Maryam Namazie
Encyclopedia
Moreover, she is a National Secular Society
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of religion. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866...
Honorary Associate and the NSS' 2005 Secularist of the Year
Secularist of the Year
The Secularist of the Year award is presented annually to the individual considered to have made the greatest contribution to secularism in the previous year by the UK's National Secular Society. The prize is a cheque for £5000; it was first awarded in 2005, and is sponsored by Dr...
award winner; spokesperson of Equal Rights Now - Organisation against Women's Discrimination in Iran; Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association; Central Committee member of the Worker-communist Party of Iran
Worker-Communist Party of Iran
The Worker-communist Party of Iran founded 1991, is a political party that seeks the revolutionary overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the establishment of a 'Socialist Republic' in its place...
and co-editor of WPI Briefing. She is involved in the Third Camp against US militarism and Islamic terrorism among other things. Her blog has been rated one of the top 100 atheist blogs and she was selected one of the top 45 women of the year 2007 by Elle magazine Quebec.
She has spoken at numerous conferences and written many articles on women's rights issues, violence against women, political Islam, and secularism - some of which have been translated into various languages.
Previously, Namazie was the elected Executive Director of the International Federation of Iranian Refugees, a refugee run organisation with 60 branches in 15 countries worldwide and founded the Committee for Humanitarian Assistance to Iranian Refugees (CHAIR).
Namazie was born in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
but left with her family during the 1980 Iranian revolution. Presently, she lives in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
After the Muhammad cartoons controversy
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
, she, together with 11 other activists, published a declaration named MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism
MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism
MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism is a political statement made in response to the violence surrounding the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. The signatories said they issued the letter to demonstrate that there is a need to fight for secular values and personal freedom...
. MANIFESTO portrayed the rise of Islamism as a new totalitarianism.
On 15 September 2010, Namazie, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
's state visit to the UK.