In September 2015, Citizens UK, under the leadership of its Executive Director Neil Jameson,  took the forward-thinking step of establishing a Citizens Commission on Islam, Participation and Public Life. Between October 2015 and January 2017, the Commission – headed by … read more

Alan Travis in the Guardian, ‘The establishment’s tendency to cover up its own scandals is on full display in the latest releases from Whitehall’s cupboard of secret “too hot to handle” files. The “top secret and strictly personal” files, known … read more

Ali Merad, the Algerian historian who spent much of his professional life in France,  passed away in Lyons on 23 May 2017 at the age of 86. Ali Merad was born in Laghouat, Southern Algeria, in 1930, completing his graduate … read more

A dossier on media-reported incidents of Islamophobia in recent weeks Bacon ‘slap’, Enfield;  machete threat, Cardiff, 30 June; acid attacks, 29 June; Oxford Eid prayer incident, 27 June; Essex incident, 26 June; Hudderfield incident, 24 June, Muslim Welfare House, Finsbury … read more

The Palestine Exhibition at Queen Elizabeth II Centre  in  Westminster was filled to the capacity on Saturday, 9th September, the first of a two-day event organised by Friends of Al Aqsa.  A keynote was an address by Professor Tariq Ramadan, … read more

Ashur Shamis is a distinguished Libyan writer and long-time political activist. When Gaddafi came to power in 1969, he was studying Aeronautical Engineering in the United Kingdom. In 1977 he obtained an MA in Middle Eastern studies from the University … read more

BBC reports, ‘A Syrian teenager arrested on suspicion of planning a terror attack in Berlin has been released after no incriminating evidence was found. The 17-year-old asylum seeker was arrested in the Uckermark region, north-east of Berlin, on Tuesday. Police … read more

Book Review In the Syria that was  Damascus Diaries, Life Under the Assads by Peter Clark Gilgamesh Publishing, 2015. ISBN: 978-190853135-3 393 Pages               Peter Clark, best known as the founding father of Pickthallian … read more

Fatima Manji, Channel 4 news journalist, on surviving a media firestorm and what happens when racism, sexism and Islamophobia collide. The talk was chaired by Nosheen Iqbal, The Guardian’s Women’s Editor. —– Women of the World festival 2017 WOW celebrates … read more

Christian extremism on display – will it be called Christianist violence (apro pos the much bandied term ‘Islamic violence?). Of course not, because it will be said that one should take a holistic view of a religion’s teachings! Here is an unsavoury … read more

Professor Niyazi Eruslu, the founding Rector of Yalova University near Istanbul, has been held in detention in the aftermath of the coup attempt of 15 August 2016. While President Erdogan deserves to be much admired for his statesmanship, boldness and … read more

Writing to the Editor of the Guardian, Britain’s colonial past is indeed still with us and nowhere more so than in the Middle East. Next year will mark the centenary of the Balfour declaration, a colonial document whose consequences were … read more