Post October 7, emails show Hamas-friendly Qatar conspired with universities such as Northwestern to coordinate anti-Israel messaging

Posted on March 18, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FREE BEACON
‘Information Sharing and No Surprises’: Qatar demanded American schools in Doha ‘be aligned’ in wake of Oct 7, emails show
Collin Anderson
March 17, 2026

In the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, the Hamas-friendly regime in Qatar demanded that American universities operating campuses in Doha “be aligned and in touch” when it came to their official communications, emails released by the House Education Committee show. On the same day, the dean of Northwestern University’s campus in Qatar (NU-Q) refused to sign on to a statement from his colleagues in the United States criticizing an NU-Q professor who downplayed the attack. The emails are part of a report released Tuesday by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, “How Campuses Became Hotbeds: The Rise of Radical Antisemitism on College Campuses.” READ MORE

WASHINGTON JEWISH WEEK Catholic University Requires ‘Antisemitic Viewpoints’ at Event on Jewish Safety Students Supporting Israel at The Catholic University of America condemned the school’s administration for “requiring antisemitic viewpoints” at a proposed campus event on Jewish safety, according to a Feb. 27 press release. CUA’s Center for Student Engagement denied a Jan. 19 request to seek guest speakers for an event titled “Ending Antisemitism in America.” In the written denial on Feb. 25, the CSE director stated that approval of any speakers would only be granted if the student group secured an additional opposing speaker to ensure a “balanced presentation” representing “both sides of this issue.”

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“Evanston mayor, critic of Israel, will succeed retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky”

Posted on March 17, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

POLITICO
AIPAC attacks fall flat as Democrat Daniel Biss wins Illinois House primary
March 17, 2026

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won Tuesday’s Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Jan Schakowsky, dealing a blow to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in a race that had turned into a referendum on the group’s ability to influence the party. Biss, whose mother is Israeli and whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors, has sharply criticized Israel’s war in Gaza — and faced an onslaught of attack ads from a group aligned with AIPAC as a result. He defeated a crowded field that included social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh, a Palestinian American who is a more vocal critic, as well as AIPAC’s preferred candidate, state Sen. Laura Fine. READ MORE

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I rarely post Al Jazeera, but this is worth a read: “Every aspect of Iran’s ability to project regional power is being successfully degraded”

Posted on March 17, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

AL JAZEERA
The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why.
Muhanad Seloom
March 16, 2026

Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war. The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable. War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in. But this narrative is wrong. Not because the costs are imaginary, but because the critics are measuring the wrong things. They are cataloguing the price of the campaign while ignoring the strategic ledger. READ MORE

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“Israeli officials fear that the scenario in which Iran’s regime remains in power even after the current military campaign is now more realistic”

Posted on March 16, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Israel admits Iran regime collapse less likely than first thought
Yoav Limor
March 15, 2026

Senior officials in Israel now acknowledge that the chances of overthrowing the regime in Iran are lower than initially estimated, and that the current military campaign may end without bringing down the government in Tehran. The assessment reflects the regime’s firm grip on its security apparatus and the ruthless repression that has instilled deep fear among the Iranian public. In recent days, Iran’s leadership has appeared to regain a more orderly control over events inside the country, following the chaos that erupted after the elimination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Decisions are now reportedly being made mainly by Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of parliament. READ MORE

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“Netanyahu confidante Ron Dermer leading talks for Israel, France involved in initiative”

Posted on March 16, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

REUTERS
Israel and Lebanon expected to hold talks soon, Israeli officials say
March 15, 2026

Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold talks in the coming days aimed at securing a durable ceasefire that ‌would see Hezbollah disarmed, two Israeli officials said on Sunday, though the timing and terms have yet to be agreed. Beirut is forming a delegation for talks but no date has been set. Lebanon needed clarity on whether Israel would abide by President Joseph Aoun’s first point — a demand for a full ceasefire to allow negotiations to take place, three Lebanese officials said ⁠on Saturday. The expected talks were first reported by Israel’s newspaper Haaretz on Saturday. A Lebanese official said on Sunday that Lebanon has not yet received official notification from Israel on discussions. READ MORE

JPOST Israel’s Hezbollah challenge: Why a military solution may not be enough Hezbollah remains a major threat to Israel. As military actions continue, should Israel consider peace talks with Lebanon, or is further force the only solution? For almost the past two weeks, residents of the North have either been living in their safe room or going there repeatedly. Unlike the rest of the country targeted by Iran, Israelis in the North aren’t afforded the five- or 10-minute alert before an air-raid siren warns of incoming fire. They only get 90 seconds, which, as the rest of the country has learned, is stressful, dangerous, and unsustainable for any prolonged length of time.

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Iran regime change: “One possible scenario, hinging on the unprecedented ability of the United States and Israel to carry out precision strikes from drones and advanced manned aircraft”

Posted on March 14, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

BOSTON GLOBE
Yes, regime change could happen in Iran without boots on the ground
Alex Safian
March 13, 2026

While the fighting with Iran continues, many media commentators, strategic experts, and politicians have claimed that regime change cannot happen there without “boots on the ground,” or the commission of ground forces. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is just one example, claiming in a CNN interview on March 2 that it would be “impossible.” There are relevant counter-examples, however, such as the overthrow of the regime of Moammar Khadafy in Libya or ending of the rule of Slobodan Milosevic in the former Yugoslavia. In both instances, Western air power — primarily American — played the decisive role. In Khadafy’s case this was direct, decimating his military and then bombing his escape convoy, leading to his capture and murder by rebels. READ MORE

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“Systems that Russia marketed for years as nearly impenetrable have proven vulnerable to coordinated strikes, electronic warfare, and modern precision weapons”

Posted on March 13, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

URBAN WARFARE
War Reveals the Truth: Russian and Chinese Weapons Are Outmatched
John Spencer
March 13, 2026

Wars do more than determine political outcomes or redraw borders. They also test weapons. Every conflict becomes a brutal proving ground where military technology is exposed to the unforgiving reality of combat. Systems that appear formidable in parades or defense exhibitions must ultimately survive the trial of war. Across several modern conflicts, the verdict is becoming increasingly clear. Russian and Chinese military systems are struggling when confronted by the integrated intelligence, precision strike, and networked warfare capabilities fielded by the United States, Israel, and their partners. The current war involving Iran provides the latest example. For decades, Tehran has relied heavily on Russian and Chinese technology to build its defenses and offensive strike capabilities. Russia delivered the S-300PMU-2 long-range air defense system to Iran, and elements of that system have been deployed to help defend strategic sites such as nuclear facilities and military bases. READ MORE

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“Temple Israel is located on a street that the locals affectionately call “Synagogue Row.” It is home to no fewer than four synagogues, and there are 10 more within a mile radius”

Posted on March 12, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FREE PRESS
My Hometown in Michigan Is Under Attack. I’m in a Bomb Shelter in Israel.
Polina Fradkin
March 12, 2026

My entire community back home in West Bloomfield, Michigan, is on lockdown. I’m 5,000 miles away, sheltering from Iranian rockets in a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv. Perhaps it sounds strange to say, but I feel safer here. At 12:59 p.m. ET, I see a text in my family group chat: Just a few miles from my childhood home, Temple Israel, the biggest synagogue in Michigan and the largest Reform congregation in North America, is under attack. A shooter has rammed his truck into the synagogue. He drove his vehicle down a hallway before he was killed during a firefight—either by a guard’s bullet or because his car caught alight. The images start flooding my phone. I have never seen so many police cars in my life. My 11-year-old brother is home, writes my mom, but his Jewish school, Hillel Day School, is just a five-minute drive from the site, and on lockdown. So is the high school I went to, the Jewish Community Center, and all other synagogues in the metro Detroit area. READ MORE

NEW YORK POST Would-be Michigan car bomber rammed explosives-laden truck into Temple Israel preschool — before security guards shot him dead An armed wannabe car bomber plowed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the preschool of a Michigan synagogue Thursday in a “targeted attack on the Jewish community,” investigators said. A vehicle registered to a Lebanon-born US citizen smashed through the doors of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield just before 1 p.m. and sped through the building housing 140 students, according to cops and reports.  Heroic security guards opened fire and stopped the driver, who died at the scene, Oakland Sheriff Mike Bouchard told reporters. The unidentified driver — found dead inside the car and burned beyond recognition — was armed with a rifle, and mortar shells were discovered in the vehicle’s rear, sources told The Post. The vehicle at the center of the attack is registered to a naturalized US citizen from Lebanon who lives in Dearborn, Michigan…

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“The Iran war exposes, yet again, how many modern liberal movements now defend and excuse the very illiberal ideas they are supposed to oppose”

Posted on March 12, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FUTURE OF JEWISH
The Left forgot what liberal means.
Vanessa Berg
March 12, 2026

…Israeli society is democratic and liberal (in the classical sense). Palestinian society, by contrast, is inherently illiberal, which has nothing to do with so-called “oppression” or “occupation,” and everything to do with longstanding Arab and Muslim values that go back centuries before the modern State of Israel’s creation in 1948. In other words, many Western liberals now instinctively side with societies that embody fewer liberal values over those that embody far more. This would be intellectually interesting if it were merely a shift in geopolitical preference. But the deeper issue is that the shift reflects something more profound: the erosion of liberal principles themselves. One reason for this change is that politics has become less about principles and more about opposition. Take, for example, the reaction to Israel’s recent war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. READ MORE

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ADL: ‘Gracie Mansion belongs to all New Yorkers. Public office must never be used to legitimize hate’

Posted on March 12, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
ADL condemns Zohran Mamdani for hosting Mahmoud Khalil at mayor’s mansion
Haley Cohen
March 10, 2026

The Anti-Defamation League condemned New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday for hosting Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil at his official residence. “Welcoming someone known for justifying the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks as an honored guest at Gracie Mansion — while some in the Mayor’s inner circle have amplified antisemitic content and posts dismissing the atrocities of that day — sends a deeply troubling message,” an ADL spokesperson told Jewish Insider…On Monday night, Mamdani posted a photo which included his wife, who has come under fire in recent days for her social media support for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, and Khalil having an iftar meal at Gracie Mansion. Other Jewish groups have so far declined to publicly weigh in on the dinner.  READ MORE

JEWISH INSIDER Zohran Mamdani’s wife liked social media posts celebrating Oct. 7 attacks New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani spent the mayoral campaign distancing himself from the most radical anti-Israel elements of his leftist movement, but an examination of his wife’s social media activity reveals she liked multiple Instagram posts cheering on Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault. The posts liked by Rama Duwaji, a Syrian-American artist, unambiguously celebrated the terrorist attack, which saw nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign workers killed, thousands wounded, 251 civilians and military personnel kidnapped and numerous episodes of sexual assault.

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