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{ Monthly Archives } July 2008

Israel’s Prime Minister Olmert Will Step Down

Yesterday, Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced he would not run in upcoming party leadership elections.  (more) 

2008 07 31 Ted Thornton Israel Comments (0)

Turkey Steps Back From the Brink

Yesterday (July 30), Turkey’s Constitutional Court, by a margin of one, voted not to ban the ruly AKP party, but to impose fines instead.  Coming one month after the court’s ban on head scarves in state universities, the ruling upheld the nation’s founding (secular) principles, but, because the vote was so close, assured that the [...]

2008 07 31 Ted Thornton Islam and Politics
Turkey Comments (0)

CIA Alleges Pakistan’s Intelligence Services Linked to Militants

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is alleging that Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is linked with militants.  See: Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt, “C.I.A. Outlines Pakistan Links With Militants, New York Times, July 30, 2008.  
ISI support of militant jihadist movements is not new or surprising.  The same could have been said of the CIA in [...]

2008 07 30 Ted Thornton Afghanistan
Pakistan
Terrorism Comments (0)

Saudi Monarch Hosts Conference on Religious Dialogue in Madrid

Last March in Saudi Arabia, a country where conversion from Islam to another religion could land you the death penalty, where non-Muslim worship is outlawed, and where even some Muslim sects (Sufis and Shiites, for example) are discriminated against, King Abdullah called for dialogue between members of the world’s monotheistic religions. The “World Conference on Dialogue” was held [...]

2008 07 28 Ted Thornton Islam
Islam and the West Comments (1)

A Renowned Egyptian Film Director Has Passed Away

Renowned Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine has died. 
Story at the BBC
Another story about Chahine from the BBC

2008 07 27 Ted Thornton Culture
Egypt Comments (0)

New Film Comedy in Egypt Tackles Religious Prejudice

A new film comedy in Egypt that challenges religous prejudice has the country buzzing. 
Story at the BBC

2008 07 27 Ted Thornton Culture
Egypt
Islam Comments (0)

France Denies Citizenship to Woman Wearing “Niqab”

In June, a French court denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman on the grounds that the niqab (”veil”) she chose to wear (a full veil with a narrow slit for the eyes) was inconsistent with French values such as equality of the sexes.  The ruling was supported by France’s Urban Affairs Minister, Fadela Amara, herself a [...]

2008 07 27 Ted Thornton Islam and the West
Women Comments (0)

ICC Seeking to Indict Sudan’s President

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague announced recently he would seek an indictment of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in connection with the ongoing crisis in Darfur.

2008 07 26 Ted Thornton Sudan Comments (0)

Fresh Background Material on Turkey’s Looming Political Crisis

In an important article, the current issue of the The Economist provides an excellent summary of what’s behind the current political crisis in Turkey as that nation awaits a high court ruling on whether the current Islamist government and its leaders will be outlawed or not. 
In particular, note the role of social class in the conflict [...]

2008 07 26 Ted Thornton Islam and Politics
Turkey Comments (0)

Is Al-Qaeda Losing or Gaining Ground?

In a special report dated July 19, 2008 (in its July 19-25, 2008 issue), The Economist offers a fresh assessment of Al-Qaeda.  Their conclusion: “Al-Qaeda will not be defeated by America but rather by governments in the Muslim world that manage to extend their writ across its lawless areas.  This will take time, Western assistance [...]

2008 07 26 Ted Thornton Islam and Politics
Terrorism Comments (0)