Photos courtesy of Zatoon Charcuterie

Zatoon Charcuterie’s halal meats and cheeses have become popular spreads in the Greater Milwaukee area.

A rising demand for halal charcuterie quickly changed one Milwaukee woman’s life.

Magida Jaber of Milwaukee, a busy young mother of two, enjoyed making charcuterie boards for family celebrations and friends’ parties. She saw it as her art form, a way of expressing her creativity. 

“I really like art, but I don’t think I have the artistic hand for painting or drawing,” Jaber told the Wisconsin Muslim Journal. “I’m excited to find my art form.” 

She also thought of it as a hobby.

“So, my husband says, ‘Since it’s something you like to do and you’re so good at it, why don’t you turn it into your passion project?’”

“You know what? This might be fun,” she thought. That was two and a half years ago. 

Today Jaber purchases “the best” halal charcuterie specialty meats from Michigan, combines them with halal Wisconsin cheeses and edible flowers, and delivers them to customers all over southeastern Wisconsin. She introduced Milwaukee’s first halal charcuterie cart, which is making a splash at festivals and events.

Jaber’s also become a businesswoman, naming her business “Zatoon Charcuterie.” She learned about pricing, branding and marketing, and is knee-deep in building a website to add to her social media presence. She’s developing distinctive packaging and expanding her menu.

She is offering her first workshop this Friday: Halal Charcuterie Workshop, Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. at MOTW Coffee and Pastries, 2859 W. Rawson Ave., Franklin. Participants will be guided step by step to create their own charcuterie board. 

Tickets are $55. All materials, including specialty halal meats and cheeses, are included.  To reserve your spot, send your payment via Venmo to @Zatooncharcuterie and register here. 

Milwaukee’s charcuterie gap

“Wisconsin is known for its cheese,” noted Food artist Muna Riyad Sharma of Bay View, a popular event stylist and producer, and owner of Bint Jamila’s Table. “For the longest time, we (Muslims) were not able to fully engage in that part of Wisconsin culture because we didn’t have halal options. Zatoon Charcuterie provided us a way to enjoy the cheese of our state and to enjoy this part of the Wisconsin experience.” 

Sharma met Jaber through Instagram. “Whenever I see any Palestinian or Arab or Muslim women enter the food scene, I’m very interested in the work they’re doing and ways we can support each other,” Sharma said in an interview with WMJ. “We’re both young moms and we both have a passion for creating beautiful, delicious things that make you feel happy. We ended up following each other, connected, and eventually formed a friendship.”

When Zatoon Charcuterie appeared, “a lot of people were doing cheese platters and cheese boards, but no one was doing the true charcuterie experience,” Sharma said.  “Halal cured meat is very difficult to come by. You can get some stuff at the markets, but the truly good stuff requires you to go to either Michigan or Illinois or to make it yourself. Magida was going to Michigan; she was going to Illinois. She was sourcing from different people out of state and no one else was doing that here in our community.

“She also has a lot of knowledge about what she puts on her boards,” Sharma added. “That knowledge is something else we didn’t have in our community. I was fascinated by how much she knew and the time she invested in developing that knowledge. She’s not just selling pretty things; she has the best products on the boards she sells.

“She offered the first Halal charcuterie cart, which distinguished her business,” Sharma said. The Zatoon Charcuterie Cart started showing up at events everywhere—the Riverwest Blueberry Fest, Alverno University’s Inferno Night, Salam School events, Little Village Play Café Gather and Grow Market and Nadiana Art Gallery’s Eid Bazaar.

“But what is truly special about Zatoon Charcuterie is Magida herself,” Sharma said. “Her vision and her ability to engulf herself in whatever she’s doing is going to make her successful at whatever she does. Her passion, her love to try new things, her courage (she’s extremely bold)—when it comes down to it, it’s Magida that makes her business special.

“For a state that really loves cheese and cured meats, having her create something catered to our community is truly special.”

Where do you get halal cured meats?

 “I source from a small family business in Michigan. At the workshop, I’ll share some local options I’ve found.

“I try to serve my community by offering inclusive options everyone can eat. So, the meats are not just halal, they are zabiha, which are slaughtered in a specific way. It was really important to me that if I was going to do something for my community, that it would be for all the community.”

“How did you learn to make beautiful charcuterie boards?

“It was a lot of trial and error, researching and watching videos and online tutorials. Pinterest is a big inspiration. I’ve fallen in love with the art of charcuterie.

“They say ‘You eat first with your eyes.’ That’s one of the main things I enjoy about creating the boards. I consider myself a perfectionist in that.

“I developed a sense of what I was doing by arranging boards for family members and friends. The meat is the main starter of a board. Usually, it flows down the middle and I build the board around it. Sometimes it’s in roses. It depends on the type of meat.”

Zatoon Charcuterie’s cart is the first in the Milwaukee area to feature halal charcuterie.

What’s the most challenging part of making a beautiful charcuterie board? 

“It’s always the vision. What does the client want and what am I able to provide? 

“One thing we take seriously is allergies. Besides allergies, I always like to ask the client, ‘What do you not like?’ I always make boards inspired by what clients like—the meat, the cheeses, dips and fruits, vegetables, dried fruits.

“What is special about charcuterie boards is that you can pair flavors together that taste great, better than eating the same thing separately. Eating from a charcuterie board is an experience.”

What is the price range of your boards?

Prices start at $75. Sizes are medium, large and extra-large, and all come with crackers on the side. Our medium size is a 13-inch round board that serves four to six or eight people. Our large size is 12 inches X 22 inches and extra-large is 17 inches X 22 inches. 

Your business has grown fast. What do you attribute it to?

“The Muslim community has been really supportive of my business. In the beginning, I was explaining the concept to people. Once they started seeing it and tasting it, they’d say, ‘This is really good!’

“I didn’t think I would make money; it would just be a fun thing. But it has really taken off. When I saw the demand, I was like, ‘Oh my God, people believe in me, so I should believe in myself.

“So far, I’m a one-woman show, although I do have a lot of support from my partner and family members.

“I’m hoping next year to hire some employees and eventually open a cute small shop where people can come make their own boards, and order boards and boxes for their parties.

What has been the hardest part of running a fast-growing business?

“Balance, balance, balance. I’m a mother with two toddlers. They are close in age, 3 and 5 now. 

“I consider them my little employees. They come with me shopping and are with me when I’m prepping or sourcing. It’s quite cute to see they have a good understanding of my business.”

Muslim Americans are winning a larger voice in public life, with Muslim leaders serving in Congress, in city halls and on school boards, and a wave of Muslim candidates on the ballot in this November’s midterm elections.

A Young and Growing Muslim Community in the United States

The Muslim population in the United States has grown substantially in recent decades, according to the Pew Research Center, which describes Muslims as a “growing, vibrant part” of America’s religious landscape. Pew’s research also shows that the community is young, with most Muslim adults under 50. A younger population means a generation of Muslim Americans now entering voting age, the workforce and public life.

Muslim Leaders Serving in Congress and City Hall

Muslim Americans now serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Zohran Mamdani was inaugurated this year as New York City’s first Muslim mayor. Pew also notes that Muslim candidates have won nominations from both major parties. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says its 2026 directory identified a record number of Muslim elected officials across many states, serving as council members, school board members, state legislators, mayors and judges. CAIR also says women hold a large share of those offices.

Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate Race

Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary in August and, if elected, would become the first Muslim U.S. senator. A former Wayne County health director, he faces Republican Mike Rogers in a tight contest that national forecasters rate a toss-up, so the outcome is not decided.

More Muslim Candidates on the Ballot This Fall

Muslim Network TV identified dozens of Muslim Americans on ballots across the country this fall, including candidates for Congress, state legislatures and local office. It listed several possible firsts: Adam Hamawy would be New Jersey’s first Muslim member of Congress, Aber Kawas would be the first Palestinian American in New York’s state legislature, and Letitia Plummer would be the first Muslim county executive in Texas and the American South.

Voter Registration and Turnout Drives Build Momentum

CAIR’s nonpartisan Muslims. Vote campaign offers registration and voting tools, and it has set ambitious goals for new voter registrations this election cycle. This month, CAIR released a congressional scorecard on Muslims. Vote to help voters review their representatives’ records. At a gathering in Columbus, Ohio, participants named Gaza, immigration and free speech among their top concerns, and organizers discussed barriers to voting such as transportation, ID requirements and registration deadlines.

How Greater Representation Benefits the Muslim Community and America

When more Muslim Americans serve as elected officials and candidates, communities gain leaders who understand their neighbors’ needs, from schools and public safety to housing and health care. Representation also gives young Muslims visible examples of public service and a path into local and national office. A Congress and city governments that look more like the country they serve can strengthen trust in public institutions and add new perspectives to decisions that affect everyone.

Sources: Pew Research Center; CAIR; Muslim Network TV; WOSU.

On November 3, about 210 million registered voters will decide how much power Donald Trump has for the rest of his US presidency.

Trump is not on the ballot, but control of the United States Congress is. Made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Congress writes the country’s laws and controls federal spending.

In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera breaks down how the elections work, which races matter and what the results could mean for either party.

What happens in the midterm elections?

Held halfway through a US president’s four-year term, midterm elections decide the makeup of Congress.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats are being contested, including special elections in the states of Florida and Ohio to fill the seats vacated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. Voters in 36 states will also elect governors.

House members represent one congressional district each and serve two-year terms, while senators serve six-year terms.

Midterm elections are also widely considered a referendum on the sitting president’s performance.

Since 1946, the president’s party has lost an average of 26.5 seats in the House and a handful in the Senate in midterm elections, according to Todd Belt, a professor of political management at George Washington University.

Beyond Congress and governors, voters will also elect state legislators and local officials.

Nadia Brown, a professor of government at Georgetown University, said that while national elections get most of the attention, “It is important to remember that local politics is where most Americans interact with government.”

She added that “It is the local propositions or referendums on ballots [that] will impact the everyday lives of people.”

What is at stake in the House and Senate?

Republicans hold majorities in both chambers. Losing either would give Democrats the power to block legislation and launch investigations into Trump’s administration.

Democrats need to gain three seats in the House and four in the Senate to take control. A 50-50 split in the Senate would leave Republicans in control, because Vance can cast tie-breaking votes.

Belt said a Democratic victory could significantly limit Trump’s ability to pursue his domestic agenda.

“If Democrats take one chamber, all non-government funding legislation will grind to a halt,” he told Al Jazeera.

How do House elections work?

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the US Congress.

Its 435 members each represent one local district and serve two-year terms, so every seat is contested every two years.

Seats are divided among the states by population, based on the US Census conducted every 10 years. California, the most populous state, has 52 seats, while the least populous, such as Wyoming and Vermont, have one each.

A party needs 218 seats for a majority.

Republicans currently control the House, with 218 seats to the Democrats’ 214, and one independent sits with the Republicans. Two seats are vacant, one last held by each party.

The new House will be sworn in on January 3, 2027.

The House races to watch

Each district elects its own representative, and the party that wins 218 seats takes control, so a few narrow wins in close districts can decide the majority.

Belt estimates that about 35 House races could decide the majority. He predicts Democrats could gain about 15 seats, despite Republican redistricting that he says has given the party an advantage in nine additional districts.

“People generally vote straight ticket, meaning they will vote for all the candidates of one party, so this is likely to affect down-ballot races [as well],” he said.

A battleground district is a seat either party could realistically win. The graphic below highlights 12 of these key races to watch.

How do Senate elections work?

The Senate is the upper house of the US Congress.

Its 100 members, two from each state regardless of population, are elected statewide and serve six-year terms, with about a third of seats contested every two years.

This year, 33 seats are being contested in regular elections, alongside special elections in Florida and Ohio. Those two contests will fill the remaining two years of terms previously held by Marco Rubio and JD Vance.

Of the 35 seats being contested, Republicans hold 22, and Democrats hold 13.

Republicans currently have 53 senators. Democrats have 45, and two independents sit with them, giving the Democratic bloc 47 seats.

Democrats need a net gain of four seats to reach 51 and take control. Republicans can keep control with 50 because Vice President Vance can break tied votes.

The new Senate will be sworn in on January 3, 2027.

The Senate races to watch

To win the Senate, Democrats must hold the 13 seats they are defending and flip Republican-held ones.

In Georgia, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff faces Republican Mike Collins. Michigan’s open seat pits Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers, while Democrat Chris Pappas faces Republican John Sununu for an open seat in New Hampshire.

Republican-held seats offer Democrats opportunities elsewhere. In Maine, Senator Susan Collins faces Democrat Troy Jackson, who replaced primary winner Graham Platner after he withdrew in July. North Carolina’s open seat pits Democrat Roy Cooper against Republican Michael Whatley.

Ohio, Alaska and Iowa are also competitive, while Texas and Kansas have drawn growing attention as Democrats look for more routes to a majority.

Although Democrats face a more difficult path to a Senate majority than to control of the House, the growing number of competitive races has increased their chances of winning the chamber, according to election analysts.

What are the key election issues?

The cost of living tops voters’ concerns, with rising petrol prices, housing costs and healthcare coverage squeezing household budgets.

Reproductive rights remain a major issue, while immigration and the state of US democracy are also on the ballot.

The US-Israel war on Iran and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI)` and data centres have raised further questions about security, jobs and energy costs.

Who votes in the midterms?

About 210 million Americans are registered to vote, nearly eight in 10 US residents aged 18 or older, according to USAFacts, a nonpartisan organisation that compiles government data.

California has the most registered voters, with 23.2 million, followed by Texas (17.4 million) and Florida (13.6 million). Together, they account for about 26 percent of all registered voters.

Wyoming (278,468), Vermont (459,455) and Alaska (603,310) have the fewest.

How different groups plan to vote

A Pew Research Center survey conducted from September 28 to October 4 found that 44 percent of registered voters backed the Democratic candidate in their district, compared with 36 percent for the Republican. Five percent support another candidate, and 15 percent are unsure.

Men are evenly split, with 42 percent backing each party, while women favour Democrats by 45 percent to 31 percent.

The graphic below shows how voting preferences differ by gender, race, age, education and party affiliation.

US election voter turnout

Fewer Americans vote in midterms than in presidential elections. Since 1944, average turnout has been about 42 percent in midterms, compared with 58 percent in presidential races.

What happens if Republicans lose the House?

A Democratic House could block Republican legislation and use its committees to investigate the Trump administration. It would also hold the power to impeach the president, which only the House can do.

Control would also give Democrats leverage over government funding. Every bill needs approval from both chambers, so a Republican Senate could not pass laws on its own.

Belt expects a Democratic-controlled House to lead to more confrontations over federal spending, including the 12 annual bills needed to fund federal agencies. That raises the possibility of further government shutdowns, when funding lapses and many federal services stop.

Belt also believes that Trump could turn increasingly to foreign policy if his domestic agenda faces opposition in Congress.

“Traditionally, presidents facing divided government in their last two years pivot to foreign policy almost exclusively. I think the same will be true for Trump,” he said.

What happens if Republicans lose the Senate?

A Democratic Senate could block legislation and reject presidential nominees, including federal judges, Supreme Court justices, cabinet officials and ambassadors.

That makes Senate control consequential beyond the next two years. Federal judges serve for life, shaping rulings long after a presidency ends.

The Senate also holds the trial if the House impeaches a president. Removing a president from office requires a two-thirds majority, a threshold neither party is likely to reach.

Would winning both chambers give Democrats full control?

No. Trump would remain president and could veto legislation, and overriding a veto requires a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

Senate rules also require 60 votes to end debate on most legislation, though some budget bills can pass with a simple majority. A narrow majority therefore does not guarantee a party can pass its programme.

A Democratic House could open impeachment proceedings against Trump, who has already been impeached twice. However, removing a president from office requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

Belt considers another impeachment unlikely.

“There will definitely be investigations,” he told Al Jazeera, but added, “There will not likely be another impeachment because Democrats tried that twice and Republicans rallied behind Trump.”

When will we know the results?

Results will begin emerging after the first polls close at 6pm Eastern time (23:00 GMT) on November 3, but some close races could take days to resolve.

Election night results are preliminary. Final tallies can take days or sometimes weeks as officials count mail-in, provisional and other outstanding ballots before certifying the results, and the pace varies by state.

“In some states, it may take up to a week or more,” Belt said.

Some contests may go further. In Georgia, if no Senate candidate wins a majority, the race goes to a run-off election on December 1.

Belt warned that early results could give a misleading picture of the outcome. Because Republicans have historically been less likely than Democrats to vote by mail, some states could initially appear to favour Republican candidates before later-counted ballots narrow or reverse their leads. This is known as the “red mirage”. In states that count mail ballots first, the reverse can happen.

A delay in counting or a change in which candidate is leading does not, by itself, indicate electoral fraud.

The vote will decide who writes legislation, scrutinises the administration and controls federal spending, setting the balance of power for the rest of Trump’s term.

NAZA is showing Oct. 23 – 29 at the Oriental Theatre, 2230 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee. Buy tickets here.

Award-winning documentary NAZA is “an important watch for people who care about the world today, regardless of the political or religious spectrum you’re on,” said Milwaukee Film Artistic Director Cara Ogburn, Ph.D., in an interview yesterday with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal.

NAZA opens today at the Oriental Theatre, 2230 N. Farwell, and runs through Thursday. 

The investigative documentary by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor examines the civilian casualties of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the systems behind the killing of Palestinians. It features interviews with 24 Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers who describe the use of artificial intelligence and automated surveillance in Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

NAZA directors Abraham and Szor also participated in the Palestinian-Israeli collective that directed No Other Land, the 2025 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature. It chronicled the systematic destruction and forced displacement of Masafer Yatta, a cluster of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Both No Other Land and NAZA are rare winners of a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

“We made this film out of a sense of obligation to use our position as Israelis to examine the systems behind the mass killing of Palestinian civilians for which our country is responsible,” wrote co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor in their Director’s Note.

The title “NAZA” refers to an acronym used within the Israeli Defense Forces that means the number of civilian casualties deemed acceptable for every Hamas operative it eliminated, “‘Hamas operative’ meaning anyone Israel’s AI targeting systems identify as being in some way connected to Hamas,” Aaron Regunberg noted in a review in The New Republic.

“We made this film out of a sense of obligation to use our position as Israeli filmmakers and journalists to examine the systems behind the mass killing of Palestinian civilians for which our country is responsible,” Abraham and Szor write in their Director’s Note, available on the Milwaukee Film website. Interviewing members of the Israeli military for the past three years, “we found ourselves asking the very questions that were asked by our grandparents’ generation and throughout the 20th century: how does one group of people allow the total dehumanization of another?”

Today’s showings are at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Saturday at 6:30 p.m.; Sunday at 3:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Thursday at 7:15 p.m. Former Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is the Film Sponsor. For tickets and more information, visit mkefilm.org.

Joining a worldwide conversation

At its Sept. 10 premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where NAZA won the Special Jury Prize, it received a record-breaking, 25-minute standing ovation, Variety reported. Since then, it won numerous prizes, including the Audience Award for “Best European Film” at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and the Critics Prize at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. 

It is a New York Times’ “Critic’s Pick,” a special label the Times gives to films the paper’s editors and critics believe is “especially noteworthy, insightful or representative of the cultural conversation of the time.” Its review says, “The new documentary NAZA is tough to watch, and impossible to ignore.”

Deciding to screen NAZA “is participating in something larger than the (usual) individual film selections we make,” Ogburn said. “Our audience’s response to No Other Land, the world’s response to No Other Land, has put these filmmakers on the map. The number of festivals, the critical response and the audience response NAZA has received so far really speaks for itself. Audiences are looking for stories like this, that do more than give us headlines and statistics, stories that open up larger, complicated conversations and allow individuals to speak from their own experience.

“This film is in conversation with films our audiences have responded to in the past—National Bird (a 2016 documentary that investigates the U.S. military’s drone warfare program), Citizenfour (a 2014 documentary about whistleblower Edward Snowden revealing the U.S. government’s massive surveillance programs), and others. 

“NAZA is speaking to the context of contemporary warfare and the experiences of those who are participating in it,” Ogburn said. “I was able to see it screened for the press and industry at the Toronto International Film Festival and I can say the critical enthusiasm is justified,” she added. “It is strong and powerful, more than any synopsis of the film can show.

“But I don’t have to tell you the film is good, so many other people have said it. Many critics say this is the most important film of the year.”

“NAZA” refers to an acronym used within the Israeli Defense Forces that means “civilian casualties.” 

Pushback, threats and accusations of treason

With NAZA’s widespread acclaim, “a groundswell of critics has risen nationally and globally,” Ogburn answered when asked about the pushback the film has received. “We are receiving online comments like everyone is.”

In response to the film, Israel’s military published a document that rejected the film’s allegations about its conduct in Gaza. The Israeli government has threatened to strip the NAZA directors of their citizenship and prosecute them. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explicitly cited Abraham and Szor when announcing proposed legislation to strip the citizenship of individuals who “defame Israeli soldiers abroad,” Reuters reported. 

Some Israeli Americans and Jewish community members have protested outside theaters showing NAZA, including its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival and showings in Los Angeles, San Francisco and The Hamptons, according to news reports. 

While Milwaukee Film did feel some of the backlash in online comments, “we also received words of support and people are purchasing tickets,” said Ogburn. “Protesting is within one’s right and is appropriate for free speech. But no one is being forced to watch a film. I hope that Milwaukee is allowing the expression of viewpoints and coming to your own decision.

“It was just announced that Neon, a U.S. distributor of significant repute, has come on board. With that support, I expect NAZA will be presented in theaters nationwide. The audience response is there.”

The historic Oriental Theatre has been home to Milwaukee Film for seventeen years.

Visitors view traditional ceramics, textiles, jewelry and garments featured in the “Uzbekistan: A Heritage in Motion” exhibition, which highlights the country’s Islamic cultural heritage and traditional craftsmanship, at the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, Oct. 12, 2026.

Photo by Sandra Whitehead

“I’m running against people who really believe they need to buy these elections because they don’t think that certain people exist or should exist,” gubernatorial candidate David Crowley said at a public forum Saturday at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee Community Center, 815 W. Layton Ave. 

Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance and Muslim community leaders from Milwaukee and Madison endorsed Democrat David Crowley for governor Saturday, just in time for early voting, which begins today across the state.

The endorsements came after six weeks of discussion between Crowley and his campaign team with a variety of Muslim community leaders from Milwaukee and Madison about Wisconsin Muslim’s Key Priorities, WMCA executive director Fauzia Qureshi told Wisconsin Muslim Journal in an interview Monday. A coalition of Wisconsin-based Muslim organizations developed a list of priorities that call for “swift and meaningful action to protect civil rights, address racism and anti-Muslim discrimination, and ensure the fair and equitable treatment of immigrants and refugees.” 

Islamic Society of Milwaukee director Othman Atta and Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center president Burhan Clark announced their support for Crowley Saturday at a public forum and meet-and-greet with Crowley at the ISM Community Center, 815 W. Layton Ave., Milwaukee.

Following Saturday’s public meeting, WMCA released its endorsements. They included an endorsement of Crowley for governor and three U.S. Congressional endorsements—Mitchell Berman for District 1, Bradley Smith for District 6 and Rick Crossan for District 8. 

WMCA also made 31 endorsements for state senate and assembly seats and recommended voting “No” on three statewide Constitutional amendment questions.

Early voting runs from Oct. 20-Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 3.

Photo by Ayman Alamy

Deciding to support Crowley

That the Muslim community would back Crowley had not been clear since July, despite his opponent being Republican candidate U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Minocqua), a long-standing ally of Donald Trump. Tiffany backed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention of ISM president Salah Sarsour, considered by many to be politically motivated and unjust. Tiffany also did not respond to an invitation to participate in WMCA’s July 1 gubernatorial candidate forum.

Milwaukee County Executive Crowley accepted the invitation to participate in WMCA’s forum but withdrew on the day of the forum, after receiving the questions, which included whether or not he considered Israel’s military actions in Gaza a genocide. Crowley’s withdrawal drew criticism from Muslim organizers and Palestinian activists. WMCA endorsed gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong in the primary.

After Crowley defeated Hong, she endorsed him. “I fully support him and look forward to working with him to defeat Congressman Tiffany in November,” she wrote on X. Still, Wisconsin Muslims did not jump in to support him. 

Following the July candidate forum, Muslim leaders in Milwaukee and Madison met to identify priorities for a gubernatorial candidate. “We formed a representative coalition of Muslim leaders from different organizations and all walks of life and backgrounds,” said WMCA executive director Qureshi. “It wasn’t done by the WMCA. It was a collective effort from community members, some of whom have experience in policy work. We wanted to make sure we could, in fact, speak for the community.

“We decided we would wait for them to come to us, and they did,” Qureshi said. Crowley and his team began meeting with the diverse coalition of Muslims in early September and continued through mid-October. Its latest meeting with Crowley and his team took place Saturday morning before the 9 a.m. public forum and meet-and-greet.

“For six weeks, Muslim leaders from across Wisconsin agreed on shared priorities and brought them directly to the candidate. I think that’s what civic power looks like,” Qureshi told the public forum. “Our agenda includes addressing anti-Muslim hate, protecting freedom of speech, ensuring Muslim representation in government, safeguarding our communities, investing in our schools and more.”

Photo by Ayman Alamy

Islamic Society of Milwaukee president Salah Sarsour spoke Saturday of the importance of protecting freedom of speech. Sarsour was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents March 30. The New York Times reported,  “It appears to be the latest case in which the administration has sought to deport someone who was active in pro-Palestinian causes.” 

Enthusiastic endorsements

Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center president Burhan Clark, who introduced Crowley at Saturday’s forum, explained why he supports Crowley. “We should understand this is someone who graduated from a high school in Milwaukee, got a degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was a legislator in the State Assembly and was elected the youngest and first Black Milwaukee County Executive,” Clark said. “This is notable. These aren’t just a list of achievements. (Crowley is) from Milwaukee in a state where, even though Milwaukee is a place that contributes so much economically and culturally to our state, saying you’re from Milwaukee is considered a negative.

“There is a narrative in Wisconsin built on exclusion. It speaks against people from our part of the state,” Clark continued. “It’s important that we have someone who is representative of all of Wisconsin.” 

“We are here because, with our support, David will be the next governor of Wisconsin. We are here because we want to make sure our needs are met, that our concerns are heard and that we have more access than an annual iftar.”

ISM director Othman Atta made his endorsement while responding to Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center vice president Aminat Bakare that drew applause. “We are not united as a Muslim community,” she said. “If you go back across the viaduct, you have Black Muslim brothers and sisters on that side of town, too. It shouldn’t be that over on this side of town you’re flourishing, you’re growing and we are struggling over there. We do not need to be separated. We all need a seat at the table.” 

“I will tell you individually, in my personal capacity, I am fully endorsing David Crowley,” Atta said. “We have someone who wants to represent the entire community and our interests, and the interests of the people in the state,” Atta said about Crowley. “We need to make sure we vote. This election is going to make a huge difference.”

Crowley’s commitment

Crowley told the audience that included Muslims from southeastern Wisconsin and Madison he was there to listen, to understand and to learn how to move forward. “That’s how we build relationship,” he said. 

“I’m running to be governor of Wisconsin to make sure that Muslims in Wisconsin feel safe, that you are safe,” he said. “That you can have access to dignity, to capital, to make sure you can not only move your community forward but that we can come together because that’s the strength of this country.

“I’m running to be a governor for all of us … to make sure people can say whatever they want to say, to protect your First Amendment rights, to protect your ability to get access to capitalism to procurement. Just because you are speaking out against what is happening overseas or against this federal government, there should not be a foot on your neck. 

“There’s a target on your back if you do not look like them,” he said. “I am here because I want to make sure that we’re not just working together but we are protecting each other.

“There’s an old saying, ‘First they came for the Muslims and I didn’t speak up. They came for somebody else. If we don’t step up and stand with one another, there will be nobody to stand up at all.”

Crowley said, “We are at the table together, figuring out what we need to do. As governor, I want you all to know that I want to strengthen that connection.”

To our Christian, Jewish, and other friends of faith,

Picture a crowd at a political rally laughing at the name Mary. Or Moses. Or Joseph. Most of us would wince. Those names belong to people we hold holy, and to people we love at home: a mother, a grandfather, a son.

Your Muslim neighbors felt that wince last week. At a rally in Dalton, Georgia, on Friday, October 16, President Trump told the crowd that when you are not sure of someone’s name from the Middle East, “just say ‘Mohammad.’ You have about a 65% chance.” Then he turned the name on a Muslim Senate candidate from Michigan: “I can call you whatever the hell I want.”

Reuters reported that the crowd’s response was muted. That quiet is worth noticing. Many Americans know that making fun of a person’s name, and the holy man it honors, is beneath the office of President.

Your Muslim neighbors are hurting this week. Many of them, or their fathers, sons, and brothers, carry the name Muhammad. They carry it because they love the Prophet, God’s blessings be upon him. Here is how you can stand with them.

The broader context: attacks on Muslims in the name of Sharia

The joke did not come out of nowhere. For months, Muslim Americans have been treated as a threat in the name of “Sharia law,” something no American Muslim organization has ever asked for. Muslims are not asking any court to replace American law with religious law. Yet laws and speeches keep coming as if they were.

• Laws against a danger that does not exist. In April 2026, Florida passed a law that bars its courts from using “religious or foreign law,” and it named Sharia as the example. In September, Texas Governor Greg Abbott promised his party’s convention that he would “fully ban Sharia law” in Texas. Senator Ted Cruz told the same crowd that “Sharia law has no place in America.” In Congress, a Sharia-Free America Caucus now has more than 60 members.
• Pressure on ordinary Muslim life. Texas officials pressed a city to cancel a Muslim event at a water park. Under threat of losing state funds, the Dallas-Fort Worth airport dropped a plan for foot-washing stations that Muslim travelers use before prayer. The Texas Attorney General opened an investigation into a Dallas Islamic mediation group, which says it only helps families settle disputes and sends legal matters to Texas courts.
• Teaching children to look down on Muslims. In September, the Texas State Board of Education approved social studies lessons that describe the Prophet Muhammad as “brutal,” God’s blessings be upon him. Texas schoolchildren may soon be taught that the man their Muslim classmates love most was cruel. That is how hate gets passed from one generation to the next.
• Threats against Muslims who speak up. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, one of the most outspoken Muslims in public life, has been told by the President that she “should be in jail.” On October 12, federal agents raided her Washington home, and news reports say the investigation aims to strip her of her citizenship and deport her. When an elected member of Congress can be treated this way for her views, other Muslims learn to stay quiet.
• A rise in bias. In its 2025 report, the Council on American-Islamic Relations recorded 8,683 complaints of anti-Muslim bias, the most since it began counting in 1996.

Seen together, these are not separate events. A joke about the name Muhammad at a rally, a classroom lesson calling him “brutal,” and a law against a Sharia threat that does not exist all send one message: Muslims do not belong here. People of faith know where that message can lead.

Thinking points

• Silence can sound like agreement. When one faith is mocked and its neighbors say nothing, people assume nobody minds. A few words from a pastor or a rabbi can carry more weight than a hundred statements from Muslims.
• Mocking one faith makes the next one easier. History shows that when leaders mock one religious group, others follow. Jews, Catholics, Mormons, and Black churches in this country all know that story.
• These laws reach beyond Muslims. Sharia, Jewish Halacha, and Catholic Canon Law guide how believers pray, eat, marry, and settle family matters. None of them replace American law, and none can. A law written to scare people about Sharia can also be used against a Jewish beth din or a Christian mediation service. Baptist News Global has warned that Florida’s law is a threat to religious freedom for all.
• Islam honors your prophets. The Quran speaks of Moses, peace be upon him, more than of any other prophet. A whole chapter carries the name of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Muslims cannot be Muslims without believing in Jesus, peace be upon him.

Talking points

• “I would not want the name of my faith’s founder mocked from a stage. I will not stay quiet when it happens to my Muslim neighbors.”
• “Muhammad is a name of honor for nearly two billion people. A President should show respect for all faiths.”
• “The most famous American named Muhammad was Muhammad Ali, a man the whole country came to love.”
• “Sharia is a Muslim’s guide for prayer, fasting, charity, and honest living. It does not replace American law, just as Jewish and Catholic religious law do not.”
• “Anti-Sharia laws are a solution to a problem that does not exist. They can hurt every faith that has its own religious rules.”
• “Our faith teaches us to love our neighbor. This week, that means standing with Muslims.”

What you can do

• Speak from the pulpit or the bimah. A few sentences in a sermon this weekend will reach people no Muslim can reach. Remind your people that every faith suffers when one faith is mocked.
• Initiate a joint statement. Ask your interfaith council or ministerial alliance to issue a short statement. Keep it about respect, not about any party or candidate.
• Visit a masjid. Many masjids hold open houses and welcome guests at Friday prayers. Bring two or three people from your congregation. Ask the imam to tell you about the life of the Prophet, God’s blessings be upon him.
• Learn what Sharia really is. Read “What Christians, Jews, and Interfaith Partners Can Do for Sharia” and “Religious Laws and Freedom of Religion in the United States” at soundvision.com/sharia. You will also find a piece on the 1935 frieze in the U.S. Supreme Court that honors the Prophet Muhammad as one of the great lawgivers of history, God’s blessings be upon him. Moses is honored in the same courtroom frieze.
• Talk to your state lawmakers. If your state is debating an anti-Sharia bill, tell your representative that it threatens religious freedom for everyone. Faith leaders carry weight in these calls.
• Ask your local masjid for brochures. Sound Vision has two short brochures written for neighbors of other faiths: one on how the U.S. Supreme Court honors the Prophet as a great lawgiver, and one on how American Muslims live Sharia. Put them in your church or synagogue library.
• Watch “The Greatest” together. Prime Video premieres this eight-part drama about the young Muhammad Ali on November 4, 2026. Pair your congregation with a nearby masjid for a viewing night, and talk about faith, courage, and what it costs to keep your name.

Muhammad Ali and the meaning of a name

When Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali in 1964, many sportswriters and fans refused to use his new name. Some mocked it. He refused to be drafted in 1967 because of his faith, lost his title, and was nearly sent to prison. In 1971 the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, eight votes to none.

By the end of his life, Americans of every faith loved him. He lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. When he died in 2016, his funeral in Louisville was an interfaith service, with Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and other faith leaders taking part. He had planned it that way himself.

Ali showed that a man named Muhammad could become the pride of a whole nation. His story is a gift to every interfaith group that wants to talk about faith and dignity in public life.

We thank you for standing with us. We will stand with you.

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris participate in a roundtable discussion about reproductive health, on Sept. 22, 2026 in Detroit. Credit: David Guralnick-Pool/Getty Images

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and campaigned on cutting off the country’s U.S. military aid, drew criticism in late September for appearing at a campaign event with former Vice President Kamala Harris, given the Biden administration’s support for Israel. Others viewed the appearance as a prudent unity-building move for the Democratic Party.

But while political debates around Palestine continue as the U.S. midterm elections approach, Israel never stopped its genocide. Despite an ongoing ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes killed at least eight people, including a journalist, on Sept. 30. The reported death toll since Oct. 7, 2023 stands at more than 74,000 Palestinians, including at least 1,431 since the ceasefire went into effect last October, according to Al Jazeera.

Three years into the genocide, some Palestinians in Gaza say that pro-Palestine rhetoric from elected officials and candidates only goes so far if realities don’t shift on the ground. For years, U.S. politicians who challenged support for Israel risked losing backing from influential political institutions and some voters. But as Israeli war crimes continue to be live-streamed, public opinion has shifted dramatically. Several U.S. politicians and candidates have risen in popularity with their stance for Palestinian rights and against U.S. military support for Israel. However, the situation in Gaza remains deadly.

“They all show fine morals when they’re out of office, but the moment they have a real chance to make change, they start manufacturing professional excuses,” said Iktimal Abu Mattar, who lives in Gaza.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has sharply criticized Israel, has faced similar criticism since getting elected, including recently after his New York Police Department arrested over 100 people protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance at the United Nations. Mamdani pledged during his campaign to arrest Netanyahu if he visited New York, but later said his administration does not have the legal authority to do so, calling on the federal government to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant against him.

Meanwhile, life in Gaza barely resembles what it once was. Satellite images from Google Maps show that about 82% of the Strip’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

“Neither people nor homes can be replaced,” said Gaza resident Heba Abu Zuneid. “Before, there was reconstruction, or at least you could rent an apartment. Now, losing your home means ending up living in misery through summer and winter. It’s like losing a soul that can never come back.”

Polling shows that the U.S. public is increasingly opposed to Israel’s actions in Gaza. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research from July found that one-third of Americans, and about half of Democrats, believed that Israel was committing a genocide in Gaza. Meanwhile, a Pew Research Center poll released in April found that 60% of U.S. adults and 80% of Democrats have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% last year. About 45% of Americans said the relationship with Israel does more to harm American interests than to serve them, according to a May survey by the Institute for Global Affairs. Just 16% of Americans surveyed said they supported unrestricted weapons supplies to Israel; only 8% of Gen Z held that belief.

“I’ve lived for several decades, and I can hardly remember a [U.S.] politician expressing support for Palestine at any point in my life,” Abu Mattar said. But she stressed that this shift must be matched by action. 

“If American politicians are supporting Palestine and trying to win young people’s votes through their campaigns, what matters is that there’s real support for the Palestinian people, not just talk and slogans,” Abu Mattar said, “because, honestly, we’ve heard this kind of talk plenty of times before.”

El-Sayed won his Democratic primary race against Rep. Haley Stevens in August despite more than $60 million spent against him, mostly by pro-Israel groups.

When El-Sayed, who supported the “Uncommitted” movement against President Joe Biden’s reelection bid in 2024, was asked by a reporter why he was now campaigning with Biden’s vice president, he responded that Harris is not the same as Biden. El-Sayed had endorsed Harris after Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee. Harris told The New York Times in November 2025 that she regretted that the administration had not done more to pressure Netanyahu over Gaza “as it related to innocent Palestinians.”

“I disagreed with my party when it came to the genocide,” El-Sayed told reporters in September, as well as, he said, on unconditional foreign military aid and a new $2.8 billion sale of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. “None of those positions have changed at all. I’m not going to change them,” he added.

Promises from American politicians don’t hold much value or interest for Lina Fahjan, a mother from Gaza. “I see this as something normal for politicians, even Arab and Palestinian ones, so what should we expect from American politicians?” she said.

“Gaza has already been destroyed. In fact, I think the negative consequences will eventually fall on these politicians themselves, because they will lose people’s trust and credibility when they fail to keep their promises,” Fahjan said, adding that she respects average Americans who have spoken out in support of Palestine more than politicians.

Although some Palestinians are watching the shift in U.S. politics, they’re not taking any campaign promises at face value. 

“Honestly, I wasn’t shocked that Mamdani didn’t arrest Netanyahu, or that Harris sat at the same table as El-Sayed. That’s exactly what worries me: that the support stays at the level of talk and symbolic gestures, and never turns into real action on the ground,” Abu Mattar said. “The bombing, the killing, the displacement are still going on, and we haven’t seen anything real that stops our suffering.”

Some U.S. lawmakers have attempted to pull back U.S. support for Israel, including nearly half of House Democrats who voted in July to stop aid to Israel, or a recent resolution from Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen demanding a State Department report on settler violence in the West Bank. But those efforts have largely failed to pass in Congress.

In Gaza, Palestinians are finding ways to persevere. Heba Abu Zuneid experienced major milestones over the past three years, including graduating from the Islamic University of Gaza, getting married, and having her first child during the ceasefire. She now works as an online teacher and volunteers at schools inside the Strip.

But daily life has changed how she thinks and interacts with others. “Before, I was always planning for the future,” she said. Now, her thoughts revolve around staying cautious in public to avoid being robbed or carefully calculating what she can afford even for basic living. “Now, I only think about getting through the day safely,” she said. 

In this context, Ahmad Ibsais, a first-generation Palestinian American lawyer, argues in a Substack post that the growing share of Democratic primary voters who want a presidential nominee committed to cutting off weapons to Israel, is now at 71%—a sign that supporting policies enabling genocide has become an electoral liability.

“We should not mistake election-season sympathy for a human-rights awakening,” Ibsais writes, “but ask every would-be beacon of justice whether their solidarity extends to sanctioning and isolating the Israeli state itself and affirming that Palestinians possess the same right to defend themselves that America has spent decades reserving for their occupier.”

Editorial Team:
Sahar Fatima, Lead Editor
Carolyn Copeland, Top Editor
Rashmee Kumar, Copy Editor

Photo by Mouna Rashid

Artist Rida Fatima and Bint Jamila’s Table collaborate on a unique candlelit calligraphy workshop, offered Thursday, Oct. 22, at Bint Jamila’s Studio in Bay View.

Food artist Muna Riyad Sharma of Bay View, an event stylist and producer, and owner of Bint Jamila’s Table, burst on the Milwaukee Muslim art scene in January 2024. Her signature dynamic tablescapes and edible art appear at gallery exhibition openings and Muslim events all over town. 

Bint Jamila’s Table, Arabic for “daughter of Jamila’s table,” offers workshops, catering and event planning with skills Sharma began learning at her mother’s knee. She opened her Bay View studio in February — a welcoming, community-gathering space. In it, she hosts, collaborates with and supports fellow Muslim artists.

Photo by Faisal Qureshi

Food artist Muna Riyad Sharma of Bay View (left), an event stylist and producer, named her business “Bint Jamila’s Table” in honor of her mother Jamila (right).

Rida Fatima of Pewaukee has been a calligrapher and artist of Islamic architecture and now geometric design for much of her life. She established her home studio shortly after moving to Wisconsin from Richmond, Virginia, in 2019. There she produces art sold nationwide. As her relationships with fellow artists and the Milwaukee Muslim community grow, she is frequently invited to lead workshops for adults and children. Fatima joined the Muslim Women’s Coalition board in March.

The two artists have admired each other’s work since meeting at an event two years ago. Now they are collaborating to offer a candlelit calligraphy workshop, Thursday, Oct. 22, from 6-8 p.m., at Bint Jamilla’s Studio, 2625 S. Greeley St., Suite 228, Milwaukee.

For the fee and more information, and to register, click on the image below.

A unique calligraphy workshop

A hands-on workshop with one of Wisconsin’s best calligraphists is already a special occasion, Sharma said. Fatima will teach participants to write Arabic calligraphy with a bamboo qalam (pen). Each will take home a 6X6 canvas with their final design, along with drafts showing their progress.

By pairing calligraphy with the intimate studio setting and fall-inspired small bites and drinks make the evening an exceptional experience, the artists agree. Participants step out of their busy day-to-day life for a quiet moment to experience and create art.

“I reached out to Rida and asked her if she would be interested in hosting a workshop here,” Sharma recalled. “I had a vision of us hosting this very intimate, very cozy, very feminine, candlelit calligraphy workshop here in the studio with a small group.

“We would create an end-to-end experience for folks where, from the moment they walk in, they’re engulfed in this world, a multisensory experience, we create for them. It will go hand-in-hand with them being able to learn how to do calligraphy and step out of real life for a couple of hours.  We want them to feel inspired and creative, and to truly lose themselves in the art they’re doing.”

“I love to teach calligraphy in that setting,” Fatima said. “Calligraphy takes love and patience to get in the flow. Muna’s studio is the perfect place. She has a calming personality that she brings into her events, creating a very intimate and close-knit atmosphere. We will be writing Arabic words like ‘hope’ and ‘love’ that carry the feeling the atmosphere portrays.”

“We are a good fit,” Sharma agreed. “I admire her very much as an artist. Rida genuinely has this touch that most other people don’t have. Her work is both strong and imposing, but also extremely feminine. I see the work that I do as very similar, but in my own avenue of work. That’s what attracted me to working with Rida. I knew I wanted to host a workshop here with her.”

Sharma even invited Fatima to design Bint Jamila’s Studio’s logo—calligraphy against the background of a single rose. The fragrant roses of her mother’s rose beds in Palestine inspired Sharma’s choice of red roses as a signature emblem for her business.

“I knew I wanted the logo to be a one-of-a-kind piece of art. Rida came up with something so beautiful from my different ideas,” Sharma said.

Photo by Mouna Rashid

Rida Fatima presents a calligraphy workshop at the Islamic Resource Center during a monthly Networking Brunch. 

Bint Jamila’s Studio – creating space for Muslim women

Since opening in February, Bint Jamila’s Table’s Studio has collaborated with artists to host a variety of workshops and events. “When we hosted our first event, it really did feel just like people were walking into a giant living room,” Sharma recalled. “People loved it. They said it was so welcoming, warm and expansive.”

Artists’ events included Amreeka, an exhibition of Arab American women artists, with Fanana Banana, a well-known Milwaukee artists’ collaborative. It featured art by community artists and an opening event with a tablescape by Sharma. About 170 people attended the opening.

Amal Azzam’s 100 Palestinian Women, a five-session, participatory art project and photo journal, celebrated Palestinian culture in the studio through warak dawali (stuffed, rolled grape leaves). Azzam chose Sharma’s studio for the project because “she wanted her guests to experience the feeling a lot of us who are Palestinian or Arab know of sitting in someone’s kitchen or living room, talking, laughing and rolling grape leaves together,” Sharma said. “The studio offered a good space for mimicking that experience.”

In addition to the set-up, Bint Jamila’s Table created a flower centerpiece for each session with its statement red roses, the symbol of Bint Jamila’s Table, and greenery. Red and green were key colors of Azzam’s project.

Photo by Mouna Rashid

Research suggests that AI models tend to favor Western moral frameworks when judging people’s actions. mirjanajovic/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Large language artificial intelligence models, such as ChatGPT, often misjudge what people outside the West might value as a moral priority, according to our new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In 2024 we asked OpenAI’s GPT-3.5, GPT-4 and GPT-4o models to estimate the moral norms – shared ideas about right and wrong – of 48 nations and then compared them with a global sample of over 90,000 human participants. Both humans and AI models were asked to complete a moral foundations questionnaire, in which we measured the extent to which they endorsed six moral values. These foundations were care, equality, proportionality (rewarding individuals relative to their contribution), loyalty, authority or respect for legitimate authorities, and purity (concern with preserving what is seen as natural or sacred).

Participants were asked to rate how much they agreed with some moral statements. For example, to assess how much someone is concerned about purity, they evaluated statements such as “I think the human body should be treated like a temple, housing something sacred within” and “It upsets me when people use foul language like it is nothing.” AI models were then prompted to respond to the same statements as an “average citizen” from each of the 48 nations represented in the sample.

Previous research by psychologist Mohammad Atari demonstrates that moral priorities across the world vary: Western societies tend to place greater emphasis on concerns such as individual rights and care, whereas several non-Western societies assign relative greater importance to values such as purity. Notably, we found a similar calibration in AI models, with them systematically emphasizing values such as care, while placing less emphasis on values such as purity.

Additionally, these models overestimated the broad moral concerns of Western nations, such as the U.S. and Australia, while underestimating those of several non-Western nations, such as Morocco and Nigeria. In other words, even when prompted to respond as an average citizen of a particular country, the models systematically aligned more with Western patterns of moral values. This finding is consistent with earlier research showing GPT’s “psychology” as more aligned with Western individuals.

Why does it matter?

Generative AI is increasingly used for a wide range of tasks across cultures, including education, therapy, communication and even policy decisions.

Researchers say AI models often prioritize moral values that reflect Western perspectives. Oscar Wong/Moment via Getty images

There is a real risk of cultural bias if AI assumes the whole world, ranging from Argentina and Egypt to Japan and Zimbabwe, ought to pursue the same values as the Western world.

Imagine that an AI model helps draft public health messaging during a pandemic, moderates online content, translates a poem or advises a company working across cultures. In each case, the system needs some model of what people care about: what is considered harmful, fair, disrespectful or sacred.

Our findings suggest that generative AI centers moral values in ways that are not consistent with those outside the Western world. This systematic inaccuracy, which scholar Jesse Graham and his team refer to as “moral stereotyping,” could lead to critical cultural missteps with real-world consequences.

For instance, imagine users asking for advice on interpersonal conflicts or looking for feedback on work collaboration with international partners. In such situations, AI models may give advice or offer language that reflects mainly Western values while overlooking those that are most important in other cultures. This could perpetuate cultural biases or lead to conclusions that are not aligned with the perspectives of those from non-Western backgrounds.

In short, if AI models misrepresent “human” values, they can amplify existing cultural blind spots and even create new disparities.

What we don’t know

While our research shows that GPT models inaccurately retrieve the moral profiles of non-Western nations, important questions remain.

First, it remains unclear whether these patterns appear in newer models or models training in languages other than English.

Second, the reasons for these moral distortions are not well understood. Models learn about the world through language, with much of their training data sourced from the internet, which is more accessible in the Western, English-dominant world. This is a plausible explanation for our results, but it needs to be tested directly.

Third, it is not yet known whether these moral biases appear outside survey settings. Moral values shape decisions in fields where AI is increasingly being used, including education, health communication and workplace settings.

Future studies may also need to test whether AI systems make similar errors in practice.

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

Directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor receive the Special Jury Prize for their documentary, NAZA, at the Venice Film Festival, September 12, 2026 [File: AFP]

A documentary that accuses Israel of using AI to carry out mass civilian killings in Gaza will be available to stream online for free once its theatrical rollout in more than 50 countries is complete.

Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham, who co-directed NAZA with fellow Israeli filmmaker Rachel Szor, announced on Thursday that viewers will be able to stream the award-winning film from November on The Guardian’s website. The UK newspaper helped produce the film.

“I know there is enormous demand to watch the film, and I hope that in this way, everyone will soon be able to see it: whether in cinemas or online in a few weeks,” Abraham said in a post on X.

“We made the film to spark a public discussion about the [Israeli] government’s actions in Gaza, the killing of more than 73,000 people, most of them civilians, the normalisation of a war of extermination, of the notion that ‘there are no uninvolved’,” he added.

NAZA, which means “collateral damage” in Hebrew, will premiere in the United States on Saturday at the New York Film Festival.

The documentary is also due to premiere in several other countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Canada.

NAZA is 80 minutes long and is the result of a nearly three-year investigation into Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The documentary is based on testimony from Israeli military and intelligence sources whose identities have been concealed.

One of the film’s subjects described the process of using AI to kill Palestinians in the enclave as “insanely fun” and said it was like playing a “video game”. Another described it as a “mission”.