Minaret of Freedom Weblog

“Two of the six groups said they would not be forced underground despite the uncertainty of their new status, which would allow Israel to raid the groups’ offices, seize assets, arrest employees and criminalize funding and expressions of support”:

• Israel Designates 6 Palestinian Human Right Groups as Terrorist Organizations (NPR)

Those who argued that Article 370 was the cause of communal strife and terrorism must confront the fact that two years after its abrogation things have gotten worse:

• Kashmir Has Become a Laboratory and a Testing Ground for All Forces: Congress Leader Tariq Hameed Karra (The Hindu)

“UN independent rights experts … called on the Israeli Government to completely end the ‘unlawful practice’ of administrative detention”:

• Fears Grow for the Lives of 5 Palestinians on Hunger Strike in Israeli Prisons (UN News)

Religious scholars in Bangladesh are condemning violence whether against Hindus or Muslims:

• Tripura Muslim Body Alleges Attacks on Mosques, Says Attempt to Malign Govt (Hindustan Times)

“With PayPal not operating in Palestine, it’s like another checkpoint that’s stopping us from moving,” says a web designer who lost a contract because his client in Australia used PayPal to pay bills:

• Palestinians Urge PayPal to Offer Services in West Bank and Gaza (Reuters)

“Far from becoming one of the world’s 10 largest economies by 2023, as Erdoğan promised, Turkey is now out of the top 20. Double-digit inflation, increasing unemployment, and rising consumer prices have made life unbearable for millions”:

• The Perils of Personalizing Power: Erdoğan’s One-man Rule Has Made Him Increasingly Vulnerable (Middle East Institute)

“Shortlisted for The JCB Prize for Literature 2021, Shabir Ahmad Mir’s debut novel captures the vortex that Kashmir has been in over the years”:

• ‘The Plague Upon Us’ Is a Ballad on Individual Suffering Amidst the Collective Trauma of Kashmir (Scroll)

Israel systematically erases Palestinian identity, yet “[a] film about a Palestinian citizen of Israel, with a predominantly Palestinian cast, based on a novel by a Palestinian author, won this year’s top Israeli film honor”:

• The Dilemma of Palestinian Representation in Israeli Cinema (972)

The six prisoners are among the 520 held in Israeli jails without formal charges or trial:

• Palestinians Demand Mobilisation to Save Hunger-strike Prisoners (Aljazeera)

“The court said [that] a Muslim ex-wife has a right to maintenance subject to satisfying certain conditions, is indisputable”:

• Muslim Marriage Is a Contract, Not Sacrament Unlike Hindu Marriage: Karnataka HC (Hindustan Times)

Colin Powell deserves credit for adding in his refutation of claims that Barak Obama was a Muslim that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim or for “with some 7-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president?” …

• In 2008, Some Republicans Claimed Obama Was a Muslim. Colin Powell Pushed Back (NPR)

… but he himself denied claims that he ever questioned the Bush administration’s false claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction:

• Diane Rehm’s Interview with Colin Powell (WAMU)

The AJC, the ADL, and Bend the Arc  are among the religious organizations blowing the whistle on Republicans who seem to oppose someone “eminently qualified” to be confirmed as “be the highest-ranking Muslim in government”:

• The Cowardice of Senate Republicans Blocking a Qualified Muslim’s Confirmation (Washington Post)

“Biden has acquiesced to Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; … followed through on the Taliban-Trump deal …; and appears in no hurry to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal abandoned by Trump”:

• Despite Promises of ‘Relentless Diplomacy,’ Biden’s Foreign Policy Agenda Feels Like an Extension of the Trump Era (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Benny Gantz paints the move as a “humanitarian gesture” but it only allows some Gaza refugees and undocumented spouses of West Bank residents denied freedom in the occupied territory to take menial jobs in Israel:

• Israel Approves West Bank Residency for 4,000 Undocumented Palestinians (Sharq al-Awsat)

The terrorist group India blames for the recent violence “emerged in the wake of … [India’s]  harsh communication and movement lockdown in the Kashmir valley to forestall any large-scale protests” of its policies:

• What Is Behind the Recent Surge in Violence in Kashmir? (Aljazeera)

Human Rights Watch is demanding Iranian “investigate abuses against Payam Derafshan, prosecute anyone responsible, provide him with adequate redress, and urgently investigate the prevalence of torture and abuse in [its] prisons”:

• Iran: Account of Horrific Abuse of Prominent Lawyer (Human Rights Watch)

“[I]n addition to the burning and cutting down of trees, the attacks included stealing olive crops, chasing down farmers and pushing them off their lands, as well as threatening them and drowning parts of their lands with the sewage water”:

• Settler Attacks Wreak Havoc on Palestinians During Olive Harvest (Aljazeera)

British Muslims are apprehensive “after it emerged that Ali Harbi Ali, the 25-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder following the fatal stabbing, came from a British Somali family”:

• UK Muslim Groups Brace for Rise in Hate Crime After Killing of David Amess (The Guardian)

“The grisly killing of a villager during a campaign to evict hundreds of Muslim families from government land in India’s Assam … sparked national outrage”:

• Violent Eviction Drive in India’s Assam Revives Tensions over Undocumented Migrants (Washington Post)

“Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for Sunday’s killings, or for an incident the previous day in which two other migrant workers were shot dead”:

• India to Move Some Migrant Workers in Kashmir to Army Camps After Killings (Reuters)

The slumping economy and a self-destructive campaign strategy are blamed for the Fatah Alliance’s poor showing in the Iraqi elections, which they call a “sham”:

• Pro-Iran Hashed Punished in Iraq Vote (France 24)

“Many Iranians blame the scale of Covid fatalities on the decision of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to ban the import of US- and UK-developed vaccines last winter”:

• Covid: Thousands of Children Left Without Parents in Iran (BBC)

The organizers profess that “blending secular, religious, and personal symbols … cuts ‘to the core of the insidious nature of empire and colonialism.'” But, really, shoes on a prayer rug?

• These Muslim Artists in the West Are Reenvisioning the Prayer Rug (Artsy)

Since the election of its new president, Iran “has so far refused to resume indirect talks with the United States in Vienna”:

• EU’s Borrell ‘Optimistic’ About Possible New Iran Talks (Reuters)

The unintended positive consequences of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and uncertainty over future U.S. commitments to the Middle East demonstrate the value of nonintervention to safe and secure world:

• US Military Presence in the Middle East: The Less the Better (Middle East Soccer)
• Time for Washington to Stop Sanctioning the World: US Arrogance Leaves Trail of Innocent Victims Behind (Antiwar.com)

““We had two goals – the first was to see our families and live in the West Bank under Palestinian Authority protective custody. The second was to prove to all Israeli security organizations and the Israeli government that they’re incompetent”:

• ‘I’ll Be Freed in Seven Years in Hamas Deal,’ Palestinian Mastermind Behind Jailbreak Says (Haaretz)

“The Palestinian detainee, whose identity is unknown, along with the reason for his detention, was handcuffed and blindfolded during the abuse and moved to a prison, where he underwent a medical examination”:

• 4 Israel Soldiers Arrested for Beating, Sexually Assaulting Palestine Detainee (Middle East Monitor)

“India needs to move quickly to improve its shameful record of harassing and detaining critical journalists in Jammu and Kashmir in a complete abandonment of India’s once-proud tradition of press freedom”:

• Jammu and Kashmir Authorities Detain, Question 5 Journalists; Hold Salman Shah, Suhail Dar (Committee to Protect Journalists)

“The latest escalations by Israel is proof that conflict is not incidental or circumstantial to Zionism; it is integral to its logic and necessary for its functioning”:

• Unlike a Prayer: Israel’s Not-so-silent Encroachment on Al-Aqsa (The New Arab)

Stafford County’s resistance to an Islamic cemetery that went on for years “was more than poor judgment. It has become a sterling example for local governments of how not to deal with minority communities”:

• A Muslim Cemetery Was Finally approved in Virginia. Now Bigotry Needs a Proper Burial (Washington Post)

The Tunisian dictator seems to think that appointing a woman to replace the democratically elected prime minister will distract attention from the fact that he rules “by decree” and not with the consent of the governed:

• Tunisian Politics: First Woman Prime Minister of the Arab World (Arab America)

Thanks to the Israeli blockade and military strikes as well as cutbacks in humanitarian aid, Gazaa municipal water is intermittent, polluted by sewage, and unpalatably salty. Those who can buy private water:

• Gaza’s Undrinkable Water ‘Slowly Poisoning’ Palestinians (Aljazeera)

Angry that authorities refused to bar Muslim students from a college event celebrating a Hindu holiday on the grounds that it is not against the law, BJP allied fanatics “went on the rampage, accusing the college of promoting ‘love jihad'”:

• 4 Muslim Men, Targeted by Bajrang Dal, Arrested at Indore Garba Event (NDTV)

Palestinians are not the only marginalized group to have been denied service by PayPal. Its Venmo division was sued last year “for blocking payments associated with Islam or Arab nationalities or ethnicities”:

• Why Is PayPal Denying Service to Palestinians? (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

“He is keen to stress that the Palestinian question is not and never was a religious one but rather a colonial one. Nevertheless he … writes about God, the Quran and his spiritual beliefs, without feeling the need to hide behind metaphors or caveats”:

• ‘I’m Not Afraid to Pick a Fight’: Mohammed el-Kurd on Rifqa, God and Palestinian Resilience (Middle East Eye)

The Taliban have signaled that closure of public schools secondary school for girls may be temporary, perhaps due to a shortage of female teachers, but the Prophet (pbuh) made it a priority by saying that education of girls is a road to paradise:

• Muslim Foreign Ministers to Make Women’s Rights Plea to Taliban (The Guardian)

The over 390 workers condemning technology for “surveillance of and unlawful data collection on Palestinians, and facilitates expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land” remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation:

• We Are Google and Amazon Workers. We Condemn Project Nimbus (The Guardian)

Under the principle of retribution those criminals who blind women by throwing acid in their eyes should be blinded (unless the victims prefer financial compensation) but Western “human rights” groups object:

• Eye For An Eye: Blinding Sentence Puts Spotlight On Iran’s Retribution Laws (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)

A doubling of hate crimes from 2009 to 2018 combined with abuse from peers, professors and administrators, and a refusals to recognize Muslim holidays contribute to the students’ dissatisfaction over safety and inclusion:

• The Imperative to Support Muslim Students (Inside Higher Ed)

Columbus “claimed to see more than 400 mosques in the territory he conquered 500 years ago, which today we call Mexico, and he referred to the leader Montezuma as a ‘sultan'”:

• Columbus’ Fear of Islam, Rooted in Europe’s Crusades, Shaped His View of Native Americans” (LA Times)

The Israeli demonstrates its contempt for the property, persons, freedom, and health of the Palestinians under its occupation …

• Israel Forces a Palestinian to Demolish His Home in Kafr Qassem (IMEMC)
• Army Abducts Eight Palestinians in Bethlehem and Hebron (IMEMC)
• Israeli Soldiers Abduct Six Palestinians From Nablus (IMEMC)
• Army Prevents Palestinians From Picking Olive Trees, Abduct Three, Near Salfit (IMEMC)
• Army to Demolish Building Designated to Be a Clinic in Northern Plains (IMEMC)

… except in Beita where “[h]undreds of fearful Palestinians” walked past Israeli soldiers guarding an illegal Israeli settlement to harvest their olives:

• Beita Residents Reach Lands for First Time Since Settler Takeover (Aljazeera)

“Kisan … is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements and outposts, including Ma’ale Amos, Mizpe Shalem and Abei Hanahal, constructed on large tracts of private land expropriated from Palestinian owners”:

• Palestinian Village Target of Settler Attacks and Land Theft (Aljazeera)

Seven-year-old Cassandra Wyatt “has not been back to school since the alleged incident”:

• Teacher Accused of Forcibly Removing Muslim 2nd Grader’s Hijab (WCBS)

“This is not how they imagined their first home together: a mattress on the floor, a hot plate to cook on and a police guard stationed out front. It’s a secret safe house in India’s capital, 200 miles from the village where they grew up”:

• In India, Boy Meets Girl, Proposes — and Gets Accused of Jihad (NPR)

For Hindus and Sikhs in Kashmir, three murders in one week provoke a “flashback” of the pogroms of the 1990s …

• Kashmiri Hindus, Sikhs Reel from Spate of Deadly Attacks (Aljazeera)

… and provide the state with an excuse for “hard action to be taken on all the elements including terrorists, overground workers (OGWs) and sympathizers”:

• NIA Raids on TRF in Jammu and Kashmir amid Spate of Civilian Killings (Hindustan Times)

“[A]fter weeks of consultations, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have reached a deal on ‘‘the way and the timing’ for UN nuclear inspectors to service cameras installed at Iran’s nuclear facilities”:

• Preventing an Accidental Nuclear Crisis in Iran and Beyond (Bulletin of teh Atomic Scientists)

“Ending endless war means more than troop withdrawal. It also means ending the militarized approach to foreign policy — including the transfer of deadly weapons around the world — that has undermined human rights”:

• Gulf Security: It’s Not All Bad News (Middle East Soccer)

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s first president wrote that in France Khomeini talked “about liberation and freedom of speech” but from the moment of his return to Tehran, “he was purely in pursuit of power”:

• Abolhassan Banisadr Obituary (The Guardian)

“The conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism is a long-term strategy and the effect on the Australian media is obvious. It is a proven way to silence critics, ensure questions remain unanswered and media coverage muted” …

• Why Are Australia and Its Media So Fearful of Debate on Israel’s Treatment of Palestinians? (The Guardian)

… as exemplified by Israel’s stranglehold on FaceBook and Pay Pal and the smear campaign against an activist-journalist-photographer’s coverage of Israeli human rights violations:

• Israel/Palestine: Facebook Censors Discussion of Rights Issues (Human Right Watch)
• Rights Groups to PayPal: End Discrimination Against Palestinians (Aljazeera)
• I Filmed a Settler Pogrom. Now the Israeli Media Is Smearing Me (972)

The Hazaris demand the right to defend themselves from terrorists the Taliban cannot control. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never abridged the right of his people to keep and bear arms; why do the Taliban?

• Islamic State Claims Mosque Blast in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that Killed Nearly 50, Injured Dozens (Washington Post)

A Muslim feminist wonders whether her thoughtful article on the hijab was “an unwitting continuation of the tradition of Western colonizers who condemned the veiling of women while they invaded and plundered foreign lands”:

• The Inconsistency of American Feminism in the Muslim World (New Yorker)

In the cities women could go to schools and get jobs with the corrupt puppet government, but in the rural areas the U.S. only brought death:

• ‘Everyone Here Hated the Americans’: Rural Afghans Live with the Taliban and a Painful U.S. Legacy (Washington Post)

Academics accuse Professor David Miller’s critics of using “false allegations and the weaponisation of the positive impulses of anti-racism so as to silence anti-racist debate”:

• Chomsky and Pilger among 400 Academics to Back Uni Professor over Israel-Palestine Views (Morning Star)

“Afghan textbooks teach different schools of Muslim religious law separately. They also keep religion out of secular subjects.” Not so in Pakistan:

• Comparing Textbooks: Even Afghanistan Scores Better than Pakistan (Middle East Soccer)

“Security forces in Indian Kashmir have detained more than 300 people for questioning in recent days as they try to stem a wave of targeted killings that has spread panic among minority groups”:

• Hundreds Detained in Security Crackdown in Kashmir-Indian Police Officials (Reuters)

Iran continues it’s proxy face-off with the U.S. in Iraq at the ballot box, directly negotiates with the Taliban, and meets with Syria’s dictator even as it is a major player in the civil war there:

• Caught Between US and Iran, Iraqis Face Choices in Elections (AlJazeera)
• Iran’s Foreign Minister Holds Talks with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad (AlJazeera)
• War Still Rages in Syrian Border Town at Heart of Iran’s Regional Ambition (The Guardian)
• Afghanistan Dispatches: ‘Iran Has Entered into Direct Negotiations with the Taliban and Has Now Signed an Agreement with Them’ (Jurist)

Israel trains Panamanian police how to recognize people who deserve to die: They look like Arabs:

• Israeli-Run Police in Panama Used Targets Depicting Arabs during Training (Palestine Chronicle)

Frances Haugen last worked at Facebook “on tracking Chinese participation on the platform, surveilling, say, Uyghur populations around the world” …

• ‘Terrifying’: Facebook Whistleblower Cites Violence in Myanmar and Ethiopia, Spying by China and Iran (CNN)

… and reports that “Facebook was well aware of incendiary anti-Muslim narratives being promoted on the platform in India” …

• Facebook Aware of Anti-Muslim Content in India, but Took Little Action, Alleges Whistleblower (Scroll)

… as Time magazine asks:

• Is India Headed for an Anti-Muslim Genocide? (Time)

Palestinian human rights group accuses PayPal of denying services to West Bank and Gaza Palestinians “while providing full access to Israeli settlers living illegally in the West Bank”:

• PayPal Engaging in ‘Digital Discrimination’ by Denying Services to Palestinians: 7amleh (The New Arab)

As “tensions mount between Iran and Azerbaijan over Baku’s ties with Israel, a major arms supplier” …

• Iran ‘Concerned’ by Israeli ‘Presence’ in the Caucasus (AlJazeera)
• Pakistan and Iran Discuss Border Security, Afghanistan (AlJazeera)
• Washington Welcomes News of Direct Talks Between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Official Aays (CNBC)

… is in talks with Russia, Pakistan, and even Saudi Arabia; will the U.S. be next?

• Iran Looking for ‘Big Jump’ in Russia Relations with Moscow Talks ()

“Israeli acknowledgement of its nuclear capabilities would likely force it to join Iran as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)”:

• Concern About Iran Prompts Israel to Weigh Acknowledgement of Its Own Nuclear Weapons (Middle East Soccer / Substack)

No group has claimed credit for the killings of a pharmacist, a street food vendor, and a cab driver:

• Suspected Rebels Kill Three Civilians in Kashmir (AlJazeera)

His family is pleading with Iran to let Baquer Namazi, in need of “surgery to open a near complete blockage of the two main arteries that supply blood to his brain, … leave the country”:

• Outlook for Iran’s Longest-Held Americans Echoes Broader Relationship: Dismal (NY Times)

The man Donald Trump called a “hostage” turns out to be a would-be bigamist who sought to marry a younger Iranian woman while secretly married to a U.S. permanent resident who had filed domestic violence charges against him:

• US Navy Vet Who Pursued Bride in Iran Had a Hidden Marriage (VoA)

Everyone agrees saving lives is good thing, but the U.S. Congress is only interested in saving Israeli lives, not Palestinian ones:

• What the Iron Dome Means to Us Palestinians (Israel-Palestine News)

Iran will not go back to talks unless Biden proves he is “serious”:

• Iran Told U.S. to Unblock $10 Billion to Start Nuclear Talks (Bloomberg)

Stand With Kashmir accuses Twitter, Facebook and Instagram of censoring Kashmiris with no other means of expression “by removing content, blocking important accounts that provide information, and restricting the reach of content”:

• Social Media Giants Accused of ‘Silencing’ Kashmir Voices (Aljazeera)

“Washington has lent Riyadh critical support since the initial Saudi-led intervention. Now, the United States “has a responsibility to help clean up the mess it helped create'”:

• Accomplice to Carnage: How America Enables War in Yemen (Foreign Affairs)

“I strongly condemn this vandalism and urge the administration, especially Jammu and Kashmir Police, to identify the culprits so they can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law” — Omar Abdullah, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference VP:

• Temple Desecrated in Kashmir’s Anantnag, J&K Police Launch Probe (India Today)

“Young evangelicals remain to be convinced of Christian Zionism. And they very well may not be”:

• Young Evangelical Support for Israel Drops by Half in 3 Years – Study (Israel-Palestine News)

“[S]everal shirtless settlers with scarves wrapped around their faces hurling stones at a cluster of homes and vehicles. Israeli troops stood among the settlers but did not appear to be taking any action to stop them”:

• Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Village, Wound Toddler (AP / Washington Post)

False charges of antisemitism to suppress true statements about Israeli aggression are not new, but “the intervention of Israeli government officials directly with an American university over the teaching of a course represents a troubling new threat to academic freedom”:

• Israeli Diplomat Pressured UNC to Remove Teacher Who Criticized Israel (The Intercept)

Women’s education is off to a bad start under Taliban 2.0, but it is as important for the Taliban as it is for Afghani women:

• Kabul University Shuts Down as Taliban  Government Bans Women from Campus, for Now (Washington Post)
• I Educate Girls. My Life’s Work Is the Taliban’s Greatest Need (Washington Post)

The show demonstrates the “diversity of opinion, diversity of faith and … great diversity in how Iranians express themselves. ” Its sponsor estimates “that 40 per cent of artists working in Iran right now are female, higher than elsewhere”:

• Manhattan Exhibition Combats View of Iran as ‘Hostile Anti-American State’ (The Art Newspaper)

Iraq’s PM seeks “to promote a more integrated region and turn his country into a bridge rather than a battleground for competing foreign powers”:

• Rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran Hold Talks in Iraq (Axios)