SYRIA – A SHORT HISTORY By Phillip K. Hitti, Colier Books, New York 1961 This book is an abridgement of the author’s previous work ‘History of Syria Including Lebanon and Palestine’ (1951). Before the present ‘Arab Spring’ and the subsequent civil war in Syria this country wasn’t
Continue readingTag: Islam
Molly'sBlog: Syria- A Short History
SYRIA – A SHORT HISTORY By Phillip K. Hitti, Colier Books, New York 1961 This book is an abridgement of the author’s previous work ‘History of Syria Including Lebanon and Palestine’ (1951). Before the present ‘Arab Spring’ and the subsequent civil war in Syria this country wasn’t
Continue readingTerahertz: Two sides of a coin
There is no inherent contradiction in viewing fundamentalist religious headgear as misogynistic while still supporting an individual’s religious freedom, so why does the media keep painting it as such? The Charter of Quebec Values is creating a huge, perhaps irreparable rift in the province’s women’s movement. For feminists, there is
Continue readingTerahertz: Closure of Muslim Free School highlights folly of government policy
A bit of welcome news came today that British government inspectors have forced the temporary closure of an Islamic free school over “health and safety issues.” The school promises to re-open soon. Over the past few years, the British government has been increasingly trying to solve its broken education system
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Calgary Sun Plays The Racist Card …
It’s never been a big secret that lurking just underneath the surface of Canada’s right wing politics is a religiously-inspired vein of racism. It reared its head back in the late 1980s when the debate over turbans in the RCMP was at full volume, and the Reform Party voted to
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Bottom Line on the Parti Québécois Proposed Values Charter
I was going to write a long blog post on this but since so much has been written about it I think this captures the spirit and intent of the proposal succinctly. The bottom line on Quebec’s proposed values charter is that you can visit a hospital named after a
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Bottom Line on the Parti Québécois Proposed Values Charter
I was going to write a long blog post on this but since so much has been written about it I think this captures the spirit and intent of the proposal succinctly. The bottom line on Quebec’s proposed values charter is that you can visit a hospital named after a
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Bottom Line on the Parti Québécois Proposed Values Charter
I was going to write a long blog post on this but since so much has been written about it I think this captures the spirit and intent of the proposal succinctly.
The bottom line on Quebec’s proposed values charter is that you can visit a hospital name…
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Woolwich attack on British soldier Lee Rigby was not ‘terrorism’
The killing on an off-duty British soldier on a street in Woolwich, London, had all the ingredients loved by the tabloids… dark skinned Muslim assailants armed with knives and machete… a white well liked military man wearing a Help for Heroes shirt. Had to be an act of terrorism, right?
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Some Islamophobic new atheists as bad as Fox News on steroids
Atheist “fundamentalists” whose very existence seems predicated on their non-belief in God can be as extremist and narrow minded as the worst religious prig. They’re fixated, the way many extremists are, targeting any trace of faith with the blade of their remorseless skepticism. It’s one thing to have doubts about
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Thank you Westboro Baptist Chuch
Westboro Baptish Church – made infamous for picketing military funeral in a protest against homosexual tolerance in America – has reached, unbelievably, a new low. They are now threatening to picket the funerals of victims of the Boston bombings, again for some incoherent homophobic reason. As disgusting as this all
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Bill Maher’s Anti-Islam Smear
On his RealTime programme last night, Bill Maher couldn’t wait to get into his shopworn, anti-Islam theme about the Muslim faith being unique in promoting violence. As I listened to his diatribe I so wished I could ask him just one question. Since the turn of this century, how many
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Video message for FEMEN: ‘saving Muslim women one bra strap at a time’
A Muslimah from Manchester, England, gets her message across in this funny yet pointed video in which she thanks FEMEN ‘from the bottom of her heart’ for showing her how to campaign for women’s rights: My parents got it wrong, they seriously got it wrong…. they thought that by sending
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Human Rights Watch: Challenges for Rights After Arab Spring
The willingness of new governments to respect rights will determine whether those uprisings give birth to genuine democracy or simply spawn authoritarianism in new forms.
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Disservice and Hero of the Day Special Edition: Malala Yousafzai
I have done a few ‘Hero of the Day’ posts and I have a few more on the ways. The recipients have done great work spreading important information, rallying against injustice, educating us masses, and have been generally awesome. But today’s hero is special. On top of those usual achievements, she’s done it all while […]
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Muslims in America and other hidden ethnic histories
Yves at Naked Capitalism cross-posted a wonderful Alternet piece by Lynn Parramore, eviscerating the idea that Islam is new or alien to America. In truth, the Muslim faith has had a long (if lightly-populated) history in the United States. Islam arrived in America so early, the Puritans hadn’t even burnt
Continue readingFive of Five: Solving the Saudi Lust Problem
via BBC: A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye. Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive. I’ve always wondered why the burden lies with women to
Continue readingFive of Five: Solving the Saudi Lust Problem
via BBC:
A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.
Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.
I’ve always wondered why…