- May 6, 2024
Middle East
Turkey’s Unsustainable Politics in the Middle East: Israel vs. The Rest
By Ramzy Baroud ‘Confused’ may be an appropriate term to describe Turkey’s current foreign policy in the Middle East and Israel in particular. The source of that confusion – aside from the appalling violence in Syria and earlier in Libya – is Turkey’s own mistakes. The Turkish government’s inconsistency regarding Israel highlights earlier discrepancy in […]
Changing Nature of Palestine’s Struggle Caught on Five Cameras
By Ramzy Baroud – The National Those who watched Emad Burnat’s 5 Broken Cameras were perhaps reminded of Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al Ali’s iconic character, Handala – a barefooted boy whose role in Al Ali’s drawings is to stand and bear witness to the tragedy that transpires before him. His hands are folded behind him, […]
Turkey Cornered into Israeli Embrace
By Ramzy Baroud An Israeli-Turkish rapprochement is unmistakably underway, but unlike the heyday of their political alignment in the 1990s, the revamped relationship is likely to be more guarded and pose a greater challenge to Turkey rather than Israel. Israeli media last week referenced a report by Turkish newspaper Radikal regarding secret talks between Turkey […]
Iraq at the Brink: A Decade after the Invasion
By Ramzy Baroud Soon after the joint US-British bombing campaign ‘Operation Desert Fox’ devastated parts of Iraq in Dec 1998, I was complaining to a friend in the lobby of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. I was disappointed with the fact that our busy schedule in Iraq – mostly visiting hospitals packed with injured or Depleted Uranium […]
Arab Springboard for Intervention? Two Years of Revolution and War
By Ramzy Baroud Reform movements in the Arab world are indicative of the rise of new players in a political game historically reserved for the locals and their western benefactors. On January 25, Egyptians commemorated the second anniversary of their revolution. Some spoke of historic achievements, others bemoaned lost opportunities and many more were just […]
‘The Iranians Are Coming’: The Imagined, ‘Sinister’ Iranian Threat in Latin America
By Ramzy Baroud Reading the text of a bill that was recently signed into law by US President Barack Obama would instill fear in the hearts of ordinary Americans. Apparently, barbarians coming from distant lands are at work. They are gathering at the US-Mexico border, cutting fences and ready to wreak havoc on an otherwise […]
‘Popular Resistance’ in Palestine: Beyond Political Doublespeak
By Ramzy Baroud ‘Popular resistance’ is a progressively unifying force among Palestinian civil society groups, political factions and society at large. While the discussion regarding its political viability is somewhat new, Palestinian history of popular resistance is as old as the British, then Zionist colonial projects in Palestine which started nearly a century ago. It […]
Rhetorically Speaking: US Election and the Middle East
By Ramzy Baroud US elections are manifestly linked to the Middle East, at least rhetorically. In practical terms, however, US foreign policies in the region are compelled by the Middle East’s own dynamics and the US’s own political climate and economic woes, or ambitions. There is little historic evidence that US foreign policy in the […]
Much at Stake for Turkey: Border Violence Meant to Be a Defining Point
By Ramzy Baroud ‘We expected a greater Turkish response than this, but you know, every country has its own special affairs.’ Taken alone, the remarks by Bashir Hajjo, introduced by BBC Arabic TV last Thursday as the spokesperson of the Tawhid Brigade, are no cause for alarm, except, of course, when placed within context. By […]
No Election Fervor, But Much at Stake
By Ramzy Baroud Come November 6, American voters will decide whether to extend Obama’s mandate by four more years, or hand the former Massachusetts Governor the fate of a country that has long crossed the line of economic recession into territories uncharted since the Great Depression in 1929. Romney, the archetypal American elite with ample […]
The Empire Trapped: The US’ Unpromising Role in the New Middle East
By Ramzy Baroud Editors representing many Asian newspapers stood in a perfect line. They were nervous and giddy at the prospect of meeting Li Changchun, China’s powerful member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee. Personally, the Great Hall of the People and the fortitude of Chinese society mesmerized me. Despite its challenges and repeated […]
A Defining Moment: Anti-Muslim Films, Cartoons and My Gaza Neighbor
By Ramzy Baroud A neighbor of mine, of many years ago from a Gaza refugee camp, was a sacrilegious person par excellence. Unemployed like most inhabitants of the camp, he was extremely poor. His family responsibilities were daunting, yet prolonged Israeli military curfews made it impossible for him to find a job, let alone venture […]
Palestinian Refugees from Syria Lost and ‘Betrayed’
By Ramzy Baroud The official position of Arab nations is unambiguous: solidarity with Palestine is paramount. But facts on the ground point to a disturbingly different reality, one in which Palestinians are mistreated beyond any rational justification in various Arab countries. The worst-fated among them are stateless refugees, who have for decades been granted only […]
The Children Are Still Dying: Violence is Not News
By Ramzy Baroud Somewhere in my home I have a set of photo albums I rarely go near. I fear the flood of cruel memories that might be evoked from looking at the countless photos I took during a trip to Iraq. Many of the pictures are of children who developed rare forms of cancer […]
US Realists, Neocons and the War in Syria
By Ramzy Baroud In US political circles, the Syria conflict is increasingly being presented as a discussion pertaining to Israeli interests. This attitude is not substantially different from the way US politicians and media weighed in on the Egyptian January 25 revolution and its aftermath. Egypt mostly matters because of the US-brokered Camp David treaty […]
Shifting Truths in Sinai: Who Stands to Gain from Carnage?
By Ramzy Baroud Two Toyota Land Cruisers filled with about 15 well-built gunmen in ski masks and all-black outfits appear seemingly out of nowhere. Behind them is vast, open desert. They approach a group of soldiers huddled around a simple meal as they prepare to break their Ramadan fast. The gunmen open fire, leaving the […]
Neocons vs. the ‘Arab Spring’: Back on the Warpath
By Ramzy Baroud The neoconservatives are back with a vengeance. While popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and other Arab countries had briefly rendered them irrelevant in the region, Western intervention in Libya signaled a new opportunity. Now Syria promises to usher a full return of neoconservatives into the Middle East fray. “Washington must stop […]
Why is Mali Spiraling out of Control?
By Ramzy Baroud Northern Mali promises to be the graveyard of scores of innocent people if African countries don’t collectively challenge Western influence in the region. Mali is fast becoming the Afghanistan of Africa. The tragic reality is that Mali – a large but sparsely populated country, with around 15.5 million inhabitants – was until […]
Lurking Danger: Palestinian Refugees in Syria
By RamzyBaroud ‘The flames are quickly approaching Yarmouk (as) someone is trying to drag the Palestinians into the fire,’ reported Palestinian commentator Rashad Abu Shawar (as cited in Israeli Jerusalem Post, July 20). Yarmouk is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. Its inhabitants make up nearly a quarter of Syria’s entire refugee population of […]
Democracy and Slaughter in Burma: Gold Rush Overrides Human Rights
By Ramzy Baroud The widespread killings of Rohingya Muslims in Burma – or Myanmar – have received only passing and dispassionate coverage in most media. What they actually warrant is widespread outrage and decisive efforts to bring further human rights abuses to an immediate halt. “Burmese helicopter set fire to three boats carrying nearly 50 […]
Off the Agenda: The Unresolved Question of Egypt’s Economy
By Ramzy Baroud A new Egypt demands a new constitution and president. Many pressing questions also need to be addressed, including the religious-secular divide, the value of Sharia in the making of law, citizenship, minority rights, the rule of civil society, foreign policy, and much more. One issue that requires urgent attention in the current […]
Sectarian Divide Takes Alarming Turn
By Ramzy Baroud, Special to Gulf News The conflict in Syria is giving way to a troubling phenomenon of hastily drawn sectarian lines throughout the Middle East. A perpetual and repugnant war is likely to replace the collective aspirations for equality, freedom and democracy that fuelled the non-violent uprising nearly 15 months ago. Between May 25 […]
Starving and Broke: Yemen’s Renewed ‘War on Terror’
By Ramzy Baroud Yemeni forces continue to push against fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda. Their major victories come on the heels of the inauguration of Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi, who is now entrusted with the task of leading the country through a peaceful transition. A new constitution and presidential elections are expected by 2014. Faced with […]
Redefining the ‘Arab Spring’: Is Chaos Overtaking Revolution?
By Ramzy Baroud The age of revolutionary romance is over. Various Arab countries are now facing hard truths. Millions of Arabs merely want to live with a semblance of dignity, free from tyranny and continuous anxiety over the future. This unromantic reality also includes outside ‘players’, whose presence is of no positive value to genuine […]
The Egyptian Revolution Should Not Be Subsidized
By Ramzy Baroud, Special to Gulf News The initial clarity of Egypt’s revolutionary discourse has been replaced by perplexing discussions involving a range of issues from ‘Islamists vs liberals’ to football violence. The latest such issue involves the rift between the US and the Egyptian government over the latter’s crackdowns on organizations with questionable sources […]
Israel Vying for War: Attacking Iran Will Not Repeat History
By Ramzy Baroud On April 10, 2002, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons, ‘Saddam Hussein’s regime is…developing weapons of mass destruction, and we cannot leave him doing so unchecked.’ A year later, Blair, enthusiastically joined a US-led coalition that launched an illegal war against Iraq. Their hunt for weapons of […]
Blame NATO for the Mess in Libya
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 […]
US vs. Genuine Reforms at the United Nations
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 […]
A Roadmap for Brave UN Reforms
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 […]
Iraq War: Moral Victory, and Selective Body Counts
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, […]
