The New York Times continues to confound. I opened the paper on Saturday morning, page A2, "Inside the Times, The Story Behind the Story" - Photo caption: Depictions of Jesus in the United States and Europe have historically tended to portray him as white, although he was most likely a Palestinian man with dark skin.???? While I realize that based on the time and place that Jesus is purported to have lived, it's unlikely he was fair-skinned nor blue-eyed. Isn't Jesus believed to have been a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. I find it odd that the author would describe Jesus as Palestinian because today "Palestinian" is a term that no longer refers to a region, but is used to exclude Jews.

Mapping Taliban Control in Afghanistan - Bill Roggio & Alexandra Gutowski (FDD's Long War Journal) ...since the U.S. drawdown of peak forces in 2011, the Taliban has unquestionably been resurgent.

It’s getting harder to track U.S. progress in Afghanistan – Katie Bo Williams (Defense One) “What we are finding is now almost every indicia, metric for success or failure is now classified or nonexistent. Over time it’s been classified or it’s no longer being collected”

Report: The return of ISIS fighters threatens European security – Francisco Peregil (El Pais) 

Iraq summit brings together rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran (Al Jazeera)

After Its Soldiers Are Fired Upon, Israel Attacks Two Hamas Posts in Gaza - Yaniv Kubovich (Ha'aretz)

Partners for Peace?

Israel's Armistice with Hamas, Growing Tensions with Abbas - Ehud Yaari (Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Ironically, even as Hamas and Fatah denounce each other's contacts with Israel, both are pursuing dialogue with Netanyahu's team. 

Hamas Announces "Higher National Commission for Resisting the Deal of the Century" - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post) Salah Bardaweel, a Hamas official in Gaza, has announced the formation of "The Higher National Commission for Resisting the Deal of the Century." Bardaweel urged all Palestinian factions to resort to "armed and popular resistance" to foil the upcoming U.S. peace plan.
From An Unknown Teenager To A Palestinian Symbol -  In Just Two Weeks  - Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

How Palestinian Leaders Encourage Terrorism- Bassam Tawil (Gatestone Insitute)

UK Labour MP Claims Video of Guatemalan Troops Shows IDF "Beating Up Palestinian Children"- Joel Adams (Daily Mail-UK) In fact, the clip shows Guatemalan soldiers beating and kicking two teenagers in 2015.  Morris is outgoing chairman of Labour Friends of Palestine.

Trump’s Middle East peace team has made a strategy of silence. That’s about to end.- Michael Wilner (McClatchy)

For those celebrating Passover and Easter, we wish you a wonderful holiday.

Lessons From Vietnam on Leaving Afghanistan - George C. Herring (Foreign Affairs)

Arab Writers: The Arabs And Palestinians Must Stop Rejecting Every Proposed Settlement With Israel; Sadat Was Right In Making Peace (MEMRI)

Iran Identifies CIA Network in Country(Mehr-Iran)

Iranian-Backed Terror Cell Dismantled in Central Africa (i24News)

Qatar and Turkey Face Setback in Libya and Sudan - Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem Post)

Olmert offered Abbas more than 100% of West Bank,  and Abbas still refused peace deal - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW) PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat who was present at the negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas in 2008, recently told PA TV how generous Olmert's offer was on all final status issues. In fact, Olmert literally accepted all of the PA's publicly expressed demands, and even offered Abbas more than the full area of the West Bank and Gaza, and yet Abbas still rejected the offer.

Pakistan’s new interior minister is an Al Qaeda associate - Diane Shalem (Debka File) The late Pakistani President Benazir Bhutto, who was herself assassinated in 2007, had confided to her associates that Brig. Shah (the new interior minister) ought to have been arrested and investigated for his role in orchestrating and executing Daniel Pearl.

Russia Is Trying To Fly Military Planes Into Venezuela Via Syria Again - Alberto Nardelli (Buzz Feed)

Somali Diplomat Fired for Pro-Israel Views - Raphael Ahren (Times of Israel)

Women dominated the efforts to oust the president of Sudan- Aviva Stahl (WMC)

Israel Gave Russia Prior Notice of Strike in Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)

The BDS Movement Is a Cleverly Disguised Campaign to Destroy Israel - Alex Titus and Alexander Khan (National Review)
We find ourselves in a new kind of Egypt - how do we leave it?- Phyllis Chesler  (Israel National News) Just a few days ago, the New York Times had eight articles, which total 8,526 words, about the Israeli election—all opinion pieces masquerading as hard news coverage,....This largely negative, almost erotically charged obsession with every aspect of Israel’s existence is pathological but it is also highly influential. 

Democrats are increasingly critical of Israel. Not Pete Buttigieg. - Alex Ward (Vox) Buttigieg’s staunch support of Israel bucks the Democratic party’s trend. 

Trade Ties Bind Nebraska to Israel - Aviv Ezra (Lincoln [Neb.] Journal Star)

Upcoming Event at Asia Society New York

On April 24, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif will deliver an address at Asia Society New York and participate in a discussion with Asia Society President and CEO Josette Sheeran. This program will also be available via webcastat 8:30 a.m. New York time.

Egypt's Lukewarm Response To Climate Change -  Maha T. Khalil (Mada Masr/WorldCrunch)
Egypt Withdraws from U.S.-Led "Arab NATO" - Stephen Kalin (Reuters) Egypt has pulled out of the U.S. effort to forge an "Arab NATO" to contain Iran, said sources familiar with the decision. A meeting of the participants in the proposed Middle East Security Alliance (MESA) is to be held Sunday in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. MESA participants include the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Jordan. 

Police Raids across Germany Target Hamas-Linked Charities (Deutsche Welle-Germany)

Why Netanyahu Keeps Winning - Aaron Kliegman  (Washington Free Beacon) Netanyahu's views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are mainstream because Israelis see how the Palestinian leadership repeatedly spit on, if not try to cut off or blow up, their government's outstretched hand.

In Libya, One of Putin’s Many Bets Is in Play - Leonid Bershidsky (Bloomberg) Putin’s generals and diplomats have built a new relationship – with Haftar, who commands the strongest military force in Libya and contains most of the country’s oil and gas. 

From Gaza classrooms to the DNC, Palestinian female terrorists are all the rage - Emily Benedek (Times of Israel) Two-time PFLP hijacker Leila Khaled isn’t just lionized in the Arab world — she’s regularly invited to speak in Europe. Now the American hard left is picking up her ideology

Vice News Reporter’s False Claim: “270 Children Killed in Gaza” - Emanuel Miller (Honest Reporting) A Vice News Tonight report aired on television by HBO on April 3 spread a clearly false claim smearing the IDF and the State of Israel. 

Palestinian Police Arrest Hundreds of People Every Week at West Bank-Jordan Checkpoint - Elder of Ziyon (Algemeiner)  Last week, 184 Palestinians were detained by the PA. The week before, 223 were arrested by the PA, and 252 in the preceding week. Are those arrested criminals? Political dissidents? No one seems to care. Because only Israeli arrests of Palestinians are worth reporting by the media.

Picketing Cape Town's Jewish Groups in the Name of Palestinians - Armin Rosen (Tablet) The Council of South African Trade Unions picketed the Cape Town offices of the Jewish Board of Deputies as part of the country's annual Israel Apartheid Week festivities.  Why target the board, whose mission is to "promote the safety and welfare of South African Jewry"?  Malvern De Bruyn, a COSATU activist, explained: "There's no embassy in Cape Town. That's why we came to the board of deputies."     In the absence of an Israeli target, COSATU chose the most visible and convenient Jewish one.

How U.S. F-35 Technology Would Be Compromised If Turkey Had the Russian S-400 Anti-Aircraft System (Air Force Times)

In NY Times Israel Coverage, Anything Goes - Tamar Stenthal (CAMERA)

Israeli Election: A Vote of No Confidence in the Media - Simon Plosker (Honest Reporting)