Iraqi Refugee Removed From Southwest Flight for Speaking Arabic

On April 6, 2016, Iraqi refugee and UC Berkeley student Khairuldeen Makhzoomi boarded a plane to Oakland, California. Before the plane departed, he was removed, interrogated and searched by the FBI, and, when all was said and done, forced to secure a flight on a different airline. The reason: another passenger had…
Hobby Lobby Under Investigation for Smuggling Artifacts From Iraq
Hobby Lobby, the craft store made famous by winning a Supreme Court case on “religious freedom and government mandates,” may be guilty of looting ancient artifacts from the Middle East.
How ISIS Uses Rape and Sexual Slavery as a Recruiting Tool and a Business
Horrifying reports continue to pile up about the ways in which the Islamic State is using the rape and sexual slavery of Yazidi women as a tool of war. A new report in the New York Times makes it clear that it’s also become an attractive recruiting tool, a draw for men from conservative Muslim societies where casual…
U.N. Official: ISIS is 'Institutionalizing Sexual Violence'
Zainab Bangura, a U.N. special representative, recently concluded a tour of refugee camps that house refugees largely from Syria and Iraq - countries where the Islamic State hold a large amount of territory. The Washington Post reports that she recounted the stories of sexual violence, rape and abuse to Middle East…
ISIS Cuts off Hands of Three Women, Flogs Men for Using Cellphones
An Iraqi newspaper is reporting that three women in Mosul had their hands chopped off by the Islamic State as punishment for an unspecified crime. During the same public punishment event, held on a "celebration stage" in the town's center, five men were reportedly flogged for using their cellphones to contact…
Sleepy Hollow's 'Headless Day' Promotion Has the Worst Possible Timing
The PR firm responsible for promoting the release of the Sleepy Hollow's first season on DVD faced just about the worst possible timing for their push yesterday, as an email celebrating "Headless Day" went out to fans and media at just about the exact moment that news broke that ISIS had beheaded American journalist…
Marine Corps Officially Says They'll Let Women Train for (Some Types of) Combat
It's happening: the Marine Corps officially announced — as expected — that it will allow women to start training at its intensive infantry officer school at Quantico, VA and join some ground combat battalions. The changes will provide the Marine Corps' 13,800 women (out of 197,800 men — the Marines are the most…
In Iraq, All-Woman Basketball Team Challenges Gender Norms
As part of the Rise Above documentary series, Laylan, the 20-year-old star of her all-woman basketball team, explains how she and her teammates can challenge entrenched patriarchal attitudes about gender by playing basketball. Only a year ago, Laylan and her teammates hadn't played at all — some of them didn't even…
Don't Put Women in Combat, Says Female Combat Veteran
Last April, the Marine Corps announced that it would begin integrating female officers into its Infantry Officer Course, a monumental step towards allowing women to serve in front-line combat that would also open up more promotions for women, some of whom have been complaining for decades that prohibiting women from…
Arranged Marriages Drive Many Iraqi Girls to Suicide
In a desolate stretch in the northwest corner of Iraq, something strange is happening. There is a growing epidemic of young women who are killing themselves after being forced into arranged marriages, often with their relatives. In the city of Sinjar, the practice is centuries old, but as their society is slowly being…
Marine Corps Comes to Its Senses, Allows Women to Train for Combat
The issue of women in combat has long been a thorny one for the military. While laws forbidding women from serving in combat were repealed 20 years ago, there have been Pentagon regulations that have essentially done the same thing since then, and women have been relegated to support roles rather than combat…
Crafty Republicans Want Mitt Romney to Pick Condi Rice as His Running Mate
All the Vice Presidential nominee speculation has caused presumed GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney to nearly short circuit with information overload. Which potential running mate will complement him, fill out the ticket, and give voters something to be excited about? Marco Rubio? Rick Santorum? Some other,…
