The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom

Why does a country with religious liberty enmeshed in its legal and social structures produce such overt prejudice and discrimination against Muslims? Sahar Aziz’s groundbreaking book demonstrates how race and religion intersect to create what she calls the Racial Muslim. Comparing discrimination against immigrant Muslims with the prejudicial treatment of Jews, Catholics, Mormons, and African American Muslims during the twentieth century, Aziz explores the gap between America’s aspiration for and fulfillment of religious freedom. With America’s demographics rapidly changing from a majority white Protestant nation to a multiracial, multireligious society,… Continue reading “The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom”

Voices Under Siege: Free Speech, Islamophobia, and Palestine in Academia [Georgetown]

Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative hosted Professor Sahar Aziz, Professor John L. Esposito, and Professor Robbins on a panel addressing the critical issues of free speech, Islamophobia, and the challenges faced by pro-Palestine voices in American academic institutions. The conversation focused on the current state of academia and its role in promoting or stifling open dialogue on contentious issues. Scholars discussed how pro-Palestine voices are being marginalized and their free speech rights violated within academic settings. Additionally, the conversation touched on how Islamophobia has played a role in the suppression of… Continue reading “Voices Under Siege: Free Speech, Islamophobia, and Palestine in Academia [Georgetown]”

The Palestine Taboo: Free Speech, Race and Islamophobia [WashU]

The true test of a democracy is the extent to which civil rights in law are enforced in practice for the most vulnerable groups in society. As members of Congress demand mass arrest and expulsion of college students exercising their free speech right to dissent against U.S. foreign policy in Gaza and the West Bank, the racial fault lines in American democracy are laid bare. Similarly, university presidents are buckling to external political pressure to violate academic freedom of Muslim and Arab faculty targeted by external anti-Muslim and pro-Israeli groups and… Continue reading “The Palestine Taboo: Free Speech, Race and Islamophobia [WashU]”

Digital Islamophobia: Disinformation, Elections and Islamophobia [MEC]

Professor Sahar Aziz provides her analysis about a recent report by disinformation researchers Marc Owen Jones and Sohan Dsouza that revealed a multi-platform global influence campaign promoting anti-Muslim hate and sectarianism. The report highlights the use of disinformation to spread a neoconservative agenda, including xenophobic, anti-immigration, and anti-Muslim propaganda and disinformation. Against the backdrop of the war on Gaza; and a series of consequential elections in Europe and the United States (U.S.), the campaigns fall under broader attempts to shape public opinion using hate speech. It is one of the… Continue reading “Digital Islamophobia: Disinformation, Elections and Islamophobia [MEC]”

House Committee on Education Hearing Echoes Era of McCarthyism [Parallax Views]

In this edition of Parallax Views, Rutgers University’s Director of the Center for Security, Race, and Rights, Professor Sahar Aziz, returns to the program to discuss the recent House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearings on antisemitism and why they resemble something more akin to the McCarthyite witch hunts of the House on American Activities during the Cold War than an honest effort to combat antisemitism. These hearings, she argues, are more about shutting down political criticism of Israel than fighting antisemitism.  Listen to Professor Sahar Aziz’s analysis here… Continue reading “House Committee on Education Hearing Echoes Era of McCarthyism [Parallax Views]”

A Conversation on Antisemitism and Islamophobia [UC Davis]

The UC Davis Jewish Studies Program co-sponsored “A Conversation on Antisemitism and Islamophobia” featuring Sahar Aziz, Distinguished Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University, and Ethan Katz, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies and Faculty Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of California Berkeley. The audio recording is available here.… Continue reading “A Conversation on Antisemitism and Islamophobia [UC Davis]”

The Middle East on the U.S. Campus with Sahar Aziz and Peter Beinart [Fares Center]

In her conversation with Professor Peter Beinart, Professor Sahar Aziz provided a primer on the First Amendment, Title VI, Title IX, and other free speech protections available in the United States in both public and private universities, and grappled with the question of how to engender an environment of tolerance and mutual respect while maintaining the rights of those engaged in speech that other groups could find offensive. Professor Aziz made particular reference to the idea of the ‘Palestine exception,’ in which speech, education, and activism in support of Palestinian… Continue reading “The Middle East on the U.S. Campus with Sahar Aziz and Peter Beinart [Fares Center]”

The Attack on Academic Freedom [FMEP]

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Professor Sahar Aziz of Rutgers University about the current attacks on academic freedom and why the US House of Representatives is investigating Rutgers and its Center for Security, Race and Rights, which Sahar Aziz directs. They also discuss the dangers of exceptionalizing Israel and the future of American universities more broadly.… Continue reading “The Attack on Academic Freedom [FMEP]”

Rutgers Islamic Center’s Vandalization Shows Our Need to Combat Islamophobia [NJ.com]

Emotionally draining is how best to describe the past six months for many Muslim Americans. Oscillating between outrage, hopelessness and determination, our diverse communities have spent the past six months doing whatever we can to end the senseless murder of over 33,000 Palestinians, including 13,000 children. We have watched in horror the Israeli military’s mass bombings, systematic starvation, and destruction of basic infrastructure in Gaza. The celebratory mood of Eid, therefore, could not come soon enough. After a month of fasting, Muslims across the country gather at their mosques for the … Continue reading “Rutgers Islamic Center’s Vandalization Shows Our Need to Combat Islamophobia [NJ.com]”

Amid Gaza War, College Campuses Become Free Speech “Testing Ground” [Intercepted]

The conflict in Gaza has galvanized a new generation of young anti-war activists, in the same way that opposition to the Vietnam War and apartheid South Africa did in decades past. A backlash is now building in the United States, led by right-wing activist and pro-Israel groups aimed at eliminating any public dissent over U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. As the death toll of Palestinians rises, a new authoritarian climate is sweeping across the U.S. — particularly on college campuses, which have transformed into laboratories for censorship… Continue reading “Amid Gaza War, College Campuses Become Free Speech “Testing Ground” [Intercepted]”