Said many Iranian intellectuals were in danger of being tricked into ‘acting against national security.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Jahanbegloo’s Repressive Release
Sep 2nd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRasool Nafisi cites a new tactic in the regime’s campaign against independent free thought.… Read the rest
Lila Abu-Lughod on ‘Western’ Feminism
Sep 2nd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonImages of veiled women make it hard to think about the Muslim world without thinking about women.… Read the rest
It was all taken away from me
Sep 2nd, 2006 1:27 am | By Ophelia BensonJohann Hari talks to the stand-up comic Shazia Mirza.
… Read the restShazia used to be a teacher in Tower Hamlets, where I live, and she would see Muslim girls rebelling against the chafing medieval codes of their fathers every day…Come 3.30 they put the hijab back on and they’re carted off to the mosque to rote-learn the Koran for three hours. They would come in the next day exhausted, having not done their homework, and they would say, ‘My parents say the Koran comes before homework.’” Shazia understands this better than most: her parents are, she says, “fanatics.” She was forbidden to leave the house throughout her teenage years except to go to school. “I’m a woman, and I couldn’t stand
While the truth is putting its boots on
Sep 2nd, 2006 1:24 am | By Ophelia BensonEric Alterman looks at what happens when people don’t think truth matters.
It’s a truism that once an accusation is leveled, it’s impossible to erase entirely from the public memory. This is doubly true when it comes to the deceased, and doubly dangerous in our political world, in which debate is driven by cable news networks that show little interest in quaint questions involving what’s actually true…Given the fact that most casual news consumers cannot be expected to sift through competing claims of evidence and the like, the media’s disregard for traditional standards of verification is one of the right wing’s most potent weapons.
Alterman cites a story (originally based on a mistake) that I F Stone was a Soviet … Read the rest
Context
Sep 1st, 2006 8:39 pm | By Ophelia BensonFurther update on Birmingham museum story. A commenter pointed out the statement by Artists Circle. It seems fairly reasonable, actually. Debatable, but reasonable – not a mere taboo-invocation or shut up woman incident.
The individual was concerned by an image entitled: ‘Waiting’ which showed a couple of male bystanders looking at a partially dressed woman lying on the ground. The information available regarding the picture read along the lines of ‘This photograph was taken at the bus point.’ There was no other contextual information accompanying the photograph[,] which caused further concern.
The museum also mentioned the lack of contextual information in its email to Andy Gilmour. Miah said in the Guardian article, however:
… Read the restThe partially dressed figure
Johann Hari Talks to Shazia Mirza
Sep 1st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘I’m a woman, and I couldn’t stand the repression. I wanted to go swimming, do ballet, ride horses, tell jokes.’… Read the rest
Former Aide Notes Bush’s Lack of Curiosity
Sep 1st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBush’s information-processing abilities are under discussion.… Read the rest
Once a Lie is Out There, It Stays
Sep 1st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMajor media keep recirculating them; corrections are ignored.… Read the rest
At Al-Ahram: a Special Section on Mahfouz
Sep 1st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEgypt has lost a towering figure in the world of literature.… Read the rest
New Rules on Homeopathic Claims in Effect in UK
Sep 1st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHomoeopathic treatments will be able to list on labels what conditions they are supposed to treat. … Read the rest
Droning Bore on Little Atoms [download mp3]
Sep 1st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTedious windbag interviewed September 1.… Read the rest
That Book
Sep 1st, 2006 1:12 am | By Ophelia BensonAdvertisement
Dan at Muscular Liberals cites Why Truth.
Considering the response of some to what can only only be described as Hezbollah propaganda dressed up as reporting called to mind a passage in Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom’s “Why Truth Matters”, a great book I read whilst on my travels a couple of weeks ago.
Well – that’s pleasing, because I suppose that was the idea. That generally is the idea in books of the ‘let’s all try to think just a little bit carefully’ variety: the hope is that things will link up that way, so that the abundant examples of propaganda dressed up as reporting the world is blessed with will seem not like bizarre one-offs but … Read the rest
If you don’t like anything, just say
Sep 1st, 2006 1:09 am | By Ophelia BensonAnother museum caves.
A Bangladeshi-British photographer is complaining that her work has been censored by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. A documentary work made in Bangladesh by Syra Miah and shown as part of the museum’s Art and Islam exhibitions was removed because it contained an image of a semi-naked woman.
Update: See these comments at Mediawatchwatch for more. A reader wrote to the museum, and the museum replied with a different take. It explains the decision, which sounds less loopy than the Guardian account did, and adds “The gallery discussed the matter with Syra Miah, and the photograph was
removed on 18 July with her full agreement. Our understanding following
these discussions was that Syra Miah said … Read the rest
Emdad Rahman on the Real Tablighi Jamaat
Aug 31st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt’s not political, not exclusive, not secretive, he says.… Read the rest
Photographer Not Pleased at Museum Censorship
Aug 31st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMuseum said it acted on a complaint from a member of Muslim arts group Artists Circle. … Read the rest
Concerns Over Forced Confession Cloud Release
Aug 31st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNews tempered by reports of supposed confession made to national media upon release.… Read the rest
Iranian Dissidents Don’t Want US Help
Aug 31st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIranian anger at US government dates back to overthrow of Mossadegh.… Read the rest
Globe and Mail on the Accusations
Aug 31st, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPart of the case against Jahanbegloo is his Woodrow Wilson fellowship, notes Mohamad Tavakoli.… Read the rest