feb
9
2009

Challenges of Activism in the Middle East

Esra’a Al Shafei of MideastYouth.com

Monday, February 9, 2:00PM ET
Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor
RSVP required for those attending in person (rsvp@cyber.law.harvard.edu)
This event will be audio webcast live.

Esra'a Al Shafei is the founder and Executive Director of MideastYouth.com, an award-winning, independent, interfaith network whose mission is to inspire and provide young people with the freedom and opportunity of expression, and promote a fierce but respectful dialogue among the highly diverse youth of all sects, socio-economic backgrounds, and political and religious beliefs in the Middle East. They use this freedom to prove that the collaboration necessary for stability is possible. Their online advocacy bridges barriers of faith, geography and censorship to unite young people committed to fostering constructive discourse in the Middle East. Esra’a is also the founder and project director of a series of international activist campaigns for the rights of women, religious and ethnic minorities, and for freedom of expression, including the widely acclaimed FreeKareem.org, The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights, The Alliance for Kurdish Rights, Migrant Rights, NoHonor (in honor killings), and Sexual Terrorism (to fight human trafficking and sexual slavery in the region). In 2008, she was the recipient of a 2008 Berkman Award from Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society for "outstanding contributions to the Internet’s impact on society over the past decade.” She also received the 2007 Templeton Freedom Award for Best New Intellectual Entrepreneur. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Monitor, The National, and other leading publications. Most recently, her live podcasts and blogs from Gaza during the Israeli attack were featured on CNN International. She is 22 years old and is based in Bahrain.

In this presentation, Esra'a will take us on a tour of her cyber community, and discuss the challenges of activism in the Middle East, where speech and information are often tightly controlled; how she and her colleagues maintain a fierce but respectful dialogue among members with diverse viewpoints; and what the Internet can bring to the many religious and ethnic minorities in the region. She'll share how she and her team of cyber-activists are tackling the region's widespread human rights issues using Internet and social media tools and platforms.

Links

• MideastYouth.com