Author: Fatema

“[T]he Catholic Church’s fraught relation with Islam has emerged as one of the main themes at a major gathering of the world’s bishops in Rome”: Vatican Hosts Serious Discussion On Islam After Controversial Video (Huffington Post) “A ban on girls wearing the Islamic headscarf to a school in southern Russia has angered Muslims and forced President Vladimir…

“We want to give a message to America that the more you carry out drone attacks, the more people will hate you,” says Imran Khan, while leading thousands to a protest against drone strikes; a statement that demonstrates why anti-American sentiments sell in Middle East politics: Pakistani Military Blocks Anti-Drone Convoy from Entering Tribal Region (The…

“Information released by the US spy agency, the CIA, has revealed that because of its many undesirable side effects, scopolamine had been disqualified as a truth drug. It listed its most disabling side effects as hallucinations, disturbed perception, headaches, rapid heartbeat, and blurred vision”: US Use of Truth Drug Revealed (Sydney Morning Herald) “Bahrain’s highest court…

Robin Wright says Chris Stevens “was less an advocate of U.S influence than of U.S. enabling” and “would almost certainly have urged his bosses to hold off on extraterritorial intervention” in Libya:   What Chris Stevens Would Want Us to Do in Libya (Washington Post) The cause of the death of the US Ambassador to Libya, Chris…

Violence erupts as Vice President al-Hashemi accuses President al-Maliki of aspiring to be Iraq’s new dictator: Rejecting Death Sentence, Iraqi VP Hashemi Calls for Iraqis to Resist (Christian Science Monitor) Iraq Vice-President Sentenced to Death amid Deadly Wave of Insurgent Attacks (Guardian) “Sixteen Muslim preachers from a moderate sect were shot dead in central Mali…

Our previous research is confirmed by a new study on the rhetoric of Islamic extremists that recommends that “western leaders abandon claims that Islamists seek world domination and focus instead on addressing the grievances the groups use: Study Explores How Islamic Militants Use Quran (Voice of America) Al-Azhar successfully pushes back against an alleged attempt…

Undeterred by the backlash against Michelle Bachmann’s propagation of his wild conspiracy theories, Frank Gaffney now takes sets his sights on destroying the most effective conservative organizer in America: Former U.S. Officials Call for Bachmann to Be Replaced on Intelligence Committee (Huffington Post) Frank Gaffney Plotting To Take Down Grover Norquist With Muslim Brotherhood Accusations…

A gang of 62 including “Karl Rove, J. Paul Bremer, Fouad Ajami, Doug Feith, Danielle Pletka, and Michael Ledeen” beat the drums to turn Syria into the next Iraq … From the People Who Brought You the Iraq War… (Christian Science Monitor) … but even they should understand we don;t need another Ahmed Chalabi: Manaf…

“A nearly five-year legal saga will conclude Thursday for Falls Church resident Jamal Abusamhadaneh when he takes the oath of citizenship at a federal courthouse, after a federal judge ruled that immigration authorities wrongly drew sinister conclusions about aspects of his Muslim faith”: Judge Overrules Immigration Authorities, Orders Va. Muslim Be Naturalized (Washington Post) “How…

“Whether or not armed conflict is imminent, Sinai leaders say they have increasingly taken on tasks the state is not performing;” but that their courts “are not imposing corporal punishments … and are only arbitrating disputes among people who agree in writing to adhere to the decision of the scholars”: In Egypt’s Sinai Desert, Islamic…