Category: Notes
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MARYAM NAMAZIE: Why I had to face down the bullies trying to silence my supposedly ‘offensive’ stance on Islam
Original published in Daily Mail on 9 January 2016 This week marked the first anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris. The atrocity was a brutal attack not just on human life but also on the principle of free speech, one of the pillars of human civilisation. In the aftermath of the killings, people…
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Goldsmiths Student Union request and more
I have received the following email from the Chief Executive of Goldsmiths Students’ Union today (one of three since yesterday) asking to remove the video of my talk for the Atheists Society on Monday 30 November on Apostasy, Blasphemy and Free Expression in the age of ISIS. You can see my reply refusing to do so below.…
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Video: Goldsmith University Islamist thugs fail to disrupt speech on blasphemy and apostasy
SEE VIDEO BELOW Maryam Namazie spoke on “apostasy, blasphemy and free expression in the age of ISIS” on 30 November 2015 at Goldsmiths University at the invitation of the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society (ASH). Goldsmiths Islamic Society (ISOC) called for the talk’s cancellation saying Maryam’s presence is “a violation to [their] safe space,” and…
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Goldsmiths ISOC fails to intimidate and silence dissenters
I spoke on 30 November 2015 at Goldsmiths University at the invitation of the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society (ASH). The night before my talk, the ASH president received an email from the president of Goldsmiths Islamic Society (ISOC) saying the following: As an Islamic society, we feel extremely uncomfortable by the fact that you…
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Ayatollah BBC and #ExMuslimBecause
I was interviewed by Anne-Marie Tomchak for thirty minutes for BBC Trending on 26 November. Despite my also having referred 4 ex-Muslims, including those who maintained anonymity whilst Tweeting for #ExMuslimBecause due to fears for their safety, the programme spoke to Mobeen Azhar and Rashid Dar, two men who identified themselves as Muslims, about my…
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The answer is a global human resistance to Islamism
FRENCH: Attaques sur Paris : la réponse doit être une résistance humaine globale à l’islamisme We mourn our dead in Paris today and stand in solidarity with the people of France – no ifs or buts. And whilst we mourn the dead, let us not forget the many other civilians who whilst going about their daily lives…
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Apostasy, Blasphemy and Free Expression in the Age of ISIS
Below is my speech “Apostasy, Blasphemy and Free Expression in the Age of ISIS,” which I gave at Warwick University on 28 October 2015. I had been initially barred by the Student Union but the talk went ahead after protests. I gave a similar speech a week earlier at Trinity College Dublin, after my talk…
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Shoot to Kill Orders, Police Dogs and Fortresses
I received this from a refugee rights activist working in Belgrade who got in touch to say that all groups of Afghan refugees who had come in contact with Iranian border guards were met with serious violence, including being shot at and beaten. Here Yasmin Ali describes some of the heart wrenching stories: “These people…the…
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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…