Mois : avril 2007

Linked with Kudirat Initiative for Democracy KIND. Hafsat Abiola is a young activist who works to promote women, youth, and democracy in Nigeria, her home country, and around the world. She is a founding member of several initiatives including Global Youth Connect, Youth Employment Campaign, and Vital Voices: Women in Democracy. She is a member of the World Wisdom Council and the World Future Council. Hafsat is the author of many articles published in international and national media, and assistant editor of Imagining Ourselves, an international anthology of women, that will be published in 2006.

She says: « I don’t know where the idea came from, but immediately after hearing of my mum’s assassination on the 4th of June, I knew I would set up an organization that would honor her and promote her commitment to restoring democracy in Nigeria. But what exactly would the organization do? I had no idea. My mum’s work suggested an answer. Her joy during her involvement with the pro-democracy movement had come from working with women and youth, especially market women and students. In a political terrain where leaders often demonstrated extreme opportunism, she was inspired by the integrity and commitment of these two groups and had felt that political, social and economic transformation in Nigeria was not possible without their participation. So in the summer and fall that followed, I gathered close friends together in several small meetings to think through what memorializing my mother’s commitment to democracy could look like … « , (full text , click on about and scroll down).

Hafsat Abiola – Nigeria

Hafsat is the Executive Director of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, KIND, an NGO that seeks to empower democracy and development in Nigeria by strengthening organizations and creating initiatives that advance women. KIND’s main programme is Kudra, a programme that offers leadership training to 750 young women across Nigeria each year.

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Linked with giordano bruno stiftung, with The American Atheist, with International League of Non-Religious and Atheists, with Atheist Alliance International, with Leitkultur Humanismus und Aufklärung, with Ex-Muslims form anti-religion group in Germany, with Manifesto of the Third Camp against US Militarism and Islamic Terrorism, and with the brights.

He says: ”The search for scientific knowledge is, as one can see from this and as James Randi has repeatedly emphasised, by definition open-ended. It would, however, be a grave mistake to mistake this open-endedness in principle with any form of arbitrariness. For as long as no better explanatory possibilities are at our disposal, every scientist is obliged to vigorously defend the exiting scientific explanatory pattern against irrationality ». (full text).

He says also: « … With our religion-free zones, we want to offer asylum to all of those who feel persecuted by this state-sponsored holiness ». (full text).

Michael Schmidt-Salomon – Germany

Read: Conference Leading culture Humanism and Enlightenment: Perspectives of secular politics in Germany;

Dr. Fiona Lorenz, Trier, Germany: Project: « What would I need a God for! Conversations with non-believers and apostates ». I am looking for interviewees on the topic of atheism and religion. Many people cannot imagine life without god / religion / church.

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Linked with The Long Ordeal Of Sami Al-Arian (or the same: countercurrents.org April 6, 2007).
versus:
SITE Search for International Terrorist Entities, their ‘Sami Al-Arian Fact Sheet’ of February 20, 2003.

I also want link this case with the one of Akbar Ganji – Iran (being released on October 10, 2006). Watch yourself their similitudes.

First my comment: This is an exemple of the difficult thruth finding for people outside the Mix ‘The USA and its Terrorists’. My biggest difficulty with all this: I have not a slice of confidence in the American ‘war-on-terror’ justice. This, because the US mix up constantly justice and power play, being NOT able to separate the two items. No excuse for a civilised nation.

But just read both sides claiming innocence versus charges:

Sami Al-Arian said: « I do not support that. I said that over and over again. … Morally, religiously, Islam is against the killing of any civilian, of any mother, of any father, of any ethnicity, and I do not support, you know, Palestinians being killed by the Israeli army ».( St. Petersburg Times online).

Sami Al-Arian – USA & Kuwait

Sami Amin Al-Arian (Arabic … ) (born January 14, 1958 in Kuwait) is a Palestinian-American computer engineer who was convicted of conspiracy to help Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian, a former university professor, was arrested by the United States government in 2003 on charges of funding terrorists. He was acquitted on eight of the 17 charges against him last December after a six month trial with three co-defendants. On April 14, 2006 Al-Arian pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and agreed to be deported. In return, federal prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining eight charges against him. Al-Arian was sentenced to the 57 months in prison and given him credit for time served. He is to serve the balance of 19 months and then be deported … (Read the whole long documentation collected on wikipedia).

The following articles are all Excerpts:

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Linked with The International Center for Islam and Pluralism ICIP, with The Qur’anic Concept of Justice, with Modernity, Democracy Are Only for the Privileged. See also Eugen Drewermann, Germany.

TV-Sendung auf SF1 (siehe Sendezeiten), Der Islamwissenschaftler Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd im Gespräch mit Norbert Bischofberger – Die islamische Aufklärung geht nicht auf den westlichen Rationalismus zurück, sondern gründet in der Auslegung des Korans und muss immer wieder gegen Islamisten verteidigt werden. Davon ist der ägyptische Islamwissenschaftler Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd überzeugt. Seine offene Haltung hat ihm in Ägypten den Vorwurf der Ketzerei und Morddrohungen eingebracht. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd lebt seit 1995 in den Niederlanden im Exil. Er gilt als einer der bedeutendsten zeitgenössischen islamischen Denker. In der « Sternstunde Philosophie » erzählt er aus seinem Leben mit dem Islam und zeigt auf entwaffnende Weise, wie menschenfreundlich der Islam ist. Literaturhinweis: Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid: « Ein Leben mit dem Islam. Erzählt von Navid Kermani ». Verlag Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2006.

Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, in Arabic …, (born October 7, 1943) is an Egyptian Qur’anic thinker and one of the leading liberal theologists in Islam. He is famous for his project of a humanistic Qur’anic hermeneutics. (full text).

He says: ”Now, the question is: Is it really possible to recognize the emergence of a world culture through the international criticism of globalization? In other words, would international criticism be considered as a form of cultural protest against the « culture of capitalism » which is inherent to globalization? And finally, does international criticism reflect the existence of a common culture, one which is the grounds for nurturing democracy/human rights and not only the economic needs of globalization? » (full text).

Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd – Egypt

The Nasr Abu Zayd case: Zayd suffered major religious persecution for his views on the Qur’an as a religious, mythical literary work. In 1995, he was promoted to the rank of Professor, but Islamic controversies about his academic work led to a court decision of apostasy and the denial of the appointment. A hisba trial was started against him by fundamentalist Islamic scholars, he was declared a heretic (Murtadd) by an Egyptian court, was consequently declared divorced from his wife (since she is not allowed to be married to a non-Muslim) and, in effect, forced out of his homeland. (full long text).

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Linked with Women without borders / Frauen ohne Grenzen, with Now up to 35 Iranian children facing execution.

She is a notable Iranian journalist and women rights activist, (see: Seven Who Create New Pathways for Success). Sadr majored in law and political science and hold a master degree from Tehran University (1999). She is also editor in chief of the Web site Women in Iran. Shadi Sadr has been arrested by Revolutionary Guard in March 2007 just before the women’s day. [See: Campaign to Free Women’s Rights Defenders in Iran: Three Women’s Rights Defenders Remain in Detention]

Read on Amnesty International, Maarch 22, 2007.

I am very pleased to inform you that the last of the thirty four women arrested in Tehran on 4th March were released from prison yesterday. (See previous posts for details) Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh were released from Evin Prison but subject to a prohibitively high bail of 200 million Toman each ( approx €190,000). None of the thirty four women have been formally charged but a number of the women have been accused of compromising the security of the state amongst other accusations. Their legal cases remain open. The Iranian authorities have moved to close three human rights NGOs with which some of the women were linked: the Iranian Civil Society Organizations Training and Resource Centre (ICTRC), the Iranian NGO Training Centre (NGO-TC) and the Raahi Institute. (Daniel O Neill, March 22, 2007, full text).

Shadi Sadr – Iran, with her husband

Read: Iranian Women Activists Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abasgholizadeh Released, March 20, 2007. Same on IFEX, and on Middle East Times,

Read also: Questions women ask.

She writes to His Excellency, Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran:

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