Can Ramadan Bring Peace To The Middle East?
At TIME, Arsalan Iftikhar discusses the possibility of Ramadan serving as a “cooling off” period for volatile areas, at least in the short term. In Syria, it was reported the rebels had offered a cease-fire to Bashar Al-Assad, with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling for “every person holding a gun, to stop fighting and offer this month of peace [Ramadan] as a collective present to their people.” President Barack Obama also said the holy month is an opportunity to celebrate “a commitment to peace, justice, equality and compassion towards our fellow human beings.”