All of the academic qualifications in the world aren’t enough to prevent the publication of abysmal articles.
Such is the case of Dr. Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, a former minister of Foreign Affairs for Mauritania, a former postdoc researcher at Harvard University, a lecturer at SciencesPo, Paris, and a Professor of International History at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.
His curriculum vitae is certainly pretty impressive.
Despite this however, Mohamedou makes up complete falsehoods in an article published in the Swiss daily newspaper Le Temps’s blog section “Les temps du Moyen-Orient” (The Times of the Middle East).
In his articled titled “State of stasis in Palestine”, Mohamedou tries to explain why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict still has not been solved and writes the following sentence:
[Highlighted text translated as: “or the invasions of Gaza (evacuated in 2005 but still besieged) by the Israeli army in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2014 will not change the deal and the structural nature of this deadlock.”]
We learn that Israel “invaded” the Gaza Strip four times in the last 10 years.
Surprising news, given that the IDF only entered Gaza during Operations Cast Lead & Protective Edge in 2008-2009 and 2014 respectively.
There was also a conflict between Hamas and Israel in 2012, but the IDF did not lead an “invasion” of the Gaza Strip because the operation never involved more than aerial strikes against Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure.
As for the supposed “invasion of 2011,” what in the world is Mohamedou referring to? There simply was no significant IDF operation against Hamas in Gaza that year.
It is also interesting to note that the article fails to mention Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis or Hamas’ indiscriminate rocket fire. Mohamedou tries to put the blame entirely on Israel for the situation of the Palestinians.
The question remains: What does Mohamedou teach his students in SciencesPo or at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies? Does he also make up “alternative facts” in his classes?
We have sent this article to the administration of the two universities for explanation.
Featured image via YouTube/West Africa Commission On Drugs; rocket launch courtesy Israel Defense Forces;
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