- February 24, 2025
Middle East
My Response to Bill Clinton: On (My) Liberty and (Your) America
By Ramzy Baroud Donald Trump wants to keep us out of the country altogether. But Bill Clinton, former president and husband of a Democratic presidential nominee, does not mind us staying, as long as we – Muslims – behave ourselves. Welcome to America where racial profiling is the country’s most popular idea, and where citizenship […]
Farewell to Yarmouk: A Palestinian Refugee’s Journey from Izmir to Greece
By Ramzy Baroud (Based on interviews with Palestinian refugees from Syria.) The refugee camp of Yarmouk was ever present in his being, pulling him in and out of an abyss of persistent fears that urged him to never return. But what was this refugee without Yarmouk, his first haven, his last earth? How could any […]
France’s Doomed War on ‘Islamist Terrorism’
By Ramzy Baroud Days after a truck ploughed its way into throngs of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, the Los Angeles Times reported that “[Daesh or the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] later claimed indirect responsibility for the attack”. The clearly deliberate act killed 84 people, many of whom were […]
From Nice to the Middle East: The Only Way to Challenge ISIS
By Ramzy Baroud I visited Iraq in 1999. At the time, there were no so-called ‘jihadis’ espousing the principles of ‘jihadism’, whatever the interpretation may be. On the outskirts of Baghdad was a military training camp, not for ‘al-Qaeda’, but for ‘Mojahedin-e-Khalq’, an Iranian militant exile group that worked, with foreign funding and arms, to […]
Being Black Palestinian: Solidarity as a Welcome Pathology
By Ramzy Baroud Last year, I wrote an article that made many readers unhappy. As soon as it was published, I began receiving messages of abuse and angry, threatening calls. I hesitated about reporting the threats to the local police in Washington State and, in the end, I resolved to file the unpleasant experience under […]
People above Politics: Political Deal will not Hamper the Turkish-Palestinian Bond
By Ramzy Baroud Hyped emotions, and political opportunism aside, the Israel-Turkey normalization deal, signed on June 27 is unfavorable for Palestinians – and for Gazans, in particular. There is much that is being said to blame Turkey or placate the damage of seeing Turkey – which has for years been one of the most visible […]
Ramzy Baroud: Thanks, Turkey – but it’s freedom, not charity, that Gaza seeks (ALJAZEERA)
When Israeli commandos violently raided the Freedom Flotilla in May 2010, something extraordinary happened in Gaza: a deep sense of loss, but also pride. It was the first time that this generation experienced real solidarity emanating from a Muslim country, exhibited with such resolution and willingness to sacrifice. Many Palestinians had finally renewed their faith, […]
Roots of the Conflict: Palestine’s Nakba in the Larger Arab ‘Catastrophe
By Ramzy Baroud On May 15th of every year, over the past 68 years, Palestinians have commemorated their collective exile from Palestine. The ethnic cleansing of Palestine to make room for a ‘Jewish homeland’ came at a price of unrelenting violence and perpetual suffering. Palestinians refer to that enduring experience as ‘Nakba’, or ‘Catastrophe’. However, […]
Ramzy Baroud on the Listening Post: Who will Tell the Yemeni People’s Story?
While the international news media has trained its lens on the war in Syria, another conflict is failing to get its share of the coverage – Yemen. Both sides in this war have stocked up on all the media ammunition available – to fight the propaganda war. Rebel forces took over state media to tell […]
Did the Arabs Betray Palestine?
By Ramzy Baroud At the age of 21, I crossed Gaza into Egypt to pursue a degree in political science. The timing could have not been worse. The Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990 had resulted in a US-led international coalition and a major war, which eventually paved the road for the US invasion of […]
Federalism is a Pandora’s Box; if Syria Succumbs to It, Others Will Follow
By Ramzy Baroud The apparently sudden Russian military withdrawal from Syria, starting on 15 March, left political commentators puzzled, but few of the analyses offered should be taken seriously. There is little solid information about why the Russian leader decided to end his country’s military push in Syria. The intervention, which began last September, was […]
‘Plan B’ – Not an Enigma: Why the West is Keen on Dividing the Arabs
By Ramzy Baroud When Arab streets exploded with fury, from Tunis to Sanaa, pan-Arabism seemed, then, like a nominal notion. Neither did the so-called ‘Jasmine Revolution’ use slogans that affirmed its Arab identity, nor did angry Egyptian youth raise the banner proclaiming Arab unity atop the high buildings adjacent to Tahrir Square. Oddly, the Arabism […]
Why We Must Transcend the Clinton-Sanders Debate: The Middle East in US Foreign Policy
By Ramzy Baroud As US liberals and some leftists are pulling up their sleeves in anticipation of a prolonged battle for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination, the tussle becomes particularly ugly whenever the candidates’ foreign policy agendas are evoked. Of the two main contenders, Hilary Clinton is the obvious target. She is an interventionist, uncompromisingly, […]
Journalism in Times of Conflict, Occupation and Political Strife – FOA Interview with Ramzy Baroud
FOA speaks to media consultant, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud about his tips and tricks of the trade and the importance of journalism and media in times of conflict, occupation and political strife. Social media and digital media has become a driving force for the future and the rise of citizen journalism […]
Why is Trauma Missing from Syria Refugee Debate?
By Ramzy Baroud The 12 million Syrian refugees may differ regarding the reasons why they had to flee their homes and country in the last five years. Yet, they are united in their plight and in the collective trauma of the violent dislocation they have all experienced. Half of those refugees are estimated to be […]
An Open Letter to Young Muslims Everywhere: The Seed of Triumph in Every Adversity
By Ramzy Baroud When I was a little boy, I used to dream of being reborn outside the hardship of the Refugee Camp in Gaza, in some other time and place where there were no soldiers, no military occupation, no concentration camps and no daily grind – where my father fought for our very survival, […]
Beware ‘Sunni-Stan’: Neocons are Back and Their ‘Vision’ is Darker than Ever
By Ramzy Baroud John Bolton is a tarnished character. The once United States Ambassador to the United Nations is now promoted as a ‘scholar’ in the pro-Israel lobby group, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Bolton is not a peacemaker, nor, in his defense, did he ever try to appear as if one. When he was […]
Forget Daesh: Humanity is at Stake
By Ramzy Baroud I still remember that smug look on his face, followed by the matter-of-fact remarks that had western journalists laugh out loud. “I’m now going to show you a picture of the luckiest man in Iraq,” General Norman Schwarzkopf, known as ‘Stormin’ Norman, said at a press conference sometime in 1991, as he […]
Remaking the Middle East: How the US Grew Tired and Less Relevant
By Ramzy Baroud US Secretary of State John Kerry is often perceived as one of the “good guys”, the less hawkish of top American officials, who does not simply promote and defend his country’s military adventurism but reaches out to others, beyond polarizing rhetoric. His unremitting efforts culminated partly in the Iran nuclear framework agreement […]
Ramzy Baroud: Palestine Remains the Core Struggle in the Middle East
Interviewed by Info-Palestine (This interview was originally published in French.) Info-Palestine: Our interview with Ramzy Baroud is concerned with the situation in Palestine, the raging conflicts in the Middle East and the role of the International Solidarity Movement. — Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is […]
Listen to Syrians: The Media Jackals and the People’s Narrative
By Ramzy Baroud Imagine the Syrian war from the point of view of ordinary Syrians from a variety of backgrounds. They are most likely to offer a different perspective and to hold entirely different expectations than most other parties involved. A resident of Idlib, a villager from Deraa, a housewife, a teacher, a nurse or […]
Seven Points Not on the Arab Media Agenda – What is There to Celebrate?
By Ramzy Baroud It has been recently announced that Arab ‘media experts’ plan to ‘celebrate’ Arab Media Day on April 21, 2016. The theme for the first day, of what is meant to be an annual tradition, is: “The Role of the (Arab) Media in Combatting Terrorism”. The mockery is surely multi-faceted. One is the […]
How Yarmouk Came About: Israel’s Unabashed Role in the Syrian Refugee Crisis
By Ramzy Baroud When Zionist Haganah militias carried out Operation Yiftach on 19 May, 1948, the aim was to drive Palestinians in the northern Safad District outside the border of Israel, which had declared its independence a mere five days earlier. The ethnic cleansing of Safad and its many villages was not unique to that […]
Huffington Post Arabic and the Absurdity of ‘Liberal’ Expectations
By Ramzy Baroud What does it mean to be a ‘liberal Arab’? Even in the West, definitions of the ‘liberal’ vary. In the American context, the demarcation of the ‘liberal’ overlaps cultural and political lines. Republicans use the term in a derogatory way to describe their opponents. Watch ‘Fox News’ to understand. (On second thought, […]
‘Islamic State’ Pretence and the Upcoming Wars in Libya
By Ramzy Baroud Another war is in the making in Libya: the questions are ‘how’ and ‘when’? While the prospect of another military showdown is unlikely to deliver Libya from its current security upheaval and political conflict, it is likely to change the very nature of conflict in that rich, but divided, Arab country. An […]
Misreading the Refugee Crisis
By Ramzy Baroud So far this year, “nearly one quarter of a million migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe”, reported Al Jazeera’s Inside Story, citing the International Organisation for Migration. The situation is indeed bleak, not only because the number of refugees is constantly on the rise, but also because Europe appears rather disinterested […]
War Begets War Refugees: The Moral Bankruptcy of Italy and NATO
By Ramzy Baroud On April 26, 2011, a meeting that can only be described as sinister took place between the then Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and French President, Nicolas Sarkozy. The most pressing issue discussed at the meeting in Rome was how to deal with African immigrants. Sarkozy, who was under pressure from his […]
Shifting Priorities: The Rise and Fall of Arab Revolutionary Discourse
By Ramzy Baroud Strange how intellectual discussion concerning the so-called “Arab Spring” has almost entirely shifted in recent years – from one concerning freedom, justice, democracy and rights in general, into a political wrangle between various antagonist camps. The people, who revolted across various Arab countries are now marginalized in this discussion, and are only […]
Darker Horizons Ahead: Rethinking the War on ‘IS’
By Ramzy Baroud As much of the Middle East sinks deeper into division between competing political camps, the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (‘IS’) continues its unhindered march towards a twisted version of a Muslim caliphate. Many thousands have lost their lives, some in the most torturous ways, so that ‘IS’ may realize its nightmarish dream. Of […]
A Chance for Arab-Iranian Reconciliation: An Opportunity in the Iran Nuclear Deal
By Ramzy Baroud “The Americans have taken the Shia Muslim side in the Middle East’s sectarian war,” declared Robert Fisk in the “Independent” newspaper on July 15, a day after the US and five major world powers reached a landmark agreement with Iran about its nuclear programs. Fisk’s proclamation is quite cursory. Aside from the […]
