Fundamentalisms

Kurdish Women Turning Kobani into a Living 'Hell' for Islamic State

Published 14 October 2014

Fighters for the all-women YPJ militia in northern Syria say they are fighting “a revolution of woman.”

Hundreds of Kurds gathered in a Turkish border town on Tuesday for the funerals of four women killed fighting the Islamic State (I.S.) group, while across the border a Kurdish female militia is playing a leading role in defending Kobani.

Reuters has reported the four coffins that were lowered into the ground in the town of Suruc contained the bodies of fighters from the Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ) – the female brigade of the leftist YPG militia.

“We will avenge … those women who were sold as slaves in the markets of the ISIS (I.S.),” the YPJ said in a statement last Wednesday.

Manifeste pour la laïcité

Notre époque est marquée par la montée des extrême-droites religieuses – non pas parce qu’on assisterait à un revivalisme religieux mais plutôt au fait que des mouvements politiques d’extrême-droite et des gouvernements utilisent la religion pour asseoir leur suprématie politique. C’est une conséquence directe du néo-conservatisme et du néo-libéralisme ainsi que des politiques sociales de communautarisme et de relativisme culturel. L’universalisme, la laïcité et les droits liés à la citoyenneté sont abandonnés et ce sont la ségrégation des sociétés en ‘communautés’ basées sur l’ethnicité, la religion et la culture qui deviennent la norme.

Manifesto for Secularism

Our era is marked by the rise of the religious-Right – not because of a “religious revival” but rather due to the rise of far-Right political movements and states using religion for political supremacy. This rise is a direct consequence of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism and the social policies of communalism and cultural relativism. Universalism, secularism and citizenship rights have been abandoned and segregation of societies and “communities” based on ethnicity, religion and culture have become the norm.

Why Bill Maher and Ben Affleck Are Both Wrong

When I watched Bill Maher -- with whom I agree about many other issues -- talk about Islam on his show "Real Time" last Friday night, I felt as though my father's life story was being erased.

Promoting the global secular alternative in the ISIS era

MARIEME HÉLIE-LUCAS and MARYAM NAMAZIE 4 October 2014

While many of us watch in horror as ISIS advances, and fundamentalist ideas spread across religious traditions around the world, Maryam Namazie and Marieme Hélie-Lucas - secular feminists from Iran and Algeria - told Karima Bennoune why they are convening the International Secular Conference in London this week.

We all know about jihadists, but what about those waging an ‘anti-jihad’?

As the UN Security Council tackles the entity claiming to be “Islamic State,” and President Barack Obama invokes global Muslim responsibility, many ask whether people of Muslim heritage do enough to counter extremism.

Standing With Those Who Fight Fundamentalism

At the United Nations on Wednesday, President Obama said "it is time for the world -- especially Muslim communities -- to explicitly, forcefully, and consistently reject the ideology of Al Qaeda and ISIL." As a human rights lawyer proud of her Muslim heritage, I concur entirely, and I hope this call will be heeded from Detroit to Doha. There is no way to fight jihadist terrorism without undercutting its ideological base.

WLUML Board Member Karima Bennoune Wins Dayton Literature Peace Prize

WLUML Board member, Karima Bennoune has been announced as the 2014 Dayton Literature Peace Prize Nonfiction winner, for her book Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism.

A Ten-Point Plan for Defeating ISIS and Muslim Fundamentalism

Karima Bennoune is UC Davis law professor, author of “Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism” and a WLUML Board Member.

As President Obama prepares to chair the September 24 special session of the UN Security Council, it is critical to understand that this evolving conflict is not just between the United States and Islamic State. This is a global struggle against jihadist violence and the ideas that underlie it.

Call for Iraqi Women Victimized by ISIS

The Islamic State of Iraq and Levantine (ISIS) atrocities, since the occupation of Mosul city, have shocked the Iraqi and the International community altogether. Their criminal conduct is abysmal against Iraqi women in general, and specifically against the Yazidi, Christian, Shiite Shebek and Turkomen women.