Author Archives: Ramzy Baroud

On August 1, the Palestinian Bedouin village of Al-Araqeeb was destroyed for the 116th time. As soon as Israeli bulldozers finished their ugly deed and soldiers began evacuating the premises, the village resident immediately began rebuilding their homes. Continue reading →

There is something immoral in Washington, D.C., and its consequences can be dire for many people, particularly for the health of US democracy. Continue reading →

Neither Fatah nor Hamas have been of much relevance to the mass protests staged around Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. Neither have American pressure, half-hearted European ‘concern about the situation’ or cliché Arab declarations made one iota of difference. United Nations officials warned of the grim scenarios of escalation, but their statements were mere words. Continue reading →

Israel, which has played a precarious role in the Syrian war since 2011, is furious to learn that the future of the conflict is not to its liking. Continue reading →

Two officers sought me from within a crowd at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. They seemed to know who I was. They asked me to follow them, and I obliged. Being of Arab background, often renders one’s citizenship almost irrelevant. Continue reading →

No matter how hard White House officials try, they cannot construct a coherent ‘Trump doctrine’ that would make sense amid the chaos that has afflicted US foreign policy in recent months. Continue reading →

Mohammed Abed is a 28-year-old taxi driver from the village of Qarara, near the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. He has no teeth. Continue reading →

The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, seems to be championing a single cause: Israel. Continue reading →

There is a saying that goes: “Be careful what you wish for, for you may get it.” This has been Israel’s dilemma from the very beginning. Continue reading →

As if he has, overnight, been transformed into a master politician, Donald Trump’s 27-hour trip to Israel has left many analysts mystified. Continue reading →

Bat-Hen Epstein Elias’s long article on Iranian Jews is interesting. Parts of it, in fact, are heartwarming. Yet, despite the lack of any serious evidence, the story is entirely framed in the language of fear. Continue reading →

The Israeli Knesset (parliament) has hurriedly passed a new bill that defines Israel as the “national home of the Jewish people.” Although the association between Jewishness and Israel goes back to the foundation of the state, the new law also carries clear discriminatory elements that target the country’s Arab communities, numbering nearly two million people. Continue reading →

Now that the Palestinian Islamic Movement, Hamas, has officially changed its charter, one should not immediately assume that the decision is, in itself, an act of political maturity. Continue reading →

Gaza is the world’s largest open air prison. The West Bank is a prison, too, segmented into various wards, known as areas A, B and C. In fact, all Palestinians are subjected to varied degrees of military restrictions. At some level, they are all prisoners. Continue reading →

Israel has resorted to three main strategies to suppress Palestinian calls for justice and human rights, including the Right of Return for refugees. Continue reading →

Back in the Middle East for a few months, I find myself astounded by the absence of the strong voices of Arab intellectuals. Continue reading →

For Palestinians, 2017 is a year of significant anniversaries. Continue reading →

Once more, the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 is taking center stage. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas insisted during his speech before the recently-concluded Arab League Summit in Jordan, that the initiative is the only solution on the table; asserting that it will not be changed or even tweaked. Continue reading →

The Israeli state has violated international law more than any other country, yet has rarely, if ever, been held accountable for crimes and misconduct. Continue reading →

When Terry Holdbrooks Jr. converted to Islam in 2003, he was inundated with death threats and labeled a ‘race traitor.’ Continue reading →

“We must look back twenty-five years to realize how far Israel has fallen in world support,” wrote famed Jewish scholar, Harvard sociologist, Nathan Glazer in 1976. Continue reading →

At a glance, Israel appears a true democracy. Take a closer look, and that facade of democracy will soon dissipate, turning into something else entirely. Continue reading →

I had recently been asked to give a talk about “being an American Muslim in the United States.” Although wary of the uses and abuses of the term, I obliged. Continue reading →

The president of the United States can hardly be taken seriously, saying much but doing little. His words, often offensive, carry no substance, and it is impossible to summarize his complex political outlook about important issues. Continue reading →

Empirical historical evidence combined with little common sense are enough to tell us the type of future options that Israel has in store for the Palestinian people: perpetual Apartheid or ethnic cleansing, or a mix of both. Continue reading →

I fear that many of us are hating Donald Trump for the wrong reasons. Continue reading →

US President Donald Trump promises to be pro-Israel in every aspect. Continue reading →

No, it was not just ‘another Middle East peace conference,’ as a columnist in Israeli ‘Jerusalem Post’ attempted to depict the Paris Peace Conference held on January 15, with top official representations from 70 countries attending. If it was, indeed, just ‘another peace conference,’ representatives from the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority (PA) would have attended as well. Continue reading →

For some, the ‘manslaughter’ conviction—following the murder by Israeli army medic, Elor Azaria, of already incapacitated Palestinian man, Fattah al-Sharif—is finally settling a protracted debate regarding where Israelis stand on Palestinian human rights. Continue reading →

Long before December 28, when Secretary of State, John Kerry took the podium at the Dean Acheson Auditorium in Washington, DC, to pontificate on the uncertain future of the two-state solution and the need to save Israel from itself, the subject of a Palestinian state has been paramount. Continue reading →