News and Analysis 8/27/23

Not satisfied with banning headscarves, Education Minister Gabriel Atta will now ban traditional Muslim dresses as well, and will not be satisfied until you are unable “to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them”:

• France to Ban Muslim Abaya Dress in State Schools (Reuters)

Admitting that Palestine is an open-air prison, Israel’s “heritage minister” asks, “In a prison, I take someone and revoke their civil rights so that the rest of society can live in a better way. Is that apartheid?”:

• Minister Compares Palestinians to Prisoners in Justifying Curbs on Their Movement (Times of Israel)

“Settlers attacked citizens’ homes in the southern area of the village, under the protection of the occupation soldiers who fired stun grenades and tear gas canisters toward residents, causing suffocation to a number of them”:

• Palestinians Suffocate During Israeli Army and Settlers’ Attack in Nablus (Wafa)

“Kusman Rehim was arrested on July 14…. The main reason was that the police found a Quran in his home…. Also, he had performed Quranic recitations in people’s homes … and taken part in a Muslim wedding” — Atajurt chief Bekzat Maksutkha …

• Xinjiang Police Eetain Ethnic Kazakh Who Sang Quranic Recitations at Muslim Wedding (Radio Free Asia)

… and President Xi promises more of the same:

• China’s Xi Doubles Down on Hardline Xinjiang Policy (Politico)

Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley take 7-8 times as much water as their indigenous Palestinian herder neighbors:

• Palestinians Still Struggle to Get Enough Water (Aljazeera)

“Why are you hitting him so lightly? Hit him hard,” the teacher is heard telling the children, as the boy stands crying”:

• India Teacher Investigated for Telling Pupils to Slap Muslim Peer (BBC)

“Zionism’s goal, since before Israel’s inception, has been to displace Palestinians from their land and reduce those who remain to a struggle for basic subsistence” …

• Expert Reveals Israel’s Abuse of Palestinians Was Premeditated (Israel-Palestine News)

… so it is no surprise that “Israeli settlers kill Palestinians and don’t get indicted” …

• Settlers Killing Palestinians: A History of Impunity (Haaretz)

… and that a “growing number of Jewish academics are using the term apartheid to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians”:

• ‘Accusing Israel of Apartheid Is NNot Anti-Semitic’: Holocaust Historian (Aljazeera)

Board members opposed forcing marriage on thrice divorced women seeking to reconcile with their ex as “a mockery of religion” but called temporary marriage a “nonissue … not practiced” in India:

• Muslim Law Board’s Stand Sought on Nikah Halala (The Hindu)

“From prayerlike lyrics to tongue-in-cheek references, Islam and other religions are woven into hip-hop’s beats:

• How Some Muslim and Non-Muslim Rappers Alike Embrace Islam’s Greeting of Peace (The Conversation)

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