religion

By Peter Hopkins, Gurchathen Sanghera and Katherine Botterill | (The Conversation) | – – Islamophobia simply cannot be overlooked anymore. It is a wide-ranging issue, impacting public and private lives in ways that are causing concern the world over. US president Donald Trump’s recent immigration ban and the UK’s Brexit vote are just two examples […]

Bill of Rights

Is Trump right to doubt that Islam is a Religion?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka again declined to say on Wednesday in an NPR interview whether President Trump believes Islam is “a religion.” He also doubled down on calling Muslim radicalism “radical Islamic extremism.” In the end he clarified that the US is not at war with […]

American Jews

Further Wave of Bomb Threats against Jewish Centers: Rise of US Far Right

contributors

TeleSur | – – Some Jewish groups see the vandalism and threats as a sign that anti-Semitic groups have been emboldened by Trump’s election. Jewish community centers and schools in at least 13 U.S. states reported receiving bomb threats on Monday, the fifth wave of such threats this year that have stoked fears of a […]

Islam

Why ISIL is Targeting Tolerant Sufi Islam

contributors

By Peter Gottschalk | (The Conversation) | – – On Feb. 16, 2017, a bomb ripped through a crowd assembled at the tomb of a Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in southeastern Pakistan. Soon thereafter, the so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. In recent times, such attacks have targeted a variety of cherished […]

Iraq

After Mosul: Can Iraq survive without a unified National Army?

contributors

By Balsam Mustafa | (The Conversation) | – – The operation to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul from the so-called Islamic State [group] (IS) has entered its crucial phase. The Iraqi army, federal police, elite counter-terrorism units, and rapid response troops are operating on the ground, bolstered by discreetly embedded US special forces. The […]

African-Americans

Would Trump let Oscar Winner Mahershala Ali back into the Country?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Mahershala Ali, 43, last night won an Oscar for best supporting actor, in Moonlight . The film treats themes of sexual repression, gayness, and the plague of drug dealing and addiction. Moonlight, of course, also won Best Picture, after a historic error in which the winner […]

Islam

Dear Trump officials: Stop confusing Muslim Conservatism with Terrorism!

contributors

By Z. Fareen Parvez | (The Conversation) | – – The Trump administration has been using the phrase “radical Islam” when discussing the “war on terror.” From his inauguration address to remarks to military leaders, President Trump has been warning against “Islamic terrorists.” Many different kinds of individuals and movements get collapsed into this category […]

Antisemitism

I Cover Hate. I Didn’t Expect It at My Family’s Jewish Cemetery

contributors

by Ariana Tobin | ProPublica | – – When it comes to death, my family honors all of the Ashkenazi Jewish traditions: We name our children after dead relatives, we sit shiva for a week, we gather around trays of fruit and lox and cream cheese, we cover the mirrors, we say the Kaddish prayer, […]

Donald Trump

“Get out of my Country!” White Terrorist Shoots Asian-American Engineers in Wake of Trump Visa Ban

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – It is alleged that Adam W. Purinton, a regular at a bar and grill, went up to two Indian-American patrons on Wednesday night in Olathe, Kansas and screamed racial slurs at them. He was asked to leave by the bartender, but 15 minutes later came back, […]