ISSUE #56 CONTENTS:
- Rally Outside Nokia Store in New York
- Arabia’s Underground Music Explosion
- WANTED: Carmel Delshad
- QUIZ: Four Decades of Whom?
SPOTLIGHT CASES:
Rally Outside Nokia Store in New York
“Nokia out of Iran!” demanded protestors gathering peacefully on Thursday outside the Nokia Flagship Store in New York City. “Iran has cracked down on nonviolent protestors with surveillance technology developed by Nokia,” observed rally co-organizer Ricky Chen, a student at Middlebury. “Until Nokia severs its partnership with the Iranian regime, we are boycotting Nokia.”
With police and several Nokia executives in suits watching from the sidewalk, the protestors chanted: “Repression we can’t condone - throw out your Nokia phone!” The event was organized in partnership with Students for Justice in Iran and with mobilizing assistance from the “Where Is My Vote?” initiative. As the rally began, the Nokia store - which features funky interior walls that change color every few minutes - ironically began to glow green, the color of solidarity with Iranian protestors.
“We want Nokia executives to know we will not be silent, and we want Iranian students to know we stand with them,” said Alaleh Solati, a student organizer at American University. “Nokia should be ashamed for helping to enable this crackdown - and Iranian students need to see that we won’t abandon them.” A “flash mob” followed the rally at New York’s Penn Station, attracting over a dozen police officers and thousands of curious commuters.
At the same time, protesters gathered outside the Nokia Store in Chiacgo. The success of all these events has activists vowing to make such protests a regular occurrence.
Arabia’s Underground Music Explosion
“5 riyals” - less than two dollars - that’s all the money many unemployed Saudi youths have in their pockets. It’s also the title of a new song by the Saudi hip-hop group “Blak Royalty,” which launched their first official video in Jeddah a few weeks ago. In a country with unemployment estimates as high as 25%, the group spotlights the challenges that face young Saudis today. But more importantly, their mode of expression is indicative of a new wave of artistic output the kingdom.
An underground music revolution is sweeping Saudi youth culture. Despite strict laws that prohibit the playing of music in public, dozens of bands have popped up in underground venues across the country. Two years ago, there were fewer than five established bands in Jeddah. Today, there are more than 60. With a host of problems affecting young Saudis, from unemployment to restricted freedoms, music is becoming the mode of choice for expressing frustrations.
"The Internet is the engine of change," says 25-year-old Ayman Al Ghamdi, lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Wasted Land. Groups from small towns and cities across Saudi Arabia use social networking sites to organize concerts, find underground venues, and make their presence known. In a country that often tries to ignore, silence, and sometimes even deny the existence of such musicians, the Internet has offered a new outlet. Last year, over 500 people packed into a secret concert to hear several new Saudi bands.
WANTED to Promote "Revolutionary Artists" - Carmel Delshad
Last month Carmel Delshad won first prize in the 2009 American Dream Deferred Essay Contest. In her essay, “The Middle Eastern Artistic Revolution,”she described a vision of the future: young Americans and Middle Easterners collaborating to promote artistic freedom. A University of South Florida student majoring in journalism, Delshad - who writes on Muslim and Middle Eastern affairs - spoke to The CRIME Report about the “revolutionary artists” she envisions as catalysts for civil rights reform.
Why is free speech so important?
If young people had more outlets to release their emotions - be it anger at parents, the government, the media, or any institution - then perhaps the region would not be so tense. Artistic expression can instigate a sort of communication beyond mere dialogue and help create social and institutional reforms. I recall my professor telling our class about the disappearance of a young Egyptian blogger whose whereabouts remained unknown. This story really shook me. As a college student in America, I can criticize the government in my classroom and not fear retaliation or arrest.
In your imagined article from the future, police and officials are told to be on the look out for “revolutionary artists” – why are they so dangerous?
Revolutionaries are the catalyst for reform - they are the ones who go against the grain. Artists who draw attention to social issues through their work should aptly be called revolutionaries. The young activists in my article seek acceptance of the very emotions that make us human, regardless of the situations in which their stories take place in the social, cultural or political realm. The success of this revolution is predicated on its ability to engage multiple audiences, within the Middle East and the United States.
Your essay envisions young Americans effectively mobilizing to help young Middle Eastern artists via technology - how?
It is important to embrace technology and work with it, not against it. In my essay, I imagined a collaboration that relies on technology advances to further the goals of its members. The youth of America and the Middle East have more similarities than differences: they both are going through similar life experiences that transcend race, gender, and culture. American activists should not turn a blind eye to the conditions in the region. Using technology - video chatting, Skype, blogging, and websites – it is vital to ensure the cries of young reformers do not fall on deaf ears. Americans can be the support system that will cultivate innovation, creativity, self-expression, and freedom.
QUIZ: Who celebrates 40 years in power next month?
A: Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi staged a coup in September of 1969, during the first year of the Nixon Administration. While Nixon resigned under scandal a few years later, Gaddafi has remained an unelected dictator. Next month marks four decades of his rule. More than 80% of Libya’s population has only lived under Qaddafi’s rule. Just imagine if Richard Nixon were still president of the Untied States.
BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here are quick ways to contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement:
- Forward this newsletter to friends & encourage them to subscribe.
- Write a letter to imprisoned Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer.
- Join 10,000 others in demanding Nokia stop aiding Iran's crackdown.
- Apply to participate in HAMSA's civil rights fellowship program.
