Month: April 2015

“Throughout my 17 years as a journalist writing about Islamic societies no editor ever asked me ‘What does it say in the Qur’an about this?’ Instead I was writing about what Muslims did, Muslims as an identity issue, Muslims as a geopolitical concept. I had seen the tremendous power of the text in action but…

“The blockade by air and sea, led by the Arabian Peninsula’s richest country against its poorest, has led to a warning by the International Committee of the Red Cross that Yemen’s humanitarian situation is ‘catastrophic’” … As Yemen Bombing Subsides, Saudi May Struggle with Peacemaker Role (Reuters) … “the UN’s human rights agency said Friday…

“Convicting Mohamed Morsi, despite fundamental flaws in the legal process and what seems to be at best flimsy evidence produced in court under a gag order, utterly undermines this verdict” — Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director: Why Islamist President Morsi Was Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison (Christian Science Monitor)…

Nawaz Sahrif thinks the Saudis have “‘bitten off more than they can chew.’ The Egyptian experience in Yemen, in which Egypt had up to 20,000 casualties in the 1960s fighting the same Zaydi tribes that back the Houthis, figures prominently in Pakistani thinking, especially in the army” … Saudi Arabia’s Deepening Isolation in Yemen (Al-Monitor) … and 18 “scholars…

How was Congress’s compromise with the Obama administration on the Iran deal even possible? Because you-know-who gave the green light: ““This is an achievement for Israeli policy” –Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz : Israel Happy at Compromise Deal on Iran Between Congress-Obama: Minister (Reuters) “[She] wears [a headscarf] … for herself … because she wants…

“In a rare outbreak of bipartisan compromise and a partial victory for the White House, the Senate foreign relations committee voted unanimously to amend language in legislation that once threatened to give congressional hawks a chance to derail nuclear diplomacy and risk … military strikes”: Iran Nuclear Deal: Senators Reach Bipartisan Compromise to Pave Way…

“The Fars report alleged Rezaian had obtained economic and industrial information from Iran and sold it to unnamed Americans. It also linked him to Omid Memarian, an Iranian opposition journalist based in the US”: US Journalist Jason Rezaian to Stand Trial in Iran, Says News Agency (Guardian) “Bahah is popular across Yemen’s spectrum of feuding…

“The men were among thousands detained after the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013. Egypt’s mass trials of Brotherhood supporters have drawn international criticism of the country’s judicial system” … Egypt Sentences Muslim Brotherhood Leader, Others to Death (Reuters) … and an American who “been on a hunger strike over his detention for more…

“Shaimaa al-Sabbagh’s shooting death … has laid bare deep flaws within the country’s security and justice system … [and] left the state scrambling for cover … amid signs Mr. Sisi’s rule is growing more authoritarian. The policeman suspected of causing her death is facing trial, but so are the witnesses”: Egyptian Protester’s Public Killing Brings Surge…

Saddam’s revenge? Each time the U.S. knocks out a leader of the anti-American extremists in the region now encroached upon by ISIS, not only is he replaced by an even more extreme militant, but the Baathist influence in the emergent replacement group becomes stronger: The Hidden Hand Behind the Islamic State Militants? Saddam Hussein’s (Washington…