Search Results

Title Excerpt Date
Flowers from Guantanamo

Flowers from Guantanamo by Kathy Kelly Here in Kabul, young friends with the Afghan Peace Volunteers look forward to learning more about “The Tea Project” in late December, when Aaron Hughes arrives, an artist, a U.S. military veteran, and a core member of Iraq Veterans Against War. He’ll carry with…

12/28/15
How perilous is the threat to Muslims in the US?

How perilous is the threat to Muslims in the US? by Raza Rumi Since the deadly Paris attacks and San Bernadino shootings, a widespread backlash against Muslims in the US has been reported. This has happened despite the condemnations of every major Islamic group in the country. CAIR, a Muslim…

12/28/15
Countdown to Kristallnacht

Countdown to Kristallnacht by Akbar Ahmed It was a cold night in November 1938. Hard men with hatred in their hearts and bats in their hands set about smashing shops belonging to Jews. At the end of the night, some 267 synagogues were destroyed, the windows of 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses…

12/12/15
Countdown to Kristallnacht

Countdown to Kristallnacht by Akbar Ahmed It was a cold night in November 1938. Hard men with hatred in their hearts and bats in their hands set about smashing shops belonging to Jews. At the end of the night, some 267 synagogues were destroyed, the windows of 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses…

12/10/15
The Muslim Answer to Terrorism and Islamophobia

The Muslim Answer to Terrorism and Islamophobia by Abdul Cader Asmal In the ‘Islamophobic world’ of the Republican Presidential wannabees, all Muslims whether American citizens, or victims of terrorism i.e. refugees, are potential terrorists. They share a collective guilt for the acts of people who do not represent them, or…

12/10/15
American Muslims must defend the Constitution of the United States

American Muslims must defend the Constitution of the United States by Sheila Musaji As I wrote previously in the article Islamic Sharia and Jewish Halakha Arbitration Courts, as an American Muslim I would be opposed to any suggestion that Sharia replace our American legal system for American Muslims or any…

12/08/15
The GOP has declared war on American Muslims - updated 12/8/2015

The GOP has declared war on American Muslims by Sheila Musaji If you type GOP or Republican into the search engine of The American Muslim site, you will come up with a lot of articles about the GOP and most involve Islamophobia. In our TAM collection of anti-Muslim statements made…

12/08/15
American Muslims at the Crossroads

American Muslims at the Crossroads By Hasan Zillur Rahim Who could have imagined that American Muslims would produce their own Bonnie and Clyde? Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow robbed banks and killed 13 people between 1932 and 1934, during the height of the Great Depression, in Central United States before…

12/07/15
Muslims and loyalty oaths

Muslims and Loyalty Oaths by Charles Upton When Dalia Mogahed recently told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd that Muslims should not continually be challenged to condemn terrorism—especially in light of recent statements by Donald Trump and others—she was right. No government, no president and no presidential candidate has the right to demand…

11/23/15
President Hollande, respond to an ‘act of war’ by going to war

President Hollande, respond to an ‘act of war’ by going to war by Abdallah Schleifer President Hollande has got it right. The coordinated attacks in Paris are “an act of war.” I would suggest to the president that the correct response to an act of war is to go to…

11/23/15
We Have Gone Temporarily Mad, Again

We Have Gone Temporarily Mad, Again by James Zogby It has been frightening to listen to the intolerant and near hysterical tone of the debate over admitting Syrian refugees into America. Despite the fact that conflating refugees with terrorism is irrational and bigoted, this notion has spread quickly with: most…

11/23/15
Islam in Europe: Time to sit down with your neighbor and talk

Islam in Europe: Time to sit down with your neighbor and talk By Pawan Bali Hatidza Mehmedovic walks through a sea of white tombstones and raises her hands in prayer. This is her pilgrimage- her own Mecca, she says. Mehmedovic recounts the dead- her husband, eldest son Azmir, younger son…

11/16/15
We Must Unite to Defeat ISIS

We Must Unite to Defeat ISIS By Hasan Zillur Rahim As an American Muslim, I cannot find strong enough words to condemn the barbaric attack in Paris by ISIS that has claimed close to 200 lives and injured many more. I hope that a significant proportion of the estimated 5…

11/16/15
Inclusiveness: The Right (and Political) Way to Be

Inclusiveness: The Right (and Political) Way to Be by MPAC While the GOP debate was in the news for it’s one liners and panning of CNBC’s moderating, another meaningful event occurred close to the nation’s capital. Democratic Presidential Candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was speaking at George Mason University, when…

10/30/15
Killing Blind

Killing Blind by Kathy Kelly “These are people who had been working hard for months, non-stop for the past week. They had not gone home, they had not seen their families, they had just been working in the hospital to help people… and now they are dead. These people are…

10/30/15
Netanyahu needs a Holocaust history lesson

Netanyahu needs a Holocaust history lesson by Abdallah Schleifer Well, we all got it wrong. Millions of us. Turns out,according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem this week, it was a Palestinian, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini who “gave…

10/22/15
Recasting the Rules over Palestine: An Intellectual Intifada in the Offing

Recasting the Rules over Palestine: An Intellectual Intifada in the Offing By Ramzy Baroud My first stop, after living for 22 years in a refugee camp in Gaza, was the city of Seattle, a pleasant, green city, where people drink too much coffee to cope with the long, cold, grey…

10/21/15
Dealing with Climate Change Deniers

Dealing with Climate Change Deniers by Robert Jensen What’s the best way to respond to those who deny the reality or consequences of global warming? In a culture where many people are shaky on science, my friend Jim Koplin always started with the basic physics: Life on Earth depends on…

10/12/15
Why Celebrating Columbus Day is Like Celebrating ISIS Day

Why Celebrating Columbus Day is Like Celebrating ISIS Day by Dr. Craig Considine My elementary school teachers brainwashed me. I am sure they would never admit to it, but it is true. I was taught that Christopher Columbus, the Catholic Italian explorer, discovered a “New World.” I – like millions…

10/12/15
Of Guns, Campuses and Killing Fields

Of Guns, Campuses and Killing Fields By Hasan Zillur Rahim Fueled by an irrational sense of grievance and revenge, a student finds his campus easy picking. He knows the location of the classrooms and the class schedules. Once the doors are shut, he knows there is no escape for those…

10/12/15
MPAC Hosts National Call with FBI, DOJ & Muslim Leaders on Upcoming Anti-Muslim Protests

MPAC Hosts National Call with FBI, DOJ & Muslim Leaders on Upcoming Anti-Muslim Protests by MPAC Yesterday, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) coordinated a nationwide conference call between the FBI, Department of Justice and American Muslim leaders to discuss the threat level of anti-Muslim protests scheduled later this week…

10/06/15
Is this 2015 or 1692? Hindu Woman Accused of Being a Witch Fired from Military Dental Clinic

Is this 2015 or 1692? Hindu Woman Accused of Being a Witch Fired from Military Dental Clinic by Chris Rodda Accused of being a witch, an Air Force contractor working at a dental clinic at Fort Meade, Maryland, has been fired. Seriously. Deborah Schoenfeld, a dental technician at the clinic,…

10/06/15
22 People Killed by US Airstrike on Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan

22 People Killed by US Airstrike on Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan by Kathy Kelly Before the 2003 Shock and Awe bombing in Iraq, a group of activists living in Baghdad would regularly go to city sites that were crucial for maintaining health and well-being in Baghdad, such…

10/06/15
Saving Hajj

Saving Hajj by MPAC To hold the guardianship of Islam’s most holy site in Mecca has always been an honor, even in pre-Islamic Arabia. It was, and is, seen as a privilege and a great responsibility to care and provide for pilgrims who come from all parts of the world…

10/02/15
Predators, Near and Far

Predators, Near and Far by Kathy Kelly #Enough! Fatima needs food and proper medical care, not war! Kabul—Some days ago, at the Afghan Peace Volunteers’ Borderfree Center, I met Jamila, the mother of a little girl, Fatima, who comes to the Street Kids School, a program designed…

09/28/15
A question from Afghanistan, “Can we abolish war?”

A question from Afghanistan, “Can we abolish war?” By Dr Hakim Hadisa, a bright 18 year old Afghan girl, ranks as the top student in her 12th grade class. “The question is,” she wondered, “are human beings capable of abolishing war?” Like Hadisa, I had my doubts about whether human…

09/21/15
Which side are we on?

Which Side Are We On? by Kathy Kelly “On the one side, powerful military bureaucracies, influential and richly financed weapons industries, their lobbies, their captive legislators, those for whom paranoia or past wars are a way of life,” he wrote. “On the other side, only reason, the will to survive,…

09/19/15
Let It Shine

Let It Shine by Kathy Kelly “This little light of mine, I’m gonna’ let it shine! Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” Imagine children lustily singing the above lines which eventually became a civil rights anthem. Their innocence and happy resolve enlightens us. Yes! In the face…

08/25/15
Film Review:  Journey Into Europe

Film Review: Journey Into Europe by Wardella W. Doschek Akbar Ahmed’s latest film, Journey into Europe, is a tour de force examination of relations between Europe and the Muslim world. We travel with Ambassador Ahmed and his team of anthropology students not only through much of Europe, but also through…

08/25/15
Claim that all or most terrorists are Muslims ignores history & reality - update 8/20/2015

Claim that all or most terrorists are Muslims ignores history (and reality) by Sheila Musaji There has been plenty of terrorism and violence committed by human beings from every religious background. Not all terrorists are Muslims. In fact, not even most terrorists are Muslims. Who is defined as a terrorist,…

08/20/15
Movie Review: “Mr. Holmes: The Man Beyond the Myth”

Movie Review: “Mr. Holmes: The Man Beyond the Myth” By Hasan Zillur Rahim Creative reimagining of the canon is an art unto itself. Such is the case with the movie, “Mr. Holmes: The Man Beyond the Myth.” Based on the book, “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin…

08/05/15
Anjem Choudary part of the Muslim Lunatic Fringe - updated 8/5/2015

Anjem Choudary part of the Muslim Lunatic Fringe by Sheila Musaji Updates at bottom of article Anjem Choudary/Islamic Thinkers “March for Sharia” Does Not Represent American Muslims We have reported in the past about the fringe group(s) Revolution Muslim and the Islamic Thinkers Society who seem to share the same…

08/05/15
No Warlords Need Apply—a call for credible peacemaking in Afghanistan

No Warlords Need Apply—a call for credible peacemaking in Afghanistan by Kathy Kelly and Buddy Bell A second round of peace talks between Afghan government officials and Taliban representatives, expected to begin before the end of July, 2015, suggests that some parties to the fighting want to declare…

07/31/15
Pushing Up

Pushing Up by Kathy Kelly Last weekend, about 100 U.S. Veterans for Peace gathered in Red Wing, Minnesota, for a statewide annual meeting. In my experience, Veterans for Peace chapters hold “no-nonsense” events. Whether coming together for local, statewide, regional or national work, the Veterans project a strong sense of…

07/20/15
American Muslims Respond with Love: Rebuild Black Churches Across the South

American Muslims Respond with Love: Rebuild Black Churches, Support Victims of Arson across the South They must rebuild and you can help, all houses of worship are sacred 8 Black churches have been burned to the ground since the shooting of 9 parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC.…

07/07/15
No ‘Crisis in Islam’: Just Apathy of So-called ‘Historians’

No ‘Crisis in Islam’: Just Apathy of So-called ‘Historians’ By Ramzy Baroud On the “BBC This Week” program, historian Tom Holland labored to counter the argument that the so-called Islamic State should not be labeled as such: “The Islamic State”. Holland’s logic in the program seemed more philosophical, concerned with…

07/07/15
In Baghdad, Organized Destruction

In Baghdad, Organized Destruction by Cathy Breen Two days ago an email came from an Iraqi doctor in Baghdad in response to a brief greeting I sent for the month of Ramadan. “Thanks so much for remembering us…In fact we are the same if not worse. Our hearts are broken…

07/06/15
Burning Children and the Duty to Resist

Burning Children and the Duty to Resist by Mark Chmiel In May 1968 Jesuit priest Daniel Berrigan wrote a statement on behalf of the Catonsville Nine as to why they were performing an act of civil disobedience in protest of the Vietnam War. It reads, in part, “Our apologies, good…

07/06/15
Controversy over American Muslim Leadership trip to Jerusalem - updated 7/1/2015

Controversy over American Muslim groups’ trip to Jerusalem by Sheila Musaji A controversy has been playing out within the American Muslim Community. It is part of the ongoing controversy about Muslim engagement exemplified by last year’s White House Iftar War. At that time, I noted:

... However, the discussion On…

07/01/15
Some Right-Wing Europeans Say Islam Hasn’t Contributed to Western Culture. Here’s Why They’re Wrong.

Some Right-Wing Europeans Say Islam Hasn’t Contributed to Western Culture. Here’s Why They’re Wrong. by Akbar Ahmed “One of the right-wing tropes about Islam in Europe, which is making alarming inroads into the mainstream, is that it represents a "culture of backwardness, of retardedness, of barbarism" and has made no…

06/13/15
The Pope, the Bible, & the Climate Crisis Inspire a Rabbinic Call to Action

The Pope, the Bible, & the Climate Crisis Inspire a Rabbinic Call to Action By Rabbi Arthur Waskow More than 300 rabbis—inspired by the climate crisis, the Torah’s call for a Sabbatical Year of releasing the Earth from overwork, and the impending Papal Encyclical on the climate crisis…

06/05/15
Robert Spencer Wrong about claim that 80% of American Mosques are radicalized - update 6/4/15

Robert Spencer Wrong about claim that 80% of American Mosques are radicalized by Sheila Musaji On October 4, 2010, Robert Spencer published an article attacking Reza Aslan after they both appeared on ABC’s “This Week”. Spencer called the segment “a pointless exercise in whitewashing jihad from which most of what…

06/04/15
Beyond the Middle East: The Rohingya Genocide

Beyond the Middle East: The Rohingya Genocide By Ramzy Baroud “Nope, nope, nope,” was Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott’s answer to the question whether his country will take in any of the nearly 8,000 Rohingya refugees stranded at sea. Abbott’s logic is as pitiless as his decision to abandon the…

05/28/15
Re-Designing Counter-Terrorism Strategy: The Role of Nations and Confederations

Re-Designing Counter-Terrorism Strategy: The Role of Nations and Confederations by Robert D. Crane It is more than high time to start thinking out of the box in order to redesign America’s so-called counter-terrorism strategy, which so far is creating the extremism that it is supposedly trying to counter. On May…

05/28/15
The False Claim that Muslims have no programs to counter radicalization - updated 5/23/2015

The False Claim that Muslims have no programs to counter radicalization by Sheila Musaji Over and over again, Islamophobes make the same series of claims after some act of violence carried out somewhere by Muslims. See the TAM collection of information Resources for Responding to Islamophobia for answers to many…

05/23/15
ISIS-Related Arrests in Southern California

ISIS-Related Arrests in Southern California by MPAC This week, two young Southern California men were arrested by the FBI on suspicion of joining and aiding ISIS. The FBI stated that they did not use informants to lure the suspects in this specific case. The arrests were made after a preliminary…

05/23/15
The Terrorist Who Got Away

The Terrorist Who Got Away By MPAC “Our small group will soon be faced with the fight of our lives. We will offer those lives as collateral to prove our commitment to our God.” When ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi uttered the above statement, Americans shivered from fear. The media…

05/22/15
The origins of the term “Islamophobia” - updated 5/20/2015

The origins of the term “Islamophobia” by Sheila Musaji One of the Islamophobic memes that appears regularly in the writing of Islamophobes is that the term Islamophobia itself was “deliberately invented” in the early 1990’s as part of a devious Muslim Brotherhood plot designed to shut down criticism of Islam.…

05/20/15
Charges Against Catholic University Were Not Made by Muslims - updated 5/18/2015

Charges Against Catholic University Were Not Made by Muslims by Sheila Musaji There are serious issues of prejudice, civil rights abuses, and discrimination that are faced by American Muslims. Cases like the following only further damage the public perception of American Muslims, and undermine attempts to address those serious issues.…

05/18/15
Islamophobes See “Jihad” Everywhere - updated 5/13/15

Islamophobes See “Jihad” Everywhere by Sheila Musaji Islamophobes have a problem with Muslims doing anything at all. Anytime a Muslim steps outside their house, and they find out about it, it is likely to be turned into a sensational story. Often they simply make up stories. Here are just a…

05/13/15
Muslim Voices - Part I - Fatwas & Statements by Muslim Scholars & Organizations -  updated 5/13/2015

Muslim Voices Against Extremism and Terrorism - Part I Fatwas & Formal Statements by Muslim Scholars & Organizations compiled by Sheila Musaji Note: In addition to fatwas, numerous Muslim leaders, scholars, and organizations in the United States and other countries have spoken out against terrorism and extremism. You can find…

05/13/15
Muslim Brotherhood Document of the Muslim or Islamophobic Lunatic Fringe? - updated 5/13/2015

Muslim Brotherhood Document of the Muslim or Islamophobic Lunatic Fringe? by Sheila Musaji During the Holy Land Foundation trial, a document was entered into evidence claiming to be written in 1991 by a person named Mohammed Akram (a.k.a. Mohammed Adlouni). The document “An Explanatory Memorandum On the General Strategic Goal…

05/13/15
The Arab Boat: It’s an Arab-Palestinian Nakba, and We Are All Refugees

The Arab Boat: It’s an Arab-Palestinian Nakba, and We Are All Refugees by Ramzy Baroud In a western capital far away from Gaza and Cairo, I recently shared a pot of tea with an “Egyptian refugee”. The term is familiar to me, but never have I encountered an Egyptian who…

05/13/15
Islamic Law and Private International Law: The Case of International Child Abduction

Islamic Law and Private International Law: The Case of International Child Abduction by Anver M. Emon How can private international law reconcile differences between not only two parties, but two legal systems? In the 1991 film Not Without My Daughter, Sally Field plays an American woman who has a daughter…

05/13/15
American Muslims Respond to Attack on Anti-Islam Event in Texas - updated 5/13/15

American Muslims Respond to Attack on Anti-Islam Event in Texas collected by Sheila Musaji This will be updated as necessary. MPAC Statement Bullets Against Cartoons are Bullets Against the Prophet:

Yesterday, two men identified as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, reportedly fired shots in Garland, Texas at a controversial cartoon…

05/12/15
Pamela Geller Defends Free Speech By Calling for Censorship - updated 5/5/2015

Pamela Geller Defends Free Speech By Calling for Censorship by Sheila Musaji Not much to say about this one. You can’t make this stuff up. In yet another display of “Geller logic”, the self-described “defender of free speech” will be holding a press conference to investigate Al Jazeera and stop…

05/05/15
A DEFENSE OF FREE SPEECH BY AMERICAN AND CANADIAN MUSLIMS

A DEFENSE OF FREE SPEECH BY AMERICAN AND CANADIAN MUSLIMS We, the undersigned, unconditionally condemn any intimidation or threats of violence directed against any individual or group exercising the rights of freedom of religion and speech; even when that speech may be perceived as hurtful or reprehensible. We are concerned…

05/05/15
Bullets Against Cartoons are Bullets Against the Prophet

Bullets Against Cartoons are Bullets Against the Prophet by MPAC Yesterday, two men identified as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, reportedly fired shots in Garland, Texas at a controversial cartoon contest showcasing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. “The actions of these two men denigrate the Prophet Muhammad more than any…

05/05/15
Pamela Geller Is Wrong About “Islamic Jew Hatred Commanded by the Qur’an” - updated 5/4/2015

Pamela Geller Is Wrong About “Islamic Jew Hatred Commanded by the Qur’an” by Sheila Musaji Those of us who have followed Pamela Geller’s writings and speeches have seen her use this phrase Islamic Jew-hatred commanded by the quran or mandated by the Qur’an or “a 1,400-year history of Islamic persecution,…

05/04/15
Controversy over ISNA statement on Baltimore Uprising - updated 5/4/15

Controversy over ISNA statement on Baltimore Uprising by Sheila Musaji The ongoing Baltimore Uprising came in response to the death in police custody of a young African-American man named Freddie Gray. This most recent in a long series of cases of police brutality requires responses from religious and political leaders.…

05/03/15
When is a Genocide a Genocide?

When is a Genocide a Genocide? by Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal The recent debates within segments of the Muslim community (The American Muslim, 4/26/2015) about the terrible tragedy that befell the Armenian people just one hundred years ago raise two important questions: how the ‘event’ should be accurately and respectfully…

05/01/15
What Europe Should Learn From Bosnia

What Europe Should Learn From Bosnia by Akbar Ahmed Europe today is witnessing a major crisis concerning its Muslim communities, one which is already beginning to reveal its troubling global implications. I believe Europeans have much to learn from tiny Bosnia, tucked away in a remote part of the continent.…

05/01/15
US Council of Muslim Organizations Armenian Genocide Statement Controversy - update 4/26/15

US Council of Muslim Organizations Armenian Genocide Statement Controversy by Sheila Musaji I published a lengthy article that has been updated over the years titled How Hard Is It To Establish a Real Muslim Umbrella Organization?. This article outlines the long saga of the many such organizations that have come…

04/24/15
Transgressing Art: A Comparison of Akbar Ahmed’s The Trial of Dara Shikoh & Shahid NadeemR

Transgressing Art: A Comparison of Akbar Ahmed’s The Trial of Dara Shikoh (2007) & Shahid Nadeem’s Dara (2010) by Akbar Ahmed and Manjula Kumar Art is the work of the imagination and an expression of the writer’s vision. It is the creation of the mind and as such highly individualistic.…

04/20/15
New Atheists and the culture of contempt

New Atheists and the culture of contempt by Dr. Muqtedar Khan The recent discursive assault on Islam and Muslims by the so-called “New Atheists” is another moment in the sequence of never ending vilifications of Islam that Western culture seems to have an insatiable appetite for. There is a perverse…

04/11/15
Indiana and Religious Freedom for All

Indiana and Religious Freedom for All by Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Indiana’s proposed Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) has stirred controversy in that it could make it easier for private entities to discriminate against minorities. The law would raise the standard of scrutiny for discrimination cases, defending potentially discriminatory…

04/11/15
The Collapse of the Obama Doctrine: Yemen War as an Opportunity?

The Collapse of the Obama Doctrine: Yemen War as an Opportunity? By Ramzy Baroud To suggest that the United States policies in Yemen was a ‘failure’ is an understatement. It implies that the US had at least attempted to succeed. But ‘succeed’ at what? The US drone war had no…

04/09/15
Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Theology

Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Theology by Rev. Frank Julian Gelli ‘Islamic extremism’: what causes it? Answer: prioritising life after death over life before death – at least so claims undistinguished ‘theologian’ Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Hirsi Ali is a Somali person of complicated background who campaigns for a ‘reformation’ of Islam. She…

04/09/15
In Pakistan, We’re Not So Different From You

In Pakistan, We’re Not So Different From You by Dr. Amineh Hoti LAHORE, Pakistan—Images are based on histories, encounters and the ability of those represented to fight for an equal voice to represent themselves. Creating negative images of “the Other” is deeply problematic for the idea of human…

04/07/15
Urgent ‘Musts’ Needed for Palestinians to Defeat Apartheid

Urgent ‘Musts’ Needed for Palestinians to Defeat Apartheid By Ramzy Baroud Waiting on Israeli society to change from within is a colossal waste of time, during which the suffering of an entire nation - torn between an occupied home and a harsh diaspora - will not cease. But what are…

04/07/15
Sing Another Song

Sing Another Song by Kathy Kelly Here in Lexington federal prison’s Atwood Hall, squinting through the front doorway, I spotted a rust-red horse swiftly cantering across a nearby field. The setting sun cast a glow across the grasses and trees as the horse sped past. “Reminds me of the Pope,”…

04/07/15
Killers in Kenya do not represent Islam

Killers in Kenya do not represent Islam by Imam Talib M. Shareef We extend our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the people of Kenya and the families of those murdered, as we strongly condemn the criminal and cowardly attacks by the Somali terrorist group, Shabab. We applaud President Barack Obama…

04/07/15
Crosscurrents

Crosscurrents by Kathy Kelly By the time I leave Kentucky’s federal prison center, where I’m an inmate with a 3 month sentence, the world’s 12th-largest city may be without water. Estimates put the water reserve of Sao Paulo, a city of 20 million people, at sixty days. Sporadic outages have…

03/20/15
Five Islamic Philosophers every Muslim must read

Five Islamic Philosophers every Muslim must read by Dr. Muqtedar Khan Islamic intellectual culture suffers from a philosophy deficit. While there are a few philosophical thinkers in the Muslim World today none of them enjoys the rock star status that many pedestrian preachers and YouTube stalwarts enjoy. What this tells…

03/20/15
Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic at High School Once Again Stirs Controversy

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic at High School Once Again Stirs Controversy by Sheila Musaji Two years ago, I wrote about a previous controversy Pamela Geller discovers “Pledge of Allegiance Jihad”. The current controversy took place at Pine Bush High School in New York where a student recited…

03/20/15
New Directions for Counter-Terrorism: Some New Definitions in Holistic Education

New Directions for Counter-Terrorism: Some New Definitions in Holistic Education by Dr. Robert D. Crane In the field of counter-terrorism the biggest issue is or should be whether the most effective strategy is to focus primarily on countering the “bad guys” or on supporting the “good guys”. The second biggest…

03/15/15
Jihawg Ammo & Related Classic Islamophobic Fails - update 3/11/2015

Jihawg Ammo & Related Classic Islamophobic Fails by Sheila Musaji Recently, American Muslims were asked to accept “How to wink at a Muslim” as a joke. Now we are asked to believe that Jihawg Ammo is only meant as a deterrent to “radical Muslims”, or as Sheik Yer’Mami called it,…

03/11/15
Possibility of Escape

Possibility of Escape by Kathy Kelly That is also us, the possibility of us, if the wonderful accident of our birth had taken place elsewhere: you could be the refugee, I could be the torturer. To face that truth is also our burden. After all, each of us has been…

03/10/15
ISIS, Iran, America and Israel: How Prophecy and Destiny Endanger Us All

ISIS, Iran, America and Israel: How Prophecy and Destiny Endanger Us All by Dr. David Liepert If you think you know exactly where you are and exactly where you’re going, sometimes you’ll take shortcuts, get lost and do a lot of unintended damage along the way. What is driving the…

03/10/15
Netanyahu’s Address to Congress: A Lesson on Courage

Netanyahu’s Address to Congress: A Lesson on Courage by MPAC Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed quite the hubris Tuesday. The fact that he was able to preach at the podium of a man whom he insulted to get there showed tremendous gall. The fear-mongering he engaged in, making nuclear war…

03/05/15
The ‘Unmosqued’ discussion

The ‘Unmosqued’ discussion by Shabana Mir We had a viewing of the documentary Unmosqued at our Islamic Center tonight. It resulted in, on the one hand, the release of pent-up energy and input that I have never seen here (and long-standing members said they hadn’t seen in ages). On the…

03/04/15
The Front Page Rule

The Front Page Rule by Kathy Kelly After a week here in FMC Lexington Satellite camp, a federal prison in Kentucky, I started catching up on national and international news via back issues of USA Today available in the prison library, and an “In Brief” item, on p. 2A of…

02/24/15
Interpreting Islam to Muslims

Interpreting Islam to Muslims by Graham E. Fuller Can’t we ever learn? Here goes the White House again, appointing a “new” task force designed to “blunt the ISIS message.” Washington seems to believe that a main source of ISIS success to date lies in American failure to get the right…

02/24/15
Lessons from the Chapel Hill Tragedy

Lessons from the Chapel Hill Tragedy By Hasan Zillur Rahim A deranged American, a ticking time bomb by any definition, kills three bright, young Americans in cold blood in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is not clear if the killings are due to a long-simmering parking dispute or to the…

02/14/15
Rash of Fake Hate Crimes Teaches Important Lesson- updated 2/14/2015

Rash of Fake Hate Crimes Teaches Important Lesson by Sheila Musaji In November, the FBI released its’ hate crimes statistics report for 2010. Some of the trends that the report noted were:

—racially motivated hate crimes accounted for a majority 47.3% of all hate crimes, and of these racially…

02/14/15
And Ne’er the Twain Shall Meet?

And Ne’er the Twain Shall Meet? by Akbar Ahmed Many commentators assume Islamophobia grew as a result of 9/11, but some of us were already grappling with this notion years earlier. In the early 1990s, I had the privilege of being the Muslim commissioner on the Runnymede Trust in London…

02/13/15
Ambassador Ahmed presents “Islam in Europe” fieldwork at American University

Ambassador Ahmed presents “Islam in Europe” fieldwork at American University by Patrick Burnett The American University (AU) community, His Excellency the Ambassador of Iraq to the United States, prominent Pakistani officials, friends, and supporters came together February 10 to hear Ambassador Akbar Ahmed’s findings from the field in the Journey…

02/13/15
Psychostrategic Warfare and a New U.S.-Russian Cold War

Psychostrategic Warfare and a New U.S.-Russian Cold War by Robert D. Crane No serious policymaker in any country actually wants war, but they can stumble into it out of ignorance or naivete. When people advance various conspiracy theories supposedly explaining American foreign policies that otherwise do not make sense, the…

02/12/15
CAP releases report “Fear Inc., the Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America” - update 2/11/15

CAP releases report “Fear Inc., the Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America” by Sheila Musaji This morning, the Center for American Progress released a groundbreaking report FEAR INC.: THE ROOTS OF THE ISLAMOPHOBIA NETWORK IN AMERICA. The key researchers for this report were Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss,…

02/11/15
Moaz al-Kasasbeh and ISIS’ fatal misjudgment

Moaz al-Kasasbeh and ISIS’ fatal misjudgment by Abdallah Schleifer I have only been in Amman for little more than two weeks, but it was very clear that there was a strong current of Jordanian public opinion opposed to Jordanian participation in Coalition air attacks against ISIS. That critical current had…

02/07/15
Muslims and Nationalism—a Different Model

Muslims and Nationalism—a Different Model by Graham E. Fuller In a previous article, I talked about four key historical reasons for Muslim resistance to the West—apart from the well-known factors of imperialism, and regular western political and military intervention. There is at least one more important characteristic of the Muslim…

02/02/15
American Sniper   ‘The Good the Bad the Ugly –the sequel’

American Sniper ‘The Good the Bad the Ugly –the sequel’ by Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal The movie ‘American Sniper’ based on Chris Kyle’s best seller has become an instant box-office success and a lightning rod for controversy (e.g. Moore, Maher, McCain, Hedges, Ventura). Whether intended or not, it has also…

02/02/15
The Best Place in the World to be a Muslim: America or Europe?

The Best Place in the World to be a Muslim: America or Europe? by Akbar Ahmed “I object, Dr. Ahmed,” said the large bearded man in a turban and shalwar kameez as he rose slowly from his seat. I had just shown my documentary film Journey into America in the…

01/30/15
Islamophobia no longer questioned - even by our elected representatives - updated 1/29/15

Islamophobia no longer questioned - even by our elected representatives by Sheila Musaji Updates at bottom of page An article in a Brooklyn, NY local paper is typical of the sort of blind hatred that is now totally acceptable in the U.S. It opens with: “There’s no denying the…

01/29/15
Lessons That Charlie Hebdo Teaches Us

Lessons That Charlie Hebdo Teaches Us by Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal The showdown at Charlie Hebdo was the first salvo fired in the anticipated ‘blowback’ against the ‘West’ by Isis/Al Qaida trained European militants. The pretext as proclaimed was payback for the vilification of the prophet of Islam. The more…

01/23/15
The Battle of Words: Why Terminology Matters

The Battle of Words: Why Terminology Matters by MPAC Recently, the White House defended its rejection of terms like “radical Islam,” for better and more specific terminology like “violent extremism.” The reason, explained White House spokesman Josh Earnest, is twofold: 1. Accuracy. What is said at the bully pulpit matters,…

01/23/15
A Future in Prison

A Future in Prison by Kathy Kelly The Bureau of Prisons contacted me today, assigning me a prison number and a new address: for the next 90 days, beginning tomorrow, I’ll live at FMC Lexington, in the satellite prison camp for women, adjacent to Lexington’s federal medical center for men.…

01/23/15
The Word trumps power of pen and bullet

The Word trumps power of pen and bullet by Robert Azzi The new Charlie Hebdo cover — a cover arisen from ashes — surprised me: despite its crudeness, despite its attempt to exploit racial and religious division, in its starkness it embodied rejection of all the rhetoric and violence that had…

01/19/15
Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis ...

Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis ... by Robert Azzi Personally, as a photojournalist, although I’ve been jailed in several countries, held hostage once, and was once beaten by a mob in Tripoli, Libya and medivaced to Beirut with a couple of broken ribs and concussion, I’ve never…

01/19/15
STOP! READ! LOOK AT SHOCKING PHOTO! U.S. Army Officially Recruits for ‘Mission for God’

STOP! READ! LOOK AT SHOCKING PHOTO! U.S. Army Officially Recruits for ‘Mission for God’ by Mikey Weinstein “That the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own…

01/19/15