Tuesday, October 21, 2014



Canada

China

Germany
Germany: Holy War Erupts in Hamburg - Soeren Kern (Gatestone Institute)

Iran

Iraq
 ISIS Jihadists Boast of Enslaving Yazidi Women (AFP-Al-Arabiya) 

Partners for Peace?
Israelis and Palestinians join forces to combat Ebola (AFP)
Netanyahu: The Root Cause of the Gaza War? Hamas' Commitment to Kill Every Jew (Prime Minister's Office)
Ya'alon: Palestinians Want to Destroy the Jewish State - Shlomo Cesana (Israel Hayom) 
"I assert that victory is bringing the other side to agree to a cease-fire on your terms....And indeed, we brought Hamas to agree to a cease-fire in a way that ran contrary to their wishes. That is undoubtedly an achievement. There is victory on the ground because of the heavy price that Gaza had to pay. I expect that they will think twice before escalating violence again in the future."
    "Ever since the clashes began in 1936, Dr. Moshe Beilinson, who served as the deputy editor of the [now defunct] Davar newspaper, was asked 'when will it end?' and he would reply 'when the last of our enemies understands that we are here forever.' There are no shortcuts. Our efforts to create shortcuts over the last two decades - from Oslo until the present day - have all failed."
How the Donors Saved Hamas - Khaled Abu Toameh (Gatestone Institute) The promised funds absolve Hamas of any responsibility for the catastrophe it brought upon the Palestinians during the confrontation with Israel. Now the Palestinians in Gaza will no longer ask Hamas to compensate them for the loss of their houses and family members. They will now be referred to the PA. Hopes that the catastrophic results of the confrontation would increase pressure on Hamas or perhaps trigger a revolt against it have now faded.
Which Palestine Do Europeans Recognize? - Jonathan S. Tobin (Commentary)
Hamas lambastes UN chief for criticizing tunnels - Marissa Newman (Times of Israel)
Palestinian kids are taught to expect Israel's destruction - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Syria
The Broader Nature of the Conflict in Iraq and Syria - Jonathan Spyer(Fathom-BICOM)
The heartland of the Islamic State is in Raqqa city in Syria. If you want to destroy the Islamic State, you - or someone on your behalf - will have to go into Raqqa city and take on and defeat them. It is not clear who that candidate could possibly be.


Turkey
Turkey's Border War (Vice News)

United States
New York Artists' Niqab Hashtag Campaign Ignores Garment's Long History of Oppression – Phyllis Chesler (Breitbart) These artists and all who agree with them are treating what is mainly a forced choice in the Muslim world (and in Muslim communities in the West), as a potentially free choice. They are, in essence, donning the equivalent of “black face,” or slave chains, and saying that this feels good—in New York City, where they are only play-acting, and can remove their face veils without any negative consequence.

Yemen
Yemen Changes Hands. Will an Iranian Stronghold Emerge Near the Entrance to the Red Sea? - Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah (ICA-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) 
March of the Houthis - Editorial (Daily Star-Lebanon) Yemen's Houthis, a Shiite rebel group from the north of the country, took control of the capital Sanaa in late September, and is now marching south, having taken the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah. Once they take the Bab al-Mandeb port, the Houthis - and by extension the Iranians - will control a port through which passes 40% of the world's oil each day, as it controls the Strait of Hormuz. With such power at its disposal, Iran will have control over the global oil market.
    And yet the international community has been virtually silent on the apparently unstoppable approach of the Houthis, and American drones continue to focus on al-Qaeda elements elsewhere in the country. Events in Yemen could prove far more damaging to the region and the world than what is happening elsewhere.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Canada
U.S., Canada's RCMP Team Up with Islamists - Christine Williams (Gatestone Institute)

India

Iran
Report: Iran Ordered Hizbullah to Bomb IDF Troops (Ha'aretz) Tuesday's bomb attack on Israel Defense Forces troops on the Lebanese border was ordered by Iran in retaliation for a mysterious fire at the Parchin military research complex in Iran, the Kuwaiti A-Rai newspaper reported on Friday.

Iraq
UN: Islamic State Committing "Staggering" Crimes in Iraq - Stephanie Nebehay (Reuters) Islamic State insurgents in Iraq have carried out mass executions, abducted women and girls as sex slaves, and used child soldiers in what may amount to systematic war crimes that demand prosecution, the UN Human Rights Office reported on Thursday. At least 9,347 civilians had been killed and 17,386 wounded so far this year through September, the report said.

Israel

Lebanon

Libya

Palestinians
Palestinians Riot Against Visit to West Bank University by U.S. Consular Officials - Khaled Abu Toameh (Gatestone Institute)  It does not matter whether the U.S. officials came to Nablus to help Palestinians. They were attacked because they represent a country that is viewed by many Arabs and Muslims as an enemy because of its support for Israel's right to exist. 

Saudi Arabia
"Remove Israel from That Map!" - Khaled Abu Toameh (Gatestone Institute) The Saudi MBC TV network was recently forced to apologize to its hundreds of millions of viewers for using the name Israel instead of Palestine. The condemnations did not come only from Palestinians, but from nearly all the Arab countries.

Turkey

Yemen
Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hizbullah Assist Houthis in Yemen - Arafat Madabish (Asharq al-Awsat-UK)
Shiite rebels hostile to US and Israel are new masters of Yemen – Hamza Hendawi (Times of Israel) Said to be backed by Iran, the Houthis are poised to become the Hezbollah of the world's poorest and most unstable nation. While the world has been focused on the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, Yemen — located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula — has seen its own sudden, seismic upheaval when Shiite rebels known as the Houthis overran Sanaa two weeks ago.

Friday, October 3, 2014


Argentina

Egypt
Jihadi War in Sinai - Yoram Schweitzer and Shani Avita (Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Growing terrorist activity by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis in Sinai, and the tightening of its relations with non-Egyptian terrorist organizations headed by ISIS and Salafi jihadi affiliates from Gaza, constitute a strong challenge to the stability of the el-Sisi regime in Egypt.

Iran
Iran's "Political Prisoner Cleansing" - Shadi Paveh (Gatestone) Iran continues to hide behind the world's focus on ISIS to accelerate political arrests, executions, "prison cleansing" and above all, its program to achieve nuclear capability.The "mainstream media" and so-called Human Rights Groups have, as usual, remained silent.

Israel
Israel Okays New Homes for Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem (Times of Israel) A Jerusalem committee gave its final approval last week to advance the construction of new housing in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Hamatos, Deputy Mayor Kobi Kahlon said Wednesday. The move was largely symbolic, as the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee had formally announced the project in 2012. Half of the housing units will be designated for Arab residents, while the remaining apartments will house Jews, Army Radio reported.

Palestinians
PA honors murderers of 3 Israeli teens - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)
Hamas Seeks to Establish Islamic State in Place of Israel (Xinhua-China) Hamas strongman Mahmoud al-Zahar announced Tuesday, "We don't want to establish an Islamic emirate in Gaza; we want an Islamic state in all Palestine." Al-Zahar vowed that his movement will follow "the program of resistance," adding that "during the last war on Gaza, we learned how to liberate all the occupied lands of Palestine."

Qatar
The Case Against Qatar – Elizabeth Dickinson (Foreign Policy) They're one of the US's Arab partners in the war with ISIS, yet they fund al Qaeda in Syria, al-Nusra Front and Hamas.

Syria
Chechen unit from Islamic State reportedly fighting at Kobane - Bill Roggio & Caleb Weiss (Long War Journal)

United Nations
Text: Abbas' UN Speech (Times of Israel)

United States
In Iraq, Syria, US lifts rules meant to protect civilians – Stuart Winer (Times of Israel) Exacting standards designed to avoid unintended casualties do not apply to fight against Islamic State, White House says