Copyright 2012 Middle East Forum Mon, 14 May 2012 14:02:33 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Middle East Forum :: Writings http://www.meforum.org webmaster@meforum.org (Middle East Forum) webmaster@meforum.org en-us http://www.meforum.org/3233/mexican-jihad Mon, 14 May 2012 14:02:28 EST As the United States considers the Islamic jihadi threats confronting it from all sides, it would do well to focus on its southern neighbor, Mexico, which has been targeted by Islamists and jihadists, who, through a number of tactics—from engaging in http://www.meforum.org/3230/jihad-comes-to-egypt Fri, 11 May 2012 02:48:26 EST Considering Egypt's presidential elections take place later this month, last weekend's Islamist clash with the military could not have come at a worse time. First, the story: due to overall impatience—and rage that the Salafi presidential candidate, Abu http://www.meforum.org/3229/bbc-dhimmitude Thu, 10 May 2012 15:34:45 EST Media outlets tiptoeing around Islam are a dime a dozen, but the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stands apart for the egregiousness of its self-censorship and bias. Even more striking than the number of controversies involving suppression of http://www.meforum.org/3227/israel-crony-system Sun, 6 May 2012 04:25:26 EST Last summer's peaceful mass demonstrations in Israel protested economic hardships resulting from excessive government interference in the economy. The protests were ignited by Izhak Elrov, a young religious father who started a Facebook page calling for http://www.meforum.org/3226/muhammad-al-zawahiri Fri, 4 May 2012 09:44:37 EST According to Egypt's Al Ahram, "Major Egyptian Islamist parties and groups—including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafist Calling and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya—have issued calls for a Tahrir Square demonstration on Friday under the banner of 'Saving the http://www.meforum.org/3225/iran-regime-change Thu, 3 May 2012 16:16:34 EST There is every reason to believe that the Islamic Republic's days are numbered. The current government, lorded over by the religious supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i, and his Guardian Council of aging mullahs, who can overrule any policy change by http://www.meforum.org/3223/libya-berbers Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:21:12 EST One reason the term "Arab Spring" is a misnomer is because of the participation of non-Arabs, including Kurds in Iraq and Syria as well as Berbers in Morocco and Libya. While both of these non-Arab groups are Muslims, they tend to oppose Islamism both http://www.meforum.org/3222/muslim-persecution-of-christians-march-2012 Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:59:36 EST The war on Christianity and its adherents rages on in the Muslim world. In March alone, Saudi Arabia's highest Islamic law authority decreed that churches in the region must be destroyed; jihadis in Nigeria said they "are going to put into action new http://www.meforum.org/3221/egypt-female-genital-mutilation Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:26:36 EST According to the Egyptian website Youm 7, Azza al-Jarf, a female Member of Parliament representing the Muslim Brotherhood's "Freedom and Justice Party," is trying to abolish several laws currently enjoyed by Egyptian women—including preventing them from http://www.meforum.org/3220/norway-massacre-jihadist Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:21:53 EST Anders Breivik, who went on a shooting spree in Norway last year, killing some 70 people, recently confessed his inspiration: al-Qaeda, the jihadists par excellence of the modern world. According to AFP, "The gunman behind the Norway massacres said he http://www.meforum.org/3219/gary-sick Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:16:38 EST In this article, Emanuele Ottolenghi unearths new and previously unreported faults in Gary Sick's research and further discredits the October Surprise conspiracy theory. Sick has responded on his blog. Ottolenghi has written a rejoinder where he rebukes http://www.meforum.org/3218/nizar-nayouf-al-haqiqa-syrian-christians Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:07:07 EST In an April 6 article for Ha'aretz I wrote with two co-authors, I traced the widely circulated claim that 90 percent of Christians had been ethnically cleansed from the Syrian city of Homs by Islamist militants back to a site known as al-Haqiqa (Arabic http://www.meforum.org/3217/media-muslim-persecution-christians Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:34:11 EST When it comes to Muslim persecution of Christians, the mainstream media (MSM) has a long paper trail of obfuscating; while they eventually do state the bare-bone facts—if they ever report on the story in the first place, which is rare—they do so after http://www.meforum.org/3216/islamic-bonds Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:59:23 EST Traditionally, the Islamic states have had to reach out to Western capital markets to obtain funding for major projects. Islam's prohibition on the collection of interest (riba) made it difficult to find buyers within the Muslim world for debt securities http://www.meforum.org/3215/afghanistan-policy Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:00:22 EST U.S. president Barack Obama entered office with a bold plan to combat Afghanistan's escalating insurgency, empower its government, encourage a political resolution of the conflict, and secure the cooperation of neighboring Pakistan—all in time for U.S. http://www.meforum.org/3214/gay-marriage-polygamy Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:10:48 EST [NOTE: The National Review title is "Polygamy, Too: Muslims have started seeking their own redefinition of marriage"; the following text includes some material cut from the published version.] Presidential candidate Rick Santorum got jeered for comparing http://www.meforum.org/3213/swing-low-sweet-sharia Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:29:14 EST The play within the play In October 2011 an extraordinary opportunity to apprehend the ill-defined "Middle East" conflict was offered in the form of a play within the play. Discourse was disabled by flesh and blood images acting out the drama with http://www.meforum.org/3211/islamic-adult-breastfeeding-fatwas Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:24:18 EST Back in May 2007, Dr. Izzat Atiya, head of Al Azhar University's Department of Hadith, issued a fatwa, or Islamic legal decree, saying that female workers should "breastfeed" their male co-workers in order to work in each other's company. According to http://www.meforum.org/3210/death-to-churches Thu, 12 Apr 2012 03:35:33 EST Last Sunday, many Christians around the world celebrated Easter, taking it for granted that they can congregate and worship in peace. Not so; in the Islamic world, where top religious officials call for the destruction of churches, Christian holidays http://www.meforum.org/3209/lars-hedegaard-trial Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:49:32 EST In Denmark, sticks and stones may break your bones, but insulting words will get you fined — to the tune of 5,000 kroner (or about $1,000). Article 266(b) of the Danish penal code, one of the more sweeping of the "hate speech" provisions, criminalizes,