Roqayah Chamseddine

Roqayah Chamseddine is a Lebanese-American writer, published poet, and journalist, whose work can be found at Roqchams.com.

Mainstream Media Still Hyping The Muslim Boogeyman, Hate Crimes Up

The first half of the year saw a 91-percent increase in hate crimes against Muslims on the heels of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. His own Islamophobic comments, coupled with biased media coverage of Muslims, have created an aura of fear around the religion in the U.S.

Roqayah Chamseddine
作者 Roqayah Chamseddine
Media Still Hyping The Muslim Boogeyman, Hate Crimes Up

The American boogeyman of terrorist threats, often used to further war and military intervention, comes with domestic consequences. In the United States, Muslim houses of worship have been inundated with threats of bodily harm and property destruction, as well as seen items like pig’s heads and desecrated Qurans left on their

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The US Is Doubling Down On Its Endless War In Afghanistan, The ‘Grave Of Empires’

Afghanistan has been occupied by foreign powers for nearly 20 years now, with its people being exploited and tormented in the name of combating terrorism. A recent NATO request for thousands more troops to be sent to the region means their suffering will only continue.

Roqayah Chamseddine
作者 Roqayah Chamseddine
U.S. soldiers board a U.S. military aircraft in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP/Musadeq Sadeq)

AFGHANISTAN -- Afghanistan, also known as the “Grave of Empires,” has been the victim of imperial occupation and exploitation by U.S. and coalition forces for nearly two decades. An entire generation of Americans will have grown up in the fog of a seemingly endless war - and with a new administration taking over, this painful reality is almost

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Famine Plagues Somalia, Yemen Amid US Military Adventurism, Empire Building

In Somalia, a U.S.-led “war on terror” has led to a rise in extremism that has exacerbated the country’s famine, while in Yemen, a Saudi blockade has prevented much-needed food from reaching its people. And yet, many in the West remain unaware of their plight.

Roqayah Chamseddine
作者 Roqayah Chamseddine
A Somali woman walks through a camp of people displaced from their homes elsewhere in the country by the drought, shortly after dawn in Qardho, Somalia Thursday, March 9, 2017. (AP/Ben Curtis)

SYDNEY -- In a part of the world where little attention is given beyond the briefest of news flashes, there is an ongoing famine impacting countless lives. Spurred in part by both drought and war, a famine is now casting its long shadow over millions of people across the Middle East and many parts of Africa. Foreign interventionism, U.S. arms

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Healthcare Breaks Washington – And Both Parties Are To Blame

Developed countries around the world enjoy universal healthcare while Americans struggle with inadequate coverage. While many are quick to scapegoat Republicans for this problem, Democrats – and the Big Pharma companies that fund them – are just as much to blame.

Roqayah Chamseddine
作者 Roqayah Chamseddine
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., joined by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., responds to the release of the Republicans' healthcare bill which represents the long-awaited attempt to scuttle much of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 22, 2017. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The latest for-profit healthcare scheme - which is set to line countless pockets - will hit every American across the country who desperately relies on health services, should it pass through the Senate. The lengthy Senate bill, which includes Medicare cuts and offers states the ability to drop benefits like emergency

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America’s “Shadow War” In Somalia Gets A Fresh Start Under Trump

U.S. airstrikes in Somalia have killed over 400 people in the last eight years as part of a quiet war on “terrorism.” Parts of the country have been designated as “active war zones,” allowing for more strikes to take place with little to no oversight.

Roqayah Chamseddine
作者 Roqayah Chamseddine
U.S. Marines load ammunition and weapons seized in a raid on Mogadishu, Somalia's, Bakara Market December 2006. A Marine stands holding a M60 machine gun, left, pointing it at a crowd of Somali civilians standing at the right. (Photo/Expert Infantry via Flickr)

MINNEAPOLIS -- Not long before Donald Trump took his presidential oath, the Obama administration was taking care of unfinished business in a part of the world that many Americans likely never think much about. In Somalia, a nation forced into a state of emergency thanks in part to an ongoing famine that is being fueled by a covert U.S. war on

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Yale Graduate Teachers Launch Hunger Strike Over Bid To Unionize

“Because we have waited for years for the Yale administration to come to the negotiating table.” The Yale administration has kept them waiting. “So we decided to wait without eating.”

Roqayah Chamseddine
作者 Roqayah Chamseddine
Yale University graduate teachers protest the administration's refusal to negotiate with them over labor conditions. (Photo: : Local 33 - UNITE HERE/Facebook)

Published in partnership with Shadowproof. Graduate teachers at Yale University decided to unionize on February 23, after a vote by secret ballot administered by the National Labor Relations Board.  They are now being stonewalled by an administration that refuses to negotiate with them. In light of the university’s rejection of first contract

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Israel, Saudi Arabia Join Forces To Champion War With Iran

Despite having no official diplomatic relations, Saudi Arabia and Israel do have a common goal: targeting and isolating Iran, and ending its support of the Syrian government. Their sabre-rattling may become more than just talk, as they continue to receive money and arms from the U.S.

Roqayah Chamseddine
作者 Roqayah Chamseddine
Israel Saudi

In February, during the Munich Security Conference, Saudi Arabia joined Israel in calling for sanctions against Iran for its role in supporting the Syrian government. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir - without a hint of irony - told delegates, “Iran remains the single main sponsor of terrorism in the world.” Across the aisle, Israeli

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