News and Analysis (7/23/14)

As the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” attacks Baghdad, killing more than 33 in its most recent attack, in addition to claiming “responsibility for a wave of bombings in Baghdad, including several blasts on Saturday which killed 27 people” …

• Islamic State Says Carried Out Baghdad Suicide Bombing (Reuters)

Today in Iraq more human rights are violated than it were under Saddam’s regime. “The Center for Public Integrity claimed that the Bush administration manipulated intelligence records”, and its ultimate goal was the removal of Saddam …

• The Failure of the Iraq War (Huffington Post)

… and cyber war in Iraq is an extension of the current conflict, where “cyber-thieves are also using the conflict to help trick people into opening booby-trapped messages” to gather intelligence:

• Iraq Conflict Breeds Cyber-War Among Rival Factions (BBC)

More than 200 Iraqis gathered in front of a Catholic Church in Baghdad, holding “slogans to show solidarity after a radical Islamist group evacuated Christians from their homes in the northern city of Mosul” …

• Muslims Show Solidarity With Iraqi Christians in Baghdad Rally (Al-Arabiya)

… Iraqi Christians have been in Iraq for more than 2000 years. If fanatics continue their actions, “they will be annihilating centuries of civilization”:

• Eradicating a Civilization (The Daily Star)

“[W]hen Muslims are collectively depicted as terrorists or extremists, it’s a hell of a lot easier to look the other way when they are spied on”:

• Why People Apparently Don’t Care About Muslim Surveillance or Dead Palestinian Kids (Huffington Post)

In Lansing, Michigan, “The Council on American-Islamic Relations says three people allegedly attacked a 26-year-old woman…attempted to pull the victim’s dress and face veil off before knocking her down and shouting obscenities at her” …

• Group Says Attack On Muslim Woman At Michigan Mall Is A Hate Crime (CBS)

… and Muslims in Brooklyn are experiencing “racial slurs and even eggs being thrown at worshipers wearing traditional Muslim clothing” as a result of the Gaza, Israeli conflict: 

• Muslims in Brooklyn Feel Backlash From Middle East Unrest (ABC)

Not shocked by the surveillance and the Informants on Muslims in the United States, Muslims answer is “ We need to be visible, to be active, and to speak up when the government uses our religion as the basis for persecution”:

• Muslims Aren’t shocked to Discover We Are Watched. But We Won’t Be Scared (The Guardian)

PLO executive member Hanan Ashrawi described Israels actions as ‘war crimes’ and warned that Palestine will seek the International Criminal Court if Israel continues its violence against civilians …

• PLO’s Hanan Ashrawi: ‘Deliberate Massacre’ in Gaza (ABC)

… and “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has backed calls by Hamas for an end to the economic blockade of the Gaza Strip as a condition for a ceasefire”:

• Gaza Conflict: Abbas Backs Hamas Ceasefire Demands (BBC)

Aming the issues still unresolved are limits on enrichment capacity, “ the heavy water Arak reactor, sanctions relief and the Fordow enrichment site”:

• Iran Nuclear Talks to Resume in Early September: State TV (Reuters)

“The two reports differed in their conclusions, although neither found evidence of extremism in the schools.” One “said there had been a coordinated attempt to introduce an ‘aggressive Islamist agenda’” but the other “said individuals had encouraged certain Islamic principles … to ‘raise standards’”:

• ‘Trojan Horse’ Report by Council ‘Ought to Be Reviewed’ (BBC)

The CAR Muslims are “ gripped by ethnic and religious violence since the Muslim-led Seleka rebels, seized power in the mainly Christian nation in 2013, “feel that they have been “abandoned”:  

• CAR Muslims Feel ‘Abandoned’ By Government (Al- Jazeera)

Hanan Hameed