Minaret of Freedom Weblog

It is possible to teach about 9/11 without triggering anti-Muslim hysteria: include the Muslim immigrants who lost their lives as first responders, discuss the “Muslim ban” and “no-fly lists,” and keep students safe:

• Commentary: Lessons About 9/11 Often Provoke Harassment of Muslim Students (Press Herald)

Gantz’s “previously undisclosed talks on Sunday with President Mahmoud Abbas” make open the PA’s role as Israel’s enforcer:

• Israel Says It Will Loan Palestinians Money After Highest-Level Talks in Years (Reuters)

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid says the Americans and not the Taliban are responsible for the area around the Kabul area where the ISIS-K terrorist act took place:

• No Excuse for Any Group to Kill in the Name of Islam: Taliban Spokesperson on ISIS-K (India Today)

Ahmed’s “family believes the authorities are in cahoots with those responsible for the student’s disappearance”:

• Mother of Disappeared Muslim Student in India Refuses to Give Up (Aljazeera)

One injured demonstrator died from the wounds:

• Fourteen Palestinians Wounded as Israel Continues to Use Excessive Force on Demonstrators near the Perimeter Fence in Gaza (Reliefweb)

The change will allow many women “to join or return to” the nursing profession:

• Muslim Community Applauds Move to Let Nurses Wear Tudung; Guidelines Being Drawn on What Can Be Worn (Straits Times)

“The Quran instructs both men and women to observe modesty in their dress and behavior. However, Muslim women’s clothing isn’t entirely about adherence to faith. It has been used in the past – and present – as an assertion of identity”:

• Why Some Muslim Women Feel Empowered Wearing Hijab, a Headscarf (Fox21 News)

“[I]deology is going to have to take a backseat if the Taliban government is to survive” …:

• The Taliban Talks a Lot About Sharī‘a — but How Much Does that Really Tell Us About How They Will Govern? (ABC)

… but Biden’s withdrawal of American diplomats from Kabul guarantees no American influence, at least in the short run:

• Biden to Withdraw U.S. Diplomatic Staff from Afghanistan as Future Relationship with the Taliban Remains Unclear (Washington Post)

After rubber-stamping the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem, opposing the ICC “investigation into Israeli actions, and … [conflating] criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish bigotry,” Biden recommits to apartheid and settler-colonialism:

• Israel’s Prime Minister Is Not Seeking a Reset. He Just Wants More Cover for Apartheid and Colonization (Washington Post)

Biden tows the Israeli line on Iran:

• Bennett ‘Happy’ as Biden Touts ‘Other Options’ Against Iran (Aljazeera)
• Top Iran Security Official Says Biden Illegally Threatened Tehran (Reuters)
• Iran’s Khamenei Says Biden ‘No Different’ from Trump on Nuclear Deal (France 24)

The mainstream media routinely ignores Israeli atrocities, most shamefully the murder of children:

• AP Ignores Israel’s Brutality in Its Morning Wire (If Americans Knew)
• Shackled, Beaten, Strung Up on a Tree: Palestinian Teen Brutally Attacked by Settlers (If Americans Knew)
• Israel’s Killing of Palestinian Children: ~80 So Far in 2021 (If Americans Knew)

The Taliban and Iran are sectarian enemies, but their common anti-imperialist agenda makes them likely allies:

• Iran and the Taliban: Fast Friends or Fierce Foes? (National Interest)

Palestinian medics reported at least 14 people were wounded, including five who were shot protesting a blockade “that has devastated Gaza’s economy and fueled an unemployment rate that hovers at approximately 50 percent”:

• Palestinians in Gaza Resume Protests Against Israeli Blockade (Al-Jazeera)

Unclear guidelines and fear of sanctions are stopping tech companies from selling products that would help Iranians access the Internet freely and evade government surveillance:

• The Impact of U.S. Sanctions on Internet Access in Iran (NIAC Action)

Jewish settlers “set fire to an olive grove in Burin town south of Nablus” as Palestinians in the West Bank continue to face frequent settler attacks and instances of vandalism:

• Settler Set Fire to Palestine Olive Grove Near Nablus (Middle East Monitor)

• Afghan Refugees Kept in Deplorable Conditions at US facilities in Qatar (Middle East Eye)

Iranian official Hamid Hosseini believes “the new Iranian government will significantly expand cooperation with the Taliban government” and that “Iran can easily double its trade with Afghanistan”:

• Taliban Takeover Is a Boon for Cash-Strapped Iran (Wall Street Journal)

After two years of struggling to get justice for the death of his wife, Rafiq Shagoo, has no faith in any justice from Indian police force or their colonial regime:

• In Kashmir, One Man’s Long Struggle to Get Justice For His Wife Killed by Tear Gas (Scroll.in)

Amendments to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act ban all aid to states that “were not signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and had nuclear weapons programs” yet Israel has continued to receive billions in aid:

• Israel’s Nukes Make US Aid Illegal (Mondoweiss)

Pro-Palestine activists staged a protest outside an Israeli arms manufacturer’s plant in the borough of Oldham, UK, as part of their nationwide campaign against one of Israel’s “largest arms manufacturers”:

• Production of Israeli Arms Halted – Elbit’s Oldham Factory Shut Down By Palestine Action (Palestine Action)

• Jailed 5 Years Without a Fair Trial: My Questions For Mohammed Halabi’s Prosecutor (Times of Israel)

The so-called “forever war” (better used to describe “the expansive American commitment to deploy force across the globe in the name of fighting terrorism”) is by no means ending simply because of America’s incompetent and overdue withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan:

• Biden Pulled Troops Out of Afghanistan. He Didn’t End The ‘Forever War’ (Washington Post)

“A lot of people, because they lacked confidence that Kabul would be able to save them, capitulated.” More and more people chose this route, “so there was very little fighting, which is why it suddenly happened so fast”:

• Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their Arms (Politico)

• Rights Group: Israeli Strikes on Gaza Apparently Broke Law (Associated Press)

Nearly 6,000 cadre of the Haqqani Network, an important faction of the Taliban, have taken control of Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul:

• Hardline Haqqani Network Put in Charge of Kabul Security (Voice of America)

“Groups of armed Afghans attacked the Taliban on Friday, driving Afghanistan’s new rulers out of three northern districts, the first assault against the Islamist militants since they swept into Kabul last week and seized control of the government”:

• Anti-Taliban Fighters Claim Victories as First Stirrings of Armed Resistance Emerge (Washington Post)

Israeli troops fired on protesting Palestinians, wounding 24 people including 10 children, says Gaza Health Ministry …

• Israeli Forces Injure More Than a Dozen Gazans Marking 1969 Arson Attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque (Middle East Eye)

… and Israeli police on Tuesday stormed a ceremony in occupied East Jerusalem held to recognize the achievement of Palestinian students who passed their end of high school exams “claiming it was sponsored by the Palestinian Authority”:

• Israeli Forces Storm Ceremony Celebrating Palestinian Students’ Exam Results (The New Arab)

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist needs public support after facing assault in Texas prison, after “an inmate attacked Dr. Aafia by smashing a coffee mug on her face”:

• Aafia Siddiqui Says She Was Assaulted by Inmate in U.S. Prison (5 Pillars UK)

• Mohammed Sha’bann: 8 Year Old Blinded by Israeli Bombs During Gaza War (Middle East Eye)

The Taliban appear closer to forming a government nearly a week after seizing the capital as one of their leaders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, arrived in Kabul to “begin talks with former President Hamid Karzai and other politicians” …

• Taliban Co-Founder Mullah Baradar in Kabul For Government Talks (Al-Jazeera)

… as the U.S. leaves behind “hundreds of thousands of assault rifles, thousands of armored vehicles, dozens of aircraft, tanks, artillery, sniper rifles, night-vision goggles and much more” in sophgisticated weaponry for the Taliban’s use:

• As Taliban Parades Captured Weapons, US Still Trying to Gauge Scope of Damage (Times of Israel)

Hezbolla chief Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday a tanker would set off from Iran “within hours” to bring desperately needed fuel supplies to Lebanon, in defiance of US sanctions …

• Hezbollah: Iran Fuel Tanker Set to Sail to Lebanon, Defying US Sanctions (Middle East Eye

… and if the initial estimates of gas reserves held in the deposit are accurate, “Iran will be able to supply at least 20% of Europe’s gas needs”:

• Iran’s Huge Caspian Gas Find Is A Geopolitical Gamechanger (Yahoo Finance)

Pakistan’s interest in Afghanistan has been “almost certainly been to continue countering Indian influence and mitigating spillover into the Pakistani territory” according to a US DIA report…

• Pakistan Interest In Afghanistan To Counter Indian Influence, Says US Report (NDTV)

…yet propaganda based journalists continue to call for sanctions against Pakistan despite the fact that other countries, India included, continue to fund their own proxy wars in the Afghan state:

• #SanctionPakistan Trends as Afghans Demand Sanctions against Pakistan for supporting Taliban (OP India)

U.S. intervention created the corruption in Afghanistan that made the Taliban takeover so easy in the end …

• Sanction Pakistan? Try Blaming America for Afghanistan (TRT World)
• Dispatches from Afghanistan: The Bombshell Interview (Hollie McKay)

… but will the Taliban do any better than they did last time?

• Defining Change: Who Are the Taliban that Conquered Afghanistan? (Middle East Soccer)
• Taliban, Striking Dovish Tone, Pledge Peace and Women’s Rights Under Islam (Reuters)

The Israeli apartheid regime’s colonial justice system continues to side with settlers as they reject another Palestinian petition that was done “in response to the illegal Avyatar outpost”:

• Israeli Court Rejects Palestinians’ Claim to Beita Land (Palestine Chronicle)

• West Bank: Israeli Forces Kill Four Palestinians During Jenin Camp Raid (Middle East Eye)

The 11-day assault on Gaza may be over, but “unexploded bombs” are still killing those who survived the initial Israeli bombardment, humanitarian organizations and engineering teams say:

• The War is Not Over’: The Gaza Strip’s Unexploded Bombs (Middle East Eye)

The following study questions the efficacy of US and European sanctions on Syria concluding that “the current model of sanctions is suboptimal, with a high likelihood that sanction targets can use evasive strategies to avoid any actual harm”:

• A Comprehensive Review of The Effectiveness of US and EU Sanctions on Syria (MEI @75)

To only win back the support of US Jews Israel must behaves in a manner “that is consistent with their moral frame of reference” meaning that “it would have to end its military occupation, dismantle its apartheid regime and reverse its racist laws”:

• The Quiet Rebellion of US Jews Turning Against Israel is Good For Palestinians (Middle East Monitor)

Similar to the tactics they employed during Vietnam, U.S officials continuously lied  “to justify the U.S’s endless occupation of the country” as well as to “concoct a pleasing fairy tale about why the prior twenty years were not an utter waste”:

• The U.S. Government Lied for Two Decades About Afghanistan (Glenn Greenwald)

Pakistan serves as a scapegoat for the United States as they exit Afghanistan, ending a 20 year war that “created a political order that prioritized its counterterrorism agenda over the Afghan people”:

• Sanction Pakistan? Try Blaming America for Afghanistan (TRT World)

In the past 13 days, the Israeli apartheid regime has illegally “demolished, seized or forced people to demolish 57 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank” according to a report released by the United Nations:

• UN Report: Israel Demolished 57 Palestinian-Owned Structures in Two Weeks (Palestine Chronicle)

The Israeli army Friday attacked Palestinian worshipers with sound bombs “after they performed Friday prayers at Ibrahimi Mosque” in the center of Hebron city in the occupied West Bank:

• Israeli Forces Attack Worshippers at Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron (Al-Jazeera)

Four generations of Hanna Alshaikh’s family have been living in exile from their village “after being made refugees during the Israeli war of 1967”:

•  My Yalu Story: One day, Exiles Will Return to The Village Israel Destroyed (Middle East Eye)

Israel’s colonialist regime continues its illegal expansion “into the West Bank and Nablus” as Palestinians are evicted and brutalized by Israeli forces:

• Palestinians Protest Against Jewish Settlements Expansion in West Bank  (Xinhuanet)

The number of millionaires in Iran has exploded despite the country suffering under U.S. sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic:

• Iran Witnessing Millionaire Boom Despite US Sanctions and Fifth Covid-19 Wave (Middle East Eye)

“[P]rominent civil rights, Jewish, and faith-based organizations and leaders today strongly denounced flagrant anti-Muslim animus targeting Dilawar Syed and his historic nomination for deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)”:

• Flagrant Anti-Muslim Bias Weaponized Against SBA Nominee (Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights)

After decades of lying through omission,  a more honest American discussion of Israel’s nuclear arsenal “could breathe new life into the distant dream of a nuclear-free Middle East”:

• America Needs to Start Telling the Truth About Israel’s Nukes (NY Times)

“Under the smokescreen of electoral redistricting, New Delhi is using gerrymandering to politically neuter the region’s Muslim majority”:

• Modi Is Trying to Engineer a Hindu Majority in Kashmir (Foreign Policy)

Elected officials, Republicans and Democrats alike, who have taken up Israel’s directive to punish Ben and Jerry’s are “exhibiting their pro-Israel bona fides” at the expense of all of our First Amendment rights:

• At Risk in Israel’s Backlash Against Ben and Jerry’s? The Right to Protest (The Nation)

It is becoming impossible for American Jews to “reconcile their liberal values with support for a state accused of committing crimes against humanity” by imposing an apartheid regime on Palestine …

• ‘We May Lose US’ if American Jews Continue Backing BDS, Says Israel’s Diaspora Minister (Middle East Eye)

… is that the explanation for Israel’s unusual decision to grant building permits to some Palestinian West Bank residents?

• Israel Approves 1,000 Palestinian Homes in W. Bank Area C (Jerusalem Post)

Shaikh Abdul Aziz was killed by Indian forces on this day while leading mammoth march to Azad Kashmir in 2008 against the economic blockade of the Kashmir valley by “the extremist Hindus of Jammu”:

• Hurriyat AJK Leaders Pay Homage to Sheikh Abdul Aziz (Kashmir Media Service)

“Researchers attribute the high suicide attempt rate to two factors: religious discrimination and community stigma — both of which, they say, prevent Muslim American communities from seeking mental health services”:

• American Muslims Are 2 Times More Likely to Have Attempted Suicide than Other Groups (NPR)

A Palestinian woman was hospitalized after being shot in her “lower body” near the northern West Bank city of Nablus:

• Israeli Forces Shoot, Injure Palestinian Woman in West Bank (Palestine Chronicle)

Afghan officials say 3 more provincial capitals fall to Taliban amid US withdrawal as the “insurgents now hold 9 out of 34 provincial capitals”:

• Afghan Officials: 3 More Provincial Capitals Fall to Taliban (Associated Press)

Palestinian poet Darren Tatour exposes the horrors she faced after being imprisoned for her poems in 2015 …

• Decolonizing the Mind: An Interview with Palestinian Poet Dareen Tatour (Core Middle East)

… while the winner of the UN’s 2012 Humanitarian Hero Award languished in an Israeli jail though Israel, having “no proof to back their charges” keep “offering him release of jail in return for his acceptance of guilt”:

• Palestinian Humanitarian Hero Exposes Five Years of an Unfair Israeli Trial (Daoud Kuttab)

“Many Iranians, hundreds of thousands of whom have signed a petition opposing the new measures, have reason to worry: E-commerce through Instagram has opened doors even as the coronavirus has kept others closed”:

• Bill to Restrict Internet in Iran Could Threaten Pandemic-era Instagram Commerce Boom (Washington Post)

The IDF continues its policy of murder:

• A Palestinian Plumber Was Shot Dead by Israeli Troops While Trying to Fix a Water Outage  (Haaretz)
• Israeli Soldiers Kill an 11-year-old Palestinian, and His Brother Still Hears the Shooting (Haaretz)

Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s secularization of social mores has been accompanied by repression “of all political rights, including freedom of expression, media, and assembly”:

• Saudi Social And Economic Change Proves to Be a Delicate Balancing Act (James Dorsey)

A recent report reveals that Israel illegally arrested and imprisoned Palestinians in remote detention centers:

• Revealed: Israel Secretly Kept Innocent Palestinians in Remote Detention Centers (Israel Palestine News)

Since the Code of Hamurabi the world has taken step after step towards the establishment of freedom and equality through the rule of law. Now India has taken a huge slide backwards in Kashmir:

• The Evolution of Human Rights and Their Disregard in Indian-occupied Kashmir (Geo)

The Taliban continue their rapid expansion, seizing two more provincial capitals including “the strategically important city of Kunduz and Taleqan”:

• The Taliban Has Seized 2 More Provincial Capitals In Afghanistan As U.S. Exit Nears  (NPR)