IFLAC
International Forum For The Literature And Culture Of
Peace
February 16, 2016
Press Release
IFLAC is appalled to learn of the arrest of journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhoury, who
was on his way to a non-political Writers’ Conference in Israel, in December 1, 2003, and
was to open on his return to Dhakka, a branch of IFLAC in Bangladesh. He is reportedly
charged with illegal contacts and espionage. These charges are without foundation.
IFLAC is not a branch of the Israeli government or of any government, and has no political
purpose. It is an NGO: a non-government organization of writers and intellectuals, formed
for the purpose of increasing dialogue and understanding through literature and culture, in
the Middle East and throughout the world.
The charges against Salah Uddin are absurd. Salah Uddin is a journalist who wants to
improve the image of Muslim countries in the Western world and was working for
promoting dialog and understanding.
IFLAC appeals for the immediate release of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhoury and requests
that all charges be dropped.
See below: 1) IFLAC STATUTES.
2) PURPOSE OF THE IFLAC ORGANIZTION.
You are invited to visit the following websites: www.iflac.up.co.il
And www.ada.up.co.il
In peace,
Dr. Ada Aharoni
IFLAC President
POB 9934, Haifa 34341, Israel
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IFLAC
International Forum For The Literature And Culture Of
Peace
IFLAC PAVE PEACE: INTERNATIONAL FORUM
For the CULTURE of PEACE
POB 9934, Haifa 34341, Israel
ARTICLES OF THE INCORPORATION
( Non Profit Organization No. 58-035-275-5)
This VOLUNTARY- NON PROFIT organization operates in the spirit of love of humanity, and
the advancement of peace between peoples and nations, and toward the following goals:
1. To strive for the promotion of peace and mutual respect between peoples and
nations.
2. To organize peace culture research, writers, intellectuals and friends of literature.
3. To found local and international branches, organize meetings, congresses, seminars
and workshops of all kinds in order to learn and acquire a culture of peace. Research
of peace culture and literature, national and international.
4. Advance the research of peace culture and strive towards spreading the idea of
peace culture in Israel and other countries around the world.
5. To promote the subject of peace culture and literature and encourage frameworks
and platforms on peace culture.
6. To develop projects for the support of literature and culture of peace.
7. To raise funds locally and internationally, allocate prizes and stipends in the
framework of realizing the organization’s goals.
8.To develop relations with researchers of peace culture, writers, unions and friends of
peace literature.
9. To establish links with the media, including television and Internet, organizations of artists,
journalists, etc., to enhance the culture and literature of peace in all its aspects.
10. To establish funds for people involved in the literature and culture of peace.
11. To work for fair human relations and culture of peace between people. To strive for
tolerance, co-existence and understanding without discrimination based on race, gender,
religion or origin.
12.To publish books, literary magazines, which deal with the culture of peace.
13.To establish cultural stages and meetings of authors and artists with the general public.
14.To establish and promote meetings of authors and artists with the general public including
the younger generation, students, etc., at all branches of the organization in the country and
international meetings.
15.To collaborate with institutions and organizations active in the advancement of peace in
the Middle East and the world.
16.To develop relations with organizations and cultural institutions active in the advancement
of global peace in the Arab countries, the Middle East, the Mediterranean region, and the
world.
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IFLAC
International Forum For The Literature And Culture Of
Peace
THE MAIN GOALS OF IFLAC
(Voluntary Association No. 58-035-275-5)
To strive toward the promotion of peace and mutual respect between people and nations.
To promote social, cultural and religious tolerance between people.
To eliminate violence in all its forms.
To organize peace culture researchers, writers, intellectuals and friends of literature.
To encourage creativity that promotes culture and peace.
PURPOSE OF THE IFLAC ORGANIZATION
We believe that culture and literature can promote peace, freedom, and the enrichment of the
quality of life. We shall endeavor to pave the way towards the fulfillment of our main ideal “one
world and one humanity, all living in peace”. Our goal is to help build a Middle East and a world
beyond war in the 21st century, by means of literature, culture and art. This endeavor is in harmony
with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. We
strive for freedom of speech and expression, and for freedom from hostile and oppressive violence,
whether it is war, or gender, physical, mental or moral oppression. We believe in the right of people
everywhere to live in peace, and in their rights to pursue their various cultures, as well as human
endeavors, and to obtain equal civil justice.
ACTIVITY
Toward these ends, we organized an "International Congress on Conflict Resolution Through
Culture and Literature," in Shavei Zion, Galilee, in June 1999, the Second Iflac Conference, in
Sydney in 2001, the third Iflac Conference was held in London in 2002, and the fourth one was
held in Bursa, Turkey, in October 2003. All these international conferences were greatly
successful.
There are several branches of IFLAC in the world, including several Jewish, Muslim, Christian and
Druze sectors in Israel, actively and harmoniously working together.
We hold regular literary and cultural meetings including: Lectures, Poetry Reading, Story-Telling,
New Books celebrations, Literary Weekend Seminars, Cultural Festivals, Symposiums,
Congresses.
PUBLICATIONS:
Galim: WAVES – PEACE CULTURE Anthology (1987-2003)
Horizon PAVE PEACE: online magazine (1996-2003)
www.New-Horizon.up.co.il
Lirit: Israeli Poetry in English Translation (1999-2003), in conjunction with the Hebrew Writers’
Association.
Visit the IFLAC website http://iflac.up.co.il
Founder Ada Aharoni’s website: http://ada.up.co.il
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About Prof. Ada Aharoni – IFLAC Founder and International President
18 December 03
Press Release
APPEAL TO RELEASE JOURNALIST SALAH UDDIN
SHOAIB CHOUDHURY IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH
Journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a researcher
of peace culture, was arrested in Dhaka on 29.11.03,
before boarding a plane on his way to an NGO IFLAC
Meeting: The International Forum for the Literature and
Culture of Peace, and a Writers’ Conference in Tel Aviv,
on the false accusation of espionage.
Salah’s 7 days Police Remand ended, but he is still held in prison to this
day under dire conditions. Salah Choudhury worked for establishing and
spreading the culture of peace in Bangladesh, the Middle East and peace
in the world, and the argument that it involved spying is absurd. We
appeal that the CMM court in Dhakka free this innocent researcher and
journalist, so that he can go back home, and continue his good works for
the spreading of peace culture and building bridges of understanding
between East and West.
We were very sorry to hear that Salah suffers from
glaucoma in his left
eye, and that he cannot get proper treatment at the Dhaka
prison.. It is non democratic and inhuman to condemn a
man for wanting to build bridges of culture among nations.
Please help to convince the Dhaka Court that IFLAC: the
International Forum for the Literature and Culture of
Peace, is just a Non Governmental Organization for
building respect and understanding among nations, and it
is not a spying agency. We hope that the Justice in
Bangladesh will see the light as soon as possible, and
that Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury will be freed and will
be able to get immediate proper treatment for his ailing
eye. Please do your utmost to release Salah Choudhury.
With many thanks,
Dr. Ada Aharoni
IFLAC President
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Bangladeshi editor en route to Israel
arrested on charges of espionage
Salah Uddin
Shoaib
Choudhury was
to have
addressed the
Hebrew Writers'
Association and
wanted to give
Bangladeshis
balanced news
from Israel.
New York Times
Editorial page
Dec. 14, 2003
The Risks of Journalism in Bangladesh
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/opinion/14SUN3.html
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a Muslim editor and commentator in Bangladesh, has
a rare virtue — he champions dialogue and decency in a culture hemmed in by
extremism and corruption. When his weekly newspaper, Blitz, published articles
favorable to Israel, it was blacklisted by various companies. Some people
demanded that the paper be banned. Mr. Choudhury was thrown out of a private
television company.
But all of this pales compared with what happened last month. As he boarded a
flight in Dhaka, the capital, on his way to a writers' conference in Tel Aviv,
Mr. Choudhury was arrested by security personnel, accused of being a spy and
thrown in prison. The charges are a baseless sham. The Committee to Protect
Journalists in New York and the Paris-based Reporters Sans Fronti?res have
vigorously condemned his arrest. Governments, including Washington, need to
demand his release.
The Tel Aviv meeting Mr. Choudhury was planning to attend was called "Bridges
Through Culture" and the lecture he hoped to deliver concerned the role of the
media in establishing peace. Mr. Choudhury, who was going to open a Bangladeshi
branch of a group called the International Forum for the Literature and Culture
of Peace, would have been the first journalist from Bangladesh to speak publicly
in Israel.
Mr. Choudhury's mistreatment is not occurring in a vacuum. Muslim extremism is
growing in Bangladesh. Moreover, violence against journalists who stand up to
the ruling party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has been increasing,
especially in the south and especially for those exposing links between
politicians and organized crime. On Dec. 4, a correspondent for a southern
regional daily was beaten and stabbed by members of the party's youth wing after
publication of an article critical of a key local politician.
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Sans Frontieres
sent letters to Khaleda Zia, the prime minister of Bangladesh, expressing grave
concern over these developments. Their alarm is quite justified. Bangladesh may
now be among the world's most dangerous countries for journalists. That makes
Mr. Choudhury's courageous stand for Muslim-Jewish dialogue all the more
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admirable — and vital to defend.
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