Islam

Euronews | — “The Turkish President has triggered fresh controversy, declaring in a speech that women are not equal to men. Recep Tayyip Erdogan also criticised the feminist movement, claiming they do not accept or understand the concept of motherhood. He spoke at a global justice and women’s summit in Istanbul. An English translation of […]

Islam

Jerusalem: This Is Why The Temple Mount Matters To one Israeli-American

contributors

AJ+ | — “For Jews, the Temple Mount (known as Haram as-Sharif, or “Noble Sanctuary,” to Muslims) is their religion’s holiest site. The Temple Mount is on the same hilltop as Islam’s third-holiest site: the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Recent pushes by far-right Israeli Jews to pray on the Temple Mount have heightened tensions, especially as the […]

Islam

Jerusalem: where religion divides but lives are entwined

Juan Cole

By Wendy Pullan, University of Cambridge (The Conversation) The latest violent episode between Palestinians and Israelis has prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to assert that Israel is in the midst of a “battle for Jerusalem”. This is a city divided along many lines, and while the latest attack has caused outrage and hostility, it […]

Featured

Iraq: Daesh/ISIL executes 26 Sunni Tribesmen in Campaign to Take Ramadi

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole: Daesh (the Arabic acronym for ISIS or ISIL) has mounted a major offensive in a bid to take Ramadi, the capital of al-Anbar Province in western Iraq. Ramadi is due west of Baghdad past Fallujah. Iraqi eyewitnesses told the al-Arabiya satellite news channel that Daesh had taken over some of the neighborhoods […]

Christianity

Pope Francis’s Visit to Turkey Embroiled in Partisan Controversies

contributors

By Ali Murat Yel The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis will visit Turkey on 3-day official visit from November 28 to 30. However, the publication of Turkey’s official invitation letter in Milli Gazete, a Turkish daily, has caused an enormous stir in the country. As a result, Pope Francis’s visit has stirred controversy among […]

Iraq

Yazidi Women Victimized by Daesh/ ISIL tell of Rape, Slavery, & their Resistance

contributors

By Khales Joumah | Mosul | via Niqash.org | — Three months ago, the extremist group known as the Islamic State kidnapped hundreds of women from the Yazidi sect. Since then there have been many stories about what has happened to the women, including physical and sexual abuse, slavery and forced marriage. NIQASH spoke to […]

Featured

Daesh/ ISIL calls for Terror attacks on Saudi Arabia

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — Daesh, the brutal terrorist group the US calls ISIL or ISIS, is calling for attacks in Saudi Arabia. A voice recording has surfaced, attributed to Ibrahim al-Samarra’i, the leader of the brutal terrorist group Daesh (which the US calls ISIL or ISIS). Al-Samarra’i was wounded in a US airstrike on […]

Iraq

Iraq War 3.0? What could possibly Go Wrong?

contributors

By Peter Van Buren (Tomdispatch.com) Karl von Clausewitz, the famed Prussian military thinker, is best known for his aphorism “War is the continuation of state policy by other means.” But what happens to a war in the absence of coherent state policy? Actually, we now know. Washington’s Iraq War 3.0, Operation Inherent Resolve, is what […]

Islam

Is the Qur’an Really Violent? Not if you Read the whole Book!

contributors

By Alexander Gaute (Your Middle East) “Analyses tend to misuse the references to the Qur’an, often only citing single verses” Following the advent of the murderous Islamic State (IS), the need to scrutinize the relationship between Islam and violence has proved necessary. Several attempts have been made towards this aim, some even arguing for the […]