Religion

Breast Cancer Screening Comes to Palestinians

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
Fatmeh Abu Hrar Tabeel has had her first ever breast cancer screening. “It feels good to know, of course. Thanks to god, I am well,” the 51-year-old mother of seven told IPS. “Now I can examine myself once a month from home; the doctor showed me how.”

Home Is Not for Visiting

By Pierre Klochendler
It came like a bolt from the blue on this serene city perched in the hills of Galilee. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared on Israel’s Channel Two television earlier this month, “I want to see Safed! It’s my right to see it, but not to live there.”

Christian Right’s Influence Shaken by U.S. Election

By Sarah McHaney
For decades, right-leaning white Christian evangelicals, currently at least 25 percent of the U.S. electorate, have been a significant and influential voting demographic.

Parents Worry After Malala Attack

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Young schoolgirls seemed undeterred by the attempt to kill Malala Yousafzai, but parents in northern Pakistan are becoming increasingly concerned over their children going to school.

Military Curfew Slowly Strangling Nigerian Town

By Ahmed Usman
A recent military curfew imposed on the violence-wracked north-eastern Nigerian town of Potiskum has not only made life unbearable for residents, but it has also reduced their chances of survival.

‘Getting Worse for Minorities in Pakistan’

By Isolda Agazzi
Since the restoration of democracy in 2008, Pakistan has undertaken steps to uphold human rights, but the situation of minorities has only worsened, according to a group of NGOs. Dalits are in the worst state, facing both religious and social discrimination, they say.

Algeria Skips the Revolutionary Spring

By Giuliana Sgrena
As the Arab Spring continues to rage across the Middle East and North Africa, the gaze of the international media has largely passed over a country that was once known for its restive population, its long and bloody decolonisation struggle and revolutionary zeal.

Myanmar Accused of Dragging Feet on Rakhine Violence

By Carey L. Biron
With a new surge in sectarian violence in western Myanmar estimated to have killed more than a hundred people in recent days, top officials in the United Nations are criticising the Myanmar government for dragging its feet on addressing the “root cause” of a conflict that could disrupt the delicate reforms process underway in the country.

Q&A: ‘Baloch Groups to Unite Against Pakistan’

By Karlos Zurutuza
Fighters in the Balochistan province of Pakistan will soon set up a common front to take on the Pakistani military in their fight for Baloch independence, a senior commander of the Balochistan Liberation Front tells IPS in an interview.

Rights Report on Iran Highlights Executions, Political Prisoners

By Omid Memarian
More than a year into his mandate, Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, told the Third Committee of the U.N. General Assembly this week that the rights situation in Iran remains critical, especially as it pertains to human rights defenders, journalists, and religious and ethnic minorities.

Egypt Revolution Makes It Worse for Women

By Cam McGrath
During the uprising that toppled Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak women stood shoulder to shoulder with men in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, pressing the revolution’s demands for freedom, justice and dignity. But those who hoped the revolution would make them equal partners in Egypt’s future claim they may be worse off now than under Mubarak’s authoritarian rule.

Cattle Smugglers Thwart Pious Muslims

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Muslims around the world will soon celebrate Eidul Azha, otherwise known as the ‘feast of the sacrifice’, the second most important festival day on the Islamic calendar.

U.S. Muslims Could Be Critical Voting Bloc

By Jim Lobe
With Barack Obama and Mitt Romney virtually tied with Election Day less than two weeks away, Muslim voters could play an unexpected critical role in deciding the outcome Nov. 6.

‘Malala’s Cause Is Our Cause’

By Gordon Brown
Less than two weeks after being left for dead by the Taliban, Malala Yousafzai is standing up on her own two feet.
Marchers in San Francisco rally of marriage equality. The new survey shows widely divergent views among Catholics, including those who according to demographics would be considered more conservative. Credit: bastique/cc by 2.0

For U.S. Voters, “Faith” Often Means Political Party, not Religion

By Carey L. Biron
While religious coalitions in the United States have remained generally stable during the 2008 and 2012 president election campaigns, new research released here on Tuesday suggests far more complexity among what is often called the U.S. “values voter”.

Jewish, Christian Groups Clash Over U.S. Aid to Israel

By Mitchell Plitnick
Jewish groups have reacted furiously to a letter to Congress by 15 leaders of Christian denominations asking for a review of whether some of the three billion dollars in annual United States aid to Israel is being used in violation of U.S. law and policies.

Christians Worry Over a Future in Egypt

By Mel Frykberg
The tranquil, green, upper class Cairo suburb Maadi is a bubble of privilege separated from the city’s noisier, dirtier and overcrowded suburbs where working class Egyptians struggle to make ends meet and where Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has established a strong following.

Violence Arising From Madrassas

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
The increasing numbers of religious schools is being cited as the main reason behind violent protests in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.

Kenya Pushes Dubiously Against Islamists

By Abdurrahman Warsameh
A Kenyan military advance into Somali territory to push back Islamic militants has had some measured military success - but is not without controversy.
The Taliban denied responsibility for this 2011 attack in Pakistan. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS

OP-ED: Pakistani Taliban’s Indoctrinated Child Bombers*

By Murtaza Hussain
In the late afternoon of Apr. 3, 2011, in the Pakistani city of Dera Ghazi Khan, an annual Sufi Muslim religious festival at the shrine of the 13th century saint Ahmed Sultan was hit by twin suicide bomb attacks which killed over 50 people and left more than 120 wounded.

Caught Between Islamists and the Military

By Ahmed Usman
Locals in the city of Maiduguri in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno have intensified their calls for the military to withdraw from the town, the stronghold of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, after claims that they are being maltreated and abused.
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