Just click the blue links to read the full stories.

Bahrain

Bahrain Medics Still at Risk  -  Emily Wilson (Women's Media Center)

Egypt

Al-Qaeda Grows in Sinai - Bruce Riedel (National Interest) 

Europe
UK: Islamist Intimidation Shuts Down Free Speech - Shiraz Maher (Stonegate Institute)

“Strategic Freemasonry”: Shades of Anti-Semitic Protocols in The Irish Times - Simon Plosker (Honest Reporting) 

Iran
Impersonating Anonymous: Is It State Sponsored Terrorism? - Simon Plosker (Honest Reporting) 

Israel

Jodi Rudoren Enters the Scene: New New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief (CAMERA)

PA/Hamas/Fatah

Twice in the last two weeks, Palestinian Authority TV broadcast a song which expressed longing for a world without Israel.- Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW) 

Syria

Jihadist Opportunities in Syria - Kamran Bokhari (Stratfor)

USA

Islamist Lobbies’ Washington War on Arab and Muslim Liberals - Essam Abdallah (The Cutting Edge and IPT)

Watch Anatomy of a Smear: 'The Third Jihad' Fights Back, a new short video response to the CAIR/New York Times attack on The Third Jihad. 

Simon Wiesenthal Center Statement on Marine SS Flag Outrage

Arab Like Me - Lee Habeeb (National Review) 

Bud McFarlane: Pollard's Life Sentence "a great injustice" (Justice for Jonathan Pollard)

Harvard Needs Some Schooling on the Middle East - Steven Slotsky (The Algemeiner)

Yemen

Yemen Has Become a Focus of Iranian-Saudi Arabian Strife (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center) 

Just click the blue links to see the full story.

EUROPE

Qatar Financing Wahhabi Islam in France, Italy, Ireland and Spain - Soeren Kern (Stonegate Institute)

IRAN

As US and Israel dicker over Iran strike, American airlifts strength to the Gulf (DEBKAfile) 

Iran Parliament Summons Ahmadinejad over Economic Policy (Al Arabiya-Dubai) 

PA/HAMAS/FATAH
Official Fatah Facebook page glorifies terrorists - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Hamas an Impediment to Peace - Editorial (The Australian) 

Hamas-PA Reconciliation and the Peace Process - Elliott Abrams (Council on Foreign Relations) 

SHABAAB

More Minneapolis ties to Shabaab - Wes Bruer  (Long War Journal) 

Shabaab formally joins al Qaeda - Thomas Joscelyn & Bill Roggio  (Long War Journal) 

SYRIA

Why Russia Won't Back Down on Support for Syria - Maksim Yusin (Kommersant-Russia) - translation by WorldCrunch

Assad sends hit squads after top Lebanese officials (DEBKAfile) 

Silence as Arabs Kill Arabs in Syria - Eliezer Yaari (Ha'aretz) 

TURKEY

Turkish missiles over Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Rome (and others) - Burak Bekdil (Hurriyet-Turkey) Much to the pride of millions of Turks, the state scientific research institute, TUBITAK, recently reported that its scientists this year would finish an all-Turkish missile with a range of 1,500 km., and, in 2014, another with a range of 2,500 km. The head of TUBITAK said the order for the missile program had come from Prime Minister Erdogan. Here are some of the cities which may in the future see Turkish missiles over their skies: London, Moscow, Tehran, Tel Aviv, and many others. The move is just another indication that Turkey does not see its future within the NATO and European security structures.

USA

Not Welcome Documentary (Video) - Eric Allen Bell

Just click the blue links to see the full stories. 

Muslim Group Defends "Third Jihad"  Decry New York Times attack on film - (IPT News) "The Third Jihad explicitly distinguishes between the religion of Islam, and the highly politicized ideology of religious hatred, supremacy and violence characteristic of political Islam, often referred to as 'Islamism," the AILC said in a statement.

Mali Besieged by Fighters Fleeing Libya - Scott Stewart (Stratfor)

Iran Launches Spanish TV Channel- Nasser Karimi (AP-San Francisco Chronicle) 

Israel: Iran's nuclear arms program is complete, its missiles can reach US - (DEBKAfile)

Israel Warns Against Syrian WMD Transfer to Hizbullah - Yoav Limor, Yoni Hirsch, and Daniel Siryoti(Israel Hayom) 

Facebook Photo of IDF Soldier Was Faked (Ha'aretz) 

Peres Blasts Turkey for Funding Terrorist Hamas - Yori Yalon, Shlomo Cesana and Daniel Siryoti  (Israel Hayom) "Turkey has transferred resources to fund the infrastructure of Hamas, an organization controlled by Iran that has won astronomical donations - nearly $900 million a year. $300 million comes from Iran, $200 million from Qatar and hundreds of millions from Turkey. See also Is Turkey Purchasing Hamas from Iran? - Elliott Abrams (Council on Foreign Relations)

U.S. Copts Decry Egyptian Persecution of Christians (VIDEO) (The Algemeiner) This article includes  footage of the aftermath of the Maspero riots which began when Egyptian military personnel attacked Christians protesting the failure of the Egyptian government to protect their churches from attacks. During the non-violent protest, reporters on state-sponsored television called on Egyptians to defend the military from attacks by the Christians.

Muslim Brotherhood Stepping Out of the Shadows - Ruth Pollard (Sydney Morning Herald-Australia) 

Raymond Ibrahim on Forced Conversions Under Islam (VIDEO) (CAMERA)

Just back from India. We saw minimal news about the world outside of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Headlines included Oprah's visit to Mumbai and Salman Rushdie's potential appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Satanic Versus is still banned in India. There were concerns about Islamic based terrorism and threats from the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

 

The New York Times Collaborates with Hamas Front Group to Suppress the Truth  - Steven Emerson (IPT News)

CAIR's Manipulation Tactics in Tampa  (IPT News)

Tariq Ramadan-Supporter Diana Eck Leads the Charge Against Fired ‘Islamophobic’ Professor - Phyllis Chessler (PJ Media) 

Understanding the BDS Movement - Avishai D. Don  (Harvard Crimson) Next weekend, the University of Pennsylvania will host the second national BDS conference, an event that will advocate for the "growing global campaign to boycott, divest from and sanction (BDS) the State of Israel." But the BDS movement hides its ultimate goal of dismantling the Jewish state behind its public rhetoric. Although some members of the movement might actually support the Jewish state's continued existence, the Palestinian BDS National Committee - the "reference and guiding force for the global BDS movement" - cannot do so under any circumstances.     If you support the BDS movement, you are supporting an organization that is actively working to undermine the Jewish state. Utilizing the vocabulary of international norms, the movement actually systematically attempts to undermine the international consensus that recognizes Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. And if you support this right - regardless of your politics and your feelings towards the current Israeli government - then there is only one moral option. Boycott the BDS movement.  

Anti-Semitism in Chile, Jews Accused of Plotting to Take Over Patagonia - Anna Mahjar-Barducci (Stonegate Institute) As long as it was not known that the alleged perpetrator of the fire was a Jew, the Chileans were complaining about the government that did not act in time to stop the ecological catastrophe; however, once there was the alleged involvement of a Jew from Israel, the demonization immediately started. 

Russia to Sell Warplanes to Syria- Fred Weir (Christian Science Monitor)

Syria's Russian Jet Order (Defense Industry Daily)

A Hezbollah Threat in Thailand? - Ben West (Stratfor)

Footage: Palestinians in Lebanon Shown Saluting Nazi/Hizbullah Style (MEMRI)

Op-Ed: Tale of 2 Women: Pakistani Terrorist & Somali-Dutch MP - Phyllis Chessler (Israel National News)

Iranian General Confirms that South Lebanon Is Under Iran's Influence (Daily Star-Lebanon) 

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force Planning Attack on U.S. in Turkey - Bayram Kaya (Zaman-Turkey) 

Good News

Turkish State TV Airs Holocaust Documentary  (AP-Washington Post)  Turkey has marked international Holocaust Remembrance Day by airing French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann's "Shoah." The filmmaker said this is the first time the film was broadcast on state television in a Muslim country. 

Film Shows Palestinians, Jews Saving Lives - Judy Siegel-Itzkovich (Jerusalem Post) View the Video - Witness: Jerusalem SOS(YouTube-Al Jazeera) 

Just click the blue links to see the full stories. The next Middle East Update will be January 27th. Wishing you all well in 2012.

New Jihadi Media Groups - (IPT News) 

Not a Parody: Head of Arab League Monitors in Syria Led Darfur Genocide - Jonathan S. Tobin (Commentary)

The Mutating Al-Qaeda Threat - Mitchell D. Silber (Washington Times)

Belgian Newspaper Replaces Israel with PA on Mideast Map (European Jewish Press) 

Hundreds of North Korean Nuclear and Missile Experts Working in Iran (Korea Times)

Iran and the Saudi Shiites - Abdullah Al-Otaibi  (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)
Iran is behind the Shiite violence directed against Saudi Arabia. Similar events have taken place in the Gulf, including the attempt to assassinate Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in Kuwait, the hijacking of a plane to Jabriya, as well as the recent attempts to interfere in Kuwait and spread violence in Bahrain.
    Iran is still mobilizing its agents whenever it senses an opportunity, and whenever it wants, whether in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria or Yemen, or in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Iranian subversion directed against Saudi Arabia and the Gulf is a genuine threat. 

Hizballah Fundraising and Operations in the US and Latin America - (IPT News)

Hamas leader Haniyeh: Goal is destruction of Israel in stages -  Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Palestinians Fire Mortar Shells Containing Phosphorous at Israel - Yaakov Lappin (Jerusalem Post) 

Hamas Says Gaza "Not Occupied," UN Disagrees - Hillel C. Neuer (UN Watch) 

Financial Times Hamas Shocker – “We Don’t Feel a Correction Was Warranted” - Simon Plosker (Honest Reporting)

UNESCO Funds Palestinian Magazine Glorifying Hitler - Jordana Horn (Jerusalem Post) 

Red Sea Electronic Fence to Foil Sinai Terror Attacks - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post) 

Egypt's Winds of Change Give Way to Dark Clouds - (IPT News)

Yohanna Qulta, Deputy Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church in Egypt: If the Salafis Come to Power and Instate the Jizya Poll Tax, We Will Oppose This to the Point of Martyrdom - (MEMRI) This MEMRI link is also interesting for what the Patriarch says about American actions in the region. For a definition of "Jizya Tax" click here and here;