Terrorism

VICE News | — “According to the US government, three detainees — all imprisoned as part of the global war on terror — hung themselves in their cells that night. But Army Staff Sergeant Joseph Hickman, who was on guard that night at Camp Delta, came to believe something very different: that the three men […]

Boko Haram

Do Nigerians Matter to World Press? – 2,000 feared dead in Boko Haram Attacks

contributors

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer | Commondreams.org As many as 2,000 people are feared dead in Nigeria from what has been described as Boko Haram’s deadliest attack amid ongoing bloodshed a UN official says “should be searing the conscience of the world.” The militant group reportedly carried out attacks starting January 3 on the northern […]

Education

Fundamentalism for Dummies: The Paris Terrorists’ Ignorance and Poverty

contributors

By Akil N. Awan | (The National Interest) The masked gunmen who assaulted the Charlie Hebdo offices in a hail of automatic gunfire, leaving twelve people dead in their wake, were heard proclaiming, “we have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.” Amateur footage also revealed the killers invoking God with the Arabic phrase, “Allahu Akbar”—an otherwise-innocuous, everyday […]

France

Determined to Protect Jewish Citizens, France to deploy thousands of Troops to “sensitive sites”

contributors

AFP | — “Members of the Jewish community in Paris remain rattled after an Islamist attack that left four people dead at a kosher supermarket. France has deployed thousands of troops across the country to guard Jewish schools and other sites.” AFP: “France to deploy thousands to protect Jewish, “sensitive sites” ”

France

Hezbollah’s Surprising Denunciation of Paris Attacks: is it Courting the West?

contributors

By Rola El-Husseini | (Special to Informed Comment) In a speech in Beirut on January 9, 2014, on the occasion of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah declared that killings and beheadings by “takfiris” (excommunicators) are more harmful to Islam than are cartoons or books mocking the Prophet. This was […]

censorship

Paris Rally: Charlie Hebdo Team regret not Parading Caricatures of Hypocritical World Leaders

Juan Cole

Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Le Monde reported on the Charlie Hebdo team at the Paris rally on Sunday, the largest demonstrations in France since the end of World War II. They were emotionally exhausted, having lived through a nightmarish week that saw 10 of their colleagues murdered in cold blood. (One of the staffers […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Muslim Hero Lassana Bathily Saved Jewish Hostages in Paris

contributors

WotchitGeneralNews | — “At a kosher supermarket in Paris, a quick-thinking Muslim employee hides several Jewish shoppers in the basement before sneaking out to brief police on the hostage-taker upstairs. In the town of Dammartin-en-Goele, a poker-faced businessman fools a pair of gunmen into believing they’re alone in the building before being allowed to leave […]

al-Qaeda

Brother of Slain Muslim Policeman: Assassins “Pretend Muslims,” Terrorists

contributors

BBC | — “The brother of the Paris policeman [Ahmed Merabet] killed by the Charlie Hebdo shooter urged people not to avenge his death with further violence and reiterated that Islam was not about “terrorism or madness”. He added: “My brother was Muslim and he was killed by people who pretend to be Muslims. They […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

From Yemen to Paris: The al-Qaeda Franchise from the 15th to the 60th Parallel N.

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Analysts have been understandably cautious about the nature of the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo staff and a Jewish deli in Paris. On the one hand, they appear to be the work of a small cell. On the other, members of the cell have long and clear links […]