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” →

Will the Syrian regime take on the world?

Special to The Daily Star

To an outside observer, the Syrian regime must seem bent on pursuing a path of confrontation with the rest of the world. At the beginning of the American invasion of Iraq, and thanks to the bellicose posture the Syrian regime adopted during the early stages of the conflict, a similar showdown with the US was averted only at the last minute. This occurred because cooler heads in the Bush administration prevailed in their argument that a quarrel with Syria would, at that stage, distract Washington from its main task in Iraq. Continue reading “Will the Syrian regime take on the world?” →