As I mentioned before, I will be away 28 April – 6 May 2012 during which time I’ll be joining the Centre for Inquiry’s River Cruise to speak about Sharia law and Secularism as well as Free Expression and Islam. Other speakers will be Richard Dawkins and Ronald Lindsay. Here’s more details. I will have …
Monthly Archive: April 2012
Apr 27 2012
Forgetting: 1 May, a day like any other?
In his Book of Embraces, Eduardo Galeano says: Chicago is full of factories. There are even factories right in the center of the city, around the world’s tallest building. Chicago is full of factories. Chicago is full of workers. Arriving in the Haymarket district, I ask my friends to show me the place where the …
Apr 26 2012
Unimaginable crime of principle
Do you remember the ten cases I highlighted to mark the 14 March International Day of Action to Defend Blasphemers and Apostates? One of them was that of the famous Egyptian comedian, Adel Imam. Well a court has upheld his conviction for ’offending Islam’. There’s much that I can say about this but I’ll let author Alaa …
Apr 25 2012
Alex Aan’s trial begins Thursday
Alex Aan‘s trial begins tomorrow, Thursday, with the first prosecution witnesses being called, according to Rafiq Mahmood. Alex is the 30 year old Indonesian civil servant who has been charged with ‘insulting’ Islam in an atheist group in Facebook. Rafiq says: This isn’t just for Alex but for all of us. There have been far …
Apr 25 2012
25 July 2012: Protest against the Olympics Committee’s failure to implement principles of equality and neutrality
On 25 July 2012 in conjunction with the opening of the London Olympics, ‘London 2012: Justice for Women’ is organising a protest against the Olympics Committee’s failure to implement principles of equality and neutrality. The group’s concerns include the banning of female athletes in contravention of principles of equality by Saudi Arabia and the inclusion …
Apr 25 2012
Fatwas cannot be questioned
A new law passed unanimously in Kedah, Malaysia says that any fatwa issued by the State Mufti ‘cannot be challenged, appealed, reviewed, denied or questioned’ in any civil or Sharia court. Yeah so what’s new? In all this, some women’s rights groups are spending their energy to say that the Mufti’s statements go against Islam’s …
Apr 24 2012
We cannot remain silent about Islamist attacks on Tunisia’s universities
The below statement has been initiated by Djemila Benhabib and Caroline Fourest and supported by myself, Mina Ahadi, Boualem Sansal, Taslima Nasreen, Shoukria Haïdar, Elisabeth Badinter, Elisabeth Roudinesco, Nadia Geerts and many others. Please sign on to it in the comments section below and I can forward it to Djemila: The entire Tunisian university community …
Apr 24 2012
You’d give us leave to self-flagellate
I’m slightly annoyed because my 6 year old’s school has just refused us leave to take him on the Centre for Inquiry’s riverboat cruise that I am speaking on this upcoming week with Richard Dawkins and Ronald A Lindsay. I have explained how I must go to such events for my work (the only way I …
Apr 23 2012
European version of Al-Qaeda
The far-Right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 people – mainly youth – in a shooting spree and car bombing in Norway said Al Qaeda serves as an inspiration to far-right activists. ‘We want to create a European version of al-Qaeda’ he said. And this goes to the crux of the matter. Whilst the …
Apr 22 2012
Hoodie and hijab are not the same
A few days ago, Adele Wilde-Blavatsky wrote ‘To Be Anti-Racist Is To Be Feminist: The Hoodie and the Hijab Are Not Equals‘ on The Feminist Wire. In response, 77 feminists wrote an open letter accusing Adele of racism and Islamophobia (surprise, surprise). Both Adele’s original article and the open letter are no longer available on …
Apr 21 2012
Hejab helps vaccinate the disease that is women
Here’s another must-see sign. It says: ‘The veil is protection’. The word in Persian which I have translated into ‘protection’ and which has been helpfully translated on the sign itself as ‘security’ is actually used to describe immunisations. Basically, we women are diseases that need to be immunised with a nice big black veil that covers …
Apr 20 2012
Human rights have no place in Islam
Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s religious advisor (like he needs one) and member of the regime’s Assembly of Experts said in a speech: ‘human rights and the rights of citizenship have no place in Islam.’ He added that there is no room for freedom of speech and thought in Islam; Muslims and …
Apr 19 2012
Another arse of a cleric and homosexuality
Another arse of a cleric, Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, has said in a speech in Qom, Iran, citing the Koran: Even animals … dogs and pigs don’t engage in this disgusting act [homosexuality] but yet they [western politicians] pass laws in favour of them in their parliaments. He says this in a country where homosexuality is …
Apr 19 2012
Ahmadinejad, I’m hungry
Here’s heartrenching new video footage of an old man shouting ‘Ahmadinejad, I’m hungry’ even though he is completely ignored. There’s also footage of a woman jumping on Ahmadinejad’s car to give him what’s seems to be a piece of her mind. Watch it to see Ahmadinejad’s utter disdain and disregard and people’s insistent bravery in …
Apr 19 2012
INDONESIA: An atheist on trial for religious defamation
The Asia Human Rights Commission has issued an appeal on behalf of Alex Aan. Read it here. Their appeal gives a lot of information on the case and also gives a list of places you can send your appeal on behalf of Alex. Remember, it’s serious. He faces up to 6 years in prison for …
Apr 19 2012
The bloody decade
There’s an International People’s Court hearing on the crimes against humanity committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran during 18-22 June 2012 in London. The hearing is a culmination of the work of Iran Tribunal, a campaign initiated in September 2007 by a group of the families and relatives of victims along with survivors of the mass …
Apr 19 2012
I’m back from the dead
Well I’m sort of back from the dead. I haven’t blogged for a few days because I have been in a dark room with a massive migraine. But the pounding in my head has stopped and I am as good as new – at least for now. I’ll be blogging again today after I go through the …
Apr 16 2012
I’m the other type of apostate
Here’s an Egyptian cleric talking about apostates. He says: There are two types of apostates. The first is the one who hides his apostasy and he doesn’t do anything against Islamic teachings. We have nothing to do with that kind… we only judge people by what they show and the rest is up to allah. …
Apr 15 2012
Do you remember Gulnaz?
Remember Gulnaz? She was the woman who was raped and imprisoned in Afghanistan and then ‘pardoned’ to marry her rapist. Below is a programme on her case and the film, ‘Injustice’, which had been commissioned and then censored by the EU. The programme has Persian subtitles, and some important bits in English, including an interview with …
Apr 13 2012
Interview with Alex Aan, Indonesian in prison for ‘insulting’ Islam
Rafiq Mahmood visited Alex Aan on Thursday. Alex is the 30 year old Indonesian civil servant who has been charged with ‘insulting’ Islam in an atheist group in Facebook. Aan is in the early stages of his trial – the exchange of lawyers submissions. Up until Thursday Alex was being held in the court cells. …
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