Tariq Ramadan: «Muslims must learn to be self-critical»
During the Resetdoc Istanbul Seminars (May 30th - June 4th) prominent Muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan reacted positively to Giuliano Amato’s call to support the women demonstrating against the Shia Family Law in Afghanistan. Ramadan has been emphasising the issue of self-criticism for Muslim scholars and has himself been critical of a literal implementation of Shar’ia: «Giuliano Amato is right. We Muslims need to take a stand – he says in an exclusive video-interview with Resetdoc – I have been doing this for the last twenty years stating that we cannot accept the literal implementation and a dogmatic interpretation of Islam. We need a sense of humility within dialogue».
HUMAN RIGHTS
A Petition Against the Government-Sponsored Violence in Iran
We, the undersigned scholars, academics and writers around the world, are concerned about the human rights crisis in Iran. We request the United Nations to condemn the current coup d’état and support Iranians in their demand for a fair and democratic election. Deeply worried by the reports of Iranian paramilitary groups and security forces firing upon and arresting peaceful civilian demonstrators, we demand that the international community act now to prevent further violence and bloodshed. We call on the government of Iran to respect and uphold the right to peaceful protest. We call upon democratic institutions and organizations around the world to condemn government-sponsored violence against peaceful Iranian protesters. We also call on governments around the world to ask the UN Secretary General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Human Rights Council to appoint a UN special commission to monitor the post-election situation in Iran and to inform the Security Council about the arbitrary arrest and detention of student activists and leading reformists in Iran. (From Dissent Magazine)
WOMEN
Voices behind Obama
One hundred years of women's struggle surrounded the US president, and echoed in his words, in his address from Cairo University. On 4 June 2009 it was a woman's voice that resounded in the Great Hall of Cairo University announcing: "The president of the United States of America." Over the past century, women in Egypt, thanks to their own efforts, have gained many rights and increased freedom to take charge of their lives, to make their own choices.
IRAN
Twittering for Change
Countless Iranians have taken to the streets, challenging the outcome of the country's recent presidential poll, and forcing Iran's powerful Guardian Council to agree to recount disputed votes. A fortnight ago this would have not seemed possible. What are the implications for the rest of the Middle East: states where the outcome of elections is invariably a foregone conclusion, and others where the concept of an election - free or otherwise - is non-existent? Anxiously watching, oppressive regimes in the region may be trembling at the thought that events currently unfolding in Iran will, at some point, spill over to their own oppressed populations.
ELECTIONS
Ramin Jahanbegloo: «An outcome with no hope for Iran»
«The Iranian elections have been an astonishingly surprising experience, first of all because there has been immense participation. The outcome is a negative one for many of us and for many young Iranians, a result with no hope. There is an open clash within the nomenclature, and the government has started to solve it using violence.» In an exclusive video-interview with Resetdoc, the Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo comments the results of the recent Iranian elections and addresses some future issues to be faced by the Iranian government and society.
TIANANMEN
The day that changed China
Twenty years after the massacre in Tiananmen Square, the regime has still not made known the number of victims and does all it can to ensure those events are forgotten in spite of the profound consequences on China’s social and political evolution. «In the West memories of Tiananmen are fading,» says Andrew J. Nathan, a professor of Political Science at Columbia University and co-author of The Tiananmen Papers, talking to Reset Doc. «The USA as well as Europe will be more secure when other political systems are open and stable. And the Chinese regime also in various direct and indirect ways encourages the persistence of authoritarian regimes elsewhere.»
VIDEO AND TEXT
Obama in Cairo seeks «new beginning»
«We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam - Obama said in Cairo on June 4 - Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world.»
DEBATES
Abu Zayd: "Why Muhammad wouldn't have signed the Afghan Family Law"
When the Afghan parliament approved the "Family Law for Shiites" effectively legitimising rape against women, our website published Emma Bonino's appeal and petition to the Afghan government. Former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato signed the petition and on the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore asked why moderate Muslims such as Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and Tariq Ramadan, two reference points for European Islam, remained silent. Abu Zayd has chosen Resetdoc to clarify his positions. Ramadan has not yet responded, but will certainly do so at the next Resetdoc Istanbul Seminars, where he will discuss the East-West relations together with other influential Arab, Israeli, American and European intellectuals.
MEDIA
The Iceberg facing Public Diplomacy: A triangle of arrogance, ignorance, and obnoxious management
It is very important to assess how audiences in the region perceive the Arabic TV services of International Satellite Broadcasters such as Deutsche Welle, France 24 and Russia Today. Most of the time, foreign Arabic-speaking channels fail "to win the hearts and minds" of the Arab public for three reasons: arrogance, impatience, and lack of listening from the communicators' side. Foreign Offices must be humble enough to admit mistakes. The Arab public is more likely to expect propaganda and spin rather than truth from TV channels like Deutsche Welle, France 24, or Russia Today.
ELECTIONS
Iran, the Reformist Challenge
These are the most important elections for the world held this year, or at least for a dialogue between the West and the Islamic world. On June 12th Iranian citizens will elect their new President. Two competing factions are divided and the result is uncertain. Will we have the controversial outgoing President Ahmadinejad for another four years, or will one of the two reformist candidates, Mousavi or Karoubi, win the day?
ELECTIONS
India's Future
This year’s general election in India is numerically the largest ever held in history, with 714 million citizens (41 million more than in 2004) being called upon to vote and choose their representatives from over one thousand political parties. This is a phenomenal event that will last four weeks, until May 13th.
A sign of democratic vivacity that seems, however, destined to result yet again in an unstable government, marked by opportunistic post-electoral alliances. Historian Ramachandra Guha explains why regional parties are so successful.
VIDEO
Women taxi drivers face bumpy road in Bahrain
Women in Bahrain are increasingly taking up traditionally "male" jobs, but they face an uphill struggle against the country's more conservative residents.
Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra took a ride with one of Bahrain's female taxi drivers and found that her drive for change is still facing some obstacles.
RIGHTS
What (Arab) Women Want
The veil makes them more visible than their men and hence exposes them to racism. Traditions and prejudices do not help them and are often the first obstacles they must overcome. How is the condition of Muslim women evolving in Europe and in the Arab-Islamic world?
How is Family Law changing in Arab countries? A journey at the centre of a debate that goes well beyond the female body and closely affects relations between Islam, democracy and the West.
DEMOCRACY
Absolute power corrupts absolutely: Azerbaijan lifts term limits
In the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan a referendum (March 18) lifted term limits on the presidency granting approval to President Ilham Aliyev to serve as many times as he wishes after his second term finishes in 2013. To the surprise of democracy optimists, the breakup of Communist rule saw the emergence of authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes. These regimes have all adopted Western-style institutional and legal setups but the state was typically exploited for private gain.
RELIGION AND IDENTITY
Veiled women and the emergence of global political Islam
“The veil appears as a regression only if we assume progress to be teleological and linearly moving towards secularization”. Yale political philosopher Seyla Benhabib has discussed in Genoa the struggles over cultural identity in the scenario of contemporary Europe. In occasion of her lecture, we propose here a conversation with the Editor in chief of Reset Giancarlo Bosetti.
VIDEO
Obama: "We are not at war with Islam"
Barack Obama, making his first visit to a Muslim nation as president, declared the United States is not at war with Islam. Calling for a greater partnership with the Islamic world in an address to the Turkish parliament, Obama called the country an important U.S. ally in many areas: "Let me say this as clearly as I can. The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject" (April 6, 2009)
ELECTIONS
Lord of Algeria
The winner of the Algerian presidential elections to be held on April 9th is already known. He is the outgoing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had the constitution changed so he could run for a third consecutive term. In the last ten years this country has at last seen the end of the civil war, but has not yet been capable of finding the path to modernity. The political system remains tragically closed, with “pluralist” elections that, however, do not indicate any opportunities for change. As a protest against the president’s coup de main, the main opposition groups have in fact boycotted this election.
SIGN THE APPEAL
Emma Bonino condemns the Afghan “Shia Family Law”
Emma Bonino, Vicepresident of the Italian Senate and former EU Commissioner, calls for the "Shia Family Law" to be abolished: "The Shia Family Law signed by President Karzai is a giant step back for women in Afghanistan. It entrenches the worst kind of discrimination by authorising violence against women. It denies Afghan women equal rights in education, employment, health care and custody matters. It is, in effect, a law that legalizes marital rape. The passage of this law is a crime against the women of Afghanistan and it must be repealed. We, the undersigned, call for: - the Parliament of Afghanistan to abrogate this law; - the President of Afghanistan and the Afghan authorities to repeal this law; - the international community and every individual concerned with the human rights of women to voice their opinion to the President and Parliament of Afghanistan".
To sign the appeal write to: resetmag@tin.it
SOCIETY
The Virtues of Dissent
“Dissent is a constitutive virtue of democracy” writes Nadia Urbinati, Professor of Political Theory at New York’s Columbia University. “Rather than corroding social ideals, as authoritarians and conservatives believe, it strengthens partiality and cooperation between citizens. Dissent reveals a fundamental loyalty to a country, a society or a community.” But how is dissent developing nowadays in the Arab world? And what should the West do to support it?
DEBATES
The language of Islam
In Italy the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco Fini, has proposed that only the language of the country mosques are in should be used for preaching. Is this a measure that could encourage integration, or is it dictated only by security concerns and the need to control the words spoken by Imams? The debate has begun. In the meantime, once again in Italy, for some time now the Islamic Council has stopped holding meetings.
ISRAEL
A referendum on peace
On February 10th Israeli citizens will be called-upon to vote in a general election. Their future is at stake, as is that of their neighbours the Palestinians. How will voting be conditioned by the recent war with Hamas? What effect would a victory by Benjamin Netanyahu’s right wing Likud party have on peace negotiations? Resetdoc talks to author Etgar Keret and Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy, who explains the reasons for the bitter controversy between himself and Abraham Yehoshua during this conflict.