By Jummanah Abu SamraEvery time we read news and/or analyses about the status quo in Palestine, we encounter countless subtle connotations and biased implications that are hard to be detected unless you read between the lines. And it goes without saying that, unfortunately, we unconsciously use these terms from time to time. Foremost is, such misleading terms, used…
By Jummanah Abu SamraPresident Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act this June 17th. This makes Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the emancipation of the last enslaved African Americans in Texas on June 19, 1865, a federal holiday. While Juneteenth marks “footsteps away from where President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation,” and while it is a…
By Jummanah Abu SamraSalaam means peace, and that’s how we greet. But the peace we don’t see on the streets of Paris, the place of Tour Eiffel, where the wrong goes by so well. You want protection? And so do we. You take on your armor, and say that it’s we who are trying to take on your…
By Jummanah Abu SamraPalestine has been gaining global attention due to the tensions that has been happening ever since the start of Ramadan when Israeli police officers started preventing Palestinians from gathering during Ramadan nights. Shortly after that, the attention has shifted to the ethnic displacement targeting Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. As of this…
By Jummanah Abu SamraSince the start of Ramadan on April 13, the tensions have been escalating between the Palestinians and the Israeli police who closed off the Damascus Gate using barricades to stop their Ramadan evening gatherings in East Jerusalem. Right-wing Israelis rallied on April 22 toward Damascus Gate, chanting “Death to Arabs.” To justify the deliberate violence…
By Jummanah Abu SamraIn the midst of President Biden’s partial adoption of the Green New Deal, first introduced in 2019 by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), many high school students are still rallying for climate action. One of those on the front lines is Isra Hirsi, an 18-year-old Black Muslim climate justice activist….
By Jummanah Abu SamraOn April 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Origin-Based Anti-discrimination for Nonimmigrants Act (H.R. 1333), also known as the NO BAN Act. Introduced by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), it prohibits the possibility of implementing religious-based bans, including the Muslim ban that former President Trump first enacted back…
By Jummanah Abu SamraObserving Ramadan last year in quarantine was hectic and challenging for many of us. And with it being amidst a pandemic for the second time, many of us are feeling so lonely already — especially those of us living alone or are converts — but we’ve got you covered. Here is a list of how…
By Jummanah Abu SamraThe Executive Editor of Muslimgirl.com, Azmia Magane, met with two of the Muslim Girl Clique’s writers, Munna Hazime and Jummanah Abu Samra, on March 27, to share with Muslims and writers their individual and collective experiences in relation to writing as a means of activism and healing at Muslimgirl.com, along with sharing their insights on…
By Jummanah Abu SamraFor QAnon adherents, March 4th was supposedly the day when Mr. Trump would emerge victoriously, and regain his “legitimate” 19th presidency. None of that happened. In a statement released on Wednesday, the U.S. Capitol Police department said it made necessary “security upgrades” to make sure that the Capitol would be protected from potential attacks from…
By Jummanah Abu SamraEarlier this month, CEO of Victura Peter Tamte announced the return of the Iraq war military shooter game Six Days in Fallujah — a once-cancelled game that stirred a massive backlash and engendered controversy back in 2009. Mr. Tamte revealed in 2009 that the game aimed at narrating the stories of the U.S. Marines who…
By Jummanah Abu SamraI have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.’” — Martin Luther King, Jr. Whether then or now, Black women have been striving to voice themselves and gain the visibility…
By Jummanah Abu SamraIn a press briefing on Feb. 12, the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki declared that Biden’s administration was working on “a robust interagency process” that would allow them to close the Guantánamo Bay Detention Center in Cuba, officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB) or GTMO. “That certainly is our goal and our…
By Jummanah Abu SamraOn January 25th, news broke that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, and Sundog Pictures founder Sam Branson were to adapt author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice and make it a TV series. The Daughters of Kobani features the story of the…
