News and Analysis (2/8/18)

Among the keywords Boston police “tracked using Geofeedia … [were] innocuous Arabic words routinely used to discuss religion or community, including ‘ummah’ (which means ‘community’ in Arabic)”:

• Social Media Monitoring in Boston: Free Speech in the Crosshairs (Privacy SOS)

“[T]he data that underlies it has been connected to a set of interpretations and conclusions . . . that can’t be drawn from how this report was structured” – David Sterman, policy analyst at New America:

• Certain Muslim Immigrants Should Be Under Long-term Surveillance, a DHS Draft Report Urges (Washington Post)

“Because we don’t have any power or self-determination. We don’t feel we have freedom. Because everything is centralised by the government”:

• Rakhine State: Hatred and Despair in Myanmar’s Restive Region (BBC)

“[M]ilitary intelligence officials have been in contact with Muslim Brotherhood figures in prison lately to agree on a deal whereby senior leaders will be freed in exchange for disengaging from politics”:

• Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Finds Favor Again (Bloomberg)

“Many Muslim doctors across the nation have opened their own facilities funded primarily through donations to help the poor and the uninsured”:

• Muslim-led Free Clinic Helping Recent Immigrants, the Uninsured and the Poor in Hoover (al.com)

“Mennel Ibtissem’s voice won over the jury on the French TV show, but her political positions alienated pro-Israel and Islamophobic groups”:

• Singer on ‘The Voice’ in France Under Fire for Pro-Palestinian Stance (Middle East Eye)

“‘Christelle’ allegedly identified a scar on Ramadan’s groin,” but an alleged “plane reservation … would show Ramadan flying from London to Lyon at about the same time the woman said the assault took place”:

• Bail Refused in French Rape Case Against Muslim Theologian (VoA)

“It’s not easy for a girl to find a job and go to work outside of her home in Afghanistan. Now, with just one laptop at home, she can work online and earn money and help her family”:

• Female Afghan Coders Break Gender Barriers in Fight Against Opium (Christian Science Monitor)

In just ten years the number of “women … working in the 30 largest Muslim-majority economies” has gone from 100 million to 155 million, mainly due to ” the rise of technology as an enabler of work“:

• A Tech-savvy Generation of Muslim Women Driving Global Growth (Financial Times)

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