News and analysis (6/22/15)

Earlier the devout Muslim teenager “had organized and participated in scores of protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad…. After the IS takeover[,] horrified by the group’s approach to the faith, its draconian dictates, and its rules prohibiting girls from studying,” she “formed this small team to fight IS”:

• A Syrian Teen’s Tale of Torture and Death in an Islamic State Town (Christian Science Monitor)

After “a rebuke from the Islamic affairs ministry” the hot-headed Saudi preacher has apologized, but the comedian still faces “IS supporters on social media, with some literally calling for his head.” He says, “[I]t is the duty of artists to reveal the truth – even if they have to pay a price for doing so”:

• Saudi Imam Apologises to ‘Apostate’ Comedian (BBC)

Deeyah Khan aims to explain why British women join ISIS… “[a] great deal of racist violence is […] directed at Muslim women, who are more visible than men. This can leave women isolated and fearful; hyper-aware of their identity, which marks them out for hostility” …

• For Isis Women: It Is Not About ‘Jihadi Brides’: It’s About Escape (Guardian)

… yet PM David Cameron continues to isolate Muslims from the rest of the society by connecting Islam with terrorism …

• David Cameron, Inadvertent PR Man for Islamic Extremists (Guardian)

… and the struggle for Muslims in Dewsbury, England, against marginalization continues:

• ‘Even If Your Hometown Is Dewsbury, You Can Be British and Muslim at the Same Time‘ (Guardian)

Former President Morsi’s trial is postponed and the regimes’ Protest Law, banning all protests with more than five people without prior permission, is challenged by protesters:

• Egypt Postpones Morsi Trial Over Government ‘Leak‘ (Al Jazeera)

“Ahmed Mansour, one of Jazeera’s best-known journalists, was released after Egypt was unable to dispel concerns about the extradition process, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.” This came after an earlier foreign ministry statement against extradition to any country to face a death sentence”:

• Al Jazeera Journalist Freed from German Jail (Christian Science Monitor)

Sultan Hamengkubuwono X takes steps towards changing the succession order, enabling his daughter to become the next sultan. Conservatives dislike the idea for opening up the position for women; progressives accuse him of only trying to keep power in the family:

• Watch the Throne: The Battle Over Indonesia’s First Female Sultan (Foreign Affairs)

Eva Forslund