Minaret of Freedom Weblog

“Villagers said the stone mosque was built in 2008, and that soldiers removed prayer rugs and holy scriptures before tearing it down. Other razed buildings included three one-storey family houses, animal shelters and a communal well. Locals said around 30 people were made homeless”:

• Israeli Forces Demolish West Bank Mosque as Peace Talks Deadline Passes (Reuters)

“Mr. Erdogan said that … he expected the United States, a close NATO ally of Turkey, to respond positively to the request” for Gulen’s extradition, but it seems doubtful Turkey can satisfy both requirements that the crime be “recognized in both jurisdictions, and there must be a reasonable belief that the person did commit the crime”:

• Turks to Seek Extradition of Preacher Living in U.S. (NY Times)

“The question of who used chemical weapons has been the most bitterly contested of a long list of atrocities in Syria’s three year war, which has seen more than 150,000 people killed, around nine million people exiled and large parts of the country destroyed” as both sides target civilians:

• Chemical Weapons Body to Investigate Claims of Chlorine Gas Use in Syria (Guardian)

“We made a mistake…. We were not aware that some of its passages could be in breach of Czech law. Our association certainly does not hold any extremist views” — representative of Muslim organizations overseeing the publication of the banned Czech edition of Bilal Philips’ book that sparked the raids:

• Muslim Leaders Denounce Police over Raids in Czech Capital (NY Times)

As “Amnesty International details journalists’ claims of harassment, intimidation and attacks at the hands of military intelligence” …

• Pakistan’s Spy Agency ISI Accused of Kidnapping and Killing Journalists (Guardian)

… a House of “Commons committee said the UK was still giving large sums of money to a state ‘that has failed to adequately mobilise the substantial resources of the country to help its poor'”:

• UK Urged to Rethink £400m Annual Aid Budget for Pakistan  (BBC)

With a Muslim decapitated and human rights groups under attack, the CAR may be in for a long period of violent instability:

• C. African Republic: Militants Decapitate Muslim (AP / abc News)
• As Muslims Flee Central African Republic Fury, Fears of Radicalization (Christian Science Monitor)

“The BBC found more than a hundred instances of inappropriate editing, vandalism and deletion made by computers accessing Wikipedia through the two IP addresses known to be used by government machines” including a gratuitous assertion that “All Muslims are terrorists”:

• Wikipedia Edit from Government Computer Added Muslim Insult (BBC)

“The Abu Sayyaf had links to international militant networks, including al-Qaida, but a U.S.-backed Philippine military crackdown has weakened it considerably in recent years. The group, which is on the U.S. list of terror groups, has about 300 fighters and is now much more focused on ransom kidnappings than global jihad”:

• Philippines Says 15 Dead in Clashes with Militants (AP / abc News)

“Libya has been plagued by instability since armed groups toppled Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011…. It is unclear who was behind the disturbance…. The BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tripoli says Libya’s national congress has been stormed on dozens of occasions by gunmen over the past year and a half”:

• Gunmen Storm Libyan Parliament (BBC)

As number of members of  largest social organization sentenced to death doubles…

• Egypt Court Sentences 683 Muslim Brotherhood Workers Including Their Leader (AFP / News Tribe)

… increasingly lower level members are pushed into the front lines, and internal splits such as those between the younger and older members and the rise of a “‘Brotherhood abroad’ … may lead to some sort of organizational division or to the emergence of new centers of power within the Brotherhood”:

• Future Remains Unclear for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Monitor)

A teacher in the case of “alleged infiltration by Muslim fundamentalists has said there was a campaign to have more Muslim teachers and governors, but … described allegations that Islamic fundamentalists from the Wahabi or Salafi sect had too much influence as ‘ludicrous'”:

• Trojan Horse Plot: Drive to Increase Muslim Leaders ‘to Raise Performance’ (Guardian)

“Both Abdullah and Ahmadzai have promised a fresh start with the West and have vowed to move ahead a security pact with the U.S. that Karzai has refused to sign. That pact would allow a small force of American soldiers to stay in the country to continue training Afghan army and police to fight the Taliban”:

• Afghan Election Heads to Runoff with Abdullah in Lead (Christian Science Monitor)

She says Muslim men denied her abusive husband’s claim that divorce was Western vice, including an Algerian imam who, “helped me … to love myself again and reminded me … [that] Islam guides us to treat our spouse with supreme kindness and love and if we are unable to, then they must leave them with respect and kindness”:

• The Kindness of the Muslim Men Who Helped Me Leave Behind My Miserable Marriage (Guardian)

“Washington said it would withhold deliveries of tanks, fighter aircraft and other military equipment, as well as $250 million in cash, until the government made progress on democracy and human rights. But last week, Washington said it would deliver 10 attack helicopters to help the government”:

• Egyptian Judge to Rule on Mass Death Sentence (Reuters)

“Christian militants descend on mosque and force thousands from the capital amid further ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the region” …

• Central African Republic: Bangui Mosque Looted After Muslim Exodus (Guardian)

… and others killed at “least 22 people, including 15 local chiefs and three members of staff of the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières”:

• At Least 22 People Killed in Attack in Central African Republic (Guardian)

The “government had vowed to complete the removal of its 1,300 tonnes of chemical substances on April 27, after missing several deadlines. [The] head of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, [said the] UN hoped Syria would meet the [UN’s] June deadline”:

• Syria Misses Self-imposed Deadline for Destroying Chemical Arms (Reuters)

“Battles between the regime and rebels, many of whom took shelter in the clusters of palm and date trees skirting the ruins, created the perfect opportunity for plunder”:

• Syrian Smugglers Enjoy a Free-for-all Among Ancient Ruins (Christian Science Monitor)

“The Palestinian people, who suffer from injustice, oppression and (are) denied freedom and peace, are the first to demand to lift the injustice and racism that befell other peoples subjected to such crimes”:

• Palestinian President Calls Holocaust ‘Most Heinous Crime’ (AP / abc News)

“[A]n interfaith advisory group of clergy members … overwhelmingly took strong exception to the film, believing some of the terminology in it casts aspersions on all Muslims, and requested changes…. In March, the sole imam in the group resigned to make clear that he could not endorse its contents”:

• Film at 9/11 Museum Sets Off Clash Over Reference to Islam (NY Times)

“Dale Brantner is CEO of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania-based Cure International. He says in a telephone interview Christians with strong beliefs are generally respected in the Muslim world”:

• Leader of Christian Aid Group, CURE International, Says Kabul Hospital Attack Was Not Motivated by Religion (Black Christian News Network 1)

“At Christian and Muslim gatherings prayers have been offered for the girls’ safety”:

• Nigeria’s Grief over the Abducted School Girls Is Uniting Our Country (Guardian)

The so-called “Salafists” are the latest of the coup supporters to be targeted by the military they helped to come to power:

• Tilt Towards Military Unbalances Egypt’s Ultra-conservative Salafists (Christian Science Monitor)

“[T]he worst part of the speech — which borders on the criminal — is when he dishonestly insinuates that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was violent, and he justifies the anti-democratic coup that overthrew it last year”:

• Tony Blair’s Middle East Speech: Dangerous and Anti-Muslim (Mondoweiss)

“Amending the SC [Schedujle Caste] criteria – currently available to Hindus and Buddhists — will allow ‘dalit’ Muslims and Christians to access quotas and has been strongly opposed by BJP on the ground that there is no caste-based discrimination in both religions”:

• Mid-poll Pitch: Congress Sub-manifesto Promises OBC Quota for Muslims (Times of India)

Jonathan Brown says “Muslim scholars were always willing to be critical [of] hadiths” contary to the view that “hadith tradition is kind of this gullible, fideistic, uncritical approach to scripture … and they don’t want to use their brains, they don’t want to look critically at the context of the hadith, that’s not true at all”:

• Hadith: Between Muslim Conviction & Western Criticism  (Muslim Matters)

“Israel criticized Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for siding with a terrorist group [the pot calling the kettle black!] instead of pursuing peace with Israel. But Mr. Abbas can’t enforce peace without unity”:

• Why Israel May Need to Rethink Its Assumptions on Palestinian Unity (Christian Science Monitor)

“The disbanding of the Zone Assessment Unit could signal the beginning of the end of this (persecution) experience. But as long as the rest of the surveillance apparatus remains intact, it may be little more than a rebranding of the same old toxic tactics”:

• The NYPD Has Disbanded Its Most Notorious Spy Unit, but Is the Age of Muslim Surveillance Really Over?  (Nation)

“The no-fly list is supposed to be about ensuring aviation safety, but the FBI is using it to force innocent people to become informants,” said Ramzi Kassem, associate professor of law at the City University of New York. “The practice borders on extortion”:

• Lawsuit Says FBI Uses No-fly List in Bid to Recruit Muslim Informants (Washington Post)

“Some rights groups have voiced opposition to the initiatives, warning that they could ‘potentially allow the authorities to bring a terrorism case against virtually any peaceful activist'” …

• Egypt’s Proposed Anti-terror Legislation Could Broaden Definition of ‘Terrorism’ (UPI)

… but that hasn’t stopped the Obama administration continuing arm sales in flagrant violation of U.S. law:

• US to Deliver Apache Helicopters to Egypt (Guardian)

Under the proposed plan “the amount of plutonium produced in the Arak reactor could be reduced drastically … [but]  would not reduce the usefulness of the reactor for making radioisotopes and conducting research…. Thus, this approach would meet Iran’s needs and would address the concerns of the international community”:

• Possible Arak Compromise Seen Bolstering Confidence in Iran Talks (Al-Monitor)

In Iran’s appeal over the Obama administration’s “unique” attempt to block “permanent representative to the U.N. “, the Committee on Relations with the Host Country has chosen to punt. “North Korea, Cuba and Belarus spoke up in support of Iran” but “no other country spoke in support of the U.S. position”:

• UN Committee Takes No Action on Iran Envoy Dispute (AP / abc News)

The agreement “to begin negotiations to form a unity government within the coming weeks … comes as peace talks between the Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel face collapse”:

• Palestinian Hamas-Fatah Unity Deal Announced (BBC)

Moammar Gaddafi considered himself an anarchist, but as events in Libya since his execution have demonstrated, there’s anarchy and then there’s anarchy …

• Libya’s Absurdist Anarchy, as Told by Two Militias (Washington Post)

… meanwhile, an official briefing prepared for AFRICOM chief General David Rodriguez in the fall of 2013 … highlights the U.S. military’s penchant for simple solutions to complex problems — with a well-documented potential for blowback in Africa and beyond”:

• Militias and Mayhem: The Truth About American Military Assistance in Libya (Salon)

“The history of both Persian and Arab bourgeois nationalism is solidly predicated on a sustained genealogy of racist bigotry…. Today the legitimate criticism of the Islamic republic easily degenerates into a nasty Islamophobia among a wide spectrum of Iranian bourgeois liberalism that fancies itself ‘secular'”:

• Overcoming the Arab-Persian divide: On bigotry and racism (Al-Jazeera)
• Overcoming the Arab-Persian divide: Who owns the Gulf?  (Al-Jazeera)

“He just took his shoes and socks off and said, ‘You can take these, don’t worry about me — I live close by and can walk'”:

• Muslim Man Gives Needy Bus Rider The Shoes Off His Feet And Walks Home Barefoot — Because There Is Good In The World (Huffington Post)

Is India at a tipping point in abandoning secularism?

• India’s Modi Slams Anti-Muslim Remarks, Ally Remains Defiant (Reuters)
• Tired of Current Situation, Muslims in Search of an Alternative to Cong (Hindustan Times)
• Teachers Force Muslim, Lower Caste Students to Clean Toilets in India: Report (Times of India)
• Bhavnagar Model: Muslim Buys House, Can’t Move In (India Express)

“‘We all want Sissi [to be president], and that’s it,’ one gray-haired patron yelled at the young men, referring to Egypt’s popular presidential candidate, Abdel Fatah al-Sissi. Another man accused Mustafa and his friends of endangering the country’s stability with their views and threatened to call the police”:

• Young People Led Egypt’s Revolution, but the Old Guard Still Rules (Washington Post)

“[A]n appeals court overturned the acquittal last month on the eve of a byelection …where he was tipped to become chief minister. Not only did the conviction rely on a witness of doubtful testimony, the appeal was led by the government and the lead prosecutor suddenly did an about-face and switched to Anwar’s defence team”:

• Sex Claim Shows Desperation of Malaysia’s Rulers, Says Top Opponent (Guardian)

“A tale of two rock throwing teens, highlights disparities in Israeli justice system in the West Bank, where Israelis are live under civilian rule and Palestinians are governed by military law”:

• Do West Bank Israelis, Palestinians Live Under Different Set of Laws? (Christian  Science Monitor)

Criticizing “those who consider women’s presence society as a threat,” President Rouhani said, “We will not accept the culture of sexual discrimination”:

• Iran President Rouhani Urges Equal Rights for Women (BBC)

“Riyadh sees the Brotherhood, which has embraced politics, as an ideological rival and a model that threatens its own governance, since some of the strongest domestic opposition comes from Sunni Islamist groups … [and senses] a window of opportunity with Qatar’s relatively young and untested emir”:

• Behind Qatar’s Bet on the Muslim Brotherhood (Christian Science Monitor)

Imam Suhail Mulla said that “imams at a regional religious leaders’ meeting in January … agreed that, while they will not modify traditional Islamic teachings on sexuality, they do not want to drive gay Muslims away from mosques.” He said, “We’re not going to shun people from our community”:

• Muslim Group Posits Harmony with Western Values (Orange County Register)

It wasn’t clear if a ransom had been paid for their release, nor which group in Syria’s civil war held the men…. [A]t least 30 journalists are being held and 52 have been killed since Syria’s civil war began in early 2011. The widespread seizure of journalists is unprecedented, and has been largely unreported” …

• Four French Journalists Held Hostage 10 Months, Released in Syria (Christian Science Monitor)

… “while Of the estimated 150,000 killed in Syria in the last three years, at least 58,000 were regime fighters – an estimated 20,000 more than the opposition”:

• Four Sons Killed Fighting for Assad, but Mother’s Loyalty to Regime Endures (Christian Science Monitor)

Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani, a prominent imam and scholar, has taken a stand for coexistence with the country’s Baha’i minority. He has reminded us that Islam is a religion of peace that recognises diversity of every kind as part of God’s design for his creation

• One Ayatollah’s Stand for the Baha’i Gives Me Great Hope for Iran (Guardian)

“Yemeni military officials say a US drone struck a vehicle carrying suspected al-Qaida militants as well as a passing car carrying civilians Saturday”:

• Yemen: US Drone Strike Kills at Least 9 Suspected Militants, 3 Civilians (Christian Science Monitor)

Shutting down the ill-conceived spy operation could be a boon to counter-terrorism, but first a stake may need to be driven through its heart:

• Why the NYPD’s Decision to Drop a Unit that Spies on Muslims May Help Counterterrorism (Washington Post)
• NYPD P:ressured to Eliminate All Traces of Muslim Surveillance Practice (Guardian)

“Iran has completely diluted half its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium to lower levels. It has also converted more than half the remaining stockpile for use as nuclear fuel – rendering it almost useless for any weapon application. That means Iran has cut by some 75 percent a stockpile that stood just above 200 kilograms in January” …

• Iran Ahead of Schedule in Complying with Nuclear Deal, UN Watchdog Says (Christian Science Monitor)

… even as “US prosecutors unveiled plans Thursday to sell an Iran-owned Manhattan skyscraper in the largest terror-related seizure ever, and distribute proceeds to families affected by attacks linked to Tehran”:

• US Settlement Reached to Sell Iran-owned Skyscraper in New York (Dawn)

“[T]his generation of Muslims is abandoning the traditional professions expected from immigrant parents (doctors, engineers, business people) and entering fields we all once thought were closed to us. The last decade has seen a steady and sure emergence of American Muslims as artists, writers, performers, activists, media personalities and intellectuals“:

• A New Muslim Renaissance Is Here (Time)

Some Muslim students welcome the initiative to offer so-called “sharia-compliant loans,” but others object that the size of the fees is more important that whether or not they are called interest:

• Muslim Students Divided on Sharia-compliant Loans (Guardian)

Reports that “one of country’s foremost Muslim theologians and lectures at Cambridge University” called the video improper are untrue and Prof. Timothy Winter, a/k/a Sheikh Abdul-Hakim Murad, “himself told The Independent that he was ‘happy to be involved’ in the project, which he said cuts the Muslim community free of the “negative images which oppress it”:

• Video of British Muslims Dancing to Pharrell Williams’s Hit Happy Attacked as ‘Sinful’ (Independent)

In their mixed marriage her Muslim husband is less upset at the prejudices of friends and professional than she because, as he tells her, “the greatest jihad (or struggle) of our lives is the one that takes place in our hearts: the battle to overcome our egos and become more wise, generous and patient for the sake of humanity”:

• When You’re a White American Married to a Minority Muslim (Seattle Times)

“I grew up being an outsider, feeling like an outsider, and there wasn’t any moment really after the Boston Marathon where I had that feeling of being an outsider again…. I grieved with everyone…. I could understand their feelings, and they could understand mine, without there being an asterisk next to it”:

• Inclusive Spirit Reassures Muslims After Bombings (Boston Globe)

The offender, who shouted obscenities against the girl and the Muslim people was “charged with attempted assault, aggravated harassment, and menacing, … [and] has over 40 prior arrests dating back to the 1980s, including busts for petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property”:

• Police Nab Man Who Allegedly Threatened to Kill Muslim Teen (NY Post)

“Gul said Friday he opposes a model similar to that of Russia where the president and prime minister have traded places and one has ruled in the other’s shadow. Gul suggested he would not oppose Erdogan if he chose to run for president in the election in August”:

• Turkish President Rules Out Job Swap with Erdogan (AP / abc News)

“The New York Police Department has abandoned a secretive program that dispatched plainclothes detectives into Muslim neighborhoods to eavesdrop on conversations and built detailed files on where people ate, prayed and shopped”:

• New York Drops Unit that Spied on Muslims (NY Times)

“With an 11-month-old state of emergency in three northeastern states failing to bring relief, the attacks are increasing calls for President Goodluck Jonathan to rethink his strategy in confronting the biggest threat to the security of Africa’s most populous nation”:

• Muslim Extremists Abduct 100 Girls from Nigerian School (Independent)

MPAC officials “said the Boston attack, which killed three people and injured 264, had highlighted the need for Muslim communities to intervene more effectively with troubled youths…. ‘The path to violence can be stopped, reversed and prevented with the right kind of support,’ said Alejandro Beutel, …who developed the council’s plan”:

• Muslim American Group Urges Engagement to Head Off Extremism (Washington Post)

The government justifies its attempt to control the madrassas as means of modernizing the curriculum, but in “Darul Uloom’s computer lab, nearly 350 students use dozens of old desktop computers for classes on how to type, or surf the web. By contrast, only 39 percent of government schools in Pakistan have electricity”:

• Pakistan’s Islamic Seminaries Pair Science with the Quran (Christian Science Monitor)

A “sinister genre of direct action has developed around symbolically and physically imposing pork products on Muslims. The French ‘anti-white racism’ group Bloc Identitaire has occupied mosques and tried to organise a march to kick back against the ‘racist refusal’ of Muslims to eat pork”:

• Pork is the Latest Front in Europe’s Culture Wars (Guardian)

“The court, in the coastal northern city of Alexandria, ordered military-installed authorities on Tuesday to reject the candidacies from members of the group, which has swept all elections since the 2011 revolution” …

• Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Faces Election Ban  (Al-Jazeera)

… in the meantime, “communities who are not part of the ongoing power struggle between Islamists and the military are being left to fix their own problems”:

• In Upper Egypt, Police Avert Eyes from Ethnic Bloodshed (Christian Science Monitor)

“Largely in protest over Washington’s reluctance to get involved militarily in Syria, he reportedly told European diplomats in October that Saudi Arabia would be scaling back its co-operation with the CIA over arming and training rebel groups seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad”:

• Saudi Intelligence Chief Bandar bin Sultan Removed (BBC)

President Rouhani declares, “We will prove to the world through these negotiations that what has been said about Iran is a lie. Iran has never pursued nuclear weapons and never will”  …

• Rouhani Says Iran Sanctions Will Unravel in Months (Reuters)

… and a senior official says that “Iran expects to get a fifth installment this week of previously blocked overseas funds, … a payment that would confirm Iranian compliance with a landmark deal with world powers to curb its nuclear program”:

• Iran Expects Next Payment Under Nuclear Deal, Confirming Compliance (Reuters)

“Boycotting is the main form of protest against an election that 77-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is expected to win despite his glaring absence, because powerful institutions of the state are firmly wedded to maintaining Algeria’s status quo”:

• Algerian Election Faces Disaffected Populace (AP / abc News)

“The report reveals high numbers are getting information from unofficial ‘disseminators’, individuals not affiliated to any militant group. It identifies spiritual authorities who fighters look to for guidance. ‘This is the most socially mediated conflict in history”:

• Syria: Report Shows How Foreign Fighters Use Social Media (BBC)

Erdogan swore to hit his opponents hard after the election, but his choice of first target may surprise you:

• Erdogan Chooses Soccer for First-post Election Strike Against Islamist Opponents (Huffington Post)

“It is hoped that a decline in political support for anti-Muslim bigotry will lead to toning down of the rhetoric in mainstream circles. The results of the election should also serve as a reminder that the image of Quebecers as an intolerant people is need of review”:

• Quebec’s Ruling Party Suffers Crushing Defeat – Despite the Anti-Muslim Campaign (Muslim Matters)

An “unsigned and undated [letter] … which was sent to local authorities and teaching unions as far back as last year” has stirred up a firestorm by accusations of Muslim conspiracy to take over the schools and  has prompted anonymous “whistle-blowers” to make allegations denied by school trustees as “a witch-hunt”;

• 15 Birmingham Schools Under Investigation amid Allegations of ‘Plot’ by Hardline Muslims  (Huffington Post)

“Both sides agree that poison gas was used in the village of Kfar Zeita, but each says the other side is responsible”:

• Rebels, Government Point Fingers at Each Other in Syria Gas Attack (Christian Science Monitor)

“The first results from Afghanistan’s presidential election show the country is headed for a runoff next month between former ministers, with two other candidates securing enough of the vote to potentially act as kingmakers”:

• Abdullah and Ghani on Course for Runoff Vote in Afghanistan Polls (Guardian)

“He is the second Libyan prime minister to leave his post in as many months, underlining the North African nation’s instability three years after the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi” …

• Libya’s PM to Step Down After Gunmen Allegedly Target His Family (Christian Science Monitor)

… and as Ghadafi’s sons are tried in absentia, the ICC and human rights organizations remain “concerned over the fairness of Libya’s justice system although the government won the right last year to try Gaddafi’s former spy chief domestically instead of at the ICC”:

• Libya Starts Trial of ex-Gaddafi Officials, Sons Absent (Reuters)

No reason was given as to why FBI agents questioned an attorney “who assists with the handling of classified evidence … at the start of what was supposed to be a hearing into whether defendant Ramzi Binalshibh is mentally competent to stand trial. The judge adjourned the hearing until Tuesday while officials explore the legal implications of the investigation”:

• FBI Said to Question Member of 9/11 Case Defense (AP / abc News)

The land seizure is reportedly “the largest in years and could eventually lead to the expansion of several settlements and authorization of [a decade-old unauthorized] settler outpost” and “is based on an Israeli interpretation of an Ottoman-era law that allowed the confiscation of tracts that had not been planted or cultivated for several years in a row”:

• Israel Appropriates Land in West Bank (Reuters)

“Iran has insisted it will not replace its new envoy to the UN in New York and accused the US of acting illegally by refusing a visa to the diplomat. A senior Iranian official said they would “pursue the matter via legal mechanisms” with the United Nations”:

• Iran Anger over US Visa Refusal for UN Envoy Hamid Aboutalebi (BBC)

Although systematic “use of state-sponsored sexual harassment against women … is not new…, nothing matches the current level and the extent…. On the very day of the coup … more than 100 women were raped by a pro-coup mob celebrating their “victory”. Ever since, the targeting of female protesters has become a weapon of choice for the security forces and military”:

• Women Empowered but Abused as They Stand Up to Egypt’s Military Junta (The Conversation)

“In addition to misleading policymakers, the Senate report charges the CIA with selectively and leaking classified and inaccurate information to journalists in order to portray the program in a positive light[, …] manipulated the media … [and] provided factually inaccurate information to Bush administration lawyers”:

• CIA and White House Under Pressure over Torture After Leaked Senate Report (Guardian)

“Indonesia’s Muslim parties enjoyed a surprise jump in support in the legislative elections this week, but analysts put it more down to anger with a corrupt ruling party than with the growing popularity of political Islam” …

• Islamic Parties Bounce Back in Muslim-majority Indonesia (Japan Times)

… while in India, Muslim voters may be the deciding factor, but it will not be for reasons of religious identity”

• Muslim Vote Could Impact Outcome in Indian Elections (VoA)
• BJP Rides Modi Wave, AAP Heavy Muslim Turnout (Indian Express)
• Religious Leaders’ Appeal Will Have No Impact on Muslim Voters: AMUTA (New Indian Express)

Has American intervention enabled “growing Al Qaeda sanctuaries in three countries – Iraq, Libya, and Syria”?

• Is Al Qaeda Winning? House Hearing Probes Terror Group’s Status (Christian Science Monitor)

Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who “recently resigned as military commander to run for the presidency – oversaw in February the mobilization of scores of army bus drivers to thwart a strike led by Mahmoud’s union. Sissi’s allies have included some of the corrupt businessmen and politicians who grew rich under former autocrat Hosni Mubarak”:

• From Cairo to Suez, Egypt Workers Defy Government with Labor Strikes (Washington Post)

Observing that since the end of Islam’s Golden Age, Muslims have “taken up superstitious and irrational thinking habits they had … dropped when they originally accepted the Message of Prophet Muhammad”, a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience opines that modern Muslims turn to “professional debaters to learn about science” rather than to professional scientists or theologians:

• Bringing Muslims Back to Science (Al-Jazeera)

“Twenty-five years after making their first bid for membership, the Palestinians can join the Geneva Conventions governing the rules of war and military occupations, the Swiss government said Friday. Israel [a frequent violator of the Geneva conventions] had opposed the move” …

• Swiss Say Palestinians Can Join Geneva Conventions (AP / abc News)

… and Israel takes strong action in retaliation …

• Israel Imposes Tax Sanction on Palestinian Authority (BBC)

… even as the illegal settlers it defends have “turned on the soldiers charged with protecting them”:

• West Bank Settlers Derided as Terrorists for Turning on Their Own Army (Christian Science Monitor)

“The movie … is not the first horror movie made by a Muslim American. The late Moustapha Akkad produced several films from the ‘Halloween’ franchise. But the release of ‘Jinn’ is a sign that there are a growing number of Muslims in the American film industry who are ready to introduce audiences to stories from their cultural traditions, even in the form of a horror movie”:

• Supernatural Thriller ‘Jinn’ Features Creatures from Muslim Folklore (RNS)

“One panel, made up of young adults, was the embodiment of variety. They included an African-American woman without a hijab (head covering), an African-American woman with a hijab, a Pakistani-American with a hijab, an Afghan-American with an ethnic-style beard and even a Muslim who was raised Jewish”:

• Bay Area Muslim Panels Try to Shed a Light on a Diverse Religious Group (Mercury News)