Arabs and Muslims in America Topics

Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to Arabs and Muslims in America

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  • "U.S. Muslims Still Under Siege"

    While Obama was in Turkey this week, he pledged a commitment to "bridge the divide between the Muslim world and the West." Meanwhile, in Tampa, Fl., Youssef Megahed was arrested on charges he had been acquitted of days before. In the murky world of immigrant detention, "double jeapordy," being charged with the same offense twice, is perfectly legal.

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    Apr 08, 2009 | Columns & Articles

  • Florida Student Arrested by Immigration Three Days After Acquittal on Bomb Charges

    Immigration officials have arrested a twenty-three-year-old Florida student just three days after a jury acquitted him on federal explosives charges. Youssef Megahed was arrested in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store Monday, where he had gone shopping with his father. He had just begun a fast to celebrate his acquittal. Megahed’s attorneys say he now faces deportation proceedings, apparently on the same charges for which he was found not...
    Apr 07, 2009 | Story

  • "Smearcasting: How Islamophobes Spread Fear, Bigotry and Misinformation"

    In the last few weeks, 28 million copies of a DVD titled Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West have been distributed in key battleground states. The film features graphic, violent images and makes comparisons of Islam to Nazism. The DVD comes amidst concerns of increasing levels of ethnic and religious bias in US politics and the stoking of Islamophobia. We speak to Ibrahim Cooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Isabel...
    Oct 17, 2008 | Story

  • Sami Al-Arian Released After 5.5 Years in Prison

    After more than five-and-a-half years behind bars, Palestinian professor and activist, Sami Al-Arian, has been released from prison. Immigration authorities released him on bail on Tuesday after they failed to explain his continued detention pending a trial for refusing to testify before a grand jury about a cluster of Muslim organizations in northern Virginia. But while he is out of prison, Sami Al-Arian is not free. He must remain under house...
    Sep 03, 2008 | Story

  • "A Jihad for Love": New Film Explores Challenges Facing Gay Muslims Worldwide

    Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma spent five-and-a-half years documenting the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims in twelve countries. His subjects include a gay imam in South Africa, an Egyptian who fled to France after his imprisonment and torture, and a lesbian couple in Turkey. [includes rush transcript]
    May 20, 2008 | Story

  • World Renowned Philosopher Slavoj Zizek on the Iraq War, the Bush Presidency, the War on Terror & More

    Part two of our wide-ranging discussion with Slavoj Zizek, the philosopher, psychoanalyst and cultural theorist. He has been called the "Elvis of cultural theory" and is widely considered to be one of Europe’s leading intellectuals. He has written more than fifty books and speaks to sold-out audiences around the world. [includes rush transcript]
    May 12, 2008 | Story

  • BROADCAST EXCLUSIVE...Ousted NYC Arabic School Principal Debbie Almontaser Speaks Out on the New McCarthyism & Rightwing Media Attacks

    Debbie Almontaser was forced to step down in August 2007 as the founding principal of the Khalil Gibran School, New York City’s first public school dedicated to the study of Arabic language and culture. Her resignation followed a rightwing campaign that painted her as an educator with a militant Islamic agenda. In a Democracy Now! exclusive, Debbie Almontaser joins us in her first national broadcast interview since stepping down and suing the...
    Apr 29, 2008 | Story

  • Al-Arian Enters 19th Day of Hunger Strike in Protest of "Government Harassment"

    Jailed Palestinian Professor Sami Al-Arian has entered the nineteenth day of a hunger strike to protest what he calls continued government harassment. He was brought before a third grand jury Thursday, but did not testify. We speak with Al-Arian’s eldest daughter, Laila, and his local counsel in Virginia, Will Olson. [includes rush transcript]
    Mar 21, 2008 | Story

  • Iraqi American Reflects on Five Years of War

    As the US occupation of Iraq enters its sixth year, we turn to an Iraqi American voice to get a rarely heard perspective on the war. Ayad Al-Qazzaz is a professor of sociology at California State University, Sacramento. He was born in Iraq and immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. [includes rush transcript]
    Mar 20, 2008 | Story

  • Bush Admin Prosecution of Largest Muslim Charity in U.S. Ends in Mistrial

    The now-defunct Holy Land Foundation was once the largest Muslim charity in the United States. It collected donations for local committees providing humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The government had accused it of providing "material support" to a foreign terrorist organization. But jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict, and the U.S. district judge declared a mistrial on most of the charges. We speak to David Cole,...
    Oct 24, 2007 | Story