The walls of the priest’s office were lined with black-and-white photographs of his father donning a checkered Jordanian kufiyyeh and his little sister wearing her white First Communion dress. Newer pictures of Jordan’s king, Abdullah II, Roman Catholic bishops of Jordan, and Pope John Paul II, flanked the family shots. But the most striking images …
9/11/11: A new American anniversary
In my most recent posts, I’ve discussed the terrorist attacks in Norway, offering quite a depressing analysis of their causes and implications, many of which are related to Islamophobia in America. Fear of Muslims existed in the American psyche before September 11, 2001, but the terrorist attacks ten years ago only amplified and cemented those …
The souls of our shoes: A reflection on Egypt
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 …
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JORDAN DENARI DUFFNER 