Sabily 9.10

sabily.org, Sabily 9.10 (Gaza) released. "The Sabily team is proud to announce the release of Sabily 9.10, codename "Gaza". Sabily is the new name of Ubuntu Muslim Edition, the Operating System designed by and for Muslims (but non-Muslims are very welcome to use it too)." New version of the Ubuntu OS

Iran

LA Times, Iran clamps down on protests, 29 Dec 09 "Images of the weekend's violence captured by protesters using cellphone video cameras, uploaded to the Internet and broadcast globally grabbed headlines and roiled capitals. Western officials urged Iranian authorities to deal peacefully with their opponents and release prisoners."

Iason Athanasiadis, Washington Times, Iran forces kill 8 on Shi'ite holy day, 28 Dec 09 "The protesters, in turn, broke several taboos, setting fire to a station of the paramilitary Basij and torching police motorcycles and other police vehicles throughout Tehran. Protesters in some cases beat police and pelted others with stones. They also besieged the headquarters of the state broadcasting authority and stripped captured policemen of their weapons, according to witnesses, Web sites and videos displayed widely on the Internet."


Martin Fletcher, Times Online, Courage, websites and sound judgment fight Iran’s media suppression, 24 Dec 09 "The Iranian regime is fighting not only to suppress opposition protests but to suppress news of those protests lest the contagion spread.

"To that end it has shut reformist newspapers and websites and cut internet services on days of particular tension. It has censored the state-controlled press, television and news agencies to the extent that protests and major events such as the death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri go almost unreported."

Online recruitment

UPI Asia, Online jihad recruiters target Asia, 28 Dec 09 "Extremist groups using the Internet to recruit young people to radical Islam is not a recent phenomenon. But with stronger policing in the West, extremist groups are taking advantage of the not-so-tech-savvy Internet policing in South and Southeast Asian countries and are using online social networks to radicalize the youth of the region."

op-ed on 'radicalisation'/'Islamophobia'

Reem Salahi, Huffington Post, Muslim Youth Radicalization or Politically Correct Islamophobia? 28 Dec 09 "More problematic than this open-ended definition of radicalization is the supposed source of radicalization: the World Wide Web. As someone who frequents the internet most of my waking hours, I do not deny that there are many bad websites and posts on the internet. But I refuse to believe that these websites could lead a normal, integrated Muslim teen to "radicalization." Yet according to the media and to governmental reports, the internet is that powerful. Without providing any contextual background or analysis, the media, the government, and now some Muslim organizations have simplified Muslim youth into a two-part cause and effect: since Muslim youth are intrinsically prone to radicalization, then the most simplistic of triggers such as the internet will change a law-abiding Muslim youth to Osama bin Laden's prodigy."

Umar Faruk Abdul Mutallab

Hugh Macleod, Guardian, Yemen is fertile territory for extremism as it tears itself apart: Al-Qaida able to exploit tribal tensions in Yemen just as it does in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 28 Dec 09

Telegraph, Al-Qaeda warned of imminent bomb attack, 28 Dec 09 "An al-Qaeda terrorist in Yemen warned the United States "we are carrying a bomb" in a video posted online four days before the attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit."

Newsweek, Do We Need 30,000 Troops in Yemen, or A Better Counter-Terror Strategy?, 28 Dec 09

The Canadian Press, Internet posts suggest Nigerian terror suspect was 'depressed and lonely', 28 Dec 09 "Internet postings purportedly written by a Nigerian charged with trying to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day suggest a fervently religious and lonely young man who fantasized about becoming a Muslim holy warrior.

"Throughout more than 300 posts, a user named "Farouk1986" reflects on a growing alienation from his family, his shame over sexual urges and his hopes that a "great jihad" will take place across the world."

Washington Post, In online posts apparently by Detroit suspect, religious ideals collide, 28 Dec 09 "On Facebook, Abdulmutallab's profile features a photo of him smiling, standing alongside two friends and wearing a sharp-looking pink polo shirt and sunglasses. He has 287 friends."

Facebook: We Condemn Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's Action: Nigerians are NOT Terrorists

Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, Asharq Alawsat, In Search of the Instructor in Yemen, 29 Dec 09 "Al Awlaki is now most wanted and the source of the problem with regards to at least two crimes; that of Nidal Hasan charged for killing 13 people and Farouk Abdulmuttalab charged with attempting to blow up a plane and attempted murder of the 279 passengers on board. Al Awlaki is an important character and it seems he is the Bin Laden of the internet, the leader of an organization that brings together thousands of young men who are communicated with firstly via websites and then dealt with on the ground later. He became a leader and a Mufti who communicated with his students electronically, and he takes part in extensive Daawa [Islamic preaching] through the World Wide Web. Just like Bin Laden, a cat with nine lives, he was targeted in two similar raids a few days ago and it is possible that he escaped despite news reports of his death. "

"iPhone app of life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)"

"Keeping pace with current trends and technologies, Al-Khawarizmi brings to the world an Iphone application that lets you conveniently browse and read through the monumental life of our beloved Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon Him)."

Ask the Scholar: Theft via the Internet and the Application of Hadd

Islam Online, Ask the Scholar, Theft via the Internet and the Application of Hadd, 20 Dec 09 opinion of Rajab Abu Maleeh "Theft through the Internet is unaccepted in Islam. With its different forms, whether what is called plagiarism or stealing money by way of credit cards or withdrawing cash from ATMs, theft is all impermissible. People should necessarily avoid these forms of larceny if they sincerely want Islam to become dominating."

Esposito and Voll on Friedman's "jihad.com" op-ed

John L. Esposito & John O. Voll, huffingtonpost.com, Tom Friedman on Muslims and Terrorism: Getting it Wrong Again "Thomas Friedman, in his Dec. 15 column "www.jihad.com" repeats and reinforces the same tired, totally incorrect, but commonly-made generalization preached in his July 9, 2005 column, "If it's a Muslim Problem, It Needs a Muslim Solution," that "no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama bin Laden ..."

'Jihad the Musical'

Evening Standard, Musical that pokes fun at bin Laden on its way to London, 21 Dec 09 "When it was announced the show would be performed in Edinburgh, Ted Brocklebank, culture spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said he hoped the “appalling” show would be withdrawn."

The website for Jihad! The Musical is here. It states: "With singing camels, dancing girls and a heartfelt hero, Jihad! sends up stereotypes, politics and big business, and the love affair between terrorism and the media."

New blog on Yemen

Haley Sweetland Edwards, Sanaa Bureau, Global Post: Green Technology in Sana’a is very, very old, 11 Dec 09 Interesting post from a new blog Tip: Waq al-Waq

Queen Rania

Telegraph, Queen Rania, Jordan's virtual queen, 18 Dec 09 "Queen Rania was in Paris earlier this month to speak at Le Web, a conference that brings together some of the world’s smartest technology entrepreneurs. Though she once worked in Apple’s marketing department, Queen Rania is not someone you would expect to find alongside Chad Hurley, the co-founder and CEO of YouTube, and Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder.

"However, as she delivered her speech - with its key messages compressed into Twitter-friendly 140-word bites - it soon became clear that she understands the real-time web and is using it in her royal duties and her charitable work."

Maulana Sheikh Nazim Al Haqqani’s official website

yursil.com, Mind, Body, Soul, New Website for Shaykh Maulana Nazim Adil al-Hakkani "We are excited and proud to announce the launching of Maulana Sheikh Nazim Al Haqqani’s official website, which features articles written by him personally in Turkish or Arabic language and translated into English.

"There will be a weekly Gazette (magazine) in the downloadable PDF format.

"This is the address: http://www.saltanat.org"

Algeria censorship plan

Brian Whitaker, al-bab.com, Algeria to censor internet, 20 Dec 09 "Algeria is planning to introduce a centralised system for filtering (i.e. censoring) the internet. It is also proposing stiff penalties for anyone who circumvents the government's filtering, according to the Magharebia news website."

'Iranian Cyber Army' update

Tim Stevens, ubiwar.com, World Tries To Shock Self With Iranian Cyber Army, 19 Dec 09 "There is no evidence that this was the work of Iranian intelligence or military, or even of Iranians, in Iran or elsewhere. Sure, the banner was clearly thumbing its nose at the US, and was geared to look like a Shi’a statement, but that does not make it the work of Iran or Iranians. It was occasionally reported that the Arabic on the banner read, ‘Hezbollah will surely be victorious’, or similar. Again, not necessarily true. The line is from a Qur’anic ayat referring to those who belong to and follow the ‘party of God’; far from an explicit reference to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamist organisation, even if that too is where they got their name." Useful commentary on this 'event'.

Harvard's Islamic Heritage Project

Harvard University Library, Harvard's Islamic Heritage Project Is Now Online: An Innovative Collaboration Preserves Key Islamic Materials and Makes Them Accessible to Internet Users Everywhere "Through a new collaboration among Islamic-studies scholars, librarians, and curators, Harvard University has cataloged, conserved, and digitized Islamic manuscripts, maps, and published texts from its renowned library and museum collections. The result is a new online collection comprising more than 145,000 digital pages available to Internet users everywhere. Entitled the Islamic Heritage Project, or IHP, the collection is made possible with generous support from Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. Visit IHP online at http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ihp"

aQ "Wives' Club"

Khaled Wassef, CBS News, Al Qaeda Wives' Club, 18 Dec 09, "Al Qaeda's media wing as-Sahab released an Internet statement Thursday from the wife of Ayman al-Zawahri, the group's deputy commander, the first known recruitment appeal by a prominent female on behalf of the terrorist group.

"The statement from Umaima Hassan Ahmad Muhammad Hassan was titled: "A Letter to the Muslim Sisters." In it, Mrs. Zawahri appealed to Muslim women around the world to support the Mujahideen, calling it "an obligation on all Muslims, men and women.""

'Jihadi Cool'(?)

AP, Did 'Jihadi cool' lure 5 Americans to Pakistan?, 21 Dec 09 "But that may not matter in an age when just about anyone on the Internet can connect with terrorists and where even young Muslims from moderate families can get caught up in what some call "Jihadi cool.""

Also see Steven Stanek, The National, Cyberspace emerges as global jihad battleground, 21 Dec 09

Ayatollah Montazeri

Guardian, Iran braces for protests as up to 1m attend funeral of reformist cleric, 21 Dec 09 "YouTube footage showed Montazeri's supporters gathering at home his home where his body lay in a glass case.

"The reformist website Rah-e Sabz reported that some political activists had been contacted by intelligence agents and warned that they would face arrest if they tried to attend the funeral."



presstv.ir, Ayatollah Montazeri laid to rest in Qom, 21 Dec 09

'Iranian Cyber Army'

Update: The Guardian, Technology Blog, Twitter hack by 'Iranian Cyber Army' is really just misdirection, 18 Dec 09

Michael Arrington, TechCrunch, Twitter Hacked, Defaced By “Iranian Cyber Army”, 17 Dec 09 This is the most detailed post on this issue that I've come across.

Also see:

Telegraph, Twitter hacked by 'Iranian Cyber Army', 18 Dec 09

"A group, calling themselves the Iranian Cyber Army, forced Twitter offline last night."

Wall Street Journal Blog, Twitter, Iranian Reformer Sites Hacked by ‘Iranian Cyber Army’, 18 Dec 09

Morocco

Brian Whitaker, al-Bab, Moroccan internet 'crimes', 16 Dec 09 "A blogger and the owner of an internet cafe have been jailed in Morocco."