The Coalition for Muslim School Holidays is a broad-based coalition of over 80 faith-based, civil rights, community and labor organizations that have come together to call on the New York City Department of Education to recognize Muslim population in New York City and include the two Muslim holidays in the school calendar - Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha. 

“Change cannot happen overnight,” said President Barack Obama in Cairo on June 4, 2009 as he addressed the Muslim world (wherever that is) in what was regarded as a historical speech and a monumental change from Bush diplomacy. One year later, he is facing criticism of unaccomplished goals, unfulfilled promises and a reversion back to a policy of full throttle support for the state of Israel. 

I know I complain a lot about the treatment of Muslims in the United States. While I stand by all my criticisms of this country’s race relations, at least it’s not as bad as tensions in Europe - yet. Ultra-right wing nationalist parties like the English Defense League and the British National Party have been expanding across the continent, especially in Britain, waving the banner of “indigenous” Brits, a.k.a white Brits. 

I was raised in the Southern United States, reciting the pledge of allegiance every morning, memorizing the Bill of Rights, and listening to country singers croon about good ole American values. Like many young Muslim-Americans, I felt just like my blonde, blue-eyed classmates until the events of September 11 made me suddenly and irrevocably different. 

Yesterday in the New York Times, there was yet another article about the morphing relationship between the White House and American Muslims. After President Obama gave his famous June 2009 speech in Cairo about improving relations with the Muslim world, there were myriad articles and media commentaries discussing the way this new administration would handle “the Muslims.”

Last weekend, I attended the “March for America” rally for immigration reform on the National Mall. I traveled to Washington, DC with a group of Arab and Muslim Americans from Brooklyn. The sixty of us joined more than 200,000 others marching for a path to citizenship, an end to deportations and the breaking up of families, and an insistence that all people, no matter their legal status, be treated like human beings. We walked with Latino and Mexican groups, West African immigrants, and even an organization of Polish Americans. 

During one of the most polarized times in Washington DC, and with not even one Republican vote, President Obama was able to pass this week’s historic healthcare bill.  Yet on the heels of his victory, we of course need a party pooper. Enter the Harris Poll, which sheds some light on why the Republican party may be apprehensive to support the current president.

When violence broke out between the Uyghur and the Han Chinese last year, China went on a PR campaign to ensure that their strategic partnerships with the Middle East don’t suffer. The world quickly learned that when Arab countries claim to push for the rights of their Muslim brothers and sisters, they only really mean their Arab-Muslim brothers and sisters. China was able to keep a fire from starting (wouldn’t want to ruin those oil deals!) as the Middle East remained fairly quiet about the whole ordeal. Now, China and the Middle East are about to get a whole lot closer than they already were. 

We knew it wouldn’t be long before he struck again. Muammar Gaddafi has taken a much needed break from his role as dastardly dictator of Libya and has begun issuing his own jihadist commands from high atop his bedazzled soapbox. This time, the audacious authoritarian has set his sights squarely on Switzerland and has launched a bitter diatribe against the chocolate capital of the world.

An anti-capitalist French political party has fielded a young female activist to run in the upcoming regional elections in Vaucluse. The decision has both right and left-wing politicians up in arms. The reason? The candidate, Ilham Moussaid, wears the hijab.