…And Our Survey Says: It’s Good to Talk
SARA REEF: A major survey conducted across 55 countries to test the state of relations between the Muslim world and the West…
He Who Got Slapped: Ahmadinejad
DAVID ROBERTS: Under a section titled ‘He who got slapped’ someone from the US Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan reported the confrontation…
Why We Must Speak up for Arab Christians
HASNI ABIDI: The spate of recent attacks on Christians throughout the Arab world has thrown into focus the urgent need to defend their contribution across all areas of life.
Top 10 Middle East Challenges for U.S. Policy, 2011
JUAN COLE: The Obama administration has been successful in tightening the financial noose on Iran during 2010, but Iran could fight back like a cornered rat…
2010: Reports of Dubai’s Death Greatly Exaggerated
HISHAM WYNE: The global press said Dubai was finished. Here, seven local commentators explain why they were wrong.
So what does ‘Fair Trade’ mean for Muslims?
SUZAN EL-AJOU: One fifth of the world’s population identifies itself as Muslim and many of that number are active in business with the other four fifths. What aspects of the Fair Trade Model are in harmony with Islam?
Tunisia – Battle moves to Media for Hearts & Minds
TMND: These groups believe it has been exaggerated. Opposition elements and a shameless Al-Jazeera, they seem to say, have blown the whole thing out of proportion
Christmas Cartoon Urges Iraqis to do it for ThemSelves
BASSAM SEBTI: The message in the video is powerful, urging Iraqis to stand up and start rebuilding their country themselves, instead of waiting for others…
New Lawrence of Arabia Bio – “Fabulously Weird”
TABSIR: Fanatically brave, chillingly ruthless, he was fastidious, repressed, allergic to physical contact, addicted to roasting baths. He was fabulously weird.
Suicide Sparks Unrest, Spreads throughout Tunisia
THE MOOR NEXT DOOR: Following the suicide of a young, unemployed man in Sidi Bouzid, demonstrations have broken out all over Tunisia.
Is it Time to give Saudi Arabian Youth its Voice?
STEVE ROYSTON: Respect for the elderly is deeply ingrained in Arab society. Saudi Arabia, however, faces a major demographic challenge – a hugely youthful population.
A Woman’s Reflection on Leading Prayer
YASMIN MOGAHED: As soon as we accept that everything a man has and does is better, all that follows is a knee-jerk reaction: if men have it, we want it too.
Snowman Theft and the Loss of Innocence
SHELINA ZAHRA JANMOHAMMED: When we lose hope innocence can prevail, and we no longer value the worth of our contributions, that is a cause for communal emergency.
Snow Joke: How to To Combat Travel Chaos
ALEXANDER MCNABB: It’s mad to have people looking at screens talking to customers when those customers could be looking at the screens themselves.
Looking Back on ‘the Year that Was’ in the Middle East
HRH PRINCE EL HASSAN BIN TALAL: It was a year which began with much promise and, whisper it, hope around the Middle East. It ends, however, with feelings that are all too familiar…
Is Saudi Encouraging its own Brain Drain?
STEVE ROYSTON: Could it be that the next wave of migration will come from the very class of people that Saudi Arabia sees as its future?
Wanted: Honorable Men in Saudi Arabia
AMERICAN BEDU: Widows in Saudi Arabia rarely remarry. This is often down to a skewed view of what is acceptable within Saudi society…
The Poisoned Fruit of Anti – Americanism
MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: In Europe the lunatic fringe is going mainstream. Maddening as this is, I really do worry for them. I’m beginning to think something terrible might happen.
The Totally Bonkers $11 Million Christmas Tree
DAVID WESTLEY: From the same hotel that has given us the gold bar vending machine comes what must be the world’s most expensive Christmas tree.
Questions Raised by IAF’s Jordanian Fatwa
NASEEM TARAWNAH: A recently issued fatwa from the Islamic Action Front in Jordan poses interesting questions about the internal turmoil within the Muslim Brotherhood
