Sickening news from Gaza. A volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) appears to have been murdered by a rogue Palestinian faction. God rest his soul and reward him for his work for justice. Vale Vittorio Arrigoni, 'hero of Palestine' | Pennie Quinton | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Hearing of the murder of Vittorio Arrigoni, a committed peace activist who for the last 10 years campaigned for recognition of Palestinian human rights under Israeli occupation, has left me shaking... Read more

I have a post on Tikkun Daily on the latest development in the "Irvine 11" saga. "If the'“Irvine 11' are to do time, what about Tea Party organizers?": Criminal charges have been filed against the “Irvine 11″ – the ring leaders of a large group of Muslim students at University of California, Irvine who repeatedly disrupted a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren last February, sparking outrage – which could result in 6 months of prison time. This draconian and... Read more

Wow, this interactive timeline for the Jasmine Revolutions on The Guardian website is way cool. (And psychedelic, man!) But they really need to update its data. It’s 2 weeks out of date and this stuff is still going down. Read more

This is great stuff from the backwoods sages at Red State Update.  (HT: Goatmilk) It's from last year, but its barbs are only becoming more apropos by the day. In fact, it probably won't even be satire much longer. I love the part about the naked ignorance and prejudice of these protests giving rednecks a bad name.   Read more

If anyone is looking for a lush, inspiring and accessible multimedia introduction to Sufism–not to mention a reminder of the great beauty also exists in much maligned places like Pakistan–I highly recommend "Sufi Soul: The Mystic Music of Islam." It's a bit light on theory and oversimplifies a bit at times, but it makes up for that with rich footage and wonderful excerpts. It crisscrosses the globe to bring you vivid glimpses of Islamic mystical practice set to music–from Nusrat... Read more

Check out Hamzah Moin's inspired, subversive suggestions for Islamically-themed board games. Fun-Filled Muslim Board Games – Maniac Muslim Everywhere I go I see boring board games made by Muslims. Muslim Trivia this. Islamic Quiz that. Why must we bore our Muslim children to death with such uninspired board games? Who thought it would be a good idea to use our brains? Throw those brains away! I’ve invented some of the best Muslim board games EVER. These would sell like hot... Read more

I've finally posted something new on Tikkun Daily, on attacks on President Obama for being "indecisive" during the Jasmine Revolutions. Tikkun Daily Blog » Blog Archive » Blaming Obama for “dithering” when that’s been Washington policy for decades In a curiously un-self-aware move a few weeks ago, Christopher Hitchens slammed President Obama’s handling of the unrest in North Africa as “pathetic” and “cynical” in a piece for Slate Magazine. Employing a facile (and – given how devoid of neutrality US... Read more

You might have heard concerns about Rep. Peter King's credibility as anti-terror inquisitioner given his own sketchy past as an apologist for the IRA. Well, it turns out that "hypocritical" really doesn't do this man's inconsistency justice. During the 1980s, the guy was associating with IRA operatives at the same time that they were receiving "hundreds of tons of arms and explosives, including Sam-7 missile launchers, mortars, heavy machine guns, 1000's of AK-47, 5-7 tons of Semtex, millions of rounds... Read more