News and Analysis (1/28/21)

Since VP Harris was critical of Kashmir annexation in 2019, many are hopeful to see improvements in the region:

• Hope in Kashmir as Modi Critic Kamala Harris Takes Office (Arab News)

Neoconservative critics are terrified that Biden will appoint a man who has “has called U.S. Middle East policy ‘a litany of failed enterprises’ requiring ‘self-reflection” and is a true believer in diplomacy’”:

• A Test of Biden’s Commitment to Diplomacy: Appointing Rob Malley as Iran Envoy (Salon)

Some are suggesting Biden help Nasrin Sotoudeh, lawyer of high profile cases in Iran and human rights activist, through negotiating with Iran:

• Opinion: ‘Iran’s Nelson Mandela’ is Back in Prison. Biden Must Push for her Freedom (Washington Post)

Munawar Faruqui, Muslim comedian, is charged under Section 295A of India’s penal code, which prohibits “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings…” all before opening his mouth:

• Muslim Comedian Jailed in India Over Jokes He Didn’t Even Tell, Says Friend (CBC/Radio-Canada)

“As a community that has often needed to explain itself and what Islam truly represents, we deeply empathise with your shock and anguish that someone who professes the Christian faith seeks to … desecrate it” — Mufti Nazirudin Mohd Nasir

• Muslim, Christian Leaders Condemn Plot by Singaporean Teen to Attack Mosques (Straits Times)

Biden’s restoration of relations with and aid to the Palestinians is driven by a desire to resurrect the two-state solution: 

• U.S. Announces Restoration of Relations with Palestinians (WFMZ-TV)

“President Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff said the Biden administration is independent and will not follow all Israeli commands like the previous US government, after Israel announced it is revising attack plans against Iran”:

• ‘Psychological War’: Iran Dismisses Israel Military Action Threat (Aljazeera)

Israeli immigration open to “virtually anyone of Jewish ancestry” is closed to three out of four Palestinians living “on land controlled by Israel are citizens of Israel, and even then their rights are limited compared with their nearly seven million Jewish counterparts”:

• Why an Israeli Human-Rights Organization Decided to Call Israel an Apartheid Regime (New Yorker)

“While such deference is particularly inappropriate for a president as willing to lie for personal and political gain as Trump, the Court, to quote [a different decision by] Chief Justice Roberts’ … should never ‘exhibit a naïveté from which ordinary citizens are free’”:

• Through the Looking Glass, Darkly: The Supreme Court’s Muslim Travel Ban Decision (Just Security)

Johaer Jilani