Is This Where the Third Intifada Will Start?
By BEN EHRENREICH NEW YORK TIMES On the evening of Feb. 10, the living room of Bassem Tamimi’s house in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh was filled with […]
Is Any Hope Left for Mideast Peace?
By RASHID KHALIDI NEW YORK TIMES WHAT should Barack Obama, who is to visit Israel next Wednesday for the first time in his presidency, do about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? First, he must abandon the stale conventional wisdom offered by the New York-Washington foreign-policy establishment, which clings to the crumbling remnants […]
At least 112,000 civilians dead in a decade in Iraq: report
STORY SUMMARY At least 112,000 civilians were killed in the 10 years since the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq that ousted Saddam Hussein, a new report published on Sunday said. Including combatants on all sides of the decade-long conflict, as well as yet undocumented civilian fatalities, the figure could rise […]
Syrian general, 20 soldiers defect — opposition : General says only those with special interests now back Assad
BEIRUT — A brigadier general and about 20 soldiers defected from the Syrian army in two separate incidents on Saturday, activists said, in another sign that the strength of President Bashar Assad’s armed forces is diminishing. Brigadier General Mohammed Khalouf appeared dressed in a camouflage military uniform in a video […]
Freedom of Thought in Islam
Source: Arabnews: The world we live in contains societies with all kinds of beliefs. Muslims living in such a world must be respectful toward all beliefs they come up against, no […]
Dignitaries visit Madinah Islamic University
MADINAH: ARAB NEWS Saturday 16 March 2013 .Scholars, leaders and various dignitaries praised the Kingdom yesterday for honoring Madinah as the Capital of Islamic Culture. The guests of the Madinah […]
Billion-pound development of Mecca and key historical sites
The Independent: Archaeologists fear billion-pound development has led to destruction of key historical sites The authorities in Saudi Arabia have begun dismantling some of the oldest sections of Islam’s most […]
Prince Charles reveals he’s been having Arabic lessons for six months so he can read the Koran
Source: Religion News Service By Prof. Omid Safi: He is a Professor of Islamic Studies at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in contemporary Islamic thought and classical Islam. A […]
Qur’an museum in Madinah soon
JEDDAH: P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR | ARAB NEWS STAFF Friday 15 March 2013 The holy city of Madinah will soon have a state-of-the-art Qur’an museum with impressive facilities, said Prince Sultan […]
The war in Syria: Can Jordan keep out of it for ever?
The civil war is hotting up on Syria’s southern front Mar 16th 2013 | RAMTHA |From the print edition THE ECONOMIST TWO long years ago, on March 18th, Syrians rose up in Deraa, a dusty town on the agricultural plain of Hauran that spreads south into Jordan. The revolt marked […]
Syria crisis: rebel war crimes increasing says Amnesty • Rebels resorting to kidnap, torture and summary killings
• Amnesty International has documented an increase in war crimes and other human rights abuses committed by rebel groups including hostage taking, torture and summary killings. Its Middle East and North Africa deputy director Ann Harrison said: “While the vast majority of war crimes and other gross violations continue to […]
Damascenes panicked by call for men to fight Assad’s war
Mar 14, 2013 – SWISSINFO DAMASCUS (Reuters) – When a government-linked Islamic body in Syria said this week it was a “sacred duty” to join the army and fight the […]
Teen who attacked Arab: I hit him as much as I could
Ynet News: The Tel Aviv District Prosecutor’s Office filed charges on Tuesday against Daniel Karai, 18, of Tiberias, and three other young men, for an attack on Hassan Usruf, a […]
Fatwa against Muslim travel to Aksa Mosque
The Jeruslem Post: The Palestine Scholars Association, a radical Islamic body in the Palestinian territories, issued a fatwa on Wednesday banning foreign Muslims from visiting the Temple Mount as long […]
Jordan: Islamist party denounces Israel’s move to change definition of Palestinian refugees
by Rhiannon Williams JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — The Islamic Action Front (IAF) on Wednesday called on the government to take a “decisive” stance against Israeli attempts to change the legal status of Palestinian refugees through UN organisations. In a statement made on Wednesday, the IAF said that Israel is trying […]
Madinah remains eternal capital of Islamic culture
MADINAH: JASSIM ABUZAID & YOUSUF MOHAMMAD ARABNEWS Wednesday 13 March 2013 Prominent personalities from different parts of the Islamic world attended the inauguration of yearlong celebrations by Crown Prince Salman, […]
Peace? Follow the children
The Jerusalem Post: The need to categorize and critique each other is killing us all. Let us not fear difference, but embrace it. A Jewish kid from Kiryat Shmona, a […]
Syria: When Nonviolent Revolutions Spin Into Bloodshed
by by Janine di Giovanni THE DAILY BEAST Srdja Popovic goes around the world teaching nonviolent techniques to activists to overthrow autocrats. Whenever he talks about the Arab Spring, he […]
Syrian conflict turns Lebanon into transshipment hub
By Lysandra Ohrstrom The Daily Star Story Summary Before the conflict in Syria erupted in 2011, potatoes exported from the Bekaa Valley would travel by truck to Latakia’s port, where […]
US, UK and France training Syrian rebels in Jordan – reports
Foreign instructors are training Syrian rebels in modern warfare in Jordan, suggest media reports from Europe. Sources claim the trainees will be the security force if Assad goes, while the […]