islam doesn't speak, muslims do | "the ink of the scholar is worth more than the blood of the martyr" – Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Nice, funny, short interview with my friend Wajahat Ali, author of Domestic Crusaders. He reads a section of his play and engages in some political discussion. He also outs himself as being Fresh Off the Boat (FOB). “The Domestic Crusaders” (Wajahat Ali)
Support democracy, not dictators – 02/05/2011 | MiamiHerald.com. For decades we have allied ourselves with autocrats in the Middle East and looked the other way as they crack down on political expression, free speech and human rights out of fear of the unknown and the desire for stability in the region. We support these regimes because of the uncertainty of who may come into power if we press for democracy. But, we need to question whether this is good long-term policy. If the objective has been regional stability, we have not succeeded. Recent events across the region show that the…
Zombie Lie: Right Still Clinging To Decade-Old Fabrication About Radicalized Mosques | Media Matters for America. Zombie Lie: Right Still Clinging To Decade-Old Fabrication About Radicalized Mosques
Howard Dean: ‘I’m Uncomfortable Focusing on Radical Islam’… – Howard Dean – Fox Nation. I’m a little uncomfortable focusing on the notion of ‘radical Islam’ because the truth is radical anything is what’s bad, and people who use violence.… What radicals do is they polarize people to get this kind of reaction. … Intolerance breeds intolerance. And we can’t fight intolerance with intolerance. … The radicals that are targeting us are in fact bigoted, misogynist, and intolerant. And if we respond that way, they’ve won. I’m not gonna give up what America believes in because different individuals happen to belong…
Follow the link. Really good interview on the topic. The interviewer also clearly did his homework, and asked some good questions. The Gist: What the Protests Mean for LGBT Egyptians. Activist and scholar Rasha Moumneh, a researcher with Human Rights Watch who works with feminist and LGBT groups in the Middle East, including Egypt, spoke with me on the show from Beirut on Tuesday about what the protests might mean for LGBT Egyptians, who’ve long been brutally repressed by the Mubarak regime.Here is the full interview.
STUDY: TERRORISM BY MUSLIM-AMERICANS DOWN IN 2010. A new study released today by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security shows that the number of Muslim-Americans who perpetrated or were arrested for terrorist acts declined sharply in 2010. The study, “Muslim American Terrorism Since 9/11: An Accounting,” reports that while 47 Muslim-Americans committed or were arrested for terrorist crimes in 2009, the number dropped to 20 this past year. h/t Faith in Public Life
Special Lecture Everyday Art: The Islamic Impact on American Arts Sunday, February 13th 2:00 p.m. Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University 571 South Kilgo Circle Atlanta, GA 30322 http://www.carlos.emory.edu/ Presented by Dr. Hussein Rashid, visiting professor at Virginia Theological Seminary American popular culture—the art that surrounds us every day—reflects the tremendous cultural diversity of the American people, and helps to shape the way Americans understand themselves. Perhaps the least understood of these influences is the cultural impact of the various Muslim communities that have settled in the United States. Starting from the period of slavery and continuing through to…
Yemen is not Tunisia or Egypt – CNN.com. Yemen’s regional diversity actually helps a weak central government to remain in power. No rival commands a large enough following to challenge Saleh’s rule. The protesters call on Saleh not to put his son in power, but no one is chanting a viable successor’s name. There is no ElBaradei waiting in the wings, as we see in Egypt.