Mideast News & Politics

“Urgent Need: Face-to Face Encounters, not Face-offs”

This week, on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, another unnecessary confrontation between Muslims and non-Muslim Americans unfolded, quickly becoming an international incident. Within 24 hours, it had resulted in the deaths of four Americans. The situation began as a group of protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and tore down the American flag. Media reports are connecting the attack to a trailer to a film titled Innocence of Muslims, produced by “Sam Bacile” (a pseudonym) in the U.S. that depicts the life of Muhammad in unflattering and vile ways. The film is allegedly connected to Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who made international headlines and helped fuel violence in the Middle East with his threats to burn a Qur’an, the sacred scriptures of Islam, but this is unconfirmed. What is clear is that in the wake of the uprisings in the Middle East over the film Jones has stated publicly that he supports the film, and that the Muslim protesters have connected him to it. In the most recent update, according to Religion Dispatches, a California man—named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula— claimed to be responsible for the film. He said that it was “intended to be a provocative political statement assailing the religion” of Islam. The possible connection to Jones, and related concerns, have been enough to lead not only to the attack in Egypt but also to an attack in Libya. There, eruptions over the film fueled an unstable atmosphere that allowed terrorists to attack and kill the U.S. ambassador. The violence has spread to Yemen, and perhaps sparked other protests across the Middle East as well.

Islamists, Muslim Youth Protest anti-Muhammad Film at US Embassy

To mark September 11, Muslims in Egypt stormed the US Embassy.

Actually, it is not that simple. Certain Copts who reside in the United States produced an amateur film purporting to expose the frails and falsities of Muhammad, and advertised its release for September 11. Word got back to Egypt, of course, prompting protest from religious institutions, Muslim and Christian alike. Salafi Muslims in particular called for a protest at the US Embassy, and they were joined by hardcore soccer fans in denouncing the film as well as the US government for allowing it to be made. The US Embassy, for its part, issued an official condemnation, calling the effort an abuse of freedom of expression.

Live Like a Kardashian: Arab-American Comedian Dean Obeidallah on His New Bid for Vice President

In the era of comedic news broadcasting and political critiquing comes a comic, armed with the political wit, who breaks down the worst stereotypes known to America: Arab-American Dean Obeidallah. Half-Palestinian, half Sicilian-American, completely Muslim, entirely New Yorker, Obeidallah is no stranger to the often mapless navigation that comes with forming not just American identity, but one that also involves certain characteristics that are very often marginalized in mainstream media today.

No Reign of Terror, Just Islamophobic Error

“Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time. And, ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down—they are truly down." Those were the nefarious words of Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950 as he spoke to the Women's Republican Club of Wheeling, West Virginia. He also claimed at that time to be in possession of a list of "members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring" who were employed in the State Department. With just a few words, and after three unremarkable years in the Senate, McCarthy rose to national fame by asserting that the threat to America came not so much from communist forces outside of the country, but by agents already embedded within. Of course, in the end McCarthy was never able to prove any of his dramatic charges.

Are You Listening Ohio? It’s Me, Washington

“Are you listening in Michigan and Ohio?” asked Bill Clinton during his notable speech at the Democratic National Convention this week. He wanted to ensure that Ohioans heard him loud and clear when he announced the “job score” that came out of the auto industry restructuring enacted by President Obama at the start of his term: “Obama, 250,000. Romney, 0.”

The GOP’s Dangerous Game of Voter Suppression

It’s not that national party conventions are entirely irrelevant. Amidst all the pomp and circumstance are significant theatrical displays that reveal forged alliances, potential cabinet picks, and stymied aspirations. But because the party’s nominee is already a given before convening, and no longer decided by debating delegates at the time of the gathering, national party conventions have lost most of their technical and practical usefulness. Other norms, like lobbying on the physical lobby floor of the Capitol Building, have also become rather obsolete in our matured political system. We may have thought that contending for fair voting rights across class and racial lines was also among the remnants of politics past. But on the same day that Mitt Romney was soliciting Americans for their votes, a federal district court had to strike down a Texas law that would impose “strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor” and minority voters. That was just the latest development in a nationwide battle over voting rights.

Aslan Media at the Olympics: Week In Review

Have you been following the London games? If so then you know that in the last few days there has been a turn of events for the Middle Eastern and North African countries who have managed to win a medal or two. Below, Aslan Media’s Eman Jueid, who has been covering the games, offers another summary of the events that have recently taken place:

Sikhs and Muslims, Shootings and Burnings: A Call to Peaceful Contestation

Last Sunday morning, horrible news broke out of Oak Creek, Wisconsin and quickly spread through the media. As Sikhs gathered at the place of prayer and worship in a local gurdwara outside Milwaukee, a man walked through the parking lot and shot individuals before moving into the worship facility and shooting worshipers, including the community’s religious leader. At the end of the incident seven people were dead, including the suspect, who was killed by a police officer. Several others were wounded and three people remain in the hospital in critical condition.

Aslan Media at the Olympics: A Summary of the First Five Days

Five days into the London 2012 Olympics many athletes have won medals, have been defeated, or have continued training extremely hard in preparation to compete for what’s ahead. But just how well have Middle Eastern countries been doing so far? Aslan Media’s Eman Jueid is monitoring the progress of these athletes. Below she has compiled a summary of the happenings so far.

Escalating Pressure for the Blind Sheikh

On Thursday, July 26, the family of Omar Abdel Rahman ratcheted up their rhetoric in their awareness campaign to free their father. The family issued five demands to President Morsy and invited speakers to comment, some of whom threatened America harshly.

Otherwise known as the ‘Blind Sheikh’, Abdel Rahman is imprisoned in America for involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His family claims Abdel Rahman’s arrest was political, as the US yielded to Egyptian demands to silence him from criticizing Mubarak. The family has conducted an open-ended sit-in protest outside the American Embassy in Cairo since August of last year.