Author Archives: Ahmed Moor

About Ahmed Moor

Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer who was born in the Gaza Strip. He is currently a Soros Fellow and a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He also co-edited the After Zionism anthology. Twitter: @ahmedmoor

Ethnic cleansing in Silwan

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I’m currently writing in Silwan from the home of a local community leader. We’ve been anticipating the ethnic cleansing of yet another house in occupied East Jerusalem since early morning and the occupation authorities have been swarming all day. Seven families – … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 4 Comments

Sedek review: The concrete steps needed to implement a vision

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

The first English-language issue of Sedek, a journal produced by the Israeli organization Zochrot, is one of the most exciting things I’ve read recently. The collection of essays is the result of the sincere engagement of Palestinians and Israelis with … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

I am Zionism’s mandatory object. So don’t I get to define it?

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

There’s an excellent discussion of the ‘Zionism is racism’ question over at Jeremiah Haber’s site, The Magnes Zionist. Haber makes some very good points which are especially compelling since he – a multiculturalist who self-identifies as a Zionist – is … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

If anti-semitism justifies ethnic cleansing, then what does anti-Palestinianism justify?

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Jerome Slater tries to make the claim that Zionism isn’t racism. Many of the commenters who responded to his post presented more eloquent and knowledgeable arguments than I can, so I’ll keep it brief. According to Slater, Zionism isn’t racism … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | Tagged , , , , , | 110 Comments

It’s time to dismantle the PA

Posted on November 6, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Salam Fayyad is surviving on borrowed time – or money. By now everyone’s aware that the Netanyahu-engineered “economic miracle” is the predictable result of periodic cash injections into a closed economic space. Pretending that Palestinian growth in the West Bank … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The power of a walkout

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I had a few reactions to the University of Michigan walkout video. First, I was amazed at the numerical superiority of the protesters. I couldn’t help but feel that the Hillelniks or whoever organized the event failed to provide basic … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 13 Comments

Gideon Levy in NYC: Israel is ‘the only occupier in history that’s completely convinced of its own present ongoing victimhood’

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I was fortunate enough to see Gideon Levy speak on Tuesday at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. The discussion was organized to promote his new book, The Punishment of Gaza, which covers Israel’s policy and … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 30 Comments

Robert Wright, like others, coming to understand the one state reality

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Robert Wright recently joined the one-state debate with a measured and well-intentioned piece in the New York Times. Unfortunately, he mistakes the one-state solution for a tactical cudgel instead of understanding it for what it is – an end unto … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 12 Comments

Remembering Gaza

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

The unending death-news maelstrom assaults the reader with what seems like daily frequency. Our digital distance simultaneously transports us to and shields us from the bedlam. We are assaulted virtually – our empathy enables that – but experience none of … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | Tagged , | 55 Comments

‘Cookie monster, hubba hubba, inside out socks, and melted ice cream!’ (Revising George Will)

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I learned recently that Avigdor Lieberman’s Foreign Ministry is spending money, and I want some. Ha’aretz reports that sixty to seventy million shekels will be funneled towards “hosting figures the ministry has identified as having significant influence on public opinion.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Beyondoweiss, Israel/Palestine | 8 Comments

Palestinian guns – redux

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Many people reacted strongly with disapprobation to my "Hamas attack was wrong" post yesterday. Nearly everyone agrees that murdering civilians is wrong, but some question whether the settlers are civilians in the first place. The settlers are racial supremacists whose … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 64 Comments

Hamas attack was wrong

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

The Hamas attack on settlers in the West Bank was wrong. The attack was wrong strategically, but more importantly, it was wrong morally. The so-called peace talks aren’t going anywhere. But even if they were, executing civilians is always morally … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 46 Comments

From Shatila Camp– What does the right of return mean in 2010?

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I’ve been spending more time in the camps recently. Two days a week, I leave my apartment on my leafy street in my quiet neighborhood and jump in a taxi heading southwest. ‘Ala mafra’ sou’ Shatila, iza t-reed,’ is what … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Nakba, US Politics | 71 Comments

Getting to one state

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I’ve been grappling with the refugee issue for a long time now. I’ve mostly avoided writing about it because I don’t know what the right and workable solution is. So many thanks to Ben Zakkai for forcing the question – … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 7 Comments

Pastel settlers

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

One of the pleasures of reading the New York Times is learning to recognize different writers’ structural biases. I don’t really know Jim Rutenberg or Mike McIntire, but I’ve been reading Ethan Bronner’s work for years now. His work is … Continue reading →

Posted in Beyondoweiss, Israel/Palestine | 31 Comments

The ‘one state’ conversation continues

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I was pleasantly surprised to read Ben Zakkai’s one-state formula for Palestine/Israel. Our thinking on the issue is closer to one another than I thought it would be. There are some big things I disagree with, but the fact that … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 50 Comments

Chomsky in Lebanon

Posted on June 16, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

After being denied entry to the West Bank by Israel, Noam Chomsky spent some time in Amman and then made his way to Lebanon. He took a tour of the south which coincided with the 10-year anniversary of the Israeli … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 128 Comments

Tortured Egypt

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Hosni Mubarak has struggled for years to secure the reputation for being the most loathsome of the Arab tyrants. He imprisoned dissidents, murdered rivals, and tortured activists so effectively and with so much zeal that even George W. Bush sought … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, US Politics | 4 Comments

The wait-and-see president

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Ahmed Moor has a piece on Obama’s post-Cairo folding at EI. Money: We now know enough about the president’s behavioral patterns to begin to weave a coherent narrative. The Wall Street fiasco, the BP oil spill, the approach to Palestine/Israel, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, US Politics | 2 Comments

Obama’s refusal to jettison the special relationship is an abrogation of his responsibility

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Guilt by association is weak adjudicatory framework, but that’s not true of guilt by active association. America is rightly experiencing some of the Flotilla Massacre fallout. As Israel’s patron, protector and enabler, Israeli actions mean American responsibility. I’m beginning to … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel/Palestine, US Politics | 64 Comments

In Beirut– anger and devastation

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I am angry. I am devastated. I just returned from a protest in Beirut and people are outraged. When will this fearsome monster cease to exist? And how many innocents will it gnash and gnaw through before it’s over? The Israeli … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel/Palestine | 41 Comments

If OECD membership is the soft carrot, where’s the stick?

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) –a group of 31 governments designed to address economic, social and environmental issues – decided earlier this week to make Israel a full member of the coalition. I’m in Paris right now, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Israeli Government, US Politics | 15 Comments

Aaron David Miller’s lost faith

Posted on May 2, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Aaron David Miller delivered a lecture at the American University of Beirut last week entitled “Gulliver’s Troubles: Barack Obama in the Middle East.” The talk focused on many of the same points he made recently in a Foreign Policy article; … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 42 Comments

BDS is a long term project with radically transformative potential

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

I’m grateful to Jerry Haber for taking the time to engage me on the role of ‘liberal’ Zionists in the BDS movement. Sometimes my tone borders on truculence, which is really just impatience. I’m impatient for ‘liberal’ Zionists to discard … Continue reading →

Posted in BDS, Israel/Palestine, US Politics | 103 Comments

What does it take to get liberal Zionists on board with BDS, and is it worth it?

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Ahmed Moor

Jerry Haber’s call for liberal Zionists to join the broader BDS movement is laudable for what he’s attempting to do. Sadly, Haber’s Zionism informs his writing in a way that largely undermines his professed goal. The current of Jewish paternalism … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 173 Comments