After Syria and Iran, Is Russia's Putin Finding Another Middle East Ally in Egypt?

The following by Raymond Stock is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Obama vs. Putin -- is the Cold War About to Return to the Middle East?

by Raymond Stock
Fox News
October 28, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3654/obama-putin-cold-war

Raymond Stock

Sensing an historic opening, Russian President Vladimir Putin may soon be visiting Cairo in search of closer military ties and access to Egypt's warm water ports—according to an October 27 article in the Sunday Times of London.

Should he make that trip, Putin would likely get a warm, if not rapturous reception, both in government and on the street.

But if President Barack Obama should go there -- or anywhere in the Arab world-- now, the warmth would likely be of another kind entirely.

Obama's October 9 decision to freeze about a third of this year's $1.6 billion aid package to Egypt, and his coldly critical reaction to the popularly-demanded ouster of President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood (MB) organization from power on July 3, have predictably angered most Egyptians.

Anne Bayefsky: Anti-Semitism is at the Root of the UN’s Double-Standards

For Immediate Release: October 30, 2013

Contact: info@humanrightsvoices.org Follow us on Twitter

Anti-Semitism is at the Root of the UN’s Double-Standards This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on FOX News. This week Israel caved in to European and American pressure to further subject itself to egregious discrimination at the United Nations. The move was in response to a twisted appeal to Israel to preserve the fiction of a U.N. human rights system committed to equality.

Mideast Media Sampler 10/30/13: Obama's Pragmatic Retreat From Middle East Foreign Policy

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

When Wishful Thinking Guides Foreign Policy

Barack Obama Samantha Power Tom Donilon and Susan Rice.
Credit:Pete Souza / WikiCommons

Last week as we noted, the New York Times ran a devastating article about President Obama’s Syria policy. The Times reported, among other things, that the President was disinterested in planning discussions about Syria.

Two other articles reported that America’s Middle East allies generally and the Saudis specifically were upset by the administration’s Middle East policy.

I guess that the New York Times had enough serious reporting about the shortcomings of the Obama administration’s Middle East policy, because over the weekend, it published Rice Offers a More Modest Strategy for Mideast by its foremost White House cheerleader, Mark Landler. (Landler contributed to the Syria report, but was not one of the bylined reporters.)

Dr. Jacques Neriah: Sisi Fever: Will the General be the Next President of Egypt?

At the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Dr. Jacques Neriah asks the question: Sisi Fever: Will the General be the Next President of Egypt?.

Here is a synopsis of Neriah's article:

• General Abd el Fattah el-Sisi, the man who led the overthrow of President Morsi on July 3, 2013, holds the combined titles of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, first Deputy of the Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense and Military Production. Unlike his predecessors, Sisi is waging a merciless campaign against jihadi fighters in Sinai Peninsula in order to restore Egypt's sovereignty there while drastically reducing Hamas' power in Gaza.

David P. Goldman on China's Growing Influence In Iran and the Middle East

The following by David P. Goldman is resposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

A Pax Sinica in the Middle East?

by David P. Goldman
Asia Times
October 28, 2013

David P. Goldman

English-language media completely ignored a noteworthy statement that led Der Spiegel's German-language website October 12, a call for China to "take on responsibility as a world power" in the Middle East. Penned by Bernhard Zand, the German news organization's Beijing correspondent, it is terse and to the point: now that China imports more oil from the Middle East than any other country in the world, it must answer for the region's security. "America's interest in the Middle East diminishes day by day" as it heads towards energy self-sufficiency, wrote Zand, adding:

China's interest in a peaceful Middle East is enormous, by contrast. Beijing is not only the biggest customer of precisely those oil powers who presently are fanning the flames of conflict in Syria; as a VIP customer, Beijing has growing political influence, which it should use openly. The word of the Chinese foreign minister has just as much weight in Tehran and Riyadh as that of his American counterpart.

China's situation, Zand continues, is rather like Germany's after reunification: a state whose economic power is growing will eventually be asked what it puts on the table politically.

Anne Bayefsky: Europe, US Pressuring Israel to Endure Discrimination at UN Human Rights Council

For Immediate Release: October 27, 2013

Contact: info@humanrightsvoices.org Follow us on Twitter

Europe, US Pressuring Israel to Endure Discrimination at UN Human Rights Council This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on The Jerusalem Post. The United Nations is gearing up for yet another attack upon Israel – even more outrageous on this occasion because it has been arranged in the name of equality. The so-called “Universal Periodic Review” (UPR), will take place in Geneva on October 29, 2013, under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council. The label is intended to evoke the equal treatment of all UN member states, notwithstanding the actual treatment of the UN’s favorite whipping boy. The UPR was concocted after the credibility of the Council’s predecessor – the UN Human Rights Commission – finally took a fatal hit. On March 15, 2006, with the United States and Israel voting against, the General Assembly pushed the Commission out one door and dragged the Council in through another. The “reform” of the UN’s top human rights body was fundamentally flawed, however, since American efforts to condition membership on some degree of actually protecting human rights, were totally rejected. The UPR has been called the Council’s most important innovation. Then President of the General Assembly, Swede Jan Eliasson, said of the UPR just before the vote: “Such a mechanism would ensure equal treatment with respect to all Member States and would prevent double standards and selectivity.” The European Union was also enthusiastic, claiming the Council was a glorious “opportunity to build new trust by addressing human rights in a spirit of honesty, equal treatment and the avoidance of double standards.” The assurances were untrue.

Obama Missteps Help Bring Israel and Gulf States Together

The following by Jonathan Spyer is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

Quietly, Israel and the Gulf States Draw Closer Together

by Jonathan Spyer
PJ Media
October 24, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3651/israel-gulf-states

Recent remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have fueled renewed speculation of behind-the-scenes links between Israel and the Gulf monarchies.

Netanyahu, speaking at the UN, said that "the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the emergence of other threats in our region have led many of our Arab neighbors to recognize, finally recognize, that Israel is not their enemy."

He added: "This affords us the opportunity to overcome the historic animosities and build new relationships, new friendships, new hopes."

There have been subsequent rumors of visits by senior Gulf officials to Israel, to discuss matters of common interest.

Arlene Kushner: EU Attacks Israel For Enforcing Oslo Agreement With Palestinians

From Arlene Kushner:
October 27, 2013

Back to Normal

"Back to Normal" (whatever "normal" means)

Some days ago, I had shared with my readers the fact that there would be a hiatus in my writing both for personal reasons and because of a major project.  As to the personal reasons, I am functioning without major distraction now but advise you that, down the road, I may again be focused on other matters for a period of time during which I will not be posting. 

As to the major project: I look forward eagerly to sharing the details in a day or two, in a posting devoted primarily to this.

Today's posting will be, as I indicated, "normal."

~~~~~~~~~~

What strikes me is that in the duration of time during which I have not been posting, nothing of major significance has shifted.  It's essentially more of the same, with slight variations and permutations. The same nonsense. The same outrage. 

One on-going source of outrage is the manner in which an anti-Israel EU is conducting itself. And so I would like to begin by sharing a part of Caroline Glick's column from this past week, entitled, "Israel's European challenge."  Writes Glick (emphasis added):

Mideast Media Sampler 10/27/13: Have We Forgotten Iran Has Been At War With The West For 30 Years?

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

A Necessary Crisis with Iran

1983 bombing of US Marine barracks in Beirut Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Recently, after the first round of nuclear talks with Iran had concluded one of the American negotiators said: “… I have never had such intense, detailed, straightforward, candid conversations with the Iranian delegation before.”

The word that bothered me most in that declaration was “candid.”

Is Partition the Best Long-Term Solution to the Violence in Syria?

The following by Gary C. Gambill is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

Partitioning Syria

by Gary C. Gambill

Foreign Policy Research Institute
October 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3650/partitioning-syria

Gary C. Gambill

After two-and-a-half years of steadily metastasizing violence in Syria, the harsh reality is that the country isn't going to become a stable, unified state again in the foreseeable future, let alone a remotely democratic one. It may be time to start thinking about alternatives.

Syria has already fragmented into increasingly well-defined enclaves. A multiplicity of Sunni Arab rebels control large swaths of the north and east, while the regime is dominant in the capital and major cities, the largely non-Sunni coastal provinces, and a corridor connecting them. Kurds control small border areas in the far northeast. The Druze, heavily concentrated in southwest Syria, have formed militias to fend off rebel incursions, while tending otherwise toward neutrality.

Although the rebels are likely to eventually bring down the minoritarian regime of President Bashar Assad, as Michael O'Hanlon helpfully analogizes, the fall of Damascus will "no more end the war in Syria than the overthrow of Saddam in 2003 brought stability to Iraq." Pro-regime forces will fall back toward the coast, Kurds and Druze will fortify their enclaves, and the Sunni rebels will fight each other to reclaim what's left of the Syrian capital.

Press Release: 1 Millionth Visitor Arrives Next Week on Israel Daily Picture

For Immediate Release

The Western Wall, 1859

Jerusalem -- Israel Daily Picture (IDP), an online album of antique photographs of the Holy Land, will reach a historic milestone this week when its millionth visitor arrives on the site, Israeli Daily Picture

Cartoon: The Extent of BDS on College Campuses

Chava Light, a cartoonist and illustrator, has illustrated for The Algemeiner the extent of the abuse of BDS on campuses with her cartoon of A College Miseducation:

Mideast Media Sampler 10/24/13: Obama On Syria -- Indecisive and Disinterested

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

When Legalisms Become an Excuse for Inaction

Obama talks with, from left, Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, Gene Sperling,
 National Economic Council Director, and Miguel Rodriguez, Director of
Legislative Affairs, in the Oval Office on 8 May 2013. Credit: Wiki Commons

Yesterday’s New York Times featured an article Obama’s Uncertain Path Amid Syria Bloodshed that is probably one of the most devastating indictments of the President’s Syria policy published. I don’t think that the reporters set out to critique the President and the tone of the article was always respectful.

Read it and weep. Obama's Syria policy as told by the NYT: http://t.co/30uZYqWZuv

— michaeldweiss (@michaeldweiss) October 23, 2013

Still there are two description that really stuck out. The first was a general critique.

Raymond Ibrahim: Murdered Christian Children -- The Price of Obama's Pro-Brotherhood Jihad

The following by Raymond Ibrahim is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Murdered Christian Children
The Price of Obama's Pro-Brotherhood Jihad

by Raymond Ibrahim
FrontPageMagazine.com
October 23, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3649/egypt-murdered-christians

Raymond Ibrahim

Who is more deserving of punishment by the United States? Millions of Egyptians, for ousting the Muslim Brotherhood? Or the Muslim Brotherhood, for habitually terrorizing and murdering Christians, among many other crimes?

According to the unmistakably clear actions of the Obama administration, it is the millions of anti-Brotherhood Egyptians who deserve punishment.

Last Sunday, the Church of the Virgin Mary in Waraq near Cairo was attacked during a wedding ceremony, leaving four dead and many wounded. According to Dr. Hisham Abdul Hamid of forensics, two of those who were murdered were Christian children—two girls; two Marys: 12-year-old Mary Nabil Fahmy, who took five shots in the chest, and 8-year-old Mary Ashraf Masih (meaning "Christ"), who took a bullet in the back which burst from the front.

Islamophobia Isn't Racism -- It's The Stated Goal Of The Koran

...the Koran actually commands Muslims to instill fear of Islam (Islamophobia) into the hearts of non-Muslims, using any means necessary to force them to submit to Islam’s might. The Koran and Islamic teachings thus make Islamophobia mandatory.
Fjordman, Irrational Fear of Islam?

"Islamophobia" is a label used to tar outspoken critics of Islamists, describing the irrational fear and prejudice against Islam.

It is also apparently a specific goal of Islamists as stated in the Koran.

Abbas Edges Closer To Syria's Assad -- Does Not Bode Well For Kerry's Middle East Peace Talks

Khaled Abu Toameh writes that Abbas, Hamas, Flirting With Syria's Assad. However, while Hamas -- which has seen its once promising relationship with Egypt on the skids -- has been slow to get back into Assad's good graces, Abbas has been more successful.

The reasons for making up with Syria extend beyond mere political gain:

MEQ December 2000: Efraim Karsh: Why the Middle East Is So Volatile

The following by Efraim Karsh is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Why the Middle East Is So Volatile

by Efraim Karsh
Middle East Quarterly
December 2000, pp. 13-22

In the four centuries before World War I, the Middle East was a singularly unchanging place. Since that time, it has been perhaps the most hyperactive of regions. Why this dramatic change? When scholars debate the reasons for twentieth-century volatility, they usually point to outside powers. Efraim Karsh turns this equation on its head; then three leading analysts reply to his argument.

The Editors

Efraim Karsh

Since its formation in the wake of World War I, the contemporary Middle Eastern system based on territorial states has been under sustained assault. In past years, the foremost challenge to this system came from the doctrine of pan-Arabism (or qawmiya ), which sought to "eliminate the traces of Western imperialism" and unify the "Arab nation," and the associated ideology of Greater Syria (or Suriya al-Kubra), which stresses the territorial and historical indivisibility of most of the Fertile Crescent. Today, the leading challenge comes from Islamist notions of a single Muslim community (the umma ). Intellectuals and politicians, denouncing the current system as an artificial creation of Western imperialism at variance with yearnings for regional unity, have repeatedly urged its destruction. National leaders—from Gamal Abdel Nasser to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to Saddam Husayn—have justified their interference in the affairs of other states by claiming to pursue that unity. Yet the system of territorial states has proven extremely resilient.

The Double Standards of the EU Against Israel -- Can Cyprus and the Western Sahara Take Advantage?

Examples of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context could include...Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
“Working Definition” of Anti-Semitism of the EU Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, as quoted by the US State Department

In Of Hypocrisy and Double Standards, Jonathan Rosenblum writes about the hypocrisy of the EU -- specifically the hypocrisy surrounding the double standard the EU uses in misapplying guidelines solely on Israel. In this case, the EU misapplication of international law is addressed and debunked by two international lawyers:

Professors of international law, Prof. Avi Bell and Prof. Eugene Kontorovich, have now provided a particularly glaring example of the application of legal double standards to Israel by the European Union, in a study for the Kohelet Policy Forum entitled "EU's Israel Grants Guidelines: A Legal and Policy Analysis."

Why Is Saudi Arabia Suddenly So Shy When It Comes To The UN?

There are various reasons why Arabs feel the need to cloak their real concerns behind a façade of verbiage about the Palestinians. The truly puzzling question is why the West hasn’t yet learned to look behind this verbiage to the telltale actions...
Evelyn Gordon, What the Saudis Really Care About in Commentary

This month, it seems as if Saudi Arabia was getting bashful around the UN.

First it was reported in the beginning of this month that Saudi Arabia scrapped UN speech in protest over Syria, Israel:

Saudi Arabia's frustration at international inaction over Syria and the Palestinians led it to cancel its speech at the United Nations General Assembly for the first time ever this week, a diplomatic source said

While the Saudis claim to have equal concerns about Syria and the Palestinian question, Evelyn Gordon noted What the Saudis Really Care About

The Discussion of The Growing Influence of Islam in Europe Should Focus on Russia

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Muslim Russia?

by Daniel Pipes
The Washington Times
October 21, 2013
http://www.danielpipes.org/13531/muslim-russia

The stabbing murder on Oct. 10 of an ethnic Russian, Yegor Shcherbakov, 25, apparently by a Muslim from Azerbaijan, led to anti-migrant disturbances in Moscow, vandalism and assaults, the arrest of 1,200, and brought a major tension in Russian life to the fore.

Not only do ethnic Muslims account for 21-23 million of Russia's total population of 144 million, or 15 percent, but their proportion is fast growing. Alcoholism-plagued ethnic Russians are said to have European birth rates and African death rates, with the former just 1.4 per woman and the latter 60 years for men. In Moscow, ethnic Christian women have 1.1 child.

Despite Kerry's Glowing Praise of Assad, Full Removal of Syria's Chemical Weapons Is Unlikely

The following by Jonathan Spyer is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Despite Nobel Prize, Full Removal of Syria's Chemical Weapons Unlikely

by Jonathan Spyer
PJ Media
October 16, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3647/syria-chemical-weapons-removal

The first reports emerging from the effort to relieve the Assad regime of its chemical weapons capacity suggest that the regime is cooperating with the inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The latter organization has been tasked by the United Nations with overseeing the process of destroying Assad's CW capability.

The process is set to involve two distinct stages. In the first and more straightforward phase, Syria's ability to produce chemical weapons will be removed. In the second phase, Syria's actual stockpiles of chemical weaponry are to be destroyed. The first phase of the mission is intended to be completed by November 1. The second phase is likely to take a lot longer.

The OPCW inspectors face a task of unparalleled complexity. Never before has a country in the midst of civil war offered up its chemical weapons capacity to international review and destruction. It is not at all clear that the inspectors will succeed.

Still Unanswered: Is Egypt's Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi Just Another Islamist?

The following by Raymond Stock is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Islamist or Nationalist:
Who is Egypt's Mysterious New Pharaoh?

by Raymond Stock
Foreign Policy Research Institute
October 2013

Raymond Stock

Egypt's new de facto pharaoh, General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, is a man of mystery. Is he an Islamist, or a nationalist? Is he a person of high principle, or a lowly opportunist? And in a land which has known five thousand years of mainly centralized, one-man rule, with limited experience of democracy, when have we seen his type before, and where will he lead the troubled, ancient nation now?

These questions are crucial to knowing how the U.S. should react to al-Sisi's removal of Egypt's first "freely elected" president, Mohamed Morsi on July 3 in answer to overwhelmingly massive street protests demanding that he do so, and to the ongoing bloody crackdown on Morsi's group, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), that began on August 14. Citing the ongoing, actually two-way violence in Egypt, President Barack Obama's administration has now suspended much of our annual $1.6 billion aid to the country, save for money needed to maintain security operations along the Israeli border in Sinai and to directly support the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.

What Do You Think: Does Daniel Pipes ALWAYS Agree With Israel's Policies?

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Do I Not Criticize Israeli Policies?

by Daniel Pipes
September 29, 2013

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2013/09/do-i-not-criticize-israeli-policies

David C. Speedie.

David C. Speedie, a senior fellow and director of U.S. Global Engagement Program at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, recently wrote how he follows me "quite closely" and that my work is of no value because I don't "in any way question any aspect of Israel's policy."

He implied here that I am a lapdog of the Israeli government with no mind of my own, but a p.r. agent or lobbyist for whoever's in charge in Jerusalem, so my views should have no weight. His portrayal undermines my role as an independent analyst and therefore calls for refutation.

In fact. I disagree often and volubly with Israeli policies, as the following partial list suggests:

Mideast Media Sampler 10/17/2013: Is Iran Going To Manipulate The US The Way Obama Did The Republicans?

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

Secretary of State John Kerry said that “no deal is better than a bad deal.” Will he follow through?

The West (otherwise known as P5 + 1) has concluded its first round of talks with Iran about its nuclear program in Geneva.

The New York Times reports After Talks on Iran’s Nuclear Program, Officials Highlight the Positive:

“I’ve been doing this now for about two years, and I have never had such intense, detailed, straightforward, candid conversations with the Iranian delegation before,” said a senior Obama administration official.

What was accomplished?

Why Islamists Believe Jihad Is Not Terrorism

The following by Raymond Ibrahim is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Jihad or Terrorism?
The Semantic Arguments of Islam's Authorities

by Raymond Ibrahim
PJ Media
October 16, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3644/jihad-or-terrorism

Raymond Ibrahim

A recent Arabic article appearing in Egypt's Al Ahram newspaper titled "Is Terrorism Jihad?" written by Islamic law expert Dr. Abdul Fatah Idris offers important lessons—from the fact that jihad does involve subjugating non-Muslims to why the Western mentality is still incapable of acknowledging it.

Idris, professor and chairman of Al Azhar University's Department of Comparative Jurisprudence at the Faculty of Sharia Law, is a well-reputed legal scholar. He begins his article by quoting from various international bodies that correctly define terrorism as violence or threats of violence as a means of coercion.

Idris also mentions how "the Islamic Research Academy, in its report issued on November 4^th, 2001, defines terrorism as terrorizing innocent people and the destruction of their properties and their essential elements of living and attacking their finances and their persons and their liberties and their human dignity without right and spreading corruption throughout the land."

MEQ Fall 2013: The Palestinian Refugee Problem Resolved

The following by Shaul Bartal is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

The Palestinian Refugee Problem Resolved

by Shaul Bartal
Middle East Quarterly
Fall 2013, pp. 29-40

During the 1948 war, some 600,000 Palestinian Arabs fled their homes to the neighboring Arab states or to parts of mandatory Palestine occupied by Arab states (the West Bank and Gaza).[1] Likewise, within a few years after the establishment of the State of Israel, nearly all of the 850,000-strong Jewish population living in Arab states was either expelled or escaped with just their lives. Most made their way to Israel where they were resettled.

While these latter facts may not be that well known, neither are they completely unfamiliar to students of the Middle East. What is less acknowledged, however, is the de facto agreement of Arab states to resettle Palestinian refugees in their respective territories, expressed in closed-door discussions at cease-fire committee meetings and other gatherings with Israeli representatives.[2] Whether the Arab states properly represented the refugees or treated them and their descendants fairly is a matter for the Palestinians and their Arab brothers to adjudicate on their own.

No Jihadist, Rav Ovadiah Yosef zt"l Never Called For The Murder of Arabs

Following the passing of Rav Ovadiah Yosef zt"l, Yaacov Lozowick wrote about The Rav Ovadia as he meant to be -- a repost of A Rabbi Speaks Like A Rabbi, written 3 years ago.

Lozowick wrote back than in response to condemnations of Rav Ovadia Yosef in response to his calling for the death of Mahmoud Abbas and "these Palestinians". Among those condemning Rav Yosef back then were Palestinian Arab negotiator Saeb Erekat, who denounced him for preaching genocide -- followed by the State Department and media.

In response, Lozowick notes the context of Jewish history in which Rav Yosef spoke, and which his critiques ignore:

Mideast Media Sampler 10/15/13: The New York Times' War Against Binyamin Netanyahu

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

The New York Times' War Against Binyamin Netanyahu

Last week in an article On Iran Talks, Congress Could Play ‘Bad Cop’, the New York Times quoted an “expert” named Cliff Kupchan:

It is a role that Congress shares with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who warned the United Nations that Mr. Rouhani was a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” and urged the United States to ignore his conciliatory words and redouble the pressure on Iran.

“Netanyahu’s speech was widely ridiculed in this town,” Mr. Kupchan said, “but it largely reflects the views of many members of Congress.”

I’m sure that in some Washington circles – those who believe words and meaningless agreements are more important than actions – Netanyahu’s speech was ridiculed. But I’m not convinced that it was widely ridiculed.

Mideast Media Sample 10/14/13: New York Times Thinks Palestinian Murderers of Civilians Qualify As "Freedom Fighters"?

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

The New York Times on Sunday featured an article, Behind Flurry of Killing, Potency of Hate, which focuses on how dehumanizing an enemy makes it easier to kill. The article focuses on a convicted, jailed and released IRA terrorist and how he could be conditioned to kill. Then the article continues:

Historical parallels are inevitably flawed. But a recent flurry of horrific bloodletting — the attack in Nairobi that left 60 dead, the execution by Syrian jihadis of bound and blindfolded prisoners, an Egyptian soldier peering through his rifle sight and firing on the teenage daughter of a Muslim Brotherhood leader — raises a question as old as Cain and Abel: Do we all have it in us?

Many experts think we do. For Mr. O’Callaghan, it was a matter of focus.

“What you’re seeing in that moment,” he said in an interview last week, “is not a human being.”

The article also mentions how Nazis could be brought to slaughter Jews (and describes the murderers in oddly sympathetic terms!). But it left out the most systematic delegitimization campaign going on now: the one by Palestinians that targets Israel.

New Website: The Truth About Palestinian Rock-Throwing -- And Their First Video

There is a new website on the web: The Truth About Palestinian Rock-Throwing.

Here is an excerpt from the site's press release:

October 14, 2013 press release announcing the debut of The Truth About Palestinian Rock-Throwing website, and two short documentaries

PRESS RELEASE

(OCT. 14, 2013) Two new short video documentaries expose how certain “news” entities and “human rights” groups help enable the Palestinian rock-throwing culture –– yet ignore or vilify the Jews who’ve been maimed and killed by it.

Arlene Kushner on Khaled Abu Toameh Interview on What Happened to the Moderate Palestinians?

From Arlene Kushner:
October 13 2013

Outrage Without End

Late on Thursday night, men who are being presumed likely terrorists broke into the home of Shariya Ofer and his wife, Monique.  Shariya -- a retired IDF colonel who had served as a commander of the elite Sayeret Shaked infantry reconnaissance unit -- was bludgeoned to death by Arabs wielding iron bars and axes. 

Credit: nosnondits

His wife, who ran to seek help, was moderately injured and is in the hospital.

The Ofer home is in the community of Brosh in the Jordan Valley.  The location is thought perhaps to not be a coincidence, as the Palestinian Authority is now claiming that all Israelis must leave this area in any settlement.

Raymond Ibrahim: Nigeria: Where Jihad and Christian Persecution Run Rampant

The following by Raymond Ibrahim is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Nigeria: Where Jihad and Christian Persecution Run Rampant

by Raymond Ibrahim
October 1, 2013

Raymond Ibrahim

Many around the world were recently made aware—got a small glimpse—of the Islamic jihad that plagues northern Nigeria, at the hands of Boko Haram, an organization dedicated to eradicating Christianity and enforcing the totality of Sharia law.

Last Sunday, September 29, around 1 a.m. Islamic terrorists dressed in Nigerian military uniforms invaded an agricultural college, shooting students as they slept in their dorms, killing a total of some 50 students.

As with the Islamic assaults in Kenya and Pakistan from the previous weekend—the former on a mall, the latter on a Christian church, leaving a combined total of nearly 200 people dead and hundreds injured—this latest jihadi attack in Nigeria is, far from an aberration, simply the latest in a tremendously long list of jihadi atrocities, most often targeting Christians.

Indeed, when it comes to Nigeria, it is difficult just keeping up with the atrocities—so frequent, sometimes daily, are they.

Towards A Jewish Majority in the State of Israel -- and the Land of Israel

The following by Yakov Faitelson is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

A Jewish Majority in the Land of Israel
The Resilient Jewish State

by Yakov Faitelson
Middle East Quarterly
Fall 2013, pp. 15-27 (view PDF)

Growth trends and population forecasts have played a significant role in the political landscape of the Middle East, especially over the thorny question of Israel and the disputed territories. The notion that the Jewish majority of Israel is in danger of being swamped by Arab fertility has repeatedly been used as a political and psychological weapon to extract territorial concessions from the Israeli government. In September 2010, U.S. president Barack Obama referred to the so-called "hard realities of demography" that threaten the survival of the Jewish state.[1]

Such a conclusion is wrong. Analysis of long-term demographic developments leads to quite the opposite conclusion: In the long run, a strong Jewish majority, not only in the state of Israel—as this author projected almost twenty-five years ago[2] and the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics recently reaffirmed[3]—but also in the Land of Israel[4] is quite possible.

Arlene Kushner on Palestinian Statements Proving They Won't Make Peace With Israel

From Arlene Kushner:
October 10, 2013

Pride

Before speaking about that pride, I simply wanted to alert my readers to a slowdown in my postings that will be taking place for the next 10-14 days.  I am well, but focused on both a personal family situation and on a major project -- about which you will hear in due course.  Please, unless it is important, refrain from writing to me during this time.

~~~~~~~~~~

Two Israeli professors have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, sharing it with an Austrian Jewish American, Prof. Martin Karplus, who fled to the US before the Holocaust.

MEQ Winter 2008: The Fallacy of Grievance-based Terrorism

The following by Melvin E. Lee is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

The Fallacy of Grievance-based Terrorism

by Melvin E. Lee
Middle East Quarterly
Winter 2008, pp. 71-79

The fundamental premise of much scholarly examination and public discourse is that grievances with U.S. policies in the Middle East motivate Islamist terrorism. Such assumptions, though, misunderstand the enemy and its nature. In reality, the conflict is sparked not by grievance but rather by incompatibility between Islamist ideology and the natural rights articulated during the European Enlightenment and incorporated into U.S. political culture. Acquiescing to political grievances will not alter the fundamental incompatibility between Lockean precepts of tolerance and current interpretations of Islam: Only Islam's fundamental reform will resolve the conflict.

MEQ 2011: Jonathan Schanzer: What Palestinians Are Saying Online

The following by Jonathan Schanzer is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

What Palestinians Are Saying Online

by Jonathan Schanzer
Middle East Quarterly
Winter 2011, pp. 15-24 (view PDF)

Jonathan Schanzer

During the past decade, Washington has repeatedly failed to gauge the extent of Palestinian anti-peace sentiments with devastating consequences. The July 2000 Camp David summit triggered the worst wave of Palestinian violence since 1948 (euphemized as the "al-Aqsa Intifada"); the Palestinian parliamentary elections of January 2006 led to a victory for the Hamas Islamist group. Now that President Obama has announced his ambitious timeline for Israeli-Palestinian peace, could the administration be rushing headlong into yet another diplomatic failure?

A recent nine-week study by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) of online Palestinian political sentiments suggests that this could be the case.[1] Palestinian Internet users often derided diplomatic initiatives, and their discussion of the peace process was overwhelmingly negative. More alarmingly, the study revealed several troubling trends among Palestinian social media users—notably the prevalence of Islamism, fissures between factions, and the inability of liberal reformers to be heard—that cast doubt on both the prospects for peace and the likelihood that a democratic Palestinian state will emerge.

Mideast Media Sampler 10/9/13: 4 Examples How Media More Concerned About Iranian Jeans Than Rouhani's Deceptions

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

How the MSM acts as Rouhani's PR Flacks

One of the problems with President Hassan Rouhani’s charm offensive is that he has a record.

It’s a record that shows that he excuses the death penalty for protesters, defends Iran for its sponsorship of terror and boasts that he duped the West ten years ago.

All of this is a matter of public record. And one doesn’t need to read Barry Rubin or Michael Ledeen or Reuel Marc Gerecht to get all this. If you read about him in the New York Times prior to May 2013, the image that emerged of Hassan Rouhani is one of the ultimate regime insider, not a reformer by any stretch.

Video: Ari Lesser's New Rap Video Reveals Hypocricy of BDS Movement

Ari Lesser's rap video addresses the hypocrisy of those who want to boycott only Israel -- ignoring other countries in the Middle East and around the world

Here is the video:

Mideast Media Sampler 10/8/13: Media Accepts Iran's Distortions, Attacks Netanyahu

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

Where’s the scrutiny of Iran’s blatant lie about its nuclear program?


After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly last week, a number of op-eds in both the New York Times and Washington Post criticized him.

A reading of the speech shows that it was quite skilled. Netanyahu explained how Iran is ruled by a regime that is currently destabilizing the Middle East and exporting terror globally. He also explained how, in the past, Iran used the illusion of moderation and negotiations to advance its nuclear program. (This is something that then candidate Hassan Rouhani boasted about in a recently reported video.)

But Netanyahu wasn’t arguing to attack Iran. He was arguing to keep sanctions in place, and strengthen them if necessary, to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. (In fact the public statements of the Obama administration don’t sound that different from what Netanyahu said about sanctions.) The threat of military force was meant as a last resort.

Still it didn’t stop journalists from mocking Netanyahu.

Video: UNRWA Teaches Palestinian Arabs To Hate Jews -- and Christians

Do you know what the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is for? It's an agency used to provide aid in various ways to refugees, such as summer camps. The agency is largely funded by countries and unions, such as the United States, European Union and United Kingdom. But what exactly are they funding?

Arlene Kushner: Netanyahu's Bar-Ilan Speech Will Impact Peace Talks With Palestinians

From Arlene Kushner:
October 7, 2013

Good Going!

I am referring to the speech Prime Minister Netanyahu gave at Bar Ilan University last night.

Credit: TimesofIsrael

There had been considerable anxiety prior to that talk.  Four years ago, when he delivered a similar talk at Bar Ilan, he first embraced the "two state solution."  In the run-up to his talk this time, the word was that he was going to announce a change in policy.  Rumor had it that it would involve a proposal for an "interim" state, since reaching a final accord would not be possible; but such a proposal would have been a disaster.

Thus were we most pleasantly surprised when no such proposal was advanced. Nor was any suggestion made that we have to give more, sacrifice, etc. etc. in order to make an accord possible.  What a relief!

~~~~~~~~~~

This talk by the prime minister indeed did represent a new policy.  What he has done - which is marvelous and long overdue - is to tell the truth about the situation and put the onus where it belongs: squarely on the Palestinian Arabs.

This was truth that was unvarnished and most definitely not politically correct.  He spoke for the Israeli position.

~~~~~~~~~~

Mideast Media Sampler 10/7/13: Media Chooses To Trust Rouhani More Than It Trusts Netanyahu

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

The Columnists who Cried “Sheep”

There has been a steady campaign against Prime Minister Netanyahu in the media.

Last week the Washington Post featured a column by David Ignatius arguing that Israel should let the United States give negotiations a chance. Ignatius used 1973 Yom Kippur War as a lesson for Israel, but he probably would have done better to use the Oslo Accords of 1993 as a lesson.

TWS Blog—Iran and the Western media's magical thinking http://t.co/DBL4T6bGxW
— Lee Smith (@stronghorsebook) October 3, 2013

Video: Diplomatic Malpractice: Ignoring Palestinian Unwillingness To Make Peace With Israel

One could argue that there is a certain degree of diplomatic malpractice of the worst order not to recognize the Palestinian unwillingness to make peace with Israel.

Here is the video:

Arlene Kushner: Obama Sets Stage To Delay Action on Iran

From: Arlene Kushner
October 5, 2013

Unreal!

Motzei Shabbat (After Shabbat)

A peaceful Shabbat and I was not expecting to post again until after Prime Minister Netanyahu speaks tomorrow night.  But I logged on to my computer tonight and took a look at the news -- which is what motivated me to do this posting, which I hope will be brief.

"Unreal!" is a term used metaphorically to ask "How can this be??" That's what I'm asking. But the rub is that what I'm reading is not fiction, it's real -- no matter how incredible it may seem.

Decide for yourselves if you can reconcile these various news items, or if they seem "unreal!" to you, as well, even as they are happening:

~~~~~~~~~~

3 Recent Mistakes The Media Made About Israeli Geography (Plus A Joe Biden Bonus)

Don't get stuck on stupid, reporters. We are moving forward. And don't confuse the people please. You are part of the public message. So help us get the message straight. And if you don't understand, maybe you'll confuse it to the people.
Lieutenant General Honore addressing reporters about New Orleans evacuation plan for Hurricane Rita

It should come as no surprise that just as it will describe terrorists as activists or militants, the Media will be equally inaccurate in other issues concerning Israel.

This week I came across 3 articles and posts that demonstrate the degree to which the media really does not seem to have a grasp of the basics when it comes to Israel.

Or just doesn't care.

Arlene Kushner on Positive Reception in Israel To Netanyahu's UN Speech

From Arlene Kushner:
October 3, 2013

Maximum Effort

Prime Minister Netanyahu approached the podium at the UN this week with courage and determination.  He spoke with impeccable logic and eloquence. 

If you would like to see a video of his talk: 

Following his talk, he remained in the US an additional day in order to give numerous media interviews on the subject of the dangers of Iran and the necessity of fully dismantling its nuclear capability.

In other words, he is putting out that maximum effort to alert the world to a critical danger.

~~~~~~~~~~

In many quarters here in Israel his words were received with high praise (all emphasis below added).

Remembering the 1973 Yom Kippur War: Lessons Learned

The following by Efraim Inbar is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum

Remembering the 1973 War

by Efraim Inbar
The Jerusalem Post
October 2, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3625/remembering-the-1973-war

Efraim Inbar

The 1973 war shocked Israel. The remarkable military victory was marred by the acute pain over the many casualties and the disappointment with the political and military leadership. The war had lasting as well as passing effects. Generally, Israel is in much better shape today.

As the war ended, Israeli society lost its naïveté and began a process of political maturation. Greater healthy skepticism toward state institutions and the IDF developed within the media and public opinion.

The war's misfortunes also created a political atmosphere that led to greater political pluralism, propelling the Likud into a ruling position. Over time, the conservative instincts of a changing electorate left the Likud as the main political force in the arena.

Video: The Lady in Number 6 -- The New Movie on the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, World's Oldest Holocaust Survivor

Three years ago, I wrote about Holocaust Survivor Alice Herz Sommer, Age 106, And Her Music.

Now, 3 years later, there is a movie about Alice Herz-Sommer's life:

The Lady in Number 6 is one of the most inspirational and uplifting stories of the year. As the world’s oldest pianist and holocaust survivor, 109 year-old Alice Herz Sommer shares her views on how to live a long and happy life. She discusses music, laughter and how to remain optimistic come what may. The film features beautiful photographs and rare film footage that truly brings Alice’s extraordinary story to life.

What's The Best Way To Deal With Iran? Just Ask Rouhani!

If Obama is going to negotiate with Iran, he read the article from The Times of Israel that reports on When Rouhani unwittingly told an Israeli agent how to deal with Iran:

In August 1986, in the midst of what would become the Iran-Contra Affair, an Israeli adviser to the prime minister, working undercover as a US envoy, met with Hasan Rouhani, the current president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Rouhani, in discussing ways to facilitate the release of seven US hostages then being held in Lebanon, gave the Israeli the following advice: “First and foremost, you have to be firm with [Iranian leader Ayatollah] Khomeini. Stand strongly before him… If you don’t bare sharp teeth before Khomeini, you’re going to have troubles all over the world. [But] if you threaten him with military force, he’ll kiss your hand and run.”

JCPA: After the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Is Hamas in Gaza Next in Line?

Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah addresses the question After the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Is Hamas in Gaza Next in Line?

Here is the executive summary of his article:

• Egypt has finally decided to tackle the security threat from the Sinai Peninsula, a region that was nearly under the control of jihadist organizations with links to al-Qaeda and Hamas.
  
  
• The Egyptian army’s ultimate goal is clear: to recover Egypt’s sovereignty in Sinai. In order to succeed in its mission, the Egyptian supreme command understands that it must neutralize Hamas, which it sees as partly responsible for the security situation in Sinai during the last few years.

Dawn Perlmutter on Jihadist Ritual Murder in the Kenya Mall Attack

The following by Dawn Perlmutter is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

Jihadist Ritual Murder and Mutilation at the Mall

by Dawn Perlmutter
FrontPageMagazine.com
October 1, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3623/kenya-mall-attack-jihad

Dawn Perlmutter

During the four-day siege in Kenya's Westgate shopping Mall al-Shabaab jihadists raped, tortured, beheaded, dismembered, castrated, gouged out eyes, amputated fingers and hung hostages on hooks from the roof. According to a forensic medical doctor, "They [the al-Shabaab attackers] removed eyes, ears, noses. Fingers are cut by pliers, noses ripped by pliers"… "Those are not allegations. Those are f****** truths,"… "They removed balls, eyes, ears, nose. They get your hand and sharpen it like a pencil then they tell you to write your name with the blood. They drive knives inside a child's body. Actually, if you look at all the bodies, unless those ones that were escaping, fingers are cut by pliers, the noses are ripped by pliers." There were also reports that hostages were beheaded and their heads thrown out of the windows.

Arlene Kushner on Netanyahu's Speech to the UN -- Not the Usual Conciliatory Tone

From Arlene Kushner:
October 1, 2013

The Shock and the Pride

What had me close to speechless earlier today was a quote by the venerable (sic) US secretary of state, John Kerry.  (With thanks to IMRA for putting it up.)

The source here is Al-Arabiya, but there are other sources as well (e.g., AFP), because the quotes are taken from a "60 Minutes" broadcast.  Said Mr. Kerry (emphasis added):

"...a deal with Iran could be reached within months if Tehran proves that its nuclear program was not being used to build atomic weapons...

Video/Transcript: Netanyahu's Speech at the United Nations General Assembly October 1, 2013

Here is the video of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech today at the United Nations General Assambly, followed by the transcript -- from the Prime Minister's Office website.

Mideast Media Sampler 10/1/13: Pundits and Allies Reject Obama’s Foreign Policies

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

In a remarkable op-ed last week, Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post excoriated Obama’s Myopic Worldview.

After noting that the President claimed in his U.N. speech, “The world is more stable than it was five years ago,” Diehl responded:

So: Why, according to Obama, is the world better off than in 2008? Well, the global economic crisis has abated. But that’s not all: “We’ve also worked to end a decade of war,” the president said, by withdrawing U.S. and NATO troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and “shifting away from a perpetual war footing.” Here’s where you could almost hear the head-scratching in the Iraqi and Afghan delegations: Violence in both of those countries is considerably worse than it was five years ago, in part because of the U.S. withdrawals.

New York Times, Like Iran's Rouhani, Dilutes Jewish History for Its Readers

...however much mullahs or media may seek to distort inconvenient historical facts, people devoted to truth will continue to know better.
Rabbi Avi Shafran

Rabbi Avi Shafran writes that The New York Times, like Iran's Rouhani, tries its hand at Defining History Down.

At a time that Rouhani sidestepped on the Holocaust, the New York Times for its part also watered down the history of the Jews. Last week, Jodi Rudoren of The New York Times wrote Jews Challenge Rules to Claim Heart of Jerusalem.

Shafran takes issue with matters of emphasis in the article. The real issue, however, is the video that accompanies the article:

Arlene Kushner: Pressure on Netanyahu as He Speaks to Obama and the UN About Iran

From Arlene Kushner:
September 30, 2013

Troubling, Unsettling

But of course!  How could the situation be anything but?

This morning's lead story in the JPost included this (emphasis added):

"Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will go into his meeting with US President Barack Obama on Monday aiming not only to reveal the 'true face' of the Iranian regime, but also wanting to hear areaffirmation from Obama of Israel's right to defend itself.

"One of Israel's main concerns presently is that Iranian President Hasan Rouhani's 'charm offensive' has chipped away at Israel's legitimacy for military action if Tehran crosses the red line Netanyahu established at the General Assembly last year."

Read: At meeting with Obama, Netanyahu seeking reaffirmation of Israel's right to defend itself