Category: Opinion

  Is Brenton Tarrant really an aberration? In response to what has been described as New Zealand’s biggest “terrorist” attack, in which 50 people were shot and killed in two mosques in the city of Christchurch, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern declared: “We were not a target because we are a safe harbour for […]

Vain promises and empty slogans have got us nowhere. Fossil-fuel extraction must end before more lives are lost s Africa climate week unfurls in Ghana, the countries of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe count the costs of Cyclone Idai, which ripped through villages and towns, taking hundreds of lives and leaving a trail of destruction. For a continent already […]

A new study of six Murdoch-owned newspapers in Australia reveals that on average eight negative stories appeared about Islam or Muslims per day – and that’s just a tiny fraction of the billionaire’s global media empire. “Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible,” […]

*SOME ANALYSTS THINK THAT HISTORICAL LEGACY CAN STILL BE EXPLOITED. A 2007 REPORT BY THE RAND CORP., A U.S. THINK TANK, ADVISED WESTERN GOVERNMENTS TO “HARNESS” SUFISM, SAYING ITS ADHERENTS WERE “NATURAL ALLIES OF THE WEST.* In recent years, the dominant image of islam in the minds of many Westerners has been one loaded with […]

Opposition candidate Prabowo Subianto has far more “hardcore die-hard supporters” from Islamic camps, according to Alexander Raymond Arifianto from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. As Indonesians head to the polls in April, religion and the economy will likely take center stage as President Joko Widodo seeks re-election. Commonly known by his nickname “Jokowi,” the incumbent […]

Perhaps a metaphor for Lebanon’s complex cultural mosaic, the fighter is married to a Christian woman, has fought in Syria for several years but says that what he and all other Shia men really want is jobs, healthcare and a decent education. BAALBEK, Lebanon — About half a kilometre from the 2,000-year-old ruins of the temple […]

Caught in the middle of the conflict were a people, an entire generation, who have been robbed of the opportunity to live secure lives Friday 15 March marks the eighth anniversary of the beginning of the Syrian uprising. Certainly, the women and men who took to the streets beginning in March 2011 could not have […]

“Persians will never forget their defeat at the hands of Arabs in the Battle of Qadisiya 1,400 years ago. It is as if a fire keeps seething under the ashes and is waiting for the right moment to explode.”  The relationship between Arabs and Persians has always been a source of controversy, not only owing […]

An Iranian citizen journalist, who writes under a pseudonym to protect her identity, wrote the following article from Herat, Afghanistan. The Afghan government is usually cautious when it comes to criticizing its neighbor Iran. But last year, Afghan government officials were as direct as they could be when they condemned the Islamic Republic for recruiting its citizens to fight […]