Mordechai Kedar: What’s Really Going on in Gaza?

Posted on: March 16th, 2012

The Gaza Strip is no different from the rest of the Arab world, so tribal culture is alive and kicking there. Ever since the Hamas movement took control of Gaza trip in 2007, it has transformed itself from a gang of jihadists into a ruling government, a standard Arab state. The minor movements - Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Resistance Committeess - function like tribes, challenging the authority of the state. Today, these groups are doing to Hamas what Hamas did to the PLO twenty years ago when it was in power.

The Ongoing War with Iran

Posted on: March 16th, 2012

A war between Israel and Iran is not something that may or may not occur in the future. It is in progress now.

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Rubin Reports: Egypt is a Volcano, The West Snoozes, But Israel Won’t Play the Role of Pompeii

Posted on: March 16th, 2012

Reality: Those who are, or will soon be, governing Egypt view themselves as being at war with Israel for all practical purposes. It matters relatively little that there is still a peace treaty. In Cairo, there are no thoughts of peace.

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Sovereignty and Suzerainty in The Israel-U.S. Relationship

Posted on: March 15th, 2012

The threat and the ominous effects of an air attack against Iran is the pull and tug of sovereignty versus suzerainty. Is Israel an independent nation free of American influence? Does the president of the U.S. have a veto over Israeli military actions? Or is Israel free of outside influences, a state enjoined by what it believes to be its self interest?

How to Get Elected in the Palestinian Territories

Posted on: March 15th, 2012

In our Palestinian culture, it is much more important if one "graduates" from an Israeli prison than from the most prestigious university in the world.

J.E. Dyer: Syria – Going, going, gone?

Posted on: March 14th, 2012

A solution in which the Syrian people are empowered to operate more freely in a true multi-party government, under the aegis of multinational protection against both Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, would be the most desirable, achievable outcome. It is not possible to broker this outcome while ignoring Russia.

Rubin Reports: What a War with Iran Really Means

Posted on: March 14th, 2012

While war with Iran might eventually be inevitable and necessary, that’s not true at this moment - when Iran is far from being able to build nuclear weapons, much less deliver them on missiles. And such an operation does genuinely pose serious problems for Israel and also - even if it does not participate directly in any way - for the United States.

High Walls and Golden Domes

Posted on: March 13th, 2012

The Iron Dome is another, hi-tech manifestation of the siege mentality that guides Israel's cultural and political narrative. From media to academia to politics, Israel’s celebration of this so-called “strategic” weapon system - that neither neutralizes its threats nor enhances Israel's geo-political position – is an indictment of the degree to which Israel has accepted this siege mentality, and of its resignation to a permanent defensive posture.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas Responsible For Attacks on Israel

Posted on: March 13th, 2012

In the past, Hamas has proven that when it wants to, it can prevent attacks on Israel. It would be a mistake to allow these governments to have it both ways -- on one hand claiming they are legitimate and sovereign governments, while on the other hand avoiding responsibility for terror attacks.

Quiet Should Not be the Goal Today in Gaza

Posted on: March 13th, 2012

Planning timelines of days and weeks are very comforting for policy-makers seeking to avoid costly decisions. But the purpose of the exercise is not to indefinitely postpone what is best done today. The decision-makers owe it to their constituents to look beyond the next weeks and even months.

Yoram Ettinger: Defense and Retaliation – Not an Option

Posted on: March 13th, 2012

The war on terrorism cannot be won by defensive – but only by offensive – means, notwithstanding the impressive performance of the Iron Dome missile defense system.

Bibi, Can You Bomb Iran Already or Just Shut Up?

Posted on: March 12th, 2012

Israeli intelligence authorities need to assess the threats coming from Iran. This is not a public relations issue. Obama and the other world leaders can support or oppose our actions, but Israel will have to do what is best for the future and well-being of the Jewish State. No one else will do the heavy lifting for us. While we cannot diminish the possibility that Iran actually has the technology and the motivation to strike Israel, we also cannot afford to overlook other real and obvious threats to Israel.

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Rubin Reports: How to Make the `Bad Guys’ into `Good Guys’ By Pretending They’re Moderate Guys

Posted on: March 12th, 2012

The difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and “Salafists” is purely tactical. The Brotherhood has learned how to maneuver politically, an advance similar to what Lenin instituted for the Marxists of his day. You can’t just declare a revolution and change everything overnight. And just as Lenin planned to get the capitalists to sell him the rope with which to hang them, the Brotherhood plots the same course with the infidels.

Islam Expert: Numbers Don’t Add Up in CAIR Survey of US Mosques, Islamic Radicalism

Posted on: March 12th, 2012

A survey released two weeks ago, titled “The American Mosque 2011,” revealed a tremendous growth in the number of mosques across the US since 9/11, and claims that Islamic radicalism in the US is on the wane. But Islam expert David Yerushalmi says that many of the numbers presented in the survey don't add up, and in fact contradict similar surveys conducted in recent years.

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Time to Kick the Palestinian Can?

Posted on: March 11th, 2012

Would it be prudent for Israel to launch now the kind of unilateral initiative proposed by former Yesha Council Director Naftali Bennett, or is it best to leave well enough alone?

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Khaled Abu Toameh: Mahmoud Abbas’ “Mother of All Letters”

Posted on: March 8th, 2012

On March 7, the PA President convened yet another urgent meeting of PLO and Fatah leaders in Ramallah to discuss the content of this "mother of all letters" which he intends to send to Israel. The meeting, which came less than 48 hours after Obama's speech, reflected the increased concern of the Palestinians over the world's fading attention to their problems.

The Historic Roots of Contemporary Anti-Semitism

Posted on: March 8th, 2012

The Jewish homeland guarantees Jews their security -- which is why every attempt to rob them of this homeland, or endanger its existence, is an anti-Semitic act endangering the entire Jewish community.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Arabs Are Beginning to Miss the Dictators

Posted on: March 7th, 2012

The "Arab Spring" is anything but a "great revolution." It is a spring of massacres, destruction and violence, as Patriarch Beshara al-Rai, the head of Lebanon's Maronite Church, put it. "We are with the Arab Spring but we are not with this spring of violence, war, destruction and killing," he told Reuters. "This is turning to winter. We cannot implement reforms by force and arms. How can it be an Arab Spring when people are being killed every day?"

Mordechai Kedar: Is Jordan ‘The Alternative Homeland’?

Posted on: March 7th, 2012

Since its establishment, the Kingdom of Jordan has suffered from a split personality between two identities, the Jordanian and the Palestinian, that are intertwined like a pair of Siamese twins who hate one another, but cannot part from each other. The source of the problem is the fact that most of the citizens of the Hashemite Jordanian monarchy define themselves as "Palestinians", but their state is "Jordanian". So how should they relate to it - as their country or as a foreign interloper?

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Rubin Reports: Will the Palestinians Launch a Third ‘Intifada’?

Posted on: March 7th, 2012

An uprising could take place due to some major or symbolic incident, forcing Palestinian leaders to rush to the front of the army. But least likely of all would be Abbas and the current leadership making a calculated decision to launch a war from which they would expect to benefit.