Updates

Israel and Iran

• A German politician in Israel begs the Israelis to attack Iran, Ray Hanania begs Israel not to attack Iran; arguing that it would only hurt innocent Iranians who have nothing to do with the actions of their regime; Douglas Bloomfield warns that America will be sucked into a war with Iran if it does not support an Israeli strike; and Barry Rubin explains why the whole idea that Israel is going to attack Iran is just overblown hysteria from a lazy and sensationalist media. (JPost, JPost, JPost, RubinReports).

• Lyn Julius argues that Israelis need to fight for the rights of Jewish refugees who fled Arab countries in the 1940s and 1950s. Meanwhile, NPR has a feature on the complex relationship between thePersian Jews now living in Israel and the ones who remain in Iran. (JPost, NPR)

• PA president Mahmoud Abbas argues that reconciling with Hamas does not harm prospects for a peace agreement. Michael Sharnoff wonders whether Hamas has really changed direction, noting that in the 1990s Yasser Arafat,  like Hamas, toned down his rhetoric to the West while continuing to incite violence in his own people, leading not to peace but to the second intifada. (JPost, HuffPo)

• The Project on Middle East Democracy with a good summary of the increasing damage to the tiesbetween the US and Egypt. (POMED)

Islamists and cartoons

• A second man has been convicted in the US for threatening to kill the creators of South Park after a satirical depiction of the Prophet Mohammed featured on the show in 2010. (Politico)

• After banning the Simpsons recently, the Iranian clergy has take the surprising step of endorsing Superman and Spiderman. (Harry’s Place)

• Al Qaeda has released a new magazine for women, a pink-coloured magazine written by women and promoting Jihad. (MEMRI)

Afghanistan

• An interview with the Afghani filmmaker Najibullah Quaraishi, who is fighting a horrific custom ofinstitutionalised child abuse, which he blames largely on the corruption of the Afghani rulers.

Iran and Syria

• Chris De Vito, the director of Outreach at Iran 180, on how Iran is exporting violence to Syria. The message has certainly reached some Syrians, who have reportedly been kidnapping Iranians in Syria in order to pressure Tehran into ceasing its support for Assad. (HuffPo, Reuters)