By Saad Salloum | Baghdad| (Niqash.org) | – – In an interview, Raad Jabar al-Khamis, a representative of the Christian Sabean-Mandaean minority, talks about why all minorities in Iraq will leave the country over the next decade. Raad Jabar al-Khamis has held many senior political positions on behalf of Iraq’s Sabean-Mandaean minority. The Sabean-Mandaeans are […]
Archives for January 2016
Israel Sued in US over Flotilla Attacks
By IMEMC | – – Four people, including three Americans, have filed a civil suit against the state of Israel, seeking compensatory damages for injuries suffered during an attack aboard a U.S. ship in international waters during the year 2010. At a Washington press conference, Tuesday, the plaintiffs said they wanted compensation for “the harm […]
How a Medieval Muslim thinker invented Sociology
Stephen Dale/ Joseph Preville/ Julie Harbin | (ISLAMICommentary) | – – Column » ‘By the Book’ with Joseph Preville by JOSEPH RICHARD PREVILLE and JULIE POUCHER HARBIN for ISLAMiCommentary on JANUARY 7, 2016: Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) was a colossus among Muslim scholars. Stephen Frederic Dale gives us a portrait of this extraordinary man in his […]
How I Explained to My Impressionable Student That Islam Is Not Monolithic
Asma Afsaruddin | (Huffington Post) | – – On Sept. 29, 2015, President Obama addressed the United Nations summit on violent extremism. He stated that part of the international effort to stamp out terrorism “must be a continued rejection by Muslims of those who distort Islam to preach intolerance and promote violence, and it must […]
Top 6 Wind Energy stories Today: Cost down 60% since 2009
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – 1. This press release from Windpower Engineering notes that in 2015: “The German electricity system has reached a new milestone, generating 85.4 billion kWh of wind power in 2015, the highest amount ever recorded and 66% more than 2014. Nationwide, wind energy accounted for 13.3% of […]
The Fifth Anniversary of Arab Uprisings: A Turning point in Modern History?
By Farhang Jahanpour | (Informed Comment) | – – The tumultuous developments that have rocked the Arab world and have come to be known as the Arab Spring resulted in the toppling of the first Arab ruler on 14 January 2011, exactly five years ago today. The Arab revolutions have not turned out as expected, […]
German lawmakers rush to respond to Cologne attacks as Vigilante Attacks Break Out
by Dario Sarmadi (trans. by Samuel Morgan) | ( EurActiv.de) | – – After the attacks carried out on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, the German government wants to act quickly and tighten the asylum law. Meanwhile, verbal and physical violence against migrants has escalated. EurActiv Germany reports. The events that unfolded in […]
Once Auctioned, What to Do with Syrian Refugees?
By Baher Kamal | (Inter Press Service) | – – MADRID, Jan 12 2016 (IPS) – Few months ago, an unprecedented “humanitarian auction” was opened in Brussels at the European Commission, shortly after watching the image of the three-year old Syrian child that the sea threw up on the Turkish shores. The “auction” was about […]
US–Saudi relations and the search for leverage
By Russell E. Lucas | (The Conversation) | – – Russell E. Lucas, Michigan State University The alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United States provides one of the foundations of American foreign policy in the Middle East. This week, tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been magnified by the Saudi execution of an […]