News and Analysis (10/14/13)

According to the  Center for Constitutional Rights’ lawsuit, the FBI “sought to exploit the draconian burden posed by the No Fly List – including the inability to travel for work, or to visit family overseas – in order to coerce [Muhammad Tanvir] into serving the FBI as a spy with American Muslim communities and places of worship”:

• FBI Pressures Muslims on No-Fly List to Become Informants in Exchange for Travel Rights (Alternet)

As if England banned translating “Issa” to “Jesus,” by rejecting the Catholic newspaper’s argument that “Allah is a term in the Middle East and in Indonesia … for both Christians and Muslims” and ruling that such use “will cause confusion in the [Muslim] community”, the high court is in essence ruling that Malays are too stupid to see the difference between Christianity and Islam:

• Christian and Muslim Malaysians on Use of Word ‘Allah’ (Reuters)

After tensions were escalated by U.S. special forces snatching “a Libyan al-Qaida suspect known as Abu Anas al-Libi off the streets of Tripoli and whisked him off to custody in a U.S. warship” the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood has decided it can play the coup game that deposed their namesakes in Egypt:

• AP Interview: Islamist Leader Says Libya PM Failed (AP / Ventura County Star)

“Syrians fleeing civil war are straining Jordan’s resources, but they are also filling a gap in the economy as they set up small businesses and take jobs that Jordanians won’t”:

• Will Syrian Refugees Transform or Threaten Jordan’s Economy? (Christian Science Monitor)

The military repression in Egypt “has not touched the extremist Nour party,” but “moderate Islamists and secular liberals who oppose military rule are suppressed above all”:

• Obama’s Bad Choices on Egypt (Washington Post)

“The Egyptian government said a U.S. citizen it detained in the Sinai Peninsula last month for violating curfew was found dead Sunday in his jail cell, the second foreigner to die in detention in recent weeks” …

• Egypt: Detained US Citizen Found Dead in Cell (AP / abc News)

… while in occupied Palestine, “international activists arrived on the scene and were surrounded by settlers and physically and verbally attacked by them, one of them had water thrown over his camera and another was kicked. An international journalist also present was hospitalized after a settler threw bleach into her eyes”:

• Illegal Settlers Prevent Family from Leaving Their Home and Attack Internationals Whilst Israeli Soldiers Watch (Uruknet)

“‘This is a shame for an administration that its students and professors are not able to express their viewpoints,’ Rouhani told Tehran University students and professors. ‘This administration will not tolerate factional pressures on universities.’ He also urged authorities not to block scholars from taking part in international gatherings, calling it ‘scientific diplomacy’”:

• Iran’s President Calls for Academic Freedoms (AP /abc News)

“A kilo of tomatoes used to be one shekel [17p]; now it is five shekels. Most prices have gone up 50 – 60%. Why? Because of the costs of transportation, because there is no power to pump water to the fields, because there is no water. So people buy less” — Gaza merchant Mohammed Hilis:

• Gaza Chokes as Israel and Egypt’s Economic Garottes Tighten (Guardian)

Arafat’s body was exhumed after a French murder investigation was prompted by “the discovery of high levels of polonium on his personal belongings.” The Lancet article is no conclusive because of the  delay since Arafat’s 2004 death:

• Arafat and Polonium Poisoning: A Sort-of Update (Wired)

 

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