religion

VICE News | – “With the timeline unclear for a forthcoming US-led coalition assault on the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Mosul, Kurdish peshmerga fighters continue to man the trenches at the strategic junction of Keske, just outside the northern Iraqi city. VICE News traveled to Keske to meet with peshmerga fighters and to learn […]

History

ISIL vs the Graven Idols of History

contributors

By Elliott Colla | (Baghdad Central) – ISIS’s destruction of antiquities at the Mosul Museum and the ancient city of Nimrud has generated a lot of discussion and disgust, all of it well deserved. But much of what has been said fails to adequately contextualize these attacks in two ways. First, in the history of […]

Iran

US Gen.: Iran’s Role In Iraq’s Fight Against Islamic State Might be Positive

contributors

By Frud Bezhan | (RFE/RL) The Iraqi government has launched an offensive against Islamic State militants (IS) in the northern city of Tikrit, but Iran appears to be leading the charge. The Islamic republic has officially downplayed its role in the fight against IS in Iraq, saying its involvement was limited to training Iraqi Shi'ite […]

American Jews

Netanyahu Doesn’t Speak For These Jews

contributors

AJ+ | – “Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he came to Congress to share his fears about Iran on behalf of all Jewish people. But these protesters and artists say “Bibi doesn’t speak for me,” and have instead written their own speeches about what they think he should say.” AJ+: “Netanyahu Doesn’t Speak For […]

Iraq

The problem with Iraq’s offensive against the Islamic State

contributors

BAGHDAD (IRIN) – As the Iraqi army and affiliated militias sweep into northern Iraq to try to re-take the city of Tikrit from so-called Islamic State (IS), the local civilians are fearful they may be punished for the crimes of the Islamist militants. A force of around 30,000 made up of army soldiers and government-backed Shia […]

Christianity

ISIL/ Daesh wiping out Iraq’s Religious Minorities

contributors

By RFE/RL | – Human Rights organizations warn that the Islamic State (IS) extremist group has targeted minority communities in Iraq in a “systematic strategy to remove them permanently” from large parts of the country. In a report launched on February 27, four nongovernmental organizations detailed summary executions, forced conversions, rape, and other abuses suffered […]

Islam

Jewish Jihad on Palestinians: Israeli Squatters burn mosque near Bethlehem

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Extremist Jewish settlers set fire overnight Tuesday to a mosque in the southern West Bank town of al-Jaba west of Bethlehem, locals told Ma’an. As worshipers arrived around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to prepare for the dawn prayer at al-Huda mosque, they saw smoke and flames rising from inside the building. Worshipers alerted […]

Bill of Rights

The “Christian State” of Idaho?

contributors

KXLY ABC | — “Do you think Idaho should be classified as a Christian state? That’s the question the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee will answer Tuesday night. KXLY4’s Aaron Luna reports.” KXLY: “Republicans debating whether Idaho should be a Christian state”

Assyrians

Syria: Daesh/ ISIL takes 150 Christians Captive as 3,000 flee to Hasaka

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Al-Nahar (“The Day,” Beirut) reported that dozens of Assyrian Christians have been abducted by Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) in Hasakah Province, northeast Syria. Reuters later put the number at 150. The abduction occurred after heavy fighting by Kurdish YPG commandos that included allied Christian fighters versus Daesh attackers in […]