The theocrats are still trying to silence Maryam.

When I spoke at an event organised by the LSE Human Rights Society on 27 January, the restrictions imposed were absurd. Initially I was meant to debate “whether human rights is possible under Sharia/Islamic Law” but those approached refused to debate me or pulled out at the last minute. One of those approached, Omer El Hamdoon, the president of the Muslim Association of Britain, asked to do a solo talk instead, which he did in November 2016. The stark difference in the way he and I were treated at LSE speaks volumes. Despite speaking on the very same topic (making the usual response of “what can you expect when you discuss

I guess it’s only the right-wing press that can manage to report on Maryam and the bullies who try to shut down her talks without first labeling her “controversial.” Such as, the Telegraph:

The headline: Human rights campaigner heckled at blasphemy lecture

The subhead: A prominent human rights campaigner who was heckled during a lecture on blasphemy at Goldsmith University has said universities should be “unsafe places” where ideas and beliefs are openly challenged

See there? They call her a human rights campaigner, which she is, and skip the bit where they prejudice us against her, and excuse the people who bully her, by calling her “controversial.”

The Telegraph is better on this subject than the BBC. What … Read the rest

London Student reports on Maryam and Goldsmiths Isoc.

The headline: ‘Death Threats And Intimidation’ At Controversial Goldsmiths Lecture With Speaker Maryam Namazie

The subhead: Students at Goldsmiths “disrupted” a controversial talk with human rights activist and broadcaster Maryam Namazie yesterday evening, with some audience members accused of issuing death threats.

Is the well poisoned enough yet? I do wish people would stop pre-poisoning every story on or conversation with Maryam by screaming about how “controversial” she is in the title and subhead and opening paragraph and every subsequent mention of her. It’s rather like calling anti-fascists “controversial.” Maryam is “controversial” only to theocrats, so why pin the theocrats’ label on her? Advocating secularism and equal rights for all and … Read the rest

David Shariatmadari takes the opportunity to piss on Maryam in the wake of Warwick SU’s reversal of its rejection of the ASH invitation to her to speak.

Even if it didn’t evolve into a full-blown Twitter storm, this incident was a classic of the genre. Righteous indignation was tweeted and retweeted, celebrities piled on the pressure, pundits sharpened their quills. Even better, the issue straddled a major faultline in progressive thinking. Advocates of free expression were being pitted against those who feel that criticism of religion, Islam especially, can be antisocial, even dangerous.

For Namazie’s supporters two things were very clear: first, this was a direct attack on free speech; second, lefties were once again siding with religious conservatives because

The Coventry Telegraph reports on reactions to Warwick’s reversal yesterday. (Warwick and Coventry are next door to each other, and Coventry is a city while Warwick isn’t.)

High-profile public figures have welcomed news that Maryam Namazie’s ban from Warwick University has been overturned.

…

The students’ union indicated the initial decision had been made was made “in deference to the right of Muslim students not to feel intimidated or discriminated against on their University campus.”

But, after 48 hours of intense public pressure – including an online petition, the union released a statement to apologise to Ms Namazie and confirm it would back down over the ban.

Ms Namazie said: “I am really excited that I will be able

The Independent on Warwick University’s Student Union’s cancellation of Maryam’s talk.

Maryam Namazie had been booked by the Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists (WASH) group to speak about secularism to Warwick University’s Student Union on 28 October.

However, the group was notified last month that Ms Namazie’s speech had been cancelled. The decision has led campaigners to raise concerns about student bodies across the UK thwarting freedom of speech on their campuses.

The union said that “after researching both [Ms Namazie] and her organisation, a number of flags have been raised. We have a duty of care to conduct a risk assessment for each speaker who wishes to come to campus”.

Articles written by Ms Namazie indicated she was

Student Rights has more on Warwick University Student Union’s cancellation of its Atheists, Secularists and Humanists’ Society’s invitation to Maryam Namazie to speak October 28.

In an email published by Namazie, the union has claimed: “a number of articles written both by the speaker and by others…indicate that she is highly inflammatory, and could incite hatred on campus”.

But you could say that about anyone, or almost anyone. People who give talks on how to make cookies or how to plant a garden are unlikely to incite hatred on campus…but frankly they’re unlikely to be invited to give talks, too, because why bother? It’s pretty dishonest, not to mention prejudicial and even somewhat threatening to call Maryam … Read the rest