Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: an end to the Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen, Kenya considers a border wall, and déjà vu in Egypt.
AROUND THE WORLD
Saudis Announce Halt to Yemen Bombing Campaign
by Kareem Fahim and Mark Mazzetti
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/world/middleeast/saudis-announce-halt-to-yemen-bombing-campaign.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it was halting a nearly month-old bombing campaign against a rebel group in neighboring Yemen that has touched off a devastating humanitarian crisis and threatened to ignite a broader regional conflict.
Kenya Envisions a Border Wall That Keeps Shabab Violence Out
by Isma’il Kushkush
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/world/africa/kenya-plans-to-build-a-border-wall-that-keeps-shabab-violence-out.html?ref=todayspaper
But the recent attacks by the Shabab, the extremist Somali group that has killed hundreds of people in Kenya in the past two years, have given rise to an ambitious national proposal that is supposed to begin right here: an enormous barrier along the 424-mile border with Somalia.
Egypt's Revolution in Reverse
by David A. Graham
Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/04/egypts-revolution-in-reverse/391050/
Mohammed Morsi has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, a former general is head of state, and charges against Hosni Mubarak have been dismissed—it's like 2011 all over again.
The Pope, the Poor and Climate Change
by William McGurn
Wall Street Journal op-ed
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pope-the-poor-and-climate-change-1429572692
Even so, the topic is ripe for precisely the kind of corrective a pope has to offer: a reminder that God’s creation is meant to serve man—not man the environment. And its corollary: It is the have-nots who pay the highest price for the statist interventions so beloved of the Church of St. Green.
Migrants Face Fortress Europe’s Deadly Moat
by Kenan Malik
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/migrants-face-the-mediterranean-europes-deadly-moat.html?ref=todayspaper
The European Union should stop treating migrants as criminals, and border control as warfare. It must dismantle Fortress Europe, liberalize immigration policy and open up legal routes for migrants.
Israel Deported Them. Then ISIS Cut Off Their Heads.
by Creede Newton
Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/21/israel-deported-them-then-isis-cut-off-their-heads.html
What is known is that before ISIS’s blade met the necks of these three Eritreans who had been fleeing conflict for a large portion of their lives, they were in a wealthy nation that sees itself as an oasis of human rights in a storm of atrocities. Israel and many nations in the E.U. need to address their extreme mismanagement of the many crises in the region. Until they do, there will be no shortage of reasons for outrage coming out of nations with Mediterranean coastlines.
Malaysia's ISIS Conundrum
by Joseph Chinyong Liow
Brookings
http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2015/04/21-malaysia-isis-conundrum-liow?cid=00900015020149101US0001-0422
My interest here is to look specifically at the challenge that religiously-inspired terrorism in general, and ISIS in particular, poses for Malaysia. To that end, I argue that while “external factors” are important, the main causes for concern may well originate from within Malaysia’s own borders.
A Millennium-Old Argument
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/04/islam-philosophy-and-west
At the centre of today's disagreements is a thinker called Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, whom many Muslims regard as the greatest philosopher their faith has produced. Especially since September 2001, the name of al-Ghazali has provoked heated reactions, sometimes intelligent and subtle, sometimes less so. But at its worst, argument about the Persian-born thinker descends into name-calling.
Saudis Announce Halt to Yemen Bombing Campaign
by Kareem Fahim and Mark Mazzetti
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/world/middleeast/saudis-announce-halt-to-yemen-bombing-campaign.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it was halting a nearly month-old bombing campaign against a rebel group in neighboring Yemen that has touched off a devastating humanitarian crisis and threatened to ignite a broader regional conflict.
Kenya Envisions a Border Wall That Keeps Shabab Violence Out
by Isma’il Kushkush
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/world/africa/kenya-plans-to-build-a-border-wall-that-keeps-shabab-violence-out.html?ref=todayspaper
But the recent attacks by the Shabab, the extremist Somali group that has killed hundreds of people in Kenya in the past two years, have given rise to an ambitious national proposal that is supposed to begin right here: an enormous barrier along the 424-mile border with Somalia.
Egypt's Revolution in Reverse
by David A. Graham
Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/04/egypts-revolution-in-reverse/391050/
Mohammed Morsi has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, a former general is head of state, and charges against Hosni Mubarak have been dismissed—it's like 2011 all over again.
The Pope, the Poor and Climate Change
by William McGurn
Wall Street Journal op-ed
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pope-the-poor-and-climate-change-1429572692
Even so, the topic is ripe for precisely the kind of corrective a pope has to offer: a reminder that God’s creation is meant to serve man—not man the environment. And its corollary: It is the have-nots who pay the highest price for the statist interventions so beloved of the Church of St. Green.
Migrants Face Fortress Europe’s Deadly Moat
by Kenan Malik
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/migrants-face-the-mediterranean-europes-deadly-moat.html?ref=todayspaper
The European Union should stop treating migrants as criminals, and border control as warfare. It must dismantle Fortress Europe, liberalize immigration policy and open up legal routes for migrants.
Israel Deported Them. Then ISIS Cut Off Their Heads.
by Creede Newton
Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/21/israel-deported-them-then-isis-cut-off-their-heads.html
What is known is that before ISIS’s blade met the necks of these three Eritreans who had been fleeing conflict for a large portion of their lives, they were in a wealthy nation that sees itself as an oasis of human rights in a storm of atrocities. Israel and many nations in the E.U. need to address their extreme mismanagement of the many crises in the region. Until they do, there will be no shortage of reasons for outrage coming out of nations with Mediterranean coastlines.
Malaysia's ISIS Conundrum
by Joseph Chinyong Liow
Brookings
http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2015/04/21-malaysia-isis-conundrum-liow?cid=00900015020149101US0001-0422
My interest here is to look specifically at the challenge that religiously-inspired terrorism in general, and ISIS in particular, poses for Malaysia. To that end, I argue that while “external factors” are important, the main causes for concern may well originate from within Malaysia’s own borders.
A Millennium-Old Argument
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/04/islam-philosophy-and-west
At the centre of today's disagreements is a thinker called Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, whom many Muslims regard as the greatest philosopher their faith has produced. Especially since September 2001, the name of al-Ghazali has provoked heated reactions, sometimes intelligent and subtle, sometimes less so. But at its worst, argument about the Persian-born thinker descends into name-calling.
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