Clifford D. May

CLIFFORD MAY: Palestinians and an Israeli discuss the West Bank

Last week, I paid a couple of visits to the West Bank or, as Israel's enemies call it, "the illegally occupied Palestinian territories." Israelis who live and work there are more likely to use the biblical name: Judea and Samaria.

June 30, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Deadlines worsen the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

JERUSALEM - The "peace process" between Israelis and Palestinians has ground to a halt. What should American and European leaders do? Try not to make the situation worse.

June 23, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Obama’s faith in Iran misplaced

Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn served 33 years in the U.S. Army. Being named President Obama's director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012 was the culmination of his career. He thought his job was to relate facts, not fables. It soon became clear that his superiors didn't agree.

June 16, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Muslim extremist culture glorifies mass murder

You probably didn't know it, but Osama bin Laden was a poet. In fact, according to Yale's Robyn Creswell and Princeton's Bernard Haykel, "Of all jihadi poets, bin Laden was the most celebrated, and he prided himself on his knowledge of the art."

June 9, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: China, Iran challenge America’s naval dominance

''Creating facts on the ground" means changing reality through actions rather than diplomacy. China's rulers have gone further: Over the last 18 months they have been creating ground: over 2,000 new acres of islands more than 600 miles from China's coast, many built atop rocks and reefs claimed by their neighbors, including the Philippines, an important American ally. In recent days, the Chinese have been installing landing strips, helipads, harbors, radar installations, artillery pieces and other weapons.

June 2, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Resisting trend toward anti-Semitism

Robert S. Wistrich, who died suddenly last week, was considered the foremost scholar of anti-Semitism, which he called "the longest hatred," one that appears to be metastasizing in the current era.

May 26, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Gulf state rulers don’t trust Obama

I'd venture to guess that most of what you heard about President Obama's summit last week was wrong. To start, it wasn't a "summit." That term, coined by Winston Churchill, implies a meeting of heads of government. However, the most important Arab leader invited by Mr. Obama, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, stayed home, as did the rulers of the United Arab Emirates and Oman. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain decided his time could be spent more productively at the Royal Windsor Horse Show outside London.

May 19, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: No line between free speech and provocative speech

Rights are like muscles. If not exercised, they atrophy. Freedom of speech, a right guaranteed by the First Amendment, is the most fundamental of rights. Without it, how do you even defend your other rights?

May 12, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: The ‘suave’ manner Mohammad Javad Zarif

Tehran's largest cemetery, Behesht-e Zahra, contains the graves of thousands of Iranians killed in battle. There's also a polished stone monument bearing this inscription: "To the memory of two Muslim Lebanese youths who on the morning of Sunday October 23, 1983, in two simultaneous martyrdom operations, with trucks carrying explosives, attacked the headquarters of American occupiers (in South Beirut) and headquarters of French occupiers (in West Beirut) killing 241 American Marines and 48 French paratroopers. Their names we do not know, but we will continue their path."

May 5, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Recalling the lessons of Armenia

Displayed outside the Turkish embassy in Washington last week was a large banner reading, "Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie." That claim might be amusing were the subject not so dreadful.

April 28, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Congress should act on Iran deal

Members of Congress are facing the test of their political lives. America's national security is about to be imperiled. American sovereignty is about to be surrendered. The U.S. Constitution is about to be compromised.

April 21, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Ayaan Hirsi Ali risks life with call for Islam’s reform

By now, you should be familiar with the name Ayaan Hirsi Ali. You should know at least this much about her: She is brilliant, beautiful, black and she has been banned near Boston.

April 14, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Obama should not trust Iran

"The West Capitulates." That was the headline on an article by Ibrahim al-Amin, editor of the Lebanese daily al-Akbar. He elaborated: "Victors and vanquished. This is the truth of conflicts in the world since ancient times. Only those who live with their eyes closed believe conflicts end with compromises."

April 7, 2015

CLIFFORD MAY: Iran lays plans for a new Persian empire

Three years ago, film-goers were treated to "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," which critic Kenneth Turan called a "pleasant fantasy" about the Middle East. Today, of course, Yemen is the hub of a bloody conflict, one which President Obama persists in viewing with equal unreality.

March 31, 2015