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- The Arab-Israeli Conflict
A Selection of Viewpoints on the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Downloadable file located at the bottom of this page. The Middle East Policy Council has tackled numerous subjects ...
Read More Deportivo Palestino: Arab Identity and Sports in Chile
A soccer team in Chile’s top league ignited controversy in January, 2014, with its uniforms depicting the entire ...
Read More Jewish and Arab Women Embody Peaceful Coexistence with Choir Ensemble
In Israeli Choir, Arab and Jewish Women Put Aside Politics to Sing with One Voice Published online at ...
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New preservation project in Haifa, Israel, seeks to keep historical Arab foods from disappearing
From Haaretz.com comes a story on Haifa’s hottest new preservation project which focuses on near-forgotten Levantine Arab culinary ...
Read More Op-Ed: Zionism and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
The following is an edited transcript of remarks by Henry Siegman to the Middle East Policy Council’s 72nd ...
Read More Picturing Palestinians Through New Lenses
In a New York Times article, “Palestinian Pleasures”, James Estrin looks at how one woman is trying to ...
Read More Primer on the Arab-Israeli Conflict
The Middle East Research and Information Project provides a detailed chronicle of the unrest between the Arabs and ...
Read More Sacco Conveys the Everyday Experiences of Palestinians
Graphic artist Joe Sacco conveys the everyday experiences of Palestinians in Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza Joe Sacco, ...
Read More The Role of Palestinian Non-Profit Organizations
An Overview This article seeks to highlight work being done on the ground to promote peace and sustainable ...
Read More Washington Post Profiles Wasted Generation of Gaza Stifled by Lack of Opportunity, Employment
In this republished article by journalists William Booth and Hazem Balousha, educated and unemployed Palestinians in their 20s ...
Read More William Quandt: U.S. Foreign Policy & the Arab-Israeli Conflict
William Quandt, former member of the National Security Council, speaks about the on U.S. Foreign Policy on the ...
Read More 15 English Worlds Derived from Arabic
You have zero interest in algebra, so you grab some alcohol — or maybe a coffee with extra ...
Read More 5 Things to Know about Aladdin
Aladdin film poster comparison. Screen capture from YouTube. In May 2019, Disney released a live-action version of Aladdin, ...
Read More An Introduction to Cybersecurity in the World of International Relations
As technology advances on a global scale, cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly pressing topic on both the domestic ...
Read More As Technology Advances Where are the Lines Drawn
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash As the world becomes more connected than ever through globalization and social ...
Read More Turkey’s Energy Ambitions: The Impact on EU Cybersecurity & the U.S. Relationship
Turkey and its neighbors, Greece and Cyprus specifically, are engaged in ongoing disputes surrounding maritime borders, the delimitation ...
Read More A Look at the Islamic Center of Washington DC
Credit: Library of Congress The Islamic Center of Washington was “the first major congregational mosque” in America and ...
Read More American Muslims and the Flint Water Crisis: A Case Study
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, based in Washington, D.C., has taken a closer look at Michigan’s ...
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Arab-American Community Highlights
These are but a few of many of the Arab-American communities across the United States built around common ...
Read More Chief the Poet: Nahla
In the video below, the dean of high school in Connecticut gives a spoken word performance about a ...
Read More Guest Article: Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Is Out of Step with Reality in the United States
Matthew La Corte is a Research Associate at the Niskanen Center, is a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think ...
Read More Latest American Muslin Poll Reveals Trends and Diversity of American Faith Communities
Earlier this month, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding released its fifth annual Muslim American Poll. Like ...
Read More Muslims for American Progress Looks at Muslim Contributions to the United States
To fill the widespread gaps in knowledge about Muslim American citizens, including their positive effect on the country, ...
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Muslims in America: Public Perceptions in the Trump Era
A June 2018 report by the Voter Study Group analyzes how most Americans perceive American Muslims vs. how ...
Read More Nearly half of refugees in US were Muslim in 2016
The Middle East Monitor reports on a new study by the Pew Research Center that found that nearly ...
Read More Op-Ed: Muslims are critical to American Progress (with guiding questions)
Op-Ed: Muslims are Critical to American Progress (with Guiding Questions) While the world mourned the savage and senseless ...
Read More Opinion: American Muslim Women Don’t Need You to Save Them from Islam
Opinion: American Muslim Women Don’t Need You to Save Them from Islam Dalia Mogahed, Opinion Contributor USA Today ...
Read More Report Documents the Effects of Islamophobia and Negative Stereotypes on Muslims
Report Documents the Effects of Islamophobia and Negative Stereotypes on Muslims Rowaida Abdelaziz, Huffington Post May 2018 ...
Read More Resource Highlight: Arab American Stories Documentary Series with Classroom Tools
Arab American Stories is an Emmy Award-winning 13-part series presented by Detroit Public Television that explores the diversity ...
Read More View PBS Documentary: American Arab
Watch PBS documentary from its World Channel initiative now for a limited time. American Arab looks at what ...
Read More American Muslims and the Flint Water Crisis: A Case Study
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, based in Washington, D.C., has taken a closer look at Michigan’s ...
Read More Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim? What’s the Difference?!
Many Americans have a hard time distinguishing between the terms Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim. Here we break ...
Read More Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups
Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam From Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East © 2000 Pearson Education Electronically ...
Read More Deportivo Palestino: Arab Identity and Sports in Chile
A soccer team in Chile’s top league ignited controversy in January, 2014, with its uniforms depicting the entire ...
Read More Facets of Arab Identity Halim Barakat
Facets of Arab Identity Halim Barakat Halim Barakat, an Arab novelist and sociologist, taught at a variety of ...
Read More Pride in the Middle East: A Story of Celebration and Resistance
Although members of the LGBTQ+ community face threats of and frequently experience violence and discrimination across the Middle ...
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Race and Identity in Iran
‘We are Iranians’: Rediscovering the history of African slavery in Iran Iranian-Canadian scholar Behnaz Mirzai has spent 20 ...
Read More Resource Highlight: “Arab American Stories” Documentary Series with Classroom Tools
Arab American Stories is an Emmy Award-winning 13-part series presented by Detroit Public Television that explores the diversity ...
Read More The Kurds and Kurdistan
This is a continuation of original article Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam From ...
Read More The Maronites of Lebanon
This is a continuation of original article Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam From ...
Read More A Global Guide to Islamic Art
Written by Jonathan M. Bloom and Sheila S. Blair Reprinted from Saudi Aramco World (January/February 2009) Access the ...
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A Historical and Contemporary View of Palmyra (The New York Review of Books)
This compelling overview of the ancient ruins of Palmyra, located in central Syria, recounts the many conquests that ...
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Afghanistan’s First Female Rapper
The BBC reports that Afghanistan’s first female rapper is upbeat about the future. Visit here for access to ...
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Arabic Contributions to the Spanish Language and Culture
From the desert they came – men filled with religious zeal and riding under banners inscribed with the ...
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Arabizi, the Arabic Chat Language Changing the Way Young People Write & Speak
Spoken languages have distinct styles Americans use different words and speaking styles depending where they’re from and who ...
Read More Ave Maria Performance Accompanied by the Islamic Call to Prayer
An example of religious plurualism in Lebanon, this Youtube video features Lebanese diva Tania Kassis singing an inspired ...
Read More Books to Prisoners Project Offers ALternative to Religious Literature that feeds Militancy
Inspired by the story of her own father’s imprisonment, Tunisian blogger and activist Lina Ben Mhenni is bringing ...
Read More Explore the Epic Poem, Shahnama
The Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art website contains a fascinating feature on the 1,005-year old literary masterpiece, the ...
Read More Film as a Political Tool: Tracing the History of Cinema in Iran
Artistic Production In Iran When Ayatollah Khomeini declared that his reservation was against promiscuity, not film, the ban ...
Read More Identity Reclamation and Preservation Through Art: Syrian and Palestinian Refugees in Jordan
With the traditional Palestinian scarf, keffiyeh, affixed to their heads, eleven men clasped hands and led the Levantine ...
Read More Marcel Khalife: Cultural Icon in the Arab World
Though born in Lebanon, Marcel Khalife is a cultural icon throughout the Arab world. Perhaps no other contemporary ...
Read More Middle Eastern Strides in Tennis
US Open, Regional Expansion With the U.S. Open coming to a close last Sunday, September 10, conversations have ...
Read More Middle Eastern Youth Build Bridges Through Arts, Sports and Dialogue
The Middle East is often characterized by perpetual conflict, religious extremism, poor governance, and people torn apart by ...
Read More Persian Miniature Paintings Visual Tour
Let’s take a visual tour of two exquisite sixteenth-century Persian paintings, “A Camp Scene” and “Nighttime in a ...
Read More Persian Music Podcast from the Smithsonian
A Podcast Master of Persian Music: Hossein Alizadeh with tar and sitar. Listen to a podcast from the ...
Read More Proverbs from the Middle East and South Asia
The son of a duck is a swimmer. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; or Like ...
Read More Saudi Investment in Sports
On December 5, 2022, various European outlets rumored that Portuguese soccer player and global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo agreed ...
Read More Tbourida: A North African Equestrian Performance Art
After several years of advocacy from Moroccan representatives, UNESCO officially inscribed tbourida, a North African cavalry performance, on ...
Read More The Evolution of Rai Music
This article, influenced by an essay by Louis Werner begins with a very brief discussion of the development ...
Read More The Real Story of Representational Art in Islam
It is a common belief that Islam forbids art that shows the human figure, but the issue is ...
Read More Women, Life, Freedom Protests in Artistic Spaces
On September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in Tehran after being arrested by police. Amini was detained ...
Read More All the Single Ladies: American Muslims & Marriage (partner content)
What are the marriage trends among American Muslims? Marriage is a constant topic in American Muslim circles. Islamic ...
Read More Arab Youth & Social Change in the Middle East
Prolific author, Middle East expert, and history professor at the University of Michigan, Juan Cole argues that despite ...
Read More Class Dismissed, Behind the Scenes with Malala Yousafzai (Video)
In 2012, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai was 15 and an outspoken advocate for children’s and girls’ access to ...
Read More From BBC Magazine: Why does China have Women-Only Mosques?
The Islamic world is wide and various, its points of view almost as numerous as its people. And ...
Read More Introduction to Women and Gender Roles in the Middle East
Many people hold a rather bleak view of girls’ and women’s lives in the Middle East and Muslim ...
Read More Malala Yousafzai Wins 2014 Nobel Peace Prize
Two years and a day after being shot by Taliban gunmen for defying their proscription of girls’ education ...
Read More Middle Eastern Women Gain Recognition in Surprising Places
Arab and Muslim women are the subjects of many erroneous stereotypes and delegitimizing generalizations. You may be familiar ...
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The Light in Her Eyes: Video Profile of Girls’ School in Damascus
Filmmakers Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix profiled Houda al-Kabash and her Qur’an school for women and girls in ...
Read More Women in Muslim History: Traditional Perspectives and New Strategies
This short essay by sociologist Fatima Mernissi, a prominent sociologist from Morocco, is a survey of Islamic texts ...
Read More Women’s Empowerment is an Effective Way to Drive Progress in Saudi Arabia
On March 3rd, Alwaleed Philanthropies and several partners held the 2nd Women’s Empowerment and Integration Forum in Jeddah, ...
Read More Yemeni Woman Wins 2011 Nobel Peace Prize
In 2011, three women shared that year’s Nobel Peace Prize “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of ...
Read More A Closer Look: The Origins and Evolution of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood
The Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwayn al-Muslimun) is the oldest and most influential Islamist organization in Egypt, most recently in ...
Read More A Review of Relations Between Israel and Egypt
Egypt’s relationship with Israel is complex and has changed considerably over the years. Like all other Arab countries, ...
Read More Caravan Kingdoms
Caravan Kingdoms: Yemen and the Ancient Incense Trade This online exhibition provides an intriguing and informative look at ...
Read More Fatima al-Fihri
Fatima al-Fihri is a 9th century woman credited with founding Al Quaraouiyine University, the oldest in the world. ...
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History Resource List
History Resources for Educators Classroom Resources General Middle Eastern History Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Islamic History Specific Periods, People and ...
Read More Lebanon’s Forgotten Space Program
How often do children dream of becoming astronauts when they grow up? There is a universal fascination with ...
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Ottoman History with Resources
TEACHING OTTOMAN HISTORY: A PRIMER (with updates and adaptations) Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The Outreach ...
Read More Photographs Tell a History of Palestinian Refugees
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) unearthed an archive of haunting photos documenting the Palestinian refugee ...
Read More Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Heritage Uncovered
For hundreds of years, popular perceptions of Arab culture have been dominated by Islam. But recent excavations in ...
Read More The First Caliphs of Islam: Power, Corruption and War in the Rashidun Caliphate
Written by Caleb Strom, Ancient Origins The first caliphs of the Islamic World were the Rashidun, or “rightly ...
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Understanding Middle Eastern History: An Interview with William Cleveland
An interview with William Cleveland, Professor of History at Simon Fraser University and author of the widely used ...
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A Closer Look at the Presidential Election in Iran
On May 19th, Iranians return to the polls to select their next president. The much anticipated event has ...
Read More A History of Islamist Movements in Algeria
Algeria’s history and identity is rooted in Islam. Cultural practices, even under French rule, were strongly Islamic. In ...
Read More A Selection of Viewpoints on the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Downloadable file located at the bottom of this page. The Middle East Policy Council has tackled numerous subjects ...
Read More Amb. Chas W. Freeman, Jr. Talks about the U.S.’ Misaligned Objectives in the Middle East
The following is an edited transcript of remarks by Chas W. Freeman, Jr. to the Middle East Policy ...
Read More Arab and Muslim Ban 3.0: What You Need to Know (Re-post)
ADC (The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee) has released valuable practical information on the details of the latest version ...
Read More Explore the Global Security Matrix Tool
What makes us feel safe? Is the definition of security universal or does it differ from country to ...
Read More Islamic State’s Gruesome Muslim Death Toll
Journalist and comedian, Dean Obeidallah, reaches beyond the headlines detailing the horrific treatment by the Islamic State of ...
Read More Learn About the Negotiations that Led to the Iran Nuclear Agreement
The highly contested negotiation talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security ...
Read More New Israeli Government Coalition Comprised of Disparate Ideologies
The thirty-sixth government of Israel, also referred to as the Bennett–Lapid government – so called because Naftali Bennett ...
Read More One Year of the Qatar Blockade
June 5th marked one year since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with Qatar over ...
Read More Overview of the Turkey Referendum (Washington Post)
A poster of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the upcoming referendum, in Istanbul on March 27. (Emrah ...
Read More Responses to the Supreme Court’s Executive Order “Muslim Ban” Decision
June 26, 2018 – The Supreme Court has upheld the Trump administration’s third “Muslim Ban” in a ...
Read More Ted Talk on Fighting Extremism
Anti-extremist activist Maajid Nawaz was once, in fact, an Islamist extremist himself. In this fascinating TED video, Nawaz ...
Read More The Algerian Exception to the 2011 Uprisings
How Did Algeria Differ in the Arab Spring Revolts? In 2011, starting with the self-immolation of Bouazizi, a ...
Read More Thomas Jeffererson and the Qu’ran
To listen to the full podcast, click here. In 2006, Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to ...
Read More Turkish President Further Consolidates Power
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced his resignation on Thursday, May 6, 2016. Davutoglu’s resignation is the most ...
Read More U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East since the 19th Century
© 2004, Mohamed El Mansour In this article the influential Moroccan historian provides a history of the role ...
Read More Voices of the Egyptian Revolution
This in-depth profile looks at key participants in the 2011 Egyptian uprisings as well as the first post-Mubarak ...
Read More What Does Donald Trump’s Rise in US Politics Mean for the Middle East?
From the Middle East Policy Council comes this exploration of opinions of the effects of a potential Trump ...
Read More What Has Happened Since the Supreme Court’s 2018 Affirmation of the Muslim Ban?
Several hundred people protest against one of President Trump’s executive orders banning immigrants from several, predominantly-Muslim countries in ...
Read More Why Do Muslim Perpetrators of Ideologically-Motivated Violent Plots Receive Different Treatment than Non-Muslims?
Image capture from story on 2019 FBI booklet, “Homegrown Violent Extremist Mobilization Indicators,” which identifies 46 behavioral signs ...
Read More Why Lebanon’s Food Prices Are Through The Roof
An Overview This article will explore the context and impacts of food insecurity across Lebanon. Lebanon’s economic crisis ...
Read More Activism & Human Rights Advocacy
The Middle East is often portrayed as an outlier when it comes to human rights, yet, the outbreak ...
Read More Artists and Art Organizations
Artists play a huge role in carrying and forming new narratives. Especially within the Middle East and its ...
Read More Collectives
Collectives – spaces of shared interest – hold great importance in the Middle East. Too often we perceive ...
Read More Photography
Photography and photographic imagery, while a great tool to portray and communicate events and emotion, can also be ...
Read More Conflict and the Environment
News outlets and educational resources recently reported on a surprising environmental impact of civil unrest in the Middle ...
Read More Gulf Agricultural Investments in Sudan
An Overview: Context and Key Questions In some parts of Sudan, there is foreign-owned land for as far ...
Read More Islamic Science and Mathematics: The Astrolabe
One particular achievement of the Golden Age of Islam is the Astrolabe, an astronomical instrument from the 12th ...
Read More Maps and Digital Geography Applications
Maps are an excellent introductory tool for taking students on meaningful adventures through geography, cultures, history, and current ...
Read More Mountains of the Middle East
Why should we think so hard about geography? Why does geography matter? In addition to the intrinsic interest ...
Read More Renewable Energy in the Middle East
While the Middle East is often associated with fossil fuel production, the region has immense potential for the ...
Read More Water in the Middle East
Water security has always been an issue in the arid environment that characterizes most of the Middle East. ...
Read More What is the Middle East?
The Middle East is the common term for a region consisting of countries in southwest Asia and, usually, ...
Read More 10 Things to Know About Islam
John Esposito delivers 10 essential points to know about Islam that can give any reader a basic understanding ...
Read More Christians in the Middle East
This is a continuation of the original article Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam ...
Read More FAQ on the Islamic Veil and Women’s Dress
A general lack of knowledge about how some Muslim girls and women dress sometimes leads to instances of ...
Read More Islamophobia in the Margins — It’s Bad for Everybody
The 2018 Institute for Social Policy and Understanding American Muslim Poll showed most Americans overwhelmingly support civil rights ...
Read More Jewish Communities of the Middle East
This is a continuation of the original article Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam ...
Read More Muslim-Derived Sectarian Communitites
This is a continuation of original article Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam From ...
Read More Non-Muslim Confessional Communities: Christians and Jews
This is a continuation of original article Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam From ...
Read More President Obama’s First Visit to an American Mosque
On February 3rd, President Obama visited the Islamic Society of Baltimore. Following a meeting with Muslim community leaders, ...
Read More Resources on Religion
General Background Information on Islam 10 Things everyone should know about Islam – John Esposito. Katie Couric discusses ...
Read More Soundscapes of Islam
Soundscapes of Islam: The Call to Prayer and Qur'an Recitation Sound is an intrinsic part of all our ...
Read More The Armenians in the Middle East
This is a continuation of original article Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam From ...
Read More What’s Missing in the Teaching of Islam
There has been much misinformation about Islam. Reports in Western media tend to perpetuate stereotypes that Islam is ...
Read More Who Thinks Muslim Leaders Should Condemn Terrorism? (Guest Column)
Following a terror attack bearing the hallmarks of ISIS or other such groups, it is now customary for ...
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