Announcement

New Essay: A Duty to Remember?

"A Duty to Remember? Politics and Morality of Remembering Past Atrocities"

 by Ziya Meral

 Journal of International Political Anthropology, Vol 5 (2012) No.1 
An allusion to a “duty to remember” the dark episodes of history is a common occurrence in
today’s politics and popular discourse. The vision behind the call never to forget genocides,
massacres and wars is noble and praiseworthy. However, the way in which such events are
formulated and used is so embedded in the present as to raise serious questions about the
morality and political agendas of those who selectively undertake projects to enshrine past
atrocities. This essay seeks not only to decode the socio-political process for handling the past
but also to challenge the conventional belief that remembering the past will prevent future crimes
and heal countries. It goes on to argue for a balanced, realistic and ethical relationship between
the past and present.

New Publication: Caring for the "Other" as one of "Us"

Dear readers,

I am pleased to notify you on the release of a new book I contributed to.

Abraham's Children: Liberty and Tolerance in an Age of Religious Conflict has been released by Yale University Press. It brings together 15 Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholars, activists and politicians to challenge and urge their co-religionists to follow a path of peace making in an age of conflict.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu endorsed the book with the following statement: "Tolerance is in all-too-short supply in our world. Most attempts to cultivate greater tolerance urge us to set aside our differences, including our religious differences, and focus on what unites us. Many people find it difficult if not impossible to do that. The authors in this collection, each one a leading member of one or another of the Abrahamic religions, take a strikingly different and fresh approach. Each one probes the resources of his or her own religion to make a case for tolerating one's fellow human beings even when one disagrees on important matters. Over and over I had the experience of scales falling off my eyes. It would be hard to exaggerate the importance and promise of these fascinating essays for advancing the cause of tolerance."

 Below is the full list of contributors.. 

Intro: Kelly Clark

Jewish Voices: Einat Ramon, Dov Berkovits, Leah Shakdiel, Arik Ascherman, Nurit Peled-Elhanan

Christian Voices: Jimmy Carter, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Ziya Meral, Hanna Siniora, Miraslov Volf

Muslim Voices: Abdurrahman Wahid, Hedieh Mirahmadi, Fethullah Gulen, Rana Husseini, Abdolkarim Soroush

New Essay: International Religious Freedom Advocacy in the Field

A new essay where I survey how religious freedom advocacy is done today, how and where it differs from regular human rights advocacy work, what challenges it faces and its future.

"International Religious Freedom Advocacy in the Field: Challenges Effective Strategies and the Road Ahead", The Review of Faith & International Affairs; Volume 10, Issue 3, 2012;

Access the essay here!


Public talks in September and October 2011

September 09: I am speaking at the "Liberty and Tolerance in an Age of Religious Conflict" conference along with a group of leading Muslim, Christian and Jewish thinkers and activists at the Berkley Center of Georgetown University, Washington DC.

September 10: I am speaking alongside Arik Ascherman; Executive Director of Rabbis for Human Rights and Rana Husseini; Muslim author of Murder in the Name of Honor at a dinner event with the title "How Muslims, Jews and Christians Pursue Peace Together",8:15 p.m.-10:30 p.m. at the Truro Church, Undercroft 10520 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22030

September 27: I will be speaking alongside Dr Nazila Ghanea of Oxford University and H.G. Bishop Angelos of Coptic Orthodox Church at the Labour Party conference official side event in Liverpool chaired by Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, addressing the question "Will religious freedom survive the Arab Spring?"

September 29: I will be giving a lecture on current social and political changes in the Middle East and North Africa at the Radley College, Oxfordshire, UK.

October 11: I will be speaking at a conference in Cairo which will bring together Egyptian amd Turkish intellectuals to discuss common concerns and developments in both countries. The confernce is organized by the American University in Cairo and Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.

October 15: I am giving a talk with the title "Arab Spring and Social Media" at the Christian New Media conference held at City University London.

October 26: I will be giving a talk with the title  "Domestic and foreign policy challenges in Turkey and Implications for investors" at the Turkey: A World of Opportunities forum in London, organized by the Middle East Association.

My new book in Turkish is Out

Dear readers,

I am pleased to announce that my new book in Turkish, The Idiot: Nietzsche face to face with Dostoyevsky, has just been released by Kaknus publishing in Istanbul. It will shortly be available in most major bookshops across Turkey.

The book is a comparative study of Nietzsche and Dostoyevsky's life, thoughts and belief through Nietzsche's (mis)use of Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot. Nietzsche uses the novel's main character as a type to deconstruct Jesus, but in the process misreads Dostoyevsky. What surfaces is a major clash on truth, God, morality, ethics and salvation of humanity between the two giant prophets of 20th century.

The book ends with a chapter on what reading Nietzsche and Dostoyevsky means in today's world and what we can learn from both of them.

Regards,

Ziya Meral

Public Talks in September

September 09: I am speaking at the "Liberty and Tolerance in an Age of Religious Conflict" conference along with a group of leading Muslim, Christian and Jewish thinkers and activists at the Berkley Center of Georgetown University, Washington DC.

September 10: I am speaking alongside Arik Ascherman; Executive Director of Rabbis for Human Rights and Rana Husseini; Muslim author of Murder in the Name of Honor at a dinner event with the title "How Muslims, Jews and Christians Pursue Peace Together",8:15 p.m.-10:30 p.m. at the Truro Church, Undercroft 10520 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22030

New Briefing: Turkey



Foreign Policy Centre, 06 September 2011
"Turkey - Domestic challenges that will dominate AK Party government's third term"


One thing was certain about the June 2011 elections in Turkey: AKP would win. Yet speculation over whether or not it would earn a greater share of the vote was rife, as was the forecasting of how many votes the renewed leadership of the leading secular opposition party, CHP (Republican People's Party) would attract, or whether the MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) would make the 10% threshold to enter parliament, or how many MPs the Kurdish BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) would have.

Download the Briefing by Ziya Meral

Essay in a New Book: Islam, Human Rights and 'Our Way of Life'


Dear all,

I am pleased to announce the release of a new book which I contributed to. Between Naivety and Hostility; Uncovering the best Christian responses to Islam in Britain is published by the Authentic Media in the UK and co-edited by Steve Bell and Colin Chapman.

The book contains 20 essays by leading Christian experts on Islam issues and seek to challenge and inform the British church. The vision behind the book was our growing concern over dangerious views on immigration, social cohesion and Muslim-Christian relations taking roots in the British church. We sought to produce a book that will counterbalance such views and yet at the same engage and raise genuine issues that needs to be addressed.

My essay in the book is titled "Islam, Human Rights and Our Way of Life" is an attempt to demonstrate that Islam is not inherintly at odds with democracy, human rights and the ever elusive phrase 'our way of life'. However, I also raise that there are certain areas, such as mainstream Islamic views on apostasy, homesexulaity and gender, that needs serious reform by Muslims today.

Regards,

Ziya Meral