by Ahmed E. Souaiaia A day after the couple Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in San Bernardino, CNN reported that Malik had made “a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.” Subsequently, it was reported that Malik attended al-Huda, a religious institute whose funding and curriculum were decided by Saudi Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Source: aa.com.tr Turkey’s elections, despite the difficult circumstances and some of the intimidating practices against Kurdish voters and the media, are victory for those who believe in an empowered citizenship and peaceful transition of power. This is especially important because, in Islamic societies, fostering shared governance and strengthening democratic institutions Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* On Friday 30, it became clear that the war in Syria is not a civil war. It is now a global proxy war, initiated by Saudi Arabia and Qatar to eliminate Arab governments that do not reliably support the Saudi (or Arab League) position. When the international community was threatened by Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* When ISIL suicide bombers killed more than 32 people at a cultural center in Suruç, near Kobani, the AKP led government unleashed waves of airstrikes against PKK fighters in southern Turkey and northern Iraq, instead of launching punishing trikes against ISIL. When two suicide bombers targeted a peace coalition activists, mostly Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* When presidential hopeful Ben Carson appeared on Iowa Press (October 2), he was given a chance to explain to Iowans why he thinks that a Muslim should not be a president. He argued that Islam, because of sharia law, is not compatible with the U.S. constitution and because of that he Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* The peaceful protest movement that started in Syria in 2011 was transformed by foreign governments’ involvement into a civil war fueled by sectarian and ethnic dreams. Now, we can see that Syria is no longer ground for a civil or proxy war, it is scene of a world war. There are Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Syrians as refugees because of this level of destruction of their cities Politics is the art of compromise. Successful politicians rarely give ultimatums because doing so would limit their ability to navigate complex issues. In 2012, President Obama underestimated the complexity of the crisis in Syria. He drew a “red Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Saudi war on Yemen: total destruction On Friday May 8, President Obama announced that he was to meet with the Saudi King, Salman, ahead of the Camp David summit with the GCC rulers. On May 11, a day before the summit, the King cancelled his appearance altogether, a move widely characterized Read more
Continue ReadingDear President Killeen and Acting Chancellor Wilson, We the forty-one undersigned Executive Officers and campus leaders from departments and academic units across the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign urge you to help end the crisis that has plagued our university for more than a year. It has increasingly become clear that the decision to rescind Read more
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