The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards (Honest Reporting)

Austria

Vienna Saudi school ordered closed over anti-Semitism charges (Times of Israel)

Bahrain

Britain to Build Permanent Middle East Military Base in Bahrain - Chris Johnston (Guardian-UK)

Egypt

Erdogan Declares Birth Control Treason (al-Monitor)

Iran

Observations: Iran Accelerates Arming of Hizbullah and Hamas- Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall (ICA-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

Iranian Support Seen Crucial for Yemen's Houthis - Yara Bayoumy and Mohammed Ghobari (Reuters)

Iranian Regime Escalates Threats to Annihilate Israel (MEMRI)

Iraq

Report: ISIS Executes 150 Women for Refusing to Marry Militants (Anadolu-Turkey)

Iran's "Boots on the Ground" in Iraq - Lawrence A. Franklin (Gatestone Institute)

ISIS Diverts River in Iraq, Threatening Water Supply for 150,000 (Al Arabiya)

Iraq crisis: The last Christians of Dora- Richard Spencer (The Telegraph)

Partners for Peace?

Come All Ye Haters: NGO Exploitation of Religious Themes to Demonize Israel - NGO Monitor

Why Do Palestinians Reject Israeli Offers of a Palestinian State in Return for Peace? - Jeff Robbins (Boston Globe)

At Birthday Parade, Hamas Vows to Destroy Israel (RT-Russia)

Gaza Reconstruction Materials Diverted to Hamas for Tunnel Repairs (Jerusalem Post)

Abbas' advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash: All of "Palestine" will "return" to Palestinians through "resistance" - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Hamas: We Will Not Be Satisfied with a Palestinian State within 1967 Lines; We Thank Iran for Weapons, Rockets(MEMRI)

Saudi Arabia

MERRY CHRISTMAS, AMERICA: Saudi Arabia isn’t flooding the oil market to cripple America’s shale revolution, it’s doing it to win favor with Washington by weakening Russia and Iran (Foreign Policy)

Sweden

Sweden's Christmas Present: New Laws Curbing Free Speech – Timon Dias (Gatestone Institute)

Syria

Iran as an Occupying Force in Syria - Fouad Hamdan and Shiar Youssef (Middle East Institute)

Arabs on Social Media: CIA Torture Pales in Comparison to Practices in Arab World (Ynet News) According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, up to 12,000 people have died in more than 100 Syrian detention centers since the beginning of its civil war. 

Islamists Rout Syrian Government Troops - Mousab Alhamadee (McClatchy)

Report: ISIS Executed 100 Foreign "Deserters" - Erika Solomon (Financial Times-UK)

United States of America

Op-Ed: Light a Candle for Jonathan Too – Barouch Levy (Arutz Sheva) The recent words of former CIA director, James Woolsey, indicate that Pollard is imprisoned "for no good reason". Jonathan Pollard did not harm American security. Hopefully, he'll be pardoned in 2015.

Video: Why Can't We Have a "Conversation" about Militant Islam?(Lawfare Project) When Major Nidal Hasan went on a murdering spree at Fort Hood, the U.S. government classified his act of terrorism as workplace violence, with no mention of him screaming, "Allah is great," as he gunned down 13 fellow soldiers. References to Islam and Jihad have been removed from the FBI's training manuals.

U.S. to Accept 10,000 Syrian Refugees - Barbara Slavin (Al-Monitor)

Canada

Toronto Mural a Jihadi Battle Cry - Tarek Fatah (Toronto Sun-Canada) 


Egypt

Egyptian Jews: A Community in Danger of Extinction - Dina Darwish (Al-Ahram-Egypt)


Israel

Emergency Security Campaign for Aish Ha Torah (Video)Netanyahu urges Kerry to release Pollard (Times of Israel)

Ya'alon: Israel Working to Thwart Terror Cells Directed from Turkey and Gaza - Arik Bender (Maariv Hashavua-Jerusalem Post)

 

Palestinians

PM slams Abbas’s ‘impossible fantasies’ on ‘return’ of 6 million refugees (The Times of Israel) PA chief vows he’ll never recognize ‘Jewish’ Israel, claims he disabused Obama of notion of ‘moderate’ Muslim Brothers, says Hamas ‘liars’ begged for ceasefire in summer.

Gaza Is Almost Totally Cut Off from the World - Armin Rosen (Business Insider)
Al-Aqsa TV Reporter Killed in Gaza War Turns Out to Be Hamas Fighter (MEMRI TV)

Syria

Iran Is Playing with Fire - Ron Ben-Yishai (Ynet News) The strikes in Syria on Sunday which have been attributed to the Israeli Air Force were likely intended to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry from Iran to Hizbullah. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard continues to play with fire by equipping Hizbullah with arms that have the capability to cause widespread losses and destruction in Israel. In recent weeks, many Hizbullah officials and senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have publicly boasted about the advanced ground-to-ground missiles which Iran supplied to Hizbullah.
 

United States of America

Regarding the US controversy with CIA torture of prisoners -- Rachel Maddow pointed out that  these policies are not history, e.g., Abu Zubaydah, his case is detailed in the report; he has been in custody since 2002, he was tortured, and he is still in US custody. Abu Zubaydah was a top ranked al Qaeda member and for his crimes, he should be in custody. I don't understand how it's legal to hold a person without charges or trial. Note: a Jordanian court sentenced him to death in absentia before he was captured and put in US custody.

Torture and the U.S. Intelligence Failure - George Friedman (Stratfor) This piece was originally published in April 2009

Saudi-Born U.S. Naval Engineer Caught Trying to Steal Aircraft Carrier Secrets - Andrew Zajac (Bloomberg)

India
On Sixth Anniversary of Mumbai Terror Attacks of 26/11 (MEMRI)

Iraq
UNESCO Seeks to Save Jewish Sites from Islamic State (Israel Hayom)
Investigation Finds 50,000 "Ghost" Soldiers in Iraqi Army- Loveday Morris (Washington Post) The Iraqi army has been paying salaries to at least 50,000 soldiers who don't exist.... an institution the U.S. has spent billions equipping and arming.

Israel
Israel Recognizes Nov. 30 as National Day of Commemoration of Plight of Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands - Greer Fay Cashman (Jerusalem Post)

Libya
Islamic State setting up Libya training camps, US says (BBC)
Islamic State Expands into North Africa - Mirco Keilberth, Juliane von Mittelstaedt and Christoph Reuter (Der Spiegel-Germany)

Pakistan
Bollywood star Veena Malik handed 26 year sentence for 'blasphemous' wedding scene (The Guardian)

Partners for Peace?
Abbas Shuts the Door to Negotiations with Israel - Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Mother of synagogue terrorist praises her son who murdered five - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Spain
One can expect extreme rulings with an international blasphemy law being promoted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a bloc of 57 Muslim countries dedicated to implementing a worldwide ban on "negative stereotyping of Islam.":
Spanish Court Refuses to Uphold Rights of Critic of Islamism - Soren Kern (The Clarion Project) A Spanish court is deliberating the fate of Imran Firasat, an ex-Muslim from Pakistan who faces imminent deportation because the Spanish government has deemed his criticism of Islam to be a threat to national security.

Sudan
Beware of the Iran-Sudan Partnership - Laura Grossman (National Interest)

United States of America
Blacklisting of Pro-Israel Watchdog NGO Monitor by the Associated Press- David Bernstein (Washington Post)
White House Label of Brotherhood as Non-Violent Patently False – Ryan Mauro (The Clarion Project) The White House has rejected a request to label the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group, describing the group as non-violent. The statement is not only at odds with known facts; it’s at odds with statements made by the White House only one year ago.
Antisemitic Activity on U.S. Campuses (AMCHA Initiative)
Over 120 Leading University of California Academics Mobilize Against Forthcoming BDS Ballot (Algemeiner)

Yemen
Houthi Advance in Yemen May Provoke Egyptian Intervention - Walaa Hussein (Al-Monitor)

Bulgaria

Bulgaria Charges Radical Imam, Six Others with Supporting Islamic State - Angel Krasimirov (Reuters)

Egypt

Egypt acquits doctor in female genital mutilation death - Maggie Michael (The Times of Israel) Verdict surprises activists, who hoped ruling would serve as deterrent in country where 90% of women undergo the procedure (where it is technically banned).

England

British Town Council Votes to Ban All Israeli Goods - Jerry Lewis (Jerusalem Post) The Leicester city council, which is controlled by Britain's main opposition party, Labor, has instituted a ban of all Israeli goods despite Labor's leader Ed Miliband saying he and his party oppose any boycotts. About 19% of the city's 330,000 residents are Muslims. The Jewish community numbers 295.

Iraq

ISIS Enlisting Child Soldiers on Massive Scale - Zeina Karam and Vivian Salama (AP)

Israel

Ahmadi Muslim leader condemns terror against Israelis as distortion of Islam- Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW) Rejecting the statements of the PA and Fatah leadership, who have supported, defended and glorified the attacks….

Israel Protests to NATO over New Hamas Headquarters in Turkey - Shlomo Cesana (Israel Hayom)

Myths about Israel and Zionism - Gerald McDermott (Public Discourse-Witherspoon Institute)

· Jews were unhappy, because the land they were given did not include West Jerusalem, which had a Jewish majority, and because 60% of their portion was the Negev, an arid desert then thought to be useless. But they accepted the partition. The Arabs did not.

· Jews did not rob poor Arab peasants of their land, as many of today's critics suggest. By 1949, Britain had allocated 187,500 acres of cultivable land to Arabs and only 4,250 acres to Jews. So Jews were forced to pay exorbitant prices for arid land to wealthy, often absentee landlords - $1,000 per acre, when rich black soil in Iowa was getting $110 per acre.

Kazakhstan

Video: Islamic State Jihadis Train Kazakh Boys to Kill 'Infidels' – (The Clarion Project)

United States of America

At Berkeley, Israel is worse than IS (Times of Israel)ISIS& CAIR Exploit Ferguson Riots to Promote 'Resistance' – Ryan Mauro (The Clarion Project) The Islamic State members are taking to social media to encourage encouraging rioters to murder and behead police and political figures. Shariagovernance is advertised as a superior system where blacks will not be victimized by racism.

Hero's Welcome for Hater of Israel at MESA - Martin Kramer (Commentary)