religion

(From a Niqash Special Correspondent in Baghdad) A number of high profile MPs have been banned from running in Iraq’s upcoming general elections – allegedly because they contravene an electoral rule about good conduct. However there is also another thing they all have in common: They are all vehement critics of the current Prime Minister. […]

Human Rights

Iraq’s Freedom Agenda shouldn’t Include Child Marriage and Summary Divorce

Juan Cole

(Human Rights Watch) (Baghdad) – Iraq’s Council of Ministers should withdraw a new draft Personal Status Law and ensure that Iraq’s legal framework protects women and girls in line with its international obligations. The pending legislation would restrict women’s rights in matters of inheritance and parental and other rights after divorce, make it easier for […]

Islam

Crimean Tatars fear Russian Rule

Juan Cole

Crimean Tatars fear a future under Russia (via GlobalPost) BAKHCHYSARAI, Ukraine — Crimean Tatars know a few things about oppression. In the past two or so centuries, this tight-knit Muslim group has been colonized by the Russian Empire, deported en masse by the Soviet Union and denied the most basic of rights… ——– Related […]

al-Qaeda

Cole @ C-Span: Egypt and the Birth of al-Qaeda (video lecture)

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) My class lecture, “Egypt and the Birth of al-Qaeda,” was filmed by C-Span in February and has been shown on television; it is now available on the web (click here)

Economy

Libya’s Parliament dumps PM Zeidan, Elects al-Thinni, over Oil Tanker Crisis

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) In a series of dramatic political moves, the Libyan General National Congress on Tuesday carried out a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. Zeidan, identified as a liberal nationalist, has been targeted since his election in 2012 by the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in the elected Libyan parliament, but they […]

Islam

Ukraine Muslims wary of Crimea Referendum on Joining Russia

Juan Cole

Crimean Tatars wary of Russia referendum (via AFP) Victims of Stalin’s mass deportations in 1944, Crimea’s Tatar Muslim minority look warily on next week’s referendum on joining Russia, which could well bring the crisis on the tense peninsula to new heights. At the Great Mosque in Bakhchysaray, near… —- Related video: CNN: “Muslims in […]

astronomy and outer space

Journalists should stop ‘balancing’ stories with Science Denialists: Cosmos’s Neil DeGrasse Tyson

contributors

(By David Edwards) Neil deGrasse Tyson tells CNN: Stop giving ‘equal time to the flat Earthers’ (via Raw Story ) Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of Fox’s documentary series Cosmos, said on Sunday that the news media should stop trying to “balance” the debate on scientific issues by hosting people who deny science. In an interview […]

Arab Spring

A New Arab Cold War: Saudi Arabia Pressures Qatar on Muslim Brotherhood, American Think Tanks

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Saudi Arabia’s listing of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and the withdrawal of the Saudi, Kuwaiti United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain ambassadors from Qatar signal a big geopolitical realignment in the Middle East. Qatar is the Red Prince of the Middle East. Despite being fabulously wealthy because of its natural […]

Egypt

Will Russell Crowe as Noah help Egypt Separate Religion and State?

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Darren Aronofski’s biblical epic “Noah” is already provoking controversy in the Muslim world, and has been preemptively banned in three Gulf states. Biblical figures, such as Abraham, Noah, David, and Jesus, also feature in the Qur’an, which sees sacred history as the serial dispatch by God to humans of messengers who remind […]