Islamophobia and the Tyranny of Empathy: The Case of ‘Jihad Rehab

Islamophobia and the Tyranny of Empathy: The Case of ‘Jihad Rehab

This past weekend I got cozy on my living room couch and attended my first screening of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival— the premiere of Meg Smaker’s Jihad Rehab. The film’s hapless title manages to be both inaccurate and offensive—“rehab” refers to an incarceration facility in Saudi Arabia and the casual equation of the word “jihad” with terrorism is offensive to Muslims—and foreshadows the next 108 minutes of the film.

The Hunter’s Tale

The Hunter’s Tale

The chasm between those who put credence in the American narrative of freedom and equality and those whose lived experiences prove the opposite to be true, is as old as this country’s founding.