How Unarmed Civilians Stopped Militant Sinhala Buddhist Attacks and Saved Lives in Sri Lanka

When militant Sinhala Buddhist mobs began sweeping through Sri Lanka’s Kandy district, hurling petrol bombs at Muslim-owned houses, shops and mosques, unarmed civilians stepped in and waged a waged a nonviolent campaign to protect their neighbors.

Lisa Fuller
By Lisa Fuller

On March 4th, Sinhala Buddhist mobs began sweeping through Sri Lanka’s Kandy district, hurling petrol bombs at Muslim-owned houses, shops and mosques. The attacks came as a shock, as Sri Lanka has not seen violence on this scale in nearly a decade. The government deployed thousands of security forces, armed with automatic weapons, tear gas and

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A One-State Solution with Equal Rights is the Only Answer to Trump’s Jerusalem Declaration

The demand for a democracy with equal rights over all of historic Palestine must be made loud and clear. Israel must make way for a political reality where the voices of all people are heard and the rights of all people are guaranteed.

Miko Peled
By Miko Peled
Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing

JERUSALEM (Opinion) -- Jerusalem was an Arab and Muslim city for close to 1300 years. Like other parts of Palestine, it was a harmonious mosaic. But, though there was always a Christian and Jewish presence -- both of people and of monuments -- it was predominantly a Muslim city. This was violently disrupted twice: first in the year 1099, from

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Whitewashing Bush and Obama’s Anti-Muslim Policies to Attack Trump

In every instance that Trump target Muslims, the reanimated corpse of the Bush presidency is forced into the public arena again, and a parade of commentators tell a story that is pure fiction about an administration that only exists in their heads.

Roqayah Chamseddine
By Roqayah Chamseddine
President Bush speaks to the press during his visit to the Mosque at the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C., on, September 17, 2001.

Opinion -- President Donald Trump’s fervent Islamophobia, which will likely surge again now that the Supreme Court has blessed the travel ban, is viewed as a kind of unique hostility towards Muslims. Jennifer Williams, Vox’s deputy foreign and national security editor, and a Muslim herself, published a widely shared piece which argued, in part,

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How the Far Right Hijacked the Knights Templar, Who Were Sympathetic to Muslims

The red cross upon a white background, a symbol of the Knights Templar, now carries connotations of nationalism and hate by groups such as the English Defence League and terrorists far-right extremists including Anders Breivik.

Patrick Masters
By Patrick Masters
Unidentified members of the extreme far right group the English Defense League as a English flag is blown over his face, during a protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Oct. 27, 2012. (AP/Matt Dunham)

When market-trader Tina Gayle was banned from selling mugs featuring Knights Templar logos in a Loughborough Market, Charnwood Borough Council ruled that they were offensive to Muslims. A story in the Daily Mail reported that Gayle had “been previously been warned by the council for selling Nazi memorabilia”. A subsequent report said that the

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The Insidious Strategy behind Donald Trump’s Retweets

“I’m not saying that Trump’s a hypocrite and a demagogue. I’m just saying that he doesn’t exactly follow his own advice.”

Jennifer Mercieca
By Jennifer Mercieca
Trump Twitter

On Nov. 29, President Trump retweeted a series of videos that purported to depict violence committed by Muslims. They had originated from the account of a far-right British ultranationalist who had been convicted for harassing a Muslim. The backlash was swift, with British Prime Minister Theresa May saying “the President is wrong to have done

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The Civil War Inside Buddhism Caused Ethnic Cleansing of Muslims

If Myanmar is to emerge from military rule and become a modern democratic state then it must save its Buddhism from descending into extremism.

Paul Fuller
By Paul Fuller
In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Wirathu, a high-profile leader of the Myanmar Buddhist organization known as Ma Ba Tha, is interviewed at his monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar. The nationalist monk is blamed for whipping up bloody anti-Muslim fervor, and said he feels vindicated by the election of Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Aung Naing Soe)

Opinion -- There is a desperate humanitarian crisis underway in Myanmar, centering around the Rohingya Muslims. There is what has been described as a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing” against the approximately one million Rohingya who live in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine. As well as retaliation from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army –

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