In the passing of Jack Shaheen, the distinguished Arab American author, academic and lifelong crusader for truth, the Arab world has lost a true champion and voice of reason. Born to Lebanese Christian immigrant parents in Pittsburgh, Shaheen (...)
The 100th anniversary of the United States' reluctant plunge into World War I was marked 6 April 2017. Fearful of foreign entanglement, America stood watching for three years while on the other side of the Atlantic young men slaughtered each other. (...)
“Mr Gorbachev! Tear down this wall!” As Donald Trump goes about walling America in and shutting out the world, those prophetic words of Ronald Reagan, deified by the Republicans as the greatest US president since Abe Lincoln, ring in my ears. (...)
During our last visit to Turkey in the autumn of 2013, we spent less than a week in Istanbul. But it felt like as if we had lived all our life in the ancient city that is hard to define until you have experienced it yourselves. Istanbul has that (...)
This year when I exchanged Christmas and New Year greetings on Facebook, some fellow travelers were upset. “Sir, is it okay to greet Christians?” a bewildered Facebook “friend” asked.
I chose to ignore him. But that was not the end of it. There were (...)
In the wake of Hitler's genocidal campaign that nearly wiped out the Jews from across Europe, the world community vowed to never let history repeat itself. It promised itself to “never again” remain silent in the face of genocide, ethnic cleansing, (...)
I have always had a thing for Pakistani television dramas. I love them for their engrossing storytelling, superb performances and their Urdu language. And it seems it is not just me; the whole of India instantly fell in love with them when Zindagi, (...)
They say a week is a long time in politics. Nearly a week after Donald Trump's shock US presidential election victory, however, the news is yet to sink in across the globe. The world cannot seem to wrap its head around what just happened.
I hope all (...)
Phew! What a crazy, absolutely unpredictable contest this election has been! Who would have thought that someone as unorthodox and radical as Donald Trump would come this far in the race for the White House, let alone win it? Many believed this (...)
When the history of our troubled times is written, justice will hopefully be done to Syria's real heroes — its faceless, ordinary people. They defy great odds day after perilous day to survive, perpetually in the line of fire and besieged from all (...)
This US election may well go down as the most divisive and toxic on record. The bitter war of words, accusations and acrimony is truly unprecedented. What is even more remarkable about this contest is the singularly unappetising nature of both (...)
This US election may well go down as the most divisive and toxic on record. The bitter war of words, accusations and acrimony is truly unprecedented. What is even more remarkable about this contest is the singularly unappetising nature of both (...)
Muhammed Muheisen is perhaps the only Arab photographer and journalist, as far as I know, who has won the coveted Pulitzer Prize, which is like journalism's Nobel Prize. The distinction is doubly special considering Muheisen has won two Pulitzers — (...)
For those of us who generally admire President Obama as a man of principle, it is wrenching to watch his paralysis. As I see it, Syria has been his worst mistake — a huge blot on his legacy, writes Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times.
Kristof (...)
Amid all the war hysteria and rising tensions between India and Pakistan, it's becoming increasingly rare to come across voices of reason and sanity. This is a season of what Mahatma's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi calls “hatriotism”.
Noting the (...)
So how low can Donald Trump really go? Just when you think the ever-engaging freak show that is this US election cannot get any more interesting, the Republican nominee comes up with something more absurd and insensitive to sustain the interest of (...)
Ever wondered why the Middle East — the heart of the Islamic world — remains in a constant state of flux and without the conditions essential for peace, stability, responsive governance and overall human development? Indeed, this is perhaps the only (...)
At a time when just about everyone is losing their heads, joining in the hate fest directed by the BJP's Parivar, it's heartening to see a little known actor show some spine.
“Pakistan is not hell; the people there are just like us. They treated us (...)
Every now and then something happens that restores your faith in humanity — just a wee bit. Like the infectious, spontaneous breaking down of CNN anchor Kate Bolduan while reporting the heart-rending story of Omran Daqneesh, the five-year-old Syrian (...)
Akbar Ahmed is a man of many parts. Civil servant, diplomat, author, filmmaker (creator of the biopic Jinnah) and teacher, he has also served as Pakistan's ambassador to the UK. Currently Ibn Khaldun chair of Islamic studies and professor of (...)
Nothing Donald Trump says or does surprises anyone anymore. While the former reality TV star and business baron has always been known to shoot from the hip, it's as if he is on a suicidal mission to offend and outrage since he jumped into the fray (...)
If there is a threshold of pain and tolerance, this must be it. If this does not wake us up, I do not know what will. The unimaginable and unthinkable affront to Medina, the city of mercy and love where Islam's beloved Prophet Mohamed, peace be upon (...)
Thanks to my solitary existence, I often end up spending endless hours watching television. I keep telling myself to get a life and do something useful and worthwhile, like read a book or go for a walk. But, as many of you would agree, it's not easy (...)
Mohamed Ali's boxing career was over by the time I grew up. We did not even have a television set then, so there was no question of watching his epic battles or even his show bouts around the world in the 1980s.
However, I grew up with his (...)
Nothing beats the simple pleasure that a pile of good books promises. A Pakistani friend, who spent some years in the Middle East before happily settling down in the great, green expanses of Canada, shares my weakness for books.
We often exchange (...)