The New Rhetoric of Martyrdom in Turkey

I am confused and troubled by the use of the word 'martyr' in the current Turkish politics and mainstream media. Anyone who is a victim of a terrorist attack is announced and repeatedly referred to as martyr. This might serve to some people as a consolatory tactic but not to all. 

Here is the definition of the word according to Oxford English Dictionary:

A person who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce faith in Christ or obedience to his teachings, a Christian way of life, or adherence to a law or tenet of the Church; (also) a person who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce the beliefs or tenets of a particular Christian denomination, sect, etc.

In extended (esp. non-religious) contexts: a person who undergoes death or great suffering for a faith, belief, or cause, or (usually with to; also with of, for) through devotion to some object.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/114474?rskey=WGkqms&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid

What if the person who lost the loved one is not affiliated with any religion or simply chooses to stick to the old and traditional definition as we know/knew it? Who has the right to judge or lynch this person and on which grounds?

Elected Rector, Not "Appointed" one please...

I lack the words for the moment... For a change, I won't comment.

Police dispersed Boğaziçi University students who had gathered on campus on Monday to protest Professor Mehmed Özkan, who was controversially appointed rector by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Nov. 12 under a state of emergency decree.

The students protesting the appointment of Özkan instead of former rector Professor Gülay Barbarosoğlu, who had won 86 percent of the votes of academics in a July election for the position, gathered at the main gate of the university on Monday morning.

Calling the appointment a “coup of the palace [Erdoğan] against universities” and promising to continue protests until the state of emergency decree that empowers the president directly appoint rectors is cancelled, the protesting students were stopped and dispersed by police, who beat and temporarily detained some of them.

Students also launched a social media campaign with #kayyımrektormehmed and #MehmedÖzkanRektörümüzDeğildir hashtags.

Meanwhile, Professor Özkan, who did not even run in the campus election, has vowed to protect the university’s tradition of pluralism and free thought.

“I will work to continue to increase the success of our university in the academic and scientific fields, protecting the participatory, pluralistic and free tradition. I will work with all my strength to carry Boğaziçi’s values to the future, which will be the essential priority during my tenure as rector,” Özkan said in his first message to academics at the university.

Prof. Dr. Barbarosoğlu resigned on Saturday following the appointment of Özkan.

“I bid farewell to the university to which I have contributed as a student, an academic and an administrator for more than 40 years, and am ending my academic life,” said Barbarosoğlu in a message she issued.

https://www.turkishminute.com/2016/11/14/police-disperse-bogazici-students-protesting-new-rector/

Berkeley-Based Juana Alicia's Statement as an Artist, the SPILL Mural (Bay Area Mural Festival)

I am going to be brief in this entry and just let dear, strong, courageous, activist landlady/friend Juana Alicia's words speak for themselves. I feel so privileged to have met her by pure coincidence. On Friday morning, I was at the mural site near Ashby and took a few pictures which I am sharing here. Picking up a quiet weekday morning gave me the chance to take good shots:)

Murals are significant contributions  to the people in that they bring art into the public sphere and that they can serve as effective tools of social emancipation or expressions of a political and ecological concerns and goals. It is an ancient form of art and can be found in many cultures and countries. I have been in love with the type of murals in the Bay Area since I first visited here back in 2005. In fact, one of my favorite buildings in San Francisco as a feminist scholar happens to be the Women's Building (1971), a women-led community space that advocates self-determination, gender equality and social justice.  It was the most thrilling surprise to learn that Juana Alicia is one of the artists who contributed to this amazing work of art. Thanks Juana Alicia for being you and for making this world a more beautiful and valuable place through ART.

http://womensbuilding.org/the-mural/


The Artist's Statement:

This mural, SPILL/DERRAME, is dedicated to all life forms in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Deepwater Horizon oil spill took place on April 20, 2010. As you probably know, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Macondo oil well drilling platform started the largest marine oil spill in maritime history, dumping 4.2 million barrels of oil, and officials subsequently released 1.8 million gallons of Corexit, a chemical dispersant used to break up the oil, into the Gulf before the well was sealed.[1]  I was deeply disturbed by this event, as I spend much of my life enjoying, admiring and being nurtured by those Gulf waters, in the small village of Telchác, Yucatán, Mexico.

I feel that it is my responsibility as an artist to be an activist for social justice, human rights and environmental health, and this piece addresses all of these issues. As we face multi-faceted assaults on the environment, and on all of the elements and species that live on this precious planet, I see my job as to create images that work for them. I bring images that awaken, shock, challenge and hopefully, raise consciousness, to provoke thinking, discussion and action on the part of those that “read” them on the streets of our cities, or within the walls of schools, hospitals, labor unions and other sites of social interaction and critical thought. I also seek to bring beauty, hope and healing to the urban environment via the mural form.

As we watch and support the present struggle of our brothers and sisters at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on the banks of the Missouri River, we feel the ongoing urgency to protect the waters of the planet and all of the species that depend on them. This mural is dedicated to those fierce Earth Protectors, and to all of the pueblos around the world that are fighting to keep the oil in the ground, and to re-establish both environmental and spiritual balance. We know that the planet is in crisis, and that the timeline for reversing the effects of rampant, unbridled exploitation of her resources, is short. I appreciate the support of the Bay Area Mural Festival, La Peña Cultural Center, and the California Arts Council, community volunteers, my assistant Keena Romano, and my students from Berkeley City College, for enabling the production of this mural. 

---

[1] Six years later, controversy still rages about the wisdom of carpet-bombing the Gulf with these chemicals, and newly released documents reveal that government scientists expressed concern at the time about the health consequences of mixing such large quantities of dispersants with the millions of barrels of sweet crude. Occupational health experts now believe it created a toxic mix that sickened thousands of locals—including some of the 47,000 people that worked in some capacity on BP’s cleanup operation—crippling them with chemically induced illnesses that doctors are unable to treat. TECH & SCIENCEDEEPWATER HORIZON OIL DISASTER EXTENDS ITS TOXIC REACH

BY LINDA MARSA ON 10/10/16 AT 10:25 AM

[1]

http://www.juanaalicia.com/
http://juanaaliciaatcentro.wordpress.com/
http://truecolorsmuralproject.wordpress.com/

A Berkeley Conference: Fatema Mernissi (1940-2015) for Our Times

Organized by Prof. Minoo Moallem

and Prof. Paola Bacchetta. 

This conference honored the life and work of the recently deceased pioneer

feminist sociologist and writer Fatema Mernissi. Features an

international group of scholars who discuss some of the most

pressing issues with regard to gender, women and sexuality in the Muslim and Arab World.

 For the full list of speaker and the presentation titles: 

 http://cmes.berkeley.edu/fatema-mernissi-for-our-times/

The first time I read a Mernissi book must have been 2001 when I began my MA in Women and Gender Studies and I fell in love with the language and her mixing the personal with the social and the political. The Dreams of Trespass  as a autobiographical fiction probably triggered the kind of writing that I have been practicing in the past few years. However, the one I have used the most frequently has been Scheherazade Goes West: Different Cultures, Different Harems. The idea of these essays came. when Fatema Mernissi was struck by Western male journalists’ idea of harem life during her book tour of Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood (1995) and the looks and the weird questions she was posed. Edward Said's arguments in Orientalism are still strong and alive but only changed forms. The East or the Orient is a product in the rationalized and self-serving history of the West. The word harem comes in the package!

 The world Mernissi grew up in was one of independent women and insecure men, of male-female relationships much more complex than Westerners think.  A world of passive, sex-starved women competing for their all-powerful husband’s attentions simply did not exist.

Anyone can be detained in this country if Asli Erdogan is a member of terrorist organization!

Last weekend, I attended a philosophy seminar in Sausalito (a Bay Area city in Marin County). The person who kindly picked me up from home wanted to stay for dinner and catch up with his friends from Ibn-i Arabi Society. I told the organizers that I will take care of myself, find the route back home:) As it happens, I stand at the entrance of a local grocery-shop and try to call uber a couple of times. No cars available is what I get for the first time since I began to use the app. A female worker stops by and kindly asks if she can help me. I show her the phone screen, she offers to call a taxi and invites me in the market. She explains it to a co-worker/cashier while reaching the landline. The woman who just overheard the conversation says: "I'll give you a ride! No worries". I look at her face and my jaw drops. She looks like the mirror reflection of Asli Erdogan, only taller and healthier with a suntan glow. I get goosebumps while I mumble some "thank you". 



"My name is Taylor, I live on one of the floating homes over there. Sorry, I am sweaty and super casual, I just got back from a dance session. I have been dancing for years. It is called five-rhythms, it is a free-form dancing style and you don't utter a single word. It is amazing." I can see in her the magical energizing effect of the dance. The sun is shining, blinding both of us, she puts on sunglasses and I cannot take my eyes from her profile. Asli Erdogan is talking to me in English and just like in her Turkish shadow-play persona enjoyed once upon a time, Taylor loves to dance. "How much more surreal can things get after an Ibni Arabi seminar on love?" I ask myself. Both women look rebellious but Taylor is free and vibrant. She is full of life.  She gives the name of the instructor and address of a dance-space in Berkeley, which she highly recommends that I give it a try. She says she'd give me a full ride back to Berkeley if she did not have to attend a friend's birthday party. I am positive that she means it. I take the ferry and then BART, stop by two olive oil product store to ask about the harvesting time and whether I can arrange a few hours of taking part in olive harvest on a ranch. I am told that there is still time.



http://sosyal.hurriyet.com.tr/yazar/ayse-arman_12/asli-erdogan-teror-orgutu-uyesiyse-bu-ulkede-yasayan-herkes-bu-suclamalarla-tutuklanabilir_40232435

Someone needs to pick olives and dance for you.
Do keep sending me your floating reflections.
Not that one can possibly forget your fragile, incarcerated body 
In the land of Free Speech Movement
But because I love surprises from old soulmates 
In this uncanny Universe called Literature.

Expansion of Love Through Exploring: Cities, not The City

Cassie Kifer says it all: http://www.everintransit.com/ and http://siliconvalley.about.com/

Her blog entries are one of the best and the most trustworthy sources regarding the Bay Area (and many other places across the world) in California. How lucky I am to know her in person and share her space! Although I do not have much to add to what she has already written and recommended, I have a few impressions to share regarding my time in San Jose: The punk-rock-musical Green Day’s American Idiot (http://cltc.org/), some very inspiring projects at the Tech Museum, and founding fathers of the National Parks of America.

The musical tells you the story of three lifelong friends (and their circles), who are forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia, while searching for  meaning in a post-9/11 world. I remember the time when the album came out and how we blasted the stereo in the car (2004). Turning into thirty definitely did not subside my rage especially after being denied entry to the country on the Canadian-U.S border due to the unlimited authority that the average border officer was provided then. They were collectively emboldened and paranoid more than ever thanks to the Bush J.R. government at the time.  The album American Idiot vividly expresses not just the band's but my own disillusionment with America (luckily, it’s been changing since 2014 and on). It recounts the dissent of a generation which came of age in a period shaped by events like the Iraq war. I remember in the glamorous suburbia that we used to live (Naperville, IL) there were several welcome-home flags and bumper stickers ("support our troops") which severely bothered me. How could anyone possibly believe that it was for sake of "bringing democracy" to Iraq and  destroying WMD that the troops were fighting for? Just open the world map and look at the distance: Why are American soldiers in Iraq!? It is the Middle East, man, not Mexico or Canada! 

(For an amazing real story of a brave activist Iraqi woman peacemaker and to learn firsthand what the American troops actually did in Iraq, see: http://catcher.sandiego.edu/items/peacestudies/Rashad-Zaydan-Iraq.pdf )

Before you ever send troops to "the end of the world" (from the American perspective) be it Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq, please make sure to provide some basic language, cultural and religious-sensitive knowledge to each and every soldier (I am not talking about teaching stereotypes by rote).  We know that both sides will end up at "The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" otherwise. 

I knew about the show "G.D's American Idiot" since its premier but never thought that I would actually see it one day (from the very first row of the theater where the heat waves from the actors' bodies and sometimes their spits nicely shower you. There is nothing like a live show! The sound quality wasn't perfect but the acting was. I loved it!

The Museum of Innovation: I don’t like to go out on the weekends when everyone else is out (mostly with kids and elderly parents) if I can help it. This habit was developed over time from living in a mega-city for many years, fighting hours-long traffic and extreme noise among other things. I was going to apply it to San Jose as well when I went online to check the opening hours of the Tech Museum: "maintenance closure!" I will be gone by the time they reopen so I had to go on a Sunday. It was okay, in fact, much better than I expected. My favorite sections were the innovations in health care, which included exploring how a dog's sense of smell might help detect cancer, how doctors can remotely diagnose medical problems without expensive equipment across the world, new ways to filter water in developing nations, experiments with different materials to keep pre-mature infants warm, easy and safe vaccination through new nanopatch technology and contemplate how 3D printing may change health care by creating skin and organs. In short, really fascination stuff which I pray that it gets widespread as soon as possible and not sabotaged by some big companies whose profits would be affected by these inexpensive lifesaving technologies.

For the 3D IMAX dome theater, without much thinking I opted for the U.S. National Parks Adventure: breathtaking, soothing, mesmerizing  and humbling…  What a big contrast to "the Jesus of Suburbia". Jesus, Moses, Muhammed and all the other prophets received God's messages and experienced Its mysteries in the heart of Nature, didn't they? Caves, rivers, seas, mountains...  I will include John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt in my prayers tonight for creating the concept of the national parks in the early 1900s. After all, I have always felt belonging to the Nature. Not to a family or a nation but nature. One of the most surreal and spiritual experiences that I can ever remember is visiting the Red Woods and touching  sequoias.  It was  coming back home (and I leave it there for now). 

I have begun to wonder whether my unrequited love for San Francisco is fading away or rather spreading towards a larger area and thus becoming stronger as I explore the nearby cities and towns. How could I know that SJSU has this very unique and beautiful library, the only one in the country which joined forces with the city so it serves both as a public and a university library (Thanks to Cassie Kifer, I checked out two very timely and useful resources)?  I did not know that SJSU is the oldest public institution of higher education on the West Coast (1857) either. Its student population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the nation, with large Asian and Hispanic enrollments, as well as the highest foreign student enrollment of all master's institutions in the U.S.

Dear San Francisco, I still truly love you and I always will. I only feel an expansion of love. You are cool and pretty but also spoiled and very expensive! After spending a few weeks in the North Berkeley and coming across fawns at sunset while walking in a residential area through parked cars along the narrow asphalt road...  That was it, Eros had its arrow for me right there! The Wheels of Fortune: A visiting scholar position at CAL.  One reason I accepted it was to be able to see another fawn -this time- at dawn.