International Politics and Economy

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – If American mass media seemed reluctant to cover the murder of three Muslims students at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill as a hate crime, the same was not true in the Middle East, where strong opinions were aroused. Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan criticized President Barack Obama […]

censorship

“Drastic Decline” Seen in World Press Freedom

contributors

By Leila Lemghalef UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – A leading advocacy group warns of a “worldwide deterioration in freedom of information” last year. Out of the 180 countries being surveyed, two-thirds have slipped in standards compared to last year, according to the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index 2015. Source: Reporters Without Borders The best […]

Guns

The Chapel Hill Shootings & the Troubling Growth of Anti-Muslim Intolerance

contributors

By Charles Kurzman | (ISLAMiCommentary) | – People from throughout the Triangle filled the UNC-Chapel Hill Pit Wednesday for the vigil for Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, of Chapel Hill; his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh. They were shot and killed on Tuesday night. Photo Austin Root/UNC General […]

Climate Change

Keystone of Corruption: The Money Pipeline from Big Oil to Congress

contributors

By Kitty Stapp NEW YORK (IPS) – With battle lines sharpening over the stalled Keystone XL pipeline, a new analysis details the intense industry lobbying of both houses of the U.S. Congress since 2013 – to the tune of 58.8 million dollars by five refinery companies alone. According to MapLight, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organisation […]

Featured

‘Lone Wolf,’ ‘Self-Radicalized’: Islamophobic Buzzwords never applied to White Terrorists

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Did a self-radicalized lone wolf white terrorist kill three young Muslim students in cold blood in Chapel Hill? It is a kind of a stupid question, but its stupidity is just more apparent when asked of someone with an English last name. What does self-radicalized or lone wolf […]

art and photography

Beaten over call for co-existence: French artist’s religious graffiti

contributors

RT | – “French grafitti artist ‘Combo’ got beaten for a graffiti of himself in Arabic clothes with the world ‘coexist’, with symbols of three different religions instead of some of the letters.” RT: “Beaten over call for co-existence: French artist’s religious graffiti”

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

After Charlie Hebdo: How Will Europe Deal with Islam and Muslims?

contributors

By Neslihan Çevik | (Daily Sabah) – After the tragic Charlie Hebdo massacre, it seems that Europe has several options regarding its policies on Islam and Muslims. Among them, the easiest option is to maximize security precautions in order to exercise absolute control over Muslims If 9/11 was the start of a moral panic in […]

censorship

Journalist Greste Freed by Egyptian Junta, but Press Freedom still Hostage

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Peter Greste, an Australian journalist working for Aljazeera English, has been released from an Egyptian prison after a 400-day ordeal in which he was jailed merely for reporting the news. Greste was preemptively released by a presidential pardon from Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the military dictator. Nothing is more […]

Dissent

Being An Antiwar Activist In Israel Is Dangerous

contributors

AJ+ | – “Being an antiwar activist in Israel is dangerous. Israelis who protested against the 2014 Gaza offensive were threatened, harassed and attacked. Some even lost their jobs. Yoav Eliassi, also known as “The Shadow,” is a right-wing rapper and driving force behind a movement to stamp out dissent in Israeli society.” AJ+ “Being […]