Afrasianet - The Pope this week disavowed a key theory that the Catholic Church has been following since the fifth century AD to assess situations in which wars are justified, and the disavowal came in a key document by Pope Leo in which he offered the clearest apology yet for the church's historical role in supporting the slave trade and in justifying wars, considering that the idea of a "just war" is now obsolete, calling for action instead to "promote dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness."
In his letter, the pope denounced the number of wars currently raging. He warned that the profits of the arms industry were the driving force behind conflicts.
This clear message comes after officials in President Donald Trump's administration, including Vice President J.D. Vance, cited the just war theory to justify the war on Iran, and Trump had harshly criticized the pope months ago after his direct criticism of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
Zahran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, also gave an example of how the symbolic capital of religion is linked to humanitarian issues by participating in Eid al-Adha prayers Wednesday in the Bronx.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was present, supported Zahran's effort from another political direction, which is to express solidarity with Muslims, as she wore a hijab at the venue of the event.
The onslaught from right-wing and conservative American circles has led to widespread debate about the presence of Muslim identity in the public space, the limits of expressing solidarity with Muslim communities, and the paradoxes of right-wing movements' treatment of religious symbols when associated with progressive political figures, and the president of the neighborhood where the event took place, Vanessa Gibson, commented on holding prayers in a space Macombs Dam Park aims to provide an open and safe environment for the Muslim community as a result of the density of the neighborhood and the intensity of the Eid prayers collectively.
Mamadani's supporters saw his appearance as a message of openness and solidarity, as did Democratic Rep. Richie Torres, who asserted that freedom of religion is an inherent American value, and that the freedom enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which prohibited Congress from imposing an official state religion and prohibiting the free practice of religion) is either a right guaranteed to all Americans or not to anyone.
Right-wingers and conservatives attacked Mamdani's actions, with Republican Rep. Randy Fine saying the city had "fallen" into what he called "mainstream Islam" and warning that "America will be next." Cortez has also come under intense attack for her political courtesy and display of identity in front of Muslims who questioned the consistency of her rhetoric on women's rights and feminism, with conservative and pro-Israel accounts focusing on portraying the hijab as a symbol of "women's oppression."
In a third incident, a French court sentenced French writer and researcher François Bourga, who specializes in the study of Islamist movements, to a fine for "glorifying terrorism" after pro-Israel groups filed the case over publications condemning Israel's war In an interview with Al Jazeera.
Bourga recalls an intellectual turning point when he was participating in a French Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem with his aunt when he was 16 years old (1964) when he met a Palestinian child in the city of Jericho who told him, "The Jews have taken our land," which shook him deeply because he was deeply shaken He did not know that the Palestinians had robbed them of their land, which was an element in his interpretation and analysis of the emergence of Islamic movements.
Linking it, unlike his famous counterparts, to the economic and social conditions of the region and not to religious texts and to the history of Islamic schools Ignoring the holidays of others, and even denouncing their existence, reveals the naked reality of the apartheid state, because equality between Jewish and Muslim holidays requires that Arabs be seen as human beings and elevated to the level of Jews.
