Did you know BBC has decided to stop using "terror" because "someone's terrorist is another's freedom fighter" - No judgments here https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidance/terrorism-language/guidance-full
ISIS Expands in Afghanistan, Threatening West (AP-Military Times) ISIS in Afghanistan received a major boost when the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan joined its ranks in 2015. Today it counts thousands of fighters, many from central Asia but also from Arab countries, Chechnya, India and Bangladesh, as well as ethnic Uighurs from China.
An Iranian Activist Wrote Dozens of Articles for Right-Wing Outlets. But is He a Real Person? Murtaza Hussain (The Intercept) Good to know, but I'm still confused by MEK's goals.
IAEA: Iran Has Accelerated Enrichment of Uranium - Sabine Siebold and Francois Murphy (Reuters)
Woman Admits Role in Smuggling Airplane Parts to Iran- William Westhoven (Morristown [NJ] Daily Record)
Arabs' Nightmare: Absorbing Palestinians - Khaled Abu Toameh (Gatestone Institute) While the author says "Arabs'" this article is about Lebanon. Like most Arab countries, Lebanon has long treated Palestinians as second-class citizens. It has been depriving them of basic rights, including citizenship, employment, heath care, education, social services and property ownership. The vast majority of the 450,000 Palestinians living in Lebanon do not have Lebanese citizenship.
UN chief urges implementation of arms embargo against Libya - Edith Lederer (Washington Post)
Why Is the PA So Opposed to the Bahrain Conference? - Pinhas Inbari (Algemeiner)
Palestinian hypocrisy: Jibril Rajoub forbids Palestinian-Israeli sports, yet in Paris says sports is "a bridge of love and connection with the international community" - Nan Jacques Zilberdik and Maurice Hirsch, Adv (PMW)
The Suppressed Plight of Palestinian Christians - Raymond Ibrahim (Gatestone)
Syrian Opposition Uncovers Maps of Iranian Missiles Caches (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)
What I Learned at the D.C. Dyke Marc - Carly Pildis (Tablet Magazine)
David Friedman Didn't Endorse Annexation - Jonathan S. Tobin (JNS)
International Law Supports Israel Retaining Some of the West Bank - Alan M. Dershowitz (Ha'aretz)
Two items from Honest Reporting - worth reading the details
Newsweek Links Israel to Myanmar Ethnic Cleansing - Simon Plosker (Honest Reporting) Maza’s article is a journalistic embarrassment that should never have been published by Newsweek.
Labour MP: Gaza Mother ‘Separated’ From Her Dead Babies - Emanuel Miller (Honest Reporting) With the reality for Palestinians in Israeli hospitals so complicated by regional geopolitics, Palestinian terrorism, and Israel’s attempts to secure its borders, there’s plenty of room to discuss the situation in a nuanced way. Unfortunately, in spreading a demonstrably false story, the British politician’s op-ed only serves to create more friction rather than helping the Palestinians she professes to want to help.
What’s In the New Draft National Defense Authorization Act - Annie Himes, Julia McKay and John T. Nelson (Just Security) Section 1215 of Chairman Smith’s mark also addresses ex gratia payments to civilians for damage, injury, or death incident to U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. These payments are condolences and do not admit legal wrongdoing. Section 1215 of the chairman’s mark allocates up to $5,000,000 for ex gratia payments through the end of 2020 and requires the Defense Secretary to submit a report to the congressional defense committees “upon each exercise of the authority in this subsection.” In the past, DoD has failed to make use of funding for condolence payments and has therefore concluded they are exempt from NDAA reporting requirements on such payments.
