Race and Rights Podcast

Islamophobia functions as a transnational political strategy weaponized by both democratic and authoritarian regimes worldwide. The American War on Terror has served as a crucial catalyst, amplifying and connecting anti-Muslim campaigns across continents—from Europe and Asia to the Middle East and beyond. There are striking parallels between seemingly disparate anti-Muslim policies in different countries, exposing how these measures share common ideological foundations despite emerging from vastly different political systems. This comprehensive global perspective shifts understanding of Islamophobia from isolated incidents to a coordinated, worldwide phenomenon with profound implications for international relations, human rights, and Muslim communities. This episode explores the systematic targeting of Muslim populations across diverse geopolitical contexts, with an analysis of how Islamophobia manifests differently across cultural and political landscapes. In his dialogue with Professor Sahar Aziz, Khaled Beydoun unpacks the complex historical, legal, and social dimensions that have enabled anti-Muslim sentiment to become institutionalized in diverse societies. His examination goes beyond theoretical frameworks to reveal the lived experiences of Muslims facing discrimination, surveillance, and violence worldwide. His work challenges conventional understandings of religious freedom and state power while offering insights into resistance strategies emerging within affected communities.  Join Sahar Aziz and Khaled Beydoun for a conversation about one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time, as they explore both the troubling scope of global Islamophobia and potential paths toward countering its influence. #Israel #Palestine #Gaza #Genocide #ICC #HumanRights Support the show [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/] by following us and making a donation: Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy] Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr] Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Threads: https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr [https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr] Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr] Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]

Muhammad Ali is widely recognized as one of the greatest athletes of all-time and one of the most important figures of the 20th century. In addition to his long and celebrated career as a boxer and three-time heavyweight champion of the world, Ali changed the conversation about race, religion, and politics in America. Ali’s refusal to be inducted into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War on religious grounds—a profound act of resistance that resulted not only in Ali’s three-plus-year exile from professional boxing, but also a criminal conviction and five year-prison sentence that Ali almost had to serve until it was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court—represented a pivotal moment of the 1960s.  Ali has been the subject of numerous books and documentary films, including the Oscar-winning When We Were Kings (1996) and The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013). He is also the subject of the 2001 Hollywood biopic, Ali (co-written and directed by Michael Mann and starring Will Smith as Ali), which focuses on the ten-year period from Ali’s capture of the heavyweight crown from Sonny Liston in 1964 to Ali’s fight against George Foreman in Zaire in 1974 (the famed “Rumble in the Jungle”). Once a sharply polarizing figure, Ali became one of the most celebrated and eulogized individuals in America, whose rich, if not incomparable, legacy reverberates around the world today.  This episode is hosted by Professor Jonathan Hafetz, a faculty affiliate of the Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights, and was originally released on his Law and Film Podcast. Support the show [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/] by following us and making a donation: Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy] Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr] Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Threads: https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr [https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr] Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr] Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]

In this episode, we speak with award-winning investigative journalist Azad Essa about his research on the evolving relationship between India and Israel. Our conversation explores the historical development and contemporary significance of this alliance, particularly in light of recent events in Gaza. Essa discusses how, despite growing grassroots pressure for India to implement an arms embargo against Israel, the Indian government has instead strengthened its military and financial ties with Israel. The discussion examines how the Hindutva political movement has played a significant role in supporting and expanding this partnership. Throughout the conversation, our guest analyzes the sociopolitical parallels between these two nations, exploring Essa's argument that India has adopted certain policies and practices reminiscent of Israel's approach to governance in occupied Palestinian territories. The discussion particularly focuses on questions of religious minorities, citizenship, and how nationalist movements shape domestic policies. This episode offers listeners a thoughtful examination of how geopolitical alliances intersect with questions of democracy, ethnonationalism, and religious identity in two of the world's most complex political environments. Support the show [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/] by following us and making a donation: Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy] Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr] Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Threads: https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr [https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr] Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr] Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]

In this episode, Sahar Aziz is in dicussion with Dr. Audrey Truschke and Dr. Dheepa Sundaram about the new groundbreaking report published by CSRR entitled Hindutva in America: A Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/issues/hindutva-america/], which is available for download at csrr.rutgers.edu [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/issues/hindutva-america/] Audrey Truschke is a Professor of History and Director of Asian Studies at Rutgers University-Newark.  She is the author of numerous books about India published by Columbia University Press, Stanford University Press and Princeton University Press.  She just released her fourth book with entitled India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent [https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/audrey-truschke-on-india-5000-years-of-history-on-the-subcontinent]. Dheepa Sundaram who is an assistant professor at Denver University where she teaches courses in Hindu studies, critical theory, and digital religion.  Professor Sundaram is a cultural theorist whose research examines the formation of South Asian digital religious publics.  Her current book project is entitled “Globalizing Darsan: Virtual Steriology and the Making of a Hindu ‘Brand’” and has written articles critically examining Hindutva’s influence [https://tif.ssrc.org/2022/11/23/the-neocolonial-futurism-of-us-hindutva/] on both India and the United States’ stated commitments to equality and pluralism. The two experts explain the difference between the global religion of Hinduism and the right wing ethnonationalist ideology of Hindutva.  In India, Hindu nationalists advocate a strict form of ethnonationalism that reimagines the secular Indian republic as an exclusively Hindu nation and seeks to relegate religious minorities–especially Muslims–to an inferior status. Hindu nationalism is distinct from Hinduism, notwithstanding Hindutva proponents’ erroneous claims of representing all Hindus.  In the United States, Hindutva proponents seek to silence the voices of Indian Americans and others who disagree with their ideology, promote harmful policies favorable to India’s Hindu nationalist political parties, and control knowledge about South Asia’s diverse, multireligious history.  Listen to the conversation about this transnational political movement [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/issues/hindutva-america/] that is threatening the civil rights of Muslim, Sikh, Christian communities of South Asian origin in the United States. #Hindutva #Islamophobia #Populism #India #Equality # Support the show [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/] by following us and making a donation: Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy] Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr] Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Threads: https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr [https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr] Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr] Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]

In this episode, Professors Nathan J. Brown [https://politicalscience.columbian.gwu.edu/nathan-j-brown] and Shibley Telhami, [https://gvpt.umd.edu/facultyprofile/telhami/shibley] leading experts on the region and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel, offer a thoughtful examination of the current situation in Israel-Palestine. Our guests provide nuanced analysis of how decades of unsuccessful peace negotiations have transformed the political landscape. The conversation explores the increasingly apparent "one state reality" that exists across territories under Israeli control, challenging traditional diplomatic frameworks that have long focused on a two-state solution. Dr. Brown and Professor Telhami discuss how this reality necessitates reconsidering fundamental concepts of statehood, sovereignty, and national identity that have shaped discourse around the conflict. Our guests provide historical context that helps listeners understand contemporary debates, including controversial questions about the nature of the political system. The discussion offers fresh perspectives on how we might better understand the complex power dynamics and lived experiences of those in the region. This episode presents a valuable opportunity to move beyond conventional political narratives and engage with the challenging realities facing Israelis and Palestinians today, informed by scholarly expertise rather than partisan positioning.  The conversation is based on the book One State Reality: What is Palestine Israel [https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501768408/the-one-state-reality/]published by Cornell University Press. Support the show [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/] by following us and making a donation: Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html [https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html] Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbUfYcWGZapBNYvCObiCpp3qtxgH_jFy] Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr [https://twitter.com/rucsrr] Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr [https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Threads: https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr [https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr] Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr [https://facebook.com/rucsrr] Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr [https://tiktok.com/rucsrr] Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/ [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/]