News and Analysis (2/2/20)

Not as well known as Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, this Muslim plays a leading role in the most-watched event and largest spectacle in American culture:

• Robert Saleh’s Rise to the Super Bowl Began in a Muslim Community Where Football Is King (Washington Post)

Rashid Khalid reveals historical root for Trump’s one-sided peace plan, and the essence of the conflict:

• The Erasure of Palestinians From Trump’s Mideast “Peace Plan” Has a Hundred-Year History (The Intercept)

The Kushner plan violates all norms and is doomed to fail …

• Sorry, Jared, This Time It’s Not the Palestinians Who Have ‘Screwed Up,’ It’s You (Haaretz)

.. yet, a policy adviser for  the Palestinian Policy Network hopes it will bring about “a paradigm shift in Palestinian political thinking towards a long-term struggle for equal rights for all within the framework of one state”:

• Trump’s Middle East Plan May Have a Silver Lining (Al-Jazeera)

“All of the newly named countries except Myanmar have Muslim populations of 35 percent or more” :

• Trump Administration Adds 6 Countries to Travel Ban; 5 Have Large Muslim Populations (MSNBC)

Protesters against military institutions siding with repressive regimes are moved to risk going to the street to oppose despotism regimes backed by “imperialist” powers:

• Protesters Push Arab Militaries Off Their Pedestal (Middle East Soccer)

“Iranians must have the ‘right to choose’ between different political factions at polls,” President Rouhani said of the controversy over the disqualification of thousands of candidates in upcoming election”:

• Iran’s Rouhani Says Iranians Have Right to Choose Their Representatives (i24 News / AFP)

Al-Sistani condemns the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators, calling for fair government election:

• Iraqi Cleric Condemns Use of Force, 11 Protesters Wounded (AP)

“The killing of Qassem Soleimani upended expectations in useful ways, but the U.S. isn’t in a position to capitalize on the turmoil”:

• Trump’s Iran Strategy Isn’t Working as Well as He Thinks (The Atlantic)

The member of the Iowa House and Muslim Caucus of America cited “Sanders’s willingness to ‘go against the tribe’ to ‘stand up for justice’ … among the traits that earned his and the caucus’s endorsement”:

• Bernie Sanders Endorsed by Muslim Group, Iowa’s Sole Muslim State Lawmaker (Huffington Post)

Mossad took the initiative to deescalate tensions and avoid war seriously, but Netanyahu’s national security adviser convinced him that its purpose “was to give cover to the Iranians and the Americans who cheated us” …

• Netanyahu Rejected an Omani Proposal for Israel-Iran Talks in 2013 (Axios)

… but the EU will meet …

• EU’s Foreign P:olicy Chief to Travel to Iran in De-escalation Mission (Reuters)

… although the Saudis won’t let Iran participate in in the OIC discussions of the Kushner plan:

• Saudi Arabia blocks Iran from Islamic grouping’s meeting: Tehran (Reuters)