The final exchange, caught on camera between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian host and counterpart, Vladimir Putin, sums up the current geopolitical conflict, still in its nascent stages, between the United States and its Western allies on the one hand, and Russia, China and their allies, on…
-
African countries are challenging Israel’s plot across the continent
The sight of Israeli Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li and other Israeli delegates being escorted out of the opening ceremony of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 18 February was historic. The very moment that was meant to crown twenty years of Israeli diplomacy on the African continent turned within…
-
Mass protests and false hope: Israel’s Supreme Court is no friend of the Palestinian people
As hundreds of thousands, throughout Israel, joined anti-government protests, questions began to arise regarding how this movement would affect, or possibly merge, into the wider struggle against the Israeli military occupation and apartheid in Palestine. Pro-Palestine media outlets shared, with obvious excitement, news about statements made by Hollywood celebrities, the…
-
Palestinian children’s art exposes Israel’s cultural genocide
The following text message tells the whole story of what pro-Palestinian communities around the world are fighting for, and what pro-Israelis are fighting against: “We are delighted to report that Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has removed a display of artwork designed by children from Gaza.” That was the summary of…
-
Silence is not an option, and sending weapons to Ukraine perpetuates the war
As is usually the case in long wars, the warring parties and their affiliated media in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have painted each other using uncompromising language, making it nearly impossible to offer an unbiased view of the ongoing tragedy that has killed, wounded and displaced millions of people. While it…
-
False hopes and broken promises litter the ground behind the UN Statement on Palestine
Rarely does the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN make an official comment expressing happiness over any official proceedings concerning the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Ambassador Riyad Mansour, though, is “very happy that there was a very strong united message from the Security Council against the illegal, unilateral measure” undertaken by…
-
‘Truth, no matter what’: Why watering down Palestinian reality is a crime
On 20 February, the United Nations Security Council approved a statement, described in the media as a ‘watered-down’ version of an earlier draft resolution which would have demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.” The intrigues that led to the scrapping of what was meant to…
-
‘America is not a racist country’: How Nikki Haley became Israel’s candidate for the White House
Though it has been argued that the so-called American dream is long dead, Nikki Haley is proof that the dream is still alive. Unfortunately, the ‘dream’ is hers alone. Until recently, a close confidante of former US President Donald Trump and his pro-Israel circle, Haley wants to be the next…
-
The true champions of humanity in Turkiye and Syria deserve our thanks
A funeral was held in the north Syrian town of Jinderis on 7 February. It was one of numerous such funerals to be held that day across Syria and Turkiye, following devastating earthquakes which killed and injured tens of thousands of people. Each one of these funerals represented two seemingly…
-
Israel is struggling to maintain a coherent position on Russia and Ukraine
Israel has struggled for a whole year to articulate a clear and decisive position regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. The reason behind the seemingly confused Israeli position is that it stands to lose, regardless of the outcome. But is Israel a neutral party? It is home to almost one million Russian-speaking…
-
A month’s notice: Why Burkina Faso ordered French troops out of the country
Though it was clear that Burkina Faso was eventually going to follow in the footsteps of Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR), Ouagadougou’s decision to break military ties with France was not as simple as media sound bites want us to believe. The conventional wisdom is that these countries…
-
Failed experiment: Three reasons why Israel fears a major war on Gaza
Though Israel’s past wars on Gaza have often been justified by Tel Aviv as a response to Palestinian rockets or, generally, as acts of self-defence, the truth is different. Historically, Israel’s relationship with Gaza has been defined by Tel Aviv’s need to create distractions from its own fractious politics, to…
-
Palestine is my cause: Arabs reaffirm support for Palestinians, rejection of the Occupation
The latest Arab Opinion Index 2022 is yet more proof that Arab societies are diverse in every possible way, from their assessment of their economic situation and living conditions to their take on immigration, state institutions and democracy. With one single exception: Palestine. 76 per cent of all respondents to…
-
Israel is a state for only some of its citizens, as the saga of the captive Black soldier highlights
The words uttered in Hebrew by a person believed to be Avera Mengistu, an Israeli soldier of Ethiopian origin who was captured and held in Gaza in 2014, are telling. “For how long will I be in captivity? After so many years, where are the state and the people of…
-
A State for some of its citizens: Captured black soldier’s saga highlights racism in Israel
“For how long will I be in captivity? After so many years, where are the state and the people of Israel?” These were the words, uttered in Hebrew, of a person believed to be Avera Mengistu, an Israeli soldier of Ethiopian origin, who was captured and held in Gaza in…
-
Strong militaries, weak society: The missing story in the Global Firepower ranking
The Global Firepower (GFP) ranking was published on 6 January. The annual report classifies the world’s strongest militaries based on over 60 factors, including size, spending and technological advancements. The report, which placed the United States military on top, followed by Russia, China, India and the UK, raised more questions…
-
It has always been a ‘Religious War’: On Ben-Gvir and the adaptability of Zionism
In a self-congratulatory article published in the Atlantic in 2017, Yossi Klein Halevi describes Israeli behaviour at the just-conquered holy Muslim shrines in Occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 as “an astonishing moment of religious restraint”. “The Jewish people had just returned to its holiest site, from which it had been…
-
What will happen after the ICJ delegitimises Israel’s occupation of Palestine?
Once more, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to offer a legal opinion on the consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. A historic UN vote on 31 December called on the ICJ to look at the occupation in terms of legal consequences, the rights of the Palestinian people…