Wikimania and the First Amendment
Thomas Blanton, the esteemed director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University described Washington's hyper-reaction to Wikileaks' transmission of information to some major media in various countries as "Wikimania." In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday, Blanton urged the Justice...Muslims in America are in need of help
(Khaleej Times) – Since 9/11 hundreds if not thousands of Muslims have faced "preemptive prosecution," where Muslims who are deemed "dangerous" are prosecuted before they commit a crime. In these prosecutions, there are so many holes in the government's theories that the case is nothing but a list of unsubstantiated accusations. When...Why do Jewish groups ignore Glenn Beck?
Has anyone noticed that right-wingers are really exercised about anti-Semitism these days except when it emanates from right-wingers? This week in Forbes, Abigail R. Esman pens an utterly over-the-top column called "World To Jews: Drop Dead." Dead! She claims that, even here in the United States, anti-Semitism is no longer a "fringe"...The returning issue of Palestine’s refugees
Before his murder in 1948, Lord Folke Bernadotte, the first UN mediator to the Arab-Israeli conflict, stated: "It would be an offense against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes, while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine." Lord Bernadotte paid for...Standing together against U.S. government witch hunt
The following editorial appeared in The Electronic Intifada this week. As The Electronic Intifada reported in November, international solidarity and anti-war activists are facing a new wave of repression in the United States. Since September 24, two dozen activists in Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities across the country...No slack for anti-Zionism
Ruminating on the backlash against Helen Thomas' comment at the December 2, 2010 "Images and Perceptions of Arab Americans" conference that "Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by Zionists," I cross my fingers and hope that I'll be judged by what I've done with my life, rather than by one or two of my many dumb...
Helen Thomas is a Semite herself
December 10th, 20100 Helen Thomas is far more than a renowned author, celebrated civil rights leader, and award-winning journalist. She is also a Semite. While many Americans are unaware of her ancestry, the Lebanese American leader traces her ancestry back to the very roots of those of her staunchest rivals, who have recently branded her "ant-Semitic"...Use your taxes to help Palestine
It is difficult to come home from a hard day of work to hear the news from Palestine. A new Israeli settlement is built, another Palestinian family is left without a home in Jerusalem, and a Palestinian mother dies in an ambulance stuck at a checkpoint en route to the hospital. For those of us living here in the United States, this news...From Balfour to Obama
On November 2, 1917, Lord Arthur Balfour, the then British foreign secretary, promised to create a homeland for the Jews in Palestine. Known as the Balfour Declaration, the document became the first stepping stone towards the 1948 establishment of the state of Israel. Palestine was still under Ottoman rule when it was written. But...GOP and the deepening divide
The partisan divide on issues related to Arabs and Muslims has become disturbingly wide. For example, when, in a recent poll, we asked American voters whether they had favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward Arabs and Muslims, the results were shocking. Attitudes towards Arabs: Democrats - 57% favorable, 30% unfavorable; Republicans -...The politics of proud ignorance have mushroomed
We Americans define ourselves in very unique ways – from "Don't tread on me" to the rise of the new Tea Party Movement, which is running on a platform of willful ignorance in next week's midterm elections. Christine O'Donnell, who is the most obviously ill-advised member of the Tea Party, is simply the purest inclusion of the politics...The international community’s final test
Palestinian school children stand in front of a school that was vandalised in the West Bank village of Sawiya south of Nablus October 20, 2010. Local Palestinians said that Jewish settlers from the area set fire and vandalised the school on Wednesday. REUTERS/Ammar AwadNegotiations between two unequal parties cannot succeed. Success...Religious leaders needed in peacemaking
Mutual distrust leads many Palestinians and Israelis to think of peace as a mirage. Since religion plays a significant role in justifying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, politicians need the help of religious leaders in their search for a solution. The problem is that often the patriarchal figures of the three faiths are too focused...We need to learn more, not less, about Islam and the Arab World
When the Texas Board of Education passed a resolution late last month decrying the "pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias has tainted... Texas Social Studies textbooks," indicating that they would "look to reject prejudicial textbooks" in the future, they were basing their criticism on a biased anti-Arab review. In doing so, they took a...The Arabs and Iran
Regardless of Arab public opinion, governments in the Arab world remain largely authoritarian, with a demonstrated capacity to go against their public sentiment on critical issues, such as war. To be sure, there are always consequences for ignoring public opinion – and these may be growing – but when push comes to shove, governments......
When good people back bad wars
September 17th, 20100 "Never forget: Bad wars aren't possible unless good people back them." I know we've been "free" of the Iraq War for two weeks now and our minds have turned to the new football season and Fashion Week in New York. And how exciting that the new fall T.V. season is just days away! But before we get too far away from something we would all...Obama completes his surrender
Obama has signalled his coming complete surrender to Zionism and its lobby. He did it with seven words: "Ultimately the U.S. cannot impose a solution." President Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (L) and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Washington last week.He was speaking at the White House the day......
Burning more than the Qur’an
Saturday is International Burn a Qur'an Day. Perhaps you hadn’t heard. The day is the brainchild of one Terry Jones, pastor of the tiny Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla. You will not be surprised to hear that his plan to build a bonfire of Qur'ans has stirred passions around the world. The New York Times reports Jones...Fatah and Hamas: Two heads, no brain
The photos have been taken in Washington and the waiting game begins once again on the Palestine-Israel front. How many more settlements will be built or expanded? Will the violence continue? What will happen to East Jerusalem? But the more pressing issues on the minds of most Palestinians right now are personal...Muslims were here before 9/11
New York — I live in Harlem on a street that is home to three churches and a mosque. The mosque is next door to one of those churches and when male congregants mingle on the sidewalk, it's impossible to tell who had just been in church and who in the mosque. It's only some of the women's headscarves that tell you. Muslim Americans...
“Bullied” but not surrendering
September 4th, 20100 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speak during an event about the Middle East peace talks in the East Room at the White House in Washington September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Jim YoungThe resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) will allow Barack Obama......
Will fear of failure rescue Mideast negotiations?
Is the Obama administration able today to mediate conflict resolution between Arabs and Israelis? The White House is hosting this week the launch of a new round of direct Mideast peace talks. Without hesitation, the administration conveys new signs of hope and assumes the presence of regional readiness for peace making. The honored...Israel and the anti-Muslim blow-up
I don't know why I am at all surprised that the American Right – including the Republican Party – has decided that scapegoating Muslims is the ticket to success. After all, it's nothing new. I remember right after 9/11 when the columnist Charles Krauthammer, now one of the most vocal anti-Muslim demagogues, almost literally flipped......
The credibility of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has been compromised and politicized
I have been in Lebanon for the past five weeks and not a day passes without hearing people talk about the implications of the indictment, which is scheduled for September 2010, on the basis on which the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will convene. The intensity of the anticipatory speculation rises in all directions along the length...The human element
EAST MEREDITH, NY — During a historical visit to Jerusalem in 1979, the late President Anwar Sadat of Egypt proclaimed that the Arab-Israeli conflict is largely psychological. Inherited notions about history and deeply felt convictions about the injustices are so strong that when an Arab American meets a Jewish American socially they......