Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family or at least a relaxing day off. These updates will be taking a two-week break. See you again on or about December 17th.   

  *Whenever you see misinformation in your local paper or in the news, address it. Write letters to the editor, tweet or call. This week, I wrote to NYT and Vice asking for corrections.

     *On Sunday morning, an Arab resident of Jerusalem, who worked in a school funded by the Jerusalem municipality, decided to act upon incitement by the Palestinian Authority and his homicidal Hamas ideology to attack Israelis with an automatic weapon. The attacker murdered civilian Eliyahu Kay and injured four others. Israeli police officers shot the active terrorist shooter before he could murder any more innocent people. In the world of the PA, a Palestinian was “shot by the occupation”  

     *The initial Associated Press headline first referred to the Palestinian terrorist: "Israeli police shoot dead Palestinian who killed 1 Israeli and injured 4 others." Meanwhile, the NYT  made a point not to label perps and victims. In their reporting on Sunday's terror attack, they also called Jerusalem "the holiest site" and provided a link describing how it's holy to several religions - omitting that it is the holiest site for Jews alone. Further, they labeled Hamas a "militant Islamist group;" the US, UK and Europe label Hamas Islamist terrorists.  And lately Vice News has has been nothing but Palestinian propaganda.

On Wed. evening news, an expert stated there are still 185,000 allies left behind! 

Taliban Closes In As Desperate Afghan Women Await Rescue - Phyllis Chesler (IPT News)

Thousands of Afghans Seek Temporary US Entry, Few Approved (Voice of America) USCIS, which is primarily fee-funded (by desperate families), is sitting on some $11.5 million from Afghans in the last few months.

U.S. blacklists ISIS-K leaders as terrorist organization's threat grows - Darryl Coote (UPI) The top UN diplomat in Afghanistan warned last week that ISIS-K “seems to be present in nearly all provinces and increasingly active.”

Australia designates entirety of Hezbollah a terrorist organization (Jerusalem Post)

Bahrain Foils Planned Attack, Confiscates Iranian Weapons and Explosives (Reuters)

Iraqi Air Force Bombs ISIS Hideouts in Mountains (Al-Monitor)

Gaza War in May 2021 Showed Increase in Hamas Capabilities - Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Richard Natonski and Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Thomas Trask (Real Clear Defense) This conflict is a harbinger of growing threats to the U.S. from adversaries that fight unconventionally with advanced weaponry.

PA Launches Military Operation to Regain Control of Jenin - Elior Levy (Ynet News)  The Palestinian Authority launched an extensive military operation in Jenin on Friday to regain control of the area. Armed militias affiliated with Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and Hamas recently marched openly in the city, proclaiming their control.

Palestinians clash with police in East J’lem after march supporting Hamas terrorist - Aaron Boxerman (Times of Israel)

PA Min. of Education to kids: There's no Israel, “the entire land is ours, from the Sea to the River” - Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Russia Pressures Iran to Withdraw from T4 Airbase in Syria (Syrian Observer-Turkey)

Syrian Women's Organizations And Women's Rights Activists: Islamic Opposition Organizations Backed By Turkey Are Inciting Against Us, Putting Our Lives In Danger (MEMRI)

Secret Chinese Port Project in Persian Gulf Rattles U.S. Relations with UAE - Gordon Lubold (Wall Street Journal) After rounds of meetings and visits by U.S. officials, construction was recently halted.  It appeared the Emirati government was unaware of the military nature of China's activity.

British Army to Move Main Overseas Training Base to Middle East - Dominic Nicholls (Telegraph-UK) UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is expected to announce this week the move of Britain's biggest overseas training base from Alberta in Canada to Oman in the Middle East. 

Britain Outlaws Palestinian Militant Group Hamas - Stephen Farrell and Alistair Smout  (Reuters) The rationale for it is that there is no longer any meaningful distinction to be made between the military and political wings of Hamas

Biden cannot let pursuit of Iran nuclear deal lead to a 'Munich moment'  - Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper (The Hill) 

Duke University Hands a Big Win to Antisemites — and BDS - Ben Stone (Algemeiner)

This New Hanukkah Video of a Ladino Classic Will Make You Want to Dance www.kveller.com/this-new-hanukkah-video-of-a-ladino-classic-will-make-you-want-to-dance

Be safe over the holiday, and wear a mask!

Report: Egypt Signs Contract for 500 Russian T-90MS Tanks (Israel Defense)

Behind the Scenes: EU Clamps Down on Terror Funding (Human Rights & Hot Coffee Podcast) EU Backtracks on €1.7 Million to Radical Palestinian NGO. The terror group claimed it was enhancing the resilience of Palestinians.

Persecution of Baha'is in Iran Escalates as 77 Imprisoned over Religious Beliefs - Abbie Cheeseman (Telegraph-UK)

Is annexation just accepting the truth on the ground? What will the rights of Palestinians be in this area? Is Israel's plan to annex or declare sovereignty over Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley any different than the other 123 territorial disputes in the world today?  Is it like Russia and Ukraine? As Honest Reporting reported last week, is it legal and is it right are two different questions. After all these years with the PA promoting terror and declaring that anyone who supports "normalization" with Israel should be shot and that the entire area from the "river to the sea" is Palestinian, they've demonstrated that Israel has no one to negotiate their borders with. Note that although President Carter took the position that settlements are illegal, this was quickly reversed by the Reagan administration, which held that settlements are “not illegal.” Subsequent U.S. administrations either reiterated Reagan’s view or refrained from taking a position on legality. The Trump administration is stirring up the pot as annexation is part of their peace plan. 

Former MK Dov Lipman gives an update about "annexation" on i24 News (YouTube)

The legal basis for applying Israeli law to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley - Maurice Hirsch, Adv. (PMW)

Annexation is already here - Jessica Montell (Times of Israel) The Seam Zone - the area beyond the Separation Barrier in the West Bank - is a testing ground for the treatment of Palestinians under annexation, and it's a lousy model

Annexation' is a misnomer: Israel wants a safe way to hand land to Palestinians in return for peace - Gregory Rose (The Sunday Morning Herald)

Abbas’s Fatah party, terror group Hamas unite to ‘topple’ Trump deal, annexation - Aaron Boxerman (Times of Israel)

Israeli Group Concerned over Fate of Jewish Archaeological Sites in West Bank under U.S. Peace Plan - Rinat Harash (Reuters)

Lebanese Judge Bans Media from Interviewing U.S. Ambassador after Anti-Hizbullah Comments - Sarah Dadouch (Washington Post)

Palestinians 'Execute' Unarmed Civilian, Condemn Israel For Killing Terrorist - Bassam Tawil (Gatestone Institute)

VIDEO: Terror Attack Or Car Accident? CNN Chooses Sides Against Israel - Gidon Ben-Zvi (Honest Reporting) When a Palestinian driver rammed his car into Israeli border police officers, it was the latest in a long string of deliberate attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians.  But that's not how CNN presented the story...

PA promises terror, claims it's allowed under international law - Nan Jacques Zilberdik and Itamar Marcus (PMW)

PA Offers Direct Peace Talks With Israel (Honest Reporting) The two sides haven’t held direct peace talks since 2014. 

The Assad Regime Is Cracking under Pressure - Jonathan Spyer (Foreign Policy)  Despite talk of the war winding down, Assad and his allies still only control 60% of Syria. The Turks and their Sunni Islamist allies control 15%, while 25% is controlled by the U.S.-aligned, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. 

Generation Jihad Ep. 16 – Al Qaeda’s Never-ending Problems in Syria - Thomas Joscelyn & Bill Roggio (Long War Journal) 

Leave Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and His Views on Israel Alone - Klaas Mokgomole and Mmamalema Molepo (Eyewitness News-South Africa) Somehow, when it comes to Israel and Palestine, we are suddenly told to have a moral high ground and pick sides. There has been no sanctioning or boycotting of Libya for the sale of human beings in the 21st century, or France's colonial tax on West and Central African countries. The strong campaigns for the freedom of the people of the Western Sahara and West Papua New Guinea are eerily silent and one can only wonder why.

Two videos of interest from The Center on National Security: 

Putting the Middle East in Historical and Geopolitical Context

The Caravan: Abdallah Azzam and the Rise of Global Jihad

Totally unrelated: Scotland voted 52-0 to stop exporting rubber bullets, tear gas, and riot shields to the US, and over 150 MPs are calling on the UK to do the same.

FYI Glossary of Extremists in Mideast and Africa - Matthew Lee (AP)

Australia

Terrorist Shot Dead in Australia "Planned to Behead Police Officers" (Western Australian)

Iran

Thank goodness: Iranians receive suspended sentence of jail and lashes for being happy.

Iran Prepares for a Leadership Transition (Stratfor)

Dermer: Nuclear Iran Is a "Thousand Times" More Dangerous than ISIS - (JTA)

Iranians Caught in Kenya with Fake Israeli Passports - Itamar Eichner(Ynet News)

Chinese Warships Dock in Iran (Press TV-Iran)

Iraq

Britain's Female Jihadists - Soeren Kern (Gatestone Institute) British female jihadists are now in charge of guarding as many as 3,000 non-Muslim Iraqi women and girls held captive as sex slaves.

Muslim Scholars Make the Theological Case Against the Islamic State - Samuel Oakford (Vice)

Muslim Leaders Insist Islamic State Not Islamic - John Rossomando (IPT News)

For more information, read about the “Verse of the Sword”, visit Loonwatch.com, read about Islam in The Great Heresies by Hilaire Belloc, see the documentary “Islam: What the West Needs to Know” – seems not much has changed since 9/11 -12/1683,

Israel

Growing Unrest Among Palestinians in Jerusalem - Nadav Shragai (Israel Hayom)

Lebanon

Report: Hizbullah Drones Attack Al-Nusra Front at Syrian-Lebanese Border (Fars-Iran)

Israel Studies Iran's Claim of Armed Hizbullah Drones - Arie Egozi (Flightglobal)

Palestinians

PA daily lauds Israel's treatment of Palestinian workers- Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Fatah producing new rockets to replenish supplies for coming wars with the "the Zionist enemy" - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Qatar

How Qatar Is Funding the Rise of Islamist Extremists - David Blair and Richard Spencer (Telegraph-UK)

Video: UN Watch calls out false praise for Qatar’s rights record by China, Iran, Turkey (UNWatch)

Turkey

Explaining Turkey's Long Game Against ISIS (Stratfor)

United States

Steven Salaita: Free Speech or Anti Israel Hate? (Honest Reporting) Was Steven Salaita fired because of his views on Israel? Or did the University of Illinois draw the line at hate and intimidation?

California protesters block Israeli-owned ship (Times of Israel)

The Right to Protest the Metropolitan Opera Decision to Put on "The Death of Klinghoffer"  - Alan M. Dershowitz (Gatestone Institute)