News and Analysis (7/7/14)

The caliphate “plagued by intrigue, division and bloodshed. Three of the first four ‘rightly guided caliphs’ were assassinated.” Later, the famous Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates “were constantly at war with one another. Not quite the golden age of the Islamist imagination” …

• The Hand-Choppers of Isis Are Deluded: There Is Nothing Islamic About Their Caliphate (Huffington Post)

… but IS’s reincarnation threatens to be even more senseless in its violence, as “fighters from the Islamic State have demolished numerous Shia shrines and mosques in northern Iraq”:

• Islamic State Claims Shia Mosque Destruction (Al-Jazeera)
• In Pictures: Isis Destroys Iraq Shrines (BBC)

… and Iraqis and other Muslims are repelled:

• Iraq: ‘Isis Enjoy Disfiguring Islam’ (BBC)
• Muslim Leaders Reject Baghdadi’s aliphate (Al-Jazeera)

To save face, Israel pledged to find and bring to justice those responsible for burning a Palestinian-American teenager alive, and thus “demonstrate that the state of Israel is a country that abides by laws, and treats terrorist the same” …

•  One of Six Jewish Nationalists Arrested Confesses to Revenge Killing of Arab Teen (The Jerusalem Post)

… yet in their collective punishment rampage, Israeli forces severely beat and later arrested the murdered young man’s 16-year-old cousin, now under house arrest for nine days after having to pay to bail him out …

• Palestine-US Teen Speaks After Israeli Police Beating (BBC)

… even as they again batter the Gaza strip …

• Israel Strikes Gaza Targets Amid Political Fallout at Home (Christian Science Monitor)

… and as press conferences and events are being held to inform the world about the plight of the Palestinian people, and to raise awareness about their situation …

• Civil Society to Highlight Plight of Palestinian People ( Tribune)

… including a demonstration in front of the White House, calling on the president to stop financing the IDF; ignored by the Western press, the demonstrators chanted, “Deny our existence, expect our resistence”:

• Washington: Demonstrators Denounce Israel’s Collective Punishment Against Palestinian (Morocco World News)

The “longest continuously serving American official in Iraq”  explains why he pushed for Maliki’s ascension, why he came to regret it, and why Maliki is still in office despite the obvious disaster of his administration:

•   Why We Stuck with Maliki — and Lost Iraq (Washington Post)

“We are not doing anything parallel to the judicial system and we don’t say that any order passed by a Qazi is binding on all. Our sole motto is to resolve a matter with the consent of two parties involved in accordance with sharia,” — Imam Khalid Rasheed Farangi: 

• Supreme Court Ruling on Sharia Courts Draws Sharp Reaction from Muslim Clerics (Times of India)

“I urge the Buddhists in these countries to imagine an image of Buddha before they commit such a crime. Buddha preaches love and compassion. If the Buddha is there, he will protect the Muslims whom the Buddhists are attacking” — Dalai Lama:

• Dalai Lama to Myanmar, Sri Lanka Buddhists: Stop Violence Against Muslims (CNN)

“The Somali militant Islamist group al-Shabab said it was behind the killings … with a growing use of armed units rather than grenades, improvised explosive devices and single targeted assassinations” :

• Kenyan Coastal Region of Lamu Hit by Deadly Attacks (BBC)

Sisi will allow himself to raise prices, but not the market, and “some taxi drivers going on strike to protest the steep fuel rises, which they complain were not translated into a proportionate hike in fare rules”:

• Egypt President Defends Recent Price Hikes (AP / abc News)

Ramadan is  “a month that teaches Muslims to think of the hungry and the destitute. It is not only about food and water. It is about giving charity to the needy and to undergo a process of self-accountability” :

• Ramadan: A Training Program for Muslims (Arab News)

Hanan Hameed