Tag Archives: middle east

On Tuesday, branches of the Al-Qaeda in North Africa and Yemen called for extremists in Syria and Iraq to unite against the threat of the US-led coalition to battle extremists in the Middle East. In an unprecedented joint statement, the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula urged their “brothers” in Syria and Iraq to …

Canadian ambassador for religious freedom Andrew Bennett said that the current outburst of ethno-religious hatred, expulsions and murders by militants from the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq has risen to the level of genocide. “ISIS is a barbaric terrorist group that has taken Sunni Islam and warped it, distorted it, twisted it and usurped it for its own …

Bosnian-Canadian Imam Zijad Delic, doing press rounds for his new book “Canadian Islam: Belonging and Loyalty” preaches the idea of the integral relation between Islam and Canada. The once-controversial imam, now seen as a progressive leader, said that Canada and Islam “complement” one another. “There is no contradiction”, he said. His new book comes hot on the heels of rising …

Two natives of Calgary have joined extremist group Islamic State (IS), as global worry over foreign fighters in the Middle East continues to grow. The two brothers, Collin and Gregory Gordon, had converted to Islam recently and became known to Muslims in Calgary as Khalid and Abdul Malik. Sometime between 2011 and 2012, they lived in an apartment in a …

On Tuesday, Qatar hailed the ceasefire which ended 50 days of conflict in and around the Gaza Strip, and offered to provide funds for reconstruction efforts. Qatar is a key backer of Hamas and hosts the Palestinian movement’s exiled leader Khaled Meshaal. On Tuesday, it paid tribute to “the resistance and the sacrifices” of Palestinians in seven weeks of conflict …

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, …

The current war in Gaza has set off several takes on the Ice Bucket Challenge, with several Palestinians dumping buckets of debris over themselves and an Israeli dumping a bucket of manure. The ice bucket challenge has been spreading across the internet, with people filming themselves pouring buckets of ice water over their heads to raise awareness and funds for …

Arab Bank, one of the most prestigious banking giants in the world, is currently on trial for allegedly supporting terrorism. The Arab Bank had been charged last week with “aiding terror” by transferring funds to families of Palestinians killed while conducting anti-Israeli attacks during 2005’s Second Intifada. The bank, established in 1930 byAbdel Hamid Shoman, a Palestinian who had worked …

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said that the UN is willing to help Gaza rebuild, but warned that it would be the last time they would offer their help. He opened a special meeting of the UN General Assembly by appealing for a more permanent ceasefire as the 72-hour truce deal between Hamas and Israel held …

British band Massive Attack dedicated Tuesday’s performance in the Lebanese city of Byblos, their only concert in the Middle East, to the children in Gaza, and openly condemned Israel’s “massacre” of Palestinians. The band played in the city, only a few hundred kilometers to the north of Gaza, as music-lovers swayed all night holding up Palestinian flags. In an interview …