Tag: extremism

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Syria Crisis

Inside The Mind Of A Syrian Jihadist

Center of Kilis, Turkey, near the Syrian border
Center of Kilis, Turkey, near the Syrian border Brian Dell

KILIS — Mohammad, a jihadi rebel from northern Syria, is describing his wedding night. His family had insisted on a non-religious ceremony. At the reception, just as his relatives began to dance and celebrate, he went home. “The music made me uncomfortable,” he says. Believing in the same religious tenets that have led extremists to outlaw music and singing in jihad-held areas of Syria, Mohammad chose to spend the night at home with his sister. On this day, in Kilis, across the border in Turkey, the 35-year-old former salesman is running late, but makes a courtesy call to say he’s […]

Categories
Future Society

Darkness To Light? Solar Power To Tame Pakistani Extremism

Solar-powered street lights in Pakistan
Solar-powered street lights in Pakistan wetlandsofpakistan

Using the power of light to combat the dark ideology of the Taliban. It sounds like the start of a bad movie, but that is exactly what Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of the Pakistani province of Punjab, intends to do. “More jobs will mean fewer extremists because we can give people a better chance in […]

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas

The Troubling Rise Of The Far Right In Europe

National Front leader Marine Le Pen speaking at a party rally in May 2013
National Front leader Marine Le Pen speaking at a party rally in May 2013 Panoramic/ZUMA

From Greece to France to Austria, political parties espousing anti-immigrant, anti-euro policies are making gains across Europe.

Categories
Society

How The French Far Right Is Perverting Voltaire

Misquoted?
Misquoted? Biola University / Worlcrunch montage

To counter Islam, conservative groups are twisting the ideas of the Enlightenment writer famous for his advocacy of freedom of religion.

Categories
Geopolitics

Does Boston Marathon Attack Trace A Straight Line Back To Oklahoma City?

The smoldering ruin of the Murrow Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995
The smoldering ruin of the Murrow Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995 Lilly Pad

After the most serious terror attack on US soil since 9/11, some believe the culprits will turn out looking more like Timothy McVeigh and Anders Breivik than Osama Bin Laden.

Categories
Ideas

Women In Islam, From The Prophet’s Wife To Gunned-Down Pakistani Teen

Women praying at the Islamic Society of Akron & Kent, Ohio
Women praying at the Islamic Society of Akron & Kent, Ohio Beth Rankin

-Essay- As someone who writes and lectures about women and gender in Islam, I am often asked if women had any role in the making of the Islamic tradition. Happily, the answer is always yes. There were in fact many prominent women in the early history of Islam. At the top of the list would […]

Categories
Geopolitics

Russia Threatens To Block All YouTube Access Over Anti-Muslim Film

KOMMERSANT (Russia) Worldcrunch MOSCOW – The General Prosecutor’s Office has filed a suit to declare the recent anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims,” extremist, which could lead to the blocking of YouTube across all of Russia by November, Kommersant reports. A new law meant to protect children from exposure to information that will “interfere with their […]

Categories
Geopolitics

Islam’s Civil War Comes To Russia: Shiites And Sunnis Battle In The Caucasus

Behind the walls: Qolşärif mosque in Tatarstan
Behind the walls: Qolşärif mosque in Tatarstan Boris Tylevich

MOSCOW – Just this past August, there have been three attacks on Muslims in a small region of Dagestan – two attacks on Imams and one attack on a Shiite mosque. The attack on the mosque was the first attack on Shiites in the Northern Caucasus. It appears that the fight between Sunnis and Shiites, […]

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