Spotlight West Asia/Middle East

Iranian Women's Revolution: What is Happening In Iran and Why It Matters

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 14:45:01 +0000

Iranian Women's Revolution: What is Happening In Iran and Why It Matters Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/26/2022 - 08:45 Anonymous

Today marks the 40^th day after the killing of Mahsa Jina Amini on Sep 16, 2022. She was a 22-year-old woman taken into custody and killed by “morality” police for her “unsatisfactory” hejab*. This unofficial police force has been oppressing and assaulting the women of Iran for years and it has only grown more violent and absurd with time. Oppression of women in Iran is not limited to how they are required to dress (failure to comply has led to them being arrested, lashed, and even killed,) it dictates their eligibility for jobs (illegal to be a singer or a pilot,) legal age of marriage (9 years,) traveling abroad and divorce (both only permitted by the husband/male guardian.) Over 40 years of such gender apartheid under the Islamic Republic fueled unprecedented uprisings across Iran that are led by women – and now by female students. Since the day of Mahsa Amini’s death, daily large-scale protests with the slogan ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ (‘Zan, Zendegi, Azadi’,) have evolved into revolution-seeking rallies and strikes; people of Iran are demanding freedom, a once and for all end to the current regime which is the cause of years of growing injustice, corruption, abuse of human rights and dictatorship. However, unfortunately but as expected, this regime is implementing every possible oppressive method to silence the freedom movements:

Extreme slowdown/shutdown of internet across the country
Suppressing voices of Iranians and allies on social media (especially Instagram)
Beating, arresting, assaulting, and shooting unarmed civilians (including teenagers and children!)
Home arrests, torture and execution of activists, athletes, artists, and intellectuals
Raiding universities and schools (even elementary) followed by killings, beatings, and assault of female students
Intentionally set fire and gunshots in the notorious prison, Evin, where the majority of detainees are held as “political prisoners” and under very harsh conditions (e.g., no medical attention even for severe injuries)

Genocide in regions with ethnic minorities

And the list continues. Throughout all this, the government completely denies everything (for example, claims absurd excuses for the rapes and killings of young women, such as suicide and overdose,) continues to violate basic human rights every hour of the day, and somehow prevents a wider global span of media and action regarding the outrageous injustice and the ongoing revolution in Iran.

Nonetheless, Iranians inside and outside Iran are doing their best to draw attention to the bravery and resilience of people of Iran who are chanting the powerful slogan ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ wanting their freedom back and the Islamic Republic gone. As a result of their efforts, several news streams have had articles and reports on this historic revolution by the women of Iran. Furthermore, there have been two Global Days of Action for Iran, on Oct 1^st and 22^nd, where nearly 100,000 people rallied for the freedom of Iran and showed support and solidarity with Iranian women who are putting their lives on the line for an end to the systematic oppression of women (and gender/ethnic minorities) in Iran.

Although we are grateful for the authorities’ statements and public attention so far, it is not enough. This women-led revolution is facing unimaginably tyrannical subjugation and needs the support of not just all women, but all humanity. The western governments, above all the ones standing for human rights, must immediately condemn the brutal Iranian regime with strong actions, and hold it accountable for the numerous crimes against humanity that are not to be tolerated in the 21^st century. In order to do so, there are simple and quick actions you can take:

Sign the petitions that are addressing these concerns:
- Demand the G7 leaders to expel the Iranian regime’s diplomats and demand that political prisoners be freed
- Call on states to set up an independent UN mechanism now to investigate and ensure Iran’s accountability for the most serious crimes under international law
Sign the open letter from global women leaders and advocates urging the UN Member States to head the call of Iranian women and remove the Islamic Republic from the UN commission on the Status of Women
Continue to learn** and talk about Iran’s women’s revolution in the making, tweet and post tagging UN associates and political figures to demand effective action
Call your senators and representatives and have them:
- Address the petitions
- Work to modify the sanctions on Iran to be imposed on the members of Islamic Republic government and its security apparatus (instead of targeting the Iranian people)

At last and again, I would like to encourage you to stay informed and active about Iranian women making history, to help be their voice, and to stand with them and all the women around the world – in words and actions – to own their agency and freedom.

*Hejab is used here to better describe the “Islamic” dress code in Iran. Conventionally, hijab is used when globally talking about Muslim women veiling their hair, neck, and chest; headscarves are a frequently used form of hijab. Hejab, on the other hand, is a “modesty” rule prescribed in Iran to a woman’s body from head to toe. Thus, policing the Iranian women’s hejab is not only controlling how they cover their head, neck, and chest, but also the attire over their torso, arms, legs and even ankles.

**Note that some sources are unofficial due to internet shutdown and journalists arrests in Iran.

https://www.instagram.com/centerforhumanrights/

https://www.instagram.com/amnesty/

https://www.instagram.com/amnestyiran/

https://www.instagram.com/golfarahani/

https://www.instagram.com/middleeastmatters/

https://www.instagram.com/1500tasvir/

https://www.instagram.com/chelseahartisme/

https://www.instagram.com/iamnazaninnour/

https://www.instagram.com/collectiveforblackiranians/

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Event Thursday - Contesting Muhammad: Contemporary Controversies in Historical Perspective

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 20:52:12 +0000

Event Thursday - Contesting Muhammad: Contemporary Controversies in Historical Perspective Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/10/2018 - 14:52

CAS Event
Thursday, September 13, 2018, 5pm
Center for British and Irish Studies, Norlin Library, CU Boulder

The Prophet’s life story has been told from the earliest days of Islam to the present, by both Muslims and non-Muslims, in myriad ways. Since the nineteenth century, hagiographic and polemical writings have merged into a single, contentious, story, usually devoting substantial attention to Muhammad’s relationships with women, especially his first wife, Khadija, and his young favorite, Aisha. Modern Muslim accounts of these marriages arose in tandem and in tension with Western depictions, and were shaped by new ideas about religion, sexuality, and marriage. Exploring these contested images of Muhammad as a husband illuminates key forces at play in contemporary thinking about this vital figure and serves as a corrective to simplistic depictions of a timeless clash between Islam and the West. Co-Sponsored with the Department of Religious Studies.

Lecture with Dr. Kecia Ali, Boston University

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CAS Brings Panel to Discuss the Crisis in the Middle East this Wednesday, November 11

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 16:28:32 +0000

CAS Brings Panel to Discuss the Crisis in the Middle East this Wednesday, November 11 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/09/2015 - 09:28

In light of the current crisis in the Middle East, the Center for Asian Studies is holding a panel discussion featuring four CU professors on "ISIS from Multiple Perspectives" on Wednesday, November 11.

Aun Hasan Ali: "Is ISIS Islamic?"

Jeanne M. Nijhowne: "ISIS's War on the Past"

Najeeb Jan: "The Spectacle of ISIS: Islam and Biopolitics"

Haytham Bahoora: "Histories of ISIS: The Politics of Fundamentalism and Sectarianism"

The panel will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will be held in Eaton Humanities 250 on the CU-Boulder campus.

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Ali Abunimah to Come to CU on Wednesday, October 7, to Speak on "The Battle for Justice in Palestine"

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 20:10:27 +0000

Ali Abunimah to Come to CU on Wednesday, October 7, to Speak on "The Battle for Justice in Palestine" Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/05/2015 - 14:10

The Center for Asian Studies is pleased to collaborate with the Departments of English, Ethnic Studies, Geography, History, and Political Science to bring Ali Abunimah to campus for a public lecture on "The Battle for Justice in Palestine" on Wednesday, October 7. The talk will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be held in Eaton Humanities 150.

Ali Abunimah is an internationally recognized Palestinian-American activist, journalist, and author. A graduate of Princeton and the University of Chicago, Mr. Abunimah is co-founder and director of The Electronic Intifada, an independent online news publication and resource for education and activism related to Palestine. Mr. Abunimah’s essays and reporting have been published in The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera. He has been a commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and PBS. Mr. Abunimah is the author of two books, One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (Picador, 2007) and The Battle for Justice in Palestine (Haymarket Books, 2014).

As a leading expert on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Mr. Abunimah will shed light on the current situation in the Occupied territories and Israel. Important paradigms, such as the one-state and two-state solutions, will be discussed in detail as well as the basic principles that should be the guidelines for any peace process to succeed. He will also explain how the international Palestinian solidarity movement is organizing to advance justice and peace in this region despite increasing political pressures.

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served and books signed.

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Author Sayed Kashua is Coming to CU this Wednesday, September 30

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:21:04 +0000

Author Sayed Kashua is Coming to CU this Wednesday, September 30 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/28/2015 - 12:21

The Center for Asian Studies is pleased to help the Program in Jewish Studies bring Palestinian-Israeli author Sayed Kashua to CU for a talk on "The Foreign Mother Tongue: Writing between Arabic and Hebrew in Israel/Palestine" on Wednesday, September 30.

What does it mean to be "Palestinian-Israeli"? Kashua is part of the 20 percent of Israel's population that is comprised of Palestinian Arabs, and he has emerged in recent years as one of this community's most eloquent, clever, and intriguing spokespeople. Palestinian citizens of Israel enjoy most of the benefits of Israeli citizenship, but also face systematic discrimination; as speakers of Hebrew as well as Arabic, they are often participants in multiple political discourses that many outsiders consider to be separate.

Kashua is author of three well-received novels, the creator of the hit Israeli TV series, "Arab Labor," and a regular columnist for the Hebrew-language daily Haaretz. Through his writing he opens up new and unusual conversations about Arab identity, Palestinian identity, and Israeli identity and explores what it means to sit at a point of intersection between them.

The talk will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Old Main Chapel. Free and open to the public.

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Congratulations to Kelsey Thibdeau!

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 20:38:02 +0000

Congratulations to Kelsey Thibdeau! Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/22/2015 - 14:38

We would like to extend our congratulations to Kelsey Thibdeau for her recent selection for 2015-16 Fulbright Student Award to Jordan. Thibdeau is a graduate student in ethnomusicology in CU's College of Music, and is a past FLAS recipient through the Center for Asian Studies. She also was instrumental in bringing Syrian composer Malek Jandali to campus in Fall 2014. Congratulations Kelsey!

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Music, Cultural Heritage, and Syrian Peace Advocacy

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 19:02:13 +0000

Music, Cultural Heritage, and Syrian Peace Advocacy Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/04/2014 - 12:02

On September 29, 2014, renowned Syrian-American composer and pianist gave a lecture and concert at the college of music that highlighted artistic ways of engaging the on going conflicts in Syria. The event was sponsored by the Center for Asian Studies, with additional supporting funds from the College of Music, the Graduate Committee for the Arts and Humanities, and the Office of International Education.

The lecture and music event was organized as an educational program for the university and Boulder community on a current issue of global significance, namely the ongoing conflicts in Syria and the Middle East. It afforded the university faculty and students and the larger Boulder community the opportunity to engage an individual whose personal life has been impacted on many levels by the Syrian situation and the events of the Arab Spring, and how his experience of the events find expression in his music.

The two-part event comprised of one-hour lecture that was delivered by Mr. Jandali as part of the musicology and music theory colloquium series, which centered on the current conflict situation in Syria and how he makes compositional choices in response to the conflict. The second part was a two-hour concert on his work “Echoes from Ugarit,” which is his interpretation of a Hurian clay musical script (dated 1400-2000 B.C.) discovered in Ugarit, Syria 1950, also known to be the oldest music notation in the world. Mr. Jandali brought a copy of the original cuneiform clay script to the hall, which he introduced to the audience, passing it around so they could feel and examine its unique texture and writing closely. The historical and cultural significance of the ancient script and the modernist symphonic interpretation given to it by Malek Jandali cannot be overstated. It is a rare example of the convergence of archeology, history, politics, and music. Mr. Jandali is the first Syrian composer to set the script to modern symphonic arrangement. By doing so, first he provides us an opportunity to appreciate what this music sounds like at least in its melodic and modal form. Second, he brings both the ancient and contemporary human music culture into one sequence of artistic expression. On another level, his work evokes interdisciplinary interests so that his work comprises a scholarly road junction, where archeologists, art historians, and ethnomusicologists meet and interact.

The second part of the concert was his Chamber Works for Piano Cello, and Clarinet, premiered here at CU, and featuring CU's own Meghan Knapp, on Cello, and Jessica Vansteenburg, on Clarinet. In this opus of nine movements, Malek Jandali executed an excellent and poignant synthesis of Arabic melodic and rhythmic modes with elements of Western art music. According to him, musical synthesis is a testament to what he considers his dual heritage, namely his Syrian and American heritages. It also speaks to the freedom of expression, particularly the freedom to explore and experiment with new sounds, which America has afforded him; the right of which is being stifled by dictatorships such as the current Syrian regime, which would rather either coopt the arts for their oppressive agendas, limit the expressivity of music for fear of what it evokes- freedom, or even attempt to forbid and destroy it.

The event was very well attended and overwhelmingly well received. The afternoon colloquium lecture, which was held in the Chamber Hall (C199) in the College of Music was attended by over seventy people including faculty and students, and many people from the Boulder community. The chamber hall was packed full for the evening concert with several people in attendance that came from outside of the university including the Denver-Boulder metro area.

In the run up the event, Malek Jandali and CU ethnomusicology student Kesley Thibdeau who is analyzing Jandali’s work as part of her doctoral research were featured on the Colorado Public Radio’s daily show “Colorado Matters” http://www.cpr.org/news/story/grad-student-studying-arab-spring-brings-syrian-composer-cu-boulder.

Kelsey Thibdeau who is also a recipient of the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) for the 2013-14 academic year through the Center for Asian Studies is now continuing her study of Malek’s work for her doctoral dissertation. She is planning to travel to Jordan next year to investigate how the Syrian refugees are using music to respond to their experience of displacement, connection with the larger global Syrian diasporic network, and the impact of the transnational musical productivity (such as the work of Malek Jandali) on the ongoing conversations in relation to the conflict.

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CU Anthropology Faculty Offers Keen Insight into Recent Developments in the Middle East

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 19:50:23 +0000

CU Anthropology Faculty Offers Keen Insight into Recent Developments in the Middle East Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/17/2014 - 13:50

Chris Hammons, CU Anthropology Instructor and regular contributor to Anthropology News, recently published a great article on the recent beheadings by the Islamic State, entitled "Beheaded: An Anthropology," in which he shows how we can understand these beheadings as part of the Islamic State's claim to statehood. Here are a few paragraphs from the article, all of which can be read at http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2014/09/17/beheaded-an-anthropology/.

"What can anthropology tell us about the beheading of two American journalists by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL)? Anthropologists have been mostly silent so far, but with the US government escalating its intervention in Iraq and Syria, they should be more forthcoming.* There are at least three ways that this new round of violence in the Middle East could be approached.

"First, the Islamic State is an aberration because most Muslims condemn it as extreme or as not Muslim at all. In “The Trouble with ISIS,” Daniel Martin Varisco argues that the Islamic State will unleash a new round of Islamophobia even though it is “…a trouble not with religion but the overt and spiteful abuse of a religious veneer to justify political ambition and hateful vengeance.” This approach avoids the Orientalist assumption that Islam is inherently more violent than Christianity or any other religion by attributing the violence of the Islamic State to its politics rather than its religion.

"Second, the Islamic State may be an aberration, but it is not novel: there have been caliphates before this one. What is new is the political context in which this caliphate has arisen. If a caliphate is not just a Muslim state, but one that has global ambitions, the conditions for the realization of those ambitions actually exist in the 21st century. This is why social media is as important to the Islamic State as controlling territory and resources, establishing a bureaucracy, and providing social services. It is a caliphate that has arisen from the conditions of globalization and uses them to its advantage.

...

"A variation on the second approach to the violence of the Islamic State could emphasize that beheading is a long-standing practice of statecraft, including Muslim statecraft. Beheading is almost always associated with the founding of a new social order or is reserved, after the social order is established, for outcasts, the worst criminal offenders, or both. In 2007, Saudi Arabia officially beheaded four Sri Lankan laborers who had been found guilty of armed robbery. This example and many others from history suggest that victims of state-sanctioned beheadings are not just criminals, but criminals who have been marked as different—as outsiders—by their race, ethnicity, nationality, class and/or gender.

...

"In beheading the journalists, the Islamic State was making a claim to statecraft. Even if it has declared the US and the West to be its enemy, and even if the expressed reason for the beheadings was that the US did not meet the demand of the Islamic State to stop bombing its territory, resources and subject population, the intended audience of the beheadings was surely not the US government, which the Islamic State must have expected to seek retribution. It was, instead, the existing and potential members of the subject population of the Islamic State. The beheadings are a classic case of what Rene Girard calls a founding violence—the violence at the origin of a new social order, usually directed at an outsider, a sacrificial victim, whose death is intended to dispel internal conflict."

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CU Welcomes Malek Jandali to Campus

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 18:44:55 +0000

CU Welcomes Malek Jandali to Campus Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/22/2014 - 12:44

The CU community is pleased to welcome American-Syrian composer and pianist Malek Jandali to campus on Monday, September 29. Jandali, whose visit to CU includes both a lecture and an evening concert, uses his art to highligh the atrocities in the ongoing Syrian conflict, invoke the principles of human rights, and advocate for international aid.

Mr. Jandali’s presentation will be two-part. First he will give a one-hour lecture as part of the musicology and music theory colloquium series that will center on the current conflict situation in Syria and how he makes compositional choices in response to the conflict. Second he will give a 75 minute performance and discussion-based concert on his newest compositions for piano, cello and clarinet as well as his seminal work “Echoes from Ugarit,” which is his interpretation of a Hurrian clay musical script (dated 1400 to 2000 B.C. discovered in Ugarit, Syria 1950), known to be the oldest music notation in the world.

Recognized as a leading figure in today's piano world, Malek Jandali’s musical career as a concert pianist began in 1988 after winning the National Young Artists' competition followed by the 1997 "Outstanding Musical Performer Award" in the United States. As a prolific composer, his works have been performed with several leading orchestras around the world such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony, the Cairo Symphony, and the Ludwig Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a frequent guest on National Public Radio (NPR), Radio France Musique, and has featured on CNN, BBC, and PBS etc.

Malek Jandali has been successful in disseminating his message of peace and human rights using the medium of the recording industry. In effect he has received several awards including the 2011 "Freedom of Expression" award in Los Angeles for his song "Watani Ana - I am my Homeland", as well as his activism in the Arab Spring movement; the Arab-American Cultural Achievement Award in New York City; and the 2013 GUSI Peace Prize for his dedication to peace and humanitarian causes.

The event is hosted by the musicology department in collaboration with other units from within and outside of the university, including the department of anthropology, the department of arts and art history, and the United Nations Association, Boulder County. It is sponsored by the College of Music, the Graduate Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the Center for Asian Studies, and the Office of International Education.

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Center for Asian Studies-Center for Media, Religion, and Culture Joint Initiative Gives Voice to Underrepresented Muslim Communities in the Mountain West Region

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 16:29:33 +0000

Center for Asian Studies-Center for Media, Religion, and Culture Joint Initiative Gives Voice to Underrepresented Muslim Communities in the Mountain West Region Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/26/2013 - 09:29

Muslim communities in the United States, especially in the post-9.11 era, have figured prominently in studies on the Islamic diaspora – those of the big cities of the East and West coasts, that is. The subjects who have been all but excluded from this rich field of study are those Muslims living in the Mountain West region. Spearheaded by the Center for Asian Studies and the Center for Media, Religion, and Culture within the School of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Colorado at Boulder, the “Muslims in the Mountain West” project is an attempt to address this underrepresentation and examine these communities as they shed light on the identities of largely moderate Muslims in the Mountain West region as they seek to find a space in which they can be both Muslim and American, an aspiration that is made largely impossible by the demonization of Islam in mainstream America. This project, then, is “a humble attempt to re-orient the debate on Islam in this country by chronicling the life of Muslims as integral thread in the cultural tapestry of the Rocky Mountains.”

As part of this project, the Center for Asian Studies and the Center for Media, Religion, and Culture will organize numerous lectures and other public events focusing on the variety and substance of the Muslim experience in the Mountain West. In Fall 2012, the inaugural year of this project, CU hosted a three-day conference entitled “Muslim Voices in the Heartland,” which included lectures, the personal testimony of Muslim living in the Mountain West, a film viewing and theatre production followed by question and answer sessions with the directors, and a slam poetry session. These events were well-attended and offered thought-provoking insight into the lives of Muslim-Americans in this region.

As this project continues to grow and develop in the years to come, we anticipate many more events offering the same diversity and quality that was present in “Muslim Voices in the Heartland.” We eagerly await seeing the work that is currently underway as part of this project, particularly the documentary that members of the “Muslims in the Mountain West” project are making. They are shooting footage in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico and anticipate its release at the end of 2014. We are confident that this and other projects will give cause to re-examine the current portrayal of Muslims in this region and in America as a whole and to better integrate peoples of diverse backgrounds into our communities.

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