- December 24, 2024
Palestine/Israel
Of ‘Symbolic’ Victories and Real Defeats
By Ramzy Baroud A small group of students affiliated mostly with leftist Palestinian factions meandered through the streets of the small town of Birzeit near Ramallah in the summer of 1993. It was an impromptu political rally. They denounced what they understood as the relinquishing of basic Palestinian rights in exchange for meagre returns: Self-autonomy […]
A Different War in Gaza, and the War Ahead
By Ramzy Baroud In life, some phenomena cannot be explained by ordinary logic or technical language, let alone official discourses. How did Gaza manage to fight back with such ferocity and undying vigor in quelling the latest Israeli war despite years of a bloody siege and one-sided war in 2008-9? It simply cannot be explained […]
Netanyahu’s High-stakes Game in Gaza: Same Time, Same Place
By Ramzy Baroud Many key phrases have been presented to explain Israel’s latest military onslaught against Gaza, which left scores dead and wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is flexing his muscles in preparation for the Israeli general elections in January, suggested some. It is Israel’s way of testing the administration of Egyptian President Mahmoud Morsi, […]
Lip Service to Peace: EU as an Enabler of Netanyahu’s Colonial Policies
By Ramzy Baroud Europe is different, as we are often reminded. The general wisdom is unlike the United States’ unconditional support for Israel. European countries tend to be more balanced in their approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Their politicians are less receptive to being bought and sold by pro-Israeli lobbies. Their media is far more […]
Palestine Entangled: The Politics of Money
By Ramzy Baroud In Malaysia, a small group of community activists are busy at work developing projects that benefit most vulnerable members of Palestinian society in Gaza. Working under the umbrella of Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM), the group shows solidarity through empowerment projects: interest free loans for micro projects, providing employment for women, supplying thousands […]
Manipulating History: The Different Faces of ‘Popular Resistance’ in Palestine
By Ramzy Baroud Apparently, ‘popular resistance’ has suddenly elevated to become a clash of visions or strategies between the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and its rivals in Gaza, underscoring an existing and deepening rift between various factions and leaderships. Addressing a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) meeting in Ramallah on July 2011, PA President Mahmoud Abbas […]
Egypt’s Gaza Policy: Time for Change is Now
By Ramzy Baroud If the new Egyptian leadership thinks it is possible to achieve lasting reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah within the current political climate, it is likely to be disappointed. In the case of Gaza, the government of Mohamed Morsi should in fact pursue sensible policies free from the protracted and […]
Charity Economics, Subservient Politics: Why Oslo Must Go
By Ramzy Baroud Recent demonstrations in protest of the rising cost of living have swept across the West Bank. While they are not indicative of a Palestinian version of the ‘Arab Spring’, they are still an important first step. A reasonable demand, however, cannot possibly be for Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to sack […]
Growing Isolation: Boycott of Israel Crosses to Governments’ Realm
By Ramzy Baroud Should Israel be worried? Very much so, for the age of total impunity is coming to an end. Critical voices of the Israeli occupation and mistreatment of Palestinians are rising – not only within civil society circles, but among world governments as well. The picture may seem grim if seen through the […]
Fighting Apartheid in Palestine: South Africa’s Unfinished Business
By Ramzy Baroud The recent approval by South Africa’s cabinet to distinguish between products made in Israel and those made in illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank was both politically sound and morally consistent with the country’s anti-Apartheid legacy. It was also a natural progression of South Africa’s policies, which have reflected impatience with […]
Arrigoni’s Murder Trial in Gaza: Answers Not Just a Verdict
By Ramzy Baroud There was once a young man from a very small Italian town called Bulciago who wished to change the world. As soon as he finished his exams, he began his quest. He travelled near and far, and when he arrived in Jerusalem in 2002, he knew he had found his calling. In […]
Time to Talk Camp David: Will New Egypt Meet Old Expectations?
By Ramzy Baroud Despite early assurances by Egypt’s new President Mohammed Morsi regarding his ‘commitment to international treaties and agreements,’ one can already foretell a likely confrontation between Egypt and Israel. A chaotic transition notwithstanding, a new, post-revolution Egypt is emerging. It is is more self-assertive, emphasizing issues of national dignity and respect. In fact, […]
A Post ‘Arab Spring’ Palestine
By Ramzy Baroud ‘Will the Arab Spring serve the cause of Palestine?’ is a question that has been repeatedly asked, in various ways, over the last year and a half. Many media discussions have been formulated around this very inquiry, although the answer is far from a simple “yes” or “no.” Why should the question […]
Hamas and Jordan: Winds of Change, Uncertainty
By Ramzy Baroud – Special to Gulf News The official Jordanian media has described a recent meeting between King Abdullah of Jordan and exiled Hamas leader, Khalid Mesha’al, as if it were a routine exchange of ideas. But neither Petra, Jordan’s news agency, nor Hamas officials could hide the fact that the meeting had everything […]
The Predicament of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon
By Ramzy Baroud When Lebanese security reportedly killed 18-year-old Ahmad al-Qasim over a documentation dispute in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, the camp’s Palestinian refugee population erupted in anger and dismay. Within a few days of the June 15 incident, the outrage had spread and more refugees were killed. Fouad Muhi’edeen Lubany was killed on […]
Gaza Experiment: Mere Words Will Not Help Solve Gaza Crisis
By Ramzy Baroud – Special to Gulf News The fifth anniversary of the Israeli siege on Gaza was commemorated on June 14 with a barrage of statements, urging Israel to end the blockade and allow Gazans long-denied humanitarian assistance, freedom of movement and access to trade routes. The punitive siege has turned into yet another […]
War Rages on Palestinian Soccer – Free Mahmoud Sarsak
By Ramzy Baroud On June 4, Palestinian national soccer team member Mahmoud Sarsak completed 81 days of a grueling hunger strike. He had sustained the strike despite the fact that nearly 2,000 Palestinian inmates had called off their own 28-day hunger strike weeks ago. Although the story of Palestinian prisoners in Israel speaks to a […]
À l’occasion de la parution en français de son livre « La Deuxième Intifada », Ramzy Baroud répond à nos questions
Info-Palestine.net La Deuxième Intifada fut l’expression de cette capacité de la société palestinienne à se mobiliser dans les plus difficiles des circonstances et de soutenir cette mobilisation pendant des années en dépit des coûts terribles imposés par la violence israélienne, explique Ramzy Baroud. Info-Palestine: Six ans après avoir été écrit, votre livre « La Deuxième […]
Palestine’s Future in Safe Hands
By Ramzy Baroud The commemoration of the Nakba needs to be more than a ritualistic event; the remembrance should be integrated into a clear and comprehensive national project aimed at offsetting the harm wrought to generations of Palestinians. There is no question that Israel has repeatedly failed in distancing or erasing the memory of those […]
The Palestinian Nakba: The Resolve of Memory
By Ramzy Baroud Many Palestinians remember and reference al-Nakba, also known as the Catastrophe, on May 15 every year. The event marks the expulsion of nearly a million Palestinians, while their villages were destroyed. The destruction of Palestine in 1947-48 ushered in the birth of Israel. Older generations relay the harsh and oppressive memory of […]
Prisoners Uphold Palestinian Cause
By Ramzy Baroud – Special to Gulf News A critical shift in the Palestine-Israeli conflict is now underway. The shift promises an endgame for the Israeli plot in Palestine, and a possible collective response from the Palestinian people. Every Palestinian uprising in the past — from as far back as the late 1920s to the […]
Struggle over Iran: Tumultuous Israeli Politics Will Not Usher Peace
By Ramzy Baroud Israel is currently experiencing the kind of turmoil that may or may not affect its political hierarchy following the next general election. However, there is little reason to believe that any major transformations in the Israeli political landscape could be of benefit to Palestinians. Former politicians and intelligence bosses have been challenging […]
Illegal Settlements Bonanza: Israel Plots an Endgame
By Ramzy Baroud Israel’s colonization policies are entering an alarming new phase, comparable in historic magnitude to the original plans to colonize Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem following the war of 1967. On April 24, an Israeli ministerial committee approved three settlement outposts – Bruchin and Rechelim in the northern part of the […]
The Rest is Hasbara: Jenny Tonge’s Victory over the Lobby
By Ramzy Baroud ‘My Lords, I was in Gaza six weeks ago,’ began Baroness Tonge, when she spoke at the House of Lords in January 2009. ‘Now, as a result of the impotence of the international community, not just in Gaza, but…over 40 years of occupation of Palestine by Israel, those institutions that I visited […]
Who Owns the Palestine Solidarity Movement?
By Ramzy Baroud A few years ago, after I spoke at a conference in South Africa, Ronnie Kasrils, then the country’s Minister for Intelligence Services, leaned towards me and said, "I agree with everything you said, but in order for the boycott of Israel to become adopted by world governments, the call has to be […]
What Marwan Barghouti Really Means to Palestinians
By Ramzy Baroud Last week Marwan Barghouti, the prominent Palestinian political prisoner and Fatah leader, called on Palestinians to launch a ‘large-scale popular resistance’ which would ‘serve the cause of our people.’ The message was widely disseminated as it coincided with Land Day, an event that has unified Palestinians since March 1976. Its meaning has […]
Computing Intifada: When Will Palestinians Revolt?
By Ramzy Baroud When will the Palestinians revolt? The answer, according to an Israeli official: not this year (as quoted by Agency France Press). An internal Israeli Foreign Ministry report last month also concluded that a third Palestinian intifada or uprising was ‘unlikely’ this year. According to the unnamed official, “This report, which is more […]
Bibi Stirs Trouble with Attack on Gaza
By Ramzy Baroud The first Israeli missile sped down to its target, scorching the Gaza earth and everything in between. Palestinians collected the body parts of two new martyrs, while Israeli media celebrated the demise of two terrorists. Zuhair Qasis was the head of the Popular Resistance Committee. He was killed alongside a former Palestinian […]
Silent Palestinian Warriors
By Ramzy Baroud On March 8, Palestinian women rallied in Gaza and Ramallah to mark International Women’s Day. Activities were held in various cities, villages and refugee camps. Women in Palestine are united by a shared struggle, untold hardship, and also a legendary ability to withstand, survive and flourish under the harshest of circumstances. Even […]
Redefining Our Relationship to A People’s Struggle
By Ramzy Baroud (Based on talks delivered by Ramzy Baroud at Israeli Apartheid Week conferences in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta, Canada – March 5, 6 2012) In the Winter 2012 Edition of Palestine News – published by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the UK – and more specifically on page 5, there is a photo […]
