Homeland Security Portal
Ethnic Conflict
Palestinian Incitement to Violence and Terror: Nothing New, But Still Dangerous
The one central and overriding component of today's wave of violence and terror is the incitement of an aroused Arab public. Incitement and manipulation of a particular community - worshipers at mosques, the younger generation in kindergartens, schools, and colleges, and the general adult community through the electronic media - have become one of the major tactical weapons in the arsenal of Arab societies in general and the Palestinian leadership in particular. A culture of mistrust and hate, fanned by constant religious and public incitement, inevitably leads to violence and undermines the concept of peaceful relations. A leadership that openly and officially sanctions and encourages such incitement cannot come with clean hands to the international community and complain about lack of progress in the peace process. Read More »
The Islamic State’s Rules for its Christian Subjects
The Islamic State has formulated a "covenant" in which it defines the rights and duties of the non-Muslim population, mainly of Christian faith, living in its boundaries. In return for their right to live safely under Islamic state rule, the Christians commit not to build or renovate their town's churches or convents. In August 2015, the Islamic State destroyed the Mar Elyan Monastery in Alkaryatayn, one of the oldest Christian historical shrines in the Middle East. Read More »
Draft International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Anti-Semitism
The international community has never considered criminalizing anti-Semitism as an international crime, in a manner similar to the criminalization of genocide, racism, piracy, hostage-taking, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and terror.Attempts to attach to it Islamophobia are clearly artificial and transparent, and fail to do justice to what clearly is a unique phenomenon that must be dealt with independently. To this end, and with a view to correcting what is clearly a vast international injustice, the draft document presented here is intended to universally criminalize anti-Semitism within the world community, in the form of an "International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Anti-Semitism." Read More »
How the UN Mixes Anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and Israeli War Crimes
The most insidious argument is the ignorant and twisted claim that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict exacerbates anti-Semitism. At the root of this assertion is the idea that the victims of anti-Semitism have a responsibility to ameliorate the pathology of their enemies. How is it possible that in a matter of days the UN apparatus went from discussing anti-Semitism, to the Holocaust, to Israeli war crimes? Tragically, it is because the lessons of the Holocaust have never been absorbed, and the stage is being set for a repetition. Read More »
The Kurdish Awakening in Syria
Regional stability may be threatened by the rise of independent Kurdish populations in the Middle East. A “Greater Kurdistan” is no longer a remote possibility. This reality poses challenges for all of the states with large Kurdish populations: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. Read More »
The Iranian Role in the 2012 Gaza Conflict
Iran’s supply of rockets to the Palestinians shows a lack of fear of Israel and the Western powers. The rift between Sunnis and Shia that is evident in various Middle Eastern conflicts makes clear that Iran will confront Sunni states like Egypt and Turkey over issues of regional hegemony and influence. These changes are becoming clear not only in actions in Gaza, but in the Syrian conflict as well. Read More »
Egypt’s Shiite Minority
Since the Egyptian Revolution, many of Egypt’s 2.2 million Shiites began demanding rights after the repression of the Mubarak era. However, these requests have been met with threats from hardline Salafi groups. The election of Mohammad Morsi radicalized the issue. In response, Iran has distanced itself from Egyptian Shiites. However, with the growing sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia, this could easily strain relations between Egypt and Iran and ignite a regional flashpoint. Read More »
The Future of Kurdistan: Between Turkey, the Iraq War, and the Syrian Revolt
For the first time in modern Kurdish history, an exclusively Kurdish-controlled enclave has developed on the border with Kurdish areas of Turkey. The Free Kurdish Army, responsible for claiming this land, is continuing their mission to gain control of Kurdish cities in Syria. With these new developments, the emergence of a “Greater Kurdistan” is no longer a remote possibility. This area is a potential land bridge for many of the conflicts in the region; therefore control of this land is important to many of the powers currently embroiled in regional conflicts. Kurdistan has the potential to become a new flashpoint in the Middle East. This report provides an overview of the Kurds and Kurdistan. Read More »
Majority and Minorities in the Arab World
The current sociopolitical eruption in the Arab world, known as the “Arab Spring”, is the result of the total failure of Arab states to create a unifying national narrative and establish modern egalitarian polities. The 90 years since the Arab states were established have been fraught with discord between the different communities, political and economic discrimination, uprisings, military coups, subversion, and conflicts between the states themselves. However, this eruption has opened the door to Islamic rule, which threatens to destabilize the region. Read More »