HAMSA

Civil Rights Leadership Seminar
April 11-15, 2007
Al-Akhawayn University - Ifrane, Morocco

AUI

Slides of Seminar Presentations
The Dictators' Model - Toward an Open Society - Building a Think-Tank - The Civil Rights Model


Labas! We look forward to seeing you at the Leadership Seminar in Ifrane. Below, please find links to required advance readings, information on seminar trainers, and materials on Morocco.

View a schedule for the seminar. You will see the times of each session, as well as the topics presented. There is a coffee break during each morning and afternoon session. Also, please note that two of the dinners (on April 12 and April 13) will be off-campus in the town of Ifrane.

There are a few brief articles we would like you to read BEFORE the seminar. They relate to each seminar presenter. Please find the reading links in the bios below.

Seminar Facilitator Bios and Readings:

Dr. Tom G. Palmer is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. During the 1980s, he was active in the movement to propagate classical liberal ideas in Eastern Europe under Communism. He smuggled in books and traveled throughout the region leading seminars for young activists. He now works with Middle Eastern intellectuals to promote liberty via the "Lamp of Liberty" (Misbah al-Hurriyya) website and lectures in Cairo, Lebanon, Iraq, and Oman. He blogs at www.tomgpalmer.com. Please read the following articles by Dr. Palmer: The Challenge of Democracy, Globalization is Gggreat!, and Liberty and Democracy.

Zainab Al-Suwaij is the co-founder of the American Islamic Congress (AIC). Al-Suwaij grew up under Saddam, but refused pressure to join the Ba'ath Party and turned to writing poetry. In 1991, she participated in the failed uprising against Hussein and later fled to the US. After the 9-11 attacks, she helped found the AIC so that American Muslims would take the lead in promoting tolerance and civil rights. Please read the following articles by Ms. Al-Suwaij: The Power and Pain of Contradictions and Memories of the 1991 Uprising.

Jesse Sage directs the AIC’s HAMSA project. He has been active in the modern-day anti-slavery movement since he graduated college and co-edited the new anthology Enslaved: True Stories of Modern Day Slavery. His presentations will focus on building a civil rights movement and strategic planning. Please read this 1958 comic book about Martin Luther King (if you cannot download the file, go here instead) and Jailed for Blogging on Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer.

Nasser Weddady recently began working with AIC’s HAMSA project to strengthen outreach to young activists. A native of Mauritania, he spent much his childhood in Syria and traveled extensively across the Middle East. He is an activist addressing the racial divide between Arab Muslims and black Africans, as well as political reform across the region. Please read the HAMSA initiative’s FAQ as well as an interview with Nasser Weddady.

Sajid Anani serves as program manager of the Atlas Foundation’s Middle East initiative.  He holds degrees from Indiana University, where he studied nonprofit management and policy analysis, and the American University of Beirut. He previously worked at the Al-Hussein Society for the Habilitation/Rehabilitation of the Physically Challenged in Jordan as Director of Fundraising and Marketing. Please read What is a Think-Tank and Thinking through A Successful Think-Tank.

Gabriel Zinny is a native of Argentina and Senior Fellow at Atlas Foundation, in charge of the Latin American Program. He previously served as the Hispanic Outreach Coordinator of the Human Trafficking Program and as CEO of Edunexo.com. He has helped founded two think-tanks: Fundacion Grupo Sophia in Argentina and FUDIS in the Dominican Republic. Please read the Atlas Foundation’s FAQ about Think-Tanks.

Fadoua Massat is a Moroccan reporter who currently works at Radio Sawa. While still a student at Morocco’s journalism academy (ISIC), Massat produced groundbreaking undercover reports on human trafficking, domestic servants, and street beggars. Her 2002 short-story collection, A Taste of Suffering, was given the “Best New Writer Award” in 2002 by the Union of Moroccan Writers. Please read an interview with Fadoua Massat and her Los Angeles Times editorial on censoring Nichane magazine.

Abdel Nasser Ould Yessa is the founder of the Mauritanian anti-racism group S.O.S. Slaves. Born into an elite family, Yessa grew up surrounded by slaves. As a teenager, he began to rebel against slavery and racism in his society. After giving an interview to Radio France about slavery in Mauritania in 1995, he was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. Today, he stands up for civil liberties and racial tolerance in his native country and throughout the Muslim world. Please read an interview with Yessa and his autobiographical account of his life as a slave owner.

Sami Ben Gharbia is a Tunisian activist now living in the Netherlands who serves as advocacy director of the Global Voices blog network. He has produced a study of prisons in Tunisia with an unique interactive map documenting prisons. He will talk about how online efforts are changing human rights activism. Please read an interview with Sami Ben Gharbia, as well as his analysis of the Free Kareem campaign.
   

Information on Morocco:

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