Author Archives: jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 20/11 Will the Paris bombing galvanize a new strategy to destroy the ‘Islamic State’? The Islamic State (IS) is a murderous enterprise, based on an insane ideology.  It nevertheless desires its own survival and expansion. In October , … Continue reading →

On October 13, 2015, two young Palestinian men affiliated with the Hamas movement, Baha Alian and Bilal Ranem, boarded the 78 bus in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood. The two were residents of Jabel Mukaber, an adjoining Arab village. Alian was … Continue reading →

Fathom Journal, Autumn, 2015. The Middle East is currently in the midst of widespread instability, civil strife and the collapse or contraction of state authority. Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Turkey, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Tunisia and Egypt have … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 6/11 Syrian Bluff The west has conceded the continued existence of both Assad and Islamic State, despite attempts to create a different impression. Talks in Vienna last Friday intended to relaunch the diplomatic process on Syria produced predictably … Continue reading →

The Australian, 31/10 First indications that the violence in Israel and the West Bank is Being Contained For the past four weeks, Israel and the West Bank have been hit by a wave of stabbing attacks by Palestinian Muslims on … Continue reading →

The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 29/10 Russian intervention in Syria: significant, but not a ‘game changer’ On September 30th, Russian aircraft began the bombardment of rebel and Islamic State targets in Syria, heralding a new phase in Syria’s long … Continue reading →

My colleague, Rubin research fellow Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi points out that the clip of the IS man speaking in fluent, Palestinian-accented Hebrew is part of a larger video put out by the Damascus ‘Wilaya’ (Province) of Islamic State. The whole … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 10/10 While regional news remains dominated by the dramatic events under way in Syria, further south and east important developments are taking place in one of the more neglected arenas of the regional struggle – Yemen. Events in … Continue reading →

PJmedia, 8/10. The first rains that follow the High Holy Days have come to Jerusalem.  As always, a blessed relief.  But no relief seems imminent from the renewed tensions that have descended on the city.  A series of brutal murders … Continue reading →