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Born on the 11th of September

I was born on the 11th of September 2001. I was born out of hatred and anger and fear. I was born out of sorrow and grief and heartache. I am the son of my father. I am hateful and angry and fearful. I am sorrowful and grief-stricken and full of heartache. I am also the Phoenix born of the ashes he wrought. I am light and joy and happiness and hope. OBL created me when he killed 3000 people on 9/11. I was first born with the Towers. When they fell, I was reborn. I was a Muslim and…

Friedman on Sistani and the Nobel

See here. Friedman, like most commentators, acknowledges Sistani’s Shi’ism, but fails to understand what that means. “People power” as he describes is what the Ithna’shari conception of the state was/is prior to Khomeinism taking center stage. The idea of jurists leading the state, vilayat-e faqih, is a relatively new concept, but it’s already become normative for even op-ed writers who supposedly have the time to be able to think.

Berlusconi and the ‘Mamma the Turks!’ strategy

Berlusconi and the ‘Mamma the Turks!’ strategy | Islam, Muslims, and an Anthropologist. As an anthropologist, I find the connection that Berlusconi and his team propose between Muslims and Gypsies very interesting. Italy has been rebuked by the European Union for the intolerable condition in which Gypsies (many of whom have been Italian citizens for centuries) are left, and the lack of religious spaces for minorities in the country, with the paradoxical situation that the Catholic Church supports the construction of mosques. But the similarities end there: Gypsies in Italy tend to be Catholic or are Muslims in they own…