For the third consecutive year, a Hamas-affiliated ticket won the student council elections at Birzeit University in the West Bank. We already know that the poor and uneducated are not the only ones who support jihadi ideology. As early as 2004, research by Professor Shaul Kimhi showed that about one-third of the suicide bombers who have targeted Israelis were students ...
Read More »Author Archives: Akiva Ben-Ezra
Jerusalem’s true ‘importance’ in Islam
In contrast to the widespread misconception, Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran — not by the name al-Quds, and not by al-Maqdis, as the city is most commonly referred to in Arab literature. This is most surprising, in light of the fact that dozens of passages from the Quran are predicated on stories from the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic ...
Read More »Sunnis, Shiites, and hate for Israel
Stop the spread of Islamic State
State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself the caliph of all Muslims worldwide. Establishing a caliphate makes it possible to realize the classic Muslim objective of turning the entire world over to Islam, which, according to Muslim law, can only happen when there is a caliph to preside over it. This goal requires, first and foremost, a war between Islamic ...
Read More »Europe’s Israel obsession
http://gty.im/454444516 What’s the deal with European parliaments? Why are they not dealing with the ongoing exodus of some 10 million Syrians fleeing their homes, or the millions of Africans who are suffering from malnutrition and starvation, or the persecution of the Christians and the Yazidis in Muslim countries, or the chaos in Libya and Iraq, or the military coup in ...
Read More »Iran does not play by the West’s rules
http://gty.im/453480314 In light of recent reports that Iran and world powers are approaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, it would be wise to ask what the consequences are of an Iranian threshold or nuclear capable state. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who previously served as strategic affairs minister, listed a few: 1. A changing of the world order by ...
Read More »Pakistan: A growing nuclear concern
In November 2008, a series of horrific attacks against civilian targets struck India. Some 173 people were killed and 300 were wounded. Ten Pakistani terrorists carried out the attacks and one of them was captured alive. In his interrogation, the terrorist admitted he and his partners had been instructed to kill tourists and Jews, while avoiding harming Muslims. Among the ...
Read More »Time to revise rules of war
http://gty.im/175779076 The release of the Israeli report into last summer’s Operation Protective Edge, as well as the impending release of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s report, once again shifts our focus to the issue of warfare ethics. The U.S. has blatantly accused Israel of firing on UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip, even after the U.N. has conceded those locations ...
Read More »El-Sissi on shaky ground
The spokesperson for the Islamic State group, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, called for jihad and martyrdom during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began two weeks ago, and threatened to annihilate the “infidels.” Indeed, members of Islamic State’s Sinai province answered the call and carried out a coordinated and lethal attack on multiple Egyptian army and police outposts. Of course, ...
Read More »ISIS’s Goal: World Domination
Counter-terrorism expert Dr. Ephraim Herrera explains what makes ISIS unique – and why the coming weeks could be crucial. Islamic State has seen a spike in activity around Israel over the past several weeks, with activity not only heating up on the Golan Heights border with Syria, but in Egypt and along Israel’s border with the Sinai Peninsula as well. ...
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