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#LoveRally on April 10, 2016

I’ll be speaking at a rally to counter the hate emerging out of this year’s Presidential Election Cycle. Please join if you can on Sunday, April 30, 2016 at 2PM in New York City, by New York University. The official letter about the program is here. Dear Friends: As the co-founder of the Project for the Advancement of Our Common Humanity (PACH; pach.org), I am writing to let you know that PACH and 20 other NYC organizations are having a love rally in Washington Square Park on April 10th from 2-4. Please join us! We have over 35 world leaders,…

Racial Profiling Doesn’t Work

[T]he study shows that out of those stopped only 0.15 per cent resulted in firearms charges. This number stands to directly contradict Commissioner Kelly’s statements that the stops are responsible for the fall in gun crime. Also of note is the fact that out of all ethnicities stopped, white people had the highest chance of having committed a crime, despite being proportionally the least searched. via andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com

So who are the kidnappers?

Officially, the taking of hostages is forbidden in Islam. A stance reiterated today by the Ithna’ashari scholars in Iraq. So that means the kidnappers are either Sunni or are acting out of an interest other than Islam. I don’t believe they are Sunni at this point – are at least are not acting under that identity – as it would disenfranchise the community. These are pseudo-nationalists, and the behavior is not intrinsic to Muslims. Just a clarification for those who were wondering if hostage taking was tenet of faith.