News and Analysis 8/3/21

The Israeli high court insulted the homeowners by proposing they “could stay in their homes for now” if they began paying rent to the Jewish settler group pretending to ownership of their homes:

• Palestinians Reject Israeli Court’s Deal That Would Put Them at “Mercy of Settlers” in Sheikh Jarrah (Democracy Now)

In the midst of a national security state, Muslim communities are “deeply harmed” as watchdogs and civil liberty groups “raise concerns that Biden’s Domestic Extremism Strategy” will “amplify bias and erode civil liberties”:

• New Name, Same Flaws, Pt. 2: Muslim Activists Call BS on Biden (Rights & Dissent)

U.S. tax money was used to fund an IranDisinfo campaign targeting “journalists, policy analysts, and human rights defenders with attacks that crossed the line into personal abuse”:

• Social Media Harassment of Iran Researchers, Activists (Human Rights Watch)

Two newly released pieces of footage support eyewitness claims that “that the father and his three children who were in the car with him decided to backtrack after encountering a roadblock at the entrance to Beit” before 13 shots were fired:

• Footage of IDF Shooting of 12-year-old Palestinian Casts Doubt Israeli Army’s Account (Haaretz)

A United Nations report released last Saturday states that “Israeli occupation forces have killed four Palestinians, including two children” and have recently “wounded 1090, including 141 children”:

• UN: Israel Killed 4 Palestinians, Injured 1,090 in Last 20 Days (Middle East Monitor)

The Mississippi city’s failure to provide air conditioning threatens damaging manuscripts du eto the heat and humidity:

• International Museum of Muslim Cultures Has Been Without AC for Two Months (WJTV)

Three bystanders were injured after police in Indian occupied Kashmir “resorted to indiscriminate firing in Srinagar city”:

• Three Civilians Injured in Indian Police’s Firing in Srinagar (Kashmir Media Service)

Powerful blasts followed by sporadic gunfire hit Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Tuesday near the city’s heavily fortified “Green Zone”, an area “home to government buildings and foreign embassies” as the Taliban close in:

• Powerful Blast Rocks Kabul After Afghan Army Urges Civilians to Leave Taliban-Controlled Areas of Major City (CNN)

The status of “at least four tankers in the Gulf of Oman” is uncertain while another is confirmed to have been “reportedly hijacked by gunman” believed to be from Iran:

• Iran Backed Forces Seize Tanker, Maritime Sources Say (Reuters)

Abdullah Khan