Middle Orient

Western Mainstream media (MSM) are reporting the Israeli police violence against worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, token rocket responses by Palestinians, and horrendously disproportionate Israeli bombing of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. While the West rightly condemns the Russian invasion and occupation of 20% of Ukraine, it fervently supports genocidally racist …

Nakhala is set to deliver a speech at the Quds Day rallies in Baghdad on Friday. A delegation of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist movement visited Baghdad on Wednesday at the invitation of Iraqi officials. The delegation was led by the movement’s secretary-general, Ziyad al-Nakhala, and was set to meet …

The RIC said this marks a doubling of attacks and fatalities from the previous month, with four military personnel and four civilians killed. In March, ISIS carried out 20 sleeper cell attacks, five of which were claimed by the terrorist group, according to a new monthly report by the Syria-based …

US forces captured an ISIS operative and two of his associates in eastern Syria on Saturday evening, the US military announced on Wednesday. The operative, Hudayfah al Yemeni, is an “ISIS attack facilitator,” a news release from US Central Command said. He and his associates were captured by US forces …

A new order may be emerging in the Middle East, but how it is emerging does not fit the core narrative written by Washington. Two decades after the U.S. invaded Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that didn’t exist, and to implement the George W. Bush “freedom …

For the first time in twenty years, a change of leadership in Turkey is possible. The EU must be prepared for the foreign policy shift an opposition victory would bring. Whether in the first round on May 14 or the second on May 28, Turkey’s presidential election will ultimately be …

Chinese energy firms are increasingly cooperating with their Qatari and Saudi counterparts as the People’s Republic makes further inroads into the region. The Chinese oil giant Sinopec acquired a stake in a field owned by Qatar’s state-owned energy firm on Wednesday as Beijing increases its influence in the region. The …

The resumption of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the Saudis’ diplomatic overtures toward Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, are part and parcel of the Saudis’ overall reassessment of their geostrategic interests, which rest on three distinctives goals: regional stability, exerting greater regional and international influence, and uninterrupted oil …

As the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran met in China to commence a thaw in relations, Beijing has positioned itself as an ‘alternate’ power, keeping a policy of cooperation, consultation, and non-interventionism at the forefront. With serious discussions over the conflict in Yemen now underway, can China deliver …

SUMMARY: The paper discusses whether Turkey’s efforts to portray itself as a counterterrorism partner to Israel are legitimate given its history of cozying up to extremists, even jihadists, and its role in assorted self-serving political provocations. It provides close examination of the recently disrupted ISIS plot against Jewish and European …