religion

By Mustafa Gurbuz Gruesome ISIS beheadings, the Sydney siege, and now Taliban’s slaughter of children in Pakistan have haunted the media, along with the Senate’s report on CIA’s use of torture against suspected terrorists. The true nature of the radicalization problem, once again, is mostly obscured by petty domestic politics. The militant Islamism rests on […]

Displaced and Refugees

The Yezidi Minority, Daesh/ISIL, and Iraq’s Human Rights Catastrophe

contributors

by Patrick Ball Patrick Ball with Yezidi boys at an informal camp in Sharya, Iraq. Farhad (not his real name) got the call from ISIS on his personal cell phone just after lunch: we have your sister, and we will give her back if you pay us $6000, plus $1500 for the driver. Carrying little […]

Christianity

No more Turning the Cheek: Assyrian Christians form Militia in Syria to fight al-Qaeda

contributors

Middle East Eye | — “The Syriac Military Council (MFS) was established in January 2013 to protect the marginalised Assyrian Christian communities in Syria. They have fought to defend themselves from the Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham and frequently work in tandem with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). As sectarian violence swamps […]

Iraq

Part-Time Work: Shiite Militias Defending Baghdad involved in Burglaries, Kidnappings?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) — Kidnappers in Baghdad are disgusing themselves in Iraqi army uniforms. There’s been a rise in crime and kidnapping in Baghdad and it seems that perpetrators are often in military uniform, driving official cars. This has led locals to suspect members of Shiite Muslim militias recently formed to […]

Iraq

Iraq Fail: Shiite Gov’t asks Sunni tribe to fight ISIL, but Sentences Politician from Tribe to Death

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) While members of the Sunni Muslim al-Bu Ulwan tribe were fighting extremists in the Anbar province, alongside the mostly Shiite Muslim military, judges in Baghdad sentenced a politician from the tribe to death. The tribe says it feels like Baghdad has stabbed it in the back. Other Anbar […]

Islam-hatred

Court allows Glenn Beck to be Sued For Defamation By Saudi He Constantly Defamed

contributors

By Cenk Uygur (The Young Turks) | — “”The conservative commentator Glenn Beck failed to persuade a federal judge to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by a Saudi Arabian student who Beck repeatedly accused of involvement in and being the “money man” behind the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. U.S. District Judge Patti Saris in Boston on […]

Iraq

Iraqi Kurdistan: Can a Bastion of Tolerance and Democracy survive in the Middle East?

contributors

By Richard Foltz | — Having committed ourselves to military involvement in Iraq, we in North America should be asking ourselves exactly what goals we hope to achieve. Personally, after recently spending three weeks in the region, I am not convinced that “preserving the territorial integrity” of the present Iraqi state should be one of […]

Christianity

Pope Francis in Turkey calls for interreligious dialogue to stop terrorism

contributors

Reuters | — “On the first day of his visit to Turkey, Pope Francis has called for interreligious dialogue “so that there will be an end of all forms of fundamentalism and terrorism.” Reuters: “Pope calls for interreligious dialogue to stop terrorism”

Christianity

Christians of Syria’s Aleppo Hold out Despite Extremist Daesh/ISIL Threat

contributors

AFP | — “Tens of thousands of Christians have fled homes in Syria’s war-wracked second city of Aleppo but many others are determined to hold out despite their dread of Islamic State jihadists.” AFP: “Christians of Syria’s Aleppo hold out despite jihadist threat”