PR Unmasked

This is the 7th episode of the 3rd Season of PR Unmasked. In this episode hosted by Concordia Forum, Muddassar Ahmed sits down in conversation with historian and author Arash Azizi, Founder and Executive Director of Bulbul Collective Banafsheh Madaninejad, Dr. Kamran Bokhari - Director of Analytical Development at the New Lines Institute; and journalist and author Nahid Siamdoust.

This episode will examine the protests that have been taking place in Iran since the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini on the 16th of September 2022. We will be discussing the ripple effect they have triggered both nationally and in the surrounding region as well as looking at what the future may hold for Democracy in Iran.

Arash Azizi is a New York-based writer and historian, whose commentary has been featured in numerous outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, the BBC, Guardian, Vanity Fair and Al-Jazeera. He is the author of “The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US and Iran’s Global Ambitions” (Oneworld, 2020) and “Iran’s New Revolution: Women, Life, Freedom” (Oneworld, 2023.)

Dr. Banafsheh Madaninejad is the Founder and Executive Director of Bulbul Collective, a non-profit dedicated to elevating the voices of the US AMEMSA (Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, South Asian) community through facilitating, collecting and disseminating our stories. She is also an anti-racism trainer, gender educator, equity strategist, workshop designer and facilitator for businesses, governments and non-profit organizations.

Dr. Kamran Bokhari is Director of Analytical Development at the New Lines Institute, national security and foreign policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute and author of Political Islam in the Age of Democratization (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). He has also contributed chapters to numerous edited volumes.

Dr. Nahid Siamdoust is a cultural historian whose work concentrates primarily on the intersection between politics and various modes of culturalproduction and media forms in Iran and the wider Middle East. She has previously worked as a full-time Iran and Middle East based journalist for TIME Magazine, Der Spiegel, The Los Angeles Times and Al Jazeera English TV and has taught at Oxford University and NYU Steinhardt’s Media, Culture and Communication Department.

This is the 6th episode of the 3rd Season of PR Unmasked. In this episode hosted by the Concordia Forum, Muddassar Ahmed sits down in conversation with Founder of FootsApp, Komail Hashmani, the Executive Director of the Muslim Community Network, Aniqa Nawabi, and the Executive Chair of the Religion Media Centre, Michael Wakelin.

In this episode, we will be discussing the coverage of the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar, as well as the difference in perspective between legacy media and social media, from fans discussing their perspectives of visiting a Muslim country and seeing how Muslims extended their arms to them, to racist and Islamophobic comments on some TV channels. The main focus of the episode the historical significance of the 2022 Qatar World Cup and why it represents a pivotal moment for many Muslims, both in football and beyond.

Aniqa Nawabi is a public service professional for more than a decade working in the non-profit and international aid sector. Since 2018, she has been the Executive Director of the Muslim Community Network, a Civil and Social Organization dedicated to using civic education and leadership development to expand and shape what it means to be Muslim in the United States of America.

Michael Wakelin is a seasoned media professional with over 23 years of experience with the BBC, where he served as Head of Religion between 2006 and 2010. Currently, Michael is the Executive Chair of the Religion Media Centre, the Head of Programmes for Coexist House and Executive Producer at TBI Media.

Komail Hashmani is an entrepreneur and founder of Footsapp. Footsapp is a provider of football tournament management solutions. It allows users to create groups, invite players, manage stats, set up tactics, and many other functions that help the Sunday-league footballer feel like they are playing in the Premier League.

This is the 5th episode of the 3rd Season of PR Unmasked. In this episode recorded in partnership with Global Ties US, Muddassar Ahmed sits down in conversation with Cultural Affairs Officer Sydney Smith of the US Embassy, and Chairman of Farnborough International, Paul Everrit.

This episode will be focussing on be the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, the importance this relationship has in combating hostile state influences, and the role of public diplomacy and exchange, as promoted by the recently completed Protecting Sensitive Industries Exchange. This programme has been designed for representatives from relevant UK government ministries, private industry, and academia to learn more about US government and industry strategies for protecting sensitive technologies particularly in the military, scientific, and energy sectors.

Sydney Smith is a seasoned diplomat and communications expert with extensive experience in the public and private sectors, with a special focus and interest on misinformation, media literacy, and extremism. She has been serving as Cultural Affairs Officer with the US Embassy in London since 2020.

Paul Everrit is the former chief executive of major UK trade associations ADS & SMMT and has been a member of the Automotive Council and the Aerospace Growth Partnership. Paul is currently the Chairman of Farnborough International Ltd and Non-executive Director of the Aerospace Technology Institute.

This is the 4th episode of the 3rd Season of PR Unmasked. In this episode, hosted by the Concordia Forum, Muddassar Ahmed sits down in conversation with Ambassador Deborah E. Lipstadt, the current US’ Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.

Ambassador Lipstadt has a storied career as a historian, academic, and award-winning author, and in today’s episode, she is discussing the growth of antisemitic rhetoric in the US & Europe, its history and what transatlantic communities can do to combat it now, and in the future. Ambassador Lipstadt is also answering questions from Mike Katz, the National Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement; Attorney & Award-Winning Author, Rabia Chaudry; Labour MP for Manchester, Gorton Afzal Khan, and Imam Abdullah Antepli, Associate Professor of the Practice of Interfaith Relations at Duke University.

Before being confirmed as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism in March 2022, Ambassador Lipstadt served as the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies, which she helped to found. She has also taught at the University of Washington, UCLA and Occidental College. Special Envoy Lipstadt also served as the director of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute and was a research fellow at the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Her numerous, award-winning books include: The Eichmann Trial; Denial: Holocaust History on Trial; Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory; and Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, 1933-1945. She received the National Jewish Book Award three times, most recently in 2019 for Antisemitism: Here and Now. Her biographical study of Golda Meir will be published by Yale University Press in 2023.

This is the third episode of the 3rd Season of PR Unmasked. In this episode, hosted by Unitas Communications, Muddassar Ahmed sits down in conversation with the current U.S. Department of State Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, Sara Minkara.

In this episode, Sara lets us in on her life story as a Muslim woman with a disability, her journey into politics, diplomacy and foreign policy, her proudest achievements and what she wants her legacy to be.

Other topics Sara talks about are the relation between her faith and her disability, how she became interested and involved in activism and diplomacy, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and her developing of the In The Dark Methodology.

Sara Minkara is a Lebanese-American inclusion and disability expert and a disability rights advocate who serves as the United States Special Advisor on International Disability Rights in the U.S. Department of State. She is the founder of non-profit organization Empowerment Through Integration (ETI) and Sara Minkara LLC. ETI works with blind children, including refugees in Lebanon to help them build independence and learn life skills.

This is the second episode of the 3rd Season of PR Unmasked. In this episode, hosted by the Unitas Communications, Muddassar Ahmed sits down in conversation with the award-winning journalist and a respected author of numerous political books- Peter Oborne.

In this episode, Peter speaks about his recent book “The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong about Islam”. The book encapsulates the western perceptions of Islam, rise in islamophobia since 9/11 and 7/7 attacks, and historical connotations of the Abrahamic faith.

Other topics Peter talks about are the Trojan Horse conspiracy, his thoughts on why foundations like Quilliam became subservient to political institutions, and how does he envision the resistance against a restricted religious freedom in the West.

Peter Oborne has been the chief political editor of The Spectator, The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph. His publications include The Pro-Israel lobby in Britain, Churchill Legacy, Muslims Under Siege, The Use and Abuse of Terror, amongst many.

This is the first episode of the 3rd Season of PR Unmasked. In this episode, hosted by the Concordia Forum at the Toynbee Hall in London, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim woman elected for the United States Congress.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar discusses the challenges she faced as a woman of colour in American politics, her objection on the recent overruling of Roe v. Wade, the need for political representation of minority groups, and the increasing burden of student loans on American youth.

She also touches on the record levels of hate crimes and gun violence in the U.S., the rise in Islamophobia since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of voting for minorities, her views on Kamala Harris’ performance as the Vice-President and her endorsement of Joe Biden’s presidency.

Ilhan was elected to the House of Representatives for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in 2018, replacing her predecessor, Keith Ellison. She is a renown and vocal representative of the Democrats with women’s rights and social justice at the heart of her politics.

This is the fourth part of our four-episode series where we take a look at America’s policy challenges for the next decade. In this episode, hosted by the Concordia Forum at the Atlantic Council headquarters in Washington D.C., Muddassar Ahmed is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the disparity between national and international agendas and the ways in which human rights abuses should be dealt with by global actors, all through the lens of the Uighur and Rohingya struggles.

Our panellists include Arsalan Suleman (Counsel, Foley Hoag LLP), Rushan Abbas (Founder & Executive Director of Campaign for Uighurs), Yasmin Ullah (Rohingya Social Justice Activist), and Rayhan Asat (Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East Programs, Atlantic Council), with opening remarks by Uzra Zeya (Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy & Human Rights, US State Department).

This panel is led by Arif Hyder Ali, who is the Co-chair of International Arbitration Practice at Dechert LLP. He has served as lead trial counsel in international investment and commercial arbitrations under all of the major international arbitral regimes, the governing laws of over 50 civil and common law jurisdictions and international law. 

The episode was done in partnership with the Atlantic Council, international affairs think tank galvanizing U.S. leadership and engagement in the world.

This is the third part of our four-episode series where we take a look at America’s policy challenges for the next decade. In this episode, hosted by the Concordia Forum at the Atlantic Council headquarters in Washington D.C., Muddassar Ahmed is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the future of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American troops and what foreign actors, such as the U.S., the OIC and neighbouring Pakistan, can do to support the Afghan people under the Taliban rule.  

Our panellists include Haris Tarin (Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security), Hassan Abedin (Former Senior Advisor to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), and Hassan Abbas (Author & Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Centre).

This panel is led by Kamran Bokhari, a national security and foreign-policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute, who previously served as the coordinator for Central Asia studies at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. The episode was done in partnership with the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank galvanizing U.S. leadership and engagement in the world.

This is the second part of our four-episode series where we take a look at America’s policy challenges for the next decade. In this episode, hosted by the Concordia Forum at the Atlantic Council headquarters in Washington D.C., Muddassar Ahmed is joined by a panel of experts to discuss what it means to be a Western Muslim in today’s political climate, how to make young Muslims feel seen and heard, and how to empower Muslims within Western society.

Our panellists include Farah Pandith (Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations), Salam al-Marayati (President of the Muslim Public Affairs Council), Sayyid Mohammad Baqir Kashmiri (Vice President and Religious Affairs Director at I.M.A.M.), and Debbie Almontaser (Founder of the Khalil Gibran International Academy).

This panel is led by Arshia Wajid, Founder of American Muslim Health Professionals, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Muslim health professionals to improve the quality and delivery of health services to all Americans. The episode was done in partnership with the Atlantic Council, international affairs think tank galvanizing U.S. leadership and engagement in the world.

This is the first part of our four-episode series where we take a look at America’s policy challenges for the next decade. In this episode, hosted by the Concordia Forum at the Atlantic Council headquarters in Washington D.C., Muddassar Ahmed is joined by a panel of experts to explore online censorship, hate speech, and the challenges to freedom of expression. 

Our panellists include Alex Johnson (the Deputy Director of U.S. Foreign Policy and Programs at the Open Society Foundations), Graham Brookie (the Senior Director of the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council), Keith Ellison (the current 30th Attorney General of Minnesota and the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Congress), as well as George Selim (the Senior Vice President for National Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League). 

This discussion is led by Katherine Brown, President and CEO of Global Ties U.S., the largest and oldest citizen diplomacy network in the United States. The episode was done in partnership with the Atlantic Council, international affairs think tank galvanizing U.S. leadership and engagement in the world.

Recent elections in Norway ushered in the most ethnically-diverse parliament in the nation's history, signalling the shift in its core demographic. Islam, in particular, has been on the rise, making it the second-largest religion in the Scandinavian country after Christianity. 

In this episode hosted by the Concordia Forum in the Nobel Peace Center, Muddassar Ahmed, joined by a panel of experts, explores the contributions and impact of Muslims on this new and ever-changing Norwegian society. Our panelists include Naz Shah (Member of Parliament for Bradford West), Shazia Majid (Senior Investigative Journalist at VG, a leading Norway Newspaper), Mohammad Usman Rana (Norwegian Columnist, Commentator, and Doctor). 

This discussion is moderated by Zahed Amanullah (Chair of the Concordia Forum). The Concordia Forum is a Global Network of Muslim leaders, activists, artists, thinkers focused on strengthening Muslim communities' role in the west. Each year the forum focuses on a particular country to go beyond the headlines and explore the depth of Muslim successes and achievements in the region.

In this episode of PR Unmasked, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with Abby El-Asmar, an entrepreneur and the founder of Ummahpreneur, to discuss Imam Connect and his unexpected entrepreneur journey during a global crisis.

Muddassar founded Imam Connect during the pandemic to answer the growing need for religious services while mosques across Britain were shut. Since then, Imam Connect has grown into a global network of religious service providers that has changed the lives of countless individuals who didn't have or otherwise wouldn't have access to a mosque.

Every single day Imam Connect attracts new users looking for a particular service, ranging from marriage and career counseling to Quran lessons and Nikkah – and much more. Since its inception, the platform now has over hundred service providers offering their expertise from around the globe.

This episode was produced in partnership with Ummahpreneur, a community of over 1800 Muslim business owners with a weekly podcast mentoring fellow entrepreneurs to succeed in their business ventures and to become leaders in their respective fields.

In this PR Unmasked exclusive, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with Huma Abedin, the Chief of Staff for Hillary Clinton, to discuss her personal journey on the frontline of American politics. 

Abedin has been Clinton’s right-hand woman for over two decades. Initially, she began her career as an intern in the White House, later serving as a personal advisor to Clinton during her successful campaign to become the New York Senator. 

She also worked for both of Clinton’s presidential campaigns: in 2008 when Clinton lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama, and in 2016 when she won the nomination – the first woman to do so – later losing to Donald Trump. 

After being behind the scenes for many years, Abedin is finally telling her side of the story with her memoir, “Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds”. In this episode we are also joined by politicians and campaigners from Unitas’ network

Over a decade ago, the Concordia Forum was born out of an idea to create a place where Muslim change makers could come together to address the issues they are facing in their respective communities. 

Since then, the Concordia Forum has become the world’s largest retreat of global cross-sector leaders from Muslim backgrounds. Each year, hundreds of Concordians are meeting at exclusive retreats across Europe and North America to promote social justice and improve social mobility. 

In this episode, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with the Co-Founder of the forum, Shiraz Ahmad (Managing Partner at Unitas Communications), the current Chair, Zahed Amanullah (Director at Unitas Communications & Senior Fellow at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue), and the Vice-Chair, Salma Hasan Ali (Storyteller & Author of ‘30 Days: Stories of Gratitude, Traditions, and Wisdom’), to discuss the profound impact of Concordia on transforming lives.

In August the Taliban forces seized Kabul, taking control of Afghanistan nearly two decades after they were driven out of the capital city by US troops – a takeover that triggered geo-political uncertainty and a major humanitarian crisis. 

With an escalation of violence in Afghanistan, the region is faced with new realities and challenges, Pakistan being on the front line of the unfolding chaos with Afghans seeking refuge across the border.

In this PR Unmasked exclusive, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with, Moeed Yusuf, the National Security advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, to discuss the political future of the region, by exploring Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and how the West should respond to the new reality of Taliban Rule.

The conversation is also joined by several key individuals from Unitas’ network including members of the UK Parliament and key foreign policy and security experts.

Five years after the British public voted to leave the European Union, the UK is still shaking off the Brexit turmoil. But are we closer to knowing what life outside the EU means for everyday lives inside the UK? 

In this episode of PR Unmasked, moderated by Penny Richards (Managing Director of the Aspen Initiative UK), Muddassar Ahmed discusses the aftermath of the Brexit referendum and how to navigate the tumultuous political arena marked by social and cultural divisions. 

We are also joined by Peter Ricketts (Former British Diplomat, Member of the House of Lords & Author of ‘Hard Choices: What Britain Does Next’), and Ella Whelan (Freelance Journalist, Columnist for spiked & Author of ‘What Women Want: Fun, Freedom and an End to Feminism’).

This discussion was organised by the Bradford Literature Festival, an annual celebration of the written and spoken word to promote literature, arts, and culture.

Next week federal elections will take place in Germany, ending the era of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The elections come at a crucial time as this summer severe floods have devastated the country, making climate politics a central question in the upcoming elections.

In this PR Unmasked exclusive, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with Omid Nouripour, Member of German Federal Parliament and the Greens’ spokesperson on Foreign Policy, to discuss the climate crisis and the future of German political landscape after Merkel. 

The conversation is also joined by several key individuals from Unitas’ network including researchers and academics.

In this episode Muddassar Ahmed sits down with Keith Ellison, the current 30th Attorney General of Minnesota and the former US Representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district. 

Keith was the first Muslim to be elected to Congress and to serve as an Attorney General as well as the first African American representative from Minnesota. 

Earlier this year Keith successfully prosecuted Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, a case which sparked a renewed battle against racial injustice. 

The opening remarks of this PR Unmasked exclusive are deliver by Lisa Nandy, the UK’s Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. The conversation is joined by several key individuals from Unitas’ network including politicians, campaigners, policy makers and many more.

In December 2016, Soleiman Faqiri suffered fatal injuries in Ontario jail whilst waiting for a mental health assessment. No guards were charged for his death.

Soleiman's case serves as an example of a man who lost his life in an institution that was supposed to take care of him. Now years later his family is still searching for justice. 

This episode of PR Unmasked brings together activists, journalists, and human rights advocates from Canada and United States to discuss accountability in the criminal justice system and the treatment of people suffering with mental illness. 

Our panellists include Yusuf Faqiri (Soleiman’s brother & founder of the Justice for Soli movement), Michelle Shephard (investigative journalist & story editor of the ‘Unascertained’ podcast), Rabia Chaudry (author of a New York Times bestseller 'Adnan’s Story' & host of the 'Undisclosed' podcast), Yusuf Zine (film director, actor & host of the 'Unascertained’ podcast) and Evan Solomon (political journalist & the host of Canada's most-watched political show ‘Question Period’).

In this episode Muddassar Ahmed sits down with Mahathir Mohamad - The man who dominated Malaysia's political scene for over two decades. 

Mahathir served as Malaysia's Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003 and returned to power in 2018 until his shock resignation in February 2020, making him the most notable political figure Malaysia has seen since its independence from Britain in 1957.

In this PR Unmasked exclusive, Mahathir discusses his life at the centre of Malaysian politics and how his legacy as the longest-serving head of state shaped modern Malaysia among many other topics.

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch released a report, “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution", examining the treatment of Palestinians under Israeli rule.

The report is based on in-depth research and analysis that has spanned over two years and includes case studies from across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel.

This episode of PR Unmasked brings together both Israeli and Palestinian politicians, activists and human rights advocates to discuss the report findings.

Our panellists include Kenneth Roth (Executive Director of Human Rights Watch), Rashida Tlaib (US Congresswoman for Michigan), Hagai El-Ad (Executive Director of B’Tselem), Farah Nabulsi (Director of BAFTA-winning short film “The Present”) and Alon Liel (Former Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry).

The Present, a directorial debut by Farah Nabulsi, is a cinematic take on the harsh reality of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. The short film follows a Palestinian man named Yusef, who, along with his daughter Yasmine, travels through the West Bank to buy a wedding anniversary gift for his wife. 

The film explores the politics of movement and the injustice faced by Palestinians in their day-to-day lives. It captures the struggle of completing a simple task like buying a present, whilst encountering checkpoints and soldiers as a part of life under occupation.

In this episode, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with the cast and crew of The Present: Farah Nabulsi (Director and co-writer), Mohannad Malas (Executive Producer) and Saleh Bakri (who portrays Yusef in the film). They are also joined by two special guests: Yusef Salaam (The Innocence Project and Exonerated Five) and Maryum Ali (public speaker and activist). 

The Present was nominated for an Academy Award and won the BAFTA for 'Best Short Film' at this year's awards.

We are back with another exclusive episode with the cast and crew of The Mauritanian, a Hollywood adaptation of the New York Times best-selling memoir “Guantánamo Diary”. Based on the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, the film captures an innocent man’s fight for freedom and justice after being detained and imprisoned without trial in Guantánamo Bay for 14 years.

At the Golden Globes this year, Tahir Rahim (who plays Mohamedou) was nominated for Best Actor and Jodie Foster (who plays his defence attorney) won Best Supporting Actress. The film has also been nominated for five BAFTAs.

In this episode, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald for a behind-the-scenes look at the new feature film. They are joined by the film's real-life protagonist, Mohamedou Slahi, along with Nancy Hollander, his defence attorney and Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the prosecutor Stuart Couch in the film. The conversation is joined by several key individuals from Unitas’ network including MPs, scholars, activists and many more.

After dedicating decades of his life to the service of British national security and intelligence, former Director of GCHQ, Sir David Omand, is now sharing what he has learned during his extraordinary career.

He will discuss his new book, “How Spies Think: Ten Lessons in Intelligence”, and its goal to empower people to make better decisions by learning how intelligence analysts think, as well as how to use this knowledge to navigate the world during uncertain times.

In this episode, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with Sir David Omand to discover how to discern the truth in an age of disinformation, what the future of British intelligence looks like, and where our priorities should lie in helping the next generation to think critically.

As governments across the globe come to terms with the economic crisis induced by COVID-19, leading voices in civil society, politics and academia are now starting to look towards the future. New roadmaps for foreign policy are being drawn using the lessons learned from the pandemic.

In this episode, we will focus on Southeast Asia by looking at the example of Malaysia and exploring the country’s response to the global crisis as well as its strategic position in-between the US-China rivalry. Muddassar Ahmed sits down with a panel of experts to discuss what the future holds for Malaysia, including the relationship with ASEAN, China’s posturing in the South China Sea and the Uyghur humanitarian crisis among other topics.

Our panellists include Tricia Yeoh (CEO of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs), Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Former Cabinet Minister of Malaysia for Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Justice) and Dato’ Mohamad Abu Bakar (Professor at the Department of International and Strategic Studies at the University of Malaya). The discussion was co-organised by the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC-IIUM).

In a brand-new cinematic take on the brutal reality of Guantánamo Bay, The Mauritanian tells the true story of Mouhamedou Ould Salahi, who was imprisoned in the detention camp without charge for 14 years. Salahi was finally released in 2016 when the US Government finally accepted his confession had been obtained through torture.

While hundreds of voices from Guantánamo remain silenced, Salahi’s story gives us precious insight into the injustices and the phycological toll prisoners endured. With the looming twentieth anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, the new Biden administration recently declared their intention to close the detention camp by the end of their term.

In a PR Unmasked exclusive, co-hosted by Rabia Chaudry (New York Times bestseller Adnan's Story & Undisclosed podcast), Muddassar Ahmed sits down with the cast and the crew of The Mauritanian to talk about their experiences of making the film and what the future holds for the ongoing fight for justice.

In this episode, we are joined by Mohamedou Ould Salahi (played by Rahim) and his defence attorney Nancy Hollander (played by Foster), as well as the team that worked hard to bring Salahi’s memoir Guantánamo Diary to the big screen: Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald along with Tahar Rahim and Jodie Foster, who were both nominated for a Golden Globe for their performances.

In France Laïcité (secularism) is a principle the republic has guarded fiercely. French Muslim communities often complaint this is to their detriment. 

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks, President Macron has strongly defended secularism in France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim population. As the French Muslim identity becomes hyper-politicised, the question of Islam and its compatibility with “French” values once again enters the public discourse. 

Yet, Muslims themselves are often left out of these critical conversations. On this episode Muddassar Ahmed sits down with a panel of experts to talk about the future of Muslims in France, the correct response in a climate of increased stigmatisation, and what kind of example France sets with its existential battle against radical Islam. 

The conversation is moderated by Salam Al-Marayati (President of the Muslim Public Affairs Council) and our panellists include Myriam Francois (Journalist & Research Associate at the Centre of Islamic Studies, SOAS University of London), Melissa Haffaf (Program Director of the Gender + Justice Initiative at Georgetown University) and Yasser Louati (human rights and civil liberties activist with a focus on Islamophobia).

This isn't your typical PR podcast. In an increasingly polarised world, these are the stories that need to be told.

Hosted by Muddassar Ahmed, PR Unmasked goes beyond news headlines to deliver a fresh perspective on current affairs. Insightful analysis is delivered to you bi-weekly from Unitas' large network of journalists, academics, politicians, activists and more.

On this episode, Muddassar Ahmed sits down with five Muslim change-makers to discuss the role that Muslim Americans played in the US 2020 Election, and how the record-breaking turnout contributed to the defeat of populism in the US.

Our panellists include Sumaiya Ahmed Sheikh (Campus Vote Project), Wa'el Alzayat (Emgage Foundation), Farooq Mitha (Biden Election Campaign), Salam Al-Marayati (Muslim Public Affairs Council) and Salima Susswell (Biden For President).