Click to Listen to the Conference

American Freedom Alliance

presents

Its Fourth Conference of the Air

The Middle East Revolutions and their Impact on Women's Rights

Featuring:

         

           

Wafa Sultan (Syria/USA), Nonie Darwish ( Egypt/USA),
Parvin Darabi ( Iran/ USA), Raheel Reza (Pakistan/Canada),
Ida Lichter ( Australia), Elham Yaghoubian ( Iran/ USA),
Zeyno Baran ( Turkey/ USA), Hasina Safi ( Afghanistan),
Azar Majedi ( Iran/ UK), Azam Kanguan ( Iran/ UK), Hege Storhaug ( Norway), Suraya Perlika (Afghanistan), Qanta Ahmed (UK/ USA), Chris Crowstaff

Sunday, March 20, 2011

10:00 am - 1:00 pm PDT
(1:00 PM - 4:00 pm EDT)

Streamed live on the Internet and then archived.
Log in from anywhere in the world and listen at any time

at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ WesternWordRadio

The cataclysmic events which have roiled the Middle East over the past three months have produced their share of concern around the world. Who or what will replace the dictatorial regimes of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt? What will be the fallout for other Arab nations in the region and will the fragile peace agreement between Egypt and Israel survive?

Among some of the more pressing questions however, and the one most forgotten, is what do these upheavals signal for the future of Muslim women and their role in Muslim society? Do the revolutions mean greater openness for women in muslim society? Or is the New Middle East going to look much like its older version? For without a greater public presence for women in Muslim society can there really be any advance towards the kind of liberty and freedom the revolutions have so far extolled?

Join AFA for a three hour Conference of the Air as Muslim women from around the world give voice to ideas and philosophies regarding their own and their compatriots' future.

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Offered in association with the Women's Voices Now short film festival Women's Voices From the Muslim World to be held Thursday, March 17- Saturday, March 19, 2011 at the Los Angeles Film Academy.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Wafa Sultan Ph. D., is a psychologist and a Syrian born immigrant to the United States. She gained particular notoriety for her appearances on Al-Jazeera Television in 2005 and 2006 when she delivered a scathing indictment of her native culture for its oppression of women, and its hatred and envy of non-Muslims. In 2006, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people “whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world.”

Nonie Darwish is an Egyptian-American human rights activist, and founder of Arabs For Israel, and is Director of Former Muslims United. She is the author of two books: Now They Call Me Infidel; Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror and Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law. Darwish's speech topics cover human rights, with emphasis on women's rights and minority rights in the Middle East. Born in Egypt, Darwish is the daughter of an Egyptian Army lieutenant general, who was called a "shahid" by the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, after being killed in a targeted killing in 1956. Darwish blames "the Middle Eastern Islamic cultureand the propaganda of hatred taught to children from birth" for his death. In 1978, she moved with her husband to the United States, and converted to Christianity there.

Parvin Darabi is an Iranian born American activist, writer and an internationally recognized defender of women’s rights. Ms. Darabi studied at California State University Northridge, University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, and California Coast University. She worked as an electronic systems engineer, program manager, company president, and engineering consultant until 1994. From 1985 to 1990 she owned and operated her own Company PT Enterprises, in Mountain View, California where they developed the most sensitive Radar Detector presently on the German Naval Vessels active in NATO.

Raheel Reza, author of Their Jihad, Not My Jihad, was born and raised in Pakistan where she graduated from Karachi University with a degree in English and Psychology. She currently lives in Toronto and serves on the Board of the Muslim Canadian Congress.

Ida Lichter is an Australian psychiatrist who has been an honorary research assistant for the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. She is the author of Muslim Women Reformers: Inspiring Voices Against Oppression ( Prometheus Books 2009).

Elham Yaghoubian, is an author, activist and Co-founder of MPG, Iranians for a Secular Republic organization. She was born and raised in Iran. She moved to the United States in 2000 and continued her education for her master in political Science. She has also been a cultural advisor for CA Army National Guard.

Zeyno Baran is a researcher on contemporary Muslim issues. She has testified numerous times before congressional committees on issues ranging from U.S.-Turkey relations to political developments in the South Caucasus and integration and radicalization issues in Europe. Ms. Baran is the author of The Other Muslims: Moderate and Secular (Palgrave 2010) and Torn Country: Turkey Between Secularism and Islamism (Hoover Institution Press 2010).

Qanta Ahmed MD is the author of In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor’s Journey in the Saudi Kingdom. She is a board certified sleep disorders specialist at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York and Associate Professor of Medicine at the State University of New York (Stony Brook).

Azam Kamguian is an Iranian writer, women's rights activist and a leading member of the Worker –communist Party of Iran -Hekmatist. She was imprisoned for her political activities by the monarchist as well as the Islamic regimes in Iran. Azam Kamguian is a well known critic of religion in general and Islam in particular in Iran and is the chair for the “Godless People Society” a popular trend particularly amongst the youth.
Azam Kamguian has written several books and numerous articles on women’s issues, religion and Islam.

Azar Majedi is a writer, women’s rights activist and a free lance lecturer. She is the president of Organisation for Women’s Liberation www.womensliberation.net, an executive member of European Feminist Initiative (A European feminist Organisation) www.ife-efi.org, and a leader of WUP-Iran and the editor of Medusa, a journal dealing with women’s issues.

Chris Crowstaff is the founder of Safe World for Women, an international NGO which advocates for the rights of women and children, through a global team of volunteers and locally-based grassroots groups.Chris has a background in the voluntary sector and is mother of two teenage children. In 2008, Chris set up an online women’s network, in order to bring together women from diverse cultures and backgrounds to help build understanding and trust. This subsequently led to a field trip to visit women’s groups in Jordan, Israel and Uganda. Chris works with a team developing projects throughout the world and is passionate about campaigning for women’s rights defenders who have been unjustly detained. Chris frequently interviews inspirational women for the Safe World webzine, including many from Muslim societies and the Middle East.

Click here for AFA Lecture Series Page

Contact AFA for further information at (310) 444 3085 or access AFA website www.americanfreedomalliance.org