What was Osama bin-Laden for Muslims?

I just finished reading Dr. Marranci’s latest article, which he posted to his blog less than a couple hours ago. It’s a pretty interesting read, and should be especially for non-Muslims. In it, he asks the question ‘what was Usamah bin Ladin for Muslims?’ and discusses the typical Western perception of what he (may Allah have mercy on him) represents for Muslims vs. the reality. For those of you interested in reading it, I invite you to visit the Professor’s blog: What was Osama bin-Laden for Muslims? or read the article here in full after the break; up to you.

Israel & Palestine: Roots of Conflict & Prospects for Peace

It’s short notice, but I only found out about this event a short while ago. A few friends and I will be checking it out, Allah willing, so I thought I’d share it with my readers. For anyone living in the GTA who are interested, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) will be holding an event tomorrow (Thursday, January 15, 2009) at the University of Toronto‘s Mississauga campus.

Finkelstein-Dershowitz Debate

This is an old debate. I had first came to know of it last year after finding one viewer’s impression of the Finkelstein-Dershowitz debate posted on Norm Finkelstein’s website, which I found absolutely hilarious. I tried looking for a full video of the debate back when I first found the post on Finelstein’s site, but gave up after a short search.

Last night, my buddy Moez sent me a link from Google Video of the entire debate. I haven’t watched the entire thing just yet (going to watch it after I post this), but I thought I’d post the videos here for your viewing enjoyment.

The Israel Lobby

Last night, a few friends and I attended a lecture given by John J. Mearsheimer, co-author of the book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. Now, I’m not all too big on politics and the whole political science scene, but I thought that the lecture was pretty good. The question and answer session that followed was pretty interesting as well, with some really good questions being asked.

The lecture was centred around his book, co-authored with Stephen Walt. He basically outlined the arguments made in the book and mentioned some additional points that weren’t found in it, (so says my friend, who’s actually read the book). I won’t give a synopsis of the talk as I didn’t take notes (my memory isn’t all that great either), but for those interested in knowing what the book’s about and the contraversy surrounding it, here are two videos you can watch. One’s a clip of a Democracy Now interview with Michael Massing, a contributing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, in which he talks about the book and the responses to it. The other is a Dutch documentary titled, Tegenlicht (Backlight).