As he watched a horrifying crackdown unfold in his homeland of Syria after the start of popular protests on 15 March last year, US-based Syrian composer and pianist Malek Jandali felt obligated to speak out, believing that it was his “duty to reflect the reality on the ground”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights now estimates approximately 16,500 deaths since the start of the country’s uprising 18 months ago, in a conflict that the United Nations now considers to be a civil war.
“For me, it is not a political issue. As soon as a bullet hit a child, it became a humanitarian issue for me” Jandali told Index.
Jandali decided to speak out through his music, in order to “support the Syrian people and give a voice to the people who don’t have it”.
Around the start of the uprising, Jandali was visiting Syria and was inspired to write a song entitled I Am My Homeland, releasing it on Syria’s Independence day, 17 April. Without any explicit reference to Syria, Jandali made sure that the song pulled on a universal sense of a loss of homeland. He then sent a copy of the composition to every Syrian embassy across the globe.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee invited the artist to perform at their annual convention last year, but only on one condition: he could not perform I Am My Homeland.
Jandali was told by organisers that they “did not want to divide the community — especially the Syrian one”. After a heated debate, Jandali said organisers told him, “if you want to perform it, you are not welcome to come”.
Jandali took this as a revoked invitation, as he would not perform at the conference without performing the controversial song.
The composer slammed the organisation publicly for their decision, and the committee then released a statement claiming that his invitation to the event was never withdrawn. Organisers of the event then played his song without his approval. Jandali responded by filing a lawsuit against the organisation for copyright infringement. The case was eventually settled, on the condition that a donation be made to Syrian refugees in Turkey, as well as an apology to Syrian-American people. Jandali says the organisation told him they would not fulfill either request.
At a protest for Syria at the White House on 23 July 2011, Jandali played I Am My Homeland after playing both the Syrian and American national anthems. Four days later, his parents were brutally attacked in Damascus. Jandali says security forces beat his mother while his father was handcuffed and forced to watch.
While the attack against his parents was meant to silence him, Jandali became even more determined to speak out against Syria’s regime. “When you get attacked in such a brutal way, and you know you are on the right side of humanity, it gives you more determination,” he says.
His mother told him to continue to speak out, telling him what happened to her was “at least worth one more concert”. Jandali performed the next weekend, despite concerns over his safety.
After his parents fled Syria, Jandali published the photographs of their injuries. Following the publicity, Jandali said that in September last year Syrian security forces raided the home of his parents with intent to kill, as he said footage showed armed men forcing entry to the house.
Jandali continues to speak out in support of Syria’s revolution, and has faced attacks both on and off-line. After releasing his Freedom Symphony in February 2012 — the video for which containede powerful images of protest and clashes with security forces — Jandali said his home was bombed, and his official website hacked.
The artist continues to receive threats via Facebook, but will continue to speak out.
“There’s no grey,” says Jandali. “It’s either for or against murder of innocent children. I always talk about innocent children because they have no political affiliation.”
Sara Yasin is an Editorial Assistant at Index. She tweets from @missyasin
In recent weeks, Iran has clamped down on cultural institutions, including officially revoking the license of 27-year old publishing house Cheshmeh Publications, and shutting down the country’s independently-run House of Cinema. Here is a look at Iran’s latest restrictions on culture fromSmall Media, a London-based organisation that develops technology to promote the flow of information in closed societies.
On 17 June, when a number of female students led a peaceful protest marching from the female dormitories to the male ones at the University of Khartoum, they did not know that they would inspire protests across the country. Many inside Sudan are calling the ongoing protests an “Intifada” — an Arabic word for rebellion or resistance — and there is much truth in that.
The students continued protesting inside the university, where they were met with heavy tear gas, and soon enough Ahlia University, Sudan University and others followed suit in the next days. Clashes ensued following the crackdown, not only between the students and police, but also between student protesters and protesters affiliated with the ruling party, the National Congress Party (NCP).
During the course of the week, activists and students prepared for a day of mass protests planned for 22 June, dubbed “Sandstorm Friday”, a reference to the country’s season of sandstorms from June to August. When the day finally came, the intense protests erupted into clashes between security forces and protesters, with activists claiming that dozens protesters were arrested.
A college student arrested during the protest told Index that the police stations were overflowing with arrested protesters, who were released but still face charges.
Well-known blogger Usamah Mohamed, known on Twitter as @simsimt, was detained by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) during the protests, and continues to be held in custody. Mohamed has been a long-time critic of Sudan’s government. His arrest came after he posted a video on why he would join the mass protests for Al-Jazeera’s The Stream.
The home of prominent blogger, journalist, and social media activist Maha El-Sanosi was raided on the evening of 26 June, and her laptop and cellphone were confiscated.
In a phone call, her sister said that 12-15 NISS officers entered the house asking for El-Sanosi. She then spent hours in interrogation with NISS officers, and has been detained twice since the start of protests.
The Sudanese press ignored the story for a few days, in fear that covering the unrest would result in confiscation of issues of newspapers.
Authorities have made various attempts to silence citizen journalists and activists, including confiscating communication devices, and detaining them for prolonged periods of questioning.
Prolific citizen journalist Nagla Seed-Ahmed, who has filmed thousands of interviews with protesters and demonstrations on her cameras and phone, has been summoned by security forces almost on a daily basis.
As a result of a lack of food and water during her long hours in detention, the activist was hospitalised for two consecutive days for low blood pressure.
Another activist, Rashaida Shams Al-Deen, had her phone confiscated when she was arrested during the first week of protests.
“When it was finally returned to me, I was unable to take video or photos,” she told Index a day before she was detained once more on 24 June evening. She has not been released since.
Access to information has also been difficult for activists who do not use social networking sites, as the National Telecommunications Council has blocked a number of online Sudanese newspapers, which cover issues impossible to write about in the country’s strictly controlled print media.
Hurriyat and Al-Rakoba, two websites known for their anti-government stance and for giving banned writers a venue to continue publishing, were blocked inside Sudan and are only available through a proxy.
Readers have turned to Facebook and Twitter for information. Youth groups and activists have been using the social networking sites to post up-to-date news on protests, detentions, videos, and articles. Social media sites, however, leave users vulnerable, with easily discovered IP addresses and attacks from “cyber jihadists” who try to discredit and target the work of local social media users.
They send messages to those covering protests, trying to cast doubt on the very existence of protests. The message is almost identical and reads ” I was just in [name of area of protest], I didn’t see anything, stop lying.”
Activists, however, have found ways to respond to attacks. A blog called “Not Sudan Protests” was started last week to differentiate between fake and original pictures.
A week later, on 29 June, the Sudanese protested on a day called “lick your elbows” Friday, playing on a common phrase used by President Omar al-Bashir, who has dismissed Sudan’s protest movement, and dismissed attempts to oust him as being as likely to succeed as an attempt to lick one’s own elbows, implying that it would be impossible.
For days before the protests, the regime made it difficult for journalists and social media activists to do their jobs. Other than arrests and confiscations, the security deported Salma Al-Wardany, Bloomberg’s Khartoum correspondent on 26 June for covering the ongoing protests.
The internet was slowed down the whole week, but on 28 June night, some internet providers intentionally cut off the internet services entirely, making it difficult for people to use social media for campaigning and communicating.
Activists estimate that 1,000 were detained by Friday night including journalists such as Talaal Saad and Anwar Al-Samani. In previous protests, photographers were singled out for arrests leading activists to advise protestors to avoid carrying bags. In a more extreme move, the office of AFP was raided for pictures of the protests the same evening.
As the protests continue in Khartoum, activists are expecting to see more arrests and a larger crackdown on social media users as it is now seen as the voice of the revolution. The traditional media, on the other hand, is now forced into a coma.
Reem Abbas is a Sudanese freelance journalist. She has been published in Inter-Press Service (IPS), IRIN news, the Women International Perspective, (the WIP), Menassat and daily Sudanese newspapers. She tweets at @ReemShawkat
Cairo’s Tahrir Square exploded in joyous revelry and fanfare on Sunday afternoon after Counsellor Farouk Sultan, the Head of the Elections Commission announced the results of the presidential run-off vote in a nationwide televised address. Counsellor Sultan named Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi the winner with 51.73 per cent of the vote and by a slim margin of 800,000 votes. The announcement ended days of speculation over the results of a vote that has polarised Egypt and accentuated a decades-old secularist/Islamist divide.
Supporters of Morsi’s opponent Ahmed Shafik meanwhile expressed their anger and shock at his defeat. Some insisted that “the result was incorrect” while others said they would pack and leave Egypt altogether. Most people in Shafik’s camp were secularists who had voted for the former regime man (the last prime minister under Mubarak) out of fear that Islamist rule would mean intolerance and the stifling of freedoms.
The victory of a conservative Islamist and long-time Muslim Brotherhood member has fuelled concerns about the rights of minorities and women, freedom of expression and possible restrictions on art and creativity.
The secularists’ fears are not totally baseless: In recent months, several lawsuits filed by Muslim hardliners against artists and a Coptic businessman have threatened to curtail free expression. Coptic business tycoon Naguib Sawiris was twice accused by ultra- conservative Islamists of “blasphemy and insulting Islam “after he posted a cartoon on Twitter of a bearded Mickey Mouse and a veiled Minnie. The courts dismissed the charges on both occasions on grounds that “the plaintiffs lacked legal standing”.
Meanwhile, comedian Adel Imam and several other artists who worked with him were charged with “showing contempt of religion” in three films made in the early nineties, including the 1994 film “The Terrorist” (in which Imam played the role of a Muslim fundamentalist). The ultra conservative lawyer who filed the lawsuit accused Imam of mocking Muslim symbols like the beard and the white robe or “gallabeya” traditionally worn by devout Muslims.
While the case against Imam was later dismissed, it did trigger an outpouring of anger from liberals and intellectuals who expressed fears that such conservatism could drag Egypt “back to the dark ages”. Many intellectuals, writers and artists worry that the sweeping tide of Islamism may lead to greater censorship of their work and curb creativity and free expression.
They have demanded that Egypt’s newly elected president make clear his position on freedom of speech and creativity.
“We want a promise from him that creativity won’t be judged on religious principles,” said secular writer Ahmed Al Khamisi. “We want him to pledge not to censor artists nor stifle their freedom to create.”
Activist Dalia Ziada has also expressed her concern that Morsi would “try to take actions against human rights and freedoms, by orders from God.”
While Morsi has not denied his intention to implement Islamic Sharia Law, reiterating in his campaign speeches that the “Qur’an is my constitution”, he has sought to allay the concerns of Egypt’s liberals by promising to protect freedoms and the rights of minorities and women. He has also withdrawn from the Muslim Brotherhood and pledged to appoint a Christian woman as Vice-President.
In his first televised speech after winning the election, he said. “Egypt is for all Egyptians; all of us are equals in terms of rights.”
He has also promised to fulfil the goals of the revolution including freedom, democracy and social justice.
Egypt’s military rulers have meanwhile declared themselves “the guardians of the revolution and protectors of a secular, democratic state council”. They recently introduced supplementary constitutional amendments that consolidate their grip on power. The amendments give the army sweeping legislative and budgetary powers including control over the drafting of the country’s new constitution. All this, while limiting the powers of the newly elected President dramatically.
With tight control from the military and all eyes closely watching him, Morsi is in for a tough time to prove his mettle. Revolutionary activists are monitoring his performance in his first 100 days in office through a new internet application dubbed “The Morsimeter”. They have also been piling pressure on him through continued protests in Tahrir, demanding that he wrest more powers from the military. Satisfying all political forces — the youth revolutionaries, the military authority and the Islamist groups who want Sharia law implemented, may be a near- impossible task. One thing is certain though: divorcing religion from politics will have to be a vital concession for Morsi to make if he wishes to win the support of the secularists who initiated the revolution.
Journalist Shahira Amin resigned from her post as deputy head of state-run Nile TV in February 2011. Read why she resigned from the “propaganda machine” here.
