By Shoshana Bryen, AMERICAN THINKER

When protests broke out in Syria in late 2011, Russia hoped for a short, nasty war as a matter of Russian national interest — just enough to put the Muslim Brotherhood and assorted Sunnis in their place. Violence from its own Sunni Muslim population has plagued Russia for decades. Saudi Arabia took over the defeated nationalist Chechen rebellion in the late 1990s, infusing it with money and Islamist overtones, prompting the second Chechen war. More recently, there has been open fighting and rioting in Moscow between Muslims and Slavs.

Iran counted on a short war as well — something to shore up the Shi’ite crescent from Iran through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon out to the Mediterranean Sea.
Read more…

US now indicates Iran interim deal wasn’t finalized
‘Technical details’ have yet to be worked out, State Department says, meaning six-month countdown to permanent deal hasn’t start and Iran isn’t bound by any new terms

By Elliot Abrams, ISRAEL HAYOM

There are many arguments today about the substance of the agreement between Iran and the P5+1. But there is a prior question: Is there really an agreement at all?

Looking at the text of the “agreement,” the most striking thing is the conditional or aspirational language:

“The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran’s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful. … This comprehensive solution would build on these initial measures. … There would be additional steps in between the initial measures and the final step. … This comprehensive solution would involve a reciprocal, step-by-step process. …”

Would, would, would. Not “shall.”
Read more…

By Barry Rubin, RUBIN REPORTS

[..]

I have been working hard to explain to people that Iran’s nuclear weapons are not the major threat to Israel. It is obvious.

The problem is that after almost a century, Israel is not just the object of genocide by the Arabs but by many Iranian, Turkish, and newly European and North American Muslims. It is truly awesome how few politically active would-be peacemakers among Arabs and Middle Eastern Muslims there are.

[..]

Note two ignored points on Iranian nuclear weapons, which show the focus is ridiculous:

1. Why use nuclear weapons when you believe you will win by conventional means and while you make billions to shore up the Tehran regime so effectively in the short-run?
2. Iran’s nuclear effort is ironically a defensive strategy to neutralize any possible Israeli nuclear option or an Israeli attack on Iran.

This is a massive misdirection — get it?

Let’s see. Can you imagine this misdirected “detail”? Simply: the almost decades-old effort to destroy Israel. Read more…

By Howard Rotberg, FPM

Dear me, I worry so much about the future of our freedoms in the West, as so many begin to “submit” to the values and demands of radical Islam, or what is called “Islamism.”

The other day, I began to worry what would happen if the Islamists took over the American government and placed one of their own in the White House.

I started to think about the agenda that an Islamist president would fulfill. Here are some of my thoughts:
Read more…

By Prof. Phyllis Chesler, INN

President Hamid Karzai’s government is considering bringing back stoning for adultery—and imposing 100 lashes (which is a death sentence) for unmarried people who have had sexual relations.

Thus, Afghan men can marry female children, keep male children as sex-toys, maintain four wives, and visit prostitutes from dawn to dawn.

But it is a capital crime if an Afghan man dishonors another Afghan man by having relations with his female “property;” and, if he has raped the poor wife, she is also to be stoned. Worse yet, if two young Afghans meet and fall in love on their own and have sexual relations, but do not marry—they, too, will be committing a capital crime.
Read more…

REUTERS, JPOST

WASHINGTON – Americans back a newly brokered nuclear deal with Iran by a 2-to-1 margin and are very wary of the United States resorting to military action against Tehran even if the historic diplomatic effort falls through, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.

The findings were rare good news in the polls for US President Barack Obama, whose approval ratings have dropped in recent weeks because of the botched rollout of his signature healthcare reform law.

According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey, 44 percent of Americans support the interim deal reached between Iran and six world powers in Geneva, and 22 percent oppose it.
Read more…

By HERB KEINON, JPOST

Israel and the European Union found a way on Tuesday to agree to disagree while continuing to cooperate, reaching an understanding making Israel’s participation in the EU’s flagship R&D program Horizon 2020 possible.

Israeli officials said a compromise was found regarding the settlement guidelines issue, whereby both sides could keep their positions but continue to work together on the 80 billion euro science and innovation program.

According to the compromise, Israel would write explicitly in an appendix to the agreement that it does not accept the guidelines, while the EU will write that the guidelines reflect European policy.
Read more…

JCPA has published a Report, Iran Looks Beyond the Nuclear Talks by Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall. What interested me the most is what he says of the regional situation. Caroline Glick has written to same effect in her article which I posted today.

[..]
Iran’s Conduct in the Region

At present, the discussion of Iran’s nuclear program is being conducted without connection to other regional issues where Iran exerts decisive influence. These include the ongoing crisis in Syria and Hizbullah’s involvement in it; Hizbullah’s role in Lebanon and continued assistance – with Tehran’s encouragement – to groups that oppose a political settlement with Israel; Iran’s subversive activities in the Gulf States (particularly Bahrain and Saudi Arabia); and the reshaping of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the like. The issue of human rights in Iran has already been sidelined for some time. For example, the number of executions in Iran has risen dramatically since Rouhani was elected. According to Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, that number has doubled, and the government’s line about freeing political prisoners is “fraudulent.”3
Read more…

By CAROLINE B. GLICK, JPOST
25/11/2013

His goal is not to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. It isn’t even to facilitate a rapprochement between America and Iran. The goal of Obama’s foreign policy is to weaken the State of Israel.

Obama never explained how allowing Iran to continue to enrich uranium decreases the likelihood of war.

It isn’t surprising that the US and the other five powers signed a deal with Iran on Saturday. Over the past few weeks, US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry made it clear that they were committed to signing a deal with Iran as quickly as possible.
Read more…

By Jonathan S. Tobin, COMMENTARY 

President Obama hasn’t made it easy on his Jewish supporters. Conservative critics—and if polls are right, the majority of Israelis—have always doubted his intentions toward the Jewish state and suspected him of either tilting toward the Palestinians or, as veteran diplomat Aaron David Miller memorably put it, someone who was “not in love with the idea of Israel.” But for the majority of American Jews who remain loyal Democrats and liberals, Obama was, at worst, a satisfactory ally of Israel, and, at best, the misunderstood victim of smears. At times, the president’s penchant for picking fights with the Netanyahu government over settlements, borders, and even a consensus Jewish issue like Jerusalem caused some liberal true believers like lawyer and author Alan Dershowitz to worry about his intentions. But even when the relationship between Washington and Jerusalem was at its worst during the past five years, the president’s supporters could point to the issue of paramount importance to Israel’s security and claim with some justification that he was as solid an ally as could be asked. Read more…

By David Lev, INN

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Monday night that he would set up a committee to develop a legal framework to prevnet illegal building in Judea and Samaria that would apply to all residents. The announcement by Ya’alon came in response to a lawsuit by the Regavim group that demanded the state intervene to prevent illegal Arab building, just as it acts to prevent illegal construction in Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.

The lawsuit by Regavim demands that the state order the demolition of illegal building by Palestinian Authority Arabs between the Binyamin region community of Neve Tzuf and the Arab village of Deir Nazim. The buildings overlook a road used by Israeli residents, and constitute a danger, Regavim said. The buildings were constructed without a permit.
Read more…

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON, JPOST

Critics warn deal helps legitimize the government of Iran even though it is fomenting unrest in Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Lebanon and Iraq: 

Jerusalem, Riyadh stunned:

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report November 25, 2013,

DEBKAfile’s exclusive Washington sources reveal exclusively: President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry secretly agreed to elevate Iran to the status of seventh world power, as a strong inducement for signing the interim nuclear accord in Geneva Sunday, Nov. 24, for living up to its obligations in the coming six months and for then signing a comprehensive agreement.
Read more…

By Ted Belman

Two and a half years ago Haaretz reported U.S. considering strategic outreach to Hezbollah

Hezb’allah and the nazi salute

Now we read U.S. has been conducting dialogue with Hezbollah

“U.S. diplomats have begun secret contact with Hezbollah politicians in Beirut”, US World Tribune daily reported citing Lebanese sources. They said the dialogue concerned stability in Lebanon as well as the next government.

“The United States is sending and receiving messages to Hezbollah through third parties”, a source said. “The dialogue has intensified over the last few weeks”.

Read more…

Iran was on the ropes begging for a deal. Obama rescued her from defeat saying that the interim deal avoids war. Who believes this shit? How can Netanyahu trust Obama to make a deal with Iran acceptable to Israel. H e had that chance and blew it. Ted Belman

TOI

“I spoke last night with President [Barack] Obama. We agreed that in the coming days an Israeli team led by the national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, will go out to discuss with the United States the permanent accord with Iran,” Netanyahu told members of his Likud party.

The two heads of state on Sunday evening discussed the deal reached by the P5+1 states and Iran, less than 24 hours after the agreement was signed.

The prime minister reacted to the news of the interim deal between world powers and Tehran by calling it a “historic mistake.” In their phone conversation, initiated by Obama, Netanyahu asked the president — who kept Israel in the dark for months about the back-channel US-Iran negotiations that helped shape the deal — to begin US-Israel consultations on the permanent deal right away, and Obama consented, Israel’s Channel 2 reported. Hence the dispatch of Yossi Cohen.
Read more…

By YAIR SHAMIR, The Jerusalem Post

It is time to return to the intentions and words of the original drafters of international law, and rely less on specious interpretations with little basis.

In his November 21 article on “Humanitarian law vs. political choices,” Juan Pedro Schaerer, head of the local delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), repeats the longstanding point of view that Judea and Samaria, what some refer to as the “West Bank,” is “occupied territory.”

In fact, Mr. Schaerer is so certain of this opinion, he invites a public debate on the issue.

However, before stating a contrary point of view, it would be pertinent to begin by debunking Schaerer’s own statements. In the article Schaerer starts, as many opinions do, by quoting Article 42 of the Hague Regulations of 1907, writing: “The facts on the ground were such that they fell squarely into the definition of occupied territory, which is codified in Article 42.”
Read more…

Interview with Kenneth L. Marcus, Pres. of the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law”

“The key to the use of Title VI is that it prohibits discrimination in federally funded programs on the basis of race, color or national origin.”

Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, INN

“There is an essential paradox at the heart of the current resurgence of campus anti-Semitism. Universities should be centers of reason and tolerance, yet in the United States, they are the main source of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism.

“There are many ways to address this problem, but one of the most important approaches is based on civil rights law. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the primary legal tool available to protect Jewish and Israeli university students against discrimination. It is critically important because young people are more vulnerable and more impressionable than others. Title VI prohibits discrimination in federally funded programs on the basis of race, color or national origin.
Read more…

OnIslam
Sunday, 24 November 2013 00:00

LUANDA – According to several Angolan newspapers, Angola has become the first country in the world to ban Islam and Muslims, taking first measures by destroying mosques in the country.

“The process of legalization of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice,” Rosa Cruz e Silva, the Angolan Minister of Culture, was quoted by Agence Ecofin on Friday, November 22.
Read more…

By Ben Shapiro, Breitbart 

President Obama’s cowardly deal with the Iranian regime – a regime dedicated to the destruction of Israel, pursuing nuclear weapons in violation of multiple United Nations resolutions, and the persecution of Christians – marks the most ignominious moment in western foreign policy in decades. The easy comparison is to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler in Munich in 1938, when he signed allowed Hitler to consolidate his gains in the Sudetenland on the bare promise of no further aggression in Europe.

There are indeed similarities. A war-weary west is being played by a terroristic and fascistic regime bent on regional domination. The deal buys time for further armament by the enemy regime, under the guise of international approval. The leader of the western bloc, President Obama, is being widely hailed as a master diplomat.
Read more…

Could be used as staging ground for strikes against Iran

By Aaron Klein

TEL AVIV — Israeli personnel in recent days were in Saudi Arabia to inspect bases that could be used as a staging ground to launch attacks against Iran, according to informed Egyptian intelligence officials.

The officials said Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and other Arab and Persian Gulf countries have been discussing the next steps toward possible strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.

The officials said the U.S. passed strong messages to Israel and the Saudis that the Americans control radar capabilities over the skies near Iran and that no strike should be launched without permission from the Obama administration.
Read more…