The C.R.I.M.E. Report

ISSUE #40 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

Celebrating MLK’s 80th with a Comic Book on Nonviolence

Next week marks the 80th birthday of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. In celebration, HAMSA is highlighting The Montgomery Story comic book, which was released in Arabic last year on Martin Luther King Day. A print-run of several thousand Arabic copies was done in Cairo and distributed across the region. Both the English original and the new Arabic translation are available online.

The comic book recounts the story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a grassroots initiative by a small group of people (led by Martin Luther King) to protest racial segregation on public buses in one city. The protestors did not attack the buses or threaten town leaders. They simply decided not to ride the buses. For this passive form of protest – which hoped only to change where people could sit on a bus – the group faced physical attacks, intimidation from police, and even a criminal case against Martin Luther King, who was not even 30 years old at the time.

As the comic book illustrates, one night King’s home was firebombed, nearly killing his wife and children. Still, King continued his protest peacefully. In the end, nonviolent direct action succeeded: segregation on buses ended and over the next few years other forms of legal discrimination were overturned. The comic book concludes with a section on how to apply the “Montgomery Method” to advance change. Given the challenges in the Middle East, the new Arabic edition of this 50-year-old comic book is more relevant than ever.

To order copies of the comic book, contact mailto:info@hamsaweb.org.



WANTED For Investigative Journalism: Ahmed Benchemsi

Ahmed Benchemsi has accomplished much for a young journalist. Only 34, he publishes the two best-selling weekly magazines in Morocco, has won the prestigious Samir Kassir Award for independent Middle Eastern journalism, and has twice been a visiting fellow at Newsweek. He has also managed to get himself hauled before judges on several occasions. A celebrity for HAMSA’s Dream Deferred essay contest, Benchemsi speaks to the CRIME report about the challenges of being a Middle Eastern journalist and what he looks for in outstanding essay contest entries.

Why did you become a journalist- and is being a journalist in the Middle East a risky endeavor?
My first professional assignment as a journalist was at age 21. But I started earlier, editing my high school newspaper when I was 15. The risk of being a journalist in the Middle East differs from one country to another. I have been sued, interrogated by the police, had thousands of magazine copies destroyed by security forces while still on the printing press, and received death threats. Even now, there is a suspended case against me for allegedly “insulting the king.” But at the same time I generally feel a lot of freedom to speak out openly on topics that were once taboo. So we face serious challenges but also enjoy new opportunities.

What is the larger struggle for civic reform you are engaged in? Beyond simply reporting, our magazines try to open public space for secular ideas in general and individual freedoms in particular. Middle Eastern societies are driven by religion and a deeply-rooted sense of community (the “oumma”). To me, pushing the envelope to assert our self-awareness as individuals - who deserve specific rights and freedoms - is the most relevant struggle we can wage as Middle Eastern journalists. I am proud to say that each attempt to repress our reporting has brought us new crowds of readers and supporters. After five years of existence, TelQuel has become the #1 weekly French magazine in Morocco and Nichane the #1 Arabic magazine.  

As an essay contest judge, what are you looking for in outstanding essays?
Three thoughts: (1) Original creations, rather than near-biographical flat sketches. (2) New ideas on the way out of social and political underdevelopment, instead of saying yet again how underdeveloped we are. (3) And above all, inspiring and energetic stories, instead of self-victimizing complaints on how life is hard in our homes. In this regard, Tarek Shahin's essay, winner of the first essay contest in 2006, is still the best I've ever read: creative, powerful, slightly funny, and realistic though filled with imagination and hope. I liked it so much I published it as an essay in TelQuel. Good luck to everyone!



Giving up on Reform? An Essay Writer’s Guide

“Some Americans have given up on the cause of civil rights reform in the Middle East,” explains Jesse Sage, HAMSA program director. “The challenge for young Middle Eastern writers is to show there are indeed free-thinkers who want to build a future based on individual rights. And the challenge for young Americans is to show how they can use their own freedom – without relying on the government or the military – to help support the civil rights struggle.”

To address these challenges, HAMSA is running the fourth edition of its annual Dream Deferred Essay Contest. There are $10,000 in prizes and 50 book awards for top essays. Entries are reviewed by a panel of celebrity judges, which includes Egyptian movie star Khaled Abol Naga and Azar Nafisi, author of the best-seller Reading Lolita in Tehran.

“Every year, hundreds of young thinkers enter the contest,” noted Sage. “But several factors make an essay stand out. Tips include: make arguments with vivid examples; balance describing civil rights repression with a clear proposal for positive activism; and explore the human experience rather than repeating clichéd conventional wisdom.”

The submission deadline is January 31. Submit your essay today at: hamsaweb.org/essay.

QUIZ: Who recently had her home surrounded by a mob chanting for her death?
Answer: Nobel Prize-winner Shirin Ebadi, whose Human Rights Defenders Center was attacked by a large mob on January 1. While police watched and Ebadi was stuck inside, protestors spray painted slogans on her home and attacked her personal office. Her human rights center has now been shut down, her private law offices raided, and false charges of tax evasion made against her in the Iranian media. Some observers worry that her life is in danger, but Ebadi appears defiant and committed to continuing her work.

BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here is a list of quick ways you contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement: