Month: May 2012

“In 2009, when President Obama was first known to have authorized a missile strike on Yemen, U.S. officials said there were no more than 300 core AQAP members. That number has grown in recent years to 700 or more…. In addition, hundreds of tribesmen have joined AQAP in the fight against the U.S.-backed Yemeni government”: […]

A different way of fighting terrorism: Are Terrorists Beyond Redemption? (Christian Science Monitor) Deradicalizing Boys in Pakistan (Christian Science Monitor) For Saudi Ex-jihadis: a Stipend, a Wife, and a New Life (Christian Science Monitor) When the new UAE-based owners of the bank at which she worked issued a dress code requiring “waist-to-heel skirts and head covers for […]

“The central questions that Salafis and Islamists clash over today are those of liberal democracy, freedom and societal inclusion…. Both … have had an uneasy relationship with elections. At the time of decolonisation, they both hoped for a politico-spiritual revival instead of merely formal independence”: The Battle for the Soul of the Islamic World (AlJazeera) “Out […]

As warily optimistic Egyptians go to the polls for their first free Presidential election, an opinion piece by a political sociologist and a scholar of comparative Islamic Law discusses the prospects of freedom within Islam and through Sharia: Egypt Elections: Sharia Can Support Democracy (Christian Science Monitor) “Egyptians make a distinction between Islam and Islamism – […]

Only days before Egypt’s presidential elections, polling shows doubts about the sincerity of the leading Islamists’ campaign posturing has cut into their support, helping both Mubarak’s PM into the top three and a sdar-horse socialist who has snagged the support of the Coptic Church that had earlier denied that it would support any candidate: Muslim […]

Iranians are hoping to “reach an agreement and draw up a new framework to answer [IAEA] questions and clear up ambiguities” … IAEA Chief to Visit Iran for Nuclear Talks (Guardian) … but some Western diplomats signal they will not accept anything less than the abandonment of Iran’s medical enrichment program: U.N. Seeks Iran Nuclear […]

“Islamic law and traditions embrace the principle of providing protection to those who seek asylum,” and “forbids the forced return of those asylum seekers. Both of these principles are cornerstones of international refugee law” — Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees … UN Urges Islamic Treatment for Refugees (Muslim Village) … but with the burden […]

Having badly hurt its chances to defeat Amr Moussa by splitting votes with expelled candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, the FJP desperately tries to widen its base with a swing to the right to collect votes that would have gobe to the disqualified Nour party candidate: In Presidential Bid, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Moves to Harder […]

“This is Abu Ghraib by power point and lectern…. What they are talking about is essentially genocide,” of Muslims — Mikey Weinstein, president of the nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation: Outrage, Calls for Action over Anti-Muslim Materials in Military Training (msnbc) “[W]hen it halted the arms deal last year, State Department officials promised to monitor […]

The course had “been teaching that America’s enemy is Islam in general, not just terrorists, and suggesting that the country might ultimately have to obliterate the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina without regard for civilian deaths, following [WW-II] precedents of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima or the allied firebombing of Dresden”: Joint Forces […]