August 1, 2020

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Desperately Seeking Relevance

By July 25, 2020
A protester leads a group of Egyptians in anti-Muslim Brotherhood chants, November 30, 2012. (Y. Weeks/VOA)

Jerusalem Post, 25/7 The conflict between Hamas-controlled Gaza and Israel became inevitable after a series of decisions and actions made clear that the movement was not interested in defusing tensions and returning to the cease-fire that had shakily pertained since 2012. These actions included the attempt to infiltrate a terrorist team into Zikim on July 8, the continued firing of rockets after the rejection of the Egyptian cease-fire proposal, the failure to respect the humanitarian … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GLORIA, Middle East Politics, Radical Movements Tagged With: , , ,

Qatar / Hamas’s Collateral Damage

By July 24, 2020
jonathan-spyer

PJMedia, 22/7 The fight between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is presented in the global media as a local conflict featuring a well organized state with its army, against a small Islamist organization. This picture is misleading. Hamas is not an isolated or even an entirely independent player. Rather, it is a member of a broader regional alliance, which is seeking to benefit from the current situation. This is the alliance of Muslim Brotherhood forces in the Middle East. Qatar is the main … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GLORIA, Israel-Palestinian Issues Tagged With: , ,

The Fire This Time

By July 16, 2020
Israel Defense Forces - Gaza Strip smuggling tunnel found near Egyptian border.

New York Daily News, 14/7 In recent years, even as the constant threat of terrorism from Hamas and Hezbollah loomed, Israelis would note the political conflagrations burning up the region all around them and would contrast these with the relative tranquility and normality in their own immediate neighborhood. These observations were made nervously, not with arrogance. Behind them was the assumption that it couldn’t last. Sooner or later, the wave of political fury sweeping the region … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GLORIA, Israel Tagged With: ,

Palestinian Magical Thinking

By May 10, 2021
Palestinian Authority Lead Negotiator Saeb Erekat faces U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Ramallah, 2013.

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...]

Filed Under: GLORIA, Palestinian, Palestinians, U.S. Policy on the Middle East Tagged With: , , , ,

Shifting Mideast Sands Reveal New Alliances

By March 17, 2021
Egyptian General Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi

A number of events in recent weeks cast light on the current intersecting lines of conflict in the Middle East. They reflect a region in flux, in which new bonds are being formed, and old ones torn asunder. But amid the confusion, a new topography is emerging. This was the month in which a long-existent split in the Sunni Arab world turned into a gaping fissure. On March 5th, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates announced that they were withdrawing their ambassadors from the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Egypt, GLORIA, Gulf, Radical Movements, Saudi Arabia Tagged With: , , , ,

With Morsi Gone, Hamas Turns Back to Iran

By September 29, 2020
jonathan-spyer

A number of recent reports have noted the revival of Iranian financial backing for Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which rules the Gaza Strip. The Iranian decision appears to follow a series of meetings between officials of the Islamic Republic and senior Hamas members in recent days. It is not yet clear what this apparent Iranian rapprochement with Hamas will mean in practice. Iranian arming and support of Hamas never entirely ended, though its levels were drastically reduced after … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Egypt, GLORIA, Iran, Qatar, Radical Movements Tagged With: ,

Are Non al-Qaeda Syrian Rebels ‘Moderate’?

By September 6, 2020
syria1

For elected representatives and the public to have the necessary discussion regarding action in Syria, it is crucial that a clear picture of the realities on the ground in Syria be presented. Regarding the Assad regime and its apologists, nothing needs to be cleared up. This is a regime characterized by murderous brutality since it first emerged in the 1960s. It has been perhaps the single most destabilizing factor in the Levant throughout the years of its existence. An apparent use of nerve … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GLORIA, Syria Tagged With: ,

When Terrorists Fall Out You Know Jihad is Doomed

By April 23, 2021
barry-rubin

One of the reasons why the Middle East situation is less fearsome than it might seem is that the radicals and terrorists are not united at all but battle among themselves for tactical, doctrinal, ethnic, and ambition-related reasons. Despite their daily, bloodthirsty howls for Israel’s destruction, for example, three groups are at odds: –The Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt wants to revolutionize the Middle East but is putting the priority on entrenching its power in Egypt itself, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Radical Movements Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Case Study From Norway: It is Forbidden to Discuss How Political Enablers of Terrorist Groups Unintentionally Encourage Terrorism Without Being Labelled A Terrorist

By August 7, 2020
barry-rubin

“I do not understand Norway’s position, and I say that as a friend of Norway. If they shoot, if they fire rockets, why doesn’t Norway believe that they are terrorists? What else do they need to do? Let us not forget that Norway and the other Scandinavian countries called in Yasir Arafat and said: `Iif you want a deal, you must first renounce terrorism. You must recognize the state of Israel, and you must commit yourself to peace.’ Why is all this forgotten? What is the difference between … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Europe, GLORIA, Media Coverage of the Middle East Tagged With: , ,