Ramzy Baroud - The Japan Times

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Ramzy Baroud

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Ramzy Baroud

For Ramzy Baroud's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY

Oct 10, 2010

Gingrich's military-industrial-terror complex

SEATTLE — Within a space of a few hours on Sept. 30, an accused man confessed to terrorism charges in Germany, the terrorism threat level was raised in Sweden, and former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich lengthily discussed "suicidal jihadists" in a speech given in Denver.

COMMENTARY

Aug 16, 2010

Lebanese flaunt reopened bridge amid worry that something's up

BEIRUT — Jamal is a Lebanese driver in his late 50s. He appeared unshaven and terribly exhausted as he drove his old passenger van from the airport in Beirut to the Bekaa Valley.

COMMENTARY

Jul 18, 2010

Kids' notebooks depict culture of resistance

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN — Resistance is not a band of armed men hell-bent on wreaking havoc. It is not a cell of terrorists scheming on ways to detonate buildings. Resistance is a culture — a collective retort to oppression. Understanding the nature of resistance is not easy. Even if a newsbyte could explain why a people resists, it would directly clash with mainstream interpretations of violence and nonviolent resistance.

COMMENTARY

Jun 29, 2010

Turkey warms to new role of daring to chastise Israel

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN — "Even despots, gangsters and pirates have specific sensitiveness, (and) follow some specific morals," said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a recent speech following the deadly commando raid on the humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza on May 31.

COMMENTARY

May 31, 2010

Internet leveling the news field

SEATTLE — The debate is no longer confined to a few academics in distant universities. It is now a mainstream topic of discussion: How will the news of the future be distributed?

COMMENTARY

May 16, 2010

Yemen's pitiful options to poverty and anger

SEATTLE — When the Soviets concluded their pullout from Afghanistan in February 1989, the U.S. government abruptly lost interest in the country. A devastated economic infrastructure, entrenched poverty, deep-rooted factionalism and lack of international aid caused the country to descend into complete chaos. Internal violence also worsened. All that mattered to America was that the Cold War rival had been defeated.

COMMENTARY

May 1, 2010

How news skews views

BEIJING — I am not good at flying kites. But during a recent visit to the Olympic Village of Beijing, I felt compelled to do so. Despite the cold and late hour, there were many kite runners around me. A salesman insisted that I try my hand before committing to any purchase, and I did. After purchasing 10 small kites, I shared the one I was already flying with a most adorable boy. He thanked me, then asked me not to play with his hair.

COMMENTARY

Feb 28, 2010

Why the oppressed must tell their own story

SEATTLE — When American historian Howard Zinn died recently, he left a legacy that redefined our relationship to history. Professor Zinn dared to challenge the way history was written. He defied the conventional construction of historical discourses by the pen of victors or elites.

COMMENTARY

Jan 24, 2010

Media gang up on Iran for Latam outreach

SEATTLE — Should the United States be concerned about Iran's determined efforts to reach out to Latin America or, as was suggestively described in the Economist, about the ayatollahs' strategy of cozying up to Latin America?

COMMENTARY

Jan 11, 2010

Incredible shrinking media

SEATTLE — As you flip through a range of channels on your TV or browse through a stack of newspapers and magazines at a newsstand, you may feel lucky to live in a world where such a plethora of viewpoints is available. It might also seem that the apparent increase in media choices also increases the chances for the public interest to be understood and served fairly. Unfortunately, this is far from the case. The media world is shrinking by the day.

COMMENTARY

Oct 30, 2008

Double standard on global crises

Oct. 16 marked the 25th Annual World Food Day, an occasion whose arrival and departure received little media attention or governmental fanfare. Evidently, much of the world media and governments are consumed with an economic crisis of epic proportions.

COMMENTARY

Oct 5, 2008

Election won't remake Mideast

LONDON — U.S. President George W. Bush sounded much less uncertain of his peace "vision" when he received the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on Sept. 25.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2008

Why should Barack Obama's religion matter?

Whether Barack Obama is or, at one point, was a Muslim should be a trivial matter in any society governed by secular, democratic dictates that apply to all, on equal footage, regardless of race, gender or religion. But in a society that is taking a turn toward the right, the matter is anything but inconsequential.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 5, 2008

Why Israel is engaging Syria

On May 15, U.S. President George W. Bush gave a speech before the Israeli parliament, decrying "radicals and terrorists." His archaic references to the "promised land" and "chosen people" certainly appealed to the equally outdated and exclusivist views of many, although not all Israeli Knesset members, who reportedly saw in Bush the quintessential Zionist.

COMMENTARY

Mar 23, 2008

Nonbelievers in the 'existential threat'

LONDON — When Adm. William J. "Fox" Fallon was chosen to replace Gen. John Abizaid as the commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in March 2007, many analysts didn't shy away from reaching a seemingly clear-cut conclusion: the Bush administration was preparing for war with Iran and had selected the most suitable man for this job. Almost exactly a year later, as Fallon abruptly resigned over a controversial interview with Esquire Magazine, we are left with a less certain analysis.

COMMENTARY

Sep 28, 2007

The politics of assassination

LONDON — The assassination of Lebanese politician Antoine Ghanem on Sept. 19 is likely to be used, predictably, to further U.S. and Israeli interests in the region. Most Western and some Arab media have argued that Syria is the greatest beneficiary from the death of Ghanem, a member of the Phalange party responsible for much of Lebanon's bloodshed during the civil war years between 1975 and 1990.

COMMENTARY

Sep 14, 2007

Diverted from 9/11's lessons

NEW YORK — Osama bin Laden has once again managed to occupy the stage and to insist on his relevance to the 9/11 story. In his most recent video message, released by Reuters a few days before the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, bin Laden voiced some typically absurd statements, calling on Americans to embrace Islam and so forth.

COMMENTARY

Jun 21, 2007

Mark Twain and the sins of 'our race'

LONDON — When I resorted to Mark Twain's writings, I attempted to escape, at least temporarily from my often distressing readings on war, politics and terror. But his "The Mysterious Stranger," although published 1916, left me with an eerie feeling. The imaginative story calls into question beliefs that we hold as a "matter of course" — a favorite phrase of his. It summons the awful tendencies of "our race": our irrational drive for violence, be it burning "witches" at the stake or engaging in wars that only serve the "little monarchs and the nobilities."

COMMENTARY

Feb 1, 2007

Toward a Palestinian civil war

LONDON -- The recent fighting in the Gaza Strip, which left many people dead, confirms that the internal strife plaguing the occupied territories since Hamas took power in January 2006 was not entirely the outcome of outside meddling in Palestinian affairs. It is also a violent expression of the already existing weaknesses and disunity that has sadly defined the Palestinian political milieu for generations.

COMMENTARY

Dec 21, 2006

Al-Jazeera English: the plot is thickening

LONDON -- The launch of Al-Jazeera English, the English arm of Al-Jazeera Satellite Television, on Nov. 15 was a notable addition to the growing global efforts aimed at counterbalancing American-European domination over world media.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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