This ought to complicate Hamas’ attempts to reconcile with Fatah, though, as this report notes, it could also conceivably result in an even more virulent jihadist conglomerate with which Israel would be expected to negotiate. “Hamas, Islamic Jihad debate joining forces,” from Agence France-Presse, January 18: Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main Palestinian Islamist […]
Libya: Salafists race to impose Sharia “in more and more communities”
As was the case with Egypt, weren’t the Salafists and their sympathizers in Libya supposed to be a Tiny Minority of Extremists? We tried to tell you. “In Libya, a Fundamentalist War against Moderate Islam Takes Shape”, by Steven Sotloff for Time, January 18: The Libyan revolution has not been kind to Mahmud al-Arabi. Last […]
Nigeria: Top cop suspended after mastermind of Christmas church bombing escapes
Keystone Kops, Nigerian edition. It will be harder to capture Sokoto a second time. “Top Nigerian cop suspended over suspected sect member escape,” from Agence France-Presse, January 17: Nigerian authorities on Tuesday suspended a top police officer for alleged negligence in the escape of a suspected member of the Islamist Boko Haram sect arrested over […]
U.K.: Muslim women receive death threats for trying to rescue others from violent situations
“Somewhat unsurprisingly the threats perpetrated by extremist Muslims cover an array of appalling crimes including obscene sexual offences … [the women] are frequently accused of ‘destroying Islam’ or “corrupting our women’.” Qur’an 4:34 makes violence against disobedient women lawful. Whatever other rationalizations one trots out, at the end of the day, Allah says you can […]
Afghanistan: Abused 15-year-old struggles to recover after police sent her back to her in-laws when she fled; 87% of Afghan women suffer abuse
Sahar Gul’s other option would have been jail, though police sent her back to her abusers. About 80% of the 115 or so girls known to be in Afghan jails are there for the “moral crime” of running away from home. It is a sick society where one can only hope to choose one form […]
Gaza’s Shi’ites claim persecution from Hamas
“There’s still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that.” – Condoleezza Rice, January 2007. “Gaza Shiites claim Hamas persecution,” by Ibrahim Barzak for the Associated Press, January 17: GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) “” A member of Gaza’s tiny Shiite minority says […]
Al-Qaeda in Yemen captures town 100 miles south of capital
This is not the first time Yemen’s Saleh has been accused of allowing jihadists to gain a foothold to “prove” the country “needs” him. If true, that would make it the second alleged case of Munchausen Syndrome as public policy in Yemen. “Al Qaeda in Yemen captures town south of capital,” from the Associated Press, […]
U.K.: Muslim arrested for distributing literature calling for hanging of gay people says he was just doing his duty to inform about Islamic law
The literature apparently gets some of its material from Minhaj al-Muslim, reminding one again of the comment-box apologists we’ve encountered who have insisted they’ve never heard of this book and we must have picked it out of the clear blue sky to tar Islam’s reputation. Then this guy must be a total Islamophobe. Or an […]
Somalia: Jihadists kill head of food distribution charity, hold up Red Cross food aid convoys
Jihad causes poverty, sometimes deliberately: for a totalitarian regime, controlling who eats and who does not eat is a morbidly effective means of controlling a population. “Somali rebels kill local aid worker,” by Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar for Reuters, January 13 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali Islamist militants have […]
That’ll fix everything: Iran cracks down on Barbie dolls (again)
Priorities. By banning Barbie and trying to foist a substitute toy on consumers, they have automatically made the Barbie doll that much more interesting to the public. As always, Islamic morality policing is a cheap way for the government to look busy, shore up its credentials as a pious operation, and to remind the public […]