Author: M Barbu

One of the unifying themes of the Sunni jihadi movement as it has developed over the past half-century has been the view that Western-style democracy is an affront to Islam. Even worse, it is a religion fundamentally incompatible with the faith, a version of polytheism (shirk) in which authority is derived from the popular will as opposed to God’s will, and in which manmade laws are adopted and implemented as opposed to God’s law, the Shari‘a. Yet as the jihadi movement’s unity has frayed over the past decade with the rise of the Islamic State, so too has the united front against democracy. Last month’s elections in Turkey, which saw President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, head of the Islamist AKP, reelected to another five-year term in office, brought divisions over the matter into the sharpest relief yet, as ideologues debated the legitimacy not only of voting for the Turkish president but of advocating his reelection as well. For most jihadis, Erdoğan is an apostate unbeliever as he upholds a secular democratic system. But how to deal with this fact in the real world remains an issue of considerable contestation.

Since Hamas’s “Operation al-Aqsa Flood” attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the global jihadi movement has been divided over how to respond. While the Islamic State has reiterated its unequivocal stand against Hamas, al-Qaida has staked out a position of nearly unlimited support and sympathy. The contrast could not be starker.

On December 8, 2024, Syrian rebels led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized power in Damascus following a ten-day offensive, bringing a swift and unexpected end to the Asad regime’s decades’ long rule. The question now is what comes next.

Flood of Dignity protests took place on Sunday, 28 December, across cities and rural areas in Latakia and Tartus governorates (northwestern Syria, on the Mediterranean coast), as well as in parts of Homs (central Syria), the western countryside of Hama (west central Syria), and the al-Ghab Plain (northwestern Syria, part of Hama province).. Demonstrations were held in main squares and key gathering points amid tightened security measures and a heavy deployment of government forces.

Israel is behind a secret pact with the United Arab Emirates to destroy Saudi Arabia’s role as the Gulf’s regional powerbroker. The astonishing claim is just one of a series of sensational statements made by a senior Arab royal whistle blower to Middle East Monitor on Tuesday evening.

Iraqi PM al-Sudani says he can only disarm factions after the US-led coalition withdraws, linking state control of weapons to the end of the foreign military presence.

In a significant and carefully worded declaration that lays bare the central paradox of Iraq’s security dilemma, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has asserted that his government’s pledge to bring all weapons under the control of the state can only be fulfilled once the U.S.-led international coalition has completely withdrawn from the country.

Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), through the dedicated efforts of its Department of Statistics and Publications, publishes its annual Gregorian calendar-based analytical and statistical report on the human rights situation in Iran for the one-year period (January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026). This report is the culmination of the organization’s daily endeavors in recent years, forming part of a daily statistical project that began in 2009. It provides an analytical-statistical overview of human rights in Iran.

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military will never withdraw from the war-torn Gaza Strip, confirming earlier comments about settlement construction despite Trump’s ceasefire agreement signed in October.

“In Gaza, Israel will never fully withdraw – there will be a significant security area inside the Strip, even after we move to stage two [of Trump’s 20-point peace plan] if Hamas disarms,” Katz said during a conference hosted by the Makor Rishon newspaper, the Times of Israel reported.