Amid rumors of Mashaal’s expulsion, Doha trying to regain alliance with Egypt, Saudi Arabia It is still not clear whether reports in Turkish newspaper Aydinlik concerning the expulsion by Qatar of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal are accurate. Hamas officials have indignantly denied that their leader is shortly set to quit his Doha home. But certainly, Mashaal’s expulsion would fit with the broader pattern of recent events. Recent months have witnessed a number of acts by Qatar … [Read more...]
Jihadi Debate over Jamaat Ansar al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi Bayt al-Maqdis
By January 2, 2025
I have previously written about the group 'Jamaat Ansar al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi Bayt al-Maqdis' ('The Group of Supporters/Partisans of the Islamic State in Bayt al-Maqdis') here and here. Based on the data at the time (which was before Jamaat Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis' pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State [IS] to become 'Sinai Province'), my conclusion was that the group appeared to function as IS' network in Gaza, acting as a supplier of fighters- most notably claimed 'specialists'- to IS in … [Read more...]
Sunni Political Islam: Engine of the “Israeli-Palestinian” Conflict
By November 23, 2024
An oft-repeated sentiment currently doing the rounds in discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian issue is that it is imperative that the conflict not become a “religious” one. This sentiment, guaranteed to set heads nodding in polite, liberal company, stands out even within the very crowded and competitive field of ridiculous expressions of historical ignorance found in discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. This sentiment is connected to the recent wave of terror attacks in Jerusalem, … [Read more...]
Fear and Loathing in Jerusalem
By November 20, 2024
The current atmosphere in Jerusalem is reminiscent of the Second Intifada’s opening days, in the autumn of 2000. Tension and fear. A sense of foreboding. “I can feel it in my bones, what’s coming,” says Daniella, a native Jerusalemite who owns a restaurant in central west Jerusalem, and whose sister was killed in a suicide bombing in 2002. What’s coming, she and many others think, is more violence. There are fewer pedestrians on the streets. People have become cautious and alert in … [Read more...]
The Emerging Pattern
By November 11, 2024
A pattern emerges, dear friends. The names of the five Palestinian Arab terrorists who have murdered or sought to murder Israelis in major incidents in the last couple of weeks are: Nur a Din Hashiya, Maher al Hashlamoun, Ibrahim al Akari, Abd al Rahman al Shaludi and Mutaz Hijazi. It is interesting to note that all these men are not simply members of the Arab Muslim public, with no prior affiliation, who suddenly committed acts of terror (there have been a number of incidents involving such … [Read more...]
Analysis: Jamaat Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis’ Allegiance to the Islamic State
By November 11, 2024
Over the early hours of this morning there emerged an audio clip attributed to the Sinai-Gaza jihadi group Jamaat Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (JABM: the Group of the Helpers/Partisans of the Holy House [Jerusalem], which emerged post-Mubarak), declaring allegiance to the 'caliph of the Muslims' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, thereby making JABM a part of the Islamic State [IS]. The recording's content is fairly standard and predictable. Reflecting the group's affinity for global jihad, the speaker cites the … [Read more...]
The Jihadi Connection: Sinai, Gaza, and the Islamic State
By November 1, 2024
What kind of relations do the jihadists of northern Sinai and Gaza have with Islamic State, and with Hamas? Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared a three-month national emergency this week, following the killing of over 31 Egyptian soldiers in a suicide car bombing carried out by jihadists in northern Sinai. No organization has issued an authoritative claim of responsibility for the bombing, but it comes amid a state of open insurgency in northern Sinai, as Egyptian security forces … [Read more...]
Palestinian Magical Thinking
By May 10, 2025
Palestinian Magical Thinking PJMedia, April 30, 2014. So April 29th has arrived, and the nine month period allotted by the current US Administration for its effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute has come and gone. Entirely predictably, it has failed, in its entirety. What can be learned from the failure? And what may be expected to happen now? The failure of the talks was predictable first and foremost because of the irreconcilable positions of the sides. This is not … [Read more...]
The Peace Process Is Dead. Let It Lie Down.
By April 11, 2025
The April 29th deadline has not yet been reached, but it may be said with confidence that the initiative by Secretary of State John Kerry to revive the ‘peace process’ between Israelis and Palestinians has already reached its final destination: failure. The failure of this initiative was obvious from the beginning. To everyone except, apparently, Kerry himself. This reality lent an element of low farce to the entire proceedings. By now, it should really be obvious to any serious … [Read more...]
Palestinian Authority Finds Perfect Prime Minister
By June 3, 2025
The Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas has appointed a new prime minister. He is Ram Hamdullah. Who? It is useful to remember that the post of PA prime minister was originally forced on PLO, PA, and Fatah leader Yasir Arafat ten years ago in the hope of getting the PA to be more moderate and more competent as an economic and administrative entity. It has not worked too well. But once you think about it, Hamdullah is the perfect PA prime minister. His predecessor was Salam … [Read more...]
