Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

Academic Freedom Media Review
November 6 – 13, 2009
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Student Activist Held in Tunisia at Risk of Torture

NEAR, 11/13
Norwegian University’s Board Rejects Academic Boycott of Israel
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/13
Courage on campus
The Baltimore Sun, 11/13
Convicted Terrorist Won’t Speak at UMass-Amherst After All
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TeachMidEast.org Includes NITLE ACC Site

TeachMidEast.org

TeachMidEast.org


This evening I was happy to learn that the NITLE Arab Culture and Civilization Online Resource is once again publicly available, generously hosted by the Middle East Policy Council, a nonprofit organization that seeks to enhance American understanding of the political, economic and cultural issues affecting U.S. policy in the Middle East. I was principal editor of the site throughout much of its existence, and was very proud of the collaborative effort that went into building, launching, and nurturing the site throughout its life. At the time of its retirement it was registering thousands of hits on a daily basis.
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Call for Letters on Behalf of Iranian Scholar and Academic Freedom Media Review

A November 6, 2009 Press Release from Scholars at Risk:

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is gravely concerned about reports indicating that Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, a respected international scholar and researcher, has been arrested, convicted and sentenced to over 12 years in prison. Reports indicating that an appeal may not be heard are of equal concern. SAR asks for letters, faxes and emails respectfully urging authorities to reconsider his case and ensure that an appeal be heard.

More information on the case and how to respond is available here.
Academic Freedom Media Review
October 30 – November 6, 2009
Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Government backs down on science freedom demands
Mark Henderson, The Times, 11/6
Scholars at Risk Calls for Letters on Behalf of Iranian Scholar Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh
SAR, 11/6
Fiji throws out Australian academic
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Israel Boycott Fight Moves to Norway
Inside Higher Ed, 11/3
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Press Freedom in the Arab World

Al Jazeera gets such a bum rap in the United States because they are perceived as being biased against the United States and overly critical of US foreign policy. It’s not a fair evaluation, which is not surprising given that it is too often made based on hearsay by people who don’t speak Arabic, but that is not my concern in this post.
The network also does a very good job of holding Middle East governments to account. In fact, that has often gotten them into trouble. This is an episode of Inside Story, a program that is broadcast on the English service of Al Jazeera, assessing freedom of the press in the Arab World.

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Thanks to 3arabawy for finding it.

Academic Freedom Media Review, October 23-30

Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Israel Deports a Bethlehem U. Student Because She Is From Gaza
Matthew Kalman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/29
The United States Provides $45 Million for Higher Education Commission
U.S. Department of State, 10/29
Academia and its Discontents
Jia Ahmad, Nneka McGuire and Nicholas Wong, Columbia Spectator, 10/29
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Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

Here, once again, is the weekly Academic Freedom Media Review from one of those organizations I wish would just go away.  Go away because there would simply be no more need for it.  Unfortunately, all over the world scholars come under attack for their scholarship or teaching.  It’s said that knowledge is power and history is full of examples of the power of ideas to rock the foundations of societies of political structures.
And so scholars, researchers, students, and even administrators find sometimes find themselves subject to restrictions on their academic freedom  that include obstruction of their research, prohibition of its publication, bans against being able to teach, requirements for ideological review of publications and course materials, unofficial intimidation from any number of sources, blacklisting, media smear campaigns and the like.  All to often scholars might even be subject to arrest, extended imprisonment, torture or even assassination.
The Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) is an international network of universities and colleges that responds to this by raising awareness of the issue, getting scholars in particular danger out of danger, and through other programs described on their site.
Academic Freedom Media Review
October 9 – 23, 2009

Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Hundreds of Palestinian Students Are Blocked From Travel to Foreign Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/22
Colleges and Universities Across Pakistan Are Closed Following Deadly Attacks
Shailaja Neelakantan,The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/21 Continue reading

Arabic Twitter App and Creative Commons Channel Reported by ArabCrunch

Kzalek Logo

Kzalek Logo

I just read a post on ArabCrunch about a Twitter Desktop app called Kzalek that displays Arabic correctly. This is big news.
I’m of the opinion that Twitter is really close to useless without an app or client, either on a portable device or on your desktop, to help sort through and manage tweets. And the more people begin to use twitter, the more necessary a tool becomes. For the most part, though, these tools could not display Arabic correctly. They either displayed the characters a disjointed when they need to be connected, or they didn’t display them at all. Kzalek does that. It’s a bit clunky and not as attractive as TweetDeck or Seesmic, nor does it allow you to post to other sites at the same time, but it works and it is only a beta version. A breakthrough one, at that.
Read more here.
ArabCrunch also reported today that Jeeran is launching a Creative Commons channel (CC) that aims to spread Open Source culture in the Arab world.

(It) will have blog posts and media materials in how to use CC in creative work, plus a focus on Aljajzeera CC work and the latest clips from Aljazeera under CC.

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Jeeran CC Channel Logo

Jeeran CC Channel Logo


Read more at ArabCrunch.

Academic Freedom Media Review, September 25-October 2, 2009

The Academic Freedom Media Review is a collection of articles compiled weekly by Scholars at Risk. This is the review for September 25 – October 2, 2009.
UWO joins effort to protect scholars
Chip Martin, London Free Press, 10/1
Peruvian Academic Receives Death Threats
NEAR, 10/1
Israeli Court Says University Bowed to Chinese Pressure in Closing Exhibit
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/1
Saudi cleric to king’s university: don’t teach evolution, mix sexes
Asma Alsharif, Reuters FaithWorld Blog, 10/1
Calvin College Faculty Asks Trustees to Withdraw Memo Against Gay Advocacy
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/1
Government threatened grant agency over Mideast conference
Anne McIlroy, Globe and Mail, 9/30
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The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/30
St. Louis U. Blocks David Horowitz Event
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Education, 9/29
LEBANON: Scholar angry at NATO after invitation to speak
Meris Lutz, The Los Angeles Times, 9/29
Tehran students protest on campus
BBC, 9/28
Venezuelan students keep up hunger strike
Reuters, 9/28
Universities in Philippines Close to Assist in Relief Efforts After Storm-Driven Floods
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/27

Maryland Delegate is Muslim and Supporter of Homosexual Marriage Rights

Saqib Ali and Howard Dean

Saqib Ali and Howard Dean

One of my favorite iPhone apps is one called Causes that brings together RSS feed about topics like global warming, peace in the Middle East, human rights, women’s rights, health care, global poverty, and others. If you are interested in that kind of news, check it out.  Check it out.
It was that application that led me to this article written by Saqib Ali, Maryland’s first elected Muslim politician, a State Delegate from Montgomery County. In it he unequivocally stated his support for marriage equality.

It feels like the nature of the fight for equality has changed. It has gone from being a rather niche liberal issue to perhaps the most pressing civil rights issue of this generation. And marriage equality throughout the land now feels like an eventual inevitability.
I expect some day people will look back at this fight for equality like we now look back on oddly antiquated anti-miscegenation laws. I’m proud that I’ll have stood on the right side of history: In support of full marital rights for same-sex couples.
My stance on this issue isn’t politically expedient. I am the first Muslim in the legislature. Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam. As such I have evinced much grief from my most conservative supporters.
But I recognize that I represent people of all faiths and no faith at all. If I tried to enforce religion by law — as in a theocracy — I would be doing a disservice to my both constituents and to my religion.

I went searching for more information on Saqib Ali and I found out a lot more, including this fascinating article about him and his thoughts on this a few issues. I like the way he thinks. He is a practicing Muslim and from a religious perspective doesn’t believe in gay marriage, but still keeps his religious beliefs separate from his role as legislator. That is to be admired, and it is something that the religious right could learn from. (See my next post)
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Certainly, it’s a welcome sign that another politician is able to decipher the difference between the words “civil” and the words “religious” when it comes to marriage. But it is also interesting that Ali uses such blanket language like “prohibits” when he refers to Islam’s position on homosexuality. Several groups, like Imaan.org in the United Kingdom, would seemingly take issue with that statement. They have an excellent FAQ section on their site that addresses some of what they consider misunderstandings when it comes to the issue of homosexuality, marriage and Islam. Imaan.org asks the question (pdf), “Can Gays Marry?” And here’s their answer:
The Quran’s references to marriage obviously relate to heterosexual couples. But could Islam bless homosexual loving relationships? As discussed previously, traditional Islamic views have condemned homosexuality without much thought. However, the analysis at the top of the page has showed how the Quran may well not condemn homosexual love. Taking this into account, the principles of love, companionship and comfort in marriage may be applied to Muslim gays and lesbians.
To say that Islam accepts gay marriage is not only controversial, but certainly needs more discussion than the few lines written here. However, in discussing such an issue, it is certainly important to note that there are gender-neutral areas in the Quran that refer to companionship and love…
It’s certainly a subject that’s up for debate. Still, given State Delegate Ali’s more conservative faith position on homosexuality, it’s refreshing to see a legislator separate their faith from their politics. It’s also refreshing to hear his prediction that by 2011, Maryland might join the list of states that recognize same-sex marriage.

Very interesting, indeed.

Can Social Networking Redraw Boundaries?

In cyberspace there are no boundaries or frontiers, yet it has a lot to say about borders and boundaries.  Not only is it used as a vehicle for nationalist, minority and anti-nationalist communication and propaganda, but there are attempts to actually assert borders in cyberspace.  There are national domain name extensions and ISPs are regulated by national agencies.  Anyone who has traveled just across the border to Canada or Mexico knows, you don’t have to go very far before you are off network if you try to use a mobile computing device and hence begin to incur massive international data charges.
Authoritarian regimes, in particular, attempt to assert national control through censorship, blocking access to politically sensitive or even morally offensive sites, at least as they see them.
Here, though, are two cases in which sites that have an international user base took decisions relating to territories in dispute.  The policies they came up with are interesting and probably the best available, given the status of these territories under international law.  All the major social networking sites are, in a very real sense, transnational.
In the case of the Gloan Heights, for example, Syrians resident there may belong to Syrian nationalist groups and Israelis there to comparable Israeli groups, but unlike what happens at the actual boundary between the Golan Heights and Israel or even in everyday life, they might also interact easily in in other groups because there are no documents or visas required.  Individuals in the network may see their location as a reflection of identity, but they may also see it simply as a geographic indicator. That background is what makes these cases so interesting.
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While Facebook is busy increasing our awareness of other people’s lives around the world, it stamps on globally sensitive nerves with one apparently very simple question: where do you live? Last week it started a controversy when it allowed residents of the Golan Heights to choose whether they lived in Syria or Israel. To put this in context: Israeli forces invaded and occupied the area in 1967, capturing it from Syria. They’ve controlled most of the area since. (The UN considers Golan a illegitimate part of Israel, and labels it Israeli-occupied territory.) But apparently Facebook considers itself an important enough global player to offer a re-drawing of the map. It’s not the first time: Facebook deems people in Kashmir as residents of India, though Pakistan and India control different portions of the embattled region, which has been in dispute for decades.

What do you think?  Social networking is a powerful thing and potentially and excellent tool for cross cultural interaction.  So I’m very interested in seeing how this plays out in the real world.  Read more at Could Social Networking Change the World.

Global Tweets

Global Tweets