By Ramzy Baroud

In a recent article, columnist Yaniv Halili described British author Ben White as 'anti-Semitic'. He also denounced Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi for writing a forward to White's latest book, Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy.

Those of us who can see through such distorted thinking know that White is a principled w

By Ramzy Baroud

The British Foreign Office and the US State Department are seriously concerned. Human rights officers in the United Nations are angry. Canada, for some reason, seems particularly enraged. The target of all this fury is Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), which is berated for failing to curtail widespread human rights violations throughout the coun

By Ramzy Baroud

The country that has long been known to abuse its powers and privileges in the United Nations is now leading a campaign to reform the same organization. While UN reforms are welcomed, if not demanded, by many of its member states, there is little reason to believe the recent US crusade is actually genuine. Rather, it seems a clear attempt to stifle any sem

By Ramzy Baroud

Regardless of who may rule Israel, little change ever occurs in the country's foreign policy. Winning parties remain obsessed with demographics and retaining absolute military dominance. They also remain unfailingly focused on their quest to initiate racist laws against non-Jewish residents of the state, and continue to hone the art of speaking of peace, w

By Ramzy Baroud

Theodore MacDonald was too ill to attend the launch of his book, Preserving the United Nations; Our Best Hope for Mediating Human Rights. Less than three weeks later, on March 7, 2011, the longtime champion of human rights and social justice passed away.

Professor MacDonald’s last book was in many ways the intellectual zenith of a vision gleane

By Ramzy Baroud

In the final days of the Libyan conflict, as NATO conducted a nonstop bombing campaign, an Aljazeera Arabic television correspondent’s actions raised more than eyebrows. They also raised serious questions regarding the journalistic responsibility of Arab media – or in fact any media - during times of conflict.

Using a handheld transceiv

By Ramzy Baroud

There was an unmistakable hint of triumph in the comments made by Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the elected Hamas government in Gaza when he was hosted by Mohammed Badie, Supreme Guide of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Both leaders said what would be expected of them under these circumstances. Haniyeh asserted that his movement’s &ldquo

By Ramzy Baroud

'Sooner or later, there will be no escape from conducting a significant operation [in Gaza],' said Israeli army Chief of Staff Lieutenent General Benny Gantz on December 27, the third anniversary of Operation Cast Lead.
 
Gantz's chillingly casual remarks were cited as just another nonchalant declaration of war against a besieged, impoverish

By Ramzy Baroud

Mustafa Tamimi was a 28-year-old resident of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. His meticulously trimmed beard served as the centerpiece of his handsome face.

In December 2011, when an Israeli soldier shot him from a short distance with a tear gas canister, half of Mustafa’s face went missing. More soldiers laughed as his horrified family tr

By Ramzy Baroud

Someone ought to let mainstream news producers know that the nearly 4,500 US soldiers killed in the Iraq war were not the only victims. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have also been killed as a result of the unwarranted US invasion, and many more have been wounded and/or forever maimed.

Chances are, all of these Iraq war victims would still be aliv

By Ramzy Baroud

Ever since Hamas emerged victorious in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, myriad public opinion polls revealed that its popularity in the Occupied Territories was on a steady decline.

However, there are actually few indications that Hamas as a popular movement will be departing the Palestinian political landscape anytime soon. Ongoing

By Ramzy Baroud

Essam Al-Batsh and his nephew, Sobhi Al-Batsh, are the latest in a long line of reported Palestinian ‘militants’ killed by Israel. The civilians were both targeted while driving in a car in downtown Gaza on December 8. According to an Israeli army statement, “(They) were affiliated with a terrorist squad that intended to attack Israeli ci

By Ramzy Baroud

The Palestinian Uprising or Intifada of 1987 remains the single most significant triumph of popular mobilization in Palestinian history.

The First Intifada, as it is commonly known, had, once and for all, placed the Palestinian people as a collective on the political map of a region that previously had room only for Israeli Merkava tanks and US &lsq

By Ramzy Baroud, Special to Gulf News

According to various media commentators, the rapid Arab League mobilisation against Syria is proof of the organisation rising to an urgent collective responsibility against impending dangers. However, such an assumption is either misguided or misconstrued.

The so-called Arab Spring has largely been credited for the League’

By Ramzy Baroud

The so-called 'Arab Spring' is creating an intellectual divide that threatens any sensible understanding of the turmoil engulfing several Arab countries.

While it is widely understood that revolutions endeavor to overthrow political structures and aim to change the social order and power paradigm within any given society, there is still no single, i

By Ramzy Baroud

When Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Turkey's prime minister in 2003, he seemed to be certain of the new direction his country would take. It would maintain cordial ties with Turkey's old friends, Israel included, but also reach out to its Arab and Muslim neighbors, Syria in particular.

The friendly relations between Ankara and Damascus soon morphed fr

By Ramzy Baroud, Special to Gulf News

The popular uprising in Syria is hovering over a fine line that separates it from full-blown civil war. If the latter were to happen, it could open the door to other frightening developments, including foreign military intervention.

Protests in Syria began on January 26, and a more inclusive uprising was set in motion on March 1

By Ramzy Baroud

Syrians continue to be victimized, not only in violent clashes with the Syrian military, but also by regional and international players with various agendas.

Protests in Syria began on January 26, and a more inclusive uprising was set in motion on March 15. The initial demand was for serious political reforms, but this was eventually raised to a de

By Ramzy Baroud

Another mission accomplished, or so it seems. Israeli navy has managed to thwart yet another civil society 'provocation' (as described by the Israeli Embassy in Dublin, Irish Times, November 4).

Thus the 27 activists from nine countries aboard two boats were rounded up and hauled, along with their 'provocative' medical supplies, to the Israeli p

By Ramzy Baroud, Special to Gulf News

In his October 10 column for Israel's Ynetnews, Guy Bechor reached a bewildering conclusion. "Israelis were the first ones of all people to raise the delegitimisation argument: Israel would turn into the new South Africa as result of its isolation in the western world, they said … However, there was never much substance t