Israel supports new South Sudanese state, provoking Arab antisemitism
August 3, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Throughout its history, Israel has been at odds with the various leaders of Sudan. This enmity was demonstrated recently when Israel allegedly destroyed an arms convoy in Sudan that was headed for Gaza and when, also allegedly, Israel subsequently assassinated a key Hamas weapons smuggler in Sudan, who had allegedly been liaising with the Sudanese authorities to maintain said smuggling route.
With their mutual enemy in Khartoum, it is natural, therefore, that Israel and the South Sudanese would form an alliance. In fact, even before the recent declaration of statehood by South Sudan, Israel had taken in some 6,000 refugees fleeing persecution from the regime in Khartoum. As noted by Renee Ghert-Zand in the Forward yesterday, Israel was tacitly supporting the South Sudanese rebels for some time during the decades of conflict with their Muslim oppressors, creating even more good will towards Israel within the South Sudanese leadership…
Turkish democracy hanging by a thread?
August 3, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
While democratic reform seems to have been sweeping the Middle East, the strongest Muslim democracy in the region may have been quietly moving in the opposite direction. This morning’s Jerusalem Post editorial took a rather down-beat tone concerning the retirement Friday of several of Turkey’s top military officials – the latest episode in the ongoing struggle between the military, the traditional defender of Turkey’s secularity, and the soft Islamism of the ruling AKP.
Ominous changes are afoot in the old seat of the Ottoman Empire. In a stunning and unprecedented turn of events, Turkey’s entire military brass – including chief-of-staff General Isik Kosaner and the commanders of the army, air force, and navy – resigned en masse Friday. The immediate cause was a crackdown waged by the judiciary on the army’s top ranks, which put…
US funding for Somali aid may go to terrorists
August 3, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
As explained in a previous post, the drought that is currently besetting East Africa has become a full-scale humanitarian disaster in Somalia, mostly because of the rejection of foreign aid by Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab, who have rejected claims that there is a famine whilst waging a violent campaign against international aid organisations. AP has reported that, in order to combat the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the US will be loosening its counter-terrorism laws to allow bribes and other payments to Al-Shabab in return for US-funded aid organisations being permitted to operate in Somalia…
Post revolutionary Egypt: An Arab Winter?
August 3, 2011 | Sharyn Mittelman
Recent events and polling in Egypt indicate that pro-democracy activists are weakening, and that Egypt may be heading down an Islamist path.
New polls not only suggest that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood is likely to win the November election, but also that Amr Moussa, known for his criticism of Israel will be elected President. The polls also reveal that a majority of respondents want to amend or revoke the peace agreement with Israel.
Another worrying trend is the rise of the Islamic Sulafi movement – which calls for Egypt to become an Islamic state under Sharia law. Their force in Egyptian politics was recently on display on Friday July 29, when over 100,000 protestors demonstrated in Tahrir Square calling for an Islamic state.
The Unholy Alliance of Iran and al-Qaeda
August 3, 2011 | Allon Lee
The Obama Administration has released explosive details of how Iran has become a safe haven for al-Qaeda.
It comes as the Administration is reportedly interested in refocusing world attention on, in the words of US Treasury Department’s Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen, Iran’s “unmatched support for terrorism” as well as its ongoing nuclear weapons program.
Interpreting the Mass Military Resignations in Turkey
August 3, 2011 | Tzvi Fleischer
As readers are probably aware, all of the top leadership of the Turkish military resigned over the weekend – including the Chief of Staff, and the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
What is the signficance of this – in a country where the armed forces have long played a strongly activist role in national politics?
Do Syrians need our Assistance to Halt Ongoing Massacres?
August 2, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
The Assad regime in Syria has been continuing its vicious assault on the city of Hama, which began on the weekend. As The Jerusalem Post reports:
AMMAN – Syrian tanks pounded residential neighborhoods across the city of Hama on Monday in the heaviest barrage of a two-day assault to crush street demonstrations against President Bashar Assad, witnesses said.
Earlier on Monday, residents said at least four civilians were killed by tank fire on the second day of attacks on the city, where memories are still vivid of the brutal suppression of an uprising in 1982….
The Iranian Regime’s Summer of Discontent
August 2, 2011 | Allon Lee
Not far away from the headline-grabbing Arab Spring, a power struggle is playing out under the Iranian summer sun as fissures in the one-time partnership between Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shatter into an unbridgeable abyss.
Veteran Iranian analyst Dr. Abbas Milani of Stanford University has written a follow-up to his June piece when it seemed Ahmadinejad would be impeached for sedition.
A Senior Military Defection in Syria?
August 2, 2011 | Tzvi Fleischer
Following up on Daniel’s post on the escalating violence in Syria earlier today, one potentially highly important development in the Syrian saga has gotten little media coverage or comment, but should.
It is being reported that a top Syrian military officer, Colonel Riyad al-Asad, has defected from the regime, and is setting up a “Free Syrian Army”…
Hamas official says UN bid is a ‘political scam’
August 1, 2011 | Sharyn Mittelman
The Palestinian UN bid to seek recognition of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines has been criticised by many commentators, including Hamas officials.
Haaretz reported that Mahmoud al-Zahar, a prominent Hamas member in Gaza called the Palestinian UN bid “just nonsense” and a “political scam”.
