ISSUE #57 CONTENTS:
- Mock & Roll: TV Shows Banned for Satirizing Politicians
- Micro-Grants Inspire Events on Religious Freedom
- WANTED for Finding Inspiration in Tokyo
- QUIZ: Why Can't These 'Ghosts' Go Home?
SPOTLIGHT CASES:
Mock & Roll: TV Shows Banned for Satirizing Politicians
Comedians love making fun of people in power. But, as TV shows in Kuwait and Egypt have recently discovered, even harmless jokes can be risky under “sensitive” regimes. The Kuwaiti satire show “Sowtak Wassal” (“Your Voice is Heard”) and the Egyptian series “Hokuma Show” (“Cabinet Show”) have both been banned after mocking prominent political figures. The Kuwaiti comics, though, refuse to be silenced.
In Egypt, “Hokuma Show” ran a clip mocking the Prime Minsiter. In response, Information Minister Anas Al-Fiqi banned the program. ANHRI reports that this was done “in courtesy of the Prime Minister, a blatant violation of freedom of expression and an unjust abuse of power.” In Kuwait, the Information Ministry banned “Soatak Wassal” from the Scope satellite channel after three episodes. The apparent trigger of the ban was a comedy sketch imitating parliamentarians and cabinet members.
The Kuwait Human Rights Society has criticized the decision to ban the program, noting: "How can such a decision be made in a country like Kuwait, whose people have been used to freedom of opinion and expression, free thinking, and productions of diverse art works without restrictions, since the start of the constitutional era in the country in 1962?” Meanwhile, the Scope channel has responded with another joke: simply changing the show’s name to “Ammak Asmakh” (“Your Deaf Uncle”). The only remaining question is when this “new” show will get banned as well. Watch a clip below.
Micro-Grants Promote Religious Freedom Events
Many young Middle Easterners face the challenge of translating their ideas for reform into action. Even expressing views on civil rights in public can be risky, but actually organizing real-world events to promote these values is even more challenging. Political repression, financial constraints, and social fears of discussing taboos all make it difficult to act.
With that challenge in mind, the American Islamic Congress organized a training seminar in Morocco for cyber-activists from a dozen Middle Eastern countries, focusing on freedom of conscience. After workshops on entrepreneurship and strategic planning, participants proposed events on interfaith issues to be held in their own communities and then received small micro-grants to support implementation.
The events, which involved over 350 participants, ranged from an intimate dinner discussion to elaborate day-long seminars for dozens of participants. Some addressed tensions between Muslim sects, while others tackled challenges that cross sectarian lines. The photo above is from an interfaith concert in Tunis; the headline photo is from a Nile Riverboat discussion by Egyptian journalists of various backgrounds who cover interfatih issues.
Events were also designed to create replicable models of interfaith organizing. Check out the programs and learn how you can bring them to your own community.
WANTED for Finding Inspiration in Tokyo
A young Iranian writer, who goes by B.A. for her own safety, recently won second prize in the Dream Deferred Essay Contest. Her essay, A Grandmother in Tokyo, describes the complex relationship with her grandmother and an eye-opening travel experience they share in Japan. In an interview with The CRIME Report, B.A. talks about viewing Iran from abroad and the promise her grandmother represents for one day reconciling modernity and tradition.
Your essay explores how experiences traveling outside Iran have given you insight on your own society. Can you give an example?
As a child, I frequently traveled to India. On one visit, I remember visiting the Jame Mosque in New Delhi. Surrounding the mosque were homeless Muslims living in poor conditions. I asked my father how this could be. He said, “If we Muslims around the world cannot change our view on modernity and technology and learn to live harmoniously with people of other religions, we will not progress and develop!”
You describe your grandmother visiting Japan and calling it “their own heaven on earth.” Why did you end your essay with this observation?
My grandmother's visit to Japan not only reaffirmed her faith, but also made her ask more from its followers. How could a non-Muslim country as diverse as Japan achieve such progress and development? She wants and expects more from her fellow Muslims, believing if they can recreate their own heaven on earth they will have one waiting for them in the next life. Her experiences helped her realize there is something to learn from anyone and everyone, that and fostering diversity and acceptance is important to a community's success.
How has visiting Japan changed your view of Iran?
In Iran, anytime we tried to talk about our freedoms and rights under civil law, we were told by the authorities: “What you want is unrestrained and undisciplined wildness, not freedom.” They invoke religion as a tool to deny us basic rights. But in Japan people enjoy freedom without wildness. People respect social rules but are also free to be themselves. I ask myself how many years it will take for Iran to be like this. At the same time, I was in Tokyo during the recent protests in Tehran. It was great to see Iranians in Japan demonstrating against the regime’s repression. I was proud as an Iranian to see this struggle for freedom.
QUIZ: Why Can't These 'Ghosts' Go Home?
ANSWER: Thousands of migrant laborers in the UAE are stuck in limbo - laid off from work due to the recession but unable to leave the country - because their former employers have confiscated their visas. When Dubai was booming, the city attracted hundreds of thousands of workers from around the world, whose travel visas would be held by employers. But the boom has gone bust - as this photo essay showcases - and now the workers can’t get back their visas and thus can’t leave the UAE. They now call themselves “ghosts” stuck in “prison” - labor camps where they live in packed rooms. Meanwhile, there is talk of reform but no action.
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.
