News and Analysis (5/14/20)

Muslims in Europe struggle to hold traditional burials:

• Muslim Burials in Europe Strained by Virus Lockdowns Abroad (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

One of “the 12 million people who had been displaced and forced to leave their homes overnight,” Mammo’s story demonstrates the malicious use of political borders to deny people their right to return home:

• ‘Why Can’t a Muslim Woman Choose India as Her Home?’ (The Wire)

As Palestinian seek to commemorate the nakba, that catastrophe of their lost homeland, amidst the Covid-19 crisis …

• Palestinians Mark 72 years of the Nakba (TRT World)
• Palestinians Look to a Digital Future to Connect With Their Past (Reuters)

… Iran’s bill to establish an embassy in Jerusalem emphasizes that the “historical and integrated land of Palestine belongs to the original Palestinian people, including Muslims, Christian, and Jews” …

• Iran Progresses Anti-Israel Bill, Plans to Establish Embassy in Jerusalem (Jerusalem Post)

… whereas the 19th century Zionist slogan of “a land without people for people without land” ignored the fact that 88% of the population were not Jews” …

• Palestinians Pay the Price for Israel’s Slavery to the Memory of the Holocaust (Haaretz)

… and now as the EU warns against advancing West Bank annexation, some say Pompeo may urge caution:

• On Annexation, a Green Light Turns Yellow, Pompeo’s Visit to Israel Signals (NY Times)

Trump’s economic pressure on Iran could backfire on US goals:

• Was Leaving the Iran Deal a Good Idea? (GZERO)
• Iran’s Stock Market: Growth in the Midst of a Recession? (Atlantic Council)

“With all five local mosques in the region closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, local congregants have had to find other ways to honor the holiday”:

• Muslim Community Marking Ramadan with Weekly Food Drives (The Monitor)

“A right-wing lawmaker in Italy was reprimanded Wednesday after he called a young Italian woman who converted to Islam while being held hostage in Somalia a ‘neo-terrorist’”:

• Bigotry Mars Return of Italy Hostage Who Converted to Islam (AP)

Hackers strike …

Group Hacks Telangana Govt Website to Protest Jammu & Kashmir Curbs (Indian Express)

… as India refuses to letup on oppression during the pandemic:

• Supreme Court Verdict on 4G in Jammu and Kashmir Undermines the Rule of Law (The Wire)
• Soldiers Kill Man in Kashmir, Triggering Anti-India Clashes (Al-Jazeera)
• Kashmir: Family of Civilian Killed in CRPF Firing Says He Was ‘Murdered Without Any Provocation’ (Scroll)

The University of Michigan partnered with ACCESS to conduct a community health outreach for Muslims fasting Ramadan using culturally specific message:

• Program Aims to Help the Muslim Community Quit Smoking During Ramadan (Michigan Medicine)