Author Archives: jonathanspyer

Protesters in Iran accuse regime of using Arab militiamen to suppress demonstrations • IRGC fires at Iranian Kurdish bases Jerusalem Post, 1/10.  Claims have surfaced in recent days that pro-Iranian regime Arab militiamen are to be found among the forces … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 17/9 The rising tempo of attacks reflects a more general readiness for confrontation as region enters new phase A notable uptick in Israeli air operations against Iran-linked targets on Syrian soil has taken place over the last month, … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 3/9 Launch of Kherson offensive marks opening of new phase in the conflict The Ukrainian armed forces this week launched an offensive in the Kherson region, located in the south east of Ukraine.  Ukrainian media is reporting that … Continue reading →

The war came in high summer. Paul Randawa was living in Florentin.  War was the last thing on his or his friends’ minds.  The beach and the bars, and late night parties and clubs were what everything was revolving around. … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 20/8 Iranian regime and pro-Iranian media outlets reacted with enthusiasm to the attempted murder of British-Indian author Salman Rushdie last week.  Officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have maintained a studious silence. But the main mouthpieces of both … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 15/4 Nadia Hassan Suleiman remembers well the day she was arrested.  It was in Afrin City, north west Syria, in June 2018.  Her husband, Ahmed Rashid, had disappeared two months earlier.  She had received a voice message from … Continue reading →

The Australian, 16/4 Four terror attacks in the space of just over two weeks, with a total of 13 deaths  have brought the fraught atmosphere of the Second Intifada days back to the streets of Israel’s cities.  The tension is … Continue reading →

The Australian, 18/3 The people of Ukraine have repudiated the Russian President’s claim of their nation’s ‘artificiality.’  But larger matters remain to be settled.  Lviv War is the great transformer.  Everything has changed in Ukraine.  I last visited Lviv in … Continue reading →

Australian, 25/02. 06:00 Moscow time (UTC+3), on Thursday, February 24th, 2022, is likely to be remembered as one of those hinge moments on which history turns.  At that hour, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation with the goal … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 18/2 Past Russian practices of deception and intimidation may offer clues as to the direction of events in Ukraine History moves in curious patterns. The countdown to the current fraught moment in Ukraine may be accurately identified.  It … Continue reading →