Minaret of Freedom Weblog

Committed to a policy of bellow loudly and carry a big stick, Bolton brings war with a Iran a step closer …

• US Deploys Navy Strike Group to Send ‘Message’ to Iran (Politico)

… “‘pushing the U.S. toward disaster’ in spite of the Trump’s campaign promise not to get involved in expensive foreign wars”:

• Can We Stop the Slow Slide to a U.S.-Iran War? (National Interest)

Cuba and Iran in the 1950s, Syria, Libya and Iraq more recently, when will the U.S. ever learn?

• Sanctions on Iran Are Biting, but the Goal Is Elusive (LA Times)

Alejandro Beutel’s analysis unveils the techniques by which white nationalists shift the window of acceptable conversation to permit open antisemitism and Islamophobia and recruit young people:

• The New Zealand Terrorist’s Manifesto: A Look at Some of the Key Narratives, Beliefs and Tropes (START)

The judge found that “[w]hile the violation of [JamilAl-Amin’s] right not to testify was ‘serious and repeated,’ … she was constrained by the ‘onerous standards’ imposed by the law and Supreme Court case law”:

• 1960s Black Militant H. Rap Brown Challenging Imprisonment (Washington Post)

A convert asked his parents concerned about his conversion “to read a chapter in the Quran about Mary and Jesus.” He says, “That gave them a different perspective of Islam”:

• More Latinos Are Becoming Muslims: ‘Islam Is Not as Foreign as You Think’ (Philadelphia Inquirer)

“Palestinian officials said an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement was reached with Israel on Monday to end a recent surge of violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel” …

• Palestinians Report Gaza Truce with Israel as Violence Ebbs (CNBC)

…in which “[f]our Israelis and 23 Palestinians, including two pregnant woman and an infant, were killed … along the border on Friday”:

• UN, Qatar and Egypt Offer Israel Cease-fire After Two Days of Hostilities; 4 Israelis Dead in Rocket Barrages (Haaretz)

One of the ten demonstrators repeatedly shouted that “Roger Waters hates Jews” because the co-founder of rock band Pink Floyd “while on a music tour in Israel … was appalled by the conditions Palestinians must endure”:

• Pro-Palestine Event at UMass Draws 2,000 Attendees, 10 Protestors (masslive.com)

The free market rushes in to meet needs to which the broader culture is indifferent:

• Enough with the Pancakes. Can Muslims Get More than IHOP at Ramadan? (Washington Post)

“I have never been to a country where so many people are so genuinely pleased – and grateful – you have decided to visit”:

• 10 Things that Surprised Me About Iran (Stuff)

[K]nowing someone who is Muslim [correlates] with more favorable attitudes toward Muslims. … An even more powerful factor … is knowing something about Islam”:

• Anti-Muslim Hate Is Driven by Politics, Not Faith — and It’s Preventable, Study Shows (Religion News Service / Salt Lake Tribune)

The attempt by “three anonymous Jewish students” to prevent free speech on campus was foiled by “a Suffolk Superior Court judge … [who] ruled there was no cause to prohibit the speeches before they happen”:

• Judge Refuses to Bar Forum at UMass Amherst on Palestinians’ Rights (Boston Globe)

Successful reform requires an end to state interference, for “French Muslims to build religious organizations in accordance with the Law on non-profit organizations of 1901, and … [to] organize themselves”:

• Islam, Made in France? Debating the Reform of Muslim Organizations and Foreign Funding for Religion (Brookings Institution)

Najaf’s “colleges are free of state interference, unlike those in Qom. And it is the seat of the most popular Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani … [who] champions the separation of mosque and state”:

• Why Shia Clerics Are Turning on Iran’s Theocracy (Economist)

Experts “experts warn would make the United States less safe and end up victimizing American Muslims to curry favor with authoritarian allies” through “guilt by association” with a “diffuse … ‘huge’ array of … charities”:

• Experts Warn Against Trump Designating Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Organization (NBC News)

A “devout Muslim who dresses in full hijab, along with an opaque face veil covering everything but her eyes” finds carrying a Glock 19 after “being robbed at gunpoint back in 2015… makes her feel safer”:

• She’s Black, Female, Muslim, Covered — and Licensed to Carry (Philadelphia Inquirer)

After telling “her tenant to find an ‘American person … good like you and me’ to sublease her property instead of a Muslim father and son seeking to open their second restaurant” she will pay the victims $675,000 to settle:

• Landlord Who Refused to Rent to Muslim Men Settles Lawsuit (Chron)

“Back in 2010, … customers … [who] withdraw their foreign currency deposits from Iranian banks, … could only get their deposits back in rials …worth far less than the original foreign currency deposits”:

• ‘Billions’ Are Stuffed Under Mattresses in Iran (Al-Jazeera)

“SiriusXM Radio show host Dean Obeidallah is seeking more than $1 million in damages against The Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin, who hasn’t responded to Obeidallah’s libel lawsuit”:

• Muslim Host Given Okay to Seek Damages from Neo-Nazi Who Called Him a Terrorist (Times of Israel)

The argument that Islam is not a religion has “nothing to do with a philosophical interrogation of ‘religion’ generally” but is actually about “depriving Muslims of rights”:

• Asma Uddin: If We Deprive Islam of Its Status as a Religion, All Religion Is Threatened (Religion News Service)

Churches that “held solidarity events with the [Muslims] after the Christchurch shootings” have been targeted for pamphlets proclaiming “Islam is the enemy, this is a declaration of war, this is them versus us”:

• Palmerston North Churches Targeted with Anti-Muslim Pamphlets (TVNZ)

“In the 1960s, … the Brotherhood formally codified its opposition to violence in a tract titled, ‘Preachers, Not Judges'” and “there has been no evidence since then that the … organization … has engaged in violence”:

• Is the Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Group? (NY Times)

“In 1991 [SIS] published … Are Women & Men Equal Before Allah? that advocated the message of equality in Islam, and Are Muslim Men Allowed to Beat Their Wives?” in support criminalizing domestic violence”:

• With Regime Change, Sisters in Islam Finds New Support… but Also New Challenges (Malay Mail)

“They will be forced out of public spaces to stay at home and will be unable to work, study or access basic services. The ban violates their rights to non-discrimination, freedom of expression and religion”:

• Sri Lanka: Ban on Face-veil Risks Stigmatizing Muslim Women (Amnesty International)

“Competition between Iraq’s two main external backers polarizes its politics and paralyzes day-to-day operations. … It must reduce its binary dependency on Washington and Tehran”:

• Don’t Let Iraq Fall Victim to U.S.-Iran Rivalry (Foreign Policy)

The “Pakistani national anthem is almost entirely in Persian. …  Prominent Pakistanis such as the country’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and its first president Iskander Mirza, were Shia Muslims”:

• Don’t Underestimate Pakistan’s Relationship with Iran (TRT World)

“Can someone explain why Palestinian deaths at the hands of illegal Israeli settlers and IDF terrorists is not news?”

• Palestine and News Bias (Counterpunch)