A religious stereotype not true?!
Wait, you mean all Muslim men are not waiting for their 72 virgins? Some just want raisins?
Muslims give America the blues. If you trace the history of American music you know that it also eventually gives us hip-hop, in multiple ways.
For those of you haven’t heard yet, some Iraqis appreciate that they can play soccer, but are also willing to fight in Fallujah. How can you face your God is a question that runs both ways. Of course, I love the fact the administration tried to spin the interview. These players’ answers are pretty straight forward.
Discuss: Root causes of terrorism. (CT has closed it’s comments, but feel free to continue the discussion here.)
Is destroying the Constitution, circumventing civil liberties, torturing people, and general institutional support for a “Lord of the Flies” world order really the best way to win the war on terror(ism)? BTW, will we have a war against terrorists? Because I wouldn’t call this administration a bunch of terrorists, but they do cause me a lot of terror.
An interesting rant by Abvinav Aima. Of course, I agree that American policy has been particularly wrongheaded in the Arab areas (I think we have more of an Arab problem than a Muslim problem), but what’s with this ahistorical, just plain wrong obsession with the Khalifat:
“Never mind the stripping away of their sovereignty that has left them naked to exploitation since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire”
I’m aware of the Salafist focus on restablishing Khalifah as a religious reality, quite out of line with the historical reality of the numerous, at times conflicted, caliphates in the Arab, and later, Ottoman empires. But the suggestion that the demise of the Ottoman Empire has anything to do with unprotected Muslims is just plain foolish and makes me question Aima’s purpose.
Thanks for the interesting links. 🙂
Teeluck, I agree that the emphasis on the Khalifat is problematic, especially since the idea of the Khalif was essentially symbolic and little interest to the broader Muslim population until it was threatened.
However, I read the sentence you quote slightly differently. I took it to mean that with the end of the Ottoman Empire (meaning Ottoman protection), the British were able to treat Palestine as a play thing.