Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Nils A. Haug • October 21, 2025 at 5:00 am
"Hamas is not just at war with Israel. It is at war with Jews, Christians, and the very foundations of civilization itself.... This is not politics, this is a religious war. Its purpose is to replace Judaism and Christianity with radical Islam. If the world does not understand this, everyone will pay the price." — Mosab Hassan Yousef, eldest son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, JNS, August 17, 2025. Notwithstanding peace treaties or a tenuous cessation of hostilities between Israel and its neighbors, much of the Islamic world remains at war with the West, especially with many dedicated activists, such as Qatar, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority in its midst. Their leaders, perhaps not wishing to get into a scrape with Trump, as well as seeing the delicious prospect of being in charge of the future Gaza chicken coop -- refuse to acknowledge this reality. Many leaders in the West also would possibly prefer not to admit the risk, even though their societies are precipitously at risk of being overwhelmed by the mass immigration of Muslims -- who boldly practice a competing faith founded on displacing all other faiths. Western leaders appear to wish to placate the Islamist voters in their midst, despite the harm being inflicted on their citizens -- with more expected in the offing. With the release of some 2,000 terrorists from Israel's prisons as part of the Trump peace plan, Hamas's forces received a timely reinforcement of their depleted ranks from this event, "None are expected to take up careers in high tech or humanitarian relief," writes Professor Thane Rosenbaum. While Israel may have substantially defeated Hamas militarily in the Gaza campaign, it can fittingly be said, as by columnist Dan Schnur, that "Hamas won its war against Israel in the eyes of the rest of the world". Any success of the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic mass media can be attributed to their lies about Israel and Jews. The escalating social and political turmoil in nations such as France, Britain, Australia, Spain, Italy and Canada can be directly attributed to domestic Islamist agitation, Muslim demographic explosion, and the spread of religious Islam throughout the infrastructure – which most leaders would rather appease than confront. With mosques being built at a rapid rate, complete with public calls to prayer over loudspeakers, and special Sharia courts, councils and schools, Islam has come to significantly dominate the landscape in the major cities of western Europe. In the UK and France, for instance, certain street scenes are reminiscent of the Muslim cities from where immigrants originated. In Rosenbaum's words, "Hamas is not going away easily, even if some leave. The Muslim Brotherhood's lasting influence over the hearts and minds of Gazan society is ironclad." The same may well be true for the generous leaders of the sovereign wealth fund states in the Middle East, who Trump seems to be counting on to rebuild Gaza. Or maybe Trump can actually pull it off. The time to worry about is after he is no longer president, supervising his dream of Gaza as a Riviera at peace with Israel. What if the prevailing Middle East ideology of eliminating Israel has not changed?
On October 13, 2025, at Israel's Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the company of US President Donald J. Trump, declared the war in Gaza over. Sadly, the probability of an enduring peace with Hamas or allied Islamists appears close to zero. After all, in Netanyahu's words, Israel is dealing with "monsters." Pictured: Trump speaks to Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport before boarding his plane to Egypt, on October 13, 2025 in Israel. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On October 13, 2025, at Israel's Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the company of US President Donald J. Trump, declared the war in Gaza over. Oh, really? Sadly, the probability of an enduring peace with Hamas or allied Islamists appears close to zero. After all, in Netanyahu's words, Israel is dealing with "monsters." Mosab Hassan Yousef, the eldest son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, revealed the rationale behind the horrendous events in Israel on October 7, 2023: "Hamas is not just at war with Israel. It is at war with Jews, Christians and the very foundations of civilization itself."
Continue Reading Article
by Khaled Abu Toameh • October 20, 2025 at 5:00 am
Hamas, in short, has decided to eliminate any Palestinian opposed to terrorism and supportive of coexistence with Israel. Hamas's actions also demonstrate that the terror group is determined to exploit the current ceasefire to reassert its control over the Gaza Strip. The silence, or apathy, of the international community, including so-called pro-Palestinian groups and individuals, towards Hamas's crimes only encourages the terror group to proceed with its crackdown on its own people. The silence of the world, in addition, sends a message to the Palestinians that they should refrain from rising against Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip. We have not yet heard of a single Hamas terrorist talking about recognizing Israel's right to exist. In the eyes of Hamas leaders, the Trump peace plan is just another temporary ceasefire that should be used for rearming, regrouping, and preparing for massacring more Israelis. In recent months, Hamas has been quoting a famous statement by its former leader, the late Ismail Haniyeh, to confirm that the terror group will never recognize Israel's right to exist: "We said it five years ago and we say it now... we will never, we will never recognize Israel." No transitional government or "Board of Peace" will ever be able to enforce law and order as long as Hamas terrorists feel free to murder any Palestinian who wants peace and coexistence with Israel. De-radicalization will happen only after Palestinians see that Hamas has been totally defeated, disarmed and removed from power.... Failure to eradicate Hamas will only pave the way for another October 7 massacre against Israel.
No transitional government or "Board of Peace" will ever be able to enforce law and order as long as Hamas terrorists feel free to murder any Palestinian who wants peace and coexistence with Israel. Pictured: Hamas terrorists in Gaza on February 15, 2025. (Photo by Moiz Salhi/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump's plan for ending the Hamas-Israel war states that "Gaza will be a de-radicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors." His plan also stipulates that "Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough" and that "once all [Israeli] hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty." Although Hamas has released the 20 living hostages and, since the announcement of Trump's plan in early October, has handed over the bodies of some of the fallen, the Gaza Strip remains anything but a "de-radicalized terror-free zone."
Continue Reading Article
by Gordon G. Chang • October 19, 2025 at 5:00 am
Tellingly, the most senior of the nine officers axed on the 17th was General He Weidong, the second-ranked vice chairman of the Commission and Xi Jinping's No. 1 loyalist in the PLA. The general had gained prominence as Xi's top enforcer in the military. Gen. He was not the only officer who backed Xi and has now been taken out of the military's leadership ranks. Moreover, it is difficult to identify any Xi adversary who was purged in the last 18 months. It is unlikely, at a time Xi Jinping appears to be fighting for political survival, that he would remove his most important supporter in the military. It is far more probable that Xi has lost control of the People's Liberation Army, especially because the removals strengthen Gen. Zhang, Xi's adversary. China, by Thursday, could have a new leader. Or a new round of purges.
Tellingly, the most senior of the nine officers removed on October 17 from their posts in China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) was General He Weidong, the second-ranked vice chairman of the Communist Party's Central Military Commission and Xi Jinping's No. 1 loyalist in the PLA. The general had gained prominence as Xi's top enforcer in the military. Pictured: General He attends the opening ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images)
On October 17, China's Ministry of National Defense announced that the Communist Party's Central Committee and Central Military Commission had, after investigations, removed nine senior officers from their posts in the People's Liberation Army. The stunning announcement occurred on the eve of the long-delayed Fourth Plenum of the Party's 20th Central Committee, scheduled to start tomorrow, October 20, and continue for four days. On the agenda are crucial economic matters, including the country's 15th Five-Year Plan, which covers the rest of the decade, 2026-2030. Analysts are also looking for hints whether the Party, at the plenum, will announce changes in its leadership. If Xi Jinping, the Party's general secretary and chairman of its Central Military Commission, was responsible for the just-announced removals of the flag officers, he will undoubtedly emerge from the plenum as strong as ever, perhaps even stronger.
Continue Reading Article
by Amir Taheri • October 19, 2025 at 4:00 am
Trump made a flowing speech at the Israeli parliament that was remarkable for its frankness in showing the true picture of the situation to Israelis, combined with asserting his unflinching commitment to their security. [W]hat does peace, when poetic conceit is discarded, mean? It means that a war has ended with one clear winner and one clear loser, effacing a status quo that had bred the war. In the new status quo that must be created, the winner ought to have the final word. The second element in the method is to steer clear of flattering the foe rather than placating him, which would persuade him that you are acting out of weakness. Obama's notorious speech in Cairo was one example of self-defeating flattery. He tried to flatter the Muslim Brotherhood by obliquely attacking President Hosni Mubarak. We all know what happened next. Trump, on the other hand, used the occasion to flex his American muscles and send a clear message: We're powerful enough to make your life difficult but also ready to invite you to the table, even if offering you a side-chair. This was the message sent to the leadership in Tehran, who missed the opportunity. The third element of the method is to go for the jugular by stating your maximum demand. In that vein, Trump made the establishment of normal relations with Israel the sine qua non of joining his New Middle East project. Trump doesn't dance around the real issues. He demands that Tehran establish relations with Israel, end its project for long-range missiles, and scrap the military dimension of its nuclear program. In exchange, he promises to ease sanctions on Iran with a view to ending them if Tehran does its part of the deal. More importantly, perhaps, he implicitly promises to prevent another Israeli attack on Iran if Tehran accepts the deal on offer.
Pictured: US President Donald Trump addresses the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on October 13, 2025 in Jerusalem. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/Getty Images)
When President Donald Trump first launched his bid to stop the war in Gaza, most observers expected another attempt at making the impossible possible. After all, another ceasefire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages had been unveiled and unraveled a few months earlier. Thus, the initial reaction from the global punditry was "Oh NO! Not again!" The consensus in the commentariat was that nothing short of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stated plan to "finish off Hamas and bring home all the hostages" would extinguish the fires of this war. That analysis seemed apt when Trump himself talked of a ceasefire in exchange for the return of hostages. However, within just 24 hours that déjà vu scheme was upgraded to a peace plan not only for Gaza but for the entire Middle East. A day later that new version of déjà vu was again upgraded into what Donald the Dealmaker baptized as the New Middle East.
Continue Reading Article
by Majid Rafizadeh • October 18, 2025 at 5:00 am
Once again, Europe seems to have slipped into a dangerous fantasy: that engaging in polite diplomatic parleys with promises of sugar plums will tame Iran's rapacious ambitions. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (E3), acting as the European Troika, declared their intention to revive the long-stalled nuclear negotiations with Iran. At the core of the E3's plan lies the deeply flawed assumption that Iran can be wooed into restraint through incremental "incentives." These generally consist of easing financial pressure, lifting trade restrictions, or delaying multilateral sanctions in exchange for ephemeral commitments. Sadly, Europe appears to be pursuing the worst lessons of appeasement: the dangerous illusion is that you can temper a ravenous aggressor by conciliation, weakness and generosity. The aggressor immediately sees that the best route for him is to demand more. The cycle becomes self-reinforcing. By treating the Iranian regime as a legitimate negotiating partner — and by discounting the moral and strategic gulf that separates it from liberal democracies — Europe is bankrolling the terrorism industry. President Donald J. Trump's current posture — doubling down on sanctions, refusing immediate diplomacy until leverage is secured — should jolt Europe out of its passivity. The European Troika's charade must stop. Anything less just prolongs the threat.
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have declared their intention to revive the long-stalled nuclear negotiations with Iran. Once again, Europe seems to have slipped into a dangerous fantasy: that engaging in polite diplomatic parleys with promises of sugar plums will tame Iran's rapacious ambitions. Pictured: A Fattah hypersonic ballistic missile is displayed during the annual military parade in Tehran, on September 22, 2023. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
Once again, Europe seems to have slipped into a dangerous fantasy: that engaging in polite diplomatic parleys with promises of sugar plums will tame Iran's rapacious ambitions. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (E3), acting as the European Troika, declared their intention to revive the long-stalled nuclear negotiations with Iran. In a joint statement, they pledged to "reopen a path toward a comprehensive, lasting, and verifiable agreement." This is the same play we have seen before: bold headlines, carefully phrased commitments, and the faint hope that seduction can substitute for strength. Unfortunately, these gestures always carry a hidden cost. Once the diplomatic machinery is set in motion, we soon hear about sanctions relief, softening of UN mandates, and felicitous loopholes to reintegrate the Iranian regime into global markets. What begins as promise too often ends as reward for terrible behavior and a prelude to even more.
Continue Reading Article
by Grégoire Canlorbe • October 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
[The Belgian N-VA Party] program systematically addresses the major ills of Belgian political life, starting with the abysmal debt that threatens our financial balance. Next comes the issue of creeping Islamization, fueled by powerful Islamist networks, particularly in Brussels, and to a lesser extent in Antwerp. Belgium is virtually bankrupt; its debt and budget deficit are out of control. This is mission No. 1 for the N-VA: to get public finances back on track. The success of this mission determines everything else. Our cities, like the rest of Western Europe, are buckling under the yoke of all sorts of regulations, the source of which is the European Union. There is no longer a real business climate, and European law acts as an instrument of economic castration. Take energy: its cost is three to five times higher in Europe than in the United States — no industry can sustainably withstand such a differential. For [Belgium's "left wing" political parties], any criticism of Islam — which, please recall, is not a race, but a political doctrine — automatically falls into the categories of Islamophobia and racism. Islam, as a political ideology, refers to the use of the principles, values or texts of Islam... to structure a system of governance, laws and public policies. [A] perverse form of racism, allied with a new anti-Semitism, unfortunately, [is] re-emerging on the left with a worrying severity. When a far-left "comedian", Herman Brusselmans, writes that he wants to slit the throats of every Jew he meets in the street, what is funny? Is that humor or a call to murder? Today the main problem of Europe appears to be the European Union, apart from the Common Market, a practical necessity. European law, sadly, has become an instrument that prevents economic development. Paris and Brussels are dirty, saturated with aggression, and everywhere you go you encounter asylum seekers who have been denied asylum and have no right to reside in the country but remain there nonetheless because they are supposedly "undeportable". The police try to do their job but are constantly sabotaged by left- and far-left judges who, under various pretexts, release the worst thugs, criminals and rapists. Our challenge, of truly civilizational scope, is to restore hope — the possibility for every European family to build a better future for their children — one commensurate with Europe's great, historical contribution to civilization.
"Paris and Brussels are dirty, saturated with aggression, and everywhere you go you encounter asylum seekers who have been denied asylum and have no right to reside in the country but remain there nonetheless because they are supposedly 'undeportable'. The police try to do their job but are constantly sabotaged by left- and far-left judges who, under various pretexts, release the worst thugs, criminals and rapists." — Drieu Godefridi. Pictured: Two asylum-seekers from Afghanistan sit in their tent at a camp set up by around 100 single male migrants in Place Sainte-Croix, in the city center of Brussels, on September 15, 2023. (Photo by Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP via Getty Images)
Drieu Godefridi is a jurist (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain), philosopher (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain) and PhD in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is an entrepreneur, CEO of a European private education group and director of PAN Medias Group. The author of The Green Reich (2020), he is a fellow traveler of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), a conservative, nationalist political party. Grégoire Canlorbe: You were a list leader for the conservative party N-VA in 2024 Belgian federal election. How do you sum up what this party can bring to the Belgians and, in particular, the Walloons?
Continue Reading Article
by Khaled Abu Toameh • October 16, 2025 at 5:00 am
Inviting Qatar and Turkey to play a role in the Gaza Strip means again bringing Iran in through the back door. Both countries have strong relations and shared interests with Iran. In the time-honored tradition of Arab politeness, these countries may well be telling Trump what he would like to hear -- secure in the knowledge that in three years, he will be off their backs, unable to pressure them anymore. Meanwhile, they will have positioned themselves comfortably in Gaza, learned more about Israeli technology, and be free to do as they like. "Qatar and certainly Turkey must not have a foothold in Gaza again. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Jordan hate Hamas and are more concerned about the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Qatar is the one that funded Hamas in the years leading up to October 7..." — Unnamed senior Israel Defense Forces officer, YNET, October 12, 2025. It is laughable -- and dangerous -- to assume that under their current rulers, Qatar and Turkey, as well as Iran, would ever play a positive and constructive role in ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East. These three regimes have always been on the side of the Muslim Brotherhood organization and several Islamist terror groups, including Islamic State (ISIS), Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah. Qatar and Turkey are not interested in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Instead, they are interested, with the backing of Iran, in rebuilding Hamas's military and civilian capabilities and ensuring that the terror group, perhaps in some rebranded form, remains in power.
Qatar and Turkey are not interested in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Instead, they are interested, with the backing of Iran, in rebuilding Hamas's military and civilian capabilities and ensuring that the terror group, perhaps in some rebranded form, remains in power. Pictured: Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (right) honors then Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey on January 3, 2012. (Photo credit by Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)
If Qatar and Turkey are permitted to play a major role in the governance and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after the Israel-Hamas war, it would mean a return to the pre-October 7, 2023 era, which saw the Iran-backed terror group fully controlling the coastal territory. In addition to Iran, Qatar and Turkey have long been sponsoring and funding Hamas and providing the terror group's leaders with shelter. Inviting Qatar and Turkey to play a role in the Gaza Strip means again bringing Iran in through the back door. Both countries have strong relations and shared interests with Iran, which, according to reports, worked with Hamas to plan its October 7 invasion of Israel. Iran also reportedly gave the green light for the terror group to launch the assault during a meeting in Lebanon on October 2.
Continue Reading Article
by Gordon G. Chang • October 15, 2025 at 5:00 am
As Bloomberg reported, this year Beijing offered to invest at least $1 trillion in America. Chinese officials attached two conditions to their offer. "The first required that the U.S. loosen its scrutiny of investments originating from China," Bloomberg reported. "The second: that any Chinese factories built in the U.S. get a break on tariffs for any inputs they imported." Taking more of China's money is an especially bad idea. With Chinese cash comes Chinese influence, and China has far too much of it in the U.S. already. Although the Dutch government is not confiscating shares of the company, its assumption of management functions will either slow or stop the leakage of technology to China. China... still needs foreign technology, and, short of theft, purchasing it would be the easiest and least expensive way to obtain it. It is no surprise, therefore, that Beijing is seeking to flood the U.S. with cash, especially if it gets the Trump administration to relax export controls. America does not need more money to continue the development of leading technologies. In the race to dominate tech, the U.S. will make the fastest progress by keeping Chinese companies as far away from its shores as possible. The Netherlands, with its ejection of China's managers from Nexperia, just showed Washington what to do next.
Finally, a government is moving to deny China the ability to pillage a foreign technology business. On October 12, the Dutch government, citing concerns about technology transfers, announced it had taken control of Chinese-owned Nexperia, a commodity microchip maker. Pictured: The Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs building, in The Hague, photographed on January 3, 2016. (Photo by Vysotsky/Wikimedia Commons)
On October 12, the Dutch government, citing concerns about technology transfers, announced it had taken control of Chinese-owned Nexperia, a commodity microchip maker. The Netherlands invoked for the first time the Availability of Goods Act to assume management of a company. Finally, a government is moving to deny China the ability to pillage a foreign technology business. Other nations should follow Amsterdam's action. Wingtech, the 100% owner of Nexperia, called Holland's actions "excessive interference driven by geopolitical bias." The Chinese company also complained of a "cloaked power grab."
Continue Reading Article
by Robert Williams • October 14, 2025 at 5:00 am
Before the extraordinary success of "Phase One" of US President Donald J. Trump's peace plan yesterday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his regret recently that Spain, due to its lack of nuclear weapons, could not end the war in Gaza – meaning nuke Israel. "Spain is the only democratic country where it is the government that fuels violent protests." -- Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Spanish opposition leader, September 15, 2025. What of Qatar, which sponsors Al Qaeda? Spain and Qatar enjoy excellent relations, and entered into a strategic partnership in 2022 to deepen their economic and political ties. The country that most likely helped finance the biggest terrorist attack on Spanish soil is respected and rewarded by Spain, while Israel, which is fighting that very same terrorism, is denigrated and its citizens hounded. Already, Spain has prohibited any trade in military equipment with Israel, banned the use of Spanish ports and airspace to transport fuel or weapons to the Israeli military, and is introducing an additional 9 measures against Israel, while throwing many more millions of euros after the terrorist UNRWA. At the end of the day, other than his hatred of Jews, Sánchez is doing what all corrupt leaders have always done: blaming the Jews to deflect attention from his own problems. Sánchez finds himself in the midst of several corruption scandals and is struggling to stay in power amidst demands for him to be held accountable and resign. Perhaps it is time for Sánchez and those who voted for him to reconsider.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (pictured) recently expressed his regret that Spain, due to its lack of nuclear weapons, could not end the war in Gaza – meaning nuke Israel. (Photo by Toby Melville/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Before the extraordinary success of "Phase One" of US President Donald J. Trump's peace plan yesterday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his regret recently that Spain, due to its lack of nuclear weapons, could not end the war in Gaza – meaning nuke Israel. "Spain, as you know, doesn't have nuclear bombs, aircraft carriers, or large oil reserves," Sánchez lamented. "We alone can't stop the Israeli offensive. But that doesn't mean we won't stop trying. Because there are causes worth fighting for, even if winning them isn't in our sole power."
Continue Reading Article
by Uzay Bulut • October 13, 2025 at 5:00 am
Pakistan has for years been seriously repressing its minorities, political dissidents, human right advocates and journalists – even transnationally. Nevertheless, Pakistan continues to enjoy the benefits of the European Union's special incentive arrangement under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP+). Journalists in Pakistan (and even the family members of exiled journalists) are subject to enforced disappearances. Journalist Asif Karim Khehtran and the brothers of U.S.-based exiled Pakistani journalist Ahmad Noorani were abducted in March 2025 and remain missing. A 2025 report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom documented that more than 700 individuals in 2025 were imprisoned on charges of "blasphemy." This figure represented a 300% increase from the previous year. These acts are not isolated incidents but part of a broader campaign of religious "cleansing," driven by radical Islamist groups such as the TLP and facilitated by a legal system that criminalizes Ahmadi identity. Pakistan's fierce blasphemy laws continue to target religious minorities. The HRCP report documents that increasingly, minority individuals accused of blasphemy are lynched by mobs or murdered while seeking police protection.... The rise in hate speech, threats against judicial figures, and the politicization of bar associations only propel a dangerous tilt toward Islamic radicalism within state institutions. The police appear more interested in appeasing local Islamic strongmen and keeping things calm than in implementing the law and protecting minorities. The European Union should stand for the principles and ideals on which its Generalized System of Preferences was based. At present, it is simply furthering intolerable behavior and embarrassing itself.
Pakistan has for years been seriously repressing its minorities, political dissidents, human right advocates and journalists. Nevertheless, Pakistan continues to enjoy the benefits of the European Union's special incentive arrangement under its Generalized System of Preferences. Pictured: The EU's then High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini and Pakistan's then Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi, give a press conference after signing the EU-Pakistan Strategic Engagement Plan in Brussels, on June 25, 2019. (Photo by Aris Oikonomou/AFP via Getty Images)
Pakistan is engulfed in a deepening crisis of religious intolerance and systemic persecution. This year has witnessed a disturbing surge of violence, discrimination and institutional complicity. Christian, Ahmadiyya and Hindu communities have particularly been targeted. Despite repeated calls for reform and international condemnation, Pakistan's failure to protect its most vulnerable citizens has left a trail of shattered lives, desecrated places of worship, and a society increasingly fractured by hate. Pakistan has for years been seriously repressing its minorities, political dissidents, human right advocates and journalists – even transnationally. Nevertheless, Pakistan continues to enjoy the benefits of the European Union's special incentive arrangement under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP+). The contradiction was highlighted once again at the United Nations.
Continue Reading Article
by Lawrence Kadish • October 13, 2025 at 4:00 am
The only people who should be surprised that U.S. President Donald Trump was able to broker a peace deal in Gaza are the ones who continue to underestimate this man. Pictured: Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House on September 29, 2025. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The only people who should be surprised that U.S. President Donald Trump was able to broker a peace deal in Gaza are the ones who continue to underestimate this man. The fact is, his language is far more deliberate and far more calculating than what often appears to be "top of the mind" or extemporaneous. So when he told Hamas that if they did not come to the peace table, he would give Israel a free hand to "finish the job," the remaining leaders of that terrorist organization had to consider that Trump was telling them the game was up. It was diplomacy with a baseball bat. In this world, filled with despots, dictators and destructive leaders, as you will find in Iran, this tactic may be the only one that brings desired results. Here is another lesson being learned by world leaders.
Continue Reading Article
by Amit Barak • October 12, 2025 at 5:00 am
In recent months, we have witnessed a well-timed campaign led by the Palestinian Authority, civil society organizations and anti-Israel Christian elements – some of them declared anti-Semitic – to undermine the relations between the State of Israel and Christian communities around the world, especially evangelical and pro-Israel Christians whose long-standing support for Israel is not self-evident. Four notable events this year indicate the tremendous power of this campaign: The blood libel falsely alleging the burning of the Church of St. George in Taybe; an episode of the Tucker Carlson Show with an American nun who presented a series of anti-Semitic claims without any factual, historical or theological basis; the Declaration of the World Council of Churches in June 2025; a Palestinian food advertisement mocking Christianity. The World Council of Churches over the years has tried to wear the mask of a supposedly "neutral" organization. In light of the campaign, it seems that in this statement, the WCC has dared to say openly what it always wanted but previously did not dare to say. This group uses clear anti-Semitic messages, and... the expected response from the Israeli government was therefore to declare a ban on entry into Israel to any person who is a member of the WCC or to any activist in the illegal EAPPI program, which the WCC has been operating in Israel since 2002. But the government did not declare such a ban. While the Christian population is persecuted under the Palestinian Authority, outwardly it conveys a completely opposite image. This anti-Christian campaign in the PA areas did not reach the wider world or the international media. The events listed above are not accidental. They are part of a sweeping campaign run well by the Palestinian Authority, BDS organizations and anti-Semitic elements in global religious institutions, aimed at harming Israel's relations with the Christian world, weakening the support of Christians for Israel, and, through the churches, isolating Israel in the international arena.
Pictured: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is led on a tour of the Church of Saint George in Taybe, by the village mayor, Suleiman Khourieh (L), and others, on July 19, 2025. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyyeh/AFP via Getty Images)
From Taybe to Tucker Carlson, Palestinians are trying to drive a wedge between the Christian world and Israel, while Israel's government appears to be asleep on guard duty. In recent months, we have witnessed a well-timed campaign led by the Palestinian Authority, civil society organizations and anti-Israel Christian elements – some of them declared anti-Semitic – to undermine the relations between the State of Israel and Christian communities around the world, especially evangelical and pro-Israel Christians whose long-standing support for Israel is not self-evident. This campaign includes fake plots, media attacks, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel messaging, and incitement under the guise of religious discourse or human rights. Four notable events this year indicate the tremendous power of this campaign:
Continue Reading Article
by Amir Taheri • October 12, 2025 at 4:00 am
Without falling for anarchist fantasies, one might ask what governments, at least in Western democracies, do. The main thing they do is to take your money and spend it on your behalf the way they wish, including social bribes to their segments of the electorate. After two years of no real government, France is no worse than it was before the current "existential crisis" began. Needless to say, the widest choice of restaurants in the world continues to offer delicious food. Having virtually no government hasn't stopped the French tradition of anti-government riots either. We have had three in the last two months and will have another next week, even if a sixth prime minister is found. Who cares if there is no government; we must assert our Frenchness by rioting against the government. If there is no budget, the 2025 budget will be extended for 2026. Then what happens? To start with, there would be no new taxes, a relief to a society crushed by taxation. There would also be no new rules and regulations in the name of environmental, social and solidarity concerns, not to mention alternative lifestyles or compensation for real or imaginary victims. A useless but costly referendum in New Caledonia will also be scrapped.
Pictured: French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu arrives to deliver a statement at the Hotel Matignon in Paris on October 8, 2025. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The following could have appeared in the small-ads section of one of the free newspapers distributed in the Paris Metro: "Desperately seeking a Prime Minister, contact Marianne." Marianne is the fictive damsel who serves as a symbol of the French Republic, in the form of statuettes at town halls and on postage stamps. Marianne's urgent demand is prompted by the resignation of Sébastien Lecornu, the fifth prime minister named by President Emmanuel Macron in just two years. (Lecornu was reappointed on October 10.) Lecornu's government set a historic global record of short-livedness by lasting just 820 minutes. The pattern established in the past two years shows that finding a prime minister is more and more difficult, as no one wants to be PM while everyone dreams of becoming president. And even if a new stopgap PM is found before this column appears, it is not certain he or she would do any better than his or her five immediate predecessors.
Continue Reading Article
by Majid Rafizadeh • October 11, 2025 at 5:00 am
As long as the Iranian regime finds avenues to export oil, it will continue to survive and expand its power. At the heart of the problem is Iran's largest oil export market: China. Nearly four-fifths of Iran's exported oil ends up in China.... Iranian officials have openly admitted that even if UN sanctions are reactivated, oil exports to China would continue. The key is not only sanctioning Iran, but also enforcing consequences against those who enable its oil exports. That means sanctioning third-party entities, shipping companies, and refineries that knowingly violate sanctions. China, as the largest buyer of Iran's oil, must face the full weight of international scrutiny and penalties if it continues to bankroll the Iranian regime. Beijing can import oil from alternative sources such as Saudi Arabia, the US, Iraq and the UAE, among others. Its continued purchase of Iranian oil is a political choice, not an economic necessity. The United States cannot and should not act alone in this effort. The European Union needs to take a much stronger stance as well. Finally, the argument comes down to one undeniable fact: as Iran continues to export oil, its regime will continue to survive and expand its power. If the West is serious about trying to "reform" the Iranian regime, it must focus on cutting off the oil that feeds it. This means coordinated US and EU pressure, real accountability for China, and relentless enforcement of sanctions against buyers and middlemen. "Reforming" the Iranian regime -- enticing them into the Abraham Accords under Trump's magnificent vision of "peace and prosperity" -- may not be possible. Iran's rulers appear to have an explicit agenda, which, as by now should be clear, does not involve either prosperity or peace for its citizens. If the US is intent on making only Iran's ruling class rich and prosperous, it is consigning the Iranian people to misery in perpetuity. One hopes that the US would not be as cruel as that. Only if Iran is seriously weakened will the Iranian people have a real chance to taste the freedom that so many in the West cavalierly take for granted, and only then will the world see genuine peace and security in the Middle East.
As long as the Iranian regime finds avenues to export oil, it will continue to survive and expand its power. Pictured: The oil tanker Fortune, one of five Iranian-flagged tankers that brought Iranian gasoline and oil derivatives to Venezuela in May 2020, is shown docked at the El Palito refinery in Carabobo, on May 25, 2020. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
The reimposition of UN "snapback" sanctions on Iran is a welcome development, but, alas, insufficient. For years, Tehran has operated with relative impunity, ignoring restrictions and continuing to build its nuclear and ballistic missile programs while funding proxy terrorist groups across the Middle East. The renewal of these sanctions signals a recognition that the Iranian regime remains one of the gravest threats to regional stability and international security. While the sanctions are symbolically important, however, on their own they are not nearly enough. Just putting sanctions on paper does not set back Iran; what truly weakens it is cutting off its most vital revenue stream: oil. As long as the Iranian regime finds avenues to export oil, it will continue to survive and expand its power.
Continue Reading Article
by Drieu Godefridi • October 10, 2025 at 5:00 am
[T]he file justifying [classifying Alternative für Deutschland Party] as a "right-wing extremist" organization] has never been released. There is therefore a complete absence of adversarial proceedings. The AfD was never consulted, and even after the fact, it has no right to know why, on what grounds, on the basis of what evidence and documents, it was excommunicated from the German "democratic" sphere. How can the AfD effectively contest a classification when the documents remain secret so that it cannot even know what it is contesting? How can it challenge the term "far right" when it is not defined anywhere? The issue has never been law, but power: the determination of the ruling caste to cling to authority at any cost, even if it means criminalizing a quarter of the German population. In April 2025, for instance, a Bavarian court sentenced David Bendels, editor-in-chief of Deutschland-Kurier, to seven months' suspended imprisonment. His "crime"? Publishing a satirical image showing Interior Minister Nancy Faeser holding a placard reading "I hate freedom of opinion." The court convicted him of "abuse, defamation or slander against persons in political life." The Network Enforcement Act reinforces this censorship by forcing internet platforms to delete content under penalty of fines, thereby further eroding the freedom of expression "guaranteed" by Article 5 of the German Constitution. The quarantining of the AfD ensures that the left will remain in power indefinitely, regardless of election outcomes. This amounts to rule by a single "party" and a single ideology — that of the ruling caste. Democratic change through the ballot box in Germany is no longer possible. As if this were not enough, government circles are now openly considering banning the AfD altogether, under the fake pretext of "protecting the constitution." One cannot but recall Germany's Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933, set by a Dutch communist, which the Nazi Party instantly used as a pretext to suspend civil liberties and consolidate its domination of the German state.
Germany today offers the world a disturbing spectacle: a state in its death throes which, under the guise of democratic virtue, is sinking into authoritarianism. In today's Germany, the leading opposition party is not treated as a legitimate actor in the democratic process, but, without any due process, as an enemy within. Pictured: Alice Weidel, co-leader of the political party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), is seen on a monitor as she speaks at the party's convention on January 11, 2025 in Riesa, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Germany today offers the world a disturbing spectacle: a state in its death throes which, under the guise of democratic virtue, is sinking into authoritarianism. The erosion of civil liberties is not occurring through a coup d'état, but by the slow accumulation of administrative, legal and police measures that shape the contours of a dictatorship as implacable as it is convinced of its own virtue. 1. The Classification of the AfD by an Administrative Agency In the spring of 2025, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV, Germany's domestic intelligence service) classified the political party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) as a "right-wing extremist" organization. This classification granted the authorities the power to place its members and supporters under police surveillance without prior judicial authorization, including measures such as intercepting private communications or the BfV recruiting informants within the party.
Continue Reading Article
|
