By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) The thinly veiled hate group PEGIDA, which says it is against the “Islamization” of Germany (by which it means it wants German to be Muslimrein or purified of Muslims), staged a demonstration of 18,000 in the eastern city of Dresden on Monday, in the wake of the Paris terrorist […]
Twitter mirth after Steve Emerson’s Fox Nonsense re: Birmingham as Muslim ‘no-go’ Zone
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Steve Emerson, a major figure in the Islamophobic network on which our right wing billionaires spend roughly $10 million a year, and who has even been paid for his wisdom by the US government, delivered himself of the most remarkable set of weird conspiracy theories on Fox Cable […]
Paris Rally: Charlie Hebdo Team regret not Parading Caricatures of Hypocritical World Leaders
Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Le Monde reported on the Charlie Hebdo team at the Paris rally on Sunday, the largest demonstrations in France since the end of World War II. They were emotionally exhausted, having lived through a nightmarish week that saw 10 of their colleagues murdered in cold blood. (One of the staffers […]
J.K. Rowling takes Rupert Murdoch to Hogwarts School over his Islamophobia
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Rupert Murdoch is the billionaire press lord and major shareholder in News Corp., which own Sky News and Fox Cable News. He tweeted after the Paris attacks: Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible. — Rupert Murdoch […]
After Paris attacks, could David Duke style Racist Parties Sweep to Power in Europe?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Anti-immigrant sentiment and Islamophobia was already raging through Europe before the Kouashi al-Qaeda Cell targeted the staff of the magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish deli in Paris. Although President Francois Hollande insisted that the attacks had nothing to do with the religion of Islam (and rightly so), […]
Despite rising racism, European Muslims embrace democratic values
EurActiv | — “For Muslims, Germany has become a home. But they see themselves being confronted by a negative image, defined by a minority of radical Islamists.” [kellinahandbasket/Flickr] A large portion of Muslims in Germany share the country’s democratic values, a Bertelsmann study shows, but unfortunately this fact is not recognised by a majority of […]
From Yemen to Paris: The al-Qaeda Franchise from the 15th to the 60th Parallel N.
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Analysts have been understandably cautious about the nature of the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo staff and a Jewish deli in Paris. On the one hand, they appear to be the work of a small cell. On the other, members of the cell have long and clear links […]
Winter Floods strike a Gaza reduced to Rubble by Israeli Shelling
GAZA CITY (Ma’an News Agency) — Hundreds of Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday were forced to evacuate their homes due to rising water levels, as winter Storm Huda began to take a toll on the besieged coastal enclave on the third day of its landing. Hatem al-Khur, an official in the Khuzaa […]
Yes, they’re Condemning the Paris Attacks: The Muslims’ War on Terror
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — When American commentators like Carl Bernstein complain that Muslim authorities have not sufficiently denounced the terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris, they show a profound ignorance of the current situation in the Middle East. The fact is that both governments of Muslim-majority countries and the […]