Author Archives: jonathanspyer

Unknown's avatar

About jonathanspyer

Jonathan Spyer is a Middle East analyst, author and journalist specializing in the areas of Israel, Syria and broader issues of regional strategy. He is the director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and analysis (MECRA), a research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for strategy and Security (JISS) and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Israel’s Summer is not quite over

Posted on August 30, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Tablet, 29/8 The late summer quiet in Israel is no longer reassuring. The apparently imminent US attack on Syria has people on edge. There is a late rush to renew gas masks. The comments by a junior Syrian minister threatening … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Al-Qaeda battles Kurds in Syria

Posted on August 21, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 16/8. Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq, threatened this week to send forces into northern Syria, to defend beleaguered Kurds there. In the statement, issued on August 10, the Kurdish leader said that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Meet the New Mubarak

Posted on August 8, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 2/8/13 For many Egyptian supporters of the July 3 coup against the Muslim Brotherhood-led government, coup leader General Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi is a figure of veneration. Posters bearing the general’s visage alongside that of Gamal Abd al-Nasser have … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The Resurgence of the Regimes in the Arab World

Posted on July 19, 2013 by jonathanspyer

PJ Media, 19/7: The toppling of the Muslim Brotherhood power in Egypt by the army is an event of historic importance. It is important chiefly because it represents an enormous setback in a process which only a few months ago … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Wars within Wars in northern Syria

Posted on July 19, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 19/7: A senior figure in the Free Syrian Army this week said that al Qaeda in Syria were preparing to declare an ‘Islamic state’ in rebel-held northern Syria. This announcement came in the course of a frenetic period … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lebanon shaken by car bomb in Dahiyeh

Posted on July 12, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 12/7. A car bomb exploded on Tuesday of this week in the Bir al-Abed neighborhood of south Beirut. At least 53 people were wounded. There were no fatalities. The bomb left a crater 2 meters deep. Bir al-Abed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Power and the Arab Revolutions – some thoughts on the latest events in Egypt

Posted on July 3, 2013 by jonathanspyer

The latest events in Egypt confirm one of the salient patterns that have governed the upheavals in the Arab world of the last years. This is the troubling but unmistakable fact that despite all the chatter about peoples’ power, democracy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Qatari Power – and Irresponsibility – set to continue under new Emir

Posted on June 29, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 29/6. An event of a type exotically rare in the contemporary Arab world took place this week: namely, a bloodless transfer of power. The ruling, ailing Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamid bin-Khalifa al-Thani chose to step down. Power … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Plagiarized?

Posted on June 9, 2013 by jonathanspyer

A BBC-Watch site accuses a BBC journalist of cribbing from one of my articles: http://biasedbbc.org/blog/2013/05/10/curious/ Yesterday I praised Paul Danahar for his realistic and reasoned analysis of the situation in Syria and compared it favourably against the efforts of Mark … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hizballah enters the Syrian Abyss

Posted on June 2, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Two Grad rockets were fired this week at the south Beirut suburb of Shiyah. This district borders the Dahiyeh – the stronghold in the city which houses the main offices of Hizballah. The decision to strike so close to Hizballah’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment