By Barry Rubin

In the course of Hizballah’s threats against Israel, following the assassination of that group’s international terrorism director, Imad Mugniyah, there was an extremely important point that speaks to the Middle East’s future.

The statement came from General Muhammad Ali Jafari, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, the Tehran regime’s main military force (and future guardians of Iran’s nuclear weapons). He predicted, “In the near future, we will witness the destruction of Israel, the aggressor, this cancerous microbe Israel.”

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by Andrew Whitehead

In a February article in Tampa Bay Online, Karen Dunham is lauded as providing much needed resources to Palestinian refugees in camps in the Middle East. Dunham, of the Living Bread International Church, enjoys the cooperation of the Israeli armed forces and has her headquarters mission in Jerusalem, with mission outposts in Bethlehem, Jericho, and another planned for Hebron.

Dunham’s group passes out food, clothing, and Bibles to those who seek her group’s assistance.

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by Daniel Pipes*

Westerners opposed to the application of the Islamic law (the Shari’a) watch with dismay as it goes from strength to strength in their countries — harems increasingly accepted, a church leader endorsing Islamic law, a judge referring to the Koran, clandestine Muslim courts meting out justice. What can be done to stop the progress of this medieval legal system so deeply at odds with modern life, one that oppresses women and turns non-Muslims into second-class citizens?

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by Steve Shamrak

For centuries, with the exception of the Dark Ages, scientists and the intellectual elite have been considered a vanguard of humanity. They are a leading force not just of technical or medical advances, but have greatly influenced and contributed to the political and social fabric of the society. All of this is achieved by dedication of their lives to their chosen fields, usually with no or little personal involvement in politics.

The recent phenomenon whereby celebrities such as Hollywood stars, between drug rehabilitation clinics and plastic surgery, express their unqualified views about anything, particularly politics, and influencing public opinion using their celebrity status, has become contagious. Unfortunately this trend is spreading and seriously affecting Israeli scientists and intellectuals who are craving acceptance and recognition by the wider fatuous politically-correct and generally anti-Semitic international audience. As a result many of them, although some are quite brilliant in their chosen fields of expertise, have joined the Israel-bashing choir, blaming Israel for not doing enough for the peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Strangely, as scientists, many of them do not consider that factual knowledge and understanding of the history and dynamic of the conflict is essential in order to take an educated and qualified position.

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By Phyllis Chesler

I lived in Kabul nearly fifty years ago. It was enchanting and dangerous. I lived on a wide and gracious street lined with trees. We had electricity, phones, hot and cold running water, and marble bathrooms. There was a movie theatre and an American-style cafeteria restaurant. Bazaars flourished, mosques shimmered, a thousand (all male) tea-houses thrived. Barefoot boys scurried bearing tea for businessmen all day long.

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By Barry Rubin

The Middle East is a region where so many things seem to happen, so little appears to change, and far too much is said about it all.

Partly this is due to the area’s turbulence; partly to obsessive hyper-reporting in an era when everyone claims to be a Middle East expert and the most basic exercise of logic is often absent. Yet, at the same time, silly ideas and policies often also correspond to real needs.

Here’s a list of examples:

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by Michael Rubin*

During his February 5 testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell backpedaled from the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and its claim that, “in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.”

Not only did McConnell testify that the Islamic Republic was working to master the enrichment of uranium - “the most difficult challenge in nuclear production” - but he also acknowledged that, “because of intelligence gaps,” the U.S. government could not be certain that the Iranian government had fully suspended its covert nuclear programs. “We assess with high confidence that Iran has the scientific, technical, and industrial capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons,” he testified. “In our judgment, only an Iranian political decision to abandon a nuclear weapons objective would plausibly keep Iran from eventually producing nuclear weapons - and such a decision is inherently reversible.”

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

I always suspected those communist murderers of being touchy-feeling feminists — you know, in a misogynistic, paternalistic kind of way (I’m being sarcastic). Seriously, these recent revelations about Mao Zedong only add further proof of what an evil megalomaniac he was:

Amid a discussion of trade in 1973, Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong made what U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called a novel proposition: sending tens of thousands, even 10 million, Chinese women to the United States.

“You know, China is a very poor country,” Mao said, according to a document released by the State Department’s historian office. “We don’t have much. What we have in excess is women. So if you want them, we can give a few of those to you, some tens of thousands.”

A few minutes later, Mao circled back to the offer. “Do you want our Chinese women?” he asked. “We can give you 10 million.”

After Kissinger noted Mao was “improving his offer,” the chairman said, “We have too many women. . . . They give birth to children, and our children are too many.” …

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By Barry Rubin

Rather than unite in the face of the Hamas challenge and the task of gaining support from the West Bank’s people, Fatah seems to be collapsing.

Or perhaps the feuds are not only over power but who gets to control the almost $7 billion scheduled to be given the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) over the next three years. A contributing factor is that Fatah has said it will hold a congress in March, the first full such meeting in almost 20 years.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

I never thought I’d hear good news about Iraq — from the UN?

The UN’s top refugee official has hinted that security in Iraq may soon have improved enough for some of the 4m Iraqi refugees to begin returning home. …

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Islamists have proven once again how anti-social, anti-Western, and anti-education their “movement” really is:

Gunmen have attacked the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Gaza City and blown up its library, burning thousands of books, its director says.

Eissa Saba said 14 men overpowered the centre’s two security guards before placing bombs in the library and main office. The latter did not explode.

The guards said the gunmen had asked them why they worked for “infidels”. …

Keeping the people dumb in the name of Islam?

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by Cinnamon Stillwell*

Georgetown professor John Esposito, director of the Saudi-financed Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding has a reputation as an apologist for radical Islam. And it’s one he lived up to with a Stanford University speech last week titled, “Dying for God? Suicide Terrorism and Militant Islam.”

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Al Qaeda has proven once again what a heinous group it is by burning prisoners alive, in the name of Allah, on video tape:

Al Qaeda’s latest display of terror has made its way onto the Internet, showing horrifying images of what appear to be prisoners in Iraq being doused with an inflammatory liquid and then burned alive. …

“And now that we have captured these scums who committed this dreadful crime, we will burn them with this fire,” the Al Qaeda leader says in Arabic. “The same fire which they committed their crime with.

“And I swear by God almighty that, I swear by God almighty that we will have no mercy on them,” he continues. “Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar.”

As he speaks, two of the insurgents pour liquid on the blindfolded prisoners. Then they push the bound men into the pit, where they are engulfed in flames.

Click here to see the video on a Turkish news site (WARNING: Very disturbing Images).

Click here to see the full video on Google (WARNING: Very disturbing images).

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by Michelle Mostovy-Eisenberg*

In order to fully understand Middle Eastern politics and society, you must first grasp the underlying basis of Arab culture — specifically, the tribal organization central to life in the region, according to anthropologist and author Philip Carl Salzman.

During a lunchtime event held last week at the Center City law firm of Pepper Hamilton, about 50 people gathered to learn about the roots of contemporary Arab life and the potent affect it can have on conflicts in the region. The lecture was sponsored by the Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank.

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by Steven Shamrak

Only 120 years ago, most parts of the Middle East, including Palestine and entire Sinai Peninsula, were a desolated, arid land mass which did not belong to any country. It was a no man’s land with which for 2000 years Jews had an unbroken spiritual and historical bond.

The creation of a mandate system after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the World War I and the grid of the new masters, Britain and France, laid the foundations of the current Arab-Israel conflict:

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