Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was just 15 years old when he was jailed at Guantanamo Bay. Today, after 13 years in detention, he was freed on bail. Tune in to Democracy Now! tomorrow for special coverage of the case.
Democracy Now! is an independent, daily global news hour anchored by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. We air live weekdays 8-9AM ET and rebroadcast throughout the day on nearly 1,400 TV & radio stations in 43 countries. Here we post excerpts from our interviews and key moments from our daily show.
Meet Khalifah al-Akili, a Muslim-American who was arrested just days after he emailed civil rights groups to say he believed he was the target of an FBI “entrapment” sting. “I eventually ended up taking a plea,” Al-Akili told Democracy Now! “When you’re up against the federal government, there’s very limited resources to seek some type of justice. The chips are stacked against you.” His story is told in the new film “(T)ERROR.” Watch the exclusive interview with Al-Akili on Democracy Now! today.
The target was the idea of freedom of speech, freedom of expression — and being free to celebrate it.
Inna Shevchenko, leader of the international women’s protest group Femen. She was interrupted by gunshots as she spoke at a free speech event in Copenhagen on Saturday. Watch her debate Oxford University professor Tariq Ramadan on Democracy Now! today.
The effect of the anti-Muslim hysteria that this network generates is an uptick in the number of hate crimes.
Yasmine Taeb, Islamophobia project manager at the Center for American Progress, talks to Democracy Now! about the new report, “Fear, Inc 2.0, the Islamophobia Network’s Efforts to Manufacture Fear in America.”
To understand the treatment of the French Muslims in today’s French society, we need to look at the colonial legacy, which I believe continues to shape, influence the way France deals with Islam and Muslims. … France has the largest Muslim population in western Europe — and the history of the Muslim presence in France is deeply connected with the history of French colonialism. Most of the Muslims come from the countries which have been colonized by France, namely North African and West African countries.
Muhammad El Khaoua, a graduate student in international relations at the Paris Institute for Political Science. He grew up in the outskirts of Paris where he was involved with Salaam, a student association dedicated to promoting interfaith dialogue and a better understanding of Islam. Watch the discussion on Democracy Now! today.
I don’t argue that the cartoons aren’t toxic. I do argue that that toxin is a necessary part of an ecosystem.
Art Spiegelman, renowned American cartoonist, editor and comics advocate best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus. Watch him reflect on the shooting attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Democracy Now! today.
Can you feel there is a double standard? It is as if today, whatever you want to say about Muslims you can say … If you are targeted as anti-Semitic, it is over for you. But when you have Islamophobic statements, that’s fine. It’s the normalization in this political discourse of Islamophobic statements. … Don’t you feel that we are talking about the freedom of expression targeting the Muslims more than others? This is the feelings of Western Muslims.
Tariq Ramadan, professor at Oxford University and one of the most prominent Muslim intellectuals in Europe. He appears on Democracy Now! in a discussion about the shooting attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
This is just a pure betrayal of our religion & our principles.
Tariq Ramadan, professor at Oxford University and one of the most prominent Muslim intellectuals in Europe, reacts to the shooting attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Watch his interview on Democracy Now! today.
Israel does not listen to the message of Palestinian protest. It only improves and perfects its tools to repress those demonstrations.
Amira Hass, correspondent for Ha’aretz in Jerusalem, is the only Israeli journalist to have spent several years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank. Watch her interview on Democracy Now! today about the Jerusalem synagogue massacre.