Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Halla Walla!

BBC News, Meet the new Arab emojis perking up Dubai's WhatsApp chats "They called it "HALLA WALLA" - which is Arabic slang for "Hi there!", and a common greeting around Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain."

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Long Road Ahead for Justice and Accountability in Syria

AP/VOA, Long Road Ahead for Justice and Accountability in Syria "The litany of horrors in Syria has caused destruction on such a scale that the United Nations has stopped counting the dead. Rights groups estimate nearly half a million people have died in a conflict punctuated by dozens of massacres, protracted siege and starvation campaigns, barrel bombs and chemical weapon attacks."

Family says Gitmo changed 'IS suicide bomber'

Sky News, Family says Gitmo changed 'IS suicide bomber', 23 Feb 2017 "The family of Jamal al Harith said the man they knew up to 2001, when he was taken to Guantanamo Bay, "would not have become involved with a despicable organisation such as so-called Islamic State"."

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

MI6 and MI5 should review £20million compensation handed to 16 former Guantanamo Bay detainees to check it is not used for 'nefarious purposes' says David Blunkett 

Telegraph, MI6 and MI5 should review £20million compensation handed to 16 former Guantanamo Bay detainees to check it is not used for 'nefarious purposes' says David Blunkett  "Jamal al-Harith, a Muslim convert born Ronald Fiddler who detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base near Mosul, was released from the US detention camp in 2004 and successfully claimed compensation after saying British agents knew or were complicit in his mistreatment."

Friday, February 17, 2017

J Is For Jihad: How The Islamic State Indoctrinates Children With Math, Grammar, Tanks, and Guns

foreignpolicy.com, J Is For Jihad: How The Islamic State Indoctrinates Children With Math, Grammar, Tanks, and Guns "Experts say there is a tactical purpose behind the pedagogy. “There’s a need to physically and mentally prepare children to be the ‘next generation’” of fighters, said Mia Bloom, terrorism expert at Georgia State University told Foreign Policy. “It exposes the children to violence in a routine and daily fashion so it ceases to be shocking and normalizes violence,” she said."

Tariq Ramadan - Newsnight piece


opinion piece from Tariq Ramadan

Palmyra digitally preserved

NYT, The Ancient Syrian City ISIS Is Destroying, Preserved Online refers to getty.edu, The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra

How Smartphones Changed the World

How Smartphones Changed the World, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra's Stories - BBC Radio 1 latter section includes reference to Yazidi networking online

Maths in the Early Islamic World, In Our Time

Maths in the Early Islamic World, In Our Time - BBC Radio 4



"Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the flourishing of maths in the early Islamic world, as thinkers from across the region developed ideas in places such as Baghdad's House of Wisdom."

The six biggest cyber threats GCHQ's security centre wants us to be worried about

Wired, The six biggest cyber threats GCHQ's security centre wants us to be worried about

Munich Security Report 2017

Munich Security Report 2017 

"Is the world facing disorder and the rise of illiberal actors? Just ahead of the 53rd edition of the Munich Security Conference from February 17-19, the Munich Security Conference Foundation released the third edition of its annual report on key issues in international security (download a PDF version of the report here)."

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Monday, February 13, 2017

Thursday, February 09, 2017

Isis carried out cyber-attack on NHS sites

Independent, Isis carried out cyber-attack on NHS sites, 8 Feb 2017 "Islamist hackers linked to Isis carried out an attack on a series of NHS websites in a cyber-attack exposing serious flaws in security systems meant to protect sensitive information, The Independent has learnt."

Countering radicalisation with '180° Turn'

Countering radicalisation with '180° Turn' : Together we are strong - Qantara.de

The Desperate Battle to Destroy ISIS

Luke Modelson, newyorker.com, The Desperate Battle to Destroy ISIS detailed article, includes references to social media

Researchers: Fear of Muslim American Violent Extremism Overblown

VOA, Researchers: Fear of Muslim American Violent Extremism Overblown, 7 Feb 2017 "Indeed, most recent terrorist attacks in the United States have been carried out by homegrown Muslim extremists with few or no links to foreign countries, with recent immigrants and refugees accounting for a minority of mostly non-lethal plots. These same experts attribute that to stringent security procedures put in place after the attacks of 9/11 nearly 15 years ago."

France vs. Jihadism

ifri.org, Marc HECKER, Elie TENENBAUM, France vs. Jihadism: The Republic in a New Age of Terror "This paper assesses the current state of the jihadist threat to France, as well as the French authorities’ security response. With the upcoming presidential election, 2017 will be a decisive year for the country. Terrorism will be at the heart of the campaign and ISIS will most likely try to strike again."

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Yemen Raid Had Secret Target: Al Qaeda Leader Qassim Al-Rimi

NBC, Yemen Raid Had Secret Target: Al Qaeda Leader Qassim Al-Rimi, 7 Feb 2017 "The Arab uprisings six years ago triggered a huge upsurge of hope. After the three major "waves" of democratisation, there was optimism that democracy would now finally prevail in the Middle East as well. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and others became new sources of information and communication channels. In addition, they opened up new ways for Arab civil society to organise and network."

The myth of the Facebook revolution

Niklas Kossow and Ilyas Saliba, qantara.de, The myth of the Facebook revolution "Today, six years after the so-called Facebook revolutions of the Arab Spring, the hopes once placed in the social media have largely vanished. Authoritarian regimes in the region have long since succeeded in taking control of these channels and using them for their own ends."

Thursday, February 02, 2017

Daily Show on Trump

Hasan Minhaj & Trevor Noah on the Daily Show, discussing the Trump ban:

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Travel ban on Muslims to include social media 'vetting'

aljazeera.com, Travel ban on Muslims to include social media 'vetting', 31 Jan 2017 "Travellers to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries singled out for "extreme vetting" will face scrutiny of their social media activity and phone records, the new US Homeland Security secretary has said."

Navy SEAL, 8-year-old American girl died in Yemen raid

NBC, Navy SEAL, 8-year-old American girl died in Yemen raid, 31 Jan 2017 "In what an official said was the first military raid carried out under President Donald Trump, two Americans were killed in Yemen on Sunday — one a member of SEAL Team 6 and the other the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the New Mexico-born al Qaeda leader who himself was killed in a U.S. strike five years ago."

Is ISIS Breaking Apart?

Charlie Winter and Colin P. Clarke, foreignaffairs.com, Is ISIS Breaking Apart?: What Its Media Operations Suggest, 31 Jan 2017 "Whatever happens, as the ISIS core attempts to maintain its ideological prominence, it seems reasonable to conclude that ISIS will attempt to dispatch militants back to their countries of origin to conduct attacks. Doing so will help increase group morale and inflate an attenuated potency."