Article and Photos by Bernie Debusmann Life isn’t easy for Egypt’s Coptic Christians – who have called Egypt home since Christianity was first introduced to the country in 42 AD. While they’ve experienced periods of discrimination and marginalization throughout their history, the rise of Islamic extremism in recent years has made it worse. These problems … Continue reading
Updating one of our Kosovo features… This is the English version of our recent article in Italy’s LiberoReporter: Kosovo, the predominantly Muslim land severed from Serbia by US and NATO military intervention, finds itself today in the curious position of being officially one of the most pro-Western Islamic countries in the world while simultaneously holding … Continue reading
This is the English language version of our article published in LiberoReporter. The Hiza Agre Fire Force Unit 80 is a Peshmerga unit holding a front line position on the outskirts of Mosul that is unique in a number of ways. Despite often being compelled to fight with weapons they have been able to capture … Continue reading
Well, this certainly turned into a bigger story than we expected: The Washington Post, The Independent, News Australia, La Stampa, The Huffington Post, RT, The Daily Mail and many more along with a flood of Abu Hajaar internet memes… For those of you that haven’t seen it yet, Vice published a video that we provided … Continue reading
Our Peshmerga friends in the Hiza Agre Fire Force Unit 80 just sent these pictures over to us, which The Velvet Rocket audience may find interesting… A group of suspected Islamic State members detained by Hiza Agre volunteers this morning while trying to sneak across the front lines from the ISIS-controlled territory around Mosul: The … Continue reading
This is the English version of our article published in Italy’s The Post Internazionale: Uncomfortably switching the selector switch on her AK-47 back and forth, 21-year-old Asmaa Dahar is detailing the sudden arrival of ISIS in her life. The small Iraqi village she is from, Seba Shekh Kheder, like many other Yazidi communities, received no warning … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 