The roots of Breivik's ideology: where does the romantic male warrior ideal come from today? Mattias Gardell, 1 August 2011

This is a very good article on the Breivik's world. 

Breivik should be understood as an ideologue driven by reasons and not just as a psychological case. A careful reading of his 2083 manifesto reveals four distinct influences we need to understand: contemporary Islamophobic ideologies, cultural conservative/neo-Confederate traditions, elements of modern White Power thinking, and anti-feminist thought

http://www.opendemocracy.net/mattias-gardell/roots-of-breiviks-ideology-where-does-romantic-male-warrior-ideal-come-from-today?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=201210&utm_campaign=Nightly_2011-08-02%2005%3a30

Mass protest for freedom and social justice in Iraqi Kurdistan

Public Meeting:
Date and time – Wed 15 June, 7pm to 9pm
Venue – House of Commons, Committee Room 21
London, UK

"On the anniversary of the murder Kurdish journalist Sardasht Osman,
Freedom Umbrella is holding a public meeting in the House of Commons.
The meeting will discuss press freedom, as well as the current attacks
on the right to demonstrate in Kurdistan.

Hosted by: John McDonnell, Member of UK Parliament
Speakers:
• Houzan Mahmoud: Freedom Umbrella, Kurdish Action Group
• Dashty Jamal: International Federation of Iraqi Refugees
• Ute Miche: Member of European Parliament- Green Party
• Dr Mariwan Kanie: Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam
• Glenroy Watson: Secretary of the RMT's Black & Ethnic committee on
London Underground

Read further: http://kurdistantribune.com/2011/mass-protest-for-freedom-social-justice-iraqi-kurdistan/

Bureau Buitenland: zondag 3 april

Mariwan Kanie vertelt in Bureau Buitenland wat de Arabische kranten
schrijven over de houding van Assad en de houding van het westen in
Libie.

Bureau Buitenland 3 april tussen 19.00 en 20.00 uur op radio 1. De
audio is circa een uur na de uitzending te podcasten.

Meer over de uitzending van 3 april:
http://weblogs.vpro.nl/villavpro/2011/03/31/bureau-buitenand-zondag-3-april/

Art of resistance

Eutopia in Kriterion op Zondag 3 April 15:00u

Eutopia Media Education en Art of Resistance toont vele fragmenten van
speelfilms, clips en muziek uit het Midden-Oosten, die al jarenlang
het politiek systeem, corruptie en andere misstanden op de hak nemen.
Nagesprek volgt met politicoloog Mariwan Kanie.

De Arabische revoltes: democratie, islam, of post-islamisme?

De NWO-onderzoeksgroep The Sacred and the Secular en het Politieke en sociale filosofie debatplatform Current Affairs van de UvA organiseren:

 

De Arabische revoltes: democratie, islam, of post-islamisme?

Donderdag 10 februari, 15-17.00 uur, zaal D0.09 OMHP

 

De Arabische wereld ondergaat een ongekende golf van politieke protesten, waardoor president Ben Ali van Tunesië ten val is gekomen, president Mubarak van Egypte wankelt, en diverse andere staatshoofden gedwongen zijn snelle hervormingen te beloven. Sommigen vergelijken deze protesten al met de acties die in 1989 het einde van het communistische Oostblok inluidden; bij anderen overheerst de angst dat het ontstane machtsvacuüm snel zal worden opgevuld door radicale islamisten.

 

Hoog tijd dus voor een nuchtere discussie over onderliggende tendensen in de regio en verborgen aannames in de berichtgeving. Staat Egypte inderdaad een herhaling van de Iraanse islamitische revolutie te wachten? Opvallend is het seculiere en niet-ideologische karakter van de demonstraties: anders dan bij eerdere revoltes speelt de Islam nauwelijks een rol van betekenis. Eveneens opvallend zijn de liberale waarden, zoals persvrijheid en burgerrechten, die door de demonstranten worden uitgedragen, ook al zijn die geenszins simpelweg pro-Westers te noemen. Die nieuwe kenmerken plaatsen ons voor problemen als we vasthouden aan traditionele interpretatiekaders die secularisme tegenover politieke Islam plaatsen, en westers liberalisme tegenover Arabische dictaturen, of die nu seculier of religieus van aard zijn. Is de Arabische wereld inderdaad in een post-islamistische fase beland, zoals enkele vooraanstaande analisten betogen?

 

Over deze en andere vragen gaan de volgende sprekers na een korte inleiding in discussie:

 

Dr. Mariwan Kanie: Protest in het post-islamistische tijdperk.

(Journalist, MA-programma Islam in de moderne wereld)

Dr. Michiel Leezenberg: Postliberalisme, postsecularisme en

postislamisme.

(Afdeling Wijsbegeerte/ MA-programma Islam in de moderne wereld)

Dr. Robbert Woltering: De Arabische revolte en de lege huls van het

Westerse democratie-discours. (UD Arabische taal en cultuur/ MA-

programma Midden Oosten)

Dr. Robert Soeterik: De revolte die een revolutie zou moeten worden.

(antropoloog, verbonden aan Middle East Research Associates (MERA) te Amsterdam

Dr. Yolande Jansen, voorzitter. (Afdeling wijsbegeerte, NWO postdoc Secularisme en Islam.)

 

VPRO radio 30 januari

Mariwan Kanie neemt bij de VPRO radio de Arabische kranten door: wat
schrijven zij over de onrust in de Arabische wereld?
Bureau Buitenland op 30 januari tussen 19.00 en 20.00 uur op Radio 1.

http://weblogs.vpro.nl/villavpro/2011/01/28/bureau-buitenland-30-januari/

Press Now: journalist movement successful

From PressNow.org, January 13th 2010

Iraqi journalists from the Awene escape prosceution - journalist movement successful
Under international and national pressure, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) –  the party of President Massuad Barzani, of the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq – dropped the lawsuit against opinion writers Aras Fatah and Mariwan Kanie. "The KDP is far too great to be dealing with such minor controversies," said Barzani's press secretary. Aras Fatah and Mariwan Kanie responded sceptically. In a statement they called the excuse "of a low level" and "extremely unprofessional" nature.

Successful counter-action from local journalists
The charges against Fatah and Kanie led to a movement of local journalists, intellectuals and human rights organizations in favour of Fatah and Kanie. Awene published the challenged article again, now signed by over 150 activists. International organizations expressed concern as well. The action has been successful: the charges against Fatah and Kawie have been dropped. The campaign, however, continues.

Successful counter-action from local journalists
The charges against Fatah and Kanie led to a movement of local journalists, intellectuals and human rights organizations in favour of Fatah and Kanie. Awene published the challenged article again, now signed by over 150 activists. International organizations expressed concern as well. The action has been successful: the charges against Fatah and Kawie have been dropped. The campaign, however, continues. The same institutions that supported the movement for the two authors are launching a campaign focused on withdrawing all open cases against journalists. "We request that the KDP and president of the region withdraw all their lawsuits and end these abnormal and non-democratic system," write Aras Fatah and Mariwan Kanie on sbeiy.com in their statement.

35 cases against Awene
Awene, one of the three independent newspapers in Iraqi Kurdistan, has been a reliable partner of Press Now since 2006. Awene's chief editor, Shwan Mohammed, had to pay a bail of $ 1300 to avoid being jailed for the opinion piece. There are currently 35 cases against Awene. If all require penalties to be paid, Awene will have no choice but to close down. The fact that KDP judged approved earlier fines means the outlook is bleak.  Asos Hardi, the owner of the Awene holding, has asked international NGO's to keep the pressure on the Kurdish authorities to not limit the freedom of speech in Kurdistan: "What KPD does not want is to loose the sympathy of Europe."

Kurdish Press Freedom
Iraqi Kurdistan is still considered one of the regions with the most press freedom in the Middle East. The situation threatens to deteriorate rapidly, however. Shortly after Barzani's speech the KDP began lawsuits against Kurdish independent media. Kurdistan passed a new press law in 2008. This law prohibits prosecution based on an opinion piece. The law was signed by the same Barzani who now threatens the independent media with fine after fine. In order to continue imposing restrictions on independent media he is relying on the use of obsolete laws from the days of Saddam Hussein.

This article was published on the website of Press Now.