- November 23, 2024
Palestine/Israel
Twisted Logic of Using Violence to Achieve Peace
By Ramzy Baroud ‘Sooner or later, there will be no escape from conducting a significant operation [in Gaza],’ said Israeli army Chief of Staff Lieutenent General Benny Gantz on December 27, the third anniversary of Operation Cast Lead. Gantz’s chillingly casual remarks were cited as just another nonchalant declaration of war against a besieged, impoverished, overcrowded […]
Palestine: Those Who Inspired Us in 2011
By Ramzy Baroud Mustafa Tamimi was a 28-year-old resident of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. His meticulously trimmed beard served as the centerpiece of his handsome face. In December 2011, when an Israeli soldier shot him from a short distance with a tear gas canister, half of Mustafa’s face went missing. More soldiers […]
Masked in Gaza: The Untold History of Palestinian ‘Militancy’
By Ramzy Baroud Essam Al-Batsh and his nephew, Sobhi Al-Batsh, are the latest in a long line of reported Palestinian ‘militants’ killed by Israel. The civilians were both targeted while driving in a car in downtown Gaza on December 8. According to an Israeli army statement, “(They) were affiliated with a terrorist squad that intended […]
Freedom Waves will Reach Gaza
By Ramzy Baroud Another mission accomplished, or so it seems. Israeli navy has managed to thwart yet another civil society ‘provocation’ (as described by the Israeli Embassy in Dublin, Irish Times, November 4). Thus the 27 activists from nine countries aboard two boats were rounded up and hauled, along with their ‘provocative’ medical supplies, to […]
Israel in a State of Denial
By Ramzy Baroud, Special to Gulf News In his October 10 column for Israel’s Ynetnews, Guy Bechor reached a bewildering conclusion. "Israelis were the first ones of all people to raise the delegitimisation argument: Israel would turn into the new South Africa as result of its isolation in the western world, they said … However, […]
Real ‘Theater of the Absurd’: Netanyahu and His Endgame in Palestine
By Ramzy Baroud During his deliberately offensive speech on September 23, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the General Assembly as ‘the theater of the absurd.’ Israel’s few friends at the United Nations – led by the US delegation – listened gleefully and applauded as Netanyahu heralded a steady stream of insults. Netanyahu then returned […]
Ibrahim Zaza: The Gaza Boy Newspapers Omitted
By Ramzy Baroud ‘Both of Ibrahim’s arms were cut off. He had a hole in his lung. Parts of his legs were missing. His kidney was in a bad condition…we need people to stand with us.’ These were the words of an exhausted man as he described the condition of his dying son in an […]
Another ‘Symbolic Victory’: Abbas’ New Political Gambit
By Ramzy Baroud – Arab News When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas decided to go to the United Nations to request the admission of Palestine as a full member, he appeared to have had an epiphany. Had he finally realized that for the past two decades he and his party, Fatah, have gone down a […]
Taking on Turkey: Israel’s ‘Dangerous’ Game
By Ramzy Baroud The UN Palmer Report, which largely exonerated Israel for murdering nine unarmed Turkish civilians in international waters on May 31, 2010, seemed in some ways like the last straw. Prior to its publication, the camel’s back had already mostly broken, and a collapse in Turkish-Israeli ties was looming. Turkey’s sin was seeking […]
Israel’s ‘Nice Little War’: Gaza, Egypt in the Range of Fire
By Ramzy Baroud Israeli writer Uri Avnery recently wrote an article entitled ‘How Godly Are Thy Tents?’, which began with the words, "First of all, a warning." The reference was made to the tent cities that have sprung up across the country by middle class Israelis demanding change and reforms. The organizational style of these […]
Gaza. Somalia. Humanity Lives on
By Ramzy Baroud I remember how exhilarated I felt when I was told I was old enough to fast for the month of Ramadan. My feelings had little to do with abstention from food and drink between dawn and sunset each day. For a child, there is little joy in that. The meaning and implications […]
Confused Strategy: How the PA Sold Out Palestinian Unity
By Ramzy Baroud If you happen to be a Palestinian government employee, chances are you will receive only half your usual salary this month. The other half will only be available when international donors find it in their hearts to make up for the huge shortage of funds currently facing the Palestinian Authority (PA). With […]
Gaza Border ‘Opening’ is Just Rhetoric
By Ramzy Baroud For most Palestinians, leaving Gaza through Egypt is as exasperating a process as entering it. Governed by political and cultural sensitivities, most Palestinian officials and public figures refrain from criticising the way Palestinians are treated at the Rafah border. However there is really no diplomatic language to describe the relationship between desperate […]
One Missile, One Playground: The Will of Gaza
By Ramzy Baroud – Gaza A ‘Hamas commander’ drove a beat-up gray van in northern Gaza and theatrically spoke on his walkie-talkie as I sat in the passenger seat. The van was almost barren, save for the most basic equipment propelling it to move forward over the bumpy roads of an overcrowded refugee camp. Iyad […]
Crushed Ice in Nuseirat: My Gaza Refugee Camp Revisited
By Ramzy Baroud – Gaza ‘Do you remember Mahmoud?’ asked Abu Nidal, my neighbor from nearly 20 years ago, when I lived in Gaza. “Yes, of course, I do,” I answered. I remembered him as yet another troublemaking child among the Nuseirat Refugee Camp’s numerous rabble-rousers. He was defined by a stream of snot that […]
Welcome to Gaza: Revolution and Change at the Rafah Border
By Ramzy Baroud The Palestinian security officer at the Rafah border was overly polite. He wore a black uniform and walked around self-assuredly, as he instructed weary travelers on their next moves before being allowed back into Gaza. On the other side of the border, in Egypt, there was much anxiety, fear and anticipation. ‘Things […]
Unity is Not Compromise: Towards a Real Palestinian Strategy
By Ramzy Baroud As the Palestine Papers demonstrated, the major obstacle to a real, lasting and just peace in Palestine is the Israeli leadership’s unwillingness to accept anything less than full domination over the Palestinians. Not only do Israeli leaders refuse to partake in any serious peace talks, they also refuse to agree on universally […]
Gaza Marathon: A Race for Freedom and Summer Camps
By Ramzy Baroud Nader al-Masri is an inspiration. The 31-year-old Gaza athlete seems completely oblivious to challenges that would seem insurmountable to most. On May 5th, he led a small pack of nine runners into the finish line of Gaza’s first marathon. Behind them, 1,300 children ran various distances. Many of the children who participated […]
Gaza War and Goldstone’s Moral Collapse
By Ramzy Baroud Shocking is not a sufficient term to describe Justice Richard Goldstone’s decision to recant parts of the 2009 report on alleged war crimes in Gaza. The document, known as the Goldstone Report, was compiled after a thorough investigation led by the South African judge and three other well-regarded investigators. They documented 36 […]
War on Palestinian Memory: Israel Resolves Its Democracy Dilemma
By Ramzy Baroud Palestinian citizens of Israel must have been proud of the fact that their collective tenacity always proved stronger than any Israeli attempt at dislocating them from their rightful historical narrative. Now, they are being told to cease and desist from commemorating al-Nakba, the Catastrophe of 1948, which saw the brutal seizure and […]
For the Love of Egypt: When Besieged Palestinians Danced
By Ramzy Baroud A dear friend of mine from Gaza told me that he hadn’t slept for days. "I am so worried about Egypt, I have only been feeding on cigarettes and coffee." My friend and I talked for hours that day in early February. We talked about Tahrir Square, about the courage of ordinary […]
Natural Flow of History: Hamas Should Rethink Charter
By Ramzy Baroud ‘Now it is time to naturalize the flow of history,’ wrote Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (British Guardian, March 16). The process of naturalization is now underway in the region Davutoglu refused to describe as the Middle East (arguing that the term is “orientalist”, and preferring to call the region […]
Civil Society and Palestine: The Growing Power of the Ordinary
By Ramzy Baroud The global boycott movement (BDS) and other related campaigns were aimed at exposing Israeli transgressions against the Palestinian people and galvanizing international solidarity. What is so uplifting to see now is how their achievements have far surpassed these initial aims. The campaigns have animated, accentuated and actually legitimized Palestinian civil society – […]
Till September: The PA’s Meaningless Deadlines
By Ramzy Baroud Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his supporters in the Fatah party want us to believe that dramatic changes are underway in the occupied Palestinian territories. This is part of a strategy intended to offset any public dissatisfaction with the self-designated Palestinian leadership in the West Bank. The PA hopes the ‘news’ […]
Palestine Papers: The Palestinians’ ‘Generous Offer’
By Ramzy Baroud As Palestinians are becoming increasingly confident about the authenticity of the Palestine Papers – 1,600 leaked documents that Al Jazeera began publishing on January 23 – they can also find little to be proud of in their contents. According to Palestinian political commentator Mazin Qumsiyeh, the PA’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat “comes […]
The Palestine Papers: Offering Palestine, Selling Out Its Refugees
By Ramzy Baroud The Palestine Papers had damaged whatever little credibility the Ramallah-based authority still enjoyed among Palestinians The Palestine Papers, the 1,300 leaked documents that Aljazeera began publishing starting January 23, are the Palestinian response to the Israeli ‘generous offer’, an Israeli diplomatic ruse that was aimed at discrediting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat following […]
Failure of Academia: A Book Not Meant to Be Published
By Ramzy Baroud Deepak Tripathi’s most recent book, Breeding Ground: Afghanistan and the Origins of Islamist Terrorism (Potomac Books) raises several issues, both within and outside of its content. It is based on research for his doctoral dissertation, the qualification for which he never received. Tripathi, a former BBC producer, is immensely proud of his […]
Declaring Palestine: Revisiting Hope and Failure
By Ramzy Baroud When late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat read the Declaration of the Palestinian Independence just over 22 years ago, Palestinians everywhere were enthralled. They held onto his every word during the Palestinian National Council (PNC) session in Algeria on November 15, 1988. The council members incessantly applauded and chanted in the name of […]
Insisting on Their Humanity: ‘The Plight of the Palestinians’
By Ramzy Baroud When a copy of William A. Cook’s latest book, The Plight of the Palestinians arrived in my mailbox, I initially felt a little worried. The volume, featuring the work of over 30 accomplished writers, is the most articulate treatise on the collective victimization of Palestinians to date. From Cook’s own introduction, ‘The […]
A Follow Up on My Fifth Grade Essay: Education at Gunpoint
By Ramzy Baroud I recall the first sentence of my fifth grade essay on ‘Education and Youth’. Written with the occasional aid of my father, and dotted with clichés, it might have read something like this: “Youth is the backbone of any nation, and education is essential to arm the youth with the knowledge they […]
