When my local delicatessen in France closed, it was replaced by a fast-food outlet selling halal fried chicken. When my local kosher butcher closed, it was replaced by a halal butcher. In my local supermarket, there is now a well-stocked halal section. Last week, I received a leaflet proposing Islamic banking services. Suddenly it seems […]

For almost a year now, Israeli politicians accused President Mahmoud Abbas, repeatedly, of climbing a high tree by refusing to negotiate with Israel before Benjamin Netenyahu’s Government announces a full freeze of all settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In recent days, Abbas found his way down the tree by climbing the […]

THE anger that one feels at the arbitrary arrest of Dr Aafia get further intensified as she completes seven years of detention. And thoughts inevitably turn to the fate of her three children, 9-year old Maryam and two young sons who went missing with her. Their abduction, for which her sister Dr Fouzia points a […]

One thousand days ago, Gaza became the world’s largest outdoor prison, those are not my words, but the words of John Holmes, the UN’s chief humanitarian officer.

The phrase “phoney war” was coined in the period between Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, and its invasion of France nine months later. It referred to the fact that while the western European allies had declared war on Hitler, they declined to do any serious fighting. The term would hardly seem to fit […]

In a move that appears to be a celebration of the 16th anniversary of the massacre of 29 worshippers by the terrorist Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli government has proclaimed that the Ibrahimi Mosque in Khalil (Hebron) and Masjid Bilal ibn Rabah (mosque) in Bethlehem are “Jewish Heritage sites”.

When the Egyptian-born mufti of Australia made remarks about the way some Australian women dress, it caused such an uproar that he was forced to leave his post and return to Egypt, being accused of sexism and extremism and every other “ism” that could be leveled against him. The remarks were about provocative ways of […]

It is said that the perfect spy is someone who cannot attract a waiter’s attention in a restaurant. This seems to be true of the hit team which murdered the Hamas military leader, Mahmoud al Mabhouh, in Dubai last month. The individuals revealed by the Dubai police are no Sean Connerys or Mata Haris, rather […]

In January 2010, the Afghan capital was a scene of a brazen attack by the Taliban. Twenty Taliban militants entered Kabul in military vehicles wearing long Afghan shawls and hiding their weapons inside. They took positions near the ministries of justice and finance and, at first, started sporadically firing in the air to disperse people.

وَلَن تَرْضَى عَنكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلاَ النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ“And the Jews will not be pleased with you, nor the Christians until you follow their religion.” [Al-Baqarah, 2:120]