January 24, 2019    INFORMATION: Another significant direct Israeli-Iranian military collision took place in Syria on January 20th and 21st, 2019. On January 20th the Israeli Air Force carried out an attack in the area of Damascus. Later that day, an Iranian made mid-range surface-to-surface missile targeting northern Israel was launched from within Syria. The missile was apparently launched directly…

Information:     Since early December 2018 until the date of this Intelligence Bulletin, Lebanese Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah has not appeared in public, nor has he delivered any visual or audio messages. Reportedly, he is hospitalized following a heart attack. The reports are denied by Hezbollah as well as by a Senior Iranian Official. Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shi’ite organization,…

Information: Since the Mullah regime seized power in Iran in 1979, their goal has been to “Export the Islamic Revolution.” The goal of which is for Iran to become the regional superpower and to restore the Shi’ites as the rulers of the Muslim world – a position which in the Shi’ite theology, was taken from them in Kerbala in the…

Arab Persian Power Struggle   Two major historic struggles have played a central role in shaping the Muslim world and the Middle East. One axis is the struggle between Arab civilization and the Persian civilization. The other axis is the rivalry between Sunnis and Shi’ites in Islam. In the year 651 CE, a significant event took place in the Middle East; the four-hundred…

Sunnis & Shi’ites   Two major historic struggles have played a central role in shaping the Muslim world and the Middle East. One axis is the struggle between Sunnis and Shi’ites in Islam. The other axis is the rivalry between two large regional civilizations: The Arab civilization and the Persian civilization. There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.  About…

Click Here To Download a PDF of this Article September 5, 2017 My Enemy is My Best Asset by Avi Melamed Former United States Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger, published an article on August 2, 2017 entitled “Chaos and Order in a Changing World.” In his piece, Dr. Kissinger provides analysis regarding different global arenas. He opens his section…

Two major historic struggles have played a central role in shaping the Muslim world and the Middle East. One axis is the struggle between Sunnis and Shi’ites in Islam. The other axis is the rivalry between two large regional civilizations: The Arab civilization and the Persian civilization. There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. About 90 percent are Sunni…

Click Here For PDF of this post – “What Is Militant Sunni Islam?”   What is Militant Sunni Islam?   Contemporary Sunni militant Islam is rooted in the two main representatives of political Islam – the Muslim Brotherhood Movement and the ultra-conservative Salafi ideology. Since its early days, the Muslim Brotherhood had – in addition to its educational, social and…

Click Here For PDF of this post – “What Is Political Islam?” What is Political Islam?   The term “political Islam” refers to movements and parties in the Muslim world that have the following things in common: Their ultimate goal is to create a global Islamic cultural, political, and religious entity known as Khalafa / Caliphate in which no other…

What is Salafi Jihadi Ideology?   The word “Salaf” means the past of something, its origin, its roots, its primal source. The origins of Salafi thought are deep in the sands of the Arabian Peninsula. Salafi thinkers and theologians believe that the Islamic civilization will be cured of all ills, and thrive and flourish again once Muslims adopt and apply…

Click here for PDF of this Article January 19, 2017     A Growing Whirlpool of Violence: The Middle Eastern Legacy of Barack Obama by Avi Melamed   On June 4, 2009 the President of the United States, Barack Obama, delivered a speech at Cairo University entitled “A New Beginning” in which he called for the opening of a new…

May 7, 2014   The War in Syria – A Mutual Chokehold By Avi Melamed Pay attention to the Syrian town of Tfail. Tfail is a Lebanese enclave located in the Al-Kalmun mountain range in Syria about a mile away from the Lebanese border. It is a town of about 5,000 people – all Lebanese citizens (though the town is located inside Syria) – the majority of whom are Sunnis. Reportedly, following the recent battles in the region, dozens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war in Syria found refuge on the outskirts of Tfail. Hezbollah argues that these refugees are not civilians, but rather Syrian rebels who fled following the recent fighting in the area of the Al-Kalmun. Reportedly,…