(By Ben White) This week has seen the promotion of yet more anti-democratic legislation in Israel. A new law that received final approval by the Knesset gives, for the first time, separate representation to Muslim and Christian Palestinian citizens on a national employment commission. The bill’s sponsor, Likud MK Yariv Levin, was clear about his […]
Archives for February 2014
GOP v. Nature: House Voted Against Environment 95 Percent Of The Time In 2013
House Republicans voted in line with environmental interests on key environmental legislation an average of just 5 percent of the time in 2013, according to a new scorecard. The scorecard, released each year from the League of Conservation Voters, tallied…
Obama and the Golden Calf of National Security: Broken Commandments
(Karen J. Greenberg) In January 2009, Barack Obama entered the Oval Office projecting idealism and proud to be the constitutional law professor devoted to turning democratic principles into action. In his first weeks in office, in a series of executive orders and public statements, the new president broadcast for all to hear the five commandments […]
Who Favors Discrimination against Gay Newlyweds? Most Republicans, old People, Southerners, Evangelicals
A new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute sheds light on the divisions in the US over gay marriage. Over all, acceptance of gay marriage is on an upward trajectory, with a majority of Americans now supporting it compared to only about a third in 2002. What is interesting is who has not joined […]
Turkey’s election board bans TV program for ‘one-sided’ opinions
The High Elections Board (YSK) has banned a news program from broadcasting on the private Bugün TV news station for “including only one-sided opinions,” according to daily Bugün.
Israel Parliament debates incursion into Holy Muslim site in Jerusalem
(Via AFP) Israel police, protesters clash at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque (via AFP) Israeli police clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians Tuesday in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound of Jerusalem’s Old City, ahead of a parliamentary debate on Jewish access to the site, holy to both faiths. Israel captured the Old City from Jordan during… ——- Related video: […]
Threatened Syrian Christians taking up Arms, Tackling Extremists
(By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi) When it comes to news reports on Christians in Syria, the general focus is on the concerns Christian civilians have about their future, if any, in the country. Though such anxieties are not invalid, reports rarely break new ground. Here I intend to explore how Christians play a role on the […]
Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” video Decried as Blasphemous by Some Muslims
Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” music video, set in ancient Egypt, has stirred controversy because of a scene where a man is struck down who is wearing a pendant with “God” (Allah) written on it in Arabic. An online petition decries it as blasphemous. Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks points out that in ancient Egypt […]
Dick Cheney Broke US Military, now blames Obama for Cuts
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has lambasted the Obama administration for its announcement that it will cut 8% out of the military budget and reduce standing army troop levels to the lowest level since before World War II (from 550,000 at the height of the Iraq War to 440,000). Cheney told CNN he believed that […]