February 17, 2016 |

Voting is Pursuing the Collective Good in Civil Society!

As the US election cycle gets intensely underway, so will the debate on the worthiness of voting in contests that are increasingly determined by big funders and narrow special interests. Increasingly, the political process and elections outcomes are determined by the candidates’ financial resources rather than the quality of ideas he/she brings to the arena….

Politics Race/Racism

February 10, 2016 |

Putting Humpty Dumpty Together Again!

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again.”   The well-known nursery rhyme, “Humpty Dumpty” is set as a riddle for children with the answer being an egg falling down from a wall.  Indeed, if an egg…

Colonialism Islamic Politics Islamophobia Politics Race/Racism

February 3, 2016 |

Israel’s Grand Theft of Muslim Endowments in Jerusalem

On January 31, 2016, Israel’s right wing cabinet approved by a 15-5 vote the creation of a mixed-gender plaza to resolve the long standing dispute concerning women’s access to the Wailing Wall.  The head of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky claimed that the building of the new plaza will not cause any structural damage to…

Colonialism Muslim History Palestine Politics

January 29, 2016 | Daily Sabah

Flint: Racism & water

Flint, Michigan is a microcosm of U.S. political and economic elites’ entanglement with structural racism and the persistent disregard for the lives, health and well-being of African Americans, people of color, working class and poor whites. The city’s residents have been surviving on the margins of society and eking out a living on limited opportunities…

Politics Race/Racism

January 16, 2016 |

Islamophobia and The Three Evils of Society

Edited and expanded text of a speech given by Dr. Hatem Bazian at the Reviving the Islamic Spirit Conference, December 27th, 2015, Toronto, Canada.[i] On August 31st, 1967, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. delivered The Three Evils of Society speech at the National Conference on New Politics, which is the most prophetic and revolutionary address…

Colonialism Islam Islamophobia Muslims in America Politics Race/Racism

January 12, 2016 |

When Killing is the Only Politics!

Classical Arabic dictionary defines Siyasah, politics, as pertaining to a person assigned the responsibility “to oversee a group so as to rectify their affairs toward that which is better.”  The English etymology for the word politics can be traced to Aristotle’s ta politika meaning “affairs of state” or “affairs of the cities.” Merriam Webster’s dictionary…

Colonialism Politics

January 6, 2016 |

Muslims in America: “Integration” through securitization

Jimmy Makino enlisted in the U.S. Army and joined the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated fighting unit in the history of the U.S. Military. Makino was born in 1921 in Los Angeles and as a Japanese American was interned at the Gila River Relocation Center in mid1940s Arizona. The U.S. Government interned…

Islamic Politics Islamic Thought Islamophobia Muslims in America Politics Race/Racism

December 31, 2015 |

Islamophobia: Media Coverage is a Symptom Not a Cause!

Islamophobia, an intensifying crisis, is mistakenly approached by many and symptoms are taken for the real causes. The incorrect analysis then, are used in constructing faulty responses that waste time and badly needed resources.  Pointing this obvious shortcoming in analyzing the problem does not mean that the symptoms are not important or significant on their…

Islamophobia Muslims in America Politics Race/Racism

December 23, 2015 |

The Islamophobia Industry and the Demonization of Palestine: Implications for American Studies

“I do maintain that pro-Israel groups in the United States are the primary funders, producers, organizers, and distributors of Islamophobic content, which is dominating political and public discourses in Western societies.”     Download the PDF file .

Islamophobia Muslims in America Politics Race/Racism

December 23, 2015 |

Revisiting MLK’s speech, “The Three Evils of Society”

On August 31st, 1967, Reverend Martin Luther King delivered The Three Evils of Society speech at the National Conference on New Politics, which is the most prophetic and revolutionary address to date on the questions of militarism, poverty, and racism. “We are now experiencing the coming to the surface of a triple prong sickness” was…

Colonialism Islamophobia Muslims in America Politics Race/Racism