Journalism, Where Bias Comes From?

Journalism, Where Bias Comes From?

    Friday, August 12, 2022   No comments

Reporting on war is rearely objective: 

Here, an injured child receives frontpage coverage, a name, age, and a photo to accompany the story.

Other children, though, no names, no faces, no stories--just a number: 15.

Sherine Abu Aqleh, Al-Jazeera correspondent in occupied Palestine, was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces in Jenin camp

Sherine Abu Aqleh, Al-Jazeera correspondent in occupied Palestine, was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces in Jenin camp

    Wednesday, May 11, 2022   No comments

 This morning, Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Aqleh, as a result of being hit in the head by live bullets, while covering the occupation's storming of Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

And the occupation forces wounded Palestinian journalist Ali Al-Samudi with live bullets in the back.

The wounded journalist Al-Samudi recounted the details of the crime of the occupation in Jenin camp, saying: "There were no resistance fighters near us during the occupation's targeting of us in Jenin camp."

 

Al-Jazeera media network commented in a statement on the martyrdom of its reporter Abu Aqila, and said: "In a tragic, premeditated murder that violates international laws and norms, the Israeli occupation forces, in cold blood, assassinated our correspondent."

 

The statement added: "We condemn this heinous crime, through which it is intended to prevent the media from fulfilling its message, and we hold the Israeli government and the occupation forces responsible for the killing of the late colleague Shireen."

 

An Israeli force stormed the Jenin refugee camp and surrounded the house of the martyr Abdullah Al-Husari, while the resistance fighters confronted the invading force.

 

Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli occupation forces fired live bullets at demonstrators and press crews.

 

The media office of the Palestinian government in Gaza condemned the "crime of the occupation in killing fellow journalist, Sherine Abu Aqleh," and considered it a "complete crime, and the conclusion of a long series of attacks that affected the former martyr, from detention and preventing her from covering to being injured."

 

The office stressed that "the crime confirms the criminal behavior of the occupier, and his disregard for all the covenants that guarantee the journalist unhindered media coverage, and the occupation soldiers would not have reached this level of criminality without their conviction that they are evading accountability and punishment."

 

Large crowds of Palestinians participated in the farewell procession of the martyr Abu Aqila towards the Church of the Latin Monastery in Jenin, before her funeral in Jerusalem. Jenin attended a massive rally condemning the crime of the occupation.

  

The many ways Ukraine war exposed Western racism and double standard: Paris to Russia: the satirical cartoon is “Unacceptable”

The many ways Ukraine war exposed Western racism and double standard: Paris to Russia: the satirical cartoon is “Unacceptable”

    Friday, March 25, 2022   No comments

 You simply can't make this stuff up!

Today, Friday, Paris summoned the Russian ambassador to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after he posted on his Twitter account cartoons that French diplomacy considered "unacceptable".

  

"We are striving to maintain a necessary channel of dialogue with Russia, but this behavior is totally inappropriate," the French Foreign Ministry said, referring in particular to a cartoon showing Europeans kneeling in front of Uncle Sam, who symbolizes the United States.

  

It should be noted that, France supported and defended the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist as protected form of freedom of speech even if they offend Muslims.

 

The Russian Embassy confirmed that “the question of the published tweet had been raised, among other points” during the interview on Friday morning. The Russian ambassador has on his side “draw the attention of our French colleagues to the provocations and acts of vandalism against Russian diplomatic representations in France” she added.

Updated story (3/29/2022): 

Limits of Freedom of Speech in Europe: German states to ban "Z" symbolizing support for Russia's war.

Apparently, publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in offensive ways to millions of Muslims is an absolute right; but taking a position on an a war in Europe is not freedom of speech.

Media bias or media doing what it has always done: mainstream propaganda

Media bias or media doing what it has always done: mainstream propaganda

    Monday, March 07, 2022   No comments

 Not every war gets the same coverage as Russia's invasion — and that has consequences

It's a fact of modern life that some wars get more attention than others. And Russia's invasion of Ukraine has captured the public's attention in the West in a way that other recent wars — like those in Yemen or Ethiopia — simply haven't.

The reason is obvious, says Christopher Blattman, an economist at the University of Chicago and the author of Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace. This is more than a regional conflict. It's a potential global conflagration. Superpowers are taking sides. There are fears that it could lead to nuclear escalation.

read more...

    

What US 2020 Elections tell us about Americans’ values systems

What US 2020 Elections tell us about Americans’ values systems

    Monday, November 09, 2020   No comments

 

Trump: “This fucking virus, what does it have to do with me getting reelected?”

~  Inside Donald Trump’s 2020 undoing

Let’s not forget what US presidential elections tone and results confirm: The rude and candid discourse that elevates personal interests above all else; the power of those who consider themselves better and superior and more deserving; and their view that everyone else should be grateful that they can serve them and be thankful for the opportunity to exist in the same space they exist even as servants… just under half of the American public approved of such tone and character. And from what data reveal, the standard bearer of the supremacist discourse lost not because, nationally, just 3% of the voters 3% more people rejected his supremacist discourse and value system, but because 3% of the voters disapproved of his mismanagement of a pandemic crisis that killed quarter million people in less than eight months. This reality cannot be covered by the veneer of deliberately selected photos of some Americans celebrating the win by the less openly supremacist candidate.

 News story: ~  Inside Donald Trump’s 2020 undoing

Trump just ended a long tradition of celebrating Ramadan at the White House

Trump just ended a long tradition of celebrating Ramadan at the White House

    Sunday, June 25, 2017   No comments

In the early days of December 1805, a handful of prominent politicians received formal invitations to join President Thomas Jefferson for a White House dinner.

Such entreaties were not uncommon: Jefferson frequently hosted lawmakers for political working dinners at the White House, almost always commencing them about 3:30 in the afternoon, shortly after the House or Senate had adjourned for the day.

But this gathering, scheduled for Dec. 9, would be slightly different.

"dinner will be on the table precisely at sun-set - " the invitations read. "The favour of an answer is asked."

The occasion was the presence of a Tunisian envoy to the United States, Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, who had arrived in the country just the week before, in the midst of America's ongoing conflict with what were then known as the Barbary States.

And the reason for the dinner's later-than-usual start was Mellimelli's observance of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims in which observers fast between dawn and dusk. Only after sunset do Muslims break their fast with a meal, referred to as an iftar.

...


For the first time in nearly two decades, Ramadan has come and gone without the White House recognizing it with an iftar or Eid celebration, as had taken place each year under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. In recent weeks, several former White House staff members told The Post they would usually begin planning an iftar "months in advance" and didn't anticipate the Trump White House could pull something off before the end of Ramadan.

White House officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Late Saturday afternoon, the White House released a short statement from President Trump and the first lady recognizing the holiday.

"Muslims in the United States joined those around the world during the holy month of Ramadan to focus on acts of faith and charity," the statement read. "Now, as they commemorate Eid with family and friends, they carry on the tradition of helping neighbors and breaking bread with people from all walks of life. During this holiday, we are reminded of the importance of mercy, compassion, and goodwill. With Muslims around the world, the United States renews our commitment to honor these values. Eid Mubarak."

In late May, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly said the State Department would break with recent tradition and not host a Ramadan reception, as it had done nearly annually for two decades. On Saturday morning, Tillerson also released a brief statement sending "best wishes to all Muslims celebrating Eid al-Fitr."

"This holiday marks the culmination of Ramadan, a month in which many experience meaning and inspiration in acts of fasting, prayer, and charity," Tillerson said in the statement. "This day offers an opportunity to reflect on our shared commitment to building peaceful and prosperous communities. Eid Mubarak."

Tillerson's and Trump's brief remarks were in stark contrast to Obama, who released a lengthy statement for the holiday last year, as well as to ceremonies hosted at the White House for the last 20 years. source

Facts and Biases: "Mass shootings are terrorism when perpetrated by Muslims"

Facts and Biases: "Mass shootings are terrorism when perpetrated by Muslims"

    Sunday, June 18, 2017   No comments

...
Legally and morally, we see intent as the best way to distinguish terrorism from mass murder. Federal law defines terrorism as certain violent acts “that appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government.”

But because Hodgkinson is dead and did not declare an aim to dethrone the House majority to which his victims belong, we can only speculate about his motives. Like so many other killers in recent years, it’s impossible to know what his specific goals were, because he didn’t tell anyone. We know that these people intended to commit murder, but not why. And if we assume we know — as in the case of Syed Rizwan Farook in San Bernadino or Jared Lee Loughner in Tucson — it’s probably because of our preexisting stereotypes or our partisanship. Mass killings look the most like terrorism when their perpetrators seem the most alien from the Judeo-Christian, white majority. That’s no way to judge a crime. We need a new way to classify these attacks.
...
This discrepancy poses two dangers. First, the assumption that mass shootings are terrorism when perpetrated by Muslims but not by others may lead law enforcement and the public to overlook threats posed by non-Muslims. For instance, civil rights lawyer and former FBI agent Mike German, who infiltrated white supremacist groups, has argued that the domestic threat posed by right-wing extremist groups is as great as, if not greater than, that posed by Arab or Muslim terrorists, and yet has been largely ignored by the FBI. A report by the Government Accountability Office tallied 106 killings perpetrated by right-wing extremists in the United States from Sept. 12, 2001, to the end of 2016, more or less equal to the 119 by Muslim extremists in that time. While the exact number in each category may change slightly depending on how we classify individual attacks, the point is that there’s close to parity in the danger posed by each group.

Second, it’s possible that law enforcement and other decision-makers will acknowledge and respond to this singular focus on Muslims by overcompensating in the opposite manner so as to appear nondiscriminatory. The Fort Hood shooter, for example, had repeatedly drawn complaints from fellow soldiers for appearing to justify terrorist attacks against Americans in the Middle East. The FBI was even aware that Hasan had been in email contact with al-Qaeda provocateur Anwar al-Awlaki. It is one thing to avoid racial or religious stereotyping but another to ignore red flags for fear of being perceived as bigoted, as appears to be the case with Hasan. Yet this tension is inherent in stereotype-based law enforcement.

One first step toward resolving the question of “what is terrorism?” — at least in the colloquial sense — is to stop focusing so much on the perpetrator’s perceived intent and to look more at the effects of the violent act. Today, attackers such as Hodgkinson, Hasan, Rizwan, Malik, Loughner and Roof have one thing clearly in common: Even if it’s not clear why, they want to kill as many people as possible. That should be enough to call them all terrorists.

source
James T. Hodgkinson, the man who shot five people at a Republican baseball practice Wednesday, including a member of Congress, harbored ill will toward President Trump and the GOP. So was Hodgkinson a terrorist?

Trump cancels Obama’s deal with Cuba

Trump cancels Obama’s deal with Cuba

    Friday, June 16, 2017   No comments

ISR Comment: Threatening to cancel the #IranDeal is understandable: Iran has n0 defenders in the U.S. and it is always popular to bash Iran and blame everything, including one's lousy bet the Cavs winning the NBA 2017 championship. But with the announcement today that Trump is cancelling Obama's deal with Cuba, the pattern is established. This president's mission is to ungovern, not govern. More accurately, it seems that Trump intends to spend his four years in the White House undoing what his predecessor has done in the last eight years. It is absolutely clear, too, that doing so is very personal to Trump. A close look at his short record and all his achievements, unaccomplished as they may be, are in fact undoing the accomplishment of Obama: Obamacare, Paris Treaty, U.S.-Saudi relations, environmental regulations, financial regulations... and the list goes on and on... Trump either does not have any original ideas or he has issues with Obama.



___________
President Trump on Friday announced his tough new policy on Cuba — and demanded that the Communist country return the American fugitives it harbors, including cop-killer Joanne Chesimard.

“Return the fugitives from American justice including the return of the cop-killer Joanne Chesimard,” Trump thundered to applause and shouts of “Viva Trump.”
“To the Castro regime, I repeat, the harboring of criminals and fugitives will end. You have no choice. It will end,” he said at an event in Miami’s Little Havana.

Chesimard, a Queens-born black activist who changed her name to Assata Shakur, was a Black Liberation Army member who was convicted of killing a police officer in 1977.

She escaped from prison with the help of other BLA terrorists and in 1984 fled to Cuba, where the Castro regime granted her political asylum.

Under the president’s policy — which reverses some but not all of the changes introduced by the Obama administration when it restored diplomatic ties with the island nation — American citizens will be barred from staying in US-based hotels that operate in Cuba in partnership with the Cuban government. source

How many alternative facts could the spokesperson for this White House, Sean Spicer, pack in 3 sentences? answer: 3

How many alternative facts could the spokesperson for this White House, Sean Spicer, pack in 3 sentences? answer: 3

    Tuesday, April 11, 2017   No comments

Alternative fact: “We didn't use chemical weapons in World War II."

Fact: the United States used two nuclear weapons against Japan in World War II. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed an estimated 250,000 civilians and disfigured more than 150,000, many of whom still live with illness caused by these weapons of mass destruction.

Alternative fact: "Someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons.”

Fact:  More than 250,000 Jews were killed between 1942 and 1943 in Hilter's gas chambers.


Alternative fact: “Hitler was not using the gas on his own people in the same way that Assad is doing.”

Fact: Just before the WW's, 300,000 and 500,000 Jews lived in Germany, they were German citizens. By the end of WWII, Nazis killed between 160,000 and 180,000 German Jews.

_____________

An administration with this kind of handle on historical facts can hardly be trusted when it claims that the Syrian government is behind the chemical attack/explosion and launch a military attack against a sovereign nation before any credible investigation and fact finding process.

 On that subject, Peter Ford's assessment of the attack on Syria is noteworthy:

Saudi Arabia: 'Trump is a true friend of Muslims'

Saudi Arabia: 'Trump is a true friend of Muslims'

    Wednesday, March 15, 2017   No comments

ISR comment: The rulers of country that sent 15 of its citizens, under order from the Saudi leader of a UN designated terrorist organization, to kill nearly 3,000 American civilians on 9/11, and that is one of only two countries in the world that officially espouses Wahhabi Salafism--the theology that is also embraced by al-Qaeda and ISIL... these Saudi rulers assured Muslims around the world that a president who signed two executive orders banning Muslims from 6 (later reduced to 5) war torn Muslim countries (and Iran), and whose executive orders were struck-down by federal courts on account that his orders are in effect unconstitutional Muslim Bans, that he is a "true friend of Muslims." Thank you for the alternative facts.

_______________

A senior adviser to the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave the following statement on the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump:

The meeting between Prince Mohammad bin Salman and President Trump was a huge success, marking a historic turning point in bilateral relation of the two countries.

Relations had undergone a period of difference of opinion. However, today’s meeting has put things on the right track, and marked a significant shift in relations, across all political, military, security and economic fields. All of this is due to President Trump’s great understanding of the importance of relations between the two countries and his clear sight of problems in the region.

Prince Mohammed Bin Salman discussed with President Trump the issue of banning some citizens from six countries from entering the United States of America and that His Excellency is closely monitoring this matter from the beginning. Saudi Arabia does not believe that this measure is targeting Muslim countries or the religion of Islam. This measure is a sovereign decision aimed at preventing terrorists from entering the United States of America. President Trump expressed his deep respect for the Religion of Islam, considering it one of the divine religions that came with great human principles kidnapped by radical groups.

At the same time, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman emphasized that information from Saudi Arabia confirms indeed the existence of a plot against the United States of America that has been planned in those countries in secret by those groups that took advantage of what they assume a security weakness to conduct operations against the United States of America. His Excellency expressed his understanding and support for this vital and urgent precaution measure to protect the United States of America from expected terrorist operations.

Many of the economic files between the two countries have been discussed. They included huge Saudi investments in the United States of America in addition to exceptionally and largely providing American companies with the opportunities to enter the Saudi market.

This would not have been achieved without President Trump’s efforts to improve the climate for investments inside the United States of America

Prince Mohammed bin Salman has stressed how bad and very dangerous the nuclear deal is on the region and that it is going to hold the Iranian radical regime back for a short period of time in their quest for producing a nuclear weapon. This deal could lead to a more dangerous and continuous armament among the region’s countries that will not accept any Iranian nuclear military capacity.

The President and the Deputy Crown Prince share the same views on the gravity of the Iranian expansionist moves in the region. Iran is trying to gain its legitimacy in the Islamic world by supporting terrorist organizations with the aim of reaching Mecca, the Qibla of all Muslims, which gives them the legitimacy they lack in the Islamic world. Iran’s support of terrorist organization such as Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, ISIS and others along with its obstructing of any deal to settle the Palestinian issue, as a form of exporting its issues abroad, are nothing but another attempt to the gain the legitimacy it lacks among Muslims.

...

source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-15/saudi-prince-sees-trump-as-true-friend-to-muslims-full-text

‘This is not Trump’s America!’: Passengers rejoice when man accused of racism is kicked off flight

‘This is not Trump’s America!’: Passengers rejoice when man accused of racism is kicked off flight

    Thursday, February 23, 2017   No comments

“Goooodbyeee raaacists!”

That was the blunt — and unquestionably sarcastic — message one heated passenger delivered to a man and a woman as they were being kicked off a United Airlines flight Saturday evening for causing a disturbance that was blamed on racist comments.

The confrontation on Flight 1113 from Chicago to Houston began several minutes earlier, when a Pakistani man and woman wearing traditional clothing were boarding the plane, according to VHF affiliate KHOU.

Like many new American veterans, I owe my life to Muslims: Trump’s executive order is un-American, dishonorable and severely harmful to U.S. national security

Like many new American veterans, I owe my life to Muslims: Trump’s executive order is un-American, dishonorable and severely harmful to U.S. national security

    Monday, February 20, 2017   No comments

Like many new American veterans, I owe my life to Muslims — the Iraqi and Afghan comrades who fought alongside me during my multiple combat tours as a Green Beret.

I join fellow veterans in Seattle and nationwide in denouncing President Trump’s decision to temporarily ban people from seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States. Trump’s executive order is un-American, dishonorable and severely harmful to U.S. national security.

This sweeping and ill-conceived order will further damage U.S. credibility in the Muslim world, and will fuel recruiting by insurgent and terrorist groups claiming that America is at war with Islam.

Moreover, this shortsighted move will backfire by curbing the immigration of people from the Middle East and Africa whose language skills and cultural knowledge are in short supply in the United States. From a national-security perspective, turning our backs on them undermines our long-term interests.

 This indiscriminate ban threatens to make it harder to recruit native-born translators to support operations in Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Yemen, as well as in future conflicts, jeopardizing the lives of U.S. troops.

Throughout my military career, loyal Iraqis and Afghans displayed incredible bravery under fire to protect me and my men. These linguists have proved their trustworthiness on the field of battle and undergone extreme vetting. Our nation pledged to resettle in America interpreters who put themselves and their families at risk by working for the U.S. government.

But Trump’s ban even temporarily blocked Iraqi interpreters and their families from the United States — exposing them to unnecessary danger. It took an outcry from veterans and concern inside the Pentagon to push the Trump administration to amend the ban on Thursday and allow these heroes to immigrate as promised.

The damage caused by a stroke of Trump’s pen is already being felt, disrupting thousands of lives — from the most vulnerable refugees to talented immigrant employees of major U.S. companies. Fear is spreading.  source

On the agenda: Islam-Free America

On the agenda: Islam-Free America

    Friday, February 17, 2017   No comments

This group believes Islam threatens America: ‘It’s a spiritual battle of good and evil.’
 AUSTIN — Roy White wants to inform as many Americans as possible about the terrorists he sees in their midst.

The lean, 62-year-old Air Force veteran strode into the Texas State Capitol in late January wearing a charcoal-gray pinstripe suit and an American flag tie, with the mission of warning all 181

POTUS loses again: Appeals court maintains the freeze on Muslim Ban

POTUS loses again: Appeals court maintains the freeze on Muslim Ban

    Friday, February 10, 2017   No comments

ISR Comment: For the thirst time, the White House lost in court.  

 Learn about the process

It failed to convince three judges that the freeze of POTUS' Muslim ban should be lifted.The White House insists that it will pursue the defense of the ban in courts still. Trump is not stranger to using the court system. Before moving into the White House, he stood as the most litigious person ever to be nominated by a major party to run for the U.S presidency. In June 2016, USA TODAY analyzed legal filings across the United States found that the then "presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions in federal and state courts during the past three decades."
Now that lawyers will be paid by tax payers, not from his personal or business accounts, it is likely that he will continue to take every challenged decision to courts.
  ______________

The 9th Circuit’s Opinion on the Muslim Ban:

#MuslimBan: Trump justifies his anti-Muslim views and actions by the fact that his rhetoric won him “standing ovations”

#MuslimBan: Trump justifies his anti-Muslim views and actions by the fact that his rhetoric won him “standing ovations”

    Tuesday, February 07, 2017   No comments

 

Throughout Donald Trump’s campaign and now into the first weeks of his presidency, critics suggested that he cool his incendiary rhetoric, that his words matter. His defenders responded that, as Corey Lewandowski said, he was being taken too “literally.” Some, like Vice President Pence, wrote it off to his “colorful style.” Trump himself recently explained that his rhetoric about Muslims is popular, winning him “standing ovations.”

No one apparently gave him anything like a Miranda warning: Anything he says can and will be used against him in a court of law.

And that’s exactly what’s happening now in the epic court battle over his travel ban, currently blocked by a temporary order set for argument Tuesday before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The states of Washington and Minnesota, which sued to block Trump’s order, are citing the president’s inflammatory rhetoric as evidence that the government’s claims — it’s not a ban and not aimed at Muslims — are shams.

In court papers, Washington and Minnesota’s attorneys general have pulled out quotes from speeches, news conferences and interviews as evidence that an executive order the administration argues is neutral was really motivated by animus toward Muslims and a “desire to harm a particular group.” source

____________

The case for and against the Muslim Ban: the argument of the states of Washington and Minnesota



____________________

The case for and against the Muslim Ban: Trump's lawyers argument

German international magazine, der spiegel, publishes a dossier about Trump's presidency, the illustrative image is astounding

German international magazine, der spiegel, publishes a dossier about Trump's presidency, the illustrative image is astounding

    Saturday, February 04, 2017   No comments

 ISR comment: The image illustrating the cover dossier of “Der Spiegel,” a leading magazine out of Germany, a country that knows firsthand the consequences of being ruled by populist authoritarians, is astounding. It speaks to the power of art in capturing the moment. Its selection for the cover of the magazine underscores the role of the media and journalism in society during challenging times.
__________________

Donald Trump has now been president of the United States for two weeks. It literally pains me to write about all that has happened in these first days. The president of the U.S. is a racist. He is attempting a coup from the top; he wants to establish an illiberal democracy, or worse; he wants to undermine the balance of power.

The psychology of why 94 deaths from terrorism are scarier than 301,797 deaths from guns

The psychology of why 94 deaths from terrorism are scarier than 301,797 deaths from guns

    Thursday, February 02, 2017   No comments

According to the New America Foundation, jihadists killed 94 people inside the United States between 2005 and 2015. During that same time period, 301,797 people in the US were shot dead, Politifact reports.

At first blush, these numbers might seem to indicate that Donald Trump’s temporary ban on immigrants from seven countries—a goal he said was intended to “protect the American people from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals admitted to the United States”—is utterly misguided.

Darmstadt release Anis Ben-Hatira over link to Salafism

Darmstadt release Anis Ben-Hatira over link to Salafism

    Thursday, January 26, 2017   No comments

ISR comment: Should membership in Salafism be criminalized? The release of a soccer player in Europe seem to suggest that there is a basis for criminalizing a religious sect simply because all members of actual terrorist groups, like ISIL and al-Qaeda, are derived from such a sect. It is true that all ISIL armed terrorists come from Salafist groups, but that does not make all Salafists terrorists or members of ISIL. Salafism is a broad sect that consists of many schools of thought that are at times contradictory to one another. Therefore, the generalization is not warranted. It is also wrong to persecute or prosecute persons on ideological or belief basis. These problems are what allowed groups like ISIL to thrive because ISIL made the point that all of Islam, or Sunnism, is being targeted by the West, not just those who carry out cruel and criminal acts. A new strategy is needed to confront the problems that extremism poses, not tired simplistic logic.

____________________________________________________

Bundesliga club Darmstadt have released Tunisian midfielder Anis Ben-Hatira by mutual consent following criticism of his ties with an Islamic charity.

Ansaar International has been criticised in Germany with media reports alleging it was linked to the controversial Islamic Salafist sect.

"Islamic State" (ISIL. ISIS, IS) terrorists release sickening video depicting the slaughtering of people accused of spying in Deir al-Zour

"Islamic State" (ISIL. ISIS, IS) terrorists release sickening video depicting the slaughtering of people accused of spying in Deir al-Zour

    Tuesday, September 13, 2016   No comments

ISIL is desperately attempting to mask its losses with cruelty and depravity. 

On the day when Muslims around the world celebrate a religious holiday, ISIL, now self-named Islamic State, released its most despicable yet propaganda video depicting its members slaughtering people the terrorist group accused of being spies. In the 12:35 minute long clip entitled “the manufacturing of illusion”, the group claims that it identified individuals working for anti-ISIL coalition and released abhorrent footage depicting its fighters slaughtering these individuals—some of whom appear to be underage.

Mocking foreign intelligence agencies while singing the praise of the success of its own intelligence bureau named, Rasid, the group produced yet another piece of sickening propaganda that is self-incriminating. The video was released by the group's Alkhayr media, named after the province of Deir al-Zour, Syria.

#IslamicSocietiesReview : Flying while brown in the age of trump

#IslamicSocietiesReview : Flying while brown in the age of trump

    Saturday, May 07, 2016   No comments

On Thursday evening, a 40-year-old man — with dark, curly hair, olive skin and an exotic foreign accent — boarded a plane. It was a regional jet making a short, uneventful hop from Philadelphia to nearby Syracuse.

Or so dozens of unsuspecting passengers thought.

The curly-haired man tried to keep to himself, intently if inscrutably scribbling on a notepad he’d brought aboard. His seatmate, a blond-haired, 30-something woman sporting flip-flops and a red tote bag, looked him over. He was wearing navy Diesel jeans and a red Lacoste sweater – a look he would later describe as “simple elegance” – but something about him didn’t seem right to her.

She decided to try out some small talk.

Is Syracuse home? She asked.

No, he replied curtly.