By Barbara Slavin During his seven years in office, President Barack Obama has visited mosques in foreign countries, in part, to show respect for one of the world’s major religions as a way of countering perceptions that Americans are anti-Islam. His belated presidential visit, his first, this week to an American mosque reflected acknowledgement that bigotry is […]
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Heinous, Ideological Enemy? The US Has Been There Before
Posted January 14th, 2016 at 12:43 pm (UTC-5)
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…[As] the red banner of communism marched across the globe and the threat of domestic collaborators gripped the nation, America not only faced down this ideological adversary, but also eventually rejected the concomitant paranoia. That’s worth remembering.
Demagoguery or Democracy? Trump’s Take on Muslims
Posted December 9th, 2015 at 3:58 pm (UTC-5)
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“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These famed words, written by American poet Emma Lazarus and inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, have greeted immigrants arriving on the shores of New York since 1903. They are the essence of these United States, the foundation of its democracy. So, when Republican hopeful Donald Trump proposed barring all Muslims from entering America in response to the San Bernadino terror attack is he practicing democratic principle of free speech? Or, are these the words of a demagogue?
Voices of Moderation Struggle to Drown Out Extremism
Posted December 1st, 2015 at 3:24 pm (UTC-5)
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The terror attacks in Paris have sparked yet more tortured debate about Islam – both inside and outside Muslim communities. Very few dispute the notion that the vast majority of Muslims do not subscribe to the ultra-fundamentalist beliefs —and violence — of the Islamic State. But the voices of moderation are often unheard, creating a deep frustration among Muslims. Attacks on the scale of Paris strike fear in everyone. And it begs the question: Who owns Islam?
Incubators of Islamic Supremacism
Surveillance in Muslim communities is indispensable for defeating terrorism.