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AAU 4.1 Iraq nearly twenty years after its “liberation”

Published at 10 20,,, 22 2022

On September 26, our program Aula Árabe Universitaria will be back with this conference, at which Iraqi activist Haifa Zangana will explain the current situation in the country. We are just a few months away from the twentieth anniversary of the war in Iraq, launched by the US in March 2003, when it sent 160,000 soldiers with the support of the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland. According to the former president of the United States, George W. Bush, that invasion would lead to the “liberation of Iraq.” Two years later, during his speech at the Fort Bragg military base (you can watch the full speech in English by following this link), Bush argued that, as a pillar of his “war on terror,” eliminating terrorists who “know that as freedom takes root in Iraq, it will inspire millions throughout the Middle East to demand their freedom as well.” However, the reality in Iraq today is radically different, and the region, whose popular demands of 2011 have been silenced, is no better off politically, economically or socially. At this opening conference in the new Aula Árabe Universitaria 4 event series organized by Casa Árabe and held with the cooperation of the Master’s degree in Contemporary Arab and Islamic Studies (MEAIC) at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, analyst Hayder al-Khoei will be examining current event in this key country in the stability of the Middle East, in terms of the American concept of democracy, in a nation mired in internal struggles, fighting between armed militias, with a failed government plagued by corruption, and the state’s sovereignty violated on a daily basis. The author will be accompanied by Nieves Paradela, tenured lecturer in the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe's International Relations Coordinator. Presented by Cristina Juarranz, Programming Coordinator and Assistant Director of Casa Árabe. Hayder al-Khoei is the head of external relations at the Al-Khoei Institute in Iraq, where his work focuses on intra- and inter-religious dialogue in the Middle East region. Prior to this, he was a member of the Middle East and North Africa programs at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and the European Council on Foreign Relations, where his research focused on political and security-related developments in Iraq and Syria. He earned a Master’s degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and another Master’s degree in Islamic Studies from the Islamic College of London. Further information: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/iraq-nearly-twenty-years-after-its-“liberation” Foto: Iraq (@USArmy en Flickr)

ALL VIDEOS IN THIS CATEGORY

Debate: "Journalism and Transitions in the Mediterranean" [VO español/inglés]

The quarterly journal afkar/ideas (published in French and Spanish by IEMed and Estudios de Política Exterior) has followed change in the Mediterranean throughout the last decade. International journalists and analysts have analyzed the main geostrategic, political, socio-economic and cultural developments in the region in the more than 40 issues which have come off the press since 2003. As of 2011, the journal has applied a journalistic, analytical approach to providing in-depth explanations of the obstacles and successes in the transitions which arose with the Arab Spring. It is a new stage in the region's history which has made clear once again all of the challenges faced by journalism as a profession and by the media. This debate, on the occasion of the journal's tenth anniversary, is an attempt to discuss the key factors in the role played by journalists and the media in the current political era in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East. With the participation of journalists Ethar El-Katatney (Al Jazeera), Carla Fibla (Aish) and Luis de Vega (ABC). More: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/journalism-and-transitions-in-the-mediterranean

Published at 21 14,,, 14 2014
Conference: "The Geometry of Light in the Islamic World", by Sabiha al Khemir

On Tuesday, October 29th, Sabiha al Khemir, scientific director and curator of the exhibition Nur: Light in the Art and Science of the Islamic World, offered a conference at our headquarters in Madrid, at which she discussed the symbolism of light (Nur in Arabic) in the artistic contributions of the Muslim world. On the occasion of the official opening of the international exhibition organized by the Focus-Abengoa Foundation, this expert on Islamic art gave the presentation The Geometry of Light. Introduction to the International Exhibition of Art from the Islamic World in Seville: Nur. For more information please visit: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/the-geometry-of-light-in-the-islamic-world

Published at 10 14,,, 14 2014
Conference: "Contemporary Arab Art" and "Mudejar Art in the Americas". [V.O inglés/español]

Series of events titled "Amrika: Arabs in the Americas," which Casa Árabe, Casa de América and Casa Mediterráneo are organizing from March 24 through June 11, offering round table discussions, film screenings and conferences to analyze the presence of the Arab world and culture in Latin America. In this context, Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi, President of the Royal Society of Fine Arts Jordan, offers a presentation entitled "Contemporary Arab Art". Followed by Rafael López Guzmán, Professor of Art History, University of Granada with his speech "Mudejar Art in the Americas." More: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/“amrika-arabs-in-the-americas”

Published at 06 14,,, 14 2014
Conferencia: Traducir las sociedades árabes: realidades y desafíos [V.O. francés / español]

El acto, organizado por Casa Árabe y Transeuropéennes, cuenta con la participación de Franck Mermier, director de investigación del Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Milagros Nuin Monreal, traductora de árabe en la Oficina de Interpretación de Lenguas del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Nathalie Bontemps y Marianne Babut, traductoras, y Pedro Rojo, presidente de la Fundación Al Fanar para el conocimiento árabe. Modera: Bahira Abdulatif, académica y traductora. A más de tres años de la llamada "Primavera árabe", el futuro de las sociedades al sur del Mediterráneo es cuestionado de forma cotidiana. En un contexto en el que la esperanza y la resignación, la comprensión y la incomprensión están entrelazadas, ¿cómo se define nuestra percepción de estas realidades? Más info: http://www.casaarabe.es/eventos-arabes/show/traducir-las-sociedades-arabes-realidades-y-desafios

Published at 04 26,,, 14 2014
Conference by Ilan Pappé: The Semblance of Peace in Palestine

On Monday, May 13, 2013, Ilan Pappe, Director of the European Center for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) gave a conference at Casa Árabe's headquarters in Madrid. The event was presented by Musa Odeh, the Ambassador of Palestine in Spain, and Eduardo López Busquets, the General Director of Casa Árabe. During his conference, Professor Ilan Pappe analyzed the efforts which have been made in the peace process since 1967, focusing his hypothesis on the idea that these efforts have been based on a false paradigm which has ignored the Israeli strategy concerning the Palestinian Territories. Pappe analyzed this viewpoint and the implications it has for the future of the region. This conference, held with the cooperation of the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain, has been organized on the day of the Nakba (May 15), the date on which Palestinians commemorate the partition of the Palestinians' territories under the British Mandate in 1948, and their indigenous population was dispersed until today. Ilan Pappe Born in Haifa in 1954, Mr. Pappe is the Director of the European Center for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. He forms part of a group of Israeli academics known for their work on historic revisionism, especially in relation with the events that took place in 1948. He is the author of 15 books, several of which have been translated into Spanish, with the titles La limpieza étnica de Palestina (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Crítica, 2008); Historia de la Palestina moderna: un territorio, dos pueblos (History of Modern Palestine: One Territory, Two Peoples, Akal, 2007); Gaza en Crisis (Gaza in Crisis, with Noam Chomsky, Taurus, 2011). For more information: http://en.casaarabe.es/news/the-semblance-of-peace-in-palestine-2

Published at 39 12,,, 14 2014