Omar Mohammed (@MosulEye) about the rise and fall of Islamic State
Islamic State (IS) established a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. This was accompanied by violence, terror and genocide.
How are survivors doing now? Are there any lessons to be learned? IS seems to be regaining strength again, how and why?
Historian, blogger and journalist Omar Mohammed, founder of the Mosul Eye project, will talk about this in Debatpodium Arminius with journalist and writer Brenda Stoter Boscolo.
Dr. Omar Mohammed is a historian from Mosul, known as the anonymous blogger ‘Mosul Eye’. Through Mosul Eye, he informed the world about life under the Islamic State in his city. He was named 2013 Researcher of the Year by Iraq’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and was listed among The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life in 2020 by The Algemeiner. His doctoral research explores history and historians in 19th and 20th-century Mosul. He now lives in exile in Europe.
He is the head of the Antisemitism Research Initiative within the Program on Extremism at George Washington University and teaches Middle East History, Cultural Heritage Diplomacy, and Counterterrorism at Sciences Po University. His focus has now shifted to advocating social initiatives for the people of Mosul, including the international effort to re-supply the Central Library of the University of Mosul.
Hussam Eesa is a human rights defender activist and a citizen journalist from Syria. Since 2014, Hussam founded the citizen journalist group Raqqa is being slaughtered silently (RBSS) with others. Reporting Syrian war news and human rights abuses by the Syrian regime and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other forces occupying the northern Syrian city of Raqqa now. He is also co-founder of Next Station, an organization that reports about terrorist organizations worldwide.
Brenda Stoter Boscolo is a journalist and author of the book The Forgotten People, about the latest genocide of the Yezidis by IS.
(Foto: Jan de Groen)
Adam Esmael is originally from Syria. He works as an English teacher in Amsterdam and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Language and Culture Education.
Dalal Ghanim is a pharmacy professional and Yezidi human rights activist. After migrating to the Netherlands in late 2013, she completed her pharmacy degrees at Utrecht University. Since 2014, Dalal has been advocating for the rights of Yezidi genocide survivors, participating in events and speaking in the media to raise awareness about the Yezidi genocide.