Western Religion

By Robert Lipsyte | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – At least once a week, a stranger writing a book, magazine article, newspaper feature, or blog; representing a documentary film, radio serial, or podcast; researching a paper for middle school, high school, or college asks me for an interview about Muhammad Ali. I’m on the short […]

Bill of Rights

Will the US ‘Combating Islamophobia Act’ signal a Change towards hate Crime in America?

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor) – The result of a vote in the US House of Representatives on 14 December may signal a change in Washington’s approach to the social-political evil that is Islamophobia. However, we should not jump to hasty conclusions. Amazingly, Congress was nearly split on the vote. While 219 representatives voted in favour […]

American Jews

The Lingering of Trumpian anti-Immigrant Hate, and Commemorating victims at Tree of Life Synagogue

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – The “3rd Commemoration” of the 2018 Pittsburgh, Tree of Life Synagogue massacre occurs on October 27. When one Jew is mourned on the anniversary of passing, we call it a yahrzeit (Yiddish). When eleven are mourned from the same act of violence, it is a commemoration. The Pittsburgh […]

Christianity

Critical race theory is an important tool in better understanding how religion operates in America

The Conversation

By Tiffany Puett | – ( The Conversation) – The debate over critical race theory has played out in TV studios, school board meetings and state legislatures across the U.S. It has also found its way into churches. The theory comprises a set of concepts that frame racism as structural, rather than simply expressed through […]

Haredim

Israeli Olympic Gold Medalist Isn’t “Jewish Enough” to Marry in Israel

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – How convenient that the dynamic of sports and politics now collides with the question of “Who is a Jew?”* And just in time for the closing ceremonies of the 2020 Olympics. The prompt for this age-old dialectic comes back to who has a right to marry whom in […]

Entertainment

As Boteach comes for Dua Lipa, has Tactic of Smearing People as anti-Semites for Backing Palestinian Human Rights jumped the Shark?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Orthodox Rabbi Shmuely Boteach has come after the brilliant, Grammy-award-winning Kosovar-British pop star Dua Lipa with an ad in the New York Times accusing her of anti-Semitism for supporting Palestinian rights. She vigorously denied the charge and denounced the ad. She should also sue for libel. Boteach is a huge […]

Islam

Anti-Muslim Racism remains a Blind Spot in American Efforts for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Sumbul Ali-Karamali

(Special to Informed Comment) – When I first read Jack Shaheen’s seminal book, Reel Bad Arabs, which documents negative stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs in American film, I was shocked. Not shocked that such stereotypes have saturated film and television. Rather, shocked that I myself had seen several of these films and never noticed the […]

Archaeology

The Catholic Reconquista in Spain outlawed Islam in 1502, but Secret Muslims kept their culture — and Cuisine — Going

The Conversation

By Aleks Pluskowski, Guillermo García-Contreras Ruiz, and Marcos García García | – Granada, in southern Spain’s Andalusia region, was the final remnant of Islamic Iberia known as al-Andalus – a territory that once stretched across most of Spain and Portugal. In 1492, the city fell to the Catholic conquest. In the aftermath, native Andalusians, who […]

Islam

Islamic Judaism? (Video)

Emir-Stein Center

John Tolan | Emir-Stein Center “In the 19th century, some Jewish scholars in Central Europe looked to early Islam and in particular to the Prophet Muhammad for inspiration and consolation. For these scholars, the Muslim prophet could serve as a heuristic model for reforming Judaism. John Tolan, Professor of History at the University of Nantes, […]