Month: November 2017

“A politician would have to be blind not to understand that this is a particularly nasty far-right organization that is in trouble with the law, electoral authorities, and reviled by 99 percent of the population”: Trump’s Retweets Elevate a Tiny Fringe Group of Anti-Muslim Activists in Britain (Washington Post) After an anti-Muslim krystallnacht, “Warsaw police…

“Sufism has shaped literature and art for centuries…. In modern times, the predominant view of Sufi Islam is one of ‘love, peace, tolerance,’” but some “fundamentalists see the reverence for saints … as a form of idolatry”: Who Are Sufi Muslims and Why Do Some Extremists Hate Them? (NY Times) “A global network of anti-Muslim…

“[M]edical units have now been installed in the Ritz-Carlton hotel where the beatings have taken place … to prevent torture victims from being taken to hospital” … Saudi Torture Victims Include Former King’s Son (Middle East Eye) … while in an act of stupefying supreme act of hypocrisy the man who invaded Yemen declares that…

“For a man whose role involves assessing security threats, Wuco has been quick to conclude—sometimes falsely—that attacks were perpetrated by Muslims”: DHS Official Who Made Islamophobic Comments Resigns. Another Remains in a Senior Role (Mother Jones) “Once a ceasefire is seen to be working, … talks … should find a workable solution for the return…

“Our adaptability starts with an understanding of Islam that is open and flexible…. We also changed our stances regarding women’s rights…. The future is freedom…. Islam stands for freedom and justice”: How Tunisia’s Ennahda Found Its Path Between Islam and Democracy (TRT World) A professed anti-corruption crackdown turns out to be a shakedown: Saudi Arabia Swapping Assets…

As foreseen by German intelligence, Saudi Arabia has adopted a reckless interventionist foreign policy … The Reverse Midas Touch of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Is Turning the Middle East to Dust (The Intercept) … and the Saudi-led coalition “faced widespread international criticism over the closure, with the UN and over 20 aid groups saying it…

“Some senior figures detained in last [week]’s purge in Saudi Arabia were beaten and tortured so badly during their arrest or subsequent interrogations that they required hospital treatment”: Senior Saudi Figures Tortured and Beaten in Purge (Middle East Eye) “[A]l-Hariri warned on Sunday Lebanon was at risk of Gulf Arab sanctions … and said he…

A ten year sentence for violating general orders, drunk and disorderly conduct, making false statements and abuse that led to a suicide: Military Jury Sentences Former Marine Drill Instructor to 10 Years in Prison for Targeting Muslim Recruits (Washington Post) US Marine Trainer Guilty of Abusing Muslim Recruits (Al-Jazeera) “France became the first Western country…

Does Hariri’s resignation signal that the Trump administration has pressured the Saudis to spoil Lebanon’s “compromise with Hezbollah … which over the past 12 months has brought some rare stability to Lebanon? Hariri’s Shock Resignation: What Saudis Gain, and Lebanon Could Lose (Christian Science Monitor) The Revolutionary Guard “often benefited financially from the sanctions regime”…