Did you know that 90% of 5000 Hamas offensive missiles fired at Israeli civilian areas were downed by the defensive Iron Dome systems last May? 

Colombia Uncovers Another Iranian Foreign Assassination Campaign - Potkin Azarmehr (IPT News)

Iran: We Have Established Six Armies Outside Our Borders - Rawad Taha (Al Arabiya-Dubai) IRGC General Gholamali Rashid: Hizbullah In Lebanon, Hamas And PIJ In Palestine, PMU In Iraq, And The Houthis In Yemen Are All Armies Ready To Defend The Iranian Regime (MEMRI)

Iran and Venezuela strike oil deal amid US sanctions - Lexi Lonis (The Hill)

Arrest Warrants Issued for Three Iraqi Leaders Who Attended Conference Calling for Peace With Israel (The Algemeiner) 

Over 300 prominent Iraqis publicly call for full peace with Israel (Times of Israel)

Abbas’ UN speech explains why he is no partner for peace - Maurice Hirsch, Adv (PMW)

U.S., Qatar launch joint action on Hezbollah financing (France24)

Sudan Closes Door on Support for Hamas - Khalid Abdelaziz (Reuters)

UN says at least 350,000 civilians killed in Syria’s civil war - Lisa Schlein (Voice of America)

The Assad Regime’s Business Model for Supporting the Islamic State -  Matthew Levitt (Lawfare) 

Congress Approves Funding for Afghan Arrivals (HIAS)

New Lebanese PM: We’ll work with any country, ‘except Israel, of course’ [mirroring the Taliban]- (Times of Israel)

Libyan commander, Chadian rebels clash in southern Libya (AP) The clashes, which flared up earlier this week, could further destabilize the wider Sahel region

Islamists Suffer Crushing Defeat in Moroccan Parliamentary Elections (France 24)

Pakistani Ambassador To China Moin Ul Haque: I Think The Taliban Would Welcome An Invitation To Join China-Pakistan Economic Corridor - (MEMRI/ CGTN Network (China) )

Report: 2 Palestinian Fugitives Flee to Jordan, 4 to Jenin (Ynet News)

3,728,600 reasons the escaped terrorists chose to return to prison quietly - Maurice Hirsch (PMW)

Riots have raged across the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem as Palestinians burned tires and threw rocks at IDF soldiers following the jailbreak of six prisoners. (Times of Israel)

Hamas in Gaza Wages Perilous Campaign of Harassing Israel (AFP)

Selective Memory: The Carefully Excised "WHY" of the 9/11 Attacks - Todd Bensman (IPT)

Who gets to teach what about Israel? A UNC course ignites the debate -  Arno Rosenfeld (Forward)

‘We Feel His Presence in the Department Is Threatening’ - Robbie Grammar (Foreign Policy) Over 70 colleagues have asked Secratary Blinken to fire their colleague Fritz Berggren. As the activies of Mr. Berggren were widely reported in February (see here and here). Why is he still at the State Dept?

Arizona Scraps Investments in Unilever over Ben and Jerry's Israel Policy - Howard Fische  (Arizona Capitol Times)

New Jersey set to shed $182 million Unilever assets over Ben & Jerry's boycott - Ross Kerber (Reuters)

FREE EVENT

by The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center

In-Person and Virtual

Ohad Hemo: Reporting from the Arab Street

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26 2021

6:30 PM — 8:00 PM

Register Here: https://streicker-fall-2021.ticketleap.com/ohad-hemo/dates/Oct-26-2021_at_0630PM

Marking The 20th Anniversary Of 9/11 – Clips And Reports Added To The MEMRI 9/11 Documentation Project In 2021 (MEMRI) In the two decades since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has been monitoring, translating, and documenting content about the attacks in media from the Middle East, South Asia, and beyond. The MEMRI 9/11 Documentation Project, launched to mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks, archives all MEMRI translations, analysis, and clips about the attacks and their aftermath, and has amassed one of the largest and most unique archives in the world on this subject. These archives allow an in-depth examination of the ideological roots and other factors that ultimately led to the attacks.

September 11 Conspiracies: 20 Years Later (Simon Wiesenthal Center)

NYC Murals Paint Enduring Pictures of Remembrance, 20 Years After 9/11 (The City)

Beyond Forever War A Smarter Counterterrorism Approach Is Now Within Reach- Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon (Foreign Affairs)

CIA Chief Visits Pakistan, India to Discuss Afghanistan - Ayesha Tanzeem (VOA)

 The New York Times reports: In total, over a dozen countries have evacuated 240,000 people, most of them Afghans, since the Taliban took control of the country. I've been surprised and amazed at the number of people evacuated in such a short time. Now resettlement efforts must get underway. The United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Pakistan, Germany and India are among the countries accepting refugees from Afghanistan. Britain is set to release $41 million of aid to support nations neighboring Afghanistan that are dealing with refugees fleeing the country. (Reuters) These efforts need monitoring and funding. Reports are already coming in of bad conditions in refugee camps. (4W)

The Iranian Shadow Fleet and Its Secret Alliance with China - Dr. Eyal Pinko (i24news)

Iran's New Approach to Missile Proliferation - Fabian Hinz  (International Institute for Strategic Studies-UK)

20 Years After 9/11, Islamic Terrorists Struggle To Recruit - Charles Kurzman (The Conversation/World Cruch)

Israel Destroyed Syrian Missile Battery that Fired toward Tel Aviv  (Times of Israel)

IDF hits Hamas facilities after incendiary balloons spark fire (Debka File)

U.S. sending millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to Pakistan - Patsy Widakuswara (VOA)

Hamas Launches Incendiary Balloons into Israel, Cites Stalled Qatari Aid - Jack Khoury. (Ha'aretz)

Gazans Hand Out Sweets After Israeli Border Police Officer Dies (Honest Reporting) Click here for more details.

A Visit to Northeast Syria Shows the Urgency for Governments to Repatriate Their Citizens, Many of Them Children, to Thwart ISIS - Beatrice Ericksson (Just Security)

U.S. housing 20,000 Afghan evacuees in 5 states, with another 40,000 overseas (CBS News)

NPR Promotes Palestinian Narrative on Jerusalem - Ricky Hollander (CAMERA)

 Meanwhile in Afghanistan:

*The “orderly” withdrawal President Biden had promised did not happen, and the world has watched agonizing scenes of Afghans trying to escape. 

*Amazingly, over 100,000 people have been evacuated since 8/14!

*Last remaining area not controlled by the Taliban is the Panjshir Valley, where remnants of government forces and other militia groups have gathered to resist the Taliban. Al Jazeera, Reuters However, it doesn't appear that there is any international support for the Northern Alliance. CNN NYT

*The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) pledged on Sunday to help achieve peace in Afghanistan and said its future leaders must guard against allowing the country to be used as a backyard for international Islamist militancy.

*Turkey Reinforces Border to Block any Afghan Migrant Wave. Reuters

*Airbnb offers free accommodation for 20,000 Afghan refugees (BBC News)

*Crisis in Afghanistan: How You Can Help (HIAS)

Report: Iran Has Doubled Forces on Israeli Border since 2018 - Neta Bar (Israel Hayom) The fighters are from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, while the command echelon is mostly comprised of Iranian Revolutionary Guards disguised as militia members or Syrian army officers.

Food for thought before the Biden-Bennet meeting - Maurice Hirsch, Adv. (PMW)

Lebanese Doctor Sentenced for Helping Palestinians Get Treatment in Israel - Phil Mercer (VOA News) Dr. Jamal Rifi, a prominent physician in Australia's Lebanese Muslim community, says he has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia in Lebanon for working with members of Sydney's Jewish community to organize treatment for Palestinians in Israeli hospitals.

Nasrallah Is Turning Lebanon into Afghanistan - Baria Alamuddin (Arab News-Saudi Arabia)

Hamas-backed Palestinians in Gaza launched a new wave of incendiary balloons into Israel.  Fire balloons have ignited multiple fires across Israeli communities in recent weeks. but the AP headline reads: Gazans launch incendiary balloons into Israel after strikes

Hamas: Thrown Out of Saudi Arabia into the Arms of Iran and the Taliban - Nadav Shragai (Israel Hayom)

Progressive Democrats Blast Palestinians over Crackdown on Critics - Jacob Magid (Times of Israel)   Members of the "Squad" of progressive Democrats in the U.S., more commonly known for their criticism of Israel, have shifted their censure to the Palestinian Authority amid Ramallah's latest crackdown on rights activists and critics.

Washington Post Doesn’t Find Harassment of Its Own Journalists by Palestinian Authority Newsworthy -Emanuel Miller (Honest Reporting) The situation has become so severe that Palestinian journalists have resorted to asking the UN for protection.

What is ISIS-K? USA Today explains ISIS-Khorasan

When President Biden took office, there was already a backlog of 17,000 SIV applicants. An estimated 88,000 (to 300,000) Afghans now need to be evacuated. 

The governments of Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are all believed to bankroll the Taliban, according to numerous U.S. and international sources. 

How to Help Our Afghan Allies (LIRS) and also here CWS Global

Statement: The War Was a Failure. Now, We Must Open Our Doors to Its Refugees. (Win Without War)

Afghan Army Routed by the Taliban (AFP) PLEASE READ, ties in with Foreign Policy story on Pakistan below

Taliban Blew Up Colossal Buddhas, Now Poised to Join UNESCO (UNWatch)

How newspaper front pages around the world covered the fall of Afghanistan - Michael Grothaus (Fast Company)

Al-Jazeera Reporters Celebrate 'Taliban Victory' (MEMRI)

"France will Join Democracies and Not Participate in Durban IV" (Simon Wiesenthal Center)

IAEA: Iran Accelerates Enrichment of Uranium to Near Weapons-Grade - Francois Murphy  (Reuters)

Iran Protests Are Real, But Is The West Willing To Listen? - Ahmad Ra'fat (WorldCrunch)

Hizbullah's "Land of Tunnels" - the North Korean-Iranian Connection - Maj. (res.) Tal Beeri (Alma Research & Education Center)     See also Read the Full Report with Photos and Maps 

Pakistan and the United States Have Betrayed the Afghan People - C. Christine Fair (Foreign Policy) Washington ignored Islamabad funding and supplying the Taliban. Now Afghans are paying the price.

What Will Happen to Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Uneasy Border? Aqil Shah (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)

As Media Berate Israel, Hamas Reportedly Hiding Enough Funds to Fully Rebuild Gaza Strip - Akiva Van Koningsveld (Honest Reporting) If you read German see Die Welt story here.

BBC: Leading the World Against Israel - Richard Kemp (Gatestone Institute)

• Meanwhile, anti-Israel activists are showing their true colors in their messaging on the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. Take, for example, this post by Slow Factory, a popular Instagram account with almost 400,000 followers. In May, Slow Factory said that the events in "Palestine" are "not complicated; it’s settler colonialism & ethnic cleansing." The way it reported on the Taliban? "It is not possible to condense decades of conflict into a single Instagram post. What’s happening in Afghanistan is complex, nuanced, and devastating." 

 Afghanistan

A Near Press Blackout in Afghanistan - Megan K. Stack (The NewYorker)

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Quarterly Report to United States Congress (SIGAR) Pentagon watchdog warns of ‘existential crisis’ and criticizes U.S. ‘hubris’ in Afghanistan

Afghan Feminist: 'The Taliban and My Own Family Will Come for Me' - Phyllis Chesler (4W)

Olympics

After 49 Years, Israelis Killed at 1972 Munich Olympics Remembered in Opening Ceremony - Karolos Grohmann(Reuters)

Saudi Judoka Faces Israeli and Shakes Hands at Olympics (Al-Monitor) see also Israeli Judoka Lauds "Brave" Saudi Opponent - Rebecca Anne Proctor (Arab News-Saudi Arabia)

True Sportsmanship: Iranian Refugee Dedicates Olympic Medal to ‘Friends’ in Israel (VIDEO) - Akiva Van Koningsveld (Honest Reporting)

Algerian judoka quits Olympics to avoid Israeli opponent (JTA)

2nd judoka pulls out of Olympics in apparent move to avoid facing Israeli (Times of Israel)

Iran

Secret Iran Hacking Plans Against West Revealed - Deborah Haynes (Sky News-UK)

Islamic State

UN chief: Threat to global peace from Islamic State rising - Edith Lederer (Washington Post)

Impunity for Repatriated Islamic State Members (in Uzbekistan)  - Vera Mironova (Lawfare) 

Israel

How Bennett Found Himself Trying to Save the Palestinian Economy - Amos Harel (Haaretz)

Israel Shifts to Standoff Weapons in Syria as Russia Restricts Its Freedom of Action - Arie Egozi(Breaking Defense)

Nigeria

Nigeria’s Lawless Secret Police Abduct Film Director, Priye Amachree Over Alleged Links With IPOB, Recently Detained Israeli Filmmakers (Sahara Reporters)

Palestinians

New Interactive Database: How NGOs Turn Terrorists into “Civilians” (NGO Monitor)

PA criticizes Hamas for using civilians as human shields - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)

Tunisia

Arab Dailies Praise Tunisian President Kais Saied: A 'Second Revolution' Has 'Saved Tunisia' From The Muslim Brotherhood (MEMRI)

UN

UN-Paid Teachers Celebrate Deaths of Israelis (UN Watch) see also: UNRWA STATEMENT ON UN WATCH ALLEGATIONS

USA

Brooklyn Rally In Honor Of Palestinian 'Martyrs': 'If We Don't Get No Justice, They Don't Get No Peace'; 'NYC Is Full Of Palestine-Related Targets, The Options To Strike Back Are Endless'; 'New York To Gaza, Globalize The Intifada' (MEMRI)

Ben and Jerry's Rejected Pro-Peace Alternatives to Israel Boycott - Shiryn Ghermezian (Algemeiner) Aternate plans rejected by company executive included supporting a grassroots organization that promotes peace and coexistence, or backing Israeli and Palestinian educational organizations fighting hatred and incitement, or opening a partner shop in Ramallah and Jewish West Bank areas for both Palestinians and Israelis.

Five States Move to Freeze Out Ben and Jerry's over Israeli Boycott - Valerie Richardson (Washington Times)