Writing on Muslim-Christian Relations, Interreligious Dialogue, & Islamophobia
On Thursday night, as Mubarak defiantly refused to step down from the presidency, the demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square held their shoes high above their heads, making visible their soles and directing them symbolically toward Mubarak. In the Arab world, this action—showing someone the sole of your shoe— is a sign of upmost disrespect. Raising …
Continue reading "The souls of our shoes: A reflection on Egypt"
Written November 2010. Today, Muslims are celebrating Eid al-Adha, the holiest holiday in the Islamic calendar. It is similar to Christians’ Easter celebrations, in that it is the most important holiday of the year, yet the worldwide festivities and preparations are less extensive than those during the month of Ramadan (which is similar to Christmastime …
Here's a great 3 minute video from the New York Times about a Jewish shrine in Iraq that is preserved and worshipped in by Muslims. They hope to restore it in order for Jewish pilgrims to visit the crumbling site, which is considered to be the prophet Ezekiel's burial ground. The shrine is beautiful--it's ancient …
Along with its series containing leaked information about the Iraq war, the New York Times published these two slideshows--one depicting civilian deaths and one illustrating detainee abuse by Iraqis (and overlooked by Americans.) If we saw these pictures of war every day on the news, I think wars would be much less frequent. The carnage …
This post is about the importance of “empathetic journalism.” This past summer, I spent a considerable amount of time writing about this topic, but I was never happy with anything I’d written. During the past few weeks and months, however, I’ve stumbled upon a few great examples that discuss empathetic journalism, so I’ll post them …
JORDAN DENARI DUFFNER 