Minaret of Freedom Weblog

Homes, wells, young people, the PA, its own Arab citizens, and a PTA are among the targets of the apartheid state:

• Israel Orders Demolition of 5 Homes, 3 Wells in Masafer Yatta (MEMO)
• Two Youths Injured by Live Bullets During Confrontations with Israeli Soldiers in Jordan Valley Town (Wafa)
• Israel’s Hardline Govt Revokes Palestinian FM’s Travel Permit over UN Move (New Arab)
• Israel Imposes More Repressive Measures on Palestinians Following UNGA Vote (People’s Dispatch)
• In the Rush to Suffocate Palestinians in Israel, Lawmaker Proposes Revoking Citizenship on Loyalty Grounds (Wafa)
• Israeli Police Break Up East Jerusalem Parent-teacher Association Meeting (Haaretz)

The silence of Muslim political thinkers stands “in stark contrast to the deeply egalitarian message emphasised in both the Quran and Mohammed’s teachings”:

• Debate: Forget Past Choices of Thinkers, What Can Muslims Do Now to Tackle Caste? (The Wire)

The son of a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany now faces discrimination for not excluding Israel from his campaign to blow the whistle on oppressive governments:

• Harvard Kennedy School Condemned for Denying Fellowship to Israel Critic (The Guardian)

“Both hijab bans and hijab mandates exist to control women”:

• Muslim Residents Reexamine Hijab amid International Protests (Independent Florida Alligator)

It’s more of the same as the Democrats replace Nancy Pelosi (if the Capitol “crumbled to the ground,” we’d still be aiding Israel with Hakeem Jeffries (“Israel today, Israel tomorrow, Israel forever”):

• Weekly Briefing: ‘The Palestinian Issue Is Not Ready for Prime Time’ — or Is It? (Mondoweiss)

“When the Phules were thrown out by their families for promoting education among Dalits and other castes, Fatima Sheikh encouraged the couple to establish the first all-girls school … at her home”:

• ‘First Muslim Woman Teacher’: Fatima Sheikh’s Statue Unveiled Days Before Birth Anniversary (The Kashmir Monitor)

AI technology pretends “impartiality, while remaining flawed on topics, such as racism in politics and the Palestinian issue”:

• Palestine, Corbyn and Trump: Can ChatGPT Truly Be Unbiased? (Middle East Eye)

At the time Tunisia’s presidency “denied US pressure to dismiss” its ambassador to the UN, who had “prepared the draft resolution condemning ‘deal of the century'”:

• Kushner Reveals Washington Pressured Tunisia to Dismiss Pro-Palestine UN Ambassador (Palestine Chronicle)

Amnesty International “said all of those facing death sentences had been denied the right to adequate defense and access to lawyers of their choosing”:

• Iran Hangs Two Men Accused of Killing Security Agent During Protests (VOA)

As Israeli continues it violence against the legitimate owners of the land and their children …

• Army Attacks Palestinians Protesting Illegal Takeover Of Their Lands, Injure Two And Abduct Two (IMEMC)
• Israeli Soldiers Kill 4th Palestinian in 2023, 3 of Them Children (Israel-Palestine News)
• Two Palestinians Injured in an Attack by Settlers near Bethlehem (Wafa)

… the new national security minister expresses his pleasure that those who resist will not be treated moire humanely:

• Ben Gvir Visits Renovated Jail to Ensure Palestinians’ Conditions Unimproved (Times of Israel)

An exploration of Keralan Muslim women “redefining themselves within the Islamic traditions … on issues like widow remarriage, the right to property, the purdah system, and the Islamic ways of life … against the State and religious oppression”:

• A Welcome Counter-Narrative to Problematic Constructions of Muslim Women’s Identity (The Wire)

Poor representation of women and complete absence of Muslims makes the “managing committee [look like] a unit of the political party headed by the current government”:

• Muslim Writers ‘Ignored’ at Kannada Literary Fest; Parallel Event by Rebel Writers Today (The Federal)

The election of Muslim woman to the Wisconsin statehouse is a novelty …

• The Muslim-American Legislators Adding a New Dimension to Their Country’s Democracy (Wisconsin Muslim Journal)

… but in New Jersey a Muslim mayor who’s “seen both Democrat and Republican mayors who are Muslim win elections in New Jersey” says, “We can get over the stereotypes and biases if we serve our communities well”:

• ‘Biases Can Be Melted.’ Muslim Mayor to Be Sworn in for Unprecedented 5th Term (nj.com)

“[A]lthough the marriage is valid in Islam, if couples fail to register with Jais, their marriage is not recognised” leading problems “like dealing with their children who are getting married” and inheritance”:

• Selangor Islamic Council Says Only Recognising Overseas Muslim Marriages Registered with Jais (Malay Mail)

“[I]t was the first time a cultural object has been returned to the Palestinian people from the United States”:

• U.S. Repatriates Looted Ivory Spoon to Palestine Amid Michael Steinhardt Investigation (Art News)

Sweden’s “progressive” child protection service has taken Muslim children away from their parents on mere suspicion of potential physical abuse and turned them over to sexual abusers:

• Sweden: Experts, Families Say Sweden’s Social System Mistreats Muslim Children (Muslim News)

MPAC declares its opposition to ” the ideology of compulsion in general” stems “not from a political or partisan perspective but from a deeply held sense of moral and religious obligation flowing from our Islamic faith and sincere commitment to God”:

• Islamic Declaration Against Religious Police (Muslim Public Affairs Council)

The convicted terrorist’s plan to go to al-Aqsa raises concerns not only among Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, the UN, and a former Israeli PM, but even in the U.S. government:

• Criticizing or Whitewashing Israel: Netanyahu’s New Government Accentuates West’s Hypocrisy (Palestine Chronicle)
• UNSC to Discuss Troublemaker Israel Minister’s Visit to Palestine’s Al Aqsa (TRT World)
• Israel’s Ben-Gvir Storms Al-Aqsa in ‘Unprecedented Provocation’ (Middle East Eye)
• As Israeli Gov’t Takes ‘Bold’ Extremist Steps, Some in U.S. Call for Sanctions (Mondoweiss)

A “stateless Palestinian who was held … in Juneau, Wis., … for overstaying his visa … says Christians were allowed to participate in unsupervised group prayer”:

• Lawsuit: Muslim Prayer Rights Denied in Wisconsin Jail (UPI)

A young woman held up with the Qur’anic commandment to all Mulsims, male and female, Iqra, which means Read!. Rather than take the advice, the Taliban took away her placard:

• Why Is Taliban’s War on Women a War Against Islam? (India Today)

Israel continues its rampage of detentions, demolitions, expulsions, and the murder of children:

• Israel Detains Palestinian Mayor in Occupied Hebron (Middle East Monitor)
• Israel Demolishes Parts of Masafer Yatta Villages, Residents Prepare for Expulsion (New Arab)
• Israeli Forces Shoot Dead Palestinian Child in Nablus (Wafa)

“France’s Foreign Minister … dismissed the outrage and said Iran ‘practices violence against its own population’ and, unlike France, doesn’t have freedom of the press”:

• Iran Slams France and Shuts Down Cultural Center Over Charlie Hebdo’s Khamenei Cartoons (Bloomberg)

She “won a special election … after a hard-fought campaign scarred by Islamophobic attacks. She will represent the First Ward … [of a Minnesota] city of about 71,000”:

• First Woman of Color and First Muslim Begins Blaine City Council Term (Star-Tribune)

“If I hadn’t had the research background I have, … I would be afraid of basically all Muslim leaders in Sweden” —  Emin Poljarevic, associate professor of sociology of religion:

• Sweden Banning Islamic Schools: Closing Islamic Schools Is Political Decision with Anti-Islamic Motives, Says Swedish politician (Andalu Agency)

The increasingly flagrant nature of Israeli racism may have no immediate effect on U.S. government policy, but its effect on the American Jewish community is visible in an open battle over free speech:

• Will Netanyahu and His Extremist Ministers Undermine Unquestioned U.S. Support? (WRMEA)
• The Growing “Battle” Inside U.S. Jewish Institutions As Israel Embraces Racist Parties (WRMEA)

“Swedish authorities have rejected the allegations [of Islamophobia], saying they reserve the right to oversee private school activities.” Since the 1990s the private schools have been funded by the government:

• Muslim Children Disconsolate as Sweden Forces Islamic Schools to Shut (Middle East Eye)

India killed almost two dozen innocent Kashmiris per month in 2022, and so far in 2023 the pace is picking up:

• Indian Troops Martyred 214 Kashmiris in 2022 (APP / Daily Times)
• 10 Killed in Indian Kashmir Violence (The Defense Post)
• Police: 2 Kids Among 6 People Die in Kashmir Village Attack (News-Press Now)

“Ghaz?l? (d. 1111), in his treatise The Just Balance (2016), not only develops a model of critical thinking from the Qur??n itself, but he also coined the term from a Qur?anic verse, ‘And weigh with the just balance’ [26:182]”:

• Thinking About Thinking: Can Islamic Nurture Be Critical and Reflective? (Muslim Matters)

A 15-year-old and a 17-year -old are among those shot dead by Israeli troops:

• 15-year-old Shot Dead by Israeli Army, Palestinians Report (Haaretz)
• Israel Kills Two Palestinians in West Bank Operation: Palestinian Ministry (AFP / The Defense Post)

Charges that night raids are really aimed at creating suspicions about Muslims are supported by an officer’s response to the question as to why the police had seized books, “What else can we do? We cannot return with bare hands”:

• Feature: “Being a Muslim Itself is a Crime in Present-day India”: Memoir of an NIA raid (Kashmir Media Service)

“Syria blamed Israel for an airstrike on Damascus International Airport overnight between Sunday and Monday” which is “the second attack on the airport since June”:

• Damascus Airport Strike Puts Spotlight Back on Iran and Syria -Analysis (Jerusalem Post)

Calling an an art history class display of a historical Muslim image of Muhammad (pbuh) Islamophobic “has privileged a most extreme and conservative Muslim point of view. . [and] flattened the rich history and diversity of Islamic thought”:

• Most of All I Am Offended as a Muslim (Chronicle of Higher Education)

As Israeli oppression continues to mount …

• Israeli Forces Detain Eight Palestinians from West Bank (Wafa)
• One Seriously, Israeli Soldiers Injure Several Palestinians in West Bank (IMEMC)
• Israel Arrested over 3,000 Palestinians in 2022 (Middle East Monitor)
• As a Researcher, I Study the Health of Palestinians. It’s Time to Pay Attention (NY Times)

… one act of IDF terror leads to charges:

• Israeli Army Charges Two Soldiers for Revenge Attack on Palestinians (Reuters)

Her campus activism “made her the target of online hate mobs, … her father was arrested on what she describes as flimsy and specious pretenses and has been held since, and finally, she speaks about the shocking destruction of her family home by a bulldozer”:

• An Indian Student Activist Spoke Out About Government Discrimination. They Demolished Her House (Insider)

“Authorities apprehended him in September 2017 amid a widespread crackdown on Islamic clergy and other prominent Uyghurs, for traveling to the holy city Mecca in 2015”:

• Former Uyghur Muslim Preacher Confirmed Dead in Prison in China’s Xinjiang (RFA)

“[I[n Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan in particular. Islam and Muslim organizations operate also as social actors and have social agency, especially women”:

• The Importance of Female Islamic Activism in Kyrgyzstan (The Diplomat)

The man Lady Warsi accused of having “the same ‘crazy’ anti-Muslim policies as Donald Trump” wants to publish a report distracting from the real threat of right-wing nationalism with the bogeyman of Muslim extremism:

• The McCarthyite Blacklist of Muslim Groups Gove Wants Published Should Never See the Light of Day (The Guardian)

“The biggest victim of [BJP intolerance] have been members of communities of religious minorities of India, especially Muslims and Christians” …

• Don’t Shoot the Messenger Whenever a Muslim Voices Concern on Intolerance (The Wire)

… and Sikhs tradition is collateral damage:

• Behind BJP’s Attempts to ‘Distort’ Sikh History, the Agenda Is Fuelling Anti-Muslim Hate (The Wire)

“Rouhani said Islam’s Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) valued the opinion … of the people and consulted them on matters, … even … when he held a different opinion himself”:

• Former President Rouhani Says Preservation of Islam in Iran Now Hinges on Restoration of Republicanism (IFP News)

The Global Islamic Council objects to Google placing a factual definition of Jews second to a slur:

• The Surprising Muslim Organization that Lobbied Google, Fought Antisemitism (Jerusalem Post)

Blaming “Western countries, Israel and Saudi Arabia of fomenting the unrest,” and “arrests of dozens of dual nationals, … [aims] to shift blame away from the Iranian leadership”:

• Iran Reroutes Plane Carrying Soccer Star’s Wife, Blames UK over Unrest (Reuters)

Initially in opposition to the Soviet Union, now of Russia and China, and always in support of “oil and Israel,” the U.S. has  fostered division in the region:

• A Shaky Foundation: The Myth of Authoritarian Stability in the Middle East (Cato)

Vowing to appeal, one of the banned “school’s board members in a statement said: ‘The board thinks it is an unfair decision. There is no evidence for what we are accused of'”:

• Sweden: Two Independent Muslim Schools Forced to Shut Doors Over Islamist Ideology (European Conservative)

If the Prophet says “Seeking knowledge is a duty for every Muslim, male and female,” who are the Taliban to prevent women from their duty?

• Iqbal: Taliban Barring Women from Universities Is Against Islamic Teaching (Ottawa Citizen)

Israeli oppression continues to mount:

• Israel Kept over 600 Palestinians Children Under House Arrest in 2022 (Peoples Dispatch)
• Israeli Soldiers Fire Teargas at Palestinian Students in Hebron (Palestine Chronicle)
• Israel Revokes Residency of Palestinians from West Bank Who Move to Gaza (Middle East Monitor)
• Israeli Soldiers Injure Many Palestinians near Hebron, Abduct One near Jericho (IMEMC)
• Israeli Forces Detain Six Palestinians, Wound Another in West Bank (Wafa)
• Palestine: Protests Erupt as Israel Refuses to Release Bodies of Prisoners (Firstpost)

Once “the most significant social movement and political opposition in Egypt, … the group has been all but destroyed, with most of its leaders either imprisoned, killed or in exile”:

• Muslim Brotherhood at the Crossroads (RNS)

Activation of Starlink in Iran is “part of a U.S.-backed effort ‘to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information’ to Iranians”:

• Elon Musk Says Around 100 Starlinks Now Active in Iran (Reuters)

Muslims look at Christmas in America …

• Eboo Patel: A Muslim Family Celebrates Christmas (Chicago Tribune)

… and in the land of Jesus’s (pbuh) birth:

• Unholy Days and Nights in Bethlehem (Israel-Palestine News)
• Caution Overshadows Christmas Celebration in Bethlehem as Palestinians Brace for a Radical-right Israeli Government (Arab News)
• Occupation: On Christmas, Israel Denies Palestinian Christians Their Rights (Middle East Eye)
• In Gaza, Christian and Muslim Palestinians Celebrate Christmas Together (Arab News)

On the heels of its unIslamic ban on women’s higher education …

• Egypt’s Al-Azhar Imam: Taliban’s Ban on Women’s University Studies Contradicts Sharia (Siasat)

… the Taliban takes the bread out of the mouths of Afghani families by prohibiting Afghani females from working with foreign aid agencies:

• Taliban Bars Women from Working at NGOs; Some Groups Halt Operations (Washington Post)

Sen. Warren and Rep. Jacobs charge that the DOD “is undercounting U.S.-caused civilian casualties in the Middle East and failing to make condolence payments even for [those] deaths it does acknowledge.”:

• America’s Loose Ends in the Middle East (Reason)

Netanyahu committed to recognise up to 100 illegal outpost communities across the Palestinian territories, to the dismay of Israel’s international partners”:

• Netanyahu Commits Israel to Recognise Illegal Settler Outposts in Occupied West Bank (New Arab)

“In yet another demonstration of Islamophobia in India, there is no outcry over Twitter’s arbitrary suspension of our editor Ahmed Khabeer” — The Jamia Times:

• Twitter Suspends Account of Muslim Journalist Ahmed Khabeer (Makbool)

Those fighting real antisemitism say she is targeted “to silence her and to undermine her mandate as a senior UN official reporting about Israel’s violations of human rights and international law”:

• Scholars of Anti-Semitism Defend UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Against Pro-Israel Onslaught (Middle East Monitor)

“‘You can’t stop the truth,’ said Nafar, speaking after the concert which Israeli police failed to shut down” …

• Israeli Police Try to Cancel Palestinian Rapper Tamer Nafar Concert Mid-show… and Fail (New Arab)

… but in Germany a “new report by ministers and senators seeks to lay the legal basis for outlawing Palestinian groups, and even banning maps of historic Palestine”:

• Germany Just Took a Drastic Step Toward Criminalizing Palestine Activism (972 Magazine)

Demonstrating their contempt for the sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh), the “Taliban on Tuesday banned women from all universities in Afghanistan”:

• Taliban’s Ban on Women at University Against Islam: FM Çavu?o?lu (Daily Sabah)

“Israeli forces and settlers have killed 166 Palestinians, including at least 30 children, in the West Bank in 2022,”while “29 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed by Palestinians in the same period”:

• US Expects Equal Treatment for Palestinian and Israeli ‘Extremists’ (Middle East Eye)

“The new criminal code … includes articles that ban insulting the president and state institutions, and spreading views counter to the state ideology

• Analysis: Politics and Islam Bring Indonesian Compromise on Criminal Code (Reuters)

“Jews from the Ottoman Empire pioneered the Christmas-lights market a century ago — but nativism, antisemitism and Islamophobia obscured this history”:

• Christmas Lights — Brought to You by a Jew from the Muslim World (Washington Post)

Do “this Imam and his kind have no idea that women not only congregate in mosques in many Islamic and non-Islamic countries, but also at the Masjid Al Haram itself?”:

• Forbidding Muslim Women from Contesting Elections or Visiting Mosques Goes Against Quran and Constitution (Indian Express)

“Mounties say, MAC should take its concerns to other authorities, even though the records include faked RCMP search warrants and phony records of payments to informants”:

• RCMP Declines to Probe Forged Documents Implicating Muslim Charity in Terrorist-related Funding (Globe and Mail)

As Israeli oppression increases …

• Israel Intensifies Aggression on Palestine Properties in Hebron (Middle East Monitor)
• Palestinian Prisoner Dies of Cancer Amid Accusations of ‘Medical Neglect’ (Mondoweiss)
• Palestinian Footballer Killed by Israel in West Bank: Medics (Aljazeera)

… there are signs of a U.S. pushback “expected primarily to affect settlers living in the occupied West Bank”:

• US May Deny Visas to Israelis Suspected of Committing Crimes Against Palestinians (Middle East Monitor)

The EU Court of Human Rights has upheld the politician’s €3,000 fine for saying French Muslims must choose “between Islam and France”:

• Court Upholds French Far-right Leader’s Conviction over Anti-Muslim Comments (Politico)

“[D]uring a time of especially heavy Israeli state violence” one rights group reported 700 instances of censorship and another “that nearly half of the Palestinian-themed content that disappeared off of Instagram” …

• Social Media’s History of Suppressing Palestine Content (Israel-Palestine News)

… so Musk’s selection of Bari “Weiss as one of the journalists to break a story about censorship is exceptionally ironic, given Weiss’s history” suppressing “suppress academic freedom for Palestinian and Arab scholars.”:

• The Twitter Files, Palestine and a Question of Bias (Arab Weekly)

The skeptics notwithstanding, Qatar ends up hosting “the best game of all time”:

• Muslim World’s First World Cup Draws to a Close, Outshines Controversies (TRT World)

In their fanatic push to conflate ant-Zionism with antisemitism, Zionists now “want a *government entity* to dictate what is and isn’t a *legitimate Jewish belief*”:

• Department of Education to Investigate Berkeley Law School After Complaint from Israeli Lawfare Group (Mondoweiss)

“Reform of Islamic jurisprudence challenges a key pillar of autocratic strategies in the Muslim world designed to ensure the survival of repressive regimes”:

• Indonesians Call for Religious Reform Challenges Muslim Autocracy (Global Village Space)

The illegal “deportation of lawyer Salah Hamouri, a Jerusalemite who holds French citizenship, to France yesterday” is meant to intimidate non-Jewish residents of the city into submission …

• 13,000 Palestinians Stripped of Their Jerusalem Residency Permits (Middle East Monitor)

… but Israel refuses to explain its detention of a Palestinian-American attempting to enter Jerusalem with a permit:

• Palestinian-American to Be Released After Israeli Detention (Aljazeera)

The creator of That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story and Yes, I’m Hot in This says fans must wait for the televised version of her work until studios can find a Muslim showrunner:

• Graphic Novel Adaptation Delayed Because Studios Refuse to Give Muslim Directors a Chance (The Mary Sue)

In the wake of the IDF murder of a 15-year-old girl, a settler rams his car into two brothers fixing a tire on the roadside …

• Palestinian Brothers Killed in ‘Deliberate’ Settler Attack (Middle East Eye)

… and Palestine’s PM calls for UN “teams stationed in Palestine to deploy monitors on the roads and in the areas targeted by settlers”:

• Palestine Seeks UN Monitors’ Deployment in West Bank amid Settler Violence (TRT World)

A report on the “constant obstruction, harassment and persecution, from tear-gassing nurseries to arbitrary checkpoints and night raids, used to drive Palestinians from their land”:

• Calibrated Chaos and Cruelty in the Little Town of Bethlehem (Morning Star)