Muslims

The Muslim World League has issued a call for the establishment of a Palestinian state and urgent international action to end the suffering of civilians in Gaza. The announcement, reported by Arab News, underscores growing pressure from global Islamic and humanitarian organisations for a political resolution to the conflict and improved humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Attention is turning to a core weakness in the Gaza peace plan: international stabilization forces require troop contributions, but few countries have committed to sending soldiers. Analysts warn that without participating nations, monitoring the ceasefire and disarming Hamas will be difficult. Debate centres on which states, particularly Arab and Muslim-majority countries, are willing to put personnel on the ground in Gaza.

Religious leaders from Sudan's Nuba Mountains, both Christian and Muslim, have jointly issued a call for an end to the war ravaging the country. The united appeal across faith lines highlights local efforts to push for peace as fighting between Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces continues to displace millions and deepen a humanitarian crisis.

The Cato Institute's immigration analyst Alex Nowrasteh reports that legal immigration from majority-Muslim countries has fallen by 96% since 2024. The finding points to a sharp collapse in green cards and other lawful admissions from those nations under current US policy. The figure is drawing attention in debates over the scope and targeting of recent immigration restrictions.

King Abdullah II of Jordan addressed the United Nations while facing renewed scrutiny of his country's complex historical relationship with the Palestinians. Jordan, home to a large Palestinian population and custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, has long played a central role in regional diplomacy. Observers note that this history influenced the framing and reception of the king's remarks.

Georgetown University has released "Seasons of Fury: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America," a project that traces the rise of anti-Muslim prejudice in the United States through the stories of four families. The work highlights personal experiences of discrimination and places them within broader social and political trends.

On this day, Israel marks the anniversary of the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising that began after Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in September 2000. The visit sparked deadly clashes that escalated into years of violence, leaving thousands dead and shaping Middle East politics for years.

A church construction project in Indonesia has been stalled through a permit technicality, according to a report. The issue highlights ongoing tensions some Christian communities face in obtaining building permits in parts of the country, where local objections can hold up official approvals for years.

Pope Leo XIV's visit to France is generating wide commentary, including reaction from journalist Patrick Cohen and a La Croix piece offering a Muslim perspective on the pontiff's speeches and appearances during the trip. The visit has sparked discussion across French media about interfaith relations and the new pope's first messages to the country.

Mayoral candidates' positions on the Gaza war are expected to come up when they appear at a forum hosted by the Jewish Federation, according to the Los Angeles Times. The event gives voters a chance to hear how local contenders address a foreign policy issue that has divided communities and influenced city politics, even though mayoral powers are largely domestic.

Attention is turning to the Crimean Tatars, the indigenous Muslim people of Crimea, and their complex position among Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 placed many Tatars under occupation, prompting deportations, bans of their representative body and exile to mainland Ukraine. Turkey's ties to them as ethnic kin add a further dimension to their geopolitical plight.

Los Angeles mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Nithya Raman faced pointed questions about the Gaza war and rising antisemitism at a public forum in the city. The exchanges reflected growing pressure on local officials to take clear positions on the Middle East conflict and on tensions affecting Jewish and Muslim communities in Los Angeles.

Spencer Ackerman, the Pulitzer-winning national security journalist, says the best book yet written about American Islamophobia has been published, in a recommendation shared with readers of his Forever Wars newsletter. Ackerman has covered the war on terror for two decades, and his endorsement draws attention to how anti-Muslim prejudice shaped US security policy after 9/11 and continues in politics today.

The New York Times is running a piece examining how the post-9/11 War on Terror affected Muslim communities inside the United States, looking at surveillance, discrimination and policing directed at American Muslims over the past two decades. The article reassesses the domestic consequences of security policies launched after the September 11 attacks and their lasting impact on civil liberties.

Florida has officially designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a domestic terrorist organization, according to a report by JNS.org. The move places a prominent national Muslim civil rights group on a state terror list, a step that is expected to draw legal challenges and criticism from civil liberties advocates while being welcomed by supporters of tougher measures.