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 […]
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Western Religion
As Boteach comes for Dua Lipa, has Tactic of Smearing People as anti-Semites for Backing Palestinian Human Rights jumped the Shark?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Orthodox Rabbi Shmuely Boteach has come after the brilliant, Grammy-award-winning Kosovar-British pop star Dua Lipa with an ad in the New York Times accusing her of anti-Semitism for supporting Palestinian rights. She vigorously denied the charge and denounced the ad. She should also sue for libel. Boteach is a huge […]
Anti-Muslim Racism remains a Blind Spot in American Efforts for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
(Special to Informed Comment) – When I first read Jack Shaheen’s seminal book, Reel Bad Arabs, which documents negative stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs in American film, I was shocked. Not shocked that such stereotypes have saturated film and television. Rather, shocked that I myself had seen several of these films and never noticed the […]
The Catholic Reconquista in Spain outlawed Islam in 1502, but Secret Muslims kept their culture — and Cuisine — Going
By Aleks Pluskowski, Guillermo García-Contreras Ruiz, and Marcos García García | – Granada, in southern Spain’s Andalusia region, was the final remnant of Islamic Iberia known as al-Andalus – a territory that once stretched across most of Spain and Portugal. In 1492, the city fell to the Catholic conquest. In the aftermath, native Andalusians, who […]
Islamic Judaism? (Video)
John Tolan | Emir-Stein Center “In the 19th century, some Jewish scholars in Central Europe looked to early Islam and in particular to the Prophet Muhammad for inspiration and consolation. For these scholars, the Muslim prophet could serve as a heuristic model for reforming Judaism. John Tolan, Professor of History at the University of Nantes, […]
What is Ramadan? Essential Information for Students and Teachers
This FAQ was distributed by Samer Ali, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan, but it is useful for any campus and any community with a Muslim minority. RAMADAN 2021 AT U-M This Winter Semester, around finals, many Muslims at U-M will abstain from food and […]
The Republican Party’s Iran-Level Superstitious Anti-Semitism: Greene claimed Jewish Space Laser started Cali Wildfires
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Golnaz Esfandiari reports on controversies currently roiling Tehran over the belief in supernatural beings, genies (jinn or djinn), among the country’s ruling ayatollahs. Esfandiari writes, that Iran’s clerical Leader recently said, “There are enemies from among both genies and human beings, and they help one another. The security services of […]
What were those Horrifying Anti-Jewish Hate Symbols at the Capitol Insurrection? A Scholar of American Anti-Semitism Explains
By Jonathan D. Sarna | – One of the many horrifying images from the Jan. 6 rampage on the U.S. Capitol shows a long-haired, long-bearded man wearing a black “Camp Auschwitz” T-shirt emblazoned with a skull and crossbones, and under it the phrase “work brings freedom” – an English translation of the Auschwitz concentration camp […]
Young Muslim women are leading environmental movements grounded in their beliefs
Memona Hossain | – Weeks prior to the lockdowns and closures that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary General António Guterres said 2020 would be a “pivotal year for how we address climate change.” Revamped emission goals were expected from 196 countries, but with international meetings postponed due to the pandemic, the stark reality […]