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Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi
Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi (born 1961) is an Iranian writer, film producer and human rights activist. Life Zand-Bonazzi was born in Tehran to journalist parents. She attended the American University of Paris as well as at the IDHEC, the Institute for the Advanced Cinematographic Studies. In 1982, she went to the United States and continued studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She studied film and art history as well as linguistics and semiotics. In 1993, Banafsheh returned to the world of TV production, as a freelance line producer of documentary films. In 2001, her father, Siamak Pourzand, became a political prisoner in Iran. He committed suicide in 2011, in what Zand said was a protest against the government. Banafsheh regularly writes for ''National Review'', Defense & Foreign Affairs and ''FrontPage Magazine''. She is a regular commentator on Iranian politics on the John Batchelor Show and has appeared on C-SPAN's ''Washington Journal'' and Voice of America ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran and Western Asia, and has the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East, after Cairo. It is ranked 24th in the world by metropolitan area population. In the Classical era, part of the territory of present-day Tehran was occupied by Rhages, a prominent Median city destroyed in the medieval Arab, Turkic, and Mongol invasions. Modern Ray is an urban area absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran. Tehran was first chosen as the capital of Iran by Agha Mohammad Khan of the Qajar dynasty in 1786, because of its proximity to Iran's territories in the Caucasus, then separated from Iran in the Russo-Iranian Wars, to avoid the vying factions of the previously ruling Iranian dynasties. The capital has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Free Press Society
The International Free Press Society (IFPS), founded on 1 January 2009, is a creation of the Danish Free Press Society. The stated purpose of IFPS "is to defend freedom of expression wherever and by whomever it is threatened". It has been described as a key component of the counterjihad movement and said to be an instrument for pushing the boundaries of hate speech by the executive director of the Institute of Race Relations. Overview The IFPS was created as an extension of the Danish Free Press Society, created in 2004 by Lars Hedegaard, a Danish newspaper commentator. According to its own account, the Free Press Society arose because of increasing pressure on free speech, including the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoon crisis. The Free Press Society claims to be "Denmark's biggest organisation exclusively devoted to defending the right of free expression." The society is considered a key component of the counterjihad movement and in the article ''The Muslim Conspiracy and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iranian Dissidents
Iranian dissidents are composed of scattered groups that reject the current government and by extension the previous regime, and instead seek the establishment of democratic institutions. Notable dissidents *Shapour Bakhtiar - the leader of the National Resistance Movement of Iran *Ruhollah Khomeini - exiled in 1964 for opposing the shah's rule, he later became the Supreme Leader of Iran after the 1979 revolution. *Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran - eldest son of the deposed shah *Maryam Rajavi - the wife of Massoud Rajavi, leader of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. *Massoud Rajavi - the leader of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. * And other national groups, secular democrats, monarchists, and Republicans. References Dissidents A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the polit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iranian Activists
Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian languages, a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages * Iranian diaspora, Iranian people living outside Iran * Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia * List of Iranian foods, Iranian foods, list of Iranian foods and dishes * Iranian.com, also known as ''The Iranian'' and ''The Iranian Times'' See also * Persian (other) * Iranians (other) * Languages of Iran * Ethnicities in Iran * Demographics of Iran * Indo-Iranian languages * Irani (other) * List of Iranians {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) is a United States law, codified at Title 28, §§ 1330, 1332, 1391(f), 1441(d), and 1602–1611 of the United States Code, that established criteria as to whether a foreign sovereign nation (or its political subdivisions, agencies, or instrumentalities) is immune from suit in U.S. courts—federal or state. (In international practice, immunity from lawsuits in foreign courts is known as foreign state immunity; government immunity in domestic courts is known as sovereign immunity.) The Act also establishes specific procedures for service of process, attachment of property and execution of judgment in proceedings against a foreign state. The FSIA provides the exclusive basis and means to bring a civil suit against a foreign sovereign in the United States. It was signed into law by United States President Gerald Ford on October 21, 1976. History Foreign state immunity has a long history in U.S. courts. In an early case, ''The Sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, it was accepted by the General Assembly as United Nations General Assembly Resolution 217, Resolution 217 during Third session of the United Nations General Assembly, its third session on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. Of the 58 members of the United Nations at the time, 48 voted in favour, none against, eight abstentions, abstained, and two did not vote. A foundational text in the History of human rights, history of human and civil rights, the Declaration consists of 30 articles detailing an individual's "basic rights and fundamental freedoms" and affirming their universal character as inherent, inalienable, and applicable to all human beings. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apostasy
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous religious beliefs. One who undertakes apostasy is known as an apostate. Undertaking apostasy is called apostatizing (or apostasizing – also spelled apostacizing). The term ''apostasy'' is used by sociologists to mean the renunciation ''and'' criticism of, or opposition to, a person's former religion, in a technical sense, with no pejorative connotation. Occasionally, the term is also used metaphorically to refer to the renunciation of a non-religious belief or cause, such as a political party, social movement, or sports team. Apostasy is generally not a self-definition: few former believers call themselves apostates due to the term's negative connotation. Many religious groups and some states punish apostat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religious crime, especially the Abrahamic religions, including the speaking the " sacred name" in Judaism and the "eternal sin" in Christianity. In the early history of the Church heresy received more attention than blasphemy because it was considered a more serious threat to Orthodoxy. Blasphemy was often regarded as an isolated offense wherein the faithful lapsed momentarily from the expected standard of conduct. When iconoclasm and the fundamental understanding of the sacred became more contentious matters during the Reformation, blasphemy was treated similar to heresy, and accusations of blasphemy were made not only against people who made off-the-cuff profane remarks while drunk, but against those types of persons who espoused unorthodox id ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fatwa
A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', and the act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Fatwas have played an important role throughout Islamic history, taking on new forms in the modern era. Resembling ''jus respondendi'' in Roman law and rabbinic ''responsa'', privately issued fatwas historically served to inform Muslim populations about Islam, advise courts on difficult points of Islamic law, and elaborate substantive law. In later times, public and political fatwas were issued to take a stand on doctrinal controversies, legitimize government policies or articulate grievances of the population. During the era of European colonialism, fatwas played a part in mobilizing resistance to foreign domination. Muftis acted as independent s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. In Arabic, the term ''sharīʿah'' refers to God's immutable divine law and is contrasted with ''fiqh'', which refers to its human scholarly interpretations. In the historical course, fiqh sects have emerged that reflect the preferences of certain societies and state administrations on behalf of people who are interested in the theoretical (method) and practical application (Ahkam / fatwa) studies of laws and rules, but sharia has never been a valid legal system on its own. It has been used together with " customary (Urf) law" since Omar or the Umayyads. It may also be wrong to think that the Sharia, as a religious argument or belief, is entirely within or related to Allah's commands and prohibitions. Several non-graded crimes are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Petersburg Declaration (Florida)
The Secular Islam Summit was an international forum for secularists of Islamic societies, held 4–5 March 2007 in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was largely organized and funded by the Amherst, NY-based Center for Inquiry, a secular humanist educational organization, along with secular Muslims such as Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi and in partnership with the International Intelligence Summit, a forum on terrorism. Overview The common ground of the participants was the belief that Islam and secular democracy should be compatible. They agreed that Islam must be either a religion or a political philosophy, not both. According to Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, one of the organizers, one of the summit's goals was to be a "sanctuary" for victims of Islamism and a forum for the embrace of secular values. Participants Speakers ranged from former believers to devout reformers, including Ibn Warraq (the pen name of an ex-Muslim author known for criticism of Islam), Tawfik Hamid (an ex-jihadist, now in hidi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irshad Manji
Irshad Manji (born 1968) is a Ugandan-born Canadian educator. She is the author of ''The Trouble with Islam Today'' (2004) and ''Allah, Liberty and Love'' (2011), both of which have been banned in several Muslim countries. She also produced a PBS documentary in the ''America at a Crossroads'' series, titled ''Faith Without Fear'', which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2008. A former journalist and television presenter, Manji is an advocate of a reformist interpretation of Islam and a critic of literalist interpretations of the Qur'an. Her latest book, ''Don't Label Me'' (2019), proposes methods on how to heal political, racial, and cultural divides. The ideas in the book are related to the Moral Courage Project, which Manji founded at New York University in 2008 and expanded to the University of Southern California (USC) in 2016, when she was a senior fellow at the Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. After leaving USC, she founded Moral Courage College wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
