May 30, 2014
This week, President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. There, he laid out his vision for a foreign policy strategy that would adapt to a changing global landscape.
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READ MOREMay 23, 2014
Following the world’s largest democratic elections, India’s new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, will officially be sworn into office on Monday. Leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi won along with his party members who now make up the majority of Parliament. In the words of the New York Times, “critics fear that this will untie Modi’s hands to pursue the cultural agenda of the Hindu far right, a dangerous path in a country that is 15 percent Muslim and with sizable Sikh and Christian populations.” -
READ MOREMay 9, 2014
It is ironic that election season often highlights the rhetorical gravitas of candidates pandering for a cheap vote. Already during this election season, some candidates are deploying divisive and exclusionary speech to play on people’s fears and ignorance. Campaign season is just heating up and we are already witnessing name-calling and fear-mongering. -
READ MOREMay 2, 2014
It’s not the NBA playoffs that made the news this past week; Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers was recorded arguing with his girlfriend over photos of her with Earvin “Magic” Johnson and other African American athletes. The recording captured Sterling making racist comments ranging from African Americans' roles in society to the treatment of Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Understandably, the nation is appalled that an owner of a national basketball team could hold such anachronistic views. However, why is it that comments on race spark such national outrage, but everyday institutionalized racism is ignored? -
READ MOREApril 25, 2014
With negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis nearing its deadline on April 29, the United States has once again suffered a setback in another round of peace talks. Following an announcement of a unity pact between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel cancelled a session of U.S.-brokered talks with Palestinians that had been set to take place Wednesday. -
READ MOREApril 18, 2014
This week, the Director of MPAC’s Washington, DC office, Haris Tarin, was part of a White House event at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government commemorating the tragic Boston Marathon bombing. -
READ MOREApril 11, 2014
Twenty years ago the world witnessed one of the most horrific acts of violence between countrymen in Rwanda. This week, the world is remembering the Rwandan genocide, an atrocity that claimed the lives of over 800,000 people in the span of three months. -
READ MOREApril 4, 2014
During the past few weeks, Washington, DC, has seen more drama than an episode of “House of Cards.” Remember when the Senate Intelligence Committee was spied upon by the very agency it was tasked to oversee? The CIA, afraid of looking bad, sabotaged Senate staffers who were investigating its torture techniques. A damning report set to be released soon by the same committee exposes the CIA’s efforts to exaggerate the effectiveness of enhanced interrogation (torture) techniques. -
READ MOREMarch 21, 2014
Ukraine, which can be translated as “borderland” or “on the edge” (due to the geographical location of the country), has been on edge for the past few weeks over the Russian invasion of the Crimean peninsula. The people of Crimea include a Russian majority (58%), and a Ukrainian (24%) and Tatar (12%, majority Muslim) minority. -
READ MOREMarch 14, 2014
The issue of NSA surveillance of civilians through implementing the data mining PRISM program, monitoring telephone records and planting software on personal computers has, over the past few months, launched a national debate about surveillance. However, while the public and media outcry has only risen, the outrage seems to be absent among the Senate Intelligence Committee members who oversee the intelligence agencies. -
READ MOREMarch 7, 2014
This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington, DC, to address the annual convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and meet with President Barack Obama to discuss various issues ranging from Iran to the current peace talks. -
READ MOREFebruary 21, 2014
The United Nations has warned that the Central African Republic (CAR) is heading toward a humanitarian disaster to the point that current sectarian violence between Christian and Muslim militias will end in genocide. Since December 2013, bands of Christian militia, known as anti-Balaka, have waged war on Muslims and their property and engaged in a violent campaign of “ethno-religious cleansing,” according to Amnesty International. French and African Union troops have been stationed in CAR since December but are overwhelmed with the 2.5 million residents requiring assistance and safety. -
READ MOREJanuary 31, 2014
For the athletes entering the Winter Olympics, it’s about the games. For the host city of Sochi, Russia, it’s also an exercise in homeland security. From Feb. 7 to the 23rd, the world will be watching as thousands of athletes from more than 80 countries showcase their skills and extraordinary talents in a competition among the world’s best athletes. Right now, days before the Olympics commence, the Russians have been ramping up their security in Sochi with more than 50,000 police, army and security officers. -
READ MOREJanuary 24, 2014
This week, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the departure of Farah Pandith, the State Department’s Special Representative to Muslim Communities. Pandith leaves after almost five years of service in that role. In 2009, then-Secretary Hillary Clinton appointed Pandith to “be responsible for executing a vision for engagement with Muslims around the world based on a people-to-people and organizational level.” -
READ MOREJanuary 17, 2014
The ongoing violence and persecution against the Rohingya people of Myanmar has become increasingly dire in recent months, yet it remains largely overlooked in the public eye. The recently introduced House Resolution 418 urges the government of Burma to end the persecution of the Rohingya people and to respect internationally recognized human rights for all ethnic and religious minority groups within Burma. -
READ MOREJanuary 10, 2014
Perhaps one of the longest running social ill our nation has been fighting is poverty. The war on poverty turned 50 years old. When President Lyndon Johnson announced a war on poverty in 1964 during his State of the Union, the national poverty rate was around 19 percent. Today, the national poverty rate hovers around 16 percent with safety net programs taken into account. -
READ MOREJanuary 3, 2014
Last year was full of disappointing domestic and foreign policy decisions that will have serious implications in the year ahead. It was also a year of breaking unfortunate records: Congressional approval ratings sank to a record low of 9 percent, 2.3 million refugees fled Syria making it the worst refugee crisis since Rwanda in 1994, and the U.S. is still engaged in Afghanistan, which has become the longest running and most unpopular war. -
READ MOREDecember 20, 2013
While the rain and snowstorms in the Middle East continue to cause havoc indiscriminately, the response to conditions caused by the weather has been quite discriminate. On Monday, Israel opened the Wadi Sofa dam in the south Gaza Strip that flooded Gazan towns and displaced approximately ten thousand Gazans from their homes leading the United Nations to label it a “disaster area.” -
READ MOREDecember 13, 2013
The Muslim Public Affairs Council’s 13th annual convention is this Saturday, Dec. 14 at the Long Beach Convention Center. This year we will celebrate “25 Years on the Road Less Traveled.” In keeping with MPAC’s tradition is to explore themes and tackle issues that impact the American Muslim community by bringing together leading policy-makers, academicians, faith and thought leaders and artists. The conversations will be nothing short of dynamic. -
READ MOREDecember 6, 2013
Yesterday, incoming New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his selection of William Bratton as his choice for NYPD Commissioner. Bratton will take the helm of the nation’s largest police force for a second time, after also serving as the top cop in Los Angeles and Boston. De Blasio praised Bratton, saying, “He knows what it takes to keep a city safe and make communities full partners in the mission.”
