Minaret of Freedom Weblog

Arm thine enemies: How democratic can you get?

• The Untracked Guns of Iraq (NY Times)

Human rights award recipient describes Syrian experience

• The Horrors of Extraordinary Rendition (Counterpunch.org)

We’d have thought 3,000 deaths per month would be enough:

• Language on Iraq — When Is It Civil War? (Reuters)

The real Tariq Ramadan:

• A Radical Idea: How Muslims Can Be European, Too (Christian Science Monitor)

Bombing of school breaks peace deal:

• Pakistani Tribals Seethe over Airstrike on Madrasa (Reuters)

Would he still say it’s not torture if al-Qaida did it to him?

• Cheney Confirms That Detainees Were Subjected to Water-Boarding (McClatchy)

Speaking of torture, ever wonder how we got into Iraq in the first place?

• Confession That Formed Base of Iraq War Was Acquired Under Torture: Journalist (AFP)

Iraq experience may end rather than start a trend towards democracy in the Arab world:

• In Syria, Iraq’s Fate Silences Rights Activists (Washington Post)

Think of all the lives that could have been saved if this had been done in the first place:

• Progress on Israel-Palestinian Prisoner Swap: Hamas (Reuters)

Deterioration of peace process gives rise to an Islamist movement in Israel:

• Israeli Arab’s Rising Voice of Opposition (Christian Science Monitor)

Khalid Hroub argues that Hamas has been moving in a pragmatic direction for years, a change that the current sanctions threaten to reverse:

• Hamas Is Being Punished for Moderate Behavior (Daily Star)

President discounts missed benchmarks as hypothetical…

• Bush’s Proposal of ‘Benchmarks’ for Iraq Sounds Familiar (Washington Post)

… but al-Maliki tells a different story:

• Iraqi Premier Denies U.S. Assertion He Agreed to Timelines (Washington Post)

Rampant corruption continues in post-Saddam Iraq:

• Iraqi Officials ‘Stole Millions’ (BBC News)

Palestinian farmers demand access rights to their own land for olive harvest only to find more difficulty in selling crops due to heavy restrictions:

• Olive Harvest Sparks Tensions (BBC News)

Muslim World deals with continuing violence during Eid:

• Violence Casts Shadow on Muslim Holiday (AP/Washington Post)

Chinese Muslims face heavy governemnt interference and State attempts at brainwashing:

• Muslims Feel the Long Arm of Beijing (LA Times)

Applying a double-standard? Former Indonesian leader’s son, convicted of hiring someone to kill a Supreme Court judge, could soon be released from jail after serving only four years:

• Way Open for Possible Release of Suharto’s Son: Minister (Reuters/NY Times)

Could judge have based his ruling on the facts and not the face?

• Case Tossed over Plaintiff’s Veil (AP/Chicago Tribune)

Eid Mubarak!

Adil Shamou asks “What has my new country the United States, done to my old country, Iraq?”

• What Has Invasion Unleashed in Iraqi? (Baltimore Sun)

A woman’s right to be heard in Islam:

• As Ramadan Ends, One Woman Loudly Leaves Her Mark (Christian Science Monitor)

Israel denies American residents visas:

• Stricter Policy Splits West Bank Families (Washington Post)

Both sides used cluster bombs but Israel had the monopoly on chemical weapons:

• Israel Admits Using Phosphorus Bombs During ar in Lebanon (Haaretz / Freedom’s Phoenix)

Mahmoud Zahar vows to protect Parliament building from Fatah:

• Hamas to Increase Militia (Sunday Herald)

Former Marine lawyer says courts martial in Iraq and Afghanistan are “acquitting individuals with unusual frequency”:

• Tougher Stance on Crimes of US Troops? (Christian Science Monitor)

Keith Olbermann speaks out on the Military Commissions Act:

• ‘Beginning of the end of America’ (MSNBC)

Pressure on Hamas could have unintended consequences:

• The Palestinian Test Case (The Economist)

Rami Khouri argues that “ending violence is a good thing in itself:”

• Why Israel Should Grab Hamas’ Truce Offer (Daily Star)

A Muslim social scientist argues that the best way to fight extremism is to “reinsert moral and ethical values in the public sphere and in international diplomacy:”

• Faith and Reason in Islam (Jewishcomment.com)

For Iraqis, this is not what Ramadan is about:

• Beloved Ramadan Traditions Fall Victim to Iraq’s Dangers (Washington Post)

A Muslim women’s rights activist complains…

• Clothes Aren’t the Issue (Washington Post)

… while a convert to Islam explains:

• How I Came to Love the Veil (Washington Post)

Baggage handlers file joint discrimination suit:

• Muslim Airport Workers Lose Clearances (Washington Post / AP)

Victim awarded $2000:

• British Panel Reprimands School in Veil Dispute (Washington Post)

Staying the course into Hell:

• White House Rejects Some Iraq Options (Reuters)

Israeli forces use tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannon against worshippers:

• Palestinians Flock to Jerusalem (Washington Post / AP)

Ashqar attributes his prosecution to the administration’s desire to coerce him into indicting Palestinians:

• Palestinian Puzzle: A Business Professor in Springfield Goes on Trial Today On U.S. Charges of Supporting Hamas. He Strongly Denies It. (Washington Post)

Volley in a campaign against violence directed at civilians:

• Muslim Scholars Write the Pope – and Everyone Else (Christian Science Monitor)

Know thyself; the beginning of wisdom:

• Hamas Official: Is Violence Palestinian “Disease?” (Reuters)

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got …

• U.S.: 22 Pct. More Attacks in Ramadan: U.S. Says Attacks During Ramadan Are Up 22 Percent and Baghdad Drive Has Not Met Expectations (abc news)

… General Caldwell compares the situation in Iraq to the Tet offensive of Vietnam:

• General Urges New Strategy for Baghdad (NY Times)

Thailand’s Prime Minister, subsequent to talks with Malaysian counterpart, promises to reach out to Muslim minority in order to end the fighting that has claimed 1700 lives since 2004.

• Thai PM: Muslim Problem Will Be Resolved (Washington Post)

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee: “Refusing to release the nationalities leaves open a possibility that immigration laws are being disproportionately enforced against Arab-Americans and Muslims.”

• Suit Seeks Data on Immigration Profiling of Arabs (New York Times)

President of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies: “… Potentially the widest infringement of the rights of Muslim students that there ever has been in this country.”

• Report: British universities to be asked to ‘spy’ on Muslim students (Guardian Unlimited )

Demand exceeds supply for “shariah-compliant” hard currency:

• Gold Dinar as Investment, Anyone? (New Straits Times / Freedom’s Phoenix)

Bush hosts iftaar at the White House and praises Muslims:

• Bush Honors Muslims Aiding in Terror War (AP/Washington Post)

Lebanese ask: Who is the UN really protecting?

• U.N. Force Only Protects Israel: Top Shi’ite Cleric (Reuters/Washington Post)

In his late 70s and disabled, man was held for over three years in Guantanamo: one son is still held there while another was elected to Kabul’s provincial council:

• `What is My Crime?’ (Chicago Tribune)

British politicians continue to get face-veil issue wrong…

• School Aide Swept Up In Britain’s Veil Debate (AP/Washington Post)

…Tunisia starts forcing women to take off their headscarves in public

• Tunisia Moves Against Headscarves (BBC News)

Thirty-eight Muslim scholars have written an open letter to the Pope regarding the errors in his speech at Regensburg:

• Open Letter to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago)

The Arab League offers to dispatch a force of Arab and Muslim troops as peacekeepers to Darfur:

• Arabs to the Rescue? A Chance to Broaden the Response in Darfur (The Washington Post)

Jewish Sukkot is held at a Long Island masjid amid accusations of Ted King, a local senator and fervent US Patriot Act supporter, that the mosque is a hotbed of anti-American Muslim extremism and anti-Semitism.

• Terrorist Nest? Or an Oasis of Tolerance? (The New York Times)

Some things are more complex than you realize:

• Sex in the Muslim World: Touchy Subject Gets a Closer Look (postgazette.com)