Ramzy Baroud

I unfriended another Facebook friend this week. It may seem to be a trivial matter, but for me, it is not. The reason behind my action was Syria. As in Egypt, Syria has instigated many social media breakups with people whom, until then, were regarded with a degree of respect and admiration. But this is … Continue reading “Navigating Syria: The Impossible, Indispensable Mission”

For years, Palestinian factions have strived for unity, and for years unity has evaded them. But is it possible that following several failed attempts, Fatah and Hamas have finally found that elusive middle ground? And if they have done so, why, to what end, and at what cost? On April 23, top Fatah and Hamas … Continue reading “Palestinian Unity: Hope and Gloom in the Beach Refugee Camp”

To understand how thoughtless the US latest "peace process" drive has been, one only needs to consider some of the characters involved in this political theater. One particular character who stands out as a testament to the inherently futile exercise is Martin Indyk. Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, was selected by Secretary of … Continue reading “Martin Indyk’s Galloping Horse: Moral Crisis at Heart of Obama’s Peace”

US Secretary of State John Kerry couldn’t hide his frustration anymore as the US-sponsored peace process continued to falter. After 8 months of wrangling to push talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority forward, he admitted while in a visit to Morocco on April 04 that the latest setback had served as a ‘reality check’ … Continue reading “New American Reality: An Empire Beyond Salvation”

On Friday, Feb. 14, 92 prisoners escaped from their prison in the Libyan town of Zliten. 19 of them were eventually recaptured, two of whom were wounded in clashes with the guards. It was just another daily episode highlighting the utter chaos which has engulfed Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011. Much … Continue reading “The Libyan Bedlam: General Hifter, the CIA and the Unfinished Coup”

"When they first put the electricity on me, I gasped; my body went rigid and the bag came off my head," Israa Salah, a detained Iraqi woman told Human Rights Watch (HRW) in her heartrending testimony. Israa (not her real name) was arrested by US and Iraqi forces in 2010. She was tortured to the … Continue reading “Preserving the Abu Ghraib Culture: The Harrowing Abuse of Iraqi Women”

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hurried to his helicopter ready to take off at the end of a visit to Iraq last year, it was becoming clearer that the Americans have lost control of a country they wished to mold to their liking. His departure on March 24, 2013 was the conclusion of … Continue reading “Iraq Near Implosion: The ‘Bad Years’ Are Back”

Israel is often viewed by Washington politicians as the most "stable" ally in the Middle East. But stability from the American perspective can mean many things. Lead amongst them is that the "ally" must be unconditionally loyal to the diktats of the US administration. This rule has proven to be true since the United States … Continue reading “The US and Israel’s Strange but ‘Stable’ Alliance”

2013 was a year in which the so-called peace process charade was allowed to continue, leading Palestinians on yet another futile journey of broken promises. Meanwhile, the Israeli colonial project in the West Bank and East Jerusalem carried on unabated. But it was not entirely a year of doom and gloom either, for the global … Continue reading “2014: Failure of Palestinian Authority, BDS Success to Continue”

2013 has expectedly been a terrible year for several Arab nations. It has been terrible because the promise of greater freedoms and political reforms has been reversed, most violently in some instances, by taking a few countries down the path of anarchy and complete chaos. Syria and Egypt are two cases in point. Syria has … Continue reading “Assessing the Conflict in Syria and Egypt – The Wars Continue”