News and Analysis (6/24/14)

“[T]he Sudanese have assured the U.S. that the family is not under arrest and that they are safe…. U.S. officials are continuing to work on getting them out of the country” …

• Freed Christian Woman, Family Detained While Trying to Leave Sudan (Christian Science Monitor)

… while in Malaysia, ‘The highest court has rejected a challenge to the ban on Christians using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God, in a highly divisive legal case in the Muslim-majority nation… Malaysian authorities say its use by Christians could confuse Muslims and lead some to convert to Christianity”:

• Malaysia Allah Dispute: Top Court Rejects Challenge (BBC)

A “2011 Gallup survey found that American Muslims are significantly more likely than American Christians, Jews, Mormons, or Atheists to oppose attacks on civilians … whether they are enacted by military force or by a small group” and fervently condemn violence perpetrated by Muslims:

• Who Is Leading the Muslim Peace Movement? Millions of Muslims, That’s Who  (Think Progress)

Harris Zafar, an author, a lecturer, a teacher and speaker on Islam tries to answer important questions regarding Islam and Peace.  In a book called “ Demystifying Islam: Tackling the Tough Questions” he answers to misconceptions about Islam as a religion of war:

• 5 Questions for Harris Zafar, Washington County Author, Speaker on Islam. (The Oregonian)

As the political Sunni/ Shiites struggle escalates in Iraq, religious leaders of Detroit Michigan come together “to reaffirm a unity pact in an effort to ward off tension between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in Metro Detroit”:

• Detroit Area Muslims Seek Peace Amid Iraq Conflict (ABNA)

Yes, Tony Blair, Saddam would have been targeted by the Arab Spring if you and “W” had not rashly jumped the gun.  His comments came days after he published an essay saying that the invasion of Iraq is not to blame for the current crisis …

• Iraq Crisis: Tony Blair Admits ‘Removal of Saddam Hussein’ Is Partly to Blame for Uprising (The Independent)

… in which events escalate as ISIS advances and seizes the key oil refinery of Beiji, north of Baghdad, that “supplies a third of Iraq’s refined fuel”, leading to gas rationing.” The refinery is “essential if the rebels are to keep control of the areas they have conquered and to supply Mosul with energy” …

• Iraq Crisis: Key Oil Refinery ‘Seized by Rebels’ (BBC)

… meanwhile, John Kerry visits Baghdad urging the Iraqi leaders to fight ISIS and promising “intense and sustained” support to Iraq, and that “[t]he very future of Iraq depends on choices that will be made in the next days and weeks” …

• Isis Advance Threatens Iraq’s Very Future, Claims John Kerry (The Guardian)

… but “the Kurdish president told Kerry that ‘We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq’” …

• Kerry’s Message of Unity May Be a Tough Sell to Iraq’s Kurds (Christian Science Monitor)

… and as Iraq’s instability continues, so does the death toll, the result of summary executions, killing after abduction, and the encounter of unidentified bodies on river banks. “At least 1,075 people – mostly civilians – have been killed in Iraq during June”:

• Iraq Toll ‘More than 1,000 in June’

“Since the abduction of three Israeli teens, Israel has arrested about 350 Palestinians, conducted sweeps of 1,800 locales, and raided 64 Islamic charities with suspected links to Hamas. Concerns are growing about resulting Palestinian unrest”:

• Israel Reins in West Bank Military Offensive amid Fears It Could Backfire (Christian Science Monitor)

“The election was called a month ago amid government claims that a renegade general was plotting a coup. General Khalifa Haftar denied the allegation, but launched a military offensive against Islamist militias…. At least 70 people were killed in the ensuing battles”:

• Libya Holds Elections to End Post-Gaddafi Instability  (BBC)

“Any efforts to raise the stakes by acting against migrants from Bangladesh in India could have international ramifications by alienating the India-friendly government of the neighbouring country and provoking anti-Hindu sentiment there”:

• Anti-Migrant Rhetoric Alarms Assam Muslims (Al Jazeera)

“Islamic extremists have abducted 60 more girls and women and 31 boys from villages in northeast Nigeria, witnesses said…. Security forces denied the kidnappings. Nigeria‘s government and military have been widely criticized for their slow response to the abductions of more than 200 schoolgirls”:

• Nigeria Abduction: 60 Females, 31 Boys Abducted from Villages (Christian Science Monitor)

Hanan Hameed