Secularism

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Arab Barometer in partnership with the BBC has interviewed a weighted sample of 25,000 people in the Arab world. One of the survey’s findings is the rapid decline in self-reported religiousness. About 30% of Tunisians say they are “not religious” in 2019, nearly doubling since 2013. The youth are […]

Featured

Why Israeli Gov’t May Fall: Like US, Secularists and Fundamentalists are Polarized

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We’ll know later today whether prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu will succeed in forming a government. If not, Israel will have snap elections in September. In parliamentary systems, coalitions are often made after the election. In the US, the two big parties have already made their coalitions before the election. The […]

Islam

You’ve Got Veil: Secular Tajikistan Gov’t sends Millions of Texts imposing Hijab Ban

contributors

RFE/RL’s Tajik Service | – – DUSHANBE — Private mobile-phone companies in Tajikistan have begun sending out text messages to millions of citizens, reminding them to obey a new law that makes Tajik national clothing obligatory at “traditional” gatherings such as weddings and commemorative ceremonies for the dead. The legislation is widely seen as an […]

Featured

Rebuking Fundamentalists, Funeral for Palestinian-Israeli Istanbul Victim draws Thousands

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – One of the thirty-nine victims of the Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) shooting at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Layan Nasser, 19, was buried on Tuesday in her home town, Tira, in central Israel. Roughly a fifth of Israeli citizens are of Palestinian heritage, the majority of them […]

al-Qaeda

Top 5 things that Make Bangladesh a natural Target for Extremists

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Bangladesh has been plagued by extremist violence for years, but the violence and hostage-taking in Dhaka on Friday and on Saturday morning was a whole new level of disruption. Why Bangladesh? Here are some reasons: 1. Bangladesh is a multicultural state, where some 9 percent of […]

Featured

Majorities of Muslim Arabs in N. Africa want a Separation of Religion and State

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – You know those silly anti-sharia laws passed by evangelicals in US state legislatures? They may as well not bother. (Sharia is Muslim law; but it is much more diverse and fluid than fundamentalists of both stripes think it is). It turns out a lot of Muslims […]

Democracy

Rare victory for Freedom of speech in Turkey, as Pianist allowed to quote Omar Khayyam

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In a rare victory for freedom of speech in Turkey, the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals has completely overturned a lower court ruling that sentenced world-famous pianist Fazil Say to a suspended sentence of 10 months in prison. Say’s crime? To tweet out passages from the […]

Central Asia

Can Muslim Fundamentalism be Criminalized? Militant Secularism in Central Asia

contributors

By Farangis Najibullah and Charles Recknagel | ( RFE/RL) | – – Nabijon spends nearly 10 hours a day inside his one-room barbershop on a dusty backstreet in Khujand, Tajikistan’s second-largest city. He has no shortage of customers. “Business has never been this good,” says the third-generation barber, who politely declines to give his full […]

Featured

Iraq needs another National Party: Tariq Aziz’s Baath Party Ruined the Country

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister and former foreign minister of Iraq, is dead at 79. He died in prison in the custody of the Shiie-dominated government he tried to forestall. Aziz was born Mikhael Yuhanna (Michael John) into a Chaldean Catholic family. He gravitated to […]