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“Staying Safe and Healthy During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” by Gary W. Small, M.D., UCLA - great info and links to exercise and livecams!

Austrian Parliament Urges Chancellor to Clamp Down on Hizbullah - Benjamin Weinthal (Jerusalem Post)

ISIS tells terrorists to steer clear of coronavirus-stricken Europe - Aitor Hernandez Morales (Politico) Terror group advises hand washing rather than attacks on the West. 

Would a Zionist coronavirus cure be Halal? Iranian cleric says yes (Jerusalem Post)

Journalist for Tehran Regime Mouthpiece Mocked for Saying He’d Rather Get Coronavirus Than Use Israeli Vaccine (Algemeiner)

More than 32,000 Coronavirus Patients in Iran Hospitals - Maryam Sinaiee (Radio Farda)

Israel's Teva Donates Potential Coronavirus Treatment to U.S. Hospitals (Jerusalem Post)  Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva has announced it will donate more than 6 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets to hospitals across the U.S.  Also note:   FDA said that it had not approved the malaria drug for Covid-19, and that approval was a “year away."

Israeli Researchers Develop Corona Test for People without Symptoms - Celia Jean (Jerusalem Post)

Video from Honest Reporting - view of Jerusalem during Coronavirus crisis (plenty of toilet paper on the shelves and using terrorism fighting tools to fight virus spread).

Coronavirus, Europe and Israel - Prof. Eyal Zisser (Israel Hayom)

Jordan Army Closes Off Capital Amman - Suleiman Al-Khalidi (Reuters)

Concern Mounts over Coronavirus Outbreak in Syria - Mariya Petkova (Al Jazeera)

NY Times Shows How Framing Slants Coverage (CAMERA)

Caroline B. Glick, Israel Hayom:  When you read the Trump plan closely, you realize it is a mirror image of Oslo. Rather than Israel being required to prove its good will, the Palestinians are required to prove their commitment to peace.

The U.N.’s Anti-Israel Blacklist: Myths & Facts on the “Settlements Database” (UN  Watch)

The Netherlands Criticizes UN Council's "One-Sided, Anti-Israel" Attitude - Janene  Pieters (NL Times-Netherlands)

BDS Wins But Palestinians Lose (Ynet News) The UN Human Rights Council, which on Wednesday published a blacklist of companies operating in the West Bank, voted to accept 18 resolutions condemning Israel in 2019; in contrast, just seven resolutions were passed condemning the entire ills of the rest of the world. 

The Continuum of Endless Wars 2001-2020  (Center for National Security) "What's fascinating to me is that where we are in Afghanistan is exactly the same place today as at the end of Obama’s presidency."

Ecuador Arrests Iranians Travelling With Fake Israeli Passports (Aawsat News)

Iran Military Chief: Liberation of Jerusalem No. 1 Priority of Muslim World (Press TV-Iran)

Israelis Under Attack, Media MIA - Daniel Pomerantz (Honest Reporting)

Islamic Jihad Keeps Firing Rockets at Israel from Gaza (Jerusalem Post)

Occupied Elsewhere: Selective Policies on Occupations and Territorial Disputes  - Svante Cornell and Brenda Shaffer (Foundation for Defense of Democracies)

Syrian Opposition Media Reveals Information on Missiles of Iranian Militias in Syria (MEMRI)

600,000 Syrians in Rebel-Held Areas Flee toward Turkish Border after Government Offensive - Liz Sly (Washington Post)  Syrian troops are now within seven miles of the city of Idlib, home to about 900,000 people who could join the exodus. Relentless Syrian and Russian airstrikes target towns behind the front lines to clear out the civilian population ahead of troop advances. Syrian government forces have been joined in recent weeks by Iranian-backed fighters from Lebanon's Hizbullah and other non-Syrian militias, according to U.S. officials. 

Guardian Suggests Palestinian 9/11 Celebrations is 'Far-Right' Fake News - Adam Levick (CAMERA's UK Media Watch) In what is meant to be an exposé about "fake news," the Guardian circulates some fake news of its own.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib still hasn’t apologized for pushing a blood libel against Jews - Aaron Kliegman (New York Post)

Trump is no friend of Israel, even if he says otherwise - Jackson Diehl (Washington Post)

I was cleared for release from Guantánamo three years ago. Why am I still here  - Abdul Latif Nasser (Boston Globe) Can it be that I am still imprisoned here because of a tweet your president sent before he took office,” writes Abdul Latif Nasser in the Boston Globe. “Has the world forgotten me? Has Morocco? There are five of us among the last 40 prisoners here, cleared for release but not free to go. It costs the United States $13 million per year to keep each of us here. And for what? It is such a waste. The reality is that in Guantánamo we are only half alive. I struggle. I do my best. But I will remain among the living dead until I finally get home to those I love.”

Security Assistance in the Middle East: A Three-Dimensional Chessboard - Robert Springborg, F.C. "Pink" WIlliams, John Zavage (Carnegie Middle East Center)

While I expected rejection by Palestinians, the reporting I've read has not clarifed the Trump/Kushner peace plan and I've found the whole thing confusing. Hoping you find this analysis courtesy of CAMERA and Honest Reporting with outside links helpful:

      Despite a path to a Palestinian state with its capital in part of eastern Jerusalem, the Palestinians have rejected the plan as a complete non-starter. Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE have reacted more positively however.

     In discussions of Jerusalem, a point that is often overlooked is that Palestinians have never had control of or sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem, and it’s never been an Arab capital. There is no historical basis for the insistence on a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem. Yet, this plan generously provides for a Palestinian capital in the sections of Jerusalem to the north and to the east of the existing security barrier (page 17). This is in fact a major concession by Israel.

     This plan conforms to the oft-repeated idea of “a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders with land swaps.”

     It has also been made clear that there will be no forced population transfers on either side. 

--------------------------------------------

European Gov’ts Continue to Fund Terror-Linked NGOs (NGO Monitor) Research shows the close links between eight European-funded NGOs and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group. This series of reports includes new specifics on government sponsors and terror-linked staff members, including individuals indicted last month for the murder of an Israeli teen.

How Iran's Military Outsources Its Cyberwarfare Forces - Dorothy Denning (Navy Times)

Are Israel and Turkey On a Collision Course in the Eastern Med? - Pesach Benson (Honest Reporting) The discovery of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea is putting Israel on a collision course with Turkey.  Israel is partnering with Cyprus and Greece to build an ambitious pipeline to Europe. But with billions of dollars at stake, Turkey is poised to play the spoiler. What’s behind Turkey’s opposition, and how far will President Recep Tayyip Erdogan go to thwart Israel’s energy alliance?

Germany slaps down Erdogan’s agreement (with Libya) infringing on Greece and Cyprus sovereignty (Greek City Times)

PA Forces Arrest Cell Targeting Their Intelligence Chief - Avi Issacharoff (Times of Israel)   Palestinian Authority security forces have arrested a group of Fatah members suspected of plotting an attack on the head of the PA's General Intelligence Service, Majed Faraj, and his family

Report: Strike on T-4 Base in Syria Destroyed Newly-Transported Iranian Weapons (Zaman al-Wasl-Syria)

Syrian government forces capture towns in advance on rebel-held Idlib (Reuters)  Syrian government forces have reportedly taken control of several towns in northwestern Idlib province, amid a renewed push by President Bashar al-Assad to recapture the last rebel stronghold.     The Syrian Observatory said Sunday that six towns in the Idlib countryside had fallen to Syrian government forces in the past 24 hours, despite a deal between Turkey and Russia for a January 12 ceasefire. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that around 400,000 people from Idlib province were moving towards the Turkish border as a result of the surge in violence. 

With intensive air and ground bombardment, regime forces continue to advance towards Ma’rat al-Numan city, capturing 14 territories (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

U.S. Builds Several New Bases in Iraq near Iran - Arie Egozi (Breaking Defense)

US dropped bombs in Afghanistan at record level in 2019 - Phillip Walter Wellman (Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Seeks to Corner Hizbullah in Latin America - Muath al-Amri (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) 

Egypt Said Involved in "Intensive Efforts" to Rein in Hamas, End Balloon Bomb Attacks (Times of Israel)

Militant groups in Gaza return to “popular tools” to pressure Israeli and Egyptian governments - Joe Truzman (FDD's Long War Journal)

Palestinians Preparing to Ramp Up Airborne Firebomb Attacks Against Israel - Jack Khoury (Ha'aretz) 

U.S. Forces in Iraq Are Facing More Attacks from Shiite Militias than ISIS - Jeff Schogol (Task and Purpose)

Israeli Electric Company Ends Power Cuts to West Bank after Palestinians Pay Debt (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)

The Beginning of an Israel-Hamas Truce? - Daniel Estrin (National Public Radio)

Media Ignore, Downplay Infiltration of Armed Gazans Close to Israeli Community - Tamar Sternthal (CAMERA)

Israel Detains Five Finns for Trying to Cross Gaza Border - Said Amouri (Anadolu-Turkey)  

Jordanian Singer Who Performed in Israel Faces BDS Backlash - Ofir Hovav 

(Ha'aretz)

 

Jordanian Vote Shows Why Defensible Borders Still Matter - Evelyn Gordon (JNS)

Haaretz has 'no connection' to detained American reporter in Lebanon, as journalists demand his release (The New Arab) 

PA Tells Palestinians: Western Wall in Jerusalem Belongs Only to Muslims - Donna Rachel Edmunds (Jerusalem Post)

Russia Delivers 120 Missiles for S-400 Air Defense System in Turkey(TASS-Russia)

Pearson pulls GCSE textbook following claims that it 'whitewashed' Jewish history - Camilla Turner (The Telegraph) this newspaper reported accusations that the book was “full of errors, lies and distortions” about the Israel-Palestine conflict.    Pearson confirmed that it has now withdrawn the textbook from circulation, and created an updated version to “improve the balance of sources where needed”.

Mostly about Iran

Iran's Only Female Olympic Medalist Defects (BBC News) Iranian female Olympic medalist Kimia Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal in taekwondo at the Rio Olympics in 2016, says she has defected. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran whom they've been playing for years," she wrote on social  media.  "I wore whatever they told me and repeated whatever they ordered. Every sentence they ordered I repeated. None of us matter for them, we are just tools."

Iran Chess Referee Fears Returning Home after Photo with Headscarf Not Visible - Raf Sanchez (Telegraph-UK)  "There are many people in prison in Iran because of the headscarf. It's a very serious issue," she said, claiming she was in fact wearing a headscarf.

Soleimani's Replacement Has Blood on His Hands - Struan Stevenson (The Herald-Scotland) While Soleimani focused on proxy wars in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, Ghaani's job was to bolster terrorist militias in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Africa.

Understanding the Situation in Iran (Asia Society Podcast)

Impact of Soleimani's Death Is Playing Out in Unexpected Ways (Guardian-UK)  Conversations with representatives of regional powers over the past week reveal a mix of surprise that Qasem Soleimani was killed and relief at an aftermath that, in their minds, has sharply weakened Iran's regional hand. 

Iraqi Protesters Clash with Iranian-Backed Militias in Wake of Soleimani's Killing - Azhar Al-Rubaie (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)

How Libya Became the Ultimate Proxy Conflict - Karl Maier (Bloomberg)

Hamas Must Choose: Egypt or Iran? - Shlomi Eldar  (Al-Monitor) 

Gas Begins Flowing from Israel to Egypt (Globes) Israel's Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz and Egypt's Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla announced Wednesday that gas has begun flowing from Israel's Leviathan field to Egypt. Israel will now be able to export some of its natural gas to Europe via Egypt's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. 

Keep an Eye Out for Israel Derangement Syndrome - Juliet Moses (Spectator-Australia)

New Evidence Reveals ISIS Hierarchy - Sarah El Deeb (AP-Stars and Stripes)

Text - Judge, Jury and Executioner: The ISIS Bureau of Justice and Grievances (Syria Justice and Accountability Center)

Turkey Deploys 2,000 Syrian Fighters to Libya to Support Islamist Government - Bethan McKernan (Guardian-UK)

Mohammed bin Zayed’s Dark Vision of the Middle East’s Future - Robert Worth (The New York Times)

The Times (of London, BBC, and AP) erases the ethnic cleansing of Egypt’s Jews - Tamar Sternthal (CAMERA)

This year is off to an interesting start. Yesterday, we learned that the US finally acted against General Qassem Soleimani, a man at least partly responsible for 100's of American deaths. It's my understanding that a Hizbullah leader was also killed in the Soleimani strike. As per pundits, this could lead to greater threats against the U.S. and American people. While many were unhappy with the Iranian nuclear agreement, JCPA, time will tell if the new American initiatives make the world safer. Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan are still unstable despite or because of American involvement and lack of clear strategies.  We now have to contend with both physical and digital threats. How will what's happening now in Syria, Pakistan, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, etc. affect us this year? 

Taliban says it ‘has no intention of declaring a ceasefire’ - Bill Roggio (FDD's Long War Journal)

According to a newly-released report from Dutch intelligence and security agency AIVD, 2020 will not bring an end to terror attacks. Rather, more jihadist activity should be expected, not only in the Netherlands, but throughout Europe and the West.

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2019/12/09/tk-bijlage-rapport-dreigingsbeeld-terrorisme-nederland-51

Terror-linked and boycott promoting NGOs behind potential ICC investigation (NGO Monitor)  In some instances, the European funding to Palestinian NGOs was explicitly earmarked for their activities vis-à-vis the ICC. 

Is Building Homes a War Crime? - Zina Rakhamilova (Honest Reporting - video)

Iraqi Media To The Iran-Backed PMU: The U.S. Informed The Iraqi Prime Minister Of The Coming Airstrike, And He Informed You, Yet You Did Not Evacuate (MEMRI)

Gaza’s weekly protests suspended for 3 months - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)  The decision, which goes into effect January 3, is seen by some Palestinians as the beginning of the end of the protests, first launched in March 2018 by several Palestinian factions, including Hamas.

On Twitter:

Bill Roggio

✔@billroggio

This is more than a decade too late. The Bush & Obama admins knew what Soleimani and Muhandis were up to, but were too fearful to strike. These two are responsible for the deaths of at least 600 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis soldiers, police, and civilians. https://twitter.com/LongWarJournal/status/1212936099561115649

What America needs to know about the Afghanistan Papers - Ryan Di Corpo (America the Jesuit Review)  

Canada's support for UN resolution condemning Israel 'occupation' blasted as 'Faustian bargain' - Jesse Snyder (National Post) Hillel Neuer, director of UN Watch, said the resolution condemned Israel’s security barrier but it “omits to mention that it was built in response to the Second Intifada which killed or wounded 8,341 Israelis by Palestinian suicide bombings, suicides, stoning, stabbings, lynchings, rocket and other methods of attack.”

Iranian-Chinese-Russian Naval Exercise to Be Held near Persian Gulf - John C.K. Daly (Arab Weekly-UK)

Pro-Iran Militia Kills Scores in Baghdad - Richard Spencer (The Times-UK)

Iraqi Militia Kidnapped 300 Baghdad Protesters, Holds Them in Secret Prisons - Joyce Karam (The National-Abu Dhabi)

Libya’s War of the Many - Emadeddin Badi (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) 

Erdogan, Putin Hold More Discussions on Libya - Dorian Jones (VOA)

Turkey and Libya challenge Israel’s allies in the Mediterranean - Michael Harari (Jerusalem Post) 

Sudan Pledges to Close Down Hamas and Hizbullah Offices - Mohammed Amin (Middle East Eye-UK)  

Hamas Plots Attacks on Israel from Turkey as Erdogan Turns a Blind Eye - Raf Sanchez 

(Telegraph-UK) 

Turkey Warned over Money Laundering and Terror Financing - Laura Pitel (Financial Times-UK)

Turkey to Send UAVs to Northern Cyprus Base, Expanding Mediterranean Operations (T-Intelligence)