Friday, March 29, 2019

Iran Moves to Cement Its Influence in Syria - Raja Abdulrahim and Benoit Faucon (Wall Street Journal) Iran is offering cash, food, Iranian ID cards, public services and free education to Syria's majority Sunni Muslim.... Iran's hearts-and-minds campaign undermines efforts by the U.S., Israel and Arab states to roll back Tehran's influence and force it out of Syria.
Nine Iranians Nabbed in Sri Lanka with 107 Kg. of Heroin (Sunday Times-Sri Lanka)
Report: Hamas Says Iran Ordered Rocket Attack on Israel - Ilanit Chernick (Jerusalem Post) A senior Hamas official claimed that Iran "went over the heads" of the Hamas leadership and ordered Islamic Jihad to carry out the attack.

Hamas: "Scatter the enemies' body parts,  make the skulls fly in the sky"  - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW) While Hamas was launching missiles at Israel's civilian population yesterday, Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV was broadcasting calls to murder Israelis.

Syria repels Israeli air 'aggression' in Aleppo province: report (France24) The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli bombardment hit “ammunition stores belonging to Iranian forces and allied groups, and caused huge explosions.”

Så har islamisterna byggt upp sin maktbas i Sverige - Auli Carl (Göteborgs-Posten) Coverage of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden

All ISIS Has Left Is Money. Lots of It.- David Kenner (The Atlantic) the bulk of the Islamic State’s assets had been transferred to Turkey

A Disturbing Vote at Brown University - Editorial (Providence Journal)
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Friday, March 22, 2019


Iran's Wartime Preparations include Terrorist Attacks and Assassinations - Zach Dorfman (Yahoo News) Iran's relative military weakness has led it to focus on preparations to attack "softer" targets, such as U.S. government facilities and personnel, and even civilian institutions like synagogues. 
Iran-Backed Militias Step Up the Battle in Iraq - Jonathan Spyer (Wall Street Journal) 


Malaysia Has Become Hub for Iranian Activity - Chaim Levinson (Ha'aretz)  "Malaysia is the meeting point between various terrorist organizations and the Iranians," an Israeli official says.

PA official implicitly endorses yesterday's terror attack in which 2 Israelis were murdered - Nan Jacques Zilberdik and Maurice Hirsch, Adv. (PMW) Spokesman of the PA Security Forces adamantly denies having condemned attack, Hamas claims he called the attack "a crime" 
Hamas Breaks Up Gaza Protests (AP-Daily Mail-UK) Hamas security forces in Gaza on Thursday forcibly dispersed hundreds of Palestinians protesting dire living conditions.  Videos circulated on social media showed police firing live rounds in the air, beating protesters and hauling them into police vehicles after demonstrators burned tires and blocked roads.
Video: Hamas Suppresses Protesters in Gaza(GazaLive-Twitter)

Iran Plans Takeover of Syria's Main Commercial Port at Latakia - Hannah Lucinda Smith (Sunday Times-UK)
Syria’s civil war is now three civil wars - Jonathan Spyer (Foreign Policy)

Turkey Is Changing the Middle East - Hussein Ibish (Bloomberg) 

International Terrorism Prosecutions During Winter 2019 - Emma Broches, Julia Solomon-Strauss (Lawfare) 
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Friday, March 15, 2019

Condolences to New Zealanders. 

We were in Canada this past weekend and talked with some locals. While anecdotal, Canadians were concerned about refugees and how they are changing the culture and finances of Canada. Despite getting aid nationally for 1 yr., (Note: In US, some counties provide aid for just 30 days), most of the refugees' education levels are so low that 1 yr is not enough to get a job. Plus many are disabled. The govt. agreed to take on these additional responsibilities with no budget/money committed to these programs.

Afghanistan's National Security Advisor on the U.S., Pakistan, and More - (Asia Society Youtube Video) "Characterizing it (the war in Afghanistan) as an American war does a disservice to the sacrifices made by Afghans," he said.
Afghan military kills 31 AQIS fighters in Ghazni- Bill Roggio (FDD's Long War Jounral)  Despite repeated claims to the contrary, al Qaeda has not been defeated in Afghanistan, and it still continues to operate alongside its ally, the Taliban. Meanwhile, major news sources report the US is negotiating with the Taliban not the Afghan govt.

A Regime Conceals Its Erasure of Indigenous Armenian Culture -Simon Maghakyan and Sarah Hickman  (Hyperallergic)  Unlike the self-publicized cultural destruction of ISIS, independent Azerbaijan’s covert campaign to re-engineer Nakhichevan’s historical landscape between 1997 and 2006 is little known outside the region.

Egypt Seeks to Consolidate Truce in Gaza - Kifah Ziboun (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)

Ongoing Protests in Jordan Threaten to Destabilize the Regime - Z. Harel (MEMRI) The public unrest in Jordan is not dying down, and the frequent protests are threatening to destabilize the country.

While it's hard to imagine the Palestinian Authority as a partner for peace, Hamas has no trouble with this image.  Palestinians: Abbas Stands 'Trial' for Treason - Khaled Abu Toameh (Gatestone Institute) The mock trial in the Gaza Strip of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas may seem like some sort of bizarre comedy act. The "trial," however, is designed to send a signal not only to Abbas, but to any Palestinian who even thinks of making peace with Israel or recognizing its right to exist.
Official PA TV teaches children that Israel will come to an end: "All of Palestine will return to us"-  Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW) Despite insurances from Palestinian Authority leaders that they support a two-state solution and want to live side by side with Israel, the PA continues to teach children that Israel will come to an end.
Muhammad Shtayyeh:  Profile of the new Palestinian Prime Minister  - Maurice Hirsch, Adv. and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW) Shtayyeh believes that Palestinian terrorists, including terrorists and murderers imprisoned in Israel, are not terrorists but rather freedom fighters

NATO Member Turkey Announces Joint Military Operation with Iran Against Kurdish Fighters - Ben Cohen (Algemeiner)
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Thursday, March 7, 2019

At a "Discussion on the Middle East" this week at The Center on National Security at Fordham Law, we listened to John O. Brennan and Ali Soufan provide their thoughts on important issues. Many topics were covered. These are just some interesting highlights:
-The US should engage with Iran and assuage their fear that they'll end up like Iraq/Saddam
-US is becoming irrelevant in Afghanistan. US criticized for meeting/negotiating with Taliban and not the other players, including the govt, Russia, and China. Russia is taking the lead here.
-Yemen is "the worst disaster in the world." 
- Libya, Yemen, Algeria, Sudan - Combatants are proxies for Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc. Money, especially from Iran and Saudi Arabia are behind the conflicts. 
-The root of the ideology that supports and spreads military/terrorist Islam throughout the world continues to be Saudi Arabia's export of Wahhabi philosophy/education. Because the most important thing to MBS is staying in power, he's willing to work w/Wahhabi religious leadership.


Hamas Is Negotiating with Explosives - Yaakov Lappin (i24News) Recent days have seen a spike in the number of Hamas-orchestrated bombs and IEDs on the border with Gaza. According to a Kan TV news report, Hamas is demanding $20 million for a cessation of grenade-throwing rioters and balloons carrying explosives over the border into Israeli communities. 

Russian Special Forces Train Palestinian Militia in Syria - Caleb Weiss (Long War Journal) In a video released Tuesday by the Russian news channel RT,Russian special forces were shown training members of Liwa al Quds, a pro-regime Palestinian militia group in Syria.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt Reject Clause Stopping Normalization with Israel (Middle East Monitor-UK) Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt on Monday rejected a statement by the Union of Arab Parliaments meeting in Amman which called for stopping normalization with Israel, the Shehabnews agency reported.

Why???


Venezuela in Crisis: Iran's Poisonous Role - (Video/Youtube Middle East Forum) The Maduro regime in Venezuela is fortified by Russian mercenaries, Cuban paramilitary elements, Hezbollah, and Iranian Basij and Quds Force operatives. What is behind Iranian and Hezbollah penetration into Venezuela and other parts of South America?
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Friday, March 1, 2019

French ISIS fighters to be tried in Iraq (France24)  France has long maintained that any of its nationals captured in Syria or Iraq should be tried in those countries. 

Hizbullah to Be Added to UK List of Terrorist Organizations (BBC News)
House of Commons Approves Ban on Hizbullah Political Wing - Peter Walker  (Guardian-UK) 
Switzerland Halts Arms Exports to Lebanon Due to Missing Weapons (Swissinfo.ch-Switzerland) 
Google Removes Hizbullah Computer Game "Holy Defense" From App Store (MEMRI TV) 

 Libya Cracks Down on Hamas Arms Smugglers - Adnan Abu Amer (Al Monitor)
I Ran the Air War Over Gaddafi. Here’s Why The US Should Stop Backing the Yemen War - Margaret Woodward (Defense One)

PA to cut salaries of all Palestinian workers but won't cut salaries of imprisoned terrorists and murderers who will be paid in full - Nan Jacques Zilberdik and Itamar Marcus (PMW) Impending PA financial crisis follows Abbas decision to not accept Israeli transfers of approx. 670 million shekels/month after Israel decided to deduct 41 million shekels/month from PA tax money equivalent to the amount PA pays terrorist prisoners

As "Caliphate" Crumbles, ISIS Women Remain Defiant (AFP-Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) "My son will grow up to become a jihadist," a woman cried proudly as she stepped off a bus ferrying people out of the ISIS group's last sliver of territory in eastern Syria. She is one of 2,000 people evacuated Friday from the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border. 

Daily Mail Corrects Claim Western Wall Is Judaism's Holiest Site - Adam Levick (UK Media Watch-CAMERA)  The Temple Mount is the most sacred location for Jews.  The Western Wall is merely the most sacred place where Jews are currently permitted to pray.

Jared Kushner Interview on U.S. Peace Plan (The National-Abu Dhabi) "We've focused on...what's holding back the Palestinian people from achieving their full potential and what's holding back the Israeli people from being able to properly integrate with the whole region."
Tweet: eRep. @IlhanMN seems to calculate that if she makes only one blatantly anti-Semitic remark per week, progressives will forgive her. Is she right? In response to: Reps. Omar and Tlaib: Anti-Semitism charges shut down criticism of Israel - Laura Kelly (Jewish Insider)
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