In the modern geopolitical landscape, few words provoke such an immediate reaction as “Zionism”. Say it in a university seminar, at a dinner party or during a parliamentary debate, and watch the room divide. For some, it describes a sacred movement of national liberation – the long-overdue answer to two millennia of pogroms, expulsions and…… Continue reading Beyond the Soundbites: The Crucial Dividing Line Between Religious and Political Zionism
Author: prof.t.abbas
Punk Days: A Powerful Reckoning
The lights dimmed at the MAC, the first notes of punk cut through the room, and Hassan Mahamdallie stepped onto the stage. What followed was not simply a return to the late 1970s, but a journey through memory, racism, resistance and the unfinished arguments of modern Britain. I went to see Hassan Mahamdallie perform Punk…… Continue reading Punk Days: A Powerful Reckoning
Englishness Is Not an Ethnicity
It is both amusing and revealing to watch Suella Braverman talk about race, identity, belonging and citizenship. Her comments can be dumbfounding, not least because they confuse the issues, subvert reality and reflect a completely disjointed understanding of what is indeed a complex matter, yet also a relatively straightforward one. The old adage that you…… Continue reading Englishness Is Not an Ethnicity
Can We Unite the Kingdom? Class, grievance and the politics of division: reflections from Birmingham
On the evening of 23 September 2026, the Dialogue Society held the third in its series of conversations on polarisation and extremism at BRIG Café on Allison Street in Birmingham. The title was “Can we unite the Kingdom when money and class continue to divide us?” The panel brought together Dr Nathan Kerrigan, Cherie-Louise Waddingham…… Continue reading Can We Unite the Kingdom? Class, grievance and the politics of division: reflections from Birmingham
A Journey into Bosnia’s Wounds
I’ve taken my notebook with me on this four-day trip to Bosnia. A visit to a country that I have been wanting to see for years is finally happening, as I take part in the group visit organised by a local charity that aims to enhance cross-cultural and interreligious dialogue and engagement – a worthy…… Continue reading A Journey into Bosnia’s Wounds
The Trap Door That Doesn’t Exist
I woke up this very late morning in that thick, grey space between sleep and being properly awake, and I couldn’t move. Not physically—well, not only physically—but in the way your mind is still half in another country and the real one has not quite let you in yet. I lay there for a long…… Continue reading The Trap Door That Doesn’t Exist
The Long Shadow of 9/11: Memory, Injustice and the Politics of Security
Today marks exactly twenty-five years since 9/11. It remains, quite rightly, a day of mourning for the nearly 3,000 people killed in those attacks, and for the families and communities whose lives were altered forever. Any serious reflection on the last quarter of a century must begin there: with grief, with loss, and with the…… Continue reading The Long Shadow of 9/11: Memory, Injustice and the Politics of Security
Nathan Cofnas, “Race Realism”, and the Boundaries of Academic Freedom
Debates over academic freedom become especially charged when controversial claims intersect with histories of racism, exclusion, and scientific misuse. Nathan Cofnas, an American postdoctoral researcher formerly affiliated with the University of Cambridge and Emmanuel College, and more recently with Ghent University, specialises in the philosophy of science. He has become a highly controversial figure because…… Continue reading Nathan Cofnas, “Race Realism”, and the Boundaries of Academic Freedom
Who Gets to Be British? The Far Right’s Dangerous Conflation
Imagine standing in a crowded town square, watching a mob chant about “taking our country back”, while a young man of South Asian descent clutches his dark blue passport — a document that legally declares “British Citizen” but is treated by the rioters as a worthless piece of paper. I am keen to explore the…… Continue reading Who Gets to Be British? The Far Right’s Dangerous Conflation
British Muslims at a Crossroads: Class, Belonging and the Politics of Representation
There seems to be quite a distinction in current commentary concerning the view that British Muslims are at a particular juncture in their history. One view suggests that they are at a precipice, about to fall into an oblivion from which there may be no way back. There is also the concern, however, that Muslims…… Continue reading British Muslims at a Crossroads: Class, Belonging and the Politics of Representation