Western Religion

“The most significant civil rights bill for Muslim Americans in our country”: House Bans Trump’s Muslim Ban as Dingle, Tlaib Preside

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a largely party-line vote by 233-183, the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to overturn Trump’s Muslim ban, according to Hassan Abbas at The Arab American News. The floor debate was presided over by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan), and the final vote was presided over by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan). […]

Featured

Biden: Muslim Americans took full Brunt of Vile Trump Hatred of Minorities; Pledges to Reverse Muslim Ban

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Joe Biden addressed the Million Muslim Votes organization on Monday. In the context of the extreme hatred for Muslims of the Trump administration and the wider Trump movement, his remarks were crucially significant but probably won’t be noticed on cable news. Biden said in part, “I wish we taught more […]

African-Americans

With a 500-Year History in N. America, Muslim-Americans assert Solidarity with Black Lives Matter

The Conversation

By Amir Hussain | – The killing of George Floyd took place at the doorstep of Muslim America. He was killed in front of Cup Foods, a store owned by an Arab American Muslim, whose teenage employee – also a Muslim – had earlier reported to police that Floyd tried to use a counterfeit $20 […]

Africa

Top 6 Reasons Trump’s Racist Attack on Ilhan Omar at Empty Stadium is a Lie

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In his typically unhinged rant to a nearly empty stadium in Tulsa, OK, Trump attempted to use Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to denigrate his Democratic rival Joe Biden. He said, according to the WaPo, “Likewise, Representative Ilhan Omar is going to be very much involved in a Biden government . […]

Donald Trump

Amid Trump’s Immigration ban, Muslim-Americans step up on Covid-19 to donate Masks, PPE, to Hospitals and to help Unemployed, Homeless

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Muslim-Americans have stepped up to help in the fight against the novel coronavirus in ways that may not be apparent from watching cable television. They are disproportionately a first- and second-generation American community who have faced discrimination at Trump’s hands, and are among the targets of his two-month ban on […]

Entertainment

Arif “The Greatest Ears in Town” Mardin: How a Turkish Muslim Nurtured the Music of Aretha Franklin, Dione Warwick, and Nora Jones

Shalom Goldman

Middlebury, VT (Special to Informed Comment) – In the mid-twentieth century many American jazz musicians converted to Islam . Some took Muslim names ( Ahmed Jamal and Yusef Lateef) ; others identified as Muslim but kept their Christian names (Art Blakey, McCoy Tyner). These musicians helped shape the sound of American music and no less […]

Arab Americans

With Bernie Sanders in Dearborn, Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans take the Political Stage

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Bernie Sanders’ rally at Dearborn, Michigan with a crowd that included Arab-Americans, on stage and off, was a frontal attack on one of the last permissible prejudices in America. Media personalities have been fired (and rightly so) for bigoted public statements about African-Americans and other minorities. But Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans […]

Antisemitism

Auschwitz 75 years on: preserving survivors’ voices and listening to those of their children

The Conversation

By Sara Jones | – In December 2019, four people were shot dead at a kosher market in New Jersey, a horrific knife attack was perpetrated at a rabbi’s home in a New York suburb, and antisemitic graffiti was daubed on a synagogue and several shops in north London. Despite what many might think, antisemitism […]

Arab Americans

With Trump’s Iran Attack Abroad, Iranian-Americans and Muslim-Americans are Unfairly Targeted at Home

Aliyya Zahidi

Irvine, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – A day under the Trump Administration typically consists of angry tweets, an absurd amount of misinformation, and reckless decisions made by an egotistical maniac. Just three days into the new year we saw exactly that as the Trump Administration launched an attack on Iran, killing the nation’s top […]