Calling the Faithful to Freedom!

“[F]ear kills freedom, and people, even those who claim to care about individual liberty, will think and behave in opposition to their values and their interests when they’re afraid” — Dalia Mogahed: The Twisted View of Muslim Americans in the Trump Era (Slate) “I wanted to talk about how a republican value like secularism is…

A Circuit Court judge “concluded … that being a journalist in Syria placed on a kill list by your own government might constitute a violation of your First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights”: You Might Have a ‘Uniquely Compelling’ Reason to Find Out Whether Your Government Has Placed You on a Kill List (Reason) The Iranian…

An on the scene reporter explains how the PA uses Israeli-style tactics to quash demonstrations and to prevent the press from reporting about them and the “bizarre feeling when everyone around you is more scared of Palestinian forces than they are of the Israeli army”: Protests in Ramallah: Does the PA Actually Care About Palestinians?…

The U.N. overwhelmingly (120-8) rejects the U.S. attempt to blame Hamas for Israeli violence against civilian demonstrators: UN Slams ‘Excessive’ Israeli Force Against Palestinians in Gaza (Al-Jazeera) PACT officials “told her that they felt bad about doing so, but felt that their funding would be in jeopardy if they proceeded to honor her. [F]or Muslim…

Contrary to the stereotype, fifteen of the 23 countries with the most highly educated women have Muslim majorities: Education of Muslim Women Is Limited by Economic Conditions, Not Religion (Pew Research) Trump says he is hopeful Iran will sign a new deal similar to (and as vague and unverifiable?) as what he calls the “real…

“The Palestinians in the Silwan neighborhood are threatened with eviction” but “Government lawyers admitted Sunday that a Justice Ministry unit failed to investigate significant issues before issuing a title deed for East Jerusalem land to a Jewish trust”: Israel Admits: Jerusalem Land, Home to 700 Palestinians, Given to Settler Group Without Proper Checks (Haaretz) Despite…

Instead of inviting American Muslim community leaders the White House hosted “a number of Middle Eastern diplomats and senior officials, including representatives from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, [and] one American Muslim military chaplain”: Trump White House Under Fire for Lack of Muslim-American Representation at Ramadan Celebration (VOX) “Israeli soldiers killed…

The Supreme Court’s decision is too narrow to forecast future decisions on line between invidious discrimination and freedom of religion and speech, yet it has obvious implications for the Muslim ban: How the Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision Strengthens the Case Against Trump’s Travel Ban (Reason) Solving the crisis in Jordan will require both new elections and…

As the Israeli murder of Gazans widens to include medical personnel … ‘Her Only Weapon Was Her Medical Vest’: Palestinians Mourn Death of Nurse Killed by Israeli Forces (CNN) … Selling Israeli dates to Muslims to break their fast combines insult and injury; a customer defies French law to tell a store manager that “Israelis shoot…

Maintaining its decades-long occupation depends on systematic suppression of dissent on both sides of the boundary fences. … Israel also tries to bully foreign nationals who document and monitor its human rights record. … In recent weeks, Israel has also denied entry to four leading American civil rights activists” … Israel Lets Jews Protest the Occupation. It…