French President Francois Hollande on Thursday warned that Syrian President Bashar Assad is not the West’s ally in fighting terrorism but an ally of extremists wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria. “Assad cannot be a partner in the fight against terrorism, he is the de facto ally of jihadists” he said to a gathering of global ambassadors in Paris. His …

The Palestinian Festival Ottawa, the first Palestinian Festival in Ottawa, is set to take place from August 29th to 31st. The festival is run by a group of twenty odd volunteers led by the Marwan Abdalla. Abdalla, speaking to The Muslim Link, was only thinking of “having it at City Hall” when he was planning the festival. Fortunately for him, …

Syrian rebel groups, including the Al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, on Wednesday took over the Syrian border crossing with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Syrian Observatory for human rights said. “Al-Nusra Front and other rebel groups took the Quneitra crossing, and heavy fighting with the Syrian army is continuing in the surrounding area”, Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the …

A United Nations probe on Wednesday said that lashings, amputations, mock crucifixion and public executions are all regularly performed in extremist-controlled parts of Syria, and accused the Syrian government of using chemical agents on civilians repeatedly. “Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays” in Syrian territory controlled by extremist group Islamic State (IS), the independent Commission …

Former New York Supreme Court judge appointed to UN Gaza investigation committee Mary McGowan Davis, a former New York City judge, on Monday was appointed to the UN commission to investigate the Israeli offensive and the actions of Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, the UN’s Human Rights Council said. Lebanese-born British human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin was previously offered the …

New Humanist talks to the author of “Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism” By Daniel Trilling Karima Bennoune is author of Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism, based on over 300 interviews with people from almost 30 countries ranging from Afghanistan to Mali to …

On Tuesday, several senior Islamic Jihad and Hamas leaders appeared in public for the first time since the conflict began, shortly after a long-term truce deal took hold in Gaza. Mohammed al-Hindi, a senior Islamic Jihad official, and Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau, were among the leaders making a public appearance – the two gave a …

The winners of the 2014 Arab American Book Awards were revealed by the Arab American National Museum on Tuesday, with several books written about Arab American culture published in 2013 in contention. Among the winners were “The Corpse Washer” by Sinan Antoon for the Fiction Award, “We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War” by Nadje Al-Ali …

Head of Israeli manufacturers’ association(MAI) Zvi Oren urged his European counterparts to not boycott Israeli businesses and warned that such a move could affect Palestinians too. The, open letter seen on Monday sent to European industry leaders, came a week before Israel will end its export of dairy produce and poultry from its West Bank settlements to the European Union. …

The Palestinian command will demand the United Nations to set Israel a deadline for its occupation of Palestinian territory, as world leaders and Palestinian leadership continues to push for peace in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian leadership is willing “to go to the U.N. Security Council to enforce an end to the (Israeli) occupation”, Wasel Abu Yusef, a senior official …