Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Nasim Ahmed
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Ismail Haniyeh: assassinated in Israel's war on peace and quest for endless occupation
In a brazen act that has sent shockwaves across the Middle East, Ismail Haniyeh, the exiled political chief of Hamas, was assassinated on Wednesday in Tehran. The 62-year-old Palestinian leader was killed during a visit to Iran to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Haniyeh, a...
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Netanyahu’s US visit exposes the hateful religious extremist origins of Zionism
During his latest trip to the US, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored the deep alliance between Israel and the evangelical Christian community. “We have no better friends than you,” Netanyahu told prominent evangelical leaders in Washington DC. The meeting took place just before his address to a joint...
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Root out the ‘poison’ of the pro-Israel lobby, says former Tory minister cleared of anti-Semitism
A former Conservative minister and Foreign Office official has been cleared of anti-Semitism allegations following an internal party investigation. Following his exoneration, Sir Alan Duncan issued a stark warning to his party, asserting that if the Conservative Party hopes to recover from its huge defeat in the recent General...
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Islamophobia unites Israel and Europe's far-right
Recent comments by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister, Amichai Chikli, endorsing France’s far-right politician Marine Le Pen brought to mind the insightful words of prominent anti-Zionist British cabinet minister Edwin Montagu more than one hundred years ago. “Zionism has always seemed to me to be a mischievous political creed, untenable...
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‘PR Commando Unit’ unleashed by Israel to manipulate US discourse
Israel has long relied on its much-vaunted hasbara — propaganda — to obscure the brutal reality of its colonial occupation of Palestine. Essentially a sophisticated propaganda machine, the hasbara industry, as Professor Ilan Pappe demonstrates in his new book, has been instrumental in shaping the narrative in the service...
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Zionist lobby group labelled 'propaganda' and 'misinformation' source by Wikipedia
One of the leading Zionist lobby groups in the US has been labelled as a source of “propaganda” and “misinformation” by Wikipedia. Editors of the online encyclopaedia also said that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has long campaigned for a controversial definition of anti-Semitism to be adopted, should not...
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UK campus crackdown: King's College students 'strangled', 'choked'
A pro-Palestine student encampment at King’s College London has accused university security of using excessive force and issuing threats during a confrontation at a recent alumni event on campus. In an interview with MEMO, the encampment spokesperson, Luqmaan Waqar, a final year PhD student, detailed the protestors’ demands and...
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MEMO launches Ilan Pappe’s book Lobbying for Zionism
Speaking at a MEMO-organised event to launch his new book, Ilan Pappe talked about historical and present-day anti-Semites that have supported Zionism....
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‘Kill Zone: Inside Gaza’ is a tribute to Palestinian courage and an indictment of genocidal Israel
The Channel 4 Dispatches documentary “Kill Zone: Inside Gaza” is a heart-wrenching, unfiltered look at the devastation inflicted upon Palestinian civilians, particularly women and children, in Israel’s relentless military offensive against the besieged Gaza Strip. The film, pieced together from footage captured by twelve courageous Palestinian journalists who risked...
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What’s missing in the historic ICC decision to bring Israeli leaders to justice for war crimes?
MEMO's political analyst Nasim Ahmad presents his op-ed about the historic ICC decision to bring Israeli leaders to justice for war crimes. On 20 May 2024, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav...
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Fact-checking Biden: The myth of 'ancient hatred for Jews' in the Middle East debunked
MEMO's political analyst Nasim Ahmed presents his latest op ed: 'Fact-checking Biden: The myth of 'ancient hatred for Jews' in the Middle East debunked'...
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How defenders of Israel genocide sparked a debate about the fall of the West
Our contemporary discourse is gripped with tales about the “fall of the West”. It takes many forms. On one side of the spectrum is the racist and conspiratorial “Great Replacement Theory”, known also as the “White Genocide Theory”. Proponents of this theory, who are almost entirely from the right,...
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‘The political-media-industrial complex’ undermining truth and democracy in service of Israel
In the relentless propaganda war waged against Palestinians, the scales have been heavily tipped in favour of Israel. Disinformation and half-truths are routinely employed to depict Palestinians as aggressors, terrorists or simply as non-existent entities within their own homeland. Every assertion made by Israeli officials in this theatre of...
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The irony: Israel's supporters use ‘woke’ playbook to censor Palestinian voices
In recent years, a new line of attack has emerged from many pro-Israel groups, conservative commentators, politicians and activists – the idea that “wokeness” and oversensitivity to giving offence are threatening free speech. According to this argument, left-leaning activists and their allies are trying to shut down any speech...
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Dismantle Israel’s ‘Anatomy of Genocide’: bring back UN Special Committee against Apartheid
In her latest report, “Anatomy of a Genocide,” the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, concluded that the threshold for genocide has been met in Israel’s military assault on Gaza. Albanese cites several reasons for reaching that conclusion. First, the Special...
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Senator Chuck Schumer exposed just how fragile Israel is
What did US Senator Chuck Schumer mean when he said that “Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah?” Schumer, a Democrat of New York, and the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the US made the comment last week while delivering a pointed speech on the Senate floor excoriating...
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Contrived moral panic about Muslims: Tories' tool-kit for UK's authoritarian shift
The UK is about to take another step towards authoritarianism, cloaked in the guise of safeguarding “British Values”. A new, insidious definition of extremism is set to be unveiled, carrying with it the potential to erode the very foundations of freedom and tolerance that lie at the heart of...
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Uncovering Lebanon's hidden histories of violence in The Soil and the Sea
“What is happening in Gaza is genocide, perpetrated as the world watches,” lamented filmmaker Daniele Rugo during our recent discussion about his impactful new documentary The Soil and the Sea. As Israel’s bombs have rained down death and destruction across the besieged coastal enclave, Rugo reflected on the suffering...
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Anti-Zionism is now a protected belief in Britain; time for a reckoning for pro-Israel lobbyists?
Zionism is a form of racism; the ideology which underpins the occupation state of Israel calls for the ethnic cleansing and disenfranchisement of non-Jews in favour of Jews. Zionism seeks to transform historic Palestine into Greater Israel; its racist aspirations means that it is ideologically bound to lead to...
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What is UNRWA, and why is Israel trying to have it closed down?
At least 10 Western governments, including the US, UK and Germany, suspended their donations to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) last week after twelve of its staff were accused by Israel of involvement in the 7 October Hamas incursion. The agency is a lifeline for 5.6 million...
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‘We came to Israel and left from Palestine’: the awakening of young American Jews
The awakening within the American Jewish community about the lies and propaganda they were subjected to as children in advancing the Zionist cause is powerfully told in the documentary, Israelism. It follows two young American Jews, Simone Zimmerman and Eitan (who does not use his last name). Zimmerman went...
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Palestine Ambassador to UK calls to end Israel’s ‘war of vengeance, a war of rage’
The Palestinian Mission in Britain convened a press conference in London today on the latest developments in Gaza, marking 100 days of Israel’s deadly bombardment of the besieged enclave since 7 October. Ambassador Husam Zomlot briefed journalists on the current conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, offered his...
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David Cameron failed miserably trying to make Israel’s case in parliament
The Economist published a revealing article last week examining why Germany “goes too far defending Israel.” It was written after several high-profile Germans faced allegations of anti-Semitism. They aren’t alone. An Indian poet, an Australian political scientist, an Irish folk troupe, a British architect, a Bangladeshi photographer, an American...
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Israel is a ‘fragile state’ in war against time
It may seem counterintuitive to suggest that Israel is a “fragile state.” The usual material indicators used to measure the strengths and weaknesses of a state would indicate that Israel is anything but a fragile state. Its population not only enjoys the living standards of countries in the developed...