There have been some intriguing developments related to Syria that are now being reported in the wake of President Trump’s announcement of the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

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Historian Bernard Lewis died yesterday at age 101.

The accolades are rolling in.

Jay Nordlinger tweeted:

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Former President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh has died after his house exploded in the capital city of Sana, which has been torn apart from fighting between the government and Houthi rebels. From Reuters:

Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been killed in fighting with the Iran-aligned Houthi militia raging in the...

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman sat down with Thomas Friedman of The New York Times and offered up some very choice words for Iran’s leader:

Iran’s “supreme leader is...

In what amounts to a significant policy shift, Indian public sector companies are bidding for Israeli offshore oil and gas fields. A consortium led by India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is seeking drilling rights in 24 offshore blocks in Israel’s Mediterranean waters, Indian and Israeli newspapers reported on Wednesday.

Last...

Iraqi Kurdish leaders have announced that yesterday’s vote for Kurdish independence was a resounding “yes.”

According to the Kurdish Rudaw news outlet’s live results page, as of this writing, 3,440,616 votes have been counted, with 91.83% voting yes.  Final results are expected Wednesday.

Reuters reports:

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Last week, we blogged about today’s Kuridsh Independence referendum.  Yesterday’s Kurdish independence rally attracted an enormous crowd, perhaps foreshadowing nearly 80% of the reported 3.9 million registered voters turning out at the polls today.

Jubilant Kurds described today as “the best day of their life” and some even took to flying the Brazilian...

Officials in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all announced the countries have severed diplomatic ties with Qatar due to terrorism and extremism. From The Guardian:

The official state news agency, citing an official source, said Saudi Arabia had decided to sever diplomatic and consular relations with...

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania are set to visit Israel with Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner later this month as part of a three stop tour of the Middle East.

A massive effort for increased security is already underway in Israel.

The Times of Israel reports:

Frenetic preparations underway for Trump’s Israel visit

A...

President Donald Trump appeared to rebuke Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at least three times in their joint statement on Wednesday.

First, at the beginning of his remarks, Trump recalled the Oslo Accords:

Almost 24 years ago, it was on these grounds that President Abbas stood with a courageous peacemaker, then-Israeli Prime Minister...

Prager U‘s latest takes on the Middle East:

The Middle East conflict is framed as one of the most complex problems in the world. But, in reality, it’s very simple. Israelis want...

On December 4, 2016, I was a speaker at a national conference sponsored by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), held at Harvard Law School. The conference was co-hosted by HLS Alliance for Israel, and was titled “War By O...

Early on in his first term, President Barack Obama suggested that in order to achieve peace between Israeli and the Palestinians, there needed to be more “daylight” between the United States and Israel.

Obama, according to a report on a meeting between the president and American Jewish leaders, said, referring to the...

A prominent Jordanian writer named Nahed Hattar was facing charges in Amman for sharing a cartoon on Facebook which was deemed offensive to Islam. He was killed outside the courthouse this weekend.

Al Jazeera reports:

Jordan: Nahed Hattar shot dead ahead of cartoon trial

A gunman has shot dead prominent Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar...

Western feminists are happy to talk about the ever growing threat of the patriarchy and trivial issues like mansplaining, but are often curiously silent about the plight of women in Muslim countries.

Author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali has noticed this silence and has a few questions for feminists.

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Qatar has released a Dutch woman after holding her for three months because she had the nerve to be raped and report it. Blunt, but true. This is life for women who live under Sharia law.

The woman only known as Laura reported her rape to officials, but they in turn arrested...