Helicopter-borne Israeli commandos raided a supposed Hezbollah stronhold in the Bekaa Valley Aug. 20 in what Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called a “naked violation” of the UN-backed truce. Three Hezbollah guerrillas were reportedly killed in a dawn firefight with… Read moreFighting in Bekaa Valley—despite Lebanon ceasefire
Irshad Manji, the notorious “Muslim Refusenik” who supposedly advocates a principled, pluralist and secular Islam, has an op-ed in the Aug. 16 New York Times—where she once again betrays her disturbing flirtation with the very imperialism that fuels the fundamentalist… Read moreIrshad Manji’s myopia
Lebanese scholar Gilbert Achcar writes via e-mail: “Many of you have certainly seen an interview allegedly done with [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah by a Turkish radical left newpsaper… I have enquired about it, and a source in Beirut in close… Read moreCounterpunch prints “fraudulent” Nasrallah interview
We have noted a growing number of Turkish writers to face prosecution for their words. The latest is, especially perversely, charged in connection with a work of fiction. From The Guardian, July 24: In Istanbul, a writer awaits her day… Read moreAnother Turkish writer faces persecution
Note, of course, that her work was banned. From Middle East Times, July 31: ANKARA — Duygu Asena, a renowned Turkish journalist and writer who devoted much of her work to promoting women’s rights, has died at the age of… Read moreDuygu Asena, Turkish feminist writer, dies at 60
The first one we’ve all heard about. From DPA, July 30: Muslim charged in Jewsh center shooting A Muslim man who allegedly killed a woman and wounded five others inside a Jewish community centre in Seattle, Washington, gained entry by… Read moreJew-haters reap Lebanon windfall
From Lebanon’s Daily Star, July 19: Latest targets of air blitz: milk and medicine BEIRUT: Israel switched gears in its military campaign against Lebanon Monday and Tuesday, launching a series of debilitating air strikes against privately owned factories throughout the… Read moreIsrael targets Lebanon’s infrastructure; Deep Purple unawed
It is heartening that in this paranoid age even the Coptic Christians of Egypt see US-backed conspiracies in the challenges which are emerging to their own orthodoxy. As we recently noted, neocon groups like the Henry Jackson Society have been… Read moreUS behind Coptic church schism?
OK, here’s the big-ticket question. Is Lebanon a mere pawn in an Iran-Israel proxy war? Sound off, readers. Ori Nir writes for The Forward, July 14: Israel Seeks To Eliminate Iran’s Hezbollah Option WASHINGTON — In addition to securing the… Read moreHezbollah: Iran’s proxy?
Text of report by Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya TV on 14 July, as translated by BBC Monitoring: At a time when the Jordanian monarch, King Abdallah II, left for Cairo to meet Egyptian President Husni Mubarak in an effort to… Read moreJordanians protest Israeli aggression —but where were the Islamists?
In a decision dated April 7 and released on April 11, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that Southern California Muslim community leader Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan can be removed to Jordan, partially reversing a Feb. 12, 2005 ruling by immigration… Read moreJordan deportation approved —despite torture claim
More protests in Cairo, where last week when 255 people were arrested. Today, thousands of riot police and hundreds of plainclothes officers were deployed in streets leading to the courthouse in downtown Cairo as they attempted to prevent opposition activists… Read moreEgypt: protests continue; White House weighs in
