What does it take to be labeled a ‘right wing activist’? Radical ideas? Hardliner beliefs? Violence? In the case of Rabbi Yehuda Glick, it seems a long beard and a yarmulke were enough. On October 29th Rabbi Yehuda was shot four times by an Arab terrorist at close range in Jerusalem. He was badly wounded. The media, […]
Read more "What makes a ‘right wing activist’?"A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog on free press in Israel. As I stated in the blog, Israel is ranked at a 29 on a scale of 0 to 100, 0 being complete free press and 100 being no free press. At 29, Israel is considered to have full free press, even though there […]
Read more "The Importance of Free Press and Free Speech"The Islamic meaning of the word hijāb actually means “modesty.” Though only women wear the Hijabs, modesty is not a gendered concept. Both men and women have the responsibility to retain their modesty by preventing physical attraction from the opposite sex. Since men and women have different physical attributes that attract the opposite sex, there […]
Read more "Basic Religiouswear for the Male Muslim"In my very first blog post I talked about Qatar winning the bid to hold the World Cup in 2022. In the blog I covered not only the current controversy of Mohammad bin Hammam paying off members of FIFA for the bid, but also touched on why this event would be beneficial to the Middle […]
Read more "More Sports Coming to Qatar"Can you imagine walking into a mall that has it’s own streets complete with road signs and lamps? The Dubai Mall, located in Dubai, UAE is one of the most extensive, extravagant malls in the world. Like many other women, shopping is one of my favorite past times. I enjoy shopping in several different settings […]
Read more "A Day at the Dubai Mall"A carnival celebrating peace has emerged in the city of Baghdad. This carnival is a new development, which began in 2011 with the help of volunteers and organizers. Noof Assi said, “after searching the words, Iraqi Laughing, and the search engine coming back with zero results she knew the city once known as “the […]
Read more "Once Know As the “City of Peace” Now Strives for Peace! A Carnival in Baghdad!"Can you imagine walking into a mall that has it’s own streets complete with road signs and lamps? The Dubai Mall, located in Dubai, UAE is one of the most extensive, extravagant malls in the world. Like many other women, shopping is one of my favorite past times. I enjoy shopping in several different settings […]
Read more "A Day at the Dubai Mall"Almost 70% of Americans own a smartphone nowadays, with the numbers constantly going up due to their “necessity” and even their affordability. A lot of people might think that North America is one of the highest populations to use a smartphone. Nope, the Asia-Pacific region contains almost a billion people using smartphones, while just over 500 […]
Read more "Smartphone usage in the middle east"Most people do not realize that Islam is a rather diverse religion. Like Christianity, there are different sects of Islam. The two largest sects and most cited by American media, are Sunni and Shia. Although the two sects share similarities, they also have profound differences. The one difference I want to focus on is the […]
Read more "Hussein: A Shia Legacy"As many college-aged Americans do, I spend a lot of my free time watching Netflix. I was never really a binge-watcher, though, until I stumbled upon a little well-known television series called Breaking Bad. For my foreign counterparts, in case you don’t have the slightest clue as to the glorious show I am referring to, […]
Read more "The Walter White of Lebanon"In the United States, many children start to play sports at a very young age. As early as 5 or 6, American children are thrust into sports like soccer, football, tennis, basketball, softball, baseball, and more. Team sports are especially emphasized for young people, because they teach you important skills and valuable lessons about the […]
Read more "Peace through Play"“Belly Dancing” Before this semester began in August I was somewhat clueless when it came to foreign culture and I like many naive Americans when someone said the Middle East the first couple things that pop into my head were hummus, war, and belly dancing. Belly dancing is a common type of dance in the […]
Read more "“Belly Dancing”"As I search for a blog topic to write about each week, my heart never fails to ache as I read endless articles on the people being effected by the Syrian conflicts. Two BBC news articles struck my attention this week; both having a common theme of Syrians being unable to have their old lives […]
Read more "Lives Lost, and Lost Lives"In the Middle East it can be a challenge to find typical alcohol we see in our grocery stores, pharmacies, or gas stations here in the U.S. In Islamic nations such as Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Kuwait are places where alcohol is prohibited entirely to Muslims, and that’s because alcohol is consider […]
Read more "What’s Brewing in the Middle East?"The city of Jerusalem is significant in a number of ways to many Jews, Christians, and Muslims. It is holy for the three monotheistic religions because of the religious significant events that took place there. Although Jerusalem is unique, it’s important to why it’s significant to different types of religion. Significance of Jerusalem to Jews […]
Read more "Jerusalem’s Significance"“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.“- Nelson Mandela As I’ve expressed repeatedly since beginning my journey with the Global Leadership Center, this program has opened my mind to so much of the world that I had never before considered. A great part about my college experience in […]
Read more "World History: An Educational Necessity"For a communication class, earlier this week I was required to write a paper on relationships formed online. While writing this paper I learned many things that surprised me about online dating here in America. I learned that online dating is a 1.25 billion dollar industry, with over 41 million Americans trying online dating annually. […]
Read more "Online Dating in the Middle East"Have you ever gotten a henna tattoo while on vacation or at a festival? Or have you ever consider what henna signifies in other cultures? From an American standpoint, I have always viewed hennas as an opportunity to get a “temporary tattoo” that last a few weeks. However, in the Middle East, henna signifies so […]
Read more "The Wonderful Art of HENNA"Believe it or not, but the Middle East was once the leading supplier of a resource that helped fuel today’s modern world. These items led the trade market years ago and were guarded by only the wealthiest of suppliers. I’m not referring to silver or gold. If fact, these items were so treasured, that their […]
Read more "Historical Treasure"Recently, there have been constant reports about frequent hostage crises in the Middle East. These kidnappings have increased each year and spread to places where footholds of (typically) terrorist groups reside. It is not unheard of for hostages to be sold or traded to other groups in return for other individuals, goods, or territory. The […]
Read more "Don’t Take Them!"
Israel, America, and the Middle East 