Alex Safian, PhD

Nakba day march

The Nakba Narrative is Nonsense

Since Israel's rebirth in 1948 the Palestinian "nakba" (or catastrophe) narrative has taken root, portraying well-armed Jewish immigrants overrunning peaceful Palestinian villages. Though believed by many "progressives," the nakba narrative is nonsense. Israel was not born in original sin, and the real Palestinian catastrophe is that their leaders have embraced violence and supposed victimhood while repeatedly rejecting peace plans and statehood.

[Updated] Is Judicial Reform a Threat to Israeli Democracy?

The new Israeli government plans fundamental legal reforms to fix perceived vast overreach by the Supreme Court and the legal system. Critics charge the reforms foreshadow the demise of democracy. But would the reforms actually move Israel closer to the system in other parliamentary democracies?
Kenneth Roth

Kenneth Roth Reacts to Truth Like a Vampire Reacts to Sunlight

After Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch, received a preliminary offer of a Senior Fellowship from the Carr Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, the offer was not approved by the Kennedy School's Dean. Roth's reaction was to lie about his own and HRW's record, and cast blame on -- surprise -- Israel and the Jews, thus illustrating why the Dean was right to nix him.
Raja Abdulrahim

More Palestinian Propaganda from New York Times Reporter Raja Abdulrahim

New York Times reporter Raja Abdulrahim has a long history of anti-Israel propaganda, and her latest article adds to the toll of distortions. She and her co-author charge that the IDF "never" refers to Palestinians injured or killed in military actions as civilians. But multiple examples prove Abdulrahim is once again, at best, wrong.
CNN's Anti-Semitism Special

CNN’s Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America

In the face of a rising tide of anti-Semitism, CNN deserves praise for presenting its special report Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America, but it’s important to note the report had both positive and negative aspects, including crucial omissions, such as noting that anti-Semitism comes from the left and the right, while failing to actually name any guilty parties on the left.

Why the Harvard Crimson’s call for BDS is dead wrong

The Harvard Crimson has published an Editorial titled "In Support of Boycott, Divest, Sanctions and a Free Palestine." Despite the editorial's portentous style, as a Harvard alumnus (GSAS 1987) I do feel it’s important to respond in an instructive way, since there seems to be much these Harvard students are unaware of. For example, that it's silly to call for BDS when Israel has agreed multiple times to a Palestinian state, only to have the Palestinians reject it. Maybe these Harvardians should start boycotting certain Palestinians and Palestinian supporters instead.
Robert Malley

The Iran Nuclear Deal and Negotiator Robert Malley

A new or resurrected Iran deal, supposedly intended to delay or stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program but perhaps doing the opposite, may soon be concluded. Former senior U.S. official Gabriel Noronha believes it’s even worse than the original, and that negotiator Robert Malley deserves much of the blame.

Amnesty International’s Big Lie about Israel

Amnesty International has a long history of leveling maliciously false charges against Israel, and its leader Agnès Callamard had to apologize after her bizarre anti-Israel tweets were publicized. So it’s only fitting that in its latest report, alleging Israel is an apartheid and illegitimate state, the very first line is a blatant and malicious lie, a quotation from Benjamin Netanyahu mangled so that it seems to support Amnesty's false charges. And it's downhill from there.
Carter Outlier

New Carter Bio Repeats Carter’s Old anti-Israel Lies

Kai Bird’s very positive new biography of Jimmy Carter unfortunately perpetuates a blatant lie the former president has been telling for more than 40 years – that Israeli PM Menachem Begin broke his Camp David promise of an open-ended settlement freeze. In fact Begin had promised, and delivered, a three month freeze, and Carter knows this.