Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and
around the globe: an Arab alliance emerges in Israel, bloodshed in Tunisia and Yemen, and a new take on Passover.
AROUND THE WORLD
Arab Alliance in Israeli Legislature Sees Unity as Vehicle for Progress
by Jodi Rudoren and Diaa Hadid
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/world/middleeast/arab-alliance-in-israeli-legislature-sees-unity-as-vehicle-for-progress.html?ref=todayspaper
Perhaps most important, the Arab political faction seeks to sustain their alliance despite deep ideological differences after emerging from Tuesday’s election as the third-largest block in Parliament. As the faction faces a fourth term of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is likely to be leading a more conservative government, they say, unity is essential to having any chance of fighting inequality inside Israel and protesting the nation’s occupation of the West Bank.
Israel’s Threat From Within
by Fareed Zakaria
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/israels-threat-from-within/2015/03/19/dd7099c6-ce74-11e4-8c54-ffb5ba6f2f69_story.html
Khamenei has recognized that the greatest vulnerability for Israel is that it has legal jurisdiction over 4.5 million Arab people who have neither a state nor a vote. That condition is virtually unique in the modern world and cannot last in a democratic society. This is, potentially, the long-run danger that could undo the miracle that is Israel—and it is a miracle.
Never Trust Netanyahu
by Lisa Goldstein
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/19/never-trust-netanyahu-israel-election-obama/
In recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown once again that he will do pretty much anything it takes to stay in power. If that means weakening Israel’s relationship with the United States, its most important ally, he will do that. If it means sinking to the level of crude, Jim Crow-like race-baiting, he will go there.
Bloodshed in Tunisia
New York Times editorial
lhttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/opinion/bloodshed-in-tunisia.html
With their massacre of at least 20 people from five countries at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis, the gunmen who carried out the rampage on Wednesday struck at Tunisia’s economic lifeblood, the tourism industry; its government; and the international community. The attack lays bare the extent to which extremists who are spreading through the region now threaten Tunisia, the only success story of the Arab Spring.
Tunisia Rampage Raises New Fears About Reach of Islamic State Groups
by Eric Cunningham
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tunisia-vows-to-fight-back-after-brutal-attack-on-renowned-tunis-museum/2015/03/19/6663f968-cdb6-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_story.html
The Islamic State said Thursday that two of its fighters had carried out the attack on a museum here that killed 20 foreign tourists, a rampage that raised fears of the jihadist group’s growing international footprint.
Yemen: 120 Killed in 2 Mosque Attacks in Capital
by Hakim Almasmari and Jason Hanna
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/20/middleeast/yemen-violence/index.html
Suicide bombers on Friday attacked two mosques frequented by Houthi rebels who recently seized control of the capital, killing 120 people and injuring more than 300 others, two Houthi officials said. The attacks came two months after Houthis—who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni Muslim country and have battled the central government for more than a decade—seized the presidential palace in Sanaa.
United Nations Investigators Accuse ISIS of Genocide Over Attacks on Yazidis
by Nick Cumming-Bruce
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/world/middleeast/isis-genocide-yazidis-iraq-un-panel.html?ref=todayspaper
United Nations human rights investigators on Thursday leveled accusations of genocide and war crimes at the Islamic State, citing evidence that the extremist group’s fighters had sought to wipe out the Yazidi minority in Iraq. The investigators reported that the pattern of attacks against the Yazidis, a religious minority living mostly in northern Iraq, pointed to the intention of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, “to destroy the Yazidi as a group.”
Boko Haram Is Now a Global Threat
by Madeleine Goerg and Sophie Dembinski
RealClearWorld op-ed
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2015/03/19/boko_haram_is_now_a_global_threat_111059.html
Boko Haram remained a purely Nigerian issue for years, but that is changing fast. The group's aspirations, and its pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, are broadening the scope of the global jihadist threat. That threat is one the United States cannot overlook - especially as Boko Haram destabilizes West and Central Africa, a region that remains a significant exporter of raw materials but also a hub for trafficking of all kinds.
Malaysian Move Toward Stricter Islamic Law Divides Opposition Party
by Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah and Trinna Leong
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/03/20/malaysian-move-toward-stricter-islamic-law-divides-opposition-party/
Calls by Malaysia’s Islamist opposition party for strict Islamic law that includes amputations and stonings is symptomatic of a drift to more conservative Islam in politics and could further strain relations in the multi-ethnic country.
DOMESTIC
Mayor de Blasio Emerges as an Unexpected Champion of Religion
by Michael M. Grynbaum and Sharon Otterman
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-emerges-as-an-unexpected-champion-of-religion.html
Yet as the leader of a famously secular city, Mr. de Blasio has been emerging as something unexpected: a champion of religion whose administration has advanced the cause of faith groups in the unlikeliest of public squares. In finding novel ways to commingle church and state, Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, has carved himself a niche as a more inclusive kind of liberal, one who is willing to embrace religious groups rather than treat them as adversaries.
Justice Ginsburg Has Released a New Feminist Take on the Passover Narrative
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/03/18/ginsburg-feminist-reading-exodus-passover/
Ginsburg on Wednesday released with a D.C. rabbi a feminist reading of the Passover story. The essay, which focuses on five women at the center of the Exodus narrative, was put together by the humanitarian group American Jewish World Service and is presented as something to be used during the seder, or ritual meal at the heart of the holiday.
Arab Alliance in Israeli Legislature Sees Unity as Vehicle for Progress
by Jodi Rudoren and Diaa Hadid
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/world/middleeast/arab-alliance-in-israeli-legislature-sees-unity-as-vehicle-for-progress.html?ref=todayspaper
Perhaps most important, the Arab political faction seeks to sustain their alliance despite deep ideological differences after emerging from Tuesday’s election as the third-largest block in Parliament. As the faction faces a fourth term of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is likely to be leading a more conservative government, they say, unity is essential to having any chance of fighting inequality inside Israel and protesting the nation’s occupation of the West Bank.
Israel’s Threat From Within
by Fareed Zakaria
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/israels-threat-from-within/2015/03/19/dd7099c6-ce74-11e4-8c54-ffb5ba6f2f69_story.html
Khamenei has recognized that the greatest vulnerability for Israel is that it has legal jurisdiction over 4.5 million Arab people who have neither a state nor a vote. That condition is virtually unique in the modern world and cannot last in a democratic society. This is, potentially, the long-run danger that could undo the miracle that is Israel—and it is a miracle.
Never Trust Netanyahu
by Lisa Goldstein
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/19/never-trust-netanyahu-israel-election-obama/
In recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown once again that he will do pretty much anything it takes to stay in power. If that means weakening Israel’s relationship with the United States, its most important ally, he will do that. If it means sinking to the level of crude, Jim Crow-like race-baiting, he will go there.
Bloodshed in Tunisia
New York Times editorial
lhttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/opinion/bloodshed-in-tunisia.html
With their massacre of at least 20 people from five countries at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis, the gunmen who carried out the rampage on Wednesday struck at Tunisia’s economic lifeblood, the tourism industry; its government; and the international community. The attack lays bare the extent to which extremists who are spreading through the region now threaten Tunisia, the only success story of the Arab Spring.
Tunisia Rampage Raises New Fears About Reach of Islamic State Groups
by Eric Cunningham
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tunisia-vows-to-fight-back-after-brutal-attack-on-renowned-tunis-museum/2015/03/19/6663f968-cdb6-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_story.html
The Islamic State said Thursday that two of its fighters had carried out the attack on a museum here that killed 20 foreign tourists, a rampage that raised fears of the jihadist group’s growing international footprint.
Yemen: 120 Killed in 2 Mosque Attacks in Capital
by Hakim Almasmari and Jason Hanna
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/20/middleeast/yemen-violence/index.html
Suicide bombers on Friday attacked two mosques frequented by Houthi rebels who recently seized control of the capital, killing 120 people and injuring more than 300 others, two Houthi officials said. The attacks came two months after Houthis—who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni Muslim country and have battled the central government for more than a decade—seized the presidential palace in Sanaa.
United Nations Investigators Accuse ISIS of Genocide Over Attacks on Yazidis
by Nick Cumming-Bruce
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/world/middleeast/isis-genocide-yazidis-iraq-un-panel.html?ref=todayspaper
United Nations human rights investigators on Thursday leveled accusations of genocide and war crimes at the Islamic State, citing evidence that the extremist group’s fighters had sought to wipe out the Yazidi minority in Iraq. The investigators reported that the pattern of attacks against the Yazidis, a religious minority living mostly in northern Iraq, pointed to the intention of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, “to destroy the Yazidi as a group.”
Boko Haram Is Now a Global Threat
by Madeleine Goerg and Sophie Dembinski
RealClearWorld op-ed
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2015/03/19/boko_haram_is_now_a_global_threat_111059.html
Boko Haram remained a purely Nigerian issue for years, but that is changing fast. The group's aspirations, and its pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, are broadening the scope of the global jihadist threat. That threat is one the United States cannot overlook - especially as Boko Haram destabilizes West and Central Africa, a region that remains a significant exporter of raw materials but also a hub for trafficking of all kinds.
Malaysian Move Toward Stricter Islamic Law Divides Opposition Party
by Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah and Trinna Leong
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/03/20/malaysian-move-toward-stricter-islamic-law-divides-opposition-party/
Calls by Malaysia’s Islamist opposition party for strict Islamic law that includes amputations and stonings is symptomatic of a drift to more conservative Islam in politics and could further strain relations in the multi-ethnic country.
DOMESTIC
Mayor de Blasio Emerges as an Unexpected Champion of Religion
by Michael M. Grynbaum and Sharon Otterman
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-emerges-as-an-unexpected-champion-of-religion.html
Yet as the leader of a famously secular city, Mr. de Blasio has been emerging as something unexpected: a champion of religion whose administration has advanced the cause of faith groups in the unlikeliest of public squares. In finding novel ways to commingle church and state, Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, has carved himself a niche as a more inclusive kind of liberal, one who is willing to embrace religious groups rather than treat them as adversaries.
Justice Ginsburg Has Released a New Feminist Take on the Passover Narrative
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/03/18/ginsburg-feminist-reading-exodus-passover/
Ginsburg on Wednesday released with a D.C. rabbi a feminist reading of the Passover story. The essay, which focuses on five women at the center of the Exodus narrative, was put together by the humanitarian group American Jewish World Service and is presented as something to be used during the seder, or ritual meal at the heart of the holiday.
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