Events
Past events
Date: Saturday 21 November 2009
Time:
1200-1400
Venue: North Carriage Drive, in-between Stanhope Place Gate and Albion Gate, Hyde Park, London (Closest underground: Marble Arch)
SHOW YOUR OPPOSITION TO SHARIA LAW AND ALL RELIGIOUS-BASED TRIBUNALS IN BRITAIN, IRAN, IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN, SOMALIA AND ELSEWHERE
DEMAND AN END TO CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND RACISM
DEMAND ONE SECULAR LAW AND UNIVERSAL RIGHTS
DEFEND THE RIGHT TO ASYLUM FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FLED SHARIA
Confirmed speakers and performers include: Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Mina Ahadi, ‘AK47,’ Fari B, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Roy Brown, Nick Doody, AC Grayling, Goranka Gudelj, Rahila Gupta, Johann Hari, Marieme Helie-Lucas, Mehboob Khan, ‘Lilith,’ Houzan Mahmoud, Maryam Namazie, Taslima Nasrin, David Pollock, Fariborz Pooya, Terry Sanderson, Muriel Seltman, Issam Shukri, Selina aka ‘Jus1Jam,’ Sohaila Sharifi, Bahram Soroush, Hanne Stinson, Peter Tatchell and more...
For more information, contact: Tel: +44 (0) 7719166731 or onelawforall@gmail.com
Date: November 27, 2009
Time: 0800-1600
Venue: Malmo, Sweden
Maryam Namazie will be speaking at a conference entitled: A voice from voiceless women.
Date: August 1, 2009
Venue: Stockholm, Sweden
Fariborz Pooya will speak about Islam, Sexuality, and Homophobia
Contact: Afsaneh Vahdat: afsanehvahdat@yahoo.se
Date: July 15, 2009
Time: 8:00-9:30pm
Venue: The Village Centre, 59 High Street,The Square,Great Eccleston. (Nr Preston). PR3 0YB
Organisation Hosting: Lancashire Secular Humanists
Maryam Namazie will speak about the One Law for All campaign
Contact: Ian Abbott, ian@ianzere.demon.co.uk
Date: July 13, 2009
Time: 12:30-1:30pm
Venue: House of Lords, London
Launch of Iran Solidarity, which the CEMB is supporting
For more information: contact iransolidaritynow@gmail.com
Date: June 21, 2009
Time: 7:30pm
Maryam Namazie will speak about the One Law for All campaign
Organisation Hosting: Essex Humanists
Contact: Marie Oatham, eh@oatham.waitrose.com
Date: 21 May 2009
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: UK, Plowman Room, Oxford Town Hall
Organisation Hosting: Oxford Humanists
Maryam Namazie will speak about the One Law for All campaign
For more information, contact 01865 891876
17 April 2009, 7.30pm, Conway Hall, London, UK
Islam, Human Rights and Homophobia – A talk by Maryam Namazie sponsored by the Gay And Lesbian Humanist Association. For more information: www.galha.org
April 4-5, 2009, International Conference on Secularism, Paris, France
"Bourse du Travail" of Saint-Denis (93200)
9-11, street Génin – (Enter by street Bobby Sands)
Maryam Namazie will be speaking on a panel on the centrality of the struggle for women’s rights from 16h 30 to 18h 30 on April 4. For more information: www.laicity.info
Canada
March 14, 7:30pm, Toronto
25 Cecil Street, United Steelworkers' Hall
Panel discussion on Political Islam, Sharia and Women's Rights with Maryam Namazie (Spokesperson of Equal Rights Now, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain), Tarek Fatah (Founder of Muslim Canadian Congress and Author of "Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State," Khayal Ibrahim (Women's Liberation in Iraq), Justin Trottier (Executive Director of Center for Inquiry, Ontario) and Issam Shukri (Head of the Organization for the Defense of Secularism and Civil Rights in Iraq).
Entry: $5
For more information: 1-416-471-7138; WPIcanada@yahoo.com
March 16th 7:00-9:00 pm, Toronto
Centre for Inquiry, 216 Beverley St
Freedom of Expression and Political Islam, a presentation by Maryam Namazie
For more information: www.centerforinquiry.net/ontario/events/maryam_namazie_at_cfi/
$8 regular, $4 students, FREE for CFI Friends of the Centre
Vancouver
March 20, 6:00pm, Vancouver
Student Union Building, Room 214 at UBC
Campus, West Point Grey, Vancouver, near the Bus Loop
Maryam Namazie's presentation on Political Islam, Sharia and Women's Rights
Organised by UBC Students for Equality and Freedom In Middle East
UBCequalitymiddleeast@gmail.com
Victoria
March 24, 2009
7:00 to 10:00, UVIC
Lecture Hall at Bob Wright Building
Free entry; donations welcome
Maryam Namazie's presentation on Political Islam, Sharia and Women's Rights
For more information: 1-250-380-1319; vicc22@hotmail.com
March 7, 2009, North Terrace, Trafalgar Square , 3:30-4:30pm
Symbolic demonstration in support of one law for all in Britain and against religious based tribunals followed by a march to Red Lion Square from 4:30-5:30pm
March 7, 2009, 6:00-8:00pm, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square , London WC1R 4RL
Public Meeting on Sharia Law, Sexual Apartheid and Women's Rights
Speakers include: Sargul Ahmad (International Campaign against Civil Law in Kurdistan Iraq head), Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Journalist and British Muslims for Secular Democracy Chair), Naser Khader (Democratic Muslims Founder), Gina Khan (One Law for All Spokesperson), Kenan Malik (Writer and Broadcaster), Yasaman Molazadeh (One Law for All Legal Coordinator):Maryam Namazie (Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women's Discrimination in Iran and One Law for All Spokesperson), Pragna Patel (Southall Black Sisters and Women Against Fundamentalism founding member), Fariborz Pooya (Iranian Secular Society and Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain Chair), and Carla Revere (Lawyers' Secular Society Chair).
March 7, 2009, 6:00-8:00pm, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Public Meeting on Sharia Law, Sexual Apartheid and Women’s Rights
Download and distribute leaflet on March 7 event against Sharia law and religious-based tribunals and for universal rights. [download]
On Faith Schools, January 14 from 7pm, Leicester
Maryam Namazie will be speaking on faith schools at a local NUT meeting.
One Law for All campaign against Sharia law in Britain
launch at the House of Lords on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2008 from 4:00 to 5:00pm.
On Political Islam, 22 November 2008, 12-4pm, Stockholm
Lars Vilks, Mina Ahadi, Maryam Namazie, Rebecca Hybbinette, Jens Ganman, will be speaking on a panel moderated by Afsaneh Vadhat, and Ellis Wohlner in Sweden.
24 October, Emma Humphreys Award Ceremony, Drill Hall, London
Maryam Namazie has been nominated for the award and will be attending the ceremony.
On the importance of the CEMB, Central London, October 15
Maryam Namazie will be speaking to members of the Central London Humanist
Group on October 15 at 6:30pm. [external link]
On the Council of Ex-Muslims, London, October 16
Maryam Namazie will be speaking to members of the Central London Humanist
Group on October 15 at 6:30pm. [external link]
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain's Conference on Political Islam, Sharia Law
and Civil Society
October 10, 2008, Conway Hall, London
[internal link]
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain presents its first international conference:
Political Islam, Sharia Law, And Civil Society
Friday 10 October 2008 International day against the Death Penalty
10am-6pm (Registration begins at 9am)
Conway Hall London 25 Red Lion Square WC1R 4RL (Closest station: Holborn)
Speakers:
Mina Ahadi Mahin Alipour Roy Brown Andrew Copson Richard DawkinsGiles Enders AC Grayling Johann Hari Ehsan Jami Houzan Mahmoud Rony Miah Maryam Namazie Taslima Nasreen Fariborz Pooya Terry Sanderson Joan Smith Bahram Soroush Hanne Stinson Hamid Taqvaee Ibn Warraq Keith Porteous Wood Zia Zaffar
Event includes a comedy act by Nick Doody, Fitna Remade by Reza Moradi and Breaking the Taboo by Patty Debonitas.
£40 statutory organisations/businesses; £20 voluntary sector; £10 individuals. Donations are welcome.
For a booking form, please contact:
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, BM Box 1919, London WC1N 3XX, UK
Tel: 07719166731, E-mail: exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com or download it from www.ex-muslim.org.uk.
You can download the conference’s booking form here.
21 September, Annual Reunion of Kindred Organisations, Conway Hall, London
Maryam Namazie will be speaking on behalf of the CEMB at the annual reunion at 1430.
CEMB's One year anniversary celebration, Central London, July 5, 2008, from 2pm onwards
We are asking members and supporters to join CEMB executive committee members for drinks to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the establishment of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and to meet other like-minded people in central London on 5th July 2008 from 2pm onwards. The nearest tube stations to the event are Leicester Square & Charring Cross.
If you need directions, please call Zia 07776227112 or Maryam 07719166731
Freedom of Conscience and Expression, World Humanist Congress, June 4-9, 2008, Washington, DC
Maryam Namazie will be speaking at a plenary session on Political Islam and Freedom of Expression on June 6, 2008 at 1:30pm.
[Internal Link]
Alternative Islam Conference, Koln, Germany, 31 May-1 June, 2008
Maryam Namazie will be speaking at the alternative Islam conference in Koln, Germany on May 31 at 11am and again at 1230pm on a panel with other heads of Ex-Muslim Councils. Her 11am speech is entitled ‘Islam is significant because of political Islam'. [Read Maryam Namazie's speech] [Watch]
[Read Maryam Namazie's speech]
Secularism, Sharia law and the future of civil society, Oxford Secular Society, April 29, 2008, 7:30pm, Oxford
Maryam Namazie will talk about Rowan Williams' recent comments on Sharia law's inevitability for Britain and the future of secularism and civil society. She will explain why political Islam needs to be challenged, and how her organisation is helping.
Medieval Executions in 2008, April 15, Boras, Sweden
120 people came to see Maryam Namazie speak about medieval executions, Islam and women's rights in Boras, Sweden on April 15.
Maryam was interviewed by a number of radio stations and news of her talk was covered in the local press. [external link]
Here are a few pictures of the event.
International conference against honour killings, April 12, 2008, 5-9pm, London
Maryam Namazie will be speaking at an Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq conference in commemoration of Du'a Kahlil, the 17 year old girl who was stoned to death in Iraqi Kurdistan, and to denounce "honour killings" globally.
Sexual apartheid, political Islam and women's rights
A seminar in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day Monday, March 10, from 6:30-9:30pm at Conway Hall, London
Speakers:
Mina Ahadi, Spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany and Equal Rights Now; 2007 NSS Secularist of the Year Louise Couling, Chair of Unison's Regional Women's Committee and member of the National Executive Council Houzan Mahmoud, Spokesperson, Organisation for Women's Freedom in Iraq Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Equal Rights Now, National Secular Society Honorary Associate Joan Smith, Novelist, columnist and human rights activist
Chair:
Hanne Stinson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association
The event is free of charge; donations are welcome.
The seminar is organised by Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Equal Rights Now, Organisation against women's discrimination in Iran, and endorsed by the National Secular Society, the British Humanist Association, the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association and the Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq.
For more information, please contact Maryam Namazie at maryamnamazie@googlemail.com or 07719166731 or visit www.ex-muslim.org.uk and www.equal-rights-now.com.
Religion and radicalism, Bishopsgate Institute, March 6, 2008, 7pm, London
"We're told that religion today is radical. Islamic extremists, evangelical fundamentalists, Catholic militants - the threat that faith poses to secular society is an aggressive, assertive and vehement one. But historically, the faithful were slated by humanists for their conservatism - where religion went wrong was its opposition to change, not its advocacy of it. So are the religious now radical - or has secular society simply taken on the conservatism of its God-fearing forebears?" Fariborz Pooya will be debating with other panellists on this issue.
 |
Join Demonstration to demand Kambakhsh’s Freedom On Friday, February 8, 2008, 12.00 to 2.00 pm Afghanistan Embassy, 31 Princes Gate, London, SW7 |
Since October 2007, Parwiz Kambakhsh, a 23 year old Afghan journalist, has been in prison in Balkh province, Northern Afghanistan and sentenced to execution for blasphemy by a local Sharia court in Mazar-e-Sharif. His ‘crime’ was distributing articles downloaded from the internet that questioned the condition of women under Islam. The Afghan government has supported the Islamic court’s ruling.
On Thursday, January 31, 200 people demonstrated for his freedom in Kabul. International public opinion and pressure must join them to save his life.
The Iranian Secular Society calls upon groups and individuals to join the protest against this barbaric sentence and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Kambakhsh, including by joining the London protest, organising protests in various cities, writing letters of protest and more.
Fore more information, contact:
Fariborz Pooya
E-mail: fariborz_pooya@yahoo.co.uk
Telephone: 077 191 66731
Website: www.iransecularsociety.com
The demonstration is endorsed by: Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, National Secular Society and the Worker-communist Party of Iran-UK committee
Apostasy, ex Muslims, and the challenge to political Islam, Cambridge University Atheist and Agnostic Society, January 30, 2008, Cambridge
Maryam Namazie will be speaking at Cambridge University Atheist and Agnostic Society on the ex-Muslim movement and its challenge to political Islam on January 30, 2008 at 7:30pm.
[External Link]
Islam, Religious Diversity and Universal Rights in Multiethnic Democracies, Stockholm, Sweden
In 2005, the British parliament was very close to passing a law against “religious hatred”. In the spring of 2006 the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning “defamation of religion” and the member states where requested to ban materials that could lead to hostility towards religious groups. Meanwhile, secular grass root organisations like The Council of Ex-Muslims have been founded in several European countries. Must modern democracies limit the diversity of opinions in order to maintain religious diversity? Or is it the other way around; that religion in the public sphere, being the instrument of power that it is, must be allowed to be examined without limitations?
Participants: Sadiq J.Al-Azm, emeritus professor of modern European philosophy at the University of Damascus, Maryam Namazie, Iranian-born women’s rights activist, Anne-Sofie Roald, associate professor at the college of higher learning in Malmö, Suad Mohamed, Sweden's first female imam.
Moderator: Arne Ruth.
Speech at British parliament
Maryam Namazie was a guest speaker at a meeting on October 29 with Humanist MPs held at parliament. The meeting was organised by the British Humanist Association. Maryam spoke about the importance of the Council of Ex-Muslims and the need for a concerted effort against political Islam through the defence of citizenship rights, secularism and humanity without labels. She noted that the Councils across Europe are representative of a movement in Iran for similar demands, which is bringing political Islam there to its knees. She stressed that a US attack will only further strengthen the Islamic regime of Iran and push back the progressive social movement in that country. October 29, 2007
On Sex and Religion, Scotland
Maryam Namazie will be one of the main speakers at the humanist annual conference in Scotland on October 27, 2007 at the Fishers Hotel in Pitlochry. The theme will be Sex Matters. For more information, click here
Al Quds Day, London 2007 - Time for a Counter Demonstration
12 pm, 7 October, Piccadilly Circus [ PDF version]
Annual Reunion of Kindred Humanist Societies, London
On Sunday 30 September from 1430-1700, Maryam Namazie will be the keynote speaker at the reunion being held at Conway Hall, London.
Speech at European Parliament Working Group on Separation of Religion and Politics in Brussels
On September 12,
Maryam Namazie will be giving a statement with other ex-Muslims to the European Parliament Working Group on Separation of Religion and Politics in Brussels on developments regarding Islam and secularism. For more information, click here .
launch of the Dutch Ex-Muslim Committee
Maryam Namazie will be in the Hague, Holland on September 11 for the formal launch of the Dutch Ex-Muslim Committee led by Ehsan Jami. For more information, click here .
Against political Islam and cultural relativism
Maryam Namazie will be in Reykjavik, Iceland where she will be speaking on Wednesday Sept. 5th from 12:00-13:00 at the Women's Rights Alliance on the veil, women's rights and Islamic laws and at the Institute of International Affairs of the University of Iceland on apostasy, ex-Muslims and the challenge to political Islam on Thursday Sept. 6th at the Oddi building (Humanities) room 101 from 12:15- 13:15. For more information, click here .
Don't Mention Islam
Maryam Namazie will be speaking on a panel on how the media is soft on Islam at the Edinburgh Film Festival on August 24, 2007.
Other panellists:
Andrew Anthony, Author and Journalist
Arzu Merali, Islamic Human Rights Commission
Inayat Bunglawala, Vice Chair, Muslim Council of Britain
Kevin Sutcliffe, Deputy Head of News & Current Affairs, Channel 4
Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims in Britain
Peter Horrocks, Head of Television News, BBC News
[extera link]
Launch of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
The launch of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain will be held on Thursday 21 June from 11am-12pm at the House of Commons, Portcullis House, Wilson Room, London SW1A 2LW. The event is supported by the National Secular Society and the British Humanist Association. Speakers will include: Mina Ahadi, Mahin Alipour and Maryam Namazie.
