Republicans have dug a deep hole for themselves on matters related to the Middle East and Islam reflecting the extent to which the Party has become captive of the neo-conservative "clash of civilization" crowd and their partners on the evangelical Christian right.

There are bad polls, and then there are bad interpretations of polls. Putting them together (i.e. a bad interpretation of a bad poll) can create a mess of misinformation, which is exactly what the New York Times gave us this morning (August 2, 2010). 

After a century in which tragedy has been heaped upon tragedy across the Middle East, it is distressing to see how many dangerous illusions still shape the behavior of so many of the region's principal players. 

As an Arab American, I can empathize with Shirley Sherrod, the Georgia Department of Agriculture official who, last week, after being falsely accused of making anti-white racist comments, was forced to resign from her post. 

Two decades ago, I remember Jesse Jackson noting that when dealing with controversial issues that created deep divisions, one should be careful "not to excite one side, while only inciting the other".

Two separate incidents of Muslim-bashing occurred last week. Because they involved comments by prominent individuals and were so brazen, they caused some concern.

I am not easily shocked. I've been doing this work for too many years and I've seen too much to become outraged by bad behavior or acts of indecency or inhumanity.

The contest has begun to determine who will be the Republican candidate to square off against President Obama in 2012 national elections. Fo

As expected, Israel matched its use of overwhelming force against the passengers on the Mavi Marmara with an equally vigorous attempt to shape both how the story played out in U.S. media and the official response from the U.S. Government. 

The Obama Administration's equivocation over Israel's outrageous deadly assault on humanitarian ships headed for Gaza, while not surprising, is nevertheless unacceptable

There is a persistent and pernicious myth that maintains that "Jewish money" is the determinant factor shaping all aspects of U.S. Middle East policy.

DUBAI: Ed Koch, the colorful and often controversial former Mayor of New York City, made it a practice as he walked the streets of his city to stop and ask average citizens "How am I doing?" in an effort to learn how they viewed the performance of his administration and its delivery of services.

This week, the Senate's Democratic leadership advanced a proposal for  HYPERLINK "http://www.aaiusa.org/dr-zogby/4601" \l "Morrison" comprehensive immigration reform that contains provisions long supported by Republicans. The framework calls for: