Ramzy Baroud is a veteran journalist and former producer for Al-Jazeera TV. This is his comprehensive account of the momentous events of the last five years which shaped the political landscape not only of Palestine and Israel but of the entire Middle East region. Addressing the most controversial issues, including the alarming escalation in suicide bombings, and the construction of the Separation Wall, he reports on the huge rate of unemployment and hunger in the Occupied Territories -- statistics so critical that NGOs compare their magnitude to African nations such as the Congo. From the brutality of the Israeli army to the ever-compromising nature of the Palestinian Authority, few are spared Baroud’s thoughtful critique. The book is clear and concise, with one chapter dedicated to the major events of each year, and includes a comprehensive timeline.
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'Masterful prose. ... (A) scathing but heartfelt portrait.' --Norman G. Finkelstein
'Few are spared his perceptive eye, and only the morally callous will fail to respond to his pleas to act to remedy the injustice that he exposes to our view, as we surely can.' --Noam Chomsky, Professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
'[Baroud] presents a compelling narrative of Palestinian victimization without being defensive, and with no attempt at disguising internal shortcomings. In the same way, Baroud exposes Israeli culpability and international abrogation of responsibility with candor and uncompromising integrity.' --Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian Legislator for the Jerusalem District
'[Baroud] enables readers to see through the distorted image provided by a biased pro-Israeli Western media of the Middle East as a whole, and of Palestine in particular.' --Ilan Pappe
About the Author
Ramzy Baroud is a veteran journalist and former producer at Al-Jazeera Satellite Television. He currently teaches Mass Communication at Australia’s Curtin University of Technology, Malaysia Campus, and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle. Baroud’s work has been published in hundreds of newspapers worldwide, from the Washington Post to the Japan Times. His articles have been translated into scores of languages from French to Japanese to Bulgarian.
Palestinian-American journalist, author and former Al-Jazeera producer, Ramzy Baroud taught Mass Communication at Australia's Curtin University of Technology, and is Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle.
"Ramzy Baroud's sensitive, thoughtful, searching writing penetrates to the core of moral dilemmas that their intended audiences evade at their peril. Few are spared his perceptive eye, and only the morally callous will fail to respond to his pleas to look into the mirror honestly, to question comforting beliefs that protect us from facing our elementary responsibilities, and to act to remedy the terrible misery and injustice that he exposes to our view, as we surely can." -- Noam Chomsky.
Baroud's work has been published in hundreds of newspapers and journals worldwide, including The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, The Miami Herald, The Japan Times, Al-Ahram Weekly, Asia Times and nearly every English language publication throughout the Middle East.
He has been a guest on many television and radio programs including CNN International, BBC, ABC Australia, National Public Radio, Al-Jazeera and many others. He has contributed to many anthologies and his 2002 book, Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion has received international recognition.
His 2006 book, The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press: London) has won the praise of many scholars world-wide, such as Dr. Hanan Ashrawi who stated, "His volume presents a compelling narrative of Palestinian victimization without being defensive or apologetic, and with no attempt at disguising or denying internal weaknesses and shortcomings." Professor Norman Finkelstein praised the work, saying, "In this curious blend of passionately subjective yet dispassionately objective journalism, Ramzy Baroud chronicles the unfolding of the second Intifada in masterful prose."
His latest book: My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story, also published by Pluto Press, London (2010), narrates the story of the life of his family, (his family is used as a representation of millions of Palestinians in Diaspora) starting in the early 1940's until the present time.
Richard Falk, Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University and Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestinian Territories, UN Human Right Council wrote about Ramzy's Gaza book: "Ramzy Baroud has written a deeply moving chronicle of the persisting Palestinian ordeal that manages to interweave and bring to life the heart-wrenching experience of his family, particularly the heroics of his father, with the daily cruelties of the prolonged Israeli occupation of Gaza, the frequent horrors of refugee existence, and the disillusioning futility of seeking an end to a bloody conflict that goes on and on. This book more than any I have read tells me why anyone of conscience must stand in solidarity with the continuing struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination and a just peace."
Ramzy Baroud has been a guest speaker at many top universities around the world, including George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Rutgers University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Manchester (UK), University of Ireland (Dublin), University of Washington, Penn State University and the University of Kwazulu Natal, Durban, South Africa, He has also been a guest speaker at the House of Commons in London, England.
For one who wishes to walk in the other man's shoes, if only for a moment, Ramzy Baroud gives a powerful story of life in present day Palestine. For those who may support Israel but want to understand the issues from all sides, Baroud serves as an insightful guide to the issues as seen and experienced by the Palestinians. For those who wish to find possible paths to peace, this is a necessary and even obligatory read.
This book didn't have a description so I used the one from the author's website to help other interested readers learn more about this book.
The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle is Ramzy Baroud's comprehensive account of the momentous events of the last five years which shaped the political landscape not only of Palestine and Israel but of the entire Middle East region. Addressing the most controversial issues, including the alarming escalation in suicide bombings, and the construction of the Separation Wall, he reports on the huge rate of unemployment and hunger in the Occupied Territories' statistics so critical that NGOs compare their magnitude to African nations such as the Congo. From the brutality of the Israeli army to the ever-compromising nature of the Palestinian Authority, few are spared Baroudąs thoughtful critique. The book is clear and concise, with one chapter dedicated to the major events of each year, and includes a comprehensive timeline.
Ramzy Baroud's "The Second Palestinian Intifada" is an impassioned argument intended for an audience that will probably never read it. Though it is subtitled, "A Chronicle of a People's Struggle", it is too thin to be a chronicle. His coverage is more or less chronological, but he is very selective in the events and themes he chooses to tackle. What is covered is only done so superficially. Nearly all of his research appears to come from the internet and his empirical data is usually only a point of departure from which he can engage in an emotional appeal for the suffering of the Palestinians under occupation. Indeed, this book should be read not as a chronicle, but as a polemic.
Broadly speaking, Baroud is pleading with the West to recognize the injustices perpetrated by Israel, their own media biases which dehumanize Palestinian victims, and the failure of liberal discourses of human rights. I tend to agree with the thrust of his arguments, but in order to concentrate his anger he fails to engage comprehensively with many aspects of the Intifada. For those familiar with the Palestinian perspective, I suspect his book will be unsatisfying - first, because it provides little detail that can't be easily recalled by those who have followed the events of the last five years and, second, because his arguments are not very thoroughly backed up.
I've treated it roughly, but the book does have some strong points. It clearly provides a Palestinian perspective of the second Intifada, both in the collective experiences of violence, betrayal, injustice and hopelessness, as well as the struggle to locate, engage and affirm a life in resistance. Baroud is eloquent when speaking on the meaning of Arafat's death. But it is unlikely that his book will be read by many who do not already agree with his positions.
The book's greatest success is its sweeping condemnation of the international community. If there is one thing this book does chronicle it is the moral poverty of international human rights regimes. Baroud's quick recourse to international law as a measurement of Israeli actions may seem politically naďve, but I suspect it is a strategic decision he's made to juxtapose the Palestinian reality with the humanist mythology embedded in such laws. As the evidence of excess mounts and the U.N. squirms, it becomes clear that the international community is utterly incapable of acting against the U.S.'s allies. Our persistent insistence that Palestinians "follow the rules" appears only as a cruel game we play with our own sense of self-importance while others are made to suffer the results.
But these are brief highlights. In the end, Baroud only provides the most cursory introduction to the events, so he won't be very helpful to those seeking much depth. And while his polemic is forcefully and faithfully argued, the moderate, Western audience he addresses is not likely to pick up the book any time soon.
