‘The Arab Spring uprisings that toppled secular dictatorships have unleashed long-suppressed freedoms that have allowed Islamic parties to gain a share of political power they have been denied for decades. Their rise is creating near-panic among ancient Christian communities that dot the Muslim world and predate Islam by centuries.

In Tunisia, where the regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted last year after 32 years in power, the dominant political party, Ennahda, has worried some of Tunis’ 22,000 Catholics by vowing to tilt the country’s yet-to-be-written constitution toward Shariah, or Islamic law. In Libya, Christians are uneasy as the powerful head of the Tripoli Military Council, Abdul Hakim Belhaj, who once led an Islamic militia with links to al-Qaida, has said he plans to run for office in elections scheduled for April.’

Read more: Middle East Christians Keep Wary Eye On Arab Spring

‘Reporting from Washington— The Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee took aim Thursday at an Obama administration plan to transfer five prisoners out of U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay as part of a package of negotiations with the Taliban.

With four of the country’s top intelligence officials in front of him, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said the path the Obama administration had taken in the negotiations “crosses a pretty dangerous line” in U.S. policy.’

Read more: House Intelligence Committee: ‘Dangerous Line’ Crossed In Talks With Taliban

‘“How would a Republican administration help bring peace to Palestine and Israel when most candidates barely recognize the existence of Palestine or its people? As a Palestinian-American Republican, I’m here to tell you we do exist.”

Both Romney and Gingrich had the chance to respond. And, as Hassan put it, “neither candidate sufficiently answered my question.” They hid behind “history… molded to work for a TV script”—a nice touch.’

Read more: Christian, Republican, & Palestinian-American Informs Newt Gingrich: ‘Im here to tell you: we do exist’

‘Freed from Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year dictatorship, Libya’s Sufi Muslims find themselves under renewed pressure from violent Islamists who have been attacking them and their beliefs as heretical. The desecration of graves belonging to Sufi saints and sages in recent months have put the peaceful Sufis on the defensive, prompting some to post armed guards at their mosques and lodges to ward off hardline thugs.’

Read more: Freed from Gaddafi, Libyan Sufis now face violent Islamists

‘Living in Islam, which refers to a state of mind where the believer surrenders to God, places a great deal of responsibility on our shoulders over how we handle our finances. We are called upon as Muslims to avoid extravagance, promote welfare and encourage fairness in our families and communities. As with all aspects of life, this is accomplished through moderation, with God instructing us in the Quran to “be neither miserly, nor so open-handed that you suffer reproach and become destitute.” (17:29)’

Read more: Dilemmas of a Muslim Shopper

‘The Hansel and Gretel fable, I’m told, is sometimes used by (abusive) parents to warn their children about the dangers of straying too far from home and getting lost (you might run into a witch who will throw you into an oven). The Holocaust and acts of terror against Jews/Israelis are used to warn Jews never to stray from the narrative of Israel as the last and only hope of the Jewish people to avoid the ovens again. Never try to look at things through the witch’s eyes and never try to see things through the Palestinian’s eyes. Yet Palestinians have suffered trauma and their stories also need to be told. The stench of burning Palestinian villages, the wreckage of Palestinian homes, the uprooting of centuries-old orchards, watching land that they’d tilled for decades or centuries being taken from them, becoming a people without a home, burying thousands of dead and caring for the tens of thousands of wounded… that stench can not be erased merely by time or by ignoring history.’

Read more: Hansel and Gretel and Israel/Palestine

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