Category: Notes
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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…
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Defending Charlie and Opposing Terrorism is not enough; You need to stand up to Sharia Courts
This is a shortened version of my speech for a public meeting organised by the NE Humanists on 19 March 2015. Dissent and criticism of religion has always been a crucial aspect of free expression. Such criticism has been key for human progress and is needed more than ever in the age of ISIS. For…
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Trinity College Dublin: I was not born yesterday
I wrote a blog post earlier about my refusal to abide by conditions imposed by Trinity College Dublin for my speech on Apostasy and the Rise of Islamism which I am to give this Monday. Aoife, the chair of the society which had invited me is contesting my version of things so I find it…
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And still I rise
FARSI AND FRENCH BELOW Commemorating 8 March, International Women’s Day Maryam Namazie Islam, like all religions, despises women. Islamism and its Sharia laws are obsessed with controlling and restricting women. Under their rule, the “perfect” woman knows “her place”: veiled, segregated, erased from the public space. She is the “disappeared”. Bound and gagged. Not seen…
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On Paris and Copenhagen: Islam and the “culture of offence”: missing the point
After the terrorist attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, dissent and criticism of religion is a life and death necessity. It has been–and remains–key for human progress. See the full article here. Dissent and criticism of religion has always been a crucial aspect of free expression. Historically, it has been intrinsically linked with anti-clericalism and the…