Browsing Archive: June, 2009
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Saturday, June 27, 2009,
Some western media have been asking about Arab reactions to the post-election turmoil in Iran. If we're talking about Arab leaders, well, as Mona Eltahawy wrote on the Washington Post, what do you expect from dictators who have clamped down on their own people on many occasions and would be as heavy-handed as Iranian authorities if their iron-fist rule were to be challenged in the same way? The silence of Arab leaders is no surprise, but I find the silence of Arab streets quite intriguing. If... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Tuesday, June 16, 2009,
If you're trying to get some good on-the-ground reporting on the massive post-election protests in Iran, try The Independent's Robert Fisk in this article. Iranian bloggers and twitterers have been doing a brave and remarkable job covering these drastic events as they unfold in the streets of Tehran and Isfahan. It's rather amazing to see how Iranian students and other Moussavi's supporters are working around the massive media (old and new) blockade ordered by Ahmadinejad's embattled governme... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Tuesday, June 9, 2009,
In a surprising statement this last weekend, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he fully agrees with Barack Obama that Muslim veiling is a right each country must respect. Coming from the leader of a country that has instituted a ban on wearing visible religious symbols (the veil being the prime target here) in public offices, this is quite intriguing. "In France, every young girl who wants to wear the veil can do it. It's her freedom," said Sarkozy citing some limitations in a secular (la... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Monday, June 8, 2009,
I've been following news of a Muslim college by the Zaytuna Institute in the Bay area for some time now, but I thought it was going to be years before it started. Apparently, enough funds have been raised and the first Muslim college in the US will open as soon as the Fall of 2010. It will first use rented buildings at Berkeley before it reaches its goal of raising an endowment of $30 million and another $20 million to purchase properties. This is important in two major ways: this is part of ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Wednesday, June 3, 2009,
Some food for thought as President Obama prepares to deliver his speech to the "Muslim World" tomorrow. Should we be talking about a Muslim world as if there were a unified one? Doesn't that, as this FP article says, raise the specter of 'us vs them'? 
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Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Wednesday, June 3, 2009,
Al-Azhar University was founded in 988.
The long-established authority of Al-Azhar University has recently come under heavy attack by Islamic radicals and secularists alike. Some strange fatwas by professors there in the past couple of years have been publicly ridiculed, and radicals have long denounced its tamed theology under heavy state control. There are signs the one-thousand-year-old religious institution might be striking back. It was announced today that Al-Azhar is preparing to launch... Continue reading ...
I was born and raised in Morocco. My research focuses on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. I'm currently an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
