Islam

Human Rights Watch | – – Incitement Leads to Discrimination Against Shia, Other Groups (Beirut) – Some Saudi state clerics and institutions incite hatred and discrimination against religious minorities, including the country’s Shia Muslim minority, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 62-page report, “‘They Are Not Our Brothers’: Hate Speech by […]

Buddhism

As Muslims rally for the Rohingya, what About the Rest of Us?

Juan Cole

By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) | – – If only Muslims reach out to help the Rohingya, the international community will suffer another blow to its reputation. They were Muslims, and they were leaving the country in droves. Their homeland, a remote corner of a multiethnic country, had become a […]

Donald Trump

Iranian Leader: Trump is “Disturbed,” speaks like a Cowboy or Mobster

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iranian hardliners are still responding to Trump’s speech at the UN Monday, in which he accused Iran of backing terrorism and called the nuclear deal the worst deal the US had ever made. Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday that Donald Trump’s address to the […]

Authoritarianism

Muslim Rohingya Refugees from Burma: “The Army… burned down my house.”

Juan Cole

TeleSur | – – “The army came and burned down my house. I was inside the house at that time,” one survivor said. Rohingya refugees arriving at treatment centers in Bangladesh covered in burns have told of an increased wave of violence against Muslims by the government’s military offensive. “The army came and they burned […]

Feminism

Given Fundamentalist impact on Syria, Women’s Freedoms in Doubt

contributors

By Manal Ismael | ( Global Voices Online ) | – – In early September 2017, a piece of paper with a potent message targeted against women, held by a group of Hezbollah fighters in Juroud Arsal, Eastern Lebanon, went viral. The message, which celebrates “every woman who is not using her own photo as […]

Buddhism

Can Turkey’s Erdogan ride Rohingya Crisis to global Muslim Leadership?

Juan Cole

By Simon P. Watmough | The Conversation | – – The emerging humanitarian crisis that has been rocking Myanmar – where an estimated 370,000 Rohingya have been forced out of the country – has prompted broad international condemnation. But so far it has translated into little concrete action. United Nations (UN) human rights chief Zeid […]

Elections

Can Iran keep its Influence in Baghdad?

Juan Cole

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Iran wants to reunite the fighting Shiite Muslim political parties in Iraq that once gave it unconditional support. But that job is far from easy. Last week Mahmoud Shahroudi, the head of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, which advises that country’s theological leader, Ali Khamenei, visited Baghdad. […]

Buddhism

Burma Muslims: Dear Peace Nobelist Kyi, It’s too Late

contributors

By Farhana Haque Rahman, Director General, Inter Press Service | (IPS) | – – Rohingya refugees trudge through the rain and mud as they arrive at Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh after days on foot. Credit: UNHCR/Vivian Tan DHAKA, Sep 13 2017 (IPS) – Dear Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, We learned today that you […]

Colonialism

Why we should be wary of Calls for an “Islamic Reformation”

contributors

By Todd Green | ( Mizan Project ) | – – This year marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Reformation in Germany, a monumental event in Christian history that generated permanent divisions in the body of Christendom. As commemorations of Luther’s Reformation commence throughout the world, it’s likely that some of Islam’s most ardent […]