Faith in the absence of Reason

I tend not to post on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because I do not perceive it as an issue of religious conflict from the Muslim perspective, and with the sizable number of Christians there, it is easy to make this obvious. However, the recent Gaza bombing, immediately following a blockade of food and certain medical supplies, is horrific. Haroon is covering, as is the excellent Global Voices. Mark Lynch, Abu Aardvark, posts some possibilities  for how this may destabilize the entire region. Not a good scenario. Brian adds more. Apparently the strike has been in the works since before the ceasefire. (h/t…

Several news outlets (1, 2, 3, 4) are reporting that the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahatir Mohammad, opened the summit of the Organization of Islamic States with some good ol’ fashioned anti-Semitism. I’m not talking anti-Israeli comments – which are often labeled as anti-Semitic, but more on how that lazy use of language, and how it does a dis-service to all involved, in another post – but full out Judeophobia. Just so you don’t doubt me, here’s the most obvious example: “The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews are in control of the…