- May 20, 2024
Articles
Obama Joins the Club
By RAMZY BAROUD The exit of Bush from the White House is already anticipated in the Arab region with sighs of relief. But what is ahead under the next US president; more of the same, regardless of who wins, or change? True, Obama has promised some degree of withdrawal from Iraq and a level of […]
ICC and al-Bashir: Ocampo’s Justice
By RAMZY BAROUD The crimes committed against innocent people in Darfur represent a shameful episode in the history of Sudan and its neighbours, including Chad, which has played a dubious role in sustaining the seething conflict. Equally disgraceful is the politicising of the bloody conflict in ways that will ensure its continuation. The decision of […]
How a Tiny Village Took on the Zionist Militants
By RAMZY BAROUD For some folks interested in genealogy, tracing one’s roots is a stimulating activity. It’s immensely interesting and meaningful to learn where one’s life started. DNA testing has made it possible to trace one’s roots back many generations and there are even free web sites that can help users trace their family history […]
Journalistic Imperatives: Saying What Others Mightn’t
By RAMZY BAROUD The world of journalism, like any other profession, can be muddled with a plethora of distractions, self-interests and agendas that certainly do not serve the cause of a free press. Outside as well as inside pressures and interests often compromise the very essence of the journalist’s mission. In general terms, a journalist […]
Why Should Barack Obama’s Religion Matter?
By RAMZY BAROUD Whether Barack Obama is or, at one point, was a Muslim should be a trivial matter in any society governed by secular, democratic dictates that apply to all, on equal footage, regardless of race, gender or religion. But in a society that is taking a turn toward the right, the matter is […]
Palestine in the American Imagination: Religion, Politics and Media
By RAMZY BAROUD Abstract: A study of the political, religious and cultural factors underlying the pro-Israeli bias apparent in the Western media today, as depicted in the mainstream news and television programmes. As Palestinians hurriedly buried their loved ones in the Gaza Strip following a deadly Israeli onslaught, which further contributed to Gaza’s worst humanitarian […]
On Humiliation, and Gaza’s Dying Children
By RAMZY BAROUD A six-year-old Palestinian girl from Gaza was killed by Israeli fire on 12 June. "Medics say the girl was decapitated by a [tank] shell," Associated Press (AP) reported the next day. The Israeli military said the soldiers opened fire in retaliation against "militants launching rockets into Israel". AP dispassionately elaborated that, "Gaza […]
Legalizing Occupation: Bush’s Last Manoeuvre in Iraq
By RAMZY BAROUD When US forces descended on Baghdad five years ago, they seemed unstoppable. Military arrogance had reached an all time high, and it seemed only a matter of time before the same frenzied scenario took place in Teheran, Damascus, and elsewhere. As it turned out, festivities began dwindling almost as soon as they […]
Engaging Syria: Losing Ground
By RAMZY BAROUD On 15 May, President Bush gave a speech before the Israeli Knesset decrying "radicals and terrorists" (basically anyone who opposes the United States and Israel). His archaic references to the "promised land" and "chosen people" certainly appealed to the equally outdated and exclusivist views of many, though not all, Israeli Knesset members […]
John Hagee’s Not-So-Bright Vision
By RAMZY BAROUD The recent uproar surrounding Pastor John Hagee is only remarkable in the sense that it took so long in coming. The fundamentalist pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone "mega-church" in San Antonio, Texas has long shown himself to be not just anti-Semitic, but also anti-Islamic and anti-Catholic. It doesn’t take much probing to […]
One State: Coexistence, Not Apartheid
By RAMZY BAROUD For the last 60 years, all those who have sought a genuinely peaceful and fair solution for Israel and Palestine have faced the same obstacle — Israel’s sense of invincibility and military arrogance, abetted by the US and other Western governments’ unwavering support. Despite recent setbacks on the military front, the Israeli […]
An Irreducible Fact: 60 Years of Denial
By RAMZY BAROUD Don’t ask for what you never had,’ is the underlying message made by supporters of Israel when they claim Palestine was never a state to begin with. The contention is, of course, easily refutable. Following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th Century, colonial powers plotted to divide the […]
US Terrorism Report: Selective Data, Wrong Lessons
By RAMZY BAROUD The data provided in the US State Department’s annual terrorism report for 2007 points to some interesting if puzzling conclusions. The much publicised document, made available 30 April via the State Department’s website, makes no secret of the fact that Al-Qaeda is back, strong as ever. It also suggests that violence worldwide […]
Beyond Media Revolutions: Is Arab Media Truly Free?
By RAMZY BAROUD On February 12, 2008, Arab League information ministers issued a communiqué outlining ‘tough’ guidelines for Arab satellite channels. The new guidelines specifically prohibited the broadcasting of negative reporting of heads of state, religious or national figures. In following days, a massive campaign of denunciation, led by those who felt targeted by the […]
The Bomb Squads: How to Survive a Gaza Refugee Camp
By RAMZY BAROUD The following are excerpts from Baroud’s upcoming book, “101 Ways to Survive a Refugee Camp.” We waited breathless. Breathing heavily was hazardous under these somewhat exceptional circumstances. The army, my father often advised, was sensitive to the slightest movements or sounds, including a whisper, a cough, or God forbid, a sneeze. Thus […]
Mixed Priorities: Why Palestinian Unity is Not an Option
By RAMZY BAROUD Just days after the Hamas-Fatah clash last June in Gaza, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas looked firm and composed as he shook hands with members of his new emergency government. He made sure his move appeared as legitimate as possible, issuing decrees that outlawed the armed militias of Hamas, and also suspended […]
The US Palestine-Israel Fairytale
By RAMZY BAROUD A memorable quote in Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894) still carries a wealth of relevance. He writes, "They own the [holy] land, just the mere land, and that’s all they do own; but it was our folks, our Jews and Christians, that made it holy, and so they haven’t any business […]
Basra Battles: Barely Half the Story
By RAMZY BAROUD When it comes to Iraq, reporters appear intent on omitting or fabricating news. The latest battles in Basra, Iraq’s second largest city and a vital oil seaport, furnished ample instances of misleading and manipulative practice in corporate journalism today. One commonly used tactic is to describe events using self-styled or "official" terminology, […]
No Checkpoints in Heaven
By Ramzy Baroud I still vividly remember my father’s face – wrinkled, apprehensive, warm – as he last wished me farewell fourteen years ago. He stood outside the rusty door of my family’s home in a Gaza refugee camp wearing old yellow pyjamas and a seemingly ancient robe. As I hauled my one small suitcase […]
Where Are the Iraqis in the Iraq War?
By RAMZY BAROUD Five years after the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, mainstream media is once more making the topic an object of intense scrutiny. The costs and implications of the war are endlessly covered from all possible angles, with one notable exception — the cost to the Iraqi people themselves. Through all the […]
The Coming Uncertain War against Iran
By RAMZY BAROUD When Admiral William J "Fox" Fallon was chosen to replace General John Abizaid as chief of US Central Command (CENTCOM) in March 2007, many analysts didn’t shy from reaching a seemingly clear-cut conclusion: the Bush administration was preparing for war with Iran and had selected the most suitable man for this job. […]
Big Bang or Chaos: What’s Israel Up To?
By RAMZY BAROUD Why did Israel attack Gaza with such brutality? Did Israeli officials think, even for a fleeting moment, that their army’s attacks could halt, as opposed to intensify, Palestinian rockets or retaliatory violence? Indeed, was Palestinian violence at all relevant to the Israeli action? Was the Israeli bloodletting in Gaza solely relevant to […]
‘Unwavering Commitment’ to Inequality
By RAMZY BAROUD Death hovered over Gaza long before locally-made Palestinian rockets struck near the Israeli southern town of Sderot on February 27, killing Roni Yechiah and sparking an Israeli ‘retaliation’ that has already claimed over 120 Palestinian lives. Yechiah’s death was actually the first of its kind in nine months, and understandably so. The […]
Mahmoud Abbas Needs a Miracle
By RAMZY BAROUD Time is running out for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Although both men are still committed to their risky venture of marginalising Hamas at any cost, the latter’s obduracy and recent events in Gaza point to the inescapable conclusion — the undertaking was doomed from the […]
The ‘Known Unknowns’ of the Mugniyah Killing
By RAMZY BAROUD We know well who killed top Hezbollah commander Imad Mugniyah on February 12 in Damascus. Although in the US media only journalists like Seymour Hersh have the nerve to point out the obvious, the Israeli media has not shied away from evidence of Israeli intelligence’s involvement in this well-calculated assassination. The major […]
Will Iraq War Define US Elections?
By RAMZY BAROUD As the race for the presidential nominations progresses, the stances of and attitudes towards both Republican and Democratic candidates continue to bring up causes for concern, in terms of their past behaviour, current appeal and general trustworthiness. Republican Mitt Romney’s exit has practically assured Sen John McCain’s victory in his party. While […]
Media Language and War: Manufacturing Convenient Realities
By RAMZY BAROUD In the competitive world of media today, swift and conveniently selective reporting is of prime importance. GoogleNews, for example, claims to scan 4,500 news sources, of which only a few are highlighted as main stories. There are thousands of similar services, all competing to produce a story in the fastest time. Thorough […]
People’s Power in Gaza
By RAMZY BAROUD In a radio interview prior to the US invasion of Iraq, David Barsamian asked Noam Chomsky what ordinary Americans could do to stop the war. Chomsky answered, “In some parts of the world people never ask, ‘what can we do?’ They simply do it.” For someone who was born and raised in […]
The True Miracle of Israel
By RAMZY BAROUD Israelis and their supporters tend to depict Israel as a country of miracles. What else could explain the country’s astonishing "birth" and subsequent survival against all sorts of "existential threats"? How else would Israel develop at such a phenomenal pace, making the "desert bloom" and continually scoring a high ranking amongst developed […]
Guantanamo as a Symbol
By RAMZY BAROUD 11 January marked the sixth year anniversary of the establishment of the Guantanamo detention camp. Mere months after the start of the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan, a large cargo plane landed in a US military base in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay, bringing in a group of hunchbacked, orange-clad, blindfolded, "terrorist" suspects, […]
