By Gary Gerofsky

Ayn Rand wrote a book which I read long ago called The Virtue of Selfishness which makes clear that altruism has many flaws and that acting in one’s own self-interest benefits not only the individual but, in the end, all society. I was intrigued by the book because it convincingly broke some sacrosanct ethical guidelines that had been drilled into my own moral conscience. Unnaturally and selflessly sacrificing one’s own beliefs and interests to benefit others can sometimes backfire and do damage to both the individual, those whom the person is trying to help and those who are part of his/her life.

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by Raymond Ibrahim*

Last week an Iraqi Muslim scholar issued a fatwa that, among other barbarities, asserts that “it is permissible to spill the blood of Iraqi Christians.” Inciting as the fatwa is, it is also redundant. While last October’s Baghdad church attack which killed some sixty Christians is widely known — actually receiving some MSM coverage — the fact is, Christian life in Iraq has been a living hell ever since U.S. forces ousted the late Saddam Hussein in 2003.

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By Alexander Maistrovoy

Russia is the ally of deadly enemies of Israel. Senior Russian officials have met with the political leader of Hamas, Moscow cooperates with Teheran and supplies Syria with rockets, knowing quite well that some of these weapons end up in the hands of Hezbollah and Hamas.

It is hardly possible to define the Putin-Medvedev regime as a developed democracy. It is a kind of Byzantine form of government with a democratic facade.

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By Jubin Afshar

Why would Iraq’s Prime Minister Al-Maliki order a heavy assault on 3400 unarmed, defenseless Iranian dissidents in a refugee settlement northeast of Baghdad? Reports reaching news agencies confirm that at least 31 Iranian dissidents have been killed and hundreds wounded. Medical supplies are being blocked as the critically wounded continue to die.

Ashraf has been home to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the most steadfast opposition force to Iran’s ruling theocracy since the late 1980’s, when the group’s thousands of members and supporters moved to Iraq. The residents of Ashraf have organized resistance to the Iranian regime since then. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Ashraf residents disarmed in a deal with the US military that pledged in return to protect them. Ashraf residents are internationally “Protected Persons” based on the Fourth Geneva Convention.

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President Obama just vetoed an anti-Israeli UN resolution, but screwed Israel anyway. Palestinians, whom sponsored the resolution, have planned a public tantrum in response — not sure why, as they’re always throwing tantrums, and most sane people have become desensitized to such outbursts. Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post summarizes Obama’s continued, idiotic incompetence (and that of many Jewish groups):

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by Raymond Ibrahim*

Recent comments by U.S. officials on the threat posed by “radicalized” American Muslims are troubling, both for their domestic and international implications. Attorney General Eric Holder states that “the threat has changed … to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens — raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born.” The situation is critical enough to compel incoming head of the House Committee on Homeland Security Peter King to do all he can “to break down the wall of political correctness and drive the public debate on Islamic radicalization.”

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by Raymond Ibrahim*

Recent remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder on the threat posed by “radicalized” American Muslims are revealing — not just because of what they say regarding the domestic situation, but for their international implications as well. According to Holder:

“[T]he threat is real, the threat is different, the threat is constant. The threat has changed … to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens — raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born. It is one of the things that keeps me up at night. You didn’t worry about this even two years ago — about individuals, about Americans, to the extent that we now do.” Holder noted that while he was confident in the United States’ counter-terrorism efforts, Americans “have to be prepared for potentially bad news…. The terrorists only have to be successful once.”

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A briefing by Lee Smith*

Lee Smith is a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations. On December 28, Mr. Smith addressed the Middle East Forum via conference call on the implications of Wikileaks regarding the Middle East, and their significance for U.S. policy in the region, a topic he has focused on in recent articles.

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by Phyllis Chesler

Although he was loyal to a Middle Eastern country, the American military hired him as an intelligence officer and translator anyway — partly because he knew an important Middle East language. Nevertheless, he was a poor choice. This man passed classified documents to “insurgents” in Iraq who were battling American forces; he also had conversations with members of Al Qaeda and kept their documents on his computer.

His name — one of five aliases — is Noureddine Malki. He pretended to be from Lebanon, the persecuted son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother, and on this basis allegedly sought and received asylum in America, naturalized citizenship, and a job as an Arabic translator for the Army.  He received top secret clearance and was working in Iraq where he took bribes from various Sunni sheikhs and passed classified information on to them.

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By David Rubin

Book Review by Fern Sidman

Issuing an impassioned clarion call to the Western world on the litany of existential dangers that radical Islam represents to America’s cherished democratic principles, author David Rubin’s meticulously researched monograph reveals that Islam is in actuality a political ideology predicated on a pernicious dogma, rather than the “religion of peace” that its proponents purport it to be.

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By Fern Sidman

An overflow crowd gathered in the cavernous lobby of the stately New York Surrogate Courthouse in lower Manhattan on Monday evening December 20th for a moving evening dedicated to the majestic heritage of the Jewish nation. Sponsored by the Agudath Israel, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), the Met Council on Jewish Poverty and the UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Heritage celebration was the brainchild of New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, a native of Taiwan, who was the chief organizer of the event.

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by Phyllis Chesler

Recently, a good feminist — yes they do exist–someone who has fought in the trenches for years on behalf of battered and raped women — implored me to stop publishing at this site. She said that I was the only “real,” pioneer feminist left standing who had continued to engage in the most important battles which humanity now faces. However, she was getting flack when she sent my pieces around precisely because my work is being published on conservative websites and by someone like David Horowitz.

Right there, that should have made her wonder why allegedly “feminist” or liberal websites were neither publishing nor even linking to my work and why allegedly “conservative” (and therefore presumably anti-feminist) venues have embraced that work.

She wrote (and I am paraphrasing):

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By Barry Rubin

What will the United States and the world going to do about an act of aggression by North Korea on South Korea, the deliberate unprovoked firing of mortars at civilians? And what are the lessons of this situation for other world problems?

First, nobody is going to do anything real in response to this attack. Indeed, the South Koreans are lucky that they aren’t being investigated and condemned for something or other.

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Courage. Honor. Duty. Sacrifice. Veterans have walked the walk, so how can I put into words my gratitude and admiration for their service in protecting this great nation? Thank you veterans.

by Mitchell Bard*

“That is the best-organized lobby; you shouldn’t underestimate the grip it has on American politics–no matter whether it’s Republicans or Democrats.”[1] This recent comment by the European Union trade commissioner and former Belgian foreign minister, Karel de Gucht, epitomizes the pervasive belief that a Jewish-Zionist-Israel lobby has undue influence on U.S. Middle East policy.

This idea predates the establishment of the state of Israel. For the most part, the discussion was kept behind closed doors and limited primarily to State Department Arabists, but it gradually became popular among those who held a grudge (such as Congressman Paul Findley, who blamed his defeat in a reelection bid in 1982 on the lobby[2]) or who were open enemies of Israel (e.g., Pat Buchanan).[3] The recent publication of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,[4] however, gave a patina of academic legitimacy to the long whispered complaints of the anti-Israel establishment.

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