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A new chapter in the Sunni-Shi’ite war
Jerusalem Post, 3/4 The assembling of a Sunni coalition to challenge the advance of an Iranian proxy in Yemen, and the subsequent announcement in Sharm al-Sheikh of the formation of a 40,000 strong...
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In the Shadow of the Gunmen
PJmedia, 5/4 In a process of profound importance, five Arab states in the Middle East have effectively ceased to exist over the last decade. The five states in question are Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen...
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ISIS Pushes West
PJMedia, 10/4 The conquest by the Islamic State of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus confirms the resilience of the jihadis and is an indicator of their current strategy. Islamic...
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The Middle East Battle Lines are Drawn
Jerusalem Report, 16/4. In the last decade, the Middle East has been living through a political convulsion of historic proportions. Regimes that once appeared immovable have been destroyed or have...
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The Islamic State Comes to Damascus
Jerusalem Post, 18/4 The latest reports suggest that Islamic State fighters have largely withdrawn from the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk, on the outskirts of Damascus. The jihadis have returned...
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Assad Not Finished Yet
Jerusalem Post, 1/5 A number of reports have been published in recent days suggesting the tide of the war in Syria may finally have turned decisively against the Assad regime. The reports cite a series...
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A tremor in Iranian Kurdistan
Iranian Kurds break their silence Jerusalem Post, 15/5 The events this week in the Mahabad area of Iran’s Western Azerbaijan province cast light on the difficult situation faced by one of the region’s...
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The March of Folly in Iraq
PJmedia, 19/5 (published under the title ‘Did US Policy Allow Ramadi to Fall?’) The fall of Ramadi to the fighters of the Islamic State is a disaster for the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Haider...
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Born in Lebanon, dying in Syria?
Jerusalem Post, 29/5 Hizballah shoulders new responsibilities in the Syrian war The latest reports from the Qalamun mountain range in western Syria suggest that Hizballah is pushing back the jihadis of...
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Fall of Eagles: the Eclipse of the Arab Nationalist State
Tower Magazine, June 2015. The most significant dynamic in the Middle East over the last decade has been the collapse of strong, centralized regimes in a series of Arab states and their replacement by...
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RIP Keith Broomfield, Killed in a Firefight with ISIS
PJmedia, 19/6 Keith Broomfield, of Westminster, Massachusetts, was born in 1979 and buried this week. He was 36. Keith was killed in a firefight on June 3rd with the Islamic State organization near the...
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Turkey’s Syrian Kurdish problem
Jerusalem Post, 3/7 Syrian Kurdish forces this week succeeded in turning back a murderous and determined attempt by the forces of Islamic State to claw back control of areas of northern Syria recently...
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John Le Carre and the Last of Empire
The British novelist David Cornwell (John Le Carre) is best known for his fictional depictions of the British intelligence services during the period of the Cold War. That this constitutes the main...
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Iraq falls apart as Iran-backed forces keep Islamic State at bay
The Australian, 4/7 Baghdad in the early summer has the atmosphere of a city under siege. Armoured vehicles carrying heavy machineguns are patrolling the area surrounding the international airport....
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The Ghosts of Old Baghdad
Jerusalem Report, 8/7 A few hours in the Shorja open market in Baghdad can teach you a lot – about the Middle East’s past, its present and its apparent future. What’s to be found there is informative....
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Coming of age in Sinai
Jerusalem Post, 10/7 The Sinai-based Islamic State affiliate Wilayat al-Sina (Sinai Province) claimed responsibility for the firing of three Grad rockets at Israel on July 3. This attack, which caused...
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Opening the ‘gates of evil’
Sunni Arabs see deal as facilitating further Iranian regional subversion, confirming US withdrawal from the Middle East Jerusalem Post, 18/7 The response in the Arabic-speaking world to the conclusion...
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Erdogan’s Bait and Switch in Northern Syria
Jerusalem Post, 31/7 The latest events in northern Syria constitute a bold move by the Turkish leadership to deal with a most pressing problem, from their point of view. That problem is not the...
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The Teheran Formula
PJMedia, 1/8 In late June, I traveled to Iraq with the purpose of investigating the role being played by the Iranian-supported Shia militias in that country. Close observation of the militias, their...
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