Children & Teens

Man who plotted mass murder at Chicago synagogues, mosques as teen asks for 6 years in prison Xavier Pelkey, nicknamed 'The Bomb Guy,' became radicalized into extremist Islam while surfing internet in his bedroom

(WLS) Authorities said they interrupted a terror plot against metro Chicago mosques and synagogues when they arrested a Maine teenager more than 1.5 years ago. In a rural Maine town, 1,200 miles from Chicago, Xavier Pelkey sat in his bedroom and devised […]

Health & Medicine

9/11 defendant not fit for death-penalty trial, judge rules A military mental health panel said that Ramzi bin al-Shibh had PTSD, psychosis and delusions, which his lawyer blamed on his torture by the C.I.A.

(NY Times) A military judge ruled on Thursday that a defendant in the Sept. 11 case who was tortured by the C.I.A. was ineligible for a death-penalty trial, adopting a finding that the prisoner was too psychologically damaged to help defend himself. […]

Academics & Education

Judge tosses four of five claims related to art history dispute at Hamline University, keeps case in federal court Erika López Prater, an art history professor, lost her teaching position at Hamline after showing images of the Prophet Muhammad in class. A federal judge will allow her religious discrimination claim to proceed.

(Sahan Journal) A lawsuit against Hamline University by a former art history professor will remain in federal court, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez ruled Friday. But she dismissed four of the professor’s five claims that stemmed from a campus dispute last winter. […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Muslim New Jersey mayor denied entry to White House plans lawsuit against ‘watchlist’ Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah has said he believes his name is allegedly on a federal terrorist watchlist.

(Politico) A Muslim Democratic mayor from New Jersey plans to sue the Biden administration seeking to end a federal terrorism watchlist which he has previously said unfairly targets Muslims — including himself this spring at the White House. More details of the […]

Government & Politics

Number of people on terrorist watchlist stopped at southern U.S. border has risen So far in fiscal year 2023, 160 migrants whose identities match those on the list have been stopped trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, compared to 100 in 2022.

(NBC) This year U.S. border agents have encountered a “growing number of individuals” on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist trying to enter the country via the southern border, according to the Homeland Threat Assessment released Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security. As […]

Children & Teens

U.S. seeks to repatriate family of 10 Americans from camps in Syria A Kurdish-led militia that is battling the Islamic State has been holding a mother and nine of her children for several years.

(NY Times) The State Department is working to repatriate a family of 10 American citizens stranded in Syria, where they are among the tens of thousands of people effectively imprisoned in desert camps and detention centers from the war against the Islamic […]

Academics & Education

Laval high school denies banning students who wear religious symbols However, Collège Citoyen de Laval says parents must file a 'religious accommodation' request if their child wears a hijab, for example.

(Montreal Gazette) Embroiled in controversy, a private high school in Laval says it has not forbidden students from wearing religious symbols — but it does require that parents request a “religious accommodation.” An online petition that collected 6,900 signatures over two days […]

Demonstrations

Turkish president receives members of US Muslim council in Ankara President Erdogan asks delegation to tell US Congress, other political circles about dangers of Islamophobia during meeting at Presidential Complex

(Anadolu) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that attacks on the Quran cannot be “defended with the excuse of freedom of expression” and that such acts “target social peace and stability” during talks with a delegation from the US Council of […]

Government & Politics

Biden rejects proposed conditions for plea deals in Sept. 11 case Five Guantánamo detainees accused of aiding the attacks wanted a promise of care for torture-related trauma and to avoid solitary confinement.

(NY Times) President Biden has rejected a list of proposed conditions sought by the five men who are accused of conspiring in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in exchange for pleading guilty and receiving a maximum punishment of life in prison, […]

Beards

‘Twisted’ — Nidal Hasan killed 13 at Fort Hood to save mother’s soul, researcher says The 2009 massacre was sparked by Hasan's belief that killing U.S. soldiers would secure his mother a place in heaven, according to an academic paper.

(San Antonio Express-News) As he sits in a military prison, condemned to die for killing 13 people in a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, you might think the state of his beard wouldn’t be Nidal Hasan’s top concern. But just as […]

Clerics & Preachers

Antisemitic Egyptian sheikh was to be hosted by Ottawa-funded Muslim group Nashaat Ahmed was pulled from the speaker list of the Muslim Association of Canada's annual convention after inquiries from the Post

(National Post) Another year, another conference, another tableau of speakers associated with antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny and hatred. The convening organization is not the grotesque Goyim Defense League, a Hitler-admiring American neo-fascist groupuscule linked to a spate of graffiti, leaflets and posters the […]

Books

Rushdie probe expands overseas

(Semafor) The investigation into last year’s near-fatal attack on the Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie has expanded to examine potential international involvement in the crime, the district attorney overseeing the case in rural New York told Semafor. Jason Schmidt said his office in […]

Government & Politics

Jeffries endorses Ilhan Omar amid AIPAC primary threat Democratic leadership is sending a message to progressives who are worried about primary challenges from the pro-Israel group: Caucus leaders plan to support all incumbents.

(Politico) When Pramila Jayapal faced fierce blowback in mid-July after dubbing Israel a “racist state,” it immediately unnerved fellow House progressives. Their concern: Would Democratic leaders recommit to the longstanding policy of backing all incumbents, including critics of Israel? The answer was […]

Health & Medicine

Man accused in 9/11 plot is not fit to face trial, board says The question of Ramzi bin al-Shibh’s sanity has shadowed the case since he first appeared at the Guantánamo court in 2008. A new medical panel report says he has a mental illness making him incompetent for trial.

(NY Times) A military medical board has concluded that Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who is accused of conspiring in the Sept. 11 attacks, has a mental illness that makes him incompetent to either face trial or plead guilty in the death penalty case, […]

Government & Politics

Ramaswamy rushes to clean up 9/11 remarks

(Hill) Vivek Ramaswamy is seeking to clean up comments he made that appeared to cast doubt about the origins of the 9/11 attacks as part of an interview released just before the first GOP presidential debate. Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old upstart GOP presidential candidate […]

Government & Politics

Lawyers ask Supreme Court to hear case of 4 Canadian men being held in northeastern Syria Federal Court of Appeal previously ruled that Ottawa is under no obligation to repatriate the men

(CBC) Lawyers for the families of four Canadian men detained in northeastern Syria are asking the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on whether the federal government has to repatriate them. The men are among many foreign nationals in Syrian detention camps […]