International Policy Council
Latest ArticlesThe Main Goal of the Palestinian Government by Khaled Abu Toameh • May 16, 2012 at 5:00 am
At a time when many Western governments, the World Bank and various international organizations are continuing to heap praise on the Palestinian Authority for implementing reforms, the deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Hasan Khreishah, announced that financial and administrative corruption was now more widespread than ever. Khreishah, who is an independent parliamentarian, made it clear that the Palestinian government of Salam Fayyad, which has been hailed for combating corruption and implementing major reforms, was continuing to squander public funds. One of the charges the deputy parliament speaker makes is related to the Palestinian government's claim that it is facing severe financial crisis.
U.S. Leads Effort to Criminalize Free Speech by Ann Snyder • May 16, 2012 at 4:30 am
The Human Rights Council concluded its nineteenth session on March 23, 2012 and adopted, without a vote, yet another resolution aimed at restricting freedom of speech throughout the world. While its title[1], as usual, suggests it is about combating intolerance based on religion, its plain language shows that, once again, speech is the real target.
Islam Arrives in the Basque Country by Soeren Kern • May 15, 2012 at 5:00 am
The Basque regional government in northern Spain is drafting a controversial new Law on Religious Institutions, which states that mosques and prayer rooms with a capacity of fewer than 300 people will no longer require prior local government approval. The draft law is generating considerable opposition from elected officials of all political stripes, who fear the new measure will encourage the proliferation of mosques throughout the Basque region.
Who Will Suffer As A Result of Euro Policies? The Jews. by Peter Martino • May 14, 2012 at 5:00 am
The European Union, and especially its common currency, the euro, is on the brink of collapse. The Greeks, unable to form a government after the May 6 elections, will have to go to the polls again next month. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel is rapidly losing support. If she cares about her reelection next year, she had better push Greece out of the eurozone rather than keep that country afloat with German taxpayers' money. If Greece leaves, the whole euro edifice might come down – a better outcome than the present situation, in which extremist parties on the Left and the Right (all of them anti-Semitic) are rapidly gaining electoral support at the expense of mainstream parties which keep clinging to the failed project of the common European currency.
Our Intelligence Community: What Are We Getting for Our $80 Billion? by Peter Huessy • May 14, 2012 at 4:00 am
Americans are justifiably concerned that our national leaders do not seem to anticipate looming threats. They quite correctly ask, "What are we getting for the $80 billion a year we pay to gather intelligence?" "Don't worry" says the former deputy director of its Counterterrorist Center: it is not the fault of the intelligence community: "They screw things up all by themselves" he states. "On major foreign policy decisions, intelligence is not the decisive factor". Is the intelligence community really that innocent? Now retired, this same 28-year CIA veteran had a hand in the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran. The report was a bombshell: its summary dismissed Iran as a threat to US, effectively taking it out of the mix of national security issues in the 2008 Presidential campaign.
Palestinian Journalists Union Fights Palestinian Journalists by Khaled Abu Toameh • May 11, 2012 at 5:00 am
As journalists worldwide celebrated World Free Press Day on May 3, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the West Bank chose to wage a campaign of intimidation against Palestinian reporters who commit the "crime" of meeting with Israeli counterparts. The decision to punish Palestinian journalists who hold meetings with Israeli colleagues began after a series of joint seminars that were held in Norway, Germany and France. At these seminars, Israeli and Palestinian journalists discussed joint cooperation and ways of promoting freedom of expression. The syndicate, dominated by Fatah and affiliated with the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah, threatened sanctions against any Palestinian journalist who engages in "normalization" with Israel. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate functions more as a political body than a union that is supposed to defend the rights of its members.
by Raymond Ibrahim • May 11, 2012 at 4:30 am
As the United States considers the Islamic jihadi threats confronting it from all sides, it might do well to focus on its southern neighbor, Mexico, which has been targeted by Islamists and jihadists, who, through a number of tactics—from engaging in da'wa, converting Mexicans to Islam, to smuggling and the drug cartel, to simple extortion, kidnappings and enslavement—have been subverting Mexico in order to empower Islam and sabotage the U.S. According to a 2010 report, "Close to home: Hezbollah terrorists are plotting right on the U.S. border," which appeared in the NY Daily News:
Amnesty International and Muslim Discrimination in Europe by Soeren Kern • May 10, 2012 at 5:00 am
A new report from Amnesty International lashes out at "widespread discrimination" against Muslims in Europe. The report directs particular ire at laws banning Muslim veils in public spaces, and excoriates European politicians for helping to "foster a climate of hostility and suspicion against people perceived as Muslim." Amnesty International omits, however, all instances of discrimination initiated by Muslims against Christians and others in Europe who have taken them in, and who may well feel dismayed by what might be seen as an escalating procession of Muslim demands, threats and attacks.
How Journalists Allowed the Palestinian Authority to Fool Them by Khaled Abu Toameh • May 9, 2012 at 5:00 am
The Palestinian Authority has been boasting over the past four years of its success in restoring law and order to the West Bank city of Jenin. Journalists from all around the world were invited to Jenin, once notorious for dispatching suicide bombers to Israel, to report on the Palestinian government's successful efforts. Palestinian leaders and government officials told the journalists how their security forces have managed to end the state of chaos and lawlessness that used to prevail in Jenin. They talked about how Fatah gangsters and thugs who used to roam the streets, imposing an atmosphere of intimidation and terror on the population, have vanished. Most of the gangsters, the Palestinian government officials noted, had been recruited to various branches of the Western-funded Palestinian security forces and were indirectly receiving salaries from American and European taxpayers' money.
German Cartoon Riots: Clubs, Bottles and Stones by Soeren Kern • May 8, 2012 at 5:00 am
In an explosion of violence that reflects the growing assertiveness of Salafists in Germany, on May 5th more than 500 radical Muslims attacked German police with bottles, clubs, stones and other weapons in the city of Bonn, to protest cartoons they said were "offensive." Rather than cracking down on the Muslim extremists, however, German authorities have sought to silence the peaceful critics of multicultural policies that allow the Salafists -- who say they are committed to imposing Islamic Sharia law throughout Europe -- openly to preach violence and hate.
Tunisian Universities Under Islamist Siege by Anna Mahjar-Barducci • May 8, 2012 at 4:00 am
Tunisian Universities are being threatened by Salafist activists. Since late November 2011, the Faculty of Letters, Arts, and Humanities at the University of Manouba, north of Tunis, has been attacked by a group of Salafist students, demanding the creation of a prayer room, and demanding that women wear the niqab (full-face veil), and attend only segregated classes, In early December, Salafists held hostage the department's dean, Habib Kazdaghli, but he courageously refused to fulfill to their demands. Liberal and secular professors and students staged peaceful sit-ins to protest against the Salafists and the Islamist-led government's "double standards" in refusing to do anything to stop the Salafists. As reported by Ahram Online, until now, the university has not received any support from government officials; the Salafists continue to have met with no negative consequences from their occupation of administrative offices.
Antisemitism on the Rise in Europe by Michael Curtis • May 7, 2012 at 3:00 am
The virus of antisemitism persists in haunting Europe. In recent months, antisemitism has been exhibited all too often in European countries, not just in theory but in practice. France has been the scene for the murder of Jewish schoolchildren in Toulouse; attacks on Jewish property in Paris and Dijon; desecration of Jewish graves in Nice, and anti-Semitic graffiti throughout the country. Malmo, Sweden, with a now considerable Muslim population, has witnessed increasing outbreaks of violence against Jews. It is disquieting that Ilmar Reepalu, the mayor of the city, has denied these attacks, and dismissed criticism of his denials as the work of the "Israel lobby."
by Khaled Abu Toameh • May 4, 2012 at 5:00 am
No matter how much the US tries to help the Palestinians, it will always be viewed by many of them as an enemy. Last week, President Barack Obama gave $147 million to the Palestinians. A few days later, Palestinians demonstrated in Ramallah against the US and boycotted a ceremony held by the US Consulate-General. The protesters carried placards which read: "USAID go out!" and "We reject aid from those who deny our people the right to self-determination." USAID is the leading provider of bilateral development assistance to the Palestinians. This agency has given the Palestinians more than $3.5 billion since 1994 for programs in the areas of democracy and governance, education, health, humanitarian assistance, private enterprise and water resources and infrastructure. The demonstration in Ramallah was held outside a hotel where US officials organized a ceremony marking World Press Freedom Day.
by Anna Mahjar-Barducci • May 3, 2012 at 5:00 am
Islamist Members of Parliament in Egypt are trying to deprive Egyptian women of their basic rights by introducing several controversial draft laws that, if passed, will bring Egypt back to the Middle Ages: -- The website Ahram Online reports that Islamists wants to cancel Law 1 of the year 2000, known as the Khula Law, which acts as an alternative route for women whose husbands refuse to grant them a divorce. Through the Khula Law, courts grant women a divorce so long as they return the dowry paid by her husband prior to the marriage. Law 1 of the year 2000 was considered a step forward in women rights. Before that, Egyptian women did not have the right to divorce their husbands on their own terms.
How The Palestinian Authority Fights Corruption by Khaled Abu Toameh • May 2, 2012 at 5:00 am
Jamal Abu Rihan is a Palestinian blogger and activist who is being held in a Palestinian Authority prison in the West Bank. Security forces belonging to the Palestinian Authority government arrested Abu Rihan after he created a Facebook group called "The People Want to End Corruption." Demanding reform and democracy has become a crime in the territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Direct and indirect criticism of Palestinian Authority leaders has also become a crime that can land journalists, bloggers, cartoonists and political opponents in prison. Instead of going after top officials suspected of embezzling public funds and abusing their powers, the Palestinian Authority government has chosen to wage an unprecedented clampdown on those who dare to raise their voices in support of transparency and freedom of speech.
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