- May 18, 2024
Articles
The American Injustice Industry: Why Shutting Down Guantánamo is Not Enough
So, even if Biden is able to overcome pressure from the military, from the CIA, and from Congress to shut Guantánamo down, justice will still be absent, not only because of the numerous lives that are forever shattered but because America still refuses to learn from its mistakes.
Ready to Work with Netanyahu: Mansour Abbas Splinters Arab Vote in Israel
Now that all electoral alliances have been finalized, Mansour Abbas has clearly made the wrong choice and, no matter the outcome, he has already lost.
Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas’s Foreign Policy
Abdullah’s volume on Hamas is a must-read, as it offers a unique take on Hamas, liberating the discussion on the Movement from the confines of the reductionist Western media’s perception of Hamas as terrorist – and of the counterclaims, as well. In this book, Hamas is viewed as a political actor, whose armed resistance is only a component in a complex and far-reaching strategy.
Not a Defeated People: On Baroud’s ‘These Chains Will Be Broken’
These are stories of people who create nurturing and supportive systems within the prison walls, as well as to their home communities and their nation. May we all achieve such strength of character.
Coup Leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi Betrayed Democracy in Burma
Though we must insist that the return to rule by the military in Burma is unacceptable, we must equally demand that Burma embraces true democracy for all of its citizens, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion.
Imagining Palestine: On Barghouti, Darwish, Kanafani and the Language of Exile
Millions of Palestinians continue to live in exile, generation after generation, painstakingly negotiating their individual and collective identities, neither able to return, nor feeling truly whole. These millions deserve to exercise their Right of Return, for their voices to be heard and to be included.
‘Leaving Aside’ International Law: Why Democrats are as Dangerous as Republicans to a Just Peace in Palestine
While the Democratic discourse remains committed to arming and defending Israel, it provides Palestinians and Arabs with no meaningful change, because substantive change can only occur when international law is respected. Unfortunately, according to Blinken’s logic, such seemingly trivial matters should, for now, be ‘left aside’.
Europe Will Redefine Itself Despite the Political Shift in the US
The ball is no longer in Washington’s court alone. The fact that the majority of Europeans believe in China’s impending global leadership in a matter of a few years means that the EU will have no patience for any American ultimatum to choose between Washington and Beijing.
The Russian Alternative: How Moscow is Capitalizing on US Retreat in Palestine, Israel
The US now has no other option but to slowly retreat from its previous commitments to the peace process: in fact, the region as a whole. As is often the case, any American retreat means a potential opening for Russia, which is now laying claim to the role of peace broker, a seismic change that many Palestinians are already welcoming.
Our Mutual Fight: The Case against Pakistani Normalization with Israel
The Palestinian and Pakistani peoples need each other as vanguards against racism, military occupation and injustice. They must remain united at the forefront of this defining fight, no matter the sacrifices and the pressures. If Pakistan abandons this noble fight, the pain of this loss will be felt most deeply in the heart of every Palestinian, for generations to come.
‘Freedom is Never Voluntarily Given’: Palestinian Boycott of Israel is Not Racist, It is Anti-Racist
The boycott movement aims at holding the oppressor accountable as it places a price tag on military occupation and apartheid. Not only is the Palestinian boycott movement not racist, it is essentially a rallying cry against racism and oppression.
B’Tselem’s Historic Declaration: Israel’s Open War on Its Own Civil Society
Even in the eyes of many Israeli Jews, the Israeli government no longer possesses any democratic ideals. Indeed, as B’Tselem has succinctly worded it, Israel is a regime of Jewish supremacy ‘from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.’
Fearing the Palestinian Narrative: Why Israel Banned ‘Jenin Jenin’
A Palestinian people with a coherent, collective narrative will always exist no matter the geography, the physical hardship and the political circumstances. This is what Israel fears most.
Beyond Slogans: Palestinians Need an Urgent, Centralized Strategy to Counter Israel in Africa
By Ramzy Baroud Arab normalization with Israel is expected to have serious consequences that go well beyond the limited and self-serving agendas of a few Arab countries. Thanks to the Arab normalizers, the doors are now flung wide open for new political actors to extend or cement ties with Israel at the expense of Palestine, […]
Covid-19 under Apartheid: How Israel Manipulates Suffering of Palestinians
Long after the deadly pandemic is contained, the tragedy of occupied Palestine will, sadly, continue unhindered, until the day that Israel is forced to end its military occupation of Palestine and the Palestinians.
2021: Palestine’s Chance of Fighting Back
2020 may have been a devastating year for Palestine, but a closer look would allow us to see it as an opportunity for a whole new Palestinian political discourse. 2021 is Palestine’s chance of fighting back.
The US Money Tree: The Untold Story of American Aid to Israel
Judging by its legacy of continued support of the Israeli military machine and the ongoing colonial expansion in the West Bank, Washington insists on serving as Israel’s main benefactor – if not a direct partner – while shunning Palestinians altogether. Expecting the US to play a constructive role in achieving a just peace in Palestine does not only reflect indefensible naivety but willful ignorance as well.
A Country in Turmoil: Why Netanyahu is a Symptom, Not Cause of Israel’s Political Crisis
Without a clear ideology, especially when combined with the lack of a written Constitution, Israeli politics will remain hostage to the whims of politicians and their personal interests, if not that of Netanyahu, then of someone else.
The Great Divider: COVID-19 Reflects Global Racism, Not Equality
While it is likely that class, race and gender inequalities will continue to ravage human societies after the pandemic, as they did before, it is also possible for governments to use this collective tragedy as an opportunity to bridge the inequality gap, even if just a little, as a starting point to imagine a more equitable future for all of us.
When the People Rose up: How the Intifada Changed the Political Discourse on Palestine
Thanks to the Intifada, the Palestinian people have demonstrated their own capacity at challenging Israel without having their own military, challenging the Palestinian leadership by organically generating their own leaders, confronting the Arabs and, in fact, the whole world, regarding their own moral and legal responsibilities towards Palestine and the Palestinian people.
Palestinian Intellectuals Discuss ‘Right of Return’ in a London Conference (VIDEO)
The webinar ‘The Right of Return: 72 Years of Waiting’, featured Huwaida Arraf, Ali Abunimah, Farah Nabulsi, Lubnah Shomali, Najwan Berekdar, and Ramzy Baroud.
‘Long Live the (Dead) Peace Process’: Abbas Prioritizes US Ties over Palestinian National Unity
Although the ‘peace process’ has been declared ‘dead’ on multiple occasions, Abbas is now desperately trying to revive it, not because he – or any rational Palestinian – believes that peace is at hand, but because of the existential relationship between the PA and this US-sponsored political scheme.
Debunking the ‘Opium of the People’ Maxim: Football is about Politics and Class Struggle
True, for ruling classes, football is often intended to be the ‘opium of the people’. But it would be naive to assume that the people, in their own ‘intellectual’ capacity, are unable to take ownership of that medium, as they have done in many other contested spaces.
The King’s Man: Blinken’s Appointment Reassures Israel that Little Will Change under Biden
Biden’s foreign policy is likely to be a continuation of Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’, though under a different designation. It is baffling that the Palestinian leadership is unable to see this, focusing instead, on steering the US back to a failed status quo, where Washington blindly supported Israel while paying Palestinians off for their silence.
Moving Past Apartheid: One-State is not Ideal Justice, but It is Just and Possible
By Ramzy Baroud Once again, Europe’s top diplomats expressed their ‘deep concern’ regarding Israel’s ongoing illegal settlement expansion, again evoking the maxim that Israeli actions “threaten the viability of the two-state solution”. This position was communicated by EU Foreign Affairs Chief, Josep Borrell, on November 19, during a video-conference with Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki. […]
Expansion and Mass Eviction: Israel ‘Takes Advantage’ of Trump’s Remaining Days in Office
The announcements are strategically timed, as they carry an unmistakable political message that Israel does not intend to reverse its settlement policies, regardless of who resides in the White House.
‘Total Reset’ is Wishful Thinking: The Daunting Task of Reordering US Foreign Policy
While it is too early to determine the nature of Biden’s foreign policy doctrine, it behooves the new administration to alter its perception of itself and the world at large, and to understand that sheer military power is no longer a guarantor of political and economic influence.
As Israel Destroys EU Projects in Palestine, European Foreign Policy Remains Impotent
The EU may continue to condemn and protest the Israeli destruction. However, angry statements and demands for compensation will fall on deaf Israeli ears if not backed by action.
‘Playing for Time’: The Non-strategy of Mahmoud Abbas
To be deserving of such a title, the Palestinian leadership must wean itself off its total dependence on US validation and handouts. Judging by many years of blind and unconditional US support of Israel, no matter which party claims the White House, Washington will remain committed to Israel, funding its occupation and defending it at every turn.
Escalating the Demographic War: The Strategic Goal of Israeli Racism in Palestine
Israeli racism is the core of a sophisticated plan that aims at the political marginalization and economic strangulation of Israel’s Palestinian Arab minority within a constitutional, thus ‘legal’, framework.
