(ANALYSIS) A new international Community-Based Truth Commission will examine the failure to deliver justice for Yazidis after the genocide of 2014. Scheduled for hearings in Berlin this year, it will hear survivor testimony and propose pathways to accountability, including universal jurisdiction and possible international tribunal mechanisms.
Read MoreThe way right-wing commentators talk about Islam has changed in the last few years. The same pundits who once criticized Islam are now defending it. To find out why, Matthew Peterson spoke with journalist Matthew Schmitz.
Read MoreIt’s the conflict that seems to never end — and Americans have shifted their opinions on it. Following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, a messy war ensued in Gaza. Americans fiercely debated which side, if any, the U.S. should align with. After almost three years of war, researchers have been able to gauge how American sentiments about Israel, Palestine and Hamas have changed over time.
Read MoreAyatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral is unlike any other in the history of Iran’s Islamic Republic and the wider Middle East. The country’s longtime supreme leader was killed four months ago in U.S.-Israeli strikes, but his burial has been delayed until now, making the ceremony a rare departure from Islamic tradition.
Read MoreThere’s that question again: How can mainstream media cover this story? Do elite journalists want to cover it? Is it cynical to thinkthat this story could, finally, end up on the front page of The New York Times if, and only if, it can be framed as yet another failure linked to Orange Man Bad?
Read MoreThe Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, proved to be just the first bloodletting in a renewed cycle of violence and recrimination. Israel responded with its destructive campaign in Gaza. Far from the theater of war, American Jews reckoned with renewed fears of antisemitism and fractures within their own communities and families.
Read More(OPINION) In their legitimate efforts to oppose tyranny, many Iranian Christians are dangerously mixing politics, nationalism and their Christian faith. Christian leaders present Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi as the best, or even the divinely appointed, option for Iran’s transition and churches are displaying the Iranian flag during worship services.
Read MoreThe Iran war has triggered several instances of unity among Sunnis and Shiites — two major Muslim groups that have historically been at odds. Young people lead the displays of solidarity, finding a common cause in the wake of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s assassination.
Read More(ESSAY) As an anthropologist who studies social bonding during times of crisis, I now understand how cultural religious traditions — even when they seem different — can create unexpected connections. Many years after my military service, during the final days of my father’s life, my large family kept vigil beside him. Sitting with my siblings, mother and dozens of nieces and nephews, I told them this story.
Read MoreFollowing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death in a US-Israeli strike and the renewed Israel-Iran conflict, Nigeria's Islamic Movement mobilized nationwide protests, reflecting deep ideological and spiritual ties to Iran while raising concerns among authorities about security, sectarian tensions and regional stability.
Read More(REVIEW) Sid Klein has finally found his subject. More than half a century after he scrambled to pick a topic for his senior art project at Brooklyn College in New York — and settled on exploring the porcelain curves of a toilet bowl in a 20-painting series — he’s discovered a purpose.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As Muslims gather for the annual pilgrimage of Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, they will circle around the “Kaaba,” a black cube draped in gold-embroidered cloth. A ceremonial textile — known as the “kiswah” — covers the Kaaba, around which Muslims will walk seven times in a ritual known as “tawāf.” It is the central act of the annual pilgrimage.
Read MoreJoseph Holmes speaks with the director of “Cast Aside The Clouds” about why she wanted to make a film about a Bahá'í/Muslim love story, her own journey with the Bahá’í faith, and the unity and conversations she hopes will come about as a result of its release.
Read More(REVIEW) A “Romeo and Juliet” style love story, “Cast Aside The Clouds” that protests how religious intolerance — such as the kind regularly levied against the Baháʼí people in Iran — threatens love by targeting innocent people for oppression.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Liberal democracies promise freedom and prosperity, yet they often struggle to answer a deeper question: What is this freedom for? When shared narratives and moral horizons fade, individuals may experience fragmentation and a loss of meaning. Politics shrinks into technocratic management.
Read MoreThe Israeli thriller “Unconditional” has sparked accusations of “hasbara” before release, but the series proves more complicated than simple propaganda. Following a young Israeli woman imprisoned in Russia, the show explores national image-making, Israeli behavior abroad, and the moral gray zones surrounding identity, war, and public perception.
Read MoreYazidis in northeast Syria are fleeing yet again as renewed fighting in Aleppo triggers mass displacement, reviving trauma from ISIS’s 2014 genocide. Survivors face deep psychological scars, economic hardship, and persistent insecurity, with many fearing further violence, family separation, and the gradual erosion of their community and identity through repeated upheaval.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Muslim Americans can often feel helpless in combating the hate they experience – more awareness and advocacy could reduce Islamophobia and address the mental health needs of an already vulnerable community. As the war with Iran continues, these issues will continue to persist among America’s Muslim community.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Stephen Miller’s “might makes right” worldview reflects a broader shift toward prioritizing power over understanding in global affairs. Through the tales of Nasreddin Hoja, the piece argues that curiosity, humility, and engagement with other cultures are essential — and that relying solely on strength risks blinding societies to complexity, difference and their own limitations.
Read More(ANALYSIS) American religion has rarely, if ever, seen anything quite like these past weeks. Start with President Donald Trump’s profane Easter Sunday message to Iran. Making matters worse, the president then took on Pope Leo, saying the pontiff is a “very liberal person” who is “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy.”
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