Photo by Jasmine Saadeh

Volunteers distribute school supplies during Hanan Relief Group’s 2025 Day of Dignity in Milwaukee.

The Hanan Relief Group, together with national and local Muslim organizations, hosts its annual back-to-school fair, Day of Dignity, Saturday at Salam Elementary School, 815 W. Layton Ave., Milwaukee. 

At the event, they plan to give away more than 1,200 backpacks filled with school supplies. They will also distribute winter coats, fresh produce, vitamins, books, hygiene kits and socks. 

Day of Dignity begins at 11 a.m. and continues as long as supplies last. All are welcome; on-site registration is available, an HRG press release about the event states.

Thanks to a grant from Islamic Relief USA and support from local partners and sponsors, the Day of Dignity will be a fun event for children and families, said Sausan Naji, HRG’s interim director of operations and compliance. A bouncy house for children’s play and chicken sandwiches from Chik’N’Dip will be served to children and teens. 

More importantly, the gifted backpacks and other items make a difference in people’s lives, Naji said in an interview Wednesday with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal. “A lot of families have asked us when the Day of Dignity will be this year. They told us how much the school supplies have helped them financially. Some (new immigrants and refugees) do not understand what their children need for school. Having them prepackaged in a backpack makes it a lot easier and reduces the financial burden. 

“It helps their children get ready for school and feel more motivated, as well as feel they have their dignity,” she said. “It’s a day of fun for them. They come out and see other people from their own communities. People come all the way from Appleton and even Sheboygan.”  

“It’s not just for refugees and immigrants,” she added. “It’s not just for Muslims. It’s open to the public. We want to serve anyone who needs it.”

A footer on HRG’s press release explains its mission. “Hanan Relief Group is committed to transforming lives by turning displacement and hardship into opportunity and growth. Through sustainable housing, healthcare, education and job assistance, we help individuals and communities reclaim their future and thrive with dignity by providing short- and long-term solutions that empower individuals and uplift communities.”

HRG will also host a Health Fair, Sept. 26 from 1-3 p.m., at the ISM Community Center, 815 W. Layton Ave., Milwaukee. Free health screenings and information will be provided.

How it started

In 2017, when refugees from Syria’s war trickled into Wisconsin, HRG gathered school supplies and delivered them to the new arrivals. “We went around to different businesses and asked them if they would donate,” Naji said.  “We had private donors. We had an Amazon wish list and we also purchased items ourselves.

“It was really more hands-on and more work on us—to see when the items on sale, go and get them, and bring it all together,” Naji said. “We would separate items in different boxes and get together to put them all into the backpacks or bags, whatever it is that we had at the time.”

As the number of refugee families they served grew, HRG partnered with Hayat Pharmacy and distributed items in its parking lot. “It was literally out of the trunks of our cars,” Naji recalled. “We used to pack the items up in our houses and put them in our trunks. Then we’d go to Hayat Pharmacy and just let people drive through and pick them up. Many refugees helped us with distribution. We still have refugees who volunteer. During COVID, we drove to people’s homes and dropped them off.”

Gifted backpacks and school supplies help immigrant, refugee and other needy families prepare for school while easing the financial burden of back-to-school expenses.

Meanwhile, HRG started working more closely with Islamic Relief USA on refugee resettlement services at a time when more than half the refugees to the U.S. were from predominantly Muslim countries. Islamic Relief USA is a non-profit organization that “provides relief and development in a dignified manner regardless of gender, race or religion, and works to empower individuals in their communities and give them voice in the world,” its mission statement says.

As a result, the HRG team “learned more about the programs and grants Islamic Relief USA offers,” Naji said. “We applied for this grant (to host the Day of Dignity) and received it in 2023. That’s when our back-to-school drive officially became the Day of Dignity.

“Partnering with Islamic Relief USA and other organizations made it a lot easier,” Naji said. “Instead of going to sales to purchase backpacks and school supplies, and winter coats, (Islamic Relief USA and other organizations) supply them to us, along with hygiene kits, vitamins and fresh produce.

“With the grant, we are able to add the extras to make it a fun event,” Naji said. Islamic Relief USA’s vision is to center the Day of Dignity experience around dignity, community and support, she said.

“That partnership, along with local partnerships, allows us to expand our outreach and provide essential items to even more children and families,” she added. 

Behind the scenes

HRG began preparing for the 2026 Day of Dignity a year ago by applying for a grant from Islamic Relief USA. By March, the HRG team started planning, Naji said. “It takes a lot of logistics.”

In addition to gathering the items to distribute, HRG staff inform the public of the opportunity to receive free school supplies and other necessities. 

From a storage unit in Milwaukee, Helima Yasin Aichoune, HRG community outreach and logistics specialist, joined the call with WMJ Wednesday. She was supervising volunteers who were “moving pallets right now, a lot of pallets.”

“We’re getting things out of storage, trying to organize everything for Saturday,” she said. “We have a lot of volunteers from different places—community volunteers, students from Salam School, students from different schools and Hanan staff members.”

So how do they get the word out?

“We do outreach to schools and clinics, Aichoune said. “We have community WhatsApp groups—the Afghani community, the Rohingya and Syrians. ISM includes it in its emails. We ask client families to share fliers with other families. We sent out a press release.”

“Honestly, we couldn’t do this without our partners, volunteers and our sponsors.,” Naji said.  “It’s through the dedication of our community, the support from everyone, that we are able to continue to serve the community.”

This year’s partners include Islamic Relief USA, Hayat Pharmacy, Hunger Task Force, Muslim Community & Health Center, Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Diaper Mission and Baby2Baby.

Sponsors for this event include: Chick N’ Dip, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Layton Family Dental, Meem & Co., Granite & Marble by Design, Prime Printing, PBS Wisconsin, Khalek Building Services, D&J Cellular, Enterprise Bedding, Direct Audio, Sea Literacy, Muslim Women’s Coalition, Pita Smoked Meat and Grill Palace, Greenfield Landscaping and private donors. 

“New partners, volunteers and sponsors are always welcome,” Aichoune added. “There’s a lot we can do.”

Hanan Relief Group began delivering school supplies to the homes of refugee and immigrant children in 2017. As the refugee and immigrant populations in Milwaukee grew, they began holding back-to-school fairs, where any student could come and pick up a backpack and school supplies.

The general view shows the ancient city of Palmyra, Homs, central Syria, April 8, 2025

Syria’s participation in the 61st Venice Biennale of Art this year was more than simply a return to one of the world’s most important artistic platforms. Rather, it appeared to be an attempt to reclaim Syria’s place in the narrative of global culture – not merely as a country emerging from war and destruction, but also as a place that, for thousands of years, helped shape the meaning of civilization and human exchange.

For this reason, the choice of Palmyra as the theme of the Syrian national pavilion was neither purely aesthetic nor archaeological. The project presented by Syrian artist Sara Shamma, titled “The Tower Tomb of Palmyra,” revisits the model of Palmyra’s funerary towers, built between the first and third centuries, and reconstructs their underlying concept within a contemporary space through an immersive installation combining painting, architecture, light, sound and scent.

According to the Biennale’s official presentation, these towers were not merely elevated tombs standing in the desert. They represented an architectural form that kept the dead close to the living, creating a bond between generations and making memory part of a shared human realm.

It is here that the deeper significance of Syria’s participation begins.

The tower that was destroyed but did not fall

Palmyra’s funerary towers were among the ancient city’s most distinctive architectural features. During the years of the Syrian war, this architectural heritage was subjected to destruction and looting, while Palmyrene artifacts and funerary sculptures were dispersed beyond the country’s borders. Erecting a Palmyrene tower in Venice, therefore, is not an attempt to reproduce an ancient monument exactly as it once stood. It is a symbolic reclamation of something that was meant to disappear.

In this sense, the work does not reconstruct stone. It reconstructs meaning.

This is a fundamental aspect of Shamma’s project. Visitors enter a structure that evokes the ancient tower, yet inside they encounter painted faces belonging to the present. The artist has explained that large paintings surround visitors in circular layers inspired by Palmyrene funerary portraits, while contemporary figures look directly at the viewer in an attempt to dissolve the distance between past and present.

Paradoxically, the “tomb” thus becomes a place of life.

The dead whose faces and memories were preserved in these towers 2,000 years ago are confronted by the living of today, as though the work were suggesting that civilization is not simply what remains buried beneath the earth, but rather the uninterrupted chain linking those who once lived, those who are here now and those who will come after them.

The Palmyrene tower in Venice therefore becomes a metaphor for Syria itself: a place subjected to destruction, yet whose physical devastation did not necessarily entail the destruction of memory.

Why Palmyra?

Palmyra is also significant because it enables Syria to present itself to the world beyond the image that has become attached to the country over the past decade and a half.

In recent years, the world has come to know Syria through the vocabulary of war, displacement, destruction, massacres and military maps. Palmyra, by contrast, evokes a span of time far longer than the present political conflict. It restores the country to a historical context in which it stood as a crossroads between East and West, connecting trade routes, cultures, languages and religions.

This is why the Syrian pavilion’s official description emphasizes that Palmyra was a city shaped by exchange rather than exclusion, a place where multiple cultures and religions coexisted, and that invoking it today carries an ethical proposition grounded in tolerance and coexistence in a world marked by loss and displacement.

The message acquires even greater significance because it is being articulated in Venice.

There is a striking historical parallel between the two cities: Palmyra, the caravan city situated between empires, markets and cultures, and Venice, the maritime city that built much of its prominence on its position as an intermediary between East and West.

This was one of the ideas reflected in remarks by Syrian Culture Minister Mohammad Yassin Saleh at the pavilion’s opening, when he noted that Venice had historically served as a bridge of communication between peoples and cultures, placing Syria’s presence there within a civilizational context that extended beyond the artistic participation itself.

From Zenobia to Apollodorus and Papinian

The most intriguing part of the culture minister’s speech, however, was his invocation of three figures: Zenobia, Apollodorus of Damascus and the Syrian jurist Papinian.

These names are not simply historical references inserted into a ceremonial speech. Taken together, they can be read as an attempt to define how Syria wishes to present itself culturally.

Zenobia represents Palmyra and its ability to transform itself from a city along trade routes into a major political and civilizational center. Apollodorus of Damascus represents the transfer of Syrian knowledge and architectural imagination into the heart of the Roman Empire. Papinian, meanwhile, represents the contribution of people from this geography to the formation of one of the most important legal traditions to leave its mark on European history.

In other words, the implicit message is not merely: We possess an ancient civilization.

It is: We were partners in the making of human civilization.

That distinction is fundamental.

Conventional discourse about antiquities often transforms ancient countries into vast museums that take pride in what they have inherited from the past. Invoking figures whose ideas and achievements traveled into other cultural spaces, however, presents Syrian history as a history of movement, interaction and reciprocal influence.

This is entirely consistent with the choice of Palmyra itself: a city whose greatness did not arise from isolation, but from its location along the routes of the world.

Reclaiming Syria from Its Image

From this perspective, Syria’s participation can be understood as part of what might be called the reclamation of narrative.

During the war, it was not only Syria’s archaeological heritage that was destroyed. Syria’s image was also reduced and compressed. In the international imagination, the country became a site of catastrophe more than a place capable of producing culture.

Placing a Palmyrene tower at the heart of a global artistic event such as the Venice Biennale reverses that relationship. Instead of the world coming to Syria to witness the traces of destruction, Syria takes part of its memory out into the world and asks the world to enter it.

The difference between these two images is enormous.

In the first, Syria is an object to be observed.

In the second, Syria is the author of its own discourse.

This year’s participation also differs in format from previous Syrian appearances. The pavilion is dedicated to a single Syrian artist, Sara Shamma, curated by renowned Japanese curator Yuko Hasegawa and commissioned by the Syrian Ministry of Culture, whereas previous editions relied on group exhibitions featuring multiple artists.

The work itself thus becomes the discourse, rather than the pavilion merely functioning as a collection of artworks gathered under the name of a country.

Art as another form of diplomacy

There is another dimension inseparable from this participation: the return of Syrian culture to the international arena.

The Venice Biennale is no ordinary art exhibition. Founded in 1895, it has evolved into one of the world’s most important institutions of contemporary art, and its 61st edition includes 100 national participations. The Syrian pavilion is officially registered under the name of the Syrian Arab Republic, with Wassim Abdel Hamid, director of fine arts at the Ministry of Culture, serving as commissioner; Yuko Hasegawa as curator; and Sara Shamma as the artist. The pavilion is located at a venue within Venice’s IUAV University.

From this perspective, Syria’s participation acquires a significance that extends beyond art into the realm of cultural diplomacy.

States enter such arenas not only under their flags, but through the narratives they want the world to know about them.

What is striking is that Syria did not choose a work celebrating a political victory or an explicitly propagandistic work about a “new Syria.” It chose a tomb.

Yet that tomb became one of the most powerful symbols through which to speak about life.

It is a structure destroyed by war and rebuilt through art; a memory subjected to looting and now returning to demand its place; faces from the past summoned again through the faces of the present.

The issue of Syria’s looted antiquities also remains present in the background of the project, as the work is connected to calls for the restitution of artifacts looted and smuggled out of the country during the war.

The protection of heritage is thereby linked to the idea of cultural sovereignty: A country’s recovery is not completed merely by recovering territory and institutions, but also by recovering its memory.

Between Palmyra and Venice

Perhaps this is why the distance between Palmyra and Venice seems shorter than it appears on the map.

Both built their histories upon passage and movement.

Both flourished because they were not the end of a road, but places where roads converged.

Seen in this light, the culture minister’s description of Venice as a bridge between peoples can be read in parallel with his invocation of Palmyra as a center of human civilization and cultural exchange.

The message carried by the Syrian pavilion is not a glorification of the past simply because it is past. Rather, it is a recovery of the philosophy of place: Great civilizations arise when borders are crossed, when languages, religions and cultures enter into dialogue – not when borders are transformed into walls.

This is also why Zenobia, Apollodorus and Papinian do not seem at all remote from the theme of the exhibition. Each of them, in a different way, was a child of that movement between Syria and the world.

The Syria that wants to be seen again

Ultimately, the strength of Syria’s participation in the 2026 Venice Biennale lies in the fact that it does not attempt to deny the catastrophe through which the country has passed, while simultaneously refusing to allow that catastrophe to become Syria’s sole definition.

The tower bears the traces of death, but it is not a monument to death.

Palmyra bears the traces of destruction, but it is not a city of destruction.

Syria bears the wounds of many long years, but it is not the sum of those wounds.

Here, Shamma’s vision converges with the ideas articulated in the culture minister’s speech: the reclamation of Syria as a producer of meaning rather than merely the object of events, and the understanding of culture as a means of restoring the country’s place in the world rather than as an appendage to politics.

In Venice, the Palmyrene tower was not built to restore the past exactly as it once was; that would be impossible. It was built to demonstrate that what is destroyed in history can return through memory, that what is scattered across exiles can be brought together within a work of art, and that civilization is measured not only by what peoples have succeeded in preserving of their stones, but also by their ability to give those stones new meaning.

Perhaps the most striking paradox is that Syria chose, at a moment when it was searching for a new language with which to address the world, a tower for the dead in order to speak about life.

From the heart of Venice, the Palmyrene tower seemed not merely to restore a monument that had disappeared from the Syrian desert, but to raise a larger question: What remains of peoples after devastation?

The Syrian pavilion’s answer was at once simple and profound:

Memory remains, and art remains capable of giving it a body once again.

‘The US desperately needs people in Congress who will fight against Trump and his sycophants.’ Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

With the victory of progressive Abdul El-Sayed over representative Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic primary, prepare yourself to hear enormous quantities of bullshit about the Democratic party now being “taken over” by the “left” or by “democratic socialists”.

Or as the reliably establishment New York Times put it: “Can an insurgent candidate, with unabashedly liberal positions, win a general election in a moderate state?”

Oh, p-l-e-a-s-e.

Michigan Democrats didn’t choose El-Sayed because he’s “unabashedly liberal”. Or because he’s a democratic socialist (in fact, he’s not).

They chose him because he’s a fighter – at a time when America needs fighters willing to stand up to the worst tyrant who has ever occupied the Oval Office.

Corporate Democrats – such as Haley Stevens, along with Rahm Emanuel, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries – aren’t up to the task because they won’t bite the corporate hands that feed them campaign money. They won’t criticize the billionaire class. They refuse to talk about how big money has corrupted America.

Yet it’s big corporations and the billionaire class that are supporting Trump’s authoritarianism.

They’ve sucked up to Trump for corporate welfare, giant tax cuts, tariff exemptions, antitrust acquiescence and war contracts.

They’ve given Trump hundreds of millions for his inauguration, his ballroom, his 250th birthday, his Super Pac.

Jamie Dimon and his cronies on Wall Street; Elon Musk and his billionaire bros; Brad Carp and his corporate lawyers; Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and the Ellisons – all have sold their integrity for huge profits.

They’ve created media empires that won’t criticize Trump, financial empires that feed Trump’s crypto, energy empires that feed off Trump’s war, and legal empires that allow Trump to ride roughshod over the rule of law.

Which is why the US desperately needs people in Congress who will fight against Trump and his sycophants.

The Democratic party isn’t being taken over by “the left” or by democratic socialists. There’s no civil war between progressives and moderates. We aren’t witnessing an ideological battle between the “left” and the “center”.

We’re seeing the US wake up to the tyranny that’s engulfed us, and to a crisis of affordability that’s causing most Americans to struggle financially while fueling the biggest stock market rally in history.

Trump’s tyranny and America’s affordability crisis are related.

When corporate America and Wall Street are unleashed – when the president of the United States has made an implicit deal with the moneyed interests to back him and his authoritarian regime in exchange for tax cuts, deregulation, monopolization and pay-to-play corruption – of course prices soar and wages stagnate.

Tyranny is the handmaiden of the moneyed interests.

The Democratic party’s mega-donor class may be horrified by the rising tide of progressive populism overtaking more than a few primaries this cycle. After all, it spent tens of million of dollars on Stevens – making the Michigan primary one of the most expensive in US history.

Too bad. It’s time that the Democratic party’s mega-donor class recognizes that its real choice is between democracy and tyranny, between an economy that works for all or one that works for a small sliver at the top.

If the mega-donor class chooses the latter, it may be acting in its narrow self-interest, but it will also be acting against the future of this nation.

Nadia Alkum, owner of Nadiana Art Gallery in Greenfield, and Amal Azzam, co-founder of Fanana Banana collaborated on the art exhibition Our Shared Stories, which looks like the perfect setting for the Muslim Women’s Coalitions Diaspora Trauma Workshop on Aug. 29.

Moral injury, survivor’s guilt, generational trauma, collective guilt. 

When Muslim Women’s Coalition executive director Janan Najeeb read an article about some of the mental health difficulties experienced by diaspora communities, she immediately thought this topic needs to be addressed in Milwaukee, where waves of refugees from Myanmar (Burma), Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine and other places have come to live. 

Her first call was to Munther Barakat, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist and director of Behavioral Health for Aurora Health Care. They talked about how to support the mental health needs of people who experienced war and the destruction of their homelands, and also often face seemingly insurmountable challenges in their new home.

Barakat reviewed the research and explored resources, including mental health professionals with the expertise to explain the impacts of diaspora trauma, how to support those affected and how to start healing. What developed was a plan for a Diaspora Trauma Workshop that combines education, reflection and healing, led by mental health professionals, that will be free and open to the public. 

Najeeb thought hosting the event at Nadiana Art Gallery in Greenfield would be a good idea. “When people go through stressful situations, one source of healing is art, with its beauty and creativity,” Najeeb said. Gallery owner Nadia Alkun “is known for her meaningful exhibits. She is also an MWC board member.” Najeeb suggested Barakat contact Alkun and visit the gallery.

Meanwhile Alkun and Milwaukee artist Amal Azzam, co-founder of the art collective Fanana Banana, were about to launch a plan of their own—an exhibition that “brings together artists whose work explores themes of movement, memory, identity and belonging,” Nadiana Art Gallery website says. 

“We had been planning it for about a year,” Alkun said. 

Barakat contacted Alkhun and she invited him to the Aug. 8 opening of Our Shared Memories, which runs through Oct. 9. The “exhibit explores how migration, displacement, return and cultural exchange shape identity across generations,” a promotional flier states. “It reflects on memory as both an anchor to a place and a source of transformation, carrying stories forward as belonging is continually formed and reformed.”

What to expect

In an interview with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, Dr. Barakat provided an overview of the Diaspora Trauma workshop and backgrounds of the presenters.

It will take an educational approach and the broad view to consider “everything that falls under ‘diaspora trauma,’ then break it down,” he said. “The aim is to better understand others and to do that we need to address the concept of cultural humility.

“To better understand others, we have to break through our biases and understand that we’re all biased,” he explained. “The presentation is for everyone—people in diaspora communities and those who are not, with focuses on both education and healing.

“You don’t have to be a therapist or psychologist or work in a mental health field to benefit from it,” he added. “It is for anybody who wants to engage in cultural humility to reduce the impact of prejudice, unconscious biases and false interpretations of other individuals’ behaviors. Everyone can benefit from that.

“Another topic we will address is media literacy—how the media is very impactful in shaping our perceptions and framing. Regarding their coverage of diaspora communities, “the media is either biased, as it has been with Gaza or it is neglectful, as in its coverage of the Sudanese or the Congolese. Both are harmful.”

After discussion of what diaspora trauma is, the discussion will turn to coping and collective healing, he said. “We will look at how people can engage in behaviors that’ll help them heal. The arts are part of that, whether it be poetry or music or painting.”

The workshop will end with a panel of artists, poets and a musician from diaspora communities. “They will talk about how they use their medium to help them cope.” 

Who are the presenters?

Talks will be given by three mental health professionals:

Dr. Munther Barakat serves as director of Behavioral Health at Aurora Health Care. A clinical psychologist with over two decades of experience, Dr. Barakat specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy and culturally competent care, focusing on accessible, evidence-based treatment for diverse communities.

Dr. Duaa Kheirieh is the owner of Stimulate Minds Psychological Services and a clinical psychologist with nearly a decade of experience.  Dr. Kheirieh provides evidence-based treatment using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), psychodynamic therapy, and other evidence-based approaches, and has extensive experience conducting comprehensive psychological assessments for children, adolescents, and adults. 

Shannon Johnson, LCSW, is a clinical educator at Aurora Psychiatric Hospital with over a decade of experience in behavioral health. His clinical expertise includes trauma-informed care, substance use counseling and youth-focused treatment. In addition to his educator role, Johnson serves as a clinical supervisor for emerging mental health professionals.

The artist panel includes: poets Sawsan Rizeq, a Palestinian American poet and educator, and Tahany Azzab, an Egyptian American poet. Amal Azzam, a Palestinian American, will speak as an interdisciplinary artist and cultural organizer whose work explores identity, belonging, cultural memory and the experience of being Palestinian and Arab American. Rounding out the panel of artists is Yaman Othman, whose stage name is Y.M.N.

Photo credit Honda Kōichi

Across centuries and continents, calligraphy has transformed written language into something more than communication. In both the Islamic world and Japan, the written word has become an artistic and even spiritual discipline. Today, artists from both cultures are discovering remarkable connections between these traditions, creating a unique bridge between the Arab and Japanese worlds.

Saudi artist and designer Noha Raheem represents this emerging cultural fusion. Fascinated by Japanese Kanji, along with Katakana and Hiragana, Raheem began experimenting with Arabic letters rendered in a Japanese-inspired style. Drawing particularly from Kufic and freestyle Arabic calligraphy, she discovered that the extraordinary flexibility of Arabic script allows letters to take unfamiliar forms while retaining their identity and meaning.

Raheem uses traditional Japanese materials-including Sumi ink, calligraphy brushes, rice paper and hanging scrolls-to create Arabic poetry, sayings and Qur’anic verses with a distinctly East Asian visual character. For her, the experiment demonstrates not only the beauty of Arabic but its remarkable adaptability.

Photo credit Noha Raheem

The cultural exchange also flows in the opposite direction.

Japanese master calligrapher Honda Kouichi has devoted much of his life to Arabic calligraphy. Born in Tokyo in 1946 and trained in Arabic language, Honda encountered the art while working in the Middle East. He later studied under renowned Turkish calligrapher Hasan Çelebi and received an ijaza, or traditional authorization in Arabic calligraphy.

Honda’s work combines the disciplined tradition of Arabic script with a Japanese sensitivity toward nature, color and empty space. His celebrated Blue Desert, for example, evokes the Saudi landscape while Qur’anic words flow through brilliant blue desert forms. His works have earned international recognition, including a place in the British Museum collection.

For Honda, Arabic calligraphy carries a profound spiritual dimension. Historically refined through the desire to beautifully preserve and present the words of the Qur’an, calligraphy became one of the great artistic traditions of Islamic civilization.

Photo credit Honda Kōichi

Yet its appeal extends far beyond Muslims. Japanese students often encounter Arabic without understanding the language and are nevertheless captivated by the beauty of its letters.

That fascination inspired the establishment of the Japan Arabic Calligraphy Association (JACA) in 2006. Through classes, exhibitions and cultural exchanges, the organization seeks to introduce Japanese audiences to Arabic calligraphy while deepening understanding of Arab and Islamic civilization.

The journeys of Raheem and Honda demonstrate something larger than artistic experimentation. One moves from Arabic toward Japanese aesthetics; the other from Japan toward the artistic heritage of Islam.

They meet through the written line.

In an age often defined by cultural divisions, their work reminds us that beauty can become its own language-one capable of crossing borders, nurturing curiosity and revealing unexpected common ground between civilizations.

SUMMARY: See helpful tips for the parents of Muslim students entering high school at a public school, based off the feedback of Muslim mothers who have experienced this step in their children’s education.

If you are a parent of a child entering high school this school year, congratulations! You have made it to the next level of the parenting game! In four years, your son or daughter will be graduating from high school while you fight back tears of both joy and grief, in sha Allah. However, rather than focusing on the end goal, we need to approach the beginning of this new stage with care. With 75% of Muslim families sending at least one child to public school, it is safe to say that most Muslim high schoolers will be attending their local public school. Sadly, in recent years, nearly half of Muslim K-12 families surveyed reported that their children experienced religion-based bullying at school.¹ As Muslim youth spend these four crucial years of their formal education in public schools, families should be prepared to support their children, while schools must ensure environments that are safe, inclusive, and free from bigotry.

Because the majority of us are sending our teens to public school, we must first forgive ourselves for not being able or willing to send them to a private school, whether Islamic or otherwise. Private schools are not always accessible, and they can be prohibitively expensive for the average Muslim family. Just because your children are not attending an Islamic school does not mean they will not succeed or that they will be led astray. Only a few decades ago, Islamic schools were relatively uncommon, especially those that offered education through 12th grade. Yet plenty of Muslim adolescents have successfully navigated the public school system, gone on to earn university degrees and/or enter the workforce, and started families of their own while holding firmly to their religious beliefs.

One of the best ways to prepare for this new stage is by speaking with other parents who have “been there and done that.” Before writing this article, I asked women in several Muslim parenting forums whose children had already completed their high school years to share their best advice for preparing families for this transition. The following tips are based on their feedback.

1. Keep an “open door policy” 

Just because your child is older and becoming more independent does not mean they no longer benefit from mom and dad’s company. Keep the lines of communication open. Whenever they want to talk, put everything else aside. Put your phone down, pause whatever you are doing, look them in the eye, and give them your undivided attention. The last thing you want is for your child to feel ignored when they need you most. 

2. Lecture less, listen more. 

Your presence should be a safe haven where your teen feels comfortable expressing themselves openly. Let them know, even before school starts, that you will always be there to support them, and then reinforce that message every day through your actions. Do not shut them out, talk over them, or judge them harshly. Otherwise, they may stop sharing things with you out of fear that you will not understand or support them. 

3. Expect changes

Your child may not tell you this outright, but they will likely feel overwhelmed. High school can be intimidating with its new building, classes, teachers, routines, and peer groups. On top of that, they are navigating significant physical, emotional, and social changes. Expect shifts in personality, interests, and even beliefs, but do not view them as a personal failure. Trust the values you have instilled and the effort you have invested in your parenting. Even if your son or daughter comes home with doubts, difficult questions, or ideas that surprise you, keep an open mind. Adolescents naturally explore different perspectives as they try to discover who they are and make sense of the world around them. Chances are they will be just fine, especially if you remain calm, supportive, and available. 

4. Show them affection on their terms

Every child is different when it comes to their love language.² Some still appreciate hugs and kisses, while others shy away from physical affection altogether. Respect their boundaries while continuing to show them love in ways they are comfortable with. One mom advised parents to look their teens in the eyes when they come home from school and greet them with salam. Maintain eye contact for 10 to 12 seconds to connect “soul to soul.” She shared that this simple practice has helped her stay closely connected with her now young adult children. 

5. Welcome their friends

Friendship is a crucial part of the high school experience. Your teen will naturally want to build friendships with peers who share similar interests, even if they come from backgrounds different from your own. Welcome their new friends into your home. Get to know them as individuals and avoid judging them simply because they are different. Treat your teen’s friends with dignity, respect, and hospitality. Remember, they are someone else’s child, just as your teen is yours. 

6. Keep Them Connected to the Muslim Community

Make sure your teen has a welcoming, nonjudgmental Muslim space where they can be themselves. If you do not already have a strong circle of Muslim family and friends, consider building one with other parents. Organize activities at your local masjid or in your home where young people can gather, including your teen’s friends. Find reasons to celebrate, serve others, and spend time together throughout the year. Regular opportunities to be around other Muslims can strengthen your teen’s religious identity while giving them a genuine sense of belonging. 

7. Volunteer at their school

You may think that parent volunteer opportunities are limited at the high school level, but there are still plenty of ways to get involved. Parents can assist with clubs, sports, fundraisers, school events, and other activities. You can also provide administrators and teachers with information about Ramadan and Eid, advocate for appropriate accommodations for Muslim students, and offer to help organize inclusive school events whenever possible. 

8. Make prayer a priority

It is important that your high schooler begins taking responsibility for their own prayers, including Fajr and those that fall during the school day. Help them develop a plan for fulfilling their religious obligations with minimal disruption to their education. Before the school year begins, discuss prayer accommodations with a guidance counselor or administrator and help your teen identify an appropriate place to pray if needed. 

9. Take them back-to-school shopping

Forget the crayons, colored pencils, scissors, and folders of the elementary and middle school years! High schoolers are often more interested in clothing, accessories, and other items that help them express their personalities. Without breaking the bank, take your teen back-to-school shopping and let them choose modest clothing that reflects their individual style. If we want our teens to remain confident in their Muslim identity, it is important to give them an appropriate level of ownership over the wardrobe they wear every day.  

10. Last but not least, pray!

Your child needs your prayers now more than ever. The high school years are filled with challenges, but a parent’s sincere dua can help them through even the most difficult trials. The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said that the supplication of a parent over his/her child is answered without a doubt (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 1905). Take advantage of that enormous blessing. 

One of the greatest influences on a teen’s success is the continued involvement of their parents. High school is a time to remain present, offer guidance, and gradually prepare them for adulthood. The next four years will bring tremendous change. Your child will likely reach full physical maturity, take on greater religious responsibilities like prayer and fasting, learn to drive, prepare for college or a career, and begin making decisions that will shape the rest of their life. Be mentally prepared for the time, patience, and effort it takes to help your teen become a responsible Muslim adult. Turn to Allah in every matter, and never stop making dua for His guidance, protection, and blessings for your child in this life and the next.

1. https://ispu.org/research-areas/muslim-families/
2. Find out your child’s love language by letting them take a love language quiz here: https://5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/love-language

Screenshots from PalTalk podcast

(Left to right) Palestinian American Muslim artists Liala Amin, Amal Azzam, Muna Sharma and *Aya are featured guests on the PalTalk podcast, which features roundtable discussions with like-minded guests. Its tagline is “Real talk. Among pals. In pursuit of humanity and justice.”

The latest episode of the Chicago-based podcast PalTalk aired Tuesday, featuring four Milwaukee-based Palestinian American Muslim artists for a roundtable discussion titled “The Artist as Witness.” 

Podcast producer Umair Khan got the idea for the episode after coming across Amal Azzam’s work on Instagram. “I looked at all the work and noticed it was tying back to who they were and activism,” he said in an interview with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal. “That’s where I came up with the idea of the ‘artist as witness’ theme. I reached out to Amal and asked her if she and other (like-minded) artists she knew would be interested in having a conversation on our podcast.”

In PalTalk’s Episode 6, Amal Azzam, Liala Amin, Muna Sharma and *Aya (a musician who asks that her artist’s name be used in this story) discuss what it’s like to be Palestinian American, Arab, Muslim, female artists in Milwaukee today. The conversation touches on identity, reactions to their choice of art as their vocation, responses to their work from the local art community, the need to create their own spaces and more.

In the PalTalk studio, four Palestinian American artists from Milwaukee talk about creating art during these turbulent times.

“This podcast is about connecting voices speaking up for humanity and justice,” Khan explained. “What is special about a conversation with these four women is that they are in such a niche as women, women of color, Muslim, Arab, Palestinian. I wanted to get their POV on what it’s like for them to be artists in this world today.

“What I learned is that it’s very difficult. The art world can be very excluding. There aren’t spaces for them,” he said. 

“What are they doing? They’re making their own spaces. They are empowered to do what they want, and they are not waiting for anybody. They are going and doing, whether you like it or not, whether you are comfortable or not. They are taking their talent and running with it. And that is really important for other people to see.”

Behind the podcast

Rather than having pundits debate, as we often see in mainstream news, PalTalk hosts people from shared backgrounds for roundtable discussions that aim to go beyond the headlines. It addresses a wide range of topics, including “justice, healthcare, global crises and everything in between. No debate. No performance,” it declares on its platform. 

“The way I’ve started categorizing is to have artists, politicians, physicians and healthcare workers, filmmakers, comedians, artists—individuals from those backgrounds that are tying their work back to their humanity. We have those conversations. I think this is a more purpose-driven podcast than most.

“This podcast is an offshoot of my mission to connect voices speaking for humanity and justice,” Khan said. When the genocide in Gaza started in 2023, Khan looked for ways to use his background in marketing and graphic design to do something, he said. 

PalTalk is a production of EverydayPal.org, an advocacy and e-commerce platform Khan founded in 2023 “with the mission of amplifying Palestinian voices during the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” its website states. Since then, its mission has been “to harness our shared voices to create positive global change.” 

EverydayPal.org sells merchandise designed in collaboration with Palestinian artists and donates 100% of its profits (after covering costs) to support relief efforts like food distribution, medical care and solar power projects in vulnerable regions including Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and the Congo. It also features artwork and products created in collaboration with artists in Gaza.

“I’m not Palestinian. I’m Pakistani,” Khan said. “A first-generation immigrant. What we are seeing today—everything happening overseas and here with ICE—touches that part of me that makes me feel we need to speak up because what is happening now is not right. I have two little boys, a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old. This is not the America that you want your kids to grow up in.”

The artists

WMJ interviewed Azzam, Amin, Sharma and *Aya about the experience of being on the podcast and about their work. Here are the highlights.

Amal Azzam

How did this opportunity to be on the podcast come about?

Through an invitation on Instagram from Umair Khan, the founder of Everyday Pal. He runs a video series called “Pal Talk” where small groups of guests from shared backgrounds sit down for honest, in-depth conversations. He wanted to feature me alongside three other female artists from my community. I provided Umair with a list of artists and information, and from that list, he selected Muna, Liala and Aya.

Nadia Alkhun and Amal Azzam pose for a photo on opening night of  “Our Shared Stories: Movement, Memory & Belonging,” on view at Nadiana Gallery in Greenfield through Oct. 8. 

What were the highlights of the experience?

It was meaningful to hear the stories of fellow artists I’ve known for some time and often see at community events. The experience offered a level of intimacy that allowed me to learn more about their individual journeys and connect with them on a deeper level.

Tell us about your work.

I’m an interdisciplinary artist and cultural organizer whose work explores identity, belonging, cultural memory and the experience of being Palestinian and Arab American. I work across mixed media, fiber, photography, video and found objects. 

Community is also an important part of my practice, and I create gatherings and participatory projects that bring people together through art, storytelling and shared cultural experiences.

Liala Amin

What was your initial thought about being on the podcast?

It was an opportunity that presented itself and I jumped on it.

Milwaukee multidisciplinary artist Liala Amin stands in her studio with her paintings and hand-stitched talisman dolls in the background.

Did you have any revelations during the conversation?

The biggest takeaway I have is that Amal deserves so much praise for the work she has done to create spaces for Arab and Muslim creatives, especially female artists. While we were talking about how we’re using our talents to talk about and share our identity, to talk about the genocide and educate others, I thought, ‘Ten years ago, this didn’t exist. There wasn’t a space for us to exist, and now there is because of her work in putting Fanana together. (Fanana Banana, a Milwaukee organization co-founded by Azzam and Nayfa Naji in 2019, provides local Muslim artists with platforms where their work can be seen.) We needed to have our own spaces where we could be ourselves in safety. I’ve known Amal for a long time. Through work with Fanana, I met Muna when we organized a show in January 2024 called For Palestine. For Humanity. And now I’ve met Aya. It’s so beautiful to see how our efforts have grown.

Tell us about becoming an artist. When did you start?

When I was 4. I’ve just always known this is something that needs to be part of my life.

In the past three years especially, my art has focused on not caring what people think, speaking a lot about being Muslim, my Arab culture and being part Lebanese.  I’ve really just been rediscovering myself in my art in the last three years. 

At the same time, I am always trying to include something that will get people talking about what is happening in Palestine and in Lebanon as well. I’m very intentional about that now.

We are this next generation that doesn’t want to stay quiet. Amal summed it up, saying if you’re not going to make the space for us, we’re just going to make it for ourselves. We have stories, and they deserve to be heard. Whether it’s here in Milwaukee or spreading out to Chicago, there is so much more to come!

Muna Sharma

What did you think about being invited to participate in the Pal Talk conversation?

I was curious. When I saw the other women who would be in the conversation – artists whose work I really appreciate – and because Amal suggested it, someone I trust and respect, I felt very excited. To sit down and have this conversation with these three incredible women was amazing.

To be invited to speak at a roundtable with other artists who are very much established and for what I do to be viewed and valued as art was a very rewarding experience.

Photo by Kamal Moon

Food artist Muna Riyad Sharma of Bay View (left), an event stylist and producer, named her business “Bint Jamila’s Table.” Bint Jamila is Arabic for “daughter of Jamila.” Her mother Jamila (right) is her inspiration, she said. (2024)

What were the highlights of the conversation for you?

I appreciated that we were able to explore different things, and speak openly and honestly. I found it very interesting that each one of us has our different avenues for our art. And the way each of us experience our art and to see our art as a witness was very different. Hearing Aya talk about her music, that her lyrics don’t necessarily talk about Palestine but she comes in as a Palestinian artist, forcing people to witness by simply being herself and very visibly Palestinian, that really resonated with me and is not something I thought much about before. 

Being able to talk about my tablescapes and my art through Palestinian food, I was able to talk about that and how my identity is not just translated into the plates I serve but also how I perform Palestinian hospitality. I’ve never put it into those words before. It felt like a revelation to myself. 

Getting to hear their experiences was also very meaningful. Like Amal taking a stand against Mitchell Street Art (when her show was canceled). She decided to not shrink herself but to take up room and speak her truth. Hearing her talk about it with such confidence made me so proud of her. And Liala as well. The way she speaks about her art and how she is as a person—I’m just in awe.

How do you describe yourself as an artist?

I’m a multisensory artist. I’m a food and tablescape artist, and a photographer. That doesn’t really cover all that I do, but those are the ones easiest for me to identify and pinpoint.

What I like to do is to create multisensory, multidimensional experiences for people. Mm-hmm. I do that through the use of food, through the use of flowers and through the use of design. And, most recently, with the opening of our studio, the use of space.

You’ve been in Milwaukee five years now. What’s it like to be an artist in Milwaukee?

You know, it’s funny. I’ve always considered myself a creative person. But I never identified as an artist. It wasn’t until I started Bint Jamil’s Table that I started to see myself as a food artist, utilizing food design and flowers to tell a Palestinian story. Creating artistic tablescapes that not only feed people, but tell a story, has been groundbreaking for me. I’m able to express myself in this multidimensional, multisensory way.

I feel there should be more opportunities for women artists to be able to speak and talk about things. I really hope our community as a whole is open and welcoming of us as artists, and invites us to be part of the bigger community through the work we do.

*Aya

How did you feel about participating in the podcast?

I’ve done radio interviews. I’ve never done a podcast. And they were usually about this or that new song. I’ve also never done it regarding my identity. It’s never been about my experience as a Palestinian woman musician.

What were the highlights of the podcast for you?

My music isn’t really about being Palestinian. It’s about my emotions, a way to express my emotions. My biggest take away from the conversation was that my art is important because it’s representation. Representation is really important. The emotions I express are felt by others like me. I also touched on how I have felt isolated and different for being a creative Palestinian. 

*Aya records her official @nprmusic Tiny Desk contest submission of  her original song”Pink Lady.” (Click here to listen.)

The discussion we had made me feel very seen. We have all experienced similar things, like being used as a token, acceptance from family, all those things. Ultimately, I left with a sense of the importance of continuing to create music and being loud about being Palestinian. 

And I think all of us came to the conclusion that our goal isn’t to be digestible. Our goal is to be authentic.

You’re a singer/song writer. Tell us about your music.

The things I talk about in my music are my real-life experiences. A lot of it has to do with love, my insecurities and mental health. In our culture, in previous generations, it was taboo to talk about these things. But they’re real things I feel emotions about, so I decided to use it as my subject matter.

I sang my whole life, and in middle school and high school I was in choir. And I was in musicals and I really loved performing. After high school, I grew to really miss my connection to music. I was listening to a lot of artists like Amy Winehouse and Ari Lennox, who made music about things they were going through. They conveyed a lot of emotion in their music. That’s when I decided to give it a go. 

I ended up writing and recording a whole EP’s worth of music. And I started performing. Now four years later, I’ve done over 100 shows, Summerfest and others.

Our art can highlight that, as much as we are taught to be strong and not express emotion, it’s important to express it somehow. Art is the healthiest way to express emotions, the most truthful, raw, honest and unfiltered way.

Art is important, and we should all indulge in it.

Japan’s Muslim population has roughly doubled over the past five years. (Aflo Images/Aflo Images via Getty images)

(The Conversation) — A recent increase in anti-immigrant sentiment in Japan has led people from some religious and ethnic groups who were not born in Japan to face hostility. Hate speech has spread on social media, and some mosques have been targeted with abusive messages.

Over the past five years, the number of Muslims in Japan has nearly doubled, from 230,000 in 2019 to 420,000 at the end of 2024. Most Muslim immigrants are workers from Southeast Asia and South Asia.

All this has been unfolding amid a larger demographic change. The population of mixed-race Japanese children, known as “hafu,” or half, has also increased in Japan over the past three decades. The number of children born in Japan who have one or two non-Japanese parents reached 4.66% in 2023, up from just 1.3% in 1987.

A long-standing myth that Japan is a homogeneous society, which has often been linked to Japanese “racial purity,” has exacerbated anxieties over demographic change. This is despite the reality that Japan has its own indigenous population in the north of the archipelago, known as the Ainu, as well as generations of Japanese of ethnically Korean, Chinese and Ryukyu, or Okinawan, heritage to complicate the landscape.

Along with Japan’s falling birthrate, these immigration patterns have accelerated fears among politicians and ordinary Japanese alike about racial purity and what constitutes “Japaneseness.”

What many don’t know is that Japan has a largely forgotten and complex relationship with Islam and Muslims that predates contemporary immigration patterns. As a Japanese scholar of Islam, I have studied how Muslims perceived Japan during the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the early 20th century, the Japanese government used positive perceptions of Japan among Muslims to build alliances with Muslims across Asia as part of its geopolitical strategy.

Rumors of Japan’s conversion to Islam

Unlike much of Asia, Japan was never colonized. Instead, in the late 19th century, Japan started to build its own empire, exerting influence over Korea as well as Manchuria, an important area of modern-day China that borders Korea, Russia and Mongolia. Japan’s victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 established it as a major world power.

An illustration of the Russo-Japanese war. PHOTOS.com/Getty Images Plus

For the Muslim-majority regions that had once seen themselves as centers of learning and power, European domination over parts of Asia – including South Asia and Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East – was seen as humiliating.

Muslim thinkers debated how to revitalize their societies and overcome colonial domination. For some Muslim intellectuals and travelers, Japan’s modernization and its victory over Russia was proof that Asian nations need not be subservient to Europe or abandon their own cultural traditions.

Japan’s victory over Russia inspired such admiration that it gave rise to an unlikely, false rumor around the time of the Russo-Japanese War: the Japanese emperor would soon convert to Islam. According to these circulating reports, the Japanese population too would also convert out of loyalty to their emperor.

These rumors may have started in India and subsequently circulated in Indonesia, then a Dutch colony. People believed that a newly Muslim Japan would lead the Muslims of Asia in anti-colonial resistance against the West.

At the time, steamships and the printing press enabled people and ideas to travel farther and faster across the globe than ever before. Newspapers in Arabic, Urdu and Persian, published in cities such as Bombay, now Mumbai, Calcutta, or Kolkata, Istanbul, London and Cairo helped in spreading religious and political ideas across the globe.

Despite this publishing boom from the 1860s to the 1920s, however, most people in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East still had little direct knowledge of Japan. That lack of firsthand knowledge made it easier for the rumors to spread and seem credible.

For many Muslim reformers, Japan represented a non-Western model of modernity. Egyptian activist and lawyer Mustafā Kāmil Pasha described Japan as the “rising sun to Egypt’s sun that has already set.” He saw Japan as an emerging global power, at a time when Egypt had fallen behind economically, militarily and intellectually.

How Japan made use of the rumors

The rumors, while untrue, did offer Japan an opportunity to position itself as an anti-colonial leader.

Japanese military intelligence seized on the potential of finding allies among the world’s Muslims. Important figures in Japanese military intelligence supported an ideological movement called Pan-Asianism. This movement sought to promote the political, cultural and economic unity of Asian peoples under Japanese leadership by stressing their common Asian heritage.

Secretive Japanese Pan-Asianist organizations cultivated alliances and met with Muslims to build networks with Muslims in China, Russia and India. Japan sought to build alliances against Russia, Great Britain and other European nations. One notable Pan-Asianist group was the Kokuryūkai, or Black Dragon Society, founded in 1901. Black Dragon Society members forged relationships with Muslim nationalists in Russia and in the Ottoman Empire in order to build a pro-Japanese network.

One of the members of the Black Dragon Society was Omar Yamaoka, born Yamaoka Kōtarō. Yamaoka was among a handful of Japanese Muslims who had converted to Islam as a political and strategic act, while remaining ideologically committed to Japanese imperialism, the Japanese emperor, and Shinto as a religion.

Japanese Muslims like Yamaoka could travel throughout Muslim majority countries without attracting unnecessary attention. They could build networks and report their findings back to the military in Japan.

Complex pasts

For decades, Japan continued with this strategy and even developed an Islam policy in the 1930s. The goal of Japan’s Islam policy, or “Kaikyō Seisaku,” was to build Japan’s sphere of influence across Asia. It fostered alliances with Muslims in China, Russia, Central Asia and the Caucuses, Southeast Asia and India as part of this policy.

Japan’s empire expanded in the decades leading up to World War II. However, it collapsed when Japan experienced a catastrophic defeat in 1945. Japan was occupied by the United States, and the emperor was stripped of his semidivine status. In the decades since then, Japan has largely adopted a pacifist stance that disavows its imperial past.

Today, amid Japan’s shrinking population and anti-immigrant sentiment, it might be jarring to remember that there once were hopes that Japan would be the anti-colonial leader of the world’s Muslims and that some of Asia’s Muslims dreamed of an Islamic Republic of Japan.

(Mimi Hanaoka, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Richmond. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

“It’s not just about winning tomorrow, but it’s about uniting our coalition. It’s about bringing in new builders. It’s about making sure everyone in Wisconsin sees themselves in our vision for a better Wisconsin for everyone,” Hong said. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin’s crazy rollercoaster of a Democratic primary is finally over. After staying up all night waiting to see David Crowley declared the winner by one-half of one percentage point at 2:30 Wednesday morning, a lot of voters are feeling dizzy and seasick. 

Many Francesca Hong supporters are angry. Their grassroots campaign, the best organized, most energized, with the boldest vision throughout the race, was big-footed by Gov. Tony Evers’ last-minute endorsement of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. Adding insult to injury, Crowley had already dropped out when Evers urged him to jump back in with a big boost from late campaign cash, apparently for the sole purpose of thwarting Hong. 

Crowley supporters are relieved. They saw Hong as an inexperienced candidate who would lose a winnable general election to Republican Tom Tiffany, a Donald Trump enabler and election denier who has plans to sell off public lands and bring back a total abortion ban. 

National media viewed the Wisconsin primary as a test of the left which, according to the New York Times, the left clearly failed with Hong’s “stunning” loss. 

But feverish punditry about the significance of Wisconsin’s primary has distorted the real meaning of the results. Polls showing Hong was on track to win by double digits were less accurate than the anecdotal experience of voters who knew their friends and neighbors were fretting about how to vote and hadn’t made up their minds right up until Election Day. Those voters moved to Crowley in big numbers at the very end of the race, as he came to seem like the safe alternative. But Hong’s near-miss is hardly a stunning defeat. On the contrary, it showed real strength for a candidate who, when she started, was counted out.  

If your main exposure to Hong was the video of her appearance on Fox News, where she talked in circles about an old tweet in which she recommended canceling Thanksgiving, refusing to either disavow or endorse the idea, the worry made sense. 

It wasn’t just old, establishment types who felt it. “A lot of our members had to be talked down off the fence, they were so worried about electability,” says Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, which endorsed Hong. 

For those voters, the big struggle in the primary was a contest between hope and fear. Kraig sees this as a natural phenomenon. “People are hard-wired to be risk-averse,” he says. Especially when the stakes are high, people’s fears, and the sense that they have to protect what they have, overcome their aspirations for something better. Kraig spent time trying to persuade people that they needed to be more imaginative, to consider that many candidates who once seemed improbable, including President Barack Obama and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, changed people’s views of “electability.” 

Hong’s priorities — free childcare, a massive expansion of healthcare, a big minimum wage hike, fully funded schools paid for with a tax increase on the rich — and her assertive, take-it-to-the-hoop attacks on Tiffany, whom she called a “traitor,” resonated with a lot of Wisconsin Democrats. It was the fear that she was not ready for prime time, that she would lose regular voters by speaking the lingo of the academic left, more than her socialist policy positions, that caused them to jump ship. That doesn’t mean the Hong movement failed, or that Democrats can afford to ignore it now that Crowley pulled off his narrow win.

As Kraig points out, voters are not particularly attached to “moderate” policy positions. Progressive ideas can generate big support among a cross-section of voters. Hong’s campaign demonstrated that. 

It makes sense that people who were the most fed up, who felt they had the least to lose, supported Hong. Some were young DSA members. But also, Kraig says, some of his group’s organizers who are “standard liberals” — doctors who are deeply concerned about the systemic failures of healthcare — pushed hard for the group to endorse Hong because of her recognition of the need for radical change in the healthcare system.

The night before the election, I watched Hong fire up canvassers at her campaign office on the east side of Madison. A young, excited group of volunteers clearly felt like they were part of something historic. That movement energy has not been lost. It’s up to Crowley to tap it and to Democrats to recognize its significance. It would be a huge mistake for the Crowley campaign, having pulled off its narrow victory, not to try to connect seriously with the grassroots energy that animated Hong’s supporters. 

Kraig and Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the executive director of the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, which also endorsed Hong, both hold out hope that Crowley, a former community organizer, will not just talk about “unity” with Hong voters, but will listen seriously to them and adopt some of their positions. 

Kraig suggests that Crowley take a page from President Joe Biden, who invited the Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic party to help him shape policy after he won in 2020. “It would be good to be credible. To take some positions. Not just call for unity. He could do events with Fran on some issues he wants to lean in on,” Kraig says.

Crowley could make inroads with an energized voting base by taking a stronger position against rapacious AI data centers — one of the issues that animated the Hong campaign. That could be complicated for him with his trade union endorsers. But Hong was the first to recognize what others now see: Voters are demanding a stronger stance.

“It’s going to be really important to connect to those organizer roots and to be bold, not to be timid and move to the center or the right,” says Neumann-Ortiz. 

Voces embraced Hong because she was deeply engaged in defending immigrant rights, including through the Statewide Community Defense Network. “People are coming together to support immigrant families being persecuted by ICE,” Neumann-Ortiz says. Crowley could do more to connect to that, taking a clear stand in support of measures that protect immigrant families.

 “We are in a period of growing authoritarianism — people see that, and growing economic inequality — people feel that,” says Neumann-Ortiz. “We need a movement that brings working people together and challenges the divisions of the right and Tom Tiffany. That’s what’s needed; not to lose that fighting spirit.” 

People are fed up with the lesser-evil argument that “you have no choice,” she adds. And they aren’t putting up with it. “We have seen the emergence of candidates that are much more progressive,” she says. “They come out of a community organizing culture and are willing to demand more.”

More progressives are going to continue to run for office, Neumann-Ortiz predicts. Real political power, she says, “comes from that organized community. They are doing the real democracy work, not just in elections, but the ongoing work of people coming together.” 

Crowley won with a boost from Evers, although he dismisses the idea that he is a creature of the “establishment.” Kraig thinks that’s silly – of course he got a big establishment hand up. But that doesn’t have to be how he governs. 

“Progressive Era champions put into office by the political machines turned against them and became reformers,” Kraig points out. He holds out hope that Crowley, connecting with his organizer roots, might follow in that great Wisconsin tradition. 

Khatera Nazari, a refugee from Afghanistan, graduated in May from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee with a bachelor’s degree in data science. She is now a data scientist with the Fortune 500 company Northwestern Mutual Insurance.

Khatera Nazari received Hanan Relief Group’s Dr. Ahmad Nasef Scholarship in 2022. A new refugee from Afghanistan, months earlier, she made a harrowing escape on the eve of her homeland’s fall to the Taliban in August 2021. On the way to the airport, Nazari prayed as she prepared to die, she told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2022.

Nazari graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in data science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s College of Engineering & Applied Science and is now working in a job she loves. 

Asma Osman came to the United States with her family in 2015, as refugees from Myanmar (aka Burma). Like most Rohingya refugees escaping genocide, her family experienced trauma and loss unimaginable to most. They struggled to make a new life here, learned a new language and culture, and worked to help other relatives still in refugee camps get by financially. The 2023 Nasef Scholarship winner is now a senior at UWM and the first member of her family to pursue a university degree. 

Nazari served as emcee and Osman as a featured speaker Saturday at the Dr. Ahmad Nasef Scholarship Dinner at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee—West, where the Hanan Relief Group announced the six 2026 Nasef Scholars in the presence of the Nasef family and dozens of supporters.

Small but mighty – Dr. Ahmad Nasef Scholarships’ big impact

Hanan Relief Group created the Ahmad Nasef Scholarship in 2021 in honor of Dr. Ahmad Nasef, an early champion and lead supporter of Hanan’s Wisconsin Chapter. He died at 52 in January 2021 of advanced kidney cancer. Each year, HRG gives $1,500 scholarships to as many winners as donations allow, said HRG community outreach and logistics specialist Helima Yasin Aichoune. (Aichoune encourages everyone to support the continuation of the Nasef Scholarship by contributing. Find the link here.)

In 2022, Khatera Nazari received a Nasef Scholarship from the Hanan Relief Organization. She posed with Charlotte Nasef, wife of the late Dr. Ahmad Nasef, a champion of refugees in whose name the scholarships are given.

Nazari and Osman agreed the impact of the Nasef Scholarship was significant, despite the relatively small dollar amount. “The Nasef scholarship helped me pay for textbooks and school supplies, easing some of the financial pressure of being a university student,” Nazari said. She also found it encouraging that the scholarships were earmarked for refugees and immigrants, letting them know they are not forgotten. 

“I would encourage people who have money to invest in the younger generation,” she added. 

“You are changing someone’s life,” Osman said. The Nasef Scholarship “is a little, single act of help that is specifically for refugees. It won’t pay for an entire education, but it helps. It definitely covered my textbooks, transportation and other expenses. I’m really grateful.

“It also means a lot because it’s Dr. Nasef’s legacy,” Osman added. “Education is life-changing. Not everybody has the privilege of going to school, and college is a dream for a lot of people.

Khatera Nazari’s passion for problem-solving

In Afghanistan, Nazari was among a group of young women pursuing studies at the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh. The university arranged a flight for the women’s escape, but getting past the crowds and checkpoints to the flight was a horrifying ordeal, Nazari said.

 After saying goodbye to family and friends, and finally reaching the airport, they flew from Kabul as Afghanistan fell to Taliban control. Nazari and seven other students ended up in Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin, and finally in Milwaukee, where they studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nazari began with one semester of intensive English at UWM.

“All praise belongs to God … the one who said seeking knowledge is an obligation for both female and male,” Nazari said on behalf of the 2022 Nasef Scholars at the second annual award ceremony. “I am from Afghanistan where the Taliban is proudly and publicly erasing millions of women from public life.”

Anonymous sponsors paid their tuition at UWM and Nazari started with a semester of intensive English in 2022. “My family is very pro-education,” she noted. “My siblings and I started studying English with private courses from around 10 years old.

“I always liked technology,” Nazari said. “I knew I would do something in engineering and tech. Back home, if there was anything wrong with the TV or any device, they would always ask me to check it. Whatever it was, they always asked, ‘Can you fix it?’ And I would.

“I love puzzles and problem-solving. But I didn’t know about the field of data science until I did three bootcamps during my freshman year—“Women in Tech, Zambia (at Arizona State University) and MKE Tech Hub Coalition, an AI bootcamp. That’s how I ended up in data science. I explored it a lot and loved it. By my sophomore year, I decided I would do data science.”

In the summer of 2025, between her junior and senior years, Nazari secured an AI internship at Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company, a Fortune 500 mutual insurance organization headquartered in Milwaukee. 

“The work is amazing. I love my team. I love the project that I’m working on,” she is quoted as saying in an article about her internship on UWM’s website.

After the internship, continued with Northwestern Mutual part-time while she completed her degree. Nazari accepted a full-time position as a full-stack data scientist with Northwestern Mutual after graduating in May. 

“Basically, I’m a data engineer, a data analyst and a data scientist,” she explained in an interview this week with Wisconsin Muslim Journal. “All three of them together—that’s a full stack data scientist.” 

She likes working in data science because “we help businesses and people do their jobs in easier and hopefully better ways,” Nazari told WMJ.

In the future, Nazari aims to continue to progress in her career, eventually moving into administrative work in data science. She plans to pursue a master’s degree online at Georgia Tech through a program offered to Northwestern Mutual employees. 

She also wants to be helpful to Milwaukee’s refugee and immigrant communities, helping them solve problems with technology.

“There are a lot of things I want to do,” she said. “I definitely want to create a foundation that helps girls and other people in Afghanistan, Syria, Africa – I have a lot of dreams. I guess I’ll work on them one at a time.

“I’ll start with the Afghan families I know and the Hanan Relief Group, if they need technical help. I would love to be a volunteer with them and the Muslim Women’s Coalition. (She has volunteered for both before.)

“I also want to encourage more women to be in STEM and data science. I’d love to talk with them about data science. I’m a nerd at heart.”

Asma Osman’s gives back 

“Surely with hardship comes ease,” Asma Osman told those gathered Saturday to recognize the 2026 Dr. Ahmad Nasef Scholarship recipients. “This verse has carried me through challenging moments. 

“Allah provided ease through this scholarship and through this community that believed in me before I believed in myself,” she said. “One of the ways I’m giving back is working as an intern with Hanan Relief Group … alhamdulillah, I am now able to give back to the very community that once invested in a student like me.”

Asma Osman and her friends celebrate their graduation in 2023 at Milwaukee School of the Arts.

Osman, a Nasef Scholarship recipient in 2023, will be a senior at UWM this fall. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in social work and a minor in criminal justice. 

She serves as a volunteer with Sea Literacy, as a member of its engagement team. That organization has helped her since she was a new refugee from Myanmar in 2016. Its tutoring services helped her learn English and complete assignments that were baffling to her at the time, she told WMJ. 

She is also serving Hanan Relief Group as a volunteer intern. “Asma is passionate about supporting the refugee and immigrant communities, promoting educational access and advocating for individuals and families,” Nazari said when introducing Osman as a featured speaker.

“Throughout my life, I’ve met really good people who have been very helpful to me,” she said. “Seeing these people makes me want to help others more. I’m studying social work because I want to help others. Social work is very broad. I’m learning many different ways to help others, grow in the community and give back.”

She added her minor in criminal justice after taking a 101 class. “I really loved it,” she recalled. “I am learning the policies of the criminal justice system.”

She also wants to help her family, she said. As the first in her family to go to a university, “I know it’s a privilege to be able to learn. I want to figure out what needs to be done to help in the family and community, and learn how to do it.”

Osman experienced a refugee’s journey as her family traveled from country to country seeking safety, until finally having the opportunity to immigrate to the United States in 2015 “and live the American dream,” she said. 

She fled Burma with her mother, sister and younger brother when the genocide there began, Osman said. (Her father and two older brothers had already traveled to Malaysia for work.) They went to the border of Thailand, where they hid until they were able to travel to Malaysia and the family could reunite. Not allowed to legally stay in Malaysia, they applied as refugees with the United Nations.

Her father and brothers received papers allowing them to immigrate to Australia, but declined them with hopes of moving together as a family. “They reapplied and everything took time,” she said. Osman was 12 or 13 when the family arrived to Milwaukee and was placed in 6th or 7th grade, she said. 

School was a challenge since her education had been disrupted throughout the family’s journey, Osman said. Being a student here “was definitely a difficult struggle,” she said. “You always have to do triple the work, just in order to understand one simple assignment. Everything is in English. I had very supportive people in the community and resources like Sea Literacy that provided mentorship and tutoring. They still give me advice.”

Osman graduated from the Milwaukee School of the Arts in 2022.

When she graduates from UWM next May, Osman hopes to go to graduate school for a master’s degree in social work. “I want to be able to get a job, have financial stability and help in the community,” she said. “Most of all, I’d like to help my family and help relatives back home. They are really in need.”

 The Nasef family and the Hanan Relief Group posed with the 2026 Dr. Ahmad Nasef Scholarship award winners. From left to right, Omar and Mohamed Nasef (sons of the late Dr. Ahmad Nasef);  awardees Shofi Ullah, a South Division High School graduate who will attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Yasin Zohar, a Sheboygan North High School graduate who will attend the Milwaukee School of Engineering; HRG co-founders Helima Aichoune and Charity Ramirez Bektesi; awardee Nur Khatizah Rahimullah, a graduate of Salam High School who will attend Alverno College; HRG board member Maysoon Ahmad; awardee Anabia Farooq, a graduate of South Division High School who will attend UW-Madison; Charlotte Nasef, wife of the late Dr. Ahmad Nasef; HRG board members Hashim Zaibak and Dr. Manzoor Mirza. Not shown is scholarship recipient Ta Eh Mu, a graduate of Ronald Reagan High School who will attend Marquette University.

Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif poses for a photo with his children. Al-Sharif was killed in an Israeli attack on August 10, 2025. The year 2025 became the deadliest conflict for journalists on record, with more than 300 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023. [Al Jazeera]

On the first anniversary of the killing of Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif in Gaza, Palestinians and press freedom advocates are remembering a journalist who became one of the defining voices of Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave.

Born in 1996 in the Jabalia refugee camp, al-Sharif rose from a local cameraman to a widely recognised face across the Arab world through his relentless reports on the unrelenting Israeli bombardment of Gaza and its toll on civilians.

He was killed in an Israeli air strike on a clearly marked press tent near Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. The attack also killed Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Qreiqeh, cameraman Ibrahim Zaher and producer Mohammed Noufal, and drew condemnation from the United Nations and rights groups.

The journalists’ killings have been cited as part of a broader pattern of targeting media workers in Gaza.

In a will recorded before his killing, al-Sharif urged people not to forget Gaza and to remain steadfast in defending Palestine — words that continue to be shared widely online and echoed at memorials marking one year since his death.

A woman displays a memorial sign of slain Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif as people demonstrate during a general strike called by Spanish unions in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Madrid, Spain, on October 15, 2025. [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters]

Pictured from left, Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Noufal, Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Qreiqeh. [Al Jazeera]

A placard in memory of slain Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif is seen as demonstrators take part in a pro-Palestinian rally against Israel’s actions and ongoing food shortages in the Gaza Strip in Melbourne, Australia, on August 24, 2025. [William West/AFP]

Iraqis gather in front of the al-Asafi Mosque in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, on August 11, 2025, to stage a demonstration for Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif, who was killed by Israel. Demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags chanted slogans in support of Gaza. [Wisam Zeyad Mohammed/Anadolu]

A woman holds a picture of journalist Anas al-Sharif as NUJ members hold a vigil outside Downing Street following the killing of five Palestinian journalists working for Al Jazeera in Gaza, on August 13, 2025 in London, England. [Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images]

Palestinians pray over the bodies of journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, during their funeral outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, August 11, 2025. [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

A man in Gaza holds the press vest of slain Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif after he was buried along with four of his colleagues. [Al Jazeera]

This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble. Click here to watch on YouTube

The United States and Israel’s attacks on Iran have inflamed West Asia to the point that it has turned “into a matrix of smaller wars taking place across the region, all of which are interconnected, but all of which have quite separate agendas,” describes Alistair Crooke of Conflicts Forum, a former diplomat who served in the Middle East and who authored, “Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution”. In this episode of the Chris Hedges Report, Hedges and Crooke explore the wide-reaching geopolitical and economic ramifications of the war on Iran and what options remain for the Trump administration, which has been forced multiple times to walk back its threats of escalation.

The war on Iran has depleted a significant percentage of US munitions, costing tens of billions of dollars so far, and has lowered the US’ strategic petroleum reserves to its lowest level in over forty years. The closure of both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait have blocked oil exports from Saudi Arabia completely, as well as other products that were previously traded through these major transit routes. This has rocked the global economy, sending Japan into a debt crisis.

As countries scramble to adjust to these new realities, there is no end in sight to the crisis. The Trump administration is running out of options. Crooke describes the fall of US military hegemony in the region and how this has changed the mood in Iran, saying, “It’s triggered something much more profound, a memory of Iran as a major civilizational power, as something that has been a dominant influence in the region for thousands of years.” He states that Iran is prepared for and expects a long war as negotiations with the United States are not a reliable route to peace.

Hedges and Crooke discuss the numerous and growing wars in the region from the state of Israel, where leaders are pushing to force Palestinians out of the West Bank ahead of the October election, to the increasingly fragile situation in Iraq, to the hot war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. No country in the region is untouched as even Egypt and Jordan are positioning troops along their borders. The fate of millions of people in West Asia is at stake as Washington scrambles to protect dollar hegemony and risks what Crooke refers to as a “slow tactical nuclear weapons strike,” the destruction of infrastructure that provides the energy and water necessary to sustain their lives.