an intellectual symposium discussing the roots of Sudan’s current crisis. The event will also explore prospects for democratic transition and possibilities for building a sustainable civil state.
Continue ReadingWomen have many faces, and feminism has just as many. Protest against oppression and the struggle for freedom and equality are always influenced by the place and society in which women live.
There are many prejudices about Arab societies, and at least as many about their female members. When is a woman free, and is freedom the same at all times and in all places? Is resistance to patriarchy and the desire for change the same everywhere?
Continue ReadingOnline Event in English without translation. Questions and contributions to the discussion following the lecture can also be asked in Arabic, we will translate to the best of our ability. Admission free, please register here: registration (link) In a time when global conversations around decolonization, migration, and cultural representation are more urgent than ever, how […]
Continue Readingwhere is “the Holy Land” actually located? Holiness comes from within the believers, and a person, an object or a place only becomes sacred through the attribution of a religious meaning. How does this process affect those who actually live in a sacred place every day? Who perhaps do not share the religiosity ascribed to the place? And how does it affect those who do not live there and for whom sacredness is more important than the actual place and its inhabitants?
Continue ReadingIndependent storytelling is an act of courage. It challenges norms, reclaims voices, and builds bridges between cultures. We invite you to join us for the upcoming Ibn Rushd Young event with the filmmakers Klud Dabash and Mehmet Küçük. With the boundary-pushing narratives of their films, they explore the complexities of identity, power, migration and creative resistance.
Selected scenes from their films will be shown:
Online Event in English without translation. Questions and contributions to the discussion following the lecture can also be asked in Arabic, we will translate to the best of our ability. Admission free, please register here: registration (link) In 2015, a demonstration erupted in Burj al-Barajne, Beirut’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, after a resident was killed […]
Continue ReadingA guide through the narrowing corridors of freedom of expression Event in German without translation. Questions and contributions to the discussion following the lecture can also be asked in Arabic and English, we will translate to the best of our ability. The accelerated, ubiquitous and relentless assault on all our senses through news, online media […]
Continue ReadingOn fascism and radicalism in a democratic context It has now been a year since our ‘Democracy in Danger’ event in February 2024, which dealt specifically with current developments in democratic Western countries, especially ours here in Germany. Over the course of the year, this topic was a recurring theme, often in discussions at events […]
Continue ReadingHow does sex talk on social media platforms challenge local notions of hegemonic masculinity in the MENA region?Social media have played a significant role in advancing feminist movements
Continue ReadingA day in the life of women in Sudan & Yemen in times of war ‘Women and War’ – mini-series within the Ibn Rushd Lectures War brings violence and traumatic experiences for everyone. For women, however, there is gender-specific violence in addition to the general violence. According to a report by the UN Secretary-General, women […]
Continue ReadingClimate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today, as it affects various aspects of our lives, including the environment, economy, health, food security, and society as a whole. The Middle East and North Africa region, in particular, is among the most affected regions by climate change, facing dramatically rising temperatures, water scarcity, […]
Continue ReadingWhat are the most manifestations of “masculinity” and “femininity” in contemporary Arab culture? How did the rising influence of social media and the 2011 uprisings impact the concepts of “masculinity” and “femininity“?
We will discuss these questions in our forthcoming lecture with Dr. Amal Grami and Dr.Hanadi Al-Samman.
An Ibn Rushd Lecture with the ex-President of Tunisia Dr Moncef Marzouki, Prof Dr Udo Steinbach and Manal Seifeldin. What distinguishes the 21st century from the previous centuries and especially from the 20th century? What facts and realities should we relate to? How do we understand our world today and what is the role that […]
Continue ReadingAn Ibn Rushd Lecture with the ex-President of Tunisia Dr Moncef Marzouki, Prof Dr Udo Steinbach and Manal Seifeldin. What distinguishes the 21st century from the previous centuries and especially from the 20th century? What facts and realities should we relate to? How do we understand our world today and what is the role that […]
Continue ReadingIbn Rushd Lecture by Dr Moncef Marzouki, President of the Republic of Tunisia from 2011-2014 To register, please use this link. Speakers and Moderators: Dr. Moncef Marzouki: Dr. Marzouki was the first democratically elected president of Tunisia after the January 14th Revolution in 2011, a seminal moment in modern Arab history which heralded the onset […]
Continue ReadingDear Friends of Freedom of Thought, The discourse on promoting the concept of a multi-cultural society is considered an urgent endeavor to encourage plurality, tolerance, fight discrimination, and foster a peaceful, prosperous social environment in all contemporary societies. In Western societies, a multi-cultural discourse is asserted within a modern secular paradigm in the writings of […]
Continue ReadingSovereignty, the Subject and Life under Siege & what led him to initiate the Great Return March Dear friends of Freedom of Thought, in the Arab World and elsewhere, “How does it feel having to live in Gaza, a place that offers no future prospects?”, was the question we asked earlier this year. We tried […]
Continue ReadingDear friends of freedom of thought, in the Arab World and elsewhere, We cordially invite you to an Ibn Rushd Lecture with the Egyptian writer and publisher Mohamed Hashem on: “Culture and Revolution in Egypt prior and post the 25-January-Revolution” The Egyptian writer and publisher Mohamed Hashem founded his independent publishing house Dar Merit in Cairo […]
Continue ReadingDear friends of freedom of thought, in the Arab World and elsewhere, Roots are at the base of everyone’s identity, and the need to know one’s roots plays a central part in the construction of an identity. What is the truth about where I come from, who are my ancestors and where did they live, […]
Continue ReadingDear friends of freedom of thought, in the Arab World and elsewhere, Sudan is a country many of us here in Germany know very little about. Especially after recent developments of the popular uprising in demand of democratic structures, people are curious to learn more: about the country, the history providing the context to the […]
Continue ReadingDear friends of freedom of thought, the next Ibn Rushd Lecture is a special one, complemented by recital and music, and rounded off with a small reception, all in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of Mahmoud Darwish, the national poet of Palestine beloved by all Arabs. Maybe the Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab […]
Continue Readingwith Dr. Hanan Ashrawi Palestine is a name for a region that has undergone dramatic change. Once sounding like a divine promise, it now seems to be a synonym for hopelessness. How did the situation in the region deteriorate to the dead-end it is at now, and is there a horizon – can a just […]
Continue ReadingFreedom. Each language has its own special connotations vibrating along with this value, such as the famous French ‘liberté’ or the American ‘freedom’, and since the Arab revolutions the time has come to reflect on the contemporary and historic meanings resonating with the Arabic ‘hurriyah’. The Moroccan philosopher Rachid Boutayeb and the German theologian, philosopher […]
Continue Reading(Linguistic and Sociologic Perspectives) Mohammed Chawich analyses what constitutes contemporary Arab culture – its major trends and possible linguistic and social perspectives – through a new look at the concept of “modernity” and “tradition”. His thesis is that the “revolutionary” currents in this ideology, divided between “nationalism”, “socialism” and “Islamism” share a hidden side creating a […]
Continue ReadingDr. Housamedden Darwish Ibn Rushd Lecture on Wednesday, 26th April, at 8:00pm in the Lettrétage Berlin. The Syrian philosopher Hosamedden Darwish spoke on Critical Ideas in Arab Political Thought, the Syrian Revolution and the Question of Asylum. In his recently published book Critical texts in Arab Political Thought, the Syrian Revolution and Asylum: In the Example of Bishara and […]
Continue ReadingDr. Aly Masednah El-Kothany Libya Today Libya is a country that at present appears as a blank area on the medial map. Hardly any news make it over to our side, the actual development of the country remains largely unknown to Europe today, over five years after the Arab Spring began. The first Libyan ambassador […]
Continue Readingthe unmentioned paradox when calling for democracy in the Arab world: On July 19th 2016 the Tunisian philosopher Mohamed Adel Mtimet held an Ibn Rushd Lecture with the title, “The absence of the individual in Arab culture – the unmentioned paradox when calling for democracy in the Arab world”. Does the Arab culture provide the […]
Continue ReadingThe Film “Not Who We Are” portrays the lives of five Syrian women with a different sociocultural background. As refugees in Lebanon, they are fighting against the brutality of their daily lives, and try to rebuild their existence that has been destryed b the war. In the film they allow us to gain an insight into their daily distress, but also into their strengths, resilience and survival instinct.
Continue ReadingBy Sadek Jalal Al-Azm: Sadek Jalal Al-Azm talking about the question of secularism and Islam. Talk organised by the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought Berlin and the Forum Arabischer Kultur in Berlin e.V. March 8th 2012. Talk is in Arabic language Part 1 Part 2
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