Category: Notes
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The Guardian: Through Islamist Eyes
I emailed The Guardian on 2 October to ask for the right to reply to David Shariatmadari’s apologetics for Islamism. My article, Why I Speak against Islamism, was finally published on 13 October at 5pm after much delay and back and forth over “edits.” On 8 October, the Acting Editor for Comment is Free wrote…
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Warwick Student Union grants permission for Maryam to speak at Warwick University
BREAKING NEWS 27 September 2015: Warwick Student Union has now approved the Warwick Atheists’ request to have me speak there and Isaac Leigh, President and Jacqui Clements, Chief Executive of the Warwick Student Union have issued a gracious apology that is very appreciated. The event will go ahead as planned. I am really excited that…
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Warwick Student Union and the Islamist Narrative
Warwick Student Union (SU) has officially responded to the uproar surrounding their decision to refuse the Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists’ Society (WASH) request to have me as a speaker in October. They deceptively imply that the uproar over their denial is premature as a “final” decision has not been made. And so the white…
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Warwick University Student Union: the Islamists incite hatred, not us
I was invited to speak at Warwick University by the Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists’ Society on 28 October 2015. The University Student Union has declined the request for me to speak saying the following: This is because after researching both her and her organisation, a number of flags have been raised. We have a…
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On Jeremy Corbyn and Islamism: You can’t be progressive some of the time
New Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn’s policies against austerity and university fees and in favour of refugees, amongst others, are welcome. Nonetheless, we at Bread and Roses are concerned about Corbyn’s troubling associations with Islamists and the Islamic regime of Iran. Corbyn has spoken at the Iranian government’s anniversary of the “Islamic revolution” despite the…
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Promoting Secularism in the age of ISIS
See my speech at the INR5 Conference in Vancouver, Canada in June this year. Here is the text of the speech.
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Ramadan: the month of torture
Commentary on Ramadan from Yasaman Bayani, Human Rights Activist who we interviewed on Bread and Roses recently. The month of Ramadan, considered holy by Muslims, has start and we hear of people murdered by the ISIS (the Islamic State) or punished by different governments around the world imposing the religious laws on non-abiding people. For…
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Promoting Secularism in the Age of ISIS
This is my speech at the 5th Imagine No Religion conference in Vancouver, Canada during 5-7 June 2015. The global rise of Islamism in particular and the religious-Right in general has turned the demand for secularism into an urgent task and necessity. There are those in academia who theorise about a ‘post-secular’ world and insist…
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Misogyny in the name of God
Just returned from Bergen International Festival where I participated in a panel discussion on Misogyny in the name of God with the fantastic Deeyah Khan, Gunnar Stålsett, Cecilie Ore and John Peder Egenæs. It was chaired by Hilde Sandvik. امروۯ اۯ برگن نروۯ برگشٺم در پانلى جالب با ديا خان شركٺ كردم در مورد ضديٺ با ۯن به اسم…
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Human rights law or religion?
Watch today’s BBC Big Questions on whether human rights laws have achieved more than religion for humankind with Peter Tatchell, myself and others. Difficult question to answer given all the “wonderfulness” that is religion…
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Against Forced and Child Marriages
Here is my speech against forced marriages and child “marriages” given at a January 2015 event organised at the Swedish parliament by the brilliant Sara Mohammad who organised a series of events to mark the 12th Anniversary of Fadime Sahindal’s honour killing in Stockholm, Sweden. She is founder of Never forget Pela and Fadime National organisation- GAPF. …
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Trinity College Dublin: Behind the Arras
UPDATE: I will be speaking at Trinity College Dublin on 20 October 2015, thanks to invitation of Phil Soc. And so the whitewash begins with an “article” (or should we say editorial) by University Times on the cancellation of my talk at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) on “Apostasy and the Rise of Islamism”, which was meant to be…