Most news coverage of Muslims is negative. But not when it’s about devotion.
The Washington PostNew research finds that while media coverage of Islam and Muslims, largely through association with violence and terrorism, is overwhelmingly negative, articles addressing religious practice, faith, prayer, and piety were positive.
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China defends the mass internment of Muslims
The EconomistHaving denied the detention of perhaps 1m people in Xinjiang, the party now tries to justify it.
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Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Washington PostIn his final column filed for the Washington Post before being murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Jamal Khashoggi argues for free expression and independent platforms and voices in the Arab world and praises the Post for publishing his work in Arabic.
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Saudi Arabia bars Palestinian refugees in Lebanon from visiting Mecca
Middle East EyeExtending a policy announced in Jordan last month, Saudi Arabia will not issue Hajj and Umrah visas to Palestinian residents of Lebanon who hold refugee travel documents. Affecting nearly 175 thousand people, the move is thought to signal Saudi support for the US’s pro-Israel “deal of the century”.
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Khashoggi’s Death Is Highlighting the Ottoman-Saudi Islamic Rift
Foreign PolicyJamal Khashoggi’s murder was the latest battle in a 300-year war over Sunni Islam, according to the author.
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For Khashoggi, a Tangled Mix of Royal Service and Islamist Sympathies
The New York TimesIn chronicling the complex life of Jamal Khashoggi, the New York Times says that in his journey from Islamist to royal insider to exile in the US, the journalist never compromised his principles of patriotism and free expression.
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Two images that show we need to be sensitive about our photos
The GuardianThe Guardian’s readers’ editor examines the debate and controversy surrounding the images used to link crime and religion in the media.
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Myanmar’s Military Said to Be Behind Facebook Campaign That Fueled Genocide
NY TimesFor years, Facebook has been an unwitting platform for a campaign of violence and hate against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The company’s long awaited investigation into the issue has uncovered a coordinated effort by state military and intelligence officials as its impetus.
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Jewish lobby in far-right German party denounced for anti-Muslim views
Religion News ServiceCiting the organization’s support for Israel, a small group of German Jews have aligned themselves with the anti-immigrant anti-Muslim AfD. Jewish groups across Europe are labelling them “not kosher” and urging them not to forget their history.
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Children of Islamic State group live under a stigma in Iraq
APAs Iraqi forces and sectarian militias overcome IS, the stigma on children of the fighters, like the orphans in this story, makes their daily lives a new form of terror and isolation.
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Their Land Defiled, Forest People Swap Flower Worship for Quran and Concrete
The New York TimesAs Indonesia’s forests make way for economic expansion, members of the Orang Rimba tribe are abandoning the jungle and their religious roots and embracing new faiths in order to solidify their new identities and citizenship.
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Bahrain opposition calls for boycott of upcoming elections
Al MonitorBahrain’s Sunni royal family has hailed elections next month as “a new chapter of the march of democratic development” but the Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the country’s main opposition group who shares communal identity with the majority Shi’ite population, has called for a national boycott.
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Niqab, sunglasses, and the sincerity of belief
The Immanent FrameUnder a law proposed by Quebec’s new administration, every citizen seeking to board a bus or attend classes wearing a niqab will be required to demonstrate to a designated public officer that her religious belief is sincere enough to warrant accommodation.
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Military Officials Aren’t Supposed To Associate With Hate Groups. So Why Are These Generals Speaking At Frank Gaffney’s Confab?
The InterceptConspiracy theorist and anti-Islam campaigner Frank Gaffney’s Washington “think tank” exploits his ties to the Department of Defense to get military officials to speak at his conferences. The authors explore the ethics and consequences of doing so.
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Rohingya: 'Better to kill us in India than deport us to Myanmar'
Al Jazeera“In the current situation, it would be better to kill us all here rather than deport us, because we will be killed there anyway.” Noor Qasim, a resident in a refugee camp near New Dehli, told Al Jazeera after seven men were handed over to Burmese authorities last week.
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The mosques that survived Palu’s tsunami and what that means
The ConversationTwo iconic mosques survived Indonesia’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, and locals suggest that the power of saints that saved them. Tensions between literalist Wahhabi tradition and the “old Islam” practiced in the region are rising as the floods recede.
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Hindu nationalist-led state changes Muslim name of Indian city
The GuardianThe BJP’s chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, hardline preacher Yogi Adityanath, who has been accused of inciting violence against Muslims, led a campaign to change the name of the city of Allahabad.
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In Indonesia, transgender women find haven in Islamic boarding school
ReutersAn Islamic boarding school provides sanctuary to transgender women despite a cultural stigma against trangenderism.
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China defends its ‘people-oriented’ Muslim reeducation program as job training
ReutersIn an interview on Tuesday, the number two official in Xinjiang defended the detainment of Muslims, saying re-education camps provided a “humane” environment and refuge from the province’s pervasive poverty and “extremism”.
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'A soaring miracle of art' – Albukhary Gallery of the Islamic World review
The GuardianThe British Museum’s new Islamic art exhibit presents a sophisticated alternative history of the world that would not be matched in the West for a millennium.
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Islamic State Fighters Are Back, and This Time They’re Taking Up Arms With Shiite Militias
Foreign PolicyA strange alliance between Sunnis and Shiites is sure to leave Iraq worse off.
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'It’s part of who I am': proposed Quebec law could push hijab-wearers out of jobs
The GuardianThe ongoing attempts by Quebec’s government to ban government workers from wearing religious symbols means that teacher Maha Kassef, who wears the hijab, may soon be unemployed.
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Arsonist gets 24 years in jail for Texas mosque fire
Al JazeeraThe man convicted of burning down Victoria Texas’ Islamic center in January 2017 was sentenced to twenty-four years in prison. Officials condemned hate crimes and the community has helped to rebuild the center “with love”.
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Former Chinese internment camp detainee denied US visa
APOmir Bekali, an outspoken former detainee in China’s Muslim internment camps, was invited to Washington to testify before the Congressional-Executive Committee on China. The US consulate in Istanbul questioned his employment status and turned down his visa application.
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One man’s (very polite) fight against media Islamophobia
The GuardianFor three years, Miqdaad Versi has waged a quixotic – and always scrupulously courteous – campaign against the endless errors and distortions in news about British Muslims.
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Opinion: No, Europe Isn't Returning to the Bosom of Islam
HaaretzThe Continent has indeed received millions of migrants, and they pose a variety of problems to their host countries, but these emanate for the most part from right-wing nationalists, not Muslim refugees.
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Ron DeSantis Rose By Trafficking In Racist, Islamophobic Conspiracy Theories
The Huffington PostCongressman Ron DeSantis, the GOP’s nominee in Florida’s gubernatorial race, has suggested that ISIS may be recruiting from the Black Lives Matter Movement, supported anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and lobbied the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
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Algeria bans wearing of full-face veils at work
ReutersOn Thursday, Algeria passed a law banning women from wearing the niqab at work, citing concerns over identification. Although the niqab is less prevalent in Algeria than in some other majority Muslim states, opposition to the ban will likely appear in the conservative nation.
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Maydan editors selected some of the most thought-provoking news items on issues around Islam, religion and public-life for you. Let us know what you have been reading. Drop us a line at mediaroundups@themaydan.com!