Islam: the Good, the Bad, and the Everyday

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Mideast Week in Review

US Sinks Deeper into Syrian Quagmire.
Saudi Succession.
Qatar Sanctions Crisis.

Record-setting Sniper Shot.
by Michael Isenberg

US Sinks Deeper into Syrian Quagmire: The United States continues to drift into all-out war with Syria and its Russian ally. With no apparent long-term strategy, US forces shot down an aircraft belonging to the Syrian government last Sunday. This was the first such action by the US during the Syrian conflict, and comes on the heels of the first take-down of a Syrian drone and the first bombing of Syrian government troops. The Pentagon said the Syrian plane had bombed Syrian Democratic Forces troops who were engaged in the effort to capture the ISIS capital of Raqqa.

In response, Russia announced it would track US coalition aircraft as potential targets.

In what may or may not be a related story, the following day a Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close—five feet—to an American reconnaissance jet over the Baltic Sea.

Syria conflict: Australia suspends anti-IS raids (BBC)

Australia to resume airstrikes against Islamic State targets soon (AP)

US releases dramatic photos of 'unsafe' Russian jet intercept (CNN)

Saudi Succession: King Salman of Saudi Arabia has named his son, Muhammad bin Salman, as heir to the throne, replacing the king’s nephew, Muhammad bin Nayef. According to the BBC, the new crown prince has spearheaded the “Vision 2030” economic plan to make Saudi Arabia’s economy less dependent on oil exports. He has also “bid to curb the power of the conservative religious establishment.” In foreign policy, he is the “driving force” behind the kingdom’s military intervention in Yemen, which has been ineffective in bringing an end to the civil war there. Thus, the change to the line of succession augurs stability at home and chaos abroad.

Mohammed bin Salman's rise marks climax of leadership revolution (BBC)

Qatar Sanctions Crisis:It’s been two weeks since a coalition of Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, imposed sanctions on the nation of Qatar. Under pressure from US Secretary of State Tillerson, the coalition has finally released its list of demands. These including limiting ties to Iran, cutting ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and US-designated terrorist organizations, and closing a Turkish air base in the country. Furthermore, in the name of preventing Qatar from meddling in their internal affairs, the coalition nations insist on meddling in Qatar’s internal affairs, demanding that Qatar shutter its flagship news outlet, al-Jazeera, and refuse citizenship to coalition nationals.

In response to the demands, Qatar’s foreign minister, Muhammed bin Abd’ul-rahman al-Thani, said, “The US secretary of state recently called upon the blockading nations to produce a list of grievances that was ‘reasonable and actionable.’ The British foreign secretary asked that the demands be ‘measured and realistic.’ This list does not satisfy that criteria.” That’s diplomat-speak for “F—k off.”

IMHO, the demands will drive Qatar further into the arms of Iran, opposite of what’s intended. Indeed, this is already happening. Qatar depends heavily on imports; 90% of its food comes from abroad. Stepping in to fill the gap created by the sanctions, Iran is now delivering 1,100 tons of produce to Qatar daily by boat.

Qatar says list of demands by Arab states not realistic (BBC)

Record-setting Sniper Shot: A Canadian sniper killed an ISIS fighter in Iraq from a distance of 3,450 meters—over two miles—far exceeding the previous record. Here’s how it compares with other long-distance shots:

Canada halted airstrikes in Iraq last year. Snipers have less potential for civilian casualties than bombs.

Michael Isenberg writes about the Muslim world, medieval and modern. His forthcoming novel, The Thread of Reason, is a murder mystery that takes place in Baghdad in the year 1092 and depicts the battle for the Muslim soul between those who embrace science and tolerance, and those who throw in their lot with mysticism and persecution.

Photo credits: CNN, Globe and Mail

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Mideast Week in Review

by Michael Isenberg.

Ramadan Terrorist Attacks.

Wonder Woman banned in Lebanon.

Bahrain Government Cracks Down on Opposition.

Trump Backs Away from Israel Embassy Promise.

Ramadan Terrorist Attacks: Last night's murder of at least seven innocent civilians in London was one of several terrorist attacks last week, which also included three bombings in the Mideast.

In Kabul, terrorists detonated a massive truck bomb near Zanbaq Square, one of the busiest sections of the city. The bomb, concealed in a water truck, killed at least ninety people.

According to one eyewitness, “It was so crazy. The sound was very strong and the ground shook. Everyone around me was shocked. All of the buildings and offices were broken, the windows were blown out. It was rush hour, most of the people were going to their offices or going to the shops. There were large crowds of people going about their days.”

The Taliban denied involvement and no one else has stepped forward to claim responsibility. State security officials fingered the Pakistan-based Haqqani Group.

In view of the number of embassies in the neighborhood, some suspect that foreign nationals were the target. But as one woman who works nearby pointed out, “It's always Afghans that are harmed and get killed.”

CNN notes that this is just one of six major terrorist attacks in Afghanistan during the past year. The United States is considering sending additional troops in light of the worsening security situation.

Baghdad, meanwhile, suffered twin attacks of its own. A Daesh (ISIS) suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near an ice cream stand in the Karrada district, where crowds were celebrating Ramadan Monday night. Targeting an ice cream stand, a place where children gather, is despicable even by Daesh standards. The bombing was followed by a second attack, close to the Shuhada Bridge. Daesh, which is Sunni, said in a statement that it chose these particular neighborhoods in order to take aim at their predominantly Shiite residents. At least twenty-six people were killed in the two attacks.

The London, Kabul, and Baghdad attacks, combined with last week’s massacres of concertgoers in Manchester and Coptic Christians near Cairo, represent a pattern, which has persisted for several years now, of stepped-up terrorist activity leading up to and during the holy month of Ramadan.

Iraq conflict: Baghdad ice cream parlour hit by suicide attack (BBC)

ISIS's Perverse, Bloody Interpretation of Ramadan (The Atlantic)

ISIS Calls for ‘All-out War’ on West during Ramadan (Newsweek)

Wonder Woman Banned in Lebanon: The Lebanese government banned the film Wonder Woman in the country. The official rationale: the actress playing the title role, Gal Gadot, is Israeli, and therefore the ban on the movie, which was filmed in four countries, none of which were Israel, is in line with Lebanon’s boycott of Israeli products. The decision, coming as it did hours before the scheduled premiere, took theaters and moviegoers by surprise. The movie had been heavily promoted in Lebanon and many were disappointed by the ban.

(They were right to be disappointed—Wonder Woman is awesome! See my movie review on my other blog, Nerds who Read.)

She is Wonder Woman: Hear her Roar! (Nerds who Read)

Bahrain Government Cracks Down on Opposition. The BBC reported that in Bahrain this week, a court dissolved the National Democratic Action Society, the country’s foremost secular opposition group, on the grounds of “advocating violence, supporting terrorism, and incitement to encourage crimes.” In a statement, Amnesty International called the charges “baseless and absurd” and noted they were part of a “general clampdown on human rights” by Bahraini authorities.

Bahrain heading for total suppression of human rights as secular opposition group banned (Amnesty International)

Trump Backs Away from Israel Embassy Promise. President Trump this week, following in the footsteps of his last three predecessors, renewed a waiver to a 1995 law requiring the United States to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In renewing the waiver, Mr. Trump backpedaled on a campaign promise to relocate the embassy.

Conservative Review blasts the president for the decision: "By signing the waiver, President Trump has ignored the constituents who elected him and appears to have bowed to the pressure from his 'shallow state' advisers." The White House hastened to assure those constituents that the president “made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, fulfilling his solemn obligation to defend America's national security interests. But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but only when.”

I confess that I don’t feel reassured by the knowledge that the delay is temporary and will last only until peace comes to the Middle East, at which point the move would be completely useless as a gesture of America's support for Israel. While I could understand the United States’ reluctance to move its embassy to East Jerusalem, which is considered occupied territory, I am mystified why moving it to unoccupied West Jerusalem, which is the seat of the Israeli government, would present any obstacle to Israeli/Palestinian talks. It's not as if West Jerusalem is an issue in the talks. Is it?

To the best of my knowledge, Israel is the only country in the world where the United States has placed its embassy somewhere other than the nation’s capital.

Trump delays moving US embassy to Jerusalem (BBC)

Photo credit: CNN

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Mideast Week in Review

Trump in Saudi, Israel
Turkey State of Emergency
Iran Election Aftermath
Liberation of Mosul
Manchester Bombing

Egypt Bus Attack
by Michael Isenberg

Trump in Saudi, Israel: Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia and Israel this week, as the first two stops on his first foreign tour as President of the United States.

On Sunday, Mr. Trump addressed the Arab Islamic American Summit. Those of you who follow me on social media know that I’m not a fan of the president, but I’m willing to give credit where credit is due. His Riyadh speech hit the bullseye. He called out terrorists for what they are, “barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life.” What a welcome change from the cringing, apologetic tone of Mr. Obama! I found it significant that he mentioned ideology six times. IMHO, he showed real insight into the War on Terror: it's a War of Ideas. Terrorists become terrorists because they accept an ideology that tells them to become terrorists.

Following his speech, he joined King Salman of Saudi Arabia and President as-Sisi of Egypt at the opening of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology. As far as I can tell, the Center, which is located in Riyadh, is a boiler room for countering jihadism on social media. While combating extremist ideology is pretty much my raison d'etre these days, there’s something creepily Orwellian about governments, some of which are already highly repressive, countering any form of speech. In any case, the three heads of state let themselves be photographed holding on to a glowing orb. The unfortunate visual, combined with the Center's sinister mission, put many in mind of a certain organization of supervillains, and #HailHydra trended for a day. But by Monday Mr. Trump was in Israel and the Interwebs had a new thing to speculate about: what did he write in the note that he left at the Western Wall?

Read more—

Trump Gets One Right

Make Hydra Great Again

So, just what did Trump's note in the Western Wall say? (BBC)

Turkey State of Emergency: The New York Times reported that in Turkey on Sunday, President Recep Erdogan stated that the state of emergency put into place after last year’s coup attempt would stay in place until “welfare and peace” returned to the nation of 80 million. According to the Times report, under the emergency measures, thousands have been jailed, and websites blocked, with no parliamentary oversight.

The Real Problem with Erdogan

Iran Election Aftermath:Iran President Hasan Rouhani is getting back to work following his overwhelming victory in the May 19 election. The BBC reports that he faces three major challenges: 1) unemployment, 2) opposition to reform from Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei, and 3) relations with the United States.

The third challenge was underscored by Mr. Trump during the course of his travels. In his Riyadh speech he said, “Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate Iran, deny it funding for terrorism, and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and righteous government they deserve.” In Israel, he vowed, “Iran will never have nuclear weapons, that I can tell you.” But Mr. Rouhani scoffed at the words of his American counterpart, which he called, “Just a show.”

Trump tells Israel Iran will never have nuclear weapons (BBC)

Rouhani dismisses Trump warning over Iran 'threat' (BBC)

Liberation of Mosul: The slow but steady advance of the Iraqi army and its allies into the city of Mosul continues. While east Mosul is now under government control, ISIS remains entrenched in the western sector of the city.

Liberation has not been without its cost in human life. The United States confirmed on Friday that 105 civilians died in a US air strike in March. The US had targeted two ISIS snipers with precision-guided munitions, tragically unaware that the building was used to store explosives and was also a place of refuge for residents who had been driven from their homes.

With liberation, come the stories: the true horrors of life under ISIS. According to the BBC, these include the murder of a seven year old girl. She died screaming in front of her mother, who was also screaming, as female members of the religious police bit and pinched her to death for the crime of being alone with a male shop owner when she went to buy candy.

Lipstick and dresses return to Mosul’s streets (BBC)

Manchester Bombing:Tragedy struck Manchester, England Monday night when a suicide bomber detonated an explosion at an Ariane Grande concert. Twenty-two victims, as young as eight years old, died in the calamity, their hopes and dreams snuffed out in an instant.

As the week progressed, a portrait, albeit a fuzzy one, emerged of the monster responsible. Twenty-two-year old Salman Abedi was born in England, but his ties to the Mideast are extensive. His parents are Libyan refugees. The Telegraph reports that his father belongs to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, "a well-known militant Islamist group in Libya, which is proscribed in Britain." The younger Abedi is thought to have traveled recently in Syria and Libya. There is some question as to when and how he became radicalized. According to some reports, he drank alcohol until as late as last year, but his travels changed him. His sister said, “I think he saw children—Muslim children—dying everywhere, and wanted revenge.” I am skeptical. IMHO, jihadism is motivated primarily by its own ideology; anything the West has done is secondary. There is some evidence this was the case with Abedi. Contradicting accounts of a recent conversion to jihadism, The Telegraph writes there were at least five reports to authorities of incidents, going back five years, of Abedi showing sympathy to terrorists. These included telling friends that "being a suicide bomber was okay," and getting banned from the local mosque after a run-in with an imam who had given a sermon condemning terrorism.

So Abedi was on the authorities' radar long before he launched his hideous attack. It occurred to me that he had that in common with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the older of the Boston Marathon bombers, and Omar Mateen, the Pulse nightclub shooter. In all three cases, the authorities failed to prevent them from carrying out their evil intentions. There hasn’t been much discussion about why counter-terrorist agencies have been unable to do more in these cases. Possibly they are overwhelmed with such reports, and are unable to distinguish the real threats. Possibly red tape limits their ability to act. Clearly it’s something that the US and its allies need to take a closer look at.

Read more—

Remembering the Manchester Victims

Everything we know about Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi (Telegraph)

Security services missed five opportunities to stop the Manchester bomber (Telegraph)

Manchester attack: The Libya-jihad connection (BBC)

Egypt Bus Attack: Alas, Manchester was not the only significant terrorist attack this week. Near Cairo on Friday, armed militants stopped and boarded a bus full of Coptic Christians on their way to a monastery in the desert. The militants, who wore masks, opened fire, murdering at least 29. ISIS has claimed responsibility.

Michael Isenberg writes about the Muslim world, medieval and modern, exposing Islamists and supporting reformers. His forthcoming novel, The Thread of Reason, is a murder mystery that takes place in Baghdad in the year 1092 and depicts the battle for the Muslim soul between those who embraced science and tolerance, and those who threw in their lot with mysticism and persecution instead.

Photo credit: The Telegraph

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Remembering the Manchester Victims

Analysis of last night’s terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester can wait for a day or two. Today is a day to mourn and remember the victims. Among them,

Georgina Callander, 18. Ms. Callander was in her second year at Runshaw College in Lancashire studying Health and Social Care. She was a huge fan of Ms. Grande. Described by The Telegraph as a “Superfan,” Ms. Callander had met Ms. Grande in 2015. The day before yesterday's concert she tweeted, “SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW.” Ms. Callendar was the daughter of a plasterer. Her friends said she “lit up a room.”

Saffie Rose Roussos, 8. No, that’s not a typo. Age 8. Sapphie was a student at Tarleton Community Primary School. According to the headteacher there, Chris Upton, “Saffie was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word. She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly. Saffie was quiet and unassuming with a creative flair.” For more about Sapphie, see “Second Manchester bomb victim named” at The Guardian.

To my knowledge, these are all the names that have been released so far. More as the day wears on.

UPDATE 5:00 PM EDT The name of another of the victims has been released, John Atkinson. I haven't found much about him yet, other than that he was 26 years old, from Radcliffe, and part of a dance group.

UPDATE 25 MAY The names of 21 of the 22 victims who died have now been released. Here is a profile from the BBC: "Manchester attack: Who were the victims?"

Michael Isenberg writes about the Muslim world, medieval and modern.

Photo Credits: Instagram, Collect/PA

Monday, May 22, 2017

Manchester Concert Explosion

I grieve with the people of Manchester in their hour of tragedy.

Make Hydra Great Again

Yesterday marked the opening of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, President al-Sisi of Egypt, and President Trump in attendance. As far as I can tell, the Center, which is located in Riyadh, is a boiler room for countering jihadism on social media. While combating extremist ideology is pretty much my raison d'etre these days, there’s something creepily Orwellian about governments, some of which are already highly repressive, countering any form of speech.

The three heads of state let themselves be photographed holding on to a glowing orb—I think it's a globe of the earth. The unfortunate visual, combined with the Center's sinister mission, have brought a certain organization of supervillains to the minds of many on them Interwebs:

Here are some of the more entertaining posts:

McMaster Disaster thinks that it's not a coincidence that a sinkhole opened up in front of Trump's Mar a Lago resort at the same time:

For further coverage of the Riyadh Summit, see my posts, Trump Gets One Right and The Muslim Tweet: Daughter of Trump.

Michael Isenberg writes about the Muslim world, medieval and modern. His forthcoming novel, The Thread of Reason, is a murder mystery that takes place in Baghdad in the year 1092 and depicts the battle for the Muslim soul between those who embrace science and tolerance on the one hand, and those who throw in their lot with mysticism and persecution on the other.

Trump Gets One Right

Those of you who follow me on social media know that I’m not a fan of Donald J. Trump, but that I’m always delighted to give credit where credit is due when he gets one right.

Yesterday he got one right.

Mr. Trump’s speech at the Riyadh summit hit the bulls-eye. He called out terrorists for what they are, “barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life.” In an uncharacteristically Churchillian flourish, he urged the assembled nations to “Drive. Them. Out. Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities. Drive the out of your holy land, and Drive them out of this earth.” And in a room full of Muslims, he stood up for the rights of women, Jews, and Christians.

My right-of-center friends are kvelling. My left-of-center friends are unusually quiet. What a welcome change from the cringing, apologetic tone of Mr. Obama! Indeed our former president sometimes seemed unwilling to even say the word “terrorism.” In the past day, better commentators than I have contrasted the two men at length, and I don’t think I can add anything to what they have already said. Instead, I’d like to focus on another aspect of the speech.

Mr. Trump mentioned ideology six times. He said that the Middle East can have a prosperous and peaceful future, “but this future can only be achieved through defeating terrorism and the ideology that drives it.” He challenged Muslim nations not only to defeat terrorism, but to “send its wicked ideology into oblivion.” And, “Starving terrorists of their territory, their funding, and the false allure of their craven ideology, will be the basis for defeating them.” (Emphasis mine)

In speaking of ideology, Mr. Trump showed real insight into the War on Terror: it's a War of Ideas. Terrorists become terrorists because they accept an ideology that tells them to become terrorists.

Mr. Trump did not go into the nature of this ideology, but at its core is the Quran, which says of unbelievers, “Kill them wherever you find them and drive them out where they drove you out.” (Chapter 2, verse 191. Yes, I appreciate the irony that Mr. Trump’s speech echoes this verse). Some modern interpreters are quick to argue that the verse refers to the enemies of Islam during Muhammad’s lifetime and does not apply today. Jihadists disagree. They believe that the Quran is the literal and final testament of God, binding on all mankind for all time.

The truth is, most Muslims don’t support terrorism. We see that in the hundreds of thousands of #NotInMyName tweets that follow major terrorist attacks. We see it in the generally positive reception of Mr. Trump's visit within the Muslim world. But large numbers of Muslims do accept the divine origin of every word in the Quran. I don't argue that Muslims should reject the Quran. But I do argue, in step with many Muslim reformers, that they should reject a literalist interpretation of their scripture, as most post-Enlightenment Jews and Christians have done. In accepting a literalist interpretation, they accept the underlying ideology of terrorism, and become its unwitting enablers.

For example...

I watched the speech on Fox News. During the pre-game show they had a Muslim expert on—I didn’t catch her name—who insisted that the Quran is a peaceful document and that the key to defeating terrorism is to return to what the Quran “really” says—the Islam of Muhammad and the Companions. In my humble opinion, she has it exactly backwards. Jihadists understand the Islam of Muhammad and the Companions perfectly well, and that’s the problem. Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, for instance, says that when he was interrogating suspects in the first World Trade Center bombing, he would ask them about their motivations and they would quote this or that verse of scripture to justify themselves. Mr. McCarthy would go look it up, and sure enough, it said exactly what the jihadists said it said. Indeed, the approach that the Fox News expert proposed, a return to the Islam of the founding generation, has been around since the 18th century and is called Salafism. It gave birth to jihadism.

Of course, in the end, my opinion and Andrew McCarthy’s opinion aren’t what matter. It’s up to Muslims to reform the Muslim religion. As Mr. Trump said in his speech, “Muslim-majority countries must take the lead in combating radicalization.” To that end, after his oration, he joined King Salman of Saudi Arabia and President al-Sisi of Egypt in opening something called the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology. It remains to be seen exactly how the Center’s work will play out. As far as I can tell, it’s a boiler room for countering jihadism on social media. Given that the Saudi government is a key player, I am not optimistic that it will work along the lines I suggested, and there’s something creepily Orwellian about the whole thing. The "Hail Hydra" photo making its rounds on the Internet isn't helping. But nevertheless, any recognition that the War on Terror is a War of Ideas is a step in the right direction.

Michael Isenberg writes about the Muslim world, medieval and modern. His forthcoming novel, The Thread of Reason, is a murder mystery that takes place in Baghdad in the year 1092 and depicts the battle for the Muslim soul between those who embrace science and tolerance on the one hand, and those who throw in their lot with mysticism and persecution on the other.