Author Archives: Nima Shirazi

Israeli officers who tour Nazi death camps come back less committed to Jewish values

“Based on my experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.” … Continue reading →

“[It is] of vital importance not only to secure all water resources already feeding the country, but also to control them at their source.” – Chaim Weizmann, President of the World Zionist Organization and the first President of Israel, at … Continue reading →

To sit in silence when we should protest Makes cowards out of men. The human race Has climbed on protest. – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, I Protest, 1914 With so much effort being exerted by the right-wing lunatic punditocracy and commentariat, … Continue reading →

“You know the law – every son of Israel must have some occupation.” – Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Chapter IV On September 26, The Los Angeles Times ran a short Calendar section item on the new belated 50th anniversary, fully restored … Continue reading →

It has been nearly seven months since I wrote, ”The Phantom Menace: Fantasies, Falsehoods, and Fear-Mongering about Iran’s Nuclear Program” (posted here on Mondoweiss), a time-line of false U.S., Israeli, and European assertions regarding the supposed inevitability and immediacy of a nuclear-armed Iran, hysterical allegations … Continue reading →

By now Mondoweiss readers have probably seen Jeffrey Goldberg’s updated post on supporting the boycott of Netanyahu here in the US. It includes this tidbit (emphasis added): “…all I can say is this: Since 1948, Israel has been a besieged … Continue reading →

“This tractor does two things – it turns the land and turns us off the land. There is little difference between this tractor and a tank. The people were driven, intimidated, hurt by both. We must think about this.” – … Continue reading →

On Monday, former IDF prison guard Jeffrey Goldberg approvingly quoted an excerpt from a recent anti-Gaza Flotilla opinion piece by Irish columnist Kevin Myers. Myers’ snide commentary is full of historical revisionism, factual errors, total fabrications, racist anti-Arab and Palestinian stereotyping, and an adolescent … Continue reading →

On October 26, 2004, Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, conducted an interview for his book “Treacherous Alliance – The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States” (published three years later) with Shlomo Brom, a … Continue reading →

You may have seen the recent letter by the Israeli peace and justice group “Boycott From Within” (BfW) asking Bob Dylan to heed the Palestinian call for BDS and therefore not perform in Israel.  The letter follows reports of Dylan’s 2011 summer tour, during … Continue reading →

In the least surprising move ever, the Obama administration has made its policy regarding Israel/Palestine clear as it “blocked an initiative by Britain, France and Germany to restart stalled Israeli-Palestinian talks by proposing the outlines of a final settlement to … Continue reading →

Today’s Los Angeles Times has a piece entitled “Israel and Palestinians have conflicting visions for village’s future,” which describes recent efforts to build “212 luxury apartments, a hotel and retail shops” over the remnants of Lifta, the “last intact pre-1948 … Continue reading →

I attended the bomb shelter installation Monday afternoon in Washington Square Park and had some lengthy talks with a number of Israel-supporters and, though definitely frustrating, those conversations were by and large calm and non-combative. The single most repeated statement I heard … Continue reading →

In recent months, seven South American nations have recognized Palestine “as a free, independent and sovereign state.” Last week, following similar statements by representatives of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile, the Foreign Ministry of Guyana declared that its decision to recognize Palestine … Continue reading →

“To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny … Continue reading →

When discussing possible solutions to the current Israeli/Palestinian impasse during a recent panel discussion entitled “Jewish Perspectives on the Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions Movement,” participant Gil Kulick suggested a return to the proposals of the 2000 Clinton Parameters, the 2002 Nusseibeh-Ayalon agreement, and the 2003 Geneva … Continue reading →