Here’s a glimmer of hope. Emad Mekay writes from Cairo for IPS, via South Africa’s Mail & Guardian, Nov. 30: ‘I thought Islam told us to do so’ Om Samar didn’t believe the news. “Muslim scholars banning [female] circumcision? This… Read moreIslamic scholars condemn female genital mutilation
From the Jerusalem Post, Dec. 2: A hitherto unknown group calling itself the Just Swords of Islam issued a warning to Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip over the weekend that they must wear the hijab or face being targeted… Read moreIslamists threaten Gaza women
Still think freedom’s on the march in Afghanistan? Or, for those of you on the other side of the coin, that the Taliban insurgents are heroic anti-imperialists? From The Independent, Nov. 29: Disembowelled, then torn apart: The price of daring… Read moreTaliban terror targets Afghan women
We wonder if a year from now the big semantic debate in the US media will be whether there is a “civil war”…in Mexico. From The Scotsman, Dec. 2: MEXICO CITY — Felipe Calderon took the oath of office as… Read moreMexico: Calderon sworn in amid chaos
From AP, Nov. 29: MEXICO CITY — A Mexican court reinstated an arrest warrant for former President Luis Echeverria on Wednesday, just four months after a federal judge dismissed the same charges of genocide in a 1968 student massacre. It… Read moreMexico: Echeverria “genocide” trial to proceed
From Agencia Proceso (APRO), Nov. 25 via Chiapas95 (our translation): OAXACA — The Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) has announced the “forced disappearance” of the movement’s spokesperson, Cesar Mateos Benitez, and of Jorge Sosa, cousin of its… Read moreOaxaca: APPO leaders “disappeared”
This, as we have noted before, is how censorship works in the USA: by other names—which, of course, makes it more insidious. From AP, Nov. 27: DENVER — A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident… Read morePeace sign Christmas wreath banned in Colorado
Around it goes. One Jamal Miftah, a Pakistani immigrant in Tulsa, OK, to his great credit, sent a letter to the Tulsa World Oct. 29 entitled “Message of Islam is not jihad, fatwahs,” taking Ayman al-Zawahri and other al-Qaeda leaders… Read moreIslamophobes exploit Islamist intolerance in Tulsa imbroglio
With all eyes on the Iraq horrorshow, very little media attention these days for Afghanistan. But… From AP, Nov. 27: KABUL – A Pakistani suicide bomber detonated himself in a crowded restaurant Sunday, killing 15 people and wounding 24, including… Read moreAfghanistan gets 102nd suicide blast of 2006
Slovenia has prided itself on being the “civilized” ex-Yugoslav republic, which avoided the explosions of hatred and “ethnic cleansing” which have plagued the rest. Critics have argued that it was easy for the Slovenes to affect moral superiority, being largely… Read moreRoma face ethnic cleansing in Slovenia
Hmmm, it seems that all the lefties who weighed in against the admittedly vile Judith Miller’s journalistic privilege in the Plame affair will be in the uncomfortable position of having to cheer her on this time around. From AP, Nov…. Read moreJudith Miller in the news again (for better or worse…)
Sarah Ferguson writes for the Village Voice, Nov. 26 (with some very gruesome photos of the autopsy online): The family of slain Indymedia journalist Brad Will has renewed its call for an independent investigation of his shooting, which occurred while… Read moreWho killed Brad Will?
