religion

Human Rights Watch (Erbil) – The Iraqi government should promptly investigate an airstrike that hit a school housing displaced people near Tikrit on September 1, 2014. The attack killed at least 31 civilians, including 24 children, and wounded 41 others. According to three survivors, no fighters from the armed group Islamic State or other military […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Remember Pres. Obama Saying ISIL Campaign like Yemen? Here’s Yemen

contributors

Middle East Eye: “Houthis take to the streets to mourn the protesters killed during a sit-in at a government ministry last week, as their pro-government rivals call for more state control of weapons.” Middle East Eye: “Fears of a new civil war in Yemen as negotiations continue”

Democracy

New Iraqi Government: Less than Meets the Eye?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The Iraqi parliament finally voted in the government of new Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi on Monday, in what US Secretary of State John Kerry called a “turning point.” There are reasons, however, to be cautious about pinning too many hopes on the new government. Although al-Abadi is a more congenial and less […]

art and photography

Putting the ‘Hero’ back in ‘Superhero’: How the Muslim Superhero Can Save the Genre

contributors

By A. David Lewis for for ISLAMiCommentary A. David Lewis Muslims don’t present a problem for superhero comics. They present a solution. A previous installment of “Comics & Dialogue” addressed an apparent awkwardness for Muslims as superhero characters. How could they fulfill the generic role of a typical superhero, while also being true to Islamic […]

Iraq

Paying For The Caliphate: When Extremists Become Bad Bank Managers In Mosul

contributors

By Khales Joumah | Mosul | via Niqash.org Dinar worries: some Mosul locals fear that extremists will take all of thier money. Up until now, locals in Mosul, the northern city under the control of Sunni Muslim extremists, have not been able to withdraw their money from their bank accounts. That changed last week. However […]

Christians

Duck Dynasty star to Hannity: Convert or kill ISIS (Chris Hayes)

contributors

Chris Hayes, “All In”: “The Duck Dynasty patriarch offers his advice on dealing with ISIS: convert or kill them” “Partial Transcript from Hannity: HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY. New video surfaced earlier today showing the brutal execution of captured American journalist Steven Sotloff by ISIS terrorists. Now, this comes just two weeks after the radical […]

Colonialism

In 1948, Jewish Forces in Palestine outnumbered Palestinian and Arab Fighters

contributors

By William R. Polk The General Assembly had issued its verdict [in late 1947 suggesting a partition of Palestine] but it left open the question of how to actually carry out the resolution when no UN-controlled military or police forces were available. Britain’s 84,000 troops were leaving. And they had proved insufficient to maintain law […]

American Jews

The Military Diminishment of Judaism

contributors

By Shalom Goldman In our time, Judaism, in all of its magnificent complexity and subtlety, has been reduced to supporting “team Israel” — whatever its policies or methods. Yes, American Jews, according to the 2013 Pew study, retain a strong sense of distinct identity, despite their distancing themselves from synagogue life and other forms of […]

Featured

Iraq: Is the Battle of Amerli a Turning Point?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The Iraqi military is maintaining that it has successfully relieved the town of Amerli (pop. 15,000) in northern Iraq from a siege by ISIL (the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). If true, this is the first success of the Baghdad military against ISIL since Mosul fell in early June. […]