The future of Kurdistan: Thinking Like a Nation

vokradio.com, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Kurdish National Congress of North America "The Future of Kurdistan, Thinking like a Nation" 21st annual conference, 27-28 of March, 2009,Rockville, MD EXCLUSIVE: On 27-28 of March, 2009 Kurdish National Congress of North America (KNC-NA) held its 21st annual conference titled "The Future of Kurdistan, Thinking like a Nation" at the Legacy Hotel and Meeting Center, Rockville, MD. The topics included: Flag Raising Ceremony by Dr. Khaylani and Mrs. Soraya Fallah, accompanied by guests and members along with the singing of the Kurdish anthem by all attendees Friday's program started at 12:30pm by welcoming remarks from Mrs. Soraya Fallah, KNC-NA board member. Kurdish American Youth Organization (KAYO): Mrs. Sheinei Saleem, Mrs. Zeen Al-Missouri, Silvoe Barawri. Sheinei spoke on the roll of the new Kurdish generation and the necessity of their involvement in the Kurdish issue, the structure of KAYO and some of their activities, which was presented on Power Point. Mrs. Zeen Al-MIssouri and Silvoe Barawri of KAYO-San Diego office, proudly announced the 3rd annual conference of KAYO on Apr.18 in San Diego in Southern California. They held a very active panel and ended with several questions by the audience. After break Dr. Goran Sabir MD and PHD Candidate in public health, presented his research on Health Factors in Measuring Good Governance of a New Nation. He criticized the health system in new Iraqi government and KRG in particular as well. His presentation created intensive discussion among attendees at the conference who practice in the field of medicine and public health; including Dr. Najmaldin Karim, Dr. Foud Darwish, and Dr. Mahmoud Osman. At the end of the first day of the conference, KNC's board of directors held its General Assembly: KNC affairs began with a short introduction on each member along with a report presented by active board members. The secretary of KNC proposed an amendment to the KNC constitution on behalf of two other board members. This was objected to by KNC board, the bylaw committee, and the advisory board. It was suggested that the amendment be presented 60 days prior to the General Assembly to the bylaw committee. The proposal was postponed to next year if agreed on by the committee. In conclusion the KNC's board received advice to modify some of the subject expert committees and report their activities to the board of Directors. ******************** ******************** The second day began by welcoming attendees and an Opening Remarks by Mr. Tom Ver Ploeg, KNC-NA secretary. A letter of support and congratulation from Mr. Mostafa Hejri, the secretary General of PDKI was read by Mr. Rebwar Salimi, representative of Washington DC Committee of PDKI. Mr. Aref Ahmadi, representative of Independence Party of Kurdistan talked on the Struggle for Independence. This was conducted in the Kurdish language . Samoul Jordan, former Director, Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, Amnesty International USA, discussed the Kurdish question, his experience working on Kurdish issue in Turkey, stressed the Kurdish right to claim independence based on International law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Letters of Congratulation to KNC were read by: Mr. Gharani Ilkhanzadeh, Komala Party, Mr. Kamran Balnour, KDP-Iran, and Mr. Zagros Yazdanpanah, PAK (Party Azadi Kurdistan), Dr. Karim Abdian, the Congress of Iranian Nationalities for Federal Iran (CIFNI), Along with sending their support and solidarity, they stressed KNC-NA's role in creating lasting ties between the Kurds residing in Iran and being able to be a strong lobbying voice for those Kurds. Halabja/Anfal Panel consisted of Mr. Shwan Karim, Mr. Ken McCallion (Progress and legal proceedings), Mrs. Muazaz Amin, and Dr. Kirmanj Gundi. They presented a report on Mr. Ken McCallion. They spoke of the challenges and obstacles they have faced so far and the funds collected for this cause. They requested the public's financial support. They also reported that a law suit will be filed at a Maryland court case by end of March 2009. Kurdish-Canadian Panel consisted of talks by Dr. Fereydoon Rahamani who spoke on the Greater Toronto Kurdish House and reported on their past and current activities. Mr. Mark Persaud, Chairman and Executive Officer of the Canadian International Peace Project, spoke about his connection to the Kurdish people and spoke about how Kurds can find avenues to relate to other communities and integrate better with the greater society. The next speaker was from Armenian National Committee, Mr. Aram Hamparian spoke on "Kurdish American Advocacy: Grassroots make the difference." He expressed his support for the Kurdish cause and spoke about the parallels between the Armenian plight for independence and that of the Kurds. Ms. Soraya Fallah did an interview with Mr. Arman Hamparian on behalf of vokradio.com. Presidential Address was given by Dr. Kirmanj Gundi: "The Future of Kurdistan, Thinking like a Nation." He gave a report on the current social and political situation of Kurds in the areas they reside and the role of KNC in regards to bringing their issues forth and finding ways to solve them. "Challenges before the Kurdish Nation and the Quest for Federalism in Iraq" was given by Dr. Mahmud Osman, an Independent Kurdish Member of the Iraqi Parliament. This talk was one of the most productive speeches presented at the conference. He gave a thorough analysis of the Kurdish cause within Iraq, Iraq's current statues, and the Kurdish question in the region. Mr. Mahmud Osman was also interviewed by Ms. Soraya Fallah on behalf of vokradio.com. The History Panel consisted of talks by Mr. Brusk Reshvan, Dr. Rebwar Fatah, who spoke of “History of Media & its Impact on Nation Building”, Dr. Mustefa Rechid who spoke on “Current Situation of Kurds in Kurdistan of Syria, and Mr. Tosine Reshid who spoke on Ezidism and Ezedis in the former Soviet Republics. The panel ended with attendees asking several questions. An update from Kurdistan-Turkey was given by Mr. Luqman Barwari. Mr. Luqman Barwari gave a power-point presentation with a photo gallery of his travels and reported on his work and observations in Turkey and among the Kurds. Language Panel consisted of presentations by Mr. Luqman Barwari, Dr. Rebwar Fatah, who spoke on "The Science of Kurdish language", Mr. Newzad Hirori who spoke of "The Status of Northern Dialect (Kurmanji- Bakur in Kurdistan-Iraq and the Current Trends to Standardize the Kurdish Language", and Dr. Murat Kilnic who spoke on the "History of the Kurdish Language." The Women and Leadership Panel was moderated by presented the importance of building the "culture of life in Southern Kurdistan", and how it relates to nation building. Her topic name was "Southern Kurdistan; Building the Culture of Life". This was a very empowering panel. Ms. Susan Shahab was interviewed by Mrs. Soraya Fallah on behalf of vokradio.com. A message from KNK representative in US, Mr. Saif Baderkhan was read. Along with a message of success to the conference, he stressed the importance of friendship between the two organizations and gave a brief general talk on the Kurdish situation. The Current Situation in Kurdistan Panel was moderated by Mr. Azad Moradian who presented a brief overview on the current issues and progress of all four regions of Kurdistan and also briefly presented the biography of the following speakers: Dr. Mahmud Osman who spoke of the situation in Kurdistan-Iraq, Mr. Sharif Behrouz, PDKI, representative in US, who spoke on the situation in Kurdistan-Iran, and Mr. Mustafa Rechid, voice president of PEN-International Kurdish Chapter who spoke of the situation in Kurdistan-Syria. A guest speaker was supposed to be present to speak on the situation in Kurdistan-Turkey; however, he was absent, therefore Mr. Azad Moradian briefly presented this part in order for all the Kurdish parts to have adequate representation. "The Archetype of a Median Descendent", was a satirical show prepared by Art-in-Mind.org, Dr. Kamal Artin. This was a unique and entertaining presentation seeking to convey the Kurdish problem. The night ended with the NewRoz Banquet, which was full of Music, poetry, and dance. The banquet also consisted of an honorary ceremony. This year KNC-NA presented awards to Ms. Susan Shahab Nouri, Dr. Mahmud Osman, and Dr Kurdo To see more picture of this conference please cklic on the following picture:

The Day the Sun Never Rose

Never forget Halabja by Cklara Moradian I awoke far before the sun rays could creep in with their playful hands through the thick colorless curtains of my father's house and bring the message of dawn to our perhaps dreamless sleeps and silently whisper that she has arrived. I awoke and wore a dress of the bluebell's and violet's grace and set out to the fields of my mother's land. I walked among the grass that grew knee high and the crimson flowers who had not yet unveiled from their gentle moonlight rest. With such childlike innocence I flouted like a butterfly that has come to greet the blooming spring. Only days before Nowruj and already I felt revived, already I could smell through the passing breeze the New Year, taste in the melted snow of the racing rivers a new beginning, could touch the purity of my land as I plugged a flower from the fields. I stood far from the city and looked down from a hill, admiring every scent, every breeze, every sight, every inch of what stood before me, of the metamorphosis that I was given the privilege to witness. As the sun was rising and the glorious dawn was withstanding its triumph upon the winter night, an unnatural wind began to blow behind me and my long dark hair and colorful dress moved about violently. My heart began to pound upon my fragile chest as the birth of day was stopped by a monster shaped helicopter, flying right above me towards the city I had first opened my eyes to see. Fear began to entangle itself around me, squeezing my body, making it hard to catch the ever escaping air. The flying monsters continued to follow and without a sound or trace left as sudden as they had come only to return again and again to pierce the fear through me. I could not move and stood where I had first set eyes upon them and as I could no longer see or hear their terrifying sight, I began to run towards my home, hoping to find comfort in my mother's embrace. I ran as fast as my small feet permitted and as I began to get closer to my city, I could smell the sweet scent of apples and pears but could no longer take long deep breaths and see clearly. My feet began to tremble beneath me and shook as I was walking through the streets of my city. I put my hands on my face covering my mouth and nose and absent mindedly walked towards my home. There, in the corner of the street, a boy I had often played with, lied motionless, his eyes still open yet hollow, the only movement upon his face was a stream of blood running down his nose...My eyes were burning and tears began to run down my cold cheeks, and as I continued to walk, I was faced with the most terrifying scenes of a morbid city. Another boy carrying a cart was standing, his feet in the same position they had been when he had made his last stop. A man lied faced down, on the concrete of his front yard, a woman, frozen, was sitting in the corner of her door and her spilled milk was still running, a young mother, carrying her child upon her back was half way up the stairs of her house but she remained unmoved, her child was fast asleep. I passed neighbors, classmates, friends, family, no one spoke, no one raised their heads, no one waved or said "hello", they all lied like statues upon the rocky roads of the streets and the only movement upon the city was the torment of the wind that carried the agonizing sound of shouts, weeping mothers and terrified children who had remained awake. As I was getting closer to my father's house, I had become somehow empty as a drum and I knew that I would not find comfort in my mother's embrace, for although my vision was blurry, I could still see enough of the darkness that had come with sunrise. I ran the last few steps inside to find a lethal silence that tore me apart. I fell on my knees and screamed as my mother lied by my father on the breakfast spread, the tea cold, the glass still between my father's fingers. I continued to scream and cry for I could do nothing else, the room was illuminated by the sky's light but it created a mocking irony upon the depth of misery that had come upon my world. I shook my father's cold body, asking him to awaken, telling him that it is too late to still be asleep, yet he remained where he had been. I threw objects around thinking that maybe somehow my mother would awaken and scold me for misbehaving, but no one said a word, no one was there to silence me... The only survivor of my family, I was left to carry them all to their graves, left to pick up the crumbled pieces of life. I was left, like so many others, in a city that was shaken, broken, left to horror and merciless pain, to mourn for those innocent souls whose only crime was being born. I wonder if I would have been set free if I had been buried by their side today. There was no Nowruj that year or the years that followed. The only ceremonies that we attended were one funeral after another and the only emotion that filled my emptiness was the penetration of pain. So often did I sit before my window and longed to see those crimson flowers once again, but they had all died, on that day when the sun never rose... This is not just a young girl's personal story; it is the story of the Kurdish people of Halabcha, of the survivors who were left to carry their loved ones on their bruised knees to mass graves, of the massacre that left the innocent people to clean the bloodshed of the blood thirsty tyrants. It is the story of the Kurdish holocaust and Hiroshima. That Friday morning, on March 16th of 1988, in the city of Halabcha, the city of the strong and brave, the sun did not rise, nor did the winter leave or the spring arrive. That Friday morning in the city of Halabcha was only the beginning of what continued to be a day of genocide upon humanity and it left thousands of Kurds dead and a never ending chain of people sick, and almost two decades later, still no flowers or sincere joy grow . Here we stand, remembering the day the sun never rose and attempt to show our sympathy, strength, our pride, our dignity, which has withstood the test of misery. Here we stand, and although we can not mend the wounds of the Kurdish children of Halabcha, we take a moment of silence to remember them, to remind ourselves that no matter what they do to us, we will never bow down and kneel. How can we ever forgive or forget? We stand here today to raise the voice of the silenced orphans left behind by the corpses of their mothers and fathers. We stand to let them know that they will never be forgotten... 03/18/05

Radio Voice of Kurdish/American ccongradulate you March 8th International Woman's Day

Happy International Women's Day

Soraya Fallah
international-women-day.

Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc). In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

The IWD is also celebrated as the first spring holiday, as in the listed countries the first day of March is considered the first day of the spring season.
Contents


History
March 8 rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Female members of the Australian Builders Labourers Federation march on International Women's Day 1975 in Sydney

The first IWD was observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Among other relevant historic events, it came to commemorate the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The idea of having an international women's day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century amid rapid world industrialization and economic expansion that led to protests over working conditions. By urban legend,[1][2] women from clothing and textile factories staged one such protest on 8 March 1857 in New York City.[3] The garment workers were protesting against very poor working conditions and low wages. The protesters were attacked and dispersed by police. These women established their first labor union in the same month two years later.

More protests followed on 8 March in subsequent years, most notably in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights[citation needed]. In 1910 the first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen (in the labour-movement building located at Jagtvej 69, which until recently housed Ungdomshuset) by the Second International and an 'International Women's Day' was established, which was submitted by the important German Socialist Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified.[4] The following year, 1911, IWD was marked by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, on March 19.[5] However, soon thereafter, on March 25, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed over 140 garment workers. A lack of safety measures was blamed for the high death toll. Furthermore, on the eve of World War I, women across Europe held peace rallies on 8 March 1913. In the West, International Women's Day was commemorated during the 1910s and 1920s, but dwindled. It was revived by the rise of feminism in the 1960s.

Demonstrations marking International Women's Day in Russia proved to be the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Following the October Revolution, the Bolshevik feminist Alexandra Kollontai persuaded Lenin to make it an official holiday in the Soviet Union, and it was established, but was a working day until 1965. On May 8, 1965 by the decree of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet International Women's Day was declared as a non working day in the USSR "in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their Motherland during the Great Patriotic War, in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the big contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. But still, women's day must be celebrated as are other holidays."

2009 International Women's Day

On occasion of 2009 International Women's Day the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that the specific health-care needs of women are often ignored or insufficiently taken into account in war situations.

In the world's least developed countries, many of which are at war, women are 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than in developed countries, according to UNICEF. While armed conflicts and other violence affect entire communities, women are particularly at risk of rape and other forms of sexual violence. Because of poor security conditions or because they have no means of transportation, it is often impossible for women to reach a health-care facility so as to give birth safely.[6]

Women's Day in modern culture
The 1932 Soviet poster dedicated to the 8th of March holiday. The text reads: "8th of March is the day of the rebellion of the working women against the kitchen slavery" and "Down with the oppression and narrow-mindedness of the household work!". Originally in the USSR the holiday had a clear political character, emphasizing the role of the Soviet state in liberation of women from the second-class citizens' position.
However, with time the meaning of the Holiday evolved to an apolitical celebration of women with an emphasis on their beauty and motherhood. Most late Soviet 8th of March postcards carried no political meaning.

The day is an official holiday in Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Croatia, Italy, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia, and is observed by men giving the women in their lives - mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, colleagues, etc., flowers and small gifts. In some countries (such as Romania or Poland) it is also observed as an equivalent of Mother's Day, where children also give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union celebrations of IWD were abandoned in Armenia. Instead April 7 was introduced as state holiday of ‘Beauty and Motherhood.' The new holiday immediately got popular among Armenians, as it commemorates one of the main holidays of Armenian Church, Annunciation. However, people still kept celebrating IWD on March 8 as well. Public discussion held on the topic of two ‘Women's Days' in Armenia resulted in the recognition of the so called ‘Women's Month' which is the period between March 8 and April 7.

In Italy, to celebrate the day, men give yellow mimosas to women.[7][8] Yellow mimosas and chocolate are also one of the most common March 8 presents in Russia and Albania.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Serbia the custom of giving women flowers still prevails. Women sometimes get gifts from their employers too. School children often bring gifts for their teachers as well.

In countries like Portugal and Romania, it is usual, at the night of 8 March, groups of women celebrate in "women-only" dinners and parties.

In India, IWD holds a lot of significance. Many celebrations are held during the day. This portrays the power of women in the modern era and how vital their role is in the society.[citation needed]

In Pakistan working women in formal and informal sectors celebrate International Women's Day every year to commemorate their ongoing struggle for due rights, despite facing many cultural and religious restrictions. Some women working for change in society use IWM to help the movement for women's rights.

In 1975, which had been designated as International Women's Year, the United Nations gave official sanction to and began sponsoring International Women's Day.

The 2005 Congress (conference) of the British Trades Union Congress overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for IWD to be designated a public holiday in the United Kingdom.

International Women's Day encountered violence in Tehran, Iran on March 4, 2007, when police beat hundreds of men and women who were planning a rally. Police arrested dozens of women and some were released after several days of solitary confinement and interrogation.[9] Shadi Sadr and Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh, and several more community activists, were released on March 19th 2007, ending a fifteen day hunger strike.[10]

Today many events are held by women's groups around the world. The global women's organization Aurora hosts a free worldwide register of IWD local events (www.internationalwomensday.com) so that women and the media can locate local activity. Many governments and organizations around the world support IWD. For example, HSBC hosts a range of IWD activity including co-hosting of the United Kingdom's flagship IWD event with women's group Aurora. Global interest in IWD shows a steady increase.

Controversies

In some isolated cases International Women's Day has been led to questionable practices that effectively discriminated against men. For example Tower Hamlets Council closed off one of its libraries to all males to "celebrate" the occasion, forcing them to travel elsewhere, going as far as even banning male staff from the premises.]

In the Czech Republic (then part of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic), huge Soviet style celebrations were held annually. After the fall of Communism, the holiday, generally considered to be one of the major symbols of the old regime, fell into obscurity. International Women´s Day was re-established as an official "important day" by the Parliament only recently, on the proposal of the Socialists and Communists. This has provoked some controversy as a large part of public as well as the political right see the holiday as a relic of the nation´s Communist past. In 2008, the conservative Catholic People´s party´s deputies proposed abolishment of the holiday unsuccessfully. However, some non-government organizations consider International Women´s Day´s official recognition as an important reminder of the women´s role in the society. Still, unlike in the past, the holiday is no longer observed by the general public in any significant way.

An interview on: The Campaign “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws”

Soraya Fallah, an active member of the Campaign for "One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws" in Iran and a veteran of the human rights movement in Iran joined Cklara Moradian, a new member of Campaign, a Kurdish human right’s activist and spoken word artist to discuss the Campaign’s plight on KPFK 90.7 FM.

Nyma Ardalan, the host of the show, asked the women to tell the listeners about the importance of this movement for women in Iran, for human rights of all citizens in Iran, and how this impacts the global liberation of women.
The activists spoke about the goals of the campaign and how listeners can support this movement.
This program is part of a series of shows aired by Radio Intifada celebrating International Women’s Day and the entire month of March, which is globally dedicated to women, their accomplishments and challenges.

For more information on the Campaign for "One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws" in Iran, please visit:
http://www.change4equality.org/english/

For an audio download of the aired program, either visit KPFK’s archives for 03/05/09 3pm or click on the following link: http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_090305_150927rintifada.mp3
This program will be available for 90 days on KPFKs website.
Please keep in mind that the first half of the program concerns several other countries.

A Kurdish Lullaby by Soraya Fallah, translated by Cklara Moradian

Name of the lullaby: Berxolekem:
Written in Kurdish by Soraya Fallah
Translation to English by Cklara Moradian

Hey lay hey lay hey laya
your mother’s sweet baby
why is sleep not coming to you?
Sleep darling, it’s late
The world is dim and silent
I’m confined in this solitude

Lay Lay your mother’s sweet baby
The child of my furious nation
You’re my hope for existence

Hey laya laya laya
The hope of your mother’s being
Why is Kurdish existence this manner?

Lay lay sapling of my fate
The companion of hardship
The journey to the peek is distant
The process is crimson blood

Hey laya laya laya
Your mother can not raise her voice
Tears are choking in her throat
Why is Kurdish existence this manner?

(Speaking to the child)…
Lay lay
a drop of Sirvan (river running between Iran and Iraq border)
Home wrecked and forced into mountains
We were slaughtered by the hundreds
We were tied and imprisoned
We’ve been denied our tongue and land
We’ve been annihilated in the snow

Hey laya lay laya
The flower of your mother’s garden
Tell me why don’t you sleep
But
(singing again)
Life will not always remain this way
There will come a day when
a thousand flaming candles will burn,
the strong sun rays in the meadows will shine
the sound of the footsteps of the dawn will be heard
in anticipation of the people’s celebration
sleep my tiny baby
our future is this way
awake tomorrow in laughter
Rights of human will triumph one day

Mother and Revolution conference in Calart

Kurdistan will be featured in California Institute of the Arts AOW
Conference on Saturday January 17th, 09
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Jan 15-18th are important dates for artists and activists from around the globe to convene on mutual matters.
On Saturday January 17th the fourth annual Arts in One World Conference will host Kurdish activists, artists and researchers.
Each year this conference gathers international human rights activists, writers, historians and students to confront the repercussions of genocidal conflicts and explore the intersection of human rights activism and cultural practice.
This year’s theme is: “Motherhood and Revolution: How women, and mothers in particular, are innovating in conflict and post conflict circumstances, and expanding the models for ways in which one is an artist/activist in the world.”
The main issues the upcoming Arts in the One World conference addresses are issues in Rwanda, Palestine, and Kurdistan through workshops, panel and round table discussions, readings, films and live performance.
Saturday morning will be on Kurdistan.
Performers and panelists will be present at the contemporary Kurdish scene, locally and internationally. Nancy Buchanan, Soraya Fallah, Choman Hardi, and Cklara Moradian.
The keynote speaker is contemporary Kurdish poet, Choman Hardi, who will discuss “Genocide, Rape and Silence in Kurdistan/Artistic Practice in Response to the Anfal.”
Cklara Moradian, Philosophy student, human rights activists, and spoken word artist will perform her piece “A Tortured Cliché, A Fragmented Identity.”
Nancy Buchanan, Film/Video faculty at Cal Arts will present and introduce a documentary on Kurdish women she made last year in Kurdistan.
Soraya Fallah, women rights activist will be having a talk on this topic: “Kurdish Mothers as Artists and Peaceful Revolutionaries against Genocide through the singing of lullabies.” She is explaining the endowment of Kurdish language and heritage through lullabies as sung by Kurdish mothers to their children in time of conflict and post conflict.
Rita Naisan, Iranian photographer, will be displaying an exhibition of her ethnic, cultural, and valuable photography during the conference. She has a range of photos from Kurdish women in villages, and even modern Kurdish women.
There will also be a mini festival of documentary films after the Kurdish section.

Attendance is FREE and if you choose to stay for the other days hotel discount is available.
Hospitality & Dining
Fruit, baked goods, coffee and tea will be available for free in the mornings and throughout the day. On Saturday evening we offer a free potluck dinner; feel free to bring a dish; but otherwise, there’s always plenty to go around.
Registration
Please email Cammy Berndt (cberndt@calarts.edu), letting us know when you’re coming.

Simone de Beauvoir Award

One Million Signature Campaign Honored with Simone de Beauvoir Award

Change for Equality

vokradio.com One Million Signature Campaign Honored with Simone de Beauvoir Award Friday 9 January 2009 Report/Translation by: Sussan Tahmasebi Change for Equality: According to a report by Radio France, Persian Service the One Million Signatures Campaign has been awarded the Simone de Beauvoir Award by the foundation set up in the memory of this Feminist theorist and writer. For the past two years on the 9th of January, the birthday of Simone de Beauvoir an Award has been given to persons or groups which work to promote women’s rights. Julia Kristeva, the renowned Bulgarian-French philosopher, writer and psychoanalyst who is the founder of the Award and who heads the jury for the Award explained more about the decision of the Jury in an interview with Radio France, Persian Service: "Simone de Beauvoir continued the struggle for women's rights-an effort that has spanned two centuries. With her world renowned book 'The Second Sex' Simone de Beauvoir created a Revolution in the international women's movement. The jury for this award, which is comprised of approximately 20 internationally known figures including several writers, sociologists, philosophers, journalists and politicians, wanted to emphasize the fact that the struggle for women's rights is not a French, European or Western concept, rather it is a struggle that has attracted women across the world. Last year this Award was given to Taslima Nasreen, who has been harassed and persecuted [in relation to her struggles for women's rights]. This year we were immensely moved by the courage of Iranian women and the innovate style of their struggle. This movement [the One Million Signatures Campaign] is engaged in an important effort to explain the meaning and nature of human rights and women's rights to women themselves, encouraging each of them to become involved in the struggle against inequities. The One Million Signatures Campaign is a new and innovative movement because it has not taken shape around one progressive and famous central figure, rather it is a broad movement, where activists visit with other women, engage in face to face discussions with them, they go home to home, and explain to each woman about women's rights. Through this [face-to-face] strategy and through the internet they have created a broad network of ideas and persons, which includes women from all backgrounds, including women from low income and socio-economically advantaged groups. This effort is in line with the spirit of Simone de Beauvoir's work. By giving this Award to [to the One Million Signatures Campaign] we want to encourage these women and demonstrate our love and solidarity with them." It is worth mentioning that in honor of Simone de Beauvoir's birthday the site of the Campaign in France was also launched. The first news item appearing on this site is about the Simone de Beauvoir Award presented to the One Million Signatures Campaign. Take a look at the Campaign's site in France.

Happy New year

vokradio.com

Happy New Year

vokradio.com