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Four Funerals and a Wedding

Pierre Tristam | June 9, 2017

In the past couple of weeks we’ve had four mass funerals and a wedding. Each tells a story about what we’ve become in a world turned on its head. Honorable is the least of it.

Don’t Play Into Trump’s Hands on the Muslim Ban

FlaglerLive | February 3, 2017

Dina El-Rifai, a Muslim woman, writes of being terrified, heartbroken, and outraged by Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban.” But, she notes, The Obama administration’s wars were often justified through the demonization and dehumanization of Muslims.

Trump Order Blocks 500,000 Legal U.S. Residents from Returning to America

FlaglerLive | January 29, 2017

In banning newcomers from seven countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days, the president has used language that will affect those who are in the U.S. already on visas and green cards.

Full Text of Trump Executive Order Banning Certain Refugees, Muslims and Green Card Holders

FlaglerLive | January 29, 2017

President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27 titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States,” banning certrain Muslims, refugees and immigrants from entry in the United States and cutting refugee admissions in half this year. Here’s the full text.

E Pluribus Un-American:
The Judeo-Christian Smear of Islam

FlaglerLive | February 5, 2016

President Obama’s trip to a mosque to reassure American Muslims of their importance should have been unnecessary. It reveals how deep-seated prejudice remains, especially that of conservative Christians who claim to preach acceptance.

How to Defeat Islamist Extremists in 2016

FlaglerLive | January 4, 2016

We should think of the Middle East and Islam as being in a process of transition, with the West helping it along: the Middle East toward rule-based and religiously tolerant societies, and Islam toward its rightful place as a faith of progress and humanity, argues Tony Blair.

“We Might Be One Terrorist Act Away From a Trump Presidency”

FlaglerLive | December 7, 2015

A spectacular murder spree by Islamists could spook Americans enough to vote for the greatest fear-monger. Anything is possible, but Ian Buruma doesn’t believe American voters would be that stupid.

Syrian Refugees, ISIS, the Attacks to Come and What To Do: A Grim Q&A

FlaglerLive | November 18, 2015

Tom O’Hara’s sobering answers to basic questions on the next ISIS attack, the refusal to take in Syrian refugees, what ISIS wants and whether an invasion of Syria and Iraq can work.

Muslim, Dark-Skinned, Geeky:
Ahmed Mohamed Had No Chance

FlaglerLive | September 19, 2015

If there’s remaining doubt that it is subhuman to be a Muslim or an Arab in the United States, the imbecilic arrest of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed over a clock puts the doubts to rest.

Reclaiming Islam’s Enlightenment From Its Fundamentalist Hijackers

FlaglerLive | July 15, 2015

Granting that more than a few Muslims back the hijackers’ extremism, what is needed is cultural exchanges instead of armed, panicky overreactions,

Jews Then, Muslims Now: How Imprudent Judgments Desecrate Western Values

FlaglerLive | July 9, 2015

To assume that all Muslims think alike because of their religious background, that they have “a mind” rather than individual thoughts, is as big a mistake as to assume to know the minds of Jews, Christians, or anyone else.

When Your Armed Neighbor Comes
Knocking: Guns and Muslims in Chapel Hill

FlaglerLive | February 22, 2015

What kind of country do we live in, where it’s legal for a man to bring a weapon to a noise complaint? Or a parking dispute? Mitchell Zimmerman confronts the Chapel Hill killings of three Muslims.

Florida Prison Ban on Beards Violates Muslim Inmates’ Religious Rights, Supreme Court Rules

FlaglerLive | January 20, 2015

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Florida and six other states could not ban inmates from growing beards for religious reasons. The case originated in Arkansas.

A Muslim Cartoonist on the Charlie Hebdo Massacre: Shame, Fear, But Mostly Hope

FlaglerLive | January 13, 2015

Cartoonist Khalil Bendib, an American Muslim and native of Algeria who’s known his share of censorship and death threats, writes of grief and human solidarity in the wake of the attack.

Standing With Charlie Hebdo:
The Right and Duty to Offend

FlaglerLive | January 8, 2015

We should celebrate differences of opinion. We have no duty to embrace differences of principles, and in many cases—and this is one of them—we must oppose them, angrily and militantly if need be.

When Riots In Defense of Islam Are More Vile Than Any Parody of the Prophet

FlaglerLive | September 15, 2012

“Innocence of Muslims” is a vile movie about Islam, but its movie maker had every right to make it, and it is far less vile than the murderous riots Muslim fundamentalists have launched as a result–or Mitt Romney’s political opportunism over the crisis.

Palatka Immigrant Khaled Mohd Sentenced To Life in Prison for Setting His Wife on Fire

FlaglerLive | August 9, 2012

Khalid Mohd, a Palatka shopkeeper from Jordan, set his wife Rema Jamal on fire, burning 85 percent of her body, when she threatened to return to Jordan with their two boys, after Khaled had himself threatened to bring a second wife to Palatka.

CAIR-Off: Tea Party’s Daytona Beach Convention Mired in Islamophobic Controversy

FlaglerLive | November 3, 2011

Pam Geller, an anti-Muslim blogger, is a speaker at this weekend’s tea party convention in Daytona Beach. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was invited to respond, then dis-invited.

Gainesville’s Terry Jones Did Not Murder 11 UN Workers and Afghans. Muslims Did.

Pierre Tristam | April 2, 2011

There is no comparison between Terry Jones of Gainesville’s Dove World Outreach burning the Koran and Muslim fanatics murdering 11 people in retaliation. Jones is a fanatic. He’s no murderer. And he deserves First Amendment protection.

Un-American Activities: US Rep. Peter King’s Coming Demonization of American Muslims

FlaglerLive | February 27, 2011

Ina column, Michael Keegan warns against U.S. Rep. Peter King’s misusing congressional hearings on preventing domestic terrorism to stoke fears about the alleged radicalization of U.S. Muslims.

The Live Wire, Oct. 19: Florida Apartheid, Rick Scott’s Fuzziness and an Unsavory Duke List

FlaglerLive | October 19, 2010

Arizona’s war on undocumented immigrants migrates to Florida, in a whiter worse version, Rick Scott has memory problems under oath, the “Duke Screw List” surfaces, and more.

Idioting Up Over Islam, Rev. Franklin Graham Reveals America’s More Present Dangers

FlaglerLive | October 3, 2010

This time, Rev. Franklin Graham is unable to get away with his usual offenses and fallacies on Islam during a town hall with Christiane Amanpour.

Obama Condemns Gainesville Koran-Burning as FBI Warns of Possible Retaliation in Florida

FlaglerLive | September 9, 2010

As protesters burn Gainesville Pastor Terry Jones in effigy and the FBI warns of possible retaliations in Florida, Obama joins condemnations of the planned Koran-burning.

Gen. Patraeus Warns: If Gainesville “Church” Burns Korans, U.S. Troops Will Be Targeted

FlaglerLive | September 7, 2010

A Gainesville “church”‘s plan to burn Korans on to commemorate 9/11 “could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” Petraeus said. The Koran-burning preacher is unmoved.

Mosque Madness and the Shame of New York

Pierre Tristam | September 3, 2010

As a model of understanding, New York City was once an American redemption. Relatively, anyway. Not anymore, as a majority of New Yorkers are joining the mob-like reaction against an Islamic center near Ground Zero.

Is Fox News a Terrorist Command Center? Stewart Asks, and Answers

FlaglerLive | August 20, 2010

A couple of clips attempt to set Rupert Murdoch and other American mullahs straight on their opposition to the so-called Ground Zero mosque.

Experts: Argue All You Want, Mosque Project Is on Firm Legal Ground

FlaglerLive | August 19, 2010

Whatever its detractors say, the project to build a 15-story Islamic center, including a mosque, near Ground Zero has the law, including a particular GOP law, unquestionably on its side.

Krauthammer’s Sacrilege: When Reactionaries Fire Up their Sunday Missals–and Miss

Pierre Tristam | August 15, 2010

A comparison of Ground Zero’s neighborhood to Auschwitz or Gettysburg is ridiculous, given the ritzy and lurid neighborhood of Ground Zero. Walk the walk.

Breaking His Silence, Obama Defends Mosque Near Ground Zero

FlaglerLive | August 14, 2010

The president’s Ramadan speech at the White House was not as soaring as Mayor Bloomberg’s defense of the Islamic center in Lower Manhattan, but it was forceful and left no doubts about the president’s stance.

The Problem with Dividing
‘Good Muslims’ from ‘Bad Muslims’