Calling the Faithful to Freedom!

“Israel has expanded its scope of operations to attack targets in Iraq, whose coalition government is friendly to the United States. The predictable result: the Iraqi government is bailing on Trump’s policy”: How Secret Israeli Attacks in Iraq Are Driving Trump’s Anti-Iran Campaign (Independent Media Institute / Salon) “In 2012, Maruf suggested Muslims should not…

Has Trump inadvertently bullied Israel into admitting that–for once–it fears the U.S. Congress? Israel’s Decision to Ban U.S. Congresswomen Is Self-Defeating (New Republic) Bernie Sanders To Israel: Ban Our Lawmakers? Then Don’t Take Our Money (Huffington Post) Editorial: The Omar and Tlaib Ban from Israel Is a Disgrace. True Democracies Aren’t Afraid of Critics (LA…

“We had to stick our arms out through a small opening in the door. We soon realized that after our injections that we didn’t get our periods anymore”: Muslim Women ‘Sterilised’ in China Detention Camps, Say Former Detainees (Independent) “Many of the BJP’s aspirations and policy proposals for Kashmir are imitations of extant Israeli practices…

The Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, warned that “Jews are strictly prohibited from entering Temple Mount according to Jewish law,” but police precipitated clashes with a last minute policy reversal: Israel Allows Jews on Temple Mount After [sic!] Clashes with Muslim Worshipers (Haaretz) India has not only stripped Kashmir of its limited autonomy; in an unprecedented move it…

“India … sent tens of thousands of troops to its northern state of Jammu and Kashmir[,] … cut phone and Internet service and put Kashmiri politicians under house arrest … [revoking part] … of the Indian Constitution”: Removal of Special Status Roils Muslim-Majority Kashmir (NPR) The “[b]lunder … described as insulting to both Muslims and…

Jehan Hakim, chair of the Yemeni Alliance Committee, explains, “[O]ur Islamic values come in where we have to fight for justice even in the face of a tyrant, even if it’s speaking against your own family” Mobilizing Muslim Resistance to the Saudi War in Yemen (Foreign Policy in Focus) Robin Wright says that Javad Zarif…

“On Monday, Pompeo tweeted: ‘We aren’t afraid of [Zarif] coming to America where he enjoys the right to speak freely.’” Change your mind, Mike? … Iran’s Rouhani Slams US over ‘Childish’ Zarif Sanctions (Al-Jazeera) … the EU will not buy in: EU Vows to Continue Working with Iran’s FM Zarif Despite US Sanctions (France24) Commissioners…

“[N]either the Saudi government nor the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC, responded to multiple requests for comment about the disappearance and detention of various Saudi citizens”: No One Is Safe: How Saudi Arabia Makes Dissidents Disappear (Vanity Fair) “Authorities in the Chinese capital have ordered halal restaurants and food stalls to remove Arabic script and…

MbS promotes a Saudi “strand of ultra-conservatism that preaches absolute obedience to the ruler … as a way of countering … the [Iranian] notion of an Islamic republic that recognizes a degree of popular sovereignty”: Kashmir: A Battleground for Middle Eastern Rivals (MidEast Soccer) A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry says, “Intensification of security-policing approaches…

In a bizarre statement Pressley defended her vote condemning non-violent anti-apartheid activism “as an expression of  solidarity … [against] hateful rhetoric from the Trump Administration”: ‘Progressive Except Palestine’? Khanna and Pressley Draw Fire over Vote Condemning Nonviolent BDS Movement (Common Dreams) “Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have heightened in recent days after the demolition…