Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) | – “”Fox News contributor Allen West went to Walmart and thought he was the victim of “Sharia law” because a checkout clerk under the age of 21 couldn’t sell him alcohol. West, a former congressman and head of the think tank National Center for Policy Analysis, wrote a […]
As ISIL takes Ramadi: America’s Hydra Problem in the Middle East
By Inge Fryklund | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | — In the Greek myth, Heracles battles the Hydra — a multi-headed reptilian monster that was terrorizing the Greek countryside. However, every time a head was cut off, two grew in its place, so cutting off one head at a time was an ineffective plan of […]
Illegal Israeli Squatters uproot hundreds of Palestinian olive trees near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma’an) – Israeli settlers destroyed and uprooted hundreds of olive saplings in the Palestinian town of al-Shuyoukh northeast of Hebron in the southern West Bank. Local activist Ahmad al-Halayqa told Ma’an that about 80 acres of land planted with olive saplings had been vandalized by Jewish settlers from nearby illegal settlements and outposts. This […]
Floating Graveyard: 6000 Migrants, incl. Rohingya Muslims, Marooned in SE Asia Seas
By Kanya D’Almeida | — UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – On Thursday, May 14, a group of journalists rented a boat from Ko Lipe, a small island in Thailand’s southwest Satun Province, and headed out into the Andaman Sea – a water body in the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the […]
A Journalist Journeys to the Heart of the Quran (Muslim Scripture)
By JOSEPH RICHARD PREVILLE and JULIE POUCHER HARBIN for ISLAMiCommentary : Carla Power Great journalists invite us to be companions with them on their journeys to extraordinary places. Carla Power offers such an invitation in her new book, If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran […]
Palestinian Christians, under Pressure, Honored by Pres. Abbas as they welcome New Saints
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — In the run up to Pope Francis’ canonization of two Palestinian nuns, President Mahmoud Abbas praises Palestinian Christians for the “distinctive dimension” their community and history gives to the Palestinian struggle. “On this holy occasion we would like to express appreciation to our Palestinian Christian brothers for their steadfastness and effective contribution […]
Syria: Roman Palmyra Monuments in danger as ISIL Fighters Near
BBC News | Video | – “Islamic State militants move to within a few miles of one of the world’s oldest and most important archaeological cities, Palmyra, in the latest stage of their campaign in Syria.” Islamic State: Fighters near site at Palmyra – BBC News
Cole: Iraq’s Ramadi falls to ISIL as Shiite Gov’t refuses to Arm Sunni Tribes
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) The Times of Baghdad (al-Zaman) reports that fighters of the Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) terrorist group raised their black flags over the central government building in Ramadi on Friday. The city, just sixty miles due west of Baghdad, is the capital of al-Anbar Province. Daesh announced their victory with megaphones […]
Was that a White House- Gulf Arab Summit or an Arms Bazaar?
By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry chats with Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia on Mar. 5, 2015, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before the two and their counterparts attended a meeting of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council. Credit: U.S. State Department/public domain UNITED NATIONS, May […]