Muhammad Shehada is a contributing columnist for the Forward.
Muhammad ShehadaContributing Columnist
By Muhammad Shehada
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Opinion I grew up in Gaza schools. The textbooks aren’t what’s stoking violence and hatred of Israel.
Growing up in Gaza, I studied in UNRWA schools from first to ninth grade. I owe a great debt to my school, teachers and the Palestinian curriculum for making me into the person I am today — an ardent believer in nonviolence and the right of both Palestinians and Israelis to lead secure, prosperous and…
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Opinion Iron Dome’s funding was never in jeopardy. But to us Palestinians, that was never the point
A version of this article first appeared in Newsweek. Progressive House Democrats sparked a charged debate after they got their party to remove $1 billion of additional funding to Israel to replenish its defensive missile technology, Iron Dome, from a congressional bill earlier this week. Some praised the progressives for an act of resistance to…
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Opinion Israel’s attacks on Gaza have only made Hamas stronger
At the end of each round of violence between Israel and Gaza, both Israel and Hamas always insist that they have won. This time around, Israeli politicians have ample footage of Gazan towers and neighborhoods they bombed “back to stone age.” Hamas likewise has footage of its rockets reaching Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem, forcing Israelis into…
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Opinion I stopped saying ‘stay safe’ to my family in Gaza. Because there is no way to stay safe in Israel’s most intense assault yet.
“We’re gonna die…” is becoming the first common, grim, and indescribably guilting thing I hear from the many people I cherish in Gaza, uttered almost subconsciously at the start of each conversation. “This is pure madness” is the second. And even “madness” falls critically short of describing what my family and friends have to endure….
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Opinion Even ‘apartheid’ doesn’t capture fullness of our Palestinian suffering. But it helps.
In a recent meeting with a representative of the United Nations, I was asked to suggest concepts that would capture the suffering my family and loved ones in Gaza endure. I froze for a moment, not only because of the surprise of a legal scholar unsuccessfully looking for a concept that would precisely capture Gaza’s…
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Opinion Biden’s Palestinian aid package is a start — but doesn’t go nearly far enough
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared the U.S. would restore financial assistance to the Palestinians with a first package totaling $235 million. The package comes as part of what the Biden administration described in a press release as its commitment “to advancing prosperity, security, and freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians in…
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Opinion Yes, really: Hamas and the PA want to see Netanyahu win
As we inch closer to Israel’s fourth election in two years, there’s understandable fatigue and indifference overwhelming Israelis. It’s overwhelming Palestinians, too: unfortunately, we see no glimmer of hope in most of the competing parties. The differences among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gideon Sa’ar, Naftali Bennet, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman are largely irrelevant. Dehumanizing…
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Opinion Why it’s essential that Hamas run in the next Palestinian election
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has called on the U.S. and the international community in recent weeeks to push against the participation of an “unreformed Hamas” in the upcoming Palestinian elections. AIPAC argues that Hamas, an Islamist group that the State Department counts as terrorist, should not be allowed to participate in the balloting…
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