The ONLY active voice for American Arab Journalists.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

JOB, UNIVERSITY:Dept Creative Writing Uni of California, Riverside

UC-RIVERSIDE - OPEN POSITION IN NONFICTION/FICTION

The department of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, invites nominations and applications for a faculty member (rank open) in writing of the Middle East and/or the Islamic world and their diasporas. The succesful candidate will have published nonfiction, with additional expertise in fiction, screenwriting, or poetry desirable.

Additional expertise in new media, new media technologies and nontraditional ways of disseminating writing would be an advantage, as would prior professional experience in journalism. Successf ul applicants will demonstrate a commitment to continuing their professional writing and publishing activities and have a broad knowledge of applicable literatures. Teaching duties will include undergraduate and graduate courses and the mentoring of MFA students and supervision of their theses.

The candidate will be appointed to the faculty at the Riverside campus but will teach up to two courses per year in the MFA program at the Palm Desert Graduate Center. Starting date for the position is July 1, 2007. Review of applications will begin March 1, 2007 and position will remain open until filled. Prerequisites are prior academic teaching experience, and a record of scholarly and/or professional publication. Ph.D., MFA, MA in the relevant field or professional equivalent.


For more information, contact the department 1607 HMNSS Building Department of Creative Writing University of California, Riverside 900 University Avenue Riverside, CA 92521 Phone: (951) 827-3615 Fax: (951) 827-3619 Charles Whitney, Chair & Professor Office: 2612 HMNSS Building Phone: (951) 827-6076
E-mail: chuck.whitney at ucr.edu

http://www.creativewriting.ucr.edu/index.html

Friday, January 26, 2007

NAAJA urges release of Bilal Hussein, AP Photographer from US detention in Iraq

THE DETENTION OF AP PHOTOGRAPHER BILAL HUSSEIN

The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein since April 12, 2006, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing.

"We want the rule of law to prevail," says AP President and CEO Tom Curley. "He either needs to be charged or released. Indefinite detention is not acceptable." Military officials say that Hussein was being held for "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions. A Pentagon spokesman reiterated that stance Sept. 18.

Hussein is a 35-year-old Iraqi citizen and a native of Fallujah. AP executives said an internal review of his work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system. Hussein began working for the AP in September 2004. He photographed events in Fallujah and Ramadi until he was detained.Bilal Hussein is one of an estimated 14,000 people detained by the U.S. military worldwide -- 13,000 of them in Iraq. They are held in limbo where few are ever charged with a specific crime or given a chance before any court or tribunal to argue for their freedom.

In Hussein's case, Curley and other AP executives say, the military has not provided any concrete evidence to back up the vague allegations they have raised about him. More information is contained in the news stories and press materials at:

http://www.ap.org/response/response_092006a.html

NAAJA Statement Jan. 26, 2007

The National Arab American Journalists Association members have unanimously agreed to support a call for the release of Bilal Hussein. We support the position taken by the Associated Press in calling for Hussein's release and urge other journalism associations to join in this callf or his release.

On behalf of NAAJA by Ray Hanania
END

Friday, January 19, 2007

CPJ: Turkish Armenian Journalist Murdered

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465­1004 Fax: (212) 465­9568 Web: www.cpj.org E-Mail: media@cpj.org
http://www.cpj.org Contact: Abi Wright e-mail: info@cpj.org Telephone: (212) 465-1004 x-105

Turkish-Armenian editor murdered in Istanbul

New York, January 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder today of a prominent Turkish-Armenian editor outside his newspaper’s offices in Istanbul. Hrant Dink, 52, managing editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, was shot three times in the neck, according to the Turkish television channel NTV.

Dink had received numerous death threats from nationalist Turks who viewed his iconoclastic journalism, particularly on the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century, as an act of treachery. In a January 10 article in Agos, Dink said he had passed along a particularly threatening letter to Istanbul's Sisli district prosecutor, but no action had been taken.

“Through his journalism Hrant Dink sought to shed light on Turkey’s troubled past and create a better future for Turks and Armenians. This earned him many enemies, but he vowed to continue writing despite receiving many threats,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “An assassin has now silenced one of Turkey’s most courageous voices. We are profoundly shocked and saddened by this crime, and send our deepest condolences to Hrant Dink's family, colleagues, and friends.”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Dink's death as an attack against Turkey's unity and promised to catch those responsible, according to international news reports. Police identified the assailant as a young man dressed in a white hat and a denim jacket, and they detained two people as part of their investigation, NTV reported.

“This murder must not go unpunished as have previous slayings of journalists,” said CPJ’s Simon. “We call on the Turkish authorities to do all in their power to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice swiftly.”

In the last 15 years, 18 other Turkish journalists have been killed for their work, many of them murdered, making it the eighth deadliest country in the world for journalists, CPJ research shows. The last killing was in 1999. More recently, journalists, academics, and others have been subjected to pervasive legal harassment for statements that allegedly insult the Turkish identity, CPJ research shows.

Dink, a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, had been prosecuted several times in recent years—for writing about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks at the beginning of the 20th century, for criticizing lines in the Turkish national anthem that he considered discriminatory, and even for commenting publicly on the cases against him. His office had also been the target of protests.

In July 2006, Turkey’s High Court of Appeals upheld a six-month suspended prison sentence against Dink for violating Article 301 of the penal code in a case sparked by complaints from nationalist activists. His prosecution stemmed from a series of articles in early 2004 dealing with the collective memory of the Armenian massacres of 1915-17 under the Ottoman Empire.

Armenians call the killings the first genocide of the 20th century, a term that Turkey rejects.
Ironically, the pieces for which Dink was convicted had appealed to diaspora Armenians to let go of their anger against the Turks. The prosecution was sharply criticized by the European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join. Dink said he would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, to clear his name.

Dink was one of dozens of writers who have been prosecuted in the past two years under controversial penal code provisions that criminalize statements deemed as insulting to the Turkish identity, particularly in regard to the Armenian killings, CPJ research shows. The local press freedom group Bia said at least 65 cases have been launched against journalists, writers and academics. The EU has urged Turkey to reform its laws to eliminate such prosecutions.
Dink edited Agos for all of the newspaper’s 11-year existence. Agos, the only Armenian newspaper in Turkey, had a circulation of just 6,000 but its political influence was vast. Dink regularly appeared on television to express his views.

In a February 2006 interview with CPJ, Dink said Turkish nationalists had targeted him for legal harassment. “The prosecutions are not a surprise for me. They want to teach me a lesson because I am Armenian. They try to keep me quiet.” Asked who “they” are, Dink replied, “the deep state in Turkey”.

He was referring not to the Islamist-based government of Prime Minister Erdogan, but to the secular nationalist forces supported by sections of the army, security forces, and parts of the justice and interior ministries. The nationalists, political heirs of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, still exert considerable influence in Turkey.
Dink said in the CPJ interview that he hoped his critical reporting would pave the way for peace between the two peoples. “I want to write and ask how we can change this historical conflict into peace,” he said.

In the interview, Dink said he did not think the tide had yet turned in favor of critical writers—“the situation in Turkey is tense”—but he believed that it ultimately would. “I believe in democracy and press freedom. I am determined to pursue the struggle.”

CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Muslim Writers Competition information Jan. 17, 2007

AN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR MUSLIM WRITERS

The headquarter of celebration of esfahan (IRAN) is going to launch an international competition for Muslim writers with cooperation of child and teenage council and by participation of activists in child and teenage literature In the year of prophet by internet due to the attribution of thiscity as the capital city of culture in Islamic world by ISESCO.

Hence, we hereby invite all writers who are professional in child literature to present their works entitled by" MOHAMMAD PROPHET".

The purpose of this international competition is to encourage writers to create written works with great quality and to set up a basis to present their works in the realm of child and teenage literature.COPMPETITION CONDITIONS:

1-Title of competition: Holy prophet life (MOHAMMAD P.B.U.H), his characteristics and features, prophet and children and prophet's miracles

2-Each writer is allowed to send three stories.

3-Published and unpublished stories are acceptable.

4-Published works should have be written after January1st 2006

5-Story text should be presented and typed in the size of A4 paper.

6-Stories should be written for child and teenage interlocutors (between 6 to 15 years old).7-

Stories can be written in Persian, Arabic or English.8-There is no geographical and age limitation for participants.9-It is necessary to write: name of the writer, title of the story, complete postal address and telephone number at the beginning of each story.10-Volunteers must fill an application form carefully.11-The application form is available in www.icow-esfahan.comThe last legal time to send works is 04/02/2007Result proclaim date: 05/04/2007

COMPETITION GIFTS:Great gift: inscription, inlayed badge and $3000 for the best storySecond gift: inscription, inlayed badge and $1000Third gift: inscription, inlayed badge and $1000Persuasive gift: inscription, inlayed badge for 10 peopleFor more information call :( +98)9131082054