'War of Keywords'

Guardian, Search engines' role in radicalisation must be challenged, finds study, 28 July 2016 "The study, undertaken jointly by Digitalis and the Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, will be challenged by those who claim it advocates censorship, has blurred the lines between political Islam and violent extremism and cannot validly quantify the presence of extremism." PDF 'War of Keywords' here

Bastille terrorist's elderly gay lover said he asked how to hire truck

Mail Online, Bastille terrorist's elderly gay lover said he asked how to hire truck "The 73-year-old, who has been identified by detectives as the killer's 'principal lover' said the married Tunisian truck terrorist showed him ISIS beheading videos on his laptop as he became radicalised."

Saint-Etienne-de-Rouvray

dailymail.co.uk, ISIS killer 'found accomplice online' despite being on terror list "Adel Kermiche, 19, was revealed by relations to have had several accounts on the social networking site with which he spread jihadi propaganda from his home near Rouen."

IS Germany

Europe Online, Islamic State bomber in Germany had «direct contact» with accomplice, 27 July 2016

Another man arrested in Brazil on terrorism charges ahead of Olympics

SCMP, Another man arrested in Brazil on terrorism charges ahead of Olympics

Muslim man deals with an internet troll in the classiest way ever

mashable.com, Muslim man deals with an internet troll in the classiest way ever, 27 July 2016 "It's easy to get angry at someone who's trying to troll you, but a Muslim man has the perfect example of how to deal with one." 

21st Century Halal

I gave a couple of lectures today on '21st Century Halal: Contemporary Approaches to Food and Drink', as part of the UWTSD Humanities Summer School ‪#‎HumSum16‬ on UWTSD Lampeter campus. This presentation was actually part of an ongoing project on halal issues, that I'm putting together at present. I started blogging intermittently on this at  http://21stcenturyhalal.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Terrorism and Social Media conference

TASM, Terrorism & Social Media Conference CFP to be held at Swansea University next year.

New & Noted: Political Islam and Global Media

This looks interesting, although I haven't seen a copy yet:

Political Islam and Global Media: The boundaries of religious identity, Edited by Noha Mellor, Khalil Rinnawi (Routledge)

Table of contents is as follows:

Introduction – Noha Mellor Part I: The Rise of Political Islam 1 Legitimate Singularities – Ratiba Hadj-Moussa  & Samar Ben Romdhane 2 Social Media as the New identity Battleground – Noureddine Miladi 3 Online Aesthetics of Martyrdome – Magdalena Karolak 4 ISIS and Saudi Arabia – Andrew Hammond 4 Friday Khutba Without Borders – Ehab Galal Part II: Religious Activism 5 The Online Response to the Quran Burning Incidents – Ahmed Rawi 6 Working Around the State – Deborah L. Wheeler 7 Religious Minorities in Cyberspace – Dalia Yousef & Rasha Abdulla 8 British Arab Youth – Khalil Al-Agha 9 The Revival of Muslim Identity versus Arab Identity – Khalil Rinnawi Part III: Mediated Islamic Practices 10 The new Saudi Nationalism of the New Saudi Media – Gilbert Ramsay  & Sumayah Fatani 11 What is Happening: The Dynamics of the Saudi Twitterverse – Mohammad Ibrahrine 12 The Neo-Liberal Islamic Preachers – Nermeen Alazrak & Alamira Samah Saleh 13 Fatwas Online – Roxanne D. Marcotte 14 How Islamic is Islam Online Counselling? – Mona Abdel Fadil 15 Islam in the News – Mohammed-Ali Abunajela & Noha Mellor 

Some familiar names and themes there - so I look forward to reading this in due course.

Attacks in Germany

NYT, German Mood Is Shaken as Attacks Show Vulnerability to ISIS

CNN, Multiple attacks leave Germans on edge

Saint-Etienne-de-Rouvray (updated)

middleeasteye.net, Leading French media refuses to publish photos of church attackers "French daily, Le Monde, made a statement saying that it would not publish photos of the church attackers in a bit to avoid feeding the cult of the dead and encouraging further attacks."

 BBC News, France church attack: Prayer, solidarity and Christian imagery on social media

 Express, 'Any little gangster or nihilist' is using ISIS as an excuse KILL, says terror expert "Bernard Henri-Levy, a leading French philosopher, said the terror group had become an excuse for "psychopaths and fascists" to commit evil." opinion

ITV News, Live updates: French priest killer 'was on probation'

Standard, France priest killer Adel Kermiche told judges: 'I'm not an extremist' before he was freed  

Daily Mail, Dramatic moment marksmen shoot ISIS jihadists who killed French priest before rescuing terrified nuns who the fanatics had used as human shields

Saudis welcome Family Affairs Council

Saudis welcome Family Affairs Council - Saudi Gazette "The information revolution has also had an impact on society. In 2016, Saudi Arabia had 24.2 million Internet users. This figure is projected to grow to 27.9 million Internet users in 2021. The total number of mobile subscriptions reached around 51 million by the end of Q1 2016, with penetration rate of 160.6%, according to a report by the Communication and Information Technology Commission." Report discusses impact on family values.

When terror goes viral it's up to us to prevent chaos (Opinion)

Brian McNair, The Conversation, CNN, When terror goes viral it's up to us to prevent chaos (Opinion) "This media environment sees isolated events which would once have been of mainly local importance, such as the Lindt Café siege in Sydney (a "lone wolf" terrorist attack in which two people were killed), become global in their impacts through the immediacy and visceral nature of their media coverage. But it is also an efficient way to disseminate anxiety, panic and fear."

Qandeel Baloch

PBS, Pakistani social media icon's brother arrested in her death "With posts that defied conservative social norms, Baloch drew support from those that viewed her as an advocate for women’s rights. She spoke openly about the expectations she faced as a woman, discussing issues such arranged marriage in interviews with Pakistani media." Also see NYT, In Death, Qandeel Baloch, Pakistani Social Media Star, Is Celebrated as a Feminist Hero, 19 Jul 2016

Nice 14 July 2016

Summary of coverage, specific to central themes of this blog (updated):

France 24, Truck attack in Nice: what we know so far

NYT, A Third of Nice Truck Attack’s Dead Were Muslim, Group Says

Europe 1, Attentat à Nice : où en est l'enquête ?

Independent,  Nice terror attack: Isis claims responsibility for lorry massacre in French coastal city

USA Today, Paris prosecutor: Nice attacker searched online for Islamic State "Searches of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel's computer and phone showed online searches related to the Islamic State, other jihadi groups and violent images ...

"Bouhlel's uncle told the Associated Press his nephew was indoctrinated about two weeks ago by an Algerian member of the Islamic State in Nice, a claim French investigators say they are not able to confirm. His apparent radicalization has puzzled investigators as well as friends and family."

lanouvellerepublique.fr, Lahouaiej Bouhlel, dragueur impénitent et ultraviolent à l'intérêt récent pour le jihadisme 

Telegraph, Nice attacker 'had planned truck rampage for nearly a year', 21 Jul 2016  





 

BRISMES 2016: 'Networks: Connecting the Middle East through Times, Space and Cyberspace'

I am currently at the BRISMES 2016 Conference, which is being hosted in Lampeter. There's a wide range of papers, on the themes associated with 'Networks: Connecting the Middle East through Times, Space and Cyberspace'. I'm giving a paper, along with some of my postgrads.

The programme can be found here.

Updates: @OfficialBrismes, @garybunt, and religionTSD on Facebook

The Iraq Inquiry

Plenty of coverage for this. Here are some useful links: Guardian, Chilcot report live: Blair exaggerated Iraq threat and ignored invasion warnings



Middle East Eye, LIVE BLOG: Chilcot inquiry as it happens



The Iraq Inquiry, 6 July 2016 links to all sections of the Report.  The Executive Summary is here

KSA residents ‘spend quarter of the day on social media’

Arab News, KSA residents ‘spend quarter of the day on social media’ "The findings, captured among over 4,000 residents in Saudi Arabia, revealed that the time spent on social media varies depending on age group. Young users (aged 18-35) spend from two to six hours per day, while older users (aged 36-55) spend 30 minutes to two hours per day."

Fashion

stuff.co.nz, If you've got it, don't flaunt it



Haaretz, Hijabs and Swim-skirts: Modest-fashion Sites Unite Jews, Muslims and Mormons

Abu Hamzah, the face of terror, is unmasked

themalaymailonline.com, Abu Hamzah, the face of terror, is unmasked " His folly proved to be when he went live over the Internet boasting his plans to launch attacks in Malaysia early this year, and now he has shown his dastardly true colours when executing the Movida attack from behind the scenes, from Syria ...

" ... Muhammad revealed that he himself had been recruited on Facebook, which had helped him to get to Syria."