A movie screening about Iran, a talk about Hezbollah – Alsharq e.V. will host two events in Berlin in the end of May and beginning of June. Everybody is cordially invited!
Movie screening “Writing on the City”
31.05.2017, 7pm, co.up coworking, Adalbertstraße 8, 10999 Berlin, 3rd floor, Facebook event
“Walls are critical sites. They rise with cities and call on faces, names, and the written word; those strong and those weak, slogans, poems, and anthems. We read the walls to discover the dwellers' dreams, who they believe is sovereign, as well as those who believe in changing the status quo. We realize how dissatisfied people come out of their hiding places to write something on wall in darkness, looking to the future, turning their back on the past.” (writing on the city) We are pleased to inform you that Alsharq e.V. is going to show the movie “Writing on the city” to discuss street art in Iran on May 31. This acclaimed documentary is about graffiti and its relations to social changes in Iran since the revolution in 1979 to the Green Movement in 2009. We will have a discussion and a presentation about this topic as well. The session will start at 7pm at co.up coworking (3rd floor). Free admission.
The Political Economy of Hezbollah
1.06.2017, 7 pm, Stresemannstr. 94-96, 10693 Berlin. Facebook event.
Alsharq e.V. and the library project بيناتنا/ Baynetna- Between Us invites you to a book presentation and discussion with Joseph Daher on June 1 in Berlin. Founded in the early 1980s, Hezbollah likes to present itself as an antipole: a resistance movement fighting oppression, a guardian of Islamic morality opposing corrupted secularism. By now, Hezbollah is a political actor with representation in both government and parliament, a business of large socio-economic influence as well as a powerful militia. Hezbollah fighters can be found not only in the border region to Israel but also in Syria where Hezbollah is fighting alongside the Syrian regime.
In "Hezbollah: The Political Economy of Lebanon’s Party of God (2016)" academic and activist Joseph Daher offers an analysis which stretches far beyond a mere study of the movement’s ideology. The Swiss-Syrian author describes the rise of Hezbollah based on interviews, recordings and material from various archives, placing his findings in a theoretical framework inspired by Marx and Gramsci. Highlighting Hezbollah’s involvement in privatization and similar neoliberal policies, Daher challenges the movement’s self-portrayal as a force of resistance. "Hezbollah’s professed solidarity with the oppressed of the world is largely subordinated to its narrower political interests”, writes Daher. And claims the "Party of God" to be neither revolutionary nor progressive but rather „[a party] led by political interests that can be explained through a materialist approach.”
Joseph Daher is an activist, academic and founder oft he Syria Freedom Forever Blog. He regularly writes about Syrian grassroots social movements. The event will be held in English with Arabic consecutive interpretation. بيناتنا/ Baynetna- Between Us is a new library and discussion space in the heart of Berlin aimed at opening Arabic and non-Arabic cultures up for each other. Baynetna’s goal is preventing ‚the foreign‘ from becoming ‚the other‘ and instead exploring ‚the shared‘ by way of discussing prose, poetry etc. * Summary based on Alexander Shinis. If you want to participate in this event, please send an e-mail to Christoph Dinkelaker ([email protected]) to register.
