religion

The Long History of al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as a Center of Sufi Mysticism was even Mentioned by Rumi

By Ismail Patel | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Before discussing two great Sufis, Abd Al-Ghani Nabulusi and Ibrahim ibn Adham, it is essential to note that Sufis from across the globe are passionate about Masjid Al-Aqsa. In the 17th century, there were over 70 zawiyas (Sufi spiritual centres) in Jerusalem. Both Masjid […]

Antisemitism

My Life with Maus: Or How I Was Banned (Even If in a Second-Hand Way) by a Trumpian World

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Sometimes life has a way of making you realize things about yourself. Recently, I discovered that an urge of mine, almost four decades old, had been the very opposite of that of a rural Tennessee school board this January. In another life, I played a role in what could be thought […]

Iran

Foes of a new Nuclear Agreement Demonize Tehran, but what is Iranian Society really Like Today?

Ali Abootalebi

Eau Claire, Wi. (Special to Informed Comment) – The nature and the parameters of power relations in the state-society relations in Iran since the 1978-79 revolution have radically changed. The revolution ended the twenty-five-hundred-year-old monarchical rule in Iran and gave rise to a Shi’a ‘ulema-dominated rule. The demise of the old Pahlavi regime saw the […]

Judaism

Whoopi Goldberg awkwardly demonstrates how the idea of race varies by place and changes over time

The Conversation

By Robyn Autry | – Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of ABC’s “The View,” set off a firestorm when she insisted on Jan. 31, 2022 that the Holocaust was “not about race.” Hands outstretched, she went on to describe the genocide as a conflict between “two white groups of people.” As someone who writes and teaches about […]

Donald Trump

Race, Religion and Whoopi Goldberg: Her Mistake on Judaism Pales before that of Trump

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – It’s time to stop flogging Whoopi Goldberg, and re-examine the semantics of Judaism as a race or religion. She is NOT anti-Semitic. She said something reckless, but her mistake was not explaining herself well, on a complex topic that most people are ill-informed about to begin with. On […]

Muslim-Americans

Why Is Ali the Last American Hero? Who Else Is There?

Tomdispatch

By Robert Lipsyte | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – At least once a week, a stranger writing a book, magazine article, newspaper feature, or blog; representing a documentary film, radio serial, or podcast; researching a paper for middle school, high school, or college asks me for an interview about Muhammad Ali. I’m on the short […]

Islam

Juan Cole’s New Book “Peace Movements in Islam” – Interview by Jadaliya

Juan Cole

Via: Texts out Now: Jadaliya (Excerpt from the Jadaliya Interview – go to original site for full text.): Jadaliyya (J): What made you edit this book? Juan Cole (JC): I began this project in 2015 because of the avalanche of writing in the United States and Europe about the ISIL terrorist group in Iraq and […]

Christianity

Which Way America? Confronting Christian Nationalism in the Spirit of Desmond Tutu

Liz Theoharis

( Tomdispatch.com) – “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu The world lost a great moral […]

Antisemitism

The Capitol Insurrectionists came for America with Bibles, Guns and a Messianic Trumpism

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – At Christian Nationalist conferences , “ . . . resistance to Mr. Trump is tantamount to resistance to God,” according to New York Times writer Katherine Stewart. That accounts for the heavy presence of Christian symbols, crosses and Bibles, AND guns carried by rioters during the January 6 […]