There is a life before and a life after Hamilton. The groundbreaking and multi-award-winning creation by Lin-Manuel Miranda, that has recently graced screens on Disney+, is a production that is not only watchable, but immediately rewatchable. Repeatedly. Rarely have I experienced anything on or off screen which has gripped me so.
As a researcher in English literature, theatre lies at the heart of my work. Shakespeare’s Globe and the West End have been personal haunts, and in early postgraduate years I reviewed theatre for a number of outlets. From musicals to opera and everything in between, the West End has been an unquestionably enjoyable but stuffy experience. Almost without exception I would be one of a handful (if that) of BAME people present on and off the stage. My brown visibly Muslim presence an insertion provoking frequent sideways glances as I brought discomfort to the white privilege of these spaces. Of the productions themselves, the music would be melodious but not game-changing. The printed programmes would often describe a higher purpose that on stage would be buried in the muddle of art. More than anything, theatre entertained – in a narrowly defined frame for that term.
Hamilton breaks all such boundaries. An overwhelmingly BAME cast, makes theatre a space visibly and viscerally for all. The talent – broad, breathtaking – makes one believe again. History intertwined with art in a manner that melds politics with pleasure, tragedy with talent, democracy with dance and power with all people. And if all else were laid aside, the music, to take Hamilton’s own words, will be enough. There can be no denying that Miranda is a musical polymath. From hip hop to traditional show tunes, this production seamlessly traverses genres and pushes the socio-culturally imposed boundaries of musical theatre in a manner that holds a mirror up to the shortsightedness of our expectations. One is left astonished at the realisation that this production broke new ground – that this richness has not been the norm in musical theatre this whole time, and that we have not demanded it.
Notwithstanding its impressive credentials, however, Hamilton undeniably has its failings on the story of race in America. In a world in which the Black Lives Matter movement has finally brought to our collective consciousness the scale of brutality and oppression which campaigners have spent centuries raising, Hamilton is viewed in a renewed – and crucial – light. While an all-BAME cast furthers the cause of a more representative theatre and breaks ground for artists and art alike, colour-blindness does not tackle the harsh realities of history and oppression. While slavery and abolition is mentioned, no slave is given a voice. While the Founding Fathers are celebrated, their slave-owning is touched on lightly. And while the narrative of Black oppression is inadequate, the history of Indigenous genocide is entirely non-existent.
There is something to be said for the challenge of concentrating decades of complex history into a two-and-a-half-hour piece. Furthermore, the global BLM movement has laudably shifted the goalposts, and what was groundbreaking then has scope to go further now. Historic context is also worthy of consideration; that Black and Indigenous voices were indeed choked. As abolitionist Frederick Douglass would declare, &#8220;What to the slave is the fourth of July?” Figures like John Laurens, portrayed by Antony Ramos, did critique slavery and strove to establish the first 3,000-man Black regiment to join the fight for freedom. Hamilton himself along with Hercules Mulligan, played by Okieriete Onaodowan, would help establish the New York Manumission Society, which worked towards abolition. Yet, as the musical itself observes, it matters who lives, who dies and who tells your story. Including only white men’s efforts against Black oppression is not enough. As Miranda has duly acknowledged, “All the criticisms are valid.”
Despite its flaws, Hamilton remains an irresistibly riveting work. Like the many who are now streaming it, I am feeling the loss of not experiencing Hamilton live – yet. And more so that I may not ever experience it with the original cast. Miranda’s Hamilton is captivating and maddening, exuding the un-inhibitable energy of a man in too great a hurry to make history to await anyone. Leslie Odom Jr is Aaron Burr in walking envy; his performance renders his ambition and hatred tangible in equal measure. His powerful vocal capacities are in turn envy-inducing. Renée Elise Goldsberry’s standout performance exudes the intellect and grace of Angelica Schuyler such that her presence on stage is a presence in your very room. Relatively infrequent but powerful, every exit leaves one awaiting her return. Meanwhile few can fault the brilliantly footloose comedy of Daveed Diggs as Lafayette and Jefferson, and the fabulously wild-eyed Jonathan Groff as manic King George III.
But perhaps the character most endearing is Eliza Hamilton, portrayed by the talented Philippa Soo. The wife of Alexander Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton is a presence of love and fortitude in a production that engages the full turbulence of national realisation. From War of Independence to the struggles of a new nation, while others falter and sway as the country is tossed at sea, Eliza is an anchor, steadying not only her restless husband but the nation at large. A call to calm, compromise and a vision that extends beyond disagreements of the moment – “look around, how lucky we are to be alive right now?”
While Hamilton would not make it to 50, his widow would survive another 50 years garnering five more decades of respect and philanthropy. During their marriage she would draft with him some of his most iconic documents, while raising their eight children. Following his death she would battle to preserve his materials, going on to collect his biography while concurrently engaging in numerous historic initiatives, from the creation of the Washington Monument to the founding of the first private orphanage in New York. The play awaits the very final scene to truly centre the remarkable woman without whom the eponymous man would not be who he came to be, and without whom his long-fought yet cut-short legacy would likely have been ground into the dusts of history. Indeed, even Hamilton the musical itself would not have been possible were it not for the decades of the widow Hamilton’s industry to protect the Founding Father’s documents and legacy. While the closing scene touches on this reality, it is far from adequate and leaves one seeking more.
But then perhaps this sense of incompletion was intended. For nothing would be a more perfect follow-on to this musical sensation than one treading the footsteps of Eliza Hamilton. Here’s hoping that Miranda has another phenomenon up his sleeve – that we too can compel him to include women in the sequel. Hamilton took seven years to complete and a sequel may take no less. I for one am willing to wait for it.
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<pre>Photo Credit: Hamilton / Disney</pre>

Hamilton Disney 1

Despite narrative imperfections, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s renowned stage production is in a creative league of its own.

Hamilton: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?

Over a thousand years of European Islam brings into question increasingly narrow definitions of British and European values 
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In the medieval and early modern world, England and wider western Europe travelled extensively in Asia and the Middle East and traded keenly with the Islamic world. These encounters are frequently neglected in our readings of history; rarely if ever are they mentioned in English schoolrooms and beyond. Crucially, the Islamic world was not only those lands beyond European borders, but included European lands too. This reality stands as an important historical reminder at a time in which the rise of the far-right in the UK and on the continent threatens harmonious relations between the many cultures that form the rich tapestry of modern Europe. What emerges is the story of Europe’s long and meaningful relationship with Islam and, crucially, the history of European religious diversity and tolerance itself. 
That faiths which distinctly form the European family include those beyond Christianity – including Islam and Judaism – is nothing new. In fact, European Islam is almost as old as Islam itself, first carving its identity in the medieval era with the founding of Muslim Spain in 711 that saw the conquest of the previous Visigothic Iberian Kingdom. This particular Islamic European Empire would endure for 700 years, melding faith and culture to form a uniquely Spanish identity. 
Muslim Spain was particularly admired for its religious tolerance, being home to a plethora of European faiths including Judaism and minority sects of Christianity. Both Muslim and non-Muslim Spaniards were fluent in Spanish, Arabic and other languages, and contributed to a rich civilisation of intellectual and cultural advancement, as well as wealth. The empire was home to a truly cosmopolitan and flourishing society, producing generations of such intellectual greats as the Jewish philosopher and astronomer, Maimonides, and the Muslim mathematician and astronomer, Al-Zarqali, and creating some of the most breathtaking architecture in the world. Although the invasion by Catholic northern Spain would result in the overthrow of the Islamic Spanish Empire in 1492, Spanish Muslims established and retained an Islamic mark on Europe and the Iberian Peninsula that continues to manifest itself linguistically and culturally. 
Even as Muslim Spain suffered conquest, eastern Europe witnessed the further consolidation of a European Islamic identity and presence by the founding of the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Although the Ottomans had been established on the European side of the Bosphorus strait since the late fourteenth century, the 1453 Conquest of Constantinople, led by Sultan Mehmed II, would extinguish the Byzantine Empire and render the city the new Ottoman capital, thus truly establishing the Ottomans in Europe. 
Like the Spanish, the <a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2015/05/25/western-europe-and-the-ottoman-empire-trade-across-an-inverted-imperial-divide/">Ottomans</a> too would be recognised in Europe for their tolerance of diverse European faiths, standing out as a cosmopolitan society among less tolerant western European states. They generally accepted Christians, Jews and those of others faiths, even welcoming refugees and outcasts from less tolerant regions of Christian Europe. The early modern English traveler, George Sandys, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/relationofjourne00sand#page/56/mode/2up">reported</a> that the Ottomans &#8220;extend their charity to Christians and Jews as well as to them of their own religion&#8221; and Henry Blount, another early modern English traveller, <a href="http://bit.ly/1aXcNfL">observed</a> &#8220;the Turke puts none to death for Religion&#8230;there is seldom any compulsion of conscience.&#8221; Jews who had suffered persecution previously under Byzantine rule found that Turkish Islamic rule granted them considerable autonomy. 
Crucially, religious tolerance was not unique to Muslim Spaniards or Ottomans, but a quality of Medieval Islam practiced across the Islamic world that would largely continue into the early modern period. Indeed, historically it was these Muslim Europeans who introduced the conception of religious tolerance and acceptance of other faiths to a previously intolerant Europe, long before the European Enlightenment. 
While debates rage about the place of Islam in Europe today, it is a relevant reminder to recall that Islam is European, and has been so longer than secularism or even Protestantism has. For example, while veiled Muslim women are questioned for dressing in a so-called foreign manner, it is a humbling reminder that the Islamic hijab has been a normative European attire since 711 – centuries before jeans, suits or ties came into fashion. And as some seek to question the hijab as both oppressive and a garment that forces religion into the public sphere, it is worth noting that while the Enlightenment may have served to separate church and state among Christian nations, Islamic Europe, in its historic recognition of multiple faith groups and their respective laws, has not suffered the same religious impositions historically experienced in western Europe, retaining the respect of individuality. It is for the individual to define their self-expression, European identity and what is or is not oppressive for them, not for hegemonic state or public figures. 
As far as authentic European identity is concerned then, those targeting the diversity that make Europe the enriching home it is have some deep soul searching to do. If the question is who or what is authentically European, the answers will likely prove humbling. However, the actual question and impetus behind such contentions is probably not as innocent as simply identifying what denotes European values, or indeed British values, and what undermines those values. Rather, it is something infinitely more sinister: an intolerance of xenophobic roots. And that intolerance is far more backward, counter to Enlightenment values, and an enemy of modernity, than the practices and cultures of individual Europeans ever have been.
<pre>Image from: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/27/muslims-british-values_n_5536705.html </pre>

European Islam: A Millennium of Tolerant Diversity

Dynamic early interactions between western Europe and the Ottomans illustrate an age in which global power lay outside western hands 
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Our readings of history has tended to a Eurocentric direction that has failed to give attention to the rich heritage of engagement with non-western European lands, many of them more powerful than Europe, that has existed for centuries. This is particularly true with western European colonialism so fresh in our minds. It was only in 1947, less than 70 years ago, that Britain finally left India, the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the British Empire. However, in the early modern period, between the late fifteenth century to the late eighteenth century, when western Europe was just beginning to increase travel around the world and long before a meaningful western European colonialism had come into being, the case was quite the reverse. 
Traders, travellers and diplomats from western Europe often travelled to regions of the Middle East, Asia and beyond to seek a slice of the vast markets that contained rich products from spice to silk. These encounters were influenced by a very different balance of power; western Europeans were the weaker figures seeking economic benefit in these powerful empires and markets. This was especially seen in relation to the Islamic worlds whose empires, against a far weaker western Europe, were some of the most powerful in the world. 
The leading empires of the Islamic worlds were the Turkish Ottoman Empire that stretched from Europe into the Middle East and North Africa, the Persian Safavid Empire in the Middle East, and the Indian Mughal Empire in Asia. These lands held the advantage in the world as powerful, wealthy and militarily advanced civilisations, far above western European domination. I use the phrase ‘western Europe’ intentionally in relation to the western region of the continent as opposed to the entire continent. The Ottomans too were European and present day Turkey remains part of the continent. While Turkey’s place in Europe is often debated, Turkey’s presence in Europe dates back to the Middle Ages, making such debates on its identity deeply ironic. 
In the early modern world, the most powerful empire in Europe was that of the Turkish Ottomans. The Ottomans had established themselves on the European side of the Bosphorus strait since the late fourteenth century. Then, in 1453 Sultan Mehmed II led the Conquest of Constantinople, which extinguished the Byzantine Empire, and made Constantinople the new Ottoman capital. This heralded a new age in Ottoman expansion in Europe that would extend through central Europe until it reached the gates of Vienna. Sultan Suleiman I conquered the western Balkans and most of Hungary, and it would not be until the 1680s that the Ottomans suffered any permanent loss of land. 
Educated western Europeans were awed by the Ottomans; in fact, it was they who gave Suleiman the title ‘the Magnificent’ rather than the Ottomans, who had named him ‘the Lawgiver’. The sixteenth century French jurist and historian, Jean Bodin, wrote, “It would be far more just to regard the Ottoman Sultan as the inheritor of the Roman Empire”. The famous early modern English historian, Richard Knolles, would comment on the impossibility of the task to “set downe the bounds and limits” upon the Ottomans who accept “no other limits than the uttermost bounds of the earth”. Furthermore, as the Ottomans gained control of Islam’s holiest sites of Makkah, Madina and Jerusalem, they formally claimed the title of &#8216;Khalif&#8217;, assuming for themselves leadership of the global Islamic community. 
For the English, the Ottomans were the leading eastern object of both fear and fantasy, yet with flourishing trade and diplomatic relations it was the Ottomans that influenced England most significantly in this period. In 1580 William Harborne, the first official English Ambassador from the court of Queen Elizabeth I to the Ottomans, negotiated the first commercial treaty with Istanbul that led to the creation of The Levant Company. This company traded heavily across the Ottoman Empire and Mediterranean region. Of all western Europe, Britain enjoyed the most commercial activity with the Islamic worlds in the seventeenth century. Trade with the Ottomans alone accounted for a quarter of England’s overseas commercial activities. 
Such was the importance of Ottoman trade to the English that when in the late sixteenth century an overzealous English gentleman, Sir Anthony Sherley, attempted to form an alliance with Persia against Ottoman expansion, a measure which threatened Ottoman trade, Queen Elizabeth’s wrath was so severe that she banned Sherley from ever returning to England. Meanwhile, Anthony’s brother Thomas, who fell afoul of the Turks and was imprisoned by them, would upon release and return to England in 1607 be arrested for interfering with the Levant trade. 
Interestingly, even as England keenly traded in Ottoman goods, the Ottomans were often ambivalent about English goods, such that the English would often be forced to trade in gold or silver bullion rather than English products. This was true for other western European traders too and would cause a weakening outflow of capital in the absence of commodity export. While the Ottomans had desirable goods for the English and other western Europeans, the latter had little to offer in return which the Ottomans could not produce for themselves. It was the Ottomans who were developed and western Europe underdeveloped. However, the English did succeed in trading in arms with the Ottomans; English scrap metal from old church bells were among the items the Ottomans purchased to use in manufacturing arms. It is perhaps an irony that even as the Ottomans militarily threatened western European borders, the English provided the means to create the arms to do so. 
That western Europe, and particularly the English under Queen Elizabeth I and later monarchs, continued to retain strong partnerships and trade agreements with the Ottomans, despite the military threat the latter posed, reflects on the interesting dynamics of the relationship. While foreign policy was at odds, in a world moving swiftly towards a globalised capitalist economy, profit won out and determined the terms of treaties and encounters. While the early modern period, where imperial power lay firmly outside western European hands, was far different to our modern times in geopolitical terms, in terms of international relations, however, it seems things were not so different. 
Queen Elizabeth I recognised the importance of international trade and diplomatic alliances in an age of eastern political authority, shifting economies and increasing globalisation, and was conscious of the significance of the Ottoman Empire within that picture. This recognition allowed for a flourishing engagement with the Ottomans, casting strong western European relations with the Islamic worlds into a rich history spanning centuries.
<pre>Image from: <a href="http://www.getyourguide.com/">http://www.getyourguide.com/istanbul-l56/full-day-private-ottoman-empire-tour-istanbul-t27321/</a></pre>

Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire: Trade Across an Inverted Imperial Divide

We’re all going to die anyway, let it happen naturally 
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The night has been a shocker. After the gasps around the exit polls that lasted for some time &#8211; and we can’t face the phrase ‘exit poll’ ANYMORE &#8211; this morning the nation awoke to what very few, including the Conservatives, expected. A narrow Tory majority forms government amid huge losses for Labour and the Liberal Democrats. UKIP did not get the glorious results it expected either. So much for hung parliament and weeks to months of colourful coalition speculation. 
Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and beer-swilling Nigel Farage have all announced their resignation from leadership of their respective parties. Yet, as shocking as the simultaneous triple leadership resignations of three lead parties is, after a night like the one we’ve just witnessed, it’s not entirely surprising. 
Meanwhile the nation scratches its head over the poor forecasts and predictions that have governed much of the voting yesterday. Whether you are wallowing in misery as you try to fathom what happened to the electorate (we commiserate), or celebrating at the surprise win of your blue brethren (we’ll deal with you later), here are seven things we can be happy about: 
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1. Mhairi Black 
The name on everyone’s lips this morning, Mhairi Black of Scottish National Party (SNP) has become the most celebrated winner of election night. The 20 years young Politics student from Glasgow University defeated Labour’s campaign organiser, Douglas Alexander (yes, you read that right), to sweep to victory at her constituency of Paisely and Renfrewshire South in Scotland. Black is the youngest MP since 1667 and, if you do the maths, that’s a pretty darn long time. And, by the way, her finals are next month. 
The odds were stacked against Black as she battled against one of Labour’s best known politicians in Scotland who held an over 16,000 majority. But she did it, with 23,548 votes against Alexander’s 17,864. Although commiserations abound for the veteran Alexander, we must congratulate Black on her incredible win as she becomes Britain’s youngest Minister of Parliament for over 350 years and an inspiration for young people nationwide. Oh, and good luck with the dissertation! 
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2. SNP in Scotland 
Scotland remains the source of good news. Consistently the only sensible voice in a chain of leadership debates, Nicola Sturgeon has proven her political mettle at the ballot. The SNP have swept to power in Labour’s heartland, wiping the reds across much of the country including from Glasgow itself. Even Sturgeon initially could not quite believe the impressive predictions of the exit polls, <a href="https://twitter.com/NicolaSturgeon/status/596421140115005443">encouraging caution</a> on her Twitter. As results came in, however, the SNP leader did not conceal her well-earned cheer. As Alex Salmond told the press, “there is a lion roaring in Scotland tonight”. 
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3. Lib Dems got their comeuppance 
The broken promises of the Liberals did not go unpunished as Nick Clegg’s party earned a humiliatingly paltry eight seats. The Liberal Democrats leader has since announced his inevitable resignation as party chief and we await to see who takes his place. No doubt the Lib Dems’ backtracking on tuition fee promises while in coalition did them no favours, as it of course shouldn’t. Although we will not deny the one good thing that came of it: this epic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUDjRZ30SNo">Apology Song</a>. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry… 
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4. Politics is not all about celebrity culture 
For a moment we were despairing at The Platform HQ when #Milifandom kicked off. “Not in politics too!” we thought. “Spare national politics from being determined by mindless celebrity culture!” 
Yet even as Ed Miliband conceded epic defeat this morning and announced his resignation to boot, and we won’t deny there were one or two misty eyes at The Platform’s Politics desk, Miliband’s loss reflects that celebrity culture does not a prime minister make. While many a young ‘un cheered on #Milifandom, Miliband’s defeat alongside the win of fresh-faced Mhairi Black has our fogey hearts at TP HQ feeling reassured that our fellow young Britons retain sensible political minds. 
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5. Farage lost South Thanet and is on his way out from UKIP leadership 
There are those who take this piece of news with a little scepticism, which we do understand. Even as UKIP has not made the expected gains, it has nonetheless proven itself a formidable contender, coming second and third in a number of constituencies. Twelve per cent of the electorate voting for them is nothing to sneeze at, and we need to keep an eye on that point. 
But in the desert of despair that we have woken up to, it is nonetheless a comforting fact that the guffawing, gaffe-ing, genial xenophobic-uncle-next-door has not only failed to secure the South Thanet seat he so coveted, but has announced his resignation from UKIP leadership. We hope the door doesn’t hit him on the way out. 
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6. Boris Johnson still looks like a fool 
<figure id="attachment_11456" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-11456" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Boris.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-11456 size-medium" src="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Boris-300x168.jpg" alt="Boris" width="300" height="168" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-11456" class="wp-caption-text">Please buy a comb.</figcaption></figure> 
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7. Scotland is only next door 
Although Scotland’s days in the union are potentially very numbered now following the SNP’s successes, we aren’t so sure. The major influx of English refugees with affected Scottish accents we are predicting may indeed give them pause for thought. That – or they may just go ahead with it and build the highland equivalent of the Berlin Wall. 
But while they remain in the union, remember: they’re only a short drive or flight away! Moving north has never looked more appealing, as the Loch Ness monster sings out to us with melodious roars. Scotland is now largely a lovely shade of yellow, with a parliament composed of those who have consistently remained sensible throughout the drama of the past few months. Nicola Sturgeon’s constituency may face a little overcrowding, but like a large party, the more the merrier. 
Last one to leave England, hit the lights.
<pre>Image from: http://chrisspivey.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boris-johnson-010.jpg</pre>

Seven Reasons Not to Kill Yourself After the Night of the ‘Exit Poll’

Filmmaker Patricio Henriquez constructs a crushing yet compassionate documentary on an oppression faced by an already persecuted and globally neglected community 
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It is perhaps a fitting irony that Patricio Henriquez’s <a href="http://ff.hrw.org/film/uyghurs-prisoners-absurd?city=4">Uyghurs, Prisoners of the Absurd</a>, screened at the London Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2015, was hosted first at Curzon Soho. The trendy cinema hall is located at the very doorstep of Chinatown, its entrance leading out directly onto that popular tourist spot off London’s Leicester Square. 
And why shouldn’t it be an irony. <a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2012/02/06/china-continued-erasure-of-uyghur-identity/">The Uyghurs</a> are a persecuted minority in a region annexed by Chinese communist forces in 1949; for many years this Muslim community has been subject to <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2005/04/10/china-religious-repression-uighur-muslims">oppressive religious suppression</a> by China’s government. Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2005/04/10/china-religious-repression-uighur-muslims">observes</a>, “As Islam is perceived as underpinning Uighur ethnic identity, China has taken draconian steps to smother Islam as a means of subordinating Uighur nationalist sentiment.” While a peaceful resistance remains, Uyghur resistors are expediently labelled terrorists by the authorities and subject to arrest, imprisonment, torture and execution as the world turns a largely blind eye. As director Henriquez stated following Sunday’s screening, “the Uyghurs are similar to the Tibetans, except they do not have the Dalai Lama so no one pays attention to them.” It is for this reason such a film and its hosting by Human Rights Watch is so vital. Awareness is key to efforts for justice and change, and Uyghurs, Prisoners of the Absurd is an important part of that project. 
In a number of ways, however, this film is as unexpected as it is revelatory. I attended with the anticipation of encountering a prominent narration on Uyghur social and cultural history, and their struggles with China. The film, however, spends little time on this. Instead, attention is on a lesser known egregious oppression of an already little known and neglected people: the wrongful incarceration of Uyghur refugees at Guantanamo Bay. Although initial expectations were somewhat dashed, this turn of the tale was crucially eye-opening. This is in itself a commendable aspect of the film, but further it meant that several associated causes – from the violations of the War on Terror to the illegality of Guantanamo Bay – are also addressed. 
What emerges is a narrative that, while centering on the human experiences of the victims, accessibly navigates the disturbing and complex geopolitical and economic realities, hypocrisies and expediencies fueling the War on Terror that has defined so much of our world for well over a decade. Crucially, it also reveals the clout held by Chinese authorities over western governments. Evocatively produced with original photography, and told through the first-hand accounts of three detainees with the courage to speak – Ahmet Abdulahad, Abu Bakker and Khalil – as well as other key figures including their interpreter and lawyers, the film weaves a harrowing tale of trauma, dashed hopes, crushing betrayals, but, ultimately, survival with humanity and compassion intact. It traces the paths of a people oppressed at home, seeking refuge and liberty abroad, yet finding themselves circumstantially caught in the desperate violence of war and, as one detainee put it, turned into pawns on a political chessboard. 
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<figure id="attachment_11367" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-11367" style="width: 320px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ouighours-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-11367" src="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ouighours-1-300x168.jpg" alt="Ouighours 1" width="320" height="180" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-11367" class="wp-caption-text">Abu Bakker from &#8216;Uyghurs, Prisoners of the Absurd&#8217;</figcaption></figure> 
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Perhaps a perfect example of the complexities lies in one stark reality revealed by Abu Bakker: prior to the War on Terror, Afghanistan was the only nation willing to accept Uyghur refugees. The Taliban offered protection when no other nation did, and so many Uyghurs sought refuge from Chinese persecution with this one state willing to have them. Abu Bakker relates how even when they could not work and earn, the Taliban ensured they had three meals a day: “I was grateful to them, and I still am.” He and other refugees formed a small Uyghur village in Afghanistan where they spent their days studying the Qur’an, a right denied under Chinese authorities. Yet when the US-led war broke out, the traumatised men found themselves caught up in the middle and forced to flee to neighbouring Pakistan. There they encountered the first of many betrayals that led to their detention. 
The Uyghur men presented are indeed prisoners of the absurd: the absurdity of dictatorial imperialist minds, the absurdity of the farcical War on Terror, the absurdity of immoral political expediency – and the absurdity of our ignorance. But from that sea of the absurd, what remains the most powerful reality of this documentary is the searing humanity and compassion of those at its centre. The gentle, softly spoken men who narrated their ordeals with no trace of bitterness even as they emanated the silent sadness of betrayal. These were people who believed in the US as a land of democracy: liberty, principles, justice. They expressed their hope when wrongly detained that the Americans will not mistreat them as the Chinese did in their jails, and revealed their astonishment when they found the Americans no different: “we couldn’t believe they were Americans.” Long after arrest, when finally informed at Guantanamo about the reason for their detention and the events of 9/11, they all expressed shock, commiserations for the victims and rejection of that criminal act as against Islam. 
Today, after languishing in abusive and illegal conditions in Guantanamo for years despite being cleared as innocent, after being separated from their families – mothers, siblings, spouses – for almost a decade, after having their hopes for liberty dashed time and again, after having their dignity destroyed, after finally being released yet in alien lands as stateless citizens without passports and constantly shadowed by the “terrorist” stigma, they continue without resentment and with a continued respect for the very nation that subjected them to the loss of their prime years and futures. Through protracted incarceration, abuse and suffering they remain without hate. 
Creatively constructed and humanely portrayed, Uyghurs: Prisoners of the Absurd ultimately reveals itself to be a film saturated with hope: hope for the survival of compassion, for the continuation of goodness and for the powerful resilience of the human spirit. That alone may make it worthy of watching. But the greater reason is to know; to never plead ignorance.
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The Guantanamo Bay detention facility has been open for 14 years. More than 100 men remain detained there without charge or trial. A total of 779 men have been held there over the years, 22 of them ethnic Uyghurs from China. The US government has determined that the Uyghurs should never have been picked up to begin with, but dysfunctional US politics and lack of political will kept them locked-up unlawfully for many years. The last of the Uyghurs were finally released from Guantanamo at the end of last year, but their stories—and those of hundreds of other men unlawfully held there—are tragic examples of a US counterterrorism policy that violates rights, sets a terrible example for other countries, and undermines the rule of law.
&#8211; Human Rights Watch
</blockquote>
The London Human Rights Watch Film Festival runs from 19 &#8211; 27 March 2015. Full details can be viewed <a href="http://ff.hrw.org/london">here</a>. The trailer for Uyghurs, Prisoners of the Absurd can be viewed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_pcfABUQH4#t=17">here</a>. 
In conjunction with Human Rights Watch, MUBI is now offering a <a href="https://mubi.com/humanrightswatch">free 30-day trial</a> including selected films from the festival.
<pre>Photo Credits: Uyghurs, Prisoners of the Absurd</pre>

Uyghurs, Prisoners of the Absurd: The Absurd Resilience of Compassion

Through laughter and tragedy, a little bird has kept us a part of it all 
&nbsp; 
The year is drawing to a close, just as we were getting in gear. 2014 seems a blur of highs and lows, from sporting euphoria in South America to aviation tragedy in Europe and South East Asia.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Twitter?src=hash">#Twitter</a> has made election-night television coverage obsolete. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/scotlanddecides?src=hash">#scotlanddecides</a> 
— john kimelman (@johnkimelman) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnkimelman/status/512794929714565120">September 19, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>Twitter, in its trusty chirping way, has allowed news to travel faster than ever before, and allowed us to be an active part of it. Here we look at some of the top trends from this past year, as they happened.   
&nbsp; 
1. The #Oscars 
Who can forget the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/10674655/Oscars-2014-The-most-famous-selfie-in-the-world-sorry-Liza.html">tweet</a> that broke the internet? Ellen DeGeneres’ record breaking selfie on a mobile crammed with Hollywood A-listers made Twitter history when it succeeded in getting retweeted over 3.3 million times. Then again, who wouldn’t retweet a blurry, gleeful picture of DeGeneres squished next to Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Bradley Cooper, Channing Tatum, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Lupita Nyongío and, er, her brother Peter Nyongío Jr. who clearly knew to pounce on a good thing when he saw it. Not without reason has the BBC named 2014 the “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-30394875">year of the selfie</a>”.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
If only Bradley&#8217;s arm was longer. Best photo ever. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/oscars?src=hash">#oscars</a> <a href="http://t.co/C9U5NOtGap">pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap</a> — Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/440322224407314432">March 3, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
Smile! 
&nbsp; 
2. #RobinWilliams and #PhilipSeymourHoffman 
With Oscar excitement, however, was also loss as this year saw the death of two talented and particularly beloved actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman and <a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2014/08/21/healing-through-laughter-remembering-robin-williams/">Robin Williams</a>. Their fans and colleagues in the entertainment industry took to Twitter to express grief at their passing. Hoffman was noted for his versatility as an actor; his most recent roles in the The Hunger Games and A Most Wanted Man proved fitting swan songs. Williams’ was an actor who completed many a childhood with such beloved roles as Peter Pan in Hook and the inimitable title role in Mrs Doubtfire. His passing brought the question of <a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2014/08/15/where-mental-illness-is-concerned-to-be-or-not-to-be-is-not-a-legitimate-question/">depression and mental health</a> to the fore with renewed calls for understanding, provision of adequate services and support.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">2014 game changer: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RobinWilliams?src=hash">#RobinWilliams</a> for what we can learn from his legacy &amp; spotlight on mental illness &#8211; <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewjdowd">@matthewjdowd</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC">@ThisWeekABC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thisweek?src=hash">#thisweek</a> 
— Ben Chang (@whoisbenchang) <a href="https://twitter.com/whoisbenchang/status/549239084410212352">December 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>#RIP   
&nbsp; 
3. Malaysian Airlines #MH370 and #MH17  
Sadly, 2014 turned out to be a year of aviation tragedy for one particularly troubled South East Asian nation. The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 set off one of the most intriguing mysteries in aviation history. The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people went missing over the Indian Ocean without a trace, despite a vast multinational search operation. Soon after another tragedy struck when Malaysian Airlines flight 17 was shot down over rebel held territory in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Complicated by the politics of conflict, investigators have faced challenges in accessing the wreckage. Dutch prosecutors are currently conducting an international criminal investigation. 
Airborne misfortune seems to dog the region this year as in recent days Malaysian based Air Asia flight 8501 disappeared between Indonesia and Singapore with 162 people on board. The wreckage along with bodies have since been found in the Karimata Strait off the coast of Indonesia. <a class="_58cn" dir="ltr" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/qz8501" data-reactid=".ah.1:3:1:$comment791587750907610_791588504240868:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.3.0.$range0:0">#QZ8501</a> is trending on Twitter as news of the disaster unfolds.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2014Faves?src=hash">#2014Faves</a> Lot of stupid tweets this year, but I keep coming back to this one <a href="http://t.co/zqrSHyvMFe">pic.twitter.com/zqrSHyvMFe</a> — pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) <a href="https://twitter.com/pourmecoffee/status/548678294669766656">December 27, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>Never one to disappoint, Mr Murdoch. 
&nbsp; 
4. The #WorldCup2014 
The adrenaline boosting <a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2014/07/15/the-copa-das-copas-of-world-cup-memes/">World Cup</a> games were back with a vengeance, this year held in Brazil. Beginning with its trademark excitement, it wound up ending in resounding humiliation for its hosts. Germany’s 7-1 defeat against Brazil in the semi-finals is unlikely to leave living memory, not least for the fraught losing team for whose nation football is less a game and more of a national identity. After the first few goals against, Germany took to scoring without much celebration while the Brazilians looked numbly on – and the rest of us collectively covered our eyes. What a tragedy.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Brazil&#8217;s plan B against <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Germany?src=hash">#Germany</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldCup2014?src=hash">#WorldCup2014</a> <a href="http://t.co/gJt7UXXY58">pic.twitter.com/gJt7UXXY58</a> 
— Wadih Abi Raad (@wadihabiraad) <a href="https://twitter.com/wadihabiraad/status/486615992957546496">July 8, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>Awkward.  
&nbsp; 
5. #IndyRef  
This was also the year of the <a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2014/09/19/top-tweets-from-the-night-of-the-indyref/">Scottish Referendum</a>, where Yes campaigners sought to follow in the footsteps of William Wilberforce and finally reestablish an independent Scotland, thus ending 307 years as part of Britain. Twitter was alive, <a href="https://twitter.com/platform_blog">The Platform</a> participating with gusto, during the day of voting and night of counting. The union survived at the ballot by an impressively narrow margin, following which Alex Salmond, who spearheaded the campaign, stepped down as Scotland’s First Minister. Proving himself down but not out, however, Salmond <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2832714/I-ll-demand-Scottish-referendum-return-propping-Labour-government-says-Alex-Salmond.html">declared</a> his intentions to push for a second referendum as early as 2015. It’s not over yet, Britain!  
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Hands down one of the best pictures I&#8217;ve ever seen <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a> <a href="http://t.co/p7bF0MOg6t">pic.twitter.com/p7bF0MOg6t</a> — St Andrews Radio (@standrewsradio) <a href="https://twitter.com/standrewsradio/status/512731720802500609">September 18, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
And they just about didn’t. 
&nbsp; 
6. #Bendgate 
It was not such a great year for Apple, as yet another controversy dogged the beleaguered yet inexplicably popular iPhone. With trademark fanfare, the company launched the glamorous new iPhone 6 along with its larger sibling iPhone 6 plus. Those technophiles who don’t believe a phone is meaningful unless it renders YouTube viewing an IMAX experience gleefully welcomed the new 5.5 inch display on the slick and slimmer new handset. What they didn’t enjoy was what happened when said 5.5 inch display was placed (just about) into their trouser pockets. The result: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znK652H6yQM">a bent phone</a>. Twitter predictably erupted with #Bendgate and Apple predictably responded with <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2014/09/25/apple-does-not-say-sorry-over-bendgate/">unapologetic defiance</a>. Meanwhile rival companies had an <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/09/25/apple-bendgate-brands/">absolute field day</a>. Someone in a cubicle somewhere on Mount Apple Inc must have been pining for the return of Jobs.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Samsung react to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BendGate?src=hash">#BendGate</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/iPhone6plus?src=hash">#iPhone6plus</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/advertising?src=hash">#advertising</a> <a href="http://t.co/KnHkyU6HO3">pic.twitter.com/KnHkyU6HO3</a> 
— Simon Sugar (@Amscreen_Simon) <a href="https://twitter.com/Amscreen_Simon/status/515086601563938816">September 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>Well played, Samsung. Well played.   
&nbsp; 
7. #CIAReport 
After over a decade of the War on Terror, 2014 saw the confirmation of what we all knew: that the CIA engaged in torture of suspected militants following 9/11. The damning report was released by the Senate Intelligence Committee and revealed the use of sadistic – and ineffective – torture of prisoners that included waterboarding, rectal feeding and the death of at least one prisoner from hypothermia. The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/22/opinion/prosecute-torturers-and-their-bosses.html?_r=4">New York Times</a> has called for criminal proceedings against Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and responsible others. Meanwhile, predictable media outlets defiantly defended the actions, with <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cia-torture-fox-news-says-the-us-is-awesome--and-torture-report-is-just-one-last-shot-at-bush-9914412.html">one frothing Fox News host</a> putting forward the particularly impressive argument that &#8220;The United States of America is awesome, we are awesome!&#8230; This administration wants to have this discussion to show us how we’re not awesome.&#8221; Case closed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
CIA helps keep our nation safe, strong. Torture does not. We must learn from our mistakes. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ReadTheReport?src=hash">#ReadTheReport</a> — Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenFeinstein/status/543119382629867520">December 11, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
Props to the Senator. 
&nbsp; 
8. #BlackLivesMatter 
As the year draws to a close, the ongoing racial tensions in the US remain at the fore following the killing of a number of unarmed African Americans by the police. These have included the shooting of 17-year-old <a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2014/08/21/police-brutality-must-be-defended/">Mike Brown</a> in Ferguson and the strangulation of father of three <a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2014/12/06/black-youth-as-a-lethal-weapon-the-incoherence-of-the-american-justice-system/">Eric Garner</a> by NYPD in New York. Protests erupted across the nation exacerbated by heavy handed crackdown from authorities in some areas. The failure of the judiciary to prosecute the policemen involved led to further tensions and violence. Recently a New York police officer, Rafael Ramos, was shot dead in an apparent revenge attack. Notably, the events provoked the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on Twitter and wider social media, while the murder of Garner led to the #ICantBreathe hashtag highlighting Garner’s dying words.   Solidarity protests also took place abroad with vigils held around the UK.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">People should never be forced to prove their humanity, their right to live, their right to dignity and respect. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash">#BlackLivesMatter</a> 
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) <a href="https://twitter.com/lsarsour/status/549039499637182466">December 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
Let’s hope 2015 sees that right to humanity globally realised.
<pre>Image from: http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/03/entertainment/la-et-mn-oscar-social-media-20140303</pre>

2014: An Eventful Year in Tweets and Trends

Of the many campaign battlegrounds, Twitter certainly showed the heat as Scots took to the ballot box 
&nbsp; 
It’s been a well-fought and well-fretted campaign on all sides, as results for the Scottish Referendum flood our media this morning: victory for the No campaign, the United Kingdom stays united. Prime Minister David Cameron sent his congratulations to Alistair Darling, chair of the Better Together campaign, even before the complete results were announced as the result indications became clear. The margin was narrow, but sufficient to spell at least another 20 years of union. 
While the traditional outlets – from BBC to Sky, The Guardian to The Sun – have assiduously reported on one of the most historic polls in modern British history, citizen journalism has also been in full swing over social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Twitter?src=hash">#Twitter</a> has made election-night television coverage obsolete. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/scotlanddecides?src=hash">#scotlanddecides</a> 
— john kimelman (@johnkimelman) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnkimelman/status/512794929714565120">September 19, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>Twitter was alive as both voting and vote-counting took over the past 24 hours of Britain’s life. Although the No campaign took home the trophy of electoral victory, on Twitter at least the Yes campaign came out on top with over seven million tweets, reports <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/09/19/yes-comes-out-top-amid-more-7-million-tweets-indyref-twitter-reveals">The Drum</a>. Here we bring some of the best, brightest and quirkiest tweets from this night to remember.   
&nbsp; 
1. &#8220;Please Do Not Sit On The Fence”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Hands down one of the best pictures I&#8217;ve ever seen <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a> <a href="http://t.co/p7bF0MOg6t">pic.twitter.com/p7bF0MOg6t</a> — St Andrews Radio (@standrewsradio) <a href="https://twitter.com/standrewsradio/status/512731720802500609">September 18, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
Coincidence of providential proportions. Or perhaps the polling officers felt inspired. 
&nbsp; 
2. Friends by Saturday
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Big day in Scotland tomorrow <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a>. My head says no and my heart shouts it &#8211; but whatever happens, I hope we&#8217;re all friends by Saturday. 
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/512156935463120896">September 17, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>Perhaps the Better Together campaign’s most prominent supporter, and certainly its most generous donor, J.K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter, approached the polls with a note of reconciliation.   
&nbsp; 
3. The #IndyRef Drinking Game
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
How has no one started an <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a> drinking game?? Rules are; if you hear the words &#8220;Historic&#8221; or &#8220;Surprising&#8221;, you have to down a Dram. 
— Stuart B. (@Stuie_22) <a href="https://twitter.com/Stuie_22/status/512784678743334912">September 19, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
Or “momentous”. 
&nbsp; 
4. “The Box! The Box!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">&#8220;&#8230;or you can trade it all in for what&#8217;s in this box.&#8221; &#8220;The box! The box!&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a> <a href="http://t.co/h21rLm4Ecu">pic.twitter.com/h21rLm4Ecu</a> 
— SimpsonsQOTD (@SimpsonsQOTD) <a href="https://twitter.com/SimpsonsQOTD/status/512592930939600896">September 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>Mr Burns makes an offer you can’t refuse.   
&nbsp; 
5. Compared to America…
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Just in case you don’t understand the significance of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ScotlandDecides?src=hash">#ScotlandDecides</a>, the last time Scotland was independent was before America existed. 
— Brett Belding (@bbelding) <a href="https://twitter.com/bbelding/status/512787211230515200">September 19, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
The union of England and Scotland spans 307 long years. As this astute tweeter points out, that’s before the present United States of America was formed. With Scots of the Yes campaign sharing a common ground of battling for independence from the English as Americans did 238 years ago, it is unsurprising that plenty of Americans sympathised with their cause. 
&nbsp; 
6. The Doctor for First Minister
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">You know.. The Doctor is Scottish. This is probably the third time the election is happening and we don&#8217;t even know it <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a> 
— CH (@error_magnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/error_magnet/status/512791845361831936">September 19, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>How could we forget?   
&nbsp; 
7. Paul the Octopus 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
It&#8217;s at times like this I mourn the passing of Paul the Octopus. He&#8217;d have had this whole thing figured in the wave of a tentacle. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a> 
— Sue Perkins (@sueperkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/sueperkins/status/512736030684753920">September 18, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
We could have had this sorted over the span of a cuppa. But then, some of us live for an all-nighter of political drama. 
&nbsp; 
8. Counting with the Count
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Over to the Count in Glasgow&#8230; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ScotlandDecides?src=hash">#ScotlandDecides</a> <a href="http://t.co/VcDmf2B5NB">pic.twitter.com/VcDmf2B5NB</a> 
— Dr Paul Coxon (@paulcoxon) <a href="https://twitter.com/paulcoxon/status/512736917423534080">September 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>No doubt the sleepless night-counters would have done anything for a visit from the Count.   
&nbsp; 
9. The 110%
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
CNN puts a 110% effort into everything they do. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ScotlandDecides?src=hash">#ScotlandDecides</a> <a href="http://t.co/HbXWxgd3vC">pic.twitter.com/HbXWxgd3vC</a> 
— Maddie Di Muccio (@MaddieDiMuccio) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaddieDiMuccio/status/512742436955635712">September 18, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
CNN could clearly have done with a visit from the Count too. 
&nbsp; 
10. Her Majesty
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Staying up to see if Scotland meets its reserve on eBay. 
— Elizabeth Windsor (@Queen_UK) <a href="https://twitter.com/Queen_UK/status/512735336028319745">September 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>Apparently one has been following the possible separation of one’s dominion rather closely. One is pleased to see one continues to rule all.   
&nbsp; 
11. The Doges Speak
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Inevitable Doge tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ScotlandDecides?src=hash">#ScotlandDecides</a> <a href="http://t.co/q2pmgFsEtX">pic.twitter.com/q2pmgFsEtX</a> 
— General Boles (@GeneralBoles) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeneralBoles/status/512721628766023680">September 18, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
So democracy. 
&nbsp; 
12. Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">This has been a remarkable day. Scotland&#8217;s future truly is in Scotland&#8217;s hands. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndyRef?src=hash">#IndyRef</a> <a href="http://t.co/buvgOO9j7p">pic.twitter.com/buvgOO9j7p</a> 
— Alex Salmond (@AlexSalmond) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexSalmond/status/512739349243244545">September 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> 
Alex Salmond’s thoughts as polls closed are shared by many, regardless of where they stand on this vote. With a whopping 97 per cent of the electorate registering to vote – that’s 4,285,323 people – and equivalently high turnouts reported across the nation’s polling stations, Scotland came out in force for this referendum. As David Miliband put it, “Scots have taught us all a lesson in democracy.”
<pre>Image from: https://twitter.com/paulcoxon/status/512736917423534080/photo/1</pre>

Top Tweets from the Night of the #IndyRef

British Islamic and Quranic history spans centuries and includes significant influence in the English Civil War  
&nbsp; 
When asking people about the first English Qur’an, the response is frequently a reference to the 1930 translation by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. Less frequently an excited voice speaks of the George Sale Qur’an of 1734. However, British Islamic – and Qur’anic – history extends long beyond that, in a rich account of theological study, political negotiations and self-discovery. 
The entrance of the complete Qur’an into the western world is in fact traced back to the Middle Ages. The first translation into a European language, Latin, was completed by the English scholar Robertus Retenensis. It was entitled Lex Mahumet Pseudoprophete (The Law of Mahomet the False Prophet) and was completed in 1143. The translation enjoyed popularity and wide circulation, and was later to become the main basis for further contemporary translations into Italian, German and Dutch. Between 1480 and 1481, not long after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, the first bilingual translation into Latin with accompanying Arabic appeared, composed by the Jewish convert to Christianity, Flavius Mithridates. In 1647, Andrew Du Ryer produced the first French translation in Paris. This first direct translation from the Arabic text since the Middle Ages was a marked improvement from those produced in the years since 1143.
<a href="http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/the-alcoran-of-mahomet.png"><img loading="lazy" alt="the alcoran of mahomet" src="http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/the-alcoran-of-mahomet-212x300.png" width="212" height="300" /></a>
Title page for the first English translation of the Qur’an (1649) by Alexander Ross
It was from Du Ryer’s translation that the first English translation was produced in 1649: The Alcoran of Mahomet by Alexander Ross. It was rendered from the French rather than the Arabic, making it an indirect translation with all the associated problems of inaccuracy. Nonetheless, the Ross translation is important both as the first complete print of an English Qur’an and also for the significance of the time in which it was produced.
<a href="http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Alexander-Ross.png"><img loading="lazy" alt="Alexander Ross" src="http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Alexander-Ross-163x300.png" width="163" height="300" /></a>
Alexander Ross (1591-1654), Clergyman and writer. 
Engraving in 1653 by Pierre Lombart, (1612 or 1613-1682)
The early modern period endured a time of upheaval in Christian Europe in both religious and national identity. In addition to the tensions created by increasing conflicts between Christian sects, the expanding Ottoman Empire placed considerable pressure on Christendom. Islam was expanding both demographically and geographically, through the superior military might of the Muslim Ottomans and the conversions of European Christians to Islam. The faith simultaneously threatened and attracted Christian Europe as both conflict and conversion flourished. Richard Knolles, an early English historian who in 1603 wrote  the first major English text on the Ottoman Empire, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, commented in it on the impossibility to ‘set downe the bounds and limits’ upon the Ottomans who accept ‘no other limits than the uttermost bounds of the earth’. 
The Ottoman threat made the translation and dissemination of the Qur’an a matter of urgency to inform the public of the ‘true’ Qur’an (according to how the polemical translations would portray it), prevent further conversions, and educate people on how to draw Muslims to Christianity. The threat was particularly real for Britons who suffered from conversions, <a href="http://muslimmatters.org/2014/01/15/england-east-tale-pirates-treasures/">piracy</a>, and the general military might and economic superiority of the Islamic Empire. 
Besides the external troubles from the Ottoman faith, Britain was also undergoing significant upheavals from within. The English Civil War between the Parliamentarians and Royalists was underway, with 1649 seeing the conclusion of the second war, the execution of King Charles I and the establishment of the short-lived English Republic. That this year produced the first English translation of the Qur’an merely four months after the fall of the monarch, and by Ross who was a known Royalist and beneficiary of Charles I, is no coincidence. 
The publication of the Qur’an at this central moment in the re-defining of Britain’s identity and national dynamics is an historical event whose significance has been neglected. To argue that the Ross Qur’an was minor and coincidental would be a mistake. The translation enjoyed popularity during the seventeenth century, subsequently overriding the George Sale Qur’an of 1734 to become the first translation printed in the United States in 1806. 
Published soon after the regicide and establishment of the English Republic, under which there were serious upheavals in the Church of England, the translation was arguably a response to a government considered by Ross, a previous chaplain to the executed King, as heretical for executing their divinely anointed monarch and restructuring the holy Church. Here, the translation of the Muslim holy book entailed an attack upon a despised government through comparison to a rejected faith: Islam. In the introduction and appendices, the authorities are accused of ‘instability in religion’ and compared unfavourably to the heretical Muslim Turks. However, even as the authorities are faulted for being ‘too like Turks,’, soon after Ross admiringly describes the Muslims: ”… how zealous they are in the works of devotion, piety, and charity, how devout, cleanly, and reverend in their Mosques, how obedient to their Priests, that even the great Turk himself will attempt nothing without consulting his mufti”. 
While the Turk may be heretical, the authorities were both heretical and immoral; in character the Muslims were deemed better. In one breath condemned for being Turk, in another condemned for not, the instability of British identity and the struggles to frame it in this difficult moment is evident. Through the internal conflict of civil war, where a sense of the English self was destabilised, the English Qur’an became a medium through which to turn to the stable Turk as a balancing figure in the process of self-negotiation; one to compare against and, in spite of the Christian reflex against an infidel, to emulate. 
Significantly, this attitude to the Ottomans is also portrayed by the Parliamentarians. The 1649 Secretary for Foreign Tongues and famed poet, John Milton, praised the Muslims for their ability to ‘enlarge their empire as much by the study of liberal arts as by force of arms.’ Like Ross, the authorities were torn between rejection and admiration of the Muslims, employing this heathen other as a balancing figure in understanding English identity and projecting aspirational paths of political advancement. 
Ultimately, Ross’ translation became not only the first English Qur’an, but a text of the English Civil War and a crucial tool in its political struggle and negotiation of a national identity. Through the turbulence of conflict, the Islamic holy text found itself transported and adopted into a new realm, one that was experiencing the pangs of its rebirth, and impacting at the very roots of the conflict. The Qur’an became a symbol of the ideological struggles of the revolution, leaving its indelible mark on British identity and history.
<pre>Image from : http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/special/exhibitions/knowledgethroughprint/exhibition/introduction.html</pre>

Eastern Texts Meet Western Quills: The First English Translation of the Qur’an

A vast history of trade and notorious exchange of pirates shows England has more connections with the Islamic world than our school textbooks may suggest 
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Our history classes do well to teach us of the World Wars, the abolition of slavery and the French Revolution(s). But one thing you may not have heard of is the long and swashbuckling history of England’s relationship with the Islamic world. 
Active interaction with Islam existed since the establishment of medieval Muslim Spain in 711, and can be seen throughout some of the most canonical literature in the English heritage. The Islamic prophet Muhammad and his cousin Ali are featured in Dante’s Inferno, Islamic scholars are mentioned in Chaucer’s prologue to The Canterbury Tales, and countless plays from the early modern period bear characters and plots surrounding the Islamic Orient. 
This relationship included both cooperation and conflict, from the flourishing trade of the Levant Company and East India Company to the bloody Crusades. The Muslims who influenced Britons most were those of the Ottoman Empire whose capital lay in Istanbul, present day Turkey, but whose reaches extended well into North Africa and the Middle East. 
Of course, money and trade was key. In 1577, the Sultan of Morocco, ‘Abd al-Malik, granted the English trading privileges in his realm and, in 1580, the English Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, William Harborne, negotiated the first Anglo-Ottoman commercial treaty in Istanbul, culminating in the formation of England’s The Levant Company, a company created exclusively for trade with the Ottomans. By 1626, The Levant Company was exporting £250,000 worth of goods, a tremendous figure for its time, and importing an amount of equivalent value. In December 1648, the Council of Mechanics voted a toleration of various religious groups to encourage commercial activity, allowing Muslims to trade in England. 
Of all Europe, Britain enjoyed the most commercial activity with the Muslims in the 17th century, its trade with Turkey alone accounting for an impressive quarter of English overseas commercial activity. 
But alongside legitimate trade, lurking in the dark waters and high waves, another prominent mode of engagement between the East and West ensued: piracy. In fact, the 17th and 18th centuries – about the time of the setting of our favourite pirate movie, Pirates of the Caribbean – has been referred to as the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’. The Pirate Round of the 1790s was among the infamous sailing routes taken by English pirates which targeted Muslim ships, particularly off the coast of Yemen and India. Their piracy at the mouth of the Red Sea especially targeted Indian Muslim ships travelling to or from the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Makkah in present day Saudi Arabia. 
The English pirate, Captain Henry Every, is perhaps the most notorious from the Round. Every conducted what is possibly the single most lucrative pirating venture in history against wealthy Indian pilgrimage ships, making him the richest pirate in the world. His story pushes the escapades of Captain Jack Sparrow well into the backwaters. 
<figure id="attachment_9904" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-9904" style="width: 206px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Every.png"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-9904 " alt="Every" src="http://www.the-platform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Every.png" width="206" height="250" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-9904" class="wp-caption-text">An 18th century image of Captain Henry Every</figcaption></figure> 
In 1695, Every attacked and captured two major Mughal vessels on their way back from the pilgrimage to Makkah. The smaller vessel ‘Fateh Muhammad’ was owned by a wealthy Indian Muslim trader, Abdul Ghafur, from the Indian coastal city of Surat and contained treasure of £50,000-60,000, enough to purchase Every&#8217;s own ship ‘The Fancy’ 50 times over. The second ship, ‘Ganj-i-Sawai’ (‘Exceeding Treasure’) was a massive militarised vessel owned by the ruling Indian Emperor Aurangzeb that carried up to £600,000 worth of riches alone, reportedly including up to 500,000 gold and silver pieces. Following capture, the inhabitants of the ship, which included civilians, and many of them women, were subject to a lengthy orgy of violence and violation. 
This event put serious strain on the already fragile relationship between England and the Mughals. The English had just emerged from yet another unsuccessful bid for trading privileges in India followed by Child&#8217;s War with Aurangzeb, in which the English were defeated. What our history lessons often fail to discuss is that the East India Company, although later responsible for Company rule in India, had a very tough time in its early days. Aurangzeb&#8217;s fury at the Ganj-i-Sawai piracy and the brutality on passengers was incredible. He shut down the East India Company&#8217;s factories, imprisoned its employees and threatened to cut off all English trade in India until Every was caught. In a diplomatic scramble, the East India Company and English Privy Council put the unprecedented offer of £1,000 for Every&#8217;s capture leading to the first worldwide manhunt in recorded history. While some members of his crew were eventually caught, Henry Every was never found. 
English piracy was not limited to targeting the Indians either. English and European pirates were active in the seizure of Muslim men, women and children for slavery from across the Ottoman Empire. From 1521 to 1522 alone, a staggering 60,000 Moroccans were reportedly seized and deported to Europe. The threat of piracy was very real for the Muslims, limiting travel and mobility. 
Piracy was not, however, a one-way process. Muslim piracy, much of it retaliatory, was a major challenge experienced by the English. From their earliest ventures into the Mediterranean, English ships were repeatedly seized by Muslim ships with the crew taken captive or enslaved. The events left their mark on popular literature too. The 1612 play, A Christian Turn’d Turk, by Robert Daborne loosely dramatised the real life case of Captain John Ward, an English pirate who converted to Islam and became an Ottoman corsair commandeering a fleet off the coast of Tunis. 
Ransoming English captives from Ottoman pirates was racking up costs in the thousands for Britain. Between 1609 and 1616, 466 English ships were captured. Fear began to arise over potential shortages in sailors to man the English royal fleet. When Charles I ascended the throne in 1625, the captives numbered hundreds, and by 1640, they numbered thousands; Ottoman pirates were destabilising English commercial activity. They were even bold enough to attack ships in English waters. 
The situation was further complicated by the fact that Barbary pirates were often Christian renegades to Islam, such as John Ward. While piracy was bad enough, being looted by converted Englishmen was both embarrassing and aggravating. It is no surprise Daborne’s play adopted leaps in artistic license to conform to its audience’s prejudices by portraying Captain Ward to be a tortured soul who suffered in his marriage to a shrewish Ottoman woman. 
The long association between the English and the Muslim world is as entertaining as it is significant. These tales of encounter paint a legacy of exciting adventure, amicable partnerships and also notorious atrocity. At a time of renewed scrutiny on Britain’s relationship with Islam and Muslims, a peek into a long and shared history can do much to quell the ignorance that breeds distrust and acknowledge a relationship that spans centuries. The subjects of History and English especially have much to gain from a long overdue revision of traditional syllabuses to one that acknowledges this captivating past. And for a generation of Jack Sparrow lovers, such learning is sure to be a treat.
<pre>Image from: http://www.gamesradar.com/uncharted-4-review/</pre>

England and the East: A Tale of Pirates and Treasures

After a long line of problematic princess fairy tales, Disney&#8217;s Frozen offers a refreshing alternative 
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In the past Disney’s princess fairy tales were magical dreamlands for our young imaginations to lose themselves in. Enchanting castles with lofty turrets, beautiful princesses in dazzling ballgowns, handsome princes on gallant steeds and happily-ever-afters shaped our wildest dreams. 
Yet these tales frequently offered up a narrative that was damaging to our young impressionable minds. Stories consistently told of weak damsels in distress being saved by strong manly princes, and young girls desperately in love and willing to change beyond recognition for the man of their dreams (who made comparatively little compromise). Most importantly, the stories consistently told of romantic love and of a kind barely resembling reality. 
To realise the damaging effects of these plots takes less imagination than conjuring them up. Little girls should not be raised to think that their ultimate wish is to look beautiful and win over a man be it at the cost of who they are and those they love, as The Little Mermaid’s (1989) Ariel does. Nor should they be raised to think they are inadequate or helpless and in need of a man to survive as Princess Aurora, of Sleeping Beauty (1959), and almost every Disney Princess does. 
Similarly, little boys should not grow up learning that beauty is the prime quality to seek in a partner as Prince Charming (who, apparently, has no name other than this mark of ultimate male desirability) does on seeing Cinderella, nor that women are weak and needy of them. Yet this has frequently been the narrative relayed by the big budget feature films that have been produced and marketed for children by Disney since its first and perhaps most problematic production, Snow White (1937). 
That these cartoons have traditionally focused on romantic love itself is no less troubling. Love is a beautiful and important experience children must be raised to understand. It is also complex and diverse; it is not limited only to romance. In fact, romantic love is perhaps the last kind that the young are in need of exposure to. Familial love, the love of friendship, affection for one’s fellow human being, love for animals, love for the earth, there are countless forms of love that children are far more deserving and in need of learning before introduction to the realm – no less beautiful – of romance. For some reason this fact has eluded Hollywood for much of my lifetime at least. 
However, it seems we are finally witnessing a change. 
Frozen, the tale of two princess sisters, one with the difficult skill of freezing all she touches, is a visually stunning masterpiece with music to match. Indeed it is likely Disney’s most impressive animated production to date, accompanied with musical scores to rival much that precedes it (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk">watch this sequence</a> of Elsa’s song “Let it Go” by the talented Idina Menzel if you don’t believe me). But what was most remarkable of this production was its tale of love; not romantic, nor dependent on a strong male hero, but that between the two sisters, Elsa and Anna. 
Elsa, born with the ability to freeze, is portrayed as a loving and affectionate older sister, mature and responsible, one who deeply cares for Anna and is keen to protect her even at the cost of herself. Anna, is a sprightly younger sibling, idolising of her older sister and desperate to be near her. As younger siblings often are, she is also a little innocent and impulsive, a streak Elsa seeks to guide in order to protect Anna. Meanwhile, Elsa is no less dependent on Anna, whose pure heart and complete loving devotion and faith in her sister crucially guides the troubled older sibling towards reconciliation with her trials and who she is. 
The film begins on the sisters’ deep bond and develops, exploring how that bond is tested. Romantic male love interests feature often, but pale before the central love of sisterhood. This love is a bond which stands the trials of pain, loss, betrayal, rejection and estrangement. It is a love that weathers the coldest of storms. It is also a love which produces one of Disney’s most adorable sidekicks yet; Olaf, the perennially positive little snowman who loves warm hugs. And it is a love that culminates in an inspirational resolution and makes one feel that we finally have a Disney film we would wish for our children to watch and learn from. 
Frozen joins a refreshing turn in animated feature films which increasingly delve into the realms of the loves less heard. From the bond between mother and daughter in Brave (2012) to the importantly meaningful romance in Up (2009), finally we have films that not only entertain, but also inspire. 
Breathtaking animation, masterful music and, most importantly, a heart-warming and inspirational plot of true love; Disney’s Frozen is a must see for all the family.
<pre>Image from: <a href="http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Frozen/Gallery">http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Frozen/Gallery</a></pre>

L Amatullah