Calling the Faithful to Freedom!

“The American Jewish Committee faults those who say Islam is not a religion”: Islam and Religious Freedom (NY Times) “The Prevention of Unconstitutional War With Iran Act of 2018 is sponsored by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), and Paul becomes the ninth senator — and the first Republican — to put his name on the bill”:…

Increasingly, “nationalist rhetoric and accusations of terrorism to squelch anyone who might question the state” allows “the authorities to hold people for months without trial” and to impose heavy sentences on “conservatives and liberals alike”: Saudi Women Who Fought for the Right to Drive Are Disappearing and Going Into Exile (The Intercept) The CEO of…

Foreign Relations Committee member Sen. Chris Murphy  (D-CT) characterized the event as “another reason why we should probably be rethinking the political and military blank check we’ve been giving the Saudis”: Key Senators Say Disappearance of Washington Post Columnist Should End U.S. “Blank Check” to Saudi Arabia (The Intercept) “The government had ordered last year…

The village name is Khan al-Ahmar. Sing it out loud to the tune of “Anatevka“: With Plans to Demolish a West Bank Village, Israel Orders Palestinians to Vacate (NPR) Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi denied Iranian involvement in the attack, calling it a plot “designed by those who want to damage Iran’s long-established relations with France…

“The only way to portray Iran as a terrorist state is to define terror as opposing American power…. Zarif’s job is to persuade the world to rebel against Trump’s dictates. He has already had some success, notably in India, China, Russia, and Turkey” … Iran’s Best Diplomat Takes on US Power (Boston Globe) … Zarif “said…

Press outlets that characterize Rouhani’s words at the U.N. as saber-rattling just aren’t listening: Rouhani Says Iran Does Not Wish to Go to War with U.S. Forces in the Region (Reuters) The poet says she is “very happy to be free, finally, after three years” after “being sent to prison for a poem, but it…

Trita Parsi warns that “the terrorist attack in Ahvaz” might be part a Saudi and UAE effort “to goad Iran to retaliate” in order “to spark a larger war and force the US to enter” … Attack in Iran Raises Spectre of a Potentially Far Larger Conflagration (Mideast Soccer) … while Rudolph Guilliani told an Iran…

“[B]efore and beyond the Zionist abuse of Judaism (similar to the Islamist abuse of Islam in Iran and Saudi Arabia, or colonial abuse of Christianity …) there is an enduring and historically grounded proximity to the Judeo-Islamic heritage which started even before the Golden Era of Andalusia”: Yum Kippur and Ashura: Are Muslims Observing a…

“Working as an eye doctor in East Jerusalem, I saw first-hand how Israel maims Palestinians as a form of crowd control. Now Trump is cutting U.S. funds to the hospitals that treat them”: Trump and Israel’s ‘Vision’ for the Palestinians Is to Blind Them. Literally (Haaretz) “While the effectiveness of Iran’s online disinformation networks is…

“Khankan says she is not challenging the Quran, just rewriting a male-dominated way of worship … ‘by promoting and disseminating new narratives, with a focus on gender equality. It’s not a reform. We’re going back to the essence of Islam’”: ‘We’re Going Back to the Essence of Islam’: The Rise of Women’s Mosques in US…