Congrès Mondial des Études sur le Moyen-Orient et l'Afrique du Nord

Barcelone, du 19 au 24 Juillet 2010

· NOT_DEFINED institution: International Association of Middle Eastern Studies (IAMES) & International Association of Contemporary Iraqi Studies (IACIS)

· NOT_DEFINED organizer: Tareq Ismael

· NOT_DEFINED sponsor: International Association of Middle Eastern Studies (IAMES) & International Association of Contemporary Iraqi Studies (IACIS)

· NOT_DEFINED language: English

· NOT_DEFINED description: The Lebanon-based Al-Adab journal, a standard bearer for cultural and political discourse in the Arab world, has been targeted by powerful forces in an attempt to suppress critical discourse. In the 19 May 2007 issue of the journal, Samah Idriss authored a measured critique of the fawning response of Arab intellectuals to the Irbil Cultural Festival, organized by Fakhri Karim, a senior adviser to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and director of al-Mada Foundation. Fakhri Karim, in turn, launched a legal suit against the financially vulnerable Al-Adab journal, resulting in a fine against the journal. The judgment against the journal was published in a subsequent edition.

The roundtable will assess the meaning of the ruling not only for Lebanon but for the region. Does this legal ruling establish the principle that critical discourse can be arrested by organized financial interests, manipulating the legal system? The opportunities for free press and free discourse in the Arab world are tenuous under the best of circumstances, given the continuous cooption of opposition forces. Does the ruling against al-Adab signal the emergence of additional financial and legal tools for the suppression of critical inquiry and, if so, how might such measures be countered?

Chair: Philip Marfleet (University of East London)

Presenter: Raymond Baker (Trinity College USA)

Presenter: Samah Idriss (editor in chief, Al-Adab, Beirut)

Presenter: Tareq Ismael (University of Calgary)

Presenter: Fuat Keyman (Koch University, Istanbul)

Presenter: Norton Mezvinsky (International Council of Middle Eastern Studies)

Presenter: Haifa Zangana (novelist and International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies Board member)