Author's Posts
“Nothing works”: Europe must stop blaming others for its own crises
November 12th, 20220 The European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell is not particularly perceived by the EU’s political elite or mainstream media as a right-wing ideologue or warmonger. But seen through a different, non-Western prism, it is hard not to mistake him for one. Borrell’s recent comments that “Europe is a garden” and that...
From ally to enemy: Australia hammers final nail in U.S. “Deal of the Century”
October 31st, 20220 U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called "Deal of the Century" was meant to represent a finality of sorts, an event reminiscent of Francis Fukuyama’s premature declaration of the ‘End of History’ and the uncontested supremacy of western capitalism. In effect, it was a declaration that ‘we’ – the U.S., Israel and a few allies...
Difficult months ahead: Why Israel is afraid of the Lions’ Den
October 24th, 20220 This headline in the Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post only tells part of the story: “The Lions’ Den, Other Palestinian Groups are Endless Headache for Israel, PA.” It is true that both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority are equally worried about the prospect of a widespread armed revolt in the occupied West...
Strangers behind the trees: On the death of Rayan Suliman and his fear of monsters
October 16th, 20220 Children of my Gaza refugee camp were rarely afraid of monsters, but of Israeli soldiers. This is all that we talked about before going to bed. Unlike imaginary monsters in the closet or under the bed, Israeli soldiers are real, and they could show up any minute — at the door, on the roof or, as was often the case, right in the middle...
Hidden motives: Why Lapid is not serious about a Palestinian state
October 8th, 20220 Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid threw a wrench into the works when he declared from the United Nations General Assembly podium, “An agreement with the Palestinians, based on two states for two peoples, is the right thing for Israel’s security, for Israel’s economy and for the future of our children.” The statement took many...
From Exodus to Marvel: A brief history of Hollywood’s justification of Israeli war crimes
October 3rd, 20220 The introduction of an Israeli Mossad agent as the latest Marvel movie character crosses the line, even by Hollywood's poor moral standards. However, the Israeli superhero, Sabra, must be understood within the rational progression of the Israelification of Hollywood, a phenomenon that is surprisingly new. Sabra is a relatively old...
“Avenging Sabra and Shatila”: On Israeli massacres and Palestinian resistance
September 14th, 20220 September 16 marks the 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the killing of around 3,000 Palestinians at the hands of Lebanon’s Phalangist militias operating under the command of the Israeli army. Four decades have passed, yet no measure of justice has been received by the survivors of the massacre. Many of them have...
The road to fascism: How the war in Ukraine is changing Europe
September 11th, 20222 As soon as I landed in Rome, I discovered that I was no longer able to access any Russian media whatsoever. Unfortunately, threats by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Europe should sever all links with “Russia’s propaganda machine” were taken seriously by the Italian government. As a journalist, having...
Investigating the victim: On Abbas’ “holocaust” and the depravity of Israeli Hasbara
September 4th, 20220 “There was no Massacre in Jenin” was the title of a Haaretz editorial on April 19, 2002, one week after Israel ended its deadly onslaught on the besieged Palestinian refugee camp in the northern West Bank. The unwarranted conclusion by Haaretz, other Israeli media and, ultimately, numerous Western outlets was not the outcome of a...
Fake neutrality: How Western media language misrepresents Palestinians, shields Israel
August 27th, 20220 While U.S. and Western mainstream and corporate media remain biased in favor of Israel, they often behave as if they are a third, neutral party. This is simply not the case. Take the New York Times' coverage of the latest Israeli war on Gaza as an example. Its article on August 6, “Israel-Gaza Fighting Flares for a Second Day” is...
Israel’s premature “victory” celebration: The defining war in Gaza is yet to be fought
August 20th, 20220 For years, Palestinians, as well as Israelis, have labored to redraw the battle lines. The three-day Israeli war on Gaza, starting on August 5, clearly manifested this reality. Throughout its military operation, Israel has repeatedly underscored the point that the war was targeting the Islamic Jihad Movement only, not Hamas or anyone...
Without Palestine, there is no Arab unity: Why normalization with Israel will fail
August 14th, 20220 It seemed all but a done deal: Israel is finally managing to bend the Arabs to its will, and Palestine is becoming a marginal issue that no longer defines Israel’s relations with Arab countries. Indeed, normalization with Israel is afoot, and the Arabs, so it seems, have been finally tamed. Not so fast. Many events continue to...
Why resistance matters: Palestinians are challenging Israel’s unilateralism, dominance
August 5th, 20220 Until recently, Israeli politics did not matter to Palestinians. Though the Palestinian people maintained their political agency under the most demoralizing conditions, their collective action rarely influenced outcomes in Israel, partly due to the massive discrepancy of power between the two sides. Now that Israelis are embarking on...
Washington is the problem, not the solution: Why Mahmoud Abbas is seeking new “powerful” sponsors
July 28th, 20220 To judge U.S. President Biden’s recent visit to Israel and Palestine as a “failure” in terms of activating the dormant “peace process” is simply a misnomer. For this statement to be accurate, Washington would have had to indicate even a nominal desire to push for negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian...
The shameful U.N. “List of Shame”: Equating between the Israeli perpetrator and the Palestinian victim
July 23rd, 20220 By Ramzy Baroud “We regret we failed to protect you.” This was part of a statement issued by U.N. human rights experts on July 14, urging the Israeli government to release Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra. Only 14-years-old at the time of his arrest and torture by Israeli forces, Manasra is now 20-years-old. His case is a......
Palestinians “are bound to win”: Why Israelis are prophesying the end of their state
June 19th, 20220 While it is true that Zionism is a modern political ideology that has exploited religion to achieve specific colonial objectives in Palestine, prophecies continue to be a critical component of Israel’s perception of itself, and of the state’s relationship to other groups, especially Christian messianic groups in the United States and...
The ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta: Israel’s new annexation strategy in Palestine
June 6th, 20220 The Israeli Supreme Court has decided that the Palestinian region of Masafer Yatta, located in the southern hills of Hebron, is to be entirely appropriated by the Israeli military and that a population of over 1,000 Palestinians is to be expelled. The Israeli Court decision, on May 4, was hardly shocking. Israel’s military......
Long marginalized, the “Right of Return” is once more a Palestinian priority
May 30th, 20220 The Nakba is back on the Palestinian agenda. For nearly three decades, Palestinians were told that the Nakba — or Catastrophe — is a thing of the past. That real peace requires compromises and sacrifices, therefore, the original sin that has led to the destruction of their historic homeland should be entirely removed from any...
By redefining UNRWA, Washington destroys the foundation for a just peace in Palestine
May 7th, 20220 Palestinians are justifiably worried that the mandate granted to the United Nations Agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, might be coming to an end. UNRWA’s mission, which has been in effect since 1949, has done more than provide urgent aid and support to millions of refugees. It was also a political platform that protected and...
Bennett must tread carefully: The “Sword of Jerusalem” could be unleashed again
May 1st, 20220 Starting on April 15, the Israeli occupation army and police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem on a daily basis. Under the pretense of providing protection to provocative “visits” by thousands of illegal Israeli Jewish settlers and right-wing fanatics, the Israeli army has wounded hundreds of Palestinians,...
Palestine’s widening geography of resistance: Why Israel cannot defeat the Palestinians
April 17th, 20221 There is a reason why Israel is insistent on linking the series of attacks carried out by Palestinians recently to a specific location, namely the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. By doing so, the embattled Naftali Bennett’s government can simply order another deadly military operation in Jenin to reassure its citizens......
The billion dollar deal that made Google and Amazon partners in the Israeli occupation of Palestine
March 26th, 20220 “We are anonymous because we fear retaliation.” This sentence was part of a letter signed by 500 Google employees last October, in which they decried their company’s direct support for the Israeli government and military. In their letter, the signatories protested a $1.2 billion contract between Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS)...
Weathering the global storm: Why neutrality is not an option for Palestinians
March 21st, 20220 By Ramzy Baroud A new global geopolitical game is in formation and the Middle East, as is often the case, will be directly impacted by it in terms of possible new alliances and resulting power paradigms. While it is too early to fully appreciate the impact of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war on the region, it is obvious that some......
Africa must not abandon Palestine by granting Israel observer status
February 20th, 20220 The current split in the African Union (AU) over Israel’s Observer membership status is emblematic of a larger conflict that could potentially split the African continent’s largest political institutions. Africa is currently facing one of its most crucial decisions regarding Palestine and Israel. The repercussions of this decision...
The Russians are coming: Are Beijing and Moscow at the cusp of a formal alliance?
February 6th, 20220 By Ramzy Baroud and Romana Rubeo It should matter little to the Chinese that American diplomats and a handful of their Western allies will not be attending the Beijing Winter Olympics in February. What truly matters is that the Russians are coming. The above is not an arbitrary statement. It is supported with facts. According to a......
