Category: Notes
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Identity politics and the art of deception
One of the things that is most troubling about identity politics and multiculturalism as a social policy is how deception becomes a necessity in defending the “tribe” or “community”, irrespective of the truth. Of course you don’t need to be an Islamist or on the far-Right to do this – something Sam Harris fans fail…
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A Response to Tariq Modood: We need less religion, not more, in the public space
Below are my opening remarks during a conversation with Sociologist Tariq Modood at Westminster University on Secularism and Diversity on 24 February 2017 organised by the University’s Secular Adviser, Isabel Millar. The event went ahead as planned even though Jihadi John’s Islamic Society tried but abysmally failed to “disinvite” me. Which goes to show once…
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More restrictions at universities and words of warning
According to a recent report, more than nine in 10 UK universities are restrictive of free speech. This doesn’t surprise me at all. I continue to face restrictions of varying degrees, though this is changing due to the widespread push-back in defence of free expression. Nowadays, I find that universities don’t bar me outright as…
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Common humanity should be at the core of our politics
The below is my monthly column for The Freethinker published on 19 February. You can read it there too: Common humanity should be at the core of our politics too. I was born in Iran; I am a migrant, a refugee. But I am not the “authentic other” that xenophobes love to hate nor am I the…
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When I left Iran
The below is the unedited piece for #Iamamigrant campaign. I left Iran in 1980 with my mother to go to India to continue my education after my school closed down. My mother was meant to settle me in and return but stayed when things got worse. After a few months, my father and 3 year…
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A Clash of the Uncivilised: Trump, Muslim Profiling and the Far-Right’s Assault
First published in The Freethinker Donald Trump’s suspension of new refugee admissions for 120 days and the barring of nationals from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia for 90 days (likely to be extended) is fundamentally about a far-Right restructuring of US society under the guise of “stopping terrorism” and defending “western…
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Transcript of Sam Harris-Maryam Namazie Podcast on Immigration and Muslim Profiling
“Muslim” profiling has now been imposed by Donald Trump via an Executive Order with its brutal consequences unfolding before our very eyes. See my piece “Clash of the Uncivilised” on Trump’s politics. Revisiting the main reasons one must oppose Muslim profiling as I had previously discussed in Sam Harris’ Waking Up podcast is a matter…
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Sharia courts pose a growing threat to women’s rights
The below is my piece published in The Freethinker on 15 December 2016. This week over 300 women who have faced abuse issued a warning of the growing threat to their rights by Sharia courts and parallel legal systems. Also this week, One Law for All submitted devastating new evidence to the Home Affairs Select…
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Devastating New Evidence on Sharia Courts
Supplementary written evidence submitted by One Law for All RE: New Submission by Maryam Namazie to Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into Sharia Councils I am writing to raise serious concerns over the Home Affairs Select Committee hearing on 1 November 2016 at which I gave oral testimony and to provide further and new evidence…
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Confronting Islamism with Secularism
Monograph · Evening Discussion with Richard Dawkins at European Parliament organised by Euromind Maryam Namazie A future Europe must be secular. By secularism I mean the complete separation of religion from the state (and not the British version of equal tolerance for religions, which breeds communalism). Whilst freedom of religion or belief is an important…
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Discrimination and violence lie at the heart of Sharia courts
The below was published in The Freethinker. I gave oral evidence at the Home Affairs Select Committee evidence session on Sharia Councils on November 1 on why Sharia courts in Britain are an Islamist project to control women, are discriminatory and should be dismantled. (This was preceded by a written statement.) When questioned by MP…
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In Defence of Laicite: Our Lives Depend on It
I am truly honoured to have been awarded the International Secularism (Laicite) Prize from the Comité Laïcité République in Paris on 2 November. The wonderful Malek Boutih won the National Prix and Étienne-Émile Baulieu the Scientific Prize for 2016. Here is my acceptance speech in English. Video and text below. The French translation, thanks to…