Calling the Faithful to Freedom!

Not satisfied with banning headscarves, Education Minister Gabriel Atta will now ban traditional Muslim dresses as well, and will not be satisfied until you are unable “to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them”: France to Ban Muslim Abaya Dress in State Schools (Reuters) Admitting that Palestine is an open-air prison, Israel’s “heritage…

The shutdown of an independent out let bodes ill as India’s ranking for press freedom continues to plummet: India Blocks Independent News Outlet in Kashmir (NBC News) “It Won’t Stop at Kashmir,” Says a Senior Editor About a Key News Site Being Blocked (Reuters) Amnesty International Urges G20 to Address Kashmir Human Rights Violations (Middle…

The wall separates farmers’ homes form their farmland, but rather than let them through the gate more than twice a year, the army would have them drive 16 miles each way through a different gate: Should Twice a Year Be Enough for Palestinians to Access Their Own Land? (Haaretz) Released from arrest for running off…

The new bill increase fines for “improper hijab” from a maximum of 500,000 rials ($11.82) to a standard 360 million rials ($8,508) with “harsher penalties for businesses, celebrities, and public figures”: Iran Is About to Make Its Hijab Laws Even Stricter (Time) “Israel has acquiesced in Saudi Arabia enriching uranium for research” but “would not…

“[T]here were no casualties from what was one of the country’s most destructive attacks against Christians”: Pakistan Arrests 129 Muslims After Mob Attacks on Churches and Homes of Minority Christians (WOOD TV) “I would just like to be treated like a human being for once”: A Muslim Social Media Personality Says He Was Forced to…

The DOS “encouraged the Pakistani government … to remove Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine” … Secret Pakistan Cable Documents U.S. Pressure to Remove Imran Khan (Strategic Culture) … and the self-styled “Islamic Republic” of Pakistan now officially equates American pressure with an Act of God (a/k/a…

“Egypt provides a model for a junta that remained in the good graces of the United States”: Why the U.S. Hasn’t Declared a Coup in Niger (Reason) “They are destroying hotels, shops and homes. There is no appeal and hearing”: Muslim Homes, Shops Bulldozed; over 150 Arrested in Nuh in India’s Haryana (Aljazeera) The new…

“Basri carried out three of those attacks on Jewish sites upon the orders of … an Israeli intelligence officer who supplied Basri with grenades and TNT explosives” and “an order ‘to terrorise and not to kill’”: Zionist Role in 1950s Attacks on Iraqi Jews Confirmed by Operative & Police Report (Israel-Palestine News) “While healthcare organisations…

“The drill comes as thousands of Marines and sailors on both the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, a landing ship, are on their way to the Persian Gulf” … Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Runs Drill on Disputed Islands as US Military Presence in Region Grows (AP News) … as the danger…

The economist blames authoritarianism in the Middle East on the absence of Merchant associations, waqf inflexibility , and “apostasy, blasphemy and heresy rules” … Timur Kuran Explores the Political Impact of Islam on the Middle East in New Book (Duke) … case-in-point, the head of Al-Zaytun school facing ” a maximum 10 years in prison…