Faisal saeed al mutar wiki

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar

Iraqi-born satirist, human-rights activist and writer

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar in

Born (age&#;33&#;34)[1]

Babylon, Iraq

NationalityIraqi, American
CitizenshipUnited States, Iraq
Years&#;active–present
Known&#;forHuman rights activism
Notable workIdeas Beyond Borders
TitleFounder and President
AwardsHonorary Doctorate
Website

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar (Arabic: فيصل سعيد المطر; born ) is an Iraqi-American human-rights activist and social entrepreneur who was admitted to the United States as a refugee in He is founder of Global Conversations and Ideas Beyond Borders and formerly worked for to assist dissidents in closed societies worldwide.[2] He became an American citizen in June

Biography

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar was born in Hillah, Iraq, in [3] He later moved to Baghdad.

Faisal saeed al mutar wiki page An outspoken writer and activist, he survived the Iraq Civil War, the murder of his brother, and several kidnapping attempts before becoming a refugee in the United States in He hopped from Lebanon to Malaysia and was ultimately granted refugee status to the United States in Download as PDF Printable version. In , Faisal Saeed Al Mutar won the Beacon Award by the Ellis Island Honors Society that recognizes and celebrates the next generation of professionals, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, artists, and visionary leaders [2].

Al Mutar grew up in a religiously moderate Muslim family in Iraq, though he remained nonreligious throughout his upbringing.[4] He described growing up under Saddam as being exposed to the "motherlode of misinformation".[5]

Al Mutar's writings and secular lifestyle made him a target for threats and attacks by al-Qaeda.

He survived three attempted kidnappings.[6] His brother and cousin were also killed by al-Qaeda in sectarian violence there.[7] Al Mutar visited Lebanon and then Malaysia where he founded the Global Secular Humanist Movement in September "with the mission of addressing the absence of recognition and legal protections for secular humanists." As a result of his activism, Al Mutar received death threats from religious militias such as the Mahdi Army and elements tied to al-Qaeda.[7][8][9][10][11]

Due to his conflicts with Islamists over his secular identity and the deaths of his brother and cousin in sectarian violence, Al Mutar fled Iraq and received refugee status in the U.S.

in After first living for a number of months in Houston, Al Mutar moved to New York City., where he lives and continues to operate Ideas Beyond Borders with the broader aim of making Wikipedia pages, academic articles and seminal works covering science, literature and philosophy available to Arabic speakers in attempt to confront lies with logic and pit critical thinking against propaganda and fake news.[11] He also served as a community manager for ,[12] a platform which "allows activists from closed societies to connect directly with people around the world with skills to help them."[13]

In Al Mutar and Singaporean journalist Melissa Chen[14] founded Ideas Beyond Borders, a nonprofit that works to: "promote the free exchange of ideas and to defend human rights to counter extremist narratives and authoritarian institutions."[15]

"Less than 1% of internet content is available in Arabic, rendering much of Wikipedia's trove unusable.

In Mr. Mutar, then a refugee living in New York, wanted to change that. He founded the nonprofit Ideas Beyond Borders (IBB) and has since hired young people across the Middle East to translate Wikipedia pages into Arabic, starting with subjects they thought were most needed: female scientists, human rights, logical reasoning, and philosophy."[16] The effort is referred to as House of Wisdom and is organized by the I Believe in Science group: "I Believe in Science has more than volunteers and has translated over 10, articles.

Its founder, Ahmed al-Rayyis, now organizes the translation team for IBB, and many of those volunteers have since been hired as Bayt al-Hikma translators."[16]

In April , Faisal launched a campaign to bring back books to the destroyed library of Mosul by donating 2, books from a list provided by the university, prioritizing works required by different departments.

The project also supplied 20 computers and 20 printers to "allow the library to access electronic books and journals from around the world and reconnect the university to the global community.[17]

In August , following the Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan he a launched a program to hire more than 70 Afghan translators who used to formally work with the US Army and international development agencies to the House of Wisdom Project to translate books and articles into Dari and Pashtu.

Personal views

On Ideas Beyond Borders, Al Mutar mentioned "We are not a political organisation but we embrace some of the controversial books and content because we believe Arab youth should be allowed to make up their own minds about how they want to live their lives."[18] and "We are sharing fresh ideas with millions… I believe these ideas, this knowledge, will defeat ignorance and extremism more effectively than tanks and guns ever could".[19]

Regarding misinformation, Al Mutar mentioned "On an average day, for an average young person looking at their cellphone right now, much of the information they see is really nonfactual.

My goal and my inspiration is for there to be actual sources of information and make that information accessible to those who need it."[20]

Al Mutar said in a interview that "Iraq is better off" without Saddam Hussein and that "Iraqis today are more free."[21]

Al Mutar attributes the rise of al-Qaeda, ISIS and the Taliban to Islamism which he says will make terrorism difficult to eradicate by U.S.

military force alone. He cites the easy availability of funding as a compounding factor. Al Mutar believes that the Middle East is responsible for enforcing peace in their region.[22] He says the West's inflated sense of moral responsibility, which he calls "the racism of lower expectation," erodes the Middle East's imperative to address its own issues, such as the Syrian refugee crisis.[23]

On ISIS, Al Mutar mentioned "ISIS' main goal is to destroy knowledge and culture, while IBB's main goal is to create a knowledge movement in Iraq and make information accessible across the Middle East."[17]

Al Mutar has received criticism from the left and the right for his views.[24]

Al Mutar sees the translation project as a long-term investment in the region.

"My goal is to prevent refugee crises from happening in the first place, rather than dealing with refugees," he says. "I strongly believe that education and really changing the ecosystem of information is the way to go."[16]

Al Mutar criticized President Donald Trump's executive order suspending admission of immigrants for putting refugees "in harm's way."[25]

Al Mutar was a columnist for Free Inquiry and currently writes for Substack.[26] Al Mutar maintains relationships with people associated as "intellectual dark web" having been an engaged guest of Dave Rubin and has been with him on a panel.[27] He is also associated with Peter Boghossian.[28]

Awards

In Al Mutar received the gold President's Volunteer Service Award from President Barack Obama for his volunteer service in the United States and around the world.[29]

In , he received a fellowship award from the Elevate Prize Foundation by Joseph Deitch.[19]

in , his organization Ideas Beyond Borders won Atlas Network’s Middle East & North Africa Liberty Award and the Smart Bets Award.[1]

In , Faisal Saeed Al Mutar won the Beacon Award by the Ellis Island Honors Society that recognizes and celebrates the next generation of professionals, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, artists, and visionary leaders [2].

In , Faisal Saeed Al Mutar was awarded an honorary doctorate from Whittier College. This honor is reserved for individuals who have demonstrated exceptional moral fiber, and outstanding convictions, ambitions, values, and accomplishments.[30]

In , Al Mutar became a non-resident fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, where he contributes to research and strategies to counter disinformation and radicalization.[31]

References

  1. ^"Faisal Saeed Al-Mutar".

    Retrieved 11 May

  2. ^Borenstein, David (October 2, ). "Crowdsourcing for Human Rights". The New York Times.
  3. ^al Mutar, Faisal Saeed (). "Faisal Saeed al Mutar - Big Think". Big Think. Retrieved 11 January
  4. ^Naja Dandanell; Louise Grønkjær (3 August ). "Hvis vi ikke ændrer uddannelsessystemet, får vi en generation af ekstremister".

    Skoleliv (in Danish). Archived from the original on 10 September Retrieved 9 August

  5. ^Cuthbert, Olivia (). "Spread the word: the Iraqis translating the internet into Arabic". The Guardian. ISSN&#; Retrieved
  6. ^Stockman, JD (25 December ). "Faisal Al Mutar: The Rationalist from an Irrational World Pt.

    1". Eggvan. Archived from the original on 14 January Retrieved 11 January

  7. ^ abChitwood, Ken (3 December ). "Iraqi refugee works to make life safer for secular humanists". Religion News Service. The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 January
  8. ^"Coming Out Conversations – EP.

    8".

  9. Item 6 of 10
  10. Item 1 of 10
  11. Item 8 of 10
  12. Item 2 of 2
  13. Item 4 of 10

    14. Secular Safe House. Archived from the original on 13 January Retrieved 12 January

  14. ^McAfee, David G. (13 May ). "From Iraq To Texas: A Humanist Activist Comes To America". Retrieved 11 January
  15. ^Rizvi, Ali A. (24 January ).

    Faisal saeed al mutar wiki english Archived from the original on 13 January External links [ edit ]. He cites the easy availability of funding as a compounding factor. Huffington Post.

    "A Conversation Between Two Atheists From Muslim Backgrounds (Part 1)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 January

  16. ^ ab"Spread the word: the Iraqis translating the internet into Arabic". The Washington Post.

  17. Faisal saeed al mutar wiki free
  18. Faisal saeed al mutar wiki youtube
  19. Faisal saeed al mutar wiki calendar

    20. Religion News Service. December 3,

  20. ^"Faisal Al Mutar". The Huffington Post.
  21. ^Al Mutar, Faisal (September 11, ). "Crowdsourcing Human Rights". The Huffington Post.
  22. ^"Bringing 'weapons of mass instruction' to the Arab world". . Retrieved
  23. ^Al Mutar, Faisal Saeed.

    "Faisal Saeed Al Mutar on Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 8 August

  24. ^ abcRiley Robinson (February 5, ) This man brings hope to Arab youth one Wikipedia page at a time, The Christian Science Monitor
  25. ^ ab"Bringing Books Back to Mosul University Library".

    Al-Fanar Media.

    Faisal saeed al mutar wiki Faisal's leadership has not only fostered a culture of knowledge and open dialogue but has also played a pivotal role in nurturing over small businesses and social initiatives, seeding the ground for tangible, lasting change in the region. An authoritative voice against extremism, Faisal's extensive travels and engagements at international conferences and university campuses have cast him as a reliable, trusted pioneer in the fight against extremism. The Washington Post. In other projects.

    Retrieved

  26. ^"Why translation matters for the Arab world | Khadija Hamouchi". AW. Retrieved
  27. ^ ab"Fellows". Elevate. Retrieved
  28. ^"A biological war? Garlic as a cure? How a non-profit is confronting Arabic coronavirus conspiracies".

    NBC News. Retrieved

  29. ^Celeste Headlee (2 May ).

    Faisal saeed al mutar wiki free: Archived from the original on 13 January Our weekly newsletter What Could Go Right? Slate Podcast. The media and public are focusing on Europe in calling on it to open its doors to refugees and European leaders are tackling the question, but no such calls are being made of the Gulf's responsibility, something activist Faisal Saeed Al Mutar calls "the racism of lower expectation.

    "The Iraq War Was a Necessary Evil". Slate (Podcast). Retrieved 20 July

  30. ^Breznick, Casey (18 November ). "Faisal al Mutar Lectures on the Future of Iraq and ISIS". The Cornell Review. Retrieved 11 January
  31. ^Nguyen-Phuong, Mai (11 September ). "Refugee crisis tests Islam's fundamental tenet of Ummah".

    The Islamic Monthly. Retrieved 13 January

  32. ^Rozsa, Matthew (July 24, ). "Watch: Free speech advocate Faisal Al Mutar faces criticsm [sic] from right and left". . Retrieved November 12,
  33. ^Shoichet, Catherine E. "For these people, Trump's plans are personal".

    CNN. Retrieved

  34. ^Scott, Amanda (16 July ). "Report from the Secular Student Alliance Conference". Retrieved 11 January
  35. ^"WATCH: Free speech advocate Faisal al Mutar faces criticism from right and left". 24 July
  36. ^"Faisal Saeed al Mutar at Portland State University, "Are Western Values Worth Defending?"".

    8 November

  37. ^al Mutar, Faisal Saeed (16 August ).

    Faisal saeed al mutar wiki fandom Post a Comment. Faisal Saeed Al-Mutar is an Iraqi writer, born in Founder and President of Ideas Beyond Borders,. After the tragic murder of his brother, cousin and best friend by Al-Qaeda, he escaped Iraq, first to Lebanon and then Malaysia.

    "Faisal's verfied bio on center for inquiry". Twitter. Retrieved 18 August

  38. ^"Whittier College Welcomes Entrepreneur Jasmine Star '02 As Commencement Speaker | Whittier College". . Retrieved
  39. ^"Al Mutar , Faisal Saeed | Program on Extremism | The George Washington University".

    Program on Extremism. Retrieved

External links