- Ramzy Baroud is a veteran Palestinian-American journalist
and former Al-Jazeera producer. He also taught Mass Communication at Australia's
Curtin University of Technology, is a frequent speaker, a regular media
guest, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle,
a leading resource for information on Israel/Palestine and much more.
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- He's also written many articles, commentaries, short
stories, and authored several books, including "The Second Intifada:
A Chronicle of a People's Struggle," and his latest and topic of this
introductory review, "My Father was a Freedom Fighter."
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- Baroud knows his subject well, having been born and raised
in a Gaza refugee camp where he saw Israeli soldiers regularly oppress,
harass, humiliate, and attack young Palestinians like himself in an attempt
to crush their spirit and break their will to resist, to no avail no matter
how hard they tried.
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- What follows is a snapshot of Baroud's new book, soon
to be released by Pluto Press. As distinguished Palestinian author, historian,
activist and founder and president of the London-based Palestine Land Society,
Salman Abu Sitta, explained in the forward:
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- Ramzy is Mohammed Baroud's son, a heroic "freedom
fighter, (and himself) a gifted writer (who) eloquently unearthed the recent
history of Beit Daras" village, chronicled his family's struggle in
exile, and recounted their determination to survive and endure under siege
and assaults that continue to this day.
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- Many books covered the early years, but most were in
Arabic. Baroud's is one of the few in English "about the life, depopulation
and (literal) struggle for survival of the people of a Palestinian village
in southern Palestine." In spanning over seven decades of history
and survivor recollections, "it stands out as an unblemished depiction
of their plight" as only those who experienced it can describe.
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- As a freedom fighter's son, Baroud's book is proof of
a people's persistence to survive, endure, and ultimately prevail in their
historic quest for liberation, because of heroic men like father and son
Baroud who'll accept no less. Nor should anyone wanting everyone to be
free, especially the long-suffering Palestinians and oppressed peoples
everywhere.
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- Born in Beit Daras, Mohammed Baroud's beloved village
was conquered, leveled, and erased, except from the memory he took to his
grave. One of seven children, he was born during the 1938 turmoil that
erupted a decade later in merciless war that destroyed Beit Daras, 530
other villages, 11 urban neighborhoods in cities like Tel-Aviv, Haifa and
Jerusalem, and slaughtered or displaced about 800,000 Palestinians with
tactics reminiscent of Nazi WW II ruthlessness.
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- Mohammed and his family survived, were exiled to the
Gaza Nuseirat refugee camp, dreamed always of going home, as a young man
joined the Palestinian unit of the Egyptian army, later fought heroically
for the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) in the Six Day War, was wounded,
and was horrified that historic Palestine was gone, its people captives
on their own land, forced to endure Israeli occupation viciousness, that,
for Gazans, is in the world's largest open-air prison.
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- Throughout his life, he endured decades of struggle,
conflict, violence, occupation, oppression, what Edward Said called "a
slow death," shattered hopes, and the incalculable horror of it all.
It took its toll. Yet he raised six children, used his resources to educate
them, believed the occupation and poverty killed his young son Anwar, and
then his wife Zarefah at age 42.
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- In his early 50s, he grew frail, needed two canes to
walk, was weakened by various ailments by the late 1980s, and became increasingly
disillusioned and impoverished.
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- Ill, in pain, and incapacitated, he was dying. The end
came on March 18, 2008. Thousands turned out for his funeral, oppressed
people like himself who shared his vision, struggles, and plight. "The
resilient (freedom) fighter had finished the battle for a well-deserved
moment of peace" while those left behind continue his courageous struggle,
his son Ramzy one of them through his heroic work the way many others are
equally committed and will be until Palestine is again free.
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- Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre
for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at
<mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net>lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
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- Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday
- Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished
guests on world and national issues. All programs archived for easy listening.
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- http://republicbroadcasting.org/Global%20Research/index.php?
- cmd=archives.year&ProgramID=33&year=9
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