Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Gordon G. Chang • December 25, 2025 at 5:00 am
"Rather than grow dependent, China will take Nvidia chips while they are available, use them to train models to compete with American frontier variants and continue to invest heavily in domestic alternatives like Huawei's Ascend chips. When those are good enough, the firms will drop Nvidia—and quickly." — Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, letter to the Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2025. Alperovitch believes that America's only advantage in the AI race is its advanced chips. Trump, however, is giving the Chinese better chips than they now have. "During the height of the Cold War, it was unthinkable for the U.S. to sell supercomputers to the Soviet Union, the equivalent of the GPUs today. We've never won technological competitions by arming our competitors—we've prevailed by preserving a clear and enduring advantage." — Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, referring to Graphics Processing Units, the specialized chips at the core of AI infrastructure, letter to the Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2025. Whether or not Trump just gave away the century to China, he has definitely given the Chinese military better tools to kill Americans. Although the president in his Truth Social posting stated that licenses would be granted only for "approved customers," these chips will end up with military and other parties that threaten U.S. security. There is no way the U.S. can control their usage once they enter China. In China, Xi enforces "military-civil fusion," so the military has access to everything it wants. The Trump administration is now conducting an interagency review — State, Energy, War, and Commerce — of the proposed sale of H200 chips to Chinese customers. We can only hope the review reverses an unjustifiable giveaway to China.
President Donald Trump's decision this month to reverse a Biden-era ban on the export to China of advanced chips and approve the sale of Nvidia H200 chips is a grave mistake, wrong both strategically and morally. (Illustrative image generated by Google Gemini).
Nvidia has told Chinese customers that it can start shipping them its second-most powerful chip, the H200, before mid-February. President Donald Trump's decision this month to reverse a Biden-era ban on the export to China of advanced chips and approve the sale of H200s is a grave mistake, wrong both strategically and morally. Trump, keeping a pre-election promise to tech billionaires, is giving China the means to surpass the United States in the critical race to dominate Artificial Intelligence (AI). Moreover, China will almost certainly use the chip for military purposes. Trump, in a December 8 Truth Social posting, announced he had informed Chinese leader Xi Jinping that he would approve the sale of the H200. "We will protect National Security, create American Jobs, and keep America's lead in AI," Trump wrote. It is hard to see how both the first and third statements are true.
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by Uzay Bulut • December 24, 2025 at 5:00 am
It is high time for the Trump Administration officially to designate Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh a Foreign Terrorist Organization and hold Bangladesh's "interim" leader Muhammad Yunus to account. Under Yunus's interim administration, Bangladesh has suffered a surge in Islamic radicalization and an alarming rise in attacks on minorities, particularly Hindus. "The recent events in Bangladesh have resulted in radical Islamic fundamentalists launching an all-out attack on minority communities, particularly the Hindus," reported Insight UK. Other outlets have called the attacks "the Bangladesh Hindu Genocide." The coalition [of Bangladeshis, Americans, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians] also suggested linking Bangladesh's participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions to the cessation of internal ethnic and religious persecution. The memorandum also proposed a comprehensive Minority Protection Act, officially to recognize minorities and indigenous groups. "Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh wields an economic power which enables it to act as a parallel state and an economy within the economy.... The main source of Jamaat income is the donations received from individuals and organizations.... These funds were not exclusively allocated for social welfare or religious activities; rather, they were also used to promote militancy and Islamic radicalism. It was noted that Mostaq Ahmed Khan, a former senator of Jamaat-e-Islami, managed to bring in money from a religious extremist group in Turkey. This funding was allegedly utilized to spread militancy and finance terrorism.... Jamaat's principal financial arm is Islami Bank of Bangladesh Ltd. (IBBL)... linked to powerful institutions of the Islamic World, among them is Al Razee Bank of Saudi Arabia." — Preeti Khenta, researcher, Usanas Foundation. Meanwhile, at least 144 jihadist militants belonging to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Hizb-ut-Tahrir and others, most of whom are directly connected to Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) or Islamic State (ISIS), were released from prisons since Yunus was placed into the position of "Chief Advisor" of the interim government, reported Blitz on December 24, 2024. The release also included Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the ABT, a radical Islamic terror group affiliated with Al Qaeda that is behind the murders of several secular bloggers, writers and rights activists in Bangladesh. Rahmani was convicted of abetting the murder of secular blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013. The news website FirstPost reported that the ABT has been attempting to form a jihadi network in India. Yunus's interim government, regrettably, has a completely different set of rules for non-Muslims and opposition figures in the country. [Chinmoy Krishna Das, a prominent Hindu monk]'s arrest followed wider crackdowns on religious minorities and protests by ISKCON against reported persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, with other Hindu priests also detained. The arrest of [Chinmoy Krishna Das, a prominent Hindu monk] followed wider crackdowns on religious minorities and protests by ISKCON against the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, with other Hindu priests also detained. "Groups like Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Islamic State–Khorasan (ISK)... promote radical ideologies and rally support. AQIS has praised what it perceives as resistance to corruption and secularism. ISK has promoted jihad and conflict with India, emphasizing divine rewards for participation. Additionally, Islamic State's Al-Naba magazine called for an Islamic revival in Bangladesh, urging the youth to reject secularism, focus on ideological education, and fight injustice. Bangladesh's vulnerability to radicalization is compounded by local groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir-Bangladesh (HT-B). Despite being banned, HT-B continued to spread its propaganda online, holding multiple rallies and targeting youth, especially in schools and colleges, advocating for the establishment of a caliphate." — Iftekharul Bashar, research fellow at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, December 23, 2024.
Under the government of "interim" leader Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh has suffered a surge in Islamic radicalization and an alarming rise in attacks on minorities, particularly Hindus. Minority rights groups have reported that thousands of incidents of communal violence have since taken place in Bangladesh, even as Yunus has insisted that the accounts of anti-Hindu attacks are "exaggerated propaganda." Pictured: Thousands of members of Bangladesh's Islamist militant group, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, on a "March for Khilafah" through the streets of Dhaka on March 7, 2025, demanding that the country's secular democracy be replaced by an Islamic caliphate. The mob at the march turned violent — complete with stone-throwers who clashed with police. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images)
Last week, a co-worker of a Hindu man, "a poor labourer," 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das, falsely accused him of insulting Islam. A group of Muslims seized Das -- while he was under police protection -- falsely accused him of blasphemy, and beat him to death. Then, shouting "Allahu akbar!'," they tied Das's body to a tree and set it on fire. There was no evidence whatsoever that Das committed blasphemy. According to Dr. Taslima Nasreen, who herself was forced to flee Bangladesh in 1994 over death threats, after she was accused of blasphemy: "Dipu Chandra Das was the sole breadwinner of his family. With his earnings, his disabled father, mother, wife, and child survived. What will happen to them now? Who will help the relatives? Who will bring the mad murderers to justice? Dipu's family doesn't even have the money to flee to India to escape the jihadists' hands. The poor have no one. They have no country left, not even a religion left."
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by Gordon G. Chang • December 23, 2025 at 5:00 am
TikTok has posed two national security threats. First, TikTok and its owner ByteDance have repeatedly made promises about the security of personal data of Americans, but they have not honored pledges and have broken U.S. statutes. The company settled charges that it violated U.S. child privacy laws. Second, the Chinese regime uses TikTok's curation or recommendation algorithm, which determines the distribution of videos, to propagate its narratives as well as spread hate, sow disinformation, glorify self-harm, and promote illicit drug use. TikTok videos turn Americans against Americans and America itself. The arrangement.... does not adequately eliminate the algorithm problem. Chew stated in his memorandum that the joint venture will be responsible for "retraining the content recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data to ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation." NPR reporting suggests that China will continue to own and control the algorithm — often referred to as TikTok's "secret sauce" — and that the new joint venture will license it. The New York Times reported in September that China would still own the algorithm. Any Chinese involvement in the curation process, especially considering Beijing's past use of the algorithm, is unacceptable. "Everything is seen in China," a member of TikTok's Trust and Safety Department said in September 2021. A "Beijing-based engineer" known as "Master Admin" had "access to everything." "The platform has repeatedly lied about its data-sharing practices to Congress, and there is no reason to begin trusting them now," Chuck Flint, a former U.S. Senate chief of staff, said to Gatestone at the time, referring to TikTok. Moreover, China used TikTok to foment violence on American streets, which is not only a crime but also an act of war. Trump clearly violated the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, known as the "TikTok law," by granting on January 20 an extension to allow TikTok to operate in the United States. The extension was not authorized by the law — and neither were the three other extensions Trump granted.
The Chinese regime uses TikTok's curation or recommendation algorithm, which determines the distribution of videos, to propagate its narratives as well as spread hate, sow disinformation, glorify self-harm, and promote illicit drug use. TikTok videos turn Americans against Americans and America itself. Pictured: The headquarters of ByteDance in Beijing, China. (Photo by Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)
"We have signed agreements with investors regarding a new TikTok U.S. joint venture, enabling over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community," TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reported in a memo to employees on December 18. In response to intense American pressure, ByteDance, the privately owned Chinese company that owns TikTok, agreed to spin off TikTok's U.S. operations. According to Chew, the joint venture, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, would be "majority owned by American investors, governed by a new seven-member majority-American board of directors, and subject to terms that protect Americans' data and U.S. national security." The deal, however, is not good for America. The Trump administration should either close TikTok or seize the extremely popular video-sharing app without compensation. TikTok has posed two national security threats.
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by Lawrence Kadish • December 23, 2025 at 4:00 am
If there is any message that needs to be heard by China, it is that President Donald Trump recognizes that the winner of the fusion race will secure its nation's future and dictate whether democracy and freedom will flourish or the misery of communism will fall upon tens of millions of people. Pictured: Trump holds up an executive order on the rapid development, deployment and use of advanced nuclear technologies, on May 23, 2025, in the White House. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
There continues to be a debate among global geopolitical analysts regarding whether the United States and China are engaged in a Cold War or a competition for global dominance. The answer is irrelevant. By anyone's observation, China seeks to dominate the 21st century, and they will do so by "any means necessary." In the process, they will use their military might to create a sphere of influence that is designed to cow nations that range from Japan to Australia to India. Their invasion of Taiwan is almost a foregone conclusion among many military observers, who believe it is not a question of if but when. But "when or if" China launches its amphibious assault, it will have determined that the United States is not willing to risk its armed forces to defend an island that produces the majority of the world's computer chips, especially the most advanced ones.
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • December 22, 2025 at 5:00 am
If you want to disarm Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups and promote peace and coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, Pakistan is the wrong choice. Pakistan, which does not recognize Israel, has already made it clear that it is "not ready" to disarm Hamas. According to Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar: "If the purpose of deploying an international stabilization force in Palestine is to disarm Hamas, then we are not ready for that, that's not our job. That is job of Palestinian law enforcement agencies." Dar pointed out that Indonesia, whose government has offered 20,000 troops to the ISF, was also opposed to disarming Hamas. Notably, not a single Arab or Islamic country has so far expressed readiness to take part in the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip. The Arabs and Muslims are prepared to send troops to the Gaza Strip, but only to act as "peacekeepers" and "monitors," not to interfere with the ability of Hamas to rearm, regroup and attack Israel again at some convenient time in the future. This, by complete coincidence, of course, is how Hamas also sees the role of the ISF. "It is not surprising that Pakistan – one of the greatest sponsors of cross-border terrorism and a hub of global Jihadist organisations – contributed to the military build-up of Hamas.... Hamas has its ideological roots in Pakistan. It is not only organically linked with Islamabad, but also deeply entrenched in its Jihadist patterns. In fact, before 9/11, the open 'publicising jihad was part of the Pakistan Army's image building exercise to present itself as fighting worldwide for the glory of Islam....' Jihadism is an essential part of Pakistan's political culture." — The South Asia Democratic Forum, a Brussels-based think tank, November 3, 2023. Pakistan's leaders, siding with South Africa in its prosecution of Israel in the International Criminal Court (ICC), to which Israel, incidentally, is not a party, have also accused Israel of war crimes and genocide. The assumption that Pakistan will help disarm Hamas or contribute to the deradicalization of Palestinians in Gaza is spectacularly misguided. The Trump administration seriously needs to reconsider its plan to allow Pakistan, and all countries with ideologies such as these, to play any role in a future Gaza Strip.
If you want to disarm Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups and promote peace and coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, Pakistan is the wrong choice. Pictured: Supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, at an anti-Israel protest that drew tens of thousands of people, hold signs reading "Jihad is the only solution" and "We are Hamas," in Islamabad, Pakistan on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)
Pakistan, it seems, has stepped forward, selflessly offering to be part of US President Donald J. Trump's proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF) in the Gaza Strip. "We're very grateful to Pakistan for their offer to be part of it, or at least their offer to consider being a part of it," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on December 20.
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by Raymond Ibrahim • December 21, 2025 at 5:00 am
The assaults resulted in the beheading of 30 Christians, widespread arson, and the destruction of at least five churches and 100 homes. Many other Christians — including women and their daughters — were herded away. — Daily Express, Ocotber 8 2025, Mozambique. [S]ince Boko Haram's terrorist insurgency began in 2009, jihadist groups have torched and destroyed 19,100 churches, averaging nearly 100 each month. In that time, 125,009 Christians were slaughtered, as well as "60,000 Liberal Muslims... unless urgent action is taken, within the next 50 years Christianity in Nigeria is set to disappear." — International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, August 10, 2o25, Nigeria. "Since the law regarding night clubs and entertainment places passed in 2000, human trafficking and sexual slavery have been practiced with the approval of the state (including the police and other state institutions). Women and girls below the age of 18 are trafficked, abused as sex slaves and their passports are seized by the state [in charge of the Turkish-occupied territory in Cyprus]. The victims are sold in catalogs like property, like animals." — Derya Dogus, Turkish Cypriot politician, X.com, September 28, 2025, Cyprus. The family reported the rape to police, who "collected evidence, and the medical report confirmed the assault.... Despite this, Haroon [the Muslim rapist] secured pre-arrest bail, leaving the family vulnerable to threats." — British Asian Christian Association, October 16, 2025, Pakistan. The Muslims spray-painted "F**k Israel" and posted pro-Palestinian/Hamas stickers on the church. The Muslim Brotherhood-linked organization CAIR demanded that the charges be dropped against the three Muslims, because "graffiti is the language of the unheard," and because vandalizing a church was a First Amendment right. — The Post Millennial, October 5, 2025, United States. [A] 49-year-old blind Christian, Nadeem Masih, was arrested after a Muslim accused him of insulting Islam's prophet, a charge punishable by death under Section 295-C of Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Masih, who earned a meager living providing a weighing scale for merchants, had long faced harassment from local Muslims.... In jail, Masih was beaten and coerced into admitting a false charge. — Morning Star News, October 31, 2025, Pakistan. "We were simply holding a [Christian] burial service. It was meant to be a quiet, respectful moment to honor the departed. Instead, it ended with arrests. One of the women with us was told to pay nearly a thousand dollars or stay in prison." — Persecution.org, October 20, 2025, Sudan. "A battle over church assets started several years ago, with the government favoring Muslim business interests taking over assets owned by ... churches in Khartoum and in other states of Sudan." — Morning Star News, October 29, 2025, Sudan.
On Oct. 8, the Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) terror group launched a series of savage attacks targeting Christian communities in the Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces of Mozambique. The assaults resulted in the beheading of 30 Christians, widespread arson, and the destruction of at least five churches and 100 homes. Pictured: One of the 30 houses burnt down on March 6, 2024, during an attack by ISMP on the village of Pulo, in Cabo Delgado province, photographed on March 26, 2024. (Photo by Juan Luis Rod/AFP via Getty Images)
The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of October 2025. The Muslim Slaughter of Christians Mozambique: On Oct. 8, the Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) terror group launched a series of savage attacks targeting Christian communities in Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces. The assaults resulted in the beheading of 30 Christians, widespread arson, and the destruction of at least five churches and 100 homes. Many other Christians—including women and their daughters—were herded away. The Muslim terrorists later boasted of their handiwork by releasing photos of themselves beheading and shooting civilians at close range.
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by Amir Taheri • December 21, 2025 at 4:00 am
In exchange, [Zelensky] wishes to get unspecified security guarantees from the US, something that Trump might grant on his social media accounts, knowing that an ironclad legal guarantee may never happen. The future of the occupied Crimean Peninsula doesn't appear to be part of the current negotiations. As none of the members of the United Nations has recognized Russian annexation, its status will remain uncertain. Afflicted by one of the lowest birthrates in the world plus a demographic hemorrhage that has driven millions of young Russians into exile, Russia lacks the extra population needed to build colonies and empires. Putin may find out that even if he is allowed to annex part of Donbas, he would fail to Russify them. Russia's historic sense of insecurity, arguably the core cause of its aggressiveness, would not be addressed by a flimsy glacis, which in time would need a further glacis to offer it security.
Russian President Vladimir Putin may find out that even if he is allowed to annex part of Donbas, he would fail to Russify them. Russia's historic sense of insecurity, arguably the core cause of its aggressiveness, would not be addressed by a flimsy glacis, which in time would need a further glacis to offer it security. Pictured: Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)
The latest haggling over ending the war in Ukraine appears to be focused on three elements, two of which could be labeled "promissory" and one "instant delivery." The instant delivery bit concerns an agreement to let Russia keep the chunk of Donbas it has conquered. That is what US President Donald Trump calls "territorial concession" by Ukraine. In his latest meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seemed to have accepted such an outcome with the caveat that it be regarded as de facto rather than de jure. In exchange, he wishes to get unspecified security guarantees from the US, something that Trump might grant on his social media accounts, knowing that an ironclad legal guarantee may never happen.
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by Majid Rafizadeh • December 20, 2025 at 5:00 am
Iran uses Iraq not just as a military platform but as a financial artery, moving funds through banks, exchanging currencies, and availing itself of corrupt networks to bypass sanctions. Without pressure on Iraq to clean up these financial tributaries, Iran enjoys a back door that keeps it stomping ahead even while under international pressure. It is a door the West has left open for far too long. Lebanon's weakness has allowed the Iranian regime to turn the country into its most important forward base – felicitously right on the border of Israel. By buying vast amounts of Iranian oil at discounted rates, Beijing gives Tehran the hard currency it needs to fund Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and other regional militias. The oil exports also permit Iran to stave off an economic crisis at home and avoid the financial collapse that sanctions on Iran alone were supposed to produce. Turkey, Qatar, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, China and other states that allow Iran to maneuver are providing Tehran with exactly what it needs to get back on its feet: safe geography, cash, energy markets, financial loopholes, proxy shelters, and diplomatic cover. Stopping the bellicosity of Iran's regime requires a broader vision. Only when the external lifelines of Iran's regime are cut will it finally feel the full weight of international pressure. Only then can the Iranian people and the region move toward stability, security and freedom, safe from Iran's destructive reach.
By buying vast amounts of Iranian oil at discounted rates, Beijing gives Tehran the hard currency it needs to fund Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and other regional militias. The oil exports also permit Iran to stave off an economic crisis at home and avoid the financial collapse that sanctions on Iran alone were supposed to produce. Pictured: The Iran-flagged oil tanker Clavel, docked at Shahid Beheshti Port in Chabahar, Iran on February 25, 2019. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
While everyone is focusing on Gaza, Russia and Ukraine, Iran has stealthily been rebuilding its war machine. One of the most effective ways to slow the remilitarization of Iran's brutal regime is not only to put direct pressure on the regime itself but also to target the countries that allow it to operate freely, fund its proxies, and expand its influence. Iran's regime survives largely because it has external support that enables it to move money, find recruits, transfer weapons, and, after every round of sanctions, rebuild its war machine. If these countries that are allied with Tehran were to face real consequences for enabling Iran's ability to rearm and reassert itself, the threat it could pose would dramatically shrink. Disempowering Iran requires cutting off not just its internal power, but also the foreign platforms that help it to finance itself, operate, and grow.
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by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury • December 19, 2025 at 5:00 am
Instead of reinforcing the country's fragile democratic foundations or supporting groups resisting extremism, US officials have embarked on a sweeping outreach campaign to Bangladesh's most powerful Islamist movements -- groups long tied to violence, sectarian hatred, and the darkest chapters of the nation's past. The result is an emerging strategic catastrophe: the legitimization of a coalition that once presided over genocide and now seeks to impose a Taliban-style political order on the world's fourth-largest Muslim-majority nation. With Islamists and their partners dominating the polls, these meetings amount to quiet recognition of a looming Islamist ascendancy. US officials also met repeatedly with the hardline party Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB), which openly vows to enforce sharia law nationwide and says it admires the Taliban model. Bangladeshi media report that in 2025 alone, diplomats from at least 35 nations - from the US and UK to China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Japan, and EU states - have sought meetings with Jamaat. Even the group's student wing is reportedly being introduced to Western delegations. The Yunus-led interim administration has since allowed extremist actors to regain legitimacy while presiding over intensifying attacks on Hindus, Christians, political opponents, and independent journalists. Bangladesh is being pushed toward a destiny shaped not by democratic consensus, but by militant pressure. Washington's belief that Jamaat-e-Islami or its Islamist allies can evolve into "responsible stakeholders" mirrors the same strategic delusions that once empowered the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Islamist factions from Yemen to Tunisia. The question is no longer whether Bangladesh's future is at risk, but whether Western policymakers are willing to recognize the disaster they are helping to create before it is irreversible.
Instead of reinforcing the country's fragile democratic foundations or supporting groups resisting extremism, US officials have embarked on a sweeping outreach campaign to Bangladesh's most powerful Islamist movements -- groups long tied to violence, sectarian hatred, and the darkest chapters of the nation's past. Pictured: Participants at an Islamist demonstration that drew hundreds of thousands of men, with many carrying the Taliban flag, in Dhaka on May 3, 2025. The rally was held to oppose a proposal to reduce legal discrimination against women. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images)
This month, an elderly Hindu couple in Bangladesh were murdered in their home, their throats slit. This week, an Islamist group targeted offices of India's High Commission in Bangladesh, causing India to suspend visa services there. Bangladesh is standing at the edge of a historic transformation, and, sadly, Washington is taking a perilous gamble. Instead of reinforcing the country's fragile democratic foundations or supporting groups resisting extremism, US officials have embarked on a sweeping outreach campaign to Bangladesh's most powerful Islamist movements -- groups long tied to violence, sectarian hatred, and the darkest chapters of the nation's past. The result is an emerging strategic catastrophe: the legitimization of a coalition that once presided over genocide and now seeks to impose a Taliban-style political order on the world's fourth-largest Muslim-majority nation.
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by Bassam Tawil • December 18, 2025 at 5:00 am
Since 2007, Hamas had been imposing restrictions on foreign journalists. In 2011, the BBC reported that foreign journalists "must now apply [to Hamas] five days in advance in order to work" in the Gaza Strip. According to the report, Hamas asked some foreign journalists to sign forms saying that if they published any items critical of the terror group, then local Palestinian journalists they worked with would be held responsible. "The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza are arresting, abusing, and criminally charging journalists and activists who express peaceful criticism of the authorities. The crackdown directly violates obligations that Palestine recently assumed in ratifying international treaties protecting free speech." — Human Rights Watch, August 29, 2016. The journalists who did visit were not able to see how Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups were transforming the beautiful Gaza Strip into one of the largest bases for Jihad and terrorism in the Middle East. Even if they had seen such activities, they would not have filed reports about them, thanks to Hamas's restrictions and threats. The foreign journalists who are presently crying that they want to enter the Gaza Strip will face exactly the same threats, restrictions, and harassment by Hamas. They will be permitted to write only stories that depict the Palestinians as victims of Israel, not of the terrorist group Hamas. They will probably comply, telling themselves that lying-by-omission will at least grant them "access." Journalists who allow themselves to be intimidated by Hamas or any other party will never be able to report with any credibility.
Hamas now wants foreign journalists to come to the Gaza Strip. The terror group needs the journalists to spread its anti-Israel propaganda. Most of the foreign journalists now complaining that Israel is not allowing them into Gaza did not bother to report about nearly 20 years of Hamas crackdowns on their colleagues and human rights activists. Pictured: The late Anas Al-Sharif (R), who commanded a Hamas rocket-launch squad in Gaza while employed as a "journalist" by Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV news network, smiles for a selfie with senior Hamas officials, including the late Hamas leader Yahiya Sinwar (2nd from left). Photo by Anas al-Sharif.
Foreign journalists in Israel are upset. Israel has prevented them from entering the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, which began with the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. A spokesman for the Foreign Press Association in Israel recently urged authorities to "lift restrictions without delay, allowing all journalists to work securely and without fear or hesitation" in the Gaza Strip. Before the war, the journalists now complaining that Israel is not allowing them to enter Gaza were able to visit there anytime they liked. Mostly, however, the foreign journalists chose not to go there. Perhaps they did not think they could come back with an "interesting story," meaning one that could criticize Israel. Reminder: Israel fully withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
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by Pierre Rehov • December 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Peaceful protesters certainly exist, but in many instances, the same marchers who cry "from the river to the sea" also provide cover, logistics and recruitment spaces for operatives who work closely with Hamas or other terrorist organizations. A report from the University of Indiana shows how a transnational network of NGOs and campus groups spread antisemitic and pro-Hamas narratives, coordinated across borders and amplified by social media. The message is simple: Israel is "colonial," Jews are "settlers," and violence against them is "resistance." European rallies have repeatedly featured Hamas flags, praise for the October 7 attackers and calls to "repeat" the massacre – all under the label of "human rights." Law enforcement sees the problem more clearly than politicians. The same EU reports that speak delicately of "violent extremism" in public also describe behind closed doors how online propaganda, diaspora networks and Middle Eastern conflicts interact to create hybrid terrorist ecosystems in Europe. Even so, on the political level, Europe still refuses to name the ideological enemy: an Islamist project that openly seeks the eradication of Israel and spills over to advocate eliminating the United States and the West. "The one Jewish state is the first to suffer," notes Jerusalem Post reporter Liat Collins, "but the nearly 50 Muslim-majority countries and the nominally Christian world are all in the line of fire." European governments rush to recognize a Palestinian state even as Hamas thanks them for rewarding its "resistance." This same cognitive dissonance runs through EU institutions that condemn "terrorism" in the abstract while lavishly funding NGOs that glorify its perpetrators. Europe's retreat into denying intangible threats staring them in the face unfortunately has extremely tangible results. Studies of Hamas funding stress that social and religious front organizations are integral to the movement's terrorist attacks: they launder money, recruit sympathizers and create safe spaces where support for terrorism can flourish under a "humanitarian" cover. When Germany bans Samidoun or a small local front group, NGOs and academics denounce the act as a "repression" of civil society. When Belgium moves against a man praising the October 7 massacre, activist networks cry that "solidarity" is being criminalized. In this narrative, it is always the state – never the terrorist infrastructure – that is on trial. The war that has been exported from Gaza to Europe has three pillars: money, indoctrination and operational cells. All three are embedded in structures that call themselves "Palestinian solidarity" or "human rights organizations." As long as European governments accept this masquerade, the continent will remain both a financial base and a potential battlefield for Hamas and its Qatari, Turkish and Iranian sponsors. What would a serious policy look like?... No more American or European funding, period, for organizations that celebrate terrorist "martyrs" and teach children to hate Jews, Christians, or any other racial or religious group. When demonstrators chant "globalize the intifada," they are not calling for peace, they are calling for the expansion of a global jihadist war. Finally, Europeans must abandon the illusion that the "Palestinian cause" is a harmless protest disconnected from terrorism. Hamas itself, backed by Qatar, Turkey and Iran, has explained over and over that Europe is part of their battlefield. The only question is whether European leaders will listen to their own police and intelligence services, and Israel's Mossad, or whether they will continue pretending that a war raging against them has no name and does not exist.
European rallies have repeatedly featured Hamas flags, praise for the October 7 attackers and calls to "repeat" the massacre – all under the label of "human rights." Peaceful protesters certainly exist, but in many instances, the same marchers who cry "from the river to the sea" also provide cover, logistics and recruitment spaces for operatives who work closely with Hamas or other terrorist organizations. Pictured: Anti-Israel protesters at Place de la République in Paris, on November 11, 2023. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
When Israel's Mossad intelligence agency publicly revealed in November 2025 that it had helped European countries expose a Hamas terrorist infrastructure "in the heart of Europe" – including weapons caches and plans to hit Jewish and Israeli targets – it simply confirmed what intelligence professionals have warned since October 7, 2023: The war in the Gaza Strip is no longer local. It has been exported, operationally, to European soil. As early as December 2023, German, Dutch and Danish authorities had already arrested Hamas operatives accused of preparing attacks on Jewish institutions in several European countries. Prosecutors described long-standing members of Hamas, directed to stockpile weapons in Berlin. Since then, intelligence and security reports have spoken of a "realistic possibility" that the Hamas-Israel war will embolden networks across Western Europe to move from propaganda to mass-casualty attacks.
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by Nils A. Haug • December 16, 2025 at 5:00 am
The situation could have been worse but for the actions of Sydney's police force and the quick work of a very brave unarmed bystander, Ahmed El-Ahmed, a Muslim man who tackled and disarmed one of the terrorists. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar reveals that Australia was "warned about potential attacks on Jews" -- to no avail.
Even before this week's slaughter of innocent Jewish families in Sydney, several terrorist acts recently had been perpetrated against Australian Jews. The consequences of widespread social discord and anti-Semitic acts from Islamist immigrants in Western nations are well-documented; it is a mystery why Australia's government apparently believes their nation would be an exception. Pictured: Police at the scene of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in Sydney on December 14, 2025. (Photo by Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
On December 14, on the holiday of Hanukkah -- a time of celebration -- a slaughter of innocent Jewish families took place at Australia's famous Bondi Beach, in Sydney. Fifteen victims were murdered and 40 more wounded. One of the attackers, a Muslim immigrant named Sajid Akram, was killed by police; his son Naveed, the second attacker, was shot by police before being arrested. The situation could have been worse but for the actions of Sydney's police force and the quick work of a very brave unarmed bystander, Ahmed El-Ahmed, a Muslim man who tackled and disarmed one of the terrorists. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar reveals that Australia was "warned about potential attacks on Jews" -- to no avail. Some Israeli officials, therefore, are "blaming Canberra for not doing enough to combat antisemitism." Sa'ar wrote:
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • December 15, 2025 at 5:00 am
Hezbollah used UNIFIL's peacekeepers as "shields" to deter any Israeli military activity and prevent compliance in case a peacekeeper might be hit. Israel was forced to just sit and watch while Hezbollah put countless tunnels and weapons in place. The disastrous model of UNIFIL is about to be copied to the Gaza Strip. Hamas will undoubtedly exploit a similar, weak UNIFIL-style "nanny" force to rearm and operate with impunity, exactly as Hezbollah did in Lebanon. Hamas leaders have repeatedly stressed their opposition to laying down their weapons. They have also emphasized that the role of any international force in the Gaza Strip should be limited to being present on the borders to prevent clashes -- meaning firing on Israel should it try to prevent them from rearming -- merely to "keep" peace, not impose it. [Senior Hamas leader Khaled] Mashaal, living comfortably far from Gaza, pointed out that Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey -- all three longtime supporters and enablers of Hamas -- share its position regarding the role of the proposed international force. According to Israeli officials, Qatar and Turkey are working to dissuade Hamas from disarming.... Behind both proposals lies the aim of preserving Hamas's influence in the Gaza Strip, as well as the ability to launch another "October 7" massacre at a convenient date. The Arabs and Islamic countries clearly do not want to be part of any force that could be drawn into confrontation with Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups.... These leaders are afraid of being labeled traitors working on Israel's behalf to disarm the Palestinian armed groups. The Gaza Strip does not need "peacekeepers" or "monitors." Instead, it needs an extremely strong security force whose members would engage the terrorists, confiscate their weapons, dismantle their military capabilities, and eradicate the terror infrastructure. It is deranged to assume that any UN-authorized force would forcibly disarm terrorists, destroy tunnels, stop rocket fire, or perform counterterrorism operations. As Trump himself repeats, "peace through strength" is the only way to achieve stability and peace in the Gaza Strip and prevent countless more deaths of both Israelis and Palestinians.
The Gaza Strip does not need "peacekeepers" or "monitors." Instead, it needs an extremely strong security force whose members would engage the terrorists, confiscate their weapons, dismantle their military capabilities, and eradicate the terror infrastructure. It is deranged to assume that any UN-authorized force would forcibly disarm terrorists, destroy tunnels, stop rocket fire, or perform counterterrorism operations. Pictured: Hamas terrorists in Jabalia refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip, on December 1, 2025. (Photo by Omar Al-Qataa/AFP via Getty Images)
As part of US President Donald J. Trump's plan for ending the Israel-Hamas war, international troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month, US officials told Reuters on December 12. According to the unnamed officials, the proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF) would not fight Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that sparked the war by invading Israel on October 7, 2023 and murdering more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and wounding thousands more. In mid-November, the United Nations Security Council endorsed Trump's 20-point "Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict," welcomed its establishment of a "Board of Peace" and authorized the Board Member States working with it to establish a temporary ISF in the Gaza Strip. The resolution gives the ISF "a wide mandate, including overseeing the borders, providing security and demilitarizing the territory." According to the text of the resolution:
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by Andrew Ash • December 15, 2025 at 5:00 am
[M]y father did not move to England in the expectation that its denizens were fluent in Muslim culture or that there would be a mosque on every street. He did not feel that his human rights, by not being specifically catered to, were being violated. It was quite enough to find accommodation and work, rather than inventing grievances. The thought of complaining, or being a victim, would have seemed incongruous to him -- presuming there had been anyone to complain to -- because, he said, at last he felt free. Playing a "victim card" would have been deemed not only impolite and unappreciative, but woefully narcissistic. In many of the Arab countries from which the friends of our family had migrated -- from Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Tunisia -- being deeply religious was a job. It was for scholars. He was not in the slightest bit offended by the predominantly Christian culture around him. Certainly, if people wish to discuss the impact of the out-of-control immigration system that has led us to this point, the authorities do not seem to be even slightly interested. Instead, they are told that they are not entitled to play the victim card, so freely utilised by the minority groups. Their "white privilege" supposedly precludes them from sympathy. Strange, then, that this huge swathe of allegedly "privileged" people continues to become increasingly disadvantaged -- deprivileged -- as the ever-expanding Muslim communities of Britain prosper.
In the United Kingdom, if people wish to discuss the impact of the out-of-control immigration system that has led us to this point, the authorities do not seem to be even slightly interested. Instead, they are told that they are not entitled to play the victim card, so freely utilised by the minority groups. Their "white privilege" supposedly precludes them from sympathy. Pictured: Migrants who were picked up at sea while crossing the English Channel from France disembark from Border Force vessel Typhoon at the Marina in Dover, England, on February 9, 2025. (Photo by Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
There is a curious sense of minority entitlement which seems to have grown exponentially in recent years. It was absent when my father migrated from Egypt to England in the last century and met my mother. Although he considered himself a Muslim, he had a somewhat lackadaisical approach to his inherited faith – as did many Westernised Muslims of the time. He was proud of his faith, but he did not place being a Muslim at the forefront of his identity. Like many of his fellow émigrés, he wanted to escape the more oppressive religious aspects of his home country.
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by Con Coughlin • December 14, 2025 at 5:00 am
US President Donald Trump may believe that selling F-35 stealth warplanes to Turkey will help the country forge closer ties with the US at the expense of Russia. The reality, though, is that by providing such sophisticated fighter jets to a country that supports Hamas terrorists -- and whose president recently said that "Israel will have no choice but to kneel in front of Turkey" -- Trump is merely stoking the flames of a future war aimed at destroying Israel. [Trump] is under the impression that Turkey played a key role in helping to persuade Hamas to agree to Washington's 20-point peace plan for ending the war in Gaza, and possibly his hope that Turkey might join his Abraham Accords. Ambassador [Tom] Barrack, however, has been called out for "misrepresent[ing] President Erdogan's hostile and war-threatening statements against Israel." The prospect of Turkey, together with other Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, being equipped with the F-35 stealth aircraft has prompted grave concerns in Israel that the jets -- which have also been deployed to great effect by the Israel Air Force -- could be used against the Jewish state in a future conflict once Trump's term in office has ended. The Israelis are particularly concerned about Turkey receiving the warplanes so long as Erdogan remains in power. Israeli security officials are warning that Turkey is quietly working on a plan to encircle Israel, extending its influence in countries such as Syria, in anticipation of a future conflict. Acquiring F-35 stealth fighters would significantly increase its war-fighting capabilities in the event of Ankara becoming involved in direct hostilities with Israel after Trump leaves office. There are also reports that Turkey and Qatar, which is also one of Hamas's staunchest supporters, are now attempting to thwart attempts to force the terrorist organisation to surrender its weapons -- one of the key requirements stipulated by Trump's peace plan. The United Arab Emirates, which has strong ties with the Trump administration, has expressed "concern" over Turkey's and Qatar's disruptive policies in Gaza in support of Hamas. The UAE recently decided not to participate in the proposed International Stabilization Force for the Gaza Strip. In such circumstances, it would be extreme folly for the Trump administration to press ahead with its plan to sell F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey, a country that actively supports Hamas terrorists. To do so would place Israel in the very real danger of becoming involved in yet another war with a country that is supposed to be a U.S. ally.
US President Donald Trump may believe that selling F-35 stealth warplanes to Turkey will help the country forge closer ties with the US at the expense of Russia. The reality, though, is that by providing such sophisticated fighter jets to a country that supports Hamas terrorists, Trump is merely stoking the flames of a future war aimed at destroying Israel. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said "It is time for Israel to turn to dust," and "Israel will have no choice but to kneel in front of Turkey. This is the only way for it to live. Otherwise, in the second quarter of the 21st century, there will be no Israel." Pictured: Erdogan speaks at a campaign rally on March 29, 2024 in Istanbul. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump may believe that selling F-35 stealth warplanes to Turkey will help the country forge closer ties with the US at the expense of Russia. The reality, though, is that by providing such sophisticated fighter jets to a country that supports Hamas terrorists -- and whose president recently said that "Israel will have no choice but to kneel in front of Turkey" -- Trump is merely stoking the flames of a future war aimed at destroying Israel. Trump's problematic relationship with Ankara dates back to his first term in the White House, when he removed Turkey from participation in the multinational F-35 programme after it purchased Russia's supposed state-of-the-art S-400 air-defence system, which was designed with the express purpose of shooting down F-35 warplanes.
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