Just before dawn on May 31, 2010, a team of Israeli commandos boarded a Turkish ship to enforce a blockade against the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza. As they came aboard, the Israelis were assaulted by a violent faction of Islamic militants. A more >>
John Esposito, director of the Saudi-funded Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, having observed that a large majority of Americans oppose an Islamic center at ground zero, could not decide whether more >>
In a recent article appearing in Tablet, Lee Smith takes former House speaker Newt Gingrich to task for the latter's focus on sharia (i.e., Islamic law). The thrust of Smith's argument is that sharia is a "hopelessly abstract concept" and "a highly more >>
Over the recent Fourth of July weekend, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) interviewed attendees of the 47th annual Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention about their experiences in dealing with "Islamophobia." Shortly more >>
No sooner had Hillary Clinton announced the imminent resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations without preconditions, than the Palestinian leadership cold shouldered the US secretary of state. An emergency meeting of the PLO executive more >>
With the official end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq, what bodes for Iraq's future in terms of its relations to other nations in the Middle East? One useful way to examine this question is through the lens of what Daniel Pipes describes as the present more >>
In a recent article, I argued that the Ground Zero mosque is counterproductive to Islam. The following day, on August 5, the Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm reported that none other than Al Azhar — one of Sunni Islam's most authoritative institutions more >>
The opening of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians, rumored for weeks, is likely to put the spotlight back on U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East policy. That isn't necessarily a good thing. The Israeli public does not trust him and will more >>
"To a man with a hammer," Mark Twain famously quipped, "everything looks like a nail." To a propagandist, everything looks like a poll. No sooner had my latest New York Times op-ed piece, The Palestinians, Alone, been published than my mailbox was more >>
A federal law passed in late July making it harder to enforce foreign libel judgments is great news for journalists in 46 states. Unfortunately, for those in the remaining four, it may have the unintended consequence of weakening the protection they more >>
While vexing to many, the mega mosque set to be built two blocks from Ground Zero has produced one interesting but unintended consequence: like the 9/11 strikes a decade before it, the "9/11 mosque" is also creating a stir, is making people think and more >>
News that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has come out in opposition to the planned construction of a 13-storey 'Córdoba House' or 'Park51' mosque, two blocks away from 'Ground Zero', should prompt us to ask whether it is truly right to oppose the more >>
John L. Esposito, professor of religion and international affairs and director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, is America's best-known apologist for Saudi Wahhabism, the Turkish more >>
Shimon Peres, Israel's 87-year-old president doesn't usually arouse antagonism among Europeans. A tireless peace advocate for decades, and architect of the Oslo Process for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize, he has long presented Israel's moderate more >>
It has long been conventional wisdom that the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a prerequisite to peace and stability in the Middle East. Since Arabs and Muslims are so passionate about the Palestine problem, this argument runs, the more >>
Norton Mezvinsky told the New York Daily News this week that he wasn't invited to the wedding because of a family feud with his nephew that stemmed from his support for his disgraced brother, former Iowa Representative Edward Mezvinsky, whose plans to more >>
A recent episode of the popular Arabic show al-Sharia wa al-Haya (Law and Life), which airs weekly on Al Jazeera and features renowned Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, addressed the important yet little known Muslim concept of taysir (pronounced more >>
That France is moving toward banning the burqa is a positive development on several fronts: For starters, while many are the arguments against the burqa — it is anachronistic, misogynistic, etc. — the fact is there have been many instances worldwide more >>
"Two states, living side by side in peace and security." This, in the words of President Barack Obama, is the solution to the century-long conflict between Jews and Palestinian Arabs in the Middle East. Washington is fully and determinedly on board. So more >>
Uncovering the truth is always a convoluted affair when it comes to the Middle East. Consider the case of the Egyptian Nagla Imam. Is she a Muslim woman who advocates the sexual harassment of Jewish women, or a Christian woman, who advocates human rights more >>
It seems almost unthinkable, but Islamist groups are, as we speak, hard at work creating Muslim states-within-states in the U.S. Indeed, this process has been unfolding for a long time across the Western world, through the creation of isolated Muslim more >>
The Declaration of Independence did more than dissolve the bonds with England. It put the world on notice that America is sovereign; that the rights of its citizens will not be dictated by foreign powers. That is why it is hard to believe that free more >>
PHILADELPHIA — The Middle East Forum is pleased to announce that Efraim Karsh, the distinguished historian, will become editor of the Middle East Quarterly starting with the Fall 2010 issue. Mr. Karsh has taught at King's College London since 1989, where more >>
On June 17, Georgetown University held the event "Evangelicals & Muslims: Perspectives on Mission & Partnership" at its Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. The last of its four panel discussions wrestled with the question more >>
Stanford University history professor Joel Beinin joined colleague Steven Zipperstein, a professor of Jewish culture and history, for an event on June 2, 2010 titled "Israel and Palestine: How To Talk About It and What To Talk About." It was co-sponsored more >>
Depending on whether Islamists address Americans or fellow Muslims, the same exact words they use often relay diametrically opposed meanings. One example: when Americans hear Muslims evoke "justice," the former envision Western-style justice, whereas more >>
It is not enough that the Egyptian government facilitates persecution of the Copts, Egypt's indigenous Christian minority. Now the government is interfering directly with the church's autonomy concerning doctrine. According to the Assyrian International more >>
In recent months, two University of California campuses, Berkeley and San Diego, have been embroiled in fierce debates following the introduction of anti-Israel divestiture resolutions by their respective student senates. Both were defeated, but not more >>
"The martyrs of the [Gaza flotilla] ships are heroes," writes Mark LeVine, professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. "They are warriors every bit as deserving of our tears and support as the soldiers of American wars past and present more >>
The deaths of nine Turkish citizens in the Gaza flotilla incident would have brought a severe reaction under any circumstances. What is nonetheless striking in this incident is the unbridled anger and fiercely hostile reaction of Turkish Prime Minister more >>
Toronto's motto is "Diversity Our Strength." According to the city's official website, it is where "more than 150 languages are spoken daily and where 50 percent of [its 2.7 million] residents are born outside of Canada." When multiculturalism was more >>
Last month, I wrote a PJM article dealing with some of Islam's "problematic" practices, specifically those attributable to the Muslim prophet Muhammad. One of these — the Muslim phenomenon of "adult-breastfeeding," or rida' al-kabir — is making headlines more >>
The 2002 Arab peace initiative, commonly referred to as the "Abdullah plan" after its chief author, then-Saudi crown prince Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz, constitutes the most significant and explicit collective Arab declaration in favor of a peaceful, more >>
"The greatest hurdle Americans need to get over in order to properly respond to the growing threat of radical Islam is purely intellectual in nature; specifically, it is epistemological, and revolves around the abstract realm of 'knowledge.' Before more >>
The population of Jews in the US is three percent ... but [their 'genius'] leads to their controlling so much power that even presidents are scared [of them]. Whether [President Barack] Obama will be able to escape the notion that three percent of the more >>
Foreign Policy gathered eight prominent figures in the Jewish community to discuss Peter Beinart's recent essay, and whether the ties that bond American Jews to Israel remain strong. Mainstream pro-Israel organizations are in fact booming, thank you. more >>
On May 7, 2010, UCLA's Center for Near Eastern Studies (CNES) and the Journal of Middle East Women's Studies co-sponsored the lecture, "Rethinking Arab Women as 'Subjects.'" The talk was delivered by Suad Joseph, a Lebanese-born professor of anthropology more >>
Whether they admit it or not, virtually all Westerners hate the niqab and burqa for the anti-democratic ideology and misogynistic gender relations they signify. Many are increasingly willing to say so. Why does political correctness fall away when it more >>
Which is more likely to elicit an irate Muslim response: 1) public cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, or 2) public proclamations that Muhammad was a bisexual, sometime transvestite and necrophile, who enjoyed sucking on the tongues of children, more >>
Flynt Leverett and his wife Hillary Mann Leverett, both former officials of the National Security Council, are prominent advocates for appeasing Iran, a case they make in a steady stream of articles, public appearances, and postings on their website, more >>
A conference at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on April 16, 2010, offered "Critical Perspectives on the Criminalization of Islamic Philanthropy in the War on Terror." Co-sponsored by the UCLA International Institute, the Critical Race more >>
PHILADELPHIA – The Middle East Forum announces the appointment of Hillel Zaremba as associate director of Islamist Watch. Mr. Zaremba has worked as the assistant editor of the Middle East Quarterly since January 2010 and is now joining Islamist Watch to more >>
George Stephanopoulos' One-on-One with Benjamin Netanyahu Full Transcript of Interview with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu April 19, 2010— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down for an interview with "Good Morning America" anchor more >>
Will the recent killings of al-Qaeda leaders Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri have any tangible effects on the "war on terror"? Vice President Joe Biden — who referred to the slayings as "devastating blows to Al Qaeda in Iraq" — certainly seems more >>
If the same exact criticisms being made against Islam today were also made centuries ago, is it reasonable to dismiss them all as "Islamophobic"— that is, as "unfounded fear of and hostility towards Islam," as the Council on American Islamic Relations more >>
A capacity crowd of 860 students, professionals, hijab-clad women, and others filled Cooper Union's Great Hall on Thursday, April 8, to hear Tariq Ramadan deliver his first public address in the U.S. since the Bush administration revoked his visa in 2004 more >>
Obama's Counterproductive Settlements Ultimatum History shows that progress toward Middle East peace happens when U.S. presidents use finesse, not unreasonable demands, to move negotiations forward. BY STEVEN J. ROSEN | FOREIGN POLICY APRIL 1, 2010 http more >>
The Obama administration has just announced its intent to ban all words that allude to Islam from important national security documents. Put differently, the Obama administration has just announced its intent to ban all knowledge and context necessary to more >>
U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to confront Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Israeli construction activity in East Jerusalem has been greeted by a hail of praise, especially from people impatient to proceed with peace negotiations with more >>
PHILADELPHIA – The Middle East Forum is pleased to announce the appointment of David J. Rusin as director of Islamist Watch. Mr. Rusin has worked as a research associate for the past two years at Islamist Watch—the Forum's project to expose and combat more >>
