Media Literacy and the Middle East – Primary Source Podcast

Obama-Morsi: What The American And Egyptian Presidents Should Talk About. “He needs to talk about Muslims in the U.S., to show that the U.S. is not at war with Islam,” said Hussein Rashid, an Islamic studies lecturer at Fordham University.

Anti-Muslim Rhetoric in the 2012 Primary – The Takeaway. While political mud-slinging is de riguer in primary races, 2012 has brought several not-so-thinly-veiled anti-Muslim soundbytes from its frontrunning candidates. Last week, Newt Gingrich said that he would not support a Muslim president unless they would “commit in public to giv[ing] up Sharia.” Rick Santorum also expressed his thoughts on Islam, saying that the concept of equality “doesn’t come from Islam” or “Eastern Religions.” Instead, he said, “it comes from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Charlie Hebdo: Freedom of Speech, or An Excuse to Bully? – The Takeaway. Europe remains on edge in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack at the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo.   The attack has highlighted deep divisions between French nationals and Muslim immigrants—a community that Hussein Rashid, a professor of religion at Hofstra University, says has been under fire for years. "French society has a very hard time integrating its minorities—whether they're Muslim, Jewish, or black," says Rashid. "Nicolas Sarkozy, the former prime minister, during his tenor as interior minister, once called the minorities of Francs scum."