religion

The new book website Shepherd asked me for a list of what I thought were the best five books on Islam for a general audience. The best books on Islam By Juan R.I. Cole Who am I? My interest in Islam was kindled when I lived in Eritrea, East Africa as a teenager, and in […]

Haredim

Israeli Olympic Gold Medalist Isn’t “Jewish Enough” to Marry in Israel

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – How convenient that the dynamic of sports and politics now collides with the question of “Who is a Jew?”* And just in time for the closing ceremonies of the 2020 Olympics. The prompt for this age-old dialectic comes back to who has a right to marry whom in […]

Featured

Palestinian Christians welcome U.S. United Church of Christ affirmation of right to Boycott Israel for Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Palestinian Christian organization Kairos has thanked the General Synod of the United Church of Christ for its “Just Peace” theological declaration, which calls Israel’s actions toward the five million Occupied, stateless Palestinians “a sin.” In 2015, the denomination resolved to boycott Israeli products produced by Israeli squatter-settlers on usurped […]

Islam

Yemen and the Prophet Muhammad: Abdulrahman al-Eryani interviews Juan Cole

Juan Cole

Abdulrahman al-Eryani interviewed me on his InBoundTalk show on YouTube (link below) about my book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires Available at Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor And Hachette And Barnes and Noble And Amazon InboundTalk: Abdulrahman Al-Eryani interviews Juan Cole on his book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash […]

Evangelicals

As a new Generation Emerges, Evangelical support for Israel is neither permanent nor inevitable

The Conversation

By Walker Robins | – Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, made waves in May 2021 when he publicly suggested that Israel should prioritize its relationship with American evangelicals over American Jews. Dermer described evangelicals as the “backbone of Israel’s support in the United States.” By contrast, he described American Jews as “disproportionately […]

History

The Qur’an and Black Lives Matter (Podcast)

Juan Cole

My interview is at Renovatio concerning my forthcoming article on equality in the Qur’an, which I wrote in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement. The audio is embedded here: Renovatio’s notes: “God’s creativity is seen as an expression of the divine will and those blessed with insight can perceive it as such, and perhaps […]

Iran

Meet The New Boss: Iran’s Raisi In His Own Words And Those Of Others

Golnaz Esfandiari

( RFE/RL ) – Hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi has been declared the presumptive winner of Iran’s June 18 presidential vote, which was marred by the disqualification of prominent moderates that paved the way for Raisi’s path to presidency. Concerns have been raised that Raisi’s rise to power could bring more social and political restrictions for […]

Iraq

This tiny minority of Iraqis follows an ancient Gnostic religion – and there’s a chance they could be your neighbors too

The Conversation

By James F. McGrath | – ( The Conversation ) – In March 2021 Pope Francis became the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Iraq. The number of Christians in Iraq has fallen sharply in the past two decades amid mass violence at the hands of the Islamic State group. Iraq stands […]

Antisemitism

5 ways to push antisemites and the Alt-Right out of the Palestinian solidarity movement

Waging Nonviolence

By Shane Burley | – With support for Palestinian freedom hitting a new level, intentional strategies are needed to stop white nationalists looking to hijack the movement. ( Waging Nonviolence ) – As Israel resumes its bombing of Gaza, and settlers attack Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line — the boundary between what […]