Following the massacre carried out by Omar Mateen in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, the subject of homosexuality in the lives of American Muslims has been brought front and center. Katie Miranda discusses her own conversion to Islam and her challenges with homophobia in the Muslim community: “People are free to believe what they want to believe about homosexuality. The problem is the homophobic rhetoric in the Muslim community which is as vile as the Islamophobic rhetoric coming from Pam, Donald and the mainstream media. Let’s not keep our heads in the sand about this anymore.”

Andrew Cuomo’s executive order targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel reveals his double standard for boycott, as he was eager to boycott other states for LGBTQ rights violations, and his father, to whom he was a close adviser, urged divestment from South Africa.

As Donald Trump plans his first trip to Israel as a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton’s team promises to fight BDS and protect Israel in the Democratic Party platform. Katie Miranda says only Bernie Sanders seems focused in the U.S.

Katie Miranda collects responses from three Americans across the political spectrum on who they are voting for during presidential primary season.

Unlike the other four presidential candidates, Democrat Bernie Sanders declined the invitation to speak at the AIPAC– American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference– in Washington on Monday, and instead delivered a foreign policy address in Utah. The speech has gotten wide circulation because of its affirmations of Palestinian human rights. Katie Miranda imagines what would have happened If Bernie Sanders had delivered his Israel speech at AIPAC instead.

Rich Forer is a former member of AIPAC who has orthodox relatives living in West Bank settlements, yet today he is a strong advocate for Palestinian rights. Forer is the author of the book ‘Breakthrough: Transforming Fear into Compassion A New Perspective on the Israel-Palestine Conflict’ and Katie Miranda interviews him about how the concept of the “psycho-spiritual roots of conflict” helps explain why some Israel supporters think and behave the way they do. Miranda says, “We can take the easy route and brush them off as crazy and racist. It’s much harder to look at the roots and even to identify similar qualities in ourselves.”

Katie Miranda offers an ad for Airbnb’s rentals in the occupied territories. There is rarely this much truth in advertising.

Armed white militia members are allowed to take over federal land while communities of color are under assault in the USA. Katie Miranda looks at the state of the union 2016.

Katie Miranda explores the mental process of an Israel supporter on campus.

Trump declares war on Muslims. ISIS challenges the West. Obama threatens to invade Syria while France considers shutting down mosques. The news is grim, but not everyone is despairing.