Month

Archives: Sunnis

Al-Sadr in Jidda: Are Saudis looking for channel to Iran, or anti-Iran Client?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Sunday paid a visit to Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port, Jidda, at the invitation of the Saudi…

Does Sunni Fragmentation after ISIL threaten Iraq’s Future?

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | - - As the date for a Baghdad summit on unity nears, the cracks are showing. It seems the country's Sunni politicians can’t even…

Why Mosul Matters

The Economist | (Video News Report) | - - "Mosul stands on the brink of recapture from Islamic State fighters, but the future of the city is uncertain. With several parties jostling…

The top 4 Challenges facing the Arab World

By Tarek Osman | (Project Syndicate) | - - LONDON – Fifty years after the Six Days War, the Middle East remains a region in seemingly perpetual crisis. So it is no…

Could ISIL attacks in Tehran plunge the Middle East into greater turmoil?

By Mohammadbagher Forough | (The Conversation) | - - Iran experienced its first major ISIL attack on June 7, as armed men and suicide bombers targeted two symbols of the Islamic Republic…

US faces risks as Trump misreads the Middle East

Francis Ghilès | (OpenDemocracy.net) | - - Militarising the region further and taking sides in a recently concocted sectarian conflict will likely end in tears. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, Saudi King…

What is the Sunni-Shiite Divide into Which Trump just Stepped?

Ken Chitwood | (The Conversation) | - - In his address in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, May 21, while calling on Muslim leaders to lead the fight against terrorism, President Donald Trump…

Pope Francis, Islam and Peace-Building

Interview by Jayson Casper | (Informed Comment) | - - Dr. Kamal Boraiqa is a lecturer at al-Azhar University and a member of al-Azhar Center for Dialogue, the al-Azhar Observer for Combating…

Can Iraq’s Sunni Politicians agree on post-ISIL Future?

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | - - "Iraq’s Sunni Muslims desperately need their politicians to present a united front and act in their interests. But the politicians cannot agree on…

Syria’s forgotten pluralism and why it matters today

By Andrea Williams | (The Conversation) | - - The Syrian Civil War has been raging for six years. It has killed nearly half a million people and left over 12 million,…

After Mosul: Can Iraq survive without a unified National Army?

By Balsam Mustafa | (The Conversation) | - - The operation to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul from the so-called Islamic State [group] (IS) has entered its crucial phase. The Iraqi…

Dear Trump officials: Stop confusing Muslim Conservatism with Terrorism!

By Z. Fareen Parvez | (The Conversation) | - - The Trump administration has been using the phrase “radical Islam” when discussing the “war on terror.” From his inauguration address to remarks…

Does Turkey’s Erdogan Dream of Neighboring Mosul?

By Lucy DerTavitian | (Informed Comment) | - - The battle over Mosul appears to have ignited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s expansionist Ottoman era fantasies. He gained a few more adversaries…

Sectarian Tensions flare in Baghdad as some Sunni Arab families forced from Neighborhoods

By Ibrahim Saleh | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | - - Several Sunni Muslim families were forced out of their mainly Shiite Muslim neighbourhood in Baghdad recently. Locals fear the creeping return of…

Sunni Clans in Iraq threaten Reprisals against ISIL Collaborators

Kamal al-Ayash | Anbar | (Niqash.org) | - - In Ramadi, tribes are marking houses belonging to suspected Islamic State [group] collaborators with special graffiti. Often the houses are demolished two or…

Will Iraq’s next Government be . . . Iran-backed Shiite Militias?

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | - - The [so-called] Islamic State [IS] group has caused a realignment of Iraq’s political map. Next year’s provincial elections will signal who will…

Defeating ISIL in Iraq will Take Sunni-Shiite Reconciliation, not Just Tanks

By Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | - - As Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian forces squeeze its territory in the Arab world and Turkey hunts down the group’s support networks and sympathisers…

Is Religion really Driving Middle East Violence?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Pew Research has released a report saying that "As a whole, the region continued to have the highest levels of religious hostilities in…

Ordinary Iraqis defy sectarianism after Islamic State’s attacks on Baghdad

By Balsam Mustafa | (The Conversation) | - - “I’m happy that I graduated. I’m so grateful to my parents and I dedicate my success to both of them.” These were the…

Abuses of Fallujah Sunnis Raise Question: Does Iraq Gov’t Control of Shiite Militias

Human Rights Watch | - - (Beirut) – The announced investigation into allegations of abuse of civilians around Fallujah by Iraqi government forces is a test for the government’s ability to hold…