A Report from the Turkish Intelligence Agency MIT Reveals That the Agency Was Aware of the ISIS Surveillance Team and Their Activities Before the Attack in Istanbul in January 2024
The Official Kurdish Population of the Soviet Union in 1926 Was 69,000, Many of Them in Azerbaijan
Abduction of Swedish-Iranian Dissident in Turkey Was a Covert Operation Jointly Arranged by Turkish and Iranian Intelligence
U.S. Apologia and Denial About Turkey’s Terrorist Ties Mirror the Pre-9/11 Blindness to Saudi Terrorism Ties
A U.S. Desire to Withdraw Troops Completely from Iraq and a Commitment to Prevent Genocide Are Mutually Exclusive
MBS Sharpened His Criticism of Israel and Continues to Warm Ties with Iran, but a Defense Pact with the U.S. Is Still His Priority and Tehran Is Still the Chief Foe
The Supreme Leader’s Son Does Not Have the Prestige of Iran’s Grand Ayatollahs or Even Many Ordinary Ayatollahs
Turkish Authorities Face Criticism for Releasing a Radical Kurdish Cleric Linked to ISIS, Allowing Him to Resume Preaching and Recruiting for Jihadist Networks Across Turkey and Georgia
Critics of Islam in 2024 Europe Face Repression Akin to the Treatment of Anti-soviet Writers in the 1950s—Silenced with Fear and Police at the Door.
Spotlight: Iran & Israel Trade Strikes
Iran’s October 1, 2024, missile and drone strike against Israel, joined by its proxies, did little beyond obligating Israel to expend missiles to take out incoming threats. Israel’s response, after three weeks of planning and multiple consultations with the United States and other allies, was more notable for what it avoided than for what it struck.
Israel skipped the most obvious—and most controversial—targets such as oil terminals and nuclear facilities. It did, however, do considerable damage to Iranian anti-aircraft defense capabilities, including its vaunted Russian S-300 systems. Israel’s measured response, therefore, both warned Iran against additional attacks and prepared the battlefield for follow-on strikes should (when) they become necessary.
Israel skipped the most obvious—and most controversial—targets such as oil terminals and nuclear facilities. It did, however, do considerable damage to Iranian anti-aircraft defense capabilities, including its vaunted Russian S-300 systems. Israel’s measured response, therefore, both warned Iran against additional attacks and prepared the battlefield for follow-on strikes should (when) they become necessary.
Iran’s decision to launch 181 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night followed a similar pattern to the attacks of 14 April. Israeli and allied air defences appear to have performed extremely effectively. The damage to the military and civilian sites targeted is minor to non-existent. One Palestinian Arab man was killed in a village near Jericho, not from the Iranian missiles, it appears, but from interceptor debris.
The question now is what comes next. This time, the response is unlikely to be merely symbolic.
The question now is what comes next. This time, the response is unlikely to be merely symbolic.
Middle East Quarterly - Current Issue
Founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, MEQ is the Middle East Forum’s journal intended for both scholars and the educated public. Policymakers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists write for and read the Quarterly, which is known for exclusive interviews, in-depth historical articles, and book reviews on subjects ranging from archaeology to politics and on countries from Morocco to Iran.
Fall 2024 Volume 31: Number 4
Fall 2024 Volume 31: Number 4
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PHILADELPHIA – August 20, 2024 – A member of Maryland’s “Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention” is out of a job. Ayman Nassar, the second Islamist commissioner to get tossed from the hate crimes board within three months, resigned on August 19 amid public outrage over his role in terror-linked organizations and his history of anti-American, antisemitic, and homophobic hate speech.
Nassar has accused Israel of harvesting the organs of living Palestinians and shared posts referring to Gaza as a “Holocaust.” He is chairman of the Aafia Foundation, a “terrorist support group” that seeks to free “Lady Al Qaeda” Aafia Siddiqui and other convicted terrorists from prison. -
PHILADELPHIA – July 31, 2024 – Hours after Israel assassinated two leading figures of designated terrorist organizations, Middle East Forum (MEF) experts took to major media outlets to explain what the killings mean for Israel and the region.
Israeli forces killed Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukur in Beirut on Tuesday, while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh died Wednesday from an Israeli strike in Tehran. Both men caused the deaths of innocent civilians as well as Israeli and American soldiers.
Writing today for the Wall Street Journal, MEF president Daniel Pipes argued that since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, Israel has unfortunately followed “two opposite policies” simultaneously: “destroy the organization and make a deal with it.” -
JERUSALEM, July 25, 2024 – In an event sponsored by the Middle East Forum-organized Israel Victory Caucus (IVC) of Israel’s parliament (the Knesset), multiple speakers argued that Israel’s security requires turning the tables on Iran by creating proxies to undermine the Islamic Republic (video).
Participants included Israeli cabinet ministers, members of Knesset (MKs) from both coalition and opposition, senior military figures, family members of the fallen and kidnapped, and other prominent decision makers and opinion shapers.
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MbS’s Foreign Policy Shifts in the Last Two Years Reveals His Understanding of Realpolitik -
A Joint Podcast Series by the Middle East Forum and the American Jewish University -
A Joint Podcast Series by the Middle East Forum and the American Jewish University on the Middle East’s Influence on Contemporary America -
A Joint Podcast Series by the Middle East Forum and the American Jewish University
Middle East Forum Observer
Founded in 2024, it provides rapid analysis on leading Middle East developments, from Marrakech to Mashhad and the Bab el-Mandeb to the Black Sea.
Launched in 2006, Islamist Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum. We work to combat the ideas and institutions of lawful Islamism in the United States and throughout the West. Arguing that “radical Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution,” we seek to expose the Islamist organizations that currently dominate the debate, while identifying and promoting the work of moderate Muslims.
CAMPUS WATCH, a project of the Middle East Forum, reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds.
Gaza
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Sometimes, External Forces Must Push People Toward the Difficult Choice of Replacing Their Leaders -
Although Most of the World Has Abandoned the Yazidi Victims of ISIS, Some Courageous Individuals Are Still Trying to Help -
The Elimination of Hamas’s Most Dominant Figure Could Open a Small Window of Opportunity to Achieve Israel’s Elusive War Aims -
The Details of the Killing Show the Extent to Which Hamas No Longer Has Any Depth of Control over Any Part of Gaza
Muslims in the US
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The Misnamed ‘Muslim Ban’ Sharply Curtailed Immigrant and Non-immigrant U.S. Visas for Foreign Nationals from 13 Nations -
The Materialistic West Increasingly Only Understands Motives Prompted by Material Needs or Desires -
An Islamist who promotes an ideology similar to the teachings of the Islamic State—the organization that murdered and raped its way across vast sections of the Middle East and beyond— has set up shop in El Paso, Texas. -
The Muslim Justice League Took a Page Out of the KKK’s Playbook and Deployed Masked Thugs to Harass a Reporter at Its Rally in Downtown Boston
