Category: Identity

Although members of the LGBTQ+ community face threats of and frequently experience violence and discrimination across the Middle East, there are a number of notable Pride celebrations that take place in the region honoring the history, resilience, accomplishments and adversities of the population. Activists and human rights organizations in several countries have been fighting for […]

On June 29, 2019, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), NYU Washington, DC, Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC), Justice for Muslims Collective (JMC), and the Arab American Institute (AAI) hosted a program to explore the history and impact of structural Islamophobia. One year earlier, on June 26, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld President Trump’s ban on travel from several […]

Following a terror attack bearing the hallmarks of ISIS or other such groups, it is now customary for Muslim leaders to issue public condemnations. Should that be the case? On the one hand, immediately condemning such acts preempts (and, ideally, prevents) any accusations of terrorist sympathies on the part of individual leaders and communities. On […]

The following interview with Nadia Aziz, a program manager of the Stop the Hate Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, was conducted, produced and edited by Middle East Policy Council interns, Gabrielle Hunt (Seton Hall University) and Sara Lönegård (University of Dundee/San Francisco State) in 2017. MEPC interns can develop independent projects […]

In this republished article by journalists William Booth and Hazem Balousha, educated and unemployed Palestinians in their 20s discuss lives bereft of opportunity and hope. Nearly 60 percent of young Gazans are unemployed and most would leave if it were possible. With few stable job prospects and no escape, many have resorted to occasional odd […]

A general lack of knowledge about how some Muslim girls and women dress sometimes leads to instances of anti-Islam rhetoric, harmful stereotypes and social barriers. This is not a black-and-white issue as women's attire everywhere is influenced by family, culture and national norms, religious beliefs, personal preference, fashion trends, political views and so much more. [...]

Arab American Stories is an Emmy Award-winning 13-part series presented by Detroit Public Television that explores the diversity of the Arab-American experience. Each half hour features three short, character-driven documentaries produced by a variety of independent filmmakers which profile Arab Americans making an impact in their community, their profession, their family or the world at […]

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, based in Washington, D.C., has taken a closer look at Michigan’s Muslim community response to the public health crisis that emerged from unsafe levels of lead in the working class town’s water. Below you will find a graphic that highlights their involvement in alleviating suffering in the aftermath, […]

‘We are Iranians’: Rediscovering the history of African slavery in Iran Iranian-Canadian scholar Behnaz Mirzai has spent 20 years researching the African diaspora in Iran, a little-known slice of Iranian history. This story is re-posted from the original publication at Middle East Eye. Jillian D’Amours May 9, 2016 ST CATHARINES, Canada – Behnaz Mirzai’s students […]

This is a continuation of original article Communal Identities and Ethnic Groups Daniel G. Bates, Amal Rassam From Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East © 2000 Pearson Education Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. In this chapter Daniel Bates of Istanbul Bilgi University and Amal Rassam of [...]