Tag Archives: Islam

Medieval Islam & The Dialogue Against the Jews (Peter Alfonsi)

Petrus Alphonsi (d. 1116) was a Jewish Spanish physician, writer, astronomer, and polemicist, who converted to Christianity in 1106. He is also known just as Alphonsi, and as Peter Alfonsi or Peter Alphonso and was born Moses Sephardi). Born in Islamic Spain, he mostly lived in England and France after his conversion (wiki). He … Continue reading

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(Mutation) Political Judaism (Jerusalem Day)

After 9/11, there was a lot of back and forth about Islam and Islam and Politics. Over the years, the term Political Islam emerged to define a distinct and reactionary mutation in modern and contemporary Muslim cultures. No such critical … Continue reading

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(Art Puppets & Middle East History) Cabaret Crusades (Wael Shawky)

Puppets from Wael Shawky’s three-part video series Cabaret Crusades are here on view at the Met Breuer. I’m wondering about the relation between visual art and history (it could just as well be about religion and history) in a body … Continue reading

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Edward Said & Orientalism (Some Bibliographical References)

Of course most if not all of my academic friends will recognize this picture and will have read at some point in their lives the text for which it is the cover-image. But from which perspectival perch do we engage … Continue reading

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Shia Islam & Judaism (Conference)

  Muslim-Jewish Encounters: Shia Islam and Judaism Inaugural Conference of the Muslim-Jewish Relations Initiative Florida International University / University of Bamberg Organized by Ezra Tzfadya, M.A. (Bamberg) and Dr. Iqbal Akhtar (FIU) Day 1: April 10th 4:00-6:30: Panel 1: Conceiving … Continue reading

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Islamic Ornament & The Spiritual in Art (Oleg Grabar)

Just finished reading Oleg Grabar’s The Mediation of Ornament for a survey class on Religion and Art. Written by one the great art historians of Islamic art, The Mediation of Ornament is more like a meditation after a career long … Continue reading

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Design Politics of Racism in Israel (2018)

There is the racist content and the fascist friend/enemy crouch. There is evidence as to the way that religion, in this case, the religion of Judaism and the fear of Islam, is used to manipulate the political discourse in Israel, … Continue reading

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Hasidic-Muslim Relations in Ottoman Palestine (Yitzhak Melamed)

Super interesting piece by Yitzhak Melamed with texts on the history of Hasidic-Muslim relations in Ottoman Palestine. The first Hasidic masters settled in Palestine in the eighteenth century, even before the movement developed a consciousness of itself as a new … Continue reading

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Jew اليهودي

I’m going to write up some thoughts on Cynthia Baker’s Jew, but for now want to share this link to Simon Hopkins, “On the Words for “Jew(s) in Arabic,” Israel Oriental Studies XVII (1997), 11-27. I do so in order to push … Continue reading

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(Levantine) Aesthetic Judaism (Lucette Lagnado)

Memoir is an unusually interesting genre for the study of modern religion and modern Judaism. Casting about for material that would expand the contours of my mid-level class last semester (spring 2017) on American Judaism I finally got around to … Continue reading

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