Religion

UN Envoy to Syria Calls for Eid Ceasefire*

By AJ Correspondents
The U.N.-Arab League envoy has called for a ceasefire in Syria during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, as the revolt against the Syrian government enters its 20th month with a death toll of more than 33,000.

Girls Determined to Fight Guns With Books

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Shazia Begum, one of three girls injured in the attack on the Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai says the Taliban had sought to silence a very influential schoolgirl.

U.S.: Pushback Against Growing Islamophobia

By Walter García and Jim Lobe
Faced with a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and a well-funded campaign to promote Islamophobia, a coalition of faith and religious freedom groups Thursday said it will circulate a new pamphlet on frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Islam and U.S. Muslims to elected officials across the United States.

U.N. Launches Global Campaign to Abolish Child Marriages

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations has launched a global campaign to abolish an anachronistic social practice still prevalent in some communities around the world: child marriages.
Courtesy of Donald Green.

Q&A: Tracing Hate Crimes to the Fear of the “Outsider”

By Walter García and Becky Bergdahl
Donald P. Green is a U.S. professor of political science who turns theories about hate crime upside down with his research.

Clock Running Out on Afghan Political Solution

By Carey L. Biron
After more than a decade of international military intervention in Afghanistan, U.S. policymakers have come to accept that a political solution is the way forward in Afghanistan, analysts here are suggesting.

Bounty Offered in Pakistan Activist Shooting

By AJ Correspondents
The Pakistani government has offered a Rs10 million (105,000-dollar) bounty for the capture of the Pakistani Taliban assailants who shot Malala Yousafzai, a teenage rights and education activist in the northwestern Swat Valley, officials say.

After Riots, Buddhists Call for Peace

By Farid Ahmed
Anxiety has yet to die down over a week after crowds of Muslims torched more than a dozen temples and scores of houses in southeast Bangladesh, leaving thousands of Buddhists with the unshakeable premonition that more violence was forthcoming.

Myanmar’s Rohingya Face “Permanent Segregation”, Activists Warn

By Carey L. Biron
Following sectarian violence in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in June, human rights researchers are now warning that the government appears to be attempting to permanently house parts of the stateless Muslim-minority Rohingya in “temporary” refugee camps, segregating them from the rest of the population.
Tarun Tejpal. Credit: Shailendra Pandey

Q&A: “Indian Reality Is Infinitely Complex”

By Becky Bergdahl
One morning, Tarun Tejpal awoke to learn that five hitmen had been arrested for having a contract to kill him. Suddenly, the life of the prominent Indian journalist and editor was turned upside down.

Wall Threatens to Cut Through History

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
Dating back to the late 1890s, the historical Jaffa-Jerusalem railroad winds in a U-shape at the base of the valley. Olive groves adorn the bottom of one steep hill. Further up the slope, pine trees and an Israeli army patrol road lead westward towards Jerusalem.

Living in Hiding From Libyan Militias

By Walter García and Mel Frykberg
Farrah Hamary looks the picture of despair as sweat trickles down his face in Tripoli’s heat and humidity. Hamary is too afraid to give his full name or to allow his picture to be taken.

U.N. Takes Up Intervention Plan on Mali

By Carey L. Biron
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday began to debate a plan to deploy West African peacekeeping troops to tackle the six-month Islamist insurgency in northern Mali.

U.N. Chief Jabs Media for Overblown Coverage of Hate Crimes

By Thalif Deen
When the United Nations commemorated International Day of Peace last week, the celebrations were marred by news of widespread rage in the Islamic world, a continued bloody civil war in Syria, suicide bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan and violent demonstrations in Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh against a video caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad.

Libyan Islamists Cornered, Not Quietened

By Mel Frykberg
It could be premature to believe that the storming of Islamist militia bases by Benghazi citizens on Friday could spell the end for Libya’s Islamist militants. Just as it was premature to claim when moderate Libyan political parties took the majority of votes during the July elections that Libya had bucked the Islamist trend sweeping the region.

Assad and Opposition Both Losing

By Zak Brophy
Two floors have been ripped from the top of an apartment block in Aleppo in northern Syria. A lone man stands amidst the rubble four stories up after a missile from one of his own government’s fighter jets smashed into the building that morning. With his arms crossed, the solitary figure surveys the destruction around him.

A Day Off to Riot in Peace

By Zofeen Ebrahim
The holiday declared by the Pakistani government on Friday seems to have given free rein for the rioting and killing over the American film that is disrespectful of Prophet Muhammad.

Saving Libya From its Saviours

By Walter García and Rebecca Murray
The dark rain clouds and circling military helicopter accentuated the mood of the small, sombre crowd gathered in Tripoli’s Martyr’s Square to commemorate Libya’s dead heroes.

OP-ED: Arab Democracies and the West

By Emile Nakhleh
Anti-Western protests across the Arab Islamic world denouncing the anti-Islam video, reportedly produced in the United States, is a serious test for the new democratic governments in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and elsewhere.

Egyptian Christians in Uneasy Safety

By Walter García, Adam Morrow, and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
Many of Egypt's Coptic Christians met the recent assumption of the presidency by the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi with trepidation, even panic – some even made plans to leave the country. Almost three month's into Morsi's term, these fears, say some experts, appear largely unfounded.

Religious Groups in Brazil Condemn Attacks on Islam

By Fabiana Frayssinet
The Brazilian Commission for Combating Religious Intolerance (CCIR) condemned the film “Innocence of Muslims" as “disrespectful” of the prophet Mohammed, and organised a mass protest demanding respect for freedom of religion in this country.
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