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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 7 called for the formation of an Islamic alliance to halt what he called “the growing threat of expansionism” from the Jewish state. Falsely claiming that Israeli officials “openly state” their desire to occupy the entire region, Erdogan maintained that an alliance of Islamic countries is the “only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism.” Erdogan alleged that, after Gaza, “the turn will come for other countries in the region. It will come for Lebanon, Syria. They will set their eyes on our homeland between the Tigris and the Euphrates.” He then applauded Hamas — an Iran-backed, U.S.-designated terrorist organization — for “defending Gaza” and “Islamic lands,” including Turkey.

A Jordanian truck driver killed three Israelis present at the Allenby Bridge border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on September 8.[1] The driver arrived at the Israeli-controlled side of the border crossing, exited his vehicle, and opened fire at Israeli forces working there.[2] Israeli forces at the border crossing killed the shooter.[3] The gunman killed three Israeli civilians working at the border crossing.[4] The Israel Airports Authority—the Israeli government entity responsible for airports and land-to-land border crossings—closed Allenby Bridge, the Rabin crossing, and Jordan River crossing with Jordan until further notice following the shooting attack.[5]

The newspaper said Russia is expected to be the losing side in the Ukraine war, according to Syria TV.

In a report titled “The Syrian Scenario of Russia,” the reformist Iranian newspaper Aftab News highlighted the accelerating regional and international events and their negative economic and geopolitical repercussions on Putin, Assad, and Tehran. The report suggests that these repercussions could negatively impact the extent and nature of Iran’s decade-long support for Assad and might lead to Russia’s defeat in the international war unfolding in Ukraine.

Regarding the reopening of the Abu al-Zindeen crossing, the Turkish intelligence service representative clarified that the decision was purely commercial, unrelated to any political agenda, Damas Post writes.

A significant meeting of Syrian opposition forces, organized by the Turkish intelligence service and attended by representatives from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, took place on Tuesday in Gaziantep province.

Returns

After 11 years in the United States, I was flying back to the land I called home. Beirut airport was its usual busy and chaotic self, but my fellow passengers and I all got through passport control and baggage claim with surprising efficiency. The hot and humid air, scented by the nearby Mediterranean, hit me as I walked out of the terminal. Expecting a grim mood, I was instead greeted by the festive drum and reed flute fanfare for a young man just returning from Hajj or preparing for a wedding — I could not tell which.

The Biden administration discusses a “take it or leave it” cease-fire proposal

Brian Katulis
Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy
Brian Katulis

The murder of six Israeli hostages in Gaza more than three months after Biden released his cease-fire plan demonstrates the limits of the administration’s policy approach.

Biden may try to use the moment to get Israel and Hamas to end months of negotiations and achieve a cease-fire, but the odds of a successful outcome seem low.

The Biden administration is reportedly talking with Egypt and Qatar about presenting a “take it or leave it” deal to Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire and hostage release agreement this week. But for the past few months, the two main parties to this conflict roiling the Middle East have effectively already repeatedly responded in the negative.

In-depth: There are fears that Israel’s military raids in the West Bank, the largest in decades, are fuelled by plans to annex the Palestinian territory.

For more than a week, Israeli forces have raided the Palestinian cities of Jenin, Tubas, and Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank – razing infrastructure, displacing residents, and killing at least 33 people.

FDD researchers have uncovered the Iranian role in creating a network of at least 19 websites that present themselves as independent sources of opinion and analysis for audiences across the globe. Other researchers previously tied several of these sites to Iran, but FDD is the first to identify most of them while documenting the technical indicators that demonstrate their connectedness.

Première partie

Après avoir évoqué la crypto-communauté turque des Donmeh1 – musulmans le jour, israélites la nuit – un curieux texte de Wayne Madsen2 initialement publié par la très sérieuse Strategic Culture Foundation en octobre 2011, a été récemment remis en ligne sur le site dissident CounterPunch3. Un texte éclairant qui retrace la filiation souterraine existant entre la Turquie kémaliste et la dynastie des Séoud… celle-ci apparaissant curieusement comme une sorte de reflet oriental de l’Amérique contemporaine, tout à la fois rigidement puritaine et moralement corrompue.

In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he would be open to hosting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a visit to Turkey. Normalization will not come easily or soon, but Erdoğan’s push for rapprochement is in itself remarkable. Given the intensity of Turkey’s commitment a decade ago to overthrowing Assad and ushering in a new era in the Middle East, this moment marks an end to an extraordinarily tumultuous period in Turkish history.