- January 23, 2025
Articles
Bush’s Last Bullet: Why the US Attacked Syria
By RAMZY BAROUD The sovereignty of an independent, stable country that has carried out many constructive moves in recent months and weeks, which could have surely contributed to the stabilization of the Middle East, has been violated, its borders breached and its civilians killed. But when the country targeted is Syria, an Arab country, and […]
Playgrounds for Palestine: One Marathon at a Time
By RAMZY BAROUD My right knee is wrapped. My left ankle is iced. I lost the nail on my right big toe, and have about 20 blisters and a similar number of bruises on both of my feet. This doesn’t even begin to convey half of the story of the punishment that my body has […]
A Third Palestinian Intifada in the Making
By RAMZY BAROUD At a recent conference I was repeatedly asked about the prospects for a third Palestinian uprising, or Intifada. The question, although seemingly uncomplicated, is both loaded and important, and cannot be answered in a mere two minutes or less. A ‘third Intifada’ would imply that the second has already ended. But has […]
World Food Day: Global Crises’ Double Standards
By RAMZY BAROUD The 25th annual World Food Day, marked on 16 October, was an occasion whose arrival and passing received little media attention or governmental fanfare. Evidently, much of the world media and governments are consumed with an economic crisis of epic proportions, which is perceived in the US as the worst such upheaval […]
The Palin- Biden Debate: High Time to Move Beyond Clichés
By RAMZY BAROUD One should rightly assume that the weight of the US financial crisis, the full impact of which is just beginning to unravel, and the widening military debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, would compel new thinking amongst leading US politicians. And then again, maybe not. Aside from tactical and rhetorical differences, presidential candidates […]
Europe and the Middle East: Will EU Be a More Just Mediator?
By RAMZY BAROUD Europe has showed greater willingness in recent months to play a larger part in the Middle East’s most protracted conflict, that of Israel and Palestine. But willingness doesn’t necessarily indicate readiness. For the European Union (EU) to be truly ready to take on a conflict of such magnitude, it must fully and […]
Life after Bush: Forecasting Peace in Palestine
By RAMZY BAROUD President Bush sounded much less uncertain of his peace "vision" when he received Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on Sept. 25. Certainly much has changed since the Nov. 2007 conference in Annapolis, Maryland, where Bush and his secretary of state Condoleezza Rice exhorted that a Palestinian state can only be created […]
Marathon for Children: Running for the Right to Play
By RAMZY BAROUD I was ecstatic as I read an email sent by a manager at a Canadian toy company. The company donates a large number of toys each year to inner city kids throughout North America, using various NGOs. A few years ago, they decided to ship several thousand toys to Palestinian children. They […]
Palestinian Economy: From Bad to Wretched
By RAMZY BAROUD The numbers are grim, whether in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian economy is in one of its most wretched states, and the disaster is mostly, if not entirely manmade, thus reversible. The World Bank made no secret of the fact that Israeli restrictions are largely to blame, as […]
Palestinian Unity: Goal or Mantra?
By RAMZY BAROUD Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa used exceptionally tough language during a Cairo news conference 9 September, when he lashed out at Palestinian factionalism, saying that the League is going as far as studying the possibility of imposing sanctions on quarrelling Palestinians. "I am extremely angry with the Palestinian organisations… We are studying […]
The Syria-Israel Peace Gambit
By RAMZY BAROUD Few would argue that the indirect Israel-Syria talks through Turkish mediation, which were first announced 21 May, were a sign of political maturity and readiness for peace. In fact, while the discussions seemed concerned with the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and Israel’s desire for security at its northern borders, the true objective […]
Global Realignment: How Bush Inspired a New World Order
By RAMZY BAROUD The series of unfortunate and costly decisions made during the two terms of the Bush administration, combined with economic decline at home, might devastate the US’s world standing much sooner than most analysts predict. What was difficult to foresee was that the weakening of US global dominance, spurred by erratic and unwise […]
Olympic Follies and Triumphs
By RAMZY BAROUD To run a full marathon experts suggest that the aspiring athlete requires at least six months of rigorous training, proper gear, a particular diet, regular check-ups, mental focus and preparation, and a variety of gadgets depending on one’s budget. Ironically, the poorest countries in Africa have also produced some of the world’s […]
The Saakashvili Experiment
By RAMZY BAROUD Just as the world’s attention was focussed on China’s Beijing Olympics, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, on 7 August, invaded the tiny breakaway province of South Ossetia. The initial attack on the South Ossetian capital, Tskninvali, soon extended to an all out war, which eventually invited Russia’s wrath, and the death of thousands […]
United by Misery: Two Boys from Gaza and Nilin
By RAMZY BAROUD Ahmed Moussa was a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from the West Bank village of Nilin, near Ramallah. Mohamed Bahloul is a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from Gaza City. The former was shot and killed 29 July by Israeli forces following a peaceful protest against the Israeli apartheid wall. The latter is awaiting death in […]
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 […]
