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[ by Charles Cameron — stunned ]
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This has got to be one of the strangest DoubleQuotes, referencing one of the strangest DoubleLives, that I have ever seen:

The FBI arrested the son of a local imam and daughter of a Mississippi police officer who attempted to join #ISIS http://t.co/yeF1VGTFq7

— Think AgainTurn Away (@ThinkAgain_DOS) August 12, 2015

**

Oh, and are they opposites?

[ by Charles Cameron — “the most contested piece of real-estate on earth” ]
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On the one hand:

On the other..

End-Time Battle for the Temple Mount

As Jews fasted on Tisha B’Av (Av 9) mourning the destruction of the First and Second Temples, hundreds of Jewish visitors made pilgrimage to the Temple site.

In preparation for Jews visiting the Mount on the annual fast, armed Muslim youth barricaded themselves in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Several dozen Arab masked rioters attacked Israeli police, hurling rocks and setting off fireworks into the crowd of responders, wounding several officers.

After defusing the situation and arresting three to six participants, Israeli police found a trove of makeshift weapons in the Al-Aqsa Mosque — Molotov cocktails, firecrackers, concrete blocks, stones, and planks, with which they planned to attack Jewish mourners. [ .. ]

One of those mourners was Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, who has in the past emphasized that there is a “need to build a real Temple on the Temple Mount.”

scripturally..

Isaiah 2:2–3:

In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s Temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob.”

and / or..

Qur’an 17.1:

Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.

and in not unrelated news:

Israel Detains Meir Kahane’s Grandson, a Scion of Jewish Militancy

He has the pedigree: Meir Ettinger is a grandson and the namesake of Meir Kahane, the slain American-Israeli rabbi considered the father of far-right Jewish militancy. [ .. ]

He also has the ideology: In a series of Bible-quoting blog posts that amount to a manifesto, Mr. Ettinger calls for the “dispossession of gentiles” who inhabit the Holy Land and the replacement of the modern Israeli state with a new “kingdom of Israel” ruled by the laws of the Torah.

“The key is not to seek to delay the explosion,” he wrote on July 22, “but to try to bring it on as soon as possible and on our own initiative.”

[ by Charles Cameron — pondering the use of narratives to “counter violent extremism” ]
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I’m pondering the use of narratives to “counter violent extremism”, and have been thinking about letting this post consist of its title and the government-sponsored words:

This Page Intentionally Left Blank

I’m hoping this post will find its place in the comments section, in other words. If the opposing party — whether that means, effectively, IS, salafist-jihadis, the Ikhwan, or Islamists in general — pushes a narrative about US actions towards the Islamic world, can a narrative alone succeed at pushing back? What actions can we show that refute the simple form of that narrative? What actions might we take in future that would appear to affirm it? To refute it?

Are we so busy thinking about counter-narratives that we allow our actions to undercut our words?

**

Come to that, is the appeal of IS really its apocalyptic theology (which is what I mostly address), its success as a military force (which may be down to the presence of ex-Baathist military in high positions of command), its critique of US policy in respect of the Islamic world (dictatorships included), the prospect of adventure (and perhaps concubines?) in foreign lands, or, as Prof Andrew Silke would have it, altruism?

The key message is that you have got to see the terrorists as they see themselves if you genuinely want to understand why people are getting involved. If you talk to terrorist themselves, they portray themselves as altruists – they see themselves as fighting on behalf of others, whether it’s the IRA fighting on behalf of the Catholic community in Northern Ireland, or if it’s Islamic State fighting on behalf of the Muslim ummah.

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I suspect there’s a lot to be said here, and the floor is open. I’m eager to hear your voices..

[ by Charles Cameron — good news, whether in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic or English ]
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Today’s DoubleTweet:

U.S. Jewish groups join recovery effort after Israeli church arson attack http://t.co/XsRlSneiCu via @RNS

— WWRN (@wwrn) July 17, 2015

Muslim fundraiser for burned black churches close to $100,000 goal http://t.co/ciwZwIW65i

— Al Jazeera America (@ajam) July 16, 2015

Duly noted, duly grateful.

[ by Charles Cameron — a quick, trick question ]
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It is still too early to say what specific kind of inspiration, guidance or affiliation (IS? AQ? other?) the Chattanooga shooter may have had, but two tweets yesterday speak volumes about individuals and large bodies of believers. Question:

Is any religion with over a billion members monolithic?

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Chattanooga shooting gunman came from middle-class Muslim family http://t.co/XdREveTW6s

— Blogs of War (@BlogsofWar) July 17, 2015

and:

Muslim fundraiser for burned black churches close to $100,000 goal http://t.co/ciwZwIW65i

— Al Jazeera America (@ajam) July 16, 2015

**

Hey, that was a trick question. The Christian Church can reasonably claim to be monolithic, having been founded, as Matthew 16.18 puts it, on a Rock:

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Nevertheless, even Christians come in many shapes and sizes, isn’t it?