Hard to breathe, hot, can’t eat or drink, feels like oppressing and isolating oneself. Good fun.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Protests at ‘Faith’ Schools Quota
Oct 19th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCatholics and Jews irritated about quotas or ‘faith’ schools or both.… Read the rest
An illegitimate tone
Oct 18th, 2006 8:59 pm | By Ophelia BensonRight, Hamid Dabashi and his rebuke of Azar Nafisi. Good stuff, is it? Readable? Persuasive? Eloquent? Reasoned? Thoughtful? Fair? Dispassionate?
No.
Let’s sample it.
… Read the restThis body of literature, perhaps best represented by Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003), ordinarily points to legitimate concerns about the plight of Muslim women in the Islamic world and yet put that predicament squarely at the service of the US ideological psy-op, militarily stipulated in the US global warmongering…”Islam” in this particular reading is vile, violent, and above all abusive of women–and thus fighting against Islamic terrorism, ipso facto, is also to save Muslim women from the evil of their men. “White men saving brown women from brown men,” as the distinguished
Schools should cross boundaries
Oct 18th, 2006 6:35 pm | By Ophelia BensonIs it just me, or does this seem a little confused?
… Read the restMeasure to make all faith schools open their doors to children from other religions are to be considered in an attempt to break down barriers between communities. Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, will announce today that he plans to look at the intakes of existing religious schools as part of a review of the admissions code for schools…In remarks likely to alarm supporters of faith schools, Mr Johnson will say in his speech: “Young minds are free from prejudice and discrimination, so schools are in a unique position to prevent social division. Schools should cross ethnic and religious boundaries, and certainly not increase them, or exacerbate difficulties in sensitive
Emily Bourgeois
Oct 18th, 2006 5:55 pm | By Ophelia BensonUpdate: I now have the crucial bit: contact information. The name of the group is Masaka Children’s Fund. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and therefore donations are tax-deductible. Checks may be sent to:
Masaka Children’s Fund
c/o Loretta Thomas
7450 S. 114th Street
Seattle, WA 98178
USA
I ran into a friend in the library yesterday afternoon. She’s a retired judge, an omnivorous reader, a novelist, and an activist (she did election monitoring in 2004, for instance). She told me she was thinking of going to Uganda for Thanksgiving. I probably looked quizzical, or surprised, or frightened; anyway, she explained: she has this friend, who has a house in Uganda where she shelters orphans and pays for their schooling – … Read the rest
Darwin Online Will be Launched October 19
Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNever before has so much Darwin material been brought together in one place and made available free of charge.… Read the rest
Darwin’s Complete Works to Go Online
Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCambridge makes the whole shooting match available for free.… Read the rest
Turkish Archaeologist Faces Trial
Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWrote scientific article about hijab; prosecutor charged her with ‘inciting hatred based on religious differences.’… Read the rest
Interview with Stephen Law
Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWe need citizens raised to think and question.… Read the rest
‘Faith’ Schools Must Cross Religious Barriers
Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBy being secular schools? No, by having quotas for ‘other faiths’.… Read the rest
Nadia Jamal on Veils, Faces, and Different Rules
Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIf the beach is good enough for men, it should be good enough for women too.… Read the rest
Older Students Still Required to ‘Worship’
Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The Government’s refusal is an abuse of Human Rights,’ says Keith Porteous Wood.… Read the rest
Iran Bans Fast Internet Service
Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIran filters more websites than any other country apart from China. … Read the rest
A C Grayling on Books on Friendships
Oct 17th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSages of quite different traditions extol friendship as the highest link in the social web.… Read the rest
More on Free Speech in the US
Oct 17th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLaunch party for Carmen Callil’s book cancelled because of comment about Israel.… Read the rest
Two Faces of Arab Intellectuals
Oct 17th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonKhalid al-Maaly on a carefully masked double standard.… Read the rest
Harry Kreissler Talks to Martha Nussbaum
Oct 17th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘I think it’s obvious that traditional religions have given women a second class status in pretty much every case.’… Read the rest
Hamid Dabashi Accuses Azar Nafisi
Oct 17th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘To me there is no difference between Lynndie England and Azar Nafisi,’ he told Z-net.… Read the rest
Without being co-opted
Oct 16th, 2006 11:31 pm | By Ophelia BensonAccording to The Chronicle of Higher Ed, Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature at Columbia University, read Seymour Hersh’s New Yorker article, about the Bush admin’s plans to whack Iran, with dismay.
… Read the restThe article prompted him to dust off an essay that he had written a few years before and publish it in the June 1 edition of the Egyptian English-language newspaper Al-Ahram. His target? Not President Bush or the Pentagon, but Azar Nafisi, author of the best-selling memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran…His blistering essay cast Ms. Nafisi as a collaborator in the Bush administration’s plans for regime change in Iran. He drew heavily on the late scholar Edward Said’s ideas about the