Canadian Report Underscores Iran's Culpability in Downing of Ukrainian Airliner - Toby Dershowitz and Dylan Gresik (Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
There Was No "Human Error" in Iran's Shootdown of Ukraine Airlines Flight - Terry Glavin (Ottawa Citizen-Canada)
Canadian Court Takes Stand Against PA's "Pay-to-Slay" Policy - Ariel Kahana (Israel Hayom)  The Canadian Federal Court on Thursday denied the refugee application of Khitam Khudeish, a Palestinian woman who worked for the Palestinian Martyrs' Families Foundation, an organization that pays stipends to Palestinian terrorists and their families

Paris Terrorism Trials Update - Dr. Shimon Samuels (Simon Wiesenthal Center)

Iran's Foreign Minister: U.S. Does Not Have Option of Adding New Issues to Nuclear Deal - A. Savyon, Yigal Carmon, and Ze'ev B. Begin (MEMRI)

New Documentary Shines a Light on Iranian Human Rights Activist Nasrin Sotoudeh - Lakshmi Gandhi (WMC FBomb)

U.S. Weighs Options to Protect Americans in Iraq from Iran - Steve Holland (Reuters)

Hizbullah's Global Trail of Criminality and Corruption - Baria Alamuddin (Arab News-Saudi Arabia)  Hizbullah was designated one of the top five global criminal organizations by the U.S. State Department in 2018.   Lebanese emigre clans operate vast narcotics networks embedded along the Venezuelan coast, primarily targeting the U.S.

PA: Murderer of pregnant woman and child is "heroic” and victim of “kidnapping” by Israel - Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

In West Bank, Palestinians Prepare for Post-Abbas Power Struggle (AFP-France 24) "There are more weapons today in Balata than during the second intifada."  

Syria behind Massive Amphetamine Seizure in Italy - Quentin Sommerville (BBC News)

Report: The Civilian Establishment of the Iranian-Led Shiite Axis in Southern Syria - Maj. (res.) Tal Beeri (Alma Research and Education Center)

Islamic State Continues to Threaten Syrian Regime - Sultan al-Kanj (Al-Monitor)

UK Finally Acknowledges the Obvious - Patrick Dunleavy (IPT News) ...there is no evidence that deradicalisation programmes work

The Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (Qantara) This bipartisan legislation funds economic cooperation and people-to-people programs between the U.S., Israel and the Palestinians. It appropriates $50 million per year for this new program through 2023.

Opposition to UAE Arms Deal Plays into Iran's and Turkey's Strategy  -  Ioannis E. Kotoulas (IPT News) 

Revisiting the BBC's Amplification of Syrian and Russian Propaganda - Hadar Sela (CAMERA UK)

The Top 10 Worst UN Actions of 2020 (UN Watch) 

UN Condemned Israel 17 Times in 2020, Compared to 6 Times for Rest of World Combined (Times of Israel)

A Double Standard on the West Bank versus Western Sahara - Prof. Eugene Kontorovich  (Wall Street Journal) 

Wishing those who celebrate a very merry Christmas! 

Iran Is in Syria to Stay - By Elizabeth Dent and Ariane M. Tabatabai (Foreign Affairs) Tehran sees Syria as a critical piece of its “axis of resistance” and an important route for the transfer of arms and other supplies to Lebanese Hezbollah. 

Iran Threatens Oil Shipping in the Red Sea - Lenny Ben David (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

Reuters Slams Israel Over Plight of Gaza Christians, Ignores Hamas Persecution - Gidon Ben-Zvi (Honest Reporting)

PA to Palestinians: Become a terrorist and guarantee yourself a job in the PA! - Maurice Hirsch (PMW)

Pity the nation: Assessing a half century of Assadist rule - Steven Heydemann (Atlantic Council)

Turkey Says Iranian Intelligence Kidnapped Dissident in Istanbul - Kareem Fahim (Washington Post)

UK Lawmakers Urge Government to Designate Iran's IRGC as Terrorist, Replace Nuclear Deal - Yaghoub Fazeli (Al-Arabiya)

Biden May Stay Out of JCPOA for Now, Use Sanctions as Leverage - Ariel Kahana  (Israel Hayom)  

A Promised Land: Obama’s Memoirs Malign Israel  -Sean Durns (CAMERA) The United States’ 44^th president repeatedly strikes a false equivalency between Israel and the terrorists who seek the Jewish state’s destruction.

Spotlight on the Disputed Western Sahara (AP)

France Is Still Under Attack - Guy Millière (Gatestone Institute)

Germany: New Iran Deal Must Limit Ballistic Missiles Threats -  (Der Spiegel-Germany)

Israeli, Jordanian Foreign Ministers Meet at Border (Times of Israel) Interesting... when we went to Jordon from Israel, our Israeli guide was not permitted into Jordon either. 

Abbas’ Fatah threatens Arabs selling land to Jews in Jerusalem - Maurice Hirsch (PMW)

Anti-Turkish Statements In Iran (MEMRI)

Top House Democrat warns against Trump's Western Sahara designation - Laura Kelly (The Hill) 

Slovenia declares all of Hezbollah a ‘criminal and terrorist organization’ - Raphael Ahren (The Times of Israel)

Guatemala's Terrorist Designation of Hizballah Explained - Tod Bensman (IPT) Guatemala's designation follows one by Honduras in January and three other Latin America nations – Argentina, Paraguay, and Colombia after close coordination with the U.S. National Security Council as part of that broader effort to crack down on Hizballah money laundering

China State-Backed Covid Vaccine Has 86% Efficacy, UAE Says (Bloomberg)

UK and Israel Sign Military Agreement (BICOM-UK)

PROGRESS: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Bulgaria Change Votes to Back Israel UN Watch Welcomes “Significant Shift“ (UN Watch)

ALERT: What Time Magazine Needs To Know About BDS (CAMERA) For reference, see BDS Unmasked