News and Analysis (3/25/18)

The purpose of the law is to drag “Muslim businesses and even houses of worship could … into potential lawsuits, something that would certainly have a chilling effect on American Muslim commercial and civic life”:

• Andy’s Law Fails in Alabama, but the Anti-Muslim Legislation Has Passed in Seven States to Date (Southern Poverty Law Center)

Isaacs has apologized for retweeting other people’s Islamophobic  tweets to “stimulate conversation” but how about his own bigotry such as “All #Islamic #terrorists literally follow #Islam”:

• More Anti-Muslim, Conspiratorial Tweets Emerge from Trump’s Pick for Top UN Migration Job (CNN)

An unrepentant “supporter of the Iraq war and an advocate for aggressive use of American power, Bolton was unable to win Senate confirmation after his nomination” as UN ambassador:

• Bolton Set to Replace McMaster as Trump’s National Security Adviser (Christian Science Monitor)

“[M]any migrants from abroad became more religious” and that is usually a good thing since cultural differences are more inflammatory than religious ones:

• Muslim Migrants Become More Religious After Arriving in Moscow (Eurasia Daily Monitor)

“I chose Ennahdha because I found that because of the crisis the country is going through, everyone is turning toward this party. I see no difference between the Islamic and Judaic religions”:

• Jewish Candidate for Muslim Party Breaks Tunisia Barriers (AP / Daily Star)

“The role of police and some local Buddhist politicians suggests the Sri Lankan government lost control of elements of its security forces, and that the violence was more than a spontaneous outbreak fueled by fringe Buddhist extremists”:

• Police, Politicians Accused of Joining Sri Lanka’s Anti-Muslim Riots (Reuters)

“Eleven men were part of mob that attacked Alimuddin Ansari, who was transporting beef”:

• Indian ‘Cow Protectors’ Jailed for Life over Murder of Muslim Man (Guardian)

“Along with an Analysis of what has gone wrong and why, … [Akbar] Ahmed argues that Islamic communities in Europe need to turn away from primordial identities and instead seek mutual flourishing through a “pluralist identity”:

• Non-Fiction: Europe’s Islam ‘Problem’ (Dawn / Kashmir Observer)

Erdogan employs religious language to take threats (real, exaggerated, and imagined) “to advance a highly ideological narrative” to whip up a nationalist frenzy that justifies increasing his own power and squelching the opposition:

• Turkey’s ‘Holy War’ in Syria Puts a More Religious Nationalism on Display (Christian Science Monitor)

ImadadDean