Islam + Socialism: A century of failed experiments before the rise of Mamdani and friends

Posted on July 8, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

WASHINGTON TIMES
The forgotten history of Muslim socialism
Clifford D. May
July 7, 2026

Zohran Mamdani, Aber Kawas, Rashida Tlaib, Darializa Avila Chevalier. Those are just some of the Democratic politicians who self-identify as both socialists and Muslims. Which gives me an opportunity to acquaint you with a bit of little-known history. We’ll begin in 1904, in Baku, when a Muslim Social Democratic Party known as Hummet was organized to draw the city’s Muslim oil workers into Russia’s socialist movement. In 1920, Hummet merged with other leftist groups to form the Azerbaijan Communist Party. Meanwhile, by 1917, Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev, a Volga Tatar, had joined the Bolsheviks and was soon arguing that Muslim peoples, colonized by the Russian Empire, were a kind of proletariat. His ideology became known as Muslim National Communism. READ MORE

THE TELEGRAPH The Iranian Regime Is Fracturing; Open Conflict Could Be Next The Iranian regime’s oligarchic clans are at war with each other—and this conflict may soon spiral beyond control. This fight is not over ideology or the future direction of the Islamic Republic: all the oligarchic clans are Islamist; some wear turbans, others wear military uniforms, and some wear suits. In other words, they all subscribe to the core tenets of Shia Islamism in Iran: the forceful imposition of Sharia law domestically, support for the so-called Axis of Resistance militia network, anti-Americanism, and the goal of eradicating the Israel (driven by innate anti-Semitism). But they are competing to protect and advance their power and economic interests amid the vacuum that emerged after the elimination of Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader, who had operated as the godfather of these clans.

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“To survive today’s Democratic Party, Jews must apologize for the Jewish state. Rahm Emanuel’s speech in Israel on Wednesday will be a master class in exactly that”

Posted on July 8, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FREE PRESS
Rahm Emanuel Bows to the Left on Israel
Peter Savodnik
July 7, 2026

Rahm Emanuel, in his quest to become president of the United States, is in Israel to deliver a withering speech Wednesday on the future of U.S.-Israeli relations—and, more importantly, to communicate to progressives in America that he’s the kind of Jew they can trust…The message Emanuel will deliver is that Israel can no longer count on America’s support. If it wants our love, it had better stop with the needless war-making, the decimation of Palestinian lives. It had better rejoin the international community and find a new prime minister, one who does not think Emanuel is a “self-hating Jew.” Emanuel loves to remind voters that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu—in 2009—called him a self-hating Jew (which may be the only kind of Jew that American progressives will stomach in 2028). He does so in the advance copy of his Tel Aviv speech, and he did so—twice—when we spoke Tuesday. READ MORE

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“This is Hamas’ strategy laid bare: let technocrats supervise the Hamas-appointed “professionals” who will manage clinics, schools, and reconstruction, while Hamas’ military wing rebuilds its rocket arsenal and tunnel network underground, undisturbed”

Posted on July 6, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH
Hamas to US: “You build, we can wait to rule”: Hamas’ devious Gaza offer
Ahron Shapiro
July 6, 2026

Today, Hamas announced it has begun dissolving its government in Gaza to stage a handover to a technocratic committee under the auspices of the Board of Peace as envisaged by the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. Yet a close reading of its own spokesmen and sources shows that Hamas has no intention to follow through with the most important part of the deal – complete disarmament. Hamas’ ploy has the hallmarks of political theater. The terror group has said its “technical and professional staff” will keep their jobs – meaning Hamas terrorists will remain to run the “new” administration, and only its ministers will resign for new figureheads. More than that, however, Hamas’ move is a calculated maneuver to entice the international community to begin reconstruction and pressure Israel to withdraw from the “Yellow” ceasefire line, thus offloading the daunting task of rebuilding Gaza onto others. Meanwhile, Hamas can quietly rebuild its weapons and tunnel infrastructure until the time is ripe to impose its rule on all of Gaza as it did in 2007 when it kicked out the Palestinian Authority. READ MORE

FUTURE OF JEWISH Hamas is not giving up power. It is rebranding. Hamas announced this week that it was dissolving the committee that has governed Gaza since 2007. The move is symbolic — and almost nothing on the ground has changed. Symbolic, though, is not the same as unimportant. Treat those two as one word and you miss the whole thing, because here the symbol is the entire product. What Hamas performed this week was not a surrender of power. It was a rebrand — and the rebrand is the weapon.

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“German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul rebukes Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan for calling Israel a global burden, backing Israel amid a diplomatic dispute over Armenian Genocide”

Posted on July 6, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ARUTZ SHEVA
German FM slams Turkey’s claims that Israel is a ‘burden’
Elad Benari
July 6, 2026

Germany’s federal foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, has intervened in a sharp diplomatic dispute between Israel and Turkey, strongly condemning recent statements made by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as “utterly inappropriate.” The friction escalated on Thursday when Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar published a video segment on social media featuring an interview granted by Fidan to CNN Türk, accompanied by an English translation. According to the translated text, Fidan blasted Israel and said that its contemporary political strategies and foundational mindset had “become a burden that humanity can no longer bear.” READ MORE

ISRAEL HAYOM Erdogan’s NATO power play leaves Israel on edge Fifty-two heads of state will gather for NATO’s annual summit in Turkey, which is set to become an unprecedented font of confrontation. On one side is the worsening clash between the isolationist Trump administration and many European countries. On the other is the meteoric rise of Erdogan as a central axis in the alliance. While the US president lavishes praise and military assistance on Turkey, and Europe courts its enormous army, Israel is watching the Turkish president’s growing strength with concern.

ALGEMEINER ‘Death to America’: Netanyahu Urges US Not to Provide F-35 Fighter Jets, Engine Technology to Turkey Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging the Trump administration not to provide advanced American fighter aircraft or critical fighter jet components to Turkey, arguing that the move would undermine Israel’s security and threaten the military balance in the Middle East. As President Donald Trump traveled to Turkey for a NATO summit, Netanyahu warned that Ankara should not be allowed to acquire Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters or F110 jet engines that could support Turkey’s domestic fighter aircraft program.

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“In his instant bestseller, Federal Judge Roy K. Altman scrutinizes the six most prevalent claims against Israel as he would in a court of law”

Posted on July 6, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

AISH
Israel on Trial
Leah Grossman
June 21, 2026

…Judge Altman set out to scrutinize each of these six claims as he would in a court of law, “…deploying the legal methodology judges, juries, and lawyers have used for centuries in courtrooms across this country.” He explains, “This methodology—and the set of rules on which it’s based—doesn’t bend to fashion. In my courtroom, accusations don’t become true simply because they’re asserted loudly or because they’re popular. We test them. We define our terms. We show our work.” The result is Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law. An instant New York Times bestseller, the book contains extensively-backed conclusions that are indisputable to anyone who values facts, legal definitions, and objective evidence over rhetoric and catchy slogans. READ MORE

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“Progressive Zionism” is an oxymoron

Posted on July 5, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FUTURE OF JEWISH
‘Progressive Zionism’ makes no sense at all.
Joshua Hoffman
July 5, 2026

…“Progressive Zionism” is not really a coherent political philosophy. It is an attempt to hold Zionism inside a so-called “progressive” moral framework that was largely constructed for a different world, with different assumptions, different enemies, and different consequences. It is Zionism rewritten so that it can receive approval at a dinner party in San Francisco. The “progressive Zionist” usually begins with two deeply held beliefs. The first is that the Jewish People have a legitimate right to a state in their ancestral homeland. The second is that the ideological principles of contemporary Western progressivism provide the best framework for understanding the world in complete binaries, such as racism and anti-racism, the so-called “oppressors” and “oppressed,” colonialism and anti-colonialism, and so forth. READ MORE

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“Turner, who starred for the U.S. during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — he started all four matches and recorded clean sheets against England and Iran — is the sole Jewish player in this year’s field of competition”

Posted on July 5, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES
The Only Jewish Player in the World Cup
David Ostrowsky
July 1, 2026

Earlier this month, as the U.S. men’s national soccer team was gearing up for its World Cup debut match against Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium (otherwise known as SoFi Stadium), there was great anticipation among Jewish sports fans from Malibu to Caribou that goaltender Matt Turner would get the starting nod for the Stars and Stripes. Turner, a product of St. Joseph’s Regional High School in Montvale, N.J., who has excelled for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer (MLS), even acknowledged that there was “not a ton of clarity” as to whether he or Matt Freese, a talented netminder for New York City FC but a relative newcomer to international soccer, would receive the career-defining honor in representing one of the World Cup’s host nations…Israel, which hasn’t qualified for the World Cup since 1970, is once again not participating — this is partially due to geopolitics that nudged its soccer federation to compete in the talented European body, rather than in Asia…READ MORE

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Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia was overrun by bias and censorship—and pushed me out when I tried to fix it.

Posted on July 4, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FREE PRESS
I Co-Founded Wikipedia. Now I’m Banned for Life.
Larry Sanger
June 26, 2026

Twenty-five years ago, I co-founded Wikipedia, arguably the most important encyclopedia in human history. On Monday, I was indefinitely banned from the site. The story of what happened to me is, in many ways, the story of our censorious times, in which independent thinking is seen as a threat rather than a virtue, and punished as such….On Monday morning, while I was on a flight to New York City, I was blocked from the site by one Wikipedia admin who declared that the consensus of the mob (the “community”) favored my banning. …Over the past year, I have fought tirelessly to reform Wikipedia because its founding mission is more important today than ever before. Information is the most valuable currency in any society, and the ability of citizens to access, evaluate, and learn from a diversity of viewpoints is essential to a free civilization. Yet Wikipedia’s yearslong shift away from that principle—toward ideological gatekeeping and narrative control—undermines the very purpose for which it was created. READ MORE

NEW YORK POST Left-leaning Wikipedia blocked founder from editing site — after he campaigned to make it more balanced  Left-leaning website Wikipedia has taken the drastic action of permanently blocking one of its founders from editing pages — after he had campaigned to make it more balanced and fair. Last month, Larry Sanger launched WikiProject Intellectual Diversity (WID), a group designed to help reinforce the online encyclopedia’s “original, firm commitment to intellectual diversity,” by emphasizing neutrality and transparency. However, Sanger — who coined the name “Wikipedia,” drafted the site’s foundational set of rules and guidelines, and launched the site alongside Jimmy Wales in 2001 — is now indefinitely blocked from editing, the most drastic action the site can take against an editor.

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Happy July Fourth. Get ready to work.

Posted on July 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
The Jewish Obligation to Save America
Liel Leibovitz
July 1, 2026

“America is over.” That, with some variation, is the message I’ve been getting from friends and colleagues ever since last week’s Democratic primaries elevated a host of radicals to prominence. In WhatsApp groups and text messages and long, doleful emails, intelligent, soulful people wrote to declare that the experiment that had begun on these shores 250 years ago was now at an end. America, they lament, is obviously on its way to becoming another Spain, Poland, Ukraine—just “another shithole country where Jews used to live…This covenantal nation, put here by God to spread the light of freedom to a benighted world, is a nation always busy being born. When it first emerged, 250 years ago this summer, it did so when a band of brave men decided to rise to the occasion and make new proclamations that put them in conflict with the mightiest military force on earth. They prevailed, and by doing so, forever changed the course of history. READ MORE

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“The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding tells Iran that Hezbollah survives and Israel leaves. The Trilateral Framework says that Hezbollah disarms and that, until it does, Israel stays in Lebanon”

Posted on July 1, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
Washington Handed Iran the Paper and Kept the War
Pierre Rehov
July 1, 2026

…Consider what each document asks of the same actor. The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding tells Iran that Hezbollah survives and Israel leaves. The Trilateral Framework says that Hezbollah disarms and that, until it does, Israel stays in Lebanon. The Washington framework carries a verification schedule, a coordination body, and an American signature on the operational page. The Islamabad MOU was the consolation Iran was permitted to believe and has no mechanism behind it at all. A division of labor inside the Trump administration was deployed, and not concealed. The negotiations with Iran were led by Vice President JD Vance, who never wanted this war and made no secret of his wish to end it cheaply. He produced the Islamabad MOU, the paper Iran’s regime wanted to hear. The Lebanon framework was created by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has spent his career treating Iran’s proxy network as a threat to be dismantled rather than soothed. One man offered Iran the vocabulary of relief. The other wrote the document that conditions every concession on the disarmament of Iran’s most valuable proxy. READ MORE

IT’S NOON IN ISRAEL Amit Segal: History in the Making? The two sides commit to formally end their state of war and pursue normal relations through later negotiations. The engine is a reciprocal, sequenced process: Lebanon pledges the complete, verified disarmament of all non-state armed groups—Hezbollah is named—and the restoration of Lebanese Armed Forces control over all its territory, while, in exchange, the IDF redeploys zone by zone as disarmament is verified. Two initial “pilot zones” are agreed, with the rest left to a forthcoming Security Annex. Lebanon affirms Israel’s right to exist and that only the Lebanese state may authorize force on its soil; Israel disclaims any territorial ambitions…For the past four months, Iran has been demanding Israel withdraw from sovereign Lebanese soil; Lebanon’s own government has effectively answered, “You first.” 

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