469 Gaza children killed, over 370,000 need ‘psychosocial aid’ – UNICEF
Epigraph: At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed […]
Islamic State Threat ‘Completely Unprecedented’
Sky News: The threat posed by Islamic State militants, who have seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, is “beyond anything we’ve seen”, according to US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. READ MORE…
Arabs face a deep crisis of statehood
by Rami G. Khouri, Daily Star, Lebanon Summary The dramatic expansion of the territory controlled by the “Islamic State” in Syria and Iraq in the last few months has generated a historic moment of reckoning in several arenas in those two countries, which mirror similar trends across the entire region. […]
Rai appeals to world to save Iraqi Christians from extinction
Summary Visiting the Kurdish capital Irbil, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai called Wednesday on the international community to help Iraq’s minorities, asking the country’s Christians to stick to their roots and […]
Indonesia president says Islamic State ’embarrassing’ Muslims
Telegraph: The president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia, has called the actions of Islamic State militants “embarrassing” to the religion and urged Islamic leaders to unite in tackling extremism. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the slaughter wrought by the extremists in overrunning large swathes of […]
Foley execution boosts European support for intervention in Iraq
Global Post: BERLIN, Germany — European leaders reacted to the execution of an American journalist with shock and horror Wednesday. A spokeswoman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “horrified” by the video depicting James Foley’s beheading by members of the militant group Islamic State, or IS, released on YouTube on […]
The First World War in Gaza and the Battle for Palestine: The Ottomons vs. the British
Gaza’s strategic position—the key to controlling access to Sinai, to Palestine and the wider Middle East—has made it an enviable prize for thousands of years. Jean-Pierre Filiu explains why during […]
ISIS: Caliphate of Fear: The Curse of the Islamic State
Caliphate of Fear: The Curse of the Islamic State By SPIEGEL Staff 2014/08/19 REUTERS Images of Yazidis fleeing parts of Iraq and Syria have shocked the world and the battle against the jihadists with the Islamic State has united Americans, Europeans, Kurds and Iranians. Can the Islamists be stopped? In […]
Qur’an lesson for today: 211. And eschew open sins as well as secret ones
211. And eschew open sins as well as secret ones [6:121] And eschew open sins as well as secret ones. Surely, those who earn sin will be rewarded for that which they have earned. [7:34] Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden foul deeds, whether open or secret, and sin and […]
ISIS militants threaten Mosul’s female doctors
By: Mohammed Abboud Published Tuesday, August 19, 2014 Female doctors in the Iraqi city of Mosul are witnessing the practices of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) firsthand, since they have to maintain a closer contact with them compared to school teachers and government employees who opted to […]
Israeli strike kills wife, baby daughter of Hamas commander in Gaza
Published Wednesday, August 20, 2014 Fighting in the Gaza Strip continued for a second day after the collapse of truce talks, as Israeli forces killed a woman and a toddler in an assassination attempt targeting a Hamas military leader. Charging that Israel had “opened a gateway to hell,” Hamas’s armed […]
Iraq’s Last Chance
By ALI KHEDERY AUG. 15, 2014 NEW YORK TIMES “THE country is in your hands,” whispered Iraq’s president, Fuad Masum, on Aug. 11 as he charged the newly designated prime […]
New mobile phone app to help trace Haj pilgrims
by Daniel George TNN CHENNAI: The Indian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has introduced several high-tech measures for the 1,36,000 Haj pilgrims from India, including 3,330 from Tamil Nadu. Chief among them is an Internet-based, user-friendly smartphone application to address the issue of missing pilgrims, consul general of India B […]
Gaza conflict: Israel launches strikes after rocket fire
Israel’s military says it has carried out air strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to fresh rocket fire, hours before a ceasefire was set to expire. A child is reported to have died, and eyewitnesses say thousands of Gazans have been heading for UN shelters. Talks in Cairo to […]
Qur’an lesson for today: 210. Commandment to do good deeds
[22:78] O ye who believe! bow down and prostrate yourselves in Prayer, and worship your Lord, and do good deeds that you may prosper. [2:185] The prescribed fasting is for a fixed number of days, but whoso among you is sick or is on a journey shall fast the same […]
Arrests at protests against Israeli interfaith wedding
BBC News: Four far-right Jewish protesters have been arrested at the wedding of a Jewish-born woman who converted to Islam and an Arab Muslim man in Israel. READ MORE…
‘Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies’: Thousands call for peace at Tel Aviv rally
Source: RT Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square over the weekend to encourage an end to hostilities through peace negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and […]
209. The example of hypocrite
209. The example of hypocrite [2:18] Their case is like the case of a person who kindled a fire, and when it lighted up all around him, Allah took away their light and left them in thick darkness; they see not. [2:19] They are deaf, dumb and blind; so they […]
The Islamic State — implications for Pakistan
ET: The Iranians, as much as the Americans, have, alongside the Iraqis, breathed a sigh of relief, as rendered bereft of international and regional allies and perhaps, most importantly under pressure from Ayatollah Uzma Sistani, Prime Minister Maliki has agreed to step down and has endorsed the nomination of Haider […]
How to convert to Islam in Israel – a guide
Source: Haaretz In 2014, 63 Israelis converted from Judaism and 19 from Islam to other religions. An Israeli who wants to convert to Islam must appear before the Muslim religious […]