After years of observing “Awadia Fishes” expand in size and grow in popularity, I decided to find Awadia, the woman no-one knows much about.

Someone told me she galavants around on one leg.

Does she even exist?

She exists.

Her chocolate-brown skin glistens under the skin and her larger-than-life personality strikes you every-time she utters a word or gives you a smile. She said she feels self-concious when she smiles because half of her teeth are missing. She remains beautiful despite years of living in grinding poverty, sitting under the sun and walking for miles because she couldn’t afford spending money on transportation.

When I asked her to speak about herself, she told me she was born in the mountains, the Nuba Mountains. She later confessed that she was born and raised in Omdurman, but she still feels loyal to her place of origin. She asked me to write that she is from the Nuba Mountains.

She embodies the repercussions of war. Many were forced to flee the south and move to the safety of the north. Even if they’ve never seen the south, they still feel a connection to it. When you are displaced, you start idolizing your home.

Awadia’s journey with the sea started seventeen years ago.

She was working as a tea-lady in different parts of Omdurman , but she couldn’t make enough money to support her family. One day, she asked her daughter to read the Qu’ran. Her daughter read “Surat Al Baqqara” aloud and Awadia repeated after her since she was illiterate. After she finished reading the sura, Awadia went to sleep. She slept for a long time and in her dreams, she had a life-changing vision.

” If I told you about my vision, you wouldn’t believe me. I saw the sea, people working there, a lot of fishermen and fish. I saw fish everywhere. I woke up and I felt very happy,” she said.

Shortly after that, her neighbor suggested they work as sittat -chai in the area close to the sea.

“I started out as a “sit chai” , I used to make tea, coffee and leigemat,” said Awadia.

Struggling to support her many children, Awadia did the unthinkable and worked after 10 am.

“When I first started working as a sit-chai, all the women left the market area before 10 am because it was unacceptable for them to stay after that, but I had no choice but to stay.  I stayed and since I was the only tea-lady there ,I made a lot of extra money.”

To cater to the needs of her growing costumers, she started making traditional Sudanese dishes like Kamoneya and Faseekh. Shortly afterwards, her friend suggested they start making fish. They started buying fish, frying it and selling it.

The building of a restaurant called Golden Gate commenced and the workers building it were helping Awadia’s business grow. She was working day and night to cater to their needs and her income steadily increased. The honeymoon lasted for two to three years until the Council of Omdurman decided to kick out the tea ladies based in that area.

With only a donkey cart, Awadia used to bring fish from the market and sell it at Al Moatamar School in Al-Morada for a little less than a year.

After the Council of Omdurman  came under a lot of criticism for its inhumane actions towards the tea ladies, they allowed Awadia to return.

Awadia returned to her old location and continued making fish. As the number of women making fish and tea increased, they started facing problems.

Once again, Awadia had to collect her belongings and find a new place to start from scratch.

Awadia walked for miles under the boiling sun, too poor to afford a tok-tok, she had to find a place as soon as possible.

She finally found a small store in Kenouz, a neighborhood in Omdurman ,but a few weeks later, someone from the neighborhood filed a complaint and she was kicked out.

She rented another store ,yet again she was kicked out because people in that neighborhood filed a complaint.

“They said I attracted too many costumers and women didn’t feel comfortable walking around,” said Awadia.

Being the person she is, she didn’t hold grudges or complain. She gathered her belongings and began looking for another place.

For two weeks, Awadia walked around Omdurman looking for her next venue. She finally found a makeshift tiny store on Al Morada-street. She sat there for hours looking for the owner and when he finally arrived, he refused to rent it to her.

“He left me sitting there, contemplating, attempting to plan my next move. I prayed Duhr and stayed there for hours. When he came back and found me still sitting there, he said yes. Maybe it was God answering my prayers, but he just agreed,” said Awadia.

“3 months later, I had to leave my store. The council said I was blocking the road with my costumers,”added Awadia.

She was looking for a new location. Her many responsibilities encouraged her to persevere against all odds.

Her final stop was her current restaurant. Located only a few minutes  away from the Omdurman-Khartoum bridge . It’s next to “Coach Fresh Juices”, a tiny store managed by the former coach of the Hilal Club.

“First Awadia used to tell people that she is situated right next to Coach  Fresh , now I tell people I’m next to Awadia Fishes”, said the Coach.

He helped her get the first venue and he also helped her expand into her new restaurant. Her old store is currently where everything is prepared, the new one is modern and caters to families.

Even on a Sunday afternoon, I struggled to find an empty table. It was packed, cars were blocking the road, more people kept arriving. As I entered the restaurant, I saw a group of young women at a table talking and enjoying the fish. The tables are not very close together, giving each group  much-needed privacy.

Decades ago, when Awadia, a young girl disabled by polio embarked on a difficult journey called life, she didn’t know what to expect. Through her work as a tea-lady, she served sweet cups of tea to thousands of workers and fishermen. She also inspired poets who came everyday to work  on the banks of the nile.

Despite her non-existent educational background, disability and  bad luck, she continued to make the best out of each and every opportunity.

Outside her restaurant, a BMW, two land-cruisers and many fancy cars are parked. All her costumers know her by name. They greet her as they walk from their cars to “Awadia Fishes” to eat her signature fish in the comfort of a modern restaurant.

She sits outside in the boiling sun observing her business as if she is a mother watching her baby growing up. Strikingly tall with strong features, she obviously spends a fair amount of time as the observed as well.

Martin Luther King says: “There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the iron feet of oppression.”

People resist oppression and that spirit of resistance won’t die until a courageous people are free again in their own homes, on their own land. Meanwhile, Never underestimate the strength of women in resistance and struggle.
Here is an interview with one of those women involved in resistance; the unconventional girl next door who is known in the twitter and blogosphere as iRevolt.

You can read Farsi translation of the interview here.

Tell us about yourself. What do you do? Where are you from? What’s your origin? What’s your level of education and what approach you have in your life.

My name is Roqayah ; I am a 21 year old Southern Lebanese student living in the United States – I am currently a University Senior, double majoring in Political Science/Pre-Law and Journalism.
I aim to become a human rights activist and International Criminal Attorney; I hope to work in places such as Occupied Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine wherein I will be able to provide what I can in terms of writing about the imperialist occupations, aiding families and/or using my education to coordinate projects and tasks with Human Rights Organizations so that I may help in improving the lives and well being of others.

You are a woman who does activities for Resistance. What are you resisting against? How much women like you are involved in Resistance? What they usually do to help the cause? Is gender a case?

I do not consider myself a rarity in any case – women of all ages, all races and all faiths have resisted against tyranny and oppression far longer than many of us are aware. My sole mission in life is to fight corruption, tyranny and subjugation; so long as one human being is being oppressed it is our duty to aid them in whatever way we can – be it physically, monetarily or mentally.

I believe that more women, especially Muslim women, should be more involved in politics and Resistance movements; Allah subhana w’ ta’alla did not prescribe that we remain housewives or confine ourselves to the roles dictated to us by our culture; no. Allah subhana w’ ta’ala has given us the task of upholding His deen and His objectives – all of us, men and women. I strongly believe that women can raise a family, follow the commandments of Allah subhana w’ ta’ala while committing themselves to aiding their brothers and sisters.

I run an entire website, Political Theatrics on my own – with no help from anyone. Also, I do it anonymously. A majority of those who visit my site assume that I am a male; this is only because their culture has dictated this long and corrupt tale that women cannot have such booming voices – that women are timid creatures. I was not raised this way, Alhamdulillah. I know that I am more than capable of holding my own ground as well as (and if not better than) a man.

What are the issues that Muslim women face in the west particularly in the US, your country?

Muslim women are not as free as they are made out to be in the United States – regardless of what the mainstream media tells you, regardless of what you are being fed by your friends etc. There is a type of oppression present here that is rarely spoken of and that is xenophobia; the fear of what is foreign.
My mother,mashaAllah, wears the hijab and though she has not come under attack from non-Muslims I know many who have been – simply for wearing the attire which brands them ‘Muslim’.

Women,in general, are pushed around by Western culture and abhorrent sexist propaganda – on one side you have the ignorant masses who are afraid and hateful towards the Muslims and on the other side you have those who are trying to ‘liberate us’ by means of perversion; They wish to make us choose between the comforts of the West and Allah subhana w’ ta’ala. The jihad (struggle) for Muslim women in the West is to maintain their dignity while facing the continuous curtain of xenophobia.

How about western activists who work for resistance? What are your struggles if you be against policy of your governments?

I had the great honor of joining the Gaza Freedom March, being head of the Student and Media committee and trying to get into Gaza. I met a plethora of men and women from the United States, Muslim – Non-Muslim – Atheist etc, who joined over 1300 others in order to provide aid to the blockaded people of Gaza.
Men and women from all walks of life left their families, their work just so they may break the siege on Gaza.

I was raised in the States – I lived under a brutal regime which occupied and subjugated people from all across the globe. The United States is an imperialistic regime and so long as I have any breath left in my body I shall resist against it. Allah subhana w’ ta’ala does not give us what we cannot handle; if my brother and sister in Gaza can manage to go without food, water, electricity and shelter then I can face whatever the oppressive US regime can pressure me with.

Since you’re originally Lebanese, Is it true that Lebanese women use Islamic Hijab to show off their political attitudes?

Imam Jafar Sadiq (AS) said that “…modesty is the symbol of faith” – in Lebanon the hijab carries a great weight, especially in the South where my family is from.

The hijab is not worn to show political affiliation but in the literal sense there are times, during anniversaries of the war etc, that pins are worn and other adornments in order to show solidarity with certain Resistance groups (i.e. Hezb’Allah, Haraket Amal etc)

What’s role of Hijab in Lebanon’s resistance movement?

Southern Lebanon is home to the Resistance; Our women, as Sayyed Hassan has stated, are our pride and joy. They carry the weight of the Resistance movement on their shoulders by aiding their brothers and providing the light by which the entire movement is able to progress. The hijab is like a badge of honor for many of our women; It should be known that the hijab strengthens our women, it does not degrade them or make them inferior.

How much the resistance affected Arab society? What was its influence on culture and literature? Give me some examples

Being an Arab I take no issue in saying that, in general, my people are apathetic – During Operation Cast Lead, The July War of 2006 in Lebanon (among others) there was a sense of awakening in the Arab world. It was as if someone injected a serum of life into their bloodstream; they reflected upon the victories of the resistance against Apartheid “Israel” and saw their own reflection in the victories.

Books were published about Hezb’Allah, trying to analyze how such a seemingly small group could bring down a heavily funded State. Authors wanted to know how the men of Hezb’Allah could defeat Israel and until now, they are in a state of total shock.

Do you think resistance is just a Muslim cause or a universal movement?

Being a part of a vast array of political and humanitarian organizations I know that resistance is a universal message, carried by men and women from all walks of life. As a human being it is our duty to resist. As Muslims it is our duty and our right.

Are there any organisations in Lebanon especially for women and girls? If there’re any, what services they offer usually? What’s name of the famous ones?

There are an array of groups for women in Lebanon:
Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World, The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering, Lebanese Women’s Association, The National Council of Lebanese Women, etc.
Most of these groups promote the education and advancement of women in all fields but primarily in the societal aspects of our communities. They do projects and work with young women so they may harness their natural potential.

Where were you at the time of 2006 Lebanon-Israel war? How did you feel? What did you do to help to promote the truth and reality of the Israeli aggression?

In 2006 I was 16 years old, going on 17. I was in High School at that time and I remember every moment of those horrid days as if they occurred yesterday; My family would stay up for days praying and trying to comfort one another. This is where my attitude towards imperialism began to change into something more powerful – I felt helpless and needed to do something, anything. So, I decided to send an email to Al Wa3ed – a branch of Al Manar’s media group which wrote in support of the Resistance and against Israeli occupation. My first article was called “Letter from an American Teenager”, soon after the article gained steady ground on the internet I was asked to write once more and this lead, ultimately, to me opening a website.

Though I could not help my people physically I knew that I could enlighten those around me to the plight of my people; My closest friends who were once ignorant about international politics were now asking me questions and I had all the answers.

Muslim women hold the power to help their people, through their wisdom, their brilliance, their intellectual might and their strength.

What did the Lebanese women do to help their country during and after war?

During the war in Lebanon there were women who refused to leave their homes as Israel bombed relentlessly – they provided moral support for the fighters and protected/sheltered their families – comforting them.

I have yet to meet women like those in the most subjugated places and areas like Lebanon,which has faced trials and tribulations which people will speak of for centuries to come.

War is not new to Lebanon and my own parents have lost loved one to it; the way the women in Lebanon face it is what is most redeeming. They put everything in Allah’s knowledgeable hands and they are stronger because of it.

How much you know about Iran and Iranian women? Have you ever been to Iran? Is there anything about Iran that you’ve been interested in, for example, the culture, language, politics etc?

I have always had an affinity for Iran – my father used to tell me how beautiful it is and I’ve wanted and inshaAllah I shall when I am financially able.
I am proud of the people of Iran, especially those who have disengaged from the West in order to promote unity and dignity within their own communities. What interested me the most about Iran, especially during the wars in Palestine and Lebanon, is how the Iranians sided with their brothers and sisters overseas; I recall a video on Al Manar of the protests and how many there chanted their devotion and support of the resistance.

I want to learn Farsi, as I find it an exquisite language; I am friends with a few Iranian women and their mentality is just as strong and unwavering as mine, thus I wish to be acquainted with more women who are just as passionate and dignified.

Tell us about your thoughts and goals in life! What are your wishes and your concerns?

I want to make a difference in this world before I pass, inshaAllah one that may better the life of another human being – man or woman. I want to live long enough to see the total liberation of Palestine and the vanquishing of the illegal apartheid state of “Israel”. Also, I want to start a family and raise my children to have only one fear – Allah – and raise them with devotion to righteousness.

What’s your final message for Iranian women?

Nothing I may say will change the current state of affairs for the women of Iran. They are as strong as they wish to be; so long as they stop fearing man and place their trust in Allah then all things for them are possible.

In the heart of every women there is a candle, one which has a small flame that grows as their devotion to Allah pushes forward. Do not let the flame go out; safeguard it and make it grow.

*Originally posted on Shahrazad

Below is a video-slideshow about digital activism in the Middle East and especially the use of social media by Arab youth to create change in their society. The video discusses the April 6 Movement in Egypt, circumvention of censorship and the work of MideastYouth.com.

Even though I am in Austin, the international music festival South By Southwest is in Austin, and Hypernova was meant to be at SXSW, I had to catch Raam over the phone. The Hypernova frontman was temporarily separated from his bandmates who were sitting out visa limbo in Canada.

Inspired by the indie movement, they started performing secret gigs in Iran, mixing their dance rock with covers of groups like Franz Ferdinand and Elvis to give kids in Iran the experience of going to shows. Their music has since evolved into a self described ‘post punk dark garage hi-fi dance pop’ based in New York.

(from right to left) Kodi, Kami, Raam, Jam

MEY: When did you first start playing live shows?

Back in 2000 as a three piece. We didn’t take it too seriously at first, just sort of being drunk and crazy and then we realized we could actually start pursuing this as a career.  So I dropped out of university where I was studying ‘international relations’. You’re not going to get anywhere with that. So I thought, I’ll change the world, I’ll become a rockstar.

MEY: What has been in your opinion, your biggest accomplishment since you started making music?

We played the Pangaea festival and it was broadcast to 500 million people around the planet and got to perform with all these really cool people.  Our parents back home in Iran were watching on satellite tv, they never got to see us live so that was really cool and relevant. The whole idea was to create a global campfire so it felt appropriate for us to be a part of that because we had this idea that rock and roll has no boundaries.

MEY: Do you ever get tired of talking about Iranian politics when asked about your music?

Well we began like a more exotic animal in a cage, but we kind of sucked ass when we first came here. We just arrived at the right time. We just rehearsed and rehearsed and now people come to the shows for the music.

MEY: Your new album comes out in April, how soon will you do another tour?

Hopefully as soon as the bandmates get back from Canada and we can plan a national tour and even a European tour. As soon as we get the whole visa situation worked out. Everything on this sort of level for us is such an honour and we paved the way and we feel responsible for all the other musicians back home.

What’s next?

I started a management/promotional company called Neverheard,Inc. The Yellow Dogs were at SXSW and have had such good reviews and really good success. That’s why I wanted to come here and establish myself and then help others, give others the opportunity that I had.

MEY: In your music video for ‘Fairy Tales’ you’re all in these fantastic suits, which is sort of how I picture you guys all look strolling around New York. How far off is this mental image?

Actually we pretty much do dress up like this all the time in New York. Kodi is the most stylish, but I guess its normal for all of us.

MEY: Mideast Youth is about giving middle eastern youth a voice in places that are restrictive to freedom of speech. What message do you have not just to the musicians you have influenced but your fans as well?

My father has always said that you a re a citizen of this earth first and then whatever random boundary you’re in. It doesn’t really matter where you guys are but the struggle can be good in itself and keep working for what you believe in and the sky is the limit.

Hypernova’s debut full length album ‘Through the Chaos’ comes out April 6th (that’s tomorrow!) on Narnack Records.

Check it out:

www.myspace.com/hypernova
www.hypernova.com/
www.narnackrecords.com/

We’ve broadcast today a new Arabicast episode on MEYArabic; an interview with Dr Sahar Al Mougy.

The interview was recorded during Ana Al-Hekaya (I’m the Tale) workshop, that has taken place at the AUC from 27 to 29th of December 2009.

The workshop, which is held annually since 1998, focuses on rewriting and renarrating the Egyptian folkloric tales from a feminist perspective. And involves youth writers; to increase their awareness about the feminist issues.

Listen now to the new Arabicast exclusively on MEYArabic, and you can also download it in an MP3 format.

The new Arabicast is mainly about the women’s role in the masculine society, and how to change this perspective throughout rewriting the folkloric treasures from a feminist view, and feminism here implies, as always, the equality between men and women. We debate also around the Neoislamism and its bad effects on women specifically, and on the society as a whole, the new social networks, like Facebook, and how does it influence accumulative change, and the bestseller cult.

Dr Sahar Al Mougy is an Egyptian renowned author and a lecturer of English at Cairo University. Writing from a feminist perspective, she articulates the conflict between the values of the west and traditional gender roles in the Middle East. She has published a collection of short stories and three novels, the most recent of which is Noon, named after the Arabic letter N. Taking in social issues in Egypt against the background of the global problems faced by Muslims in the time of 9/11 and Abu Ghraib, Noon is also notable for the high-profile media campaign (unprecedented in the Middle East) that accompanied its launch and the consequent selling-out of its first print run in the first week of sales; exposing the existence of a large Arabic reading population in Egypt and beyond.*

Worthy to mention, that MEYArabic has started broadcasting Arabicast episodes from last December, synchronously with celebrating our first anniversary, in style.

Listen to the Arabicast now!

* The biography is from here.

I recently got a chance to interview a young Bahraini entrepreneur Reem Al-Khalifa, who founded her own company, Green Bar Inc. in 2006. Green Bar products include oils and moisturizers, all made from natural ingredients. Reem makes sure to use local ingredients as well to promote what the region offers in terms of nature.

First, can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
I studied art and visual communications but wasn’t satisfied, I felt I needed expression with my senses a little bit more. Then through my yoga practice I was able to accept and be more aware of my love for herbs, and gave them my attention, even though they seemed like a distraction to my family and friends. I was attracted to plants and what they offer, fragrance, flavor and therapy.

What is Green Bar?
Green Bar is my plant essence bar where I make my natural perfumes. I believed in oils for a very long time, but thought it ridiculous… and forgot about it because I was too lazy to look for proof. Then through my personal studies on Ayurveda which is the Indian health/medical compliment to yoga, I realized that yes oils are used for healing and my investigation started from there.

Green Bar oils

What made you think about creating this line of products?
It was because of my passion to upgrade life in the simplest form with the most authentic and pleasant ingredients.

Why did you decide to use regional ingredients?
We have very beautiful exotic ingredients that no one is celebrating. Just a little creativity and improvisation can go a long way. They are a form of my expression to celebrate the island.

What has been the reaction of people to this initiative, particularly in Bahrain?
Very positive. People have been very supportive, and also very curious about the oils.

Do you plan on expanding beyond Bahrain? Will this product be available region-wide? And where do you currently ship to?
It is available in retail stores in Bahrain, and available through the Internet worldwide.

What makes Green Bar products different than other herbal oils and moisturizers?
What makes it different is that I don’t approach it to treat you. I think everyone is just fine, all they need is a little lightheartedness, so even though it’s like a fragrant pharmacy with a lot of healing potential, I like to approach it for the beauty of each fragrance.

Do you feel that Bahrain has a friendly business environment for young entrepreneurs?
Yes it does. But one cant slack off on the follow-up. Everyone I have found is pretty happy to help. However, being an island follow up is very essential.

Finally, do you have anything else you wish to add?
Fixation leads to the best exploration. Follow your curiosities; the reason why a cat has 7 lives is because she gets many chances for having such a virtue… that’s what I believe at least. Everyone else just has one life.

This is one of the most ignored topics in the region despite it being by far one of the most important. Millions of people are trapped in what many call a form of “modern slavery.” Who is doing anything about it, and what can be done? Find our by listening to this podcast!

Of interest may also be this previous podcast on the tragedy of Gulf’s migrant workers.

In order to confront these allegations, 18 year old Adib Masumian wrote a book titled, “Debunking the Myths” in which he analyzes and refutes the accusations made against the Baha’i Faith. Adib kindly consented to an interview on the claims made against Baha’is, and how he addresses them in his book.

What sparked you into writing “Debunking the Myths”?

I had been noticing an increasing number of Muslims on the Internet stating that the Bahá’í Faith was a creation of the Russians and, more than anything else, that we were Zionists. This was about a year ago and I hadn’t done research on this subject, but I still knew that these claims were totally false. I wanted to refute those errors with evidence because the idea that we were a secretly Israeli or Russian movement came across as absolutely ridiculous to me.

So the first thing I did was look for a paper on the subject by a Bahá’í scholar. I ended up finding a 6-page essay by Dr. Moojan Momen, a great scholar and historian, through a friend. It’s entitled Conspiracies and Forgeries: the attack upon the Baha’i community in Iran and it originally appeared in a journal known as Persian Heritage. It was very concise and did a great job analyzing the inconsistencies of the claims, but I really wanted something bigger than 6 pages so that I could educate myself further and then share whatever I glean from my studies with others. But to my surprise, I couldn’t find anything bigger than Dr. Momen’s paper.

That’s what inspired me to use elements of his paper as well as conduct some research on my own and create a Wikipedia article that eventually became my book, Debunking the Myths. I wanted there to be a work that assessed the historical nature of the most prevalent claims leveled against the Baha’is, and that’s basically why I wrote it.

When it comes to discourse against the Baha’i Faith within Muslim circles, much of the criticism is not directed towards its core tenets, but rather to its supposed ties to foreign powers. How effective has that argument been in causing fear and mistrust of Baha’is?

Well, not as effective as one would think given the degree of emphasis the Iranian government places on our alleged historical ties. A significant majority might have believed these supposed ties prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, but the advent of the Islamic republic led to over a couple million people fleeing Iran to this day. Those expatriates have generally discovered the truth for themselves since they no longer had the falsehoods of the influential mullahs on their backs. I am also sure that many people currently living in Iran don’t believe these theories either as a lot of Iranians have grown tired of and even angry with their government over the years and this has led to widespread mistrust between the government and the people they govern. But of course, there are always the uneducated ones who continue to believe the words of the mullahs, and they are generally poor and don’t have the means to receive news through any other source but the clerics.

In the West, however, I’m positive that this nonsense has more or less lost its value, but it is still held valid by some Iranians. I think that’s why Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís alike should know the full background behind their charges.

The accusations that Baha’is engage in espionage activities did not spring out of a vacuum. What factors led to their coming into being and being so widely believed?

Well we are a post-Islamic religion that was conceived in an Islamic society, so I would think that these accusations were one way to dehumanize us and eliminate a perceived “threat” to national security and stability. Just stating that we were infidels might not have been sufficient; influential clerics in Iran would need some more substance to their claims. As a result, I think this drove them to pursue something more tangible than theology, and that’s history. By fabricating their own history and using it against us in this light, the mullahs created claims that could appeal to those who weren’t even attached to a conservative Islamic ideology.

So now that this method had been devised, they began preaching these lies from their pulpits and newspapers to the masses all across Iran. One notable incident involves a cleric by the name of Falsafi. During Ramadan of 1955, Falsafi held “radio sermons” which were filled with slander against the Bahá’ís. Allegations of involvement with foreign powers also became a part of his sermons. I think these sermons became hammered into peoples’ heads and they were passed on for a couple of generations; but as I said earlier, I think this tactic is thankfully beginning to fade away due to an increase in independent investigation of truth. I’m hopeful that my book will also contribute to that process.

Baha’is are mainly accused of serving the interests of three groups: the Russians, the British and the Zionists. Let’s start with Russians. The accusations are built on a book titled “Memoirs of Prince Dolgorukov”. Tell us more about this book.

The Memoirs of Prince Dolgorukov are supposed to be the recollections of a certain Prince Dolgorukov, who served as the Russian ambassador to Persia from 1846 to 1854. But from the very beginning, it is painfully obvious that this was a poorly-crafted forgery done by mullahs. It is filled to the brim with historical inaccuracies. For example, it states that Dolgorukov first came to Persia in 1834 as a translator for the Russian embassy. Dr. Moojan Momen has proven that Dolgorukov did not arrive at Persia until 1846, and he did this by perusing the actual Russian archives and reading up on almanacs about him. Elsewhere, the memoirs state that Dolgorukov intimately knew the Báb – founder of the Bábi Faith, precursor to the Bahá’í Faith – and that Dolgorukov would write his texts for him and have the Báb sign them to make them look authentic. But this is impossible because even as late as 1847, three years after the Báb’s proclamation of prophethood, Dolgorukov had no idea what the Bábis were all about. He actually compared their mission to those of early European communists!

It also has other grave errors as well, like stating that certain people were doing certain things when the people in question were either young children or dead. The most eminent Iranian historians, such as Abbas Iqbal Ashtiani, have denounced the memoirs as an absolute forgery. Even one historian who was publicly opposed to the Faith, Ahmad Kasravi, admitted this.

If this book has been proven to be a work of forgery, why is it still touted as authentic?

Actually, I don’t hear very many people these days refer to the Dolgorukov memoirs unless they want to compare it to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in terms of historical accuracy. I’m not even sure if very many people living in Iran still take their contents seriously because they’re just so absurd. Like I said, credible historians have denounced the memoirs over the decades as totallhoy fake and that has substantially helped dissipate many rumors related to it. Of the three accusations you enumerated earlier – Russians, British, and Zionists – you will probably hear “Russians” the least of the three. The memoirs might have been hot almost 70 years ago when they were first forged, but as of now they’re really nothing more than a laughingstock. But nonetheless, I do analyze many of the claims put forth by the memoirs in my book individually and assess their veracity using Dr. Momen’s extensive research, and that should pretty much clear up anything in the air on the subject.

Another popular conspiracy theory is that the earliest disciples of the faith were British spies. On what grounds are these claims based?

The claims specifically about the earliest disciples being tied to the British are bogus. They’re not historically accurate in the least. That rumor largely comes from an alleged meeting between a follower of the Báb and a certain British general named Arthur Conolly. The objective of this meeting was apparently to forge a conspiracy to undermine Shi’a Islam. The evidence for all of this is supposed to be located in one of Conolly’s books, according to a Persian historian. However, someone discovered that no such event is to be found in that book as well as the fact that this meeting never actually took place. As a result, that rumor quickly lost credibility in academic circles.

But since we’re on the subject of Britain, it should be noted that people usually refer to the knighthood of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, second leader of the Bahá’í Faith, as “evidence” that we have political ties to the British. This knighthood took place in 1920 and was actually bestowed upon ‘Abdu’l-Bahá because he helped alleviate a famine around the then Palestinian cities of Haifa and Akká during World War I. He did this by teaching people in the area how to cultivate grain, and they would then distribute it across the region. However, your average Iranian who has been told of the knighthood story doesn’t know about this history, and that’s why the allegations of British ties are still rampant in their thinking when it comes to the Bahá’í Faith.

Of course, Russia and Britain are no longer the great big nemeses; that position is now held by Zionists. What evidence do they rely on in making such accusations?

You’re very right about that, and the answer can be summed up in three words: location, location, location.

I think the thought process here goes something like this: “The Bahá’í holy sites are in Israel, therefore they must be Zionists.” Well our holy sites are indeed in today’s Israel, but we are by no means Zionists. The truth of the matter is that the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u'llah, was exiled to successive regions of the Middle East by the Persian Shah and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire until he finally arrived at the Palestinian city of Akká, where he died in 1892. His passing at that location, as well as the fact that Baha’u'llah pitched a tent on Mount Carmel and even revealed a tablet to his followers there, explains why we chose today’s Israel as our religion’s center.

But what the uneducated Iranians don’t realize is that having our shrines there doesn’t necessarily make us Zionists, because that would in fact make Muslims Zionists as well since holy sites such as the Dome of the Rock are located there! In reality, when Baha’u'llah died in Akká in 1892, there was no Israel. That land was Palestine, and it remained as such until Israel was partitioned in 1947. Since there was no Israel when significant Bahá’í events took place in that area, that automatically renders all Israel-related issues, including Zionism, irrelevant.

Attacks against Baha’is are not limited to their supposed ties to foreign powers, but it’s also alleged that they held close ties with the regime of the former Shah, and that they actively collaborated with the Shah’s notorious secret police. How would you respond to such accusations?

People are beginning to allege that members of the Shah’s cabinet more and more nowadays, and because of that I’m really glad you raised this question. There are a few Iranian politicians that have always been rumored to be Bahá’ís who never actually declared themselves as such. One example is the late Prime Minister, Amir Abbas Hoveida. Hoveida’s grandfather was an early Bahá’í in the time of Baha’u'llah. Hoveida’s father was also a Bahá’í up until the early 1920s when he became detached from the Faith and instead became increasingly interested in politics. From that point onward he had nothing to do with the Bahá’í Faith, and since his son was an infant at the time, he never received any Bahá’í education. Hoveida’s brother even stated that he had not heard of the word “Bahá’í” until he was 14, and even then he learned of its meaning from a friend. In reality, Hoveida was actually a Freemason, never a Bahá’í. There are a few other individuals who worked in the Shah’s cabinet that were always rumored Bahá’ís during their terms, but almost all of them actually came from Bahá’í families and never declared themselves as Bahá’ís. Bahá’ís are not even allowed to accept political positions, and this makes these accusations look even more ridiculous.

There are also a few who say that Bahá’ís worked in the Shah’s secret police, known as SAVAK, but SAVAK was actually influenced by multiple anti-Bahá’í groups, one of them being the infamous Hojattiyeh. For this reason, SAVAK also targeted many Bahá’í individuals. When one reflects on that, the notion of Bahá’ís persecuting other Bahá’ís – an already harassed minority – becomes absolutely absurd.

What steps can be taken to counter these claims?

People can counter the claims by educating themselves about their historical nature and sharing this new knowledge with others. Everything has a history to it. I’ve given most of the answers to these common discrepancies here in this interview, but I go in further detail and extensively reference all of my research in Debunking the Myths. This is obviously a biased opinion, but I really think it’s a $10 well-spent. If Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís can properly arm themselves against these charges, then I strongly feel that they will be dissipated in due time. Who knows? Maybe Iranians will read the book and share it with their relatives in Iran. They could then spread it among themselves and the Iranians masses could became aware of the reality of these claims soon enough.

You can purchase “Debunking the Myths” online and for only $9.95!

Crossposted on BahaiRights.org

Bita Haidarian, an award-winning Iranian American filmmaker fresh out of film school, sets off on a journey around the world to answer the big questions – who am I, where do I come from, and where can a girl find a good laser hair removalist?

Born in America to Baha’i refugee parents from Iran, Bita tells the tragic-comic story of her family coming to America, her childhood in Texas, trying to fit in, and competitive cheerleading – all part of the quest of a girl who knows more about MTV than Al Jazeera.

Read more about the film on the Facebook fan page.

In this podcast, we discuss:

Amongst other things!

Here’s a promo of Finding Bibi:

SELECTED SCENES_PROMO

Thanks Bita for your amazing work and we wish you great luck in completing the rest of this film. You have our support all the way!

In the light of Iran’s intense persecution of Baha’is, many Iranian Baha’is who were forced to flee the country have taken to exposing Iran’s heinous crimes and raising awareness on the suffering their friends and family face back home.

Shahriar Asdollah-Zadeh, a young Baha’i from New Zealand, has taken an innovative approach to achieve that aim: collaborative artwork, powered by social networking tools.

We conducted an interview with Shahriar, in which he speaks of the inspiration, mission and vision of his artwork.

Q. First, could you please provide us with a short introduction about yourself?

My name is Shahriar Asdollah-zadeh. I am a contemporary artist residing in New Zealand. In 2008 I focused on a year long project about Human Rights. That year also celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. I created a website called www.worldartcollective.org which has, for me, become a vehicle for raising awareness of Human Rights violations, injustices and persecution. I think now more than ever it is a very exciting time to be an artist and use the creative thought to better humanity. Artists can create awareness through contemporary art about the turbulent times we live in, the issues and problems that plague the world.

Q. Baha’is throughout the world are concerned for the Baha’i minority of Iran and the persecution it faces, but what led you into focussing on their cause in your artwork? Is their struggle of personal significance to you?

I am a Bahai myself by choice, I was born in to a Bahai family. When I turned the age of fifteen I chose to affirm my faith as a Bahai. I am half Persian, half Pilipino by ethnicity, born in the Philippines and raised in New Zealand. My grandfather was executed at the hands of the fanatical government of Iran for his faith as a Bahai. He was imprisoned for one year and at the culmination of that year executed by firing squad, at 81 years of age, for refusing to deny his Faith. This was the same for my uncle’s wife and over 200 Bahai’s executed in the 1980’s. This reflected the events of the last century when over 20,000 followers of the Babi Faith were murdered during that Faith’s inception. It is a terrifying fact that people are still executed and persecuted for their beliefs in this century. Even today in Iran, the homes of Bahai’s are destroyed, their cemeteries desecrated and robbed and their Holy Places reduced to rubble at the hands of fanatical mobs. Bahai youth are currently facing discrimination at all education levels. In some cases they are denied entrance into University and even secondary schools. False information is printed about the Bahais in newspapers. Bahai’s are arrested and imprisoned. Earlier in 2008 seven Bahai leaders were arrested and have been held captive since. I see this as an act of extermination to suppress and extinguish a race of people. Bahai’s are not the only minority being persecuted in Iran. There are also Christians, Jews, Sufis, Sunni Muslims, and other minorities who are stripped of their rights. Bahai’s, like these other minorities within Iran, are wanting equality and to be accepted as citizens of their own countries. For more information on the persecution, visit http://www.bahai.org/dir/worldwide/persecution

Q. What struck me the most about your artwork was your successful usage of Facebook to mobilize and collaborate with participants across the world. What inspired you to use that tactic?

I am interested in creating situations where the artist and the participant of the artwork interact and influence one another. I feel that the product of what a joint effort can create is potentially more successful in its outcome than what an individual alone can achieve. Thinking collaboratively, therefore working in unity, can be viewed as a radical archetype for a new way of thinking for all of society. This goes beyond the field of creativity and can affect society positively. I feel that social networking is a very important aspect of collaboration. Social networking mainly exists within the Internet i.e. through simple exchange of e-mails, instant messages, blogs, web pages and online programs such as Facebook, Myspace, Youtube and Flickr. It is the worldwide exchange of and easy access to dialogue, ideas and information at the click of a button that make web based communication currently so successful. The Internet provides a free distribution of uncensored information allowing for the expression of views, opinions, political engagements, social dialogue and interaction. I believe that acquiring uncensored knowledge is very important and the free distribution of that knowledge is necessary. Artists can therefore find an audience to receive this dialogue and engage with it.

I have used the power of the internet and e-mail to create a global network of many demographically diverse people from around the world and have given them the opportunity to come together to participate in this world wide artists’ collective. I left it open for anyone who was on Facebook to join my world wide collective and participate in this project in collaboration with me and become a participant of social action. To date, more than 1750 people have joined the group and I have received photographs and text messages from people around the world who are concerned about the unjust treatment of the Persian Bahá’í community in Iran.

Q. How many art pieces have you created to date through World Art Collective, and what is the story of each?

I have created six artworks to date for the series. They can be found on the webpage http://www.worldartcollective.org/photos.php . I wanted to explore what could be achieved through the different contemporary mediums of practice and how it could influence aspects of the year long project. These were done through photography, sculpture, video, installation, sound, internet websites and communication technology (e-mail and text messaging.) The participants in my on-line Facebook group were included in two of my works, which I will briefly talk about.

The two artworks evolved through the conversations that took place about the persecution of Bahai’s in Iran. This was generated from the instructions I posted on www.worldartcollective.org. The participants made a conscious decision to be involved and educate their friends, families, co-workers, associates and strangers about the persecution of the Bahai’s. The conversations and interactions between people talking about the persecution is the artwork and the photographs and text messages are simply a form of documentation. In essence, I have used modern age technologies to communicate an idea of collective unity, justice and human rights through contemporary art.

Another artwork that I want to mention in the series of six works is the sculpture titled ‘Tribute to the Bahai Martyrs of Iran.’ It is a sculpture piece made of steel, brass, aluminum, Perspex, and transparency. It took me 3 months to create it. It is a comment at oppression, persecution and a tribute to those Bahai’s who died for their faith. Within the sculpture lie 220 faces and names of the Bahai’s that were executed in the 1980’s in Iran. That is all the information I want to give away about the work. You have to see it in person to experience what I felt when making it.

Q. What is your overall vision for the future? What do you hope to achieve through your artwork?

I hope to inspire other people to create art for similar causes like this one because I feel that it is greatly needed. Art that creates awareness by touching on present day social issues can potentially involve a greater audience than the traditional art gallery or art world. I feel that in a small way, the series of works did bring about some awareness on the persecution of Bahai’s in Iran and human rights to some people, even though it is at an introductory level. I believe that collective participation and collaboration can spark social and intellectual revolutions of thinking. I saw this work as a unifying example of what collaboration can do through the arts and I will continue with this idea in the years ahead. My vision for the future I guess is to see fine art become more understandable for everyday people, not just the highly educated. The creative thought is there for everyone to use.

Q. How can you ensure that participants in the artwork continue to invest their effort into addressing the persecution of Baha’is in Iran?

I introduced the participants to the idea of using the arts to promote awareness and the possibilities of how to communicate social issues in different ways. Hopefully what I’ve done will open up people’s minds and give them ideas as to how they can pass on the message individually. I can’t be certain that people will continue, but what I can ensure is that as persecution continues and gains wider exposure in the media, those people that participated or simply viewed my artwork will hopefully feel compelled to help in some way.

Q. For real changes in the status of the Baha’i minority in Iran to occur, it is vital to engage with citizens from Iran. Do you have any plans of doing that in the future?

I do believe that the citizens of Iran have a vital role to play in recognizing and changing the many injustices perpetrated by the authorities against their fellow Baha’i citizens. I remain convinced that all the people of the world, both within and outside of Iran must see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears. As individuals, no matter where we reside, we cannot continue to tolerate persecution of others within our community based solely on prejudice and hate. My focus is on highlighting the plight of the Baha’is in Iran through my artwork and raising the issues in front of an international audience including those in Iran who are receptive and can weigh the issues with open minds and open hearts.

Q. How has your artwork been received, and has it succeeded in gaining international media attention? Has your effort been met with criticism?

My work has been received quite well nationally but not yet internationally. It has been on national television, front page of a government run education magazine and two national newspapers. The website itself receives hits from many countries around the world. I also received a special acknowledgment from the Human Rights Commission in New Zealand. Surprisingly the work has not met any criticism that I am aware of. I do not want to force my work upon people; I only hope that it can encourage people to be aware of the sufferings of others.

Q. Do you have any concerns about the possible reaction of the Iranian government to World Art Collective as it gains recognition?

My primary concern is for the safety and welfare of the Bahai’s in Iran and other oppressed people.

The government of Iran has committed countless crimes against humanity directed at the Bahai’s and other minorities living in Iran over the last two centuries. It is time that the entire world is made aware of these crimes, and for justice to prevail. The closed door towards these atrocities must be opened and people must know the truth.

Q. It would be understandable if you prefer not to answer this question for the time being, but what project will you work on next?

I am inspired by the participants that helped me get through my projects in the last year. As I said before, creating situations where artists can really work with their audience creates a very unified atmosphere and I wish to continue with this idea in the years ahead.

Q. Finally, Baha’i youth are denied many rights that we take for granted. What message would you like to convey to the Baha’is of Iran who are currently reading this?

I think no matter what I say with this question, I feel unworthy to make any comment… The Bahai youth in Iran are oppressed to the most extreme but they still keep living everyday as Bahai’s and are so strong and deepened in their spiritual beliefs. No matter what has happened through the persecutions, it hasn’t quenched the light of the Bahai youth but has only made it brighter. Their steadfastness is an example to us Bahai’s living outside of Iran. They are inspiring. The Bahai community in Iran are inspiring. I just want to say to them that your life’s sacrifices are not taken for granted; they give us courage and strength to move forward and press onward to bring unity to the world… “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”

Shahriar’s work was also featured on a local TV station in New Zealand, where he spoke of his project and showcased his artwork.

To learn more about Shahriar’s work and view photos of previous artwork, visit his website worldartcollevtice.org. And if you wish to keep updated on Shahriar’s projects, or even participate in future ones, join the WorldArt Collective facebook group.

Interview by Kourosh Ziabari, Tehran Times

The carnage in Gaza and the attacks with white phosphorus weapons will eventually isolate the Zionist regime in the international arena.

In an exclusive interview, American journalist Hannah Mermelstein condemned the Israeli atrocities and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza to allow humanitarian assistance to enter the Strip.

She is the co-founder and co-director of Birthright Unplugged Association, which takes mostly Jewish North American people into the West Bank to meet with Palestinian people and to equip them for returning to their own communities and work for justice; moreover, it takes Palestinian children from refugee camps to Al-Quds, the sea, and the villages their grandparents fled in 1948, and supports them to document their experiences and create photography exhibitions to share it with their communities and with the world.

Ms. Mermelstein contributed to many international outlets, magazines and TV stations with her documentaries, reports and live broadcasts from the occupied territories of Palestine. Her Gaza pitches appear on USA Today, Boston Globe, Counter Punch Electronic Intifada and Canada Free Press.

Ms. Mermelstein was in Gaza from the commencement of the blockade in June 2007 until she was forced to leave in late 2007.

“I’m sorry. I want to repeat this over and over again; and in between being sorry and ashamed to be American, I want to yell and scream and act against the massacre and against my government that is helping it to happen.” She [also is] irritated, “I have been so frustrated to see that over and over again, it is the U.S. and Israel against the world. Many Palestinians I speak to say that Israel controls the U.S. I do not believe this. The U.S. has far more power than Israel, and if it wanted to stop Israel, it could.”

The American peace activist then quoted a fresh anecdote from one of her Palestinian friends whose entire house has been demolished by the Israeli army in the second day of conflict: “In the recent days, I have been in touch with my friend, Summer, who is a university student and has never left Gaza. On the second day of the invasion, her house was destroyed and her family displaced. Her dad was injured and her brother was almost lost under the rubble,” she added dejectedly, “As far as I know, everyone in her family is still alive, in Beit Lahia but I am worried about her prospect, constantly.”

Ms. Mermelstein analyzes the reasons [for the] biased media coverage of Gaza and the censorship of Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestine from a different point of view: “I am hesitant to attribute the mainstream media’s actions as solely a result of the Zionist lobby in the U.S., though that is a big factor,” She spots “the truth is, I think many people in power in the U.S. see the support of Israel in their own interest as well. Weapons manufacturers, other big companies benefiting from occupation and the whole military industrial complex in U.S. has an interest in having a European-style country in the middle of the Arab world.”

“If the U.S. at some point comes to the conclusion that it is not in their interest to support Israel, then we will see conflict between certain forces in the government, and AIPAC and other Zionist lobby groups. But until that time, I think we can say their relationship is mutually beneficial,” she added.

Answering a question regarding the background of U.S. citizens’ reluctance to search for realistic and impartial news sources in order to get correct, undistorted information, Hannah Mermelstein said: “In terms of media, there is a lot of good independent media, and one of the great things about the internet is that most of us can get almost any information we want. The problem with most Americans is that they are lazy. They will not seek out information beyond what is told to them from mainstream sources.” Meanwhile, she says: “But there are also mostly misinformed people, who once [they] get the idea that there is a problem, have the instinct to try to fix it. So, for example, when I go and give talks around the country, people understand and believe me and often ask what they can do. Our task is to motivate people to seek out the good media sources on their own and take action on their own. Democracy Now is a sample of non-aligned, independent daily program in U.S.”

She believes that global community needs to support and grow the Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. “Palestinian civil society called for this, modeled on the movement against South African apartheid. There have already been many successes and the movement is growing. I do think this is the only way to stop Israel.” Mermelstein emphasizes.

In her interview with the Tehran Times, Mermelstein clarifies the disparities between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as an occupational, expansionist notion that is inflicting a batch of pains and burdens to the world: “I absolutely agree that Judaism and Zionism are too often equated mistakenly. I myself am not religious, but I do have a Jewish identity. Historically, Judaism has meant a lot of different things, many of which involved fighting against colonialism and oppression. Now the Zionist movement has too successfully hijacked the Jewish identity and told Jewish people and the rest of the world that the only way to be Jewish is to be Zionist. “

“I watched the news for only an hour yesterday, and cannot get the images out of my head. Parents crying over dead children, injured children being rushed to the hospital in ambulances, taxis, or on foot, the interview with a 16 year old boy whose mother and four brothers were killed in the attack on the Samouni family in the Zeitoun neighborhood last week.” Mermelstein asks “Were there 30 people killed there? 70? Accounts vary, mostly because the Israeli army will not allow journalists or ambulances to approach the neighborhood. One young EMT, exhaustion and trauma written all over his face, explained to Al Jazeera how he and others were able to enter a few houses yesterday and pull out the injured only after parking the ambulance 2 kilometers away from their intended destination and passing by 9 dead bodies on the road. Are these bodies counted in the 935? What about those in the houses the EMTs did not reach?”

“More than 935 people in Gaza are dead so far, with thousands more injured. Taking the total population into account, this is equivalent in U.S. terms to about 200,000 Americans. That’s right, two hundred thousand Americans dead in less than three weeks.”

Migrant Rights talks to Nick McGeehan, founding member of human rights group Mafiwasta, set up in 2005 to bring to attention abuses of migrant workers in the Gulf.

Mafiwasta currently focuses on the UAE, but hopes to expand its work to other countries in the region in future.

Mafi is Arabic for ‘no’ or ‘none’, while ‘wasta’ connotes influence, connections or ‘who you know’. Migrant labourers are among those who lack ‘wasta’ in UAE society, with no connections to power and no protection offered to them by the state.

Mafiwasta was initially set up with the sole aim of raising awareness of the abuses of migrant labourers in the Gulf through the media, and served as a valuable reference point for journalists and researchers. However, after 2006 the organization galvanized into a lobbying group, and joined forces with the Irish-based Human Rights for Change to submit an official complaint to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Mafiwasta argued that the whole system of abuse of migrant workers was underpinned by the denial of trade unions, a position which it still holds today.

McGeehan first came to the UAE as an English teacher, and then worked with an oil company, which brought him into contact with the dire working and living conditions of migrant labourers. He is now studying for a PhD in law at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, on legal issues relating to the abuses of migrant labourers in the UAE. In his thesis, he argues that the labour system in the UAE is based on systematic racial discrimination, which is tantamount to enslavement in the worst cases.

The UAE has recently had its Universal Periodic Review by the United Nations. Has this done anything to highlight the abuses of migrant workers?

The UAE’s Universal Periodic Review by the UNHCR was widely received by the Gulf press as a glowing report on the state’s ‘positive’ progress in promoting human rights. But while the UN delegation praised the UAE for for improvements on children’s rights and for compensation for former child camel jockeys, the issue of workers’ rights was a cause for concern.

McGeehan explained that states that submit to the review are given three options when it comes to handling the individual recommendations of the Universal Periodic review; they can accept, consider or reject. The UAE accepted ‘non-binding’ recommendations, but has ‘rejected out of hand’ recommendations such as allowing foreign labourers to form trade unions or taking further steps to eliminate racial discrimination.

‘The UN Periodic Review is a useful mechanism for some states that already have a record on human rights’ McGeehan told Migrant Rights. However, he argues that the review is less likely to have an impact in states such as the UAE where there is not an active tradition of civil society or human rights documentation and protection.

Will the current global financial crisis make working conditions for migrants in the Gulf worse?

McGeehan told Migrant Rights that the current global financial crisis could leave migrant labourers more vulnerable to abuse by their employers, as construction companies tighten their budgets and consider pay cuts and layoffs. ‘Work’s going to go, contracts are not going to be borne out and there will be even less concern for workers conditions’ he said. There is also a risk that construction companies could fire workers without securing their repatriation, meaning that thousands could find themselves stranded in the UAE without enough money to get home – and without any legal protection. Repatriation is an expensive process for construction companies, and McGeehan says he fears that the companies will neglect their responsibilities to their workers as they hit stormier financial times. ‘The UAE is a legal no-man’s land for workers that need repatriation’ he said.

Can companies in the Gulf help the situation of migrant labourers through developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies?

A growing number of international companies are waking up to the UAE’s poor record on protecting workers rights, and are keen to do their bit to stop the abuse, and Mafiwasta is often approached by companies and individuals who want advice on how to protect human rights– and their reputations – when they do business in the UAE. ‘Western firms don’t do know what to do when it comes to CSR policy in the Gulf – they don’t know how to operate there’ said McGeehan ‘The labour system is completely unregulated, and conditions for construction workers are so bad that they fall well below any western company’s minimum standards’. McGeehan is skeptical about how much CSR can do to help migrant workers, as he believes that the culture of systematic abuse is not created by individual companies, but is the result of a government which resists reform and actively denies rights.

Visit Mafiwasta’s website for more information about their work – and for a detailed response to the UN Universal Periodic Review. Migrant Rights is very grateful to Nick McGeehan for this interview and wishes Mafiwasta all the best with their campaign to raise awareness of migrant worker abuse.

Interview by Kourosh Ziabari, Tehran Times

Zionist Regime is tightening its grip over the innocent people of Gaza, selecting its victims eminently from infant children, women and the youth.

The casualty rate of civilians is swelling unyieldingly and the global public opinions are astounded by the intolerable, tormenting silence of UN which turned itself into the docile “marionette” of Zionist lobby as easily as it would be possible.

Independent nations, statesmen and even the outstanding figures of sports, science, culture and economy have collectively condemned the flagrant genocide of Zionist Regime over the helpless people of Gaza who are suffering from both the obstruction of Rafah crossing by a so-called Muslim government, Egypt, which simply prevents them from accessing to pharmacy, nutrition, energy and accouterment in one hand, and the multilateral onslaught of Zionist arsenal in the other.

From the Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin to the famous Spanish athletes Iker Casillas and Rafael Nadal, everybody has condemned and inculpated Israel for the unprecedented massacre of Palestinian people, either expressed strong disappointment about the prospect of peace, humanity in the region and the “suspicious” inaction of Arab leaders.

David Rovics, is an American folklore singer and political activist from Connecticut. Although most of Rovics’ work is fully-copyrighted and commercially-distributed, Rovics has made all of his recorded music freely available on downloadable mp3 files from his website. He encourages the free distribution of his work by all non-profit means to promote his work and spread political messages.

He has strong anti-Zionist, anti-Imperialist feelings and is a regular advocate of peace, establishment in the Middle East without the intervention of external hands; so far, has performed a bunch of concerts worldwide to dedicate their interests and benefits to the oppressed people of Palestine.

In an exclusive interview with Tehran Times, David Rovics condemned the aggressive attacks on Gaza and proposed a lot of interesting subjects about the backgrounds, reasons and consequences of such atrocities in the region.

Following you can read the whole text of interview with David Rovics, the American humanitarian singer.

- Israel is holding an unrelenting and concatenated incursion on the people of Palestine from the air, earth and sea. The casualty rates are surging dramatically and most of the victims are innocent infants, children, women and civilians. What’s your opinion on such atrocities?

I’m so horrified by what Israel is doing to the people of Gaza, and also horrified by what Israel regularly does to the people of the west bank, Lebanon and other countries. Israel’s war against the Palestinian people is not a response to the home-made, ineffective rocket fire coming out of Gaza .Israel’s war is the reason for the rocket fire in the first place. The idea that Israel is ‘retaliating’ is outrageous and if it were retaliating, the retaliation is so far beyond disproportionate that anyone talking like that can only be viewed as some kind of sick comedian.

Israel’s whole modus operandi is collective punishment, and unfortunately it is undoubtedly the case that not only the Zionist leadership but also many regular Israeli people view Arab life as dispensable.

- US vetoed the anti-Israeli resolution of Security Council two times, as it had done several times before. It didn’t allow the UN to impose embargo on Israel for its belligerent massacre of Palestinians. What’s the reason?

The double standards of both ‘democratic’ and ‘republican’ administrations throughout the history of U.S. relations with Israel and the Middle East have been staggering. The U.S. supports a government which has hundreds of nuclear weapons and regularly makes war against other countries. And without this support of the U.S. Israel would not be able to do the things it does. Meanwhile, iron, which has not attacked another country in 2500 years I believe, is punished terribly in many ways by the U.S. for pursuing a nuclear program. I don’t support nuclear weapons and I think they should all be banned from the face of the earth, but the U.S. double standard here is outrageous and is one of many instances that demonstrate why the U.S. government has no moral credibility whatsoever.

- The American media pretend that they are independent and non-aligned to government; however, they simply censor and withhold all of the news regarding to the criticism of American-Israeli lobby, anti-Israeli remarks of world officials, demonstrations and condemnations. Does it mean that the American media are somehow governmental, while disguising themselves under the mask of independence?

Not exactly, I’d say rather that the government is largely corporate-controlled, and so is the media. It would however be an oversimplification to say that the media ‘withhold all of the news’ regarding criticism of Israel by world officials, etc. In fact, this is not true. What might be called the ‘evil genius’ of the American corporate media and the American system in general is that it’s not entirely monolithic. Voices speaking out against Israel do occasionally get heard in the corporate media, thus giving a lot of people a sense that the media is fair. The reality is that overwhelmingly the media represents pro-Israel voices, and very rarely does one hear the critical voices. That way the media can insure that most Americans are terribly ill-informed, while still allowing many Americans to live under the illusion that the media is not actually censored. In fact, I’d say that keeping critical voices out of the media 95% of the time is much more effective in brainwashing a population than keeping those voices out 100% of the time.

In any case, the corporate media is not independent, though many of the good journalists working for it wish it were. It serves the interests of the elite, even if it does allow a bit of dissenting voices to be heard now and then.

- What’s in your view, the main reason behind the unconditional and overall vindication that the US government purveys to Israel, even in the event that Israel commits such a multitude of evident crimes and genocides? Why it does not deal with Israel such as other countries?

I often wonder this myself. I mean, generally the U.S. government’s foreign policy represents U.S. corporate interests. You can see this over and over in the history of U.S. foreign policy. When the United Fruit Company wanted the government of Guatemala overthrown, the CIA overthrew it. When the oil companies wanted Mossadegh’s overthrown, the CIA put the shah into power and so on. But given the economic importance of U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, why does the U.S. government insist on such unequivocal support for Israeli apartheid and the Israeli slaughter of Arabs?

I’d say the answer is not simple, but actually quite multi-faceted. Partly it’s that the U.S. leadership doesn’t trust Arab regimes, even ‘friendly’ ones, and wants to have a more ‘European’ ally in the region. Partly it’s that the U.S. likes to play with fire, and wants to keep Israel strong in order to constantly demonstrate to the rest of the region what can happen to them if they fall out of line. Partly the U.S. supports Israel because it undermines the so-called democratic movements in the Middle East as long as undemocratic regimes can claim Israel as the source of their problems.

It is more difficult for a democratic movement to succeed in opposing monarchies and dictatorships, and of course the U.S. government does not like democracy either at home or abroad). Partly U.S. support for Israel stems from the profits made by the military-industrial complex from this support. Billions of dollars of arms sales every year to Israel alone. Partly it’s about a fundamentally racist attitude many in the powers-that-be have towards Arabs and Muslims in general. And last but not least, partly U.S. support for Israel stems from the power of AIPAC and the confusion of many Jewish Americans around Israel, what it stands for, why it exists and how it behaves. In many cases ‘confusion’ would be a very generous term, and other stronger words might be more appropriate, such as ‘racist’ or ‘fascist.’

- Israel claimed that it just seeks retaliation against Hamas by raiding on Gaza, while we see that it has closed the Rafah crossing, prevents the admittance of food, cash and pharmacy into Gaza. What’s this obvious contradiction for?

Israel is blatantly lying, and is engaged in the long-standing practice of collective punishment. The slaughter of the people of Gaza currently underway has nothing to do with the things Israel says it’s about. Israel’s policy towards the Palestinian people is genocidal in nature.

- So, How can the artists, by using their means of creativity, novelty and their delicate sense of inventiveness, prevent the world from moving toward more aggression, repugnance and violence? What’s their moral and spiritual duty in this sensitive period of time about the people of Gaza?

I think one of the main roles of artists in a situation like this is to use the media images that everybody is seeing and make sense of them, put them into proper context. When on TV people see the skies lighting up and explosions in the distance, it’s the job of the artists and the authentic journalists to describe the carnage that results on the ground. Most Americans will never leave north America; they won’t even go to Europe to at least experience a somewhat better media and somewhat more educated, more critical people, and they certainly will never go to the Middle East, they will never experience war, never have their friends and family tortured and killed, never know what it’s like to have their houses demolished by tanks. It’s our job to bring this reality to them as best we can without really being able to do that.

Music, theater, poetry and other art forms are perhaps uniquely suited to doing this. One of my favorite means of doing this is to appeal to the familiar to describe the unfamiliar, such as in songs I’ve written such as ‘Jenin,’ ‘my daughter,’ and others. Once people are emotionally sucked in by familiar images, they are then unwittingly perhaps ready to viscerally experience the unfamiliar. Once they have identified with the humanity of the little girl being put to bed by her mother, they are ready, whether or not they know it, to experience some of the pain of the little girl’s father when she and her mother are suddenly killed by a fighter jet.

- What’s your anticipation about the prospect of Israeli regime with this vicious and savage approach which it has taken toward the world? Of course the Israeli regime is not representing the people thereof; so is it going to survive with its current stance that is arousing a global hatred and contempt toward itself?

Israel is the most racist society I have ever spent time in. There are many reasons why this is the case, and it’s not simple. I have no idea what the future holds, but it seems to me that positive change could come from many different potential developments. One is that many Jews don’t want to live in Israel; furthermore, most Jews in the world don’t feel particularly connected to Israel, according to polls I’ve read, and most Israelis don’t want to live in the settlements. This threatens the idea of Zionist expansion. Also, Palestinians have a much higher birth rate than Israeli Jews, which threatens the democratic underpinning of Israeli society. But it seems to me the situation is most likely to change not from within Israel, but from within either the U.S. or the Arab world. Either the U.S. or the Arab world, with decent leadership in either, could change everything. Israel can’t do what it does without US support. Also the U.S can’t do what it does without the Arab world being terribly divided, without regimes like Saudi Arabia being motivated primarily by money rather than by any love of their fellow Arabs. I don’t know when the U.S. might have a better government or when the Arab leadership will come together; however I wish I did!

- And finally, what’s your personal agenda about such a disaster which is underway in Gaza? Do you intend to perform any concert or record any piece of music about that?

In all of the concerts I’ve done since Gaza has been in the headlines I’ve been talking and singing about the situation there more than usual, trying to take advantage of the fact that people are once again thinking about Palestine in one way or another. I’d love to do more than that, and be involved with lots of demonstrations, concert tours focused on the situation there, etc., but this will depend on people and organizations mobilizing that I can plug into. I hope there will be lots of that going on. Here in Australia where i’m finishing a tour right now, I just sang at a rally for Gaza the other day. When I return to the u.s. tomorrow I hope to do much more than that.

Interview by: Kourosh Ziabari

John Feffer is a renowned American journalist, anti-war advocate and currently serving as the co-director of “Foreign Policy in Focus” journal at the Institute for Policy Studies.

He is the author of book “Power Trip: U.S. Unilateralism and Global Strategy After September 11″ which he calls the first book-length critique of this fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy to consolidate and extend U.S. global control.

In most of his articles, John Feffer examines the current affairs and Middle East issues from an innovative viewpoint and beyond the prevalent stereotypes of mainstream media.

In an exclusive interview with Tehran Times, Feffer condemned the Israeli incursion into Gaza strip harshly and called for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied territories.

What follows is the excerpt of lengthy interview with the American author and journalist in which we’ve tried to preserve the most pivotal and essential parts and eliminate the rest due to the space shortage.

Mr. Feffer, we would like you to first comment on the ongoing crisis in Gaza and the surging amount of dead civilians which has surpassed 910 last night. What’s your opinion on the military campaign of Israel?

The crisis in Gaza is a tragedy; there is no question about that. The people of Gaza are being punished for choosing Hamas in a free and fair election. Imagine if the people of the United States were similarly punished after choosing George W. Bush, not once but twice!

Israel is guilty of the usual sin of powerful nations. It believes that it can change reality on the ground with military force. Whatever short-term victories it might achieve through the barrel of a gun, however, Israel is making future relations with Palestinians ever more toxic.

What’s your analysis about the outlandish silence of UN, European governments and international community toward the Gaza onslaught?

Well, there hasn’t been total silence. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1860, which calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli troop withdrawal, and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance. European governments have generally pushed for a ceasefire. Human Rights Watch has made several appeals on behalf of specific residents of Gaza as well as calls for investigating Israel’s humanitarian abuses and, for example, the use of white phosphorus during the current conflict. In general, I’d say that the tone of the international community minus the United States has been increasingly critical of Israel. I think it’s also important to acknowledge the growing number of protests in Europe, Asia, and of course throughout the Middle East. 30,000 people protested recently in Brussels. Thousands have protested in Hong Kong and Indonesia.

But they conservatively try to keep a low profile and soften their tones while criticizing the Zionist Regime, implying that they are afraid of Israel or something!

It’s always been interesting that some of the harshest criticism of Israel comes from Israelis. For instance, Avi Shlaim, an Israeli professor, recently wrote a piece in The Guardian calling Gaza “a classic case of colonial exploitation in the post-colonial era.” He’s an Oxford professor who served in the Israeli army and now has come to the conclusion that Israel is a “rogue state.”
When it comes to criticism of Iran, Syria or Palestine, we have to remember that many people consider Israel to be part of Europe, not the Middle East. So, Israelis and Israel are treated as something “civilized” while the rest of the region remains “barbaric.” Anti-Arab sentiment and, sadly, many people mistakenly include the Persians of Iran in this category, is very strong in the world today.
If we look at the pro-Israeli opinion pieces, they are often from people like John Bolton or Michael Gerson who support Israel from political or religious convictions.

So, do you believe that there is a pro-Israeli bias in the western media?

When it comes to the journalistic frame, in other words, Israel has automatically a positive place. Arab countries and Iran simply don’t have a place in this Western narrative that journalists by and large follow. They are the “others” who at best play supportive roles and at worst are the faceless hordes who must be defeated in order to bring Christianity or democracy or free markets to the unenlightened.
I would say that there is a pro-Israeli bias in U.S. media. But journalists in Europe and particularly in England such as John Pilger, Robert Fisk etc are not pro-Israeli, and I am detecting a change even here in the United States in the coverage of Gaza. We’ll see how this Israeli movie “Waltz With Bashir” does over here in changing public opinion.
It is a documentary film by an Israeli film director who served in the army. It is about the Christian Phalangist massacre of 2,000 Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982, which was aided and abetted by the Israeli army. The movie recently won top honors at the National Society of Film Critics here in the U.S.

What do you think about the unconditional supports and aids which the US government purveys to Israel even in the event that Israel commits such a batch of widespread war crimes?

The biggest problem, of course, is the military support that the United States provides. US provided Israel, during the Bush administration with $21 billion in security assistance. And these are not exactly defensive weapons systems. According to the Arms and Security Initiative, this includes: “226 U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter and attack jets, over 700 M-60 tanks, 6,000 armored personnel carriers, and scores of transport planes, attack helicopters, utility and training aircraft, bombs, and tactical missiles of all kinds.”
Even though Israel often doesn’t listen to the United States, Washington still has considerable leverage. If we decide to freeze or reduce military assistance, Israel will listen.
We have to remember that the United States, too, has engaged in war crimes in Vietnam, in Iraq. Israel has been a prime supporter of U.S. military actions abroad. It has been a key supporter at the UN. That is what allies do for each other: look the other way when war crimes occur.

So, what’s the solution to end the disastrous situation in Palestine? How to deal with the unyielding bloodshed being carried out by the occupying authority of Israel?

We have to push hard for a ceasefire, a withdrawal of Israeli troops, and for a lifting of the siege.
But we also have to get the larger political settlement back on the table. This would involve an immediate end to Israeli settlement expansion and an end to the checkpoints and walls that have shut down everyday life in the West Bank.
Actually, There are various types of occupation. Israel is occupying Gaza through war. It is occupying the West Bank through settlements. But it acts as an occupying authority in other ways; Pumping out water from under Palestinian territory, controlling commerce, interfering in Palestinian politics. There is also the question of Palestinians’ right of return to Israel itself as well as the resolution of claims from the “Nakba” or the day of catastrophe which Palestinians stick as an epithet to the day of Israel’s emergence. This would be the difference between the United States as an occupying authority in Iraq and an occupying force in America itself, having displaced Native Americans. For the United States, the occupations are divided by space and time. For Israel and Palestine, the occupations overlap.

In this podcast we talk about the role of Web 2.0/social networking sites in reporting about the conflicts and current massacre in Gaza. We talk about the present usage of this as well as the future of where this is going. She has a lot of fascinating things to say concerning the subject so anyone interested in the subject should definitely give this a listen.

The flames of anti-Israeli remarks and movements by the independent political parties, NGOs, student coalitions and governments worldwide has been ignited with the unprecedented and inciting rhetoric of some influential political personalities and Members of Parliaments in different countries following the inattentiveness of Zionist authorities to the issuance of ceasefire resolution by the UN Security Council.

Israel, which has reportedly killed more than 800 Gazan civilians since the commencement of its belligerent onslaught in the 2008 mid-December, is provoking more anger and hatred toward itself by committing new types of unacceptable war crimes in the region and paying the least heeds to the frequent calls of international community on the immediate cessation of its military operations on defenseless civilians.

The upheaval of anti-Israeli utterances by the politicians, journalists, university professors, statesmen and citizens worldwide, even inside the cities of occupied territories and on behalf of the residing Jews can simply visualize the depth of disaster in Gaza.

In an exclusive interview with Tehran Times, a high-ranking member of New Zealand Parliament condemned the inaction of his affiliated government about the continuance of calamitous situation in Gaza.

Keith Locke, the member of New Zealand Parliament and a representative of Green Party criticized the state of New Zealand and demanded an immediate and unconditional action of NZ state to help ending the ongoing crisis in Gaza: “I question the New Zealand government’s failure to strongly criticize Israel’s massive military assault on the people of Gaza. What the Israeli government constitutes war crimes under international law and cannot be justified.”

The representative of Auckland city in the NZ parliament blamed the ineffectiveness of UNSC due to the designation of veto right to U.S. authority in his exclusive interview with Tehran Times: “The Green Party says that proper solutions to this crisis can unfortunately not be found through the United Nations because the U.S. supports Israel and has veto power.”

“The Greens believe the stance of most Western powers towards a nuclear-free Middle East is hypocritical because they put sanctions on Iran, which hasn’t developed nuclear weapons, yet ignore Israel’s nuclear arsenal” Said Keith Locke while lambasting the pro-Israeli bias in western media.

Locke has participated in an anti-Israeli demonstration in New Zealand last week where he first blasted the government of NZ for its inaction and passive stance toward the Gaza massacre and told the media: “It is clearly a war crime for the Israeli government to target mosques, universities, TV stations, police stations, government buildings and the private homes of political leaders” Locke believes that the NZ government “Fiddles” while the people of Gaza are under fire.

“New Zealand should be providing some moral leadership amid an insipid response from other Western nations. The Bush administration is backing Israel’s murderous assault, and European nations are restricting themselves to calling on both sides to cease fire” he stressed sharply, “ It also makes a mockery of New Zealand’s participation in a ‘war on terror’ to allow such obvious state terrorism to pass without comment.”

An Australian voice

In a more conservative approach toward the issue, an Australian MP and representative of New South Wales Legislative Council, recapitulated by condemning the abominable usage of force and ongoing military assault of Israel against the defenseless people of Gaza.

In his exclusive talk to Tehran Times, Ian Cohen reiterated that there is no justification for the incapability of UN to impose its resolution on Israel except the Realpolitik of the day which is to the advantage of situations for the advantage of particular nation states. He called the failure of UN to reach a comprehensive consensus for ending the massacre of Gaza a “tragedy and anarchy in the international level.”

This podcast was interrupted with bombs which you would be able to hear towards the end, resulting in his phone cutting off. But another MEY member called minutes later and ensured us that he’s currently safe, at least right this second.

You can listen to our previous podcast in Gaza here where we spoke with a young Gazan teacher.

Stay tuned. More podcasts from Gaza on the way.

Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

Dr. Saba Valadkhan is a world-renowned biomedical scientist and the Assistant Professor of Case Western Reserve University of USA.
After graduating from the Tehran University of Medial Sciences, Saba Valadkhan moved to New York where she could continue her further studies at the Columbia University upon the fellowship which she had been granted from RNA Research Society.
This young Iranian scientist has won several international awards for her effective, determinant contribution to the field of Molecular Biology such as Peter Sajovic Memorial Award, Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award and James Howard McGregor Prize.
In 2005, she was awarded the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) award of Young Scientist of the Year for her breakthrough in understanding the mechanism of spliceosomes which was something unprecedented and innovative until that time.
By developing a new strategy to prevent the occurrence of some disastrous cancer types, she identified and determined a slight and insignificant deficiency in the functionality of DNA strands and found an effective way of solving it.
Following is the text of exclusive interview with Dr. Saba Valadkhan in which a stack of interesting subjects around the details of her latest discovery, scientific community of Iran and the prospect of research in Iran and has been discussed.

Dr. Valadkhan; we know that your landmark discovery in understanding the actual function of Spliceosome lead you toward receiving the prominent 2005 AAAS Young Scientist Award which was a honor for all of Iranians, rather than yourself. Would you please elucidate for us that, in a simple and general language, what your discovery specifically was and how much it would be useful to solve RNA-related problems practically?

Human genome has many fascinating features, but perhaps one of the most interesting is the fact that our genes come in fragments. In our genome, we have between 25,000 to 100,000 genes, depending on whom you ask. Now each human gene is on average divided into 8 fragments, but some genes are divided into as many as 100 fragments.

As we all know, our genetic information is stored in DNA strands, which are very long, thin linear polymers, just like very long strings of pearls, except that instead of pearls we have DNA nucleotides adenosine, guanosine, cytidine and thymidine. You can think of them as four different types of pearls, of four different colors, for example. Our genetic information is stored as the sequence of these four DNA nucleotides, for example, two adenosines followed by three guanosines mean: the product of this gene should be taken to the surface of the cell, and so on.

Now imagine that the gene that has the information for making hemoglobin is divided into three fragments, to use a simple example. It means that after a certain combination of nucleotides that indicate the beginning of a gene, we have about 300 nucleotides that constitute fragment 1 of hemoglobin, followed by 5000 nucleotides that are not part of the hemoglobin gene. Then we have another 250 nucleotides that form the fragment 2 of hemoglobin, followed by 3000 intervening nucleotides, and finally, 180 bases that make up the last fragment of the hemoglobin gene, followed by a certain sequence of nucleotides that indicate the end of the gene. Clearly, in order for our bodies to make hemoglobin, these fragments should be put together.

The way that this is done in our bodies is that whenever our bodies need to make hemoglobin, they make a copy of the hemoglobin gene from the start sequence to the end sequence, this contains the three hemoglobin gene fragments and the two long stretches of nucleotides that separate them. Then, the beginning and ends of these intervening sequences are recognized by the cell, and they are removed, and the three hemoglobin gene fragments are attached together. Only then, after all the extra sequences are gone, will this copy of the hemoglobin gene be used by the cell for making hemoglobin.

This process, the removal of the intervening sequences that separate gene fragments, is called splicing, and the group of molecules in the cell that perform this job are collectively referred to as “the spliceosome”.

Now imagine what would happen if splicing is performed incorrectly, for example, if the beginning of the second fragment of hemoglobin is mistakenly recognized as part of the intervening sequence. Then, the spliced copy that is used by the cell will lack the information that was contained in the beginning of the second fragment, which can result in a hemoglobin that cannot bind oxygen. Red blood cells are made, but they cannot function. Or conversely, if part of the intervening sequence is by mistake recognized as a piece of the hemoglobin gene fragments. Then, we have extra information that might tell the cells, by mistake, that the resulting hemoglobin protein should be rapidly destroyed by the cell.

The result would be a severe lack of hemoglobin, although the cell is making a lot of it. The clinical outcome of both cases would be Thalassemia. And these were just two of the many possible problems. Remember that each human gene, on average, has 7 of these intervening sequences, and that every time our bodies need to access the information in our genes, they need to make a copy of the gene and splice it correctly.

At any given moment in the cell, there are more than 200,000 copies of different genes that are used for various cellular functions. Now you can see how incredibly critical splicing is. One mistake is enough for one cell to die or become severely ill. Indeed, it is thought that more than half of all human genetic diseases are caused by mistakes in splicing. And splicing-related diseases are not limited to genetic diseases. Any disease with a genetic element, such as cancers, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, etc, can result from splicing mistakes.

I hope I have convinced you by now that splicing is a very important cellular process! The spliceosome, which is the assembly of molecules that perform splicing, is extremely complicated, as expected. However, this complexity prevents us from understanding its function. Thus, despite all the human tragedies caused by splicing-related diseases, we are very far from understanding the problem and curing it. What I did was to make a simple model for the spliceosome, which allows us to understand this critical process. Clearly, this opens the door to understanding how splicing-related diseases happen and hopefully, finding a cure.

With all of your explications, we see that a great respect is being paid to the “Molecular Biology” that is your academic major of study, but seems to be somewhat less known in Iran and the rest of Middle East, as well. What kind of biology branch is it and which sort of subjects it deals with?

Molecular biology is in fact an approach to biology, rather than a field of study. In molecular biology, we try to understand biology at the level of molecules: which molecules are involved in each biological process, how they interact with each other, and how they are made and destroyed by the cell, when necessary. You can use this approach in any field in biology, from neurobiology to botany to microbiology, molecules govern how living cells function, and molecular biology can tell us exactly how these molecules work.
It is an extremely powerful way of approaching biological questions, and these days it is impossible to have an in-depth knowledge of biological phenomena without employing molecular biology. A very large share of new discoveries in medical sciences is based on molecular approaches. For example, in modern cancer therapy, screening of the population for early detection, diagnosis, classification and treatment are all based on molecular biology approaches. Molecular biology has already revolutionized medicine and will continue to do so in the future.

It’s more than 15 years that you are far from your homeland, Iran. Do you have still some scientific relations with universities and institutions inside the country? Are you enthusiastic to return to Iran someday if the preliminaries of a substantive scientific environment for you are provided satisfactorily?

I am trying to forge scientific relationships with the Iranian research community, and I am hoping to have a broader interaction with the Iranian scientific community in the future. I am unfortunately not very familiar with the status of research in Iran, but I know that the number and quality of scientific publications from Iran have been on the rise, which is a very encouraging sign Hopefully this trend will continue.

The status of science seems to be improving in Iran, however, the infrastructure is still a concern, and interaction with the broader scientific community is still very limited. These factors prevent the science enterprise in Iran to achieve its full potential. Hopefully with effective planning, sufficient funding, and the cooperation of the scientific community these issues will become less of a hurdle in the future. There are many talented scientists currently in Iran that if given the opportunity will do great things. I want to stress that we don’t lack talent or skill, what is limiting science in Iran is the lack infrastructure and the right type of environment. Even if all the Iranian scientists currently living abroad return to Iran, there will not be any significant changes in the quantity or quality of scientific productivity in Iran until these shortcomings are addressed. Now if the government solves these shortcomings, the scientists currently residing in Iran are more than qualified to do cutting edge research.

So is it going to be fair that we conclude Iran lacks the basic fundamentals and accouterments of effective scientific, research works to be carried out in?

See, I have young Iranian scientists in my laboratory that have previously performed research in Iranian universities. They all agree that in terms of equipment, they had all they needed in Iran, that is they had better equipment in Iran than they do in my lab. They also had easy access to research animals and human tissues or samples, for which we need to conduct three months’ worth of paperwork in US. What seemed to be limiting their research was access to reagents, many of which were ordered from abroad and took a long time to arrive and perhaps more importantly, not appreciating all they had. We Iranians have a tendency to see the empty half of the glass, and this is something that hopefully will be alleviated by more extensive interaction with laboratories abroad. There are shortcomings everywhere, so we all need to use our talents and energy to overcome them.

Therefore, what causes that a load of young Iranian talents leave the country each year to abroad and make us encounter the phenomenon of “Brains Escape”?

I think this is the wrong way of looking at the problem and in fact, it’s not seeing the real problem at all. In Iran, we can’t complain about brain drain, we have many more educated, trained forces than can be gainfully employed. We don’t need any additional educated work force; we already have more than the country needs. The real problem in Iran is that the country spends a lot of resources training medical doctors or physics PhDs and they can’t find jobs that match their training and end up doing carpet business. Our problem is brain inflation, not brain drain. It is not that educated people choose to live and work abroad despite having equally good opportunities in their home countries, the issue is that they don’t have acceptable choices at home. Nobody enjoys the often very painful process of emigration, but lack of opportunities forces many to leave their home countries. And let’s not forget that after these “overflow” educated forces leave, they often remain committed to contributing to their motherland in any way possible. There are many prominent Iranian academics abroad that have made significant contributions to the human society that have made all Iranians proud, and that continue to contribute to their homeland by transferring their knowledge through teaching in universities and workshops in Iran.

If we put the work force aside, we can take a glance at Iran’s scientific stride from the view of scientific indicators including ISI, as well. What are the most remarkable ones among these indicators and what they narrate about Iran’s research productivity?

There are many such indices and depending on whom you talk with, they might prefer one or the other. I think a reliable way of measuring the level of scientific productivity in the biomedical field is the number of publications in Pubmed-listed journals. Number of publications in top tier journals in biomedical fields, Science, Nature, Cell and the New England Journal of Medicine, is a good indicator of the quality of scientific work done in a country. I took a moment and calculated these numbers for Iran and a number of other countries in Asia. Although the total level of productivity in Iran is still lower than Turkey, India and China, while we are doing better than all our other neighbors, the rate of growth of our productivity has been excellent, although it has slowed down in the last three years. We need to address this slow down and correct it. In terms of quality, we need to improve but I think as our level of productivity rises, so will the scientific quality.

In your view, what kind of efforts should the Iranian universities, scientific institutions and organizations make in order to attain the international position and authenticity they deserve for?

In every country, science is mainly a state enterprise, most of the funding everywhere comes from the government. If we want to improve our scientific standing in the world, we should ask our government for better planning and more funding.
There are several issues to consider. One is that scientific progress does not happen overnight, it takes time and patience on the part of both the funding agency and the scientist. While the government should made a long-term commitment to a steadily increasing level of funding, the scientists should be given the level of job security they need to endure the many years of effort it takes for a major discovery to be made.
This is both in terms of salary levels that should be sufficiently high to retain the scientists in the workforce and prevent them from going into carpet business!
And also in terms of long-term stability of their jobs, Scientists should feel that their jobs are extremely secure, and they will lose their jobs only if they are not productive scientifically. Although it goes without saying, meritocracy is pivotal as the basis for employment should be scientific credentials and nothing else. The government can encourage the development of the required infrastructure. For instance, the level of chemistry research is very high in Iran; we clearly have many good chemists. Why do we need to import chemicals and reagents? Why not encourage these chemists to start companies and support the needs of the Iranian scientific community? Finally, something else that is sorely lacking in Iran is a spirit of collaboration and self-sufficiency.
Sharing expensive equipment and reagents is a must, even labs in Harvard share! Sometimes during my visits to Iranian universities I hear from doctoral students that although the neighboring lab has such and such equipment that they need, they are not allowed to use it which is unacceptable. Self-sufficiency is also important. We should note that not everything should be bought from abroad. Many expensive reagents are easy to make but unfortunately I hear about these reagents being ordered from abroad, which is a waste of money and time.

Interview by: Kourosh Ziabari, Ahmadreza Tavassoli

Cinema Verite International Documentary Film Festival which was held in Iran on the third week of October 2008 was undoubtedly an occasional and magnificent opportunity for documentary filmmakers from 75 countries worldwide to congregate for a landmark event and share their precious artistic experiences with together along with being acquainted with the obscured and folded culture of Iran i.e. one of the most disputatious and controversial countries of the world these days.

The festival which was inaugurated by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Islamic Republic of Iran has hosted a stack of artists, journalists, filmmakers and analysts from US; which is not in an official friendly and impartial stance toward Iran these days, though is considered as a close cultural and scientific ally of Iran on behalf of its independent and non-governmental organizations and communities.

Shannon Kelley who is the Director of Programming of the Morelia International Film Festival in Morelia (Mexico) was among the guests who attended the festival from US and attracted lots of reporters, audiences and festival curators, as well.

Kelley is an independent movie consultant and has worked for the Sundance Film Festival as Associate Short Film Programmer since 1997; furthermore presently he is serving there as the Festival Senior Consultant to the Documentary Program.

Following is the text of our exclusive interview with Shannon Kelley in which we discussed a variety of art-related topics and explored his perceptions of being in Iran to attend the 2008 Cinema Verite Film Festival for the very first time.

Explaining the legends of interview, K&A refers to Kourosh and Ahmadreza as the interviewers and SH refers to Shannon as our honorable guest who patiently answered everything of our concern and interest.

K&A: You are promoting yourself as an “independent” movie consultant; however nowadays, being independent is made difficult and the political lobbies do not tolerate your being non-aligned to them, even if you are not political at all. In the other words, the state-affiliated powers are trying their best to abuse all of the artistic, cultural, religious, social means to fulfill their desires and plans. What to do if somebody wants to resist against them and not to be stymied by them, too?

SH: There are different ways to understand ‘independence.’ None of us enters the world entirely free, and it’s because of this that the stories we tell can be potentially interesting. My use of ‘independence’ in this case refers to film artists who work without the financial or logistical support, nor any commitment, from a distributor, and thus, without any guarantee of their film ever being widely seen. Such artists assume tremendous risk and act on personal commitment, as opposed to artists whose risk is ameliorated by someone else, and who may – if they choose- depend on the commitments of the sponsor or the job, without having to generate a commitment of their own.

I’m not sure every state entity is out to get artists or co-opt their work. In some cases they have so much contempt for the arts they ignore them entirely. This can create an interesting space, or vacuum, in which to speak. One has to be resourceful and artful to do so, but then, that’s a recipe for good filmmaking anyway.

K&A: So it seems that you don’t provide technical and special consultations, but help the directors to develop strategies and programs for a successful production and output. Would you please explain the details of such strategies? Are they somehow related to the content of movies, or “how-to”s for attracting more audience?

SH: This can be very simple. Deciding which festivals are priorities, and which distributors may be especially important to a project, and when the approach to a particular festival, company or person should take place, in what order, and at what pace.

Should you show your rough cut? Should you give away your premiere to this or that festival? Such decisions have real consequences that impact the life of a film. Should you adapt your filmmaking to these parameters? There may be compromises you don’t mind making; you simply should be conscious of every compromise. Also, you may choose to concentrate on one project as opposed to another, based on the availability of resources or apparent prospects.

One should always make a movie one believes in, but it is well also to look out for yourself and your career. Taking care of yourself is a good way to take care of your film. If you cannot survive, your film probably cannot be realized.

K&A: Having all you said in mind, which is the paramount, in your view; the public approach and prosperity of a movie or the loyalty of producer and director to principles and essentials? Do you call a movie with the less tickets sold and more professional virtues as successful? Can we estimate the values of a movie by considering its attractiveness on the booth?

SH: These are entirely relative values, because it depends whom you ask. “Popular” movies have their place; something is happening between members of a public at a movie that they “like.” but I concentrate on supporting the vision of artists who have something new and risky to offer. Such a person, and such a project, simply offers the promise of a previously unknown breakthrough in conversation or even consciousness. It’s just the most interesting area of film culture, to my way of thinking. And it can, occasionally, lead to “box office success,” so one need not necessarily choose between the distinctions you mention.

K&A: But we see that most of the modern generation filmmakers, under the flag of giant media companies, assume it is necessary to add violence and immorality to movies for gaining the public fortune and obtaining more spectators, purchasing more tickets and reaching more profits.

What is your estimation about that? Should we bargain the human values in lieu of the financial benefits? Is it acceptable that we offer atrocity, aggression and unhealthy relations in our movies to absorb the more viewers?

SH: I deplore mindless, meaningless, gratuitous violence, as I deplore mindless, gratuitous righteous indignation. I would hope that a film which frames violence or other controversial matter would do so in a way that is curious and reflective, as I always hope that audiences willingly bring their own curiosity and reflection to each work of art.

Too many movies employ violence for convenience; it’s easier than writing! As for immorality there are so many kinds! My answer is the same. It all depends upon what is being suggested or explored in the depiction. If it is mindless, I feel that my time is being wasted, and that I’m being talked down to. I tend not to categorize what is technically permissible to show. I just want to know that it is being shown thoughtfully and with sensitivity and originality.

K&A: Ok. Let’s switch to Cinema Verite festival in Iran. You were in Iran to attend the second edition of Cinema Verite festival. What do you think about the quality of screened films and the professional dexterity of attending filmmakers? Which film most attracted you?

SH: I appreciated the extraordinary range of interests and stylistic approaches, especially in a film culture I only know through the works of a few producers. It would be impossible to select a favorite, given so much variety! I recognized a strong vein of artistic passion running throughout the work. This made me want to see more!

K&A: explain a bit about your default perceptions before traveling to the misunderstood country, Iran. How was your imagination about Iran and its people? How much you think the media propaganda was effective to shape these perceptions?

SH: I expected that some conversations might be impossible, or that I might be viewed with hostility. I attribute this to the excesses of the international press; but in the contrary, I found a community of like-minded, hospitable, curious people, including complete strangers who approached me with great energy and kindness. I spent a woefully short amount of time in Iran, but my point of view on what is possible between us has dramatically shifted, for the better!

As with any country, one can only know very little before experiencing a place firsthand. Iran seems to me beautiful, complicated and fascinating, like my own home. It seems to me our governments have had serious differences, and I’m hopeful of a betterment of international relationships, of course.

K&A: The main goal of documentary filmmaking, of course, is to unveil the concealed facts, expose the hidden face of society to a wide range of addressees and unfolding the stories that are not being offered to the public. Are you willing to produce (or participate in the production process) of a documentary film about the people and culture of Iran? What will you do if you want to produce a film about Iran? Which references and resources do you refer to in order to gather information about the country and its people’s lifestyle? Which facts and truths about Iran are being withheld from the public opinions, you think?

SH: I’m not a producer, but Iran seems an endlessly fruitful subject. Any depiction should simply be dimensional, open, curious, exploratory, and intellectually “independent” of outside intervention, as much as possible. I’m nervous to speculate about what truths are being withheld. But certainly some visions are rarer than the others, and I support a multiplicity of visions, so that these can be sorted, compared, and weighed by a discerning public.

K&A: What are the most crucial challenges, in your view, to the cinema of 21st century? Is the global cinema moving toward an absolute satisfactory future?

SH: Corporate control of media production and distribution, I am afraid, is having a slow suffocating effect on media culture. This is a very big topic, I don’t know if a small fix will be sufficient, or if a big fix is possible. This is why the “independent” artist is such a heroic type to me. Occasionally, someone intelligent, brave and committed is able to realize and offer a vision I’ve never seen before; through enormous work, risk and sacrifice. How can anyone who cares about the cinema be but grateful for this?

K&A: We are living in a turbulent and chaotic world. Violence and aggression is reaching to its utmost. The industrialized countries are seeking the ways to invade and dominate the developing, impoverished nations. Every day, we hear something new about a US attack on another country. Do you believe there is any duty or assignment for the artistic community to prevent the world’s path toward insurgence and insecurity?

SH: Films that can save the world are few, if there has ever been a film. But why should films be expected to do everything? What they can do, which is not sufficient to save the world, but I do think is totally necessary, is to offer new possibilities for consciousness itself; ways of seeing, thinking and feeling that modern life tries to shut down. This is a big enough responsibility to become a filmmaker’s life work

Thanks Rana, you have my admiration and support for all your work. I look forward to reading your posts on Mideast Youth and its upcoming Arabic page.

Fair Trade and preserving local craftsmanship and culture, is an important aspect of the green movement –– at least for those environmentalists who value humankind and the health of its societies. Following that notion, we think it’s appropriate to feature the women from Lakia: as their agrarian society shifts to a western one, Bedouin are getting lost in the Negev dust. Literally. But an NGO founded by Bedouin women for Bedouin women, is giving new purpose to an old way of life. Here is their story.

As the Israeli Bedouin culture, which was once partially nomadic, adapts to the fast-paced ways of modern living, its women are being left behind. Undervalued at home, and with few skills that can lead to gainful employment (most are not allowed to leave the home for outside work), not only do Israeli Bedouin women suffer from high rates of poverty and abuse, they can pass on a sense of hopelessness to their children — a cycle that never ends.

As the once nomadic people transition into the modern way of life, the women are becoming more marginalized. In the past, they had responsibilities in the house — collecting water and wood, taking care of the livestock and setting up the family tent. These are skills no longer valued in their society. But that’s changing.

Determined to find a way to empower themselves, a group of four Bedouin women from the Bedouin town of Lakia, founded the Association for the Improvement of Women’s Status in 1992. Since creating their NGO, the women have been able to build a number of meaningful projects in their society that generate income and a sense of self-worth.

Drawing water from a new kind of well

“The women in Lakia no longer go to the well to collect water, but I tell them that the well is inside us,” says Naama Elsana, a co-founder of the association, who teaches women and their daughters the ancient Bedouin craft of embroidery, a skill that not only creates beautiful clothing and decorative items for the home, but which also transmits stories of the Bedouin way of life, inside the intricately detailed patterns.

In a bold move, the women of the Lakia association have veered from tradition and have created their own style of embroidery. In previous embroidery patterns developed by the tribe’s grandmothers, the men were at the center. (See also One World Many Beads)

“Today, we have our own pattern,” Elsana tells ISRAEL21c, as she shows her creations to a group of American executives visiting her tent as part of a tour by the non-profit foundation, Project Interchange: “In this one as you see here, the four women who have founded this organization are at the center, while the four sheiks of our community, are stitched on the outer corners.”

The well in Lakia (pictured above) used to be the source of community for the Bedouin women of Lakia. Now it is locked.

This past November, Naama and Hessin Elsana, a cofounder of the association, addressed a group of high-powered construction executives from the United States, in Israel at their village. The executives are CEOs and VPs who manage multi-million and billion companies in both America’s East and West Coasts, and had come to Israel for one week, on Project Interchange — seminars which help influential leaders see and experience Israel beyond the conflict, beyond the violence they see on CNN.

In Lakia, beside the greeting tent where guests can eat a traditionally cooked Bedouin lunch, and then hear a lecture with Elsana or one of her partners, there is also a gift shop where visitors can purchase unique jewellery, clothes, wall hangings, purses and handicrafts fashioned by the local Bedouin women.

A library on wheels

The association gives fulltime work to 70 Bedouin women. Teaching the traditional art of embroidery, and then selling the products is the association’s central activity, but there are other community activities that have branched out to further strengthen their society from within.

One is an adult literacy program the women have created, a special kindergarten for their children, and a mobile library, which passes through different neighbourhoods to spread literacy, and human rights education among the town’s children.

Today, Elsana reports that Bedouin women are undergoing a transformation — while only a handful of women went to university 10 years ago, this year there are about 350.

The Association for the Improvement of Women’s Status has an “open-tent” policy, which allows visitors from Israel and the outside world to experience the joys and hardships of being a Bedouin woman. They invite outsiders to come and meet them.

This article is reprinted courtesy of ISRAEL21c.

For more feature stories on Bedouin in Israel, see:
Bustan and Bedouin Paint the Desert Green
A Film About A Bedouin Man and His Landscape
Sharing Water Resources With the Bedouin
Buying Fair Trade from Israeli Craftswomen
A Journey Through Bedouin Jewelry

::Desert Embroidery website

The second anniversary of Anousheh Ansari’s adventurous travel to the spatial station as the first Iranian space explorer passed over with the reticence of global media who have been busy analyzing the very earliest “side effects” of President-elect Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 US Presidential Elections.

In the heat of Ansari’s space voyage, American media broached bunches of controversial issues such as the reluctance of half-blooded astronaut to introduce herself as Iranian or Muslim, but she never found the opportunity to clarify this.

Furthermore, most of the newspapers or websites dedicated their conversations to professional and technical matters when interviewing Anousheh Ansari which caused many stories to remain untold.

Following is the text of exclusive interview with the first female private space explorer Anousheh Ansari, the Iranian businesswomen who has perpetuated the name of Iran in the 2007 edition of Guinness World Records Book with her everlasting record.

Mrs. Ansari! Two years passed since you made that historic travel to the spatial station as the first female space explorer; but on that specific time the mainstream media focused on you, not only for being a female voyager, but also for being an Iranian Muslim. What’s your conception of being a Muslim born in Iran? Are you restraining to announce or approve it publicly?

I have always advertised my Persian roots and I’m proud to do so. I always start my story by telling everyone that I was born in Iran and show the map of Iran with my place of birth, Mashhad. My Iranian root is a big part of who I am the same way that my life in America has shaped my life.I have always been a spiritual person and my spiritual beliefs were strengthened during my trip to Space. When you see the earth from space and understand how small and fragile it is compared to the dark universe that surrounds it, it gives you a new perspective on life and how small and insignificant we are and how silly it is to fight over things that are but a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things.

Furthermore, I had also brought a copy of Holy Quran with myself to the spatial station which was a personal decision without any political motivation.I also carried prayers given to me by my parents and friends.Also I have to add something for the accuracy of title which I had been given, which many newspapers and TV channels broadcast it mistakenly. I was considered the first Private women space traveler, not the first female astronaut.

The first woman cosmonaut was also the first woman to ever fly to space and her name was Valentina Terishkova. The Guinness Book of World Records has registered my name as the first Private woman space explorer as well as the first Iranian in space.

Many of your fans or those who follow your prosperities regularly remember that you had started the blogging carrier few months before commencing the space mission. Your space blog was gaining an unprecedented popularity worldwide, but you stopped updating it suddenly. What had happened on that time?

I started blogging because I wanted to share my experience with as many people as possible and I was very happy to see how well receive the blog was. However writing from the heat and writing something of significance, requires a level of dedication that I could afford at that time.

I am very engaged with my new company and between my educational projects and my business; I have very little time to blog. I enjoyed blogging and read most of the comments people wrote to me; hence, I continue to receive many messages, I cannot possibly read and respond to every message I get because it is more than a full time job, but I try to keep up with them.

At the beginning, when the slated schedule of your affiliated company for the space program was announced, you were not supposed to be that astronaut who had been appointed to run for the mission.

But after your Japanese colleague failed to pass the medical and practical examinations successfully, you were replaced immediately which should have been a kind of shocking news for Mr. Enomoto beside of being an unbelievable, exciting incident to you. am I right on that?

As soon as I found out, I called him to see how he was doing. On one had as you mentioned, I was very exited at the prospect of being able to fly to space, on the other hand I felt uneasy since I had become friend with Mr. Enomoto during our training together and I knew how much he wanted to fly.When I talked to him, naturally he was disappointed, but he was determined to take care of his medical issue and to try again to fly in a future flight. He encouraged me to fly and offered to help.

I asked him if I could do anything for him and he gave me a few of his personal items to fly to ISS with me, which I did.

Once the news on your space exploration came out in the media, many critics and journalists worldwide stated that $20 million is too much to be spent for such an individual intention which could be potentially used for charity or instructional purposes, instead. Do you agree with them?

I believe that each person is entitled to their opinion. My family and I worked hard and made many sacrifices for the money we earned and the decision on how to spend it should be ours alone.I support causes that are important to me and my family in the ways that I believe is effective.At the same time I feel that my trip has impacted many lives and inspired many people around the world to pursue their dreams.

Having hope and inspiration is a priceless gift and I was fortunate enough to have been able to play a small role in giving a glimpse of hope and inspiration to many.

For the last question, let me ask if you have any idea or suggestion for the scientific communities and researchers of Iran to improve their skills and find their dissevered global position? 

I believe Iranians are very smart and have great potential given the right opportunities. This is obvious based on their accomplishments in their new homelands around the world.

Unfortunately their opportunities are limited inside Iran and because of wars and sanctions and other issues, the country is not considered as art of the advanced world. I believe if Iran would join the global economy and provided the right opportunities, it could advance and catch-up with developed countries with a few year lag.

From the heart of Gaza a sound of hope. Performers from Gaza will gather to tell their stories in songs and music calling for better life for Palestinians who have been suffering for years and stereotyped in media.

Gaza Concert is an event bringing inspiration for many Gazan singers who are eager to speak out and tell their stories by singing and music. The event aims to bring upon musicians and singers from different parts of Palestine to sing for unity, peace and justice. In spite of all the sufferings, the hopeful event aims to revive the Palestinian spirit by music from Gaza to the whole world.

Sameh Habeeb is one of the organizers and in this podcast we discuss the following:

And several other issues.

Opening music: Checkpoint 303 – “Gaza Calling”

[Cross posted on our podcasting site.]

We wanted to interview Ayman Talal Quader as well, also one of the organizers, unfortunately he has no electricity at this time.

Below are the results of the interview!

When was Full Stop Advertising founded, and what is its mission?
Full Stop was founded in 2002. Our mission is to develop advertising with a STOPping power. I.e. Advertising that attracts the attention, engaging and delivers results. And we have a special passion in developing advertising for the soul. Or what I like to call good deed advertising which is part of our SCR (Social Corporate Responsibilities) to our societies.

How many ad campaigns did you create in the past that deal with religion or social issues? What message do you hope to send through such creations?
We did a lot! We had several video clips that aired in Music channels (Lasaf a3ood ya Ommi, Watanak eish tegdar te3teeh, Malak ghair Allah & recently the wedding). We also did several PSAs (Public Service Announcments) e.g. Ghiba, Orphans (Aytam), Negdar nibdi3/Lazim nit7arak with UN and recently Ra7ma. We hope to develop campaigns that improves our society and makes us better people, by hgihlighting issues in our communities that need to be addressed.

Can you tell us a bit about the “Rahma” campaign? What do you hope to achieve through it, and why did you create it in the first place?
Ra7ma campaign is just like other campaigns that we work on. We see there is an issue that needs to be addressed, especially in this case the abuse of the weaker people (maids, drivers, labor…etc.) and they usually can’t speak and got no one to turn to. So we thought this is something that need to be brought into attention. We hope that this issue is highlighted and we open people’s eyes on the proper way our Islam teaches us to deal with these people (with Mercy not abuse)!

It seems to be that this is the first time in the history of Arab media that a prominent and visible campaign is launched on behalf of migrant workers and their mistreatment within the region. Do you feel that the feedback was negative or positive?
Feed back was mostly positive. I’m convinced of what we did. But not the less, there are those sceptical people that only see the glass half empty and critisize every thing and every one.

Abroad, many people claim that migrant workers undergo discrimination here because women or ethnic minorities generally are “oppressed” under Islam, but we as Muslims of course don’t consider this to be true. In fact, it seems that Islam inspired this campaign, judging by its closing statement: “No mercy upon the merciless.” Did Islam indeed inspire this campaign and if so, how?
I believe that there isn’t something called Islamic and no Islamic. Islam is a way of life and it inspires every thing in our lives especially Manners (al25lag) and there are a lot of a7adeeth on 7osn al5olo8, altawado3 and alra7ma [prophetic sayings on good character, humility and compassion]. So yes it inspired us to do it but not just because it is in Islam rather because Islam is about this

What can we as young Muslims do in the Arab world to promote this message of the campaign?
I think if they can take this message and spread it, we are now working on developing questionares (sort of a self test) on how well do we treat these workers and the result should be compared to how Alrasool PBUH [our Prophet] treated his servent. It would be good if they help distribute it. Also they can help in spreading a7adeeth alra7ma and alta3amol ma3 aldo3afaa [Prophetic sayings on compassion and dealing with those who are weak].

Arab News recently published an article outlining the significance of this campaign, stating that the campaign has 3 phases, so is there a lot to expect from this campaign in the near future?
Yes inshaa Allah. An issue like this will not be fixed with just one campaign.

How long will these ads run on Arab television? Are they only aired on MBC or are there other stations as well? Is there a print version?
These ads will run for some time inshaa allah. Now they are on MBC, Rotana will air it soon. Iqraa is also airing it now. Yes there are press ads:

In Full Stop Advertising, as a company, do you plan on continuing to focus on social issues?
Yes inshaa Allah, this is part of our mission statement and reason for being.

We would like to thank Kaswara and the rest of the team at Full Stop Advertising for this wonderful campaign, and also for being so approachable and and willing to be interviewed for the site.

For those of you who want to see all FullStop Ads, please visit their official YouTube channel.

It’s relevant to many of us blogging at this site. Antony has long been one of my favorite bloggers, mostly because he has guts. If he has something to say he’ll say it regardless of whether or not the majority would agree with him.

In this podcast we discuss the following:

And a few other things in between. I hope that you will enjoy this podcast and find it useful, I encourage you to get the book.

[LISTEN TO THE PODCAST ON OUR PODCASTING SITE.]