Tag: Islamism
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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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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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Hamza Sodagar and everything you need to know about Islamists.
The surfacing of a video by Hamza Sodagar (a US hate preacher trained by the Islamic regime of Iran) on killing gay men will tell you everything you need to know about Islamists. You must have seen the video by now: “If there’s homosexual men, the punishment is one of five things. One, the easiest…
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We need to stop conflating ‘Muslims’ with Islamists
Here is my piece for this month’s The Freethinker: It’s insidious how the Islamist narrative has become mainstream everywhere – in the media, in social policies, in discussions around minority communities and human rights, in ‘progressive’ politics … it’s also very much part and parcel of how some freethinkers view ‘Muslims’ – homogenised masses whose…
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With rigour, against Islamism
A statement defending freedom of expression and the right to criticise Islam was published in today’s LIBERATION. Below is the English translation. A corner-stone of our democracy – the freedom of expression and its corollary, the freedom to criticise – is seriously challenged on behalf of a falsified vision of the fight against racism, which equates…
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Reason Rally 2016: Out, proud and loud for secularism
Below is my speech at Reason Rally 2016 on 4 June 2016 in Washington DC. I’m very happy to be here. Thanks to the organisers for this wonderful event. Thanks to all of you for coming out today. I think you should give yourselves a huge round of applause. It’s well deserved. In the age…
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Sheffield ASH doesn’t like my anti-Islamist stance
Updated at bottom of post A student at Sheffield University messaged the University’s Atheists, Secularists and Humanists Society suggesting that they invite me to speak there. The message the student received is below. Let me just say that I didn’t realise one could be too “hard” on the Islamist movement. Far be it for me…
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Confronting Islamism with Secularism, Free Expression and Citizenship Rights
The below is my speech prepared for European Parliament meeting on 23 February 2016. Today, I would like to focus on the importance of defending secularism, universalism, free expression, and citizenship rights in confronting Islamism. To begin with, let me clarify the distinctions between Islam (an idea), Muslims (people) and Islamism (the religious-Right). The three…
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Free Speech: It’s not free unless it’s free for everyone
The below is Maryam Namazie’s opening remarks at Spiked Conference: The New Intolerance on Campus on “No Platform: should hate speech be free speech?” Freedom of speech in British universities is under heavier assault than ever before in large part due to the proclaimed desire by the National Union of Students (NUS) to maintain student…
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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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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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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…