News and Analysis (7/29/14)

Attempts to kill two of Nigeria’s most prominent of Muslim leaders, Sheikh Dahiru Bauch and Muhmmadu Buhari occurred after the two declared Boko Haram’s actions “unislamic”:

• In Nigeria, a Civil War Within Islam (Christian Science Monitor)

ISIS continues to demolish both Christian sites in northern Iraq and Islamic landmarks that are hundreds of years old, as the residents of Mosul watch helplessly:

• Militants Destroy ‘Anti-Islam’ Shrines (The Columbus Dispatch)

“Muslims in France have been largely successful” in integrating with the French society, yet Muslims are still “socially and politically marginalized, suffering from discrimination”:

• Are French Muslims Integrated? Depends on What You Mean by Integration (The Washington Post)

A survey finds that “42 percent of Americans believe law enforcement is justified in using profiling tactics against Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans,” especially after the recent acts of violence, conducted under the name of Islam:

• Americans’ Attitudes Toward Muslims And Arabs Are Getting Worse, Poll Finds (Huffington Post)

Throughout the World,  Muslims break the fast and end Ramadan with Eid prayers …

• Eid al-Fitr 2014 Photos Show Muslims Celebrating Around The World  (Huffington Post)

… Obama marks Eid Al- Fitr by describing Muslims as ” The fabric of our nation,” noting that “the message of interfaith peace that poverty, conflict and disease affect all of humanity, and not of just any one faith” …

• The Message of Interfaith Peace That Poverty, Conflict and Disease Affect All of Humanity, and Not of Just Any One Faith. (CBS)

… but can the Palestinians hear that messages over the sounds of the bombs?

• Eid offers no respite for war-weary Palestinians in Gaza (Christian Science Monitor)

[V]igilante extremists — whose views on racial and religious purity evoke the Ku Klux Klan — are successfully exploiting [unfounded] fears to spark deadly anti-Muslim riots …

• Buddhist Vigilantes in Myanmar Are Sparking Riots with Wild Rumors of Muslim Sex Predators (LA Daily News)

… while concentration camps in Burma highlight a humanitarian crisis where the Burmese government dismissed aid groups in the area, “leaving more than 700,000 people without proper medical care”:

• Malnutrition, Disease Rising in Burmese Muslim Camps (Washington Post)

Several Spanish actors speak out, urging the European Union to join them in condemning Israel’s bombing of civilians, as boy band One Direction’s Pakistani-British Muslim Zayn Malik receives death threats after expressing his support for Palestine:

• Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem Denounce Israeli ‘Genocide’ in Open Letter (The Hollywood Reporter)
• One Direction’s Zayn Malik Receives Death Threats After Tweeting ‘#FreePalestine’ (Daily News)

• Lawmakers Try to Seal $225M Aid Package for Israel (AP / abc News)
• Ten Dead, Including Nine Children, After Missile Lands in Gaza Park (AP /  Christian Science Monitor)
• Israel Knocks Out Gaza Power Plant, Digs in for Long Fight (Reuters)
• Hamas Attacks by Tunnel Rattle Israelis on Gaza Border (Christian Science Monitor)

… and encouraging Israel’s repitition of the tragic mistake of its attack on Lebanon in the 1980’s:

• For Israel in Gaza, a War of Choice and an Uncertain Outcome (Christian Science Monitor)

“Intense fighting in Benghazi, Libya’s second city, and battles between rival militias in the capital Tripoli have pushed the nation deeper into chaos after two weeks of the fiercest violence since the [Western-backed] civil war which ousted Muammar Gaddafi in 2011”:

• Libyan Militants Overrun Benghazi Special Forces Base as Chaos Deepens (Reuters)

A newspaper article attracted thousands of  critical comments from German politicians who described the article as ” racist” and demanded an apology from the Newspaper to German Muslims:

• Germany’s Biggest Tabloid Under Fire for Criticizing Local Muslims (Russia Today)

Hanan Hameed