March 5, 2015 | Turkey Agenda

Netanyahu’s Speech: A Theater of the Absurd

Netanyahu’s speech on March 3, 2015 to a joint Congressional Session was a frontal assault on President Obama’s Iran policy. The speech was a direct attempt at derailing the on-going negotiations and the desire to prevent Obama and the US from signing a nuclear deal with Iran. According to the Prime Minister such a deal…

De-Colonial Islamic Politics Palestine

February 28, 2015 | Turkey Agenda

Islamophobia Network: The Fringe Dominating the Center

Clearly, the recent events in Europe, U.S. and the Muslim World have brought renewed attention to Islam and the status of Muslim citizens and immigrants in the West.  For some, the idea of Islam and the West are an odd coupling that don’t belong to the same category and are structurally set on a constant…

De-Colonial Islamic Politics Islamophobia

February 9, 2015 | Daily Sabah

‘President’ Netanyahu addressing ‘America’s Knesset’

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to ‘President’ Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress comes at a critical period as Republicans have taken over both the House of Representatives and the Senate and are determined to reverse almost every law adopted during Barack Obama’s presidency. From immigration and healthcare to financial oversight,…

De-Colonial Islamic Politics Palestine

January 26, 2015 | Daily Sabah

Constructive chaos and diplomacy by other means!

Hundred years removed from World War I and alleged plans to birth a peaceful world, we are back where we started. As death, destruction and massive destabilization is witnessed in the Arab and Muslim worlds and managed by major powers past and present with handpicked local allies. At World War I’s end the remnants of…

De-Colonial Islamic Politics Muslim History

January 25, 2015 | Turkey Agenda

“No-Go Zones” & No-Intelligence, An Islamophobia Prerequisite

The recent Islamophobic absurdity comes to us courtesy of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who claimed in a London speech delivered at the Henry Jackson Society, a British think tank, that Muslims establish “no-go zones” outside civic control such as the case in Birmingham. Actually, Jindal’s Islamophobic ignorant statements are not original. Steven Emerson was the…

De-Colonial Islamic Politics Islamophobia

January 22, 2015 | Daily Sabah

Ahmed Merabet and Charlie Hebdo’s new cover: at whom are we poking fun?

In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo murders, Ahmed Merabet’s brother Malek correctly declared: “My brother was Muslim and he was killed by two terrorists, by two false Muslims. … Islam is a religion of peace and love. As far as my brother’s death is concerned, it was a waste. He was very proud of…

De-Colonial Islamic Law Islamic Politics Islamophobia

January 18, 2015 | Turkey Agenda

Europe, Immigration and the Post-Colonial South

We are all in agreement that large sections in Africa, Asia and the Muslim world are in total collapse with many failed or about to fail states in these regions. Take your pick of a country to include in this category: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Myanmar, Nigeria, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Liberia, the Congo, and the Central…

De-Colonial Islamic Politics Race/Racism

November 18, 2014 | Turkey Agenda

Al-Sissi’s “War On Terrorism” Or Terrorizing People Into Submission

The 28th of October 2014 Washington Post’s editorial was a most welcome development since the newspaper correctly concluded, “Mr. Sissi has instituted the most repressive regime Egypt has known in more than a half-century.” The Post editorial even went further alleging al-Sissi atrocious actions are being undertaken “in the name of defeating Islamic extremism.” Thus,…

De-Colonial Islamic Politics Race/Racism

September 27, 2014 | Turkey Agenda

Why Israel is a strategic liability for the US?

Working in the US to expose Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians we correctly highlight the moral arguments, human rights and international law framing, which are valid ways to address the issues but at the policy makers level the strategy centers on US national interest. I take issue with the existing national interest and how it…

De-Colonial Islamic Politics Palestine

September 3, 2014 | Turkey Agenda

The ‘Randomness’ of Islamophobia at US airports

In June 2014, I traveled to Qatar to attend and present a paper at a conference focusing on Arab-US relations hosted by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, right before heading to Granada, Spain, to teach a summer course on Muslims in the West from pre-1492 to the present. The conference was well attended and…

De-Colonial Islam Islamic Politics Islamophobia