“Under a doctrine known as takfir, these jihadis excommunicate and, on many occasions, kill Muslims who decline to toe their theological line”

Posted on December 31, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

FDD
The many shades of Islam
Clifford D. May
December 31, 2025

…It was not until the 1920s, in the aftermath of World War I, that the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the last Ottoman caliph, Abdülmecid II, boarded the Orient Express at a station near Istanbul, heading for exile among the unbelievers of Europe. Hassan al-Banna, an Egyptian school teacher, saw this as a historic tragedy. In 1928, he founded the Muslim Brotherhood. Its mission was – and still is – to reestablish Islamic supremacy and domination everywhere and anywhere. Since then, Brotherhood theologians have provided inspiration to pretty much every group committed to waging jihad against Jews, Christians, Hindus, and others. Those “others” include Muslims who decline to embrace the jihadis’ reading of Islam and the obligations the jihadis insist are incumbent upon Muslims. READ MORE

NATIONAL POST Canada can no longer ignore its violent jihadist extremism problem Canada excels at interception. Now it must commit to prevention and uproot the conditions that allow this extremism to take hold. Recent arrests in the Greater Toronto Area of Waleed Khan, Osman Azizov, and Fahad Sadaat lay bare a disturbing truth that Canadians can no longer ignore: violent jihadist extremism is being cultivated and operationalized here.

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“Megyn Kelly’s recent comments cross a dangerous line”

Posted on December 31, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

NY POST
ADL accuses Megyn Kelly of using ‘antisemitic’ trope against Ben Shapiro, victim-blaming Bari Weiss
Ariel Zilber
December 25, 2025

The Anti-Defamation League accused Megyn Kelly of using an antisemitic trope against Ben Shapiro and victim-blaming Bari Weiss after Kelly outrageously claimed the two, who are Jewish, are causing antisemitism. The organization pointed to Kelly’s recent allegation that Shapiro, a prominent conservative commentator, and Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, are “making antisemites” by trying to silence criticism of Israel, as well as Kelly’s characterization of Shapiro as being “Israel first.” “Megyn Kelly’s recent comments cross a dangerous line. Accusing Jews of “making antisemites” blames Jewish people for the hate directed against them — a classic victim-blaming trope,” the ADL wrote on social media on Tuesday. READ MORE

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“Those on the Right who revile Israel and seek to undo the Israel-America alliance commonly insist that they do so out of devotion to America”

Posted on December 30, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JEWS UNDER SIEGE
Hating Jews More Than Loving America
Kenneth Levin
December 29, 2025

…The overall perspective of American military strategists is that the military and related advantages derived from the alliance with Israel – including lessons drawn from Israeli battlefield experience with American weapons and related modifications of American weapons, other Israeli defense research and development readily available to America, the work of unique Israeli intelligence capabilities in the Middle East likewise readily available to America – very much more than offsets American outlays. Political echelons in the United States have generally shared this assessment. This perspective is, of course, reinforced by the general conviction that Israel and America face the same enemies; in particular, Islamist forces in the Middle East of both the Sunni and Shi’a variety. READ MORE

NO DELUSIONS NO DESPAIR Benjamin Kerstein: Antisemite vs. enabler?  The next presidential election will decide if American Jews have a future in the US. The rise of antisemitism on both the left and the right threatens American Jews with a pincer movement, one in which those on the commanding heights of American politics—on both sides—are a direct threat to the American Jewish future. I believe it is quite possible that this future will be decided by the 2028 presidential election. The Democratic nominee, judging by the almost total takeover of the party’s base by antisemitic forces, will almost certainly be, at the very least, either an apologist for antisemitism or an outright antisemite.

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“ChatGPT Advises Users On How To Attack A Sports Venue, Buy Nuclear Material On Dark Web, Weaponize Anthrax, Build Spyware, Bombs…”

Posted on December 30, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
US High-Tech Companies Are Helping Terrorists to Weaponize AI
Robert Williams
December 30, 2025

Terrorist networks, not surprisingly, are focusing their efforts on weaponizing artificial intelligence (AI). A recent study by MEMRI discloses the use of artificial intelligence by Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State (ISIS), the Houthis and Hezbollah, among others…The Associated Press reported on December 15: “Such groups spread fake images two years ago of the Israel-Hamas war depicting bloodied, abandoned babies in bombed-out buildings. The images spurred outrage and polarization while obscuring the war’s actual horrors. Violent groups in the Middle East used the photos to recruit new members, as did antisemitic hate groups in the U.S. and elsewhere.” READ MORE

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“A half-century-old theory that the Jewish state deliberately attacked the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War has renewed currency”

Posted on December 28, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL REVIEW
No, the USS Liberty Attack Wasn’t Israeli Treachery
Rich Lowry
December 23, 2025

For elements of the anti-Israel right, it’s a time when everything old is becoming new again. So, a half-century-old theory that the Jewish state deliberately attacked the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War has renewed currency. Conspiratorial-minded influencers hostile to Israel, like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, have promoted the notion, and it was a topic of discussion at the recent TPUSA conference. One speaker said that the official explanation “doesn’t feel like it’s good enough,” and floated his own wild speculation (involving the complicity of LBJ). The fact is that the devastating Israeli attack on the Liberty, killing 34 and wounding 171, was a woeful case of mistaken identification. The series of faulty judgments that led to the incident is so grievous that, taken altogether, it is, indeed, nearly incomprehensible. READ MORE

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“The Defense Ministry says Iron Beam is now operational at scale, offering low-cost laser interception of drones, rockets, missiles, and mortars, and reducing reliance on costly interceptors”

Posted on December 28, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JPOST
Defense Ministry rolls out Iron Beam laser air defense system across Israel
Yonah Jeremy Bob
December 28, 2025

The Iron Beam laser-based, air-defense system has been deployed in the field, the Defense Ministry reported Sunday… In June, the Defense Ministry disclosed that Israeli laser defense systems had shot down around 40 Hezbollah drones in October 2024….The announcement also means that Iron Beam batteries will be produced and dispersed around the country at scale, as opposed to serving in just one or two locations where their impact would take time to be judged. The Defense Ministry and the IDF expect Iron Beam to immediately reduce the cost of intercepting aerial threats, a major challenge for Israel during the recent war, when tens of thousands of projectiles were launched from six fronts. READ MORE

FOX NEWS Israel unveils Iron Beam laser weapon while achieving record $15B arms sales (VIDEO)

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“The concerns that caused Podhoretz to change his views more than a half century ago were basically the same as those that led his allies today to lament the resurgence of anti-Semitism and hostility to Israel after the October 7”

Posted on December 26, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

CITY JOURNAL
Norman Podhoretz: the Undeceived
James Piereson
December 30, 2025

… Podhoretz was widely known for his transition in the late 1960s from radicalism to conservatism, in defiance of views widely and vehemently held by those who then dominated New York’s intellectual scene. In rejecting his youthful views and, much worse, turning himself into a conservative, Podhoretz became an outcast among his former friends, as he chronicled in Ex Friends, one of his later books. But by turning in those credentials, he won a larger following not only among Jews but also among many Americans who were not Jewish and had never stepped foot in Manhattan but looked to him, and to Commentary, the magazine he edited, for guidance in cutting through the fashionable left-wing views that they encountered in schools, Hollywood movies, and television news programs. It was a response that he did not expect but certainly welcomed. READ MORE

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“Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s denials, Iran will be the central issue in his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump”

Posted on December 23, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Iran core issue in Trump-Netanyahu meeting despite denials
Danny Zaken
December 23, 2025

…A second major topic on the agenda is Gaza and the transition to the next Phase. The Americans have been unable to assemble a multinational force due to countries’ refusal to deploy troops while Hamas remains armed. As a result, Washington is turning its attention to the civilian track. The expectation is that following the meeting or meetings, an announcement will be made on the launch of a reconstruction process through the establishment of a new governing civilian body, largely composed of Palestinians who previously worked for the Palestinian Authority. Israel Hayom has reported that lists of some of the candidates expected to assume civilian authority have been transferred to Israel for security vetting, to ensure they are not affiliated with Hamas.” READ MORE

ALGEMEINER Israeli Defense Minister Says Military to Maintain Presence in Gaza but No Plans to Resettle Enclave Israel’s defense minister on Tuesday said that the Israeli military will maintain a long-term presence in Gaza for security reasons but denied any intention to resettle the Palestinian enclave. Israel Katz, speaking at a settlement in the West Bank, said the military would never leave all of Gaza and planned to station a type of unit – Nahal – that has historically played a role in establishing Israeli communities, including settlements. After some Israeli media reported the comment as a plan to resettle Gaza, where Israel dismantled settlements in 2005, Katz issued a statement saying, “The government has no intention of establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip.”

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“The future of Israeli diplomacy will be shaped not only by alliances or declarations, but by technologies so essential that they bind nations together in ways traditional diplomacy cannot”

Posted on December 22, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JPOST
Israeli technology has become the country’s most powerful diplomatic asset
Hilla Haddad Chmelnik
December 23, 2025

…Over the past two years, Israeli innovation has evolved from a competitive advantage into a form of diplomatic gravity. Nowhere is this shift clearer than in the domain of air defense. What began as battlefield innovation has become a strategic asset influencing policy decisions in Europe, the Gulf, and Asia. Israel’s air-defense systems have demonstrated effectiveness under real threat, encouraging governments to preserve stable channels with Jerusalem, even during moments of political friction. Air defense is not the entire story, but it is the clearest demonstration of how technological leadership can shape international behavior. READ MORE

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“Jerusalem traded energy for leverage, tying Cairo to its fuel supplies while securing strategic calm despite ongoing violations in Sinai”

Posted on December 22, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
The real purpose of Israel’s gas deal with Egypt
Ariel Kahana
December 20, 2025

The signing of the massive natural gas deal with Egypt goes far beyond its $34 billion price tag. One of the main reasons for the agreement’s delay was Egypt’s problematic approach to Israel on political and security issues. According to information gathered in recent years, Egypt has deployed forces in Sinai far beyond what is permitted under the security annex of the 1979 peace treaty. It has also built tunnels deep in the peninsula for storing weapons and has suspiciously extended runways at airfields…Israeli officials believe that once gas deliveries begin, this will serve as leverage to deter Cairo from violating the peace treaty. READ MORE

WALL STREET JOURNAL Amit Segal: Selling F-35s to Turkey Could Lead to War Turkey embodies everything it accuses Israel of being. Psychologists call it “projection”: When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuses Israel of encroaching on its neighbors’ territory in an attempt to establish “Greater Israel,” he’s mirroring his own desire to revive the Ottoman Empire, which once ruled those same regions. When he claims that Israel has “set its sights on” Turkey, he ignores his own prayers to Allah asking for Israel’s destruction. While claiming that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, he denies the genocide his country committed against the Armenians. When he accuses Israel of attempting to turn the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem into a Jewish temple, he ignores that he turned the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul from a church into a mosque over international protests.

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