News and Analysis (7/28/11)

The FBI has been recommending some of the same disinformation pieces that pushed Norwegian terrorism suspect Anders Behring Breivik over the edge to its own agents:

• FBI Recommended ‘Complete Idiot’s Guide,’ Anti-Muslim Books to New Agents (Talking Points Memo)

Your tax dollars at work: Israelis destroy agricultural land and rough up and detain five Israelis and two Palestinians:

• 7 Arrested at Al-Walaja Village Demonstration (Maan)

Three months after the murder of the theater’s Palestinian Jewish director by persons unknown, Israeli soldiers vandalize the theater and the home of its board chairman arrest him and another theater associate:

• Commandos From Israel Raid Theater In West Bank (NY Times)

Indonesia, once admired for religious tolerance, now shows more tolerance for violent fanatics than for varieties of religious belief:

• 3 Indonesians Found Guilty in Brutal Islamic Sect Attack; Sentences Blasted as Too Lenient (AP / Washington Post with Foreign Policy)

“I’d love for other minority women and religious minorities [in the U.S.] to believe they can excel in something outside the norm—not just sports, anything where they’re breaking the barrier,” she said, “and not be deterred by what the image is just because they fall outside that box”:

• Fencer With Headscarf Is a Cut Above the Rest (Wall Street Journal)

“What we are doing here will not change the situation, but it is one more activity to oppose the occupation. One day in the future, people will ask, like they did of the Germans: ‘Did you know?’ And I will be able to say, ‘I knew. And I acted.’ ” — Hanna Rubinstein, Israeli activist in smuggling landlocked Palestinian women to enjoy a day at the beach:

• Where Politics Are Complex, Simple Joys at the Beach (NY Times)

While standing by his Shariaphobia, Cain concedes most American Muslims “are peaceful … and patriotic Americans whose good will is often drowned out by the reprehensible actions of jihadists.” Uh-huh. Like most Tea-party Republicans are peaceful and patriotic Americans whose good will is often drowned out by the reprehensible ravings of demagogues like Herman Cain …

• Cain Apologizes to Muslim Americans (CNN)

… and like Alan West:

• Muslim Students Challenge Allen West’s Anti-Islamic Speaker on Capitol Hill (Nation)

It is common to the point of a cliche for a candidate for U.S. Congress to pose next to a flag, but when it is an Israeli flag rather than an American flag, we have to consider the implications:

• Weiner’s Exit Sets Off a Race to Be Israel’s Better Friend (NY Times)

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