“Iran’s leaders are betting that they can slaughter protesters by the thousands while the world watches”

Posted on January 15, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FREE PRESS
The Killing Fields of Tehran
Roya Hakakian
13 January, 2026

…To be sure, Iranians—who have repeatedly protested and sacrificed their lives in hopes of overthrowing the regime—required no instructions from abroad to rise up again. Still, Israeli expressions of support, coupled with President Trump’s warnings that the United States is “locked and loaded” and prepared to come to the protesters’ aid, created a sense of safety unlike any other moment in the past. But if unarmed protesters are left alone to face a military that has proven its instinct to slaughter its own people by the thousands, then both Israel and the United States will confirm the very narratives the clerics have long promoted: Western powers speak loudly of solidarity, but will ultimately abandon those who respond to their call to action. As the doctor’s letter read: “If anyone is going to help us, even tomorrow may be too late. READ MORE

FDD Clifford May:Iran’s Islamic rulers are teetering on collapse. Trump must give them a final shove. Supporting the Iranian people is not about imposing a Western system or engineering a revolution. It is about aligning American policy with the clear aspirations of a population that overwhelmingly rejects theocracy. Importantly, Iran’s democratic opposition abroad has spent years developing a detailed, credible plan for the day after the regime’s fall — addressing governance, economic recovery, and relations with the outside world — undercutting claims that collapse would mean chaos.

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“Two sources told JI the president pushed back on Netanyahu’s claims about the prudence of Israel’s proposal to end U.S. military assistance over the next decade”

Posted on January 14, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Trump, Netanyahu at odds over Israeli plans to end reliance on U.S. military aid
Emily Jacobs, Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Lahav Harkov
January 13, 2026

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed winding down U.S. military aid late last year, President Donald Trump was bewildered and did not immediately support the move, two sources familiar with the matter told Jewish Insider.  Since then, Netanyahu has announced his intentions to move ahead with the plan anyway. Netanyahu pitched the president on his proposal while visiting Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., in late December, the Israeli prime minister told The Economist in an interview released on Friday. The idea was spearheaded by Ron Dermer, Israel’s former minister of strategic affairs and a top Netanyahu advisor, according to two sources familiar with the matter.  Dermer has defended the idea to U.S. lawmakers and other officials, arguing that such a move would improve the Jewish state’s embattled reputation in the United States, a claim that Netanyahu repeated to Trump. READ MORE

TIMES OF ISRAEL Netanyahu says he aims to end US military aid to Israel within a decade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he seeks to end US military aid to Israel within a decade, earning praise from a key ally of US President Donald Trump, whose voter base has splintered over the issue. “I want to taper off the military aid within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu said in an interview with The Economist that was conducted Thursday and published Friday. Asked if he meant “to taper it off to zero,” Netanyahu said yes. Under a military aid package negotiated in 2016, Israel receives some $3.8 billion annually from the US, mostly in the form of subsidies to buy American-made arms. The aid package, which took effect in 2018, is set to expire in 2028.  

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“Turkey’s willingness to host UNRWA should be treated as further evidence of its unfitness to participate in any international stabilization force in Gaza”

Posted on January 14, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FDD
UNRWA’s Pivot To Ankara Cements a Future for Hamas in Turkey
Sinan Ciddi and William Doran
January 12, 2026

A conduit for terrorism has found a new home. On January 8, the Commissioner-General for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini met with Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan and announced that the agency plans to open an Ankara office “within weeks.” Given UNRWA’s well-documented history of diverting funds and embedding Hamas operatives in its schools and facilities — and Turkey’s equally established record under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of providing material and political support to Hamas — the decision to open a UNRWA office in Turkey creates a permissive new hub for the terror group to rebuild its financial networks, operational infrastructure, and international reach…Since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel, Erdogan has repeatedly described Hamas as a “resistance” movement, including during his most recent visit to Washington in September 2025.  READ MORE

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“‘International law’ hardly demands a ‘two-state solution’ to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Nor can it properly limit Israel’s sovereignty over its own territory”

Posted on January 12, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Yes, Israel Can Apply Israeli Law to the West Bank
Eugene Kontorovich
January 14, 2026

…There is a simple, clear rule to determine the borders of new countries, whether they arise from imperial collapse, decolonization, federal breakup, cession, or any other cause. Under the doctrine of uti possidetis juris, a new country automatically inherits the borders of the last top-level administrative unit in that area. In other words, the pre-independence internal boundaries carry over to the new state. The continuity of prior borders is the sole factor, trumping fuzzy and hard-to-administer considerations like ethnic self-determination or historical title. This rule has been applied to new states from Latin America to Europe. It is a matter of textbook international law. The reasons for it are clear. Demographics and history would give rise to multiple competing claims, whereas uti possidetis provides a unique, unambiguous solution. READ MORE

UKLFI CHARITABLE TRUST Natasha Hausdorff discusses legal status of Judea & Samaria (West Bank) and settlements In this new interview, Natasha Hausdorff discusses the legal status of Judea & Samaria (West Bank) and Israeli settlements there. Natasha puts forward her views regarding the current legal status based on international law rules as applied to other territories around the world. This status can be changed by final status agreements as contemplated by the Oslo Accords.

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“Many Jews have learned, through experience rather than theory, that anti-Semitic violence rarely arrives unannounced. It is preceded by permission structures: rhetorical shifts, moral reclassifications, and social exclusions that make the unthinkable discussable and the unacceptable defensible”

Posted on January 12, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

WHITE ROSE MAGAZINE
History is not whispering
Micha Danzig
January 11, 2026

…Across centuries, Jews have served as a narrative shortcut—a way to collapse multiple anxieties into one personalized cause. Financial instability becomes Jewish manipulation. Cultural change becomes Jewish deception or decadence. Political radicalism becomes Jewish subversion. National weakness is blamed on Jewish disloyalty. What makes anti-Semitism uniquely durable is its elasticity. Jews can be portrayed simultaneously as capitalist exploiters and communist revolutionaries, as rootless cosmopolitans and clannish tribalists, as omnipotent puppet masters and uniquely inferior and illegitimate outsiders. These contradictions are not a flaw. They are the mechanism. This is why anti-Semitism has never belonged to a single ideology. It has flourished under empires and nation-states, under socialism and nationalism, under religious theocracy and militant secularism. Whenever societies abandon liberal restraint—independent courts, equal protection, evidentiary reasoning—anti-Semitism becomes an available political instrument: not an aberration, but a tool. READ MORE

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“What is unusual about the brief is its unusually high cross-state participation, indicating a strong belief in the perceived national importance of the case”

Posted on January 11, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JPOST
Half of US states file brief against AMP, NSJP for providing material support to Hamas on October 7
Mathilda Heller
January 8, 2025

A coalition of 25 US states filed a legal brief (amici curiae) against American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine over their role in providing material support to Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. Amici curiae, or “friends of the court,” are non-parties to a lawsuit who are permitted to provide information to assist in the legal proceedings, usually through filing an amici brief. This brief has been filed in support of a group of survivors of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, family members of those murdered by Hamas, civilians under fire from Hamas’s ongoing terrorism, and individuals displaced by Hamas’s ongoing terrorism. READ MORE

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“When asked about antisemitism on the right, Vance has insisted that figures like Tucker Carlson are unfairly maligned and that the Republican “big tent” does not have an antisemitism problem”

Posted on January 10, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

COMMENTARY
The Palestine Firsters
Eli Lake
January 2026

…The cease-fire that [Ben] Rhodes wishes Biden had tacitly accepted would have allowed the terrorists to keep the hostages they stole and would have made sure the Middle East remained in the status quo condition of October 2023. Had Biden successfully pressured Israel to end the war in early 2024, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah would still be alive in Lebanon today. Yahya and Mohammed Sinwar, respectively the mastermind of October 7 and his brother, would still be running Hamas. Iran would still be enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels. Bashar al-Assad would still be ruling Syria. Nasrallah, Iran, and Sinwar all had American blood on their hands. Their violent ends served America’s interests and brought justice for those Americans they murdered. The devastation of Iran and the exiling of Assad from Syria were also just acts against American enemies. But Rhodes seems to assess the Gaza war by counting the costs incurred by the side that started it. He believes that Hamas should have been rewarded instead, or at least not forced to pay any permanent penalty for its act of evil. READ MORE

ALGEMEINER From Kanye, to Nick Fuentes and Megyn Kelly: Why J.D. Vance’s Silence Matters Now Vance’s ties to [Tucker]Carlson are not incidental. Carlson is not merely adjacent to Vance’s politics; he is a close ally, and Vance even employs Carlson’s son. Carlson’s reach — tens of millions of people each week across podcasts, clips, and social platforms — is enormous. That influence now includes the normalization of figures and ideas that were once considered politically radioactive. That is the context in which Vance’s silence must be judged. A growing cohort of influential right-wing pundits has adopted a conspiratorial style long associated with antisemitic politics. With Candace Owens as a notable exception, most avoid naming “the Jews” directly, relying instead on euphemisms — “globalists,” shadowy elites, cultural engineers, disloyal insiders. The vocabulary is coded; the architecture is unmistakable.  

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NJ Killing IHRA; “Murphy and other Democrats were reportedly concerned that support for the legislation would fuel primary campaigns against incumbents”

Posted on January 9, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Gov. Phil Murphy killed New Jersey antisemitism legislation, sources say
Marc Rod
January 9, 2026

A high-profile New Jersey bill adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism is not expected to pass in the current New Jersey Assembly session, four sources familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider. Two sources familiar with the legislation said that Gov. Phil Murphy opposed the legislation and was a key obstacle to its passage…The bill would have instructed law enforcement to take the IHRA definition into account when determining if violations of state or federal anti-bias law have occurred or whether criminal acts were motivated by antisemitism, and to use it for training public officials and responding to antisemitic incidents. READ MORE

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“The Exodus story was a model of providential liberation and deliverance for Americans rebelling against Britain’s pharaonic royalty”

Posted on January 9, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

WALL STREET JOURNAL
‘Jewish Roots of American Liberty’Review: A Hebraic Revolution
Rick Richman
December 22, 2025

…The Hebrew Bible maintained an unrivaled authority in early America, says Daniel L.Dreisbach of American University. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the Bible was the country’s “most accessible, authoritative, and venerated book.” Mr.Dreisbach notes the powerful importance of the Exodus story of providential liberation and deliverance as the model for Americans’ rebellion against Britain’s pharaonic royalty. It was an idea reflected in Lincoln’s description, as he assumed office in 1861, of Americans as an “almost chosen people.” The Exodus wasn’t the only rebellion story that resonated with early Americans. Rabbi Halpern writes that the Book of Esther “has a special place in American history”: In the decade preceding the Revolution, newspapers and preachers cited theJewish queen’s defiance of her king as support for America’s own struggle for freedom. Samson’s self-sacrifice in defeating his Philistine enemies was used by Samuel Adams and others to illustrate the “zeal” of the Sons of Liberty. READ MORE

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“Communications networks go dark right after start of Tehran protests urged on by exiled crown prince; protesters chant ‘death to the dictator’ and ‘death to the Islamic Republic’”

Posted on January 8, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Internet, phone lines cut across Iran as thousands rally in Tehran; death toll at 45
January 8, 2026

Thousands of people in Iran’s capital shouted from their homes and rallied in the street Thursday night after a call by the country’s exiled crown prince for a mass demonstration, witnesses said, a new escalation in the protests that have spread nationwide across the Islamic Republic. Internet access and telephone lines in Iran cut out immediately after the protests began. The protest represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrations have included cries in support of the Shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy. READ MORE

ARUTZ SHEVA Iranian Crown Prince thanks Trump, slams regime for Internet blackout Reza Pahlavi condemns Iran for cutting communications amid mass protests and thanks President Trump for warning Tehran, urging world leaders to help restore access and support demonstrators.

I24NEWS ‘Netanyahu is most popular figure in Iran,’ says Iranian protester as unrest continues As Iran faces its most intense wave of protests since 2022, a surprising phenomenon is emerging on the streets: open admiration for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and appeals to Israel for help in challenging the Islamic Republic. “Benjamin Netanyahu is today the most popular political figure in Iran,” a Tehran resident and regime opponent told Israeli public radio KAN Reshet Bet this week, speaking under a pseudonym for security reasons.

JPOST Iran’s Khamenei has escape plan to flee to Moscow if regime falls amid protests The supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly has an “escape plan” that involves fleeing to Russia if the current nationwide protests continue to intensify, British newspaper The Times reported on Sunday. The plan, called “Plan B” by the British report, would include 86-year-old Khamenei and 20 close people, including family and aides. It will also involve a way of taking his vast asset network, which, according to a 2013 Reuters investigation cited by The Times, is valued at about $95 billion…

ISRAEL HAYOM Iranian’s leadership reportedly seeking French visas as regime ‘trembling’ In interview with Le Figaro, reporter Emmanuel Razavi claims the ayatollahs have grown concerned over the “true revolution”, and some senior officials have already begun laying the groundwork by exploring an exit route to France.

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