Obama in a Mosque After 7 Years in Office

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9781781685587_Muslims_Are_Coming_NIP-max_221-0d7c65bcca3a726c6f0e6f6d719fa2faAP reports: “President Barack Obama will make his first visit to a U.S. mosque on Wednesday, and it comes at a time when Muslim-Americans say they’re confronting unprecedented levels of bias. Obama will travel to the Islamic Society of Baltimore, which houses a mosque and school that runs from kindergarten through 12th grade.”

AlterNet just launched their “Grayzone Project” to confront bigotry against Muslims — see one of the first pieces by Deepa Kumar: “It’s Not Just Hate Crimes: Islamophobia Is the Outgrowth of a Deeply Racist System.”

LAILA EL-HADDAD, [in Baltimore] laila.elhaddad at gmail.com, @gazamom
Muslim American and resident of Baltimore, El-Haddad is author of the book Gaza Mom. She also co-wrote Gaza Kitchen and has been profiled on Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” program. Her children attended the school and mosque Obama is visiting.

ARUN KUNDNANI, arun at kundnani.org, @ArunKundnani
Kundnani is the author of The Muslims are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror and a lecturer at New York University. He was featured on the accuracy.org news release “Trump’s Islamophobia is Tip of Iceberg.” His articles include “The belief system of the Islamophobes.”

Beyond statements from the right, Kundnani also notes that Obama has spent years distancing himself from Muslims and Kundnani criticizes a brand of Islamophobia when political figures — like Obama and Hillary Clinton — call for Muslims to accept their special responsibility to denounce terrorism. He also points to many specific actions regarding foreign policy such as drone strikes, support for Israel’s military occupation and Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. See his appearance on CNN.