Mosaic view of Gaza in the Church of St Stephen, Um ar-Rasas, Jordan. It was constructed in 756CE by the mosaics artists Stauranchius & Euremius,

Mosaic view of Gaza in the Church of St Stephen, Um ar-Rasas, Jordan. It was constructed in 756CE by the mosaics artists Stauranchius & Euremius, 120 years AFTER the Islamic conquests. 

William Dalrymple

@DalrympleWill

 

Just come across this mosaic view of Gaza in the Church of St Stephen, Um ar-Rasas, Jordan. It was constructed in 756CE by the mosaics artists Stauranchius & Euremius, 120 years AFTER the Islamic conquests. 

 

The people were still using Greek, still building churches (there are 16 in Um ar-Rasas alone). This is important evidence the continuities of population in this region, masked by changes of language and religion. 

 

The idea that the Arabs swept in and kicked out or forcibly converted the population of Palestine is unhistorical nonsense: the population of Palestine was majority Christian until the time of the Crusades. They took two hundred years to use Arabic as their main language. Six hundred to convert to Islam.

 https://x.com/DalrympleWill/status/2106702614372991396/photo/1

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"Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed are probably today’s most visible Muslim American politicians. What makes them noteworthy is not just their obvious communication skills, but their deliberate attention to policies that enhance the public good for all."

‘What makes Mamdani and El-Sayed noteworthy is not just their obvious communication skills but their deliberate attention to policies that enhance the public good for all.’ Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

9/11 entrenched Islamophobia in US politics. But it doesn’t work the way you think

Anti-Muslim sentiment is used as a political weapon. Meanwhile, Muslim American leaders are making a difference for all 

 Moustafa Bayoumi in The Guardian 

Fri 11 Sep 2026 

It’s been 25 years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, and during this time Muslim Americans have learned how to live in that dangerous space between other Americans’ fears and their ignorance.

The fear was clear from the beginning. Immediately following 9/11, Muslim Americans faced what Human Rights Watch called “a severe wave of backlash violence”. A tide of hate rose up against ordinary Muslims and those who appeared to be Muslim, including at least three murders in the immediate backlash after the attacks. The federal government, for its part, began targeting Muslim immigrants in a massive surge of repression that legal experts soon compared to the Palmer Raids of the 1920s.

The ignorance was just as evident. Even Oprah Winfrey did her part to allay it, dedicating an episode of her show in October 2001 to “Islam 101”. The Qur’an leapt on to the New York Times bestseller list that fall. Yet despite these early efforts at education, most Americans still learned little about Islam and Muslims. One 2006 study found that only a third of those polled realized that Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews do. Close to 10% of respondents thought Muslims worship a “moon god”.

Much of this fear and ignorance has continued unevenly over the last quarter century, with negative attitudes towards Muslim Americans softening at times and hardening, sometimes into deadly violence, at other times. What’s interesting is when expressions of these attitudes happen. It turns out that predicting when animosity to Muslims will rise and fall may not be quite what you think.

Researchers who study Islamophobia discovered several years ago that anti-Muslim outbreaks in the United States don’t follow highly publicized acts of terrorism. Rather, Islamophobic incidents tend to cluster more routinely around our election cycles.... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/11/9-11-islamophobia-us-politics

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Ahmad a MUSLIM risked his own life tackling the terrorist and disarmed him - getting shot himself in the process. He is the epitome of a hero. PLEASE THINK BEFORE YOU PREACH HATRID TO RELIGIONS

 Fan Ms Rachel At Songs

@msrachelforlitt

Fan account

 

Ahmad a MUSLIM risked his own life tackling the terrorist and disarmed him - getting shot himself in the process. He is the epitome of a hero. 

 

PLEASE THINK BEFORE YOU PREACH HATRED TO RELIGIONS

 

  #bondibeach

 &

 BBC News Arabic

Ahmed al Ahmed, the bystander who disarmed one of the gunmen during the Bondi Beach attack in Sydney, acted out of “pure conscience and humanity,” his family tells BBC News Arabic.

According to the family, Ahmed’s condition is stable, and he is awaiting further medical treatment for gunshot wounds to his shoulder and hand sustained during the attack.  

In Syria, where Ahmed was born and raised, his uncle Mohamed Ahmed al Ahmed tells BBC Arabic that the family felt immense pride.

“He made us proud, our village, Syria, all Muslims and the entire world,” he says.  

 https://www.bbc.com/news/live/ckgk391yzm7t?post=asset%3A256c0682-8363-409c-a2d0-35b1caac5927#post

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"Families buried under rubble, hospitals struck, and deliberate starvation of an entire people are not isolated mistakes. They are the product of a system driven by power, sustained by impunity, and empowered by propaganda..." World leaders cannot claim to seek peace while enabling war and ignoring human suffering

Displaced Palestinians walk with their belongings past destroyed buildings as they return to their homes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their war and the release of the remaining hostages. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)AP

 

World leaders cannot claim to seek peace while enabling war and ignoring human suffering | Opinion

• Published: Oct. 28, 2025, 1:00 p.m. 

By Momin Bhatti

The world has just marked the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, a horrific tragedy that must never be forgotten. The slaughter of civilians in Israel was an atrocity. But remembrance cannot mean silence about what has followed.

For over two years, Israel has invoked Oct. 7 repeatedly to justify collective punishment and evade accountability. This justification has been sustained by propaganda tactics, amplified again around the anniversary. The narrative manipulation distorts perception and normalizes Israel’s crimes against humanity. It conditions people to look away while hospitals are bombed and aid convoys blocked, numbing empathy and allowing cruelty to masquerade as policy.

A key tactic is victimhood inversion. Israel consistently insists it is merely “defending itself” as it exercises overwhelming force against a besieged population. The vast majority of those killed are children, families, and ordinary people who have nothing to do with Hamas, yet are punished as though their very existence were a crime.

When entire neighborhoods are flattened, the recurring narrative is... READ MORE  https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2025/10/world-leaders-cannot-claim-to-seek-peace-while-enabling-war-and-ignoring-human-suffering-opinion.html

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Yusuf / Cat Stevens #Peace #Gaza #Palestine #Jesus

Photo: A two-year old child in Al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza Strip by Ali Jadallah

Yusuf / Cat Stevens

@YusufCatStevens

Child tormentors are damned by the tongue of Jesus (peace be upon him) Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:2) Photo: A two-year old child in Al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza Strip by Ali Jadallah #Peace #Gaza #Palestine #Jesus

 

https://x.com/YusufCatStevens/status/1950812007231541345

 

It should't have got this bad to alert the world to what’s been going on #Peace #Gaza #Palestine #Children    https://x.com/YusufCatStevens/status/1949863843351458277

 

What 60,000+ people looks like - it’s mind blowing... now consider the number killed in Gaza. #Peace #Gaza #Perspective   https://x.com/YusufCatStevens/status/1946188107755253990 

 

 

DO SOMETHING 

Yusuf / Cat Stevens

@YusufCatStevens

 #Peace #Gaza #Compassion #Humanity

https://x.com/YusufCatStevens/status/1939974830192726057/photo/1

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ADC: American Arabs on Pope Francis "WHILE WORLD LEADERS REMAINED SILENT, HE NAMED THE TRUTH: THERE IS A GENOCIDE IN GAZA, AND THE WORLD MUST STOP LOOKING AWAY"

ADC National

@adc

ADC mourns the passing of Pope Francis, a global voice for the oppressed, a truth-teller on Palestine, and a moral leader who never flinched in the face of power. His legacy lives on in our fight for justice.

To our Arab Christian sisters and brothers, to Christians everywhere, and to all people of faith who seek to uphold the true intentions of faith

News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2025
media@adc.org 

Washington, D.C. | Yesterday, millions of Arab Christians celebrated Easter with Christians across the world. We offer warm greetings to those who recently celebrated. For centuries, the vital presence of Arab Christians, whose devotion to peace, justice, and compassion has long enriched both the Middle East and the global community. Despite a common misconception, Arab Christians constitute a vibrant and integral part of our shared heritage, underscoring the diversity that has long been a hallmark of the Arab world.

Unfortunately, Arab Christians, along with other religious minorities in the Middle East, are targeted for how they worship or who they are. In what should be a time of celebration in Palestine, the birthplace of Christianity, Arab Christians are under constant bombardment from Israel. The historic Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City—one of the world’s oldest Christian churches—was bombed on October 19, 2023, killing 18 displaced civilians sheltering inside. Many Christians have sought refuge in the few remaining churches, relying on them for basic necessities and a measure of safety. Before the genocide, Gaza’s Christian population numbered around 2,000, mostly Greek Orthodox. Sadly, that number continues to dwindle as deaths and displacement mount.

Israel has destroyed over 200 cultural and historical sites, and more than 340 mosques—among them the iconic 700-year-old Great Omari Mosque. At least three churches have also been severely damaged, including St. Porphyrius Church itself. At least 16 cemeteries have been desecrated. And Christians across the Middle East face similar threats, with key sites damaged in attacks that further endanger this small yet longstanding community.

While many Christian leaders and groups in the U.S. justify the genocide, Pope Francis, who passed away earlier today, made nightly calls to Gaza’s Christian community from the onset of the genocide, boldly amplifying their voices when much of the world looked away. We mourn his loss, as his persistent stand against the ongoing oppression of Christians in Palestine—and of all those enduring occupation and violence—remains a testament to moral courage.

ADC calls on all world leaders to protect religious minorities by condemning violence against any faith community and holding perpetrators accountable, ensuring that no one is targeted for how they worship or who they are.

In this spirit, ADC remains devoted to our mission, urging those in power to reject genocide, end cycles of violence, and protect the dispossessed. May hope and resilience guide us forward as we strive for the day when every community—regardless of creed—can celebrate in peace. 

https://adc.org/pope-francis/

ADC National

@adc

“He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities… and by his bruises we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5 This verse speaks of a suffering servant — one who bears the wounds of injustice to bring peace and healing. Easter isn’t just about resurrection — it’s about resurrection through suffering. And nowhere is that more alive today than in Palestine — the land of Christ’s birth, life, and death. As Palestinian Christians face relentless attacks — churches destroyed, worshipers displaced — we witness a people whose faith refuses to die. No nation shows the power of resurrection, the depth of hope, and the endurance of love more than Palestine. This is the true meaning of faith. This is the true message of Easter. #EasterInPalestine

https://adc.org/

United Nations: In this Holy Month, let us all embrace our common humanity to build a more just and peaceful world for all... as millions of people around the world begin to observe Ramadan.

United Nations

@UN

In this Holy Month, let us all embrace our common humanity to build a more just and peaceful world for all. —

@antonioguterres

as millions of people around the world begin to observe #Ramadan.

António Guterres: We will never, ever give up making this world better for everyone, everywhere.

The Whole World

Professor of Physics David Goldberg, PhD, is part of a team that tackled these questions and struck upon what is now the most accurate flat map of the world: a double-sided circle that features the Northern Hemisphere on one side and the Southern Hemisphere on the other. Picture a vinyl record and flipping it over in your hands—the edge of the record would be the equator.

My letter to CSM RE "How others see it... Donald Trump said Wednesday: 'I think Islam hates us.' Some Muslims think that's laughable. Literally."

THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING! follows a band of Muslim-American comedians as they visit big cities, small towns, rural villages, and everything in between to combat Islamophobia! These Muzzies not only perform standup at each tour stop but create ridiculous interventions in unsuspecting town squares, like the ol' classic, "Ask a Muslim Booth."  [….]

RE  How others see it... Donald Trump said Wednesday: 'I think Islam hates us.' Some Muslims think that's laughable. Literally. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0310/An-unusual-Muslim-response-to-Donald-Trump-s-comments

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 Dear Editor,

Thank you for featuring the wonderfully good humored and wise comedians Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah and their delightful documentary "The Muslims are Coming!" in response to Trump.

I think Dean Obeidallah would make a much better president than Donald Trump. So would Negin Farsad. Both Obeidallah and Farsad were born in America, both are very bright, both have dedicated serious energy into making this world a kinder, more compassionate, intelligent, and enlightened place... and both have a much better grasp of what it means to be an American empowering full and equal rights and respect for all people.  Well, all people except hate mongers and the idiots and terrorists who fortify ISIS/Daesh.

Additionally, Obeidallah and Farsad both have much nicer, more natural looking hair than Trump.  Bernie Sanders also has much nicer hair than Trump- and Clinton.  Ms not Mr: Mr Clinton has very nice hair. So does Obama. And so did Reagan and the Bushes. We need a future president with nice hair, and diplomatic skills.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab