News and Analysis 12/31/21

Transporting “Noureddine Bhairi and his sister-in-law … to an unknown destination” is President Kais Saied’s latest move to drag Tunisia into tyranny:

• Tunisia’s Ennahdha Party Says Senior Official Detained (Aljazeera)

At one point Facebook blamed the “widescale deletion of Palestinian posts” on “a technical bug that it sought to fix,” but, to the alarm of rights groups, the deletions persist:

• Palestinians Raise Alarm over Facebook Content ‘Suppression’ (France 24)

The Gujarat High Court rejects the claim that Islamic law grants power to a husband to force a woman to cohabit with him against his will:

• On “Muslim Law Permits Polygamy”, a High Court Ruling on Wife’s Rights (NDTV)

Supporters say Modi’s policies have decreased violence, but a more careful look shows a “re-militarisation of the Valley has since been swift and comprehensive” and bodes ill:

• How Modi Govt’s Policies in 2021 Inflamed Rather Than Diffused Conflict in Kashmir (The Wire)

Unsatisfied with Taliban assertions that restrictions are “recommendations, not compulsory,” the Biden administration refuses to release the Afghani government’s funds, even in the face of some Democratic dissent in Congress:

• Taliban Cracks Down on More Rights While Demanding Western Aid (Washington Post)
• More than 40 House Democrats Urge Treasury Department to Unfreeze Afghanistan’s Bank Reserves (Washington Post)

“The petition cited inflammatory speeches made by … [the] priest of Dasna temple, the anti-Muslim slogans made at the Jantar Mantar rally” and disruptions of Friday prayers at which protesters spread cow dung and issued “threatening slogans”:

• Muslim Body Moves Supreme Court Against Hate Speeches (The Hindu)

“The liberal Zionist vision of partition has been outmaneuvered and defeated by its [right-wing] opponents”:

• The Two-State Solution Is Dead—and Liberal Zionists Can’t Save It (Foreign Policy)

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