Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs
An Islamic Center that was sometimes attended by the 19 year-old arrested the other day for plotting to detonate a bomb in downtown Portland was the target of an arson attack over the weekend: CORVALLIS, ORE. – Apparent anger over a Somali-born teen’s failed effort to blow up a van filled with explosives during Portland’s [...]
Sometimes, you just can’t make stuff like this up: In Phoenix, Arizona, a new Christian church has residents fearing that it is an Islamic mosque. The Light of the World multidenominational church is being built just off of Interstate 10 and features a dome-like structure. “Since the distinctive dome shape went up, church leaders said [...]
A Federal Court has enjoined Oklahoma’s recently passed “anti-Sharia” law from taking effect: OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday to block a new amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would prohibit state courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases. U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange handed down [...]
A new Oklahoma law that bans Sharia law from being enforced in state courts may have some very unintended consequences.
When I heard that there was a ballot initiative in Oklahoma to make Sharia Law illegal, it struck me as profoundly silly. For one thing, there’s no evidence that anyone in the Oklahoma legislature was attempting to impose Islamic law in the Sooner State. For another, Muslims make up a tiny percentage of the population [...]
Tumblr called “Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things” shows that there’s no such thing as “Muslim garb.”
Who’s to blame for the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States, President Obama or those who have actually been encouraging bias against Muslims?
After becoming the center of a media firestorm in the days before September 11th for his threat to burn copies of the Quran, Florida Pastor Terry Jones is getting a new car: SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey car dealer plans to keep his word after offering Florida pastor Terry Jones a new [...]
If everything you know about Islam comes from Pam Geller and Christianity from Christopher Hitchens, you’re doing yourself a grave disservice.
More wackiness from the Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada: One of the last questioners asked about “Muslims taking over the U.S.,” including a question about Angle’s stance on the proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York. “We’re talking about a militant terrorist situation, which I believe isn’t a widespread thing, but it is [...]
A history book used in Texas until 2003 mentions Islam more than Christianity. Much outrage ensues.
This is something I’d like to see local jurisdictions do more often: Orlando, Florida (CNN) — The city of Gainesville, Florida, plans to send a bill estimated at more than $180,000 to Pastor Terry Jones for security costs surrounding his controversial threat to burn Qurans on the anniversary of the September, 11, 2001, attacks, a [...]
Today’s New York Times tries to figure out why there was a group of English soccer hooligans at the protests against the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” on September 11th: Among the non-New Yorkers who traveled to Lower Manhattan on Saturday to protest the neighborhood’s decision to allow an Islamic community center to be built were [...]
In comments this morning, Justice Stephen Breyer seemed to suggest that Koran burning might not necessarily be Constitutionally protected.
Last night’s Daily Show included this tour de force wrap up of the Terry Jones story and Fox News Channel’s bizarre claim that Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf is threatening America with terrorism if the Islamic Community Center isn’t built in Lower Manhattan: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Terry Jones may have canceled his plans, but someone attending the protest in New York against the construction of an Islamic Community Center two blocks away from Ground Zero decided to have his own “Burn A Koran” Day: A hate-filled protester was escorted away from the Ground Zero mosque site this morning after tearing apart [...]
It’s not often that President Obama says something I agree 100% with, but this is one of those times: “We’ve got millions of Muslim-Americans, our fellow citizens, in this country. They’re going to school with our kids. They’re our neighbors. They’re our friends. They’re our co-workers. And when we start acting as if their religion [...]
The media is now starting to look at it’s own role in the whole Koran burning story, but the truth is that there really wasn’t any way they could’ve ignored the story.
Over the course of a little more than two hours, the “Burn A Koran Day” story merged with the “Ground Zero Mosque” story in a bizarre media circus that seems to have accomplished little other than give press attention to a bigoted Pastor in Florida.
A new poll indicates that there are some disturbing motivations that seem to be associated with opposition to the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.”
Well, two for certain things. The first is that the event never should have been planned in the first place. The second is that the fellow who planned it has gotten exactly what he wanted: a boatload of attention. The story has become international news and I am sure that it will get massive cable [...]
The plan by one fringe church in Gainesville, Florida to burn copies of the Koran on September 11th is igniting fires of protest across the Muslim world.
Newt Gingrich distinguished himself last month by arguing that we should look to Saudi Arabia in determining the religious freedoms of Muslims in the United States, and by equating Islam with Nazism. Now, he’s essentially come out in favor of using the power of the state to take the property of the owners of Park [...]
Did you know that more Christians than Muslims were victims of hate crimes in America? Did you also know that there are a lot more Christians? Oh. Never mind, then.
Another depressing result from a new Newsweek poll: I’m not even sure there is a rational explanation for the fact that 31% of Americans believe something like this, and the fact that a majority of Republicans thinks that it’s probably true that the President of the United States shares the same goals as Osama bin [...]
The senior Senator from Utah is taking what is probably a minority position among Republicans: Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) this week became one of the most prominent members of his party to voice his support for the Lower Manhattan mosque. In a local television interview over the weekend, Hatch said developers have the right to build [...]
As I’ve noted before, the debate over mosques in America has extended far beyond the two block area around Ground Zero where a group led by Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf plans to build an Islamic Community Center. One of those places in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where a planned mosque project has been the subject of protests [...]
There’s more information today about Michael Enright, the man charged with attacking a New York City cab driver after asking if he was Muslim: A Queens cabbie said Wednesday night he saw “so much hate” in the face of a boozed-up bigot who slashed him after asking if he was Muslim. Driver Ahmed Sharif said [...]
Ok, Saudi Arabia has less freedom than the US. Why do some people think that should form the basis of an argument about appropriate behavior in the US?
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.” – The Qu’ran Sura 2, verse 256 “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. [...]
See, this is why all that anti-Muslim rhetoric isn’t such a good idea: A city cab driver is in the hospital after being stabbed by a passenger who allegedly asked if he was Muslim, police tell NY1. Investigators with the New York City Police Department say it all began Monday night when a 21-year-old man [...]
Jack Tapper reports this exchange from today’s White House Briefing: REPORTER: Can we expect the president to speak out any more on the Islamic community center near Ground Zero? And also will the White House play any role in discussions about moving the facility to a different location? WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY BILL BURTON: [...]
Not surprisingly, Radical Islamists are taking notice of the tone of debate in the United States over the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.”
Representative Ron Paul does not mince words on the subject of the Park51 project.
Glenn Greenwald argues that the “Ground Zero Mosque” debate is about more than just a “mosque” near Ground Zero. He’s right, but that also means the debate is likely to get uglier.
You may recall that in November 2006, Pope Benedict XVI made a visit to Turkey under no small degree of tension thanks to comments he had made about Islam in the past. Well, the guys at Media Matters have uncovered this video of a Good Morning America segment from back then that involved Imam Faisal [...]
From Haaretz: Ground Zero mosque imam: U.S. constitution reflects true Muslim values The imam spearheading plans for an Islamic center near the New York City site of the Sept. 11 terror attacks said Sunday that America’s sweeping constitutional rights are more in line with the true principles of Islam than the restrictions imposed by some [...]
Yes, when you blame one group of people for the actions of other, especially irrationally so, that qualifies as scapegoating.
Daisy Khan, the wife of Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, and one of the people behind the project to construct an Islamic Community Center and mosque in a location two blocks from the site of the September 11th attacks appeared on ABC’s This Week this morning to discuss the project and the firestorm that has erupted [...]
Some of our politicians and commentators are looking to odd places for guidance over the application of fundamental American values.
Park51 opponents are trying to depict Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as an anti-American radical. Read his speech at Daniel Pearl’s memorial service and judge for yourself.
America’s obsession over the fate of the Burlington Coat Factory in Lower Manhattan, and a general rise in anti-Islamic rhetoric, plays right into the hands of the people that are actually our enemies.
Steve Emerson has reportedly found 13 hours of tape of Cordoba Initiative chairman Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and found him to be a “radical extremist cleric who cloaks himself in sheep’s clothing.” Does it matter?
Here’s New York Republican/Conservative Party candidate for Governor Rick Lazio in an ad goading his Democratic opponent Andrew Cuomo into taking a position on the mosque issue: Dave Weigel: Classic distortion at work here, from the unsourced painting the imam as a terrorist to the question of where his money is coming from — the [...]
