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Mideast Peace Talks' Hidden Threat

September 1, 2010  •  Politico

Some 46 percent of Israelis believe that President Barack Obama is "pro-Palestinian," according to a Smith Research poll this summer. Since then, that figure most likely has ticked higher. After all, in July, the president upgraded the Palestinian delegation's diplomatic status in Washington, and the peace talks that start Thursday are designed to lead inexorably to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state by the end of his first term.

Supporters of Israel bitterly assert that Obama has done more for the Palestinians than any other president in history. But they may be wrong. Obama may not yet know it, but the new peace talks could single-handedly destroy the Palestinian cause.

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Will the Turkish Flotilla Group Be Named as Terrorists?

August 20, 2010  •  Foreign Policy

It's not every day that House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and Ed Royce (R-CA), the ranking member of terrorism subcommittee of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, agree on anything. But, when it comes to the terrorist connections of one particular Turkish charity, there's no daylight between them. These legislators recently sent a letter to Stuart Levey, the under secretary for terror finance at the Treasury Department, stating that evidence "strongly supports" designating the Turkish charity IHH (Insan Haklari Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi) under Executive Order 13224 for its support of terrorist groups, and urging Levey to take action.

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Texans Have Opportunity to Deter Iran's Enablers

August 19, 2010  •  Houston Chronicle

In the coming weeks, the State Department will provide President Obama with recommendations on how to implement Washington's tough new sanctions on Iran. The law imposes severe financial penalties on Tehran in hopes of preventing it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but it could also have an outsized impact on Houston.

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Ahmadinejad's Iran and Bin Laden's al-Qaeda

August 16, 2010  •  The Daily Caller

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad infuriated Americans last week when he claimed that America had exaggerated the death toll from al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks.

"They announced that 3,000 people were killed in this incident, but there were no reports that reveal their names," he said, adding that the 9/11 attacks were a "big fabrication."

While Ahmadinejad is delusional, he unquestionably has insider knowledge about al-Qaeda and its operations. Indeed, Iran maintains a murky relationship with the world's most dangerous terrorist organization that we must not ignore.

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Do Gaza Flotillas Provide Material Support to Hamas?
If so, should those U.S. funders of the flotilla be subject to prosecution?

August 5, 2010  •  Weekly Standard Blog

Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy recently argued at National Review Online that the federal government has reason to investigate Rashid Khalidi, an activist Middle Eastern studies professor at Columbia University. What prompted this? Khalidi's efforts to raise $370,000 for a new sea vessel (to be named The Audacity of Hope, after President Barack Obama's second book) designed to break the Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

As increasing numbers of pro-Palestinian activists try to break the blockade of Gaza, McCarthy's argument is worth exploring. Are these flotillas legal?

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Books by Jonathan Schanzer