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”

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]”

Islamophobia, Antisemitism and Palestine [Cornell]

Sahar Aziz, Distinguished Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University Law School, examines the erroneous zero-sum discursive frames, most acutely in foreign policy debates, that pits Muslims and Jews as competitors, rather than allies, in defending civil and human rights. This talk was the third in the series “Antisemitism and Islamophobia Examined” that brought four leading academics to Cornell University in the Spring 2024 semester to explore the history of these forms of prejudice, examine the impact on Jews and Muslims in America today, and map… Continue reading “Islamophobia, Antisemitism and Palestine [Cornell]”

Defending Palestinian Rights Attracts Defamatory Attacks [Counterpunch Radio]

Professor Sahar Aziz and Mitchell Plitnick, co-authors of “Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine-Israel Discourse,” discussed a critical new report published by Rutgers University Law School’s Center for Security, Race, and Rights. The conversation explores the political and social context for this report, as well as the timing of its release, published as it was against the backdrop of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The discussion broadens beyond the report to explore various aspects of the Palestine issue and its continued central importance for the US and… Continue reading “Defending Palestinian Rights Attracts Defamatory Attacks [Counterpunch Radio]”

How Israel’s Supporters Use Islamophobia to Silence Critics [Marc Steiner Show]

By now, the false equivalency between anti-Zionism and antisemitism—which Israel’s supporters use to give rhetorical cover for Zionism—is a well-worn topic on the left. What’s less discussed is the role of Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism in Zionists’ attempts to smear their critics, particularly Arab and Muslim ones, as antisemitic. A new report, Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine Israel Discourse from Rutgers University Law School’s Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR), maps the use of Islamophobic tropes in the discourse on Israel-Palestine, noting that the racist association between… Continue reading “How Israel’s Supporters Use Islamophobia to Silence Critics [Marc Steiner Show]”

Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in Palestine-Israel Discourse [Insurgents]

Professor Sahar Aziz, Distinguished Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers Law and author of  The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom, joined Jordan Uhl and Rob Rosseau on the Insurgents Podcast to discuss her recent report “Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes In The Palestine-Israel Discourse.” The interview explores the ways Islamophobia spreads in the media and shifts the balance of conversation of coverage, resulting in a dehumanizing effect for Muslims, and how—especially in this moment—some genuinely pro-Palestinian advocacy is inaccurately framed as anti-Semitic.… Continue reading “Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in Palestine-Israel Discourse [Insurgents]”

How Warmongers are Weaponizing Antisemitism to Deflect From Israel’s Assault on Gaza [Status Coup]

The International Court of Justice has found Israel’s assault on Gaza in 2023 and 2024 to constitute a plausible case of genocide. Pro-Israeli groups and politicians in support of the numerous war crimes against over 2 million Palestinian civilians are weaponizing antisemitism to censor opposition and distract from the humanitarian crisis. Professor Sahar Aziz joins Tina-Desiree Berg on the Status Coup Podcast to discus the groundbreaking report “Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine Israel Discourse“ Watch the conversation here or below.… Continue reading “How Warmongers are Weaponizing Antisemitism to Deflect From Israel’s Assault on Gaza [Status Coup]”

Amid Gaza Protests, Universities are Cracking Down on a Celebrated Protest Tactic: Sit-Ins [The Intercept]

On October 25, hundreds of people participated in a sit-in at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, calling on school administrators to cut ties with weapons manufacturers involved in Israel’s occupation of Palestine. It was part of a wave of activism around Israel’s siege of Gaza on university campuses around the country, and it ended in increasingly typical fashion: Campus police arrested 57 of the demonstrators for trespassing because they remained in the university’s Whitmore Administration Building after it had closed at 6 p.m. The incident at Amherst is reflective of… Continue reading “Amid Gaza Protests, Universities are Cracking Down on a Celebrated Protest Tactic: Sit-Ins [The Intercept]”