Hamas is defending its practice of forcing teenage boys in Gaza to undergo paramilitary training. A story run by Lebanon’s Al-Jadid television, and translated to English by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), quoted principals and Hamas officials defending the training as “chivalry” class and “sports training.” Principal Khaled Hashish admitted that the
Syrian rebels, including jihadist groups, captured the historic Christian town of Maalula north of Damascus on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP. Rebels assaulted the town by rolling explosive-filled tires down the hills onto regime forces and were able to reach the city center after three days of intense fighting, with
Pan-Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is continuing an extensive campaign to combat Western values regarding women's rights by holding conferences about women in Sharia [Islamic] law, who are raised to be strictly obedient to their fathers and later to their husbands. The conferences are being held in Judea and Samaria as well as in Arab neighborhoods
One of the Hamas leaders who received an Egyptian passport was Mahmoud Zahar, who was born to an Egyptian mother. The Egyptian authorities have begun revoking the citizenship of Hamas leaders, according to reports in Palestinian and Egyptian media outlets. The move is seen in the context of intensifying tensions between Egypt and
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has rejected the country's new constitution, nearly half a year since the ouster of Brotherhood-backed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. 138 of the 247 articles of the draft new constitution, which has been deemed controversial even by secular opponents of the Brotherhood, was approved by a panel of 50 yesterday. The panel
Saudi Arabia's highest religious council, the Majlis al-Ifta’ al-A’ala, has threatened a "religious war" over any attempts to implement equal prayer rights for Jews on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The Temple Mount is Judaism's holiest site, the site of two Jewish Temples and where some Jewish traditions state the world began. It is also the
Last Friday 18 corpses were founded murdered in execution-style killings in Baghdad, in what appears to be part of a new wave and shift in tactics that has many fearing an all-out sectarian war in Iraq. Nickolay Mladenov, special representative of the UN secretary-general for Iraq, sharply decried the executions, saying "I am profoundly
Sisi's reaction to the crisis with the Obama Administration has helped build up his credentials as a daring Egyptian nationalist who does not retreat before a superpower - among other things. Since the ousting of President Morsi on July 3, 2013, the issue of who will be the next elected President of Egypt has
In contrast to John Kerry's remarks, Israel has legitimate legal rights to Judea and Samaria, as summarized below. The following points are reposted from Ambassador Alan Baker's blog. 1. Upon Israel’s taking control of the area in 1967, the 1907 Hague Rules on Land Warfare and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) were not considered
Brigadier General Mickey Edelstein, head of the IDF's Gaza Division, admitted to Channel 10 to a certain degree of cooperation between the IDF and Hamas. "Hamas is in trouble and now it finds itself isolated," said Edelstein, in conversation with the Gaza residents released Monday on the television network. He stressed that "Leaders
