- April 19, 2024
Articles
Stuck in Area A: How We Were Duped into Disowning the Palestinians
By Ramzy Baroud Are you surprised that there has been little mobilisation to help Yarmouk, the Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus, which is overrun by militants, and besieged by the Syrian army? Palestinians – and Syrians – there are killed in a myriad of ways, including starvation. As we stand and watch […]
An Interview with Ramzy Baroud: The Rise of Religious Powers and the Failure of the Left in The Middle-East
Souad Sharabani: In the past three decades or so, Communists, trade unionists and secular nationalist movements like pan Arabism were replaced by religious and ethnic dividers as the forces that mobilize, galvanize and divide the people in the Middle-East. We see the same results in every country with different circumstances. What are the factors that […]
My Missing Family in Syria: Naming and Shaming in Yarmouk
By Ramzy Baroud Members of my family in Syria’s Yarmouk went missing many months ago. We have no idea who is dead and who is alive. Unlike my other uncle and his children in Libya, who fled the NATO war and turned up alive but hiding in some desert a few months later, my uncle’s […]
¿La guerra del Yemen como oportunidad?
Ramzy Baroud Traducido del inglés para Rebelión por Sinfo Fernández. Sugerir que las políticas de EEUU en Yemen han sido un “fracaso” sería un eufemismo. Implicaría que EEUU habría tratado al menos de conseguir el éxito. Pero “éxito”, ¿en qué? La guerra estadounidense con aviones no tripulados no tenía otro objetivo más que celebrar la […]
The Collapse of the Obama Doctrine: Yemen War as an Opportunity?
By Ramzy Baroud To suggest that the United States policies in Yemen were a “failure” is an understatement. It implies that the US had at least attempted to succeed. But “succeed” at what? The US drone war had no other objective aside from celebrating the elimination of whomever the US hit list designates as a terrorist. But […]
Eight Urgent ‘Musts’ Needed for Palestinians to Defeat Apartheid
By Ramzy Baroud Waiting on Israeli society to change from within is a colossal waste of time, during which the suffering of an entire nation – torn between an occupied home and a harsh diaspora – will not cease. But what are Palestinians and the supporters of a just peace in Palestine and Israel to […]
Netanyahu the Mythbuster: ‘Special Relationship’ No More
By Ramzy Baroud Imagine if an American presidential candidate made a plea to his supporters on election day with the following statement: “The Republican administration is in danger. Black voters are going en masse to the polls. Liberal NGOs are bringing them on buses.” Even in a country where Chris Matthews is a media celebrity […]
El Estado Islámico, ¿un fenómeno de Occidente?
Ramzy Baroud – Traducido del inglés para Rebelión por Sinfo Fernández. Parece como si los dirigentes del denominado “Estado Islámico” (EI) estuvieran recibiendo consejos de los principales islamófobos del mundo a fin de demonizar a los musulmanes y estuvieran tratando de vivir cumpliendo las expectativas de organizaciones dedicadas a propagar el odio como la American […]
‘Islamic State’ as a Western Phenomenon: Reimagining the IS Debate
By Ramzy Baroud It is as if leaders of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) are getting tips on demonising Muslims from world leading Islamophobes and as if they are trying to live up to the expectations of hate-mongering organisations like that of Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative, whose latest ads all over San Francisco […]
Islamic State as a Western Phenomenon?
Not only is IS to a degree an alien movement in the larger body politic of the Middle East, it also seems to be a partly western phenomenon, a hideous offspring resulting from western neocolonial adventures in the region, coupled with alienation and demonisation of Muslim communities in western societies. By “western phenomenon”, I refrain […]
The Secret History of My Geography Teacher, Also Co-founder of Hamas
By Ramzy Baroud This is not my geography teacher, or, more accurately it is not at all how I remember him. A series of APA images published by the British Daily Mail and other newspapers showed Hamad al-Hasanat lying dead in a mosque, surrounded by a group of Hamas fighters. On top of his lifeless […]
Qu’est-il advenu de l’intellectuel arabe ?
By Ramzy Baroud (Traduction : Info-Palestine.eu – Claude Zurbach) C’était un endroit bondé et poussiéreux où les taxis délabrés attendaient des passagers, entourés de vendeurs de poissons et de légumes. La poésie de Darwish était trop énigmatique pour que nous, adolescents d’un camp de réfugiés à Gaza, puissions la comprendre complètement. Mais on essayait malgré tout. […]
The Arab Intellectual is Resting, Not Dead
By Ramzy Baroud Whenever a new poem by Mahmoud Darwish was published in al-Quds newspaper, I rushed over to Abu Aymen’s newsstand that was located in the refugee camp’s main square. It was a crowded and dusty place where grimy taxis waited for passengers, surrounded by fish and vegetable venders. Darwish’s poetry was too cryptic […]
Obama’s Admission Not Enough: US Spin on Middle East Violence Must Change
By Ramzy Baroud Truly, US President Barack Obama’s recent call to address the root causes of violence, including that of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) and al-Qaeda was a step in the right direction, but it is still miles away from taking the least responsibility possible for the mayhem that has afflicted the Middle East […]
Parking Space Terrorism: Time for Action after Killing of Three US Muslims
By Ramzy Baroud The murder of three American Muslims at a University of North Carolina condominium on Tuesday, 10 February, was no ordinary murder, nor is the criminal who killed them an ordinary thug. The context of the killings, the murder itself and the media and official responses to the horrific event is a testimony […]
Mending ‘Axis of Resistance’: Hamas Goes Back to Square One
By Ramzy Baroud Despite its success in repelling Israeli military advances in Gaza, Hamas’s regional political manoeuvres of recent years are not bearing fruit. Jointly isolated by Israel and other Arab parties, unaided by the Palestinian Authority (PA) of Mahmoud Abbas, the Islamic Resistance Movement is once again facing difficult choices, and it seems to […]
La « Grande Guerre » du Sinaï : comment on perd une « Guerre contre le Terrorisme »
Quittant les marges de la politique égyptienne, la Péninsule du Sinaï est devenue incontestablement centrale, et l’homme fort de l’Egypte, le Président al-Sissi, se retrouve lui-même fortement décrédibilisé par la montée d’une rébellion qui semble se renforcer au fil du temps. Une nouvelle série d’attaques mortelles et coordonnées, le 29 janvier dernier, a brisé la […]
The ‘Great War’ of Sinai: How to Lose a ‘War on Terror’
By Ramzy Baroud The Sinai Peninsula has moved from the margins of the Egyptian body politic to the uncontested centre, as Egypt’s strong man – President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi – finds himself greatly undercut by the rise of an insurgency that seems to be growing stronger with time. Another series of deadly and coordinated attacks, […]
Dear Syria: From One Refugee to Another
By Ramzy Baroud Whenever the word “refugee” is uttered, I think of my mother. When Zionist militias began their systematic onslaught and “cleansing” of the Palestinian Arab population of historic Palestine in 1948, she, along with her family, ran away from the once peaceful village of Beit Daras. Back then, Zarefah was six. Her father […]
Lessons that Hollande Failed to Learn from Bush’s Blunders
By Ramzy Baroud Francois Hollande is not a popular president. No matter how hard the “socialist” leader tries to impress, there never seems to be a solid constituency that backs him. He attempted to mask his initial lack of experience in foreign affairs with a war in Mali, after his country enthusiastically took on Libya. […]
War Begets War: It’s Not about Islam; It Never Was
By Ramzy Baroud It is still not about Islam, even if the media and militants attacking western targets say so. Actually, it never was. But it was important for many to conflate politics with religion; partly because it is convenient and self-validating. First, let’s be clear on some points. Islam has set in motion a […]
Time to Move out: The Problem with Mahmoud Abbas and His Authority
By Ramzy Baroud It was the moment many had been waiting for. On January 2, Palestine’s United Nations envoy, Riyad Mansour formally requested membership at the International Criminal Court (ICC). “We are seeking justice for all the victims that have been killed by Israel, the occupying power,” he said. There was no explanation why Palestine’s […]
‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’: Things I Learned Writing about the Middle East
By Ramzy Baroud Writing about and reporting the Middle East is not an easy task, especially during these years of turmoil and upheaval. While physical maps remain largely intact, the geopolitical map of the region is in constant influx. Following and reporting about these constant changes without a deep and compassionate understanding of the region […]
5 Reasons Why 2014 was a Game Changer in Palestine
By Ramzy Baroud In terms of losses in human lives, 2014 has been a horrific year for Palestinians, surpassing the horrors of both 2008 and 2009, when an Israeli war against the Gaza Strip killed and wounded thousands. While some aspects of the conflict are stagnating between a corrupt, ineffectual Palestinian Authority (PA), and the […]
‘I Can’t Breathe’: Racism and War in America and Beyond
By Ramzy Baroud America’s ruling elites are blatant in their intentions of maintaining “white privilege” at home and economic dominance by military means abroad. Their “democracy” in both of these regions is a ruse, and it is yet to deliver any degree of social justice and equality to the millions of disadvantaged Americans which are […]
The Mockingjay of Palestine: ‘If We Burn, You Burn with Us’
By Ramzy Baroud Raed Mu’anis was my best friend. The small scar on top of his left eyebrow was my doing at the age of five. I urged him to quit hanging on a rope where my mother was drying our laundry. He wouldn’t listen, so I threw a rock at him. I didn’t mean […]
PFLP Soul-searching: The Rise and Fall of Palestine’s Socialists
By Ramzy Baroud The PFLP is back in the headlines after a recent attack in Jerusalem, raising questions about the current relevance of the group When news reports alleged that the two cousins behind the Jerusalem synagogue attack on 18 November were affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a level of […]
Talk of a Third Intifada: Where to from Here, Palestine?
By Ramzy Baroud When a journalist tries to do a historian’s job, the outcome can be quite interesting. Using history as a side note in a brief news report or political analysis oftentimes does more harm than good. Now imagine if that journalist was not dependable to begin with, even more than it being “interesting”, […]
The Age of TV Jokers: Arab Media on the Brink
By Ramzy Baroud As I was finalizing my research for this article, I found myself browsing through a heap of hilarious videos by mostly Egyptian TV show hosts Tawfiq Okasha and Amr Adeeb. In one of his numerous videos on youtube, Okasha, the star and host of the Cairo-based privately funded al-Faraeen channel, tries to […]
Political Prophecies: Sealing the Fate of al-Aqsa
By Ramzy Baroud Israel’s decision to shut down al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday, 30 October, is not just a gross violation of the religious rights of Palestinian Muslims. In fact, the rights of Palestinian Muslims and Christians have been routinely violated under the Israeli occupation for decades, especially in Jerusalem, and more recently in Gaza. During […]
