My first experience with writing started with blogs. Through blogging, my view of the world started to change; I was no longer dependent on the censored lens of the mainstream media.
My window to the world, my escape and even the vehicle to my enlightenment, blogging is the only means of communicat

On 18 May, Samira Souedian, the Lebanese widow of an Egyptian, was refused the right to pass Lebanese citizenship to her four children by the Lebanese Court of Appeal, despite previously winning her case in a district court in June 2009.
Women protesters took to the streets in support of Samira’s

When it comes to the Muslim world, the media often focuses on foreign policy, terrorism and the differences between the Muslim world and the West. But in the book 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World, University of Manchester’s Professor Salim Al-Hassani draws a different picture of Muslims

My country is facing many challenges. It now stands literally at an unprecedented and dangerous crossroads. America is being torn this way and that by those on the left and the right; by older, more settled families and new immigrants; by Democrats and Republicans. The very livelihood and health of

The ships seized by Israeli armed forces en route to Gaza have made headline news these past weeks. Much of the coverage has focused on the ships from the flotillas that were unsuccessful in their attempts to deliver aid to Gaza. However, in a weird twist, it is #Flotilla – a widely read collection

Until recently, the Christians and other non-Islamic religious groups and sects were indeed a silent minority of Pakistan, and they existed as people who were stereotyped and taken for granted by the mainstream majority, not to mention, belittled and ridiculed at every opportunity. It is a welcome s

The recently concluded Municipal bodies elections in West Bengal seems to have brought firebrand Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress is the second largest group in India's ruling UPA alliance and is also Union Railway Minister, one step more closer to the chair of the Chief Minister of West Be

The first verdict of the Bhopal gas tragedy after 25-years of wait on June 7 came as a rude shock to its victims and all other law abiding citizens across the glob. It is a wake up call to people across the glob to build safeguards against the industrial disaster in the corporate world. The Bhopal t

Franz Magnis-Suseno is a German-born Jesuit Priest and Professor of philosophy in Indonesia. In this interview with freelance writer Anett Keller, the naturalised Indonesian citizen talks about religious tolerance and the definition of blasphemy in Indonesia.
A series of developments in Indonesia o

When organisers from the International Solidarity Movement, which aims to support and strengthen Palestinian popular resistance to the Israeli occupation, consulted us at the California-based Metta Center for Nonviolence about attempting to break the naval blockade of Gaza in 2007, its first year, w

The tragic bloodshed aboard the MV Mavi Marmara aid ship has, justifiably, provoked criticism about Israel’s use of force against civilian populations. It has also, if somewhat tardily, refocused the international community’s attention on the need for an immediate end to the siege on Gaza.
Louise

I had a golden opportunity to visit a few families in different parts of United States (US). While enjoying their hospitality I asked about their family life. This helped me to understand that their family life is very different from the Hollywood film stories. Until this interaction my idea about

Hazami Barmada, President and CEO of Al-Mubadarah Arab Empowerment Initiative, Programme Advisor for the Aspen Institute Global Initiative on Culture and Society, Founder and Executive Director of the Iraqi Orphan Initiative, and Founder and President of the American Muslim Interactive Network, rece

When Turkish director Semih Kaplanoðlu’s film Honey won the Golden Bear award in the 2010 Berlin Film Festival this February, international film critics turned their attention to Turkish cinema.
Honey is the final part of Kaplanoðlu’s trilogy, which narrates three stages of the life of a man in re

“We need a cultural revolution between Arabs and Jews,” proclaims Said Abu Shakra, founder of the first Arab contemporary art gallery in Israel. “I believe art is a catalyst for social change. It empowers communities and contributes to progress. Wherever there is culture, pride and a sense of belong