Muslims Against the Ideology of Terror

Voice of America – ON THE LINE / Host: Eric Felten

Host: Muslims against the ideology of terror. Next, On the Line.

Host: Leaders of a dozen groups representing Muslim Americans and Arab Americans of other faiths met in Washington to speak out against terrorism and in favor of democratic freedoms. Zainab Al-Suwaij is the executive director of the American Islamic Congress. She said the conference was an effort to confront the fact that Many people use Islam as a reason to kill innocent people. One of the speakers at the conference was Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a physician in Phoenix, Arizona. Continue reading →

The U.S. and the Arabs: so similar, yet so democratically different

Special to The Daily Star

Popular beliefs and perceptions aside, Arabs and Americans have much more in common than they like to think. Selective historical memories and a growing sense of insecurity are only two glaring examples in this regard.

Just consider the way Arabs talk about Saddam Hussein these days. Consider the way they treat his surviving family members, his daughter Raghad for instance. Her face has recently been splashed on the covers and pages of many society magazines. Reading these publications, one is tempted to imagine that the mad tyrant was actually a national hero who did many great things for Iraqis and Arabs in general. Continue reading “The U.S. and the Arabs: so similar, yet so democratically different” →

Muslims Against Terrorism

Voice of America – ON THE LINE / Host: Eric Felten

Host: Muslims Against Terrorism. Next, On the Line.

Host: From the murder of school children in Beslan, Russia, to the beheading of foreign workers in Iraq, Islamic terrorists continue to kill innocent people in what they say is a holy war against the U-S and the West. But an increasing number of Muslims are speaking out against this terrorism. Abdel Rahman al-Rashed is the general manager of the Arab satellite television station Al-Arabiya. He wrote in the London daily newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, that it is “shameful and degrading” that Muslims commit acts of terrorism. Pointing out that, quote, “The majority of those who carried out suicide operations against buses, schools, houses, and buildings around the world in the last ten years are Muslims,” Mr. Rashed said that Islam “has suffered an injustice” at the hands of those who preach violence. Continue reading “Muslims Against Terrorism” →

The Syrian opposition’s woeful irrelevance

Special to The Daily Star

One of the major problems of the nascent opposition movement in Syria is its adoption of attitudes and modes of discourse very much reminiscent of the regime it is supposedly opposing.

The Syrian opposition does not seek to justify itself to the Syrian people or gain their support, and it fails to provide a vision for change in the country, be it political, social or economic. No wonder, then, that Syrians continue to be politically apathetic and inclined to pinning their hopes on the ability of President Bashar Assad to deliver on his long-promised reforms. Continue reading “The Syrian opposition’s woeful irrelevance” →