Terrorism

BBC News | — “A German author given unprecedented access to territory controlled by the so-called Islamic State, has told the BBC that IS is stronger, more brutal and harder to confront than he’d expected. Jürgen Todenhöfer spent 10 days in Mosul and Raqqa. Caroline Hawley spoke to him about what he found.” BBC News: […]

Christianity

Threadbare Christmas for Iraqi Christian Refugees from Daesh/ISIL Mosul

contributors

Euronews | — “Internally displaced Iraqi Christians who fled violence in Mosul celebrated Christmas in Baghdad on Wednesday.” Euronews: “Some displaced Iraqi Christians are not in the Christmas spirit”

Featured

Have the Kurds cut the ISIL/Daesh State in Two, Blocking Supply Lines?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Al-Mada newspaper in Baghdad had an interesting article in the aftermath of the fall of Shinjar to the Iraqi Kurdistan Peshmerga. The piece argued that the Peshmerga (Kurdistan’s paramilitary, meaning ‘one who stands before death’) have now effectively cut of the supply lines between Raqqa in Syria and […]

Iraq

Reality TV Iraq Style: Confronting your Terrorist

contributors

AJ+ | — “It’s reality TV like you’ve never seen it before: Iraqi terrorists being escorted around their crime scenes, meeting their victims and confessing on camera. Co-funded by the Iraqi justice department and government antiterrorist forces, “In the Grip of The Law” has its audience, well … gripped.” AJ+: “Iraq TV Show Has ISIS […]

Iraq

3000 Yezidi Girls still Missing at Hands of Daesh/ISIL: “It costs more for a girl with blue eyes”

contributors

BBC News | — “Kurdish authorities say Pershmerga forces are making headway in the Northern Iraqi town of Sinjar and have taken control of a ‘large area’ from Islamic State militants. Iraqi Kurds made the claim during a visit to nearby Mount Sinjar, where thousands of Yazidis fled after the IS advance. However, the Yazidi […]

Islam

Not the Onion: Pakistanis Demand arrest of Cleric for not Condemning “Jihadis”

contributors

AJ+ |– “Pakistanis are calling for the arrest of a Muslim cleric, Abdul Aziz, who refused to condemn the recent Pakistan Attack that led to 148 deaths. Some feel the Taliban school attack in Peshawar is a turning point in Pakistan’s complex relationship with extremist groups. There’s been an ongoing controversy both inside and outside […]

Iraq

The Yezidis: People of an Ancient Faith Battle Ethnic Cleansing

contributors

By Richard Foltz | (Special to Informed Comment) — Among the many victims of the barbarous Daesh (what Arabs call ISIS or ISIL), none has suffered more severely than the Kurdish Yezidis. After overrunning a number of Yezidi villages in Northern Syria and Iraq during the summer of 2014, Daesh extremists – who consider Yezidis […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Squatter Fires on Palestinian Demonstrators near Bethlehem

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Dozens of Palestinians on Friday held a march against the Israeli occupation and settlement policies in the West Bank in the village of al-Masara near Bethlehem. Organizers from the local Popular Committees Against the Wall and Settlements said that during the rally a Jewish settler opened fire on the marchers, but no […]

Iraq

Daesh/ ISIL close to Taking al-Anbar Province as Tribal Levies lack Ammunition, Funding, Unity

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | — Last week, fighters from tribes in Anbar were forced to give up their hold on the town of Wafaa to extremists from the Islamic State because they ran out of ammunition. And they ran out because apparently the Iraqi government won’t supply them. The steady defeat […]