Yvonne Ridley: 

Human rights activist. Member of the Free Gaza Movement ( www.freegaza.org )  in Cyprus. Sailed for Gaza to challenge the Israeli siege.

Ridley will premier her documentary “Guantanamo behind the wire” She was one of the few journalists to visit the naval base. She traveled there with filmmaker David Miller to make this documentary.

Nafeez Massadeq Ahmed:

Home Pager http://nafeez.blogspot.com

Author and political Scientist specializing in interdisciplinary security studies. Teaches International Relations at the University of Sussex. Executive Director of the Institute for Policy and Research & Development.

http://nafeez.mediamonitors.net/background.html

George Galloway: 

British member of parliament for the Respect Party. Perhaps best known for his vigorous campaign to overturn economic sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s and early 2000s and to avert the 2003 invasion of that country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249JaIaubVw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyyGoPerzWc&feature=related

DR. Erik Fosse:

Recently returned to Norway from assignement inGaza at Al-Shifa Hospital with NORWAC (Norwegian Aid Comittee) www.norwac.no

http://www.wntube.net/play.php?vid=1753

Massoud Shadjareh:

A veteran human rights campaigner, who began his activism on campus at UCAL Berkley during the anti-Vietnam protest movement in the late 1960s.  He came to the UK in 1971 and has worked in the voluntary sector for some 15 years.  In 1997 he helped to set up the Islamic Human Rights Commission with a group of other Islamic activists working on different international and national projects.  IHRC is a campaign, research and advocacy organization based in London, UK.   Shadjareh currently chairs IHRC.  He currently sits on the Home Office Stop and Search Review community panel, which is addressing the disproportionality of stops against minorities.  He has authored several papers and reports on Islamophobia and human rights, including, The Oldham Riots, Muslim Profiling, Islamophobia: The New Crusade and Whose Rights Are They Anyway?, published by the British Council.  Shadjareh has completed postgraduate studies in Cambridge and London in International Relations. 

Robin Yassin-Kassab:

Home Page: http://www.qunfuz.blogspot.com

Robin Yassin-Kassab was born in Britain, he graduated from Oxford University and travelled extensively. Working as a journalist in Pakistan and later as a teacher in Oman. He lives in Scotland with his wife and two children. His critically acclaimed debut novel The Road From Damascus, was published in 2008.

Arzu Merali:

Founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, and editor of Palestine Internationalist. She has written extensively on the media coverage of Muslims in Britain.

Moderator:

Iffit Qureshi:

Writer, speaker, human rights activist. Has written extensively in the Norwegian media about racism, discrimination, Islamophobia and dynamics involved in alienating ethnic minorities in European society. Initiated and managed this seminar.

Yvonne Ridley:

Will be showing her new documentary film about human rights abuses and also the impact the War on Terror has had on human rights, democracy and freedom of speech.

Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed:

The Iran “Threat”: The Geopolitics of Energy Insecurity in the Middle East and Beyond. Revealing the real causes of Western interventionism in the Middle East since the early twentieth century. What are Western interests in the Middle East? Why is the West hostile to Iran? Is the West fighting a “War on Islam”, and is Iran next in line?

George Galloway:

Focus on rights of ethnic minorities in the UK who belong to the so called “Axis of Evil”. Also increase of surveillance cameras all over the UK and Europe, and their purpose.

Dr. Erik Fosse:

Erik Fosse will speak about his experience as a physician in Rafa Hospital during the recent siege on Gaza by Israel which left 1300 killed and over 5000 injured. He will also discuss the Palestinian elections and the circumstances which led up to the Israeli bombardment.

Massoud Shadjareh:

Racism Islamophobia and Anti-terrorism. Unravelling racist and islamophobic narrative in the laws of the war on terror.

Robin Yassin-Kassab:

The Dynamics involved in the Pakistan/Afghanistan region and foreign intervention in the region.

Arzu Merali:

War on Terror and its implications on the freedom of Speech and Wester Media. She will also discuss the vilification of religious minorities by the mainstream media.