(Author title: “Matthew Walton: A Primer on the Roots of Buddhist/Muslim Conflict in Myanmar, and A Way Forward” ) Matthew J. Walton writes at ISLAMiCommentary Recently Myanmar has been in the news for more than just its surprising political reforms and nascent transition from military rule. Violent attacks—mostly by Buddhists against Muslims—have occurred in cities […]
- Africa (147)
- Animals (1)
- Asia (841)
- Australasia (2)
- Australia (6)
- Authoritarianism (182)
- Canada (1)
- Cats (1)
- Culture (421)
- Dehydration (1)
- Democracy (247)
- Dissent (288)
- Economy (728)
- Education (75)
- Elderly (3)
- Energy (1,084)
- Environment (1,513)
- Europe (789)
- Featured (2,683)
- fiction (5)
- Food (8)
- G20 (1)
- Guns (9)
- Health (464)
- History (241)
- Human Rights (994)
- Immigration (17)
- International (607)
- Islamophobia (307)
- Juan Cole (268)
- Latin America (68)
- Latinos (3)
- leisure (21)
- media (375)
- Middle East (7,268)
- Arab World (4,623)
- Iran (914)
- Israel (704)
- Israel/ Palestine (1,951)
- Israel/Palestine (8)
- Kurds (264)
- Turkey (446)
- military (105)
- Modernism (1)
- nationalism (102)
- NATO (6)
- Natural Disasters (11)
- nuclear weapons (59)
- Patriarchy (2)
- Peace (75)
- Persian mythology (1)
- Pete Buttigieg (1)
- Popular Culture (24)
- Poverty (11)
- privacy (19)
- racism (352)
- Rape (5)
- religion (840)
- Rights (128)
- robots (1)
- Romance (1)
- science (117)
- Secular (West) (8)
- Secularism (25)
- Sexual Assault (2)
- South Pacific (1)
- Spirituality (21)
- Statelessness (14)
- Surveillance (259)
- Terrorism (1,035)
- Tolerance (4)
- Uncategorized (8,045)
- United Nations (80)
- Urbanization (3)
- US Foreign Policy (590)
- US politics (3,990)
- Anti-War Movement (6)
- Campaign Finance (27)
- Censors (21)
- Central Intelligence Agency (59)
- Civil Rights (83)
- Congress (38)
- Conspiracy Theories (6)
- Constitution (322)
- crime (5)
- Democratic Party (573)
- Democratic Socialists of America (14)
- Domestic Terrorism (16)
- Drone Warfare (26)
- Espionage (116)
- Ethnicities (287)
- Far Right (217)
- FBI (42)
- Foreign Policy (203)
- Gay Rights (14)
- Guns (65)
- Immigration (194)
- Israel Lobbies (83)
- Marijuana (1)
- Militarization (229)
- National Security State (384)
- Native Americans (26)
- Nuclear arsenal (6)
- penitentiaries (6)
- Pentagon (367)
- Police (34)
- prison reform (6)
- Private Prisons (1)
- Puerto Rico (25)
- Religious Right (1)
- Reproductive Choice (7)
- Republican Party (2,488)
- Supreme Court (60)
- Voter suppression (19)
- Whistleblowers (4)
- Xenophobia (8)
- Veterans (29)
- Voting Rights (4)
- War (278)
- Western Religion (376)
- White Supremacists (91)
- wikileaks (8)
- women (291)
- workers (147)
- Writing (5)
- Youth (121)
Islam
Syria: Attack on Sayyida Zainab Provokes Sunni-Shiite Tensions in Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan
The rocket attack on the Shrine of Sayyida Zaynab in the suburbs of Damascus on Friday has intensified the sectarian overtones of the Syrian civil war and exacerbated Sunni-Shiite tension in Iraq and elsewhere. Shrapnel killed the venerated caretaker of the shrine. ( Sayyida Zaynab [d. 682 AD] was the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad). […]
The Backlash against Political Islam is not a Backlash against Islam: Egypt and Bangladesh
There is a big difference between being a believing Muslim and being a devotee of political Islam. Political Islam attempts to make the religion a platform for gaining governmental power. This movement (political Islam or the Muslim religious Right) has been very important in many Muslim countries in the past few decades, but its rise […]
Middle East Regional Contention over Egypt’s New Government
The change of government in Egypt produced starkly different reactions in various Middle Eastern countries, which tells us something about the situation there. With the exception of maverick member Qatar, the Gulf Cooperation Council, grouping six conservative Gulf oil monarchies, cheered loudest for the military coup made by Brig. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi against elected […]
Syria, NSA Spying, Popular Mobilization and History: Cole Interview in La Prensa (Ricky Martinez)
Interview with Juan Cole by Ricky Martínez (These are the English notes of the interview rearranged in pyramid form; they were translated and published in a different sequence in Spanish at La Prensa of Panama City). Many thanks to Mr. Martinez for a wide-ranging conversation! RM: How is Syria different from Libya? Syria is different […]
Egypt’s Morsi Calls for No-Fly Zone over Syria: A step toward regional Sunni-Shiite War?
Egypt’s President, Muhammad Morsi, called Saturday for a no-fly zone over Syria authorized by the UN Security Council. At the same time, he cut off diplomatic relations with Syria. It was the Arab League demand for a no-fly zone that led to the UNSC resolution on Libya and hence to the overthrow of the Gaddafi […]
Pot and Partying: Top Ten Signs the Tsarnaev Brothers Weren’t Pious Muslims
Recent press revelations have confirmed my initial suggestion that members of the Tsarnaev family were secular ex-Soviets rather than observant Muslims Only a few years ago did the late Tamerlan start exhibiting signs of fanaticism (he was thrown out of his mosque in Boston last January when he stood up to denounce the preacher there […]
Top Ten Ways Islamic Law forbids Terrorism
Erik Rush and others who hastened to scapegoat Muslims for the Boston Marathon bombing are ignorant of the religion. I can’t understand why people who have never so much as read a book about a subject appoint themselves experts on it. (Try this book, e.g.). We don’t yet know who carried out the attack, but […]
Rising China’s Muslim Problem: What is the Future of the Uygurs? (Alimglu)
JULIE POUCHER HARBIN, EDITOR, ISLAMiCommentary interviews MUSA ALIMGLU: This week I asked a China and Xinjiang expert — someone who is familiar with China’s ethnic politics and the work of prominent Uyghur human rights activist Rebiya Kadeer — to provide some in-depth background on China’s troubled Xinjiang Uygher Autonomous Republic and leadership challenges for the […]