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Are We Seeing the End of the ‘Good Arabs’ in Israel?

…alendar, there were riots in the ‘Al Aksa and Haram ‘al Sharif mosques in reaction to the impending Sheikh Jarrah evictions. The Israeli army responded by firing stun guns, rubber bullets, and tear gas on worshippers during their festival. Hamas then saw this as an opening to fire thousands of rockets into Israel. Israel responded with bombs of its own. Each claims the other started it, as if that matters. In short, déjà vu all over again. But thi…

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Gay, Black, and Quaker: History Catches Up with Bayard Rustin

Recent weeks have seen history-making collaborations among leaders of the African American and LGBT equality movements. In May, the national board of the NAACP endorsed marriage equality for same-sex couples, shortly after President Obama did the same. This month, LGBT leaders joined the NAACP and others in New York City to call for an end to the police department’s “stop and frisk” policy, which has targeted mostly African Americans and Latinos….

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Jesus, Santa, and Now Sound of Music‘s Mother Abbess?

…say about the five-time Tony Award winner’s acting or vocal abilities—instead, their opposition was chiefly rooted in the portrayal of the often-overlooked Mother Abbess as a black woman. “We turned it off after we saw a negro nun,” tweeted dave44s. “No negro species in the Sound of Music.” (Note: dave44s’s sentiment was retweeted over 200 times before his Twitter account was suspended.) Mike Greenberg of the ESPN sports talk show Mike and Mike a…

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Thanksgivukkah, With a Side of Christmas Envy

…latkes with cranberry apple relish and brussel sprouts with pastrami (instead of bacon) going viral, and the Menurkey likely to grace many a holiday table. But why? Aside from the marketing genius of Thanksgivvukah proponents and the general wonders of gastronomic Judaism and the New Jewish Food Movement, what drives the excitement and creative expressions? I would posit, as many have, that Thanksgivukkah does what its older cousin Christmukkah c…

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Andrew Sullivan is Right and Wrong on Racism, Romney, and the Book of Mormon

…rsy while Governor Romney’s relationship to racist statements by past LDS leaders has been quietly accepted. (In fact, it may be the case that during 2012 general presidential campaign, Obama has been the object of more religion-related public antagonism and mischaracterization than Romney—including the persistence of charges that Obama is Muslim, not a Christian, as he has professed.) But Sullivan has a few of his facts about Mormon history and d…

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An End to the “Gentleman’s Agreement” on Israel?

…nto office, they realize that to put these platitudes into practice would lead to diplomatic chaos—and so they do next to nothing. This is why, for years now, Congress has passed resolutions calling for the American embassy to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem—and, for years, Republican and Democratic administrations have failed to do so. This empty, symbolic move would accomplish nothing practical (the “consulate” in Jerusalem is larger than mo…

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Where are the Clergy? A Report from Occupy DC

…many of the participants had decamped to Starbucks to design flyers to spread the word. They left the poster board that listed goals, handwritten contributions of anyone who wanted to chime in, under a tree in the square (see image above). Some goals were appropriately wonky for DC (“reinstate Glass-Steagall”); others were overbroad and silly (“abolish capitalism + the state”); others were born of frustration (“get jobs for educated unemployed”),…

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Dreaming Beyond the Madman: Reflections on the Revolution in Libya

…the interest of Islamic solidarity, which is usually only honored in the breach, the Pakistani government had hoped to bring fellow Muslim states to its side. After Pakistan’s delegate made his presentation, the floor was opened to comments. The Iranian Ambassador was correct. Consider that sufficient introduction: the ambassador of Iran was made to seem sane, reasonable, and logical before the outpouring that the Libyan delegation accomplished. I…

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Romania’s “Witch Tax”: Magic Meets Bureaucracy

…of “witch” to the nation’s labor codes. Those charging clients for tarot readings, curses, and blessings must now pay a 16 percent income tax and make contributions to health and pension programs. The ire of the witches, some of whom responded by performing rituals to hex the government, has become fodder for scores of offbeat news stories throughout the west.  But there is a deeper story to the witches of Romania. With Romania’s entry into the E…

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“The Gift of Gay”: Father Matthew Kelty, Confessor to Thomas Merton, Dies at 96

…nly came to mind when I learned that Father Matthew Kelty left this world peacefully at noon on Friday last. This is a great loss to those of us newly, and not-so-newly, arrived, and I wanted to try to explain why I think this is so. This remarkable monk spent fifty off-and-on years at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where he was the last confessor that Thomas Merton ever had; and if that wasn’t enough to warrant further discussion, he was al…

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