Sunday, September 28, 2014


Australia

Iran

Iraq
Britain's Female Jihadists - Soeren Kern (Gatestone Institute) British female jihadists are now in charge of guarding as many as 3,000 non-Muslim Iraqi women and girls held captive as sex slaves.
For more information, read about the “Verse of the Sword”, visit Loonwatch.com, read about Islam in The Great Heresies by Hilaire Belloc, see the documentary “Islam: What the West Needs to Know” – seems not much has changed since 9/11 -12/1683,

Israel
Growing Unrest Among Palestinians in Jerusalem - Nadav Shragai (Israel Hayom)

Lebanon

Palestinians
PA daily lauds Israel's treatment of Palestinian workers- Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Qatar
How Qatar Is Funding the Rise of Islamist Extremists - David Blair and Richard Spencer (Telegraph-UK)

Turkey

United States
Steven Salaita: Free Speech or Anti Israel Hate? (Honest Reporting) Was Steven Salaita fired because of his views on Israel? Or did the University of Illinois draw the line at hate and intimidation?

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Lebanon
Israel Military Searches for Hizbullah Tunnels along Border with Lebanon - Jack Moore (International Business Times-UK)
Lebanese Forces Chief Geagea Backs Anti-IS Coalition, Slams Hizbullah for Criticizing it (Naharnet)

Iran
Pentagon: Iran Fielding Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles - Jeremy Binnie, London and Daniel Wasserbly (IHS Jane's Defence Weekly)

Libya
Sudan and Qatar deny accusations of supporting Libya Dawn (Libya Herald)

Palestinians
The UN: Clueless or Complicit in Gaza? - Claudia Rosett (National Review)
Palestinian: Donors Wary of Funding Hamas-Run Gaza - Mohammed Daraghmeh (AP)
Gazans Rush to Enjoy Life after Ruinous War - Hamza Hendawi (AP)
Gaza Landlords Refusing to Rent to Hamas - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Fatah Song Promotes Terror -Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdek (PMW) Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party continues to call for launching rockets at Israel. 
Hamas Leader: Gazans Most Affected by Fighting Were Most Committed to Resistance - Asmaa al-Ghoul (Al-Monitor)... an essential part of the capabilities of the resistance was from Iranian aid in the recent war and the war that preceded it.

Saudi Arabia
The "Al-Aqsa Is in Danger" Libel - Nadav Shragai (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) 
Saudi Arabia to Host Training Camps for Moderate Syrian Rebels (Reuters)

South Asia to the Far East
Growing Support For The Islamic State (IS) From South Asia To The Far East; Four New Jihadist Groups Planning Islamic Caliphate Comprising Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, And Southern Philippines - Tufail Ahmad (MEMRI)
Responses to Terrorism: Europe v. India - Vijeta Uniyal (Gatestone Institute)

Syria
I included this because I read the Journal and somehow missed this article. Maybe you did too.
 ISIS's Cruelty Toward Women Gets Scant Attention - Haleh Esfandiari (Wall Street Journal)  ISIS fighters are "rewarded" by being allowed to have their way with captured women. To the men of ISIS, women are an inferior race, to be enjoyed for sex and be discarded, or to be sold off as slaves. From ISIS-captured territory in Syria, we saw a photograph of a line of women, covered from head to toe and tied to one another by a rope, as they were being led to a makeshift slave market. Little girls were married off to men many times their age. Although Islam requires that marriages be based on consent, consent does not appear to exist in the lexicon of ISIS fighters. Why are there are no demonstrations in Western and Muslim societies against this barbaric onslaught on women and girls?
See also: Islamic State of Rape (Foreign Policy)
End of an Era: UN Peacekeepers Stop Pretending to Keep Peace - Seth Mandel(Commentary)
Israeli Troops Saved Irish Peacekeepers on Syria Border - Jim Cusack and John Drennan (Sunday Independent-Ireland)
Al-Qaeda's Syrian Cell Bigger Threat to U.S. than ISIS? - Ken Dilanian and Eileen Sullivan (AP)
New Reality for Israelis on Golan Heights: Islamists Now Control the Other Side - Joel Greenberg (McClatchy)
'Moderate' Syrian Revolutionaries Front continues to support al Qaeda – Lisa Lundquist (Long War Journal)

Turkey
Turkey Sends Back 830 European Jihadists - Fevzi Kizilkoyun (Hurriyet-Turkey)
Turkey ‘welcomes’ Egypt Muslim Brotherhood figures who leave Qatar (Al Arabiya News)

United States
On Thursday, September 11, President Obama finally announced that the U.S. has a strategy. I urge you to read Justin Logan's commentary in USA Today. In it, he makes the case that “we can't fix other countries' political pathologies at an acceptable cost.” (Look at Iraq and Libya). The U.S. “response to the Foley and Sotloff killings should be simple: punishment.” What do you think?
Fact Sheet: Strategy to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) (White House)
Report: U.S.-Israeli Misunderstanding Led to Breakdown of Gaza Truce(Jerusalem Post) According to the report, the Americans mistakenly led Israel to believe that Hamas accepted an unconditional 72-hour cease-fire when in fact the Palestinian Islamist group never gave its consent to refrain from attacking Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza.
Sotloff, failed by US, was sold for $25k-$50k, family saysSpencer Ho (Times of Israel) Spokesman claims location of Israeli-US journalist was given by ‘moderate’ rebels at Turkey-Syria border to IS; accuses Obama administration of using hostages as ‘pawns’
Islamic State Attracts Female Jihadis from U.S. - Alistair Bell (Reuters)  In addition, law enforcement officials say they learned of 15-20 men with connections to the Minnesota Somali community fighting for extremist groups in Syria.

Yemen
Pro-Iranian Houthis Advancing in Yemen - Arafat Madabish (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)


Thursday, September 4, 2014

Are you as upset as I am by all the Israel bashing in the U.S., Europe and Scandinavia? When you hear or read about civilian casualties in war please consider the information below. Think about the civilians, aka non-combatants, when you hear demands for action in Syria or Ukraine or that the US is taking action in Somalia or Iraq. Civilian deaths are always going to be part of war; are the deaths proportionate to a reasonable military objective? Are they worth it?

When reading about contradictory claims of non-combatant Arab casualties during the 50-day Hamas -Israel war, aka Operation Protective Edge, that began on July 8, it's important we understand the numbers in context. Of course civilians died and I for one am horrified by the pictures of children suffering. However, war sucks and as we consider “boots on the ground” and more drone strikes to counteract terrorist threats, let's remember that in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. and coalition forces reportedly killed one combatant for every 3 to 4 noncombatant casualties. Did U.S. and coalition forces, and Israeli troops, take steps to limit “collateral damage?” Of the Palestinian dead in the Gaza Strip who were not members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other terrorist groups: How many were relatives or neighbors killed in an attack on Hamas positions, especially since many of these positions were in schools, mosques, hospitals or residences in highly-populated areas, placed there in violation of the laws of war specifically for their “human shield” potential? How many were Arabs killed by Hamas as “collaborators”? Of the 4,500 rockets fired by Hamas and its allies, 875 fell inside Gaza, meaning Hamas dropped explosives on its own people. How many Arabs were killed by Hamas friendly fire? How many were natural deaths that occurred during the fighting? Let's also recall that had Hamas and its partners not fired rockets, mortars and missiles into Israel just prior to and during Operation Protective Edge, had it not built an extensive tunnel network into Israel to stage mass kidnappings and massacres, and had it not rejected or quickly broken seven cease-fires or cease-fire proposals, there would have been no casualties among Gazans, combatants or non-combatants. *

Al Qaeda’s 9/11 anniversary attacks ready to go. New undetectable explosive may be used (DEBKAfile) Credible information has reached Saudi, British and Australian agencies that two al Qaeda branches – IS in Iraq and Syria and AQAP at its base in Yemen - have wrapped up plans to roll out coordinated terrorist spectaculars around the 13th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. 
Click hear for The Islamic State documentary courtesy of Vice News.

Egypt
Sinai Jihadists Claim Five More Beheadings - Yifa Yaakov (Times of Israel) Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a jihadist group operating in Sinai, claimed responsibility for executing five more Bedouins.
India
Al Qaeda opens branch in the 'Indian Subcontinent' - Bill Roggio (Long War Journal)
Iran
Iran Vows to Free Al-Aqsa Mosque from Israel (IANS) Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Monday vowed to liberate the Al-Aqsa mosque in the old city of Jerusalem from Israeli forces and spare no efforts to help the Palestinian people, state-ownedPress TV reported.
Iraq
Israel
Col. Kemp: Palestinian Civilian Casualties in Gaza War One-Fourth of World Average - Lahav Harkov Col. (res.) (Jerusalem Post) Kemp said there was approximately one civilian casualty for ever terrorist killed by the IDF, whereas the average in the world is four civilians for every combatant.
Israel signs $15 billion gas deal with Jordan – Marissa Newman (Times of Israel)
Israel Approves Major Housing Plan for Arab Neighborhood in Jerusalem - Nir Hasson (Ha'aretz)
The Jerusalem Planning Committee on Wednesday approved a plan for an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem that extends over 375 acres and calls for building 2,200 homes.
Jordan
Jordan to NATO: ISIS Terrorists Have Begun to Infiltrate Our Borders - Eli Leon and Yoni Hirsh (Israel Hayom-Hebrew)
Palestinians
Abbas rejects Egyptian offer to settle refugees in Sinai – Elhanan Miller (Times of Israel) Land that would be annexed to the Gaza Strip.
Pro-Islamic State Rally Held on Temple Mount in Jerusalem (Times of Israel) The gathering, attended by thousands, was organized by the Tahrir party, described as the Palestine branch of the Islamic State.
Hanan Ashrawi attacks Obama for acknowledging Jewish history – Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)
Big Media Ignores Hamas's "Ugliest Crimes" -Khaled Abu Toameh (Gatestone Institute) Why do international journalists and human rights advocates continue to turn a blind eye when Palestinians commit atrocities against their own? Is it because such stories are lacking in an anti-Israel angle?
Syria
UN Claims 191,369 Killed in Syrian Civil War - (CAMERA) The United Nations published its updated figures on the number of deaths caused by the three-and-a-half year Syrian civil war, 191,369. The release of the updated statistics was a relatively low-key affair. 
In Raqqa's Training Camps, ISIS Teaches Children How to Behead (Syria Deeply) Boys say their instructors show them how to decapitate blond, blue-eyed dolls with kitchen knives.
Sudan
Sudan Closes Iran Cultural Centers, Expels Diplomats (Oman Tribune) A Sudanese analyst said the move might be in response to pressure from Saudi Arabia.



*Most details courtesy of CAMERA