Minaret of Freedom Weblog

“Six senior Islamic scholars have endorsed the fatwa … describing Britons allied to Islamic State cells as ‘heretics'” and stating that they should fulfill their “‘moral obligation’ to help those in war-torn Syria and Iraq … without betraying their own societies”:

• British Muslim Leaders Issue Fatwa Against Would-be Jihadists (Guardian)

“Iraqi security forces backed by Shi’ite militias on Sunday broke the two-month siege of Amerli by Islamic State militants and entered the northern town” …

• Iraqi Forces, Backed by US Airstrikes, Break Two-month Siege of Amerli (Christian Science Monitor)

… but IS’s skill at “adapting shows the scale of problems ahead for … Obama, the Pentagon and U.S.-backed Iraqi and Kurdish forces, as they struggle to reclaim ground from the Sunni militants, who have seized a third of both Iraq and Syria, and want to establish a jihadist hub in the heart of the Arab world”:

• As Islamic State Fighters Begin to Blend In, Defeating Them No Easy Matter (Reuters)

In Egypt, international “[r]ights defenders had until Tuesday to agree to government interference or face closure. But after a fierce international backlash the deadline was delayed on Sunday until November” …

• Egypt’s Rights Groups Get Temporary Reprieve (Guardian)

… while the  the Giza Criminal Court  has decided it shall only kill Mohamed Badie once:

• Egypt Brotherhood Chief Badie Sees Death Sentence Cut (BBC)

Israeli spent half of its annual $3 billion allowance from the U.S. on the Gaza massacres, but don’t expect daddy to put his foot down:

• Israel Estimates Cost of Gaza Conflict at £1.5bn (Guardian)

… as Israel adds theft to murder in what “Peace Now, an Israeli group that monitors settlements, said this is the biggest ‘land confiscation’ since the 1980s”:

• Israel Calls on Arab Nations to Rebuild Gaza, Takes 1000 Acres of West Bank Land (Christian Science Monitor)

For years she refused to wear one, then she insisted on wearing one, then she abandoned it, now she has taken a job that will require it. It’s a woman’s right to change her mind:

• Why I Took Off My Headscarf… Only to Put It Back on Again (BBC)

As Libya continues to unravel, a U.S. facility falls and residents confront a choice between abandoning their homes to looting or risking abduction by militants:

• Libyan Armed Faction Takes over U.S. Embassy Annex in Tripoli (Reuters)
• Tripoli Residents Face Dilemma After Libya Dawn Take Control of Capital (Guardian)

“Mr Khawaja’s lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi, said Ms Khawaja, the co-director of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was denied entry and told that she had been stripped of her Bahraini citizenship. She was later granted a visa but was detained for seven days”:

• Bahrain Journalist Ahmed Humaidan’s Sentence Upheld (BBC)

“Clashes erupted between al-Qaida-linked Syrian rebels and U.N. peacekeepers … on Saturday after the militants surrounded their encampment … as the international organization risked being sucked further into the conflict. Other U.N. peacekeepers were able to flee from a different encampment”:

• Syrian Rebels Clash with UN Peacekeepers in Golan Heights (Christian Science Monitor)

Steve Sotloff’s mother pleads with al-Baghdadi to follow the sunnah of Muhammad (pbuh), saying that she has “learned that Islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others…. Steven has no control over the actions of the U.S. government. He’s an innocent journalist” …

• Shirley Sotloff’s Plea (New Yorker)

… but IS seems to prefer other teachers than the Prophet, such as the Khawarij (with the beheadings) and Dick Cheney (with his waterboarding) …

• Captives Held by Islamic State Were Waterboarded (Washington Post)

… “[I]t is not fear that forced the Peshmerga to fall back in the first weeks of combat with IS – it was the superior firepower provided IS by America, courtesy of the disintegrating Iraqi Army. Let the Muslim world see the crimes that these men commit, and then decide which side they are on”:

• James Foley and the Battle for the Soul of the Arab and Muslim Worlds (Foreign Policy Research Institute)

“Ten survivors write open letter to president and say disclosure of report is ‘necessary part of correcting America’s own history’”:

• US Rendition Survivors Urge Obama to Declassify Torture Report (Guardian)

The leaders of IS “believe fighting ‘apostates’ is more important than fighting non-Muslims for now…. Their caliphate, say its fighters, will never be truly powerful unless apostates and ‘fake’ Muslims are first weeded out – and their definition of ‘apostate’ expands to include anyone who stands against them”:

• The Real Threat from the Islamic State Is to Muslims, Not the West (Al-Jazeera)

“Muhbeen Hussain, founder of a British Muslim youth group in Rotherham, said the police and the town’s social services ‘totally failed us’ by not taking action against gang members. ‘We want the investigations to go back to 1997, cases reopened and prosecutions made'”:

• U.K. Officials Afraid Of Stirring Anti-Muslim Sentiments May Have Ignored Hundreds Of Sex Abuse Cases: Report (RNS / Huffington Post)

“Jim Roth, the lone council member to back the center, predicted then that the council’s rejection would spawn a lawsuit. Roth said he was ’embarrassed’ and ‘stunned’ by some of the remarks made” by its opponents:

• Feds Sue City of St. Anthony over Rejection of Islamic Center (Star-Tribune)

“What prevents Muslims from uniting is the inability to discuss the history of early Islam calmly and in a civilized manner…. We need to understand that the bloody early schism, which still is an open wound in the Muslim world, was indeed earthly and sinful”:

• Is It to Be Tribalism or Unity and Solidarity for the Muslim World? (Today’s Zaman)

“Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s first directly elected president, faces civil wars on his borders, a possible economic slowing, and accusations of authoritarianism”:

• Erdogan’s First Term as Turkish President: 4 Things to Watch for (Christian Science Monitor)

“The cabinet said it was resigning to enable the elected parliament to choose a new, inclusive government. The Islamist-linked militia which seized the capital, Tripoli, last week has called for the elected MPs to be replaced by the previous body, the General National Congress (GNC)”:

• Libya Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni Resigns (BBC)

“Its moniker might stand for ‘Islamic State’, but it seems there are more than a few of its supporters who don’t understand much of their adopted religion”:

•  ISIS Recruits: Here’s Our ‘Islam for Dummies’, Especially for You (news.com.au)

So far the truce brings relief to Gazans and heat to Netanyahu:

• Gaza ceasefire: Thousands return home as calm returns (BBC)
• Gaza Truce Holding but Israel’s Netanyahu Under Fire at Home (Reuters)

Actor and playwright (and brother of one of my college roommates) Wallace Shawn “translates” an ad placed by the ADL in defense of the Israeli massacre of Gazan children:

• Wallace Shawn on Gaza: “The Anger of the Palestinians Cannot Be Ended by Killing Their Children” (Hollywood Reporter)

Unable to believe that it is his dictatorship that fuels the opposition, Sisi accuse Egypt’s “great minds and brilliant brains” of selling out to sinister foreign forces:

• Sisi Says Qatar, Turkey, US and the Muslim Brotherhood Are Funding Media Projects to Undermine Egypt’s Stability  (Middle East Monitor)

In Syria, arms from Iran help the Kurds to defend against IS, while a border post falls to the rebels but Syria offer coordination with the US effort against IS while warning unilateral strikes will be treated as aggression:

• Iran Supplied Weapons to Iraqi Kurds; Baghdad Bomb Kills 12 (Reuters)
• Syrian Rebels Seize Border Crossing with Israel (AP / abc News)
• Syria Will Help US Fight Terrorism, Says Walid Muallem (BBC)

The US suspects the UAE and Qatar are behind the Libyan bombing raids, and that may only be the beginning of expanded military intervention from the Gulf states:

• UAE and Egypt behind bombing raids against Libyan militias, say US officials (Guardian)
• Libya Could Be Just the Beginning for a Newly Proactive Gulf (Guardian)

“The reported initiative by Qatar coincides with an effort by the tiny state to rebut accusations by some of its Arab neighbors and Western politicians that it supports the most anti-Western militant armed groups in Iraq and Syria”:

• Qatar Seeks to Free More U.S. Hostages in Syria: Source (Reuters)

From Michigan to Noray Muslims denounce the IS:

• Mich. Muslim Leaders Call Islamic State ‘Crazy Criminals’ (Detroit Free Press)
• Muslims Protest Islamic State in Norway (Huffington Post)

Worse than stupid,  Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar says that Israels attempt to equate Hamas with the IS is dangerous:

• Israel Says No Difference Between Hamas and Islamic State: True?  (Christian Science Monitor)

“Fazal Ahmad Manawi, an adviser to Mr. Abdullah, told reporters in Kabul that the audit of more than 8 million ballots from the June 14 runoff election is a “joke” and called for the immediate adoption of stricter procedures in order to identify and destroy fraudulent ballots”:

• Afghanistan’s Abdullah Threatens to Withdraw from Recount Process (Christian Science Monitor)

“The government had made significant investments in both weapons and manpower to try to hold onto the military base, making its fall a both a symbolic and a strategic blow”:

• Islamic State Militants Capture Major Syrian Air Base (Christian Science Monitor)

The bankruptcy of the Neoconservative position on Islam needs no further proof than the fact that they resort to the outright lie that Muslims are not condemning IS atrocities …

• Muslim Leaders Worldwide Condemn ISIS (Global Research)
• Islamic Authority: Extremists No ‘Islamic State’ (AP / abc News)

… but it is the darling of the Neocons who has mastered the big lie as Netanyahu pretends “Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas” …

• Israel Leader Tries to Link Hamas, Iraq Extremists (AP / abc News)

… when it is Israel itself that not only matches, but outdoes IS’s thirst for noncombatant blood:

• Netanyahu Warns Gaza Civilians After Israel Destroys Apartment Block (Reuters)

“While the family of slain journalist James Foley mourns his passing, another American journalist … Peter Theo Curtis … [reportedly has] been handed over to a representative of the United Nations” …

• Kidnappers Free American Journalist Missing Since 2012 (Christian Science Monitor)

… but “Lebanese hostages held by Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria and the so-called Islamic State were threatened with death in a video yesterday unless Lebanon’s Hezbollah withdraws its support for Bashar al-Assad”:

• After Foley Murder, More Jihadi Threats to Murder Hostages (Christian Science Monitor)

An “Arab spring [is] happening in the Muslim community towards self-appointed community leaders. “The notion that the 60-plus organisations that signed the statement are not legitimate and are divisive is incorrect and unfair” — community activist Rebecca Kay:

“[I]t’s not just Gaza… The attacks on freedom of speech and human rights organizations in Israel, the land-grabbing settler movement, a growing strain of anti-Arab and anti-immigrant racism, extremist politics, and a powerful, intolerant religious right — this mixture has pushed liberal Zionism to the brink”:

• The End of Liberal Zionism (NY Times)

“Major parts of the devices of the drone are intact and have been received by our friends that can be used for further information” — Revolutionary Guard spokeman General Ramazan Sharif

• Israeli Stealth Drone Downed at Nuclear Facility, Iran Claims (Guardian)

“Libya has lurched ever closer to fragmentation and civil war this weekend after Islamist-led militias seized the airport in the capital, Tripoli, proclaimed their own government, and presented the world with yet another crisis”:

• Libyan Capital Under Islamist Control After Tripoli Airport Seized (Guardian)

“Omar Zakhilwal told the BBC he would have to cut salaries and lay off government workers if the crisis was not resolved by the end of the month”:

• Afghan Vote Crisis ‘Costing Billions’, Says Finance Minister (BBC)

Has the attempt to form a less sectarian Iraqi government come to late?

• Iraq Launches Investigation into Shia attack on Sunni Mosque (Guardian)
• Suicide Attacks Kill at Least 17 in Iraq After Mosque Shooting (Reuters)

Hamas is unafraid to face a process “that could expose both the Islamist group and Israel to war crimes investigations”, but “Israel Israel opposes involving the court”:

• Hamas Declares Support for Palestinian Bid to Join International Criminal Court (Guardian)

IS claims to be ruling with the consent of the governed, but in fact” does not have the support of the majority of Muslims living in Iraq and Syria” ans “is not only targeting other ethnic minorities in Iraq, but … also other Muslims, including Shiites …, and Sunnis who defy them”:

• Muslim World Reacts to ISIS Brutal Tactics, Beheading of US Journalist James Foley (International Business Times)

If the British  murderer of an American journalist James Foley thought he would intimidate Britain and America from action against IS, he was mistaken:

• In Wake of James Foley Video, Britain Plans Tougher Terrorism Laws (Christian Science Monitor)
• US Considers More Airstrikes Against ISIS (AP / abc News)

Will they ever work in this town again? “Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are reportedly facing a serious backlash from top Hollywood executives following their support for Gaza, which saw the couple sign an open letter condemning the actions of Israel as tantamount to ‘genocide'”:

• Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem Face ‘Fury’ of Hollywood Following ‘Genocide’ Letter Condemning Israel (Independent)

Each side blames the other for the violation of a “2003 cease-fire in Kashmir …, with troops exchanging gunfire Saturday. Two villagers on each side were killed and several injuries were reported”:

• India and Pakistan Trade Fire in Kashmir, Killing Four (Christian Science Monitor)

An attorney seems to think that a British ban on dowries will somehow be more successful in eliminating the demeaning practice than the bans already imposed by Islamic and Indian law:

• Dowry ‘Should Be Banned’ in UK According to Lawyer (BBC)

“Khalid Mahmood, the MP for Perry Barr in Birmingham, estimates that at least 1,500 young British Muslims have been recruited by extremists fighting in Iraq and Syria in the last three years” …

• ‘Twice as Many’ British Muslims Fighting for ISIS Than in UK Armed Forces (Newsweek)

… one of them seems to be the Jihadist who beheaded the journalist James Foley…

• British Isis Militant in James Foley Video ‘Guards Foreign Hostages in Syria’ (The Guardian)
• European Fighters Take on More Prominent Roles in the Islamic State (NPR)

… while an expert on IS says that their main message is revenge and secondarily deterrence …

• Islam Expert on ‘IS’: ‘Main Message is Revenge’ (Deutsche Welle)

… but undeterred by threats that more Americans will be murdered, the US continues air strikes against IS …

• US Official: More Airstrikes in Iraq (ABC/AP)

“[I]s it fair to continue to allow extremist religious groups to use religion as a pretext to wage wars?”: 

• ISIS and Islam: Detaching Religion from Terrorism (International Business Times)

The Islamic State publishes a video of Yazidi men ” converting to Islam,” with no mention or evidence of informed consent …

• Islamic State Video Shows Conversion of Yazidi Men to Islam (The Telegraph)

… a reminder that “far from being religious zealots, a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practice their faith regularly. Many lack religious literacy and could … be regarded as religious novices”‘:

• What the Jihadists Who Bought ‘Islam For Dummies’ on Amazon Tell Us About Radicalization (Huffington Post)

Some Muslim leaders refused to meet on the legislation many object that the PM is “merely seeking approval under the cover of consultation” and “that similar issues about Australian troops travelling abroad to fight or Jews travelling to train or fight with the [IDF] are simply never raised”: 

• Muslim Leaders Reject Tony Abbott’s Proposed New Terrorism Laws ( The Sydney Morning Herald)

“[Y]oung Muslim women living in Britain … have, for various reasons, chosen to adopt the headscarf to declare their faith to all around them, despite figures showing rising violence against visibly identifiable Muslims”:

• Violence, Threats, Prompt More Muslim Women in Britain to Wear a Veil (NDTV)

“A lot of Muslim people say it’s about religion. But I think it’s more about the culture and how people have been brought up. Men and women are treated equally [in the religion]. In the culture, it’s like the women should be at home cooking tea” – Ambreen Sadiq, one of Britain’s first Muslim female boxers:

• Meet the Female Muslim Boxer ‘Bringing Shame on Her Family’ (Telegraph)

“Why were we arrested, because we participated in protests? Because we stand with our family? What’s our crime? They’re the criminals” – Issa Abu Khdeir, father of the 19-year-old Baltimore boy arrested for protesting the burning to death of his cousin by Israeli extremists:

• US ‘Concerned’ by Arrest of American in Israel (AP / abc News)

“[T]here has been a serious failure … in framing Gaza primarily as a humanitarian crisis. Addressing the broader context of occupation and siege is critical to ending violence and achieving a future of freedom and human security for both Palestinians and Israelis”:

• ‘Ending the Siege Is Not a Hamas Demand – It Is a Palestinian One’ (972)

“For Muslim youth, music [is a way] to proclaim your identity, to proclaim your politics, to explain who you are, to mobilize, to build community” Hisham Aidi, lecturer at Columbia University and author of Rebel Music: Race, Empire and the New Muslim Youth Culture:

• Take a Tour of Muslim Youth Culture Through ‘Rebel Music’ (PBS)

As scholars say, “The worsening plight of Iraq’s Christians is but a legacy of US’ illegal, unwarranted and criminal invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its subsequent engineering of sectarian strife to divide the Iraqi resistance to the occupation” and urge the UN hold ISIS accountable for its “crime against humanity” …

• Muslim Intellectuals Slam ISIS Brutality in Iraq (dna India)

… and a top Saudi imam says that the terrorist entity Islam’s  “No. 1 enemy and that Muslims have been their first victims” …

• Top Saudi Cleric: Islamic State Is Islam’s Enemy (AP  abc News)

… IS condemns an entire village for the peaceful resistance of one resident and threatens Americans everywhere  in retaliation for American intervention, starting wth the beheading of an American journalist:

• “No” From One Iraq Villager Triggered Islamic State Mass Killings (Reuters)
• Iraq Crisis: Islamic State’s Message to America – ‘We Will Drown You All in Blood’ (The Independent)
• Iraq Conflict: Obama Hails Recapture of Dam From ISIS (CBC)
• Islamic State Video Purports to Show Beheading of U.S. Journalist (Reuters)

“Two people are reported to have died as a result of the Israeli strikes, and eyewitnesses said thousands of Gazans were heading for UN shelters. Israel said about 50 rockets were launched from Gaza on Tuesday, but there were no injuries reported”:

• Gaza Conflict: Truce Ends amid Fresh Fighting (BBC)

“A UN official said approximately 16,800 homes and over 100 UN refugee installations in Gaza were destroyed or severely damaged during the war with Israel”:

• Gaza Requires ‘Unprecedented’ Reconstruction, Says UN  (Christian Science Monitor)

Some say that Al-Maliki and Al-Abadi are of the same cloth, but a different design. The new Iraqi prime minister is described as “different type of Islamist: one whose education, big-city upbringing and decades of living in Britain:

• Sectarian Past and Pluralist Hopes for Iraq’s Likely Leader (NY Times)

As The  president of Fortune 500 company punishes Scotsmen for solidarity with Gazan victims of Israeli aggression … 

• US Firm Cancels Visit Over Glasgow Palestine Flag (The Scotsman)

… NSW police go to the supreme court in effort to stop protesters from practicing their freedom of speech right by using the Summary Offences Act of 1988:

• NSW Police Try to Stop Pro-Palestinian Protest at Israeli Film Festival (The Guardian)

During a visit to Gaza, the British Consul General to Jerusalem, Alstair McPhail was photographed wearing a scarf with an embroidery of the slogan ” Free Palestine” next to the map before 1948:

• Gaza Strip: British Diplomat Pictured Wearing ‘Free Palestine’ Scarf (International Business Times)

The seaport and the airport destroyed by Israel are symbols of the sticking points in the negotiations:

• Gaza’s Ruined Airport and Unbuilt Seaport Fuel Dreams of Independence (Guardian)
• Palestinian Divisions Exposed by Peace Talks (Christian Science Monitor)

A Saudi ambassador insist that his country’s puritanical and intolerant version of Islam is not a unique interpretation of Islam, but the true religion; he thinks this exclusivist claim will distance the state from the terrorists:

• Saudi Arabia Does Not Support Islamic State Terrorists – Or Any Others (Guardian)

Some say that the prerogative of Israel is to be exclusively a Jewish State.… Protesters swarmed the wedding of a Muslim man and a Jewish woman, shouting hateful slogans and calling the Jewish woman “a traitor” after she converted to Islam:

• Israeli Interfaith Wedding Between Muslim And Jewish Convert Sparks Protest (Huffington Post)

The British officials fear that their “findings will contradict the position on the group taken by Britain’s allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)”:

• Results of UK Investigation Into Muslim Brotherhood ‘Delayed’- Reports (RT)

“Muslims are once again pressured to condemn and distance themselves from any association to the term Caliphate, as if the default position (or assumption) is that Muslims support ISIS unless they condemn them”:

• The Muslim Blame Game – ‘Not In My Name’ (Huffington Post)

A Muslim community condemns racist acts of Vandalism in a grave yard… The “uprooted headstones, trampled on flowers and kicked over memorials in a ‘heinous and senseless’ crime” said the police:

• Muslim Community Condemns Vandal Attack on Graves at Chadderton Cemetery (Manchester Evening News)

As Muslim Cadets serve their country Australia; “teenage girls wear black headscarves under their camouflage caps, and boys have full, dark beards” …

• Meet the Young Muslims Getting Ready to Fight for Australia (SBS)

… the Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbot, met with Muslims leaders in Sydney to negotiate the counter terrorism laws “to explain the proposed crackdown – which has been criticized by some Muslim groups”:

• Tony Abbott Meets with Muslim Community Leaders in Bid to Sell Proposed Counter-Terrorism Laws (abc News)

“According to the draft law, the Autonomous Government of Bangsamoro … will have more autonomous powers, particularly regarding politics and the economy, as well as “more territory, outside of and adjacent to” the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao:

• Agreement on Philippine Muslim Self-rule Bill to End Insurgency (Deutsche Welle)

“[T]he organization now finds itself engaged in a war against ruthless Sunni militants from the rugged mountains of east Lebanon and across Syria to the borders of Iraq and Iran that is slowly transforming the way Hezbollah sees its military role”:

• Hezbollah Lowers Fighting Age as It Takes On Islamic State (Christian Science Monitor)

“One of the most influential tribal leaders said he was willing to work with Shi’ite prime minister-designate Haider al-Abadi provided a new administration respected the rights of the Sunni Muslim minority that dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein”:

• Iraqi Sunnis Say Could Join New Government, Fight Islamic State (Reuters)

I’m frustrated because for years, Muslim[s] … have endured our interfaith sisters and brothers, as well as media and politicians, telling us that we don’t denounce terrorism done by Muslims. Even though Muslim organizations, leaders, lay people have all … condemned terrorism … consistently since 9/11″:

• 7 Questions to Ask Before Asking if Muslims Condemn Terrorism (Patheos)

As the United Nations declared the highest humanitarian level of emergency. the US found fewer people and better conditions on Mount Sinjar than expected, “partly because thousands had left the mountain each night over the past days”:

• Iraq: UN Sounds Alarm on Humanitarian Crisis (BBC)

… and as a result, “the Pentagon announced on Wednesday night that there was no longer any need for a risky rescue effort, as days’ worth of US air strikes and Kurdish-led exfiltration efforts had permitted most of the Yazidis chased up the mountain to escape”:

• Obama to End Humanitarian Airdrops in Iraq But Air Strikes Will Continue  (The Guardian)

France and Britain are ready to arm the Kurds. Could this mean Kurdish independence and the division of Iraq? The decision came after the United States abandoned a rescue mission at Mount Sinjar…”The decision to agree to such a request highlighted Britain’s concerns about the challenge of defeating Isis forces”:

• Britain Ready to Supply Weapons Directly to Kurdish Forces in Iraq

As the world watches Iraq closely, the regional war in the Middle East between the Sunnis and the Shia’s predicts an inevitable division of the country and redrawing of the Sykes- Picot lines:

• Western Intervention Over Isis Won’t Prevent the Break-Up of Iraq (The Guardian)

… the new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi said in a statement that “he is committed to fighting corruption and uniting the Iraqi people in the face of terrorism”, but most importantly, to call for the unity of Iraq:

• Iraq’s PM-Designate Calls for Unity (ABC/AP)

Invading Iraq was a mistake now the West refuses to recognize. All the countries who led the invasion promised ‘ “stable, democratic, federal, parliamentary, prosperous Iraq”‘:

• Iraq Crisis: US Rallies for Yazidi Community (BBC)

Iraqi leaders say they are incapable of defeating ISIS alone, and “believe it will take a broader effort backed by U.S. airstrikes to dislodge militants in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and parts of western Iraq”:

• Iraq Leaders Say They Can’t Defeat Militants (USA Today)

Anbar, the Western province of Iraq, took up arms against ISIS militants… “The current effort could potentially be a major turning point in Iraq’s two-month conflict against an ISIS-led offensive”:

• Iraq Sunni Tribes Take Up Arms Against Jihadists (The Daily Star)

“Hamas, Gaza’s dominant Islamist group, wants an Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the coastal enclave lifted, as well as the establishment of a seaport and airport, as part of any enduring cessation of hostilities with the Jewish state”:

• Hamas Says Israel Must Accept Palestinian Demands or Face Long War (Reuters)