In The News

The Beirut Blast Shakes the Middle East

Rami G. Khouri February 18, 2005
Though American and Israeli occupations routinely hog headlines around the world, another occupation in the Middle East has won international attention this week. The assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri on Monday raised fresh questions about the continued Syrian military presence in Lebanon. Syrian troops were initially stationed in Lebanon to preserve its fragile unity...

Iranian Cleric Blogs for Free Expression

Reuters February 16, 2005
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, like so many politically conscious world citizens today, writes an internet web log, or "blog." Abtahi's story seems ordinary – except that he is an Iranian presidential adviser and a Muslim cleric. This revolutionary action, undertaken by a very senior member of the Iranian government, is aimed at promoting an open discourse for expression, political or...

"What Aspect of Islam is Supposedly Under Threat?"

Yoginder Sikand February 10, 2005
In the wake of communal violence in Holland, multiculturalists in Europe are under increasing pressure for preaching acceptance of Islam. Some detractors insist that Muslim minorities stubbornly resist integration into European culture. Another mounting strain of critique attacks multiculturalism from an entirely different angle. These critics argue that in privileging the conservative religious...

Germany's "Project Cleanup" Could Deport Hundreds of Radical Muslims

Markus Deggerich February 1, 2005
With the passage of a tougher immigration law, Germany is waging its own kind of pre-emptive strike in the war against terror: It will now have the ability to deport people suspected of possibly committing a terrorist act in the future. The burden of proof for deportation will employ a lower standard than the current one. As one government official said, "The fact that someone spent time...

Counting Sheep?

Seema Sirohi January 28, 2005
Christian missionaries are no strangers to the lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Europeans traveled to the region throughout the 19th century in an effort to spread their belief in the "one true God." Even today, missionaries work tirelessly in South and Southeast Asia to draw converts from local Hindu and Muslim populations. Yet their zeal has irked the ire of many in the region...

Fried Rice

M.J. Akbar January 23, 2005
During her confirmation hearings with the Senate Foreign Relations committee last week, US Secretary of State nominee Condoleeza Rice said that the Bush administration had a “contingency plan” in the event of a coup in Pakistan. She implied that if something “happened” to President Pervez Musharraf, and “Islamic fundamentalists” obtained access to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, the United States...

On Screen, Tackling Europe's New Reality

Alan Riding January 19, 2005
In Germany, the popularity of a movie about Turks living in Hamburg may signal a new national multiculturalism. Film has played a similar role in other European countries, making ostracized immigrants sympathetic to those who'd ignored or hated them. "Head-On", directed by Fatih Akin, is not the first Turkish-German movie to be made, but it is the first to find such sweeping...