Month: June 2007

Egyptian court ruling seeks to balance religious liberty and “security” interests by striking University’s attempt to ban the face veil on campus, but does require that women remove it temporarily in order to enter: Cairo Campus Veil Ban Struck Down (BBC News) After being freed from Gitmo, Uighur Muslims receive asylum in Albania, but live…

Grand Mufti of Egypt in op-ed denounces terrorism and argues that continued flexibility and adaptability in Islamic law is necessary to “provide solutions confronting the Muslim world”:   Fatwas and Modernity (Washington Post)   Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah makes call to stop internal fighting among Palestinian factions and muster the “political will to implement existing agreements”:  …

Example of Middle East states shows that democracy requires liberty and separation of powers, not just elections: Ballot Boxes? Yes. Actual Democracy? Tough Question. (New York Times) Using “news media reports, interviews and government documents” human rights groups release list of 39 people believed to be secretly jailed by the US: Rights Groups Call for…

Egypt and other Muslim-majority countries among Amnesty International’s list of state-mandated Internet repression, which includes filtering, “‘politically motivated’ closures of websites and net cafes, as well as threats and imprisonment”:  Censorship ‘Changes Face of Net’ (BBC News)  As the Gitmo ruling re-ignites bipartisan debate over legal reforms of the parallel courts system, including granting the…

Latest public opinion poll finds almost 60% don’t think the surge will “help restore civil order” and 53% don’t believe the war has “contributed to the long-term security of the United States”: Discontent Over Iraq Increasing, Poll Finds (Washington Post) Military judges drop charges against two Guantanamo detainees ruling that parallel legal system fails to…

Israel’s “security barrier” motivates Palestinian Muslims to move back to Jerusalem and maintain their ethnic and religious ties to the city:    Change Cast in Concrete (Los Angeles Times)  Significant information disparities and paid FBI informant with prior drug convictions as a crucial part of government’s case against alleged JFK bomber create skepticism among Guyanese…

Tens of thousands rally to support Pakistan’s former Chief Justice and his campaign for a separation of powers:    Thousands of Pakistanis Rally Around Ousted Judge (Washington Post)  By putting his actions and rhetoric into context, an op-ed in the New York Times argues that popularist Iraqi Shi’a cleric Moqtada As-Sadr is a rational political…

Arabic language school in New York that attempts to bridge cultural/religious gaps is demonized by fears of religious extremism: Arabic School in N.Y.C. Creates Stir (Christian Science Monitor) Yemeni government bars journalists and Red Cross stops shipments to volatile region: Fatal Blast Hits Market in Restive Area of Yemen (Washington Post) Pakistani army threatens political…