Mordechai Kedar: The Arab World on the Precipice

http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/analysis/dr-mordechai-kedar/mordechai-kedar-the-arab-world-on-the-precipice/2012/07/30/0/ Although I do not generally do so, I will open with an Arabic joke, because in the Arab world (and perhaps in other places as well) people often use humor to speak the truth...

ICSR Insight: Up to 11,000 foreign fighters in Syria; steep rise among Western Europeans

http://icsr.info/2013/12/icsr-insight-11000-foreign-fighters-syria-steep-rise-among-western-europeans/ Since ICSR published its first estimate in April, the issue of foreign fighters in Syria has become a major concern for Western governments. More reports have emerged since, though few have accurately gauged the...

Syria: Everything You Wanted to Know About Islamist Rebels Who Can Shoot Down Planes

http://www.gloria-center.org/2013/04/syria-everything- you-wanted-to-know-about-islamist-rebels-who-can-shoot-down-planes/ Advanced anti-aircraft missiles in the hands of Syrian Islamist rebels could be used, after the win the civil war there, against neighboring countries and even against commercial passenger planes. It seems as if the...

Aid for Palestinians: Breaking Down Walls or Building Them Higher?

http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2013/10/aid-for-palestinians-breaking-down-walls-or-building-them-higher/ A photo of a UNRWA school in Gaza after it was shelled by Israeli forces. Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international...

Incisive Commentary from the Past Ten Days

"A Pre-Sukkot Contemplation" I received an e-mail from a very serious reader (who shall remain anonymous here, as I've not received permission to use his name). Things are dire, he told me with a heavy...

Ayman al-Sharawneh, a terrorist released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal, was deported...

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/article/20525 Overview 1. Ayman al-Sharawneh is a Hamas operative from the Hebron region who was sentenced to 38 years in Israeli prison for several terrorist attacks, such as an IED bombing in Beersheba which injured 19...

The Donkey, the Camel and the Facebook Scam: How the Muslim Brotherhood Conquered Egypt...

http://www.fpri.org/enotes/2012/201207.stock.egypt.html Raymond Stock, former Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic and Middle East Studies at Drew University (2010-11), and Guggenheim Fellow (2007), lived in Cairo for 20 years (1990-2010). He was denied entry and deported by...

Egypt “On the Verge of Bankruptcy”

http://www.jinsa.org/fellowship-program/david-p-goldman/egypt-verge-bankruptcy#.UOHrjeSTjEY Egypt is effectively out of cash. With foreign exchange reserves at a “critical minimum,” Egypt’s central bank imposed exchange controls and let the Egyptian pound exchange rate fall by about 5 percent from the...

Smugglers’ tunnels are Hamas’ lifeblood

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/27/smugglers_tunnels_are_hamas_lifeblood/singleton/ A Palestinian sits in a smuggling tunnel beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border in Rafah. (Credit: Reuters//Ibraheem Abu Mustafa) RAFAH, Gaza Strip - The first things you notice are the trucks, entering Rafah’s dusty main thoroughfare from small...

NGO: UN renews rights chief Pillay without consultations on her record

http://blog.unwatch.org/index.php/2012/05/15/ngo-un-renews-rights-chief-pillay-without-consultations-on-her-record/ After Ban Ki-moon’s announcement today that he supports a two-year extension for rights commissioner Navi Pillay, a non-governmental watchdog group says that the decision was made - pending the UNGA’s rubber stamp -...