Ramzy Baroud

Ramzy Baroud is editor of the Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is My Father was A Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press).

Netanyahu, Abbas Back to Square None

The political peddlers, think-tank experts and media professionals are all back in full force. They want us to believe that US Secretary of State John Kerry has done what others have failed to do. On his sixth trip to the Middle East during his post, and following intense shuttle diplomacy likened to that of Henry … Continue reading “Netanyahu, Abbas Back to Square None”

From Iraq to Syria: US Political Impotence in the Middle East

In an article published May 15, 2013, American historical social scientist Immanuel Wallerstein wrote, “Nothing illustrates more the limitations of Western power than the internal controversy its elites are having in public about what the United States in particular and western European states should be doing about the civil war in Syria.” Those limitations are … Continue reading “From Iraq to Syria: US Political Impotence in the Middle East”

Hungry For Freedom In Guantanamo

The Guantanamo Bay prison is a glaring manifestation of the political indecision which the United States has experienced since President Barack Obama’s first day in office. While his second term is unlikely to deliver much of the “change” he had so industriously promised, skeletal men continue to sink into utter despair at the American gulag … Continue reading “Hungry For Freedom In Guantanamo”

Deir Yassin, Beit Daras and the Buried History of Massacres

Few with any sense of intellectual or historical integrity would still question the bloody massacre that took place in the village of Deir Yassin 65 years ago, claiming the lives of over 100 innocent Palestinians. Attempts at covering up the massacre have been dwarfed by grim details by well-respected historians, including some of Israel’s own. … Continue reading “Deir Yassin, Beit Daras and the Buried History of Massacres”

Iraq Back at the Brink

Soon after the joint US-British bombing campaign “Operation Desert Fox” devastated parts of Iraq in December 1998 , I was complaining to a friend in the lobby of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. I was disappointed with the fact that our busy schedule in Iraq – mostly visiting hospitals packed with injured or victims of … Continue reading “Iraq Back at the Brink”

The Imagined, ‘Sinister’ Iranian Threat in Latin America

Reading the text of a bill that was recently signed into law by US President Barack Obama would instill fear in the hearts of ordinary Americans. Apparently, barbarians coming from distant lands are at work. They are gathering at the US-Mexico border, cutting fences and ready to wreak havoc on an otherwise serene American landscape. … Continue reading “The Imagined, ‘Sinister’ Iranian Threat in Latin America”

Iraq War’s Lessons Lost on US

In a White House Statement on Oct. 21, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged that his country would finally withdraw forces from Iraq. "After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over," he said. Providing some context to Obama’s announcement, a CBSNews.com report published on the same day stated, "The war in Iraq has … Continue reading “Iraq War’s Lessons Lost on US”

Gaza and the World: Will Things Ever Change?

In times of crisis, most Arabs tune in to al-Jazeera television. Sometimes it’s comforting for the truth to be stated the way it is, with all of its gory and unsettling details, without blemishes and without censorship. When Israel carried out massive air strikes against Gaza on Saturday, December 27, terrorizing an already hostage and … Continue reading “Gaza and the World: Will Things Ever Change?”

Unscripted: Green Zone Theater and the Shoe Drama

The plot, so unexpectedly, thickened in Iraq on a Sunday like no other. The two main actors – US President George W. Bush, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki – took to the stage to perform another well-rehearsed press conference. The scripts were ever so predictable: Bush to tout the "progress" achieved in Iraq, while … Continue reading “Unscripted: Green Zone Theater and the Shoe Drama”

Somalia: What the Media
Failed to Report

The people of Somalia are enduring yet another round of suffering as Ethiopian forces wreak havoc in the capital, Mogadishu. Apparently in response to an attack on one of its units and the dragging of a soldier’s mutilated body through the city’s streets, an Ethiopian mortar reportedly exploded in Mogadishu’s Bakara market on Nov. 9, … Continue reading “Somalia: What the Media
Failed to Report”