- February 23, 2025
Global Affairs
The Cultural Genocide in Palestine: On Sally Rooney’s Decision to Boycott Israel
Israel continues to target Palestinians as a people, downgrades their language, dismantles their institutions and systematically destroys their culture. This is rightly referred to as cultural genocide, and it is our moral responsibility to stop it.
Empty Gestures or Substantive Change? On the Nobel Prize in Literature and Its Discontents
It is not the awards that matter but what has been researched and written, and its impact on making the world a more equitable place.
Heroes or Parasites: Europe’s Self-serving Politics on Refugees
While we are busy manipulating language, there are thousands who are stranded at sea and hundreds of thousands languishing in refugee camps worldwide. They are only welcomed if they serve as political capital. Otherwise, they remain a ‘problem’ to be dealt with – violently, if necessary.
Racial Justice Vs. The Israel Lobby: When Being Pro-Palestine Becomes the New Normal
Speaking out for Palestine in America is no longer a charitable and rare occurrence. As the future will surely reveal, it is the “politically correct” thing to do.
On Afghanistan and Legitimate Resistance: Should Hamas, Hezbollah Learn from the Taliban?
The victory of the Taliban will extend well beyond the borders of Afghanistan, breaking the limits imposed on the discussion by western-centric officials, media and academia, namely the urgently needed clear distinction between terrorism and national liberation.
Who Represents Afghanistan: Genuine Activists vs ‘Native Informants’
In the Middle East, in particular, we have already witnessed this phenomenon of the west-based ‘legitimate’ democratic representations. Ultimately, these ‘governments-in-exile’ wrought nothing but further political deception, division, corruption, and continued war.
Following Afghanistan Defeat: Can EU Win Own ‘Independence’ from the US?
Macron’s once ‘controversial’ view is now mainstream thinking in Europe, especially as many EU policy-makers feel disowned, if not betrayed, by the US in Afghanistan.
On Propaganda and Failed Narratives: New Understanding of Afghanistan is a Must
Afghanistan is now in urgent need of a government that truly represents the people of that country. This is the true national narrative of Afghanistan that must be nurtured outside the confines of the self-serving Western mischaracterization of Afghanistan and her people.
Stadio Olimpico: Can Sports Heal the World?
By the end of the match, as the large crowd – still giddy by the fact that they were able to attend a large sports event despite the deadly COVID-19 pandemic – dispersed, I walked around the Foro Italico, the sports complex which hosts Stadio Olimpico, among other edifices. The contradictions were palpable.
Palestine’s Africa Dichotomy: Is Israel Really ‘Winning’ Africa?
Africa is also the heart of the most powerful anti-colonial trends the world has ever known. A continent of this size, complexity, and proud history cannot be written off as if a mere ‘prize’ to be won or lost by Israel and its neocolonial friends.
The Quiet Rebellion: Why US Jews Turning against Israel is Good for Palestinians
Israel is now at a crossroads. It can only win back the support of US Jews if it behaves in such a way that is consistent with their moral frame of reference. Hence, it would have to end its military occupation, dismantle its apartheid regime and reverse its racist laws.
Greed and Consumption: Why the World is Burning
The impact of global warming cannot and must not be held hostage to the ambitions of politicians. Millions of people are suffering, livelihoods are destroyed, the fate of future generations is at risk.
US Foreign Policy Adrift: Why Washington No Longer Calling the Shots
Even if it is accepted, without any argument, that America is, indeed, back, considering the vastly changing geopolitical spheres in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Biden’s assertion should, ultimately, make no difference.
The Politics of Cheering and Booing: On Palestine, Solidarity and the Tokyo Olympics
The truth is, for us, Palestinians, the Olympics are not an ethnocentric exercise. Our relationship to it is not simply inspired by race, nationality or even religion, but by humanity itself.
How Ben & Jerry’s has Exposed Israel’s Anti-BDS Strategy
By calling an ice cream company ‘terrorist’ for simply adhering to international law, Herzog has revealed the growing lack of credibility and absurdity of the official Israeli language.
The Little Talked About Covid-19 ‘Variants’: Vaccine Mismanagement Will Have Dire Repercussions
While many are busy measuring the possible future repercussions of the pandemic in terms of economic output, life expectancy and such, it is critical that we consider other factors that are certain to result from this unbearable inequality: revolutions, mass migrations and famine. These are the other ‘variants’ that we must urgently address.
Progress or War: On Islamophobia and Europe’s Demographic Shifts
It is time for European countries to understand that their demographics are fundamentally changing, and that such change can, in fact, be beneficial to the health of these nations.
Kneeling against Racism: Solidarity in EURO 2020 Should Not be ‘Controversial’
Racism is a political disease, like cancerous cells spreading across the body, or body politic of society. It has to be stopped, on and off the field. While taking the knee will not end racism, it is meant to serve as a conversation starter, a moral stance by players and a meaningful gesture of camaraderie and humanity.
Words Alone Will Not End Anti-Muslim Terror in Canada
Terrorism will not end as a result of pomposity but through real action. Trudeau seems to have much of the former and none of the latter.
‘Putting Lipstick on a Pig’: Why Washington is Fawning over Israel’s New Government
While the Americans and the Israelis are busy engaging in the ever-familiar ritual of ‘putting lipstick on a pig’, the Palestinians remain irrelevant in all of this, as their political aspirations continue to be discounted, and their freedom delayed.
On Trumpism and Netanyahuism: How Benjamin Netanyahu Won America and Lost Israel
Whatever that is, it will surely be situated within the familiar context of Netanyahu’s angry army of Israeli right-wing zealots aided and abetted by Christian fundamentalists in the US and elsewhere. He may have won America, but — for now — he has lost Israel.
Esquire: Baroud’s Book among Top Ten Books on Palestine
They include In Search of Fatima, by Ghada Karmi, A Child in Palestine by Naji al-Ali, and My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story, by Ramzy Baroud.
Bottom-up Politics: Grassroots Activism Behind Pro-Palestine Shift in the US
While the Israel lobby still wields the dual weapon of money and propaganda, politically engaged grassroots activism is proving decisive in garnering American solidarity with Palestine, while slowly translating this solidarity into actual political gains.
A Palestinian Prayer for Ramadan: May the Voices of the Oppressed Be Heard
Perhaps this Ramadan can serve as the opportunity for social justice to be finally enacted and for the oppressed to be heard so that their hymn of torment and hope may rise above the clouds.
Recognition of Palestine is ‘Symbolic’ but also Critical: The Australian Case
The ALP recognition of Palestine is, for now, mere symbolism. If utilized correctly, through pressure, advocacy and mobilization, it could turn into something meaningful in the future.
Israel Rejects ICC Investigation: What Are the Possible Future Scenarios?
While Palestinians remain cautious about the future of the investigation, hope is slowly rising that, this time around, things may be different and that Israeli war criminals will eventually be held accountable for their crimes. Time will tell.
The Clandestine War on Africa: France’s Endgame in Mali
The story is meant to end here, but it will not – as long as Mali is exploited by outsiders, as long as poverty and inequality will continue to exist, leading to insurrections, rebellions and military coups.
Nuclear Weapons Blazing: Britain Enters the US-China Fray
The British foreign policy shift is an unprecedented gamble for London as the nature of the new Cold War is fundamentally different from that of the previous one; this time around, the ‘West’ is divided, torn by politics and crises, while NATO is no longer the superpower it once was.
From the Earth to the Moon: Biden’s China Policy Doomed from the Start
Certainly, the US-led ‘Quad’ meeting was neither historic nor a game-changer, as all indicators attest that China’s global leadership will continue unhindered, a consequential event that is already reordering the world’s geopolitical paradigms which have been in place for over a century.
The Ongoing Calamity: US Collective Punishment of the Venezuelan People Must End
Washington’s futile sanctions-based approach to Venezuela has proved not only immensely harmful to the welfare of the Venezuelan people but also to Washington’s own regional interests. Washington’s obstinacy allowed its global rivals, Russia and China, to unprecedentedly cement their economic and strategic interests in that country.
