“Hamas” on The Daily Caller

Incoming House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King of New York says he is pleased that Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama administration have had an “awakening” about the threat of homegrown Islamist terrorism. (more)

It seems as though every single peace process must begin and end with Israel.  At least that is the position of the Obama administration, the EU and the UN.  But this narrative is why the peace process has failed after more than seven wars and countless peace agreements and UN resolutions. The idea that Israel has all of the cards and that it is up to Israel to deliver peace shows that the international community and the US still fundamentally do not understand the roots of the conflict and why peace can only be achieved under specific circumstances. (more)

President Obama departed Washington, D.C. last week for a 10-day visit to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan following the Democratic Party’s historic defeat in the 2010 midterm elections. It’s a routine foreign trip, like others the well-traveled president has made since he took office, unless it marks a new beginning of President Obama’s personal involvement in foreign policy. (more)

When the new Congress convenes in January, all eyes will be fixed on the economy.  There is, however, another policy crisis: nine years have passed since September 11, 2001 and fourteen years since Osama bin Laden declared war against the U.S., yet the threat from the al Qaeda network continues to grow.  Meanwhile, the U.S. response remains ad hoc, lacking an overarching strategy and a clear procedural approach to al Qaeda and its affiliated groups.  Congress must help correct this deficit. (more)

Prominent Jewish voices are speaking out against the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s (ADC) decision to honor former White House reporter and harsh critic of Israel, Helen Thomas, with their Mehdi Courage in Journalism award. (more)

Joel Rosenberg is the author of the new novel, “The Twelfth Imam.” (more)

Art Robinson, a decent, accomplished American who also happens to be a brilliant scientist and is running for Congress in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District against liberal Congressman Peter DeFazio, probably wishes he could have twenty minutes of his life back. That was the time he spent on an MSNBC show last week, hosted by someone named Rachel Maddow. (more)

Prolific writer, world-class debater, and now president of The King’s College in New York City, Dinesh D’Souza is the author of the new book, “The Roots of Obama’s Rage,” a book whose thesis has stirred up heated debate among conservatives and liberals alike. In the book, D’Souza suggests that to understand Obama and the policies he is pushing as president, you have to understand the anti-colonial dreams of his father. These same dreams, D’Souza argues, are what motivate Obama today. (more)

Is Islam a religion of peace? Last night, Christopher Hitchens took on Tariq Ramadan in a spirited debate at 92nd Street Y on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, 110 blocks north of the proposed mosque in Lower Manhattan that helped turned the summer of 2010 into an angry national discussion on that very topic. (more)

Paul Kengor is the author of the new book, “DUPES: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.” The political science professor and executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College has previously authored such books as “God and Ronald Reagan” and “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.” (more)

My 13-year-old son, who is far more interested in sports than politics, walked into the family room yesterday and said: “Dad, I saw on the news that the thing is starting when all the dictators come to America and give speeches about how bad we are.”  His statement is one of the better descriptions of the United Nations General Assembly (the UNGA) that I have ever heard. (more)

Nine years ago, on September 11, 2001, radical Islamic terrorists hijacked four airplanes and murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people, marking the worst terrorist attack on US soil in our nation’s history. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center rapidly transformed into an inferno, with trapped fathers and mothers calling their children in tears to say their last goodbyes — others leaping to their deaths in desperation. The towers would collapse later that morning, leaving behind an aftermath of blinding smoke and scattered debris. The charred and broken bodies of many murdered civilians were never identified, and America awoke to the horrific destruction caused by the enemies of freedom. (more)

Yet again the world is pressuring the Palestinians and the Israelis to negotiate to create a lasting peace.  But the very reason why talks continue to fail is because the world simply does not understand what type of climate must exist before legitimate talks can take place. (more)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — To relaunch Middle East peace talks on Thursday, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and their American mediators quietly agreed to push aside the question of Hamas — the Islamic militant group that controls one of the two Palestinian territories and rejects negotiations. (more)

The New York Times, CNN, and other “mainstream media outlets” recently reported on a video that was put out by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) on July 15, 2010.  According to MPAC, it was “compiled with the assistance of ISNA (Islamic Society of North America).” The organization says that the video is “part of MPAC’s broader effort to work with a diversity of respected leaders and communities to tackle the issue of violent extremism head on.” (more)

My first position on the controversy over the planned mosque and Muslim community center planned to be constructed within two blocks of Ground Zero was to applaud Mayor Bloomberg’s courage in not blaming all Muslims for the murderous actions of extremist, inhuman, suicidal thugs who happen to be of the Muslim faith. Indeed, I saw a positive advantage in the war against terror — just as President Bush did — by making it clear that this is a war against terrorists, not a war against Islam and it is Al Qaeda’s nightmare if there is a substantial force of moderate, humane Muslims ready to denounce Al Qaeda and other extremist fundamentalist Muslims who celebrate death and the killing of innocent civilians.  And we should be encouraging — it is in the interest of anyone who wishes to defeat these terrorist monsters — the humane voices of Islam to join us in the war against terror — and not to broad-brush all Muslims as responsible for 9/11. (more)

Watching the Sunday morning talk shows leads a viewer to conclude these TV hosts with their Beltway regulars are living in an alternate universe. While there can and should be an honest debate about whether or not a mosque should be built near the World Trade Center site, it is dishonest to label close to 70 percent of the American public as Islamophobes and bigots. All the hand-wringing, sighing and pained expressions! The incomprehension at how hundreds of millions of citizens could be so misinformed, so misguided! It must be the fault of fear mongers and opportunistic politicians! But not to worry, the valiant, extravagantly-paid journalist celebrities of the “establishment media” will expose the retrogrades, castigate the perpetrators of ignorance and educate the unwashed masses! (more)

Key players in the U.S. strategy for the war in Afghanistan took to the airwaves over the weekend to discuss the future of U.S. withdrawal. For some, that includes political negotiations with the Taliban. (more)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Have a burning sensation? Consult your doctor. Have a burning question for Matt Labash? Submit it here. (more)

Amidst the contentious debate surrounding the building of a mosque and Islamic community center at Ground Zero, it was revealed that the imam behind the project – Feisal Abdul Rauf – will soon be departing on a State Department-sponsored trip to the Middle East — and American taxpayers will be footing the bill. (more)