Samar Yazbek was a well-known journalist, presenter on Syrian television and a celebrated novelist when she fell foul of the Assad regime, leaving her no choice but to flee. She was forced to watch from afar as a peaceful uprising turned into violent conflict and her country burned.
In the Summer of 2012 she squeezed through a gap in the fence on the Turkish border and found herself back in her homeland. This was the first of several dangerous clandestine trips to the North of the country, where she set about documenting the struggle of men, women and children simply trying to stay alive.
Weaving together stories of hardship and brutality with touches of humanity, her new book The Crossing is testimony to the appalling reality that is Syria today. She will be joining us in conversation with Syrian writer and broadcaster, Rana Kabbani, to share her observations and what she has heard from the Syrian people about their hopes and fears for the future.
Samar Yazbek studied Arabic literature before spending a decade as a journalist for various newspapers including Al-Hayat and presenting a cultural programme for Syrian television. In 2010, as a recognition of her fiction writing, the Hay Festival named her as one of the Beirut39, a group of Arab writers under the age of 40. Following the uprising against the Assad regime, Yazbek was forced into exile and now lives in Paris with her daughter.
PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT WILL BE FILMED AND STREAMED LIVE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
]]>On February 14 2011 just days after Mubarak fell in Egypt, the Bahraini people began a popular uprising that has been unabated. We will be asking why do we hear very little about events in Bahrain in the media? What strategies has the Bahraini regime adopted to win the media battle, as well as the daily battles on the street? We will also be presenting the findings of a research project on the PR companies employed by the regime.
]]>On February 14 2011 just days after Mubarak fell in Egypt, the Bahraini people began a popular uprising that has been unabated. Nabeel Rajab, the most prominent human rights activist has just been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment, whilst 13 other activists have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
We will be asking why do we hear very little about events in Bahrain in the media? What strategies has the Bahraini regime adopted to win the media battle, as well as the daily battles on the street? We will also be presenting the findings of a research project on the PR companies employed by the regime.
As well as discussing the PR war, the panel of experts will discuss the prospects of accountability for torture and related abuses inside and outside of Bahrain.Officials accused of torture are frequent visitors to the UK, most recently the King’s son, Nasser Bin Hamad was a VIP guest at the Olympics. What kind of legal action can be taken in the UK, given Britain’s supportive foreign policy to the Bahraini regime?
A film report highlighting the plight of detained athletes will also be shown.
Chaired by Brian Whitaker, journalist for The Guardian since 1987 and its Middle East editor from 2000-2007. He is currently an editor on the paper’s “Comment Is Free” section. He runs, Al-Bab.com, about politics in the Arab world and is author of What’s Really Wrong with the Middle East.
With:
Mohammad Al Tajir, a human rights lawyer who was detained last year for his outspoken criticism of Bahrain’s judiciary and defending several detained activists.
Marc Owen Jones, a doctoral candidate at Durham University and member of advocacy group Bahrain Watch. His research focus is on how social media functions as a tool of surveillance and social control in Bahrain. He also writes a blog that documents, among other things, the role PR companies play in marginalising dissent and whitewashing human rights violations.
Carla Ferstman, the Director of REDRESS, an international human rights organisation that assists torture survivors to seek justice.
Adam Hundt, a human rights solicitor and partner in Deighton Pierce Glynn who specialises in cases against the UK government, in particular for migrants and refugees. More recently he successfully represented a client who had been tortured abroad with the knowledge and complicity of the British security services.
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The response of President Bashar Assad to the protests in Syria has been to launch a brutal crack down on his opponents that has reportedly led to the deaths of an estimated 6,000 people.
As the violence intensifies in the wake of the veto by Russia and China of the U.N. Security Council’s resolution condemning the violence, we will be discussing what options are now available to the people of Syria, the Free Syrian Army and President Bashar al-Assad and his regime.
What role should the international community play in the face this deepening crisis? Should the Arab League put more pressure on President Assad to cease the bombardment of rebel-held areas? What of the rest of the people of Syria, where does their support lie?
Chaired by BBC Arabic presenter Rasha Qandeel.
With:
Dr Mouna Ghanem, a Syrian politician and vice president of the Syrian political movement “building the Syrian state”. She is also a senior gender advisor with an extensive experience in the Arab region, mainly on women issues and reproductive health.
Ammar Waqqaf, member of the Syrian Social Club (a group of British Syrians and Syrians living in the UK, who prefer regime reform, rather than regime change.)
Ramita Navai, British-Iranian journalist and reporter for Channel 4’s foreign affairs series, Unreported World. Late last year she spent two weeks living undercover in Syria with members of the opposition movement.
Malik Al-Abdeh, chief editor of Barada TV a London-based Syrian opposition satellite channel and former BBC journalist.
]]>Join us with Paddy O'Connell of BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House to discuss the situation in Syria and what the future holds for the Syrian people.
]]>Read an account of this event on the Forum blog here. The hashtag for this event on Twitter was #FCSyria.
Since mid – March when the Arab Spring reached Syria there have been continuous crack downs on protestors by Syrian forces. There are claims more than 1,700 civilians have been killed. The authorities in Syria claim 500 soldiers and police have been killed by armed gangs, which they also blame for most of the civilian deaths.
We will be bringing together a panel of experts to examine the situation on the ground in Syria. Could the international community be doing more to intervene in what some claim are crimes against humanity being committed by Syrian forces?
Unlike Egypt, the protests began not with the call for the Bashar al-Asad to stand down but that he enact promised reforms. Following the violent attacks against protesters the tone has changed, however it remains unclear if the ousting of Bashar al-Asad is a possible outcome.
Join us with Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House to discuss the situation in Syria and what the future holds for the Syrian people.
With:
Daniel Pye, a Damascus-based freelance journalist who has worked as deputy editor of a Syrian current affairs magazine since February 2011.
Ammar Waqqaf, member of the British Syrian Society.
BBC Newsnight’s Sue Lloyd-Roberts who has been one of the only Western journalists to report from inside Syria since the protests began.
Malik Al-Abdeh, chief editor of Barada TV a London-based Syrian opposition satellite channel and former BBC journalist.
Christopher Phillips, Syria analyst in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Middle East team and author of Contemporary Arab Identity: The daily reproduction of the Arab World to be published in early 2012.
Picture credit: syriana2011.
]]>Followed by a panel discussion
At a secret rendezvous on the Tunisian border, a young man hands over to Libyan rebels a crate of medical supplies. He's hoping for a precious cargo in return - memory cards and small video tapes that he will upload to the internet and show the world what is happening inside the Libyan capitol, Tripoli. In the revolutions of 2011, these are the new weapons of the internet age.
]]>Organised by BBC Arabic.
Followed by a panel discussion chaired by Zein Tawfik presenter of BBC Arabic Question Time.
With:
The film’s producer Ahmed Zaky;
Mohamed Hani, blogger and political editor at London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat;
Ms Nesreen Salem, blogger;
Ms Noha Atef, Blogger.
At a secret rendezvous on the Tunisian border, a young man hands over to Libyan rebels a crate of medical supplies. He’s hoping for a precious cargo in return – memory cards and small video tapes that he will upload to the internet and show the world what is happening inside the Libyan capitol, Tripoli. In the revolutions of 2011, these are the new weapons of the internet age.
BBC Arabic sets out to explore the global information and communication revolution that has helped ferment real revolts, and pull down regimes across the Arab World.
We meet the Tunisian who uploaded the very first video from Sidi Bouzid. In Cairo, a protester learns from a Facebook friend in Tunisia how to use Pepsi against the effects of tear gas, while in Los Angeles an American group provides round the clock web support to keep the voices of the protesters heard. We will introduce you to a new global ‘network’ of protest, and a generation who have learned to use the power of their online connections to make sure they will never be silenced.
]]>With a panel of experts and journalists we will be examining the political realignment taking place in the Middle East and North Africa.
We will be asking what the shifts in Arab world mean for Israel, Iran and Saudi Arabia: What is Israel’s likely response to the emerging democracies that are replacing autocrats who held onto power in the name of “stability” in the region. How will countries like Egypt respond to Israel in the future and how will the balance of power change?
We will be looking to at how Iran and Saudi Arabia respond to the changes taking place and the role of the Arab League in the future.
In association with BBC Arabic
Chaired by Sam Farah, the lead presenter of BBC Arabic’s flagship interactive programme Nuqtat Hewar (Talking Point).
With:
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst;
Abdel Bari Atwan, since 1989 he has been the editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, a major independent pan-Arab daily newspaper published in London and author of The Secret History of al-Qa’ida and A Country of Words, his memoir.
William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation, formerly a journalist and publisher he has been involved in the Middle East for more than 30 years. As Chairman of the International Media Council he has led press delegations to Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Egypt and Syria.
Picture credit: Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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