Serhan Karatas's blog

One Man Fight

Serhan Karatas — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 16:23:55 +0200

Violence against women is the greatest human rights scandal of our times. From birth to death, in times of peace as well as war, women face discrimination and violence at the hands of the state, the community and the family.

Amnesty International is running the Campaign "Stop the Violence Against Women" since 2003. Now the campaign is continuing with a more interesting slogan "One Man Fight". You can visit;
http://www.onemanfight.net/

Join the campaign and act for human rights...

http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/index-eng

With best wishes for a better world....
Another world is possible, as long as we want it to be.

Can Cartoons cause serious interruptions in the inter-religious dialogue?

Serhan Karatas — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 23:38:37 +0100

AEGEE Europe is deeply concerned about the recent developments, beginning with the cartoon drawings that were published in Denmarkâ€™s Jyllands-Posten newspaper. Some of the cartoons included the portrayal of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban and another showed him as a knife-wielding nomad flanked by two women shrouded in black.

In Islam it is forbidden to depict the Prophet Mohammed in any way. Furthermore, the depiction of Mohammed in suggestive cartoons was a serious infringement on the beliefs of many Muslims, and thus, highly offensive.

In many western cultures, cartoons are meant to be ironic, satiric, sarcastic, and exaggerated. They are neither fundamentalist nor politically correct. They are a tradition in many European countries and many people, therefore, defend this as a freedom of speech.

Caricature Crisis

Serhan Karatas — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 23:46:00 +0100

In fact I was expecting to see a discussion on the caricature crissis in this web site, but I am surprised not to see any reactions. I would like to hear different opinions on the issue.

Here is the recent joint statement by UN, EU and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sg2105.doc.htm
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Joint un, European Union, Islamic conference statement shares â€˜anguishâ€™ of muslim world at mohammed caricatures, but condemns violent response

Following is the text of a joint statement issued today by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan; the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu; and the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, Javier Solana:

Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims in the EU-Report by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Serhan Karatas — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:33:19 +0100

I wanted to share the report by International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights with you.

With best,
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In March 2005 the Report by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (following Â– IHF) on intolerance and discrimination against Muslims in the EU has been published. "The purpose of this report "as it is noted in the preface of the document" is to raise awareness about intolerance and discrimination against Muslims in the EU, as well as to highlight problems with respect to the exercise of freedom of religion by Muslims in the region. The report covers eleven EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom". IHF expressed its concern toward the atmosphere of growing distrust against Muslims that has developed since September 11 threatens to undermine efforts to promote integration and further increase the vulnerability of Muslims to human rights violations and marginalization.

Make Some Noise

Serhan Karatas — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:48:12 +0100

Dear friends,

In the first working group sessions some of our friends had come up with the working group idea "Music & Human Rights", then it evolved... But here is the campaign with Black Eyed Peas, The Cure, Avril Lavigne and, of course, JohN LennoN...

Amnesty International is launching a new campaign "Make Some Noise". Please feel free to support the campaign. Here is news about the campaign.

http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGACT300212005

You can access the campaign through the website.

http://www.amnesty.org/noise

AEGEE network commemorates "Kristallnacht"

Serhan Karatas — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 13:59:16 +0100

The Human Rights Working Group of AEGEE together with the AEGEE network celebrated the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism that took place on the 9th of November by continuing to raise awareness about this subject.

The HRWG have joined the European-wide campaign organised by UNITED for Intercultural Action. This campaign is to commemorate the "Kristallnacht" pogrom, to protest against intolerance and to build a better future of tolerance and respect because fascism and antisemitism, as well as racism, xenophobia and discrimination of minorities are on the rise in Europe. Only through cooperation with the groups of a different faith, different ethnic and cultural background, all together we promote respect for diversity and social cohesion.

Editorial Board

Serhan Karatas — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 20:08:48 +0100

After the long session of working groups' presentations the editorial board is starting to work on "the declaration" very ambitiously at 20:30 in the editorial board room.
Good luck my dear team! Let's get started...